Baton Rouge Blog

Hurricane Season, again

2009-08-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that it has been several years since Hurricane Katrina. Baton Rouge changed for good...yet, not in a good way. Our traffic system never recovered. Thank goodness for Mayor Holden and his Green Light program. It has certainly answered prayers on some arteries. However, not enough streets can be widened quickly enough and now that our area's economy is a little depressed we need to have traffic moving. I blame the administrations prior to Kipp's. There was obviously a total lack of planning. Now that sounds like our Federal Government! I don't know how Mayor Holden has done it, but he has moved much of the city.

We just purchased a Generac generator. It is huge and will mean that if our electricity goes out (when, not if) we will have power this time. At least, that is the game plan. We bought the system and on our first night of running it, it DIED! A belt came off of the system and the thing overheated. Does not sound good to us.

That is it on Aug 12, 2009.

Help Ann Please

2007-03-10T18:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't really know who to write or whom to tell about the plight/fight that a young woman I know is in but I have the need to write about it. We all meet people who just uplift us. Ann Gregory is one of those people with the contagious type of smile and knowing sparkle in her eye. She has just the right sense of humor to make you want to come back for more.

Ann is in the fight of her life right now and needs a miracle. Follow this link to see what you can do. Ann's Blog

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

2005-10-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

From all across the nation I get asked how we can do business in Baton Rouge with "what has happened here?" Perhaps some photos will prove that WE are fine. Our traffic situation is horrendous as you can see. This is a shot outside of my subdivision in the late afternoon. The other shot is of the new Towne Shopping center in the middle of the afternoon.

Baton Rouge is thriving. We welcome you.

A Progression in Papers

2005-09-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

Weathermen were telling us to "HUNKER-DOWN" for the storm and go get supplies. Evacuation traffic from New Orleans, appearing light don't you think? was already in contra flow (going one way on the interstate). The Hurricane was Hours Away and massive warnings were all over the media.Katrina hit slowly and decidedly. She was a Category 5 with massive winds.
After the Hurricane parts of New Orleans were damaged, but dry... but then, the levee broke and flooding began. Where people had thought they were safe, they no longer were. Homes began to flood. People died in nursing homes. The city was cut off from electricity and water with hundreds of thousands of people from all classes there. They were in posh hotels, the Rivercenter, bars as well as the Superdome turned shelter. But it wasn't a safe shelter. The roof was torn off with rain coming in, children were hurt physically and conditions were unsanitary to say the least.

What does this have to do with Baton Rouge? Well, some of these people were bused to Baton Rouge and surrounding areas for refuge from the deplorable conditions there.

Since Hurricane Katrina and the Levee Break in New Orleans we have been indated with media in Baton Rouge and across the United States. Some of them have it accurate, some not. It is surprising what parts of the story are and are not correct to me. Here are a few of the covers of the Advocate which is our local paper in Baton Rouge.

Speaking to citizens of Baton Rouge, it is interesting to hear what they have to say about this new way of life. More on that to come.

Hurricane Katrina

2005-08-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

The Hurricane may not have hit us directly but we sure have and are feeling the impact of it due to the increase in our temporary (?) population growth. Gasoline is hard to find, ice is impossible to find, businesses are still closed due to electrical outages but that will surely change locally in the next few days. The local stations (tv and radio) are running only emergency programming.

The future for New Orleans does not look good. It is depressing. They now say it will take at least a month to get the water out the city. Then, FEMA can go in, then the electrical company. For residents of the area, it must be overwhelming.

Many are enrolling their children in Baton Rouge and Lafayette area schools, facing the difficult fact that it will be a very long time before anything in New Orleans will be inhabitable again. SO... where does that leave Baton Rouge?

We will probably grow! That could be a good thing.

Hot and steamy

2005-08-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

There is no end in sight to the above average sauna-like weather. My husband uses my hair as a barometer. The frizzier it is, the more humid outside. He, being a weatherman, is happy, I am not. Luckily I am "at least" wearing it curly these days. It was pitiful when I was trying to flat iron it. I could never exactly look sleek with this mound of thick volumnious hair on my head. I'm glad that water is plentiful and we can take baths at will. We are very fortunate indeed. ahhhhh.

Sad, scary and a sign of the Times

2005-08-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

It could have been anywhere but no one expected an officer to lose his life in the Capital Heights area. I know I drive that street at least once a week. Many of us who have lived in the Baton Rouge most of our life, travel the Government Street area regularly.

Officer Terry Melancon died over a search warrant for drugs. When I read the Advocate article and the people interviewed said that the 'suspect' (also dead) did not have a big arrest record, all I could think to myself was "He was sneaky." The man was growing marijuana and selling it on the second floor of his home! How could a reporter bring up past records? What is that supposed to mean? These reporters need to rethink their questions because they are kind of poor.

I also heard that WAFB showed the faces of the other two officers who were shot, despite what Chief LeDuff had requested the media not to do that because it could comprise their future safety and jobs. I wonder why the Advocate didn't jump on that? I call that a double tsk-tsk.

Miss Teen USA - HERE!

2005-08-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

Probably like most Baton Rougeans, I was not clued into the fact that Miss Teen USA was being held here until the other night when I opted out of watching Football and whatever CBS had and was delightfully surprised to find NBC carrying it HERE, in Baton Rouge, LA.

Oh, I had seen some small hotel signs saying something about Miss Teen USA but I didn't pay attention. I also heard comments about how out-of-date such contests are and judging from the lack of speaking ability from some of the contestants, there may be some merit there. However, the winner, Miss Ohio was most articulate and from the time I tuned in the obvious choice. It was good to see Mayor Kipp Holden up there. Way to go Kipp!

mabyn

Baton Rouge Balloon Festival

2005-08-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

Living in a city where balloonists fly is a colorful sight. Luckily, our weather cooperated and wasn't as humid as it could have been.

Whole Foods brings 'Foreigners'

2005-08-04T16:29:00.000-07:00

When Supermarkets were new people would drive in for miles to shop in them. Same goes for Malls. Retail facilties like these are now dotted throughout most areas. However, that is not the case with the store named Whole Foods.

People still are driving long distances to shop in it. On my first trip to our new Whole Foods in Towne Center I walked through the store for over an hour and never ran into a soul I knew. I figured they bused people in. It will definitely pull people into this part of the city of Baton Rouge which is a good thing.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade Rolls for Twentieth Consecutive Year

2005-02-11T21:27:00.000-08:00

For many South Baton Rougeans, they can’t remember not having a Saint Patrick’s Day Parade because for the last twenty years it has rolled rain or shine. It has rolled through one of the most beautiful and desirable neighborhoods in Baton Rouge, the Hundred Oaks area. The parade has had some pitfalls throughout the years but the supporters have been many and like clockwork, on March 12, 2005 at 10am, the 20th annual Wearin’ of the Green Parade will once again roll.

The twentieth anniversary parade route will be the same as it has been since the third year of the parade when Grey Hammett joined originator Pat Shingleton. The shamrock speckled parade starts at the intersection of Hundred Oaks and South Acadian Thruway (by Catholic Life Center), turns right onto Eugene, turns left onto Kleinert, turns left onto Perkins and progresses over the Perkins Road Overpass and disbands at Perkins and Acadian.

The Wearin’ of the Green Parade isn’t the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade to roll in Baton Rouge. The Sons of Erin, the origin of which goes back to 1906 in Baton Rouge, was for males of Irish descent. The traditions of the Sons of Erin were to dine each year on March 17 at the Capital House Hotel, fly the flag of Ireland over the City and have members parade down Third Street prior to dinner (“Sons of Ireland,” and “Irish Club, “March 17, 1959). It was a walking parade for the most part and there were at times only a handful of members that actually formed the parade in some years. In 1951, the wives of the members of the Sons of Erin express their displeasure at being excluded from the annual St. Patrick’s Day activities. As a result of this exclusion, the Irish Club of Baton Rouge was begun in 1951 and a form of it still exists today.

Toward the end of the 1970’s, interest in the parade portion of the St. Patrick Day festivities began to wane. Due to this lack of interest and the advancing age of the members of the Irish Club, the St. Patrick’s Day parades in Baton Rouge ceased in 1980.* *Thanks to: Patricia A. McElroy

For the first three years the parade rolled from the City Park Golf Course to Zee Zee Gardens and was primarily a walking parade with a few dignitaries, convertibles and old cars. Pat Shingleton walked at the end of the parade once he knew everything was okay, a tradition he still follows in 2005.

The parade had problems with the City Park Golf Course location because it was held up by untimely trains stopping and starting the parade, so when Grey Hammett came onboard he suggested lengthening the route and creating a new lineup area, which was done. That route has been in use ever since.

The Original parade traditionally flew in Irishman for their Grand Marshal according to records and would honor their “Irish lassies” or female flight crew while they were here as well. The Wearin’ of the Green has honored religious, actors, businessmen, Irishmen and heroes.

This year’s Grand Marshal is another Irishman from Killarney, Thomas J. Finnegan. Two previous Killarney Grand Marshals were Ivar Quigley (2002) and Denis Coffey (2004). Known to his friends as Junior, he is the former Captain of the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club. He has visited Baton Rouge on numerous occasions. Last year he presented former Mayor President Bobby Simpson with the traditional shamrocks from Ireland. This year he will present Mayor President Kip Holden and his wife Lois with gifts from the Mayor of Killarney and County Kerry.

Corporate sponsors are Mockler Beverage Budweiser and Walk-Ons located near the gates of LSU at Nicholson Drive. Mockler Beverage has been with the parade for twenty full years. Over the years their role has changed but they have always been a great support to the parade.

Parade Organizer Pat Shingleton said between 125,000 and 135,000 green clad bead grabbing parade watchers lined the parade route last year. The 20th Anniversary Edition of “The Wearin’ of the Green Parade” will be led by the Caledonia Pipers of Baton Rouge, Celtic Society of Baton Rouge Pipe Band led by Marty Bergin, followed by the United States Marine Corps Marching band, 60 floats, local dignitaries and numerous area marching bands. Rain or shine, the parade rolls and it seems like rain or shine, the crowds are there.

Spanish Town Mardi Gras

2005-02-11T21:21:00.000-08:00

Spanish Town Mardi Gras was celebrated last weekend and we hear that it was a big time in Baton Rouge. Mardi Gras was early this year and caught many off guard. The Sunday before Mardi Gras was also Super Bowl Sunday so people were busy with parties and events.

Politics As Usual in Louisiana

2004-11-04T09:55:00.000-08:00

Well the 2004 election is over. Baton Rouge will have a new mayor in January. Mayor Kip Holden, Baton Rouge's first African American Mayor won the election from Mayor Simpson. When you think about a third party campaigning against Simpson, people in general not thrilled about the job he had done, and many visible endorsements for Holden it is easy to see why Kip won. Personally, it was the Democratic* and business leader endorsements that turned me off of Kip Holden. I'm afraid it is payback time. I hope I am proven wrong. Many people voted not for Kip but against Bobby Simpson and against the "Baker Mayor". I personally heard it from someone that "it will be easier to get him out of office that Bobby".

*John Breaux, Mary Landreaux, etc.

LSU Homecoming or Ocktoberfest?

2004-10-23T16:42:00.000-07:00

On Saturday you could do the Ump pah pah or the RAH RAH RAH in Baton Rouge. LSU won.

The Airport

2004-10-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

(I'm not sure what has happened to my last couple of days blogs but luckily I had handwritten a portion of one so I'll retype it.)

I remember what Ryan Airport looked like when I was a child. You'd walk into a room with a concrete floor and immediately to your right was a single window where a ticket agent raised a real window to help you with your flight tickets. I remember people just milling around. There may have been one vending machine, the type with the steel knobs you pulled really hard and then your candy dropped (thud) into the tray. Possibly there was a cigarette machine, maybe not. I was too young to think of people smoking. I'm sure there was a pay telephone in there...it may have been a phone booth. The luggage tags said RYN.

I was born in 1952 but growing up I only knew it as Ryan Airport. It had changed from Harding Field in 1954. As Harding Field it was a military installation that provided flight training during World War II. It was renamed after Captain William Joseph Ryan.

In 1981 it was renamed again and a strategic long range plan began. Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport was born and today, in 2005, it is a marvelous 2 story facility. Now, don't start looking for RYN luggage tags... they are now marked BTR!

We just went to Pittsburgh through Atlanta. The Pittsburgh Airport is very nice. They have a very strict scanning code straight out of some futuristic movie. Then, Atlanta was down right spooky. The place was overcrowded and under construction while we were in it. This is a time when the Airlines are moving into corporate reorganization and bankruptcy. We used to board large planes. Now we squeeze into small seats on teeny planes for longer trips. They are having to cut corners. It shows. Delta no longer goes from Baton Rouge to Dallas! Well, in time all things will pass.

LSU WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?

2004-10-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

Sylvia Weatherspoon of WBRZ- Channel 2 News last night reported that LSU's infirmary received 2000 doses of the flu virus and is giving it FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE to kids or people who show up! HOW TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE! With the country daily running news reports of hospitals and other medical facilities running out of the flu virus for high risk people (like the elderly), how can the administrator at this LSU facility justify having no screening process... not working hand-in-hand with the rest of the Baton Rouge medical community? This person needs to be reviewed in the harshest way.

AND to pour salt on a wound...our youngsters at the correctional institutes are getting them and even some of the prison population. WHO IS DOING THE THINKING? Do you have a case of the DumbA__ or What?

Going D O W N T O W N

2004-10-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I drove downtown for the first time in a very long time. I drove past the Court House. You could feel 'death' down there. The Derrick Todd Lee Serial Murder Trial is currently going on. He was found guilty on the murder of Murray Pace day before yesterday. It was an eerie feeling down there. They have reached the sentencing stage and in only minutes we'll know what his fate will be. That is the big news story on the stations today.

Much has changed downtown. New buildlings have gone up and more are under construction. Streets were busy with folks going in and out of restaurants. Many of them were sitting outside at little tables. It was surprising for the middle of the afternoon. As a child, there were three movie theaters downtown. There was the Hart, the Gordon and the Paramount. Anyone who was a lifelong citizen of Baton Rouge knew it was a mistake to demolish the Hart and Paramount when they did. However, it was before the age of preservation had truly set in. Also, fun to visit was a Piccadilly located on Third Street where a new restaurant now is trying to make a go of it. I can remember shopping in Rosenfields with my mother.

There are somethings that may have changed a little but the flavor of them haven't and that is why I included this photo. It is of North Blvd. It is how I remember the street. I'm sure it must be wider or a different pavement but it is how I think back on it.

Uh oh, where'd the money go?

2004-10-13T07:08:00.000-07:00

Today marks the creation of the Baton Rouge Blog. These comments will be mine and mine alone unless I have "guest bloggers" or borrow things as examples. I've lived here all my life and seen the city in various stages. Baton Rouge is a great place to live. Our weather is fabulous many times of the year (like today) and the times it is so hot and humid you can't breathe? Well, I just go inside into the air condition. Everyone has air condition in their homes and cars.

As a child I can remember my father telling me that in 20 years Jefferson Hwy would be widened to a 4 lane Highway. He was correct. He must have seen the plans or known who was involved. Currently 4 lanes with a middle turning lane, the road is a nightmare of a traffic jam beginning at 3 in the afternoon. But most of Baton Rouge is gridlock during some part of the day. That goes for our overloaded interstate as well.

We are saddled with a 9% sales tax but with a very low property tax. I remember years ago being at the now defunct United Companies in the President's Office. I asked him about Property Tax and he pulled out an envelope stuffed full of cash that was earmarked for the Assessor's Office! It was no surprise to me when the Assessor committed suicide years later. That office is setup for under the table money just as was the Commisioner of Insurance's. Louisiana politic's is notorious and well deservedly. Just look at Edwin Edwards and his son finally being sent to prison. Obviously they were guilty, amazingly they were "found guilty and sentenced".

If the money we raise through taxes and the like hasn't been spent on our streets, then perhaps it has been spent on our schools you say? Anyone from here knows that we are at the bottom of the rung when it comes to public education. No, our school system in Baton Rouge is really a parochial/privatized system with a lame public system. Our money hasn't been put there.

We've been though Dumas, Screen, McHugh and Simpson in my lifetime. That is three from outside the Greater Baton Rouge area and one from within. It appears that, looking at the city today, someone didn't have much long range vision. I don't believe that was Pat Screen in my heart of hearts. He had many problems but lack of vision didn't seem to be one of them.

We have a mayoral election coming up. I'm truly not sure who I will vote for at this time. We don't have 20 years to fix the problems that are here today.

If you remember how quickly that company came in and fixed (UNDER BUDGET) the interstate a few years ago, then you'll agree with me that someone can help us now. I also don't think traveling to all of these cities is the answer. I personally think that is funny. As an marketing consultant for over 20 years I never had to look at other things to get ideas for my client. I suppose if there were specific systems that worked in various areas or cities that would be one thing, but Baton Rouge is Baton Rouge. We have to concentrate on coming up with our uniqueness and not trying to copy that of other cities.

Later.