President-elect Barack Obama and President George W. Bush meet at the White House. (Nov. 2008) AP-Photo

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

Dec. 31, 2009 – The last day of 2009 will usher in the final year of the decade: 2010.  So it’s a great opportunity to look back at the stories that have made an indelible mark in our world since 2000?

That’s also the question I was asked in preparation for an appearance on National Public Radio’s program Tell Me More, with Michelle Martin scheduled to air Thursday on the national network. 

During the program we weren’t able to discuss every story since the Y2K, but in the process of racking my brain over the decade I was able to come up with a list of 10 stories I thought were worth sharing. 

But what do you think?   Look over the list below and let me know other stories you would like to add to the list.

• Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center Towers on September 11, 2001
• Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf Coast
• Internet Mania; Including social networking; dating services, political outreach and fundraising, Bloggers, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube
• War in Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks
• Weapons of Mass Destruction misinformation that led to the U.S. military occupation of Iraq
• Election of the first African-American President Barack Obama
• First Latino named to the U.S. Supreme Court, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomeyer
• American bank failures leading to the Federal Government ’s billion dollar bailouts
• 2008 presidential candidates raised a combined $1 billion in the race for the Oval Office  
• Former Vice President Al Gore garners the worlds attention on the reality of Global Warming

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

Nov. 19, 2009 – Katrina victims were handed a win on Wednesday when a federal judge ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers’ mismanagement of maintenance of  levees  in the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet was directly responsible for flood damage of homes in St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans.

The ruling could pave the way for residents of the area devastated by Hurricane Katrina to seek damages from the government totaling millions of dollars. 

U.S. Judge Stanwood Duval, Jr. ruled the federal government’s failure to maintain the levees adequately caused some of the flood damage and awarded four plaintiffs a total of $7000.00 in damages. 

“Judge Duval exposed 40 years of the Army Corps of Engineers’ gross malfeasance with regard to the operation and maintenance of the (channel),” said Pierce O’Donnell, c0-attorney for the plaintiffs.  “The people of this city have been vindicated. They didn’t do anything wrong and it’s time they be compensated.”

The ruling opens the door for an estimated 100,000 residents, business and local governments who lost property during Hurricane Katrina, to sue for damages; costing the government millions of dollars.

But the ruling won’t deliver compensation checks very soon.  No doubt the decision will be appealed and may make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Ken Holder, spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers agrees. “Until such time as the litigation is completed, including the appellate process up to and through the U.S. Supreme Court, no activity is expected to be taken on any of these claims.”

Bruno and O’Donnell, attorneys for the plaintiffs’ legal team said they plan to come to Washington, D.C. and meet with members of the Obama administration and Congress to convince them to consider revisiting requests for compensation by New Orleans-area residents; not just for their clients by for all those in the areas flooded by corps-related failures of the levees.

Failures that have cost thousands of Gulf Cost residents their homes, their happiness and their hope for a full recovery.