Louisiana: The State We're In; 276

[No sound] Partial funding for this program was provided in part through contributions to Friends of LPB. The following program is an LPB public affairs production, Louisiana: The State We're In with Beth George and Ron Blome. Welcome to this edition of Louisiana: The State We're In. This week, we'll take a look at Mardi Gras 1979, a party even a police strike couldn't stop; hear an unusual

performance by an opera star in a South Louisiana bar; and visit the traditional home of Louisiana country music, the Old South Jamboree. But first this week's capital highlights. Two more candidates joined the field in the lieutenant governor's race this week, bringing the count to five who have formally announced. Already in the running are Representative Bobby Freeman, Senator Jesse Knowles and Jim Morrison. The two entering the race this week have both been associated with Governor Edwards. As their announcements indicate, they have taken different paths. The first to announce was a former Governor's aide, Clyde Vidrine. Vidrine has been known most recently as the author of a book, "Just Taking Orders," that is highly critical of Edwin Edwards. Vidrine says in spite of his personal problems in the past, this time he's serious about seeking office. This might sound like a joke to you all because I announced I'd run for governor before four years ago. This is not a joke. It's like the good little thing on the FCC, you know. This is

not an actual alert, you know, wait a minute, you know, you get that beeper sound. This time I intend to go all the way through with it. As far as the campaign is concerned, I'd like to put the other candidates on the defense by saying that every dollar I get is going to come through a CPA firm, and I'll report every 30 days who gave me the money and how I spent it. Later in the week another former governor's aide made his bid for the lieutenant governor's seat. James Donelon, president of the Jefferson Parish Council and former legal counsel to Governor Edwards, made his formal announcement with Louisiana's First Lady Elaine Edwards in attendance, giving at least tacit approval to his candidacy. Donelon says his experience in state and parish government will be a plus for his campaign. My name recognition is very good throughout a third of the voting area of the state of Louisiana and that is metropolitan New Orleans area, where I've been in office for four years and before me my uncle was in office for 12 years. So I think in the field

today for lieutenant governor, I probably have more name recognition than than any of the other candidates. One of the most important jobs for lieutenant governor in Louisiana has been inducing new industries to settle here. But on the question of tax breaks for those industries, Donelon says we need to take a critical look at state policy. Also I have seen the numbers on who the benefactors of those exemptions are and principally they are industries who are wed to Louisiana and cannot go anywhere else due to energy resources or the river or things of that sort. And particularly from the point of view of school taxes and funds for public education, I'm very dubious of the need for those extensions to be continued. Ron, it appears that the Edwards family is split over that lieutenant governor's race with Mrs. Edwards apparently supporting Donelon while the governor said he's backing his floor leader Bobby Freeman. And while Edwards

isn't running for anything this year, a group of his friends have decided it's time to build up a campaign war chest. A $500-a-plate dinner is expected to bring in $750,000 next month, money to be used in some future campaign. Governor Edwards is meeting with legislative leaders next week to formulate a proposal for state employee and teacher pay raises. But this week the executive director of the Louisiana Civil Service Commission told a legislative committee that he's going to stick with the president's 7 percent guideline for wage increases. If the commission changes that, as they very well may, that's fine with me. If the governor asks us to change it to across the board figure, then the Commission will certainly consider that. South Central Bell says they've been hit hard by inflation, too, so this week they asked the Public Service Commission for an almost $30 million rate hike. If approved, the average residential bills would go up by about $80

a month. The State Bond Commission has rejected a plan that would put the state into the housing mortgage business through a public facilities authority created in 1974. The plan could have pushed housing bond obligations to three quarters of a billion dollars for the state. The idea behind the public housing authorities is to provide low interest home loans in times when interest rates are normally too high for many home buyers. The money comes from tax free bonds sold to investors, and the concept is so appealing that 14 local programs are either gearing up or under operation across the state. Now a group of businessmen and the attorneys representing several of the authorities want to create a super authority that governs the entire state. There's still a substantial number of more that do not have the benefit of this financing assistance and we feel that the citizens of Grant Parish or Union Parish or wherever they may be, that just because they are a small rural parish, they should not be denied

benefits of this financing. But the proposal met with stiff opposition from committee members with State Representative Kevin Reilly complaining the loudest. I view it as a, in spite of what you said, I think it's a method to circumvent the legislature number one. Number two it circumvents the local police juries where we the rest of the things we've discussed all these housing authorities that we under public trust we've had the police juries order an appropriate little governing body. We will not have anything there. I view this as a simple attempt at a monopoly. I don't think we ought to put our own savings and loans and our own banks out of business. So, long before it gets to be a question of are we affecting one of these bond programs, we will have already adversely affected our own industries. And I think we ought to cut it off before that point occurs, and I think the savings and loans and the banks will be here to tell us when that occurs. Attorney Hicks denied that they were trying to cut into anyone's lending territory, but Bond Commission

chairman, State Treasurer Mary Evelyn Parker, had the last word. I think the matter is too far reaching. I think it's too complicated. I think too many people are involved in it, and I think we would be entirely premature and inappropriate this morning to act on any approval, be it preliminary or permanent, on a matter of this import. The Iranian oil squeeze has filtered down to Louisiana as Shell and Texaco both announced this week that they may have to force weekend service station cutbacks because of a shortage of crude oil. They say supplies in Louisiana are running five to ten percent below last year's levels. State health officials say that cleanup of Bayou Sorrel waste pits is going along smoothly. But this week officials with the Federal Environmental Protection Agency said the pits are threatening local waterways. Armed with a federal warrant, the EPA examined the site this week and said the toxic chemicals have overflowed the pits and cleanup operations were inadequate. A young truck driver died at the pits last summer when he was overcome by chemical fumes. The EPA probe began this week could

result in federal prosecutions. The New Orleans Police strike is now entering its third week with a major casualty, New Orleans businessmen who are still smarting from a scaled down Mardi Gras. And while Rex failed to roll down Canal Street, it was still carnival time for South Louisiana and a different Mardi Gras we'll always remember. Mardi Gras this year became as much a news event as an annual blowout and the cental issue was money. How much would striking policemen accept? How much would be spent on National Guardsmen and state police? And how much would the city lose, if Mardi Gras was indeed cancelled. New Orleanians at least had a partial answer for the last question. Mardi Gras might be celebrated a little differently, but it was far from cancelled. In fact, early Fat Tuesday morning there was an old-fashioned jazz funeral in the French Quarter for the bad spirits that have plagued this year's Mardi Gras. [Music] As in all such funeral marches, this one ended with a celebration of rebirth, and Mardi Gras was born again

as the French Quarter became the backdrop for a spontaneous party with a most unusual guest list. [parade noise]

[parade noise] [parade noise] [parade noise] The traditional Mardi Gras parades that rolled this year did so in the suburbs as surrounding parishes welcomed Carnival krewes forced out of the city. [parade noise] [parade noise] [parade noise] New Orleans' troubles proved a boon for Acadiana where a record crowd celebrated Mardi Gras.

At the Acadian Village outside Lafayette, the traditional Courir de Mardi Gras was observed. This intricately structured folk ritual is still followed in small towns in southwest Louisiana. It is similar in tradition to such rituals as caroling and trick or treating. In the courir, a band of horsemen, approach a farmhouse and sing and dance to a Mardi Gras song. They're rewarded by a chicken or another ingredient that can be used in the communal gumbo prepared later in the day. The finale of all this festivity is a dance or fais do do. (Cajun music)

[Cajun music] [Cajun music] [Cajun music] [Cajun music] [Cajun music] [Cajun music] Despite the problems in New Orleans and the cancellation of some of the traditional festivities, it is clear that Mardi Gras this year was alive and well across South Louisiana. [Cajun music] If this year's Mardi Gras celebration seemed improbable, wait till you see this. A group of art

federations, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ford Foundation, have decided that the best way to expose Americans to the arts and culture is to send artists into the community. That's exactly what a program is doing in West Baton Rouge Parish, and our report begins at a small bar on Louisiana Highway 1. You wouldn't expect to find an opera star entertaining the patrons here in Chuck's Bar, a rural tavern in West Baton Rouge Parish, but that's exactly where we found Dean Rhodus on a recent evening. [Opera singing] It's called an informance. It's a part of a program designed to put artists into the

community and in touch with the people. For Chicago Lyric Opera performer Dean Rhodus, a native of Louisiana, Chuck's Bar became one of many stops in a busy week. This may sound presumptuous, I hope it doesn't, but the arts, the singing arts, the dancing, the acting, all the creative arts are something that's very close to the center of all of us. And there's no reason why it shouldn't exist in the bars. You know, and just thinking about it, in the, in Europe in the pubs and the haufbraus and so on, this thing goes on all the time. Just people in the community who have talent get up and sing and everybody just loves it. So in America it's a thing that's far from us, but if we can make it happen in the community situations then in that way we can bring it to the people so that they can feel closer to it. I just wanted to start out by saying when I was in college

I had been singing, I guess oh three or four years, as a student. And everybody's pretty poor at that point and I had acquired a taste for beer, but had no money. There was a little place around the corner from the college called the Salty Dog that I and my friends used to visit. And when I didn't have the money, I'd go in and sing a song. And by the time generally I finished the song, thank God there was this pitcher of beer on the table. I want to do that song that I used to do. And maybe it worked because everybody in there was real drunk and it appealed to their drunken nature. I don't know. But it's one I like very much. So if you'll bear with me, I'd just like to go back about too many years, 10 years I guess. Can I have an F, maestro? Okay. [Starts singing Danny Boy]

The summer's gone and all the leaves are falling. It's you, it's you must go and I must bide. You know what's fun about it? It's fun a little bit to put people on the spot because everybody's dying to get up there and do the thing that I'm doing. But once once the focus comes to them, you see the fear and panic that goes through all of us, even the performers, as we approach that moment when we do have to perform

and it's kind of fun to put them on the spot just for a minute. (More singing) For this young lady, the trip to Chuck's Bar created an enjoyable moment that she probably hadn't expected. But how does an opera singer measure up to the regular patrons whose musical diet usually hangs on a jukebox? Kinda weird, you know, to hear a man sing opera because you don't hear it much and in this place here. Because one of my old roommates sang opera but as far as just singing like that, I really enjoyed it. It was nice. Well, it's probably about like the rest of them. To be a man singing opera, he sounds pretty good. Now I'll have to give him credit, but it do sound funny. Funny or not, Rhodus taught his audience that opera is nothing more than a reflection of life, no matter what language you sing in. And to show there is nothing sacred to his style of music, he offered us a

parody of the classic Italian melodrama. [Opera music] Still selling her pizza in the streets... [Opera music] [Opera music] [Opera music] [Opera music] [Opera music] [Opera music] [Opera music] [Opera music]

[Opera music] [Opera music] If opera in a bar doesn't suit your musical taste, then country music might be more your style. This weekend as PBS kicks off Festival '79, we'll have a full evening of country music on LPB live from the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. But live country music isn't exclusive to Nashville, as you'll see in this visit to the Old South Jamboree. Welcome everybody. Everybody, I want to hear from you out there. How y'all doing tonight? They've already mentioned the fine country music we have on hand for you tonight. This is a brother and sister team and they really do a good job. I hope you enjoy them here

at the Old South. And they're winding their way through here a little bit. It's Saturday night at the Old South Jamboree in Walker, Louisiana, and it's time for a little old-fashioned country music. Like its Louisiana neighbor, the Louisiana Hayride, the Jamboree features not only Nashville stars but those seeking stardom in the booming business that is country music. But for Hank Jones, long time master of ceremonies, the Saturday night gatherings are more of a family affair. We've been here about right at 12 years now and I've been here practically every one. Missed maybe one or two a year. What's special about the Old South Jamboree? The thing that we like to say especially is it's a family show. Bring the whole family and, of course we don't allow any alcoholic beverages. And we have some of the old time country music which there's not too many places anymore that you can go and hear that. Most of it is the later rock type, you know. But we try to feature the good old timey country music.

Do you try and use local talent, too? Some more say than some other areas? Yes, I suppose we have as many local entertainers as any place in the area now. Most of the local places use a band, you know, and maybe one singer. But we use, I guess, what did we have tonight? About seven or eight, maybe 10. I don't know, and duets and different variety and we enjoy it all. Are you pleased that there's a resurgence of interest in country and western music? What's your reaction to all the attention in the country? I, naturally being a country music fan and partly a musician, too, naturally I am pleased. I've seen the trend change and it seems like it's like a lot of other things. About every maybe 20, 25 years, it makes a cycle. And I think it's coming back now to a lot of it especially in the bluegrass and gospel like it was maybe 25 years ago. Country music with its origins in rural America has always had a special bond with the South

and, in Walker, there is a feeling of stepping back in time. Above the stage hangs the American flag, the Confederate flag and an ad for the Ku Klux Klan. But if old traditions are valued, there's also evidence that newer ideas and music are creeping in. Louise Mandrell, the featured star this Saturday night, records and lives in Nashville. And although she sings some of the older songs, her material is aimed at a younger audience accustomed more to pop than country music. [Music] I have a good time. I think the crowd makes a big difference. You kind of have to read your crowd and the music they want to hear and according to where you're working too. If it's a show or it's a dance. Tell me there are problems on the road, obviously. Even tonight, there's a problem. Are you hasseled a lot? No, not a lot. Usually, everything's taken care of for me before I even arrive. And that's kind of a, I think it's a rough life as far as travelling, but it's kind of an easy life as far as, you know, an interesting life, I guess. At the Old South Jamboree, owner Lester Hodges says he's trying as hard as possible to hold on to what he perceives as the traditions of country life and country music. Country music is kind of like anything else. It's got to where they can't hardly... If you put out a real decent song, it won't go. If it's not full of sex

or dope or something like that, it just don't sell. That's just the way it is. We're keeping it like it used to be. I know it's not as popular as the new stuff. But we're not doing it for money nohow. We're going to do what we like. We don't care if we don't have three people out there. While some people are singing their troubles away, others are looking for concrete solutions especially when it comes to the economy. This week the Baton Rouge Kiwanis Club explored one such solution with Bart Fleming of the Fiscal Policy Council. You know we have inflation. You know we have unacceptably high unemployment. You know that we have large government deficits which are stimulating... The problems that bog down the American economy are easy to define. It's the solutions that keep us guessing. For some, the solutions are more clear cut. For Bart Fleming, executive vice president of the Fiscal Policy Council, the problem and the answer involves the condition of capitalism in America.

Now I would contend to you and suggest to you that for about 100 years we have very gradually eroded away our political constituency for capitalism in America. We give a great deal of thought to the economic problems. We know that if we can get a handle on government spending, and hold taxing down, that we can bring the budget back into balance and provide real economic growth to the benefit of all Americans. We know that. We know essentially how to do it. It's a political problem in getting it done. But we know how to go about doing it. Fleming and the Fiscal Policy Council are backing an economic stimulus measure called the national dividend plan, a plan that would use the nation's corporate income taxes to fund a profit-sharing pool in which each American voter would share. Or simply stated, the money is given to each voter as a shareholder in American business. The first claim on that money however would be each year's federal deficit. So if each voter wants his full share of the pie, he'll make sure his congressman keeps the federal budget in line. The idea is to start building a constituency, a political constituency for capitalism so that when they, when people enter into the political process by

voting, they are voting their best economic interests, which are tied to the survival of private enterprise. Right now, they perceive that a large growing government that provides subsidies and transfer payments is their, is their economic friend. And so we get people elected to Congress who provide more government and if we're going to turn that around, the constituency for capitalism is going to have to be developed. Fleming admits his plan appears overly simplistic, but he insists it will work if Americans are truly committed to the new economics spawned by Proposition 13. Ron, next week we'll hear from another economist, President Carter's inflation fighter Alfred Kahn, and we hope you'll join us then on Louisiana: The State We're In. I'm Beth George for Ron Blome. Good Evening. The proceeding was an LPB production.

This program was provided in part through contributions to friends of the LBB.