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I thought this would be something to mention on the "city profile" thread because it is actually a pretty interesting piece of information about Baton Rouge. Did you guys know that the LEGEND Percy Sledge lives there? I found this out tonight, and I had no idea. His band consists of guys from all over Louisiana and Texas, and his manager lives in Shreveport. I didn't realize this legendary performer lived in Baton Rouge, and I also didn't know that his band consisted of guys from Shreveport, Houston, etc! Mr. Sledge performed tonight on the Shreveport riverfront and when the lead guy in his band told the crowd he was from here and that Percy lives in Baton Rouge, I was really floored. I knew New Orleans had some legendary performers living there, but usually you don't hear that about Louisiana's other cities. When a Man Loves a Woman is one of the most recognized love songs in the world, and Percy Sledge is a real gem. I am so glad to know that he lives in our state, and apparently he has lived in Baton Rouge since 1966!

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^Thanks for sharing your cool story Brian :thumbsup: I worked in an elementary school where his son went years back; That was really neat; I believe they live in the Monticello neighborhood?? My dad has told his story many times how Percy wrote "When a Man Loves a Woman" at his home in only 20 minutes; the story changed... thought I remembered him saying 45min?? Good to hear he's still playing music!

^Thanks for posting that Bryde; good to see downtown BR come that far where other southern capital city's are taking notice! It's pretty cool to see the emerging Cultural District! The renovation of the historic Hilton Capitol Center seems to be a fantastic success!!

Yeah the amphitheatre is on HOLD for now with the $financial woes; this had been posted a while back....hopefully it can still happen one day soon!

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Yeah Brian folks in red stick have known about Percy living here for years. He has been on commercials for a local Chevy dealer for a long time. Richy, you are correct. Percy lives in Monticello and one of his daughters attended Belaire.

I would love to see the amphitheater move forward. That area needs to be cleaned up.

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I figured there was no way Percy Sledge could live there and the people of Baton Rouge not know that. It's quite impressive, the man is a true legend. And yep, still performing. He performs at the casinos here fairly often but until this weekend I never had taken the opportunity to go see him perform, and I certainly didn't know he lived in Baton Rouge! He also performs Otis Redding's Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay, in my own personal opinion, MUCH better than Otis himself.

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I have to see that to believe it......:)

You should see it. Seriously, it IS just my opinion, but he seemed to "have" the crowd with that one. He had them with many of his oldies but goodies, but it seemed everyone thought he performed that one quite well. I did look up his recorded version on YouTube and it doesn't sound nearly as good as it did live, to be honest.

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  • 3 weeks later...

WOW!! Hard to believe the Los Angeles Metro lost that many jobs :shok:

B.R. one of few cities adding jobs

Baton Rouge is one of only about a dozen cities that added jobs in June when compared to a year ago, according to figures for 372 metro areas. There were 500 more people working in Baton Rouge when compared to June 2008, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics, bringing the total to 375,800. No other Louisiana cities added jobs, the biggest drop was in Lake Charles, which had 92,800 people working, a 2.8% decrease. The biggest employment gain nationally was in Champaign-Urbana, Ill., which added 1,400 jobs. In contrast, metro Los Angeles lost 259,100 jobs.

http://www.businessreport.com/archives/daily-report/latest/

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In yesterday's Sunday Advocate...the recession has effected BR...new Woman's Hospital & Pinnacle's casino are the biggest names so far. Things have slowed down; glad to see BR was able to get big developments like Perkins Rowe; Towne Center; Southgate Towers; The Boulevard; II City Plaza & new Courthouse before all of this mess!

Pic in article of the new Starmount Life bldg going up on Goodwood Blvd...at one time was looking forward to taking some pics thinking a nice 3 or 4 story bldg might go up...instead no big deal with project done in phases; 1st is only one- story; then 2 story addition...guess it's just not as economical to go vertical

Recession hurts growth; New private construction down as financing is scarce

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/52214982.html

This could be another 12 to 18 months??

Residential building down in 2009

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  • 1 month later...

Baton Rouge economy seen as one of nation's best

Baton Rouge was ranked as having the sixth strongest economy in the country during the second quarter, according to a report released today by the Brookings Institution. The Capital Region actually moved up two spots from the most recent Brookings report, released in June, which ranked Baton Rouge as having the eighth strongest economy out of 100 major U.S. cities. The Capital Region was helped because employment remains fairly stable (Brookings says its down less than 1% from the peak in the fourth quarter of 2007) and home prices actually went up 3.3% in the second quarter. San Antonio, Texas, was ranked as having the strongest economy in the second quarter, while Detroit was ranked last.

http://www.businessreport.com/archives/dai...09/sep/15/1186/

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  • 1 month later...

Baton Rouge economy seen as one of nation's best

Baton Rouge was ranked as having the sixth strongest economy in the country during the second quarter, according to a report released today by the Brookings Institution. The Capital Region actually moved up two spots from the most recent Brookings report, released in June, which ranked Baton Rouge as having the eighth strongest economy out of 100 major U.S. cities. The Capital Region was helped because employment remains fairly stable (Brookings says its down less than 1% from the peak in the fourth quarter of 2007) and home prices actually went up 3.3% in the second quarter. San Antonio, Texas, was ranked as having the strongest economy in the second quarter, while Detroit was ranked last.

http://www.businessreport.com/archives/dai...09/sep/15/1186/

another cool article on how great BR is.

http://money.cnn.com/smallbusiness/best_pl...napshot/28.html

Very nice representation of the region, with a cool picture and interesting stats. Hopefully we'll hit the ground running when the economy picks back up. Just too much potential here.....then again, I can go on forever naming people and places that don't live up to their potential.

Edited by cajun
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Very nice representation of the region, with a cool picture and interesting stats. Hopefully we'll hit the ground running when the economy picks back up. Just too much potential here.....then again, I can go on forever naming people and places that don't live up to their potential.

Hopefully B.R. has it's Nikes on.

"Reports say recession is over in Capital Region

The recession is over in the Baton Rouge metro area, according to a new report by Moody's Economy and msnbc.com. The fiscal gloom lifted in August in one of every five metro areas in the United States, the latest Adversity Index by the groups says, the first month this year when any metro area moved from recession into "recovery," indicating that the economy grew from six months earlier. Of Louisiana's eight metropolitan statistical areas, the Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas entered a recovery phase in August, the report says. The Adversity Index uses data on jobs, industrial production, home prices and other factors to label places as expanding, at risk of recession, in recession or recovering. To read the full article, click here. To view the Moody's Economy snapshot of Louisiana, click here."

http://businessreport.com/archives/daily-report/latest/

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Hopefully B.R. has it's Nikes on.

"Reports say recession is over in Capital Region

The recession is over in the Baton Rouge metro area, according to a new report by Moody's Economy and msnbc.com. The fiscal gloom lifted in August in one of every five metro areas in the United States, the latest Adversity Index by the groups says, the first month this year when any metro area moved from recession into "recovery," indicating that the economy grew from six months earlier. Of Louisiana's eight metropolitan statistical areas, the Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas entered a recovery phase in August, the report says. The Adversity Index uses data on jobs, industrial production, home prices and other factors to label places as expanding, at risk of recession, in recession or recovering. To read the full article, click here. To view the Moody's Economy snapshot of Louisiana, click here."

http://businessreport.com/archives/daily-report/latest/

I'm still skeptical. :)

Or at least very, very, very cautiously optimistic.

Edited by cajun
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  • 4 weeks later...

Nice skyline pic on 2theadvocate website...not too many shots with the Gateway Bldgs all lit-up...but from this angle the HiltonCapitol Center is perfectly blocking the Galvez Bldg..and not wide-enough view to show the new Courthouse and barely II City Plaza

brsky111109.jpg

BR ranks No. 18 on best-performing cities list

Baton Rouge ranked No. 18 among the 200 largest U.S. metro areas in the 2009 Milken Institute best-performing cities list, which measures a city’s ability to create and sustain jobs.

The Baton Rouge area climbed 22 spots from last year’s ranking of No. 40 in the Milken/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners Best-Performing Cities Index,

The top-ranked metro areas succeeded in avoiding the worst of the economic declines driven by falling housing markets and jobs losses in manufacturing and global trade, according to the index.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/69771952.html

Edited by richyb83
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  • 1 month later...

Nice editorial from the 225 magazine....bringing the Old City Dock back to life would be cool!

Three resolutions for a better 2010

In the spirit of marking the New Year with hopes for a better 2010, we offer a trio of resolutions for some public officials that we believe would improve Baton Rouge’s quality of life.

Mayor Kip Holden: Bring the city dock back to life.

The bond proposal, which included your dream for a signature riverfront destination, has now failed with voters twice. But there’s another, more feasible way to harness our fantastic riverfront. Best of all: you already own the property. The old city dock just south of the I-10 bridge is a rock-solid, glorious palate just waiting for some visionary to bring it back to life, creating a fabulous riverfront venue along the way.

Why not request proposals from designers and developers to breathe new life into the dock? It could be the launching point for new restaurants, shops, public spaces, even apartments or condos, all overlooking the river. Rather than twisting the private sector’s arm to pay for it through higher taxes, the city-parish is in a rare position to motivate investors through incentives. For example, you could lease the dock to the winning bidder for a buck a year. In return, the developer gets a financial leg up, Baton Rouge gets a signature riverfront destination and you leave a lasting legacy on our greatest natural resource, the Mississippi. Word is the mayor likes the idea and is ready to move forward with it

Library Board of Control: Plan better.

We challenge you to dream big and plan better so that the library system’s future consists of new, better facilities and services, rather than aging plans on drawing boards that collect dust.

Metro Council: Recognize downtown’s changing.

Bars and restaurants continue to spring up downtown, which draw ever-larger crowds and traffic on Friday and Saturday nights. The days of sleepy weekends downtown are long gone, yet the mayor and the Metro Council are sitting idly by as downtown’s character has evolves on its own. Downtown is screaming for sensible, modern regulation that supports the economic impact, provides for the public safety and recognizes the importance of a culturally inclusive downtown.

It’s time leaders view the district not simply as a clutch of bars and restaurants, but as a cohesive neighborhood. Downtown should reflect the city’s culture, and it should help and nurture artists. It needs clear and reasonable rules on the regulation of the sale and consumption of alcohol, while the added cost of policing and cleaning up the area should be spread fairly onto the shoulders of everyone who benefits.

The mayor should demand action, and the Metro Council should carry it out.

*entire article with more about library...

http://www.225batonrouge.com/news/2010/jan/01/three-resolutions-better-2010/

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  • 3 weeks later...

Should EBR ABOLISH its metropolitan government

1/26/10

http://www.businessr...opolitan-gvpt1/

When Mayor Kip Holden presented his $901 million bond issue last year, it was billed as a vision for East Baton Rouge Parish—a practical economic and cultural driver that would address past infrastructure neglect while forging a brilliant path toward the future by capitalizing on the desire for an innovation-driven community.

The capital-improvements package, which included infrastructure, public-safety and economic-development items, was soundly defeated at the polls. That election, in which rhetoric abounded and debate spread, exposed the divisiveness of the parish.

But the fractured nature of the city-parish came to light even before Metro Council member C. Denise Marcelle raised the question: Would it be better to break up the consolidated form of government?

The idea is as appealing as it is appalling. East Baton Rouge Parish is a fabric of opinions, aspirations and goals clustered around specific geographic locations. While every local government will always have disagreements and hang-ups, the city-parish is in a uniquely vulnerable position because its consolidated form assumes some thread of commonality joins its many parts. Too many identities—and the fierce territorial differences that come with them—are a threat to the tax base and hamper ability to move forward with services and economic development.

“It’s the people,” Mayor Pro Tem Mike Walker says. “The mind-set of the person is, ‘I don’t need anything in the city. I live in the parish so I don’t need to contribute;’ or ‘I don’t go out there to the rural areas because I live in the city. I’m not going to help them.’ That’s not a public official problem. It’s a people problem.”

It was the need for improved services in the parish—from finance to fire protection—that drove the desire for government consolidation in the 1940s. In the aftermath of World War II, the landscape of Baton Rouge changed because soldiers were returning home and because unincorporated parts of the parish were growing rapidly. The parish, governed by a 10-ward police jury, was unprepared for the influx of people.

Because those highly populated areas remained outside of the city limits, community leaders pursued consolidation of the city and parish governments as the most logical way to solve the problem. The proposed plan of government expanded the Baton Rouge city limits from five square miles to 30 square miles, combined most city and parish agencies, and expanded the scope of the services they offered.

But conflict between incorporated and unincorporated areas was in existence even then. Consolidation was not widely supported in the parish at the time. Some 14,000 voters—slightly more than one-third of those registered—turned out to the polls on April 12, 1947, but the measure passed by just 307 votes, despite being favored by a 3-to-1 margin in the city.

So why consolidation? In Baton Rouge’s case, it was a way to make the best of a financially ruinous situation, says Brian Jensen, senior vice president of civic policy for the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.

“Annexation just wasn’t the practical way to go, so they decided to consolidate instead,” he says. “Other consolidations have been driven by similar circumstances, but each is unique in the way they approach the issue.”

There are more than 30 consolidated city-county governments in the United States. Four city-parish consolidations are in Louisiana: Baton Rouge, Houma, Lafayette and New Orleans. Most consolidations are driven by one of two elements: capturing growth within an area, or leveraging political power within a state.

Here's part of a lengthy Business Report writeup about the local government.

Just to put things in perspective....if St. George were to create it's own city, it would include Perkins Rowe, Shaw's headquarters, Baton Rouge General, Mall of Louisiana, Price LeBlanc enterprises, Woodlawn High School.....and it would house over 100,000 residents. It contains the bulk of the sales tax and property tax base in the parish, and would cover a massive 68 square miles, much of which has yet to be developed.

Just food for thought. I think the current system of consolidation while separating the school districts should appease both camps, and make East Baton Rouge attractive (very) to pretty much every type of citizen. Complete separation if services and tax collections are probably a very bad idea for the long term future of the city/parish, even if independent school districts clearly have some appeal. I understand the problems with such a school system, but I don't think there's any other way to stem the tide of families moving out to the 'burbs. I'd like to see more ISDs in this parish, and I'd like to see the main "Baton Rouge" district push charter schools as well as more schools for trade, arts, etc.

Edited by cajun
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Good stuff cajun...good ideas :thumbsup:

My question has always been why is'nt more of SE BR annexed?? I will tell people from out of town that Mall of La/Siegen area is not incorporated into BR and they can hardly believe it...Would St George include Oak Hills Place south of Perkins Rd?? Isn't Shaw HQ's inside the city limits of BR....

I had wondered if Shenandoah(at least 25,000) might do this?? Or even Millerville that has Super-Target, Best Buy, Lowes, Chili's, Team Toyota

Towne Center/Millenium; Enclave, etc... is not even incorporated...the Whitter property/Cedar Lodge ranch is a giant hole in the middle of BR surrounded by the city limits...why was this not annexed long ago??

Baton Rouge only covers 77 square miles..yet similar sized places like Little Rock have incorporated 117; Mobile 118; Jackson 105; Shreveport 103...and a smaller Beaumont with 220...

Edited by richyb83
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Good stuff cajun...good ideas :thumbsup:

My question has always been why is'nt more of SE BR annexed?? I will tell people from out of town that Mall of La/Siegen area is not incorporated into BR and they can hardly believe it...Would St George include Oak Hills Place south of Perkins Rd?? Isn't Shaw HQ's inside the city limits of BR....

I had wondered if Shenandoah(at least 25,000) might do this?? Or even Millerville that has Super-Target, Best Buy, Lowes, Chili's, Team Toyota

Towne Center/Millenium; Enclave, etc... is not even incorporated...the Whitter property/Cedar Lodge ranch is a giant hole in the middle of BR surrounded by the city limits...why was this not annexed long ago??

Baton Rouge only covers 77 square miles..yet similar sized places like Little Rock have incorporated 117; Mobile 118; Jackson 105; Shreveport 103...and a smaller Beaumont with 220...

I honestly don't know why.

Louisiana has never been a "rich" state. Raising taxes, even just a little, concerns a lot of people. There's a stigma (so far undeserved) for declining cities to raise property taxes to support the dead weight. Baton Rouge (the city, not the region) has been stagnant for a while. It's total population is going to come in btw 225K and 230K people- very slow to no growth. East Baton Rouge will see some moderate growth for 2010 census, but the winning parishes are the ones with the good schools.

There are some state legislators that decided within the last decade (Holden was one of them) that in order to separate the schools, a new city must be incorporated. This was a measure taken for no purpose other than to prevent Central from splitting into their own ISD. They under-estimated how badly people wanted their own schools in Central, and how tired they were of long bus rides and crappy education. In any other state, Central would still be unincorporated and would be defined only by it's independent school district- still dependent on the parish for services, still, for all practical purposes, "Baton Rouge".

There's no clear answer here.

What everyone seems to want is more control over their children's education, which I totally understand. Everyone in EBR seems to be very uncomfortable with the city's inept police force, and everyone in EBR seems to really want improved infrastructure. People have been complaining a lot lately about potholes and traffic- and much of that is in Baton Rouge proper.

I think the solution is impossible now....that would have been to allow ISDs and "neighborhood schools" to spring up within existing cities and school systems. This is popular in the Houston area. It keeps the quality of education much higher, but resist splitting up the municipalities and creating redundant services- just adjust the district tax on schools. It eliminates the need to move to a suburb or split off from the district and create your own city. Today, when private schools have year-long waiting lists and simply can't take any more students....parents are freaking out. They'd rather move to the sticks and commute than use the declining public schools.

If St. George must create their own city for their own schools, then Baton Rouge is screwed. IF they split up the tax districts- and the Mall of LA and Perkins Rowe goes to another city, they will have to tax themselves to function- and who want's to pay taxes for pathetic schools and an even more pathetic police force? And yes...that side of Essen is in St. George, so Shaw and Turner, and United Plaza would all be in another city.

My advice to citizens of Baton Rouge proper (I'm apparently in St. George....didn't know that until very recently): push charter schools, and push them hard. It would eliminate a lot of the reasons why people want to leave, and why existing citizens are shy about raising taxes to support schools. Annex as much EMPTY land as possible and build as many ugly power centers on them as you can fit- you'll need the sales tax base.

Louisiana isn't a rich state.....privatized urban renewal comes very slowly here. People get pissed about the fairness issue of homestead exemption- so high property taxes (in Louisiana) are a red flag to potential residents. Sales taxes are already steep, and services are pathetic. It's one thing to make fun of suburbanites, but city residents and leaders need to understand why they choose to move away in the first place....otherwise, Baton Rouge is going to be in for a bumpy ride to the bottom. If you can't respect the reasons why people avoid moving their families "in town", then you won't be a part of the solution.....which is to attract any and all types of productive, creative citizens- including ones with children and including ones that you don't like very much.

Edited by cajun
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A consolidated city-parish government only works if there aren't other separate incorporated cities within the parish. Who ever thought that would work? The system as it stands now, isnt working, but im not sure what is the correct direction to take to solve the problems.

It would work (for Baton Rouge) if the "other" cities in the parish weren't as powerful as they will become here.

Baton Rouge is only about half the parish's population, and that ratio is going to get worse every year. Why the city limits are only a tiny fraction of the parish is beyond me. Not exactly forward thinking.....and good lucking getting people to vote on it today.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Addressing crime spike

full article: http://www.2theadvoc...n/84355967.html

A big jump in major crime in Baton Rouge should be a wake-up call for everyone concerned about the city’s quality of life.

Major crimes in Baton Rouge for 2009 increased by more than 8 percent overall from 2008, according to statistics recently released by the Baton Rouge Police Department.

Crimes against people, which include murder, rape, robbery and assault, rose nearly 5 percent in 2009, according to the statistics.

Crimes against property, which include burglary, larceny, arson, and vehicle theft, increased by 9 percent last year.

Most disturbingly, the number of homicides in Baton Rouge for 2009 was the highest on record, with 75 cases, a 14 percent increase.

Although there was a jump in overall crimes last year, major crimes in Baton Rouge have decreased 24 percent in the last decade, said Sgt. Don Kelly, a police spokesman.

Even so, the crime spike should be at the forefront of public policy discussions in Baton Rouge this year. Edward Shihadeh, an LSU sociology professor and criminologist, pointed to the poor economy as one factor in the rise of crime in Baton Rouge in 2009.

Shihadeh also said that in the 1990s there were fewer people living in Baton Rouge than there were in 2009, which means that the rate of homicides per 100,000 residents is probably lower than it was a decade ago.

We are skeptical about the connection between the economy and the recent crime spike. After all, haven’t we been told at length how much better Baton Rouge has done in weathering the recession than the rest of the country? Meanwhile, national figures reveal that the number of homicides declined 10 percent during the first half of 2009. National homicide figures for the second half of 2009 have not been released.

In a recent speech to the Baton Rouge Rotary Club, Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden said 60 of the homicides in Baton Rouge occurred in four ZIP codes: 70802, 70805, 70806 and 70815. He said police are targeting those areas for aggressive crime-fighting this year.

The ZIP codes mentioned by Holden are used by a mix of affluent and troubled neighborhoods. They are a reminder that the interests of our Baton Rouge neighborhoods are connected. Crime anywhere in Baton Rouge poses a threat to the safety and security of the entire city.

We cannot resign ourselves to high levels of lawlessness in any part of Baton Rouge, even when that lawlessness involves suspected drug dealers killing other suspected drug dealers. Crime, like a cancer, simply spreads if not aggressively addressed.

Baton Rouge Police Chief Jeff LeDuff said his department has made strides in removing guns from the street and targeting repeat offenders. The department is also working with public schools and District Attorney Hillar Moore to reduce truancy.

We’d be interested in more specifics on the department’s crime-fighting goals.

I am interested in learning the specifics of ANYTHING the city is planning on doing to address crime that isn't just "talk". LeDuff is a talker, and Holden clearly has tunnel vision.

Crime is a problem, and it's getting worse. It's not helped by bad leadership and incompetent police officers and dispatchers. Help should not be 90 minutes away when you dial 911.

The police need to get their lazy ass off the medial of I-12 (4 cruisers sitting there at midnight every night!) and start more patrols in our neighborhoods.

Edited by cajun
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Addressing crime spike

full article: http://www.2theadvoc...n/84355967.html

I am with you cajun....

while both Kip and Ledoux are likable guys, they must do more than "smile", they can't expect to befriend everyone to get their job, tough as it seems, done!

I have always felt crime and litter/overgrowth are huge hinderaces to improved quality of life in EBR,,,both targeted by Kip during his campaigns, and both still not addressed..........it is past time Kip,

I am interested in learning the specifics of ANYTHING the city is planning on doing to address crime that isn't just "talk". LeDuff is a talker, and Holden clearly has tunnel vision.

Crime is a problem, and it's getting worse. It's not helped by bad leadership and incompetent police officers and dispatchers. Help should not be 90 minutes away when you dial 911.

The police need to get their lazy ass off the medial of I-12 (4 cruisers sitting there at midnight every night!) and start more patrols in our neighborhoods.

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  • 1 month later...

Loving this weather lately. The azaleas in my back yard are blooming....the trees are greening....and there isn't as many bugs as there usually are.

Hard not to love this region this time of year. I guess this is the tradeoff for the "brown" vegitation during winter and the occasionally massive hurricane or two.

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