Close to 1,000 national, state and local elected and appointed gubment officials gathered at L’Auberge recently for de annual LegisGator event sponsored by de Chamber Southwest. George Swift and de staff at de chamber, along wit L’Auberge, did an excellent job uf organizin de gadderin.
De highlight uf de event wuz an address by Gov. John John Edwards. You could tell de “West Point” in him az he outlined what had been done by state an local officials, FEMA an volunteers to help de Baton Rouge and Acadiana area dat flooded recently.
Edwards spoke for 30 minutes, an az soon az he wuz trew, headed back to Baton Rouge to continue to run rescue operations az only a West Point grad can. A coupla legislators from our area dat have sat in on task force meetins tell me de ”West Point” really comes out in dem meetins. One haz to wonder how tings would have gone afta Katrina an Rita had he been in office instead uf Blanco.
Edwards pointed out dar iz indeed a lot yet to be done but vows to continue workin until everyone is back in dar home.
Can Day Move Any Slower?
Congressman Garret Graves from de Baton Rouge area also spoke at LegisGator. He told de story how a water dam project in de Comite River area dat probably would have prevented most uf de Baton Rouge floodin haz been reviewed by de Army Corps of Engineers for about 10 years. Graves also spoke of de New Awlins levee system program dat haz been under review by de Corps for much longer dan 10 years … a project dat would have saved many lives durin Katrina.
Graves also praised de Cajun Navy an de Baton Rouge Army for all dar rescue efforts. He got a great deal uf applause when he sed maybe dar should be a Cajun FEMA and a Cajun Corps uf Engineers.
We can’t agree more wit de congressman. Every time we have floodin or a hurricane in our area, FEMA takes at least a week doin what day call “assessin de damage.” Me, I’m not very smart, but it seems to me if you fly around in one uf dem fancy helicopters, you can tell dat dar iz floodin an people are drownin. An regardless uf your politics, you gotta agree Obama didn’t help wit dis latest tragedy by stayin on de golf course for a week.
Chuck Tells It Like It Iz About Port
Former House Speaker Chuck Kleckley spoke at de LegisGator about all de growth in our area from SASOL to all de support industries. An he reminded everyone dat none uf dis growth would have been possible without de Port uf Lake Charles. And we agree on de importance uf de port, an de fact dat it must remain navigable.
Dat’s why even though de need for dredgin de port an de industrial canal may not be de mos excitin topic for discussion over coffee at KD’s in de morning, it’s very important to all uf SWLA an de entire state.
Zika Dangers Increase Wit Floodin
If you live in de southern portion uf our great state or Texas or Mississippi, you got to be a real cooyon if you don’t know about water an mosquitos. An folks at de Centers for Disease Control are warnin uf increased chances uf de spreadin uf de Zika virus, which iz carried by mosquitos. You recall dar wuz fear uf de virus by some athletes who didn’t want to go to de Olympics in Brazil.
Now folks in de southern portion uf our country are tellin us to beware uf skeeters because we can probably expect to see beaucoup uf dem nasty skeeters real soon. Spray and get rid uf standin water, which iz where day breed. Our area haz one uf de best mosquito control programs. An all we gotta say iz, keep up de good work. My fran T-Claude sez he’s got a whole buncha rags an iz wonderin if he can get a job wit Mosquito Control burnin dem rags an smokin dem skeeters out.
Jeff Landry Catches Eye Uf Politicians
Attorney General Jeff Landry haz left no doubt he’s gonna run for governor in four years. He’s been bashin’ Gov. Edwards an udders in de administration since day one. We wrote in de last issue about hiz battles with Commissioner uf Administration Jay Dardenne, Treasury Sec. John Kennedy an coastline parish district attorneys.
Now we learn dat he’s closed de Lake Charles office uf de attorney general an it will all be run out uf Lafayette. Since all de attorneys workin in de office here wuz top-notch guys, day wuz able to land jobs in de private sector or udder gubment jobs real quick. Shore, money will be saved by closin de office, but at what cost?
Landry iz a Tea Partier all de way who’s tryin to position himself to run for governor in a little less dan four years. However, if Gov. John John keeps up de good work, Landry, or any udder candidate, will have a hard time winnin.
Hate to keep mentionin LegisGator, but I walked up to dis guy more like a boxer dan a politician an axed him if he wuz a politician. He said he was workin security for de attorney general. I told him dat if de attorney general kept his antics up, he would need mo dan one body guard. De security guy broke out laughin.
Now Dat’s What I Call Cooperation
Words can’t begin to describe de excellent work all de people uf Lake Arthur did to save dar beautiful city. Day sandbagged around the clock, facing tremendous odds. Everyone from public works employees to grannies fillin sandbags did what day could to save dar town an day did it. Dis city-wide effort shows what can happen when citizens work together for a common cause. We salute de city uf Lake Arthur for a job well done.
City Wants To Have A Lil’ Chat About Mallard Cove
One uf de tings dat’s made Randy Roach one uf de bes mayors in our state is hiz willingness to study a project an get all de answers before movin on it. Some say he’s too slow. Me, I say he’s jus meticulous.
Take for example de case uf de Chennault boad talkin a few months ago about tearin down Mallard Cove an rebuildin it somewhere else an den movin on to take de current Mallard Cove area for a second runway. Sounds great, right? Well, now we learn dat Chennault haz no money to buy de Mallard property, which iz owned by de city, or to rebuild de golf course or build de runway. In udder words, it wuz a lot uf hot air on de part uf de Chennault boad.
Now de city wants to have a little visit wit dem folks at Chennault. Ain’t we all lucky de city didn’t jus give de go-ahead an den be boorayed by Chennault?
Whare’s Your Gold An Blue?
Whether you like de pros, McNeese, LSU or high school football, we are pleased to announce dat football iz in full swing. Both McNeese and LSU promise to have great seasons. Several state championships should come out uf de crop uf high school teams. Az far az de Saints … lots uf work to do.
Me an my fran Max recognize how much McNeese means to our area an urge you to show your support by wearin your blue an gold: for shore on Fridays an trewout de week az much az possible.
Udder Races Besides Hillary And Trump
When you go to vote in November, make shore you make a ballot or you may find yourself scratchin like an ole hog. First, dar are about 15 runnin for president. Den you have 24 runnin for de U.S. Senate for David Vitter’s seat. Den in our congressional district (District 3), dar are 11 runnin for Charles Boustany’s seat; Boustany iz runnin for de Senate.
Bucky, a fran who handicaps horses, haz Angelle at 47 percent in de congressional race. He also haz Kennedy leadin, wit somebody stayin wit him in de Senate race. An he haz Trump carryin Louisiana. Now, it should be noted Bucky iz right less dan 50 percent uf de time and dat’s wit a margin uf error uf 20. Bucky haz gotten me in lots uf trouble wit my franz before. Hope he doesn’t do it again dis November.
Deep Taughts While Havin Grits At KD’s
10) Duz anyone in town have better grits?
9) When iz dat feller on KPLC gonna pronounce Agnes DeRouen’s name right?
8) Final month uf baseball, can de Astros come back?
7) Who’s gonna win dat Supreme Court race between Castille an Genovese?
6) Why does my lawyer bill me for callin me?
5) Who will be in de World Series?
4) Can Sparky set up a white perch fishin trip at Toledo Bend for me in a
coupla weeks?
3) Why does my neighbor’s cat scratch on my bedroom screen every morning about 4?
2) Should I get bigger dan a 56-inch TV to watch mo football?
1) Why can’t my aunt Thelma keep her mouth shut when she gets stopped for speedin?
Final Shot
Lefty sez he would like to take dat 49ers quarterback who refused to stand for de National Anthem on a little trip. He sez he’d take him gator huntin without a gun. I’ve always admired Lefty’s patriotism.
‘Til next time, lache pas la patate.
Comments are closed.