Opinion
Editorials
200 Years and counting
This week, St. Tammany Parish started the celebration of its bicentennial. The parish was established Dec. 22, 1810 during the term of Gov. William C.C. Claiborne. It was the governor who actually named the parish after Native American Chief Tammaned, who was know for promoting peace and goodness.
More of this storyAs we enter into the sixth year since Hurricane Katrina tore apart our parish, we can look around and see how we have come back strong. However, there is still one piece of business that has to be addressed, and it is an issue that could help us economically. After the storm, the federal government loaned the parish $176 million to help rebuild. The St. Tammany School Board got $68 million and the rest went to the parish and municipal governments. They were loans, and we are obligated to pay them back, but the parish finds itself in a bit of a tight place financially. St. Tammany Parish went through a real economic boom, and the parish and municipal governments were flush with sales tax revenue after the storm. Then the country sank into a big recession. At first, it looked like the parish would weather it, but alas, it was not to be. As the rebuilding boom faded, so did the sales tax revenues. $176 million is mere pocket change to a government that bailed out giant corporation and banks with an $800 billion stimulus program. The federal government should just accept the loss and forgive our loans.
More of this storyFive years. For some people, five years ago today seemed to have happened yesterday. They still see the rising waters, and still have that empty feeling of losing everything to nature’s wrath. For others five years has been a real blessing. They have seen themselves get stronger, wiser and more resilient.
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Columns
Top O' the Mornin'
Thought while shaving: Women should have pictures of missing husbands on beer cans.
More of this storyLiberal critics were dead wrong in condemning Glenn Beck for holding a rally at the Lincoln Memorial on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Nobody owns that place or that date.
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I've been known to save things
I save things. I have clothes I haven’t worn in years that are too good to throw away.
More of this storyI’m back. Lisa and I vacationed last week in Branson, MO. Got us a cabin on Lake Taneycomo, hung out on the dock and fished every day. Didn’t even go to a show. Just relaxed.
More of this storyWe the people” are the familiar opening words of the Constitution of the United States— the framework for a self-governing people, free from the arbitrary edicts of rulers. It was the blueprint for America, and the success of America made that blueprint something that other nations sought to follow.
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