Needless to say, the death of James Mayo, who wuz servin’ as District 2 Police Juror, an’ wuz also runnin’ de Civic Center, came az a shock to all uf us in Southwest Louisiana.
By law, de police jury had to name a replacement for Mayo within 20 days, an’ day did. The choice wuz a good one: local attorney Marshall Simien.
Simien served two terms on de Lake Charles City Council, an’ haz also served on de the Port uf Lake Charles boad. He’s wasted no time workin’ for de people uf hiz district an’ all uf Calcasieu Parish. He’s already posted valuable information for de poor an’ elderly wit’ regard to special assistance wit’ electric bills. To make shore no one got left out, he even posted de information on Facebook.
Now we all know Simien haz been mentioned az a possible replacement for A.B. Franklin when he term-limits out. He’s also been rumored to be a candidate for mayor down the road. So az we see it, dis is a man wit’ a lot on de ball. We know he’ll do a great job, just as James Mayo did.
Geaux Zone Director Not Yet Named
Az uf dis writin’, de new Geaux Zone director, who will be appointed by de Police Jury, hasn’t been named. We’ve seen dat dem what’s interested could apply online or pick up an application at de police jury office.
Folks, dis is a positive step by de jury. All de members uf de Geaux Zone Group have jobs, an’ simply don’t have time to drop everything to get sometin’ done when it needs to be done ”right now.” Dat’s what dis director will do.
Dat person will work closely wit’ de media to let citizens know when tings are happenin’ in de construction an’ operation uf LNG industries an’ udder industries in our area. Dat, my franz, iz taxpayer dollars well spent.
Meantime, George Swift, CEO uf de Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance, had some words uf doubt about some U.S. Bureau uf Labor Statistics numbers dat wuz recently released. De release sed unemployment had gone up by one percent in de last reporting year.
George sez dat ain’t so. He predicts dat in de next year we gonna show dem cooyons from de Federal gubment just how wrong day wuz. George sez de projection iz dat by August we will have 15,000 mo workers in our area. Yep, you read dat right — 15,000 more workers. So get ready.
Get Goin’ On Police Pay
On several occasions, Chief uf Police Don Dixon haz made public pleas for mo pay for Lake Charles City policemen. Az we know, policemen are paid very little for de amount uf risk day take every day. De difference in what industries pay for security folks an’ what de city pays iz awfully big.
Meantime, de LCPD iz faced wit’ an ever-increasing number uf violent crimes. De New Awlins criminal population dat moved into dis area afta Katrina an’ never left iz one cause. De increasin’ number uf drug traffickers on I-10 iz anudder cause. Sad to say, de increasin’ number uf young people in our area usin’ hard drugs like meth an’ heroin contributes.
De Lake Charles Police, along with every udder law enforcement agency, comes in contact wit’ dangerous people every day, and for very little money. A pay raise for de department is way overdue.
Carnegie Library Director Steps Down
If you ever watch Tidbits uf History on de Calcasieu Police Jury C-GOV channel, you’ve no doubt seen de director uf de Carnegie Memorial Library Linda Gill. We’re sad to report dat Gill haz retired afta years uf service to our area.
Her duties included handlin’ de genealogy part uf de library. Dis wonderful section helped many a person find out about dar ancestors without payin’ some outfit on de internet a buncha money for information dat in many cases iz wrong. Gill and de entire staff were friendly and helpful to all who wanted to know more about dar relatives.
De Tidbits uf History series haz had some very interestin’ information about a variety uf topics, like de early days uf professional baseball in our area — includin’ a visit by Babe Ruth. Other topics of great interest were de early Jewish families dat came to our area, de great fire uf 1919, de nightlife uf years gone by and much more.
Gill wuz behind dese presentations and many more. Now dese programs will all continue wit’ de professional staff at Carnegie. But rest assured, Linda Gill will be missed.
Conflict Among Republicans On Cuba Issue
Az soon az President Obama announced de relaxation uf sanctions against Cuba, de Jindal team wuz issuin’ press releases against it. Now dose press releases looked a whole lot like de one sent out by de Republican Party. Gee, what a shock dat wuz.
But anudder Republican state official came out firin’. Commissioner uf Agriculture Mike Strain sed it would help de Port uf Lake Charles an’ move a variety uf our state’s agriculture products. No response from Jindal on dat one. You see, Jindal iz runnin’ for president, an’ will do and say whatever will get him brownie points wit’ de national Republicans.
Strain, on de udder hand, iz concerned about our state’s agriculture — both growin’ ag products in our state an’ sellin’ dem. An’ he ain’t runnin’ for anything.
Mo Candidates To Come?
Now dat we have de Senate election behind us, we can take a little pause befo de state an’ local election campaignin’ begins.
De governor’s race appears to be David Vitter’s to lose. Polls show him way ahead uf fellow Republicans Jay Dardenne an’ udders.
Now comes de rumor out uf New Awlins dat Mary Landrieu may jump in de race. Dat, my franz, would hurt Vitter in de New Awlins area bigtime. But Mary will probably look at how she did in de rest uf de state in de race against a virtual unknown like Cassidy an’ just step aside an’ get a job az a lobbyist like most defeated or retired candidates do.
LOTD Audit Haz Some Scratchin’ Heads
State gubment agencies get real nervous when de legislative auditor and hiz team uf bean counters come a callin’. Well day did just dat at de Louisiana Dept. uf Transportation and Development.
One uf de key findings iz dat DOTD had not gotten federal approval on 8 percent uf de projects de Feds wuz fundin’ in whole or in part. De audit also claims dis iz de fifth consecutive year audits have produced similar findings.
What’s important iz dat de feds or de Federal Highway Administration now provides 72 percent uf highway fundin’ — up from 58 percent in 2010. Now, dis iz our money, from gaz tax dat’s comin’ back to us, an’ if de feds pulled de plug, you know our congressmen would get it back in a hurry. But de idea dat DOTD haz continued to do de same wrong ting could cost us a lot uf money.
Sherri LeBas, secretary uf DOTD, sez de problems found by de audit have been corrected. We’ll watch an’ see if de next audit finds some mo problems. If it does, LeBas should be fired de day de audit is released. Some ax, Why wait? She’s had five years to fix de problem and hasn’t.
Entergy Wants Us To Pay For Dar Expansion?
You’ve no doubt seen de story about Entergy gettin’ ready to expand to meet de growin’ need uf industries in our area. An’ day want customers to pay for de expansion.
Let’s see if I got dis straight. A company without competition dat iz basically guaranteed a profit every year by de PSC; dat haz one of de highest-priced energy stocks on de stock market; an’ pays one uf de highest dividends to stockholders; wants us to pay for dar growth?
Don’t make any sense, do it?
Deep Taughts While Catchin’ Perch In Freezin’ Weather
10) Why iz it when we go to lunch, Max and Slim have to scream when day argue?
9) Who have de Astros gotten in de off-season dat’s worth a darn?
8) Ain’t dar a lot uf 8 and 5 coaches dat ain’t gettin’ $6 million a year like coach Miles?
7) What happened to de SEC teams durin’ bowl season?
6) Will T-Claude be banned from de Mardi Gras balls again dis year?
5) Ain’t it gonna be nice to have McNeese basketball on campus?
4) Iz Rob Maness trew wit’ politics or iz he gonna make a run for governor?
3) Iz it me or my new phone dat ain’t smart?
2) Why didn’t we have a Christmas tree on a barge in de lake dis year?
1) Iz it anybody’s business how much weight I gained durin’ de holidays?
Final Shot
Lefty tol’ me he wuz plannin’ to go to Mamou with hiz friends Fred an’ Shoubee for Mardi Gras. I reminded him dat de law enforcement folks now have pictures uf people who have caused trouble in previous years. Lefty sez he may change hiz plans.
Wear Blue and Gold and lache pas la patate.
Comments are closed.