Here is the Weekly Summary and a Look Ahead



From Kim Murphy at the LA Times: As businesses collapse, claimants still waiting for checks from BP

Across the gulf, residents already shellshocked by the tar balls, oil soup and dead sea life washing up on their beaches are now getting hit with a second wave: the sudden collapse of their livelihoods, and the equally intimidating challenge of getting BP to pay for it.

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Hotels, restaurants, machine shops, bars, tour companies all became collateral damage when the Gulf of Mexico ... became an industrial cleanup site.

One real estate agent said his "phone quit ringing a month ago", but is that because of the oil gusher or other factors? This will takes years to sort out ...