The Best and the Worst of the Week
Louisiana
is the top state in the South in electoral practices, according to a recent
issue of Southern Exposure magazine. Louisiana received an overall "B"
average in criteria such as registration system, voter turnout, uncounted votes,
campaign finance disclosure and reform efforts. Southern Exposure, a
publication of the Institute for Southern Studies in Durham, N.C., evaluated
13 states for its survey.
Katie
Robbins ,
a
9-year-old student from Folsom, raised more than $1,500 to buy protective vests
for the St. Tammany Sheriff's Department's four K-9 police dogs. Robbins presented
the sheriff's department with the money last week. Recently, a New Orleans Police
Department canine, Zucco, was shot and killed while tracking a bank robbery
suspect, underscoring the need to protect highly trained K-9 officers.
Louisiana legislators
voted to build a new $19.6 million office
building for House members in the midst of a financial crunch that required
raising taxes and slashing millions of dollars from the state budget in areas
such as health care and education. Work on the new facility began earlier this
month. The state Office of Facility Planning told political reporter John Maginnis
the money will probably come from next year's capital outlay budget.
NOPD
and the District Attorney's office
again played the blame game last week, with each agency holding the other responsible
for the failure to prosecute most of those arrested in the City Hall taxicab
bureau probe. The recent bout of finger-pointing again indicates a fundamental
lack of cooperation and communication between the agencies. Hopefully, this
embarrassing breakdown in teamwork will not carry over into the new district
attorney's term.
