One of the greatest joys a father can have is seeing a son grow up to share some of his passions. In my case, both my sons share my love of fishing — coastal fishing for specks, reds and flounder in Louisiana and fly-fishing for mountain trout in Montana.

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Did you know that migratory bird hunting in Louisiana supports 1.5 times as many jobs as there are New Orleans Police Department officers? According to a new economic impact study released by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, that’s nearly 2,000 jobs supported by migratory bird hunting in 2006 alone. 

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Although state officials contend surrounding wildlife will be impacted only minimally by the massive oil spill that stilled traffic on the Mississippi River at New Orleans, the federal government is taking an interesting approach to ensure that forecast holds true. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has hatched a plan that involves installing 100 propane cannons along the contaminated sections of the river to scare away birds. 

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Oh.

God.

I kept thinking “This review cannot possibly be as condescending, snippy, and grossly egotistical as it appears on first read,” but after the fourth read, I decided it was worse than that: it not only insulted Julia Reed and her book, but the city itself.

I don’t know Ms. Reed, but I just put in a call to her.

The Times-Picayune reported on Saturday, Aug. 2, that Mayor Ray Nagin’s administration took six months to respond to a public records request. The request was for copies of the résumés of 21 people who applied for the city’s top IT job, held until recently by the college-degree-challenged, résumé-enhancing Anthony Jones. The TP mentions the six-month delay in getting the résumés almost in passing.

Bloggers have criticized the daily newspaper for years, and rightfully so, for going easy on Nagin. When Marc Morial was mayor, the TP was tenacious in its insistence that public records requests be honored in a timely fashion — within 72 hours, according to state law (La. R.S. 44:1-41).

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