It’s been 40 years since Louisiana voters opted for a presidential candidate who did not win the overall national election. In last night’s election, Louisiana was one of 22 states whose voters opted for Republican John McCain rather than Democrat Barack Obama, now the president-elect. Perhaps a sign that Louisiana has been turning increasingly red, the state gave McCain a strong showing, with 58.6 percent of the vote and a 366,622 edge over Obama. Only Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, and Tennessee had higher margins for McCain.
The last time Louisiana supported the loser in the presidential race was 1968, when the state went for Alabama Gov. and third-party candidate George Wallace. Louisiana also was among states supporting the failed bid of Republican candidate Barry Goldwater, who lost in a landslide to Lyndon Johnson in 1964. From 1968 to this year, Louisiana supported the winning presidential candidate in nine straight elections.
There will soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Benny’s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and café, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.
Philip deMahy Sr., a once respected New Iberia ad exec, was sentenced May 2 to spend the next two years (he faced up to 100 years) in a state penitentiary after state and federal investigators found dozens of images depicting children engaged in lewd sexual acts on his personal computer.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.
Subscribe to this comment's feed