CENTRAL CITY
NEWS General Excellence Louisiana Press Association National Newspaper Assn.
& The Leader
®
CENTRAL
Health & Fitness ®
GUIDE
Thursday, January 12, 2012 • Vol. 15, No. 1 • 16 Pages • Circulation 11,000 • centralcitynews.us • “Like” Central City News on Facebook
Council Says ‘No’ to Loop Thru Central Central Takes Official Position
City Council Vote Could Block Loop Crossing City of Central
Central Hunters Won’t Let A Little Disability Stop Them C.E. Smith, Shane Smith, Trey Wax, Alan Wax, Nuet Hebert, and Bull Hebert
INDIAN MOUND — Not many people who have been blind from birth have had the opportunity to go deer hunting and kill not one but two deer. But Shane Smith of Indian Mound has done just that. Shane’s dad, C.E. Smith, an avid hunter, said it was an experience that both he and Shane will treasure for a lifetime. The opportunity for Shane, 29, and many other youth and adults with various handicaps to get out-
doors and go hunting is provided by a national organization called Hope Outdoors. Dan Robichaux, chief administrative officer at Neighbors Federal Credit Union, is state president of Hope Outdoors, and he loves the chance to make a difference in people’s lives. Dan was inspired to get involved because his own son has had three kidney transplants, which has limited his normal phys-
CENTRAL — In a major setback for the proposed Baton Rouge Loop, the Central City Council Tuesday night voted to disapprove the Loop from crossing Central. The meeting began with an explanation by City Attorney Sherri Morris that no toll expressway can cross the City of Central under La. R.S. 48:2020 without the approval of the City Council. Some members of the audi- Wayne Messina ence and two members of the City Council said the Loop should continued to be studied. But Councilman Wayne Messina said the Loop has been studied for five years at a cost of more than $6 million and that it was time for
the City of Central to express its disapproval of the project. Gene Baker, chairman of Neighbors in Action, a Livingston Parish group that opposes the Loop, said he came to the meeting to seek Central’s cooperation with Livingston in defeating the Loop. Baker said Messina’s timing was perfect, because the Federal Highway Administration has given citizens until Jan. 23 to file comments on the Loop. After that, the FHWA could give the project Tier I approval. Now is the time for CenSee CENTRAL on Page 3
How to keep up with Central between issues of the News: Join Facebook and “Like”
Court of Appeal Hears Central Case Can Privatization See A HANDICAP on Page 13
In Central Defeat Citizens’ Right to Public Records?
BATON ROUGE — A three-judge panel of the Louisiana 1st Circuit Court of Appeal heard arguments last Thursday on a suit for access to public records brought by the Central City News against CH2MHILL, the $6 billion Colorado corporation which formerly had the master privatization contract to administer city government in Central. The case could break new legal ground and decide whether privatization of government services can be used to defeat access by the public to public
Central City News vs. CH2MHILL is an action under Louisiana’s Public Records Law.
Central City News
records in the hands of a private company. The action stems from a Public Records request by the Central City News after CH2MHILL, which provided virtually all city services in Central, ran a political ad in the name of the “City of Central” one day before the city’s municipal election in March 2010. The newspaper sought all records related to the ad. The topic of the ad was “Setting the Record Straight on Permit Fees.” Appearing to come from the City of Central, the ad attempted to explain that permit fees in Central were reasonable. It appeared to be a direct answer to an ad run the previous week by candidate Jr. Shelton, which was entitled, “Setting the Record Straight.” That ad had argued that permit fees in Central were too high. Under its See PUBLIC’S on Page 13