C’EST BON
Can we, at last, wish a hardy good luck to the Hilliards? In a small ceremony held earlier this year, the former Madlyn Boustany, mother of the congressman from Louisiana’s 7th District, married longtime oilman and philanthropist Paul Hilliard, the namesake for UL Lafayette’s art museum. Ridiculously, discussion of the matrimony seemed appropriate in only private conversation for many in Lafayette’s more elite social circles. But the penning of a guest column in The Daily Advertiser Sept. 5 by one Madlyn B. Hilliard should put the issue to rest. Both Madlyn and Paul have long been assets to our community — each is a former Civic Cup winner — and we wish them the best. People, the elephant has ambled out of the room.
PAS BON
Celebrating football in Lafayette has never been finer than the evening of Sept. 5, 2009, at Cajun Field. The first-time matchup with Southern University introduced a record crowd of Ragin’ Cajuns to an uber-classy squad of players and fans from across the Atchafalaya Basin. Sure, it was hot, but the tailgating and food (fried turkey at Pete’s tent!) were simply spectacular. The only minor problem was that we needed a few extra brewskies during the game to sufficiently wash down all that good Cajun food. Imagine our disappointment when we left our seats only to discover that planned beer sales had been scrapped. Thankfully, the Cajuns kept putting numbers on the scoreboard, so we forgot about it. The Southern band put on a spectacular halftime performance, a tribute to the late, great King of Pop, and once again we forgot about it. The Cajuns won, so we forgot about it. But since those good times have rolled, it’s been a little difficult getting over the last-minute questions about the permit, who was asking ’em (Tiger Stadium, for one, had some questions because of a big concert event next year) and all that moolah UL missed out on by not serving the record crowd. The good news: beer was sold at Saturday’s victory over Kansas State.
COUILLON
This is what happens when the state Legislature makes it harder for small towns to have speed traps. Former Golden Meadow officer Darren Charpentier was canned by the town council recently, according to The Courier in Houma, after arresting in a miasma of pepper spray and clanking cuffs a 61-year-old woman. The femme fatale’s unconscionable crime? The tinted windows on her Ford F-150 were, in officer Keystone’s estimation, way too dark. The grody grandma was treated at a local hospital for bruises and profusely watering eyes. The town’s police chief has forwarded the case to the Lafourche Parish District Attorney’s Office for possible criminal prosecution.
“It said you had the best rules. It didn’t say you always followed them.”
An out-of-state government consultant wisecracking to the Streamlining Government Commission when asked what he thinks about Louisiana’s ethics laws being ranked best in the country, according to political columnist John Maginnis