Leafy Oak trees on one side of deserted Madrid Street in New Orleans cast an eerie, flickering shadow over the other. Minutes away on Wuerpel Street, the weeds in some overgrown lawns scrape the bottoms of discolored roof gutters.

Nearly four years after Hurricane Katrina, a drive along these streets shows that home abandonment continues to be a major problem for the city.

While Jinx Broussard, Louisiana State University professor and NYT Institute mentor, drove me to an interview last week, my world got much, much smaller in a matter of minutes.

It all started with a story.

When Stephen Guerra checked the back side of drywall in his 72-year-old mother’s newly renovated home and found that it had been made in China, the mysterious smells and rusted metals in the house suddenly made sense to him.

The most pleasant for a temporary reporter in the Crescent City: People just really want to talk. On top of that, when they can’t get back to you by deadline, they let you know they’re sorry about it.

President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law new regulations to help protect consumers from unfair credit card policies. But some policymakers and consumer protection agencies have already objected to the bill, saying some aspects of it will create new problems for cardholders.

It was past midnight and we had just finished in the newsroom when my housemate Justin Phillips came in the townhouse with a screwdriver and a very concerned look on his face.

In an 8-7 vote, Louisiana’s House of Representatives Health and Welfare Committee on Tuesday approved a bill that would impose a complete smoking ban in bars with an amendment to extend the ban to state casinos.