PIERRE SEZ

A Big Jump For Edwards

Recent pollin’ in de race for governor haz state Rep. John Bel Edwards coming from behind like a Kentucky Derby horse. A recent poll by Triumph Campaigns of Jackson, Miss., shows Vitter at 31 percent and Edwards moving up to 30 percent.

Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle iz lookin’ better at 14 percent, while Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne haz slipped to 11 percent.

What wuz suprizin’ in dis poll iz dat uf de 1,650 voters what wuz polled, 14 percent say day are still undecided.

De election iz on Oct. 24, so you can expect at lease 200 polls between now an’ den. All de folks what know anyting about politics call dis one a Vitter-Edwards runoff. Vitter, who serves in de U.S. Senate, haz big-time money on hiz side, an’ de National Republican Party iz gonna kick in big dollars in dis race.

Edwards iz de only Democrat in de race, an’ dat helps him a whole lot. An’ havin a las’ name like Edwards doesn’t hurt neither. He’s finally startin’ to move around de state. In fact, we sawed where he wuz at de IBEW buildin’ on Highway 90 recently. Wonder if he could get in hiz car from hiz home in Amite and find Lake Charles by himself? But dat’s anudder story.

In de meantime, Angelle’s TV ads are givin’ him name recognition an’ he’s movin’ in de polls. Hiz daddy wuz commissioner uf Wildlife an’ Fisheries for many years, an’ dat should help too.

But still, in de view of experts, it’s Vitter an’ Edwards in a November runoff. Meantime, former Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco is touring the state with Edwards, which has to help with fellow Democrats and women voters.

Locally one of de two races that has any kind of interest is the one to replace House Speaker Chuck Kleckley, that race bein’ between Dr. Keith DeSonier and former Lake Charles City Council Member Mark Abraham. De other interestin’ race features incumbent A.B. Franklin facing former State Rep. and District Judge Wilfred Carter and retired Ward 3 Judge Tom Quirk. Long way to go on dese races.

BP Haz Come To Jesus Meetin’

In de Lafayette area, you mention Pat Juneau an’ gentlemen remove dar hats and place dem on their hearts like in de Randolph Scott bit in Blazin’ Saddles. An’ den, mos’ uf dem iz likely to ax, De old one or de young one?

De truth iz, de old one would be about 95 if he wuz alive today. He served az a state senator durin de Earl long days. De young one, now about 70, haz handled tons uf cases involvin’ bigtime settlements. He wuz appointed by federal judges to decide who gets what in dese settlements. He’s handled cases like de big Conoco case in dis area.

So anyone could have told dem BP folks day wuz gettin’ nowhere by tryin’ to win by bashin’ “Little Pat,” az I know him. Juneau contacted de head honchos across de pond an’ invited dem to a sit down. He tol’ dem to leave de laundry at de door. An’ witin’ a coupla hours, de deal wuz done – big money from BP, az in de amount uf $18.7 billion. An’ our state gets $8.6 billion uf it for costal restoration.

Now dis helps our state bigtime … unless we see a replay uf what haz happened in de past wit’ greedy legislators gettin’ dar hands on state funds. We can see it now … legislators and groups uf legislators … gettin’ togedder tryin’ to figger out how pet projects back home could be called “coastal restoration.” Remember David Treen calling a special session to figure out what to do wit’ a big pile uf money dat had been dumped on de state by Texaco?

One can only imagine what schemes are bein devised by dat New Awlins buncha “greedy gusses,” az Huey Long once called dem, to make dat money flow into dar district. Meantime, we urge our local legislators to put their foot down and say, “not again.”

Smokeless In Sulphur

A new anti-smokin’ ordinance haz been put in place in Sulphur. My fran Max sez he’s not gonna to eat at some uf de better area restaurants in Sulphur.

Now me, I’m shore de council members don’t care. But I’m shore dem folks dat own dem restaurants dat Max mentioned do.

When council members were axed why dar iz such a law in Sulphur, day sed it wuz in effect in New Awlins. Well, New Awlins haz a lotta tings dat Sulphur don’t have — like de highest murder rate in de country, de best restaurants in de world and a great pro football team.

Why don’t dem city council members work on gettin’ some mo good restaurants in our area radder dan keep folks from smokin’? Better yet, why don’t day just adjourn when day got into a meetin when dar really iz nuttin’ to take up instead uf concoctin’ up ideas like no smoking rules.

Here’s a good item de council could take up at dar next meetin’. De city uf Sulphur iz gonna have a revenue overage (notice day don’t call it a surplus) for de year uf $1.272 million. Why not give dat money back in de way uf tax credits to small bidnesses in de city? Bet you dat “great ideas” team will have use for de money … like smokin’ patrol.

Mo McNeese Money

De University uf Louisiana System Boad uf Supervisors haz OKed fee increases dat will up de amount your children or grandchildren will pay to go to McNeese  from $3,436 to $4,128 dis fall. But Bobby Jindal iz all over de country sayin’ he balanced de budget witout new taxes. If dis increase ain’t a tax, den I don’t know what iz.

Meantime, McNeese an’ udder schools in de great state uf Louisiana are tryin to figger out how to keep good teachers from sayin’ adios. Former Commissioner uf Insurance Jim Brown hit the nail right on the head a few weeks ago when he said Louisiana colleges  are soon gonna be a bad investment for kids looking for an education dat will mean employment in big companies. And so it goes.

Refs Will Ref Dis Year

If you foller high  school sports at all, you know dat dar haz been a really hot gumbo cookin’ between de Louisiana High School Athletic Assoc. an de Louisiana High School Officials Assoc. In fact, de gumbo got so hot for a while in early July dat it looked like dar might not be no referees for de firs’ games uf de year.

T-Claude sed he would like dat. Den I reminded him uf de brew ha ha las’ year in Mamou when dar wuz no refs dar. He kept quiet afta dat.

It wuz reported in de late hours uf de evenin’ on July 16 dat an agreement had been reached, so T-Claude won’t be wearin’ hiz black an’ white shirt dis fall. To say dat everyone iz happy might be stretchin’ it, but tings will go on az we have known dem for many years.

We’re Better Off Dan 10 Years Ago

In jus’ a few weeks, we’ll be markin’ de 10th anniversary uf Hurricane Rita hittin’ our area real hard.  Jus de udder day, I wuz lookin’ at some pictures I shot in Cameron Parish right afta de storm. It’s better off now dan it wuz den. Az we tol you in a previous issue, all sorts uf bigtime companies are saying “yes” to Cameron Parish and more are on de way.

As for de res’ uf Southwest La., we can certainly say  a whole lot haz changed for de better in de Lake Charles area, an  you can bet your bottom dollar dar’s a lotta changes yet to come.

De Baton Rouge Advocate  recently ran a long article about de New Awlins area an’ how its population growth had been slow in comin’. Many uf dem addin’ to de numbers are new folks … speculators on homes and bidnesses. De locals, both black an white, are slow in returnin’. As you know, many have settled in Baton Rouge and vowed never to set foot in New Awlins again.

Meantime, we can tell you dat both cities — Cameron and New Awlins have been hit hard before: Cameron wit’ Audrey and New Awlins with Betsy. An’ both have bounced back, an’ you better believe day gonna be back in full force.

Deep Taughts While Watchin’ Paul Prudhomme

10) Is dis de year I learn how to make a TurDuckHen?

9) Can dar possibly be a better seasonin’ dan hiz Meat Magic?

8) When will de Astros stop de slide?

7) LSU football iz jus’ a few weeks away. Does anyone know who will be de quarterback?

6) Will T-Claude’s dog be ready for teal season so I can borrow it?

5) How can Max call me weak in de head when he loses his keys and day in de ignition?

4) Iz Max  gonna give me a ride to de LSU-McNeese game if I wear my blue

and gold pajamas?

3) Why does my neighbor have to crank up his motor sickle when I’m nappin’?

2) Are de Saints gonna be any good dis year?

… And, Seriously …

1) We can remove flags and symbols all day. But it’s de hate in people’s hearts dat needs to be removed.

‘Til next time, lache pas la patate.