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smart.

One day I will run a trashy tabloid. Until then, this will have to suffice.

Friday, May 12, 2006

Ellen visits her hometown of New Orleans

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Talk show host Ellen Degeneres returned to her hometown Friday for the first time since Hurricane Katrina to open a restaurant given away on her show to a New Orleans resident who lost her home and business. Surrounded by cheering fans, Degeneres chanted "rebuild New Orleans, rebuild New Orleans" into a bullhorn in front of a Quiznos restaurant given to Sharon "Shay" Karriem, whose home and grocery store were inundated with floodwater when Katrina hit last summer. Karriem cried when Degeneres unveiled a large picture of the two of them, which the talk show host hung on an inside wall of the restaurant. "Thank you Ellen, thank you Quiznos, thank you God," said Karriem, hugging Degeneres. Degeneres has been outspoken on her show about her frustration with the slow pace of recovery in her hometown. Since the storm she has collected almost $10 million from individual and corporate sponsors for the American Red Cross to help with relief efforts. Still, she said too little has been done. Storm debris is still piled on sidewalks, thousands of homes sit vacant and parts of the city are still without basic city services. "There is still no power," Degeneres said in an interview Wednesday. "If this was Washington or San Francisco ... anywhere else, this wouldn't be happening. People are not taking this seriously. It's not OK for this to be happening in this country." After Friday's restaurant opening, Degeneres got her first, up-close look at devastated areas of the city, among them the heavily flooded Ninth Ward. She also planned to visit areas of the city where she used to live, including the Lakeview and Mid-City neighborhoods. "I'm a little freaked out," Degeneres said. She said several friends and family members were still living in New Orleans and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast when the storm hit. While they are all accounted for, many of their lives have been upended. [KATC]

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