Editorial Bear

La. mayor's death sparks controversy
By DOUG SIMPSON, Associated Press Writer Sat Jan 6, 6:39 AM ET

WESTLAKE, La. - In the hours before his death on the evening of Dec. 30, the first black mayor of this overwhelmingly white town started learning his new job.

About noon, he set City Hall's alarm system for the first time. He got instructions on how to raise and lower the U.S. flag. He had already ordered a new mayoral letterhead with his name on it and a button-down shirt embroidered "Gerald Washington, Mayor."

A few hours later he indulged in a hobby, placing a $4 bet at a nearby horse racing track.

But by 10 p.m. Gerald "Wash" Washington was dead in the deserted parking lot of a former high school, a bullet wound in his chest. His gun was found by the body. Full story here.

New Orleans, Louisiana.

Still on of the hottest points in U.S. politics at the moment.

After Hurricane Katrina, the government response to the tragedy was underwhelming. Overnight, the first world became the third and the ugly reality of human nature was revealed as law and order disappeared and murder, rape and robbery became the harsh reality on the streets of New Orleans.

Starkly highlighted were the underlying racial tensions. Most of the white population could afford to evacuate the city. The black population were unable or unwilling to abandon their homes. They were the ones hit by the disaster.

Now the city is rebuilding, but the damage has been done.

With victims and villains on both side of the colour barrier, it was a controversial moment when African American Gerald Washington became the first black mayor of Westlake, La - a suburb of New Orleans.

A charismatic Vietnam vet, Gerald Washington's election heralded changes. And within a day of beginning office, he was dead.

In Mossville, a nearby town where he'd attended school.

Cause of death? A bullet wound to the chest. Weapon? A gun, a pearl handled revolver, lying by his body. The gun was registered to Mayor Washington.

The police have called his death a suicide. But why should an apparently happy man, just beginning a promising new job, kill himself?

Powder burns on the body indicate Washington was killed by a point blank shot to the chest. But how many people commiting suicide shoot themselves in the chest, rather than the head?

And why was Washington in the car park of his old school?

As if the Mayor's death didn't raise enough questions, the swiftness in which local police are attempting to wrap up the investigation suggests something smells fishy.

And it's not the delicious Louisiana seafood.