AP - Before the sun rises on the hotels of New Orleans, doctors in scrubs pile into elevators, shoulder-to-shoulder with construction workers wielding their sledgehammers. The doors open and they're off to work.

AP - Police officers shot and killed a man brandishing a knife in a confrontation that was partially videotaped by a bystander, setting off another internal investigation of the embattled department.

Reuters - New Orleans police officers who gunned down a knife-wielding man during an incident partly caught on videotape appeared to have acted properly, but the shooting remains under investigation, the city's police chief said on Wednesday.

AP - The number of people indicted in a scheme that bilked thousands of dollars from a Red Cross fund designated for Hurricane Katrina victims has risen to 49, federal authorities said.

AP - Under pressure from community activists, the city agreed Wednesday not to begin demolishing thousands of hurricane-damaged homes before a court hearing next week.

AFP - US consumer confidence bounced back in December to its highest level since Hurricane Katrina, the Conference Board said.

Reuters - U.S. consumer confidence improved in December to the highest level since August, before Hurricane Katrina slammed into the U.S. Gulf and sent gasoline to record highs, a survey showed on Wednesday.

USATODAY.com - The New Orleans Police Department was quick to distinguish Monday's fatal shooting of a knife-wielding man by police officers from the string of incidents that has battered the department's reputation since Hurricane Katrina.