In what has quicly spiraled into the largest scandal to rock Northwestern Louisiana in at least a century, the Shreveport City Council voted Tuesday to investigate the unauthorized pay raises issued to the City Council Clerk’s office. The 4-3 vote was decisive after Councilwoman Ursula Bowman reportedly began digging into the issue that many thought was resolved with a mea culpa press conference by Chariman James Green.

Just when we thought no Republican could more flagrantly end their career in a single interview after Tucker Carlson ended former Vice-President Mike Pence’s ambitions, Senator Bill Cassidy has proverbially seemed to say ‘hold my beer.’ Cassidy already on the outs with the Louisiana GOP after voting in favor of 45th President and GOP frontrunner Donald Trump’s impeachment probably could’ve faded quietly into obscurity and maybe with enough Bayou Democrats backing him could’ve eked out one more term, but on CNN’s State of the Union Cassidy made his antipathy for America First voters all too clear, not only suggesting Trump should drop out of the race, calling his conviction in his Mar-A-Lago document indictment a “slam dunk” and suggesting (contrary to recent polling) that Republicans won’t vote for Trump if he’s in prison.

According to a Shreveport City Council Administrative Conference Meeting document obtained by American Ground Radio, it appears that an investigation into the ‘Pay-gate’ scandal may be forthcoming despite a resolution calling for it being voted down Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Dr. Alan Jackson joined Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone in the American Ground Radio studio for an interview regarding the ‘Pay-gate’ scandal and Chairman James Green’s responsibility for it.

In a public statement punctuated with self-admonishment and prayer, Shreveport City Council Chair James Green offered a public apology for the unauthorized pay raises given to City Council Clerk’s Office staffers and publicly rescinded them with plans for the city to recoup the unauthorized payments from the employees.

Troubling reports have alleged that huge pay raises for Shreveport City Council Clerks have been implemented without City Council vote as required under the Shreveport City Charter, sections 4.12 and 14.09. The increased salaries range from $56,624 to a whopping $100,799 for the February 2023 appointed City Council Clerk Shanerika Flemings. For comparison, city councillors for reference make $15,225.12 per year, Mayor Tom Arceneaux makes $95,999. Your average Shreveport family subsists on median household income of $41,782, the average individual income is $29,862 per the U.S. Census from 2021.

Bart Everson, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

AGR’s American Mama Terri Netterville joined Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone Monday to discuss the controversy surrounding false characterizations that Jason Aldean’s pro-unity anthem “Try That In A Small Town” is racist. Netterville brought the most convincing voice of all to the forefront, the rural black Americans of the “black belt,” whose condemnation of the “trolls who are saying that this is racist,” should be the final word on the subject.

Bourbon Street, New Orleans, 2003

The CARES Act which purportedly pumped massive amounts of Taxpayer dollars into businesses suffering due to the COVID-19 lockdowns only to be proven rife with fraud and abuse as are nearly all government subsidies, was reportedly abused by two-dozen Shreveporters according to an indictment from U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown.

The quiet of the night near Plaquemine, Louisiana was ripped away by a massive explosion that rocked the Dow Chemical Complex near Plaquemine. The facility caught fire and multiple explosions sent plumes of flame into the skies along with thick clouds of black smoke that caused authorities to order 350 nearby homes to shelter in place. Louisiana Route 1 was also shut down by order of state and local officials.

During the second hour of The American Ground Radio 4th of July Special, ‘What Makes America Great!’ Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone were joined by Country Music Superstar Clint Black who told AGR about his favorite thing about touring our vast and beautiful country.

A recent poll released by Gallup has revealed what many conservatives have intuitively known for several years now: we no longer trust our Universities and Colleges. Since 2015, trust in our institutions of higher learning has plummeted from 57% to 37%. Let. That. Sink. In.

On Friday, Louisiana became the first state to outlaw the creation of deep faked sexually explicit materials involving children leading the way in protecting children from having their images and any images derived from them exploited. The new law will find violators facing between five and twenty years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both. Those who sell or advertise these materials will face even steeper sentences.

An independent poll for the contentious Louisiana Governor’s race has revealed Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry to possess a “commanding position” over his closest competitor over all of the GOP contenders and even the single Democrat participating in the ‘jungle primary’ that characterizes Louisiana’s unorthodox electoral system.

A growing list of legislators has joined the chorus with Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin in calling for a Veto Override Session to overturn Democrat Governor John Bel Edwards’ attempts to defy the will of the legislature elected by the people of Louisiana. The evolution of the special session has been followed closely by the Citizens for a New Louisiana, a non-profit lobbying group that has tweeted that Republican State Rep. Larry Frieman, Rep. Alan Seabaugh, Rep. Gabe Firment, Rep. Dodie Horton, Sen. Blake Miguez, have endorsed the session.