President delays his visit to Texas

WASHINGTON — President Bush yesterday scrubbed at the last minute a pre-Rita visit to rally home-state emergency crews, after two days of questions over whether the trip was a photo op to portray Bush as being in charge after his much-criticized response to Hurricane Katrina.

The White House's reason: The crews had started moving toward the storm's shifting path, and Bush didn't want to slow them.

The White House had insisted that Bush's planned trip to San Antonio was a way for the president to see storm preparations firsthand and denied his presence would hinder preparations for the storm.

Polls show voters were disappointed in Bush's handling of Katrina, and the White House hopes he can make up ground with a strong response to Rita.

Bush was adamant about three hours before pulling the plug on the trip that it was appropriate. "There will be no risk of me getting in the way, I promise you," he said.

He made sure of it by skipping Texas and going straight to Colorado Springs, Colo., where he will visit Northern Command military headquarters to monitor the storm before heading to Texas today.

Mexico promises shelters for homeless

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico — Mexico, coming to its powerful northern neighbor's aid for the second time this month, promised to set up shelters for any Americans left homeless by Hurricane Rita.

Nuevo Laredo Mayor Daniel Peña ordered police officers to guide the evacuees, most of them Mexican Americans who avoided U.S. shelters in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

After Katrina, Mexico sent an army unit to Texas and a navy ship to Louisiana with aid — the first time in more than 150 years that a Mexican military unit was allowed to operate on U.S. soil.

Some 500,000 Mexicans live in the Houston area, according to the Mexican government. Many have family, or second homes, in Mexico.

WASHINGTON — The federal government will pay rent for "hundreds of thousands" of Hurricane Katrina evacuees for up to 18 months, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced.

More than 1.5 million people were displaced by the storm, which ravaged the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts along the Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 29. To date, 737,000 households have qualified for immediate aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and more than $1.5 billion has been distributed to 648,000 households, Chertoff said.

The rent subsidy, which will begin early next week, will pay an average of $786 per household per month for three months and will cost the government "a couple of billion dollars," Chertoff said.

The money will come from the more than $62 billion appropriated by Congress this month to pay for recovery efforts. Families that qualify can remain in the program for up to 18 months.

ALSO

Gun rights: A Baton Rouge, La., federal judge yesterday issued a temporary restraining order preventing New Orleans police and nearby St. Tammany Parish from confiscating firearms when seeking to evacuate residents.

Plea for donations: The American Red Cross yesterday asked Americans to give more to help hurricane victims, saying the $853 million donated for Katrina is less than half what's needed. Rita will require even more.

More deaths: The death toll from Hurricane Katrina climbed to 1,079 yesterday, including 841 in Louisiana and 220 in Mississippi.

Compiled from Newsday, The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and Newhouse News Service