KPLC Hot Topic

Fema Forgiveness

     Today leaders from seven Louisiana parishes will travel to Washington, D.C. to ask for forgiveness from FEMA disaster loans. Cameron, St. Tammany, Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, Plaquemines, and Washington Parishes will all send representatives to meet with FEMA administrator Craig Fugate.  At issue... Whether FEMA will force the parishes to pay back money borrowed after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  If FEMA says no, the leaders say they'll have to request extensions to pay back the loans over time.  Should FEMA forgive the parishes of those loans?

Texting ban... does it work?

     At a time when there's so much talk about the dangers of texting, a new report from the Highway Loss Data Institute shows that states that ban texting and driving may not be any safer.  Some say catching someone in the act may make it too hard to enforce... or perhaps drivers are getting dangerously good at hiding it.  But transportation officials say that report is flawed... pointing out the bans are still new, and require solid laws, good advertising, and police enforcement in order to build success.  What do you think?  Do you think the laws like the one passed in Louisiana, which ban texting while driving, are not really effective?  Is it too hard to enforce?  Are drivers getting too good at hiding it? 

Help For Small Businesses

        Monday, President Obama signed into law a small business bill that will create about 12 billion dollars in tax breaks for small businesses.  The measure also creates a 30 billion dollar loan fund.  The President says these new incentives will help small businesses right away.  But critics charge that the measure would eventually become a burden, because later, Democrats would allow a hike of the top income tax rate that many small businesses pay.  What do you think?  Will the new law help the economy by getting money into the hands of business owners?  Or will it result in tax increases for small businesses, as some fear?

Gaming License

    Yesterday was the last day for interested parties to apply for the fifteenth and final gaming license in Louisiana... the one vacated after the Sugarcane Bay project was scrapped.  As of 5PM Thursday evening, four different companies had applied.  Three of those four companies propose to put their resort right here in Lake Charles. First, there's William Trotter with St. Gabriel Downs, whose proposal is for a  Hard Rock Casino and Hotel on the Lake Charles Port Property.  Then, there's a familiar name... Dan Lee, the former CEO of Pinnacle Entertainment.  He's proposing a 400 million dollar project that would be right next door to L'Auberge du Lac and would be called "Mojito Pointe."  Next is Chester Jones with Tomorrow's Investors.  Not long after Pinnacle forfeited the license, Jones was in Baton Rouge lobbying for the rights to it.  And the last applicant is Penn National Gaming.  But unlike the rest, it wants to put the casino in the New Orleans area.  Now that the four applicants have their cards on the table, it could be as long as six months before the Gaming Control Board makes a decision.  But is Lake Charles big enough to handle another big casino? 

Firefighter Overtime

  When a firefighter calls in sick, that 24 hour shift has to be filled.  That causes overtime.  In years past, firefighter overtime spending has been over budget.  In fact in one year, the Lake Charles Fire Department paid over two million dollars in overtime to its firemen.  And that's cause for alarm according to new Fire Chief Keith Murray.  Murray says there's been extreme abuse of the overtime policy.  But steps are now in place to address the issue.  And they seem to be working.  For example, in years past, the sick leave hours were near 52,000.  This year it's down to around 30,000 hours.  Chief Murray expects that number to continue to drop.  What's your reaction to that much money being spent on overtime pay for firemen?

School Board Budget

The Calcasieu Parish School Board met last night to look at ways of revising their general fund budget.  After discussing the cost of everything from alternative school transportation to lunch portion sizes, the board passed a motion for the revised budget amount of approximately 260 million dollars.  No action was taken on the alternative school transportation, but another heated issue that could cost them more money in the future is that of school lunches.  Officials discussed the possibility of giving students different options for side dishes... this way students would waste less and eat more. The food service department will meet with administrative staff in the coming weeks to make a final decision on how they will adjust lunch portion sizes and menu items in the schools.  Are there any other ways in which the school board can save money, besides adjusting school lunches and bus transportation to the alternative school?   

New Casino Resort

Lake Charles could be much closer to landing a new casino resort on property once intended for Sugarcane Bay.  On Friday, Port Commissioners voted to start negotiations on a final option to lease with three groups interested in building a new resort.  While Port Director Mike Dees says the new casino resort will expand the Lake Charles gaming market, Pinnacle Entertainment argues a new resort casino would take business away from L'auberge du Lac.  But should that be the concern of the Port Board?  AS MSU economics professor Dr. Michael Kurth puts it,  L'auberge would lose some business... But Kurth says that should not be the concern of the local officials.  Kurth says the only concern should be taking whatever steps are needed to insure the market grows in Lake Charles.  And according to Kurth, another casino resort would only help the market grow.  What do you think about the Port Board opening the way for other groups to possibly build another gaming entity on the property that had been set aside for Sugarcane Bay?

Poverty In America

The poverty rate in America is now the highest it's been in 16 years!  14.3% of Americans are now considered poor.  44 million people in America... one in seven... were found to be poor last year. That's a rise of eight percent over the year before.  Poverty means an income of $10,000 for someone who's single and $22,000 for a family of four. And adding to that dismal picture is the housing situation.  Lenders took back a record 95 thousand homes in August.  What's your reaction to the statistics on poverty in America?  And do you feel people in this country will ever be able to reclaim the "American Dream?"

In The Red

Four million dollars.  That's the budget deficit for the City of Lake Charles for the coming fiscal year. In the current fiscal year, for the first time since anyone can remember, the City had to dip into the general fund in the amount of six million dollars to balance the budget.  This year is not as bad, but still the city forecasts a four million dollar deficit.  Mayor Randy Roach says it's in large part due to a decline in sales tax revenues.  The Mayor says they've come up with a "standstill budget" to deal with the problem, meaning no new programs and no new spending.  Roach says, "We had several vacant positions and we went ahead and took the liberty at this time to go ahead and eliminate those positions." Give us your thoughts about the city's budget deficit. The new fiscal year begins October 1, 2010.

Give It Back?

Reggie Bush says he is forfeiting his Heisman Trophy. The New Orleans Saints running back released a statement Tuesday saying he would give back the award that he won in 2005 while he was at the University of Southern California. It's the first time college football's top prize has been returned by a recipient.

USC was hit with heavy sanctions by the NCAA this summer after it determined Bush had receivedimproper benefits. The NCAA ruled that Bush was ineligible for the 2005 season, which opened the possibility that the Heisman Trophy Trust would take back the award. Do you agree with Bush's decision to give up the award he won for on field excellence for something that happened off the field?