by Alejandro de los Rios

The New Orleans Levee (”We Don’t Hold Anything Back”) published an incredible Letter to the Editor in the April issue regarding the Hornets by one Tyrone Shoelaces a.k.a. Baskteball Jones. The letter brings up something that I’ve been talking about with friends since I moved down here: that the Hornets have nothing to do with the city of New Orleans. You know, just like the Jazz have nothing to do with Utah. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Jeremy Alford

If Gov. Bobby Jindal thought the flap over the payment of his campaign finance violation was put to rest during last month’s special session on ethics reform, he’s sadly mistaken. Rep. Jerome “Dee” Richard, I-Thibodaux, is pushing legislation to prohibit the use of campaign funds to pay fines, fees or penalties assessed in relation to a campaign finance or lobbying violation. While not aimed expressly at the GOP governor, Richard’s House Bill 277 will certainly dredge up a few comparisons or anecdotal references. Jindal’s campaign failed to report in a timely manner an $118,000 in-kind donation from the Louisiana Republican Party last year. Rolfe McCollister Jr., a Baton Rouge publisher and Jindal’s campaign treasurer, has vowed to personally pay the anticipated fine, which could reach as high as $2,500. Such third-party payments caused a ruckus during the special session, with lawmakers voting to ban the practice. Richard’s bill would extend the ban to a candidate’s campaign fund and thereby make individual candidates personally responsible for all ethics fines.

By:Jeremy Alford

The chairman of the Senate Retirement Committee wants to take another shot at stripping elected officials of certain retirement benefits if they’re convicted of a crime related to their office. A similar measure was debated during the ethics special session in February but failed to win approval. Opposition stemmed in part from the severity of the proposal, with lawmakers worrying that innocent spouses and children might wind up paying for someone else’s sins. Sen. Butch Gautreaux, D-Morgan City, says his revised proposal, Senate Bill 27, would garnish only a portion of the convicted official’s retirement — enough to cover the cost of their incarceration or any related fines, penalties or restitution. “We don’t want to jeopardize any families or leave them destitute just because a public official makes a mistake,” Gautreaux says. “It’s also in line with what many other states are already doing, so we know it can be done successfully.” Gautreaux admits that his most substantial challenge may be convincing the state’s four major retirement systems not to oppose the bill.

By: Jeremy Alford

It has been used to embarrass Tom Cruise and float ideas for campaign commercials. Now the University of Louisiana System’s board of supervisors is using YouTube as an electronic press release system. It has its own page set up at www.youtube.com/ulsystem. An early posting included comments from all eight of the system’s college presidents on workforce issues as well as information about a new online resource for students and parents. The latter is called “College Portraits” and contains information on a variety of topics such as cost of attendance, degree offerings and campus safety. The UL System is the first in the country to launch such a program. “The public will be able to track our progress using the new online tool,” says UL System President Sally Clausen. “The College Portraits are an important step in the UL System’s commitment to transparency.”