In the end, the runoff for the District A council seat came down to three women behind a podium: District A councilwoman-elect Susan Guidry, state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson and retiring District A councilwoman Shelley Midura. Guidry’s opponent, former District A councilman Jay Batt, had the money and the mojo behind him (both his war chest and his list of endorsements dwarfed Guidry’s), but both Peterson and Midura had thrown their support to Guidry early and enthusiastically, and both of them were more visibly ebullient than the candidate herself. (Midura, famous for wearing her emotions on her sleeve, was alternately beaming and choked up.)

GUIDRY, PETERSON AND MIDURA.

Guidry supporters had gathered at the Olive Branch Cafe in Mid-City to watch the results come in, but the winner’s address was anything but an olive branch; while she thanked her supporters and the voters, she also took the unusual step of swiping at Batt in her victory speech. “My opponent tried so hard to polarize us,” she said, her anger still palpable from a bruiser of a runoff campaign, later adding in acid tones, “Little people. Little power.” For his part, Batt sent out a concession press release to the media while she was speaking, but by the time Guidry finished (according to her campaign officials), he still hadn’t called to congratulate her.

The numbers were dramatic. In the Feb. 6 primary, Batt had 39.32% of the vote to Guidry’s 44.22%; the remainder was split among candidates Virginia Blanque and Fred Robertson. Blanque endorsed Batt, a fellow Republican, but the final total in the runoff was Batt at 37.66% and Guidry at 62.34%; Batt had actually lost support in the final month of the campaign, while Guidry gained 18 points — and this despite Batt’s endorsements from across the political spectrum, from Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson to DA Leon Cannizzaro; from The Times-Picayune to The Louisiana Weekly; from Democratic state Sen. J.P. Morrell to Republican congressman Steve Scalise.

In the end, perhaps it wasn’t the fact that Guidry triumphed in the runoff; it was that she had done so so decisively, and with so little backing from the local political establishment … and that was, perhaps, why Midura and Peterson, the only two politicos behind her on the podium, had their eyes gleaming so brightly. As the whole city learned on Feb. 7 at the Sun Life stadium in Florida, victory is never so sweet as it is when the pros count you out of the game.

That title? Check this story from WWL-TV about the upcoming construction around the Causeway, which looks like it will turn the normal commuting headache into a full-blown traffic migraine. And it’s going to last two years. Pack an extra Thermos of coffee and make sure your iPod is charged.

Anyway … what’s coming up in this week’s Gambit?

• The Anthony Bean Community Theater is turning 10 years old. In our cover story, David Winkler-Schmit profiles the man who built New Orleans’ only African-American community theater, which not only produces original and classic works, but provides a much-needed outlet for teenage drama students …

• “Heil Hitler” salutes and racial and religious slurs in the workplace directed at a Jewish employee? It happened in Jefferson Parish, and the supervisor who admits to overseeing all this was a parish employee. In a Gambit exclusive, Allen Johnson Jr. examines the depositions in a case reminiscent of other official Jeff Parish working environments over the years, including the “noose neckties” worn by Jeff Parish prosecutors in 2001 and the whipping post case investigated by the FBI in 2007 …

• Chris Rose reminisces about Barry Hannah, the Mississippi wild man of letters who died last week …

• Clancy DuBos looks at the mayor-elect’s task force for selecting a new superintendent of police. Can the new chief come from the ranks of the NOPD, or will he or she have to come from elsewhere? …

• Gov. Bobby Jindal is redoubling the state’s effort to crack down on sexual predators. A good thing — or just a way to avoid making some hard decisions about the state’s fiscal crisis? Our man in Baton Rouge, Jeremy Alford, looks at the guv’s priorities in “To Catch a Panderer” …

• Noah Bonaparte Pais previews the upcoming Foburg Music Festival, and Will Coviello gets a sneak peek at the Contemporary Arts Center’s new production of Fantastic Mr. Fox …

… and it’s Election Day in Orleans Parish, at least if you live in City Council Districts A or E. Early indications are exceptionally low voter turnout, so you’ve got a chance to make a big difference. Polls are open till 8 p.m., and we’ll Twitter the results as soon as they come in. Have a great weekend.

As we reported yesterday, Rep. Tim Johnson (R-Ill.) was the only member of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote against congratulating the New Orleans Saints on their Super Bowl victory. Well, it turns out Johnson has an opponent vying for his 15th Congressional District seat in Illinois: Dr. David Gill, an E/R physician, a Democrat, and — most important — a good sport. In many ways. In many, many ways, as it turns out.

We put in a call to Dr. Gill yesterday to seek comment, and he got back to us today … not because he was blowing us off, but because he had been working in the emergency room, heroically saving lives, instead of voting against the Saints on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Here is Dr. Gill’s official statement on the Black and Gold Super Bowl victory:

I watched the game. I’m a football nut, and the New Orleans Saints receive my heartiest congratulations. And kudos to Drew Brees! I used to watch him at Purdue.

Dr. Gill took the time for a brief interview about the differences between him and his opponent:

GAMBIT: When you are not busy heroically saving people’s lives, what other impressive feats do you perform that Rep. Tim Johnson does not?

GILL: Hmm. I still play a mean game of tennis. I don’t know he’s capable of that. I can play sports trivia like a champ. And I still read out loud every night to my youngest if I’m not working in the emergency room.

GAMBIT: That is so nice! Dr. Gill, several of our readers have suggested your opponent is — and I quote — a “douche.” Do you have any comment on that?

GILL: [laughing] Uh… I … I can understand why they’d come up with that thought. I try to be more diplomatic about it. There are many people here in central illlnois who would agree with that.

GAMBIT: Thank you, sir. One last question: Is someone who doesn’t congratulate the winners of the Super Bowl a filthy Communist, or simply un-American in his beliefs?

GILL: [laughing] I’ll go with un-American.

Thank you, Dr. David Gill! To learn more about Dr. Gill and his platform, visit his Web site.

DR. DAVID GILL: HEROIC AMERICAN … AND SAINTS FAN.

Today, Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-La.) introduced H.R. 1079 onto the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives — a bill congratulating the New Orleans Saints on their Super Bowl victory. Sure, it ain’t health care, but it’s the kind of collegial feel-good resolution that allows Congresscritters to give each other the warm fuzzies. The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support by a vote of … 375-1.

Yes, someone voted against congratulating the Saints for winning the Super Bowl. Who? This dude:

What a jackanapes you are, Rep. Tim V. Johnson of Illinois.

Here’s the footage of Cao introducing the resolution on the House floor. Nice.

There’s Tinseltown stardust in the air for our local investigative TV guys, it seems. First now-retired Richard Angelico turns TV pitchman for a cash-for-gold company (would someone please upload that to YouTube?), and then Travers Mackel, we hear, has filmed a Mackel-evellian cameo for David Simon’s new series Tremé. But none of these star turns can compete with Peabody award-winning journalist Lee Zurik, who is making his debut as a flea in the Contemporary Arts Center’s upcoming production of Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Gambit’s own I-Team has obtained footage of “Flea Zurik” (which will no doubt be played on an endless loop at City Hall) and we’re presenting it here for the first time. Enjoy.

Jay Batt and Susan Guidry, the remaining candidates for the City Council District A race, met tonight for a final forum at St. Dominic in Lakeview. About 100 residents turned out to hear Guidry and Batt, who have run a particularly contentious race since the Feb. 6 primary, a race marked by racially inflammatory flyers, a fair amount of behind-the-scenes whispering, and names from Vincent Marcello to Bruno’s to Scotto’s Café. Neither candidate bothered with pleasantries like saying hello or shaking hands when they took the stage, and neither candidate barely looked at the other during the whole 90-minute debate.

BATT AND GUIDRY: NOT THRILLED WITH EACH OTHER.

And while neither Batt nor Guidry deviated from their well-worn positions on the campaign trail, one topic was much discussed by both candidates: ACORN, the advocacy organization for low-income families that’s been so much in the news lately. Given the voting habits in Lakeview and the makeup of the crowd (solidly Caucasian), it was safe to assume both Batt and Guidry wanted an ACORN endorsement about as much as they wanted one from Ray Nagin. And yet both candidates claimed the other had ACORN’s seal of approval.

During one of her trips to the podium, Guidry waved a flyer not produced by her camp, which claimed she had the endorsement of both ACORN and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which would like to unionize New Orleans restaurant workers. Guidry said that, as the Democrat in the race, she was the de facto choice for unions (and, indeed, SEIU Local 21 has endorsed her), but she denied ever getting or seeking support from ACORN. Instead, she said, it was Batt who had been endorsed by ACORN during the 2006 District A council race, a charge which Batt denied:

“I’ve never had the endorsement of ACORN. I’ve never paid them; I’ve never been part of them. It’s not even in my vernacular. So … it’s untrue.”

There’s no record of Guidry being endorsed by ACORN, but not so for Batt. In the 2006 race, he was endorsed by the New Orleans chapter of ACORN. An April 7, 2006 edition of New Orleans CityBusiness mentioned it:

City Councilmember Jay Batt today was endorsed by the Police Association of New Orleans and Athe Association of Community Organizations for Action Now. The organizations cited Batt’s dedication and leadership.”Your commitments to the needs of law enforcement have proven that you are dedicated to improving the New Orleans Police Department. Your years serving the city will only enhance what is already in place,” said David Benelli, president of the Police Association of New Orleans. “ACORN members in the Carrollton-Hollygrove communities have been working with Councilmember Batt on establishing a police substation for the area and a variety of other neighborhood concerns,” said Joe Sherman, Carrollton-Hollygrove ACORN chairperson.

Batt may not remember ACORN’s endorsement now, but he knew about it at the time, according to an entry on his 2006 campaign blog, which is still online:

So … what to make of a four-year-old endorsement in a race that’s four days away? Probably not much — the fact that it was even brought up is a sign that most minds seem made up one way or another in District A — but it’s another cudgel that will no doubt be wielded in a contest that’s been marked by a good deal of nastiness so far.

The runoff is March 6.

Drew Pierson of the Shreveport Times brings us this story, which is… which is… Well, maybe we should just let Pierson go ahead and explain it:

The Bossier Parish sheriff’s office is launching a program called “Operation Exodus,” a policing plan for an end-of-the-world scenario involving a mostly white group of ex-police volunteers and a .50-caliber machine gun, inspired in part from the Book of Exodus in the Bible.

* blink * blink *

“The buck stops with Larry Deen,” said Bossier Parish Sheriff Larry Deen. “The liability stops with Larry Deen. I am the chief law enforcement officer in this parish, and it is incumbent upon me protect all of the people in it.”

Curious, I went to the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Web site to learn more about Larry Deen, and was fortunate enough to find an actual video of a training session for Operation Exodus. The video of the training exercise can be found here, but here are a couple of screencaps:

So what are these fellows doing, exactly? It sounds fairly … well, militia-y. But it’s not. Back to Pierson’s story:

These volunteers will be armed by the sheriff’s office, using, among other things, shotguns, riot shields and batons. The members are mostly white men. Five are black. Women involved will only be used in “support roles,” Deen said, which indicated non-combat activity. One of their first official training sessions was Feb. 20 when they learned basic hand-to-hand combat techniques.

Deen said he was not creating a militia.

Sheriff’s office deputies stressed the program would not cost much. Because weapons, such as a .50-caliber machine gun mounted on something the sheriff’s office calls “the war wagon,” already have been purchased, the cost associated with the program would only be training and uniforms volunteers must wear, costing about $4,500 total.

Okay. Now you know — if you’re up in Shreveport and you see a bunch of citizen volunteers in paramilitary uniforms and riot gear, along with a .50 caliber machine gun, you’ll know it’s not a militia. It’s just … this paramilitary, hand-to-hand combat, machine-gun equipped non-militia thing.

Reader Brian McDonald sent in this photo of the aftermath of a fire at South China, the venerable Northshore Cantonese restaurant on Highway 190 just outside of Covington.

And we just got a press release from St. Tammany Fire Protection District 12, whose assistant fire chief Stephen Krentel said he expects the building will be a total loss.

South China was a familiar fixture on the Northshore for decades. Anyone have any particular memories of eating there?

One of the most-read stories at nytimes.com this weekend was “Hey, Waiter! Just How Much Extra Do You Really Expect?,” David Sax’s essay/screed about the practice of tipping. It’s a subject on which everyone seems to have a strong opinion — and judging from the number of comments (1,074 on tipping vs., say, 345 on the Chilean earthquake), there’s a pretty broad scattering of opinion on Mr. David Sax as well.

Consider this from the essay:

“Do you need change?”

Funny you should ask, because I just gave you a $10 bill, and my latte and raspberry scone came to $5.75. As much as I think you’re pleasing to look at, and you do magical things with frothy milk, I just don’t see your services commanding a 70-plus percent premium over the market rate for my breakfast.

Frankly, Sax sounds like a royal pain in the ass to wait on … but, no, I don’t like it either when a server asks “Do you need change?” (It rarely happens, in my experience, but it does happen sometimes.) And the example he cites is truly outrageous. But what’s with the attitude, Sax?

And then, suddenly I’m really not with Mr. Snotty Latte-and-a-Scone. At all:

Yes, I know you’re all underpaid. But guess what? So am I. When I get $500 for an article that I think is worth $1,000, you won’t see me e-mail the editor, saying, “Just so you know, service isn’t included.” Do I ask you to come into my workplace and supplement my meager income? No, I don’t.

I don’t know the law in New York, but Louisiana servers are subject to the federal tip minimum law, which means they rake in $2.13/hour and must depend on tips to cover any real income. (And they have to pay taxes on tips, whether they get the tips or not.) That’s a bit more “underpaid” than what Sax is bellyaching about. If he’d taken on the subject of tip jars where they don’t belong (say, at the gas station), I might be with him, but given his tone and his attitude, I agree with the very first commenter on the story:

Good gracious, what a bitter rant.

The reaction around the Web has been interesting, too: here are two contrasting viewpoints.

So many people in New Orleans make a good part of their salaries through tips. What do you think of tips and tip jars?

Just last week some national condom company was claiming Big Easy men had the biggest, er, easies in America. Now comes some Web site called Total Beauty to take us all down a peg or two, claiming New Orleans is among the worst cities in America when it comes to body odor*. The reasoning:

The Big Easy’s fragrant, eau de Post-Party Frat Basement scent doesn’t help matters. It’s also a very sweaty city, with high temperatures and humidity year-round. And it’s a smoker’s paradise — the state tax on cigarettes is low, and the public smoking ban doesn’t extend to bars. About 20 percent of adults in this city smoke.

The stinkiest city in America, according to Total Beauty? Las Vegas, followed by Houston, Phoenix, Chicago, us, San Antonio, and Yuma, Ariz. The site came to its conclusions, it says, by “assessing climate history and smoking data,” which doesn’t sound like the most rigorously scientific method of measuring stench.

What do you think, Gambiteers? Are we all a bunch of Boudreaux Le Pews?

* hat tip to The Huck Upchuck for pointing out this important info