Recent act adds impetus for jettisoning RTOs in LA

And this is why, even if it became the first state to adopt an anti-renewable portfolio standard, Louisiana isn’t out of the woods from its energy policy being affected in negative ways by other states’ faith in the existence of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming.

This summer, the state passed a law that essentially made it state policy to pursue the most reliable and inexpensive energy as possible. By doing so, it disallowed the Public Service Commission if it ever desired to do so from trying to impose an RPS on power utilities operating in the state. An RPS would force production of that power through the use of renewable resources to reach a certain proportion of all produced. Almost half of states have one, and in some the eventual target as early as 2040 is 100 percent.

As the higher the proportion of renewable sources reaches the more average expense is attached to that production for consumers, because of both the technology required and the vastly higher degree of production unreliability endemic to relying on renewable resources, Louisiana’s new law guards against consumers having to bear this burden just to kowtow to the myth of CAGW that increased renewable sourcing theoretically alleviates. But, as a recent incident illustrates, state boundaries can’t stop foisting the unneeded RPS costs onto ratepayers’ power suppliers not even subject to an RPS.

New LA bishops bring hope to resolving bad pasts

It’s been an interesting month for Louisiana Catholics in the state’s southeastern corner, hopefully presaging the beginning of the end for turbulent times.

The pederasty – and make no mistake, that’s what it is as 75-80 percent of all sexual abuse cases known against priests involved male minors – that was tolerated among a small coterie of priests (about four percent of the total) claimed an unfortunately high total of victims in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. So much so that the archdiocese declared bankruptcy to avoid financial ruin and shamefully has been lowballing a settlement.

But earlier this month a new offer of $230 million was made to the several hundred members of the affected class. If enough accept, the settlement will become official.

Prudent BC budget still must avoid landmines

Bossier City’s 2026 executive budget exemplifies a greater commitment to transparency, and in doing so highlights the sins of its policy-making past and warnings to avoid their consequences  in the future.

The budget doesn’t see much increased spending past the expected 2025 baseline, although reviewing general fund numbers might belie that. This is because of an accounting change that moves expenses for all of the ancillary functions attached to the sanitation fee on utilities bills that the general public mostly associates with trash pickup. That became a controversial point over the rate increases instituted this year where apartment complexes that previously had been billed for only a few addresses, or even just one, the city began to bill for all units. Complex owners argued that they had their own waste removal and so shouldn’t have to pay, but they discounted the ancillary functions the fee covers such things as mosquito abatement, sweeping and mowing, beautification, and animal control.

A compromise was reached that billed at 80 percent of total units. Perhaps as a result, the Republican Mayor Tommy Chandler Administration now plans to budget separately for those items and transfers their functions to Public Works. Thus, the portion of the sanitation fee that covers these functions for bookkeeping purposes now appears in the general fund, inflating year-over-year spending. It’s the right move to make for greater transparency and accountability.

Bizarre postcard incident defies obvious motive

A bizarre incident involving Louisiana legislators leaves perhaps only one thing for certain: the sender(s) of so-called “lynching postcards” seem to have caught a case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that makes the act appear inexplicable using reason and logic.

Recently, several representatives – all Republicans except for a Democrat and apparently chosen in alphabetical order, various reports reveal – received in their official mail two kinds of postcards depicting lynchings, with one identified as nearly a hundred years ago in Indiana and the other over a century ago in Minnesota. They state “Thank you” have Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s name attached to them, and were sent from Denver.

This raises many questions. Why Louisianans? Why only representatives? Why just names close to the beginning of the alphabet and sent to official addresses as if plucked from the website? Why is Noem’s name attached? Why depicting lynching? Why the scrawled sarcastic message? Perhaps these and others will be answered as the Federal Bureau of Investigation has gotten involved because this could be construed as a threat using the postal service. Even if no threat is determined to be present, the Comstock Act as amended makes it illegal to send these through the mail.

Monroe Council Democrats play race card on pick

As always when it’s dealt, the majority Democrats on the Monroe City Council played the race card from the bottom of the deck, exposing their misbegotten and counterproductive agenda.

Last week, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry announced that Monroe’s new fire chief would be Timothy Williams. A new law gave him the power to do this, breaking a stalemate between the Council majority and independent Mayor Friday Ellis stretching past a year where the Council rejected two of his appointees.

The majority gave somewhat conflicting reasons for their rejections. Ellis’ first choice, Monroe Fire Department’s Daniel Overturf scored middling on the civil service exam and the majority said the city could do better, despite his strong rank-and-file backing. Williams, Bastrop’s fire chief, scored highest on the exam, as well as had a strong record in Bastrop, but then the Democrats switched their objection to he didn’t have managerial experience in a larger department. But besides having their candidacies sidelined by the Democrats, who are all black, the two had something else in common: both, like Ellis, are white.

Bossier school absenteeism tactics not working

The Bossier Parish School District, that powerhouse of public relations, splashes its motto “Win the Day” around, while it really needs to pursue students showing up that day, before being in a position to win it.

The BPSD regularly pumps out whatever good news the district can scrounge during Board meetings and through web videos as part of its “On the Record” series in addition to news releases, such as its deserved seventh best improvement in early grade reading proficiency among the state’s 69 districts. But noticeably absent from any publicity, not even issuing a measly media release for perhaps understandable reasons, were a couple of items celebrated across the rest of the state, if not next door.

One was the annual disappointment in National Merit Scholar semifinalists, announced earlier this month, which at least had the consolation of the district doubling up on the one honoree from last year, which also doubled up on how many that the parish’s only private school produced. That sterling scholar from a student body of about five percent in size of the 1,452 BPSD high school seniors was part of a class that averaged 28 on the ACT standardized exam, compared to the 19 scored by BPSD seniors, below the national average of 19.4 but above the state average of 18.2.

More govt aggravates NO housing shortage

The problem with New Orleans and its affordable housing difficulties Edmund Burke captured some 235 years ago: to make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely.

And New Orleans isn’t. Certainly, it has its ramshackle charm, but that obviously isn’t enough to prevent its depopulation, which in turn has made it just about the worst housing market in metropolitan America. In the 2022-23 period, it was the third largest loser in percentage terms of residents among core metropolitan cities, and from 2020 it has been the biggest loser of those, in raw numbers nearly 26,000 residents or 7 percent. In the past ten years it has been 3.3 percent, and since 1950 nearly by half.

This has been reflected in a lousy housing market. Of the 100 largest metropolitan areas, it ranks from 2012 96^th in price appreciation, because of soft demand. Meanwhile, at 7.4 months on average on the market it has the 11^th highest housing supply and its mortgage default rate is 30^th highest at 13 percent. If it were just New Orleans and not also including six surrounding parishes the figures likely would be worse.

Graffiti is, brings out overwrought reactions

Let’s shed an ocean of tears for the special snowflakes running the day-to-day affairs of Louisiana Democrats, seemingly sent into paroxysms of terror by a single word appearing on their headquarters’ easement that, in fact in another context, contains commentary rather than threat.

Recently in Baton Rouge on the city easement leading from the street to the back parking lot of the state party headquarters appeared, within 48 hours of the assassination of conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk, a spray-painted scrawled “MURDERERS.” Possibly somebody aggrieved with Kirk’s murders may have done this, motivated by connecting the relentless drumbeat for years of Democrats and leftists calling Republicans and conservatives vile names and casting highly negative aspersions about their motives over policy disagreements, or perhaps because tens of thousands of leftists on social and other media had gloated over the event, or both (although one social media commenter raised the possibility that this was a self-inflicted feint, perhaps designed to draw attention away from leftist culpability for Kirk’s killing and to generate sympathy for the left, at least in Louisiana).

Regardless of motivations for the graffiti, the state party administrators decided it only could mean open season on party operatives. It filed a police report and announced staffers would work outside of the headquarters for a while and that they would take measures to see that they were “safe.”

Ellis again wins sparring with Monroe Council

Last week’s meeting of the Monroe City Council provided yet another chance for its majority to butt heads with independent Mayor Friday Ellis, over both old and new issues, with the power of the mayor’s office triumphing again.

Some closure finally came to the city’s disciplining of former interim police chief Reggie Brown. He had been appointed temporary top cop by Democrat former Mayor Jamie Mayo a few months before delayed 2020 elections and immediately courted controversy when he denied to multiple requestors public records requests that in the past had been fulfilled and was backed in this by the Mayo Administration, with Mayo seemingly intent on having Brown take the job permanently.

Then, a few days prior to elections, a police brutality incident that later would send the officer involved to prison Brown initially refused to refer to the Louisiana State Police despite the city attorney recommending that, and did so only the Monday after the election where Ellis defeated Mayo. Ellis and others believed the delay not only was poor administration but also political favoritism for Mayo. After Brown failed a polygraph exam (later disputed by one legal expert) on whether he had allowed politics to interfere with his decision – because revealing a police brutality incident could make negative news for Mayo right before the election – and denied in subsequent official forums he ran any interference, Ellis’ new chief Vic Zordan fired him for that breach.

Policy must discourage leftism assassination chic

Conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk was assassinated last week, the surface evidence suggesting it was for political reasons linked to leftist ideology that so far other evidence is confirming. Is it now open season on those of us with something of an audience for conservative political commentary, and what can we do about preventing that in Louisiana?

Understand firstly that this event broadens the shooting gallery. Trying to kill politicians is nothing new, or seemingly out of vogue, because they personalize political conflict and are seen in the warped minds of their attempted assassins as dangerous change agents. Stop them, and the threat is reduced, whether it be because Louisiana Republican Rep. Steve Scalise is one of the most powerful conservative politicians in the country leading a partisan faction, or because Minnesota Democrat state Rep. Melissa Hortman was viewed as an impediment as part of a scheme to advance a faction of her party to greater heights, as dreamed up in a demented fantasy by an appointee of Minnesota Democrat Gov. Tim Walz (and to bring it back to Louisiana, the reason why 90 years ago this past week Democrat Sen. Huey Long was assassinated, shot by a relative of a victim of Long’s intraparty machinations).

But Kirk was killed, it is becoming increasingly obvious, simply because he was successfully disseminating conservatism to the masses, particularly on college campuses. It drives home two particularly and complementary ugly points.