LAFAYETTE
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C'est
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The Budget Axe Begins
to Fall
CABL WIRE
The
bottom
line: state officials are trying to figure out how to cut $341 million
out of the current budget when they’re already half-way
through the
budget year. It’s a tall order at this stage of the game when
time is
of the essence. As expected, the two areas looking at the largest cuts
are higher education and health care. The Department of Health
&
Hospitals was asked to prepare for cuts of $125-$178 million with
higher education looking at about $109 million. Those two areas alone
could account for as much as 75% of the cuts if that’s the
way they
finally come down.
So
how do you do that?
DEMS PASS ARMENTOR
RESOLUTIONNathan
Stubbs
At
its meeting last week, the Lafayette Parish Democratic Executive
Committee passed what could be known as the Glenn Armentor resolution.
The “statement of principle” reads that “
a member of the committee shall not publicly endorse nor publicly
support by fundraising activities or by other public activities any
officeholder, candidate, or potential candidate for public office who
is not registered to vote with the Democratic Party.”
Jones
scheduled for trial in MarchMichael
DeVault A former
state senator who is accused of tax evasion will get his day in federal
court in Monroe in the spring. U.S.
District Court Judge Robbie James will preside over the government's
case against former Sen. Charles D. Jones, a Monroe attorney, beginning
March 19, 2009. A federal
grand jury handed down a three-count indictment in January. The
indictment said Jones filed false tax returns and evaded paying income
taxes, dating to 1995. Federal prosecutors also contend that Jones
intentionally understated his income in 1999 and 2000 to avoid paying
federal income taxes.Prosecutors
allege Jones used a complex series of banking transactions to mask more
than $750,000 in income over an eight-year period stretching from 1995
to 2003.
LOUISIANA'S
EDUCATION REPORT Measuring Up 2008
Louisiana's underperformance
in educating its young population could limit the state's access to a
competitive workforce and weaken the state's economy.
Eighth graders perform very poorly in math, science, reading,
and writing, though they have improved in math and science over the
decade.
Louisiana is among the poorest-performing states in high school
completion. Seventy-eight percent of blacks have a high school
credential,
compared with 86% of whites. SEE COMPLETE REPORT AT: www.measuringup2008.highereducation.org/states/report_cards/index.php?state=LA
Tracking
organization says ‘alternative families’ up 48%Bob
Anderson and David J. Mitchell The number of identified hate
groups in the United States has risen
nearly 48 percent since 2000,
according to an organization that tracks such groups. The hate groups
include
neo-Nazis, skinheads, black supremacists and white supremacists. Small
hate groups are scattered across Louisiana as in other states, said
officials with the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala.
Council
denies developer’s appealMARSHA SILLS The future’s
uncertain for a proposed 73-home subdivision in
Scott after a three-hour discussion resulted in the City-Parish
Council’s denial of the developer’s appeal to move
forward with the development at Tuesday’s council meeting.
The
council denied the appeal filed by developer, Steve Montgomery,
whose preliminary plat for a 73-lot development on 14 acres had been
denied by the planning commission in October. The commission denied the
request, even though planning staff
recommended its approval.
Fight
For Your Right To Party Nathan
Stubbs Glenn Armentor’s
‘No Party Party’ fund-raiser for Republican
Joey Durel has him fending off calls for his resignation from the
Lafayette
Parish Democratic Executive Committee. Armentor
says he has no
intention of stepping down. Along
with Stagg, at least two other members of the 12-member executive
committee — Stephen Handwerk and Alfred Boustany —
have come out in opposition
to the “No Party Party,” and as of press time,
committee members were still
finalizing plans for a special meeting this week to take up censuring
Armentor.
The committee’s chairman, John Bernhadt, says he has done
nothing to call for
any official action against the local attorney, but adds, “We
don’t see the
benefit in hosting a fund-raiser for Joey, and we will not be joining
him in
that.” The
only rule in the party’s bylaws that appears to directly
address Armentor’s
actions states an elected member of the party can be subject to censure
for
“publicly endorsing or publicly supporting any candidate that
is not registered
to vote with the Democratic Party in any election contest in which
there is a
candidate registered with the Democratic Party.”
La.
Democrats feeling tension within party
MARSHA SHULER Louisiana’s
voter registration remains majority Democrat with 1.53 million of 2.9
million voters. Nearly half of Democratic registrants are black:
721,814 black voters to 774,074 white voters. The remainder are other
race.
Lafayette,
Louisiana,--- Piecing It TogetherJeremy
Alford “They’re
all crooks,” the elderly Martin
Letulier of Lafayette says from the Mudd Street Fire Station polling
place on election day. “But I always vote.”
Letulier remembers way back in the day — when
campaign
speeches were delivered from the back of produce trucks and sections of
the daily newspaper were still printed in French, when it usually took
a pocket full of dough to win an election in Lafayette Parish. It might
sound similar to the way things shake out today, but there is one
notable divergence in the way political expenditures were handled
locally just 40 years ago. If you wanted to win, even place really, the
man to talk to was “Coozan” Dudley LeBlanc
— known as much then for his Hadacol concoction, which made
him a millionaire, as his political conniving, which proved just as
lucrative. In his book From Huey Long to Hadacol, author
Floyd Martin Clay pulled
no punches: “It is now openly conceded by many politicians
that one had to approach Dudley with cash in hand when a local election
was at stake, and he is alleged to have worked out a regular scale of
endorsement, ranging from $50 for an insignificant post to $500 for a
midrange post, and open-end negotiations for state support.”
Even Earl Long wasn’t exempt from paying Coozan’s
fees. After one particularly heated election, Uncle Earl supposedly
exclaimed, “Hell, you can’t buy LeBlanc; you can
only rent him.” It’s a reputation
Louisiana may never shake.
Lafayette
Parish School Board, Council to begin joint quarterly meetings ---
By Nathan Stubbs
The
Lafayette Parish School Board and the City-Parish Council, along with
City-Parish President Joey Durel and UL Lafayette President Joseph
Savoie, have agreed to conduct joint quarterly meetings beginning next
month. The first meeting is scheduled for Dec. 9 at 6 p.m. in the
council auditorium at City Hall. It will represent the first time the
school board and council have met together for any reason other than
reapportionment following a census. The meetings aim to foster better
planning and coordinating between the parish’s government
entities. Council President Don Bertrand says he and School Board
President Carl LaCombe have been discussing the idea of joint meetings
since the beginning of the year. “Hopefully what
we’re
doing,” he says, “is knocking down all the silos so
that
we’re building relationships and communicating with one
another
about what the specific issues are and how we all relate to solving
problems, whether it be infrastructure, transportation, schools,
poverty, the whole nine yards.”
ULL
program seeks high school seniors --- Advocate Acadiana bureau, Nov 12,
2008 Enrollment
is open for high school seniors interested in the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Dual Enrollment
Program. Qualified seniors can enroll in up to two ULL courses
for
the 2009 spring
semester. The deadline to enroll is Dec. 5; spots are available for the
first 100
qualified students who apply. Course requirements must be met and space
must be available in order for the
student to enroll. Students must be on track to complete the
Board of Regents TOPS Core, have
at least a 2.75 cumulative GPA, and ACT scores of an 18 in English and
math and
a 21 composite score. For information, contact the University College
at (337) 482-6729 or e-mail
universitycollege@louisiana.edu. KKK
alive and well in Louisiana.
---
By Leslie
Turk --- Thursday,
November 13, 2008
It's a
time in our nation's -- and particularly our state's -- history we all
want to
think is part of an ugly past. But a recent killing in Bogalusa has
stirred up
those horrible memories. The KKK appears to be alive and well
in St.
Tammany Parish, where an Oklahoma woman was alleged shot when an
initiation
ceremony went wrong. The AP reported the story yesterday.
Hattie Dillon got a
first-hand taste of the racial hatred that gripped this city in the
1960s when
a metal bolt flung by someone in an angry crowd gashed her head as she
marched
for civil rights. On
Wednesday, sitting on her front porch just off Main Street, the
61-year-old
said Bogalusa is better now. But the bloody legacy of racial violence
and
brazen Ku Klux Klan activity in the area remains -- evidenced
by the
arrest of eight local people in the death of an Oklahoma woman shot
when a
weekend Klan initiation went awry. Read the rest of the storyhere.
The
Republican Party's losses on Election Day
are likely to be Gov. Bobby Jindal's gain. As the party struggles to
reshape itself after the loss of the White
House and seats in Congress, it's likely to look for new leaders. The
young, highly popular Jindal, who has fashioned himself as an
above-the-fray reformer, is expected to be among them.
Acadiana remains a Republican stronghold
--- GOP candidates
sweep area vote Jeff
Moor Democrats
Barack
Obama and Mary Landrieu won election Tuesday, but Acadiana favored
Republicans
John McCain and John Kennedy. Sixty two
percent
of voters in the eight Acadiana parishes cast their ballots for McCain,
compared to 36 percent for Obama.Acadiana
voters slightly preferred Kennedy to U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, and U.S.
Rep.
Charles Boustany posted a strong margin of victory over challenger Don
Cravins
Jr.
Presidential Election Today (11-04-2008) ...
Please Vote Sunny
skies and warm temperatures are expected to help boost what could be a
record
turnout of voters in the state and across the country as voters go to
the polls
today to elect a new president and members of the U.S. Senate and
House, and
decide local races and propositions.
Polls in
Louisiana will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Anyone in line before 8
p.m. will
be allowed to vote.
Why race won't prevent Obama's electionInsiderAdvantage
and Southern Political
Report staff Almost
two years after a Kenyan/Kansan named Barack Obama stood on the
steps of the old capitol in Springfield, Ill., proclaiming his
candidacy for the president of the United States of America, voters
both black and white next month are finally buying into the dream of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Barack Obama is positioned to become the
first African-American elected
to our country's highest office. In my judgment, Obama will be elected.
Despite there being nearly a quarter of the white population
who
still
have difficulty voting for a black, a remarkable campaign and the sorry
state of the mess left by George W. Bush has trumped race. Obama has
run a race of non-race. He has become the non-threatening figure of
stability on the national and international stage. You might say that
Obama had all the right ingredients to make history: temperament,
money, brains, looks, timing, message and, most of all, a country
absolutely desiring CHANGE!
Legal volunteers hope to ensure a fair
election
Richard Wolf For
at least one day next week, Charles Lichtman will preside over the
nation's largest law firm. Lichtman's
assemblage of 5,000 volunteer lawyers, paralegals and law students will
fan out across Florida with one goal in mind: to ensure a fair election
for their top client, Barack Obama. The Democratic Party's
effort in Florida is the largest mobilization in the country, but there
are others. Democrats in Virginia say they have nearly as many legal
volunteers — more on a per-capita basis. In Ohio,
Pennsylvania and
other key states, a record number of lawyers representing both
presidential campaigns, both major political parties and voting-rights
groups are ready. John McCain's campaign also will be monitoring
the polls. Spokesman Ben Porritt says Republicans have a vast operation
in battleground states to help voters and to "make sure that fraudulent
activity isn't occurring."
Ad war heats up Seventh District race; meet
the candidates --- Campaign rhetoric intensifies as Boustany, Cravins
spar for votes Jeff
Moore
A
new television ad has injected some controversy into race for the
Seventh U.S. Congressional District. The
campaign is heating up during the home stretch, with both
major party candidates taking shots at their opponents. State Sen. Don
Cravins Jr. fought back Wednesday against a television ad by U.S. Rep.
Charles Boustany. In the ad, Boustany claims Cravins voted to increase
insurance deductibles on residents following hurricanes Rita and
Katrina.
Police foil plot by white supremacists to
kill ObamaThe
Independent, UK A plot by far-right extremists
to assassinate Barack Obama and kill and decapitate dozens of other
black Americans at a school has been broken up, US officials claimed
yesterday.
Somewhat
farcically, the
alleged plotters planned to dress in white tuxedos and top hats and
drive their car at high speed towards the presidential candidate while
shooting at him. They expected to die in the attempt, the authorities
said. Struggle for soul of Republican party
degenerates into civil war
Rupert Cornwell
The
election hasn't even been lost yet. But as John McCain slides
towards likely defeat, the sniping between Republican factions has
degenerated into something close to outright civil war – one
that presages a wrenching struggle for the future of the party. In the
past few days, the feuding has reached to the very top of the
campaign, with the McCain camp accusing Sarah Palin, his own
vice-presidential running mate, of acting like a "rogue" candidate,
going her own way and defying the instructions of her boss's top
advisers. "She's a diva," one unidentified McCain aide told CNN. "She
takes no advice from anyone ... she does not have any relationships of
trust with any of us, her family or anyone else." Mutual recrimination
is the norm in a losing presidential campaign, as
aides position themselves for the blame game after defeat. A week
before the election, the McCain campaign seems headed in that
direction, trailing Barack Obama by between 7 and 10 points in most
national polls, and behind in the major swing states that will decide
the outcome on 4 November. But the backbiting this time
is of rare
ferocity. The Case for the 7th Congressional DistrictStephen
Handwerk We
have one week left to go and for THOUSANDS of folks in the 7th
Congressional District, they have already voted - soon this race will
be in the history books. I would be remised if I didn't comment on how
sad I am that The Daily
Advertiser has not covered this race with any seriousness. As
the largest paper in this congressional district, we lean on The Daily
Advertiser in hopes that they will truly function as the 4th Estate and
bring us the news. Sadly, they have failed at this
task. No
Party’ voters in La. increasing
MARSHA SHULER
With the Nov. 4 election
approaching, there are nearly 140,000 fewer
registered Democrats in Louisiana than at the beginning of the decade. Voters
aligning with the Republican Party increased since 2000 but not nearly
as much as those of other parties, according to the Secretary of
State’s Office. Over the
same years, more black voters joined the Democratic Party —
from 670,337 in 2000 to 721,814 as of Oct. 6, when the voter rolls
closed for the Nov. 4 election. Meanwhile, 200,000 white voters left
the Democratic Party during the same time period — from
977,066 to 774,074, according to the secretary of state’s
records. Southern
University political scientist Albert Samuels said
Louisiana’s change in Democratic Party demographics reflects
what happened in much of the rest of the South, where conservatives
left what three decades ago was the only viable political party in the
region. “It
used to be that people were conservative and remained Democrats because
the Republican Party was so small, but as the Republican Party grows,
those conservative Democrats don’t need to keep the
‘D,’ ” Samuels said. “The
fastest-growing group right now is ‘No Party.’ You
would have thought it would be Republicans, but that hasn’t
happened,” Samuels said.
SHREVEPORT
TIMES ENDORSES BARACK OBAMA & JOHN FLEMINGShreveport
Times Into
the breach, our political system has yielded two presidential
candidates of vastly different experiences. One is a
seasoned lawmaker
who unfortunately abandoned his trademark independence for political
expediency. The other is a candidate who may have fewer years in the
public eye but who offers the best chance for a fresh start for our
nation both at home and overseas. The
Times today recommends Barack Obama to be the next President of the
United States. Obama
initially made his mark with the American public as an eloquent
communicator and gifted politician. For almost two years his campaign
has reflected grace and poise, whether inspiring thousands who flock to
his rallies or addressing the blistering attacks launched from both
inside and outside his party. He is reminiscent of past gifted leaders,
whether FDR or Ronald Reagan, who were able to both project calm in
uncertain times and to exhort Americans toward our potential to build a
better future.
Forum
speakers: City positioned for growthMarsha
Sills Speakers
at an economic forum Thursday said Lafayette is a
prime location for the state’s new pet economic development
project: digital media. Video game development is an emerging industry
in the state and in
Lafayette with the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise
Center’s new partnership with a game developer from Austin,
Texas. Video gaming is “bigger than the movie
business,”
said Stephen Moret, the state’s secretary of Louisiana
Economic Development during the economic forum sponsored by The
Independent Weekly, MidSouth Bank and Dwight Andrus Insurance. The
event also featured LSU economist Loren Scott, who was part of the
team that prepared the recently released statewide economic forecast
that revealed little job growth for the state: one-tenth of 1 percent
growth forecast for 2009 and only 1.5 percent in 2010.
Despite
the national recession, Scott said he feels the economy will
recover by the first quarter of next year and dismissed talk of another
Great Depression. “It’s a relatively
short and
shallow
recession,” he said. Scott said national employment
falling
2.8 percent are deceiving and
don’t take into account September hurricanes that shut down
refineries in Texas and Louisiana nor the Boeing strike.
Lafayette’s outlook is better, with estimates of 2,800 new
jobs next year and 3,200 jobs in 2010, Scott said.
Polls
Show Obama Gaining Among Bush Voters
JIM RUTENBERG
and MARJORIE CONNELLY
Senator
Barack Obama is showing surprising strength among portions of
the political coalition that returned George W. Bush to the White House
four years ago, a cross section of support that, if it continues
through Election Day, would exceed that of Bill Clinton in 1992,
according to the latest New York Times/CBS News polls. Underscoring his
increasing strength in the final phase of the
campaign, Mr. Obama led Mr. McCain among groups that voted for
President Bush four years ago: those with incomes greater than $50,000
a year; married women; suburbanites and white Catholics. He is also
competitive among white men, a group that has not voted for a Democrat
over a Republican since 1972, when pollsters began surveying people
after they voted.
Obama
Arrives in Hawaii to Visit Ailing GrandmotherJEFF
ZELENY On
a whirlwind trip back to Hawaii, Senator Barack Obama spent more than
an hour visiting his ailing grandmother late Thursday and is set to
return to her bedside on Friday morning after arriving here on a
nine-hour flight from the Midwestern battleground of the presidential
campaign. As
soon as he arrived on the island of Oahu, Mr. Obama went to the Punahou
Circle Apartments, where his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, lies gravely
ill. She is to turn 86 on Sunday, but aides to Mr. Obama said doctors
advised him not to delay his visit. It
was an unusual departure from the tug-of-war of the presidential
campaign, with 11 days remaining in the race. But it was a trip that
advisers said he told them was not negotiable. He missed his
mother’s
death here in 1995, a mistake he said he did not intend to repeat with
his grandmother, who has been a stalwart in his life.
Ex-candidate
Romney sees
White House run for Jindal
MICHELLE MILLHOLLON Former
presidential candidate Mitt Romney predicted Thursday that Gov.
Bobby Jindal will consider a 2012 run for the White House if John
McCain loses on Nov. 4. “Bobby Jindal will certainly be
taking a look at it,” Romney, the former Massachusetts
governor, said on WWL-Radio. Jindal denied Thursday afternoon that he
is mounting a presidential
campaign despite multiple fundraising trips outside the state and an
upcoming visit to Iowa.
7th
District scrap ---Cravins, Boustany on
attack at debateRichard Burgess
Candidates for the 7th
Congressional District
traded barbs Wednesday in
a debate that found state Sen. Don Cravins Jr. repeatedly attacking
incumbent Charles Boustany for his support of the $700 billion
financial rescue package. “We gave 700 billion dollars to a
bunch of greedy people on
Wall Street, and it did nothing,” said Cravins, a
conservative Opelousas Democrat challenging the two-term Republican
congressman. Boustany, Cravins and a third candidate — Eunice
businessman
Peter Vidrine —met for an hour-long debate Wednesday at the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette. In answering questions throughout
the evening, Cravins often returned
to the refrain that money for what he called a
“fail-out” package could have been used for better
purposes — education, rebuilding the coast, health care,
shoring up Social Security. Vidrine called the $700 billion package
“communism for the
rich.” Boustany, who initially voted against what he dubbed a
“rescue plan,” said he felt the massive program was
needed to stave off a major financial crisis that would have certainly
worked its way down to the middle-class. Candidates exchange ideas
during debate --- Cravins,
Boustany, Vidrine face off at UL campus forumJeff
Moore Two
challengers for U.S. Congress District 7 attacked U.S. Rep.
Charles Boustany Jr. for his record on the economy, coastal erosion and
energy in a debate in Lafayette on Wednesday. Boustany defended himself
as a leader on health care and coastal
issues, saying his leadership had helped southwest Louisiana accomplish
in three years what it took southeast Louisiana 20 years to accomplish.
Republican
Party spent $150,000 on Palin's wardrobe The
Independent, UK McCain's
running mate – now hit by revelations of a lavish shopping
spree – is
starting to hurt his poll ratings. David Usborne reports.You
hear it on the campaign trail
everywhere, but now a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll appears to confirm
it. No
longer a net asset to the Republican ticket, Sarah Palin may in fact be
weighing John McCain down. Those voters crucial to the final outcome
– the
undecideds and independents – don't quite like her, think her
selection was
cynical and political and cannot imagine her ever being president. And
to make
matters worse, details emerged yesterday of the Republican Party
splurging
$150,000 (£92,000) since Mrs Palin became Mr McCain's
running-mate to revamp
her wardrobe. Lipstick and Armani on a hockey mom sounds fine, but at
that kind
of cost? After "troopergate" in Alaska, another mini-scandal attached
to Mrs Palin is not what is needed.
General
Colin Powell (See
Video) Colin
Powell endorses Barack Obama on NBC's "Meet the Press." Turned off by
McCain focus on Ayers.
NBC NEWS-MEET THE PRESS WASHINGTON--Barack
Obama picked up a key endorsement Sunday from former
Bush administration Secretary of State, retired Gen. Colin Powell, who
made the announcement on NBC's "Meet the Press." Powell,
the son of immigrant parents from Jamaica who rose to the top
ranks in military and government, told Tom Brokaw he will cast his vote
for Obama but won't go out on the stump with him. Powell was critical
of the John McCain campaign: its embrace of negative tactics, emphasis
on Bill Ayers and sharp right turn. He
praised Obama's "ability to inspire," pick for vice president-- Joe
Biden-- and for running an "inclusive" campaign crossing racial, ethnic
and generational lines. Powell said Obama was a "transformational"
figure and was clearly troubled by McCain tapping Sarah Palin because
he praised Biden as ready to lead from day one.
Obama called Powell and thanked him for his endorsement and said how
honored he was to have it, spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement. Gibbs
said Obama told Powell he looked forward to taking advantage of
his advice in the next two weeks and hopefully over the next four years
in their ten minute talk. Powell
served under four presidents: Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush,
Bill Clinton and President Bush. This is one of Obama's most major
endorsements--and his biggest Republican name. Powell's nod comes at a
time where McCain and Sarah Palin have been portraying Obama as risky
because of his associations, stressing his relationship with Bill
Ayers, a former terrorist now a University of Illinois-Chicago
education professor. Powell's
endorsement undercuts those arguments and also shores up Obama
in states with a large military population. Brokaw
asked if race played a role in Powell's decision. Powell is one
of the leading African American figures in the nation. "If I only had
that in mind, I could have done this six, eight, ten months ago,"
Powell said. Taking
questions from reporters outside of the NBC Washington Bureau
after taping the show, I asked Powell said if he still considers
himself a
Republican. I asked Powell about the role McCain's negative campaign
tone
against Obama played in his decision. "It
troubled me," he said. "We
have two wars. We have economic problems. We have health problems.
We have education problems. We have infrastructure problems. We have
problems around the world with out allies. "And
so those are the problems the American people want to hear about,
not about Mr. Ayers, not about who is a Muslim and who is not a Muslim.
"Those
kinds of images going out on Al Jazeera are killing us around
the world."
A
106-year-old
American nun living in a
convent in Rome could well be one of the oldest voters to cast a ballot
in the
2008 US Presidential election. Sister
Cecilia Gaudette, who last voted for President Eisenhower
in 1952, has registered to vote and says she will vote for Democrat
Barack
Obama. Although
hard of hearing, she keeps herself informed by reading
newspapers and watching TV at the convent. "I'm
encouraged by Senator Obama," she says. "I've
never met him, but he seems to be a good man with a good
private life. That's the first thing. Then he must be able to govern,"
she
adds. Sitting
in her modest office in the convent where she has lived
for the past 50 years, the diminutive nun appears uninterested in the
row
inside the American Catholic church over Senator Obama's support for
pro-choice
policies on abortion. Asked
about her hopes for the US under an Obama presidency, she
says: "Peace abroad. I don't worry about the Iraq war because I can't
do
anything about it. Lord knows how it will end." "It
is very complicated," she said. "Those
Eastern people are not like we are." But
despite taking part in the 4 November election, Sister
Cecilia does not intend to return to the US. "I
have no plans for the future. I am too old to go back to
the US. Life has changed too much." But
she still watches "very important events" on TV.
The election comes under this category. The week the wheels came off
the McCain Express --- Jokes go down well but combative approach
todebate turns off voters The
Independent, UK The
latest and liveliest of the three presidential debates on
Wednesday saw Senator McCain jump on the story of "Joe the Plumber"
–
the Ohio handyman called Joe Wurzelbacher who confronted Mr Obama on
the streets of Toledo last Sunday and questioned the Democrat's plan to
raise taxes for anyone earning more than $250,000 a year. Mr McCain
said Mr Wurzelbacher symbolised everything that was wrong with Mr
Obama's proposals to "spread the wealth around". But to his huge
embarrassment, it later emerged that Mr Wurzelbacher is a tax defaulter
who does not have a plumbing licence and earns just $40,000 a year,
which entitles him to a tax cut under Senator Obama's plans.
Democrats
rally for Obama
--- By
Nathan Stubbs 10-17-2008 Emblazoned
with a big blue cutout image of the bayou state and the slogans
“Louisiana for
Change” and “Turn the Bayou Blue,” the
bus that is the Change for Louisiana
Tour rolled into Lafyaette yesterday. Organized by the state Democratic
Party
in support of presidential candidate Barack Obama, the Change for
Louisiana
tour kicked off Wednesday in Baton Rouge and wraps up in Oct. 21 in New
Orleans. State officials riding the bus for Obama include New Orleans
state
Rep. Karen Carter Peterson, who chairs the Obama campaign in Louisiana,
as well
as Democratic Party state chairman Chris Whittington, state Rep. Regina
Barrow
and local state Rep. Rickey Hardy. A crowd of some 50 people, including
several
elected members of the parish Democratic Party and newly-elected school
board
member Shelton Cobb, were on hand to greet the tour for a brief rally.
Despite
poll numbers that have shown Republican John McCain about 10 points
ahead of
Obama in Louisiana, officials who spoke at the event told the crowd
that
Louisiana could go for Obama, prompting chants of “Yes we
can” and “Yes we
will.” Obama himself has not visited Louisiana since securing
the Democratic
Party’s nomination. “He’s here in
spirit,” local Democratic Parish Excecutive
Committee member Frank Flynn told me.
Louisiana State budget
surplus at $865 million --- But money concerns on the
horizon ---October
18, 2008 Louisiana's coffers are bulging
with an $865 million surplus,
but the days of hefty pools of leftover cash are nearing an end, state
budget analysts told lawmakers Friday. The
analysts warned of looming budget problems, at least partially tied to
the national economic downturn, and of a shortfall nearing $1.3 billion
next year if lawmakers wanted to continue operating every program state
government runs today. "I
don't think Louisiana's economy is so insulated that it won't feel the
effects of a credit crunch," Greg Albrecht, the chief economist for the
Legislative Fiscal Office, told a joint House and Senate budget
committee. After
providing
hundreds of millions of dollars in surpluses for several years, oil
prices have slipped. Corporate taxes and personal income taxes have
fallen, and the state sales tax remains flat. With
those economic realities and a $360 million income tax break for
middle- and upper-income tax filers set to kick in next year, the
state's income streams are forecast to fall below what came in this
year. Plus, the costs of doing business and providing services continue
to rise with inflation. The
$865 million surplus left over from the 2007-08 fiscal year that ended
June 30 is likely one of the last large surpluses the state will see in
the next few years, Albrecht said. But
lawmakers can't use the surplus to fill any shortfalls that might be on
the horizon for next year, the 2009-2010 budget year that begins July
1, because of constitutional restrictions on how surplus dollars can be
spent. Surplus money is limited to one-time items, like construction
projects, road repairs, debt payment and coastal restoration projects. In
an interview, the governor's top budget adviser, Commissioner of
Administration Angele Davis, said she's told the governor's cabinet
secretaries that, at best, they might get a standstill budget next
year. At worst, they face cuts.
Grads
fret about jobs, low pay --- ULL seniors hoping economy
hasn’t soured
their prospects The
economy’s downturn has caused some upcoming college grads to
step up their job searches. while the job
market in Acadiana isn’t without opportunities, some
University of Louisiana at Lafayette seniors are still worried about
the impact it will have on their paycheck. “I
don’t want my wages to downsize because of the
economy,” said Dominique Lucas, a senior biology major who
will graduate in December. “You’re not guaranteed
anything just because you have a degree.” Upcoming
ULL
grads had a day last week to take care of commencement business
— buy a cap and gown, order invitations, pose for a
professional graduation portrait, and get a little career advice.
“My
advice is, get the résumé together.
It’s time to get started and start exploring your
options,” said Kim Billeaudeau, director of ULL’s
Career Services. The department offers free
résumé, interview and career counseling to
students and alumni, as well as services for companies, including
organizing recruiting and interview days for employers. Tribune
endorsement: Barack Obama for president
THE CHICAGO
TRIBUNE EDITORIAL BOARD However
this election turns out, it will dramatically advance America's
slow progress toward equality and inclusion. It took Abraham Lincoln's
extraordinary courage in the Civil War to get us here. It took an epic
battle to secure women the right to vote. It took the perseverance of
the civil rights movement. Now we have an election in which we will
choose the first African-American president . . . or the first female
vice president. In recent weeks it has been easy to lose sight of this
history in the
making. Americans are focused on the greatest threat to the world
economic system in 80 years. They feel a personal vulnerability the
likes of which they haven't experienced since Sept. 11, 2001. It's a
different kind of vulnerability. Unlike Sept. 11, the economic threat
hasn't forged a common bond in this nation. It has fed anger, fear and
mistrust. On Nov. 4 we're going to elect a president to lead us through
a
perilous time and restore in us a common sense of national purpose. The
strongest candidate to do that is Sen. Barack Obama. The Tribune is
proud to endorse him today for president of the United States.
Joe'
isn't a
licensed plumber - and
that's not his name
Andrea Hopkins
After
John McCain and Barack Obama made him into the most famous
plumber in America, it turns out Joe Wurzelbacher isn't a licensed
plumber after all. Oh, and his real name is Sam. The morning after he
emerged as the unexpected star of Wednesday
evening's US presidential debate, Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher of Holland,
Ohio, found himself at the centre of a media frenzy, with reporters
camped out on his front lawn and his phone ringing off the hook. But it
wasn't long before the Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters and
Service Mechanics revealed that Wurzelbacher was not a licensed member
of their trade. "That means that he has not completed the training
programme necessary
for him to sit for a licence test," said Tony Herrera, market recovery
specialist for Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 50 in Toledo, Ohio.
"It's a shame that this guy has ended up in this situation because it
seems like he's misrepresented himself - and for that matter the
plumbing and pipefitting industry." Without a license,
Wurzelbacher cannot practise in the city of Toledo but can work for
someone with a master's license or in outlying areas that do not
require a licence, Herrera said.
Ethics probe hits hardest at Todd,
not Sarah
Palin
A
month after she became governor, Sarah
Palin's staff ushered Alaska's public safety commissioner into her
private office. But
Palin wasn't there. Her husband, Todd, had called the meeting. He
was frustrated that his former brother-in-law remained on the job as a
state trooper, and he prevailed upon the commissioner to get rid of
him. "I thought that was odd and made me a little uncomfortable," said
Walter Monegan, the commissioner, who later was fired by Gov. Palin.
"We're having it in the governor's office, and he's not the governor. I
think he was trying to use state trappings to handle a personal
issue." The January 2007 meeting was part of a long pattern of
pressure that
she and her husband applied on state officials to try to get the
trooper fired, according to an Alaska legislative report released
Friday. The report said those contacts amounted to an abuse of power
and a violation of the state's ethics laws, which prohibit using public
office for personal benefit.
Economy
the No.
1 concern --- State in sunny shape so far, but oil prices cast shadow
The
Advocate Gov.
Bobby Jindal said Thursday that he is trying to get in
front of the U.S. financial crisis by holding weekly meetings with
aides on the state’s economy. For now, Louisiana appears to
be
better positioned than the rest of the
country, he said. “It’s important for us
to be continually vigilant and proactive,” Jindal said.
The
governor recently launched regular meetings with Cabinet members on
the impact of the national meltdown on the state. He plans to meet once
a week with revenue, budget, labor, economic development and natural
resources officials. Last month, economists warned state officials that
income tax
collections are declining and that sales tax revenue is flat. However,
the state also has an $860 million surplus from the spending year that
ended in June. The surplus partially stems from oil prices that at one
time hovered around $150 a barrel.
Ezell
to take
officeShay
Randle Gov.
Bobby Jindal appointed business owner
Michele Ezell to the vacant Lafayette City-Parish Council District 6
representative
position on Thursday. Ezell
replaces Bruce Conque, who resigned from the position Oct. 1 to take a
full-time job with the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. The former
executive committee member for the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce and
owner of Tsunami restaurants will serve as the first woman council
member since city-parish government became consolidated. The
decision came just a day after council members failed to break a 4-4
vote to choose between two of five applicants - businessman Raymond
"Sam" Doré and attorney Judith Kennedy. According
to the Home Rule Charter, the council members had until midnight
Wednesday to break the tie before the governor was charged to appoint
an interim member to the council. Ezell will
have the job until next spring, when there will be a special election.
The
Washington Post
endorses Barack Obama for PresidentThe Washington Post
The
nominatingprocess this year produced two unusually talented and
qualified presidential candidates. There are few public figures we have
respected more over the years than Sen. John McCain. Yet it is without
ambivalence that we endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president. The
choice is made easy in part by Mr. McCain's
disappointing campaign, above all his irresponsible selection of a
running mate who is not ready to be president. It is made easy in
larger part, though, because of our admiration for Mr. Obama and the
impressive qualities he has shown during this long race. Yes, we have
reservations and concerns, almost inevitably, given Mr. Obama's
relatively brief experience in national politics. But we also have
enormous hopes.
Fired
up McCain can't fluster Obama
The Canberra Times John
McCain went for the
jugular in his final debate with Democrat Barack Obama today as the
Republican
sought a game-changing performance to sustain his flagging White House
dream. But
instant polls by television networks said voters were dismayed by
McCain's
negative barrage, with Obama declared the decisive victor in probably
the
candidates' last face-to-face clash before the November 4 election.
McCain,
down a hefty 14 points in one poll as the United States weathers its
worst
financial crisis in decades, savaged Obama's ties to 1960s radical
William
Ayers and said his tax plans were nothing more than "class warfare."
Keeping
his composure, Obama in turn accused McCain of trying to distract
voters on a
day that New York's Dow Jones share index posted its second-biggest
points fall
ever on mounting fears of a crippling US recession.
Donna
Brazile is not going to the back of the bus Raised
by the specter of race in the campaign, Donna Brazile let loose with an
impassioned, ad-libbed exhortation that could be seen as a prescient,
preemptive strike to the race-and-religion baiting tactics
("strategies"?) employed by the increasingly-ugly McCain-Palin
campaign.
Republican
leaders break ranks with McCainThe
Independent UK Senior
members of the Republican party are in open mutiny against John
McCain's presidential campaign, after a disastrous period which has
seen Barack Obama solidify his lead in the opinion polls. And
as disputes raged within the McCain camp
yesterday, Democrats took another symbolic step towards healing the
party after their bitter primary battles, as Bill and Hillary Clinton
made their first joint appearance in support of Mr Obama. From
inside and outside his inner circle, Mr McCain
is being told to settle on a coherent economic message and to tone down
attacks on his rival which have sometimes whipped up a mob-like
atmosphere at Republican rallies. Kennedy,
Landrieu on
attack --- U.S.
Senate
candidates debate Iraq, health care
WILL SENTELL Democratic
U.S.
Sen. Mary Landrieu and Republican challenger John Kennedy resumed their
campaign arguments Sunday night with heated disputes over Iraq, who
should be the next president and health care. Kennedy used the second
debate of the U. S. Senate race to accuse
Landrieu of backing a “choose to lose” strategy in
Iraq and backing troop withdrawal timetables pushed by politicians, not
military experts. “But you know when we will be able to come
home?”
Kennedy asked. “When the generals tell us that we
can.” But Landrieu charged that it was Kennedy, then a
Democratic contender
for the U.S. Senate in 2004, who backed a “hard
timetable” deadline to get troops out of Iraq and that she
has never backed any such plan.
Palin
repimanded over abuse of
power as Alaska governor
Associated Press An Alaska ethics
report has
concluded that John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, abused her
power as
governor when firing a state official, a development that could hinder
the
Republicans as the race for the White House narrows. Read
Branchflower report:
Boustany,
Cravins meet in Lake Charles debateThe
Associated Press Republican
incumbent U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany fought off attacks in a
debate Wednesday with Democratic challenger Don Cravins Jr., as the
Democrat criticized the incumbent’s record on coastal erosion
projects
and energy. Boustany defended himself as a leader on health care
and coastal issues, saying his efforts on Capitol Hill were far more
effective for southwest Louisiana than parallel attempts to preserve
the coast at the other end of the state. The two-term
congressman from Lafayette attacked the state Legislature —
of which
Cravins is a member — for “dilly-dallying
around” instead of quickly
putting up matching money for federal coastal projects. Cravins,
a state senator, said the money Boustany secured for coastal projects
took too long to have an effect. He then made one of many critical
references in the debate to Congress’ recent bailout of the
financial
industry. “It doesn’t take three years to study
coastal erosion,
when we can bail out the entire banking and mortgage system in a
week,”
said Cravins, an Opelousas Democrat. Obama
picks up second debate win, poll saysPaul
Steinhauser - CNN
A national poll of debate
watchers suggests that Sen. Barack Obama won the second presidential
debate. Fifty-four
percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey
conducted after the debate ended said that Obama did the best job in
the debate, with 30 percent saying Sen. John McCain performed better. According
to the poll, 64 percent had a favorable opinion of Obama after the
debate, up four points from before the event. Fifty-one percent of
those polled had a favorable opinion of McCain after the debate
unchanged from before its start. A
majority said Obama seemed to be the stronger leader during the debate,
54 percent to 43 percent, and by a more than two to one margin -- 65
percent to 28 percent -- viewers thought Obama was more likable during
the debate. CNN polling director Keating
Holland said Obama made some gains on the leadership issue even before
the debate.
Senate
passes bailout
--- Plan to buy $700B
in troubled assets wins OK. Backers hope add-ons will yield more
yes-votes in House.Jeanne
Sahadi The measure was passed by a
vote of 74 to 25 after more than three hours of floor debate in the
Senate. Presidential candidates Sens. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, and
John McCain, R-Arizona, voted in favor. Like the bill the House
rejected, the core of the Senate bill is the Bush administration's plan
to buy up to $700 billion of troubled assets from financial
institutions. Those assets, mostly
mortgage-related, have caused a crisis of confidence in the credit
markets. A major aim of the plan is to free up banks to start lending
again once their balance sheets are cleared of toxic holdings. But the Senate legislation also
includes a number of new provisions aimed at Main Street. The changes are intended
to
attract more votes in the House, in particular from House Republicans,
two-thirds of whom voted against the bailout plan.
Let
the Rich
Bail Them OutSenator
Bernie Sanders (Independent from Vermont) The
Senate approved a $700 billion Wall Street bailout. Senator Bernie
Sanders voted against the bill that would put Wall Street's burden on
the backs of the American middle class. "The bailout package is far
better than the absurd proposal originally presented to us by the Bush
administration, but is still short of where we should be," Sanders
said. "If a bailout is needed, if taxpayer money must be placed at
risk, if we are going to bail out Wall Street, it should be those
people who have caused the problem, those people who have benefited
from President Bush's tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires,
those people who have taken advantage of deregulation who should pick
up the tab, not ordinary working people." Sanders proposed a
five-year, 10 percent surtax on families with
incomes of more than $1 million a year and individuals earning over
$500,00 to raise $300 billion to help bankroll the bailout. Senators,
however, set aside the amendment on a voice vote.
State
Representative leaves Legislature
to take new education job
The
Advocate The
former chairman of the House Education Committee today begins a
$110,000 per year job with the state Department of Education. State
Rep. Don Trahan, R-Lafayette, said his resignation from the
Louisiana Legislature was effective at midnight Tuesday. “It
was just an opportunity that I could not pass
up,” Trahan said Tuesday of his new job. Trahan will fill a
newly created position as director of external
relations. That means he will be in charge of spreading the
department’s
message to business leaders and public interest groups statewide.
Dow dives
777 points The
Associated Press The failure of the bailout
package in Congress
literally
dropped jaws on Wall Street and triggered a historic selloff -
including a terrifying decline of nearly 500 points in mere minutes as
the vote took place, the closest thing to panic the stock market has
seen in years. The
Dow Jones industrial average lost 777 points Monday, its biggest
single-day fall ever, easily beating the 684 points it lost on the
first day of trading after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. As
uncertainty gripped investors, the credit markets, which provide the
day-to-day lending that powers business in the United States, froze up
even further.
Grow
or die --- La.'s
shrinking population needs reversal in outmigrationElliott Stonecipher When the 2010 census is
conducted and completed, 200 years of Louisiana's population history
will have been recorded, and many remarkable aspects of "who" Louisiana
was and is are in that record. Included among these are our
228 percent population explosion in the 30 years before the Civil War,
the near-halving of our black population from 1890 (50 percent of our
population) through 1980 (down to 29 percent), and the relatively minor
impact of hurricanes Katrina and Rita on our population
trends. Also dramatically
documented is
Louisiana's descent to the bottom of national rankings in population
growth for the past 25 to 30 years, with stagnation likely to soon turn
to unprecedented loss. As important as that fact is on its very face,
what is even more striking is that our recent history is the opposite
of the record of growth in our first 150 years.
Capital
Concerns
Nathan Stubbs A
new proposal by Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel to spread
out $100,000 to each councilman for capital
outlay projects is getting
mixed reviews.In
Lafayette Consolidated Government’s 2009 proposed budget,
Joey Durel included what he describes as “an innovative
plan,” — a plan which, Durel writes in his
introductory budget message, “I believe has never been tried
before in this government.” The proposal involves earmarking
$100,000 for each of the nine council districts, $900,000 total, to use
for capital improvement projects in the coming year. Each councilman
will have the sole authority over how his hundred grand is spent in his
district, without any required direction from the city-parish public
works department or approval from a majority of the council. The funds
can also be transferred from one district to another by budgetary
revision, which would require a majority vote by the council.
Pierre
Hardy Audit
finds
possible violationsAdvocate
Acadiana bureau A
legislative audit instigated by state Rep. Rickey Hardy against a
nonprofit organization tied to the family of his predecessor, former
state Rep. Wilfred Pierre, revealed possible state ethics and bid law
violations. Hardy, D-Lafayette, called for the audit of North St.
Antoine Service
Inc. because of his objection to Pierre’s allocation of
$500,000 in state funds to the organization over a two-year, fiscal
period. The agency allocated the funding for community education
programs, and some of it was used for salaries.
Bill Clinto On The Bailout
Q
& A:
What's the US rescue package all about?The
Independent UK Everyone
from the person on the street to the US president is talking about a
700 billion dollar rescue package for the troubled US economy. But what is it all about, and
what does it all mean?
Bush
On Economic Crisis
The
czar of procreationTimes-Picayune Rep.
John LaBruzzo (R-Metairie) thinks that he and other Louisiana lawmakers
ought to
decide which citizens of this state should be encouraged to have
children and which should not. He
proposes giving college-educated people with higher incomes -- like
Rep. LaBruzzo and his wife -- a tax incentive to have more children.
But, he argues, poor Louisianians should be given financial incentives
to undergo surgical sterilization -- either a tubal ligation or a
vasectomy.
District
3 candidates
outline school positionsMARSHA
SILLS Voters
in Lafayette’s School Board District 3 will decide
Oct. 4 which of three candidates will complete the term vacated earlier
this year by former board member state Rep. Rickey Hardy. The
ballot includes incumbent appointee Lionel Lewis Jr.;
Shelton Cobb; and Elroy Broussard, who opposed Hardy in 2006. Cobb and
Lewis have classroom experience. Early voting continues through
Saturday. The candidates agree that more parental involvement is needed
within
their district, which includes J.W. James Elementary, Truman Montessori
and Alice Boucher Elementary. The state has identified Boucher as low
performing and academically unsuccessful.
Mobile
phone use 'raises
children's risk of brain cancer fivefold'--- The
Independent UK Alarming
new research from
Sweden on the
effects of radiation raises fears
that today's youngsters face an epidemic of
the disease in later life. The
study, experts say, raises fears that
today's young people may suffer an "epidemic" of the disease in later
life. At least nine out of 10 British 16-year-olds have their own
handset, as
do more than 40 per cent of primary schoolchildren. Anti-Palin Rally in Alaska Draws 1,400+---
September 21st 2008
Gas Prices Obama
appeals to crossover votersThe Independent UK (Leonard Doyle in Washington - Saturday, 9 February 2008) Across
the
country a new breed
of "Obama Republicans" is emerging to change the political landscape.
And the Democrat presidential hopeful Barack Obama has even coined a
name for them: Obamacans. He
cracks jokes about them discreetly approaching him at rallies to say:
"Barack, I'm a Republican and I support you". "Thank you," he replies,
"But why are we whispering?" These
crossover voters are the 21st-century version of the "Reagan Democrats"
who switched sides and swept the Republican candidate to the White
House in 1980. Susan
Eisenhower, the granddaughter of Dwight D Eisenhower, war hero and
president, is one of the new converts – still in the Republican
party while endorsing Mr Obama. The
trend was clear in Idaho on Super Tuesday. In Kootenai County, an area
of far-right conservatism, a record number of voters came out for Obama
– a total of 81 per cent. In
Colorado, Mr Obama won by a two-to-one margin. He now has 62 per cent
support from independents, the highest approval of any candidate.
Even
evangelical Christians appear to like him. When asked in a poll who
Jesus would vote for, Mr Obama won by a landslide.
$700B
bailout
urged in crisis --- Bush, Congress negotiate to fix
financial system The
Bush administration asked Congress on Saturday for the power to buy
$700 billion in toxic assets clogging the financial system and
threatening the economy as negotiations began on the largest bailout
since the Great Depression. The rescue plan would give Washington broad
authority to purchase bad mortgage-related assets from U.S. financial
institutions for the next two years. It does not specify which
institutions qualify or what, if anything, the government would get in
return for the unprecedented infusion. Democrats
are pressing to require that the plan help more strapped borrowers stay
in their homes and to condition the bailout on new limits on executive
compensation.
Coast
in trouble: Officials
want
Congress to provide fundBilly
Gunn State officials are continuing
efforts to press Congress for money now, not 10 years from now, to
repair eroding coastal wetlands that are providing less and less
protection from hurricanes, which increasingly are reaching farther
north with destructive winds and flooding areas with storm surge well
away from official landfalls. "If
we continue to suffer losses (to the coast), those barriers will be
gone and it'll be so much worse," state Senate President Joel Chaisson,
D-Destrehan, said. Chaisson also is a member of America's Energy Coast
Leadership Council.
Cravins ad highlights
conservative credentials State
Sen. Don Cravins Jr. has launched his first TV ad in his campaign for
Congress. Based on the message, you’d have a hard time
knowing
that Cravins was the Democratic candidate in the race. Titled
“our dad,” the ad features Cravins’ two
children,
Dominique and Don Cravins III introducing their father, who describes
himself as “pro life, pro gun and against higher
taxes.”
Cravins also touts his support for domestic drilling — an
issue
that has recently become a rallying cry of Republicans. The Opelousas
state senator appears to be making good on his strategy to
“out
conservative” his opponent, Republican incumbent Charles
Boustany, and guard against any ideas Republicans may have of grouping
him in with more liberal members of his party. Cravins has said he is a
proud Democrat but not afraid to buck his party on some issues.
Cravins’ campaign spokesman Richard Carbo says the campaign
has
made a “robust buy” for the first ad but could not
specify
what areas of the 7th Congressional District the ad would be running.
7
vie
to replace Conque RICHARD
BURGESS Seven
people have applied to replace District 6 Councilman Bruce Conque, who
is resigning Oct. 1 to take a job at the Greater Lafayette Chamber of
Commerce.
Conque, who announced his
resignation in July, is in the first year of his second term. His
replacement would serve until a special election next year. Seven
people submitted letters of intent for the temporary City-Parish
Council appointment by the Monday deadline Marshal
faces first challenger since 1996Jason Brown Lafayette
City Marshal Earl “Nickey” Picard on Oct. 4 is
facing his first
opposition in more than a decade by the man who unsuccessfully
challenged him 12 years ago. Picard
has been in
office since 1984. His last challenge came in 1996 when Joseph B.
Cormier, a retired Lafayette police officer, tried to unseat the
incumbent. Picard
won with 74 percent of
the vote. After
the loss in 1996, Cormier went to work for the Louisiana Attorney
General’s Office. He returned to Lafayette in 2006 and
started a
private business that works on criminal investigations. Cormier
said he has more experience this time around and believes Lafayette is
moving into a new technological age. “(Lafayette)
wants to be in that new age, but to be in that age you have to get out
of the 1984. We are in 2008,” Cormier said. “I
offer that. I am the
2008. I’m not there to own a dynasty.”
Getting an Absentee Ballot If
you don't think you'll be able to vote in person for some reason, make
sure to request an absentee ballot. Make sure you request it before
your state's deadline! Some
states have specific instructions and forms available online for
requesting an absentee ballot - we've included links to them below. http://www.newvotersproject.org/absentee-ballots
Councilman
wants
5 percent budget cuts
RICHARD BURGESS Councilman William Theriot on
Wednesday pushed for a 5 percent cut in the proposed budgets of many
Lafayette City-Parish departments. “We need to pull the
reins back on growth in government,” Theriot said, citing a
proposed 14 percent increase in the administration’s proposed
2009 budget over last year. Theriot, whose move was
supported by Councilman Jared Bellard, asked for 5 percent cuts in all
city-parish departments except police, fire and public works. Under the
proposal, made during a city-parish budget hearing, the cuts would not
affect salaries in any department. The cuts would likely have
some
effect on services, City-Parish Chief Administrative Office Dee Stanley
said. The 14 percent increase in the
proposed city-parish budget does not reflect an overall spending
increase. Much of that rise is because of an increase in fuel cost paid
to keep Lafayette’s power plants running. Several councilmen opposed any
across-the-board cuts, saying services would certainly suffer.
Obama's
DNC Speech (YouTube) (Text)
Barack
Obama Makes History as
First African American Nominee of Major Political Party ABC
News
With
profound gratitude and
great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the
United States. We meet at one of those
defining moments – a moment when our nation is at war, our
economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened
once more. We
are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell
me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that
Democrats won't keep us safe. Tonight, more Americans are out
of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost
your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of
you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't
afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach. These challenges are not all of
government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a
broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W.
Bush. America, we are better than
these last eight years. We are a better country than this. Now, many of these plans
will
cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime
– by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't
help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line
by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones
we do need work better and cost less – because we cannot meet
twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century
bureaucracy.
It's time for us to change America. And that's why I'm running for
President of the United States.
Survey Says
Nathan Stubbs Hoping
to maintain its customer base, Cox
Communications continues to upgrade service and poll residents
for
insight as it prepares for stiff competition from LUS. Imagine you are president of
Cox Communications. What would you do or ask your employees to do to
ensure local customers continue to purchase their telecommunications
services from Cox? That’s one of the questions in an
extensive new telephone survey for Lafayette residents. It appears to
be the latest of Cox Communications’ ongoing preparations for
January, 2009, when Lafayette Utilities System enters the market as its
chief competitor. Through a high-speed, fiber-to-the-home network, LUS
has pledged Lafayette residents better phone, cable and Internet
service at lower rates. While Cox Communications, along with BellSouth,
initially signed on to legal challenges aimed at thwarting
LUS’ telecommunications initiative, Cox now seems focused on
all-out competition.
Michelle
Obama
takes spotlightThe
Independent.co.uk Two powerful speeches, one by an
ailing Senator Edward Kennedy, the other by Michelle Obama, electrified
Democrats gathered in Denver last night, as they prepared to formally
nominate
Barack Obama the party’s presidential candidate on Thursday. Mrs Obama’s carefully
choreographed speech emphasised her own working class roots and those
of her
husband, and the ideals of public service that have propelled both
their
careers. Her speech was preceded by the film, 'South Side Girl',
describing her
early live in the impoverished South Side of Chicago. It was all
designed to
present a warm and fuzzy image of a woman who has appeared harsh and
strident
to many Americans. "I come here as a wife who
loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president," she
said, without mentioning that, if elected, he would be the first black
president of the United States. She also sought to humanise Mr
Obama, painting him as an everyman - a husband, father, brother and a
leader
who might overcome the country’s racial divide – in
contrast to his image as a
remote and even foreign figure to many working class voters. He is “the same man who
drove me and our new baby daughter home
from the hospital 10 years ago this summer,” she
said and described him “inching along at a snail’s
pace, peering anxiously at
us in the rear-view mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in
his hands.”
Kennedy
speech electrifies
Democratic convention The
Independent.co.uk
A
small whip of electricity coursed through delegates on the floor of
the Pepsi
Center as they watched the video tribute to Ted Kennedy on Monday
night. Blue
and white signs bearing the party patriarch's name were being passed
around by
ushers. Behind the podium on stage, a tall stool had
materialised. Speculation
had grown steadily that Senator Kennedy, diagnosed in the spring with a
malignant brain tumour, might be in the hall to watch the video by
film-maker
Ken Burns. There was even word that possibly, just possibly, he would
say a few
words.
Maybe this
was media manipulation
by Team Obama. Maybe the campaign was exploiting a great man in a time
of great
medical calamity for easy political gain. Or there is the alternative
view:
that Ted Kennedy's few minutes back at the microphone here in Denver,
nearly
three decades after his own bid for the presidency caved before Jimmy
Carter,
was the biggest, kindest gift anyone could have given him. If
his
appearance here was not so
big a surprise, his vigour beneath the lights - belying a prognosis
that gives
him months, not years, to live - was. Those close to the stage saw a
man with
strength still in his veins, and passion in his famous baritone voice.
He saw
the stool, but did not use it. "My fellow
Americans, I am
so glad to be here," he began, bringing the arena to its feet. "And
nothing, nothing is going to keep me away from this special gathering
tonight." He went on to deliver a summons to the Democrats in the hall
-
and to all Americans beyond - to commit themselves to change and to the
man
whose campaign he first endorsed back in the chill of late January,
Barack
Obama.
Keep
funding
external agenciesDaily Advertiser
(Editorial) Discontinuing government
funding for nonprofit community agencies has
been debated periodically since the '90s. It was debated again in the
most recent session of Lafayette Consolidated Government. Under the
2008-09 LCG proposed budget, such agencies could receive
about $780,000 from LCG. Those agencies include LARC, the Acadiana
Symphony, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Faith House, Festival
International, Healing House, the Lafayette Council on Aging, the
Performing Arts Society of Acadiana and others. Theriot says he is not
questioning the need. "I am questioning the procedure in which it's
done," he said. "By
instituting this three-year cutback, this would allow external agencies
a period of time to secure any offsetting funding." Having listened for
years to similar calls for removing funding for
what government calls "external agencies," we find ourselves supportive
of Councilman Brandon Shelvin's stance of the issue. Shelvin says he
believes such agencies help fulfill government's mission to provide
needed services to a community.
(Insert) Based on the last economic
impact study (2000 - we should have new
numbers soon based on 2008 study) it’s estimated that Festival
International
generates a $15,000,000 economic impact. And, based on that
information…see below: LCG
Investment to
Festival International: $ 72,000 Return
(4% sales
tax):
$ 600,000 Total
Gain:
$ 528,000 RETURN
ON
INVESTMENT:
+733.33%
Bill
Moyers | It Was Oil, All AlongBill Moyers
Oh geeezzzz, here we go again... that old argument
that
'it's all about oil'. Those who actually believe this, also believe
that people
were better off with Saddam in power. Everyone, just chill out... it is
what it
is!
Budget
surplus is windfall for coastMark Schleifstein The state Coastal Protection
and Restoration Authority agreed Wednesday to spend $300 million in
2007 budget surplus money on a variety of hurricane protection and
coastal restoration projects, including $100 million that will help
speed completion of 100-year east bank and West Bank levees in the New
Orleans area. Combined with previous
commitments, the state now plans to spend more than $1 billion in state
money on levee and restoration projects during the next four years --
most during the next year -- with the vast majority of it dedicated to
construction, Gov. Bobby Jindal said at a news conference after the
meeting. "Today is literally a
billion-dollar day, a billion-dollar day for coastal restoration
efforts throughout the state of Louisiana, " Jindal said. "The days and time of studies
are behind us. We are officially today starting the process of turning
dirt, starting construction." The decision also marks an
early first payment by the state on the $1.8 billion it owes as its
share of the cost of raising New Orleans levees to a 100-year level of
hurricane storm-surge protection.
Watchdogs
are citizens'
best friends The Town Talk Watchdogs"
have been barking at -- and biting -- government at all levels in the
United States since the Founding Fathers put the First Amendment on
paper. The
founders knew from experience that an aggressive press and an engaged
citizenry would be essential to this thing they called an experiment in
democracy. It was
true then, and it remains true today. The American people need
watchdogs -- the press, citizen-activists, good-government
organizations and more -- to monitor and scrutinize the who, what,
when, where, why, how and how much of that which elected and appointed
officials do in the name of the public. It's a
tall order, one that works best when citizens are doing their part.
"Their" part starts with caring enough about their community, whether
for self-centered or civic-minded reasons. The reasons behind the
motivation to get involved are secondary.
Budget
hike
scrutinized --- Major costs going up: Fuel,
trash service, grass trimmingRICHARD
BURGESS The proposed City-Parish Public
Works Department budget for next year was bumped up by $3.2 million
over last year, mainly for increased fuel expenses, a rise in the
contract for trash service and a new project to keep grass trimmed
along the interstates. The City-Parish
Council is reviewing the administration’s proposed budget
line-by-line during public hearings over the next two months. The
administration’s total proposed public works budget is $36
million, the bulk of which goes to general operations, road and
drainage work, and capital improvement projects, such as $950,000 to
replace two now-closed bridges on Robley and Cannan drives, $500,000 in
repairs on Ambassador Caffery Parkway and $450,000 for sidewalk
upgrades and installation. Sidewalks
generated some of the more lively discussion of all the proposed line
items, with council members saying the need is widespread across
Lafayette. The
budget
proposes $100,000 for sidewalk renovations downtown and $350,000 for
sidewalks in the Brentwood subdivision off Johnston Street.
Cravins
receives 'Blue Dog' backing --- State senator wins support of
key D.C. groupAna Radelat Conservative
"Blue Dog" House Democrats endorsed state Sen. Don Cravins
Jr. on Thursday to boost his campaign against U.S. Rep. Charles
Boustany, a sign the race is getting more competitive. Blue Dog Coalition co-chairman,
U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., said Cravins met the litmus test to win
the endorsement - fiscal conservatism, "small-town" values and the
right voting record as a state senator. The group of 47 House Democrats
grew in number and influence after the 2006 elections and likely will
help Cravins raise money in his race against Boustany, a Republican
from Lafayette.
Parent
sues to stop bus route changesJASON
BROWN The parent of a gifted and
talented high school student requested a
temporary restraining order Thursday afternoon against the Lafayette
Parish School system, seeking to stop changes to bus routes that could
affect as many as 1,000 families. “I
am trying to make
the School Board retract their proposed bus routing changes, which
would deprive Gifted and Talented and Schools of Choice students from
having transportation services similar to those they had in the 2007-08
school year,” said attorney Randal P. McCann, who is
representing the family. McCann
filed the
restraining-order request on behalf of Jimmie Johnson, whose daughter,
referred to as K.J. in court filings, has been in the
parish’s Gifted and Talented program for five years. K.J.
will be a freshman in Lafayette High School’s Gifted and
Talented Program this year. According
to
court filings, the new bus routes offer K.J. a morning pick up bus stop
that is two miles away from her Carencro home and a drop-off point that
is four miles away.
New
job awaits (Bruce
Conque) at chamberRICHARD
BURGESS City-Parish
Councilman Bruce Conque is resigning Oct. 1 to take a
marketing and public affairs position at the Greater Lafayette Chamber
of Commerce. Conque,
who made the announcement Wednesday, said he expects the time
commitment of his new job would detract from his work on the council. Conque,
who describes himself as a “very young 62,” has in
the past expressed an ambition to run for city-parish
president. He said
Wednesday that he is happy with the job Durel is doing and that his
work with the chamber will sidetrack any political plans for the
immediate future. “At
one time I wanted to be parish president, and I’m not ruling
that out,” Conque said.
Road
funds planned for each districtRICHARD
BURGES
The
city-parish
administration on Tuesday proposed a
budget up 15 percent from last year, a boost credited to conservative
spending
in years past and a robust local economy. The $635 million budget sets
aside
money for employee raises, new police cars, the design of a new animal
shelter,
and more roads and drainage projects than in recent years.
Durel’s budget also calls for
$225,000 to hire two staff members to develop a comprehensive plan for
Lafayette Parish — a set of regulations and rules for guiding
growth and
development.
The plan has been slow in the
making and exists only on paper as a series of recommendations on such
issues
as traffic planning, drainage and land-use policies.
Durel said he might seek money for
two more staff members at midyear if the need arises, but he said
funding could
be withdrawn if he does not see results.
Making
a Better GradeThe CABLWire Fitch
Ratings says it decided to upgrade Louisiana’s credit rating
because of the state’s recent financial performance and
management, growing reserves and continued economic expansion.
That’s all good news because it means Louisiana is doing the
right things to keep its fiscal house in order. Obviously, we have
additional revenues because of the economic activity surrounding the
state’s ongoing hurricane recovery and spikes in oil and gas
prices. But other things
have contributed to our improved posture. Many of them are the results
of reforms which CABL has advocated and seen implemented over the
years:
Women
Power --- The
League of Women Voters continues
to do its
part to improve the communityCheré
Coen The
19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving women the right to
vote, was ratified in 1920. Six months before that historic vote on
Aug. 18, when Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment
effectively making it law, a group of women met at the National
American Woman Suffrage Association.
One
of those women, Carrie Chapman Catt, created a "mighty political
experiment" to help women in what would be their new roles as voters.
Catt organized the League of Women Voters, a group that would remain
non-partisan but help educate voters and shape public policy, according
to the League's Web site. Since
then, the League of Women Voters has worked to improve schools,
immunize children, expand public transportation, host discussions on
elections and public policy and encourage the electorate to be educated
and vote, among many other issues.
In
Lafayette, a newly reorganized League focuses on voter services (voter
registration, election schedules online, etc.), voter education
(candidate forums) and programs of policy and study. Last year's
program to examine Lafayette Parish school facilities and the
subsequent "State of Our Schools" video and written study resulted in
the Lafayette Parish School Board creating the Community Coalition for
Lafayette Schools to further study the problem. After
months of meetings, the Coalition gave its report to the School Board
earlier this month that detailed $215 million in maintenance and
construction projects, with solutions to the myriad problems.
Legislators
complain about Jindal’s budget veto criteriaMICHELLE
MILLHOLLON Some legislators complained
Tuesday that Gov. Bobby Jindal’s
budget cuts unfairly targeted the urban areas of the state. A day earlier, Jindal purged
hundreds of legislative projects from the $29.9 billion state operating
budget. However, for the most part, he
left alone funding for small towns and villages that often is inserted
into the budget with little explanation of how the money will be spent.
For example, the governor
vetoed $10,000 to the city of Crowley for playground equipment, saying
the project should be funded from other sources. But Jindal did not touch the
$5,000 included for the rural north Louisiana village of Forest in the
current operating budget with no indication of the money’s
planned use in the legislation.
Former
legislator retaliates after Jindal cuts fundingWAFB.COM Some former legislators made
what you might consider a threat to Governor Bobby Jindal Tuesday. The
reaction came after Governor Jindal used his veto pen to cut funding
for hundreds of organizations. Some of those directors, who also happen
to be former legislators, say Jindal has now crossed them not once, but
twice. Cleo Fields, a former
congressman and state senator, runs the Louisiana Leadership Institute.
It is a non-profit organization that serves about 1,200 children. In
the past, Fields has received a total of about a million dollars worth
of taxpayer money for his organization. This year, however, Governor
Jindal cut him out completely. "We're going to have a governor who is
going to be ineffective for the next three years," Fields says. "Just
because you are doing good work does not mean you should rely on tax
dollars," the governor says.
New law
limits cell-phone use --- Ban on text
messaging among bills passed in
regular sessionMike Hasten Quit text
messaging while you're driving and tell your teenager to turn off the
cell while behind the wheel. Those are
just two of the many new laws that went into effect July 1 while no one
was watching. New
state
laws adopted this year generally go into effect Aug. 15 but many
carried specific dates for implementation. More than 50 specified July
1 and a number said they were effective upon signature of the governor.
Many
bills, such as the Stelly tax repeal by Sen. B.L. "Buddy" Shaw,
R-Shreveport, say they are effective upon the governor's signature but
are not to be implemented until later. Shaw's bill affects tax years
beginning on and after Jan. 1, 2009. Proposals
to limit the use of cell phones were some of the most discussed bills
of the legislative session. Numerous bills were filed but four made it
all the way the to governor's desk for signing into law.
Family
can't be
paid by campaigns
--- Parents
also face penalty for truancy
Ed Anderson Politicians would be barred
from paying relatives from their
campaign funds and the parents or guardians of elementary school
students could face a fine and community service work if their children
are late or absent from school more than five times in a semester,
under bills that Gov. Bobby Jindal signed into law.
City-parish
employees dispute back-pay dealAmanda
McElfresh Some
of the nearly 600 city employees named in the back-pay lawsuit have
filed letters objecting to a settlement reached in May. They will have
the chance to testify about the matter during a fairness hearing
Friday. At that time, 15th Judicial District Judge Ed Rubin is slated
to review the terms of the agreement and determine whether it is a fair
settlement. The city and attorneys for current and former police
officers, firefighters and city marshal's office employees settled the
9-year-old suit in early May. The suit was filed in March 1999 in
response to the city docking up to $300 per month from employees'
paychecks when a state supplemental pay raise kicked in. The terms call
for $2.2 million of the $7.5 million settlement to be paid up front
with funds from the prior year fund balance in the city general fund.
The remaining $5.3 million is slated to be paid out during the next six
years, in increments of $883,333.33 per year.
Prejean
tapped for Coastal Protection postThe
Independent Gov.
Bobby Jindal has signed into law legislation that seeks to better fold
Acadiana into coastal protection and restoration efforts, and has also
tapped a local name to help oversee the money side of the initiative. Frederick Prejean Sr. of
Lafayette, president of Empire Management, has been
appointed to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Financing
Corporation. The corporation is a major player, as it has the authority
to carry out
the financing, purchasing, owning and managing of the offshore royalty
money the state receives from the feds, which is already earmarked for
coastal efforts.
The Coastal
Protection and Restoration Authority's mandate is to develop, implement
and enforce a comprehensive coastal protection and restoration master
plan. For the first time in Louisiana's history, this single state
authority will integrate coastal restoration and hurricane protection
by marshalling the expertise and resources of the Department of Natural
Resources, the Department of Transportation and Development, and other
state agencies, to speak with one clear voice for the future of
Louisiana's coast. Working with federal, state and local political
subdivisions, including levee districts, the CPRA will work to
establish a safe and sustainable coast that will protect our
communities, the nation's critical energy infrastructure, and our
bountiful natural resources for generations to come. The CPRA of
Louisiana was established by Act 8 of the 1st Extraordinary Session of
2005
Resignations
continue:
State ethics laws take bite out of volunteer committeesDaily
Advertiser For the time being, there won't
be an official advisory commission for parks and recreation in
Lafayette Parish. Also
gone is a similar commission that oversaw Pelican Park in Carencro. Six
of the 11 members of the Metropolitan Expressway Commission are gone,
and the Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board is down to two
members, from a total of seven last week. In
all, more than 50 people turned in resignation letters to the Lafayette
City-Parish Council office by Tuesday morning in order to avoid having
to comply with new ethics laws that require members of such boards and
commissions to disclose financial data.
Author of pay raise bill comments
on veto --- WAFB
-- July 1, 2008 The
woman who spearheaded the hotly contested legislative pay raise bill at
the state Capitol says as far as she's concerned, it's a dead issue. Those
were the comments from state Senator Ann Duplessis, the lawmaker who
authored the pay raise bill, in the wake of Governor Bobby Jindal's
decision to veto it. Duplessis
was responding to a question about a possible effort by lawmakers to
override the veto. Duplessis
says that's not going to happen, but went on to express her
disappointment with Jindal's last minute decision to kill the pay raise.She says the governor went back
on his word and did something they were told he wouldn't do. "Every single time, we were
given the same promise, so to speak, the same assurance that he would
not get involved."Senator
Duplessis blames radio talk show hosts for much of the backlash over
the pay raise. Not
only did they fan the flames of discontent, in the end, she believes
they overstated public outrage with the proposal.
Personnel
change vital for Jindal
LANNY KELLER Bobby Jindal would be wise to
face his P.J. Mills Moment sooner than Buddy Roemer did. Jindal needs a
new chief of staff who can command the confidence shaken after the
administration’s first months. Admittedly,
this is ancient history to the young men and women of the Jindal
administration, but in June 1989 Roemer’s administration
sought to restore its credibility in the State Capitol with a new face
as chief of staff. Mills was a prominent businessman with experience in
government.
New
ethics laws drive scores of resignations --- Some
boards have multiple departures Times Picayune
Resignation
notices from members of state boards and commissions flowed into the
La. Secretary of State's Office by the score on Monday as the July 1
starting date approached for newly required financial disclosures for
public officials across Louisiana. In all, more than 120
appointed members of various boards or offices
had filed their resignations by the close of business Monday. Two
members of the Tangipahoa Parish School Board were the only elected
officials to resign.
Ethics
reform forces officials to resign board positions --- Volunteers
balk at releasing financial
dataDaily
Advertiser More than 20 volunteers, from
the Cajundome Comm-ission to the Carencro
parks commission, resigned Monday rather than disclose personal
financial information. "It's like a stampede off a
cliff," Broussard Mayor Charles Langlinais said of the resignations,
which included that city's economic development board. Midnight on Monday was the
deadline to resign from boards and commissions to avoid having to
comply with new ethics laws that require public disclosure of financial
data. Several boards were hit hard by
multiple resignations that may hinder their ability to conduct business
in the near future. Some of the volunteers said in
resigning that the new ethics laws ask too much of people who just want
to volunteer their time for their community. "I think it's an invasion
of
privacy, and it's not necessary to serve as a volunteer on a community
board or state board that you disclose all your financial interests or
your spouse's financial interests," said Elaine Abel, who resigned from
the Lafayette Metropolitan Expressway Commission.
$9.3
million in projects cut from supplement budgetAdvocate Gov.
Bobby Jindal on Monday vetoed state funding for laptop computers, the
elderly, Habitat for Humanity and an LSU-sponsored program that
produces protein. “Just
because these are good ideas does not necessarily mean they merit state
funding,” the governor said during a news conference at the
State
Capitol. “The state will never have a shortage of good ideas
looking
for state funding.”
Gov.
Jindal vetoes legislative
pay raiseAssociated
Press
Gov.
Bobby
Jindal said Monday that
legislators have "a right to be angry" with him for breaking his
promise and vetoing a bill that would have doubled their salaries.
The
veto
announcement came after the pay raise infuriated
voters, leading some to file recall petitions against the governor and
two of
his top allies in the Legislature. Jindal said he should not have
promised
lawmakers that he'd withhold his veto pen. "Today I
am
correcting my mistake," Jindal said. The announcement came two
weeks after lawmakers
approved the pay raise bill.
Board
members given disclosure guidelinesThe
Advocate The
Lafayette City-Parish
Council sent out notices Friday advising members of local boards and
commissions that they face new financial disclosure guidelines
beginning next week. Ethics
legislation passed this
year requires members of many boards and commissions to file personal
financial statements with the state, unless those members step down
before Tuesday. City-Parish
Council Chairman Don Bertrand said notices went out Friday to the
appointed members of such groups as the Cajundome Commission, the
Lafayette Airport Commission and the Downtown Development Authority.
Bertrand
said he has yet to hear from any board members or commissioners who
plan to resign rather than adhere to new financial reporting
guidelines, but that might be because the extent of the new reporting
requirements are not generally known. “The
phone is going to start ringing on Monday,” Bertrand said. He
said notices were sent out to more than 100 commissioners and board
members.
New
rules considered --- Planners draft requirements for mobile home parksRichard
Burgess The look of new mobile home
parks in Lafayette
Parish would change dramatically under new regulations being drawn up
by city-parish planners. A draft of the proposed
regulations sets out requirements for
sidewalks, paved driveways, a sight-proof fence around the park and
recreation space. The
changes are being pushed by City-Parish Councilman Purvis Morrison
from the Scott area. Morrison said the need for stricter mobile home
regulations has become more acute with the increasing development of
rural areas. Who's
pushing the buttons? --- Legislators voting in others' absence
--- Legislators Pressing Each Other's ButtonsCaroline
Moses You might still be angry about
the pay raise legislators gave themselves and another circumstance
we've come across may irk you, too. 9NEWS has learned some legislators
voted on two, three, or even four machines at a time during this
session because other legislators were not in the chamber. Some of them
were not even in the state. We saw Representative Barbara
Norton of Shreveport pushing not one, not two, but three machines on
one vote. Then, she directs Representative Rickey Hardy of Lafayette to
catch another one she can't quite reach. This practice of pushing other
legislators' buttons is not new. "They used to do it with golf clubs
and a putter and things like that. Now, they have more sophisticated
clubs to push the buttons," says Barry Erwin with the Council for a
Better Louisiana.
Cravins
challenges Boustany --- La. senator to make bid for CongressPatrick
Courreges State
Sen. Don Cravins Jr., D-Opelousas, on Wednesday
formally announced his run for Louisiana’s 7th Congressional
District seat.Cravins, a lawyer, has said for
several weeks that he was likely to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep.
Charles
Boustany Jr., R-Lafayette, and is the first announced opponent for
Boustany. Cravins
said
incumbents are
increasingly being defeated in elections nationwide and people across
the
country are ready for change. “Washington, D.C., is
a complete
and utter mess,” he said. Cravins said he
intends to run on
his record in the state Legislature of dealing with issues such as
working for
tax cuts and trying to improve job prospects and health care in the
state. Clear Presidential
crimes
Kucinich.us So says Constitutional law
expert Jonathan Turley in an interview with MSNBC’s Keith
Olbermann about Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s 35 Articles of
Impeachment against President George W. Bush – a document
that Olbermann calls “a remarkably lengthy and thorough
record of high crimes and misdemeanors
Lafayette
appeals
flood mapsRichard
Burgess The
city-parish government has submitted an extensive
appeal of proposed flood maps that identify large areas of parish as
floodways,
a designation that could frustrate future development. The
Federal Emergency Management
Agency notified the city this week that the agency has received the
appeal
documents, City-Parish Public Works engineer Larry Broussard said.
Do
these words sound familiar? “So,
I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your
chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it,
and stick your head out and yell . . ."I’m
as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this
anymore!”
The
year was 1976 and the movie was “Network”. Howard
Beale was addressing the public in a radio talk show on the high cost
of living, increase in violent crime, poor air quality, and
unemployment rate. Ironically, he addresses the fact that writing your
congressman will be of no effect.
Talk
about history repeating itself. It’s almost prophetic for our
current scenario in Louisiana and specifically in East Baton Rouge
Parish. Baton Rouge is the state capital and home to legislators who
just chose to totally ignore the voters plea and give their self a pay
raise. Governor Jindal is also playing the absentee landlord by
claiming he will also reject the citizen’s cry to veto the
bill by ignoring that option and allowing it to automatically become
law. This, along with violent crime, captures the first ten minutes of
our nightly news in the Red Stick.
Groups,
PACS, and recall notices are slowly forming against the blatant
lawmakers who erroneously believe that Huey P. Long’s cry
‘Every Man a King’ applies only to their selves!
Regardless
of their indifference to voters, we should still make our voice known
in the voting booth as well as writing and joining forces with capable
groups that plan to combat excess spending in government. Take a few
minutes and write Governor Bobby Jindal to voice your concerns on
issues such as the legislative pay raise. Whatever you do, just get
involved. Talk. Write. Email. Call. Voice your opinion now and in the
voting booth in upcoming elections.
Go
ahead! Get up out of your chair! Throw the window of communication
open! Holler at your elected officials and get mad as hell and tell
them you are not going to take it anymore!
Debunking
the Pay Raise Lies
LegeWatch
Representative
Jim Tucker and quite a few
others are attempting to defend themselves by saying that they are only
paid $16,800 per year. This is not true. They actually take home a
great deal
more than that. The Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana has
the facts
on what they actually
get.
Greyhound
officials say
they will proceed with a
planned bus station on Moss Street, despite the City-Parish
Council’s vote
Tuesday to repeal a zoning change for the site.
Greyhound spokesman Dustin Clark
said the company is still open to an alternative but will move forward
with
work at the Moss Street site until legally blocked from doing so.
“It appears there is a legal
ambiguity with the decision,” Clark said of the
council’s vote, made at a
meeting packed with opponents of the Moss Street bus station.
The legal issues may soon come to a
head, because city-parish government is moving to rescind permits for
work at
the Moss Street site.
Councilman Kenneth Boudreaux, who
pushed for the zoning change, said he will ask for a cease-and-desist
order
against Greyhound if work does not stop.
FRIDAY
THE 13TH OF JUNE, 2008: THE DAY THE LA. LEGISLATURE SOLD OUT THE PEOPLE As
Moon Griffon said, on the morning of June 13, 2008, the Louisiana
Legislature is giving the people of Louisiana a new state bird to
replace the Brown Pelican, and that new bird is the middle finger. I
predict that the irony of voting for SB 672 on an unlucky Friday the
13th, will come back to haunt those legislators who voted for it when
they face reelection. I know that this blog and many others will
refresh your memory of this slap in the face come next election.
House OKs bill to double salary
instead of tripling itMARSHA
SHULER Reacting
to public outcry and threats of recall, members of the House approved a
legislative pay raise plan Friday that more than doubles —
instead of triples — their base salary. The
amended plan, passed on a close vote, proposes a $20,700 increase in
lawmakers’ base pay — putting it at $37,500
effective July 1. Lawmakers’ total compensation package would
hit nearly $60,000.Legislators would still be guaranteed annual
increases in their base pay — without future votes. Future
raises would be tied to changes in the Consumer Price Index.The
original plan, approved by the Senate, would have translated to a
compensation package of some $70,000 annually for
rank-and-file lawmakers. It had tied legislative pay to that
of U.S. congressmen with increases in those salaries triggering one for
state lawmakers. Gov.
Bobby
Jindal said after the vote he remains opposed but will do nothing to
stop the raise from going into effect if approved by the
Legislature.“Even though they reduced it, I still think
it’s too much,” Jindal told reporters who
questioned him at a Lake Charles appearance.“There is still
time for them to turn back. They will have to answer directly to the
people,” Jindal added in statement issued by his office.
SB
672 - Legislative Pay Raises Looming!!La.
Action Council Believe
it or not, Senate Bill 672, which would triple the annual salaries of
Louisiana
Legislators, is only one step away from final passage. Within
the past 36
hours, it has passed the full Senate and then a House
Committee. In the
coming days, SB 672 will be heard on the floor of the House of
Representatives. We urge you to take a moment, call your
Representative
and tell them how you feel about the pay raise. Click here to find out
who represents
you in the House of Representatives. Ever since the
day that SB 672 was filed the talk radio airwaves have been
burning up, the opinion and editorial pages have been full of comments,
and
citizens from around the state have been speaking their mind about this
legislation. We realize that our state House and Senate
members work
extremely hard for their constituents and for the state of Louisiana on
a daily
basis. They are committed public servants and we are not
trying to refute
that. However, is it necessary for them to receive such an
extravagant
raise?
We do not know the exact percentage of
Louisiana drivers who cruise around
in a Mercedes Benz but we are guessing
that the percentage of
Louisiana workers that have the power to triple their own salary is...
little
to none.
THE
BUZZ Times of Acadiana The
Good: At
the right time this time
--- The Bad: Cost
of lunch may go up
--- The Ugly: Father
indicted
Senate
Votes
Itself (& The House) A (Triple) Pay RaiseEd
Anderson With
no votes to spare, the Senate approved, 20-16, Senate Bill 672 by Sen.
Ann Duplessis, D-New Orleans, sending it to the House for debate. House
members cheered passage of the bill while watching the Senate
proceedings on their desktop television monitors. Duplessis told
reporters after the vote that Gov. Bobby Jindal will not veto the
measure, although he may allow her bill to become law without his
signature. "He takes a position of no position and has agreed not to
veto it," Duplessis said. "At a lunch today (Tuesday) he said he will
not veto it. Those are the words from his mouth."
N.P.
Moss sends
$3M repair bill
--- Attorney
says
builders owe system for school's mold problemTina
Marie Macias
N.P.
Moss Middle School's general
contractor and architectural firm are responsible for damages caused by
moisture leaking through the walls that forced school officials to shut
the
school down in the middle of the school year last year, said an
attorney hired
by the Lafayette Parish School Board to handle the issue.
On
May 22, a day after the board met
behind closed doors to discuss the status of Moss Middle, Ratcliff
Construction
Co. in Alexandria and architects Corne-Lemaire Group in Lafayette were
sent
letters telling them to pay the board almost $3 million in damages,
attorney
Paul McMahon said.
Legislative
revolt under wayMARK
BALLAR The
Louisiana House of Representatives on Thursday took its first
step towards ending generations of dominance by the state’s
governor.
Louisiana,
over the years, has
allowed its governor to control the Legislature, pick its leaders,
decide its
agenda. This is not the system the nation’s Founding Fathers
had in mind.Until
Thursday, few of the 104
members in the House had dared to publicly question Gov. Bobby
Jindal’s wants.
Still, they voted 100-0 on legislation — House Bill 582
— the governor’s
minions are working hard to sidetrack. HB582, among other things, would
allow
the Legislature to insert itself in the process of deciding how best to
spend
taxpayer dollars on construction projects.
Hundley could choose punishment Chris Williams spoke to at-risk
youth as part of his sentence of 60 hours of
community service for defacing public property while a city-parish
councilman. So,
what will
former Lafayette Police Chief Randy Hundley do after being sentenced to
100
hours for attempting to record his secretary's conversations?
That may be left
up to him.
A
series of
proposed high-rise, mixed-use developments could result in a
development boon
for downtown LafayetteThe Independent
Available:
1.8 acres of prime downtown real estate on the corner of Jefferson and
Main streets. Seeking developers interested in constructing a mixed-use
facility of commercial and residential space. Government assistance may
be available for property purchase. An ad similar to this
could soon be sent out to both local and national developers. The old
federal courthouse, at 705 Jefferson St., is being eyed as prime real
estate — and will likely end up being as one of a string of
proposed developments promising to reshape downtown. City-parish
officials are currently working on a plan to demolish the old
courthouse, likely along with two other aging adjacent structures
— the Acadiana Open Channel building on the corner of Main
and Lee streets and the old police building on Jefferson Street
— to clear the site for construction of a new high-rise
mixed-use development.
Obama's
moment a historic milestone
--- Illinois senator becomes
first black candidate to lead major party The principle that all men are
created equal has never been more than a
remote
eventuality in the quest for the presidency. But with the Democratic
nomination
finally in Barack Obama's grasp, that ideal is no longer relegated to
someday. Someday
is now. It
is a
history-makingmoment - though Obama is not necessarily the candidate
many might
have expected to make that history. He is the son of a black father
from Kenya
and a white mother from Kansas. He's too
young to remember the civil rights struggle, let alone to have been a
soldier
in the fight. Remarks
of
Senator Barack
Obama
Indy
Chose Wisely ... And The Louisiana Legislature Should TooJim
Brown Robert
Redford posed the question at the end of the movie, The Candidate,
which should have been asked by the newly elected Louisiana
Legislature: "What do we do now?" The new guys and gals in town started
off with a bang declaring a home run after a successful special session
on ethics reform. It was more like a double, but the public perception
was that they were on the right track. But now the question is being
asked, where they go from here? More specifically, are they resting on
their laurels?
With
just a little over three weeks to go until the current legislative
session comes to an end, the focus so far seems to be on Sazerac
cocktails, significantly higher automobile insurance rates, droopy
pants, lap dancing, a misguided effort to allow scatterbrained
(literally) motorcycle riders to go helmet less, and an unrealistic
effort to immediately wipe out the income tax at a cost of over $4
billion.
By
any objective measure, most of these proposals should go by the
wayside, and the focus should be on educating our kids, particularly at
a very young age. Yet the legislature, in its wisdom this week,
stripped from the Governor's budget some $14 million on new programs
for improving reading skills of pre-kindergarteners. To no avail, the
state superintendent of education point out that Louisiana ranks 50th
in the US by the National Assessment of Education Progress, which
measures key early learning skills. La.
Senate
votes to define lobbyistAP/Shreveport Times Responding to worries
that preachers, chamber of commerce representatives, secretaries
placing phone
calls for their bosses and other ordinary citizens might have to
register as
lobbyists just for talking to lawmakers or state officials, the
Louisiana
Senate voted 36-0 Wednesday for legislation aimed at defining what a
lobbyist
is. Senate
Bill 499, Sen.
A.G. Crowe, R-Slidell, identifies lobbyists
as those people who are
compensated to develop research for presentation to lawmakers to urge
passage
or defeat of legislation, or those paid to speak directly to
legislators to
influence the content of legislation. Double
Dippers -
Jeremy Alford Despite their demanding
jobs with the state, the
governor’s chief attorney and health secretary have managed
to find time to do a bit of moonlighting. Acadiana
legislators' slush funds, Vitter irony alert and moreThe Independent Staff Gov.
Bobby Jindal’s top staffers wear many hats — not
all of them in public — when it comes to their professional
lives. But during a watershed moment such as this, where disclosure
reigns supreme and executive officials are touted as
“superstars” by Louisiana’s Republican
governor, it’s surprising to learn that holding down a
carefully-cloaked second gig is something of a trend in the Jindal
administration. For
instance, Jimmy Faircloth, Jindal’s chief counsel who
supposedly abandoned his private practice to defend the executive
branch, is back in front of the bench arguing a case that has
absolutely nothing to do with his gubernatorial appointment or the
peoples’ work. Additionally, Alan Levine, secretary of the
Department of Health and Hospitals, recently wrapped up a three-month
$140,000 consulting contract that he balanced with his state-salaried
job.The
shared circumstances beg inquiries about the level of commitment
required for such high-level government positions. Surely the governor,
lawmakers and general public have expectations that high-ranking
officials focus solely on their jobs — and
shouldn’t any and all side work immediately be disclosed to
the public? Although
he didn’t offer a comment for this story, Jindal
apparently believes so, according to the first executive order he
issued after taking office in January. It calls for cabinet members to
disclose all financial dealings but doesn’t take effect until
Jan. 15 of the year following their original commission. The lapse
means any other peculiarities likely won’t come
to light
until after the fact. ACADIANA
LEGISLATORS’ SLUSH FUNDS Same old song, different dance.
Former Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco supposedly did away with slush
fund projects, and current Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal decried the pet
projects last year during his campaign. The criticism is a bipartisan
issue on the executive level, but the projects are still making their
way into the state budget — to the tune of more than $100
million as of this week.
A
Story Like No Other --- Louisiana"s African American Heritage
Trail For centuries,
African Americans in Louisiana have changed the world with their ideas,
art,
and action. From street corners and marketplaces to churches and
cafés to
universities and beyond—come visit the places that have
inspired generations of
Louisianians to add their unique flavor to the world.
Driving
Back Into Louisiana’s History The Louisiana African American
Heritage Trail begins in New Orleans before taking you through South
and
Central Louisiana and up to the friendly towns of North Louisiana. Walk
the
streets where jazz was born and discover the roots of this musical
form. Learn
about Homer Plessy's refusal to move from the "whites only" section
of a Louisiana rail car and the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that
followed.Tour stately plantations and learn about the slaves'
craftsmanship,
ingenuity, family life, and resistance. Visit the birthplace of Arna
Bontemps,
a leading writer in the Harlem Renaissance. Take a ride to Grambling
University, an institution that has produced not only world-class
football
players, but also teachers, business people, musicians, and leaders.
Visit the
town of Delta, Louisiana, birthplace of Madam C. J. Walker, who rose
from
poverty to become a giant in the cosmetics industry. There is so much
to see
and do and explore. And this is just the beginning. 10*10*10: Construction still
going strong in Lafayette Jan Risher (Times of
Acadiana 5-21-2008) -- WHAT ????
Though
construction in Lafayette is below last year's record-setting rate, the
numbers
for both residential and commercial building are still strong,
according to
Jeff Larcade, planner II with Lafayette Consolidated Government's
Planning,
Zoning and Codes Department. "There's
a 32 percent
decline in total valuation in new home construction," says
Larcade.
"And a 27.5
percent decrease in the number of new residential
permits." The
average price of new
homes built in Lafayette thus far in the fiscal year is $134,144,
compared to
$143,781 last year at this time. "That's
a 7 percent
decrease in value -- based upon square footage, so the
assumption for us is
that we are building smaller houses," says Larcade. "Which means
we're not building the 2,500 square foot house in Walker's Lake. We're
building
the 1,900 square foot house in Legend Creek." Larcade
says the total
valuation in residential alterations is up 27 percent, even though the
number
of residential
alterations is down. "We're
actually doing
well in commercial," Larcade says. "Though the total valuation is
lower this year, that's misleading. Overall, there's a 20 percent
decline.
But,
commercial, excluding apartments, is actually up 14 percent from $63
million
last year to $71.5 million this year." Victory
or Bust?Mike
Stagg Will
Louisiana Democrats be part of the victory parade or engage in
coalition demolition?A
combination of the Louisiana Democratic Party's past sins against and
an ongoing indifference to the interests of its African American base,
together with a profound misreading of the meaning of Obama's victory
by some African American politicians have put even Cazayoux's newly-won
seat in jeopardy, let alone possible gains in other districts. (This
piece was originally posted at Louisiana d2d).
More
editorial upheaval at Times of AcadianaScott
Jordan In
what’s
become a familiar pattern at The Times of Acadiana, another editor is
jumping ship. This time it’s Managing Editor Jan Risher, who
becomes the fourth editor in four years to disappear from the masthead.
Risher’s farewell
column in Sunday’s Daily
Advertiserwas an
unfortunate microcosm of The Times’ muddled, error-ridden
mishmash. Despite an admirable goal — thanking readers and
praising good journalists and quality journalism — Risher
misspelled traiteur repeatedly throughout the column, then tossed off
this line: The
jobs of journalists aren’t made any easier by the sleaze bags
out there, but please know that there are journalists working in
Lafayette who practice every day ethics that even
reformed-Jindalized-Louisiana-legislators should aspire to achieve. DEMOCRATS
RECRUITING CRAVINS JR. TO RUN AGAINST BOUSTANY
The Independent --- Administrator The national Democratic Party
is putting the full court press on state Sen. Don Cravins Jr. to
challenge incumbent Republican Charles Boustany in the 7th
Congressional District. “I’d like
to run as a Democrat,” Cravins says. “But right
now, I’m more concerned over the decision of whether
I’m going to run or not. [The Democratic Party] has been
talking to me about things I really wanted to hear the party talk to me
about. I’m going to be traveling to D.C. in the next two
weeks and I’ll make up my mind very shortly.”
Cravins says he has been contacted directly by both DCCC Chairman Chris
Van Hollen and House Majority Whip James Clyburn. While in D.C.,
Cravins also plans to meet with former Louisiana Senator and 7th
District Congressman John Breaux, who also has reached out to
him.
Advice
to Jindal from Uncle EarlJohn Mcginnis
The
Jindal administration is wrangling with the Legislature over how
many of
the thousands of documents that flow through the governor's office
should be open
to public view. It's an area where this governor shares much in common
with his
predecessors, including those like Earl Long, who had more to
hide. A
far-reaching bill that would make public most of
the records in the
governor's office so concerned executive counsel Jimmy Faircloth that
he
imagined it would lead to staffers ceasing to write anything down and
only
communicating verbally. It
wouldn't be the first time, for Uncle Earl once
famously instructed, "Never write down what you can
say on the phone. Never phone what you
can
say face to face. Never say would you can nod. Never nod what you can
wink.
Never wink what you can smile."
A
Business-Friendlier Environment
Gregg
Gothreaux
It’s
no secret that
the business climate in Lafayette is pro-growth and entrepreneur
friendly. Locals have been very successful in opening businesses
offering any imaginable good or service. However, while locals see
first-hand the vibrancy of Lafayette’s economy, what about
out-of-state entrepreneurs and corporations looking to expand
— will they be able to see past Louisiana’s
historically unfriendly business environment to catch a glimpse of an
emerging, friendlier state? As economic developers, we understand that
Lafayette cannot and does
not operate in a vacuum. We’re a part of the whole of
Louisiana, and we often have to cope with unfavorable obstacles whether
real or perceived. Lafayette’s competitive advantage lies not
only within the parish lines, but within the state boundaries. In order
for Lafayette to be competitive with cities like Mobile, Louisiana must
be competitive with Alabama. One of the biggest burdens for Louisiana
is the business tax system. Taxes matter to business, and those states
with the most competitive tax systems will reap the benefits of being
seen as business-friendly.
Either
Louisiana is the “gold standard of
ethics”, or it's not.Stephen
Sabludowsky
If
we do what Governor Bobby Jindal wants, in this
year of the Olympics, we’re not even a
“silver”.Which
means when he goes on national television or
makes a National Rifle Association appearance as he did this weekend,
and when
he touts how Louisiana
has changed,he’d
better not be wearing
a straight face. According
to Team Jindal, it’s alright for the
legislature and other agencies not within the executive branch to be
open to
the public, but not the executive branch which he controls.
There
is a debate occurring in the legislature over
how much of the Governor’s records should be protected from
public access.One
bill is being championed by Rep. Wayne
Waddell who wants substantial transparency but with a few exceptions.Another bill by Team
Jindal wants a
substantial blanket over matters written by the administration.I say, “let the
sun shine in”, as much as
possible.Governor
Jindal said during
his campaign, during his victory speech, his inaugural, his many
speeches
leading up and after the ethics legislative session that he serves the
people
and not the other way around.He
said
his administration would be that of transparency.Now that he is in power, the
words are ringing
hollow.
Redflex
Challenges private investigators rulingNathan
Stubbs Attorneys for Redflex Traffic
Systems, the vendor for
camera traffic enforcement programs in Lafayette and Baker, have filed
a slew
of legal challenges to a ruling last week from the Louisiana State
Board of
Private Investigator Examiners. At a May 13th hearing, the LSBPIE ruled
that
Redflex’s SafeSpeed program van operators are acting as
private investigators
and therefore must be licensed under state regulations. On Friday
afternoon,
Redflex filed a motion for judicial review asking the 19th District
court to
rescind the ruling. “We’re not doing P.I.
work,” says Redflex attorney Max
Kees. “And we’re not holding ourselves out to offer
our services to the public.
CRAVINS
MIGHT
RUN AS DEMOCRAT AGAINST BOUSTANYLa. Political
Weekly 5-16-2008
Sen. Don Cravins Jr., D-Opelousas, is being heavily courted by national
Democrats to challenge Congressman Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, and
to
abandon his earlier plan to run as an independent. Cravins acknowledged
that the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee had offered early financial aid and help with strategy. "In
the
next two weeks I will have a definite decision," he said.
Severe
Dammage in the Oil Center and ScottR.
Reese Fuller The
National Weather Service says two storms that ripped through Scott
and Lafayette's Oil Center this morning appear to be
tornadoes.Sam
Shamburger with the National Weather Service in Lake Charles says
there are reports of a tornado in the Oil Center and one near Scott
that both struck between 6:30 and 6:45 a.m. In Scott, 20 homes are
believed to be damaged, along with downed trees and power lines. In the
Oil Center, there's structural damage to buildings, roofs were blown
off, trees are down, and windows were blown out.
Jindal
signs removed from KenilworthTimothy
Boone Signs designating Kenilworth
subdivision as the boyhood home of
Gov. Bobby Jindal have been removed because of repeated acts of
vandalism. An
official with the subdivision's civic association says it was
unfortunate that
vandals damaged the signs so much. Kenilworth residents raised money
for the
wooden sign, which was put up not long after Jindal was sworn in. Jindal
agrees to eliminate Stelly plan's tax increases --- Starting
Jan. 1,
rates
would fall to 2002 levelsJan
Moller
Facing growing momentum for
some sort of tax cut, Gov. Bobby Jindal and
legislative leaders agreed Wednesday to roll back the 2002 Stelly plan
income
tax increases starting in 2009. The
deal emerged after
several days of backroom negotiations and appears to defuse a
politically
tenuous situation for Jindal, who did not initially embrace a tax cut
even
though the state treasury is brimming with record
revenue. Although
the agreement
still needs ratification from the Legislature, Jindal's support makes
approval
of a tax cut likely before the session adjourns June 23.
SEN
DORGAN: THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SHOULD NOT STAND FOR THIS!
BATON
OUGE CHAMBER:
INCREASE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FUNDSGARY
PERILLOUX The Baton Rouge Area Chamber
formally backed several initiatives
of the Jindal administration this week to ramp up state economic
development
efforts, including requests for $307 million more in deal-making money
for big
projects and a nearly $8 million increase to the Governor’s
Rapid Response
Fund. Stephen
Moret,
the Louisiana
Economic Development secretary, left the Baton Rouge chamber in January
to head
the state’s economic development work for Gov. Bobby Jindal.Through
a
strategy paper released
this week, BRAC says the additional money is needed to advance its
nine-parish
region as well as the entire state
ELIMINATING
LOUISIANA'S INCOME TAX WILL HARM THE
STATE'S BUDGET OUTLOOK, COMPETITIVENESSCenter
on Budget and Policy Priorities On
April 29, the Louisiana
Senate voted to phase out the state’s income tax over 10
years without
proposing any replacement revenues. The House Ways and Means
Committee is
expected to consider this proposal, along with others that would
significantly
cut the income tax but not eliminate it, on Monday May 12.
The
desire to cut taxes
seems to be precipitated by a particularly rosy fiscal outlook in the
state, as
unprecedented high energy prices and post-Katrina construction have
allowed
Louisiana to largely escape the fiscal woes most other states currently
are
experiencing.Few experts, however,
expect oil and gas prices to
remain as high as they are now; the post-storm construction eventually
will
come to an end and already shows signs of tapering. Great
care should be
taken to consider the impact of a permanent elimination of the income
tax on
public services and the quality of life in the state. In
addition,
research suggests that the long-term competitiveness of a state
requires strong
infrastructure, schools, and amenities that the elimination of the
income tax
would put at risk.
Baton
Rouge: New
downtown
mixed-use development unveiledCHAD CALDER Developer Pete Clements has
unveiled
details of
River Park, his
planned $600 million mixed-use development near Hollywood Casino on the
north
side of downtown Baton Rouge. Clements said River Park, first
discussed about a year ago, is a 10- to 15-year project that will
ultimately
include a 280-room, major flag hotel, an extended-stay hotel, 800 to
1,200
residential units, 250,000 square feet of retail space, 650,000 square
feet of
office space, 6,000 parking spaces and a 600-seat amphitheater along
the
riverfront.The
project will add the equivalent of 10-12 new city blocks to downtown
and is a
“new vision for the northern Mississippi
riverfront.”Holden
said the development will
create 200 to 300 construction jobs for the life of the project,
600-800
full-time jobs and 150-200 part-time jobs.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAPPY
MOTHER'S DAY TO ---- OLA PREJEAN
A Mother Extraordinaire
----- We Love You
We wish all
mothers profound happiness on this day and forever
Mills
Addition in
transition
Amanda
McElfresh
Martin
Latiolais
remembers when he moved into his Monroe Street home nearly 30 years
ago. The
area was quiet,
filled with quaint shops and friendly neighbors. Second Street, which
extends
from the Evangeline Thruway and eventually turns into Congress Street,
wasn't
yet built. People could easily walk to and from their homes and
businesses for
casual chats and company. "Back
then, it was
a small community," Latiolais said. "This was the nicest subdivision
in Lafayette. People knew each other, and it was just real friendly."
John
Finley, who moved
to the area about a year ago, still sees traces of that spirit today.
"I
love the
neighborhood. My neighbors are really, really kind," Finley said.
"There's a lot of people who have been living there for a while. It has
a
nice feel to it, and I think it's unfortunate what is happening around
there."
Latiolais
admits he
could move elsewhere in the city. But instead, he's chose to remain in
the
place he's called home for three decades and try to fight to rebuild
the area. "This
is my
neighborhood, and it's a good neighborhood," he said. "But it's a
neighborhood we feel needs some help." 'This
is disgraceful'
Known
as Fightin'ville
by local police officers and officials, and Mills Addition by
residents, the
area encompasses much of an area south of the railroad tracks and
between
Second and Simcoe streets.
Proposal
would limit red-light cameras --- Jeanerette senator's legislation
would ban photos of
motorists from
front Cameras
that take
pictures of
cars that run red lights should not be aimed at the front of the
vehicles and
show the driver and passengers, said state Sen. Troy Hebert,
D-Jeanerette.Hebert's Senate Bill
396, which was approved by the Senate Local and Municipal Affairs
Committee on
Thursday, would limit Redflex, the company contracted by
Lafayette and
several
other Louisiana cities to catch red-light runners, to taking photos of
only the
backs of cars as they drive through intersections when the traffic
light is
red.Hebert said he considers
it a "total invasion of privacy" for the government to photograph
drivers and their passengers and a photo of the license plate is all
that is
necessary to identify a vehicle.
Who
Will
Tell the People?
Thomas L. Friedman Traveling
the country these past five months while writing a book, I’ve
had my own
opportunity to take the pulse, far from the campaign crowds. My own
totally
unscientific polling has left me feeling that if there is one
overwhelming
hunger in our country today it’s this: People want to do
nation-building. They
really do. But they want to do nation-building in America.
Moss
Middle will reopen
--- Some grades to move back in
fall; work slated through 2009PATRICK COURREGES
Lafayette
Parish School Superintendent Burnell Lemoine
on Wednesday announced that N.P. Moss Middle School will partially
reopen in
the fall. He told the Lafayette Parish School
Board that about 20 classrooms will be ready for use in the fall and he
intends
to move the sixth and seventh grades back into the building.
The eighth-grade students assigned
to Moss Middle will remain at Northside High School, likely for the
entirety of
the 2008-09 school year, Lemoine said.
History
is made by those who do not go blindly into the night.
Lately, I
have seen the citizens of Lafayette refusing to go blindly into the
night, and
it is good. What exactly is the state of our
parish? Certainly, it serves no purpose to ask the current
administration
because the administration does not like to answer the questions.
Stonewall
JindalJeremy
Alford National
onlookers might be impressed with the ethics of Gov. Bobby Jindal, but
here at
home his administration is earning a reputation for being anything but
transparent.
Publicly,
Jindal
maintains a schedule that favors tightly scripted speeches and
appearances to community groups and gatherings of supporters, spreading
an unwavering message of positive change that’s garnered him
approval ratings above 70 percent, his Leno sitdown and a speech last
week to Washington, D.C.’s National Press Club. Behind the
scenes, media and good-government groups like PAR scratch their
collective heads as they watch the transformation of
Louisiana’s Ivy League-educated Rhodes Scholar governor from
an engaging, serious policy wonk to a stonewalling, carefully protected
politician.
Prejean
- Concerned Citizens for Good Government MeetingFred Prejean I
Structure
Of the Commission II
Job
Of the
Commission III
Objective
of our
Comprehensive Plan Utilizing Smart Growth Principles and Land Use IV
Changing
the structure of the Planning Commission Ozone
ruling to
affect Lafayette - Official: Air won’t meet new
standardRICHARD
BURGESS
h could face
stricter pollution limits in coming years
when the federal government toughens air quality standards. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency announced in March it will lower the
limit for ozone pollution. The change is expected to shift most
metropolitan areas in Louisiana into a
“non-attainment” classification that brings with it
mandates to cut emissions from vehicles and factories. The
five-parish region around Baton Rouge is the only area out of
attainment with the current anti-smog standards, but the new
requirements could add another 21 parishes to that list, including
Lafayette and neighboring St. Martin, according to preliminary research
by the state Department of Environmental Quality.
Race for the
White House
Open
Secrets The
candidates
for president have broken nearly all fundraising records, amassing more
than $800 million even before the two major parties choose their
nominees for the November ballot. By some predictions, the eventual
nominees will need to raise $500 million apiece to compete—a
record sum.
Vehicle
ordinance ruling to be appealedRICHARD
BURGESS City-parish
government is mounting an appeal to a
judge’s ruling that shut down an enforcement program to
remove junked vehicles
from yards and streets. Fifteenth Judicial District Judge
Edward Rubin ruled in a judgment signed last month that the city-parish
junked
vehicle ordinance is unconstitutional, in part because it might
discriminate
against people who do not have a carport or garage. Plaintiffs’
request filed in
long-running Lafayette lawsuitRICHARD
BURGESS A
court-appointed accountant
set
the total amount owed at $12.4 million, but the emergency workers have
disputed
that as too low.The
workers have
now asked for
$11.4 million in wages, overtime and retirement plus another $7.2
million in
interest on the back wages, according to court filings this week.
City-parish
government and the
emergency workers have been arguing for months about what the price tag
should
be, and 15th Judicial District Judge Ed Rubin is expected to enter a
judgment
against the city on Wednesday if no settlement is reached before then. Cravins
Jr.
weighs party switch, Congressional runNathan
Stubbs State
Sen. Don Cravins Jr. is
considering a run for Congress in the 7th District, possibly as an
independent. “Right now, my wife and I are talking about
it,” he says. “I’m being contacted by the
DCCC [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee]. People are still
approaching me, even some Republicans in the district, asking me to
consider running. I’m considering it.” Thus far, no
candidate has emerged to face off against Republican Congressman
Charles Boustany, who is up for re-election this fall.
Cravins says he is also considering the possibly of running as an
independent, which would allow him to go directly on the November
ballot, bypassing a possible party primary in October.
Speaker
says time right for
‘re-engineering’ communitiesKEVIN BLANCHARD With high
gasoline prices looking
like the long-term norm, conditions are
right for a national re-awakening to the importance of redeveloping
areas in
urban centers, a national expert on the smart growth development
concept said
Thursday. Over the past several decades
developers have ignored areas inside cities —
which already have all the needed infrastructure in place, said Richard
Baron,
co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of the St. Louis firm
McCormack Baron Salazar.
Governments spend more and more
money to build highways to the outskirts of
town, resulting in high traffic and urban sprawl while spending less on
improvements like parks, schools and public spaces, Baron
said. But some communities are
beginning to realize the wisdom in urban in-fill
projects, he said, an idea Lafayette
should pursue.
Prejean's
address to LCG Council Fred
Prejean I’ve
heard expressed that "a broader base of opinions by
Commissioners is needed". If so,
why? For many years Lafayette has
enjoyed phenomenal growth. We’ve
experienced record setting residential growth as well as commercial
growth. Let
us be reminded that this growth has occurred under the present five
member
Planning Commission. However, the fast
pace of growth has now subsided. We see
this today in terms of the reduced number of development applications
the
Commission has reviewed in the last several months. With this lull in
growth,
the position that “the increasing number of decisions the
commission is charged
with making”, thus, justifying an increase in the number of
Commissioners
needed, is not a valid argument. The
Commission is in fact making fewer decisions pertaining to development
applications today than in the recent past.
Council
airs
amending charterRICHARD
BURGESS A
discussion about increasing the membership of the Lafayette Planning
and
Zoning Commission could lead to more far-ranging changes in the
structure of
City-Parish Government. Several City-Parish Council
members expressed an interest Tuesday in
researching changes to Lafayette’s home rule charter, a
blueprint of sorts for
the 1996 merger of city and parish governments.
Lafayette
Planning & Zoning Commission Warrenn Caudle
Most people never hear a thing
about the Lafayette Parish Planning Zoning & Commission but it
has hit the news a few times lately. A few months ago there was some
sort of unruly out burst or temper tantrum from then commission
chairman Fred Prejean. Upon further examination it seems that the
charges against Mr. Prejean were very over rated. There was blame on
both sides.
City
panel could expand
Amanda
McElfresh The
Lafayette
City-Parish Council plans to discuss Tuesday the possibility of adding
members to the Planning Commission. Currently,
five people sit on the commission, which must approve rezonings and
other developments. Council Chairman Don Bertrand, who placed the item
on Tuesday's agenda, said that number of people on the commission
doesn't match the amount of growth and development in the area.
Mobile
home parks on
hold
RICHARD BURGESS City-Parish
government will
issue no permits for mobile home parks in rural areas of the parish for
six months while planners work on more comprehensive regulations for
the developments.The
Lafayette City-Parish Council placed the moratorium on new permits this
week at the urging of District 1 Councilman Purvis Morrison, who said
he wants regulations for mobile home parks similar to those for regular
subdivisions.Morrison, a newly elected
council member from the Scott area, said he has seen countless mobile
home developments quickly deteriorate after opening.“I’ve lived
in the rural areas all my life, and it’s always been a
problem,” Morrison said. “… When they
first put them up, it looks pretty good, but without any regulations
they are falling apart.”
Thrown
Under the Bus
Nathan Stubbs
Neighborhood activists, Greyhound and Lafayette Consolidated Government
continue to wrestle over a controversial 2007 zoning re-classification
— and the threat of dueling lawsuits raises the stakes even
higher. Councilman Kenneth Boudreaux doesn’t run into many
people
without a strong opinion on the future location of
Lafayette’s
Greyhound bus station. Many are adamant the station remain downtown;
others have suggested the old Delchamps building on Willow Street. But
Boudreaux’s constituents are nearly unanimous in their heated
opposition to Greyhound setting up shop in the old IberiaBank building
it purchased on the corner of Moss and Matthieu streets, across from
the old Northgate Mall Cinema.
U.S.
Chamber: Louisiana Has Nation's Second Worst Legal Climate Daily
Report (excerpt)
La. news Linc. Com
Louisiana has the nation's second worst legal system, and Orleans
Parish was ranked as one of the 10 least fair and reasonable court
systems in the country, according to a report released this morning by
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Louisiana dropped one spot on the
Chamber's annual legal rankings, which are based on a survey of more
than 950 corporate lawyers.
Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber, says the state has
taken some steps to improve its business climate, but more work needs
to be done, including a comprehensive look at fixing the lawsuit
system. "The best thing Louisiana can do to attract business is to have
a balanced legal system," he says. "An unfair legal system sucks the
life out of a state's economy. It slows business expansion, it kills
jobs and it takes money out of consumers' pockets." A separate survey
showed that 89% of Louisiana business owners think frivolous lawsuits
are a serious problem and 69% want the Legislature to enact tort reform
to protect businesses. West Virginia was ranked as having the worst
legal climate in the country, while Delaware topped the list.
Louisiana's legal climate is ranked as the second worst in the country,
according to Lawsuit Climate 2008: Ranking the States. A separate
survey of Louisiana business owners found 89 percent believe frivolous
lawsuits are a serious problem.
Another
meeting sought on
land use in
Lafayette
KEVIN BLANCHARD
The
Lafayette Planning
Commission is planning to meet with the City-Parish Council to deal
with planning and development issues. The
commission decided Monday to schedule a meeting — at the
request of commission Chairman John Barras.
Living
poor in
Louisiana --- Fiscal realities make it
tough to break poverty cyclePATRICK
COURREGES Living
poor is not the same as
living cheap. People living in — or
near — poverty and the people and agencies who work with them
say that the
add-on costs of poverty take a brutal toll on individuals and families
who are
just hoping to break even.Breaking even is
a growing concern
throughout Louisiana and the United States as high-and-rising gasoline
prices
continue and people at all income levels brace for an economic downturn.Higher
fuel prices have driven up
prices for other staple goods and services, and families are also
dealing with
increases in health and property insurance, as well as more-expensive
housing.The
increased cost of living for
everyone adds particularly to the strain on poor people, who already
pay more
for basic needs than their better-off fellow citizens.The latest
figures from the U.S.
Census Bureau show Louisiana has the second-highest poverty rate in the
nation
(behind Mississippi), with about 19 percent of people in the
state below
the poverty line.
Charter
amendment soughtKevin
Blanchard Council Chairman Don Bertrand
has asked the
administration to look into how quickly voters could act on amendments
to the
City-Parish Home Rule Charter. The
16-year-old
document was the
blueprint used to consolidate parish and city governments —
and though
officials over the years have expressed the need for changes, it has
never been
amended.Bertrand
said the first change that
should be addressed is increasing the membership of the Lafayette
Planning and
Zoning Commission.
Monday
planning meeting held offBob
Moser Developers
with cases up for review at Monday's Planning Commission meeting have
to wait another week, after commissioners chose to postponed
the meeting to draw attention to poor attendance by their peers. Some
developers with cases on the agenda weren't happy to be postponed, and
said their businesses can't simply be paused when
commissioners want to make a political
statement.
Commission,
council hold first meeting Members
of the Lafayette
Planning Commission on Tuesday asked the City-Parish Council to
consider enlarging the commission, as well as increasing funding to
help implement the parish’s comprehensive plan. The
council and commission held a joint meeting Tuesday — the
first such
meeting of its kind — at which the commission outlined to the
council
its duties and challenges. Eight of the nine councilmen
are in their first few months in office. The
commission last year adopted a comprehensive plan, a document full of
recommendations to better manage long-term growth throughout the
parish. But
the recommendations are
just suggestions, Commissioner Fred Prejean said. Last
year, the commission for the first time proposed a budget to help
implement the plan by developing the recommendations into actual
policies to be adopted by the council. The budget was not adopted. Prejean said the commission
plans to ask again this year.
Council
to get
planning update --- Commission to address
roles, issues Tuesday Daily Advertiser
The Lafayette City-Parish Planning
Commission will update the City-Parish Council on various aspects of
the parish's planning process at a Tuesday meeting. The
commission will first explain to the council the roles of the Planning,
Zoning and Codes department, the planning division of the Traffic and
Transportation Department and the Metropolitan Planning Organization in
planning efforts. In
addition, the commission will update the council on the Comprehensive
Plan and allow them to meet and discuss issues with the committees of
the planning commission.
Prejean
remarks
lead to dispute - Councilmen to hear audiotapeBob Moser
It will take a
few days before all city-parish councilmen can listen to an audiotape
from Monday's Planning Commission meeting, where a commissioner berated
two staff members.Two fellow commissioners asked the council this week
to suspend 11-year commissioner Fred Prejean for his remarks, and hold
a public hearing to remove him for possibly violating commission rules
of conduct. Prejean said he regrets his tone and his remarks
may have been rude, but were grounded in truth. The outburst stems from
years of frustration in trying to get a comprehensive plan finished for
the parish, he said.
Editorial:
Consider other options to prisonShreveport Times Being
No. 1, by most
accounts, is a positive thing. But being No. 1 when you're the state
with the highest incarceration rate in the nation is unsettling. What's
wrong with a society where so many people are locked behind bars? And
what about the cost to keep these individuals incarcerated? In 2007,
Louisiana paid the least per inmate at $13,009. The nationwide average
was $23,876 in 2005. Nationally, more than $49 billion was spent on
corrections in 2007.
Educated
GuessNathan
Stubbs The
Jindal administration has yet to
roll out the
details of its education reform plans. So why are teacher unions
already so leery? In November,
just weeks after his election as governor, Bobby Jindal
stood before a largely skeptical crowd at the L’Auberge du
Lac hotel and casino in Lake Charles. In his first public address since
the election, Jindal was the keynote speaker for the annual convention
of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, the state’s second
largest teachers union. For many members of the LFT, Jindal’s
appearance at the convention was significant in itself. During
the gubernatorial race, the LFT
backed Jindal’s Democratic
opponent, Foster Campbell, and admonished Jindal both for not
responding to its candidate questionnaire and for being the only major
gubernatorial contender not to attend its candidate forum in Baton
Rouge.
From Worship To War
---http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19635.htm
Reverend
Jeremiah Wright Sermon - Video (Information Clearing House) Coast
plan tackles issuesRICHARD
BURGESS
A revised coastal
restoration plan going to the
Legislature gives more attention to southwest Louisiana after
complaints of
neglect in this corner of the state. The Coastal
Protection and
Restoration Authority 2009 plan now includes $10.5 million in hurricane
protection projects in Cameron, Calcasieu Vermilion and other
southwestern
parishes — up from $1 million in the initial draft. Proposed
spending on
hurricane protection was the most notable disparity between southwest
and
southeast Louisiana in the initial plan, which met with criticism at
public
hearings on the western side of the state earlier this year. 2
Special Sessions Down; 1 Regular Session to GoThe
CABL Wire
On
Tuesday, the governor announced a comprehensive workforce
development reform package that he plans to push in the regular session
of the
Legislature that begins on Monday.
Calling it the “third step” to strengthening our
state following the
special sessions on ethics reform and strategic economic investment,
this
package is comprehensive and mirrors the recommendations CABL has
suggested for
workforce development.
Acadiana
delegation filled wtih
praise, ICF's $156 million raise and moreThe
Independent ACADIANA
DELEGATION FILLED WITH PRAISE FOR SESSION
With a $1.1 billion surplus fully spread around, how could area
lawmakers not be at least a little giddy returning to their districts
this week? That’s how much of your money was spent during the
seven-day special session that convened last Friday. More than $500
million was poured into roads and $300 million pegged
for coastal protections. Tax breaks were also doled out to parents and
businesses, and many regional ports received financial assistance.
“The Legislature as a whole came forward to improve the
business climate in this state. This session, in addition to the
progress made from the special session on ethics, has the future of our
state looking bright,” says Rep. Jonathan Perry, a Republican
from Abbeville who chairs the Acadiana Delegation.
League
releases video aimed at showing school conditions
PATRICK COURREGES
The League of
Women
Voters of Lafayette has released a video companion piece to the 79-page
report
it produced in late 2007 proclaiming Lafayette Parish public schools to
be old,
overcrowded and underfunded. Laynie
St.
Julien, an officer with
the league, said Friday that the purpose of the 10-minute video is to
give
everyone in the parish a chance to see what the conditions are like in
Lafayette’s public schools and to hear from the people
dealing with those
problems.
Richardson
Plans Obama
Endorsement
JEFF ZELENY and PATRICK HEALY
Gov. Bill
Richardson of New
Mexico, who sought to become the nation’s first Hispanic
president
this year, plans to endorse Senator Barack
Obama for the
Democratic nomination on Friday at a campaign event in Oregon. Mr.
Richardson, a former
congressman and energy secretary in
the Clinton administration, dropped out of the Democratic race in
January after
finishing behind Mr. Obama and Senator Hillary
Rodham Clinton in the
first nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. Since then, he has
been
aggressively courted by his former rivals. Mr.
Obama’s address on race in Philadelphia on Tuesday appeared
to
sway Mr. Richardson, who sent word to the senator that he was inspired
and
impressed by the speech, in which Mr. Obama called for an end to the
“racial
stalemate” that has divided Americans for decades. Aides said
the endorsement
was locked down over the following two days.
Lafayette council kills
ticket review planKEVIN
BLANCHARD The city-parish administration
is going back to the
drawing board after the Lafayette City-Parish Council on Wednesday
killed a
plan to use some of the proceeds from violations of the SafeSpeed and
SafeLight
programs to verify violations.
Population
numbers
doubtedKEVIN
BLANCHARD Population in the eight
Acadiana parishes grew by 4
percent from 2000 to 2007, according to U.S. Census estimates released
Wednesday. The
state’s overall population dropped 3.9 percent during the
same
time period. Lafayette Parish led the way
with an estimated increase of 7.6
percent — going from 190,323 to 204,843 residents —
but Lafayette officials
said Wednesday they’ve appealed the results as too low.
Since
Spitzer resigned, Vitter should, too Since
New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer announced his decision to resign from
office in
the wake of the revelation that he solicited the services of a
prostitute, U.S.
Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana should tender his resignation, too. That
seems to be the fair course of action for Vitter to take since his
brethren in the Republican Party took it upon themselves to exert their
moral
authority in calling on Spitzer to quit. Republicans, including elected
officials and paid hacks, demanded Spitzer step down not long after
news
surfaced that the FBI possessed a wiretap of the governor soliciting a
"hooker" to catch a train from New York to Washington to engage him.
CRAVINS
RUNNING FOR DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIRMANSHIPNathan
Stubbs (excerpt) 03-05-2008 Former state senator and
current Opelousas Mayor Don Cravins Sr. has thrown his hat in the ring
for the state Democratic party’s top leadership position. Cravins is among six candidates
seeking the chairmanship of the Democratic state Central committee,
along with current chairman and Baton Rouge attorney Chris Whittington,
Vacherie attorney Paul Aucoin, former state Rep. William Sumlin of
Simsboro, and Shreveport party officials Dr. Steve Kirkland and Larry
Ferdinand. The committee, which currently has 165 members from across
the state, will be voting to elect its new chairman on March 15.
Governor's
Call for 2008 2nd Extraordinary Session
By virtue of the authority vested in me by Paragraph B of Section 2 of
Article III of the Constitution of Louisiana, I, Bobby Jindal, Governor
of the state of Louisiana, HEREBY CALL AND CONVENE THE LEGISLATURE OF
LOUISIANA INTO EXTRAORDINARY SESSION to convene at the State Capitol,
in the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during twenty-one (21) calendar
days, beginning at 5:00 o'clock p.m. on the 9th day of March 2008, and
ending no later than 5:00 o'clock p.m. on the 29th day of March 2008.
Effort
to save UL
Horse Farm gains momentum-Push for city greenspace attracting supportersBob
Moser The grassroots effort to save
UL's Horse Farm property as green space appears to be gaining ground. Elizabeth
Brooks, member of the Save the Horse Farm organization, Monday updated
the Lafayette's League of Women Voters on the latest progress between
UL, Lafayette Consolidated Government and the volunteer group of
citizens who have rallied around dedicating the 100-acre property as
public green space. Brooks
told the group that during a recent talk with City-Parish President
Joey Durel, several options for purchasing the farm were discussed,
including rumors of a private benefactor buying the land from UL
(appraised in October at $5.7 million) and donating it to LCG.
Louisiana
Tightens
Its Ethics StandardsCenter
for Public Integrity A
bill passed during a special session of the
Louisiana State Legislature
makes substantial changes in the state's financial disclosure
standards, an
analysis by the Center for Public Integrity shows. The new
law, which takes effect in January 2009,
will provide more information
to the public about the personal financial interests of state
legislators and
public officials. The law earned 99 out of a possible 100
points on a
survey used by the Center to rank public disclosure requirements for
state
legislators and puts Louisiana's law on par with the nation's best
financial
disclosure laws.
State
Workforce and Economic Development Initiatives Governor
Bobby Jindal, Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis
Labor Secretary Tim Barfield, and Economic Development Secretary
Stephen Moret on Thursday announced workforce and economic development
initiatives included in the Governor’s upcoming budget which
will be released today.
Tax
Zone Proposed Kevin Blanchard A
city-parish planner
Thursday floated the idea of a large special taxing district along both
corridors of Interstate 10 and the future Interstate 49 to pay for
public improvements in those areas. The
“super TIF,” or tax incremental financing district,
could generate a
large amount of revenue to build frontage roads along I-10 and fund the
parks, paths, lighting, security and maintenance planned for the I-49
Connector.City-Parish
Planning Manager Mike Hollier, who said two groups are already looking
at the I-10 TIF and the I-49 action plan, has always called for some
sort of special taxing district.
Businesses
unite for upper LafayetteHeather
Miller North Lafayette business
owners are
teaming up in a renewed effort to further economic development and
serve as one
voice for business owners, residents and landowners who live in what
they call
the “upper Lafayette” area.The Upper Lafayette Economic
Development Foundation is made up of four officers, five board members
and
Executive Director Jan Swift, a local attorney and runner-up in the
City-Parish
Council District 4 race last fall. “The
foundation’s focus is to
provide a unified, positive voice for upper Lafayette, something that
has been
lacking in the past,” Swift said. “The group wants
to enhance the quality of
life for all people who live in upper Lafayette Parish.” Prejean
remarks
lead to dispute - Councilmen to hear audiotape Bob Moser It
will take a few days before all city-parish councilmen
can listen to an audiotape from Monday's Planning Commission meeting,
where a
commissioner berated two staff members. Two fellow
commissioners asked the council this week to suspend 11-year
commissioner Fred
Prejean for his remarks, and hold a public hearing to remove him for
possibly
violating commission rules of conduct. Prejean said he
regrets his tone and his remarks may have been rude, but were grounded
in
truth. The outburst stems from years of frustration in trying to get a
comprehensive plan finished for the parish, he said. Please Review --- Commission
to hear comprehensive plan --- Recommendations
look at parish growth
False
PretensesCharles Lewis
and Mark Reading-Smith Following
9/11, President Bush
and seven top officials of his
administration waged a carefully orchestrated campaign of
misinformation about
the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
Lawmakers:
Expand
ethics reform - Legislators want rules to
apply to governor, administrationMike
Hasten Gov. Bobby Jindal's decision to
restrict any ethics reforms in this special session to the Legislature
and no other branches of government has sparked resentment among
lawmakers and assurances that reforms that were prevented in this
session will arise in the next open session.
2
Ethics Bills Passed -
Jindal gets amended versionsMARK
BALLARD AND MICHELLE MILLHOLLON The Legislature on Friday
unanimously
approved Gov. Bobby Jindal’s
two headliner bills to change the state’s ethics laws.Each chamber
rewrote but did not
dramatically alter Jindal’s original proposals.All that needs
to be done now is
for each chamber to accept the other’s revisions.The 144
lawmakers went home for the
weekend to give staff time to work out final wording on which both the
House
and Senate can agree.Jindal said
Friday he was satisfied
with the shape of two of his key measures.The House voted
not to accept the
Senate’s changes to House Bill 1. But House Speaker Jim
Tucker, R-Terrytown,
said he and two other representatives will work with the Senate on
Monday and
should be ready to report Monday afternoon.Senate
President Joel Chaisson II,
D-Destrehan, said senators would take up the House changes to Senate
Bill 1
next week.The Senate
voted 39-0 to approve HB1,
which would require many state and local elected and appointed
officials to
generally outline their financial business.The House voted
105-0 for SB1,
which would generally ban elected and some other state government
officials
from doing business with the state. Traffic
CourtNathan Stubbs KVOL
1330 AM morning radio host Todd Elliott saw City-Parish President Joey
Durel’s
annual State of the City-Parish address, held last week at the
Cajundome
Convention Center, as the perfect opportunity to deliver a surprise
message to
the parish’s top official. With a crowd of about 600 people
on hand at the
event, Elliott went up on stage moments after Durel finished his speech
to hand
him a summons for a lawsuit filed against the city earlier that day in
federal
court. KATC TV3’s cameras were rolling as Elliott told Durel,
“Consider
yourself served, sir.” Elliot’s radio show cohort
Brennan LeBlanc,
appropriately nicknamed Badger, was there to hand off a similar summons
to
City-parish Councilman Purvis Morrison. The
lawsuit claims that two programs recently launched by Lafayette
Consolidated
Government — SafeSpeed and SafeLight — violate
citizens’ constitutional rights.
The programs use cameras placed in vans and mounted at intersection
lights to
catch drivers who speed and run red lights, then ticket them through
the mail.
The Arizona-based company Redflex administers the programs at no cost
to the
city, keeping approximately 60 percent of the proceeds from tickets. What's
Joey Durel
Thinking?Scott Jordan
Lafayette
City-Parish President Joey Durel's management style and personality -
reflected
in how he leads and governs - is evident in the successes and failures
of his first
term. His mindset provides a template for what's in store for his
second term -
and fuels speculation about his political future. When
Joey Durel defeated local government fixture Glenn Weber in the 2003
city-parish president’s election, he did it largely on his
campaign pledge to
run government as a business. Durel had no prior government experience,
but as
the longtime owner of Durel’s Pet Shop, he portrayed himself
as an outsider who
wasn’t tainted by special interests and
cronyism. More
than four years later, Durel is no longer an outsider. No challenger
stepped
forward to oppose Durel’s second term, a measure of a
combination of his
political capital and a formidable support network. With a $125,000
nest egg in
his campaign war chest and cadre of supporters that includes big-money
heavyweights like C.H. Festermaker & Associates CEO Bill
Fenstermaker, and
even some high-profile Democrats, most notably local Democratic
Committee
member Glenn Armentor, potential opponents
knew they would be facing a
serious
uphill climb to unseat the incumbent.
PAR
says postpone ethics board reorganizationPublic
Research
Council of Louisiana The administration
proposal to insert administrative law judges (ALJs) into the process of
ruling
on ethics violations would dilute the existing power of the Board of
Ethics.
While most of the ethics reform package is in line with previous PAR
recommendations, this one raises some troubling questions that require
additional research. There should be no rush during this special
session to
change the power and authority of the Board of Ethics. Lawsuit
says
SafeSpeed, SafeLight unconstitutionalKEVIN BLANCHARD Two residents filed suit in
federal court Wednesday, saying the way
Lafayette’s SafeSpeed and SafeLight programs operate violates
the
constitutional rights of people ticketed for speeding or running red
lights.The SafeSpeed program uses vans
with radars and cameras
to catch speeders.
The SafeLight program uses cameras and sensors mounted at intersections
to
catch speeders and red light runners. The programs are run at no cost
to the city by a private
company, RedFlex
Traffic Systems. RedFlex gives the city a portion of the proceeds to
use for
traffic safety improvements.The program has been
operational since October.Earlier this month, a similar
suit was filed in
Jefferson Parish, which has
a similar electronic enforcement program, also run by RedFlex.Both lawsuits are being handled
by the same attorneys. Still
Smoldering
Nathan Stubbs The
downtown Central Fire Station is unusually quiet when Chief Robert
Benoit arrives
at work. Few firefighters are around as he walks through the fire truck
bay
area and up the narrow stairs to his office. As he steps in the door,
the phone
is already ringing off the hook — and Benoit’s
fears are quickly confirmed. Of
the 64 firefighters on the day’s work schedule, 34 have
called in sick. A
skeleton crew is manning each of the city’s 11 fire stations,
and every
firefighter on call is noticeably uneasy about the situation. As the
morning
progresses, reports come in of other firefighters going home, claiming
to be
ill. Every cough begins to draw stares. City Hall wants
answers. State
of Parish
talk links I-49, loop plan - Parish chief bemoans
lack of settlement in pay suitKevin Blanchard
City-Parish
President Joey Durel
on Tuesday made a settlement
offer in a long-standing lawsuit involving fire and police pay,
proposed
placing parks and recreation under a separate, independently funded
commission
and announced his intention to combine the Interstate 49 project and a
proposed
toll loop into one project. Durel made the
announcements at his annual State of the
Parish speech, in
which he also outlined the accomplishments of his first term and laid
out the
funding problems faced in the unincorporated areas of the parish.
Durel said failing to reach a settlement agreement in
the nine-year-old
lawsuit against the city by police, firefighters and city marshals is
the
“greatest disappointment” of his time in office.
Transparent
as Mud-Jeremy
Alford
With
each passing day of his new administration, it appears more likely that
Bobby
Jindal has an evil twin. The Jindal we see today seems to lack the
courage of
his campaign convictions — those promises of open government
and transparency
that he made last year while touring the state and wooing voters. Yes,
he’s
pushing an unparalleled ethics agenda that convenes for a special
session Feb.
10, but trying to get full and complete answers out of his own office
is
proving more difficult these days than springing Edwin Edwards from
federal
prison.
Grammys
could
produce a tourism boost for cityHerman Fuselier Gerald Breaux of the Lafayette
Convention and Visitors Commission said his office's involvement in the
zydeco/ Cajun Grammy effort was a no-brainer. Breaux said visitors come
to Lafayette for food, music and culture. A
Grammy category honoring that local music is publicity that money can't
buy. "We don't have mountains," said Breaux. "We don't have ski slopes.
We don't have beaches. "Music
is one of the main reasons people come here. How fortunate are we to
have the Grammys actually spotlighting that? It's a logical extension
of what we're already doing. "To have all these bands on the road and
every time, they say they're from Lafayette, La., how can we not
benefit from that?" The
first Grammy for Best Zydeco and Cajun Music Album will be awarded
Sunday at the 50th annual Grammys at the Staples Center. LCVC, along
with state and local tourism bureaus, are spreading the word with two
Louisiana events Saturday in Los Angeles.
Everyone
should
work to make our schools
succeed Mike
Hinson The fact that some of our
schools are doing well while
others are not should tell us something. People blame each other, bad
schools,
bad administration, bad teachers, bad parents and even bad
neighborhoods. The
only thing all this finger pointing proves is that it's probably some
of all
these and that people tend to blame others. Before
we can
compare best schools with worst schools, we really need to look at what
we are
trying to measure. Grades probably take the No. 1 priority of
importance, but
surely we can agree that it isn't the only measure and that safety,
happiness
and well being fit in there somewhere.
LUS
announces rollout
plan for fiber telecom service - Utility hopes to cover the
city by January 2011
Daily
Advertiser
Residents
and businesses along Johnston and Congress Streets and along Louisiana
Avenue will be among the first who will be able to get fiber-optic
phone, Internet and television service from the Lafayette Utilities
System. LUS
announced its rollout plans this morning at City Hall. The areas
in Phase I are on both sides of the Evangeline Thruway. One section
extends southwest from University Avenue, covering areas along Congress
and Johnston streets and beyond Ambassador Caffery Parkway. The
second part of Phase I extends northeast from the Evangeline Thruway,
including areas along Louisiana Avenue, parts of East Pinhook Road and
areas immediately surrounding Interstate 10.
Locals
turn
focus to election - Voting process surprises some awaiting
ballot
Claire Taylor News
coverage of Super Tuesday
apparently shook some residents out of their Fat Tuesday stupor. The
Registrar of Voters office fielded calls Wednesday from voters wanting
to switch parties before Saturday's Presidential Preference Primary.
But it's too late. "I
guess they all heard about Super Tuesday. Everybody's coming in
changing their party, thinking they can vote," Registrar Charlene
Meaux-Menard said. But
Jan. 9 was the deadline to register to vote or change party and still
vote Saturday. "A
lot of people are (registered) no party," Meaux-Menard said. "If you're
not in a party, you can't vote ... A lot of people, it's a shock to
them. As long as I've been here they've had a closed presidential
primary."
Allotment
to
help safety improvements to parking garage KEVIN
BLANCHARD The
City-Parish Council on Wednesday approved spending $20,000 to make
safety improvements to the downtown parking garage near the parish
courthouse. The
improvements — a security fence and a roll-up door
— are expected to reduce overnight intrusions into the
garage, which over the years has attracted vandals and scofflaws. The
condition of the garage has been an on-going issue of contention
between the city-parish and tenants of the parish courthouse.
Police,
firefighters, marshals say they’ll accept $10.1
millionRICHARD
BURGESS Police,
firefighters and city marshals have shaved $800,000 off
what they will accept to settle a lawsuit over pay with city-parish
government. The current offer to settle a
legal dispute that has festered for eight
years is $10.1 million, attorney Daniel Landry said Wednesday. That’s down from a
$10.9 million offer last year but is still much higher
than city-parish government’s most recent offer in the
settlement negotiations
and a figure that would cut hard into the budget. Lafayette
City-Parish Attorney
Pat Ottinger declined to comment on
the
recent settlement offer before he briefs the City-Parish
Council. “Beyond that, I can
say that it is certainly our desire to reach a fair and
equitable resolution of this matter,” Ottinger
said in an
e-mail.
Lafayette
may hire firm to
scrutinize flood mapsKEVIN
BLANCHARD The city-parish government
appears set to hire an engineering firm
to help pick apart possible errors in the proposed flood maps released
last
fall by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The new flood maps are not
scheduled to become official until later this
year. This week, FEMA opened a 90-day public comment period on the
proposed
maps which will end April 23. The map is used to guide
development decisions and insurance rates. Lafayette plans to appeal much
of the proposed map, which contains many more
floodway areas than the previous map. While development can take
place in a flood zone — as long as buildings are
elevated and special rules are followed — no development is
allowed in a
floodway without a detailed, and expensive, engineering study.
Carnival
of cash fuels economyBob Moser Mardi Gras
in Lafayette is just as much about the money as it is about culture,
tradition and fun. Businesses spanning the spectrum of service and
sales cash in on a party atmosphere that engulfs the public. A research
team at UL conducted several studies in the past decade on how
Lafayette's economy is affected by Mardi Gras. The most recent study,
following 2000, claimed the week of events drew more than one million
people, tabbed spending at $61.3 million, and generated more than $1
million in local tax revenue.
Welcome to the New UrbanismThe
Town Paper After
50 years of living in
places that are far from work, entertainment and institutional
buildings, there has been an increased demand for places that have it
all. Places where residents, if they so desire, can live quite
comfortably without an automobile. Where most of the daily activities
are located within walking distance and are connected by attractive
streets and public spaces. In addition, it would be ideal to have a
variety of travel options, housing for all and protected natural areas.
An attempt to deliver these amenities in one package is a form of
planning called new urbanism.
Council
discusses bus
pact Some members of the new
Lafayette City-Parish Council expressed displeasure Tuesday with an
action of the former council that will allow Greyhound to move its bus
station to Moss Street next to a neighborhood. The
council grilled Greyhound representatives for more than an hour on the
subject, also hearing from residents and business owners in the area.
Many legislators want to spend
a $1.1 billion state
government surplus on building roads and reducing debt.The surplus from the state
spending year that ended June 30,
largely stems from the hurricane recovery. Legislators are
expected to
report to the State Capitol in
March for a special session to spend that surplus. Gov. Bobby
Jindal is pushing to
spend $50 million of the
surplus on infrastructure for a permanent cyberspace command center
that state
officials want the U.S. Air Force to build near Shreveport. A decision is expected soon on
the final location. Another looming need, the
governor said, is the $1 billion
that President Bush wants the state to spend to improve the levee
system. The
federal
government is expected to commit $7 billion if the state agrees to
put up $1 billion, he said.
Entertainment
evolves:Bob Moser Forty-two
acres bordering Interstate 49 at the former Evangeline Downs Racetrack
and Casino site will soon be announced as a major retail and tourism
project, meant to draw families and business travelers to a
convention-sized hotel and a neighboring entertainment sports park with
video games, go-karts, a double-decker driving range and more.
"People
have been saying for some time we're sitting on a gold mine at
(the) I-10/I-49 corridor. We never had any attractions here that would
keep people for a few days time. This is it." Carrol
Castille
Police
may sue
well owner
Advocate Lafayette’s
city police are joining a growing
group seeking money from the oil company whose well blowout led to the
shut
down of Interstate 10 for 10 days last year. Lafayette police want
$44,480 for
1,112 hours of overtime work they say was done at the behest of
Texas-based
Beusa Energy, mainly staffing closed interstate interchanges in
Lafayette.
Joe
Smith Joe
Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (MADE
IN JAPAN) for 6 am. While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA) was
perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG). He put
on a
dress shirt ( MADE IN SRI LANKA ), designer jeans ( MADE IN SINGAPORE )
and
tennis shoes ( MADE IN KOREA ). After
cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA) he
sat down with his calculator (MADE
IN MEXICO) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his
watch (MADE IN TAIWAN) to
the radio (MADE IN INDIA) he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY) filled
it with GAS from Saudi Arabia and continued his search for a good
paying AMERICAN
JOB. At the end of yet
another discouraging and fruitless day checking his Computer (Made In
Malaysia
), Joe decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (MADE IN
BRAZIL)
poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE) and turned on his TV
(MADE
IN INDONESIA), and thenwondered
why he can't find a good paying job in AMERICA.
Acadiana
area members of the state House and Senate gathered
Monday in Lafayette to speak and show their unity going into the
approaching
round of legislative sessions.
State Sen. Mike Michot, R-
Lafayette, acted as spokesman for the gathering of
veteran and freshman legislators at the University of Louisiana at
Lafayette
Alumni Center on Monday. He said the change of governor and turnover in
the
Legislature have presented Acadiana with an opportunity to remake
itself.
The
gathering included legislators representing Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia,
Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary and Vermilion
parishes. Michot said the group, a mix of
party affiliations and constituencies, will
be a subset of the official Acadiana delegation, which includes a wider
geographic area.
Officials
estimate $215
million needed to fix problemsPATRICK
COURREGES A
longtime
Lafayette Parish School Board member said the
estimated $215 million maintenance problem on parish campuses brewed
over a
relatively short sp215 million needed to fix problemsan. Mike
Hefner, who is serving a fourth consecutive term on the board and who
also served in the 1980s, said that 1999 was the year that started the
decline
in maintenance funding for the system.
A
Lafayette Parish School Board-created community coalition has begun
work
on figuring out what is to be done with the school system’s
aging and increasingly
crowded schools. Groundbreaking
Leslie Turk
An
ambitious
local development team joins forces with Baton Rouge’s Steve
Keller of Towne
Center, home to Whole Foods and
P.F. Chang’s, to launch one of the boldest and
most innovative real estate projects ever undertaken in Lafayette
Parish.
Leadoff
- UL's
New Role ModelScott Jordan Call
me naive. I thought the long-simmering, destructive 2005-2006
controversy over renaming Willow Street as Martin Luther King Jr. Drive
was thankfully behind us. Two months before the Lafayette City-Parish
Council finally approved a resolution approving the name change, I
wrote a cover story (“Where’s the
Leadership?”, Oct. 11, 2006) blasting
all parties involved for turning the noble and worthy goal of honoring
our greatest Civil Rights leader into a pathetic circus of political
pandering. Councilman Chris Williams, City-Parish President Joey Durel,
Councilman Louis Benjamin, Councilman Bruce Conque, District Attorney
Mike Harson, Lafayette Parish CIO Dee Stanley, the entire city council
— they all deserved their share of the blame. And I was
grateful and
relieved when it appeared one of Acadiana’s sorriest chapters
appeared
destined for the history books.
More
than a year
later, the
wounds have been opened anew, thanks to UL Lafayette President Dr. Ray
Authement. In one of the most brazen, shameless and unexpected moves in
the good ol’ boys’ playbook, Authement has hired
Chris Williams to
teach political science at UL.
Chris
Williams to teach intro political science courses at ULDaily
Advertiser 01-16-2008 Former
Lafayette Consolidated Council member Chris Williams will teach
introductory
level political science classes this spring at UL.
Williams will teach introductory level American and
national government classes and introductory state and local politics.
In
his final term
on the
council, Williams led a community battle to rename Willow Street,
Martin Luther
King Jr. Drive. The matter was debated for nearly a year during which
Williams
defaced the council credenza writing, "Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Drive!"
in a permanent marker. Williams faced a misdemeanor charge and had to
pay for
the repairs. He was also ordered to take an anger management course and
perform
60 hours of community services.
School
Board
picks replacement --- Lionel Lewis Jr. unanimously voted to
fill vacancy on panel PATRICK
COURREGES
Recommendations
carried little weight with the Lafayette Parish School Board on
Wednesday when it considered a replacement for former board member
Rickey Hardy, who left his board seat after being elected to the state
House of Representatives. The
board voted unanimously to name Lionel Lewis Jr. to serve as interim
board member for District 3 until an election for the remaining
two-plus years of Hardy’s original term.
State earns low
grade for
education --- Quality
report ranks
Louisiana 47th in student achievementAmanda
Bedgood Louisiana
has a great way to hold students accountable, but student achievement
and chance for success are among the lowest in the nation, according to
Education Week's Quality Counts 2008 report. The state ranks No. 2 in
accountability and 47th in student achievement. Overall, Louisiana's
education system ranked 21st in the nation, according to the report. Jindal
Starts
With Unusual
Strengths LANNY KELLER
In
raw political terms, at age 36, Bobby Jindal is the last man standing
in state
politics. He is almost alone in terms of statewide political stature. There are many other
important figures, certainly, but defined in power terms,
many of his seniors — he has few chronological peers at his
level — either are
not as influential or are otherwise engaged, so Jindal operates almost
alone in
having the scope of power across the range of state issues. The new Legislature is
flush with rookies, a product of term limits having
ejected many senior members.
New
council
chooses officersAmanda
McElfresh The new
Lafayette City-Parish Council finally got to business Tuesday night,
electing officers and voting on resolutions and ordinances. Brandon Shelvin was
elected as chairman of the Lafayette Public Utilities Authority.
Elected as vice-chairman was Keith Patin. On the council, Don Bertrand
was elected as chairman. Purvis Morrison was named vice-chairman. Bruce
Conque, the only returning member of the council, applauded the new
leadership.
Official
seeking to revoke zoning
--- KEVIN
BLANCHAD Councilman-elect Kenneth
Boudreaux has made a move to repeal a zoning
change made by the outgoing council that will allow Greyhound to move
its bus
station from downtown to Moss Street next to a residential
neighborhood. The
council approved the rezoning — from general business to
light
industrial — in October. The property was once a bank at
Mathieu Street and
Moss Street, near Northgate Mall. Planning,
Zoning and Codes staff had recommended against the change, saying
the area could not handle the increase in traffic and that noise and
fumes from
the buses could cause a nuisance for neighbors.
Councilman-elect
has no conflict
--- Attorney
general's opinion
says Boudreaux clear to serve Amanda
McElfresh Newly
elected City-Parish Councilman Kenneth Boudreaux will not face a
conflict of interest if he continues his job in the 15th Judicial
District Attorney's Office. According
to a Dec. 28 opinion from the state attorney general's office, dual
office-holding laws do not apply in cases in which a person works under
a professional services contract.
Obama,
Huckabee pass first test, win Iowa caucuses --- 2008 presidential campaign
begins in earnesThe Associated Press
(01-04-2007) DES MOINES, Iowa - U.S.
Sen. Barack Obama, bidding to become the nation's first black
president, captured the Iowa caucuses Thursday night, opening test in
the race for the 2008 Democratic nomination. Mike Huckabee rode a wave
of support from evangelical Christians to victory in the Republican
caucuses. Obama, 46
and a first-term senator from Illinois, eased past a high-powered field
that included former first lady and current U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton
of New York and former U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, the
party's 2004 vice presidential nominee.
Oil
prices reached $100 a barrel (Kyle
Jackson )on Wednesday, a milestone that
serves to highlight the increasing demand for crude. For
Lafayette oil
and gas companies, the record price may be a sign of more good times to
come. "In
this city, we
have so many exploration companies and everybody should be busy, so
this will generate some extra revenue for local companies," said Todd
Zehnder, vice-president of corporate development for Petroquest Energy.
"Gas prices may go up at the filling station, but it's good for
Lafayette because we're an oil and gas community. Higher oil and gas
prices means higher revenue for everybody."
The
Thrill is GoneJeremy Alford Bobby
Jindal’s honeymoon with the media is over — his
promises of ethical
fastidiousness and rapid reform have set the bar so high that every
hiccup is major news. Although
he isn’t in office yet, Bobby Jindal is enjoying
stratospheric approval
ratings among voters. Many folks just plain like the governor-elect and
his conservative mantras, and his track record as governor is still a
blank slate. The guy has style, or at least a style, defined these days
by an open collar, no tie and a nice blazer (on occasion wrinkled), the
look Jindal donned during his campaign. And columnists and bloggers are
pontificating, some theorizing that Jindal is laid back and comfortable
in his power role and shows no need for pretense or pageantry. But
around and inside the tallest building in downtown Baton Rouge, things
are already getting back to normal. Lawmakers are finding their voices
again, media is paying close attention, and by all indications,
Jindal’s honeymoon among the insiders has ended
New
Lafayette council faces many issuesKEVIN BLANCHARD Monday, an unprecedented eight
new Lafayette City-Parish Councilmen will begin their first day on the
nine-member council. A swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for noon
Monday at City Hall on University Avenue.
The
new council was elected largely on the promise to behave differently
from the current council, which over the years has developed a
reputation for in-fighting and public arguments.
The
new council will have to tackle several tough issues right off the bat,
including reaching a multimillion-dollar settlement over a years-old
lawsuit brought by police officers and firefighters looking for back
pay.
Louisiana State budget
surplus at $865 million --- 
I'm Mad As Hell And I'm Not Going To Take
It Anymore
Hundley could choose punishment
Developer Pete Clements has
unveiled
details of
River Park, his
planned $600 million mixed-use development near Hollywood Casino on the
north
side of downtown Baton Rouge. 
HAPPY
MOTHER'S DAY TO
Since
New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer announced his decision to resign from
office in
the wake of the revelation that he solicited the services of a
prostitute, U.S.
Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana should tender his resignation, too. That
seems to be the fair course of action for Vitter to take since his
brethren in the Republican Party took it upon themselves to exert their
moral
authority in calling on Spitzer to quit. Republicans, including elected
officials and paid hacks, demanded Spitzer step down not long after
news
surfaced that the FBI possessed a wiretap of the governor soliciting a
"hooker" to catch a train from New York to Washington to engage him. 
