A regular meeting of the Board of Directors for the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation will be held on Thursday, January 14, 2010.The meeting will be conducted at the offices of the Department of Insurance located at 1702 N. Third Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana in the Hearing Room on the first floor of the PoydrasBuilding.The meeting will commence at 1:00 P.M.Ms. Denise Brignac, Chairwoman, will preside over the meeting.
The following Agenda outlines the topics to be considered by the Board.Note that the Board may convene in Executive Session to consider one or more of these topics.Any formal action taken by the Board will be in open public session.
Agenda:
Call to OrderBrignac
1. Chairwoman’s ReportBrignac
2. Minutes of Prior MeetingHarper
3.CEO ReportWortman
A)November Financials (Cottrell)
B)November 2009 Management Information
C)West Point Update (Laffey)
D)Mele Printing Contract Extension -
Vote Required (Laffey)
E)Committee Charters – Vote Required (Harper)
F)Whistleblower Policy – Vote Required (Harper)
G)Complaints (Harper)
H)CEO Expenses
I)2008 Audit Update (Cottrell)
4.Service Provider Reports (Information Only)
A)First Premium
B)Bankers Insurance
5.Executive SessionDon’deVille
NOTE: Any formal action taken by the Board will be in open public session.
A)Open Law Suit Overview Updates
B)Class Actions Updates
· Stephanie Press, individually and on behalf of others similarly situated vs. LCPIC et al. No. 06-5330 Division “F”, Civil District Court, Parish of Orleans
· Tracy Thibodeaux, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated vs. LCPIC No. 569,216 Section: 22, 19th Judicial District Court, Parish of East Baton Rouge
· Geraldine Oubre and Linda Gentry on their behalf, as well as others similarly situated vs. Louisiana Citizens Fair Plan No. 625-567 Division “M”, 24th Judicial District Court for the Parish of Jefferson
· Toni Swain Orrill, et al vs. Louisiana Citizens Fair Plan, et al; No. 05-11720 Division L-6, Civil District Court, Parish of Orleans
C)Auction Rate Bond Litigation (Update)
D)Legislative Auditor Draft/Unreleased Findings
Adjourn
Louisiana Education
On Monday, the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) released an updated list of districts that have agreed to participate in the state's Race to the Top (R2T) application. As of last Friday, 23 districts had notified LDOE that they wanted to directly take part in the state's R2T plan. But another five districts joined that group today, including Avoyelles, the City of Bogalusa, Orleans Parish, Richland and St. Bernard Parish. Sixty out of Louisiana's 70 districts indicated their preliminary interest in the state's application through letters of intent submitted in December. Since then, 32 local districts have considered their participation and have decided not to sign on as a Participating LEA (Local Education Agency).
Based on the most current enrollment figures in the 28 districts and 50 plus charter schools who have notified LDOE that they would like to enlist in the state application as a Participating LEA, nearly 48 percent of the state's student population would directly benefit from the state's R2T program if Louisiana successfully secures a share of the $4.35 billion federal grant. Together, the students in these districts account for more than 52 percent of the state's total free and reduced-price meal participation. Seventy-two percent of the students in these 28 districts participate in the federal free or reduced-price meal programs, compared to the state's total free or reduced-priced meal program participation of 66 percent. The percentage of students participating in free and reduced-price meal programs is commonly used to measure poverty in a specified population.
"Considering that the participation of these districts and charter schools will allow us to directly impact nearly half of Louisiana's public school students, and specifically more than 50 percent of the students who are living in poverty, we are extremely pleased with the response to our Race to the Top plan," State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek said. "And we are eager to work with these districts and schools. At the same time, we respect the decisions of those districts that have opted out of direct participation. There are legitimate reasons why this plan may not be right for everyone, and no district should be criticized for choosing not to participate. After all, 50 percent of the funding will go to participating districts, and 50 percent will be allocated to statewide initiatives to benefit all districts. While much will be asked of districts that do participate, they stand to gain even more."
Participating LEAs will be required to commit to the initiatives outlined in the state's R2T plan. The most significant reforms involve changing the evaluation procedures for teachers and leaders. Evaluations must be used to inform pay, promotion, professional development and retention, and 50 percent of the weight of these evaluations must be based on the academic achievement of students (using a growth or value-added model).
States must submit their R2T applications to the U.S. Department of Education prior to January 19. Only a select number of states will receive the grants, which will be awarded in two phases. The first group of awards will be announced in April, while the second group of recipient states will be announced in September.
Louisiana has been identified as a front-runner due to existing reform efforts and policies. If the state were selected to receive R2T funding, 50 percent of the dollars would be allocated to Participating LEAs (Local Education Agencies), while the remaining 50 percent will be allocated to statewide initiatives to benefit all districts and schools.
Districts that choose not to sign on as a Participating LEA may choose to become an Involved LEA. Involved LEAs will be eligible to participate in individual components of the state's reform plan through modest grants and technical assistance, which will become available through R2T as LDOE expands R2T initiatives statewide.
Districts indicating their participation in Louisiana's Race to the Top application are:
Ascension
Assumption
Avoyelles
City of Baker
City of Bogalusa
City of Monroe
DeSoto
East Baton Rouge
East Carroll
East Feliciana
Iberville
Jefferson Parish
Lafayette Parish
Lafourche Parish
Madison
Orleans
Recovery School District
Richland
Sabine
St. Bernard
St. Helena
St. John the Baptist
St. Landry
St. Mary
Tangipahoa Parish
Terrebonne
Vernon
West Baton Rouge
Fair Grounds
The New OrleansFair Grounds’ is holding its first Starlight Racing program of the 2009-2010 Thoroughbred Racing Season Presented by Miller Lite.
The first of nine races slated for Starlight Racing this Friday gets underway at 5 p.m. as the nation’s third-oldest race course aims to attract young professionals “dressed for success and to see and be seen” to Fair Grounds while getting perhaps their initial exposure to what is traditionally known as the “Sport of Kings.”
Unexpectedly, AP hammers Obama administration on jobless report - - - posted at 12:55 pm on January 8, 2010 by Ed Morrissey - - For a while, the Associated Press seemed determined to make “unexpected” and its variants the most overused term in economic reporting. Today, they give their readers an unexpected shock by dropping the forced sense of optimism normally used in giving bad economic news in their analysis of today’s jobless report. Instead, Christopher Rugaber reports the obvious — that the loss of 85,000 more jobs is nothing but bad news, and that the 10.0% figure hides the rot underneath: Lack of confidence in the economic recovery led employers to shed a more-than-expected 85,000 net jobs in December even as the unemployment rate held at 10 percent. The rate would have been higher if more people had been looking for work instead of leaving the labor force because they can’t find jobs….. The sharp drop in the work force — 661,000 fewer people — showed that more of the jobless are giving up. Once people stop looking for jobs, they’re no longer counted among the unemployed…… When discouraged workers and part-time workers who would prefer full-time jobs are included, the so-called “underemployment” rate in December rose to 17.3 percent, from 17.2 percent in November. That’s just below a revised figure of 17.4 percent in October, the highest on records dating from 1994…… Despite the sunny spin coming from the White House, the situation got worse as the year wore on: The participation rate in the labor force — the portion of adults either working or looking for work — fell in December to 64.6 percent, the lowest since August 1985….. The drop was particularly steep in the second half of last year. That suggested that people were becoming discouraged about their job prospects even as layoffs slowed. The reason is that job openings remain far too few…. And Rugaber supplies some historical context as well: Friday’s report caps a disastrous year for U.S. workers. Employers cut 4.2 million jobs in 2009. And the unemployment rate averaged 9.3 percent. That compares with an average of 5.8 percent in 2008 and 4.6 percent in 2007. Nearly 15.3 million people are unemployed, an increase of 3.9 million during 2009…. The reaction today from the White House suggests that they know the spin won’t hold. In the earlier report, Reuters finally admitted that the rise of temp workers may not be a leading indicator of recovery, but a shift in approach by employers spooked by ObamaCare and heavier taxes and energy costs. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis also suggested that companies may be sitting on the sidelines looking for more incentives to hire — a signal that the administration has been giving for months….. Unemployment has not gotten better; it has gotten worse, and the statistics have hidden the real decline in 2009. Until now, only a few media outlets bothered to highlight the problem. The AP has finally made it clear — and that will mean a lot more attention in 2010 to the failed Porkulus legislation and the fumbled economic strategies of the Obama administration. (via Geoff A)… Update: Inn0cent Bystanders is known for producing the amended Romer charts on unemployment rates each month, - - -h t t p : / / hotair. Com / archives/ 2010/01/08/ unexpectedly-ap-hammers-obama-administration-on-jobless-report/ - - - - - - - .................. Basically, the bs is comming to the surface and exposed to the light of scrutiny little by little, day by day.. Again, without a dynamic paradigm shift or change in perceptions and reactions the current freedoms left that are enjoyed by citizens of the U.S.A. will all but disappear perhaps in as few as 15 years from now..... Written by
on 1/14/2010
REPORT SPAM OR ABUSE
Speaking of entitlement mentality there KP, I would suppose it would now be entirely correct to say that due to the recent Haiti 'crumble at the rumble' any mention of Katrina or New Orleans 'want' or 'need' will play moot on the public ear around the nation, around the world so I guess y'all should better pray you were able to milk everything you could out of that ordeal. The cow is going dry. Written by
on 1/14/2010
REPORT SPAM OR ABUSE
With the coming tax increases and a devalued dollar, we're in for big-time problems, economically speaking. Neither party has the courage to pay off debt (which means taking tax dollars and NOT using it in any way other than debt retirement); neither party has the courage to reform our unsustainable entitlement programs. Then again, the public doesn't want THEIR entitlement/subsidy/"needless government job" cut or reduced; so we'll have to do a "Titanic" to recognize reality - reality being we cannot do everything for every body - people WILL have to show SOME degree of responsibility. This will only happen once we hit a brick wall. For all of out technological advances, we are that damn stupid, sad to say. Written by kpf
on 1/13/2010
REPORT SPAM OR ABUSE
The reported 10% or so rate being hyped by 'informed' sources such as CNN, and blah-blah-blah is a crock of cr^p put out by Gobbels inspired governmental propagandists. ….The U6 number is now 17.3%, exclusive of the huge numbers of ruined small business owners and self-employed who do not show up in the statistics. The real number is easily over 20%..... The billions allocated in the first stimulus funding have been acknoweldged as creating virtually no jobs, but rather to provide the funding for bankrupt state's to maintain public union employment levels and for earmarks to pay for various do-nothing projects for politically connected businesses or individuals.
Written by
on 1/13/2010
REPORT SPAM OR ABUSE
Forrester Says Tech Recession Is Over? Depends on who is doing the math I suppose and who it is that gains or loses. If you can keep the losers happy then I suppose those that 'gain' are happy and their recession is over. Speaking of Math and how it was and is being taught between 1950-2010, Last week I purchased a burger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2, 1 Nickle and 3 pennies totaling $2.08. She stood there, holding my payment, while looking at the screen on her register.... I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood their and cried. Why do I tell you this? Answer: Because of the evolution in teaching math (or even sociology and economics?) since the 1950's - - - 1. Teaching Math In 1950 ** A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price..... What is his profit? - - - - 2. Teaching Math In 1960 ** A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80.... What is his profit? - - - - 3. Teaching Math In 1970 ** A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80.... Did he make a profit? - - - - 4. Teaching Math In 1980 ** A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20. - - - - 5. Teaching Math In 1990 ** A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for t he habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living?..... How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers. ) And now... 6. Teaching Math In 2010 ** Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho? ¿Era ese racista?
Written by
on 1/12/2010
REPORT SPAM OR ABUSE
