CenLamar | Est. 2006

  • Shots Fired Into Greenwood Mayor’s Home, Also Targeted By Online “Hate Blog”

    File this under “Yet Another Bizarre Story About a Louisiana Town’s First Black Mayor.” Yesterday, two shots were fired into the home of Ernest Lampkins, Greenwood, Louisiana’s mayor. Lampkins is the first African-American to be elected mayor of Greenwood, a town of 2,600 located right outside of Shreveport. Lampkins believes the shooting was probably politically-motivated and claims it has not shatttered his resolve. “Anytime you shoot in someone’s house, there is intent to kill,” Lampkins said. The mayor said about 10 people in the town of some 2,600 residents oppose everything he does. “They’re really anti-administration. They are not team…

  • Louisiana State Political Update

    It is often said that the people of Louisiana like their gumbo and their politics hot and spicy. Politically speaking, the year 2007 is not likely to disappoint them. Governor Considering Special Session On the heels of a December Special Session of the Louisiana Legislature that ended early and yielded little, Governor Kathleen Blanco says she is “reluctantly” considering calling a special session prior to the 2007 Regular Session to address hurricane-related property insurance issues. The Governor was quoted in the Baton Rouge Advocate over the weekend about meeting ahead of the regular session beginning in April. She said, “I…

  • The Smear Campaign Begins: E-mail Circulates Claiming Barack Obama is “Secretly” a Muslim

    On December 18, 2006, Debbie Schlussel, a right-wing pundit and blogger, posted a column on her website entitled “Barack Hussein Obama: Once a Muslim, Always a Muslim.” Media Matters explains: Debbie Schlussel argued that because Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) middle name is Hussein, his late, estranged father was of Muslim descent, and he has shown interest in his father’s Kenyan heritage, Obama’s “loyalties” must be called into question as he emerges as a possible Democratic presidential candidate. In the column, Schlussel asked: “So, even if he identifies strongly as a Christian … is a man who Muslims think is a…