You’ve seen de television commercial for Fed Ex about folks at dat company who are all happy because dar product got delivered to dar customer az promised. So de customer iz happy an’ all de employees say, “I’m happy.”
Well, I’m happy I finally fount somebody who could set de record straight on dis Cove Lane project. Dat somebody iz my fran Slim. Slim haz been around de political arena for a long time, an’ is real good at readin’ political officials to determine what‘s actually goin’ on.
So my fran Max de stockbroker an’ me recently went to lunch wit’ Slim. Afta watchin’ him eat lettuce and not much else, I realized why day called him Slim yet nobody ever called me or Max Slim.
Anyway, we had lots uf questions for Slim about de Cove Lane project, and uf course Max an’ me, we had tons uf opinions about Cove Lane, none uf which we wanted to keep to ourselves.
Now understand Slim ain’t wit’ de Highway Dept. or anyting like dat, but he’s in de know. So here’s what he sed. It opens access to 210 East at Nelson without southbound blockin’ traffic flow. Slim sez de plan also calls for reroutin’ Prien Lake Road around de Target shoppin’ center. Slim sez all dis will work. Dat’s good enough for me.
Havin’ heard de opinion uf someone who haz no rooster in dis fight, me, I’m convinced it will be good for Lake Charles, so I’m happy. Az for Max, well, he’s never happy, az is de case wit’ some Lake Charles residents who are never happy. But as for me, after learnin’ what dis project will do to Nelson Road traffic, me, I’m happy.
Show Me Sometin’!
Jim Serra — dat fella what gets on Channel 7 about once a week an’ yaks about sometin’ dat’s botherin’ him — had a good commentary recently about de Mardi Gras Boardwalk project. He expressed hiz doubt dat we will never see anyting developed by dem folks on de old Harrah’s site. Like Serra sed, all we have iz “vague promises.”
Meantime, de site continues to look like most uf central Detroit — not a very pretty site for folks comin’ into de city. We agree wit’ Serra on dis Mardi Gras promise parade. It’s time for dem New Awlins folks to get off de stick, an’ it’s time for de City uf Lake Charles to hold dar feet to de fire.
Dat Dog Ain’t Gonna Hunt
A buncha folks from de Moss Bluff an’ Westlake area gaddered recently to hear de DOTD present three options for improvin’ Highway 378 through Westlake into Moss Bluff. One plan haz de road goin’ trew Sam Houston Jones State Park.
Needless to say, dat got de dander uf some uf de folks at de meetin’ up. We’d like to remind folks dat den Gov. Kathleen Blanco once had a plan for a golf course dat would take up a portion of de park. But Vic Stelly an’ a few udder area politicians went to Baton Rouge an’ had one uf dem “come to Jesus” meetings wit’ Blanco an’ dat’s de las’ you heard uf dat.
One ting about politicians — day may be influenced by lobbyists, but when de folks dat elect dem scream loud an’ clear, de voters will win every time. An’ besides, DOTD has no intention uf goin’ trew de park. Dar always trowin’ up trial balloons like dat. But de fact remains dat sometin’ needs to be done about improvin’ dat stretch from Westlake to Moss Bluff.
Air Show Organizers Flyin’ High
It had been a long time since we had had an air show at Chennault. An’ judgin’ from de huge crowds dat showed up for dis year’s show, we gonna see shows for years to come.
Now, just like Contraband Days an’ lots uf udder outdoor activities, de weather haz a great deal to do wit’ how much uf a crowd you gonna draw. An’ dis year, de Air Show folks wuz blessed wit’ great weather except for the last 30 minutes on de final day. We applaud de organizers an’ sponsors an’ all de folks who volunteered to make dis anudder great event in Lake Charles.
Charter Checkup
Like mos’ men, me, I don’t wanna see what’s on TV; I wanna see what else iz on TV. My wife Sedonia gets so mad at me for flippin’ trew de channels.
It wuz while flippin’ dat I came across Louisiana Town Square on de Public TV station. De folks on de show wuz discussin’ charter schools in our state. Here’s some numbers trown out on de program. We have 100 charter schools in our state. Uf de 600,000 students in our state, 10 percent attend charter schools.
A national organization claims children in charter schools in our state learn better dan dem what’s not in charter schools. (How day measure dat one, I don’t know).
An’ here’s one statistic dat floored me … in de las’ 8 years, our state haz gone from 42 to 100 charter schools.
Now in dis show, dar wuz folks dat were for charter schools, an’ uf course dem dat wuzn’t. Debbie Meaux, president uf de Louisiana Assoc. uf Educators, wuz singin’ her same old song about charter schools takin’ money from public schools. Draw your own conclusions about dat statement.
Locally, we’ve seen lots uf parents tryin’ to get dar children into de charter system. But to be fair, we haven’t had de charter system around in our area long enough to see if it’s better or worse dan de alternative. Time will tell.
Outdoor Writers Meetin’ Means A Bunch
At de time uf dis writin’, de Southwest Louisiana Convention an’ Visitors Bureau wuz gettin’ ready for anudder big event comin’ to our area: a meetin’ uf de Southern Outdoor Press Assoc. De group haz held dar convention in our area before, an’ since dar back, guess day liked it here.
Now dem folks dat belong to dis group include magazine writers, photographers, radio hosts, and television show producers. Considerin’ dat dem men’s and women’s articles appear in Field & Stream, USA Today, DU Magazine an’ many udder media outlets, one can see how important dis iz to our area.
Uf course de tourist bureau realizes any article or program dat mentions SWLA iz one day don’t have to pay for. So if you see folks walkin’ around wit’ a SEOPA name tag on, make dem feel at home. We’ve got a great story to tell to de rest uf de United States, an’ dem writers an’ TV an’ radio people are de ones who can tell it.
A Great One Haz Left Us
Ask anyone who had de good fortune to play football at LSU under Paul Dietzel an’ day will tell you how great a man he was an’ how many a kid he turned into a great football player an’ more important, a good man.
Dietzel, who coached de first national championship team for LSU in 1958, came up wid de idea uf havin’ three groups uf players on his team. The White Team wuz de best unit. The GO team wuz de back-ups, and the third group were de Chinese Bandits.
Now, de Bandits were made up of cast-offs an’ even a former equipment manager. But de Bandits became so popular dat football players from colleges trewout de country, some starters on big-name football teams, would call Dietzel axin’ to become a Chinese Bandit.
Dietzel passed away recently at de age uf 89. He will be remembered for years to come.
Media Hounds All Over De Place
If you’re like me, you can’t open your computer witout havin’ an email from Jindal, Landrieu or Vitter tellin’ you how great a job day are doing. Now Jindal haz taken to de TV airwaves to tell us how Obama iz trying to tell you what insurance to buy an’ where to send your kids to school. Considerin’ hiz voucher program an’ state medical program, it looks to me like dat’s what he (Jindal) iz tryin’ to do also. But I guess dat’s different.
Guess Jindal ain’t too pleased wit’ hiz 35 percent poll numbers, so he decided to get on TV.
Meanwhile, Vitter keeps tellin’ us how great he is an’ how he’s anti-Obama an’ Landrieu keeps tellin’ us how great Obamacare iz gonna be.
Imagine next year, when we have statewide races. Facebook an’ Twitter will be full uf political ads. Lord help us all.
Deep Taughts While Watchin’ Wheel Uf Fortune
10) Why don’t Pat an’ Vanna ever age?
9) How many uf dis year’s Astros “rebuildin’” team will be around next year?
8) Will McNeese be able to regroup an’ win de Southland Conference Championship?
7) How long will all dem ceegars I got for my birthday las’ me?
6) Will dat new Indian restaurant by McNeese serve boudin wit’ curry in it?
5) Why can’t I catch on to dis Texas Hold Em’ poker.
4) Bein’ as I got all dem KD’s gift cards for my birthday, wonder if folks know where I get breakfast?
3) How come T Claude’s 3-day drunk iz now in its 7th day?
2) Iz coach Les or coach Nick goin’ to Southern Cal?
1) When day gonna bring rasslin’ back to de Civic Center?
Final Shot
Lefty sez hiz wife likes her dog mo dan she likes him. He sez she kisses de dog but pats him on de head.
‘Til next time, lache pas la patate.
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