Breaking news.

We have just received a text message that BHS has received a bomb threat and the school is on lockdown.

More as we know it.

UPDATE: Not to worry. Read about it at Nola-dot-com [this is an editorial].

Yup. The crime rate.

The Daily News has finally caught up with topics we think are important. First quarter crime stats alarming, it says:

A council district-by-district breakdown shows 323 "serious" crimes reported through the first quarter - including two murders, six rapes, 10 robberies, 60 burglaries, 148 thefts, nine auto thefts, 17 aggravated batteries, 56 simple batteries, 11 aggravated assaults and four simple assaults.

Yeah,that's alarming. As I posted back in July of '06, referencing 2004 numbers, the city already had a hellacious crime rate. My crime post was paired with "Just Go Home" written on the same date, referencing this op-ed which was unsigned in the online version.

The author blamed the crime problem at that time on thugs from out of town - also known as come-heres, in the local parlance. And my crime post pointed out that Bogalusa was a hotbed of crime, higher than the national average in many areas, before the Katrina evacuees arrived.

Here, the crime numbers from 2005, compared to Oxford, Mississippi, a town slightly larger than Bogalusa (click to enlarge):
































Depressing.

I agree with the article that Neighborhood Watch will help. I've seen that program work very well in other cities.

Once NW gets rolling, perhaps a "Court Watch" group can be formed. People can rotate on and off and go to criminal court and observe. Is there a lax judge? Is the DA not prosecuting criminals with the zeal we'd like? Showing favoritism?

Part of reducing crime is arresting your way out of the problem, a/k/a lockin' up the bad guys, or my personal favorite, takin' out the trash. Neighborhood Watch puts criminals on notice and helps the cops (all nine of them). Court monitoring tells the judge(s) and DA that we care what's happening in the courtroom.

One more thing. Nobody's going to get arrested for a crime that isn't reported. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say they didn't bother to call the cops and report their shed break-in because "They won't find out who did it anyway," blah blah blah.

What if the crime rate is higher than even the above numbers indicate? Report, report, report. Every. Single. Incident.

If Bogalusa needs more cops - which it surely does - we'll need to know the true figures to influence the City Council into budgeting for and hiring them.

Links:

Court Watch
Citizens Court Monitoring - New York
Watch - Minnesota. Good resource page.

Global warming?

That's what must be to blame for this unseasonably cool weather, huh? LOL.

Possibility of sleet was predicted, but I didn't see any - though we weren't up all night. Gentle rain falling on the hacienda now.

We spent a lot of time spreading mulch over the newly sprouted beans and such, to save them from being beaten to death by falling ice. I'm glad it wasn't needed, although the kids sure would like to see weather weirdness.

NWS screen shot this a.m. - click to enlarge:

Fifty lenders have gone bust.

That's right. Fifty. Read it and weep.

Michael Yon

An extraordinary journalist.

If you aren't familiar with his site, g'wan over there now.

Nice preview with pics here [PDF].

The heat is on!

Suffocating temps are on the way, and we get a sneak previous of that in April.

Check your air conditioning filter. Change it or wash it.

For the window units, best thing is if you can remove them, take off the outer housing, spray with water and brush the dirt off the coils. Let dry in the sun, reassemble and slide back into place. Dirty coils can be one reason they'll "freeze up" with ice and/or leak water into your room.

The cost of electricity only goes up, so it makes sense to keep your a/c operating as efficiently as it can, by cleaning it yearly, and changing/washing the filter monthly.*
---------------

* Clean/change filter more often if your equipment is exposed to a lot of dust.

Mortgage lender implosion

The number of defunct mortgage lenders has risen to forty-four.

Bogalusa city audit

Federal violations detailed:

"...the City did not comply with requirements regarding procurements that are applicable to its Disaster Grants-Public Assistance Program, nor with requirements regarding allowable costs, Davis-Bacon Act, and procurement that are applicable to its Airport Improvement Program."[...]In his report, Seal wrote, "Most, or all, of the 2005 findings could have been avoided if effective internal controls had been maintained. Most of the noted weaknesses in internal control and findings were not hurricane related."

Will somebody please make the necessary arrests?

Jindal talks, but says nothing.

At WWL online:*

Public housing should be made available for working class families and the elderly, not a haven for the criminal element of society, Rep. Bobby Jindal (R) said Friday...

The law already prohibits drug convicts from living in public housing in New Orleans. Plenty of public housing residents were working poor and the elderly before Katrina. Duh, Bobby.

Further into the article, he says:

“Let’s make sure we don’t allow the drug dealers, the gang members, the sex offenders, those that have committed acts of domestic violence, let’s not them back,” Jindal said.

I appreciate the sentiment behind this. Recidivism being as high as it is, chances are that allowing convicted criminals into subsidized housing means there will be a whole lotta criminal activity goin' on there. I hate druggies, and I hate living near 'em, and many people in public housing share my sentiments.

I guess you could change the law to keep out other convicted criminals. I don't see how you'll extend the ban to "gang members," unless they're ex-cons, though. And I hardly think you can ban people who don't work. What about the disabled, and people receiving welfare?

The banned people will end up living in poor neighborhoods, most likely. In low-rent districts - many of which are adjacent to the housing projects. We'll move the problem a few blocks, is all.

We punish sex offenders forever, by making them register and other requirements. I don't think we should add restrictions to other ex-cons. We want them to go straight and integrate back into society. They already have a tough time getting jobs and education - drug offenders are prohibited from federal educational aid. I don't think the potential of a ban from public housing in future will be a deterrent that keeps people from dealing or using drugs. But it might discourage them from going straight after they've served their time.

* Registration required. Use Bug me not.

My eyes! My eyes!

I can tell every year when spring is well underway; the populous areas of Washington Parish turn a screaming, bilious hot pink.

Azaleas. They're everywhere. The South is overloaded with 'em, along with crape myrtle (more pink!) and Loropetalum (even more pink!). I won't get into those dang Bradford or Callery pears, which should all be torn out (they're invasive). Thank goodness they aren't pink, y'know?

We have many charming native shrubs which are waaaay underused.

If you've gotta go with azaleas, choose native cultivars. They are a shy but lovely ballerina next to the big, blowsy hot pink things that hurt my eyes. And they're often fragrant.

MSU Extension Service published a nice page with pics detailing 30 native shrubs for your landscape. Some are fragrant; many provide wildlife food.

And they don't hurt my eyes ;-).

Coming soon: A rant on invasive plants.