scuttlebutt Quotes of the week
“Listening to Complainers is Bad for Your Brain.” — Former mayor Ray Nagin on Twitter Aug. 22, linking to a story from inc. magazine about accentuating the positive. Nagin received a subpoena last week ordering him to turn over documents to a federal grand jury in connection with a corruption investigation in which he has taken center stage as the next target.
too much action news?
Perkins stands by Akin More ‘legitiMate rape’ fallout Many in the mainstream GOP (including presidential nominee Mitt Romney and vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan) distanced themselves last week from Missouri Rep. Todd Akin’s remark about “legitimate rape,” but not so Family Research Council (FRC) president and former Louisiana state Rep. Tony Perkins, who said of his organization, “we support [Akin] fully and completely” and, “i think that Todd Akin is getting a really bad break here.” The two men have been long acquainted. Last year, Akin appeared on Perkins’ radio show, where he said liberalism “really is a hatred for God.” Perkins served two terms in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1996 to 2004. He left politics to head up the FRC in 2003 and has since been a frequent guest on cable news, advancing a pro-life position and conservative values. Akin is running for the Missouri U.s. senate seat currently occupied by
Democrat Claire McCaskill. Despite urgings and demands from national Republicans and conservative groups that he withdraw, Akin announced he intends to stay in the race. He was ahead of the incumbent in polls taken a week before his comment, but finished last week 10 points behind McCaskill in a Rasmussen poll of 500 likely Missouri voters. — KeviN ALLMAN
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Pretrial evaluations expanding Vera prograM? Criminal Justice Commissioner James Carter says he has put in an initial budget request of $623,000 for the vera institute of Justice’s pretrial services program, which has been operating in Orleans Parish Prison’s intake Processing Center since the end of April. Carter revealed the budget request during last week’s City Council Criminal Justice Committee meeting. Pretrial service staff members evaluate arrestees to determine if, and to what extent, each presents a risk of reoffending or being arrested, as well as failing to make court appearances if they are released on a nonfinancial bond or a low bond. The evaluations are given to judges who may (but are not compelled to) use them as a guide in setting bonds. Between April 30 and Aug. 3, the program’s two staffers — who work weekdays from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. — evaluated 928 arrestees, or 65 percent of all felony bookings, according to statistics presented by vera New Orleans director Jon Wool and project director Lisa Simpson. Of those, 265, or 29 percent, were released on nonfinancial or low bonds, defined as $2,500 or less. Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Magistrate Gerard Hansen told councilmembers about a recent case where the court was unaware of an arrestee’s extensive criminal history until receiving the report from vera. “And he was almost released on a recognizance bond. if it wasn’t for vera, we wouldn’t have known this,” Hansen said. Carter says the allocation, if approved, should pay to expand the program to around-the-clock service in 2013, covering 100 percent of New Orleans felony arrests. — CHARLes MALDONADO
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corrections
in “eyes on the Air” (Cover story, Aug. 21), we incorrectly stated that the New Orleans Opera Association broadcasts on wRBH-FM. it should have said the New York Metropolitan Opera. we also misstated the amount of an emergency grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The grant was for $20,000. in “A Lofty Battle” (News+views, Aug. 21), we incorrectly attributed to architect wayne Troyer a quote concerning the City Planning Commission’s review of the proposed elisio project. The quote should have been attributed to elisio developer sean Cummings. Gambit regrets the errors.
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > auGust 28 > 2012
reporter slaps at John White ActionNews17.com is a Northshore news website that bills itself as “Your Digital Mainstreet for the crossroads of i-55 and i-12 in south Louisiana,” and it’s a good source for small-town news stories for areas around rural Tangipahoa Parish. But reporter Don Ellzey’s story last week about Louisiana superintendent of education John White’s appearance before the Tangipahoa Parish school Board got noticed far beyond Tangipahoa. “John white addressed the Tangipahoa Parish school Board Tuesday, giving the same insipid speech he gave about a month ago in Amite,” ellzey wrote. He then added, “For almost an hour, the board heard a stream of fast talk and hot air, similar to his boss.” As for sartorial matters, ellzey noted, “white arrived late, like he did for the previous speech, dressed like he was attending a corn husking party in an open shirt with the sleeves rolled up and wrinkled, too-tight pants about halfway unzipped.” Letters to the editor soon followed, with one man pointing out that ellzey needed to learn the difference between an editorial and a news story. But conservative political gadfly C.B. Forgotston, a frequent critic of white and Gov. Bobby Jindal, wrote in support of ellzey, saying he had to “admire a member of the media who has the guts to tell it like it is.” — KeviN ALLMAN
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