Please make plans to attend a press conference on Monday, May 12 to see the debut of the state's "My Louisiana" ad campaign. The ads feature locals from around the state, like John Besh, Chris Paul, and Karl Malone, talking about their favorite things to see and do in Louisiana.
Lt. Governor Landrieu, Chef John Besh and Mr. George Shinn will make remarks.
UPS
UPS Freight today announced it has reduced transit times on nearly 1,000 traffic lanes originating in metropolitan areas in the Southwest and Southeast to points across the United States.
Transit times have been reduced by one or two days from points in 11 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. The customer improvements are being made without adjusting rates.
The latest round of enhancements follow the more than 8,000 lanes that were improved nationwide by the company in 2007.
Cox Communications
Creative Vistas Inc. a leading provider of advanced video security and surveillance solutions and broadband-related services, today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Cancable Inc. has been awarded a new multi-year contract with Cox Communications to provide installation and repair services to cable customers in Louisiana. This will represent the Company’s third U.S. service contract, all three with major U.S. cable providers. Revenues from this new contract will be realized by the Company beginning in the current second quarter of 2008.
“This new contract is yet another reflection of how quickly we have gained momentum in our drive to become a major provider of broadband-related services in the U.S. following years of rapid growth in Canada,” said Creative Vistas’ Chief Executive Officer Dominic Burns. “It is another major step in carrying out the strategy of leveraging our highly successful cable and broadband provisioning business model into the huge cable markets in the US. It also testifies to the growing reputation of our Webtracker BI solution to provide a superior customer experience.”
The agreement with Cox Communications Inc., the third-largest cable provider in the U.S. calls for Creative Vistas to serve Cox customers in the Baton Rouge and Lafayette metropolitan areas as well as in 13 surrounding parishes – an area ranked 70th in the U.S. for system size. Creative Vistas now has a substantial presence throughout Southern Louisiana, where it also serves cable customers in and around New Orleans (including the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard and St. Charles) under a contract announced in January 2008.
Since the Company began its strategic move into U.S. cable and satellite markets at the beginning of 2008, it has also signed a contract to serve cable customers in the Charlotte, N.C., metro area.
Services provided by Creative Vistas in Louisiana will include triple-play installation of video, voice and telephony, both new and reconnecting services, trouble-shooting of existing service problems and sales of new services to existing customers. The Company will provide certified trainers to launch the service program, putting locally-hired technicians through an intensive four-week training program. It also will use its Webtracker business intelligence (BI) technology, widely recognized in the broadband industry, to monitor service quality and productivity and to identify upgrade and cross-selling opportunities.
Broadband
According to Government Technology, “Today at the 2008 Rural Connection Workshop in Redding, California, Connected Nation and the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) announced a partnership to support broadband acceleration efforts in California's rural regions. The partnership intends to leverage Connected Nation's successful experiences working jointly with community leaders and technology companies to implement efforts that ensure rural communities can seize the promise of broadband-enabled opportunities.”
Ethics
You are invited to have "Lunch With the League"
NEW LOCATION: at Drusilla Seafood,
3482 Drusilla Lane, Baton Rouge, LA 70809
May 15, 2008 Networking: 11:30 a.m. Program at Noon
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED - The selection menu will be sent with your confirmation!
Louisiana had the model legislation for ethics and transparency in government.
then the increasing number of exceptions to the laws and chronic under funding eroded the effectiveness.
In the 2008 Special Session, new bills were passed and there is conflict over the interpretations of the new legislation now.
To eliminate the confusion for the public,
The League of WoMen Voters of Baton Rouge has invited a diverse panel to discuss:
"Ethics and Transparency in Government?"
Invited Guest Speakers in alphabetical order are:
1. Mark Ballard, Capitol Bureau Chief, The Advocate*
2. Jim Brandt, President, Public Affairs Research Council*
3. Jimmy Faircloth, Executive Counsel to the Governor, La Governor's Office
4. Senator Lydia Jackson, Member, Senate & Governmental Affairs Committee
5. Senator Bob Kostelka, Chair, Senate & Governmental Affairs Committee
6. Richard Sherburne, Administrator & GeneralCounsel, LA Board of Ethics*
* Confirmed
Questions from the audience are encouraged after the presentations.
Please make your reservations today.
The selection menu will be e-mailed to you with your confirmation!
Seating is only guaranteed with reservations.
Any one making reservations and who does not show up by noon,
unless prior arrangements are made will be billed for the ticket.
The public is encouraged to attend. Tickets: $25.00;
LWVBR Member's Discount rate: $20.00
Please make your reservations by sending your name, mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address
to lwvbr@lwvbr.org or call League Voice Mail with this information: 334.9999
Your reservation confirmation will be e-mailed to you.
Film and Arts
May 22nd and each fourth Thursday evening monthly at 5:30 pm, come to the Lincoln Parish Library for the Art of Film Series, co-presented by LPL and North Central Louisiana Arts Council.
In the spirit of summer, being free, and learning about ourselves. This movie is truly all it was promised to be.
Freshly graduated from college with a promising future ahead, 22 year-old Christopher McCandless instead walked out of his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure. What happened to him on the way transformed this young wanderer into an enduring symbol for countless people. Was Christopher McCandless a heroic adventurer or a naïve idealist, a rebellious 1990s Thoreau or another lost American son, a fearless risk-taker or a tragic figure who wrestled with the precious balance between man and nature?
Education
On the heels of Tuesday's announcement of gains on LEAP performance, state officials were pleased with the marks earned by Louisiana's school children on the iLEAP tests. "From a testing standpoint, 2008 has been a success," said State Superintendent Paul G. Pastorek. "When you look at these scores in tandem with the results from LEAP, our districts have much to be proud of and so do our kids."
Students in the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th grades learned their results today on this year's iLEAP assessments. The iLEAP, which stands for Integrated Louisiana Educational Assessment Program, replaced The Iowa Tests beginning in the 2005-2006 school year, making this the third year from which schools and districts are able to track student performance. The iLEAP is aligned with Louisiana's Comprehensive Curriculum, benchmarks as well as Grade-Level Expectations in the areas of English Language Arts, mathematics, science and social studies and is compliant with the federal government's No Child Left Behind Act.
Superintendent Pastorek continued, "We did see some mixed results for our 3rd and 6th graders and tha! t means we need to be focusing on sustaining the gains we've seen in 4 th and 5 th grade into middle school and it shows the importance of implementing our Literacy and Numeracy for All initiative. Our schools need as many tools at their disposal as possible to raise student academic achievement."
The iLEAP tests include mostly multiple-choice questions, but also include some constructed-response items that require students to compose an answer and serve to measure higher-order thinking skills. The tests were administered in March, at the same time as the LEAP and Graduation Exit Exam (GEE). As with the LEAP and GEE, scores are measured in terms of the state's achievement levels: Advanced, Mastery, Basic, Approaching Basic and Unsatisfactory. Students in grades 3, 5, 6 and 7 are tested in English, math, science and social studies. Ninth graders take only English and math for iLEAP.
In the 3rd grade, students scoring Basic and above decreased by one percentage point in English, two points in math, three points in science and increased in social studies by one percentage point.
In the 5th grade, there were significant gains across the board with those scoring Basic or above in English and science up five percentage points each along with improvement in math and social studies of 6 points.
In the 6th grade, the percentage of students achieving Basic or above fell by one percentage point in both English and math, while science was up three points and social studies showed no change from the previous year.
Scores for 7th graders were mixed, with a two percentage point increase in English for those scoring Basic or above, a four point decrease in math along with a one point improvement in social studies and no change in science.
9th graders are only tested in English and mathematics and scores were up four percentage points in both areas.
"After three years, the iLEAP program is really beginnin! g to tak e root and we have to be encouraged by what we see here," said Board of Elementary and Secondary Education President Linda Johnson. "Though these tests are not high stakes they are an important tool for parents and schools in identifying areas of strength and concern for students. It also serves to help the Department of Education as it develops its supports for the districts in building a world class education system for all children."
Parents will receive not only their child's individual scores but also a norm-referenced test report which will let them know how their children are compare to a national norm group. The norm-referenced reports are similar to those used for The Iowa Tests over the past few years, with a score of 50 representing the national average.
Statewide, norm-referenced scores from the iLEAP are as follows:
iLEAP Norm-Referenced Scores: Average of Reading, Language, and Math
Spring 2006 - Spring 2008
National Percentile Rank
Year
Grade 3
Grade 5
Grade 6
Grade 7
Grade 9
2006
50
50
48
48
50
2007 50
49
46
47
51
2008
52
53
47
49
52
Scores for all grades have risen over the last three years, except for 6th grade which is down one percentage point compared to two years ago. The average student has performed at or near the middle of the norm group selected by the testing vendor.
(press release from La. Department of Education)
Cablevision, Newsday
What’s a mere $650 million?
Ask Cabelvision Systems and the Tribune Company who announced a deal allowing Cablevision a 97 percent in the newspaper, Newsday. Tribune will have a 3 percent interest based upon the partnership.
The FCC allows ONE connection per Zip Code to count as having broadband access.
Broadband is defined by the FCC as 200kbps. Hardly the high speed that is needed by a state as advanced as SC.
Connected Nation is a "feel good" front for the people who lay cable: teleco's and cableco's. Politicians drink the Kool-aid and then mislead constituents, and the uninformed press doesn't know the right questions to ask.
WiMax is already outdated.
Intel just announced a wireless box that can send a signal 60 miles.
Fast internet access needs to be treated like infrastructure. Like law enforcement, fire protection, waste water disposal, storm water disposal, electricity, etc.
Local governments should make the decision if investing in fast internet is worthwhile and a sound investment for tax money.
Obviously, I think it is.
Written by Mark Van Patten
on 5/12/2008
REPORT SPAM OR ABUSE
