"Build an ark"

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Biggest bubble of 'em all

I briefly talked about the housing bubble, and I encourage my readers to research it.

But the biggest, scariest bubble, the fat mama of all bubbles, is the derivatives bubble.

What the heck is a derivative? Basically, it's a hedge fund. We've all heard that term, even if we don't understand exactly what it means. I barely do, so please follow the links and read 'em.

Since I've never had enough money to invest in anything, I have trouble getting my brain around all this weird financial stuff ;-). Derivatives primer here.

I've long thought of investing in the stock market as gambling. It is, and yet it isn't. Technically, stockholders own something that's [hopefully] of value - a piece of a company.

A derivative is much more speculative. It's a wager on the future price of an investment in an underlying market. It's like the futures market for stocks, bonds and commodities, except more so. It can even be a hedge on a hedge, and thinking about that one makes me dizzy.

The volume of derivatives traded is huge - many times bigger than the global GNP. Yet it creates nothing. So a ginormous amount of money is changing hands all over the world, wagers done on margin, and the money doesn't exist. How can it? It's bigger than the world GNP. It's a gigantic weird complicated impossibility.

It's a bubble.

What does this all mean? When the derivatives bubble bursts, the stock bubble and Crash of '29 will look like a mere blip by comparison.

Here's Warren Buffet on the topic, very worthwhile reading.

What to do? Live below your means. Put by some extra food. Learn a new DIY skill. All of these are good planning for hurricane country anyway. There are folks that recommend keeping some silver or gold coins at home in case banks collapse.

And if you pray, it's prolly a good time to do that too.

PS - The big spaces between paragraphs are because of blogging through Performancing Firefox. Sorry 'bout that!

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Advice for the New Year

I've spent the better part of the year reading about the Housing Bubble at Housing Panic, among other sites. Google "housing bubble," read and weep.

Some predict a full-blown Depression will result from the greed, with bank failures and massive unemployment and homelessness. Others claim we'll go through an inflationary period with static wages.

To help my friends and readers live below their means and prepare for the future, some favorite DIY and economizing sites:

Hillbilly Housewife
Do-it 101
DIY Network
Ron Hazelton
BuildIt Solar - save energy!
Frugal Homemaker
Miserly Moms
Frugal Families

More in another post :-).

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Another Washington Parish blog

Listed at NOLA.com - here.

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Another Louisiana blog

Found it at We Saw That:

CenLamar.

They get a lot of visitors - give 'em a few more! Good reading about our neighbors to the west. Whoops, all of our Louisiana neighbors are to the west, lol.

Will add it to the blogroll ASAP - when Darling Son isn't itchin' to play Second Life

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Speaking of real estate...

I went over to Realtor.com and looked up what's for sale in 70427. 79 properties as of this moment.

Seems a bit odd to see a number of apparently livable small homes offered for around $50k, and only one rental. We short of rental property here? I didn't know.

The Daily News classifieds have a few homes for rent - One for $700, and one offered at $550 per month or buy it for $42k.

Are the apartments in Bogalusa all full? Or don't they advertise?

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NAR will bite the dust?

Via the Marin Real Estate Bubble blog:

A Chicago district court cleared the way Tuesday for the Department of Justice to proceed with its antitrust lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The DoJ contends the NAR is engaging in anti-competitive behavior against online home brokers.

Hmmm. The internet results in better, lower-priced service, and the dinosaur NAR acts like a jerk and tries to protect their interests.



Here are the filings at the DoJ site, for you legal beagles who understand such stuff.

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Daily News Watch

They didn't update their site in an age.

Now they have. But if you search the archives for articles between Dec. 7 and Dec. 19, there's nothing, nada, zero, zip.

Sheesh.

Food reviews at Amazon

Read 'em. They're a scream.

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A-maze-ing

Corn maze in Hickory. Or maybe it's a maize maze?

Closed this year due to Katrina. Open again in 2007.

Sounds like a fun activity with the kids, huh?

New disaster program sign-up begins

Read all about it here. Aid is available for producers who suffered losses due to the 2005 hurricanes.

Apply at local FSA offices or USDA Service Centers.

Fact sheets are online at www.fsa.usda.gov under "disaster assistance programs."

Lock up your cows!

A couple jerks swiped a calf, got caught:

Two Tangipahoa Parish men were arrested on theft and criminal trespassing charges in early December for allegedly stealing a calf from a Ponchatoula cattlewoman, Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Bob Odom said.

“During the holidays people start looking for ways to get quick cash so livestock owners need to be aware of what is going on in their pastures. Know how many animals you have out there and be sure to report any that come up missing,” Odom said.

A 17-year-old from Hammond and Bradley Hayes, 18, 175 Nellwood Drive in Ponchatoula, were booked by the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Department after an investigation by Department of Agriculture and Forestry Brand Commission Officer Scott Lee of Kentwood.

Once again, I was stupid.

I set up comment verification on this blog.

I thought the comments would be emailed to me.

They were not. I found 'em today.

My sincere apologies to the nice folks who left comments. They've now been published.

Returning the favor

I love people-helping-people stories. Don't you?



Here's an inspiring one - assistance from Bogalusa to Decatur, Illinois:

Called "the forgotten city" during recovery from Hurricane Katrina, Bogalusa, La., may now become known as the community that never forgets.



Nearly a dozen of its citizens are in Macon County cleaning up debris from the great ice storm of 2006 this week because Illinois Southern Baptists are the ones who came to them last year when disaster relief teams seemed to be going everywhere else.

Follow the link to read the whole thing.

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Dog day afternoon

Bogalusa High School played host to the city's finest and their drug dog today.



Sadly, there were a few kids caught with contraband, according to some students who wish to remain anonymous.



Thanks for keeping our children safe, BPD :-).

UPDATE 12/16/06: It says in the Daily News that there were no violators found.

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Still no update

The Daily News hasn't updated its site yet.



Jeez Louise! You can get more, and more current, news reading the Hard Copy message board [link at left].

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Let's call 'em

If we all called, emailed or wrote to The Daily News, maybe they'd update their site.



It's still Wednesday, December 06, 2006 to them. My calendar says December 13.

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Still snoozin'

Waiting for the current Daily News to come online so I can read about the Parish Council meeting. If they report it.

The issue showing as of this time is December 6.

I swear, their subtitle oughtta be "Asleep at the Wheel."

Repeat warning

There've been problems with livestock on the roads.

Drive carefully; don't speed. It ain't any fun hittin' a horse, or driving into a ditch to avoid one.

Tell your local school board about this one.

Good post at Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools:

At DonorsChoose you can be a philanthropist for ten bucks (or more). Go to the site and choose from among thousands of projects submitted by public school teachers -- everything from books needed to technology to class trips. Once the project's been funded, DonorsChoose buys the materials for the teachers, and you get a package of letters and photographs from the students. Link

Seems like a way to replace the schools' supplies and equipment that the insurance didn't...o0o..

If you've never been to Cool Tools, check it out - especially with the gift season fast approaching. The Tools part of the site title is a bit misleading; items include books, websites and computer programs, not merely pliers and such.

Mr. Kelly's site doesn't take the place of the "biggies" like Epinions or Consumer Search, but it's great fun to browse.

Be careful out there.

Armed Robberies Continue:

Police have identified a number of suspects in a series of armed robberies that began on Nov. 14 and continued into the weekend, but it is the series of six robberies between last Sunday and Friday that has the attention of police.

In the latest incidents, both Friday, female victims were again robbed at gunpoint by two black males wearing hooded clothing and ski masks as they neared their respective places of residence.

Might I suggest to the Bogalusa Police Department... Identify the nearest heroin dealer, and you'll probably find these jerks.

Congrats to our drill team!

Bogalusa High School hosted a JROTC drill meet Saturday.

Our armed drill team placed first!

Could use more of an audience next time. Admission was free, the food was decent, and the weather was cool but sunny and nice.

Here they are on the field:

La Hwy 3241

As mentioned on the Hard Copy message board, right now until about Dec. 10 is the comment period for La Hwy 3241, a four-lane road that will link Washington Parish to more populous points south.

Email Barry Obiol in favor of it, please. His name, email, phone and the particulars of the project are about a third of the way down this page.

We need this project. Take a minute and email the man.

Where the cocaine comes from

Great blog by Matthew Bristow, a journalist working in Colombia. Photos and videos.

We're baaaack!

Sorry for the hiatus, dah-links. We've been terribly busy, out of town, etc., etc.

Little bits:
Mack won the election.
The parish had tornadoes.
Cool weather at last.

Stay tuned for bigger, better posts in a day or 2.

Everybody okay?

Heavy thunderstorms this a.m., even some tornado warnings.

Probably got windy enough to knock down some of the "leaners" and "hangers."

No new news yet

As of the time of this post, The Daily News still has not been updated from Oct. 13, 2006.

Sheesh.

So update already!

As of the time of this post, The Daily News issue showing on their website is still Friday, October 13, 2006.

Sheesh.

Louisiana will reimburse FEMA only 88%

The Yahoo article is reprinted here in its entirety, because their stuff seems to disappear into a black hole after a while:

BATON ROUGE, La. - Louisiana's legislative auditor recommended Friday that the state pay 88 percent of what the
Federal Emergency Management Agency is seeking in reimbursement for hurricane recovery efforts, saying the rest of the money was either improperly spent or couldn't be accounted for.

After getting approval from a legislative budget panel, state officials planned Friday to wire that 88 percent — $335 million — to FEMA.

It was unclear how the state would deal with the remaining money, about $45 million, that FEMA says it is owed.

Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot said in some instances people with invalid addresses or duplicate homes received FEMA benefits that they shouldn't have. The state also objected to payments FEMA made to people for generators, a cost Theriot said it doesn't appear the state ever backed as a type of disaster aid.

States are required to pick up part of the cost for certain types of FEMA disaster aid, including assistance for individuals like medical care, funeral services and property damage after a disaster.

Lawmakers set aside a $424 million but asked Theriot's office to investigate FEMA's bills before making payments. Theriot's review was based on a sample of 425 of the nearly 290,000 people who received FEMA aid after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the state last year.

After Katrina, FEMA reimbursed for chainsaws. They reimbursed for generators - which the state of Louisiana doesn't want to pay FEMA for.

Nice going, Blanco [sarcasm]. Can't say I like your attitude. It does not seem very extravagant to me, a generator for people staying in their homes after the storm, and a chainsaw to help them clean up.

I wonder if FEMA is going to come after the recipients of that assistance and make them pay the money back.

Medical care

There's a lot I don't understand about insurance. But this has me completely baffled:

Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Tuesday the state is prepared to embrace an insurance-based health-care pilot program for the New Orleans area, but only if the federal government provides enough money to make it work.

Blanco said she thinks it would cost about $300 million more a year than the state currently spends on health care to cover the uninsured in the New Orleans area with the government-subsidized private policies federal authorities are pushing for.

The insurance industry must have a great lobby. I can't see why we would cover the presently uninsured by subsidizing medical insurance, and creating another layer of profit.

Makes a lot more sense to me to stick with the Charity Hospital system we had in place. Yeah, the buildings were ugly, but the care was good.

How is putting medical insurance into the equation going to make the care better or improve the buildings?

My opinion, it won't. It'll just make some insurance execs richer.

C'mon, update already.

The Daily News is still showing the Friday, October 13 issue.

It's Wednesday, October 18.

Shame on 'em.

According to Gambit Weekly:

Emergency Management Services, the out-of-state contractor hired by the Louisiana Recovery Authority to administer the "Road Home" program, will have collected more than $87 million in fees by the end of this month from the state — but as of last week had given out less than $620,000 to only 13 homeowners...

If that ain't against the law, it oughtta be.

Warning!

Un PC but hilarious video about the New Orleans looters.

Alvin Carter

Main Street mural captures lessons of unity:

Drivers heading north on Main Street approaching Main Street Books' parking lot may notice a tall, thin African-American man with graying dread locks and beard. They are witnessing a master muralist, artist and teacher creating a work of art. This is something he has done for many years. The theme of his work is a positive message of cooperation, expressing social solidarity and future possibility. He depicts regular people of all races creeds and colors working in unity.

Muralist, artist and teacher Alvin Carter is one of the artists selected by a team from the 2006 Class of Leaders for a New Century. Their project is "Canvassing the City," the painting of murals on vacant walls in downtown Hattiesburg.

Click the caption and read the whole thing.

ACLU, SLU, Tangi Parish reach settlement

From the Louisiana ACLU website:

­The ACLU of Louisiana announces a favorable settlement in the case of student teacher Cynthia Thompson versus Southeastern Louisiana University and the Tangipahoa Parish School Board. SLU will remove the failing grade on the student teaching course from her transcript and allow her the opportunity to enroll in the future to complete the requirements for graduation. Furthermore, an investigation of teacher Pamela Sullivan by the school board verified the allegations of officially sponsored prayer in the classroom and Bible study before class, which led to the cessation of such practices.[...]Thompson, who had made the President’s List and the Dean’s List and accumulated all of the hours to graduate, was never determined to be a marginal student. Yet two weeks before completion of the student teaching assignment, she was pulled out of the classroom, after teaching all day, and given an untenable ultimatum to withdraw or take an “F.”

Deliberately failing an honors student because of her refusal to preach in the public schools amounts to religious fascism, in my opinion.

Too bad they settled. They should have been sued into penury.

Give a pint. Save a life.

Les Dickens needs our help:

Donors can give blood Saturday in Bush to help a veteran firefighter who is suffering from a rare blood disease.

The blood drive to help Les Dickens, assistant chief of the Bush Volunteer Fire Department, will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Bush Fire Station No. 3, 80581 Louisiana 21, about two miles south of House of Seafood.

Dickens, president of the volunteer fire board, is suffering from thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, and a blood plasma exchange is the only treatment. The treatment is about 90 percent effective.

Fire Chief Randy Kimble said blood types A and B are acceptable for the combination AB plasma exchange.

Dickens has been a member of the Fire Department for more than 20 years.

"He has given himself freely to this community over the years and now he needs our help," Kimble said.

Those unable to get to the blood drive can donate blood in Dickens' name at the Hammond Blood Center. [from the Times picayune]

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura at Netdoctor UK
Blood donation guidelines - Red Cross

Congrats to the JROTC Drill Team!

We heard you earned a third place. Nothing to sneeze at, so close to the beginning of the school year and with new members.

Previous:

Go JROTC!

Fill 'er up in Covington

We found gas for $2.189 a gallon yesterday, on Hwy 190 near the turnoff for 21.

Theft at school

We heard that an unfortunate young lady lost her purse the other day.

Ask teachers if purses and other belongings can be locked up somewhere safe during after school activities. And I would keep cash and small valuables (cell phones) in pockets if at all possible.

St. Bernard's new housing ordinance

Wow. The nerve. The stupidity.

And now, inevitably, the federal lawsuit:

A New Orleans civil rights organization filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday seeking to overturn a St. Bernard Parish ordinance that prohibits many homes from being rented to anyone who is not a blood relative of the owner... [...]After enacting an across-the-board moratorium on renting single-family homes in March, the council voted 5-2 on Sept. 19 to lift the moratorium, but require that the renter be a blood relative of the owner.

Trust a transplant to see through this nonsense:

“Blood relatives? That’s just a code word for skin color,” said Munoz, who moved to Violet from Los Angeles 20 years ago. “How would they even enforce this? Are they going to run DNA tests on everyone who wants to rent a house?”

Heck, maybe they will.

Somebody ought to check out whether the "yea" voters on the council have interest in a genetics lab...

Update:

Related: Just go home?

$60,000 generator

Bogalusa's Mayor entered into an apparently-illegal cost-plus contract. Either that contract or another one was incredibly expensive - the apprentice on the job was paid over $30 an hour, according to one article I read. I am looking for the reference and will update when I find it.

In the unsuccessful hunt for that cite, I ran into this Daily News article from March 20, 2006 - a lovely "wish list" for Bogalusa emergency operations, said Mack the Mayor. It includes:

One generator for City Hall for communications and operations during emergencies, $60,000

That's a lot of money for a generator, even though I'm sure they need a big one.

So I surfed on over to Generator Joe to look up prices. A 105kW Baldor natural gas model is about $23,000, weather enclosed. Probably a few more thousand for delivery and hook-up, maybe have to pour a concrete pad for it, etc.

Seems like that'd be plenty big enough, to run lights and computers and radios? I'm hardly an expert in such matters, but that is one humongous gen.

Maybe somebody is going to procure it cost plus. Heh.

The state of the schools

All of the public school buildings in Bogalusa sustained damage due to Hurricane Katrina. Windows popped, roofs came off, interiors were damaged - along with equipment, of course.

One child we know is in Home Ec at Bogalusa Junior High. There are no sewing machines, he says, because they got wrecked in the storm.

Okay. It's a whole frickin' year after Katrina. Wonderful people all over the U.S. have donated money and supplies to our schools by the truckload. And apparently some equipment still hasn't been replaced.

Wasn't any of this insured? Hello?

Yes, as it turns out, it was. The city received 84.37 percent of the total claimed in damages, nearly a year after the storm. The date of the article is July 12, 2006. The insurer is American First Insurance.

Maybe shop around for another insurer, folks. I'm willing to pay taxes for better insurance coverage for the Bogalusa schools.

And sewing machines.

Election returns

Here.

Bogalusa, Mississippi

I vaguely remember in the days following Katrina that Governor Blanco didn't know where Bogalusa was. Whether this was on radio, in The Daily News or some other paper, I don't recall now.

But the nonexistent town of Bogalusa, Mississippi found its way into the official paperwork of HR 109-377:

In another instance, Bogalusa, Mississippi had
requested water and baby food from Fayetteville. [page 11]

Fortunately the Gov was able to find us Wednesday.

Go JROTC!

The Bogalusa JROTC Drill Team is competing at a meet in Lucedale, Mississippi on Saturday.

Support our drill team, drive to Lucedale, make a day of it.

I'll update with exact location and time later today/tonight.

Nice. And not nice.

Fourteen Bogalusa students are spending the week in Jackman, Maine:

"The people are very nice," said Tre Johnson, a Bogalusa eighth-grader. "They don't catch attitudes. They are very friendly people."

The ambitious weeklong stay was arranged through the help of Rural School and Community Trust affiliates in the Northeast and Southeast, and through various fundraisers in Jackman.

Sadly, later on in the article is this [emphasis added]:

Daisy Slan, southeast representative for the Rural School and Community Trust, emphasized that white people probably would not be hosting blacks in Louisiana.

"The only way that you get into a white home in Bogalusa is if you're cleaning their homes, taking care of their babies or cooking their meals," said Slan, who is black.

Bogalusa's bad reputation still goin' strong [sigh].

Previous:
Jackman to Bogalusa
Just go home?
Dishonest or dumb?

Crime at the boat launch?

I wasn't there, myself. But it was related to us that crack paraphernalia has been seen discarded in the parking lot.

And that couples have been dropped off, and they go wandering back into the trees. I don't recall any picnic tables, do you?

Drive carefully

I've lately seen loose livestock - cows, horses.

Use caution on country roads. Hitting a 1,000 pound plus animal ain't nothin' nice.

Rumors that sound true. Are they?

At least one public school student has mentioned in our presence that teachers are asking if they go to church.

We've all heard of "Don't ask, don't tell" in regard to gays in the military. Religion in the public schools needs to follow similar rules, as far as the teachers and administration are concerned.

Don't ask the students; and don't tell them.

In the United States, people have the right to attend any church, or none. They have the right to believe in G*d, Allah, animal deities, voodoo, the Hindu gods, Jehovah, or Joseph Smith - among many others. And they have the right to not believe.

A right that gets ignored in our fair city is the right not to be required to tell what your beliefs are, or which church you attend. Just like the right to a silent, anonymous ballot, we Americans have the right to "silent religion."

A public entity or employee - be it a teacher, a principal, or the city council - can't require an answer to the question, "Which church do you go to?" or even "Do you go to church?" By law, those same people and entities aren't allowed to endorse any religion, even a generic Christianity.

It's a no-brainer, folks. I find no reference in the Bible that says you should be demanding that school children tell you about their religious preferences or which church they attend. I find plenty of references in the laws of the United States that you need to keep your trap shut.

It sure isn't a way to win converts. It's pushy, rude and disrespectful, not to mention illegal.

Put a lid on it.

With school graduations that sound like revivals, and school board meetings ditto, we believe the incident(s) likely happened. And before anybody gets bent out of shape about "taking religion out of the schools," no student can be stopped from praying to any God they wish, as long as they aren't disruptive.

School discipline

An article in the September 20th edition of The Daily News said:

During the public comment session - which more often resembled a revival service than a board meeting...

I'm glad somebody else is noticing these things. Heh.

Instead of praying and invoking G*d's name, how 'bout taking action to solve the problem?

If G*d gave you brains, use 'em; don't just sit there passively with your hands folded - unless you're stumped and imploring The Almighty for ideas and answers.

And for goodness' sake, try a little harder to keep religion out of the public schools. I didn't attend, but I bet this meeting started with a prayer, too, didn't it?

I'm convinced that some people are itchin' for a fight with the ACLU. There goes the BCS budget...

Previous:

Tangipahoa Parish in Trouble Again
Graduation? or church service?

Briefs

Weather: We've been having a decent amount of rain, and the nights have cooled off. Fall is on its way! Not a moment too soon for us.

Crime: Apparently there was a theft by a student at Bogalusa Middle School earlier in the week. The police were called, and it's said that the thief turned himself in and the item was recovered.

School:Public school students are off today.

Only the good die young?

Washington Parish has lowest life expectancy in Louisiana

The audit report. Finally.

In The Daily News:

Councilwoman Oneita Graham hesitated to read the report aloud because of is length. Also citing hoarseness, she said the "last time" she read something, she "was accused of making accusations, when all I did was read."

Graham did read the 10 questionable findings listed on Seal's cover page.

They are a Chamico cost-plus contract, Northshore Emergency Services contract, overtime pay, General Obligation Bond Debt Service Fund, City of Bogalusa employees' retirement system, emergency ordinances, Willis Avenue overlay, Industrial Park repairs, budget amendments and Central Purchasing.

Copies of the report were to be made available to the general public on Thursday, September 7, 2006.

Somebody identifying themselves as "Oneita" posted much of the report online at the Hard Copy Message Board on September 5, 2006. I don't know how long the archives there are saved, nor how long they will be viewable. Posts seem to "fall off" the bottom of the page.

In any event, I'm going to cut-and-paste some of the pertinent points from each page as it was posted on that board. I'm making no claim as to their accuracy, but I have the screen shots saved from Oneita's posts for backup, in case you wanna argue.

From R. Seal's (auditor) cover letter:

Management's Responses follow each finding and a letter from the Mayor is included. The above findings are generally instances of noncompliance with laws, regulations and the City Charter and probably will not affect my opinion on the financial statements at the conclusion of the audit.
There are two other points that I would like to clarify.
1. Because of the nature of the above findings, auditing standards required me to keep the Council President informed as the audit progressed, rather than wait until the audit was finished.
2. The provisions of the State Bid Law, the State Budget Law and the City Charter were never waived or suspended after Hurricane Katrina.

From Page 5:

Criteria - City Charter requires an ordinance to authorize any contract on behalf of the City. State law prohibits cost-plus contracts. State law requires that public works contracts in excess of $100,000 be advertised and let by contract to the lowest responsible bidder.
Condition - on January 5, 2005, the Mayor entered into a contract with Chamico, Inc. to "perform any and all service work requested of them by authorized city officials for work that is within the scope of approved licensing of Chamico, Inc." The contract provides that Chamico, Inc. would be paid "by man-hours and equipment-hours actually worked at the current published rate of Chamico, Inc., plus the necessary materials for the requested work, plus 15% for overhead and profit." The contract also provides that it will remain in effect until written cancellation by either party. Chamico invoiced the City for over $440,000 from January through December 31, 2005, and another $165,000 through February 22, 2006, mainly for repair of public buildings damaged by Hurricane Katrina. All the work was done in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract dated January 5, 2005.
Effect - 1. The contract was vague as to the nature of the work to be performed.
2. The City could not locate any published rates for Chamico's man-hours or equipment-hours.
3. there was no ordinance passed by the City Council to authorize the contract.
4. It is a cost-plus contact which is prohibited by state law.
5. No bid was obtained as required by state law.
Auditor's Recommendation - The City should use emergency ordinances and adopt specific, written internal controls to prevent this from happening in the future.

This was quoted as part of "Management's response":

Management's Response - Much confusion was left in the aftermath of Hurricane Ktrina. In her wake City personnel immediately began damage assessment and cleanup with virtually no means of communication otehr than hand held radios. there was death, injury and an immense amount of property damage throughout the City.
In an attempt to recover from the devastation, the Public Works Department contacted 3 local construction contractors by driving and walking to their home and/or office. Two contractors were themselves devastated by the storm and unable to assist with recovery. The Public Works Director selected the only one available (Chamico) to assist with projects necessary for recovery. No contract was executed for Chamico as this took place in the first circumstances resulting from the chaos the hurricane left in her wake.

You really need to get over to that board and read the whole thing, or get a copy from the City. Fascinating stuff. You should also search The Daily News archives for all articles about Katrina to get a timeline of events.

Reading the details about this fiasco raises my blood pressure. How 'bout you?

Lumberjacks win!

19-14. Check it out.

Thank you, San Diego!

The Lumberjacks travel to the Left Coast:

Louisiana football team gets a hand

By Nicole Vargas
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 7, 2006

LAURA EMBRY / Union-Tribune

After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, players on the Bogalusa High football squad were grateful for the team's trip to California this summer.
CHULA VISTA – When Antoine Temple emerged from his family's Bogalusa, La., home that August morning, he couldn't believe what he saw.

“I had trees everywhere,” Temple recalled after Hurricane Katrina passed directly through his hometown last summer. “Power lines were down. We couldn't even get out of our driveway.”

Surrounded by a lush pine forest, Bogalusa (population 13,365) is a lumber town about an hour's drive north of New Orleans. After what some accounts said were as many as 16 straight hours of devastating winds as high as 180 mph, not a single home in Bogalusa escaped damage as trees snapped, assaulting the dwellings like missiles.

Do read the whole thing.

More:
Bonita Vista vs. Bogalusa
Daily News article

Bogalusa Strutters to Oz

In Jazz News:

The Manly International Jazz Festival 2006 is Australia's largest and longest-running community based jazz festival. Set amongst the beautiful Sydney harbour environment, Manly is considered to be the 'home of jazz' in Australia. This year will mark the 29th year of the Manly International Jazz Festival and will be held on 30th September, 1st October, 2nd October 2006. [...]The line up of over 54 bands include: ...The Bogalusa Strutters...

Man's best friend - Part II, Health

Disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian or a lawyer, follow this advice at your own risk, consult your veterinarian rather than relying on anything you read on the 'net - including this post.

Top ten dog care tips from the Humane Society of the US. Read all of their pet care information.

Spay/Neuter. It's a one-time cost that pays dividends over the life of your pet. And if you've got an unwanted litter, for G*d's sake quit dumping them here, there, everywhere. It's cruel, it's illegal, it's a public health risk and a nuisance. Just because people live in the country doesn't mean they want more critters - especially from a doofus who wouldn't spay, or keep their pet inside when in heat, and probably didn't vaccinate or worm her either.

This includes cats. They cannot "take care of themselves," contrary to popular myth. The average lifespan of a stray cat is only two years.

If you must find a new home for your pet, consult the local shelters/humane societies (that's a great place to get a pet, too). And don't offer him "free to good home" unless you want him to end up in a laboratory cage or worse. Charge something - $30-50, say. It discourages the jerks and makes people stop and realize that owning a pet costs money; that little fee is only the beginning.

Rabies vaccination is required by law. For your dog, your own health and safety, and that of the community, get 'er done! It ain't expensive.

Vaccinate against other diseases, too, at the intervals recommended by your vet. Most dog owners have heard of the dreaded parvo and distemper. They are preventable. Some owners do it themselves, but remember that those shots from the local store don't include rabies.

Feeding bones to your dog is Russian roulette. Don't.

Heartworm is a preventable killer. Your vet carries Heartgard (tm) or another prescription med for it. Here's a link about DIY prevention. The dose the author is using is one-tenth of a cc per ten pounds, of one percent injectable ivermectin, given orally once per month.

This isn't much of a money saver for a single dog, but if you've got 3+ it can be. Do not give Ivermectin to Collies/herding breeds without veterinary advice! Ivermectin can be safely given to heartworm positive dogs, according to many apparently reliable sites, but will not cure them if they're already infested.

Inexpensive DIY treatment for intestinal parasites. Worms, blech.

And here's the Beagle guy's index of health articles.

Fleas and ticks. Ick! I use either Frontline or Advantix and also treat the yard with insecticide granules. Works well for us. Your vet is a good source of flea prevention and treatment info.

Mange. There are several different types, and a lay person can confuse flea allergy with mange. Please consult your vet, and don't use motor oil. Coating a dog with motor oil is cruelty and punishable in some places. Not to mention, it doesn't work. Motor oil curing mange is an old wive's tale, folks.

Do not allow your dog to run at large - either in town or in the country. You are required by law to keep your dog under your control at all times. That includes unincorporated areas of the parish - where he can be shot dead for harassing or killing livestock. Getting shot ain't good for a dog's health. And buying your neighbor a new heifer, or a coop full of purebred chickens, is real expensive. Plus anywhere, town or country, your dog can be hit by a car. Fence, leash, train, supervise.

Some good pet sites:

Petfinder - adopt, find, place in a home

Petfinder's Resource Library of information

Doctors Foster and Smith - pet supplies online. Beware: some "discount" online pet sites sell bootleg/fake stuff. Foster and Smith get good reviews. They also have a free pet care newsletter you can sign up for.

Merck Veterinary Manual online

Kebbie Loves Ken

Nice article about a gift shop in Skaneateles, New York:

Soon after their vacation, the Rosenbergs relocated to Skaneateles and opened the Blue Willow Inn, a bed and breakfast on State Street Road. They at last realized their dream when they set up a small shop in one corner of the building.

After closing the inn last year, they relocated the store to their present downtown location.

And the interesting name?

“It's just something we know will last,” she said. “A name like Kebbie Loves Ken will be memorable when we open shops in other places ...like Manhattan,” Kebbie said.

Really sweet. But oh my goodness:

Since she grew up in Bogalusa, La., a suburb of New Orleans...[emphasis added]

You'd think a journalist could look at a map or google "Bogalusa." Sheesh.

I guess it's better than "Nowheresville."

Man's best friend - Part I, Training and Behavior

Dogs... So many people have dogs as pets. Here are some links to help keep your buddy happy and well-behaved.

Important disclaimer: I am not a vet or professional trainer (and I don't play one on TV, heh).

Dog Play: A nice site with info on enjoyable activities, behavior and training.

Humane Society of the US has Dog Behavior Tip Sheets.

Dr. P's Dog Training: Loads of helpful articles.

Unchain Your Dog!: Fido should live in the house with his family. Read this site and find out why.

Eat, drink and be merry

This weekend in Bogalusa, the "Centennial Year Music and Arts Celebration." Here's the music schedule.

Slap on some sunscreen, hie thee to Cassidy Park and party hearty!

Take a moment to thank the military recruiters for their service to this great country :-).

Calling all cat lovers

There's a beautiful, friendly young cat wandering at the Riverside Drive boat launch. Probably could use a loving indoor home. Walk off the parking area toward that old concrete structure and call "Kitty-kitty-kitty" and the darling will trot over and wrap around your legs.

We live in "Nowheresville"

Ariel Pink Plays Nowheresville
Bogalusa poised to become the "L.A." of LA link

Just a little insulting, eh?

Laura Pearson is the author, and her email is pearson@pitchforkmedia.com. Don't be shy - tell her how you feel.

Who's his stepfather? Running for Mayor, the article says...

Dodging a bullet

Hopefully we did, as the hurricane forecast today has Ernesto heading almost straight north, over Florida [Graphic from the National Hurricane Center].

From Bogalusa to Roanoke

Joe was living in Bogalusa, Louisiana where Katrina caused tornadoes.

Read the whole thing.

Dishonest or dumb?

There are a number of Bogalusa-area high schoolers that are commuting to Franklinton these days. It has been suggested to yours truly that Franklinton High School is better than BHS, with better test scores, and that's the reason parents send their kids 20-something miles to school.

Is FHS better?

At the Louisiana Department of Education site, here are the GEE scores for spring 2006 (percentages):

Bogalusa High School:

• Advanced = 1
• Mastery = 13
• Basic = 39
• Approaching Basic = 31
• Unsatisfactory = 16

Franklinton High School:

• Advanced = 0
• Mastery = 7
• Basic = 43
• Approaching Basic = 28
• Unsatisfactory = 22

Bogalusa High School clearly has the lead in Advanced and Mastery: a combined 14% versus Franklinton's 7%. In the Basic and Approaching Basic categories, BHS 70%, FHS 71%.

Unsatisfactory is in Bogalusa's favor by six percentage points.

The GEE scores for Pine, Varnado and Mr. Hermon aren't much different than Franklinton's. The numbers don't seem to bear out Franklinton High School being better than Bogalusa High School - the opposite, in fact.

I suspect this has more to do with White Flight than parents worried about the education of their children. It's the only explanation that makes sense. Why else send your kid on a half-hour bus ride to a school in another town that isn't any better than the one down the street?

Earmarks =

where your tax dollars are prolly gonna go.

Read all about it here.

UPDATE: Be sure to check out Porkbusters too.

Weather. Wow.

I asked; I received :-).

Rained cats and dogs at the hacienda yesterday. Scads of lightning and thunder, too.

Weather

Tropical Storm Chris fizzled. Can't say I'm sorry, except that more rain would've been nice.

Every afternoon the humidity climbs until the air's like microwaved cotton. The sky clouds up. And usually, we get no rain.

I'm too busy to sift through the reams of data at the National Weather Service and try to figure out if we're still in a drought condition, or if we made up enough rainfall to be back to normal.

But it feels drier than usual to me, for what that's worth. Spots on my property which were often boggy last year, are not. And I'm still watering the landscaping.

Anybody out there know a rain dance?

Bogalusa audit, continued

Another article in The Daily News about the city audit.

Accusaions are being flung - "It's just political!"

Well duh. Of course it's political. We want to know the facts before the election, and we deserve to.

It's difficult for me to imagine the Mayor being able to redeem himself with the completion of the audit. Will it somehow magically show that he didn't award illegal cost-plus contracts? Or that he did not try to get the city council to pass resolutions allowing contracts after the fact?

According to the latest in the News:

In early June, the council asked for a four-month extension of the audit deadline, which would push both responses back until after the municipal election.

Since then, Seal said he has uncovered additional findings, which may or may not prove to be problems. No additional information was given.

This is a bit alarming, wouldn't you say?

The article claims that one of the reasons the audit is taking so long is because they're awaiting paperwork from FEMA. Why? Either money came in, or it didn't; was spent, or not. Did some dufus at City Hall lose receipts and bank statements?

With the four-month extension, it may not be finished before the September election. Coincidence? Or something more sinister?

Previous:
Handcuffs to fit a McGehee, please
More on McGehee
Will there be indictments?
Officials pay themselves overtime

New blog

Posted about over at the Hard Copy board [link at left] - the Washington Parish blog!

Looks like it's going to be a collaborative effort, with articles submitted by anyone to a blog owner/moderator for consideration.

Maybe it will replace The Daily News. There's a lot of real fact-finding and reporting going on in the blogosphere, giving Mainstream Media a run for its money.

More shady Katrina contracts

Hurricane Katrina brought out the best in some people, and the worst in others. Or maybe some people were always bad guys, waiting for their opportunity. The Times Picayune has a good article on yet another fiasco in the wake of the storm, this time in New Orleans. Excerpt:

Behind a Largo, Fla., strip mall -- where shops ply lingerie, DVDs and drug paraphernalia -- sits a truck and trailer marked with the logo Biodefense America, one of the few traces of a company granted a windfall $8 million deal by former New Orleans Criminal District Court Clerk Kimberly Williamson Butler.

The company listed the Largo, Fla., strip mall and another address, actually a house, as the headquarters of what it contends is a "global leader in decontamination."

Butler hired Biodefense America to clean up the evidence room of the city's flooded criminal courthouse in a deal being investigated by the state attorney general.

Months after Biodefense America abandoned the job in the face of FEMA's refusal to pay for the work, the "in the news" section of the company's six-page Web site still brags about winning the top-dollar post-Katrina deal.

Biodefense America seems to have little other news to offer, save for a vague one-line mention of "numerous first responder contracts for the Health Industry in Broward county."

The company collected $200,000 from Butler as it abandoned the job. In choosing Biodefense, Butler spurned another bidder, Munters, which proposed to do the work for $3 million less than the Florida firm. Link to printer version

Ms. Butler has had a bad year. Here's a google on her, and Wikipedia's synopsis.

I look forward to the day when all these ripoff artists are doing hard time.

"almost like a native son"

The Daily News is still distinguishing between those born here and those who moved here:

Although Whit Gallaspy was born in Lake Charles, he's about as close to a Bogalusa native son as one can find. link

Doesn't anybody have anything better to do than keep track of who was born here, and who wasn't?

"Jackman to Bogalusa"

Jackman, Maine sent lumber to Bogalusa City Schools in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Daily News article here.

Some students at Forrest Hills High School made a film about it for their local student film festival. Kennebec Journal Online article.

Watch "Jackman to Bogalusa".

One list of Maine contributors to Katrina relief. Thank you!

Jackman, Maine Chamber of Commerce.

Friends of Preston Hartzog

Welcome! I see you - from all over the world - finding this blog through search engines.

I don't know any of his family myself, but I'm certain they would like you to sign his guestbook at Poole-Ritchie Funeral Home.

Obit at Nino Boxing.
Obit at The Daily News

Note in The Daily News obituary that the family requests donations sent to the Shane Kellis Fund (address given).

The good ol' days

Relive 'em with DVDs from the Bogalusa Dirt Cheap! Ozzie and Harriet, Shirley Temple, Laurel & Hardy, Rin-Tin-Tin. Fifty cents apiece.

Family entertainment without sexual innuendo - a concept that deserves revival.

Two men. One war.

Normally I don't comment on national and international news except as it relates to the Bogalusa-Washington Parish area.

But there is dissatisfaction with the Mainstream Media - the "MSM" - these days. Articles presented as reporting are biased and opinionated. This is especially true when it comes to war, terrorism, and the United States and our allies.

For an up-close-and-personal perspective on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, you owe it to yourself to read Flyertalk scoops the world with news report!. The forum has been mentioned on CNN and MSNBC.

"Dovster," a kibbutz resident with dual US-Israel citizenship, living within sight of the the Lebanese border. And "BEYFlyer," formerly of Beirut, now with his family on a mountaintop overlooking the city.

Politics is left at the door. Pour yourself a cuppa, start at the beginning, and follow the war through the eyes of two citizens who are watching the rockets' red glare.

Also:
Ha'aretz
Jerusalem Post
Honest Reporting

Blogs:
Israellycool --> Good info and many links: Israeli MSM, other Israeli and Middle Eastern blogs

Charges of racism flung

From the recent Daily News article on yet more school board shenanigans, this interesting bit:

A Massachusetts transplant who has been in Bogalusa for three years, Donnamarie Barker, the child of a racially mixed couple, said Bogalusa is not different than any number of other places in terms of racial tensions - citing her and her white mother's own experiences with discrimination in the North.

Oh. That's okay, then [sarcasm].

If I had a dime for every time some Southerner claimed moral equivalency - "They discriminate in the North, too!" - I'd be rich.

How about rising above other regions, Bogalusa? Instead of being proud you're as bad as they are.

Humble pie, served warm

July 10th editorial:

It's all about attitude and, outside the "Bogalusa means business" campaign, ours is not that good.

Said without a trace of irony, too.

I'd suggest you start with admitting all the problems Bogalusa has, and quit blaming "outsiders" - those who weren't born here - for our sorry state of affairs.

Previous:
Just go home?
Crime in Bogalusa

Skateboard park under construction

Good news for area kids:

The YMCA is installing a skateboard park on the old tennis court between the pool and walking track at Goodyear Park.

In the same article:

The leadership of the Bogalusa YMCA, which is currently divided between Avenue B and Avenue U locations, has been working to unite the two into one new facility. Parker is hopeful that will happen within the next couple of years.

These two facilities are often referred to as the "black Y" and the "white Y" by locals. Maybe in a couple years, we'll quit with the unofficial apartheid.

Jan. 12 driver pleads guilty

From the Sun Herald:

GULFPORT, Miss. - A college student whose alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit when he was in a crash that killed six friends has been sentenced to a year of house arrest.

Chris Rutland, 21, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty Thursday before a Harrison County circuit courtroom of friends and relatives of the victims, who were graduates of Mercy Cross High School in Biloxi.

Allen Martel, the only surviving passenger, was among those who begged the judge for mercy.

Read the whole thing.

More here.

Previous:
Underage drinking at a Bogalusa bar?
More on Jan. 12 fatal crash

Sheesh, again.

As of the time of this post, July 7, 2006, The Daily News has still not updated their online edition.

The June 30, 2006 issue is still showing.

Hey! Anybody home over there?!

Weather and burning

The area enjoyed more rain today.

According to the Washington Parish Government site today [see link at left], there is no burn ban.

The Daily Snooze

It's July 5, 2006. And The Daily News still has their June 30 issue online.

Wake up, folks.

Stormy weather

Much of the Bogalusa area had a goodly amount of rainfall today. Hooray!

Bogalusa man kills terminally ill wife

At the WWL-TV site:

BOGALUSA -- An 85-year-old man allegedly shot and killed his terminally ill wife in an effort to ease her suffering, police said Wednesday.

A nurse’s aide heard a gunshot early in the morning at the home of John and Elsie Purvis, police said. Link

According to the brief article, charges have not been filed against him.

Registration sometimes required at WWL; use BugMeNot.

Happy Independence Day!

Nice-sized, peaceful crowd at the fireworks display.

Crime in Bogalusa

Take a surf on over to this page, read it and weep, fellow citizens.

Compare Bogalusa to anywhere. You'll get numbers, a graph, and two tables. One shows the crimes per 100,000 people in each city chosen, and what the national average is.

Bogalusa was above the national average in every single category in 2004. Which is well before Hurricane Katrina and those transplants.

Aggravated assault and burglary were about three times the nat'l average.

Oh, yeah, the city of Bogalusa was so calm and peaceful before those dang Katrina refugees, huh? [sarcasm]

Link to the comparison page shamelessly borrowed from a message at the Hard Copy board - see list on the left.

Just go home?

What looks like an unsigned editorial in the June 30, 2006 issue of The Daily News.

Hateful stuff. But then, Bogalusa has a sordid history of hate, and a distrust of "outsiders" which some older residents blame all those old problems on. "Problems" like fair treatment and integration. A reputation like that dies a hard, slow, noisy death.

What did the charming Daily News editor tell us?

T here were two drive-by shootings and an arson within a 24-hour period in our community on Wednesday and all have been tied back to New Orleans.

Allrighty. I guess people came up here from The Big Easy and raised some heck, huh?

In the arson, a New Orleans resident took a cab to the apartment of his ex-girlfriend, broke in and started a fire.

Took a cab all the way from New Orleans?? 60-something miles? Wow.

According to Bogalusa police, all those involved in the shootings - with the exception of victim Dagrick Moses - were "New Orleans transplants."

Big effin' deal. There are a whole lot of folks in the area who moved here from somewhere else. Apparently since Katrina, there are 8,000 to 10,000 of them.

Last time I checked, the people who are considered to have founded Bogalusa moved to the area from somewhere else. Stop the presses!

We don't need New Orleans' mess that has spilled all over the Southeast and Southwest in our community. Goodness knows, we have enough problems of our own without that brought along by transplanted thugs.

Hate, hate, hate. Even though there's a bit of a disclaimer in the second sentence - "we have enough problems of our own" - there's a clear implication that things were rollin' along just fine before those dang "New Orleans thugs" moved here.

You know, those "transplants." Those "come-heres."

Jeez, out of several thousand people, I betcha a few of them were bad guys. Ya think?

Oh, and Daily News? The correct term for people who have been living here long enough to vote is residents.

Residents, yes. Many of whom are sick and tired of the slurs against those who weren't born in Bogalusa, the town that smells like a fart.

Perhaps they'll register to vote and get some new blood in office. Hopefully, they'll refuse to buy the local rag, too.

Sheesh.

Weather

Some rain has fallen at our hacienda in the past two-three days. It was much needed.

Tangipahoa Parish in trouble again

It's a lesson that ought to be read about and absorbed by all Washington Parish educators.

The Tangipahoa Parish School Board has been held in civil contempt of court by a federal judge for violating an August 2004 agreement over school prayer.

The order, issued this week by U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan, does not specifically name any school official as being in contempt, but orders the school board to pay attorneys fees to the plaintiffs who filed the motions.

The American Civil Liberties Union is representing a parent and two children who complained about prayers in Tangipahoa Parish public schools. They are unnamed in court documents.

The ACLU and the school board have tangled for three years over the proper role of religiously worded invocations at school events and then overseeing them through the consent order that attempted to settle the question.

Berrigan rejected the idea that student-initiated prayers or prayers said at off-campus events would comply with the prayer agreement. At issue were two school banquets in 2005 in which students offered prayers.

ACLU officials said the decision upheld religious neutrality in the schools. School officials said they disagreed with the ruling,but would abide by the order until they could consult with their attorney. Link

This is dumb, dumb, dumb. Public school personnel continue to defy court orders and the law, and will jeopardize the school district because they cannot shut the f*ck up.

It doesn't sound very Christian to me.

Previous:
Graduation? or church service?

Smokin'

Just before sundown, we spotted a tall black column of smoke in this general neck o' the woods:

















Heard no sirens, so I guess it was somebody burnin' trash.

Be careful with that stuff, folks.

Weather

Some areas have had rain in the past week.

Heck of a storm near us day before yesterday - high winds, plenty of rain.

Scorching hot temps - 95 today. Be careful out there!

Preston Hartzog, a/k/a "The Bogalusa Boogieman"

August 9, 1976 - June 21, 2006

Google results on "Preston Hartzog" - over 400 links

His sister's page

On other blogs and boards

Lively discussion about local politicians and law enforcement at the Hard Copy message board.

Usually good restaurant reviews, too. Well worth a daily read.

Fire trucks of June 8

Word is that the fire trucks that turned onto Spring Valley were responding to a burning trailer.

Word is that the trailer was vacant and wrecked, and the owner lit it up deliberately so he didn't have to pull it down.

Word is, he got worried and called 911. Or something like that.

I hope they send him a bill. What if there'd been a life-threatening fire while this dufus was too lazy to use a pry bar?

Drought

When I paid my water bill at Bogue Lusa Water Works last week, I asked the young lady behind the counter if we were feeling the effects of the drought, yet. Do we need to cut back our water usage?

She said, No.

Music

We've got a recording studio in the area, and they've got a website.

Studio in the Country.

Check it out. Pretty cool.

Legislative shenanigans

It's always hard to know where to start when it comes to the Louisiana legislature.

The cockfighting bill has died in committee, apparently. So all those "fine, upstanding" folks who supposedly make their living strapping knives on roosters and watching 'em kill each other... Well, they'll still have a livelihood, won't they?

I have yet to meet anyone who's raising their family on the proceeds from cockfighting.

..o0o..

Senator Ben Nevers has wasted our time - and thus, our money - again. By sponsoring a bill outlawing abortion, which will only take effect if the US Supreme Court strikes down Roe vs. Wade. The law does not allow exceptions for rape or incest.

So if your 13-year-old daughter is raped, you can:
1) take her out of state for an abortion; or
2) make her go through with the pregnancy, bear the child and give it up for adoption;
3) or, hell, keep it and raise it!

I'm sure she'd appreciate #2 and #3 the most, huh? Constant reminders of a horrifying event, eh? That's a fine example of how to respect life [sarcasm]!

Not to worry, I'm sure the surrounding states will be building abortion clinics a couple miles from Louisiana's borders. Those rich enough to afford the drive and the (probably) inflated fees... Life will go on for them as before. The poor won't have a choice.

There are about 200 kids in Louisiana waiting to be adopted. People are going to be lining up to adopt the babies of rape and incest victims, aren't they? We love kids so much, we're letting 200 languish in foster care and group homes. That will be a fine thought for the future of any of those rape and incest babies, very comforting for the mothers. Those kids are probably not likely to be adopted into loving homes, judging by Louisiana's numbers.

Respecters of life? Ha! "Christian" fascists, is more like it. Shame on you, Nevers.

Parish happenings

A local merchant sez a couple begging vagrants have been arrested by BPD.

Fire trucks sped south on Avenue F yesterday evening and turned on Spring Valley Road. I haven't found anyone who knows what happened.

According to the Washington Parish website, there's no burn ban at the moment. But it has been dry, so be careful with those fires, folks.

Hot today, but less humid than yesterday.

Got anything to add? Post it in the comments!

More kindness of strangers

In Boxford, Massachusetts, Walk-a-Palooza for Bogalusa:

Sixth-graders at Boxford’s Spofford Pond Elementary were likely rubbing their feet Friday night after spending part of the afternoon walking around Chadwick Field to raise money for charity. The students were taking part in the "Walk-a-Palooza for Bogalusa," a fund-raising event to help a Louisiana elementary school damaged by Hurricane Katrina last summer.

For each lap completed the students earned various amounts of money from the sponsors who signed up beforehand to support them. After each lap, a volunteer punched a hole in a card the students wore around their necks. After every fifth lap, the students received a Mardi Gras necklace. One of the hardest tasks for the walk-a-thon volunteers was keeping the students from running.

While there were volunteers with hole-punching devices and beads, there was also a handful of volunteers with spray bottles. Since spring finally decided to show up for real last weekend, the volunteers were there to make sure the walkers kept cool. Some of the students seemed to genuinely enjoy getting spritzed while others sped past the sprayers so they wouldn’t get wet. Most of the sprayers stayed off the course, but one of them, 5-year-old Wes D’Alelio, stationed himself in the middle.

"I think he’s having more fun than they are," said Kimberly D’Alelio, Wes’ mother. "He’s taking his job seriously."

Wes’ brother, Drew, was one of the walkers.

Boxford Parent-Teacher Organization Co-President Lisa Teichner said Tuesday the total raised by the students had yet to be determined as they were still collecting pledges.

Big hugs to Lisa Teichner, Boxford PTO, and Spofford Pond School.

Katrina's body count - higher?

My previous post on May 13 quoted a source saying that there were nine storm-related deaths in Washington Parish.

But does this article raise the total?

Tracy Tullos recalled the hospital staff of the Bogalusa Medical Center in Louisiana worked 24-hour shifts following Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005.

The former director of Social Services at Bogalusa Medical Center in Bogalusa, La., located approximately 45 miles north of New Orleans, was interviewed Saturday about the hurricane and its aftermath. [...]
"We planned for every contingency -- nuclear disaster, chemical warfare, tornadoes; even terrorism -- but we never planned for having no running water. And that was of paramount concern.

"We had patients requiring dialysis. Several of those patients died," she said.

Who were these patients? Were they all nursing home residents, and thus part of those nine nursing-home deaths? Or were there a couple more poor souls not counted in the article I referenced in my May 13 post?

Previous:
Katrina's Body Count

The kindness of strangers

The Gulf Coast Marching Sharks of Naples, Florida are donating their band uniforms to Bogalusa High School, to replace those destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Dillard's donated the shipping boxes, and Champion Cleaners of Naples donated the cleaning. The band kids spent hours of their own time boxing them up for shipment.

Many thanks to all of you! Link

Still no rain

And my water bill is through the roof.

Yesterday, maybe ten drops fell, just enough to dampen the grass.

Graduation? Or church service?

Make up your mind.

Grade-school graduation ceremony, with nearly all the music religious. The commencement speaker a minister, and his speech resembling a sermon more than anything. Prayers led by the principal. The superintendent of the city schools was there, too, and didn't say a word against it.

Everybody knows this stuff is against the law. Everybody.

Thanks a bunch, Bogalusa School Board. We can probably look forward to a big fat lawsuit which will bankrupt the city or the schools.

You are putting your personal beliefs above my children's education. If you're gonna break the law like this, what other laws have you broken?

Hardware!

Looks like Barber's is moving into their new store, in Salle's former spot on Avenue F. They did a handsome renovation of the storefront.

Lookin' good! May you prosper, Barber's.

Benefit for Leo Young

I saw a sign for this at a Bogalusa business. I don't even own a horse, and I've heard of the man.

Saturday June 3, 2006 - Southern Farrier's Association Shoe-In for Leo's Parkinson surgery.

Page with all the details here. If you can't attend, give.

Dare I hope?

Isolated thunderstorms predicted today, with a 10% chance of precipitation.

Hope one of them forms and storms over my house.

Wow, Baptists.

I daresay anyone who lives in and around Bogalusa remembers the Baptist Emergency Kitchen set up on Avenue F following Hurricane Katrina.

I didn't know they were doing all this:

Area residents gathered at Larkin Avenue Baptist Church on Friday and Saturday to receive disaster-relief training from Southern Baptist Convention and Illinois Baptist State Association representatives.

The groups provide food, child care and cleanup and recovery services in the wake of catastrophes such as Hurricane Katrina and the pair of tornadoes that struck Springfield in March.[...]
Thurman Stewart, an association coordinator from downstate Woodson, near Jacksonville, was among the relief veterans who had made the trip to Elgin for what he said was the first such training event held in the city. He and other volunteers spent weeks assisting with recovery efforts in Bogalusa, La., a town of roughly 13,000 north of New Orleans.

"Huge trees were everywhere," Stewart recalled. "We cleared over 1,200 yards."

I recommend reading the whole thing.

And thanks again, Illinois Baptist volunteers.

More on Jan. 12 fatal crash

Excerpt from the Biloxi Sun Herald:

The blood-alcohol levels of victims in the Jan. 12 crash that killed six college students in Wiggins are not a matter of public record at this time, said District Attorney Cono Caranna.

"If charges are brought against someone, the blood-alcohol content would come out only after an indictment, as a discovery matter, if an indictment is returned," Caranna said.

I'm betting they are considering charges against the nightclub owner.

Previous: Underage drinking at a Bogalusa bar?

Washington Parish booming?

The Daily News reported sometime after Katrina that the parish had between 8,000 and 10,000 new residents.

Wow. Means the population grew around 25%.

It appears that property values are rising here - maybe a reflection of a sort of "shortage," as new residents are purchasing places to live? I dunno.

At the moment, there's a one bedroom, one bath house on nine and a half acres, a bit south of town, on the market for $160,000. The News doesn't print real estate transactions very often, but I'm gonna try to keep an eye on this one. In my completely inexpert opinion, a few years ago that property would've sold for half of that, or less.

Listing is here, MLS # 633030. No picture showing the house, which is said to be 1,136 square feet.

Summer's here

According to the National Weather Service, hot days, cool nights (so far), and no rain expected through Tuesday.

Blech.

Get out the sunblock and the DEET. I notice the mosquitoes are out in force, too.

A Bogalusan paints up Petal

Artist Alvin Carter, a resident of Bogalusa, painted "sunshine on a wall for everyone in Petal to enjoy."

Also here in the Hattiesburg American.

Candidate for Bogalusa City Council?

Washington Parish message board screenshot:

[IP redacted - B]


















Somebody claiming to be Bill Arata has announced he will run for Council at Large.

Announced it on an online message board.

Does that tell you anything about The Daily News?

Oh, and no offense meant to Mr. Arata, or whoever made the announcement. I can't tell if you are who you say you are - one drawback the Web has over printed media.

Stick around, people who post there will ask you questions, and hopefully you'll answer 'em, and we'll learn something about you and what you hope to accomplish. Better than a 60-second sound bite on some news show, or a newspaper article, or paid-for advertising.

Good luck to you, sir.

Lessons in paperwork

I traveled out of state and bought a used car. That state issued a temporary registration on the basis of the seller's signature on the back of the title. No notary required.

I drove the car home and tried to get it insured, but my agent said I needed a notarized bill of sale. I had that document, but not notarized, as it wasn't required by the issuing state.

I thought I was in a catch-22 for a while. Can't get the registration changed here or title issued until the vehicle is insured. Can't get it insured until the title's changed unless I had a notarized bill of sale. Time was running out. What to do?

The agent said there was a notary nearby. I don't see why they would've been able to help; they have to witness signatures they notarize. Don't they?

The seller's over 500 miles north. I could have called him. He's a good guy and would've redone the bill of sale up there* and expressed it to me, but what a p.i.t.a. and additional expense.

Fortunately, the Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicles passed the paperwork, because they don't require a notary if the issuing state doesn't require it.

Lesson: Don't get title change advice from your insurance agent.

Notice: There might be a notary in Bogalusa who will affix his or her seal to signatures s/he doesn't actually witness. I am not a lawyer, but that doesn't sound legal to me.

-----------------

* Just about everywhere in the country is "up there" from here.

R.I.P. "Chilly Willy"

Excerpt:

A memorial for Earnest "Chilly Willy" Thomas, one of the founders of the Deacons For Defense and Justice, will be held Saturday, June 3, 2006 at the St. Rest Missionary Baptist Church in Quitman, Louisiana. Thomas passed away on February 21, 2006 in Pomona, California where he had resided for a number of years. Friends and family members have organized the June 3rd memorial to honor Thomas in his birthplace, Jonesboro, Louisiana.

Full article here.

More on the Deacons for Defense and Justice here, where you can also buy the award-winning book.

Review of the made-for-TV movie.

Committee approves cockfighting bill

Here:

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- A state Senate committee unanimously approved a ban on cockfighting on Tuesday, a surprising vote from a panel that has killed many such bills in past years.

The vote came after Sen. Art Lentini, the bill's sponsor, pushed for its passage by arguing that cockfighting is a "barbaric embarrassment" to Louisiana, a form of entertainment that fuels illegal gambling. Lentini attributed the bill's easy passage to senators' awareness that the Legislature is the focus of newfound attention, from around the world, since Hurricane Katrina.

"I think a lot of public officials are concerned about portraying a good image now," said Lentini, R-Metairie.

It's about time.

We aren't out of the woods yet. Write your representative and insist on this bill's passage. Let the title of Cruelest State go to New Mexico, where cockfighting is still legal.

Flooding in Flash

New Orleans dominated the national news after Hurricane Katrina. Sometimes, seems like it still does.

Over on Nola, there's a link to a great interactive graphic of New Orleans flooding - where the water came from, what time, how fast, how deep.

Fascinating stuff.

More of the same ol' drought?

A couple days ago, it looked like some wet weather might be on its way.

Nope. Dry as a bone, no precip predicted until Friday, and then only a 10% chance.

Cool at night, though - 50s and 60s.

Update: Corrected spelling.

Other Bogalusa boards

Go to Yahoo, click on "Groups," and search Bogalusa.

Update: More Bogalusa-area message boards:

• LaState
• wpscan
• Rebuild Washington Parish

I'll add more in later posts - probably will list them over on the left-hand side of this blog.

City council meeting May 16, 2006

I don't know, myself, what happened at the latest Bogalusa city council meeting. I've been away for several days.

Some info at the message board.

As of this time, The Daily News online is still showing the edition from Friday, May 12, 2006.

Note to The Daily News: Wake up, idiots! People from out of town like to know what's happening here! Get off your butts and update!

Katrina's body count

There are a number of news articles on the web, findable through Google, that say there were no storm-related deaths in Washington Parish. Search the archives at The Daily News using the phrase "died Monday, Aug. 29" and you'll get ten hits. All but one were residents of nursing homes.

Word-of-mouth suggests that these folks died as a result of the intense heat after the storm, when the power was off. Apparently nursing homes didn't have enough generator capacity to run their air conditioners. I hope they've fixed that, for the upcoming storm season.

This article seems to count those nine people's deaths as storm-related. I thnk that's realistic:

Nine parish residents and one evacuee have been confirmed dead as a result of the storm or its aftereffects.

One Bogalusa resident perished in Biloxi, according to The Daily News. I don't know who would "evacuate" from 60 miles inland to the coast before a hurricane. May G*d rest his soul.

We'll come back to this topic in later posts, because there are some little mysteries related to bodies in Bogalusa after Katrina.

Update: Air conditions corrected to air conditioners.

McGehee story on Dead Pelican!

Daily News story linked on The Dead Pelican, Louisiana's own "Drudge Report."

Top story in left-hand column:

It rained last night

Lots and lots of rain, lightning and thunder. Kinda windy, too.

Navy Airmen M.I.A. in WWII identified - one from Bogalusa

Defense-dot-mil article here, complete article:

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of seven U.S. servicemen, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

The are Ensign Leland L. Davis, Jackson, Miss.; Ensign Robert F. Keller, Wichita, Kan.; Seaman 2nd Class Elwin Alford, Bogalusa, La.; Seaman 2nd Class Dee Hall, Syria, Okla.; Aviation Machinist Mate John H. Hathaway, Lafayette, Ind.; Aviation Radioman 2nd Class Robert A. Smith, Glen Dive, Mont.; and Aviation Pilot 3rd Class Albert J. Gyorfi, Wilbur, Wash.; all Navy.

The group remains of all seven are to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, as are the individually identified remains of Davis, Alford and Hathaway. Hall has already been buried in Oklahoma, and the families are setting individual burials for the others.

The seven-man crew was aboard a U.S. Navy PBY-5 Catalina that took off from Kodiak Island, Alaska, on June 14, 1942, to attack Japanese targets in Kiska Harbor.

They encountered inclement weather near the target, as well as heavy Japanese anti-aircraft fire. Their plane crashed on the Japanese-held island of Kiska with all seven aboard.

In August 1943, the U.S. retook Kiska Island from the Japanese. Wreckage of the PBY-5 was found on the side of Kiska Volcano. The remains of the crew were buried in a common grave marked “Seven U.S.N. Airmen” with a wooden marker. Following the war, attempts to locate the common grave were unsuccessful and the remains of all seven were declared to be non-recoverable.

In 2002, a wildlife biologist notified DPMO that he had found the wreckage of a World War II aircraft on the slope of Kiska Volcano. Using that information, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) excavated the crash site in August 2003 where they found debris from the PBY-5 as well as crew-related items. The JPAC team also located the wooden marker as well as the remains buried nearby. Subsequent JPAC laboratory analysis led to the individual identifications of all seven crewmembers.

Approximately 78,000 servicemembers are unaccounted-for from World War II War. For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web Site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/ or call (703) 699-1169.

Underage drinking at a Bogalusa bar?

Prosecutors to review report from fatal accident:

Friends and family have said the students were together earlier at a nightclub in Bogalusa, La.
[...]
Police identified the dead as Brittany Jordan, 18, and her sister, Carley Jordan, 20, both of Ocean Springs; and William Thompson, Richard O'Barr, and Candace Newman, all 20, and Joshua Scott Bozeman, 21, all of Biloxi.

Hmmm. Drinking age in Louisiana is 21.

Report fraud and corruption

Lee has several good posts up on the Washington Parish Message Board about where to report fraud and corruption.

The links bear repeating. I've never seen so much fraud, so many people taking advantage of a tragedy as with Hurricane Katrina.

FBI online crime tips

Or you can get specific:

Katrina Fraud: (800) CALL FBI
Internet crime

Don't let the bad guys get away with it.

It rained!

Lots of precip over the weekend, which was sorely needed. Louisiana has been experiencing a drought.

Correction

To the previous post.

There is an article in The Daily News today about what actions Bogalusa Mayor Mack McGehee took after Hurricane Katrina. I hadn't seen it at the time of my post - not that it matters. As far as I'm concerned, the message bears repeating all over the internet. I'm that disgusted with him.

Normally, The Daily Snooze doesn't update their website until after the paper hits the newsstands.

Handcuffs to fit a McGehee, please.

Posted on the Washington Parish message board by its owner, Lee Kelley, a former resident who has long endeavored to keep the local politicians honest. Long, but I think the first half, about the Bogalusa city charter, is important for context. In other words, it helps explain just how bad a thief he is:

At the May 2, 2006 Bogalusa City Council meeting, Councilwoman, Oneita Graham read the following onto the official record:

Report on Audit Questions – May 2, 2006

At a prior meeting you were told that we would let you know about the problems with out audit for 2005. I will try to be as factual as I can with the information that I have received. Then you can decide for yourself how you feel about the information. Should more problems come out, you will be informed of those too.

Some laws that govern the things I’m about to tell you:

In 1978, the City of Bogalusa became a city that operated under its own charter which was approved by the citizens of our community. The following are quotes from that City Charter:

Section 2-9, council meetings: To meet a public emergency affecting life, health, property, or public safety, the council may meet upon call of the mayor, the presiding officer of the council or the majority of the council membership at whatever notice it shall be convenient to give. (Page 6).

Section 2-10: An act requiring an ordinance shall include (10) authorize any contract on behalf of the city. (Page 7).

Section 2-13: Emergency ordinances shall be effective for no longer than 60 days. The council, however, upon a favorable vote of at least 2/3 of its authorized membership may extend the life of an emergency ordinance for an additional 30 days, but no such ordinance may be extended beyond that period. (Page 10).

Section 3-06: Compensation – No ordinance changing the salary or granting any other monetary compensation shall be adopted during the last year of a term of office, and no such ordinance shall become effective during the term of the council adopting the ordinance. (Page 14).

Section 3-07: Duties of the Mayor – (3) Attend all council meetings with the right to take part in discussion but not vote. (6) Submit to the council and make available to the public, within 60 days after the fiscal year, a complete report on the finances and administrative activities of the city as of the end of each fiscal year. (This would be March 1st). (8) Keep the council fully advised as to the financial condition and future needs of the city and make recommendations to the council concerning the affairs of the city as deemed desirable. (Page 15).

Section 4-01: The salary of the city attorney and directors of departments appointed by the mayor shall be set by the mayor subject to approval by the council. (Page 15/16).

Section 4-04 – Duties of Director of Administration: (4) Ascertain that funds are available for payment of all contracts, purchase orders and any other documents which incur financial obligation to the city and that such documents are in accordance with established procedures. (7) Prepare a monthly statement of revenues and expenditures to show the financial condition of the city. (Page 18).

Section 4-07: Public Works Director shall direct and be responsible for (2) supervision of all contract construction work, (3) maintenance of the city property. (Page 20).

Section 5-04 – Administration of Budget: No payment shall be made or obligation incurred against any allotment or appropriation except in accordance with appropriations duly made and unless the mayor or the mayor’s designee first certifies that there is a sufficient unencumbered balance in such allotment or appropriation and that sufficient funds there from are or will be available to cover the claim or meet the obligation when it becomes due and payable. However, this provision shall not limit the authority of the city to borrow funds in anticipation of revenues as provided in the general laws of the state. Any authorization of payment or incurring of obligation in violation of the provisions in this charter shall be void and any payment so made illegal; such action shall be cause for removal of any official, officer, or employee who knowingly authorizes or makes such payment or incurs such obligation or who causes such payment to be authorized or made or obligation to be incurred. Such persons shall also be liable to the city for any amount so paid. (Page 23).

Section 5-05: (B) Emergency Appropriations: To meet a public emergency affecting life, health, property, or the public peace, the council may make emergency appropriations. Such appropriations may be made by emergency ordinance in accordance with the provisions of section 2-13 (emergency ordinances). To the extent that there are no available unappropriated revenues to meet such appropriations, the council may by such emergency ordinance borrow money in sums necessary to meet the emergency. The repayment of such sums shall be a fixed charge upon the revenues of the year next following the year in which the sums are borrowed and shall be shown in the operating budget for that year. (Page 24).

Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2221 – Public Contracts, Works and Improvements: No contract shall be let on a cost plus basis.

Facts previously unknown by the council and presented to the council by auditor on March 27, 2006 that occurred from September 2005 through February 2006.

Problem 1: The City retirement system is continued to be under funded. Notice was given the council with the 2004 audit in which the auditor stated the city should develop a corrective action plan to generate additional revenue to ensure proper funding of the retirement system. Louisiana Revised Statutes 11:3034(A) states: The city shall make contributions to the system each year on an actuarially funded basis, towards the annuities and benefits herein provided.

Our Bogalusa City Retirement has been under funded for quite some time. The city must begin to fund this system so that it is financially sound. This system covers all city workers. By the time the amounts are paid to the state for the fire and police retirement, not enough remains to cover all the other employees in an amount that is considered proper funding.

Problem 2: The city has collected too much money in a General Obligation Bond Debt Service Fund. We must stop collecting this millage until the excess amounts have been used to pay the bond. The millage on this is 10.45 mils.

State law requires that we not collect more than enough to satisfy the debt each year. Right now we have enough built up to cover a period of time.

Problem 3: The Mayor signed a contract with a local construction company without being properly notarized or witnessed. There was no information presented to the city council of this action; therefore, there was no ordinance permitting it. There is no evidence of the proper bidding process on most of these. Upon receiving our agenda for this meeting we have been provided copies for the bids for the work at VeeCor, Model Crafts, and the ball parks and the North Royal Street bridge. The city has produced a contract signed January 5, 2005. No emergency was foreseen at that time. As of the end of March the city has been billed by this contractor over $800,000 for work through February 16th. As of now, I don’t know what has been billed and paid since that time. Some of this work has been reimbursed by insurance to the city, including a check for $244,000. I have rounded off all dollar amounts. The work include repairs from September through February 16, 2006 to buildings in the industrial park – Model Craft $11,000; VeeCor $8,000; American Fabrics $122,000; Cabinet World $123,000; Client Logic $2,800; fire stations $36,000; Senior Citizens Center $55,000; city dump $21,000; city hall roof $38,000; city hall $39,000; Mayor’s office $33,000; assorted water tower sites $8,000; Lake Vista $15,000; city sheds and storage buildings $30,000; ball park $700; animal shelter $400; and Deli in the Park $67,000. Some work temporary, some work was permanent, and work has been continuing even today.

This contract was a cost plus contract with an additional 15% of the total amount of the materials being added to the bill. The minimum labor bill per hour has been $31.45 for an apprentice; the maximum has been for the supervisor at $89.85. There has also been overtime paid on these amounts. Wages probably included some overhead for workers’ benefits, Social Security, etc. Equipment per day included $10 for a pickup truck, scaffolding $15, concrete saw $60, and skid steer bobcat $65. I noticed we were billed $18,060 total for the pickup truck. Invoices were submitted for the supplies purchased. In the supplies were a wheel barrow, extension cord, several staple guns, hammers, chisel, saw horse bracket, tool belts, sprayer, buckets, caulk guns, tin snips, etc., in addition was the 15%.

There were two projects, Model Crafts and VeeCor buildings in the industrial park for which bids were obtained and did not involve the cost plus problem. I cannot tell you whether contracts were signed on these. I can tell you that the council has not passed an ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter these contracts, but the ordinance has been introduced tonight. These amounts - $183,000 for VeeCor and $378,000 for Model Crafts, were not included in the above cost plus jobs. An architect oversaw these projects and issued the substantial completion certificate last Friday, April 28th. This means they were complete except for a few touch up items. These were the only two buildings in which he was involved, other than to do a damage assessment.

It is against state law for a government body to enter into a cost plus contract. The council must pass an ordinance in order for the mayor to have authority to sign any contract. The first knowledge the council had of this was when it was brought to our attention by the auditor. The council has not been asked to authorize the mayor to sign these contracts until this week.

Problem 4: The mayor signed an emergency contract with a local ambulance company, without the knowledge of the council, and no ordinance authorizing it.

This contract was not dated, signed, notarized, or witnessed. The emergency contract calls for a three year contract with option to renew for another four years. The emergency contract also required the ambulance company to work football games and teach the fire department and the police department emergency medical techniques.

The contract said that the city would pay the ambulance company for any patients picked up in Bogalusa and the amounts not paid by insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid. There were thirteen of the pick ups billed and paid for by the city from locations outside Bogalusa. Upon checking, those outside the city were not billed to the parish. Of the 9 patient bills I checked on, all had insurance or Medicare and a supplement, except one, who only had Medicaid. When asked, the patients stated they had not been notified by their insurance they were paying or had been billed. There were at least two patients that should have been covered by city health insurance.

When payment for this was denied by FEMA, on February 24, 2006, one month after payment was made to the ambulance company, an attachment was added to the contract, stating the contract began August 29th and ended December 31st. Dates on the invoices were from August 30, 2005 through January 12, 2006. The city was billed and paid $31,631. The ambulance company has repaid the city that amount.

Again, an ordinance must be passed by the council in order for the mayor to have authority to sign a contract. The council had no knowledge of this contract until brought to its attention by the auditor.

Problem 5: After Hurricane Katrina, the mayor and some other salaried employees received overtime compensation. The time sheets indicate that some worked multiple days, 24-hours a day. When this was submitted to FEMA for payment, it was returned. FEMA only pays this compensation when there is a prior established procedure. The administration responded by constructing minutes of a meeting held two days before the storm in which the mayor told the department heads and some other salaried employees they would be required to stay at City Hall a while. Upon these instructions, the group decided they should receive overtime pay. These minutes were an attempt to create a prior policy to allow the compensation. This was resubmitted to FEMA. The first checks paid by the City for overtime were on September 15th. Total paid to those attending the meeting was $44,000.

The City Charter requires the council to fix the pay of the mayor and approve the pay requested by the mayor for the department heads. Those receiving the overtime had no authority to pay themselves extra without council approval.

Checked but noted as a problem by the auditor: City paid a local company $4,000 a month for a storage warehouse from September through January, totaling $20,000. This was a large building and was used to stock supplies after the storm.

City Council: On September 15th the City Council held a special meeting to handle several ordinances the mayor needed passed in order to handle the emergency situation. The overtime, the ambulance contract, nor the construction contract were mentioned to the council. Being brought to the council’s attention by the auditor at the end of March, these things were unknown to the council before that time.

Almost everyday following the storm, most of the city council checked in at City Hall to get updates of the situation. Had the council been requested to have a special meeting at anytime from late August through September, there were enough members to constitute a quorum who could have attended.

On April 25th, the Council President, the auditor, the mayor, the city attorney, the city administrator, our state senator and our state representative attended a meeting with the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. At the end of the meeting, the state auditor told the council president he would meet with the city council to discuss his findings after the due date of the audit, June 30th.


TONIGHT’S AGENDA: Our agenda tonight includes ordinances authorizing the mayor to enter into contracts for the ball parks, North Royal Street bridge, VeeCor and Model Crafts.

The VeeCor and the Model Crafts work have been completed. Payments have been made and the city has received some insurance reimbursements. Work has been done at all three ballparks included. Avenue U and Davis Street ballparks are complete as far as I can tell. Avenue B complex ballparks, the work is almost complete, still needing a cover for one dugout/bleacher and completion of the light alignment. These things were being worked on today but he dugout roof is not complete as of this afternoon. The concession there does need repairs but was not shown on the request for bids and no work has been done on it to my knowledge. North Royal Street bridge has not begun as far as I can tell. The low bid for the work on the three ballparks is $237,900.

These are the facts as I understand them to be. Again, let me say that I am not trying to tell you these things were right or wrong, legal or illegal, just the facts. You can each make your own determination in that regard.

As I said in a previous meeting, the council was kept in the dark about these things until the auditor brought them to our attention. My feeling is that you have just as much right as the council does to know what is happening anytime in our city. If you have any questions or would like to see documentation, please feel free to see me later.

The only thing I won’t share are invoices showing names of ambulance patients and some notes from the auditor that are not public information until his audit is presented to the council in an open meeting. There is a confidentiality law that might govern those items.

Bubba awaits, Mackie-boy.