By Drew Broach | Deputy metro editor'PLEASE PRAY': Kenner native Cassie Billedeau-Stratton was standing on a fourth-floor balcony at the Champlain Towers South condominium building in Surfside, Florida, and talking on the phone with her husband when she described seeing an outdoor swimming pool one level below her cave in. The 13-story building, too, began crumbling, killing three people, and Billedeau-Stratton is among more than 150 missing. A HAND IN HISTORY: It was 1994 when Dwayne Carter Jr., 12, shot himself in the chest at his apartment in Algiers. One of the New Orleans police officers who saved his life, driving the future rap superstar Lil Wayne to the hospital, was Kevin Balancier. That made for a singular moment in the 33-year career of Balancier, who retired from policing this week. ON THE WATERFRONT: In what would be the most radical transformation of Kenner's Laketown area since the Treasure Chest casino opened in 1994, Las Vegas-based Atlantis Gaming Corp. said Friday it plans to develop a 40-acre, $450 million "destination resort" that will include condominiums, a hotel, restaurants, theaters and a marina. All this and much more are in today’s Front Page and on NOLA.com. Welcome to the weekend. D.B. |
