Donyell Marshall to reach 15 years as Sixer. He may have been dropped by the then-unnamed, newly franchised Oklahoma City Thunder, but NBA vet Donyell Marshall wouldn’t be counted out. Marshall will reach his 15^th year in the league as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers after Oklahoma waived him. Marshall, 35, is expected to sign a one year deal with Philly for $1.26 million by week’s end. The deal makes the vet one of the seasoned class eligible for a minimum salary guaranteed only to players with at least 10 years experience in the league. Marshall last averaged 3.8 points off the bench with Seattle before the team moved to Oklahoma.

NFL season begins tonight. The Giants hope to defend their Super Bowl title as the NFL officially begins its regular season today. Meanwhile, New England is among top contenders, Adam “Pacman” Jones will try to show he’s worth his welcome back into the league from

suspension, and Chad Ocho Cinco, formerly Chad Johnson, will likely do his best impression as the Dennis Rodman of football. Keep up with all the action by visiting BET.com.

Hurricane season could mean tough times for the Big Easy

It’s mere days from the third anniversary of the storm that virtually washed New Orleans from the map and the city is still not fully protected if another Katrina-like killer were to clobber the Gulf Coast, The Associated Press has concluded. There has been “a pattern of public misperception, political jockeying and legal fighting, along with economic and engineering miscalculations” since the 2005 disaster “that threaten to make New Orleans the scene of another devastating flood,” the news agency reports. AP says its glum analysis – that many people have not learned from the public policy missteps after 1965’s Hurricane Betsy, which set the stage for Katrina – was derived at after interviewing dozens of engineers, historians, policymakers and flood-zone residents. “People forget, but they cannot afford to forget,” Windell Curole, a Louisiana hurricane and levee expert, told AP. “If you believe you can’t flood, that’s when you increase the risk of flooding. In New Orleans, I don’t think they talk about the risk.” The news service cites a recent University of New Orleans survey, which found that levee safety was waning among residents’ top worries – bumped off the list by “crime, incompetent leadership and corruption,” AP reports. But the complacency could prove problematic, AP notes. “For the foreseeable future,” it reports, “New Orleans will be protected by levees unable to protect against another storm like Katrina.”

At 108, “Miss Dollie” is still going strong

“Miss Dollie,” as she’s known by family and friends, may be 108 years old, but she’s as sharp as a razor and has much of her physical strength. On Saturday, about 75 people gathered at Ebenezer Church in Atlanta to wish Dollie Wilson Parks a happy birthday, honoring the longtime Atlanta resident who has served as “an inspiration and adviser to generations,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. “Read more about Miss Dollie and the celebration at BET.com/News.