Call it mojo, spice, K2 or fake pot: As expected, Gov. Bobby Jindal signed a bill today that had sailed through the Louisiana legislature, making it illegal to either possess or sell synthetic marijuana/incense blends that have gained popularity in head shops statewide. The doobie brother will now be a Schedule I drug. Making or selling it will be punishable by up to five years in prison, while possession will be capped at six months. (You can read all about it in our May cover story, “Mojo Madness.”) The law kicks in Aug. 15, so smoke ‘em if you got ‘em …

Wait. What are we saying? Just say no, kids.

Alan Levine, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, has sent a letter to BP CEO Doug Suttles asking for an immediate $10 million to combat depression from the Gulf oil spill:

Our Louisiana Spirit crisis counseling teams have already engaged and counseled almost 2,000 individuals in the affected areas, and are reporting palpable increases in anxiety, depression, stress, grief, excessive drinking, earlier drinking and suicide ideation.

Levine concludes: “Due to the urgency of this request, we ask for a response no later than one week from your receipt of this letter.” No word back yet from BP.

You can get your own copy of the letter here.

(This is a preview (with a few updates) of my column that will appear in this week’s Gambit.)

They say money can’t buy love or happiness, but in politics this much is clear: Lack of money will buy you a whole lotta heartache and misery. Add to that the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history and you’ve got some real ugliness.

That pretty much sums up the 2010 Louisiana legislative session.

Gov. Bobby Jindal, who typically stays above the legislative fray, was even more detached than usual because of his daily trips to the oil-threatened coast. In his absence, House and Senate leaders, building on past tensions, nearly came to blows in the final hours. And with so little money to spread around, the inevitable cuts to education, health care and the arts/culture portend even more agony next year, when state revenues are expected to take an even more precipitous nosedive — just in time for redistricting and the next round of statewide elections. Beatings will continue until morale improves.

Read the rest of this entry »

After an uneventful primary and a largely uneventful runoff in the race for Louisiana’s House District 93 seat, the last 36 hours have been whipsaw-crazy and downright vicious, culminating yesterday in a lawsuit filed by candidate Helena Moreno against her opponent James Perry. (If you’re not up on the insinuations and allegations that flew around yesterday between Moreno and Perry, catch up here.)

At a press conference this morning in the law offices of Bruno & Bruno, Moreno struck back against what she labeled “despicable” action by Perry and read a statement titled “James Perry’s Abuse of a Tragedy,” which concluded, “The only question that remains is what kind of twisted mind must James Perry have that he can exploit a tragedy for his own personal gain.”

The “tragedy” was a 2002 traffic accident with one fatality in which candidate Helena Moreno had been involved — but not cited. An NOPD report found that the other driver had gone through a red light and concluded the “primary causative factor of this crash is Operator Error,” but adds, “Had Ms. Helena Moreno been traveling at or below the posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour instead of the estimated speed of 35 miles per hour as per her own admission, the crash may not have occurred.” Moreno was never charged with a crime in the incident, but Perry, in a statement, said “I find the tragic facts disclosed in this report very troubling. The thing I find most disturbing is the fact that Ms. Moreno seems to have put her own professional ambition ahead of the health, well-being and the very life of another person.”

Attending this morning’s press conference in support of Moreno were attorney Vinny Mosca (whose daughter-in-law was driving the car that struck Moreno’s Jeep Cherokee) and Moreno’s former WDSU-TV coworker, Kriss Fairbairn, who had gone to the scene of the accident after being phoned by Moreno.

The wild card was former state Rep. Louis Charbonnet III, the third-place finisher in the primary, who was on hand to both endorse Moreno and announce he had filed his own lawsuit against Perry for what Charbonnet said were willful misrepresentations in campaign flyers. (Charbonnet did not bring a copy of his lawsuit.)

Other campaign flyers from the Perry camp — these targeting Moreno — were also a topic. Both featured a photograph of Moreno laughing as a drink was being prepared in front of her. One had the caption “Helena Moreno has an ADDICTION to deliquency” — with the word HYPOCRITE stenciled over Moreno’s image. Moreno said the photograph was taken at a charity event at which she was one of the celebrity bartenders, and denied ever having a problem with either alcohol or drugs.

The tenor of the campaign has turned so ugly that Moreno said she would not be attending two scheduled debates with Perry — one scheduled to be taped at WDSU-TV that afternoon for a Sunday night “Hot Seat” program, and the other a public forum sponsored by Crimefighters Saturday evening. “I will not be sitting in the same room as James Perry,” Moreno said. (Norman Robinson, host of “Hot Seat,” went ahead and taped the program with Perry alone, according to WDSU.)

The drama in the House District 93 race is disproportionate to the attention voters paid to it earlier this month. In the May 1 primary, only 2,369 votes were cast — about 9% of the registered voters in a district that includes some of the city’s most visible neighborhoods: most of the French Quarter and all of the CBD and Warehouse District, along with the Morial Convention Center, the Louisiana Superdome and the New Orleans Arena.

In that primary race, Perry received 890 votes; Moreno, 643 votes. It was enough to put them both into the runoff.

For anyone who’s never been to a Catholic Mass, here’s a small list of things that aren’t allowed — or, at least things that are frowned upon and proven to elicit haughty glares from the pious: wearing shorts, pregnant teenagers, talking too loudly, known divorcées, ringing cell phones. And apparently, you’re not supposed to eat an hour beforehand (like with swimming pools). So in this already tense, often fear-based atmosphere of worship, what would be a great addition? According to Rep. Henry Burns, R-Haughton, guns!

Burns’ House Bill 68, which would allow guns in in churches, synagogues, mosques if the head of the religious body approves, was approved by the House in a 74-18 vote on Wednesday. If that sounds a little crazy and not what Jesus would do, take solace in knowing that it’s something not necessarily prohibited by the Bible, according to bill backer Rep. Ernest Wooton (R-Belle Chasse):

“This bill is very permissive … I want to see in the Bible where it says you can’t bring a gun to church.”

The bill would allow those with concealed carry permits to “bring (guns) to church as part of its security plan,” says Burns, to protect congregants against a potential attack. These members “tapped for security duty” would be required to receive eight hours of technical training.

Perhaps what’s most amazing about this proposed law is that it’s responsible for what I believe to be the only logical, factual (in this case) nola.com comment ever posted:

Amen, technogeek1. Amen. (Via the Times-Picayune).