KATRINA REFUGEES, A SURGING HOMICIDE RATE, and bad feeling in Houston.

UPDATE: Rob DeJournett says the LAT is wrong about the crime.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Several Houston readers say that DeJournett is wrong, and crime rates are up. Reader Gus van Horn writes: “The LA Times is, I am afraid, correct about Houston crime. You cite the bioscientist whose calculations are based on crime stats hear the Astrodome, which is merely where the refugees were initially housed for a short time. (They were also required to report to the dome for curfew.) They eventually landed in low-income apartment complexes in other parts of town, most notably Southwest Houston.” He sends a link to this post from his blog, too.

And Laurence Simon writes to the same effect.

MORE: Kinky Friedman blamed “crackheads and thugs” from New Orleans for Houston’s increase in crime and got some blowback. More on the story here.