La. La. Land - State Police do what??

Monday's Blogs from the Bog!

Monday's Blogs from the Bog!

• STATE POLICE DO WHAT??

  AUG 18 This post by blogger CB Forgotston is pretty appalling. He's telling us of special "services" provided to legislators by State Police, including giving rides and acting as a messenger service. So when you saw that State Police car speeding down the Interstate, it's possible he was just delivering something to a legislator. Great, right?

• DESHOTELS: DOE MANIPULATES LEAP SCORES

  AUG 18 Blogger Mike Deshotels finally got an answer to the public records request he filed two months ago, and he says it shows how the state Department of Education is playing games with LEAP scores. To be clear - what Deshotels asked for was the percentage required for a student to pass the test. How is that a secret? That requires a public records request? Dang.

• RAY MOUTON'S LATEST ON JARRELL

  AUG 18 Author and attorney Ray Mouton has posted more information about sexually abusive priests and the current bishop of the local diocese. Apparently cash settlements were made to victims as recently as 2008, Mouton tells us, and the priest in question now lives in Englewood, CA.

• WE'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE

  AUG 18 Here's an interesting interactive map from the New York Times that shows were the residents of each state were born. Louisiana has the highest percentage, with 79 percent of our residents as natives. The closest to us is Michigan, with 77 percent. The state with the lowest percentage of natives? Nevada, with only 25 percent.

• ASWELL: ANGELLE MAY BE EYEING GUV'S RACE

  AUG 18 Blogger Tom Aswell has reviewed a new website and thinks it could mean Scott Angelle might be eyeing the 2015 governor's race. In this post, Aswell gives us the deets on the site and his speculation as to what everything means.

• BEAM: LEGISLATURE TAKEN FOR A RIDE

  AUG 18 Columnist Jim Beam reviews two bills that had odd (or shady, depending on your point of view) trips through the legislature. Interestingly, they both benefit State Police. One is the so-called Edmonson Amendment, and the other jacks up the fee you have to pay to reinstate your insurance - and gives State Police an extra $42 million a year. (Has anybody thought that maybe a big fee would discourage some people from getting insurance, if they dropped in the first place because they couldn't afford it? No? OK.)

• PERRICONE SAYS HE HAD FIRST AMENDMENT TROLL RIGHT

  AUG 18 Columnist James Gill is writing about one of the former federal prosecutors who was posting stupid, troll-like comments about investigation targets under a "nom de plume" on the Picayune's website. Sal Perricone is saying he had a First Amendment right to do this stuff.

• ZOMBIE: CLAIMS PROCESS AN ABBOTT-COSTELLO ROUTINE

  AUG 18 Blogger Jason Brad Berry is writing about the BP oil spill claims process again - and as usual he's the only one who is watching these guys. This particular post is looking at how the stories have changed in response to his questions about conflicts of interest among the committee members who are processing the claims.