Official_portrait_of_Barack_Obama

How many vacations does Michelle Obama take while so many have to worry about their next paycheck? Is the President fiddlng while Rome burns? What’s with the party with B.B. King and Mick Jagger?
Singing a couple of bars of an Al Green song a few weeks back was “cute” but who paid for this “Red, White and Blues” shindig at the White House? If the Democratic Party picked up the tab that’s one thing but if tax payer money paid for the party it’s time to put a stop to the aristocracy!

This type of behavior brought the French Revolution to Versailles and I wonder if President Obama skipped history class.  Did he not get the lesson on Nero, fiddles and fire?

Continued high unemployment, soaring gasoline prices and chaos in Congress I think it’s time this President grows up and try’s to right the ship of state before it crashes on the rocks.

Mr. President you don’t sing that well and that’s not part of your job description. Get to work!

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Health insurance in Louisiana has taken an interesting turn over the past two years. An LSU report shows less children in the state are uninsured, but more adults are without health insurance.
Kirby Goidel, director of the LSU Public Research Lab, says the 2011 Louisiana Health insurance survey found 16,000 fewer uninsured children than in 2009. But there are also 93,000 more uninsured adults over the same two-year span.
Currently only 3.5% of children in the state are without health insurance.

(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Buddy Roemer is changing his strategy. The former Louisiana governor says he’s giving up his campaign for the republican presidential nomination. Instead, he’ll seek the Reform Party nomination instead.
Roemer has challenged the party establishment and criticized the major candidates for their dependence on big money contributions. Roemer has limited donations to his campaign to $100.
Roemer left the Democratic party to become a republican in 1991.

(Photo by Flickr User lisaclarke)

In an update to this story, the pajama pants ban will have to be taken up another day.

The Caddo Parish Commission scratched the ordinance from its regular agenda for this week. One commissioner Joyce Bowman wore her PJ’s to the meeting in protest. She says the idea of making it illegal for someone to wear pajama pants in public is crazy.

Bowman says this issue has garnered nationwide attention and it makes them look stupid. Bowman says the ordinance is government interfering too much into the personal lives of its citizens. She says the measure uses the words, “in public” which could apply to anywhere.

The commission voted the measure down on an 8-4 vote. Commissioner Michael Williams’ proposal could still be considered at a later date. He says he’s not going to give up on it.

(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 23 points amid high gas prices. Rhonda Bordelon has your stock market report on today’s Acadiana Business Index.

Gains in Existing Home Sales Mask Large Negative Revisions

S & P Fails to Break Key Level

Gas Price Spike Has Temporary Offset

Dell Down nearly 6% on Earnings/Guidance Results

Oil Ekes Out Narrow Gain, but Gold Rallies.

We revamped the program to address many of the emails and comments we have received over the last few months about how to make it better. We are very proud of the results.

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(Photo by KPEL News)

In this edition of “Not Necessarily The News,” Tootie Landry tries to figure out what she’ll do with that extra day this year.

“Hey! I’m Tootie Landry and this is what I found out today!

We all know that February 29th is a date that usually occurs every 4 years and is called “Leap Day.” And this year, we get that extra day. So I’ve been thinking, what can I do on this day?

I could do what Eli Manning said, “I’m going to Disney World.” Or, I could drive really fast on Johnston Street and tell everyone else to “Go ahead, make my day!”

Being I have an extra day, I could finally write those letters I’ve been putting off. Like the letter to Dancing with the Stars—asking “why haven’t I been picked?” After all I am a “Dancing Queen!” And I’ve got to write a thank you note to the networks for finally ending the Whitney Houston stories. Stop in the name of love!
Regardless of what I do, at least I get to delay filing my taxes by another 24 hours!

And another thing, “Leap Day” is such a boring name for being a unique day. It should be called “I’ll be back day.”
So whatever you decide to do on your extra day in 2012, I hope it’s fun!
And I’m sure by now some of you are secretly saying to yourself, “ Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!”

And I’m Tootie Landry and this is “Not Necessarily the News!”

Tootie Landry

Google Maps

A new recreational trail is the latest addition to Lafayette’s hiking scene.

The Atakapa-Ishak Trail will officially open at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday.

The trail starts from Parc Sans Souci in downtown Lafayette and ends at the Vermilion River.

Officials say the first phase of the trail will use a combination of shared sidewalks and bike lanes which will accomodate both bicycles and pedestrians. The trail will link downtown Lafayette to the Vermilion River by using shared roadway, a half-mile bike lane along General Mouton Ave., and a shared sidewalk along University Ave.

The second phase of the project will extend the trail from Beaver Park to the Jean Lafitte Acadian Cultural Center by using a new pedestrian underpass that goes underneath Highway 90 at the Vermilion River.

Both phases of the trail are being funded by grants from the Federal Highway Administration Recreational Trails Program for Louisiana.

(Photo by Flickr User aea2010sh)

We have been hearing about the story again and again of Erin Fitzgerald being punched on Mardi Gras over a float in the Independent Parade.  Glenn Stewart now faces charges over a moment that will only be looked on with regret years down the road.

How many of us are guilty of momentary lapses of reason?  How many of us have said and done things that we regret upon later reflection?  Clearly, it is a widespread problem that for many, does not get the amount of media scrutiny that something like this story will do.

The lesson for us is one that is simple and straightforward.  We need to be able to control our emotions enough so that the heat of the moment doesn’t get the best of us.  We need to be able to step back from the moments that are unfolding in front of us and see what needs to be done.  It’s hard to know what that looks like in this case, because truly how many of us were there at the time that it happened?  I was not, and don’t intend to comment on that because I really have no place to.  However, I can say, and many would agree, that the end result of this fiasco is someone that has wounds to recover from and someone that is getting some truly bad press over something that could have been avoided.

Things like this reflect badly on Mardi Gras, which has been a day of celebration for years.  Hopefully, many of us can take it as a lesson in what to do when we face our own tense situations.

They believe he’s driving a 1991 white Honda Accord Station Wagon. He’s believed to be in Opelousas/Lawtell area.

If you know where he may be, call the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office at 337-394-3071.

(Photo of Dennis Castille courtesy of St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office)

(Photo of 1991 Honda Accord courtesy of St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office)

Getty Images

A discussion about the protesting over the burning of copies of the Koran in Afghanistan two days ago lead two “Winging It Wednesday” panelists to argue over the billions of dollars spent funding wars.

Mike Stagg was speaking about the Koran burning issue, but then detoured into his belief that we should not be fighting a war there at all.  Stagg blamed the war there and other U-S military involvement across the globe for the huge budget problems currently in America.  Carol Ross wouldn’t stand for it.  She claims defense spending is not the reason for a huge budget.

Mike Stagg says, “We’re going bankrupt primarily because of the trillions of dollars we spent in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Carol interrupts him, “Not true…not true..that’s not why we are going bankrupt”.

Mike adds, ” off the budget for a decade, we’ve been there for a decade, and we need to get out of there, that’s not doing us any good.  There’s never been a successful occupation of afghanistan.”

Carol finishes the discussion off with, “The defense spending is dwarfed by the entitlements we need to reform.”

Winging It Wednesday panelists talked about Afghanistan, gas prices, and the latest bailout in Greece.  The basis for the topics were these headlines:

• More than two-thousand Afghans are showing their outrage outside the main U.S. military base in their country. Afghan officials say they’re protesting a report that foreign troops had improperly disposed of copies of the Koran. Earlier, General John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force offered his “sincere apologies” for what happened.
• Gas prices just keep climbing. So is that a legitimate campaign issue? They’re above four dollars a gallon in some parts of the country. Triple A says the national average hit three-57 yesterday. That’s up from the three-17 motorists were paying a year ago. Experts warn the current price at the pump will likely seem cheap by Memorial Day.
• Greece will be getting another bailout from European finance ministers to avert default. Finance ministers worked into the night in Brussels over the details of the second bailout for Greece worth 130-billion euros, or more than 170-billion dollars. Italy’s prime minister says private bondholders agreed to take a larger write-off on their Greek debt following what he described as “intense negotiations.”

Crime Scene

A Keithville man was killed in Lafayette after being hit by a truck early this morning. Jimmy Kolb was walking on Highway 167 when, for unknown reasons, Wesley Kaplan hit him from behind. Kolb was pronounced dead at the scene.

Toxicology samples have been obtained and submitted to the crime lab, but it is unsure if Kaplan was intoxicated.

KPEL will keep you updated as this story unfolds.

Handcuffs

Police say the boy was part of a group home, Drusilla’s Place, and Cynthia Haynes was a supervisor for the boy last year. Police say the boy was removed from the home and Haynes was terminated before being arrested.

She is currently being held for five accounts of molestation of a juvenile.

Thomas C. Durham

Police in Crowley need your help finding a sex offender. Thomas C. Durham of Crowley is wanted for failing to register as a sex offender. If you know where Durham is, please call crime stoppers at 789-TIPS. You can receive as much as $1,000 if your help leads to an arrest. It’s also completely confidential.

STOP sign

Police watched Laquan Bowie and Brandon Brown run a stop sign and pulled them over. While they stopped police saw them throw a plastic bag out of the window and discovered the bag to be filled with cocaine. They also dropped the bag near a playground.

Both men were arrested and later released on bond.

Cell Phone (Kristoferb)

In light of this.

Those annoying political robocalls might soon be a thing of the past. A new bill has been pre-filed that will allow for those calls to be added to the do not call list.

Writer of the bill Represetative Cameron Henry says the law doesn’t ban politicians from using the robocall service, just from calling people on the list.He says that he doesn’t see anyone opposing the bill.

Vote.jpg ( photo courtesy Thinkstock )

A slew of robocalls might be coming your way soon. Anyone wishing to vote in the March 24th elections has until the end of the day to register or change their party affiliation.

Commissioner of elections Angie Roberts, says that besides the Republican Presidential Primary, which is only open to registered Republicans, there are lots of other local special elections that are open to voters as well.

Don’t forget to vote!

Louisiana State Police Patch

Two children were killed when the car they were in went off the road and into a bayou in southeast Louisiana.

Louisiana State Police say the driver and two other children in the car were able to swim to safety in the crash that happened shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday in Ascension Parish.

Sheriff’s deputies jumped into the bayou and tried to save the two children who were trapped but they were unable to get into the car. Eventually, rescue divers pulled the two children — ages 9 and 7 — from the car, but they did not survive.

The crash remains under investigation, but authorities say they don’t think the driver, 28-year-old Raelyn Encalade, was impaired.

Louisiana Baptist College photo lacollege.edu

A Baptist college in Louisiana is suing the federal government to block enforcement of a requirement that religious schools and hospitals provide free birth control in insurance for employees.

The federal lawsuit filed in Alexandria on behalf of Louisiana College in Pineville claims the school’s religious freedoms are violated by new rules requiring contraception coverage.

Republican state lawmakers in some states have filed bills that would allow insurance companies to ignore the provision, which is part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Labor Department Secretary Hilda Solis and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are named as defendants in the Louisiana suit, filed by the Alliance Defense Fund. The Christian civil rights group said it plans a similar suit on behalf a Pennsylvania college.

(photo by Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office)

Lafayette Police say they have arrested Glenn Stewart on a charge of second degree battery in connection with a fight that broke out at the Independent Parade on Mardi Gras.

Corporal Paul Mouton with Lafayette Police says Erin Fitzgerald, of Lafayette, went up to a float parked on Surrey Street and tried to remove a banner from the float. Mouton says float rider and Lafayette developer Glenn Stewart began arguing with Fitzgerald about what she was doing. Then, John St. Julien, another Lafayette man, intervened and the two men began fighting, police say.

During the altercation, police say Fitzgerald was hit in the face. She was treated at a local hospital.

St. Julien was issued misdemeanor summons for Disturbing the Peace by Fighting. Fitzgerald was also later issued a summons for Disturbing the Peace and Disorderly Conduct. The incident remains under investigation.

Walter Pierce, managing editor of The Independent Weekly – the local newspaper for which Fitzgerald’s stepmother and father work, released a written statement about the assault on Wednesday:

Our first concern is of course the health and well-being of Erin. She’s a member of our family and she suffered serious physical injuries yesterday. We worry that she may have long-term health repercussions. That said, we think it’s important that Lafayette understands that only one person is responsible for this incident: Dr. Glenn Stewart. He’s a physician, and he beat a 41-year-old mom and school teacher into unconsciousness and then stood over his unconscious victim and snapped photos of her with his cell phone. And when he was done, he repaired the damage to his float rather than the damage he inflicted on his victim. Our community needs to be protected from Glenn Stewart.

The paper alleges that Stewart is the one to have assaulted Fitzgerald and claims he then took photos of her. Fitzgerald’s father and stepmother, Steve and Cherry Fisher May, are the newspaper’s publishers. The newspaper also released several photos, including one of Fitzgerald’s injuries suffered in the attack:

The float on which Stewart was riding in the parade allegedly featured a photo of Fisher May along with a reference to her 2010 DUI arrest. The pair have long been at odds over Fisher May’s coverage for the newspaper in regards to Stewart.

Float Photo (by Chris Welty)

Float Photo (by Chris Welty)