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For residents of the Gulf Coast, and Louisiana in particular, groups involved with Chinese drywall litigation and legislation have established and set up a Town Hall Meeting for next week to discuss with homeowners and citizens the developments and actions being taken to combat the problems associated with the faulty wallboard.

Set for next Monday at 6:30 in Mandeville, the meeting will be attended by attorneys, including the Berniard Law Firm’s own Jeffrey Berniard, and experts in the field and issue in order to hopefully assuage concerns and develop ideas and avenues of communication with the community. State Senator Julie Quinn will also be in attendance to field questions regarding the state’s response to the matter.

The full details are as follows:

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In pursuit of keeping readers abreast of storms as they develop, the new storm forming in the Atlantic may lead to this season’s next tropical storm with, hopefully, the same results as those previous this year. While it is currently projected to not even reach the coast, it will likely be followed by national meteorologists as it either strengthens or weakens. Storms often can change track so this blog will keep track as the storm progresses.

In the meantime, the AP reports

A new tropical depression has formed in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean and is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm later on Monday or Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

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Florida officials are trying hard to find various ways in which homeowners with faulty imported wallboard can see results and aid while facing their difficult predicaments. The TC Palm recently noted an idea of some area Florida officials in an article posted several days ago:

Martin County Property Appraiser Laurel Kelly agreed having Chinese drywall “would definitely affect the value of property and your taxable value.”

Her department has heard from homeowners in five subdivisions, she said.

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For recent updates on the pretrial motions involving the Chinese drywall issues, readers can bookmark this site and the court’s updating feed regarding the matter, located here.

Updated regularly, the site features news on motions and issues the court has handled, such as the following

August 20, 2009

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Thursday marked the monthly joint report filed by Plaintiff and Defendant in the MDL pre-trial taking place in New Orleans. While little monumental news emerged from the court hearing, various items of note came through that individuals with Chinese drywall, or perhaps just curious readers, may be interested in.

  • Both parties have agreed to a systematic inspection of properties reported to have Chinese drywall in order to establish a system that may be carried through as the various trials in other jurisdictions is carried out. These property inspections, with plaintiffs handling and paying for initial round of inspections, will be quite helpful to the court and both parties in understanding fully the work that will be required and rules set in place. 30 properties will be chosen for these investigations, carried out by Crawford and Company. This group will carry out inspecting the homes, looking into all of the various known pitfalls of the faulty wallboard’s use closely and to determine if there the presence of Chinese manufactured drywall, the amount thereof, etc. Through these investigations, the inspectors hope to detect any odor, visual damage to collateral parts of properties, record samples and carry out the process of how much damage this product causes. Both counsels may observe.
  • Those 30 inspections will cover a wide expanse of the country, with cases from states including Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia. Seven cases will be in the state of Louisiana.
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    Just this week, Florida Lieutenant Governor filed suit against those responsible for putting Chinese drywall into his home. The warning signs for Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp appear to all be the same that homeowners nationwide have experienced.

    The South Florida Business Journal reports

    Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp has joined hundreds of other Floridians in filing suit over defective Chinese drywall in his home.

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    Recent news from the Wall Street Journal shows the financial report side of Chinese drywall and how insiders have become experts on Chinese drywall in the pursuit of fully understanding the outcomes looming for those unfortunate enough to have used the faulty wallboard. Per the WSJ,

    When Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. reports fiscal third-quarter results on Wednesday afternoon, industry watchers will learn the usual details about contracts, cancellations and revenue. But they also want to hear about drywall.

    Builders have been disclosing their exposure to allegedly defective drywall — also known as wallboard — imported from China during the housing boom. A growing number of homeowners complain that it generates sulfurous odors and corrosion. These complaints have led to continuing investigations by several government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, and some of their results are expected next month.

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    Per the Examiner, storms may finally reach the Gulf Coast.

    A new system taking shape has a fairly high chance of becoming a depression, and possibly tropical storm, on either September 1 or 2, according to the National Hurricane Center. It is located east of Puerto Rico near the Lesser Antilles.

    The good news is this: the persistent trough over the east will likely steer this tropical cyclone away from the U.S. coast just as we saw with “Bill” and “Danny”. The system has a very low chance of affecting Texas based on expected steering winds.

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    A little bit of ‘News in Short’

    Miami Herald: more tax benefits for Chinese drywall victims

    Scientific tests have shown that toxic China-made drywall installed in homes beginning in 2001 emits harmful gases that corrode copper wiring and other parts of people’s homes. In addition, these gases harm people’s health, making many homes uninhabitable. Homeowners must not be left to shoulder this burden alone…

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