Using five years of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Businessweek.com ranks the Bayou State the laziest in the country.
Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office is hailing as a “big deal” support by two dozen senators for her accelerated sharing of royalty revenues with producing states.
Top scientists’ claims that their opinions were misrepresented to justify a government-imposed six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling has led to a federal investigation of the moratorium itself.
Is Corexit a useful tool or the new Agent Orange?
BP crude contaminating pastures is a growing concern as a tropical system moves closer to southwest Louisiana.
State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek says Lafayette is probably in a better position than any other city in the state to achieve world class education in its public schools, if school leaders can create the right environment for progress.
Even if the tropical depression southeast of Florida doesn’t develop into a storm, it could produce seas high enough to set back BP’s efforts to permanently plug its blown out Macondo well if it enters the Gulf.
The Lafayette Charter Commission decided to hold its first meeting on Monday, Aug. 2 after being sworn on Wednesday in the City-Parish Council auditorium.
Upwards of 11,000 people streamed into the Cajundome Wednesday afternoon to hear a succession of speakers take aim at the federal moratorium.
Just when you thought Louisiana politics couldn’t get anymore interesting, The Monroe News-Star reports today that retired Louisiana Supreme Justice Chet Traylor, Sen. David Vitter’s main challenger in the Aug. 28 Republican primary, is engaged in a romantic relationship with his stepson’s estranged wife.
The federal judge who nixed the Obama administration’s six-month moratorium on deepwater Gulf of Mexico drilling will not recuse himself from the case.
MAY 22 This post was written the day after the second line shooting in NOLA, by Brentin Mock. Mock is a friend of Deb "Big Red" Cotton, a blogger who was shot in the back and was seriously injured. It is a raw, emotional piece of writing, something the writer obviously felt he needed to get off his chest. But it raises questions that can't be easily dismissed, and might give some insight into where the source of these events truly is.
MAY 22 In this Baton Rouge Business Report post, Rolfe McCollister considers the privatization of bus service in Baton Rouge. After decades of under-funding, it is a mess, and although a tax (partially) passed last year, improvement hasn't happened yet. McCollister apparently feels it is time to let private business get in on the transit business.
MAY 22 This post on Bayou Buzz by Jeff Crouere urges the defeat of a bill that would grant modest pay increases over the next several years to the state's judges and clerks of court. The state is in no position to fund pay hikes, Crouere argues, with the pay increases costing a total of $9 million over several years. It sends the wrong message to the (proverbial) hard-working people of Louisiana, he says.
MAY 22 The Advocate reports here that State Treasurer John Kennedy is complaining about a meeting of the corporation that oversees the state's tobacco settlement. The Governor wanted it restructured, and he has some support, but not a lot. The corporation agreed with his plan, but Kennedy didn't, and it appears that the meeting was noticed in a manner completely different than that of all previous meetings. Kennedy's given to hyperbole, but in this case the fish don't smell too fresh.
MAY 22 In this Advocate story, Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout says the recent federal indictment of a strip club owner is all wrong. The indictment alleges that drugs and prostitution went on with impunity because club staff made arrangements with "local" police. Stout says it never happened, and while his cops do work security in the parking lot, they're not allowed inside.
MAY 22 This amusing post in DIG Baton Rouge recounts an ad that ran on Craig's List recently; the advertiser was seeking tenants for a Beauregard Town house. He knew his market, and wrote an ad that the most ironical hipster couldn't resist. Apparently, he really did know his market, because the ad worked like a charm.
MAY 22 In this post in The Lens, Mark Moseley comments on the rhetoric Gov. Jindal employed in trying to save his tax "reform" package. One interesting point concerns Jindal's use of his brother, Nikesh, in a little story. Nikesh left Louisiana because of his inability to get a decent job, the story goes, but the story won't hold water: Nikesh lives in DC, which has an income tax level comparable to Louisiana, Moseley says. If income taxes caused the dismal situation, it should exist in DC too. Right?
MAY 22 This post by columnist John Maginnis traces the trajectory of the bill that would fund construction at community and technical colleges -- and bypass the Board of Regents and traditional higher ed funding mechanisms. Sure, it will bust the legislature's self-imposed debt limit, but some leges feel that there's more need (because there is more growth) in the community and technical college area than in the university area, he says.
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