Month: April 2017

LPB President & CEO, Beth Courtney

In our latest Sound Off Louisiana feature, we continue illustrating examples of agencies of the State of Louisiana being sued for either employee/contractor retaliation or whistle blowing.  Our latest feature outlines the alleged actions of Beth Courtney, President and CEO of Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB):

Sound Off Louisiana’s founder, Robert Burns, narrates the highpoints of litigation filed by Dr. Ellen Wydra against LPB entailing allegations of discrimination and retaliation on the part of Beth Courtney, President and CEO of LPB, a taxpayer-subsidized Louisiana broadcasting network.

Supporting Documentation and Links:

1. Wydra’s lawsuit filed on November 5, 2010.

2. Addendum to Wydra’s lawsuit filed on January 25, 2017.

3.  Article entailing alleged whistle-blower and former LPB award-winning reporter Jeff Duhe‘ outlining extensive nepotism involving Courtney and her husband, Bob (formerly assistant news director and capitol correspondent for WBRZ Channel 2 in Baton Rouge).

4.   The Louisiana Board of Ethics’ assessing of $10,000 in fines against Courtney Communications and Beth Courtney entailing the ethics violations referenced in # 3 above.

5.  Another Duhe’ related article exposing Courtney’s apparent frequent use of profanity (including the “f word” — see paragraph 10) and totalitarian rule when addressing her underlings.

6.  Beth Courtney’s presentation to the Baton Rouge Rotary Club on May 22, 2013 at Boudreaux’s in Baton Rouge.

Wydra’s lawsuit is assigned to 19th JDC Judge Tim Kelley, and it is scheduled to commence on September 18, 2017 (though Courtney reportedly wants all of those details kept “hush-hush”).  Assuming no settlement is reached before that time, Sound Off Louisiana will certainly attend and alert our viewers as to the outcome.

 If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future Sound Off posts, simply scroll to the very bottom of this page (mobile devices) or to the end of the right-hand column (desktops) and supply your email address within the subscribe box.  You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow” bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above. 

U. S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA).

 In our previous Sound Off Louisiana feature, we featured U. S. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) grilling Gov. John  Bel Edwards on recent actions of Louisiana State Contractor Board attorney (and convicted felon) Larry S. Bankston.  In our latest feature, we capture the highlights of a feisty exchange between Gov. Edwards and U. S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) and, thereafter, provide a few documents of interest in the IEM litigation entailing the flood relief contract:

Edwards / Graves Exchange (plus quick segment of Meadows grilling Edwards for those who may have missed it previously).

Meanwhile, in 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, IEM, the successful bidder for the flood relief contract (at $250 million), has filed court documents indicating that the second-place bidder, PDRM (at $315 million), falsely represented that two companies were part of the “PDRM team.”

Both companies say such assertions to the Division of Administration are “categorically false” and that the use of their names was “unauthorized:”  See letters of Core Construction and Roy Anderson Corp.  

To the contrary, within IEM’s application for a residential contractor license, which was received by the Louisiana State Board of Contractors on February 17, 2017, glowing letters of recommendation for IEM Vice President Jon Mabry are included.  Who supplied the glowing recommendations?:   Core Construction and Roy Anderson. 

The application was further buttressed by a strong  letter of recommendation from U. S. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS).  Nevertheless, on March 9, 2017, convicted felon Larry S. Bankston, acting as “advising attorney” for the Louisiana State Board of Contractors, provided his assessment of IEM’s licensure status.   In so doing, he declared both IEM and PDRM as “disqualified” due to their lack of a residential contractor license at the time proposals were solicited.  That development is what led to Meadows’ sharp attacks of Gov. Edwards in the final minute or so of the above video.  [Note:  CLICK HERE for the IEM application in its entirety.]

Should be interesting to see just how this flood relief contract quagmire is resolved.

Update:  April 13, 2017 @ 11:00 a.m.

The Edwards administration resolved the matter by announcing that IEM was, for the second time, awarded the contract.  That action was smart on Edwards’ part because to have done otherwise would have only intensified the spotlight exposing underhanded dealings and corruption in Louisiana at a time when flood victims have no tolerance whatsoever for such.  Those victims merely want to be able to make progess toward recovering from the disasters of March and August of 2016 as qickly as possible.

If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future Sound Off posts, simply scroll to the very bottom of this page (mobile devices) or to the end of the right-hand column (desktops) and supply your email address within the subscribe box.  You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow” bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above. 

Former Louisiana State Senator and Current Legal Counsel for the Louisiana State Board of Contractors (and convicted felon), Larry S. Bankston

In the latest Sound Off Louisiana feature, founder Robert Burns dispels any notion that U. S. Congressional leaders are not paying close attention to corruption and conflicts entailing Louisiana flood relief efforts by providing a very brief video clip of U. S. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) grilling Gov. John  Bel Edwards on recent actions of Louisiana State Contractor Board attorney (and convicted felon) Larry S. Bankston:

Burns provides brief introduction, then video of Meadows grilling Edwards entailing Larry Bankston’s actions.

Two Recent Sound Off Posts featuring Bankston:

Disturbing FBI wire tap contents entailing Bankston’s conviction for bribery and racketeering.

Background on how Bankston got his law license reinstated (including links for all 80+ character letters supplied to the Louisiana Supreme Court to get that license reinstated).

We look forward to delivering part four of our series on Larry S. Bankston, during which Burns will present first-hand knowledge of Bankston’s propensity to cram corruption straight down the public’s throat. It’s a feature you will NOT want to miss.

If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future Sound Off posts, simply scroll to the very bottom of this page (mobile devices) or to the end of the right-hand column (desktops) and supply your email address within the subscribe box.  You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow” bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above.