Wit’ Judge Wilfred steppin’ down az a district Judge, an election haz to be helt to fill dat vacancy. Da State Supreme Court has appointed Richard Wilson to serve in Carter’s seat on de bench, an’ de state’s high court haz called a special election for April to fill de remainder uf Carter’s term.
By law Wilson cannot run for dat office. But already, we’re seeing signs for Sharon Wilson for Carter’s seat.
Dat judicial district iz basically de North Lake Charles area. We are shore dar will be udders jumpin’ into dat race soon.
Now wit’ dat said, whoever wins dat election will have to run again in de fall uf next year when all de district judges will face reelection. Already we know dat District Judge Kent Savoie will step down to run for de Third Circuit Court uf Appeal. Savoie will be lookin’ to replace appeals court judge David Painter, who will be steppin’ down.
Dat opens up de race for Savoie’s seat. Dat district iz made up uf West Calcasieu and South Lake Charles. Already we’ve heard uf Harry Fontenot an Oliver Schrumpf runnin’ for dat seat. Dat election will be held in October uf next year.
So, az you can see, dar will be a lot uf politicin’ for judges’ jobs in de next 12 monts.
Gramblin’ May Be Sign Uf Tings To Come
Az you probably saw in de news, Gramblin’ football players refused to play a game a few weeks ago in protest uf poor facilities at dar school. School officials wuz quick to blame bigtime budget cuts over de las’ few years for de poor conditions at de once powerful football school.
Gramblin’ finally won a game a few weeks ago … dar first in two years. Traditionally, football programs have carried de financial load to fund mos’ udder sports at a school. But de entire athletic program at de nort’ Louisiana school iz way down in attendance and performance.
I’m mindful uf de coach Eddie Robinson days, where de school had a large number uf players in de NFL, Charlie Joiner, former San Diego Chargers wide receiver, being among dem.
Fact is, schools like Gramblin’, UL-Monroe, Nichols, an’ udders have tried to live wit’ de cuts by de state by raisin’ tuition and fees. Could what happened at Gramblin’ happen at udder schools in de state? You betcha!
Meantime, you know de executives at NBC Sports an’ de Superdome had to be burnin’ de phone lines when de news came out de players had refused to play a game. De city uf New Awlins and NBC make a whole lotta money on de Soul Bowl — de annual Gramblin’-Southern football game dat’s played de day afta Tanksgivin’. Since de hotels, restaurants an’ Superdome make a ton uf money on dis event, one can imagine how nervous day wuz at de rumor Gramblin’ wuz gonna cancel de res’ uf dar season.
But some folks what’d graduated from Gramblin’ got togedder wit’ school officials and de players an’ worked tings out … for now.
Parishwide Bus Service Long Overdue
For sometime now, we’ve been sayin’ our area needs a parish-wide bus system. It looks like it’ll finally happen.
In de beginning, it looks like service will be to Sulphur an’ Westlake. But long-range, dars talk uf expandin’ service to DeQuincy and Vinton.
Folks, look at it dis way: de mo folks who ride de busses de less cars we will have on de highways. An’ dar are many folks now, an’ even mo comin’ to dis area, who would benefit from dis service. Beaucoup federal money is available for transit projects like dis, so de cos’ to local taxpayers should be lessened. An’ az Martha Stewart would say, “that’s a good thing.”
Courthouse Great Addition
Now dat de new Ward Three Courthouse iz open, we can truly say it’s a wonderful addition to de downtown area. No overcrowdin’; no parkin’ headaches; no cramped offices for city employees workin’ de court system.
In our last issue, we goofed. We mentioned Judges Quirk and Hood and Ward 3 Marshall Joey Alcede. We forgot to mention de person dat makes de whole traffic system process go, an’ dat’s City Prosecutor Lydia Lee. She haz an office alongside de udders mentioned, an’ works hard to keep tings movin’ along in traffic court. Sorry for dat, Lydia.
Traffic Jams On Bridges
Although State Police, de Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office, and Lake Charles and Westlake City police do an excellent job uf workin’ recks on I-10 an’ I-210, dar seems to be awful long delays when dar are accidents on de bridges.
Maybe a wrecker service positioned at de foot uf each bridge would help dem get to de wrecks sooner an’ move de wrecked vehicles out uf de way sooner. Imagine money bein’ lost by companies when dar trucks are jus’ sittin’ dar in back-ups on de interstate — sometime for hours.
Now my fran Kevin suggests day get dem jaws like what day had around here afta de hurricanes dat would pick up large amounts uf debris and move it. Me, I tink de car insurance companies would have a little trouble wit’ dat one. But sometin’ else needs to be done to keep traffic flowin’. A new I-10 bridge would help, but dat’s years away.
It’s Still All About De Money
An old politician tol’ me years ago dat whenever dar are issues in politics, de answer iz always money. De whole Obamacare fiasco iz certainly fallin’ into dat category. I know folks who have stayed on computers for hours and have not been able to get through.
De money angle here is dat de federal gubment hired a Canadian company dat couldn’t get de program workin’ in time because uf money not bein’ allocated to de job. Instead, gubment deadheads got de money.
An’ when you look at de insurance companies havin’ dar hands in dis, you know de answer is money because all day want to do iz make mo money for dar company, be it privately owned or owned by shareholders. De phrase “maximizing shareholder value” should ring a bell for anyone who’s ever worked for a company listed on a stock exchange.
Why is it come az no surprise to mos’ uf us dat dis Obamacare ting iz a real gumbo (an not a good chicken an’ sausage variety either)?
Mary Jumps Into De Picture
U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu sed she wuz goin’ to either sponsor or a support a bill in de Senate dat would allow folks to keep dar current medical insurance. Dat’s what waz promised, but insurance companies are cancelin’ thousands uf policies because de insurance companies say dar policies don’t meet Affordable Care standards.
Landrieu sed, “The promise was made and it should be kept. And it was our understanding when we voted for that, that when people have insurance, they could keep what they had. So I’m going to be working on that fix.”
Read this quote again folks. Maybe if Mary and Nancy Pelosi an’ udders would have read de bill instead uf havin’ folks tell dem what wuz in it, dar wouldn’t be dis mess.
Meantime, de Republicans are jumpin’ all over dis again, knowin’ Landrieu haz a race for re-election next year, an’ day want to gig her every chance day got. But de udder question is, since de Republicans are fightin’ among demselves like cats an’ dogs, will day be able to put up enough uf a fight to remove her from office?
Day Need Your Support
A former governor once told a legislator from our area, “I don’t need your support when I’m right. I need you when I’m wrong.” Such iz de case wit’ some uf our college and high school football teams.
McNeese wuz disappointed after dropping a game to Southeastern. Barbe wuz ranked No. 1 in de state until day los’ two games in a row. LSU certainly had hopes for a better season dan day ended up wit’.
But what we as fans have to do iz rally behind our teams and show our support. Everyone likes to stand by a winner. An’ trust us, all three uf dem teams are gonna win a whole lot mo games. So show your pride durin’ good times and bad.
Deep Taughts While Watchin’ Football
10) Are we gonna get some decent shrimps befo de season iz ova?
9) Should I wait for dem speckled bellies dat Cane promised me?
8) Iz Johnny Football gonna get de Heisman again dis year?
7) Jus’ how does dis time change save energy?
6) Why does my cable bill look like de national debt?
5) Are de Houston Texans gonna turn it around?
4) How many folks are watchin’ de Edwin Edwards reality show on A&E?
3) When iz de Today Show gonna have Lesa Cormier an’ his band on dar show?
2) Why do my dogs listen to me and my cats ignore me?
1) How can my New Awlins brudda-in-law claim he makes a better roux dan me?
Final Shot
Lefty sez dis year instead uf fryin’ a turkey, he’s gonna fry some boudin. Sometimes Lefty takes hiz Cajun pride a little too far.
‘Til next time, lache pas la patate.
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