From the Baton Rouge Business Report: Rolfe McAlister, who by all accounts has no problem getting through to the Governor or his chief of staff, puts his paper in the line of fire between Jindal and an increasingly disgruntled Louisiana press corps. After debunking his own sport’s metaphor, JR Ball opts for the last defense of the hopelessly arrogant, namely, that if the people don’t care what Jindal does then the press can take a flying leap.
From the Times-Picayune: Once the champion of openess and transparency, the Jindal administration is now fighting tooth and nail to beat back attempts to limit public records exemptions in the Governor’s office.
Asked why the Louisiana Governor deserves greater exemptions that most other state, Jindal top lawyer Jimmy Faircloth chalked it up, cryptically, to “a hundred years of Louisiana politics.”
From the Advocate: Vague comments over “helping” John McCain with a New York Times story contrasts with his avoidance of the Louisiana press corp as Governor Jindal tries to remain one step ahead of his VP ambitions.
The Advocate reports that FEMA responded to an information request by the newspaper with a $210,000 bill. In September of last year, the Advocate requested a series of documents detailing contracts issued after the hurricanes. FEMA responded with a letter explaining the charge for the information. In the letter, a FEMA attorney wrote “The first 100 pages are free. The duplication cost for 2,099,900 pages will be $0.10 per page for photocopying.” Read more
