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.