Delpit supports pro-bond voting efforts; Honore makes endorsement

Veteran politician Joe Delpit says he is coordinating with supporters of Mayor Kip Holden’s $901 million bond issue to get out the vote Saturday through neighborhood canvassing efforts. Delpit says he is impressed by the administration’s efforts to disseminate information through meetings with the black business and religious communities. He believes the proposal, which touts infrastructure improvements and job creation though the $225 million Alive project, has garnered support. “I don’t know that it will convert over to a big victory,” he says. “I do know no rock has been left unturned in getting people motivated to vote.” Although early voting numbers showed black voters cast only 17% of the 6,362 ballots, Delpit says that number is high for any election. He anticipates low turnout. “It is going to be a tremendous challenge,” he says. “I don’t know that anybody gets really motivated to go out and vote for a tax.” Delpit was the first black elected to the city council in 1968 and was a state representative from 1976-92. Campaign consultant Rannah Gray says no specific demographic has been targeted in getting out the vote. The administration plans to hold meetings in private homes and for large employers in the few days leading up to the election.

The bond issue picked up another high-profile endorsement today, when retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who coordinated military relief efforts in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, said he supports the measure. Honore, a native of Pointe Coupee Parish and a Southern University graduate, recently bought a home in University Club.—Emma James

Perkins Rowe attorneys argue for federal court to move suit

In their first appearance in open court since a suit was filed in the summer, attorneys for Perkins Rowe told a federal judge this morning that the foreclosure lawsuit against the mixed-use development should be thrown out of federal court on the grounds the system doesn’t have proper jurisdiction over the case. But attorneys for KeyBank National Association, the main lender on the project, argued that federal court is the proper venue for the proceedings. In their arguments, Perkins Rowe attorneys said the case should be thrown out of federal court because of a lack of true geographic diversity among the plaintiffs in the case. Citing the participation of Bank of New Orleans as one of the lenders in the consortium, they suggested the foreclosure suit should be remanded to state court. But lawyers for KeyBank argued that there is true diversity in the case, as eight of the nine banks in the consortium of lenders are from out of state. What’s more, they said, the only Louisiana bank, BNO, has less than a 1% share of the $170 million construction loan. They also suggested the motion to dismiss is a stalling tactic that, if successful, would harm creditors and tenants at Perkins Rowe. U.S. District Judge James Brady did not rule today, but he took the matter under advisement.—Stephanie Riegel

Driesse addresses state IT streamlining

Centralization and a better quality of service delivery are vital in streamlining the state’s computer systems, Louisiana chief information officer Ed Driesse told members of the Louisiana Technology Council today at the first CIO/CIT Forum. Driesse fiercely defended a $100 million planned computer upgrade to the same system last month when an advisory group of the Commission on Streamlining Government suggested the project be delayed because of budget cuts. “When times are bad, that’s when you invest in IT,” he says. “Why? Because IT is normally one of the few productivity tools in town.” The state’s computer structure is decentralized with 2,100 IT employees and a $119 million operating budget. Each state agency maintains a separate IT department and services. Driesse has recommended that the streamlining commission consider a consolidated IT infrastructure with statewide e-mail. “This is not something I’m going to be able to sell to everybody,” he says. “The times are right to make a fundamental change like this.” Driesse is currently establishing a baseline to determine how the system’s resources are allocated to each department. That study should be complete by the end of the first quarter. “We have to change the mentality of ‘if we don’t need it, we don’t get it’ as opposed to having it just in case,” he says.—Emma James

LSU names interim vice chancellor for research

Doris Carver was named the interim vice chancellor for the LSU Office of Research & Economic Development, or ORED, today. She will replace ORED Vice Chancellor Brooks Keel effective Jan 1. Carver is currently senior associate vice chancellor at ORED and a professor in the Department of Computer Science. She also directs the Software Engineering Laboratory at LSU. Carver earned a bachelor's in math from Carson Newman College, a master's in mathematics from the University of Tennessee and a doctorate in computer science from Texas A&M University. She replaces Keel, who was named president of Georgia Southern University last month.

MidSouth's Cloutier writes books on 'bad banks'

Rusty Cloutier, the president and CEO of MidSouth Bank, has written a self-published book detailing how big banks led to the current economic downturn. Big Bad Banks points blame at government bank regulators and the institutions themselves. “While the big bankers and government officials concoct elaborate theories about what happened—theories that always seem to lay the blame on somebody else—I can tell you right now what caused it: pure greed and ego,” Cloutier says. In recent months, Cloutier has become an advocate for community banks, testifying before Congress and being profiled by the New York Times Magazine. Big Bad Banks is available at Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores across south Louisiana and for sale at Amazon.com and on the book's Web site here.

$5M Chinese drywall program approved by LRA

Some homeowners would get help fixing problems caused by trouble-plagued Chinese drywall under a $5 million plan that is being sent to federal officials after winning the unanimous backing today of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. The program requires approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development before it can begin. The aid also won't flow until federal officials devise a national standard for drywall testing and remediation. State officials say they don't know how long that might take. As approved today, the program would be limited to homeowners with the contaminated wallboard who received aid through the Road Home program after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It would use $5 million in federal hurricane recovery funds. LRA Executive Director Paul Rainwater says he doesn't know how many of the more than 125,000 participants in the Road Home would be eligible for the program.

D.C. sniper's ex-wife, children cope with execution

One of the Washington, D.C. sniper's ex-wives says she has fully healed from the abusive marriage she endured with him, and is helping her children cope with knowing their dad won't be a part of their lives. Mildred Muhammad, 49, told the Associated Press in a phone interview that she and her three children watched news coverage of John Muhammad's execution in silence at their Maryland home. When his death was announced, the children—John, 19, Salena, 17, and Taalibah, 16—went into different rooms and cried. "It was very difficult to see them in that kind of pain," Mildred Muhammad says. "Because I know what was going through their head—'this is my dad, he should be in my life, this should not be happening.’" Her ex-husband was put to death by lethal injection Tuesday in Virginia for killing Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station during a series of killings in 2002 that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area for three weeks. His then-teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, is serving a life sentence without parole for his role in one of the slayings. For Muhammad, however, the execution marked her recovery since leaving her abusive ex-husband a decade ago. She expects John Allen Muhammad's funeral next Tuesday in Baton Rouge, will bring some closure. The family also plans to retrieve letters he left for the children from another ex-wife.

Division of Administration responds to Daily Report poll

The Division of Administration says it has instituted a formula for state construction projects. The Legislature passed a measure last year that required local matches for capital outlay projects and put a system of evaluating projects. Prior to that, the list of capital outlay projects was ballooning. The Commission on Streamlining Government is looking at a formula that would set caps on how much money that could be spent on construction projects by category, allocating money for roads and bridges, higher education and state building projects. Wednesday’s poll question asked if the Legislature should create a formula to allocate funding for state construction projects.

Sports roundup: Hornets fire Coach Byron Scott ... Three Tennessee football players charged with attempted robbery ... SI picks Saints-Steelers Super Bowl

Let go after five seasons: The New Orleans Hornets have fired coach Byron Scott and named general manager Jeff Bower as his replacement. In a statement released today, owner George Shinn says the move gives the Hornets the best opportunity "to reach our goals this season." The Hornets also announced that former head coach Tim Floyd, who Scott replaced, would be one of Bower's top assistants. New Orleans lost 124-104 at Phoenix on Wednesday, falling to 3-6. When Scott took over as coach following the 2003-04 season, he was the Hornets' third coach in three seasons. He was the NBA coach of the year in 2008, when Chris Paul led the Hornets to a 56-26 record.

Lake Charles' Jackson among those charged: Three freshman Tennessee football players are charged with an attempted armed robbery. According to Knoxville police, defensive backs Janzen Jackson and Mike Edwards and wide receiver Nu'Keese Richardson and were arrested after the early morning incident. Jackson, a native of Lake Charles, had committed to LSU before changing his mind and signing with Tennessee in February. Jackson was suspended for the Volunteers' game last Saturday for violating team rules. The victims told police they were sitting in their parked vehicle at a gas station near Tennessee's campus when two males, one brandishing a handgun, approached. The two suspects demanded whatever the victims had. When the victims showed they had no money, the suspects joined a third man in a Toyota Prius and left. Police located a Toyota Prius matching the description and the victims identified Richardson and Edwards as the men who approached the vehicle. Officers say they found a pellet gun, drug paraphernalia and a plastic bag containing what appeared to be marijuana. Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton says he is evaluating the incident.

Going to Miami? Jim Trotter, who covers pro football for Sports Illustrated, has the New Orleans Saints picked to go to the Super Bowl. Trotter predicts the Saints will win the NFC South Division and beat the Minnesota Vikings in the conference championship game. But he picks the Pittsburgh Steelers to beat the Saints 27-24 in Super Bowl XLIV. Trotter doesn’t think the Saints will have an undefeated season. " The Saints have showed plenty of grit in recent weeks by rallying from large early deficits, but at some point they're going to dig a hole that's too deep to get out," Trotter says. He predicts the Saints will go to 12-0 before losing Dec. 13 on the road to the Atlanta Falcons. Read the full column here.

A weekend of art in Baton Rouge

Whether you know art or simply know what you like, Mid City Merchants know you like White Light Night, so this year a White Light Night preview party has been added to the fall art hop. Proceeds will help fund the MCM's art initiatives. Get a preview a week early of all the food, music and art that you'll be able to enjoy on the night itself for $35 per person or $60 per couple. Plus, catch the unveiling of the White Light Night's first commemorative poster. It all goes down tonight at Circa 1857. Also this weekend, the LSU Museum of Art opens its newest exhibition, Of People and Places: Contemporary Works from the JPMorgan Chase Collection on Sunday. Featuring art from 1963 to the present, the exhibit contains 42 paintings, pastels and sculptures created by established and emerging artists. Also, on Saturday, don't miss the free Second Saturdays family day, "Detail Detectives." Children and adults will conduct a scavenger hunt, looking for clues as to how the artist created their works. Take-and-make bags will be available for youngsters to create their own artwork at home. For more activities and events in and around the Capital Area, read 225 Select by clicking here.

News roundup: Tulane president named as one of the nation's best ... Economists project Fed will raise rates in September

Honor for Cowen: Tulane University's Scott Cowen was named as one of the country's 10 best college presidents by Time magazine. The magazine honored Cowen for being a deft academic leader and civic booster in the years since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Tulane has seen student applications more than double in the years since Katrina, despite having to cut enrollment, fire professors and consolidate academic programs. "One of the critical decisions we made was to integrate public service into the university's core curriculum so that every student would engage in public service for all four years," Cowen told the magazine. Other honorees include E. Gordon Gee of Ohio State, John Sexton of New York University and Mary Sue Coleman of the University of Michigan. See the full list here.

Going up: A Wall Street Journal survey of leading economists finds that on average, they project interest rates will start rising by September 2010. That's a politically sensitive time, just before midterm Congressional elections. At the same time, unemployment rates are expected to stay over 9.5% through 2010. Economists told the Journal that job growth will return over the next year, at a rate of about 50,000 additional jobs a month. That's below the 100,000 jobs a month the economy needs to add every month to keep up with people joining labor force. Read the full report here. (Registration required)