Restoration: The state Board of Ethics lost its power to enforce various ethics laws four years ago. Now the board only investigates ethics complaints. If it decides a violation has occurred, it makes its case to a panel of administrative law judges. The board cannot appeal decisions of the administrative judges. But that may change. A House committee is slated to debate today a measure backed by Gov. Bobby Jindal that would give the board limited appeal power. Related measures before the panel would make further adjustments to the ethics overhaul Jindal pushed through the Legislature four years ago. The government watchdog group Public Affairs Research Council is among those saying changes are needed to clarify the roles of the ethics board and the administrative law panels.
On tap: Despite some residents’ concerns about potential noise and pollution, the St. Bernard Parish Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a zoning change for a proposed microbrewery in Chalmette, The Times-Picayune reports. The council altered property owner Sterling Cardon Jr.’s request somewhat, changing the property zoning to C-1, neighborhood commercial. Cardon asked that the property, previously part C-1 and part R-1 (single-family residential), be rezoned to C-2, general commercial. The parish Planning Commission is expected to write a definition for microbreweries that would allow them in C-1 zones. No timeline on when the microbrewery aims to have a facility built was provided. Read the full story here.
Down, but not out: Yahoo is laying off 2,000 employees as new CEO Scott Thompson sweeps out jobs that don’t fit into his plans for turning around the beleaguered Internet company. The cuts announced today represent 14% of the 14,100 workers employed by Yahoo, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif. The housecleaning marks Yahoo’s sixth mass layoff in the past four years under three different CEOs. This one will inflict the deepest cuts yet, eclipsing a cost-cutting spree that laid off 1,500 workers in late 2008 as Yahoo tried to cope with the Great Recession. Thompson is making his move three months after Yahoo lured him away from his previous job running eBay’s online payment service, PayPal.
Today’s poll question: Which of the major education reforms being considered by the Legislature do you think is the most important?
