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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-304128962017-02-22T21:45:00.213-06:00American ZombieIndependent Investigative Journalism and Commentary from New Orleans, LADambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-37770348323328265022017-02-06T22:28:00.002-06:002017-02-10T09:22:20.208-06:00New Orleans Public Belt Railroad - City of New Orleans releases RFQ
The City of New Orleans has issued a Request for Quotation to lease the management of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad in what is being referred to as a public/private endeavor.

Last Wednesday, February 1, 2017, a mandatory pre-bid conference was hosted at City Hall by Ryan Berni, Deputy Mayor of External Affairs for CNO and the mayoral appointee to the NOPB commission. Also present were representatives from KPMG, the firm hired by the City (independently of the Commission) to conduct the evaluation which led to the RFQ.

The room was packed as this Powerpoint presentation was presented to the prospective lease applicants and discussed by Berni and the KPMG team members:

New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Pre-Bid Conference PPT.

Anyone attending the meeting was required to list their name and contact information. That list is here:

New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Pre-Bid Conference attendees

There was a brief question and answer session following the Powerpoint presentation but Berni informed the group that any questions could be submitted to the City's website where they will be publicly answered in an effort to maintain transparency.

He also stated a "cone of silence" has been issued for the NOPB staff and Commission through the RFQ process. I have personally tried to contact the KPMG members heading up the evaluation but I got no response via email. I am assuming they are subject to the City's cone of silence as well.

Many of the questions posed surrounded the complicated contracts and labor agreements the NOPB holds with Class 1 railroads, the NOPB union workers and the Port of New Orleans.

In specific, the labor agreement with the Union was brought up more than once. Berni stated that the City was focused on keeping as many local jobs as possible but that doesn't seem likely if a private company takes over the management of NOPB. The labor agreement seemed to be a point of concern among the prospective buyers, it will almost certainly be on the chopping block if the lease goes through.

Another question which arose was the exact nature of the partnership between the City, the NOPB and the prospective partner. Berni stated that the City is looking for a partner to lease the "operation and asset management transfer" of the NOPB. This subsequently brought up the issue of the property tax exemption the NOPB now enjoys as a public entity and how that would affect the new management entity. Berni replied that "different assets will be attributed differently" in respect to property tax exemption.

Probably the biggest question mark with the RFQ is the nature of the current agreement the NOPB has with the Port of New Orleans. Right now, because the structure of the NOPB is designed to solely serve the Port (not necessarily generate a profit), the Port has a $1/year lease agreement with the railroad. If a private entity takes over the NOPB, that agreement will most likely be renegotiated...if the Port even chooses to do business with the new entity.

There was no clear answer from the City on how the Port and other issues would play out but Berni stated later in the meeting the City was looking for the applicants to propose solutions to the management challenges in their quotes. The unknowns of the Port contract along with the complicated trackage rights issues with Class 1 railroads are going to make any proposal by the private bidders somewhat of a challenge.

One other issue that struck me personally is that there are no safeguards for the existing Port vendors who utilize the NOPB. Berni did state they expect the prospective bidders to be "focused on local customers as opposed to third party entities" but it's not clear how the City would enforce that intent, especially after the current administration exits the stage.

Page 12 of the Powerpoint presentation highlights some of the select transportation and storage warehouse companies who depend on the NOPB.

The multi-million dollar question is how a private entity taking over the NOPB will disrupt, undercut or even bankrupt these existing local businesses. There is no non-compete clause or provision for the prospective manager of the railroad mentioned in the RFQ so the private partner could theoretically build their own warehouses and competing business to cannibalize some or all of the existing businesses in this slide.

In previous posts, I documented some of these business owners' objections to the privatization of the NOPB as well as this RFQ that was just issued by the City.

As of now, the City is planning on choosing a preferred bidder on June 23, 2017.

However, the acceptance of a bid does not guarantee the NOPB Board of Commissioners approving the private/public partnership. They did vote to research the possibility of the lease but they haven't voted on approving a lease as of yet. That factor wasn't brought up in this pre-bid conference but it will have to occur at some point....the Powerpoint schedule states board approval would take place in the Summer of 2017 after the preferred bidder is chosen by the City.

Coming up, I will take a closer look at the Port's relationship with the City and the viability of public/private partnerships the City of New Orleans has executed in the past.

As always, email me with any questions or use the comment section.
Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-38881649553851140122017-01-15T21:31:00.001-06:002017-01-15T21:31:08.583-06:00New Orleans Public Belt Railroad - KPMG Evaluation
Here's an update on what's happening with NOPB and the KPMG evaluation that led the City to decide they would not seek a sale of the Public Belt in lieu of a "Private/Public" partnership to lease the City-owned asset.

In the last post, I introduced an interview I conducted with Mayor Landrieu about his intent to sell and/or lease the NOPB. In that interview I asked him if the company the City had hired to provide an evaluation of the railroad was taking in to account the myriad contract agreements and trackage rights with Class/Tier 1 railroad companies the NOPB had developed over the past 100+ years since it's inception.

I didn't get a very clear answer...from the Mayor or his appointee to the NOPB Commission, Ryan Berni.

NOPB - Complications in trackage rights, etc. from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

I don't have the full evaluation from KPMG but I do have an abbreviated version and it states that it was created under the assumption that existing"rights and leases" would remain intact.

That is quite an assumption.

I have not seen the full KPMG evaluation but it appears they did not address the complications of "clear title" to the NOPB's assets and operations.

Here is the abbreviated KPMG Evaluation material I currently have:

KPMG Evaluation

Upcoming...In our interview, I asked Mayor Landrieu about the wisdom of selling off City assets, his affinity for public/private partnerships and his strategy of "bully politics" when it comes to appointments to public boards, e.g., Wisner.

Coming soon...stay tuned.

Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-1827569418107001742016-11-30T10:23:00.001-06:002016-11-30T11:57:12.218-06:00New Orleans Public Belt Railroad - Interview with Mayor Mitch Landrieu - Part 1
At the end of August, Mayor Landrieu made good on his offer to allow me an interview with him regarding the fate of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad. The interview lasted an hour and I'm going to break it up in to sections on a few, possibly three, posts.

In this first sound byte, I asked the Mayor why he seemed so intent on selling and/or leasing the NOPB when nearly all of the other stakeholders, including the main stakeholder - The Port of New Orleans, were adamantly opposed to changing the status quo of the entity established over a century ago. He quickly corrected me stating that his intent was not necessarily to sell the NOPB but to get an evaluation of the entity as a City asset:

NOPB - Mayor Landrieu - reasoning behind KPMG evaluation from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

The KPMG evaluation was delivered to the City a couple of weeks ago and in the last Board of Commissioners meeting the Mayor's representative on the Board, Ryan Berni, announced that the evaluation did not recommend a sale. However, it did recommend either entering a public/private partnership for the lease of the Public Belt to be managed by a private company or maintaining the status quo of the NOPB with the City making improvements to the line in a yet to be determined agreement with the NOPB.

Berni then informed the Board that an RFP will be floated by the City to determine interest in the public/private lease option.

As I've posted previously, the Public Belt was originally designed to be a kind of market regulator for the Port of New Orleans. It was never designed to be a profit-generating entity. The Belt is a unique municipal asset among American cities in that it was created as a public entity to control rail costs for merchants looking to do business with the Port of New Orleans.

In that respect, many of the businesses that have invested in New Orleans, such as warehouses located along the NOPB line, built their investments on the premise that the rail lines connecting the Port to the Tier 1 railroads would remain in the public realm. By privatizing the Public Belt (even as a public/private lease) a private company would immediately look at ways to gain a competitive advantage and subsequently pose a potential threat to the bottom line of not just the ancillary companies serving the Port but the Port itself.

Twisted Tracks

In the nearly 116 years since the NOPB's inception, some very complicated agreements with the Class 1 railroads have sprung up along with murky, undefined trackage rights. The most notable is a Joint Maintenance Agreement for the Huey P. Long Bridge involving The State of Louisiana, the NOPB (City of N.O.) and two private Tier 1 companies: BNSF and Union Pacific. .

(For reference and the sake of brevity, I will list some of the main issues at the bottom of the thread for those who want to dig through them.)

In the interview, I asked both the Mayor and Ryan Berni if the KPMG evaluation was taking into account these myriad contract agreements and trackage rights issues that have developed over the last century surrounding the Public Belt and if it was even possible to create an accurate evaluation without understanding and unraveling these complications:

NOPB - Complications in trackage rights, etc. from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

I have not yet obtained a copy of the KPMG evaluation but have reached out to representatives from the company for comment. I am not sure if the evaluation did take in to account any, all or none of the agreements of which I queried Mayor Landrieu and Berni.

In the meeting last week, Port stakeholders voiced their opposition to the public/private lease option and even the release of the RFP, stating it was creating a market disruption for future investment and business in the Port. Berni dismissed the concern, noting that the NOPB just turned in a record month.

Also in the meeting, a letter was read from an attorney who represents the Tier 1 companies, Carmac M. Blackmon, esq., voicing the national rail carriers opposition to the public/private lease of the NOPB.

The dissent of the Tier 1 companies is disconcerting. If these companies such as BNSF and Union Pacific decide to play hardball on the trackage rights issues upon the NOPB being leased to a private company, it could lead to a protracted legal battle with the City resulting in the NOPB losing access to portions of the NOPB line. Worse, it could lead to some or many of the Tier 1 companies deciding to pull out of New Orleans completely, creating a significant disruption in Port business and operations.

I asked the Mayor if he was concerned about the effect the potential sale/lease of the NOPB was having on the Port, I will address that issue in the next post.

Contractual Issues surrounding the New Orleans Public Belt (not a definitive list):

- The NOPB has twelve agreements with Canadian National Railway that range from trackage rights, customer service and wharfs, intermodal, and interlocker usage and maintenance. Canadian National actually owns a portion of the NOPB mainline that allows the NOPB to use for free.

- The NOPB has three agreements with CSX Railroad regarding trackage rights, track maintenance, and signal maintenance of the Almonaster Bridge over the Industrial Canal which lies on the CSX mainline.

- BNSF has trackage rights from Avondale, over the Huey P. Long, all the way to Gentilly.

- The Huey P. Long Bridge is under a Joint Maintenance Agreement between BNSF, Union Pacific, the State of Louisiana and the NOPB. It is unclear how the two Tier 1 rail companies would react to a private company taking over maintenance and full access to the bridge of which they have an ownership interest.

- The City would have to get federal approval from the Surface Transportation Board to lease the NOPB.

- Will the City protect the labor union jobs if the NOPB is leased to a private company? Currently the NOPB supports about 160 high paying jobs. How many of these jobs will be eliminated if a private company runs the Belt?

- Local stakeholders have existing agreements and contracts with the NOPB. Will these contracts be honored and if so for how long?

- The lease of the NOPB could greatly affect the New Orleans Gateway, particularly the highly trafficked French Quarter. As of now, the City has ultimate control over the union workers that operate the NOPB and can control issues surrounding highly trafficked tourism events such as Mardi Gras. The introduction of a private company could negate much of the control the City exercises over the rail usage and interfere with high volume events. Especially if the Tier 1 companies choose to exercise their own trackage rights and bypass the NOPB altogether.

- Under current state laws, the NOPB and the City do not share revenue, expenses, or legal liability. How will these issues be resolved and will it require changes to law on the state level?

- Currently the NOPB is exempt from property and sales tax. Would these exemptions be eliminated if a private company runs the Belt and if so how would that affect the cost of business for the Belt and subsequently the Port?

Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-39211700229709920522016-11-18T02:30:00.003-06:002016-11-19T11:53:20.805-06:00New Orleans Public Belt Railroad - November 2016 Commissioners Meeting
The long awaited KPMG analysis has finally been completed and turned in to the City. Today at the monthly Board of Commissioners meeting Mayoral Representative Ryan Berni announced that the analysis recommends not selling the Public Belt but does recommend entering a public/private partnership to manage the railroad. He went on to announce that the city would put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) and expected a decision to be made between 3 and 7 months:

Public Belt Railroad - Ryan Berni reports on City's decision regarding the outcome of the KPMG report from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

During public comment a handful of stakeholders once again objected to changing the status quo of the NOPB and the issuing of the RFP. One comment led to a somewhat contentious exchange between David Kearney, President of the Kearny Companies, Inc. and Ryan Berni starting at about the 4:40 mark:

Public Belt Railroad - Public Comment on KPMG report and announcment of Public-Private Partnership RFP from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

I didn't have a lot of time to comment tonight because I have some real world work to knock out but I plan on making some more in-depth posts over the weekend including publishing some excerpts from an interview with Mayor Landrieu about the status of the Public Belt. He was kind of enough to grant me an audio interview about the NOPB back in September.

More to come.
Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-1587294225224853212016-10-28T20:18:00.000-05:002016-11-03T23:35:35.100-05:00Caroline Fayard...keepin' it classy
I really had every intention of keeping my opinion to myself during this Senate race....I swear. I have been admittedly absent from the AZ world, even though I have some upcoming stories on the Public Belt I've been working on. Including an interview with Mayor Landrieu regarding his perspective of the issue.

As my readers know, I've written extensively about Caroline Fayard's father, Calvin Fayard, in respect to his role as a plaintiff steering committee attorney with the BP oil spill settlement and as one of the law firms who bullied their way in to the Wisner Trust oil spill settlement. While Caroline did play a part in both stories, especially the Wisner drama, I figured I would just let the stories speak for themselves if anyone wanted to read about it.

Then Fayard announced she was opposed to the lawsuit the state is filing against oil and gas companies to hold them accountable for the damage they've done to our state's coast. She said, "It's very easy for politicians and people to say, 'Let's just sue. Litigation's expensive. It's costly. It's time consuming. And there's no guarantees."

I literally spit coffee on my keyboard the first time I read that.

Still....I had nothing to say.

Now...well...now...her campaign went and did this absurd, tasteless bullshit:

Caroline Fayard chooses to continue running David Duke-themed anti-Foster Campbell ad, loses Alliance for Good Government endorsement

After she accused Campbell's campaign of being focused on attacking her family:

An act of desperation? Absolutely...and a pathetic one at that. But the blowback has been swift and merciless leaving even the little, penny-ante sycophants running for cover (i could link that but I won't).

There's only so much sanctimony and hypocrisy a zombie can take, homeys.

Sooooo.....let me remind you of a little Vanity Fair article that was published back in June of 2006 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

It showcased Carloline's father, Calvin, playing Billy Joe Baddass in the front yard of his multi-million dollar wedding cake house (paid for with litigation that doesn't always work).

The online version of the story doesn't have the photos that were included in the magazine edition but luckily Zombie has a scanner.

Who you gonna shoot, Rambo?

Look at those swingin' dicks with their thousand dollar suits and Remington shotguns just waitin' for a "thug" to try and loot their mansion.

Finger on the trigger...judges on speed dial.

Here's the corresponding paragraph to the picture:

Some of the city's richest residents stepped into the breach, taking security into their own hands. In New Orleans's upscale Uptown neighborhood, well-heeled and well-armed property owners, sometimes with security guards to assist them, kept possible looters at bay, carrying firearms openly in their neighborhoods and looking after neighbors' homes and valuables—even keeping a close watch on friends' irreplaceable art collections. Attorney Calvin Fayard—one of the region's major political fund-raisers for the Democratic Party, and the owner of the so-called Wedding Cake House, one of the city's grand mansions—would remain at home and on guard with a coterie of like-minded friends. Some would use their powerboats to rescue the marooned. Their neighbors would dine on gourmet food from nearby specialty stores. Some would bathe in their stagnant swimming pools. One or two would take the opportunity to fly by helicopter to the office to shred potentially sensitive business documents—to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands, should law and order break down altogether.

It cracks me up that he actually posed for this photo...replete with sunglasses and Armani, Perlis, (whatever) suit. He must have been really proud of himself. And something tells me even though Brinkley buried "Some would use their powerboats to rescue the marooned" in the middle of the paragraph as a compassionate caveat, Calvin was most likely not in that number.

Fayard's campaign is trying desperately to associate Foster Campbell with something racist. Meanwhile, her Pops was flaunting that bullshit in Vanity Fair during the most vulnerable period this city ever experienced.

Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-19027078354562387502016-08-29T23:28:00.001-05:002016-08-29T23:28:40.364-05:00AZ shows in the Gambit blog trifecta
A big shout out to whoever voted for AZ in the Gambit "Best Blogger Poll". AZ came in third behind a Mommy blog and a really smokin' hot Asian model selling some trendy girlie stuff.

Mommies should always come first so that's right and as luck would have it, I'm married to a smokin' Asian model, myself. So, I'm very happy with the Show in this horse race. In fact, on reflection I think I won the trifecta.

The honor is humbling considering I took an extended hiatus since November to try and justify why the hell I keep doing this. I don't have an answer for that so don't expect one.

Thank you Gambit voters, much love. I will buy all of you a drink....just hit me up.
Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-72001314455506578892016-08-26T21:37:00.001-05:002016-08-26T21:37:32.407-05:00New Orleans Public Belt Railroad - City Contract with KPMGI'm away from my computer but I wanted to post the KPMG contract the City just issued for $55,000 to complete the option for sale of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad.

When you read this keep in mind the contractor, KPMG, stands to make a multi-million dollar windfall on the potential sale. This conflict issue has not been addressed by the City or the Mayor...so they just knowingly issued a contract with this vendor fully aware that the conflict exists. It's one of the main reasons the NOPB Commission voted to remove the option for sale from the original evaluation back in the June meeting.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_luXzivu6fJQjJDcml2MVRhVDQ

Incidentally Emily Sneed Arata was approved by City Council to replace Kyle Wedberg in yesterday's CC meeting.
Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-14193940291348995922016-08-19T18:08:00.000-05:002016-08-24T22:45:26.385-05:00New Orleans Public Belt Railroad - A Mayoral Reminder
On July 7, 2016, at a District C Budget meeting in Algiers, I asked Mayor Mitch Landrieu about his intentions to sell The New Orleans Public Belt Railroad, an asset of the City of New Orleans since the turn of the 20th century. His full reply is in the preceding post but I want to draw your attention to this particular sound byte:

New Orleans Public Belt Railroad - Mayor Landrieu quote on who appointed the Commission members from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

Transcript:

"Now Public Belt Railroad is an independent board…I make some of the appointments, the Governor makes some…and they forget who appointed them and say they want to do whatever they want to do."
The quote seems to be contradictory. If the NOPB Commission is an "independent" board is it their responsibility to serve the interests of the entity itself or to serve at the leisure of the Mayor as he implied at the end of the statement?

Last week Public Belt Railroad Commissioner and President/CEO of New Orleans Center for the Arts, Kyle Wedberg, abruptly resigned his position on the Public Belt Railroad Commission. I emailed Wedberg today to seek comment on the reason he left the Commission at such a critical juncture but I have received no reply as of yet. His handpicked replacement could sway the balance of power in a future decision to sell the NOPB.

Wedberg's commission position was one of three Mayoral appointments allotted to the Mayor on the nine-person entity.

In the June 23rd NOPB Commission meeting, Wedberg was the one who originally made the motion to remove the option for sale from an evaluation being created by the company hired by the Commission to evaluate the Public Belt's worth, KPMG, after hearing the objections of major business interests that rely on the NOPB including The Port of New Orleans representatives. The motion was subsequently voted on and passed but the Commission representative for the Mayor, Ryan Berni, informed the Commission that the City would move ahead with the valuation for sale even if they had to pay for it out of City coffers.

Last week the City made good on that promise and contracted KPMG independently of the Commission to complete the valuation for sale of the Public Belt. The estimated cost to complete it was valued at about $50,000.

According to an off-the-record source, French based New Orleans RTA contractor Veolia Transportation has expressed interest in purchasing NOPB if the option for sale is eventually passed.

A source also suggested that the Mayor may be replacing Wedberg's commission position with long-time Landrieu cofnidante, Emily Sneed Arata. Arata has worked in some capacity with Mayor Landrieu since his tenure as Lt. Governor, including serving as Deputy Mayor of Communications under his first Mayoral term. Sneed left her stint with the City in January of 2016 to take a job with Ochsner Health Systems.

I contacted Arata to confirm or deny her appointment but have yet to receive a reply.

I confirmed through NOPB officials that the Mayor can fill Wedberg's vacated position on the Commission at his own discretion if his candidate is approved by City Council.

The appointment could prove to be the deciding factor on whether or not the Public Belt is offered up for sale.

If you are new to AZ, I would suggest you take some time to go back and read my reporting on Mayor Landrieu's efforts to seize full control of the Wisner Trust back in 2013, there are striking similarities in the story of that partially-owned city asset and what's unfolding now with NOPB:

Starting here:

American Zombie: The Wisner Fund - Battle for the Bayou - Part I

American Zombie: The Wisner Fund - Battle for the Bayou - Part 2

Unfortunately Blogger does not have the greatest ability for searching past posts in a chronological fashion but if you have further interest in the story you can read more simply by typing in "Wisner" in the search field window:

http://www.theamericanzombie.com/search?q=wisner

Or you can simply ask me in the Comments section.

Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-34780645922220007602016-07-14T18:31:00.000-05:002016-08-21T13:30:06.987-05:00New Orleans Public Belt Railroad - Destination Unknown

Right around the turn of the 20th century, at the height of the Gilded Age, when the rise of railroads were creating monopolies and wealth the likes of which this country had never seen...New Orleans found itself in a dilemma.

The City's greatest asset, The Port of New Orleans, was completely dependent upon rail service to carry goods back and forth across the country.

The ownership of rail services in the city limits had fractured to the point where freight merchants were being charged multiple times to get their goods to and from the Port. The railroad lines in the City were gouging the merchants and city officials recognized this could endanger the business viability of the Port.

In an effort to address the problem, The City of New Orleans Municipal Affairs Committee conceived the idea of a city-owned belt railroad system to bypass the fractious local lines, thereby ensuring price regulation and preventing gouging by multiple "gatekeepers".

On August 7, 1900, City of New Orleans Ordinance 2683 was enacted under Mayor Paul Capdevielle, creating the "New Orleans Public Belt Railroad" to be publicly funded and built by 1915. The organizational structure stated that NOPB would be governed by a Board of Commissioners comprising sixteen "tax paying citizens".

Established in 1900, the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad currently maintains
25 miles of main track and 97 miles of yard track

Construction began in 1905 and by 1908 the NOPB was up and running with one locomotive. By 1921 the Louisiana legislature set forth a master plan for the NOPB that was eventually enacted into law by 1976.

In 1916, the state legislature also passed a constitutional amendment that granted the City, through the Public Belt, the right to build a bridge providing rail passage across the Mississippi River. After many starts and stops due to lack of funding during the Great Depression, the Huey P. Long bridge was fully funded in 1932 by an agreement between the City/NOPB, the State of Louisiana and a private investor, the Southern Pacific Railroad. The first train crossed the bridge in 1935.

The NOPB ran smoothly over the past century...with multiple expansions that coincided with the general growth of industry in the Port.

Going off the rails

In 2010, FOX 8 investigative reporter Lee Zurik uncovered rampant self-dealing within the NOPB Governance centering around then General Manager, Jim Bridger.

Bridger was using the NOPB and its assets, luxury rail cars, as his own personal slush fund to wine and dine his friends, even taking expensive vacations on the NOPB dime. Bridger eventually pleaded guilty to violating state ethics laws and was forced to pay out close to $20,000 in fines and restitution.

It was a serious black eye for the Public Belt which had just spent a lot of money in 2007, under Bridger's tenure, renovating their Tchoupitoulas Street Headquarters while the rest of the City was still picking up the pieces from the Federal Flood of 2005.

More than one corrupt head rolled in New Orleans government in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and while Bridger's wasn't the most high profile Post-K scandal, it left a stain on the NOPB as a public institution.

Immediately after the scandal unfolded, recently elected Mayor Mitch Landrieu was quick to condemn Bridger and eventually called for the resignation of all fifteen commissioners.

That happened in short order and within a month Landrieu had reinvented the Commission with only nine Commissioners instead of the required sixteen as mandated in CNO Ordinance 2683 from 1900. The Mayor then had a bill pushed through the 2011 state legislative session, retroactively ratifying his decision to decrease the commissioners from sixteen to nine.

In the very first meeting after his overhaul of the Commission, with his new handpicked commissioners in place, Landrieu began suggesting the Public Belt's corporate governance was "outdated" and that the entity should be sold, leased or at the very least managed by a private entity.

Alluding to the Bridger scandal, the Mayor told the Times-Picayune, "We need to convince the people of New Orleans that this asset is being used for their benefit."

The Public Belt's Mission

Truth be told, the majority of New Orleanians have no idea what the Public Belt does, much less whether or not it serves the public interest. While it is a publicly owned entity, it was not designed to "serve the public".

It was designed to serve The Port of New Orleans, solely.

It was not created to be a profit-driven market-responsive enity. To the contrary, it was designed to be a publicly-owned market regulator that ensures the future success of the City's main cash cow, the Port.

In that capacity, the Public Belt has become a market "bubble" that private companies who rely on it have built their businesses around, assuming it would stay static.

Landrieu puts the wheels in motion

Last Fall, at the behest of the Mayor, the NOPB Commission issued an RFP (Request for Proposal) to conduct an assessment of the entity along with a valuation for possible sale.

National accounting firm, KPMG, which has a New Orleans office, won the bid and is expected to complete its official survey by late August/early September. While the official report is still a work in progress, this is a Powerpoint Presentation detailing a financial analysis of the NOPB delivered to the Commission this year by KPMG:

KPMG PPT Presentation 2016

The initial estimate places the valuation of the NOPB somewhere between $61 million to $196 million.

Committee hits the brakes

Last month, June 23rd, the NOPB Commission held a public meeting to discuss the ongoing KPMG assessment and potential sale, or lease, of the entity. Numerous stakeholders who rely on the Public Belt showed up at the meeting and voiced their opposition to the potential sale or lease, hence privatization, of the entity.

One of those voicing their concern was David Kearney, President of The Kearney Companies, a warehouse and logistics operation company on the Public Belt line and the second largest customer of the NOPB in respect to volume and revenue. Kearney is worried about the effect the mere speculation of a potential sale is having on future business development along the Public Belt, by his company and others.

Jack Jensen, President of the largest customer of the NOPB, TCI Companies, a plastics packaging provider, not only voiced his opposition to the potential sale but called for a halt to the KPMG assessment.

Jack Jensen, President, TCI Companies from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

David Schulingkamp, President Pro Tempore of the NOPB Board of Commissioners, asked Jensen exactly how the ongoing assessment and speculation of sale was disrupting TCI and other stakeholder's businesses.

Jack Jensen, President, TCI Companies - 2 from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

The main concern seems to be the market disruption that privatizing, or even partially privatizing, the NOPB would create. As Jensen noted, it could give rise to a possible monopoly in the services industry surrounding the Port. A future private owner of the NOPB could build their own warehouses along the line and undercut existing businesses like Kearney's and Jensen's, giving it an unfair advantage in the market.

A Buyer?

One potential buyer who has made his interest known is New Orleans businessman Thomas Coleman, former CEO of International Matex Tank Terminals, a liquid storage facility established by his father, James Coleman, Sr. in 1939. The company was sold by Thomas two years ago for $1 billion dollars in cash. Coleman also happens to be the father-in-law of John Georges, who owns The Advocate.

Ryan Berni, The Mayor's representative on the NOPB, suggested another possible buyer: The Port of New Orleans itself. However, at the NOPB June meeting the rumor was put to rest by Michael W. Kearney, Vice-President of the the Board of Commissioners for the Port of New Orleans and former President of the aforementioned Kearny Companies.

Michael Kearney, Vice-President, Board of Commissioners, Port of New Orleans from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

More self dealing?

Shortly after the Commission heard public comment - which was overwhelmingly, in fact totally, opposed to the sale or lease of the NOPB - the commissioners had an intense discussion on whether or not they should move forward with the KPMG study.

In that conversation, David Schulingkamp, President Pro Tempore of the Commission, noted that KPMG had a vested interest in the sale of the NOPB and stood to potentially make up to $6 million if the Commission decided to sell. He stated that he had asked KPMG to waive the possibility of receiving the $6 million if the NOPB sale occurred but a KPMG company representative declined that request.

Commissioner Ruthie Frierson also replied to Bonura stating "To me, it is a conflict."

Not for sale

Taking into account the concern among the private stakeholders in the room, Commissioner Kyle Wedberg then made a motion to go ahead and move forward with the KPMG evaluation but demanded the finished product within sixty days of the meeting date (June 23, 2016) in order to allay the uncertainty the stakeholders are facing with future business decisions they claim are dependent upon the status quo of the NOPB...business dealings ranging in the 100's of millions of dollars.

More importantly, Wedberg moved to completely strike the motion for sale from the evaluation.

Ryan Berni then stated that the City would move forward with the full evaluation, including the option for sale, in spite of any decision the Commission made to have it removed. I asked him about this after the meeting and he said the Mayor had "an obligation to the public" to assess the property's value and consider a sale, irrespective of the Commission's decision to exclude that option.

To date the NOPB has spent $267,000 on the KPMG study. To move forward with the assessment another $50,000 is required. Ryan Berni told the Commission that the City is prepared to foot that bill independently of the NOPB Commission if necessary.

The motion to eliminate the option for sale from the assessment was subsequently approved by a vote of the Commission.

OK....maybe it is for sale?

Mayor Landrieu seems intent on moving forward with the valuation for sale of the NOPB in spite of the Commission's decision.

On Thursday, July 7th, I attended a City Budget Meeting for District C at the Alice Harte Charter School on the West Bank. I asked the Mayor about his original impetus to sell the Public Belt and, now that the Commission had voted to strike the option to sell, would he honor the Commission's decision. This was his response.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu on Public Belt Railroad from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

I'm going to stop here. It's interesting the Mayor threw out Warren Buffet's name. I'm not sure if he's suggesting Buffett is interested in purchasing the NOPB or if he was simply using him as an example of a private railroad investor.

Much more to come, including what a NOPB sale might look like and if it's even feasible...stay tuned.

Correction: In the original post I said Commissioner Ruthie Frierson noted that KPMG stood to potentially make up to $6 million on the sale of the Public Belt. It was actually David Schulingkamp who pointed that out after a question was posed to the Commission by Chris Bonura, Director of Business Development for the Port of New Orleans. Frierson was the first person to respond to Bonura's question and stated it appeared to be a conflict, Schulingkamp then brought up that KPMG stood to make $6 million from the potential sale. I have corrected this in the post and I here is the actual conversation (note: the audio is very low and difficult to hear which is why I did not include it in the original story).

Committee discussion on KPMG from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-19015350458281606832016-04-21T11:47:00.003-05:002016-04-21T11:47:42.159-05:00Almost the season
Obviously I haven't been doing a lot of work here on AZ but that will soon change. I made the decision last year to put my journalism efforts on the shelf during the busiest months of the year where I actually make money (video production and webcasting)....October through May.

Once Jazzfest is over I plan on kicking back into gear for a bloggerific summer.

I have a couple of stories I've been researching and I can't wait to get back in the saddle so stay tuned.

Ashe'.
Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-59267786344139836312016-03-19T13:52:00.002-05:002016-03-19T13:52:24.727-05:00Vice - Weediquette: The War on Weed
Vice did one amazing job, as usual, with this short documentary on how our state handles criminals convicted of marijuana possession. It also touches on how our state's prison system works. Take forty minutes out of your day and watch this story Louisiana peeps.

Weediquette - The War on Weed
Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-63682197635719227152016-03-16T13:07:00.001-05:002016-03-16T13:07:22.792-05:00PSA - Stop jailing innocent people

Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-58840166883418900842016-03-08T20:48:00.001-06:002016-03-08T21:17:01.308-06:00PSA - Help Billy Nungesser retire his debt(s)

If anyone has 5k sitting around, that race for Lt. Gov. must have cost a fortune. Billy Nungesser needs your cash:

Dear Friend:

On Wednesday evening, March 30th we will be hosting a special campaign debt retirement event for newly elected Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser. The event will take place in Uptown New Orleans from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

We would like to cordially invite you to become a co-host for this important event as we seek to honor Billy and help retire the debt incurred in his successful campaign for the state's second highest elected post.

As a Gold Committee Host we would ask that you commit to a contribution of $5000 (corporate or personal funds). As a Silver Committee Host a commitment of $2500 (corporate or personal) is requested. If you have already supported Billy but have not given the maximum contribution, you may use this event to reach your campaign maximum level and still qualify as a host.

Billy's leadership in the state's tourism and hospitality, arts and culture and commercial seafood industries makes him critically important to our state's economic and cultural vitality.

Please respond via return email or by telephone at 504-524-3342 by Wednesday, March 9th to ensure that you are included in our event invitation.

On behalf of Billy and his wife Cher, we thank you in advance for your participation and support.

Virginia C. Miller
Donald "Boysie" Bollinger
Greg J. Beuerman Gary Solomon
David Kerstein

As soon as this event is over and successful, I'd like to host another party for Lt. Governor Nungesser to help retire the debt he left on Canal Street back in the 90's.

The sheer cost of replacing sheets was a budget killer for JM, I would love to host a fundraiser to help her recoup the "debt" Billy left...behind...

Let me know if anyone has any ideas on a party theme. I know I have a couple.

BTW, Billy is currently lobbying New Orleans City Council members to vote against Councilperson Susan Guidry's proposed changes to lessen criminal charges against marijuana possession. Seems like he should be busy working on the duties of the Lt. Governor's office he stated in his solicitation above....Louisiana tourism and hospitality....instead of sticking his nose in city matters.

Having some knowledge of the Lt. Governor's past, I have a hard time believing he has a personal vendetta against marijuana users but...hey...politics is a fickle bitch.

Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-60811280404155898442016-02-23T23:16:00.003-06:002016-02-23T23:16:51.555-06:00
State lawmakers reportedly discussing legalizing marijuana

Lt. Governor doesn't think it sends the right message.

Who woulda thunk it?
Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-89982729352450038382016-01-31T01:43:00.000-06:002016-01-31T01:43:40.685-06:00Mardi Gras: Adopt - A - Cop
It's carnival time and please keep in mind all the folks in blue that bust their ass to make this show work.

Please donate to the Mardi Gras Adopt-a-Cop campaign sponsored by the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation.

No one does crowd control like NOPD, OPSO, JPSO, etc., ....let 'em know we appreciate it.
Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-88137699189271483542016-01-26T01:25:00.001-06:002016-01-26T01:26:24.050-06:00
01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100001 01101100 01101100 01111001 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100101 01101110 01101111 01110101 01100111 01101000 00101100 00100000 01110011 01101011 01101001 01110000 01110000 01111001
Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-52619057977367600802016-01-14T17:51:00.003-06:002016-01-14T17:51:46.032-06:00After The Spill - Friday, January 22, 7pm, Joy Theater - New Orleans

Folks who read AZ know I've covered a lot of ground here regarding the effects of the BP oil spill on Louisiana and the good people of the Gulf. I am extremely proud to have contributed to this film made by one of the best documentary filmmakers on this blue marble, Jon Bowermaster.

I didn't have the opportunity to see the premiere in Baton Rouge but I've heard it's the definitive story on how the oil spill has affected the people and ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico.

You can get tickets from the Joy Theater in advance (recommended as the Baton Rouge showing sold out). You can also call 504-528-9569.

Unfortunately I can't make it as I took a job out of town next week. There is another showing coming up in Lafayette I am going to try and make.

Enjoy!
Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-48844742653130077112015-12-26T20:08:00.001-06:002015-12-26T21:45:10.588-06:00David Vitter - Update on ethics complaint
As promised, I filed an ethics complaint against private investigator and attorney Wes Bearden for suborning perjury against me during the gubernatorial election. I filed complaints with both the State Bar of Texas and the Louisiana State Bar Association. Both complaints and the supplemental material should have arrived to the entities by December 14, 2015.

I have not heard back from either State Bar Association but I hope to at least receive confirmation of my complaints soon...I will keep you posted.

Here is the letter I sent to both entities:

Office of the Disciplinary Counsel
Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board

4000 S. Sherwood Forest Blvd, Suite 607

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70816

My name is Jason Brad Berry, an independent journalist from New Orleans, Louisiana and author of The American Zombie blog. My blog focuses on government corruption issues within the city of New Orleans and state of Louisiana.

On October 17th of 2015, I published a story and video interview of a former prostitute, Wendy Ellis (also known as Wendy Cortez), that was associated with United States Senator David Vitter, then a candidate in the Louisiana Gubernatorial race.

Shortly after publishing this story, within one week, I noticed I was being followed by a man in a silver Ford Focus. This individual would later be arrested at a coffee shop in Metairie, Louisiana attempting to record conversations between Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand, another private investigator Danny Denoux and businessman/retired attorney John Cummings. The event was highly publicized and the man, Robert J. Frenzel, admitted to working for the Dallas based private investigation firm, Bearden and Associates. After being contacted by Sheriff Normand, the owner of Bearden and Associates, Wes Bearden, informed the sheriff that his firm was hired by David Vitter's campaign to spy on me, Jason Berry, as well as the gentlemen in the coffee shop.

As a result of the arrest, JPSO deputies seized Fresnel's vehicle and the video recording device he was using to record the gentlemen in the coffee shop. During a press conference held on November 10, 2015, Sheriff Normand informed the public that the technical staff at the sheriff's office was able to recover numerous recordings off the device including video of me, Jason Berry, at my house.

Of particular note, they found a video recording of Wes Bearden, himself, meeting with an unnamed woman, supposedly a former friend of Wendy Ellis, at the International House of Pancakes (IHOP) restaurant in Hammond, Louisiana. According to Sheriff Normand, in the recorded interview, Bearden was attempting to get the woman to sign an affidavit that stated I, Jason Brad Berry, had paid her and possibly others to lie about Wendy Ellis's relationship with Senator David Vitter. According to Normand, at one point in the interview the woman stated that a fact wasn't true and Bearden replied, "Well, it's kind of true".

I have never paid any source on any story I have ever written, I will state this under oath. Not only did I not pay this woman, I never met or spoke with her. It is unclear if Bearden wrote this affidavit for her and had her sign it or she wrote it herself but according to the Vitter campaign the affidavit, and possibly others, were turned into the Federal Bureau of Investigation as legal evidence to persuade an investigation into my work and stories related to him on my blog.

Sheriff Normand suggested Bearden provided the woman with the written affidavit himself and was coaching her to "fill in the blanks".

In a Baton Rouge press event Senator Vitter also stated that his campaign had turned in affidavit(s), two or more, to the FBI. I have reason to believe Mr. Bearden may have contacted multiple sources I had previously spoken with while researching my story and coerced them to sign false affidavits. I also have reason to believe Wes Bearden may have paid, or provided something of value to, the woman he met with at the IHOP in Hammond in order to get her to sign the false affidavit. I believe he may have done this with other people as well.

Wes Bearden is an attorney who holds a legal license in both Louisiana and Texas. According to the campaign finance records for David Vitter's 2015 campaign, his company, Bearden and Associates, was being paid for "legal fees" not private investigation services.

After speaking with an attorney, it is my understanding that not only has Wes Bearden committed a possible crime by suborning perjury and turning in false affidavits to a federal entity, he has most certainly committed an ethical violation as an attorney in both the state of Louisiana and the state of Texas. Please consider this letter a formal complaint to the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board in respect to Wes Bearden's action of suborning perjury against me as a journalist and potentially submitting falsified affidavits to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

I am available to discuss the matter at your convenience, thank you for your consideration.

Jason Berry

I also provided both ODC boards with MP4 video files of Sheriff Normand's press conference where he describes the video recording of Bearden attempting to persuade an unnamed woman to sign pre-prepared false affidavit and "fill in the blanks".

You can watch that for yourself on WDSU's website here:

http://www.wdsu.com/news/watch-sheriff-normand-discusses-arrest-of-private-investigator-hired-by-vitter-campaign/36373976

The relevant part is at about the 25:00 mark.

* please note the content on this website is protected under a Creative Commons license. Please refer to the nature of that license or contact me at email@example.com if you have any questions as to the fair use of content on the blog.

Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-85089578486351666532015-12-22T14:51:00.004-06:002015-12-22T14:52:17.101-06:00I love Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald Talks Freelancing and the Future of Investigative Journalism

"You have to remember why you went into journalism and realize that the only way you're going to be a valuable journalist is if you follow your passion and preserve your journalistic integrity. Which means never compromising what you think or say because of money. The minute you start compromising what you think or say because of money, you're going to be some shitty Politico columnist or something. If you want to avoid falling to the level of Politico, which I think every decent person by definition does, you have to be willing to alienate even the people who are funding you. Most of all, negotiate from the very start with whoever funds you your full and absolute right to have journalistic independence. Never let anybody interfere with the things you want to do and say. That's the number one rule for everything."
Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-70548331330139667532015-11-22T13:52:00.001-06:002015-11-22T13:52:57.109-06:00The donation stationGladly accepting them on the PayPal button over there>>>>>>>>>>>

Thank you to the folks who have donated already, it's greatly appreciated.

And a big shout out to GNOR...I'll be sure to check in with you on how much I get, I know you guys are really worried about that. And let me know when you want me to post that Nungesser video, it's queued up and ready to go.
Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-59879067736591424452015-11-17T19:09:00.002-06:002015-11-17T20:58:44.217-06:00David Vitter - a stalking obsession

You know, I have great solution to this.

I've got these guys tracking me....they're called Bearden and Associates....Senator Vitter is paying for it....I'll agree to check in every 6 hours or so and give his campaign updates on what I'm doing (mostly working on my golf game) and he can just use Bearden to track this renegade Syrian, his own wife, Wendy Vitter, helped bring in to Baton Rouge.

Do we have a deal, Dave? Everyone wins...of course I don't mean the election...I just mean in the interim.

Actually, I will have my tech friends create an app that will track my location in real time, via GPS, and even let the public track me. Will you play along, Senator?
Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-31838367456355182882015-11-13T18:47:00.000-06:002015-11-13T20:50:56.386-06:00David Vitter - Manufacturing Dissent
http://www.wdsu.com/news/watch-sheriff-normand-discusses-arrest-of-private-investigator-hired-by-vitter-campaign/36373976

I'm not making a partisan statement but I want to post this letter the Louisiana Democrats have issued to Senator Vitter:

An Open Letter to Senator David Vitter

In addition to these questions they have posed to David Vitter, I have a question I would like posed to the unnamed woman who met with Wes Bearden in the Hammond IHOP.

While I have never met the woman Bearden coerced false testimony from, also known as subornation of perjury, I think I know who she is. If this false affidavit was indeed delivered to the FBI as Senator Vitter stated, I would hope the FBI interviews the woman and confirms I never spoke with her nor attempted to contact her, much less paid her or anyone else I spoke with while researching this story. I have never offered money to anyone I've interviewed on any story I've written on this blog. I was only recently made aware of who this woman is and the nature of her past relationship to Wendy Ellis.

I would very much like the FBI to ask this woman the following question:

- Were you ever on the boat, the Aera, owned by William Andre Drouila, with David Vitter and Wendy Ellis (Cortez)?

I will be filing an ethics complaint with both the Louisiana State Bar Association and the Texas State Bar Association against Mr. Bearden for suborning perjury against me.

Also, I would like to know if Mr. Bearden paid this woman or anyone else for the false testimony.
Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-73698384470879019882015-11-09T21:01:00.000-06:002015-11-09T23:27:41.476-06:00David Vitter - Commentary - "shady blogger" gets stalked by shadier Senator who then plays victim card
Stephanie Grace quick take: Prostitution scandal, surveillance, campaign ads all come up at David Vitter, John Bel Edwards' first face-to-face exchange:

"Vitter came closest to making news on this front, when he linked his suspicions about John Cummings, the wealthy trial lawyer and Edwards donor taped by a Vitter p.i. at a Metairie coffee shop, to Danny DeNoux, a private investigator who was also at the table along with Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand. DeNoux has admitted he found a source for a blogger who's been investigating Vitter's past, and at the forum Monday, Vitter said Denoux also was a target of the Vitter campaign's surveillance, which he deemed neither illegal nor improper.

"That person was researching what I believe is an illegal scheme" to "pay for false testimony for witnesses against me," Vitter said. He said he had already contacted federal authorities over the matter."
Awesome! Yes! I hope he has gone to federal authorities over the matter and I hope the federal authorities ask him the following questions I posited in my previous post:

1. What, if any, was the nature of your relationship with William Andre Droulia in the 1990's and or the estate of Helis Oil and Gas?

2. Did you ever come into contact with Michelle Mosgrove and did you have sex with her? Did you pay to have sex with her or did someone else pay for you to have sex with her specifically at a party on St. Charles Avenue circa 1996?

3. Were you ever on the boat, the "Aera"?

4. Were you ever on the boat, the "Aera", with Wendy Ellis (Cortez)? Was there a picture taken of you on the Aera with Wendy Ellis (Cortez)?

5. Do you have any firsthand information about the suicide/death of Michelle Mosgrove on Dec. 7, 1997?

Also, if any federal authority would like to speak with me, I would be happy to put them in touch with numerous confidential sources that don't want to go on the record. I'm sure most of them would be happy to aid in any investigation, they just don't want their names to be made public.

This is the best news yet....if he's willing to talk to the FBI...that's great.

In the meantime, I would love for Senator Vitter to clear up exactly what his sins were fifteen years ago...that's the year 2000. Is he admitting to the relationship with Wendy Ellis?

Also, I would like to know exactly what he means by "false testimony" in the story I have researched. What, exactly, is false? I would love to sit down with the Senator and discuss, point by point, what he thinks is false in anything I've reported. I challenge him to sit down with me, on camera, just like Wendy Ellis did and answer my questions so we can find out exactly what he is referring to by "false testimony".

And, I would like to see him sit down with Ricky Ketchum and tell him to his face that he is lying when he placed Vitter visiting the exact location, 904 Dumaine, repeatedly, at the exact time frame Wendy Ellis claimed their relationship took place. It's one thing to say Ellis is lying but Ketchum was an independent, objective source. And why haven't any MSM reporters asked him about Ketchum's testimony? Why is that?

It amazes me that he had me followed, he was stalking me and my family, at my house... he was stalking an independent reporter, not a campaign operative....now he is suggesting he's been victimized? That's rich.

Wendy Ellis was brave enough to come forward and allow me to question her on camera. Is David Vitter brave enough?

Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-69411451692892875232015-11-06T16:26:00.000-06:002015-11-11T23:33:36.558-06:00David Vitter - the Helis connection
Yesterday, WWL-TV's David Hammer ran this story on Senator David Vitter's "strong-armed" attempts to get drilling, actually fracking, permits approved in St. Tammany Parish for the company Helis Oil and Gas:

Vitter's position on Northshore fracking project angers group

The story is of particular interest to me because it reveals a relationship between Helis and Vitter.

I posted a story on October 22 that detailed an alleged sexual liaison David Vitter had with two escorts in one night, at a party on St. Charles Ave back in 1996. Jeanette Maier, the Canal Street Madame, explained how she had sent three escorts to this party and upon return two of them told her they had sex, for money, with Vitter at the party. Vitter would have been a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives at the time.

Jeanette declined to identify one of the women, but did identify the second...her name was Michelle Mosgrove.

Michelle Mosgrove was found dead of an alleged self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on August 7, 1997, at the age of 28. The purported suicide took place on a boat docked in Point Cadet Marina, Biloxi Mississippi, and owned by a man named William Andre Droulia , or "Big D...Big Daddy" to his friends.

A public records request for the police report only turned up the first page of a five page report, with the name of the boat owner redacted. I did, however, confirm through a second party, a former captain of the boat, that the "Aera" was owned by Droulia at the time of the suicide.

Why does this matter? It just so happens that William Andre Droulia was an heir to the Helis Oil and Gas empire.

The information from people I've spoken to who knew "Big D" described him as a troubled man with a penchant for excessive drug use. He frequented the company of escorts both on his boat and in the French Quarter through the 90's. Big D lived on the 800 block of Burgundy and oversaw a limited number of rental properties in the Quarter owned by his family's enterprise.

Droulia had at least one run in with the law on December 5, 1995 when he was charged with possession of cocaine after being stopped on Burgundy and St. Ann Streets for public drunkenness:

State V. Droulia

Wendy Ellis knew both Droulia and Michelle Mosgrove. She told me that Droulia was Michelle's "sugar daddy" and that the two of them spent a lot of time together in the days leading up to her death.

Of all the information I've uncovered on this story, Mosgrove's death is the most disturbing.

Everyone I've spoken to, from Wendy Ellis to numerous unnamed sources who knew Mosgrove, have stated they do not believe Michelle committed suicide that night on the Aera. They all believe something more nefarious took place and the crime scene was made to look like a suicide. When I asked what the motive for the murder would have been, three of the sources stated the same thing, "She was running her mouth".

Let me be clear, I'm not suggesting David Vitter was involved in the "suicide" of Michelle Mosgrove. But, I have reason to believe Senator Vitter had a relationship with William Droulia in the 90's and may have been on the Aera, himself.

Vitter will not allow me to interview him but if he would speak with a mainstream reporter or even better, a federal law enforcement officer, I would like him to answer the following questions:

1. What, if any, was the nature of your relationship with William Andre Droulia in the 1990's and/or the estate of Helis Oil and Gas?

2. Did you ever come into contact with Michelle Mosgrove and did you have sex with her? Did you pay to have sex with her or did someone else pay for you to have sex with her specifically at a party on St. Charles Avenue circa 1996?

3. Were you ever on the boat, the "Aera"?

4. Were you ever on the boat, the "Aera", with Wendy Ellis (Cortez)? Was there a picture taken of you on the Aera with Wendy Ellis (Cortez)?

5. Do you have any firsthand information about the suicide/death of Michelle Mosgrove on Dec. 7, 1997?

My hope, aside from any election issues, is that a new investigation, preferably federal, will be launched into the death of Michelle Mosgrove.

Ashe'

Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-30412896.post-70870865391494483522015-10-25T20:36:00.003-05:002015-10-25T20:39:14.368-05:00David Vitter - The Diaper Story..................
It's not true.

100% false.

The story is true but it wasn't about David Vitter...it's someone else.

Dambala - Jason Brad Berryhttp://email@example.com


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Saturday's attendance is the second largest in track history,
surpassed only by the 40,617 on hand for last year's Toyota Blue Grass
It was trainer Ken McPeek's second victory in the race, having won
the 2002 edition with Harlan's Holiday. It was the first Toyota Blue
Grass victory for jockey Julien Leparoux.
Java's War, a homebred son of War Pass out of the Rainbow Quest mare
Java (GB), completed the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.27 over the fast main
In addition to the $450,000 winner's check, Java's War received 100 qualifying points toward the 139th
running of the $2 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1)
on May 4 at Churchill Downs. Now with 122 points, Java's War is
guaranteed a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate, that is limited
to the top 20 point earners that pass the entry box.
Dogwood Stable's Palace Malice picked up 40 points for running second
to boost his total to 50, which should be enough to make the Derby
Java's War improved his career record to 7-3-1-1 and increased his earnings to $672,091.
Favored Rydilluc, breaking from post position 13 under Edgar Prado,
and Undrafted jockeyed for the lead the first time past the finish line
as Java's War was last in the field of 14 after walking out of the gate.
After a first quarter-mile in :23.81 from Undrafted, Prado put
Rydilluc on the lead and opened a daylight margin with internal
fractions of :48.04 and 1:12.76.
Meanwhile, behind Rydilluc, Palace Malice was getting a dream run
under Garrett Gomez. Palace Malice slipped inside of a tiring Undrafted
and turned into the stretch with a clear shot at Rydilluc. At that
juncture, Leparoux had Java's War moving widest of all and began picking
off horses.
Palace Malice finally put Rydilluc away past the eighth pole and just
failed to hold off Java's War. Charming Kitten closed fast to finish
third, another neck back.
Java's War returned mutuels of $11.20, $5.60 and $4. Palace Malice
paid $6 and $4.60 with Charming Kitten, ridden by Joe Bravo, returning
$11.20 to show.
Rydilluc finished 1¼ lengths back in fourth and was followed in order
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Seller: my*beautiful*lights (1,121) 100%, Location: Brussels, Ships to: Worldwide, Item: 222303483983 Antique large French beech wood hand carved chandelier Ca. 1900's Up for offer an amazing antique French wood chandelier. This chandelier dates back to the early 1900's.Wanderful age patina. All hand carved as you can see in the pictures. Height is 29", if you included the chain and canopy height is 35 1/2". Width is 29 1/2". Chandelier has 6 arms. Sockets are the old wood ones. This beauty still has The European wiring and will need to be rewired to work in The USA. Don't come these chandeliers to often. If you have any questions about this chandelier feel free to ask. Shipping is free to The USA. If shipped to a country other than The USA, I will not be responsible for any custom charges that may occur. We will ship this chandelier dissembled for safe shipping. Thank you for viewing and interest in my items. As always, you are buying old/antique light fixtures so there will be always signs of use.(550).

 Color: Brown, Maker: France, Material: Wood


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Eleanor is a short haired Tricolour female and was born in 2011. A sociable cat that would be best suited to a quiet home.
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Top Definition
Deprived young kid who grew up on a council estate... Job dodger, crack smoker, mugger, rapist (General naughtyness Council sytle)
Here comes Scott! - Got any laptops?
by Brainyhoof - T$C April 12, 2005
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AP RGUKT Idupulapaya and Nuzvid IIIT Admission Notification 2016: Andhra Pradesh Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies has released a admission notification for Integrated B.Tech Program 2016. RGUKT offers B.Tech programs such as Chemical Engineering(CHE), Civil Engineering(CE), Computer Science and Engineering(CSE), Electronics and Communications Engineering(ECE), Metallurgical and Materials Engineering(MME) and Mechanical Engineering courses. Applications are invited for admission to the first year of 6-Year Integrated B.Tech program at RGUKT-Idupulapaya and Nuzvid (Andhra Pradesh State) for the academic year 2016-17.
The Regular Students who have passed the Andhra Pradesh States SSC or its equivalent examination (10th class) in 2016 March final Exams at the State Board and who have not more than 18 years as on December (21 years in case of SC / ST candidates) the Candidates is Eligible to Apply to AP RGUKT IIIT Admissions 2016 through Online. Students can apply for Andhra Pradesh RGUKT's IIIT admissions through online for B.Tech 6 years integrated program.
a) Regular Students who passed SSC or equivalent examination – 10th class held in 2016, in the first attempt.b) Age not more than 18 years as on 31-12-2016(21 years in case of SC/ST Candidates)
c) Admissions to 85% of the total available seats will be reserved for 'local candidates'(Andhra Pradesh) and the remaining 158% of the seats are open to the students of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states as specified in the presidential order 371 Article D in consonance to the Section 95 of the A.P. Reorganization Act 2014.
d) students of the other states, children of Indians working in Gulf countries/International/ NRI Students are eligible for admission under supernumerary seats.
How to Apply
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Applicants shall submit only through AP Online Services.
Click here for apply and more information Nuzvid Campus
Click here for apply and more information Idupulayapaya Campus
Important Dates:
Start date of online application: 16-05-2016


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30 Kitchen Floor Tile Ideas, Designs and Inspiration 2016
Here at Home Flooring Pros we're big fans of installing tile flooring in your kitchen. It's true that hardwood flooring is also very popular as a high end option and Read More »
The Best 6 Reasons to Tile Your Kitchen Floor
One of the greatest challenges when it comes to choosing new flooring is the sheer scale of choice now available and this is especially true in the kitchen. In our Read More »


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Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Lets get B off the start, then you can all camp windows...
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- Call of Duty: Black Ops II
- Lets get B off the start, then you can all camp windows...
ihaveyahoorares 4 years ago#1
devilschain30 4 years ago#2
Yeah I feel the same man. I ALWAYS try to get B first but my team apparently can't comprehend that it's much easier to defend and win than it is to camp and win.
GT: Gods pudding
Check out my Youtube channel! It'll mean a lot to me! https://www.youtube.com/user/GodsPudding94?feature=mhee
__redxiii__ 4 years ago#3
People are scared to go by B.
Hold back for 10 seconds, easy quad
Gamertag: EtherealEgo
Veni, Vidi, Vici
Maybe they are watching your back while you go capture it?
PSN/Battlelog: tactikz4
BF3/Black Ops 2 My Fav Multiplayer.
Gray_wolf1119 4 years ago#6
tactikz4 posted...
Maybe they are watching your back while you go capture it?
...considering most of the enemies are in front OR i still get shot in back and die they need a new job. Friendly advice, pointing your gun at me is not covering me, its waiting for me to die.
GT: Fang1192
ihaveyahoorares (Topic Creator)4 years ago#7
tactikz4 posted...
Maybe they are watching your back while you go capture it?
First post I said "I'm tired of seeing teammates immediately run to camp spots not near the flags to defend them".
Just started off a game in Aftermath 18-7 using the Shield and a naked B23R. 3400 points. 4 caps, 6 defends. Only person on my team above 1100 points. Winning 80-75. I left. Didn't feel like having 4 guys rush me at B the whole damn game as my team camped random ass areas... Had 1 in the sniper window by A, we didn't have A. Had 1 in the sniper window near C, one in the garage near C. One trying to snipe from the bus, and 1 in that room up top above B camping. He was 4-3 and just kept running back there the whole time. Once the enemies got B they kept strategically camping it as my team was camping and dying more than they were killing for the most part.
ihaveyahoorares (Topic Creator)4 years ago#8
Gray_wolf1119 posted...
tactikz4 posted...Maybe they are watching your back while you go capture it?
Lmao, I played with a horrible clan. Went into theater mode to see what the hell they were doing and how they were missing people and just in general being the worst clan I've ever seen.
I remember one instance where 3 of them were on C, 1 guy was herping around, and the other said "I'll watch you guys on C"... He wasn't kidding. He just laid prone in the middle and ADS'd directly at his 3 teammates taking C. Watching them all get lit up in the process....
ihaveyahoorares posted...
Gray_wolf1119 posted...tactikz4 posted...Maybe they are watching your back while you go capture it?
This annoys me, when taking a flag a scout is always needed, a scout that actually does scout and doesnt just look at the flag which his teammates are taking
Gamertag: EtherealEgo
Veni, Vidi, Vici
ihaveyahoorares (Topic Creator)4 years ago#10
Not always needed. If you get 3-4 guys on B you'll cap it so damn quickly and hopefully someone will get a kill or more at 200 points a kill + the cap. That's where you can just destroy an enemy team off the bat and they'll be hopelessly screwed.
In Hijacked once, I ran to B off the start. Tossed down a Bouncing Betty near one of their sides, got a triple off of that. Gunned down another guy who was coming from the other side, and got the cap. 1000 point start. I was running Hardline since I always do at the start of Domination (they can't have a UAV up, so why run Ghost trying to cap a flag at the start? Tossed another BB down from a scavenger pack near B as I retreated back to our 'house' to call some stuff in. Got a double kill @ 125 points a piece since I was on B as they got killed.
Now we're up to 1250 points. AGR + VSAT + EMP = only 2 people left on the enemy team once I called all that in. Not even 40 seconds into the damn start of the game.
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Most listings are in the $20's per square foot per year. The Mineral Springs submarket is seeing a an increase in rates. In the last 3 months, the median rate increased $24 per sqft per year.
Compared to the rest of the Metrolina market, the Mineral Springs submarket has lower rates, so you should have no trouble finding a great deal in this discounted region.
In the last 90 days, 26 listings have come on the market, which means listings might be leasing quickly. You'll want to be prepared to tour spaces as quick as possible. There aren't many listings below 2,000 square feet posted, so finding a space for a small business might be tough.
The standard measurement for office space in this area is around 1,850 sqft. Most properties in this area are approximately 1 stories. Most buildings in this area were built in 1985 and are Class B.
Not much of the real estate is used for commercial space, so it might be hard to find office space. Real estate is the dominant industry in this region. Commute by walking is the most popular way to get to work amongst Mineral Springs residents. Commuting under 5 minutes a day is the norm for those who opt to reside in this part of town.
Trends and status of the commercial real estate market in Mineral Springs.
Market Report
Real time and historical data on commercial real estate listings in Mineral Springs.


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PIT_FACE on Jan. 1, 2017
Page 240.
LanceDanger at 9:05AM, Feb. 13, 2017
Sweet page!
demontales at 10:26AM, Jan. 12, 2017
Oh man, I def need to catch up. Your comic fucking rocks, as always!
PaulEberhardt at 1:00PM, Jan. 9, 2017
A happy reunion, eh? XD
PIT_FACE at 9:36AM, Jan. 2, 2017
Thnak ya, bunch! thank ya! and Skreem- I know who yer thinkin of, but that was another crazy lady.
ghostrunner at 6:38AM, Jan. 2, 2017
she seems quite capable
KimLuster at 6:34AM, Jan. 2, 2017
Holy DooDoo! This Page is Classic Pitface!!!
bravo1102 at 5:37AM, Jan. 2, 2017
Hell hath no fury. .. at this point I would just give her a diamond. Jewelry always works in situations like this.
skreem at 4:05AM, Jan. 2, 2017
Uh-oh this nut again! She's got form!
ozoneocean at 11:13PM, Jan. 1, 2017
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Gretchybaby!!!! What a massively tough, commanding, powerful woman, full of rightful RAGE! ARRRRGH! I can really feel it here. I love that "poser" is an appropriate insult in this world during a moment of grief and frustration induced rage. Really shows the true metal origins of Septika.
Tantz_Aerine at 10:53PM, Jan. 1, 2017
This page is so awesome, but also so heartbreaking! I was wondering if Gretchen made it.


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- Worldwide Rank #126,570,370
- Follower/Following Ratio 0.12
- Daily New Followers 0
Juan D. Twitter Stats
@01Juanrios - Tracking Juan D. Twitter profile since November 23, 2012
Cambios de pensamiento positivo aborrecimiento de aquellos que se exceden de sus facultades ya que la maldad esta por doquier Hora de montar empresa,nueva vida
Juan D.'s story
Juan D., also known as @01Juanrios has a reasonably significant presence on Twitter and is ranked by us in the 30% percentile for account strength. Active on Twitter since October 2012, Juan D. made it to having a respectable 55 Twitter followers and to being ranked 126,570,370 for number of followers among all Twitter users.
The plot thickens when considering Juan D.'s follower-to-following ratio, which is 0.12. Which is not surprising given this account's audience size.
@01Juanrios tweets very frequently, with an average of 31 tweet(s) per day in the past 30 days. That's pretty consistent with a total of 616 since @01Juanrios joined Twitter.
This account is tracked by us for quite some time now, actually since November 2012. As of February 23 2017 we track 271.152.322 Twitter accounts, so feel free to search for other accounts you're interested in and reveal their Twitter story!
Juan D. Tweets
@01Juanrios has posted 0 tweets in the last 14 days, which translates to an average of 0 tweets per day.
Juan D. Twitter Followers
@01Juanrios has 55 followers on Twitter.
This account is #126,570,370 in the worldwide rank of the most popular Twitter users.
Juan D. Following on Twitter
@01Juanrios is following 463 Twitter accounts.
Last month this account followed 296 users.
Juan D. Predictions & Milestones
@01Juanrios will hit 56 followers in the next 3 months, and 58 in one year.
You are on Juan D.'s Twitter stats page
We track these Twitter stats since November 23, 2012 . You can see how many followers Juan D. lost or gained and what the prediction is for tomorrow or the next 15 days, together with all kinds of other stats like rank compared to all Twitter users, tweets etc.
Why don't you give it a try and compare Juan D. to yourself ? Or if you are Juan D. get even more feature rich & up-to-date stats with our premium Twitter Stats.
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SmartTx is a point-of-care mobile application used by the therapists in our RehabCare sites of service. Using the iOS platform on iPods and iPad minis, therapists can manage their daily activities efficiently and accurately. With the ability to log patient documentation at the point-of-care, more time can be spent with the patient. SmartTx allows for comprehensive assessments and evaluation of patients and ensures that key areas are addressed during medical review.SmartTx grants our very mobile and highly decentralized therapists and assistants the ability to:
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Day 49 - ds is feeling better
Sent from my GT-I9305 using The Bub Hub mobile app
Day 49 - ds is feeling better
Sent from my GT-I9305 using The Bub Hub mobile app
Little Miss Sunshine (11-08-2014)
Day 48
Cuddles in bed with my darling boy
Day 49
I got daddy babywearing today! He told me I was silly wanting to "wear" ds. He is a convert now
♥ me & my little boy ♥
Day 49 - really enjoyed watching DS at soccer training today
Day 49. DS was being super cute when I got home and was really happy and playful despite being sick
Day 49: a beautiful dinner with some family
Little Miss Sunshine (12-08-2014),TheGooch (12-08-2014)
Day 50
35 days until my holiday
Day 50
Can I just be happy that I managed to stick at this for 50 whole days?!?!?!
Ok not good enough?
I'm happy that I'm taking the time to do everything one last time at work before I go on maternity leave in 2 weeks.
Step 1 - eat delicious Albanian food for lunch - mission accomplished!
Little Miss Sunshine (12-08-2014)
Day 50 - dh got to spend a little bit of time playing with ds before work this morning. I love how much they love each other. ♡
Sent from my GT-I9305 using The Bub Hub mobile app
TheGooch (13-08-2014)
Day 50: only putting 5kg's on so far this pregnancy... I'm down 5kg this time last pregnancy, at 31weeks tomorrow I'm feeling very proud of myself.
Pregnant for the first-time?
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To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the legendary Byrds debut albums, ''Mr. Tambourine Man'' and ''Turn! Turn! Turn!'' -- as well as Byrd's founder and long-time Janglebox endorser Roger McGuinn -- Janglebox is making a limited production Janglebox with a gold powder coated chassis and special graphic appointments. Features the improved IC chip, standardized power polarity and the smaller enclosure of the newer Original Janglebox and features gain and attack controls with a dark/normal/bright voicing switch. True bypass circuitry with center pin negative AC jack. Powered by a 9V battery or optional power supply. Hand made in the USA. Item ID JBB50A. 1 photo at http://www.elderly.com/newinstruments/items/JBB50A.htm
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We want you to be happy with your purchase. While we have selected our merchandise with great care and have made every effort to describe it thoroughly, if you are dissatisfied with any new product (see exceptions below) purchased from us, please return it within 30 DAYS for a refund or exchange. For a used/vintage instrument, please return it within 7 DAYS.


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Complete Office Interior Design - Office
Guide price: £45
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Fireplace design should be quite creative otherwise the attractive appeal of the room cannot be maintained. If you are planning for home improvement, then you should definitely think of changing the traditional design of your fireplace this time.
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Abstract:Waste nitrocellulose (NC) is regulated as a hazardous material. The objective of this study was to determine if NC exposed to denitrifying conditions would undergo sufficient removal of the nitro groups to yield a material that is no longer explosive. Enrichment cultures were established with activated sludge inoculum and methanol as the electron donor, and stoichiometric conversion of nitrate to nitrogen gas was observed. NC was added to the cultures at 10 g/L. A statistically significant decrease in the nitrogen (N) content of NC occurred, from approximately 13.1-13.2% in virgin NC to 12.2-12.4%. The presence of methanol was necessary to affect this change; NC itself did not serve as an electron donor. In cultures that were carrying out denitrification but were then depleted of nitrate, with methanol still present, a slightly greater removal of nitro groups from NC occurred along with additional formation of nitrogen gas. NC did not have an inhibitory affect on the denitrification process. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) results indicated that NC exposed to denitrifying conditions contained hydroxyl groups, confirming removal of some of the nitro groups by hydrolysis of the nitrate esters. NC exposed to denitrification and virgin NC were also compared based on their explosive properties using a small-scale burning test. No significant difference was observed. Thus, the %N, N2, and FTIR results demonstrated that NC does undergo biotransformation during denitrification, but the extent of nitro group removal does not appear to be adequate to yield a nonhazardous product.
Document Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2175/193864700784546251
Publication date: 2000-01-01
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I got a snug piercing ages and ages ago but now I'm so sick of it; it's uncomfortable to sleep on and REALLY hurts if someone catches it. It's not infected or anything, I just want it out. Now.
I've tried rubber gloves and pliers but nothing is making it budge. It's a standard 12mm curved barbell. (This is my 12th piercing so I'm used to the normal stiff screw from the original bar)
I really want to get it out immediately, please please help!!!
Stuck Barbell
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Metro Manufacturing Partnership March 2017 Meeting
Actions and Detail Panel
Metro Manufacturing Partnership March 2017 Meeting
Thu, March 9, 2017, 8:00 AM – 10:30 AM MST
What is the MMP?
A network of manufacturers in the greater Metro Denver area that brings together diverse manufacturers and the organizations that support them. MMP is organized by work committees focused on membership's top priority issues. It is a forum for sharing best practices, networking, problem solving and taking action.
An agenda for the March 2017 meeting will be added as it is developed. If you have recommendations or suggestions, please contact a member of the MMP Steering Committee.


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Topseed Tennis
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Victoria's Purrrrfect Treasures
Victoria ~ Proprietress, New Germany, NS, Canada
A vintage hand hooked small table or chair mat. In good clean gently used condition lovingly stored in a smoke free home. Measures about 19 by 16 inches. Featuring a pretty flower pattern on a beige background .
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Joe's Fencing & Gates
Pool Fencing, Automatic Gates, Glass Pool Fencing
Joe's Fencing & Gates have been proudly installing quality fences and gates in Melbourne's northern suburbs for over 8 years. We are a family owned and operated business and offer the highest quality fencing products available to meet all your fencing and gate requirements. Whatever type of fence you need we have it. Whether you are looking for a modern glass swimming pool fence that provides a contemporary look to your outdoor area or slat fencing that offers privacy we can provide it. If you are looking for a new gate we have them too - whether you need a hinged gate or a sliding gate we can do it. We even offer automated gates.
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Curing hiccups
Get rid of hiccups
When it comes to curing hiccups it seems the suggested methods vary from mind over matter concentration exercises, like stupidly staring at an object for minutes, to silly ways to drink water or hold your breath and I wouldn't be surprised if they add voodoo magic next. While most of these are great as funny anecdotes go, the truth is there are no cures that are scientifically proven to work every time, but here are the most common ones that usually work:
Other useful health tips!
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Hiccup cures
Hiccups can be caused by spasms of the diaphragm, so you can always try to stop breathing. The first thing you need to do though is exhale. Afterwards you could either hold your breath or do something that inhibits your breathing naturally like for instance drink a glass of water. There's no real need to do this standing upside down or in some other silly fashion but you can feel free to try! It's believed that cooler water works better than warm water in curing hiccups.
Try breathing into a paper bag, this traps the carbon dioxide you exhale allowing you to inhale the same air again. Breathing the same exhaled air over and over increases the carbon dioxide in your blood and is a know way to get rid of hiccups.
The most extreme method is by sticking your finger down your throat, this will cause you to gag and probably throw up, which will cure the hiccups but may be more uncomfortable then the hiccups themselves
You can also try sticking your tongue out and holding it with your hand for a couple of minutes, this will relax the vagus nerve which can sometimes be the cause of it all.
The sweet cure involves eating a teaspoon of dry sugar and drinking water afterwards. If you don't have dry sugar you can always try peanut butter, honey, or a large marshmallow. Anything that is sweet and will either melt in your mouth or is already cream-like, even ice cream!
Another way to possibly cure them is medication such as Reglan, Thorazine or Lioresal but remember to check with a doctor first!
Have someone scare you, yes this really works. However it needs to be for real, unexpected and shocking enough to restart your breathing pattern.
If the hiccups start to hurt it could mean the onset of a dangerous medical condition, you should consult your doctor immediately!
Tips to avoid hiccups before they start:
- Don't drink too much alcohol
- Don't eat too much food too fast or swallow them before they cool or defrost
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The top five Dragon Age Origins and Awakening builds.
Comments 4 comments
So funny...I just got the hiccups about two minutes before I came to this hub! The sticking out the tongue one, did the trick! Thanks
Great tips! Drinking water upside down always works for me.


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Free Script Writing Tips by D. M. Larson
Most Popular * Short * One Acts * Full Lengths * Children and Teens * Small Cast
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These can be a fun way to teach writing
Try our new fill in the blank Mad-Scripts!
Cinderella, Three Little Pigs and Little (fill in the blank) Riding Hood, Rapunzel and more!
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