CenLamar | Est. 2006

  • Tens of Thousands Peacefully Demonstrate in Support of Equal Justice for the Jena Six

    YESTERDAY NIGHT, I hosted three people from New Orleans who had driven up to Alexandria so that they could get up incredibly early in the morning and drive another hour to Jena, Louisiana. The hotel rooms were all booked around here. The newspaper reported traffic delays in Alexandria at 7AM this morning. That never happens here. CNN knew what was going on in Jena. They’ve been following the story here for weeks. They’ve been on the ground, scouring through evidence, learning about the area, and interviewing a cross-section of Central Louisianans, including Alexandria’s own Tony Brown, about the case of…

  • Foster Campbell’s Plan for “Collecting on Past Debt”

    ON DECEMBER 19, CenLamar featured a small news item about Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell‘s decision to run for Governor. At the time, Campbell had not formerly announced, but he had stated he was “99.9%” certain he would be entering the Governor’s race. Shortly thereafter, Campbell made it known that he was, in fact, a candidate for Governor, and he was in the race to stay. During the past eight months, Campbell has been actively raising money and traveling the State in support of his candidacy for Governor of Louisiana. Although Campbell has campaigned on a number of different issues,…

  • Jena Six: “The Battle Is Just Beginning”

    YESTERDAY, the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal vacated the conviction of Mychal Bell, one of the six young men accused of assaulting and beating Justin Barker in a high school fight last December. Bell had been charged and convicted with aggrevated second degree battery, after the district attorney reduced the initial charge of attempted second degree murder. Bell had been charged and convicted as an adult, but according to Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr., Bell should have been tried as a juvenile, an opinion that had been echoed by numerous legal commentators and bloggers. The ball is now back in…