BusinessReport.com

Posted on January 29 at 12:06 p.m.

Reform and ethics were the catch phrases of Jindals' campaign and his speech on inauguration day. And then BAM! Jindal and his campaign are accused of an ethics violation. And now Jindal's campaign treasurer and transition team leader has started "Believe in Louisiana" to insist on real reform. Do you think the people who contributed to Jindal's campaign meant for their money to be used to pay a fine? LSU, O'Keefe and Lombardi are simply a continuation of the status quo. No amount of newly elected officials, representatives, senators or an Indian-American governor will increase transparency in government. The ethics charge against the governor, his swift agreement to pay the fine without a hearing and his failure to publically disclose the reporting mistake before the charge was made public by the press shows his definition of "transparent" is "opaque."

On A mob and a hit man at LSU

Posted on January 19 at 5:18 p.m.

Quoting from The Advocate regarding the proposed sales tax renewal and specifically Baton Rouge High and Lee High, "The plan includes $7 million worth of improvements to Valley Park, about $5 million of which would help make the school ready for the two high schools." What does the additional $2 million purchase? Almost 4 years have passed since Aramark was awarded the contract for building maintenance by the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board. Roofs are still leaking, ceiling tiles are still missing and mold continues to grow. What is Aramark's role and responsibility in all of this? I am told the roof was installed 6 years ago at Baton Rouge High with a 14 year warranty yet we have been bombarded with pictures of stained ceilings. The School System has a multi-million surplus according to their recent glowing audit by Postlethwaite & Netterville. Why are the buildings in such a state of disrepair while this surplus sits on the books? According to The Advocate, the sales tax was first approved by voters in 1998 for construction, teachers' salaries, technology and school discpline. Improved student achievement is conspicously absent in The Advocate article. Before he resigned during the most recent Board meeting, the Vice President stated in a previous meeting the accountablity method was a failure and the EBR school system performed as well or better than other districts when socioecononmics were factored into the results. When my child brings home a score of 85 on a test, no points are added or deducted for socioeconomics. A score "is what it is." The state is "threatening" to take over 4 schools because of low performance. Can anyone correlate renewing the sales tax for 10 years to improved student test scores?

On This is Baton Rouge’s best high school

Posted on January 14 at 12:23 p.m.

Last month you and Stephen Moret "warned" us that if collective bargaining was approved by the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, future tax proposals were doomed because the Chamber would pull its support. This month you're "warning" us in a thinly veiled manner that John Lomabrdi's attempt to ouster Sean O'Keefe will mean "some powerful business leaders, LSU board members and large donors" will somehow doom "the future of LSU." Does everything in your world boil down to money?

On TWO CENTS: Publisher takes LSU’s president and Board to task