Blogging is a new "feature" of the internet. It allows an easier way to update web pages and gives a "log" type setup with some automatic features. This is the second Blog I've created, the first can be seen here.

 
If you missed voting in the October 4 Primary because you weren't registered to vote, nows your chance to fix it. Voter registration for the November 15 run-off election is open until October 15, which is next Wednesday.

You can register at the Registar of Voters office within the St. Bernard Parish Government Complex (first floor, Dr. Meraux and Torres Park corner) or any state mandated office.

To get more information, you can visit the state elections voter registration page here.

The official counting of votes was yesterday and preliminary results show no changes in the winners. The Times-Picayune report mentions four candidates who had representatives present for the counting of votes, but only mentions Larry Landry, challenger to Jack Stevens for Sheriff, who lost by 115 votes, and Senate District One candidates Walter Boasso and Wayne Landry.

Clerk of Court Lena Torres said the new computerized voting machines have stopped a lot of counting problems that were present with the older machines. She does not expect any changes or challenges to come forth.

Larry Landry has said his team will be examining the tallies from every machine as well as the signatures of those who voted to look for any irregularities. It will only take a swing of 58 votes to turn the election around and give the position to Landry.

The candidates have until Monday, October 13 to challenge the election results.

Be good to yourself,
Westley Annis
westley@da-parish.com
=============================================================
Got Tech Questions? We wrote the book! AnswerSquad
Author of Word Hacks - ORA
Pub. Fall 2003

posted by Westley at 10/11/2003 01:49:58 AM

 
Stephens continues attacking Lynn Deans residency. This past Thursday, Sheriff Jack Stephens requested that Dean's 911 emergency calls be handled by Plaquemines Parish instead of by St. Bernard claiming that Deans primary residence is located 200 feet within the Plaquemines Parish-St. Bernard Parish line.

The Times-Picayune article on the story, Stephens: Unplug Dean, quotes Dean as saying he has heard rumors that the move is another attempt to challenge his legal address. The thought is that if Dean's emergency response is handled by Plaquemines Parish, then Dean must be a resident of Plaquemines Parish and should not be allowed to take office for Council-at-Large if he wins the run-off election against Joe Gallodoro.

In other news for Stephens, Larry Landrys election staff is studying voting records to determine if they can find enough evidence to indicate voted fraud in the Sheriff's race last weekend. The Times-Picayune article has further details.
posted by Westley at 10/11/2003 01:49:33 AM

 
If you missed voting in the October 4 Primary because you weren't registered to vote, nows your chance to fix it. Voter registration for the November 15 run-off election is open until October 15, which is next Wednesday.

You can register at the Registar of Voters office within the St. Bernard Parish Government Complex (first floor, Dr. Meraux and Torres Park corner) or any state mandated office.

To get more information, you can visit the state elections voter registration page here.

The official counting of votes was yesterday and preliminary results show no changes in the winners. The Times-Picayune report mentions four candidates who had representatives present for the counting of votes, but only mentions Larry Landry, challenger to Jack Stevens for Sheriff, who lost by 115 votes, and Senate District One candidates Walter Boasso and Wayne Landry.

Clerk of Court Lena Torres said the new computerized voting machines have stopped a lot of counting problems that were present with the older machines. She does not expect any changes or challenges to come forth.

Larry Landry has said his team will be examining the tallies from every machine as well as the signatures of those who voted to look for any irregularities. It will only take a swing of 58 votes to turn the election around and give the position to Landry.

The candidates have until Monday, October 13 to challenge the election results.

Be good to yourself,
Westley Annis
westley@da-parish.com
=============================================================
Got Tech Questions? We wrote the book! AnswerSquad
Author of Word Hacks - ORA
Pub. Fall 2003

posted by Westley at 10/08/2003 06:43:39 PM

 
Dense Fog alert for St. Bernard and other Metro New Orleans parishes.
---
LAZ038>040-046-049-050-056>070-MSZ077-080>082-061400-ASCENSION-ASSUMP
TION-HANCOCK-HARRISON-IBERVILLE-JACKSON-LIVINGSTON-LWR
JEFFERSON-LWR LAFOURCHE-LWR PLAQUEMINES-LWR ST BERNARD-LWR
TERREBONNE-ORLEANS-PEARL RIVER-ST CHARLES-ST JAMES-ST JOHN THE
BAPTIST-ST TAMMANY-TANGIPAHOA-UPPER JEFFERSON-UPPER LAFOURCHE-UPPER
PLAQUEMINES-UPPER ST BERNARD-UPPER TERREBONNE-WA-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF.BILOXI.GULFPORT.BOGALUSA.
GRAND ISLE.HAMMOND.HOUMA.METAIRIE.NEW ORLEANS.PASCAGOULA.
PICAYUNE.SLIDELL
400 AM CDT MON OCT 6 2003

A DENSE FOG ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PORTION OF SE
LOUISIANA & COASTAL MS UNTIL 9 AM.

WIDESPREAD DENSE FOG THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HRS WILL LIMIT
VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN ONE QUARTER OF A MILE A TIMES.
VISIBILITIES WILL QUICKLY IMPROVE BY MID MORNING.

MOTORISTS SHOULD DRIVE WITH EXTREME CAUTION & ALLOW ADDITIONAL
TRAVEL TIME. USE LOW BEAMS.REDUCE DRIVING SPEED.& ALLOW FOR
PLENTY OF ROOM BETWEEN YOU & OTHER CARS. YOU CAN OVERTAKE ANOTHER
VEHICLE QUICKLY IN POOR VISIBILITIES.SO SLOW DOWN & DRIVE
DEFENSIVELY.

$$

17/18

posted by Westley at 10/06/2003 07:07:14 AM

 
What an interesting turn of events for this election. I'm sure there are a few people scratching their heads wondering what happened and some candidates may still be in a daze.

In Senate District 1, Walter Boasso has narrowly missed winning the seat outright in the primary, missing the 50% + 1 mark by 493 votes. Rough calculations show that counting absentee voting may still have him missing the magic mark by 98 votes.

Wayne Landry was a surprising second place winner and even carried Plaquemines Parish by 1075 votes over Boasso.

Wayne Mumphrey has to be scratching his head this morning. Losing handily in all four parishes. Over 11,000 votes behind Boasso and almost 4,000 votes behind Landry, Mumphrey showed a poor connection with the voting public.

Although I am disappointed that Boasso didn't win out-right, I am extremely happy that Mumphrey polled in behind Landry. Mumphrey is only about the fast buck and milking the state or whoever else he can for every last penny. Thankfully the majority of voters in Senate District 1 recognized this and voted against him.

The Sheriffs race is too close to call. Although last nights number show incumbent Jack Stephens holding on to his position with 115 votes over challenger Larry Landry, these numbers are way to close. I'm sure a manually recount will be done along with counting the absentee ballots. This race is far from over.

From the grapevine, I was told that the mood inside the courthouse was very somber while election returns were being called in. At one point, while Landry was leading in the numbers, a lot of whispering was being done behind closed doors. Once the numbers from Ycloskey were called in, giving Stephens another 3% of vote and putting him over the top, the mood changed. Obviously though, not everyone slept easy last night.

Another rumor floating around is that this will be Stephens last election. Even before the turn of events from last night, it was said that he would not seek another term after this one. Four years is a long time and anything could change. So I wouldn't bet heavily on this one.

Now, the strong polling by Landry does show that Stephens is vulnerable to attack. In four years, if Stephens does run again, hopefully we will have a better choice of candidates. As a friend of mine said, being a Justice of the Peace does not make an insurance agent qualified to be a sheriff, especially one who was suspended as a Justice of the Peace.

The other big race in St. Bernard was for Parish President. What seemed to be the conventional wisdom happened, a runoff between Junior Rodriguez and Scott Wolfe. The runoff election is only thirty days away and this campaign was already turning negative. Expect more of the same.

The question that still burns in my mind, and I'm wondering if it is just the folks I hang out with. Most people I talked with cannot stand Scott Wolfe, but when you look at the people he has supporting him, elected officials and other businessmen, you have to wonder whats going on.

Hopefully, in the next week, I'll have a chance to look at the lawsuit between Scott Wolfe and Rocky Vaccarella. I've gotten a comment from Vaccarella's attorney, but I haven't had the opportunity yet to talk to Wolfe's attorney.

Completing our round-up of the President's race, a strong round of applause should be given to newcomer Kent Diaz. An unknown entry into the race, outspent by thousands of dollars, he still managed to garner 1,689 votes. If he sets his sights a little lower for one of the District seats, he stands a good chance of being elected.

Clay Cosse', with endorsements from the Alliance for Good Government and the Times-Picayune didn't stand a chance it appears. Even if you gave him all of the votes that Diaz won, Cosse' was still almost 500 votes behind Scott Wolfe.

Councilman at Large-East will pit Lynn Dean against Joe Gallodoro in the runoff. I don't know if it is just name recognition or what it is, but Lynn Dean always seems to be able to pull things through with very little signage. Outside of his newspaper ads, I don't think I saw one sign or any other piece of literature for Dean, yet he polled 47% of the vote.

Council District A will have Mark Madary against Ryan Vallee in the run-off.

District B pits Charlie Ponstein against Judy Hoffmeister. Charlie collected 40% of the vote to Judy's 34%. This should be another close election.

Kenny Henderson won handily in District C with 80% of the vote.

Craig Taffaro could be in for a tough race in the runoff against newcomer Tiffany Ingargiola in District D. Craig pulled 40% to Tiffany's 28%, but she may be able to gain some broad appeal to those who voted for Ray Garofalo or Robbie Terminie.

Ricky Melerine maintained his seat in District E with 59% of the vote. Challenger Fred Everhardt could be a shoo-in in four years, depending upon the opposition he pulls since Melerine will not be able to run due to term limits.

This has been a fun election to watch and it should get more interesting as the runoff draws nearer. The only negative comment about the whole night was the lack of coverage for St. Bernard Parish. With luck, I may be able to remedy the situation. Stay tuned....

Be good to yourself,
Westley Annis
westley@da-parish.com
=============================================================
Got Tech Questions? We wrote the book! AnswerSquad
Author of Word Hacks - ORA
Pub. Fall 2003

posted by Westley at 10/05/2003 10:41:13 AM

 
Election Results Posted!

I've got all the election results for St. Bernard Parish and state wide races posted on the web site.

The St. Bernard races show who won out-right and who is in a run-off based on state wide results. This lets you compare how St. Bernard voters agreed with voters throughout the rest of the state. The vote tallies are from St. Bernard precincts only.

The state wide results show all of the races that were voted on in St. Bernard parish, along with the results of that race. The bottom of the page lists the vote tallies by parish for the Senate District 1 race.

Thanks,
Westley Annis
da-parish.com

posted by Westley at 10/05/2003 02:06:12 AM