Every weekend in Philadelphia, Miss., hundreds of chip-laden fortune-seekers huddle around some 3,000 slot machines and 70 card tables under the neon glow of the Silver Star Casino on the Choctaw Indian Reservation. The Silver Star is one of two casinos on the tribe's property in central Mississippi that prove the adage that the house always wins: The Choctaw gaming enterprise raked in nearly $300 million last year.

As House Republicans last month sparred over spending cuts to help pay for a Hurricane Katrina federal relief tab that could top $100 billion, retired Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, dubbed "Senator No" for his resistance to big government and bloated spending, quietly celebrated his 84th birthday at home in Raleigh, N.C.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez celebrated his country's "Indigenous Resistance Day" on Oct. 12 by delivering a surprising blow to hundreds of indigenous Venezuelans.

In a nationally televised speech from a village in the southern state of Apure, Mr. Chavez announced he would expel missionaries from New Tribes Mission (NTM), a Florida-based organization that has provided Bible translation and humanitarian relief in remote regions of Venezuela for nearly 60 years.

Along Mississippi's devastated Gulf Coast, it's the worst of times and it's the best of times, according to Jim Barksdale, a native son, philanthropist, and former Netscape CEO. Mr. Barksdale has been tapped to lead the state's efforts to rebuild thousands of homes, businesses, schools, and roads. When Mr. Barksdale surveys miles of Hurricane Katrina rubble and destruction in Mississippi, he doesn't just see obliteration-he also sees opportunity: "We've got the cleanest slate we're ever going to have."

NEW ORLEANS -- The New Jersey police officers pounding sludge-smeared pavement and searching water-logged homes each day had doubts about New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's plans for repopulating the city long before Hurricane Rita put an end to them.

"The scope and scale of this is unlike anything I've ever seen," said detective David Pereda of the Clifton, N.J., police department. Coming from Mr. Pereda, that's no embellishment: He is part of a 153-man law enforcement task force, all first responders to the World Trade Center attacks.