Month: October 2013

Wednesday links

Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Handelsman to join Advocate ~ The NOLA Advocate

Walt Handelsman has been a Slabbed tweep for a while now and I’m happy to hear he is back coming home from the north east.

The Jefferson Parish Hospital debacle takes another twisted turn as the BS is freely flowing:

Don’t split hospitals without public vote, West Jeff board says ~ Jeff Adelson

Perhaps the power brokers should not have stripped the public of that right to begin with but what’s done is done. Yesterday a reader noted even the Jefferson Parish coroner chipped in his two cents on this man made disaster:

Jefferson Parish should start over on hospital lease search ~ Gerry Cvitanovich

Next up is Maybury on the Mississippi Coast:

Bay violated open meetings law ~ Seacoast Echo

The sentence for this violation is 40 lashes with a wet noodle.

Next up is developer Jim MacPhaille and the old Second Street Elementary School Continue reading “Wednesday links”

All hail Chris Roberts the Royal Monarch de la toilette!

What can you say folks except that Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts loves a parade!

Krewe of Alla announces Mardi Gras 2014 royalty ~ WGNO.com

Meantime Roberts exhibits his true talent for squandering money, especially other people’s money such as scare tax dollars:

Jefferson Parish Council Chairman Chris Roberts, HCA executive trade heated words ~ Ben Myers

What is interesting to me given the spectacle Roberts has made of the process is whether the 7 area legislators that co-sponsored the legislation stripping the voters of any say in this matter would do the same thing again knowing what they know now, especially since Roberts and company appear ready to cram Children’s Hospital down the throats of the taxpayers in a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars less than what HCA has offered. Continue reading “All hail Chris Roberts the Royal Monarch de la toilette!”

Guest Post: Hancock County Alliance for Good Government October 2013 Newsletter

HANCOCK COUNTY ALLIANCE FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT OCTOBER 2013 NEWSLETTER

For those of you familiar with the Broadway musical, “Cabaret” the local, state, and national news is beginning to sound like a refrain from one of the shows numbers: “Money.” This past month has been a numbers game for those of us studying all of the figures.

For example there are $259,955 in delinquent utility bills in Bay St. Louis. Seven of these delinquent accounts were city employees until we published the list, then one paid. Shedding light can sometimes have positive results.

There is $187,000 delinquent utility bills in Waveland which includes a former Police Chief and Mayor. We hope these accounts can be cleaned up so the rest of us don’t have to continue to carry the burden because many on these lists are more than able to pay. And, it is only going to get worse now that both cities have increased rates. For those who just will not pay, there is a remedy, if our public officials will use it, and that’s cutting them off. They sure wouldn’t get by with this with Miss. Power, Coast Electric, or Cable TV. To review the complete lists of delinquent accounts go to Slabbed.org.

Thousands of parcels of property in Hancock County have been abandoned by the owners which results in a loss of ad valorem taxes when they are returned to the state. The latest hit to the ad valorem tax base in the county is the new formula for assessing taxes on the Section 42 and Section 8 housing complexes. According to Jimmie Ladner, this loss could fall in the laps of the rest of us to make up the difference. We may not like the news, but at least Jimmie will always tell it like it is. Continue reading “Guest Post: Hancock County Alliance for Good Government October 2013 Newsletter”

Monday Miscellany: Thompson crash and burn continues, Juvie Court race, TeeVee lawyers gone wild plus a field politician

I hope everyone enjoyed the wonderful stretch of weather since late last week. I managed to spend copious amounts of time outdoors plus there was a visit with my peeps in Lamar/Marion County. First up was the game Friday night and that attracted field politicians. Check it out below.

WLOX.com – The News for South Mississippi

No football game is complete without a post game meal and this is what I served the teenage assemblage over at my place after the game.

But Friday was also “bad news Friday” for TeeVee lawyer Joe Raspanti over at Tom Benson’s Fox 8 as a reader pointed out: Continue reading “Monday Miscellany: Thompson crash and burn continues, Juvie Court race, TeeVee lawyers gone wild plus a field politician”

Jim Brown’s Weekly Column: The Highs and Lows of Billy Cannon, The Toast of LSU

Thursday, October 24th, 2013
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF BILLY CANNON THE TOAST OF LSU

There are certain things you don’t forget. Where you were on 9/11, or when President John Kennedy was shot. Down here in the Bayou State, add to those special dates Halloween night 54 years ago when Billy Cannon made football history with his 87 yard run to beat Ole Miss and keep the Tigers undefeated. His story is the rise and fall, than the rise again by LSU’s all time sports hero. And guess what? I played a minor role in what became Billy’s personal nightmare and fall from grace.

Even those who are not Tiger fans have to admit it was one heck of a run. Cannon either sidestepped or pushed away tackler after tackler as he weaved his way towards the end zone. I wish I had a dollar for every time the magical run has been replayed on television. You can imagine the crowd’s reaction on most Saturday football nights in Tiger Stadium as one more time the fans in the stadium and the millions on national television once again see Ole’ Billy tear through the Rebel opposition. (You can watch the run on the web at www.jimbrownusa.com).

This feat by Cannon allowed the Tigers to beat Ole’ Miss 7 to 3, and made him a legend for life. Paul Revere had his famous ride and Billy Cannon had his remarkable run. And ever since, as Halloween draws near, the airwaves are filled with replay after replay of “the run.” Some folks in Louisiana would sooner lock up the kids and throw out the candy than miss seeing Billy strut his stuff on All Hollow’s Eve.

Cannon went on to play professional football with the Houston Oilers and the Oakland Raiders. Then he went to dental school and built a successful dental practice in Baton Rouge. Because of his popularity, Cannon’s practice flourished to an estimated $300,000 a year, quite a sum in the 1960s.

OK, so how was yours truly involved? It was 1983, and I was in my first term as Louisiana Secretary of State. I was at my office one afternoon when my secretary said there were two Treasury agents to see me, and they demanded immediate attention. (I can speak from personal experience that one should never, ever talk to a federal agent.) They pulled out a hundred dollar bill saying it was a fake, and that it had shown up in the Secretary of State’s bank account. Continue Reading……..

Runoff elections are the very best elections……

Welp folks, Ms. Zoe Olivia (Wong) (Smith) Fleming is defending her honor in comments to the following:

Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court race heats up with anti-Semitism claim ~ Paul Purpura

“Ms. Fleming has issues which clearly have not been resolved, and I wish her luck in getting the help she needs,” Burmaster said. “Perhaps she would be better served by seeking more professional help and not the votes of Jefferson Parish citizens.”

We can only hope there are some TeeVee ads coming since the gloves were dropped on the first official day of the three week runoff. In certain circles elections are almost a blood sport so Ms Fleming’s early implosion has inspired a good bit of chatter.

Just think folks, we still have not gotten to that Joe Berry backstory yet.

The reasons Jefferson Parish voters were stripped of the right to vote come into sharper focus…..

Damn the torpedoes full speed ahead:

Jefferson Parish Council Chairman Chris Roberts says it’s time to vote on hospital lease ~ Ben Myers