Region’s cyber future virtually set with Innovation Center ceremony

Bossier City Mayor Lo Walker warmed a cold 200-plus crowd at the Cyber Innovation Center groundbreaking on Monday. The comedian inside the mayor introduced supporters on stage as he discarded the agenda. The late start and chilly weather inspired the welcomed editing. Only the headliners, Lt. Gen. Bob Elder, commander of the 8^th Air Force and recently sworn-in Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, spoke to the crowd prior to the requisite shovel-and-dirt photos.

The crowd consisted mainly of business leaders, military brass, political dignitaries and media. Most huddled inside Bossier Parish Community College until the events started because many came unprepared for the chill sweeping through our southern climate.

Gov. Jindal underlined his position that helping "stand up" Cyber Command at Barksdale Air Force Base is a “top priority” for his administration. He explained that Cyber Command was among the few things he relayed in his meeting with President George W. Bush shortly after his election last year.

General Elder described an inspiring vision for the future of the Air Force built on the wings of the Cyber Command, now established provisionally at Barksdale Air Force Base. Elder is the architect and leader of the effort to expand our country's military dominance of air and space to cyberspace, fighting wars waged in the electromagnetic spectrum.

The groundbreaking for the Cyber Innovation Center in Bossier City forges another link between the private and public sector to develop new technology to fight wars in cyberspace. Microsoft and other technology corporations are touted as being interested in setting up offices here.

The next big community moment will come when the permanent site for Cyber Command is named. The hope of future generations are betting that Barksdale Air Force Base is the inevitable choice. Listening to the general and the governor speak, the crescendo of all the hype and build-up is only months away.

Photos By Douglas Collier/The Times: 1) Bossier City Mayor Lo Walker directs a group of dignitaries gathered for the groundbreaking ceremony for the Cyber Innovation Center held at the BPCC campus in Bossier City. 2) Senator Mary Landrieu, Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu and Gov. Bobby Jindal join other dignitaries on stage.

Bobby Jindal is on the line ...

Governor-elect Bobby Jindal called this morning thanking The Times editorial and community boards for endorsing him, for discussions of the issues and for even-handed coverage.

We talked briefly about Cyber Command and the list of good things going on in Northwest Louisiana. Jindal praised Governor Kathleen Blanco for visiting Northwest Louisiana more often than previous governors and pledged to do likewise. He explains he’ll be up here again soon.

Jindal sees the value in building up high-tech infrastructure -- as an opportunity to get ahead of other states. Jindal offered observations that some countries with rudimentary phone systems years ago leapfrogged us in technology. How did that happen?

The state with the best technology may be set to lead in an emerging global economy.

We appreciate his vision for a brighter and better Louisiana. To that end, The Times will continue to challenge and review the actions of government.

We are sending him links to our ongoing ethics series. We find it hard to accept that politicians who owe ethics fines can still run for office. Jindal agrees.

Lastly, he likens the transition process from Blanco's administration to his as “drinking water from a fire hydrant.” There is so much information and so much to do, so fast.

Jindal is expected to take the oath of office to become Governor of Louisiana on Jan. 12, 2008.
Up tomorrow: Blanco visits our community and stops by our offices.

Bobby Jindal is on the line...

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Jindal Wins & LSU Wins

Turns out the Louisiana gubernatorial election was anti-climatic as the front-runner Bobby Jindal (R) won outright. As I typed this, Jindal had 54 percent of the vote to become the nation’s first Indian-American governor. Editors untied from election pages inside The Times newsroom quickly turned to the nail-biter LSU-Auburn game after Jindal was declared winner around 11 p.m.

Next, I looked at the victory photograph of newly elected Caddo Coroner Dr. Todd Thoma, asking where is the exuberance. Multimedia editor Mike Silva explained Thoma cheered when LSU scored, but that was it. So, even that hot local race between Thoma and incumbent Dr. Mairus McFarland didn’t excite in the final moments.

Leave it to LSU on election night to give us a 30-24 victory that left a memory. They came through in the clutch as news pages needed to start clearing the floor at 11:30-11:45 p.m.

For those keeping score on election results, early editions were incomplete due to slow-reporting Bossier results. As numbers trickled in from slow-refreshing computer screens connected to the Secretary of State’s Web site and at the courthouses, we hit some snags trying to finish pages.

Some results were not available until after the press run. And The Times first edition has incumbent Attorney General Charles Foti doing much better than he actually did. We got the news that he would not make the runoff after starting the first press run. Read complete election results for more.

Some editions of The Times will be delayed this morning because we held for the latest news. That said, most editions will provide a rather complete read. Return to the Monday Times for gubernatorial race precinct-by-precinct charts and for a few select races. It is always fun to look at how your voting location did.

For now, congratulations to the winners and to those making runoffs.
Read complete election coverage.

Election Crunch Time

The average voter may have finally started to focus on the Oct. 20 election. We might pick an outright winner for governor and many other statewide and local races. Runoffs will be decided Nov. 17.

This voter is searching the Internet, reading archived headlines, poring over newspapers and listening to audio of candidates. Getting this voter to the polls is the next step.

And The Times is trying to help.

Readers can review candidate bios and links on our election Web site. This shreveporttimes.com section will contain the Election Guide material appearing in The Times special section published Thursday. A sample ballot can be downloaded now and will be published Friday and Saturday

While the mantra of change echoes with "don't put the same ol’ faces back in office," Northwest Louisiana might benefit from returning a few. If leaders like Billy Montgomery (running for District 37 Senate after being term-limited in the house), District 8 State Representative Jane Smith and District 38 Senator Sherri Cheek are elected, they offer a senior coalition for Northwest Louisiana capable of helping newbie legislators navigate in Baton Rouge. They have a record of helping with Cyber Command and championing their constituents’ interests.

Locally, the Caddo coroner race is the most heated -- and the most interesting. It has been more than 20 years since there has been head-on competition for this job.

Dr. Todd Thoma is facing off with incumbent Dr. Mairus McFarland. Thoma, with assists by local attorney John Settle, is taking McFarland to task on administrative and operational decisions. Thoma has raised important issues about fiscal responsibility and use of specialized nurses, but you are the final judge of whether those points merit replacing McFarland. McFarland is credited with digging the coroner's office out of a major mess left by the late Dr. George McCormick. To McFarland's credit, he acknowledges the need to explore local autopsy options and makes good points about why some out-of-state autopsies are needed.
There is more to this debate.

Try to catch up on election issues by reading a few aging election forum headlines (1, 2 and 3).

Do your homework and review tomorrow's election guide published in lieu of the Conversations section. This guide will set you up to use the sample ballots being published in The Times Friday and Saturday.

As gubernatorial negative ads dissolve into desperation, don't be deterred by the process. Instead listen to audio of gubernatorial candidate stances and points:

• Walter Boasso: Download the interview
• Foster Campbell: Download the interview
• John Georges: Download the interview
• Bobby Jindal: Download the interview

Part of our process includes interviewing all the candidates and offering endorsements. A group of volunteer community board members and The Times editorial board met with the local and statewide candidates over a three-week period. Phew! A recap of the endorsements published these past two weeks will be published Friday.

Newspapers do endorsements to offer a considered opinion and provoke thought. We take a stance everyday on the issues that face our community. Why would we sit out on the biggest decisions facing the future of our state, the 2007 election? You shouldn't sit out either.

The most effective and most American duty we have is to vote. See you at the polls Saturday. Follow results online and in The Sunday Times.

Foster Campbell Channels Robin Hood

Louisiana gubernatorial candidate Foster Campbell (D) was easy to follow today, stumping on tax reform in a session with The Times' editorial and community boards. His platform to eliminate state income tax comes with a revenue replacement plan taxing foreigners getting rich off Louisiana oil in a Robin Hood-esque “scheme.”

Campbell contends the 40K miles of oil transmission pipelines statewide are an infrastructure stronghold. He plans to leverage them against oil companies for “fair share” contributions to state issues such as coastal erosion. He argues those pipelines are gold that will keep oil companies here despite new taxes being excised. (Listen to streaming audio.)

Campbell also wants to eliminate severance taxes on state-based oil production replaced by the new flat tax approach to oil processing. A local company would see a 50% reduction in taxes with Campbell's math. By his calculations, a $2B surplus would result.

Hmmm.

Campbell blew off Bobby Jindal’s flag waving on ethics reform as ineffective and ironic. He believes allowing lobbyists on the Senate and House floors are a bigger problem than some issues touted. Lobbyists' access to legislators during sessions is “too much influence, too close.” To force priority setting and reduce time on “trivial” local matters, Campbell would limit the number of bills legislators introduce. (Listen to streaming audio of the session.)

Other highlights:

• Forewarned losses of gaming revenue if Texas gets gaming within 6 years.
• Voiced unwavering support for “charity” hospital in New Orleans.
• Said PhD programs at LSU-S are a must.
• Picked on Entergy’s energy rates, saying they are dampening economic development in eastern parts of the state

As we closed, he expounded a little on Jena news saying it “got out of hand” and would not have developed into a national news event under his watch.

Bobby Jindal Poses 'Last Chance' For Louisiana

Gubernatorial candidate Bobby Jindal speaks like a sportscaster staring down a commercial break when discussing what needs to change in our state. No doubt, he’d lap candidates if the race were based on words-per-minute.

I stopped trying to write quotes verbatim during his session with The Times' editorial and community boards, grateful he was wearing a microphone (streaming file). And it recorded an anecdote he called an “off-the-record conversation.” I guess he forgot he was wearing "a mike”… or did he?

Jindal is deadline-oriented as he rattles off statistics and various layered plans for change. He is placing those plans on his site.

You’ll understand why he got the “boy wonder” nickname when you listen to the session audio (streaming file). You’ll hear Jindal stress how much he believes this moment in time -- this election combined with the attention and investment following the storms -- is Louisiana’s “last chance” to get it right after so many mistakes.

Some highlights:

• Laying out his 31-point plan for ethics reform. This is his no. 1 priority; he understands our negative reputation as a top impediment to luring companies and growing our economy. He suggested the Legislature had a chance to crack down on corruption and “dropped the ball.” He is dedicated to starting with a special session on ethics.
• Putting a stop to out-of-control spending in Baton Rouge. He wants to ensure transparency in spending bills so the public knows what projects are being done.
• Talked about what is wrong with health care in Louisiana, mentioning the need to double the R&D tax credits. And he answers a question from Times Community Board member Dr. Ricky Bass about money following the patient concepts.
• Changing the higher education funding apparatus to help institutions like LSUS and discourage duplication. He wants to change the ways they are rewarded. He said the future should include more appropriate admissions standards and praised Louisiana Tech for a “risk” it took limiting admissions – and thus enrollment-based funding – years ago.
• Explaining why he is “NOT a fan of No Child Left Behind.”
• Expressing a hope to move closer to a no-state-income-tax model.
• Calling the most recent legislative session and spending “irresponsible.” He suggests some of the surplus should have been put into a highway trust fund. He calls the spending spree “wild.”
• Reiterating priorities for I-49.
• Reporting Cyber Command possibilities and potential. He shares his thoughts on how Cyber Command might stem the loss of young people from the region.

Barrels of information and ideas were packed into the just-over-an-hour session. His speaking mode mirrors the urgency he declares. This can be energizing … and intimidating to some. Just listen to the Jindal audio (streaming file). Consider comparing the candidate audio files to go beyond sound bites and commercials. Learning about the candidates is a process. (John Georges audio, available as a stream too.)

Candidate Walter Boasso is coming next week. After canceling his session, candidate Foster Campbell has yet to reschedule. A list of all the open races in the Oct. 20 election will be published Sept. 2 in The Times .

Gubernatorial race notes

Known candidates for Louisiana governor are St. Bernard Parish businessman Walter Boasso (D), Public Service Commissioner and Bossier Parish farmer Foster Campbell (D), Jefferson Parish businessman John Georges (R) and U.S. Rep. for the First District Bobby Jindal (R).
Other names reportedly in the race are Raymond Brown (D); Anthony Gentile (I); T. Lee Horne III (L); Hardy Parkerson (D).
Names in the mix or considering a run: Richard Ieyoub (D); Chris John, (D); Ray Nagin (D) and Dave Treen (R)
We'll know the official candidates for office after qualifying in September.

Louisiana governor's race candidates are sparring for attention.
--YouTube spots are posted: Boasso, Campbell, Georges and Jindal.
--Polls get people talking: Georges and Boasso.
--Questions about whether New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin will enter the race are being chased by pundits and talk shows.
The La. Gov race is gaining interest nationally.

What topics will interest local voters most?
If the race ends up being about ethics, will candidates take questions head on? Would you support a pardon for former governor Edwin Edwards?
Republican Senator David Vitter's admission to D.C. Madam connections might drive attention to family values. Do you support gay marriage and/or gay couple civil unions?
SEND your questions.

Nagin to weigh in?
If Nagin jumps in, he could add energy to conversations about poverty, crime, race and New Orleans reconstruction. His re-election affirmed his political strength. Some believe his coy answers to a governor's bid are just a precursor to a different campaign. (View his famous "chocolate " city comments that did not seem to harm his political future.)

Endorsement work ahead...
The Times editorial board will be meeting with gubernatorial candidates as the election season heats up. These are endorsement interviews. We'll publish some of the board Q&As.
Don't assume our previous Jindal endorsement means we'll repeat. New players and new issues being reviewed with a new publisher and new community board members offer a clean slate. We expect to endorse a candidate roughly seven days before the election.

Important dates from Louisiana Secretary of State site:
Qualifying is September 4-6, 2007
Gubernatorial Primary Election is October 20, 2007
Gubernatorial General Election is November 17, 2007