The Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government followed all necessary protocol in issuing a permit to Shell Oil for a controversial Liquefied Natural Gas facility 38 miles off the coast of Cameron Parish. The permit was challenged by a grassroots coalition of commercial fishermen and environmentalists who contend that the Maritime Administration did not adequately consider environmental hazards. The open-loop terminal Shell Oil plans to build sucks in up to 150 million gallons of seawater a day to reheat its sub-zero temperature natural gas, endangering fragile fish eggs and larvae in the process.
Under pressure from both Gov. Blanco and Gov. Bob Riley of Alabama, Freeport McMoRan and Conoco Phillips recently pulled their plans for open-loop terminals in the Gulf of Mexico and are now looking to build more eco-friendly closed loop terminals to reheat LNG. Charlie Smith, director of the Louisiana Charter Boat Association, told the Associated Press that the court decision "kind of makes Shell the lonely fish killer in the Gulf." ' Nathan Stubbs
LIVE MUSIC RETURNS TO GRANT STREET
Grant Street Dancehall's lineup for its grand re-opening looks a lot like the lineup for the club's opening 26 years ago. The historic downtown music venue reopens July 4 weekend on Thursday, June 29 with the double bill of Red Beans and Rice Revue and Sonny Landreth with special guests C.J. Chenier (whose father Clifton played the club's original opening night), Steve Conn and Mel Melton.
On Friday, June 30, Jerry Lee Lewis takes the stage with his classic Ferriday-fueled brand of rock 'n' roll fire and brimstone. And then on Saturday night, the elusive and eccentric Bobby Lounge commandeers the piano keys. The weekend is rounded out with The Fabulous Boogie Kings and G.G. Shinn on Sunday night.
Grant Street's Dave Maraist says that the room behind that stage, which has been hidden from the public view since the club's inception, will also open that weekend as a separate bar. After the holiday weekend, the new bar will be open six days a week.
Other upcoming Grant Street shows include Jimmie Vaughan on July 15, Lil' Band O' Gold on July 21, Doyle Bramhall on July 22, Bob Schneider on July 28, and Eric Johnson on August 9. Tickets for the re-opening weekend shows are on sale now at www.grantstreetdancehall.com. ' R. Reese Fuller
ARNAUDVILLE POLITICS HEAT UP
Two recent political moves in the saga of Arnaudville's artists community could affect its future. Alderman Chad Hebert, who greatly supported the artists movement and publicly criticized Mayor Kathy Richard for her lack of support, has resigned from the town council, saying he couldn't take the stress and pressure. His resignation follows fellow artists supporter and Chamber CEO Betty Roy's resignation in April for the same reasons.
But as a victory for the artists, Arnaudville alderman and former town postmaster John Ray Taylor has announced he will run for mayor in the Sept. 30 election against Richard. Taylor has publicly supported the artists community and said in his announcement letter: "We in Arnaudville find ourselves in challenging times. Economic opportunities exist to enhance, strengthen and maintain our unique community." ' Erin Zaunbrecher
JEFFERSON OUT, MELANCON IN?
With a slew of legal problems facing embattled New Orleans Congressman William Jefferson, there's the possibility that Jefferson's corruption case could result in him leaving office ' by jumping or being pushed. If that happens, Rep. Charlie Melancon from Napoleonville is on the short list to replace Jefferson on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, according to a report in Washington, D.C.'s Roll Call newspaper. An anonymous aide from the committee told Roll Call that a movement is brewing to drop the hammer on Jefferson and force him to relinquish the post. ' Jeremy Alford
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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