The license suspension, which can be appealed in district court, stems from a bartender at the club being cited for serving alcohol without a bar card. The more serious matter — 12 points assessed against the club this spring and summer for arrests in the club’s parking lot — was debated at length, but ultimately the council backed off the revocation vote after Councilman Purvis Morrison questioned what would become of the building if the bar were shut down for two years. The council voted 5-4 in favor of tabling the matter.
Attorney Daniel Stanford, representing Karma, called the ordinance and point system “capricious and arbitrary,” pointing out that other clubs in the parish where violent crimes have occurred were not assessed points by the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. Former Karma and Marley’s owner Eric Cloutier, addressing the council on Karma’s behalf, suggested that Karma is being target by consolidated government because of its mostly black customer base.
“When I owned it, it was a white club,” Cloutier said. “We had fights every night and never got points. Now it’s a black club.”
It’s unclear when the council will revisit a vote on whether the revocation should be imposed. Stanford has vowed to challenge the revocation in district court if the council ultimately denies Karma’s appeal.
MAY 23 Here's a story in the Picayune about some statistics that must come as a blow to folks who believe that any private school can do a better job of educating kids than any public school: Danielle Dreilinger reports that only 30 percent of the voucher kids are passing. That's less than half of the state wide average, she says. It's an interesting statistic because most of the schools (if not all) taking voucher kids have never had their students' standardized test scores released to the public before.
MAY 23 Stephen Sabludowsky blogs on Bayou Buzz about auditor requests here. Recently the state GOP started crowing about a request from the Legislative Auditor, claiming they were being targeted because of their anti-tax stance. (Uh, your what?) Denial and hyperbole aside, the state Democratic party blew holes in that theory with an email announcing they'd received the same request, Sabludowsky writes here.
MAY 23 Jim Brown blogs about the senate race in this post. He says that, given Bobby Jindal's "lack of traction" on the national stage, it might make more sense for the governor to consider running against Mary Landrieu for the senate seat. Since Tim Teeple left the Cassidy team, it makes sense he might land on a Jindal for Senate team, Brown opines.
MAY 23 In this Louisiana Voice post, blogger Tom Aswell writes of rumors that his nemesis, state Superintendent of Education John White, may be soon departing Louisiana for a federal post. It's hard to believe, given his performance, Aswell says, but stranger things have happened. An anti-White BESE member says that, if true, White is quitting before he can be fired.
MAY 23 In this post on American Zombie, blogger Jason Berry writes about the Mother's Day shooting. Mayor Landrieu said that "this is not who we are," but the fact is, this is New Orleans, Berry writes. The violence infused in the city is the result of a culture created by "sins of omission or sins of commission," Berry writes. It's not a problem that can be solved by legislating, policing, praying or publicizing, he says: Someone's got to understand what's happening first.
MAY 23 This post in the Westside Journal tells us what Port Allen Mayor Deedy has been up to lately: vetoing ordinances, apparently. This story is most interesting, however, when it delves into a petition that has been circulating around the city lately. It accuses the former mayor of a lot of nasty things; the former mayor says it is full of lies and "broken syntax" which may be a larger offense in his eyes.
MAY 23 This editorial posted in The Advocate is a bit confusing. The writing is poor - definitely not up to the usual editorial writing standard there - and the point is hard to grasp. Apparently, the writer is saying that privatization of state efforts is OK, as long as there is oversight and transparency, but Jindal's not good at that, and the legislature shouldn't over-react. Okey Dokey. Can't they get one of them Pulitzer-winning people to write an editorial?
MAY 23 This post on The Lens gives you links to a new Google Earth tool that allows you to see any spot on earth transform over the past 30 years. Bob Marshall, who covers the coast for the paper, says that in the case of Louisiana's coastline, it's possibly something you don't want to see, because it's not a pretty picture. There are several clips here, showing critical areas erode away. For Marshall, it was vindication for all those times he was met with eye-rolling when he talked about erosion.
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Other clubs in the parish have had violent crimes and not had points assessed? Why not? Is the "Office of Alcohol and Noise Control" doing its job? Doesn't sound like it. Cut off its budget and save the money, then. There's a finite amount of it out there.
What would become of the building? Who gives a s*^t? We don't decide whether or not to enforce the law based on the location of the building, do we?
Let's see. I don't want to pay city taxes this year. And LCG can't make me pay, because who will cut my grass if the sherriff takes my house? It's the same thing.
This is just not that hard.