The consciously itinerant writers of the Beat literary movement chose a bohemian lifestyle that celebrated unfettered movement at a time when the whole country was nesting, separating themselves violently from the stultifying return-to-normal culture of the postwar economic boom and its white picket fences bought with GI loans. While the Kerouacs and Corsos were scribbling the free-form screeds that would have them celebrated as maverick revolutionaries striking blows to literary and social structure, wives and girlfriends - more often than not highly literate Radcliffe and Barnard grads who put their own manuscripts aside - brewed the espresso and typed the chapbooks. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Jeremy Alford

The state’s largest recreational fishing lobby has elected Bob Bush of Lake Charles as its new chairman. The Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana has several thousand members statewide and is a local affiliate of a national group that lobbies Congress and the White House. Bush, an insurance executive, succeeds longtime chairman Jack Lawton. Bush’s election as chairman represents a clean slate for CCA’s top leadership. After 15 years as executive director, Jeff Angers stepped down last year. He was succeeded by David Cresson of Baton Rouge, who previously served as the CEO of the Our Lady of the Lake Foundation. Bush says his overriding goal will remain to advance CCA’s agenda for responsible stewardship of Louisiana’s marine resources. Specific issues of concern include coastal erosion, preserving fisheries and helping the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries secure proper funding. Bush also wants CCA to maintain its large stable of volunteers and to continue raising money for new reef and fishing structures. CCA’s clout reflects its own grassroots structure; over the past decade, membership in local chapters has tripled while statewide rolls have increased more than sevenfold. Founded in 1983, CCA led the fight to ban gill nets in state waters, to limit commercial speckled trout fishing to a rod and reel, and to designate redfish as a gamefish. All of those issues put the group at odds with commercial fishing interests. 

By: Allen Johnson

These days, a changing of the political guard often means a redesign of government Web sites, frequently with adjustments to the size of public officials’ photos. Gov. Bobby Jindal’s (www.gov.state.la.us) 3-inch-high picture is bigger than the photo of predecessor Kathleen Blanco. A Republican, Jindal sports a casual look — no tie, but in a jacket — as he addresses the unseen virtual masses. The photo-rich site of Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu (www.crt.state.la.us.) promotes the state’s culture, food and music, but may take too long to download. Newly elected state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell’s site (www.ag.louisiana.gov), like that of Jindal, opts for a billboard-size picture (it’s more than twice the size of predecessor Charles Foti Jr. — and no one ever accused Foti of false modesty). State Treasurer John Kennedy’s (www.treasury.state.la.us) virtual portrait is only 2 inches high, even though the new Republican is vying to unseat U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu. Republican Secretary of State Jay Dardenne’s Web site photo is unobtrusive (www.sos.louisiana.gov), but his biography contains the gentle reminder that he crushed his opponents with 64 percent of the vote in the fall primary election. State Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon’s photo seems understated considering the magnitude of the insurance crisis (www.ldi.louisiana.gov). Finally, the state Department of Agriculture & Forestry (www.ldaf.state.la.us) focuses more attention on a link to “Fun Farm Facts for Kids” than the modest photo of newly elected Commissioner Mike Strain. Strain vows to launch a “new and improved Web site in the near future.”

By: Allen Johnson 

April 1 is always more than just April Fool’s Day at the Orleans Parish Coroner’s office. This Tuesday marks the 34th anniversary of Dr. Frank Minyard’s inauguration as the elected coroner of Orleans Parish, but there are no plans for celebration. The New Orleans Forensic Center may be too busy. As of March 27, there were 42 homicides in Orleans — a rate of more than three a week, according to coroner’s Chief Investigator John Gagliano. In addition, there have been 12 suicides in as many weeks. Now the longest serving elected official in the city, Minyard first took the oath of office April 1, 1974. A jazz trumpet player, Minyard was sworn in with several other reform officials: new DA Harry Connick, new Criminal Sheriff Charles C. Foti Jr. and new Clerk of Criminal Court Edwin Lombard. Connick is retired. Foti served as the city’s jailer for 30 years and one term as elected state attorney general. Lombard is now an elected judge on the state Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal. 

 By: Jeremy  Alford 

Unauthorized immigrants could work in certain Louisiana industries if they obtain a special biometric card that contains their personal medical information and other data, according to a bill by Rep. Joe Harrison, R-Napoleonville. ID cards, which can hold everything from fingerprints and photos to a range of digital documentation, are nothing new. Congress has considered the credit card-size IDs, and Britain will require them of U.S. students later this year. Harrison says he conceived the Louisiana program after seeing similar efforts in Pennsylvania and Colorado. He says the Louisiana program could be a roadblock to new and reemerging diseases. “We’ve already experienced a resurgence of tuberculosis from South America, and it has been a tremendous drain on our resources and medical community,” he says. “This proposed system would do a screening for diseases.” Harrison, who says he is still gathering support information for his House Bill 1097, adds that the screening process would seek other information so that “employers can feel confident about who they bring on and not have to worry about any fines.” While the state has yet to issue a fiscal note estimating the cost of the bill, Harrison says some of the expenses could be passed on to individuals or employers. He says that would be justified because the cards would reveal immigration status, where cardholders may work and how long they can stay in the U.S. His bill would allow unauthorized immigrants to work in the “planting and harvesting of agricultural, forestry or horticultural products; in the production or gathering of livestock, dairy, or poultry products; in the field of animal husbandry; or in the care, feeding, and training of horses.”