Engineers Warn: 122 levees at risk of failing

The Army Corps of Engineers issued a warning recently stating that 122 levees from Maryland to California are at risk of failing. Communities near those levees have been notified that the structures have received an "unacceptable maintenance inspection rating," and as such, homeowners could perhaps be required to purchase flood insurance in the future. Leading the list is the State of California, with 37 suspect levees. Washington state came in second with 19 levees. The Army Corps construct levees, but turned most of them over to local communities for upkeep. A reason many of the levees are flagged as "suspect" may just because the local towns lack proper documentation for upkeep, and may not necessarily be neglecting their maintenance duties.
(Click here to read the full article by the AP's Beverley Lumpkin.)

Contractor scams plague Katrina victims

After the wreckage that Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent failure of the levees left behind, there is a lot of opportunity for rebirth in the city. Unfortunately, there's also a lot of opportunity for scammers as well. Unlicensed contractors are going around, pretending to be skilled laborers. They collect down payments on their "services," pretending that they'll rebuild a home, only to never be heard from again. While there are about 20,000 licensed contractors in New Orleans alone, the FBI estimates that there are about that many unlicensed repairmen in the area as well, many of them crooked.
(Click here to read more about the story, and learn why the FBI is involved in the case.)

(Click here for the FBI's page on Katrina investigations.)

Short Ends: Terrorist as Drag Queens

Time for some short ends, stories that we found across the internet that we thought we should bring to your attention.

• ABC's Gretchen Peters reports on a new tactic that al-Qaeda has taken up to avoid being captured: dressing in drag.
• A story on MSNBC reports on an insurance company who won a court battle over flooding damage related to Hurricane Katrina. The verdict? Insurance policies did not cover the wind-driven flooding damages.
• The AP reports that federal authorities do not have enough information to press terrorism charges against the men who were found with 1,000 cell phones in their possession. The fear was that the team would attack Michigan's Mackinac bridge, which connects the upper and lower pennisulars.
• Outgoing Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) gave her first public address following her election loss at the polls last week, in which she spoke out against electronic voting machines.
• British Airway passengers are a little upset... Ever since the recent security measures were put in place in Britain's airports in connection with the London Plot, a shocking 10,000 bags have been misplaced.
• The computer manufacturer Dell is recalling 4.1 million batteries produced by Sony. The reason? The batteries may suddenly burst into flames.
• In an unsurprising turn of events, a recent national survey found that more Americans can identify pop culture icons than Supreme Court justices.