Saturday, April 5, 2008
Jindal’s Violation: Horse Not Dead, Some Beating Left to Do
Posted by Scuttlebutt on Sat, Apr 5, 2008 at 10:38 PM
By: Jeremy Alford
If Gov. Bobby Jindal thought the flap over the payment of his campaign finance violation was put to rest during last month’s special session on ethics reform, he’s sadly mistaken. Rep. Jerome “Dee” Richard, I-Thibodaux, is pushing legislation to prohibit the use of campaign funds to pay fines, fees or penalties assessed in relation to a campaign finance or lobbying violation. While not aimed expressly at the GOP governor, Richard’s House Bill 277 will certainly dredge up a few comparisons or anecdotal references. Jindal’s campaign failed to report in a timely manner an $118,000 in-kind donation from the Louisiana Republican Party last year. Rolfe McCollister Jr., a Baton Rouge publisher and Jindal’s campaign treasurer, has vowed to personally pay the anticipated fine, which could reach as high as $2,500. Such third-party payments caused a ruckus during the special session, with lawmakers voting to ban the practice. Richard’s bill would extend the ban to a candidate’s campaign fund and thereby make individual candidates personally responsible for all ethics fines.
Kiss Retirement Goodbye
Posted by Scuttlebutt on Sat, Apr 5, 2008 at 10:32 PM
By:Jeremy Alford
The chairman of the Senate Retirement Committee wants to take another shot at stripping elected officials of certain retirement benefits if they’re convicted of a crime related to their office. A similar measure was debated during the ethics special session in February but failed to win approval. Opposition stemmed in part from the severity of the proposal, with lawmakers worrying that innocent spouses and children might wind up paying for someone else’s sins. Sen. Butch Gautreaux, D-Morgan City, says his revised proposal, Senate Bill 27, would garnish only a portion of the convicted official’s retirement — enough to cover the cost of their incarceration or any related fines, penalties or restitution. “We don’t want to jeopardize any families or leave them destitute just because a public official makes a mistake,” Gautreaux says. “It’s also in line with what many other states are already doing, so we know it can be done successfully.” Gautreaux admits that his most substantial challenge may be convincing the state’s four major retirement systems not to oppose the bill.
UL Using YouTube
Posted by Scuttlebutt on Sat, Apr 5, 2008 at 10:28 PM
By: Jeremy Alford
It has been used to embarrass Tom Cruise and float ideas for campaign commercials. Now the University of Louisiana System’s board of supervisors is using YouTube as an electronic press release system. It has its own page set up at www.youtube.com/ulsystem. An early posting included comments from all eight of the system’s college presidents on workforce issues as well as information about a new online resource for students and parents. The latter is called "College Portraits" and contains information on a variety of topics such as cost of attendance, degree offerings and campus safety. The UL System is the first in the country to launch such a program. “The public will be able to track our progress using the new online tool,” says UL System President Sally Clausen. "The College Portraits are an important step in the UL System’s commitment to transparency."
Hornets clinch playoff birth; Coach Scott not impressed
Posted by Alejandro de los Rios on Sat, Apr 5, 2008 at 3:35 AM
By Alejandro de los Rios
Maybe I do know a thing or two about basketball. I said the Hornets were playing sloppy, that they needed to wake up and that coach Byron Scott would likely give his team a tongue-lashing at halftime. Well, looks like someone was right.
Though the Hornets escaped tonight with a 118-110 victory over the New York Knicks, Scott said he was less that happy with his teams performance against one of the worst squads in the NBA.
"We waited so late to really start playing defense," he said. "I thought the first quarter we were terrible, the second quarter we were OK. ... I'm not real happy about the way we played."
Live at the Hive: Even Knicks fans want New Orleans to Win
Posted by Alejandro de los Rios on Sat, Apr 5, 2008 at 1:40 AM
By Alejandro de los Rios
Win and they’re in. It’s that simple: a victory over the listless Knicks would put New Orleans in the playoffs for the first time since they relocated from Charlotte. A loss and the Hornets would have to try again against a Golden State team with its own post-season aspirations (on national television no less).
But despite the Knicks’ dismal record, despite that they team just hired Donnie Walsh to be GM and could thus mark the end of Isaiah Thomas as head coach, and despite Birdman telling me before the game that the Hornets should “blast these guys even worse than the Heat,” the Knicks are not making any of this easy.
At least not for now.
