While enjoyin\u2019 a good ceegar, me, I watched Bobby Jindal speak to de Legislature for de las\u2019 time \u2026 sometin\u2019 he joked some were happy to hear.<\/p>\n
He brought out some good points. Da gov reminded lawmakers dat 10 years ago our state wuz hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and wuz devastated to de point dat some national leaders questioned if New Awlins should be rebuilt.\u00a0 Jindal also reminded dem what wuz dar dat over 1,000 people lost dar lives az a result of de storms.<\/p>\n
He pointed to how our state haz come a long way since 2005. He pointed to economic growth in our state and then addressed three areas uf concern to him and the lawmakers. Number one wuz de budget. He pledged to protect higher education and health care while eliminatin\u2019 corporate welfare. He claimed dat would generate $500 million fo our state. You know LABI will fight dat move tooth and nail.<\/p>\n
Number two, Jindal wants to fight for education reform, callin\u2019 Common Core an attempt by de federal gubment to control our education system. Dat one may have trouble gettin\u2019 out uf committee.<\/p>\n
Number three on his agenda wuz de religious liberty bill filed by Mike Johnson, state representative from Bossier Parish. Now frankly, dis bill mos\u2019 figure iz designed for him to get national attention to our state like dar wuz in Indiana and Arkansas. You wanna shoot economic development in\u00a0 de head \u2026 watch de number uf organizations dat will cancel conventions in New Awlins an\u2019 udder sectionz uf de state.<\/p>\n
Dar\u2019s lots uf work to be done by our legislators. But one ting iz for shore \u2026 our Southwest Louisiana delegation will be united and have our interests at heart.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Keith Makes It Official<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr. Keith Desonier made it official, announcin\u2019 he wuz runnin\u2019 for state representative from District 36. Dat\u2019s de seat held by House Speaker Chuck Kleckley. Kleckley is termed-out and can\u2019t run dis fall.<\/p>\n Desonier is a fine man who\u2019s been an ear, nose and throat specialist in our area for many years. He\u2019s a prominent figure in his church an\u2019 community. Udders have sed day iz in the race, but no one else haz announced yet. Keith will be hard to beat.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A Good Move<\/strong><\/p>\n Dar wuz an attempt by one uf dem man camp groups to set up a camp on Highway 27 near DeQuincy. To say dat day met wit\u2019 opposition at a public meetin\u2019 about de site\u00a0 would be puttin\u2019 it mildly. Residents from dat area came out and told de zonin\u2019 committee not no but hell no.<\/p>\n De group wuz heard an\u2019 de company pulled dar request and announced plans to build on Highway 108 east of Highway 27 in Sulphur. Dat makes a lot mo sense. Remember when you are organized az dis group wuz, you can make tings happen.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rain An\u2019 Mo Rain An\u2019 Still Day Came<\/strong><\/p>\n Me and my wife Sedonia made it to de crawfish boil for District Attorney John DeRosier recently. You may recall dat event wuz scheduled for de day we had 4 inches uf rain in South Lake Charles. Yet folks from trewout de area came out to enjoy great crawfish and to politic. Judgin\u2019 from de great crowd, me, I would say anybody plannin\u2019 to run against DeRosier would be a real cooyon.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n De Kennedy-Boustany Connection<\/strong><\/p>\n You\u2019ve probably read or heard dat Treasury Secretary John Kennedy haz decided not to run for governor, but instead to run for treasurer again. Now here we have it again wit\u2019 dis guy. He\u2019s always tinkin\u2019 about runnin\u2019 for some udder office but never does.<\/p>\n But rumors have it he haz a good reason for stayin\u2019 out uf dat race in de fall. Story iz he\u2019s goin\u2019 to support David Vitter for governor. De position of U.S. senator will open up if Vitter wins for governor. And Kennedy iz seein\u2019 a move whar Vitter would see to it dat Kennedy would get de unexpired term, an den run when de election for dat seat comes up again.<\/p>\n But not so fast, John. Our Congressman Charles Boustany iz also supportin\u2019 Vitter, an\u2019 all who know him say he\u2019s got hiz eye on dat U.S. Senate seat. Watch dis governor\u2019s race real careful, folks. Az uf now, Vitter iz leadin\u2019 in de polls an\u2019 de Democrats feel pretty good about dar candidate John Bel Edwards. Maybe dis Kennedy-Boustany ting won\u2019t come to pass if de Democrats pump a buncha money to dar candidate.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Port Can Handle La. Ag Products<\/strong><\/p>\n Me, I wuz watchin\u2019 an ag economist speakin\u2019 to de Baton Rouge Press Club de udder day. John Westra wuz talkin\u2019 about real increases in de production uf some agriculture products in our state. He pointed out dat de forestry production had increased from $2 to $3 billion in 2014. He also pointed out dat beef cattle production wuz way up \u2014 you can see dat when you go to de grocery store \u2014 and soybean production wuz up even though de price wuz down.<\/p>\n What came to mind iz how dem products an\u2019 udders, like feed grain an\u2019 poultry, can all be shipped out uf our country trew de Port uf Lake Charles.\u00a0 Lots uf it iz bein\u2019 shipped now. But when de enlargement uf de Panama Canal iz finished, we gonna see a whole bunch mo agricultural products leavin\u2019 from de Port for destinations around de world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gaz Tax Increase Eyed<\/strong><\/p>\n Durin\u2019 de Roemer administration, voters were axed to vote for a 4 cent a gallon gasoline tax to help build roads an\u2019 bridges an\u2019 udder vital infrastructure in our state. It wuz called de TIMED Program, TIMED standin\u2019 for Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development. It wuz sold with de pitch line dat de gaz tax bein\u2019 collected at de time wuz bein\u2019 used for stuff udder dan highways, and dat dis tax would be earmarked for roads, bridges and udder stuff.<\/p>\n Dat wuz in 1989. It\u2019s generated\u00a0 $5.2 billion to DOTD to get some much-needed work done. Plan sounded great.<\/p>\n But az soon az de New Awlins boys got dar projects, which day made sure wuz priority one, day sez day wuzn\u2019t going to pay in any mo. Dat\u2019s when Randy Roach, who had been a state representative when de bill wuz passed, took a little trip to Baton Rouge to have a come to Jesus meetin\u2019 wit\u2019 dat New Awlins bunch. And dat wuz settled. We have four lanes on Highways 171 and 165 and some Port improvements to show for de TIMED tax.<\/p>\n Now a buncha legislators want to raise de gaz tax in our state to attack some much-needed work \u2026 or so claim some contractors who would benefit big-time from a gaz tax increase. Right now, we\u2019re payin\u2019 38 cents; 20 uf it\u2019s federal and 18 is state. And every time de price uf gaz at de pump goes down, legislators want to up de amount we pay for a gallon uf gaz.<\/p>\n An\u2019 yep, dar\u2019s some bills in de hopper already to jack up de tax by 4 cents. Folks would probably vote for it if it were earmarked like de TIMED program. But to just let dat money lay dar would be allowin\u2019 de wolf in de chicken house.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Great Baseball An\u2019 Softball Comin\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Some uf de top high school baseball and softball teams in our state are right here in Southwest Louisiana. De one dat stands out dis year iz Sulphur High baseball. Day are ranked No. 1 in de state an\u2019 No. 3 in de nation.<\/p>\n You may recall dat las\u2019 year, Barbe won de state championship an\u2019 wuz crowned national champion az well. Could we maybe see Sulphur doin\u2019 de same dis year?<\/p>\n In any case, we have state tournaments for girls\u2019 softball, wit\u2019 de Fast Pitch 56 State Championships at Frasch Park in Sulphur again dis year. An de\u2019 boys\u2019 state championships at McMurry Park will follow later in May.<\/p>\n Folks, if you want to see future college and possibly pro players in action, we urge you to go out and enjoy dese games.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Deep Taughts While Standin\u2019 In Line<\/strong><\/p>\n 10) Why have only one clerk at de Lake Street Post Office when dar are 15 people standin\u2019 in line? Don\u2019t sound like service to me.<\/p>\n 9) Who else iz gonna jump in de race for speaker Chuck\u2019s state representative seat?<\/p>\n 8) Can de Houston Astros continue dar winnin\u2019 ways?<\/p>\n 7) When are day gonna do sometin\u2019 about 18 wheelers turnin\u2019 over at de Opelousas Street Exit?<\/p>\n 6) Haz T Claude lost all hiz marbles? He signed up for de Contraband bike races.<\/p>\n 5) Why does my brudda-in-law know it all when it comes to boilin\u2019 crawfish?<\/p>\n 4) Since Suddenlink cut out some channels, will day cut my bill?<\/p>\n 3) How can dem Contraband Days folks keep makin\u2019 dat event bigger and better every year?<\/p>\n 2) What am I gonna do now dat my dogs have fallen in love wit\u2019 my crawfish etouffe?<\/p>\n 1) Iz de LSU baseball team gonna return to de national championship in Omaha dis year?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Final Shot<\/strong><\/p>\n I axed my fran Lefty if he wanted to go wit\u2019 me to Delta Downs for some prime rib in de Vista Lounge an\u2019 do a little wagerin\u2019 on de ponies. He sed he would love to go, but wuzn\u2019t allowed on de premises. Add anudder one to de list.<\/p>\n \u2018Til next time, lache pas la patate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While enjoyin\u2019 a good ceegar, me, I watched Bobby Jindal speak to de Legislature for de las\u2019 time \u2026 sometin\u2019 he joked some were happy to hear. He brought out some good points. Da gov reminded lawmakers dat 10 years ago our state wuz hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and wuz devastated to de [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[31],"yoast_head":"\n