Jim Engster, our new state politics columnist, has been a fixture in Louisiana political journalism for more than two decades. New Orleans native Engster graduated from LSU with a bachelor's degree in journalism and has worked extensively in both radio and print. He worked for the Louisiana Radio Network for 20 years, serving as its news director from 1997-1998, and hosted the radio show Louisiana Live for five years. During Engster's tenure, Louisiana Live was named the best public affairs program three times by the Associated Press.
Engster also wrote the column "Political Perspectives" for Baton Rouge Business Report, and has been a longtime contributor to Tiger Rag, covering everything from politics and LSU sports to university issues. Engster is currently the general manager of radio station WRKF in Baton Rouge and hosts the Jim Engster Show, which airs weekdays at 9 a.m.
In his new bi-weekly column "Political State," Engster will be taking a close look at the people and policies in the state capitol ' and how they affect Acadiana. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
On the arts and entertainment beat, we're proud to formally announce Shala Carlson as The Independent's primary film critic. Carlson is an Opelousas native and former assistant editor of The Times of Acadiana. Since 1998, she's served as a film critic and managing editor for New Orleans' Gambit Weekly newspaper. Her work has also appeared in Baton Rouge Business Report, and in 2001 she was honored with the Ashton Phelps Memorial Award for Excellence in Editorial Writing from the New Orleans Press Club. Carlson's film reviews will appear bi-weekly beginning with this week's issue.
Also in our Living Ind section, we've made some additions to "The Week" calendar section. Each issue we'll now be including "Road Shows," noteworthy events that weekend in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Houston and other surrounding areas. Another addition is "Coming Attractions," where we'll spotlight high-profile upcoming performances both in Lafayette and out of town. And to keep you in the loop on the latest and best DVDs, CDs and books (in addition to our regular features and reviews), we'll be spotlighting five recommendations every week.
It's all part of our continued mission to serve Acadiana with quality independent journalism. As always, we encourage and welcome your comments; please email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with your feedback.
JUNE 19 Former Saint Steve Gleason, who is paralyzed by ALS, released a statement Tuesday in response to the Atlanta radio station's skit making fun of him and the disease, this Picayune post reports. What did he say? He said he'd accepted the apology of the DJs who did it, notes that at least the incident has got people talking about ALS, and asks anyone who is burning to take action about it to do so -- by helping him fight ALS.
JUNE 19 Blogger Ian McGibboney takes a look at the Gleason incident in this post. He makes a good argument about the difference between having free speech and being free from consequences for your speech (which none of us is). He also admits that many of us got upset before we listened to the skit -- but lets us know that the reality is far worse than we can imagine. It was the incredibly bad judgment, even more than the actual speech, that probably got those DJs fired, he opines.
JUNE 19 Washington Post blogger Aaron Blake writes about Sen. Guillory's switch to the GOP in this post. He writes what most political watchers in Louisiana know: Guillory was a Republican before he decided to run for the senate seat in a mostly-D St. Landry district, and has switched back now that he plans to run for Lt. Gov. in a mostly-R state. But how come Blake missed Guillory's appearance on a TLC pageant show? Now that is a video we'd like to see. (Again).
JUNE 19 Here's another Washington Post blog post about a Louisiana politician, and it's just plain scathing. Ezra Klein says Jindal's Politico post was "insulting" to the intelligence of voters, and adds that Jindal is personifying the "stupid" he's railed against, by being an "elite" who convinces GOP activists of "things that aren't true." Me-ow.
JUNE 19 Here's Gov. Jindal's post in Politico, in which he asks the GOP to get over losing to Obama (again) and stop "the bedwetting." (Uh, what?) He gives his Republican buddies what is probably a nerd's idea of a coach's motivational talk, which starts with a list of accomplishments that they can't seem to exploit and ending with an absurd description of liberals that sounds like a character treatment for a Fox "News" movie scripted by Gordon Liddy. Sure, he's preaching to the choir, but even the choir's not this gullible.
JUNE 19 Lamar Parmentel read Gov. Jindal's post on Politico, but thinks it was so dumb it probably was published in the wrong paper. This post by Lamar on the Daily Kingfish opines that possibly Jindal's post was destined for the Onion -- because the governor couldn't possibly be serious here. If you listen closely, you can hear the staff of the Kingfish giggling.
JUNE 19 Blogger Robert Mann posts from Turkey, a country he has visited several times in the past few years. Mann gives an interesting overview of the current political and societal climate of the country, which -- if you're living under a rock and don't know -- is experiencing protests and turmoil these days. Mann promises to post as much as he can during his trip, which should be fascinating reading.
JUNE 19 Blogger CB Forgotston says the legislature is keeping the vicious cycle going with its funding of new buildings for the community college/technical college system. Universities across the state need maintenance and improvement on existing buildings, and the solution is to build new buildings at other schools? By the time the bonds are paid off, those buildings will be falling down, too, CB says.
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