Day: August 7, 2014

Wanted by St Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office: Shane D’Antoni aka Shane Gates

Shane D’Antoni aka Shane Gates
Wanted by St Tammany Parish Sheriff for failure to appear

What can I say folks except there has been some movement in the case styled Gates v Swartz and none of it looks good for professional plaintiff Shane Gates as there is an attachment for Gate’s arrest for failure to appear. A former client of Gate’s lawyer Daniel Abel tells Slabbed Gates has been staying at the Trout Point Lodge in Nova Scotia though it is impossible to know if he is there now on the run from the law but that would be my first guess. In any event here is the salient document which shows the arrest warrant for Gates:

Pages from Gates v Swartz Doc 59 Ex. A

Those interested in an update to the related civil suit which Gates, using the services of his adopted Father Daniel Abel, filed against Judge Richard Swartz of the 22nd JDC in order to conflict Judge Swartz out can click here for a good brief which updates the status of that case. Continue reading “Wanted by St Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office: Shane D’Antoni aka Shane Gates”

Knee jerk calls for Bay tax increases making a bad situation worse: An Editorial

Folks I’ve been very busy all week in the day job but have monitored the slow motion financial meltdown of the City of Bay St Louis, a problem that has been literally years in the making.

Last year during the election then Mayoral candidate Jeff Harding had the city’s financial problems well identified. His claims were dismissed, buried in the re-election campaign of lies told by the Mayor Les Fillingame which contended the City was financially sound, a meme Hizzoner would keep repeating until late Spring of this year when he revealed the City would default on its Water and Sewer Bonds unless they were refinanced immediately, a move that left the City almost $200,000 further in debt. By that time, per the 2013 single audit report, the City’s Water and Sewer fund accumulated deficit was well over $400,000. The City has been broke for over a year.

Before the Mayor finally came somewhat clean on the financial problems in the Water and Sewer Fund, in January Slabbed did a detailed analysis of the reckless, irresponsible budget practices that got the City to this point.  City spending on the Mayor’s friends and family program has ballooned while basic city services deteriorated.  How many City Council meetings has the inability of the Grapple Truck to run a regular schedule been discussed since April? How management can say in MD&A in the 2013 audit that the City delivers a high level of City services goes well beyond imagination to sheer fantasy. The money leakage is multifaceted as Jennifer Lenain explains for today’s Sun Herald: Continue reading “Knee jerk calls for Bay tax increases making a bad situation worse: An Editorial”

Jim Brown: Richard Nixon and Louisiana

Thursday, August 7th, 2014
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Richard Nixon and Louisiana

Forty years ago this week, Richard Nixon became the first and only president to resign from office. Those of you too young to remember the events surrounding Watergate missed one of the most riveting episodes of American history. Nixon survived a number of bitter political fights, but he had always been able to bounce back. However, it was his own words in secret recordings that he personally authorized in the Oval Office that finally led to his downfall.

Throughout his political career, the 37th President made a number of trips to Louisiana. Nixon’s first visit to Louisiana was with his wife Pat in 1941, shortly after they were married. “I remember how we were moved by the wonderful food and the good music, but most of all by the warmth of the hospitality,” he often recalled. He made fast friends with trumpeter Al Hirt and clarinetist Pete Fountain, both of whom he later invited to perform at the White House.

Nixon lost his first bid for President in a close defeat to John F. Kennedy in 1960. Some 10,000 votes could have changed the outcome, and some political observers still feel the election was stolen from Nixon by election shenanigans in Chicago. Two years later, he tried for a political comeback running for governor of California, but was defeated by then Governor Pat Brown, whose son is the state’s governor today. Nixon told reporters he was through with politics, and they “wouldn’t have Nixon to kick around any more.”

But rumors surfaced a few years later that he again might be interested in the Republican nomination. I was class president at Tulane Law School in 1966, and had the chore of arranging speakers. On a whim, I wrote Nixon asking him to address the Tulane student body. To my surprise, he accepted. Over a lite lunch at the Tulane Student Center, he quizzed me about Louisiana politics and asked a number of questions about my background and future plans. I found him engaging, funny, and quite the dominating figure one would expect of a former Vice President. Continue Reading………