Gotta say, I’m a little surprised the GCSC released it, unless of course the paper FOIA’ed the shit out of them. And you’d think that if she was in such a gorgeous locale, her food choices would be a little less bouzhie. Oh wait, I’ll bet she was trying to save the district money, because Ms. Ledbetter is nothing if not conscientious of what she spends:

School official’s Hawaii trip expenses detailed

By Sharlonda L. Waterhouse
Post-Tribune staff writer

GARY—The Visa bill for Gary School Board member Andrea Ledbetter’s recent trip to Hawaii was mailed to the district last week, with a total due of $2,501—$1,000 more than she said her trip cost.

It could be among the last credit card statements paid by the School Board, which is reconsidering its credit card policy.

First Financial Bank records turned over by the school district show Ledbetter spent $1,264 to stay at the Waikiki Beach Resort Hotel operated by Marriott, for the Jan. 5-8 Hawaii International Conference on Education.

While there, she dined at Lulu’s Surf Club Waikiki for $36.49, Cheesecake Honolulu for $61.81, a Honolulu Red Lobster for $41.65 and Jamba Juice Makai for $4.97.

She also made a purchase at ABC Stores in Honolulu for $19.65.

Her USA Airways plane ticket cost the district $600 plus $5 for online registration. Ledbetter also spent an additional $36.49 at O’Hare airport on the day of take-off, records show.

No paperwork or documents to support the business nature of the trip have been submitted to the accounting office, notations on district records show.

A history of trips

A look back at Ledbetter’s expenses over the past year show more than $5,000 to other trips in Las Vegas; San Francisco; and Orlando, Fla.

For example, the January 2007 bill for Ledbetter’s credit card included two $236 airline tickets—one for Ledbetter and one for a J. Woodson. Her husband is James Woodson.

The two charged $843 to stay at the Rosen Hotel & Resorts in Orlando in November 2006.

The district requested reimbursement for Woodson’s ticket but did not receive it.

In April 2007, records show Ledbetter spent $1,500 on restaurants, cabs and a hotel in San Francisco.

In November 2007, Ledbetter spent $1,373 on a trip to Las Vegas, which included a room and meals at the Bellagio, as well as $45 dinners at a steakhouse and a $74 dinner at Cheesecake Las Vegas.

No receipts or paperwork was turned in for that trip either.

‘It’s embarrassing’

Gary School Board president Nellie Moore and vice president Michael Scott refused district credit cards.

Moore said it’s a vow she made when she campaigned, and she has stuck to it.

School Board member Darren Washington, head of the policy committee, said the board must take steps to ensure that’s the routine for everyone. Washington is drafting a policy that would discontinue the use of individual credit cards by board members. Washington said when news of members spending thousands in luxury locations reach legislators across the state, it’s hard to make the case to the General Assembly that the district needs more money.

“It’s embarrassing,” Washington said. “It sends the message that we’re just going out and doing anything at taxpayers’ expense no matter how much it may cost. That’s a disrespect for other people’s money.”

Drop the cards

Washington uses a personal card and seeks reimbursement.

Moore said board members are elected on the assumption that they will do what’s good for students and the district and don’t need censoring by peers.

Moore said she did not feel it was necessary to require public announcements of board trips.

“I don’t see the benefit of that. I do think as a board we should look very carefully at conferences that benefit our district and have some order in which board members attend. Some conferences are very beneficial.”

Contact Sharlonda L. Waterhouse at 648-3085 or

--------------------

Hawaiian trip


Airfare $600
Conference $440
Honolulu beach hotel $1,260

Total $2,500

Ever eat something that you dig SO MUCH, you start eating it for like days straight because you totally can’t get enough of it, only to never pick it up again (like when I worked at Olive Garden in ‘94 and went on a green-noodle-marinara kick for weeks)? I’m really hoping that’s not going to happen with my beloved cauliflower thingy, because this stuff is like crack. Seriously. I’m not sure if it’s the lemon and olive oil or the pepper and lemon together (always a favorite of mine) or the fresh parmesan over all of it, but you know when I’m standing in front of the sink at 10:30 at night chopping up a damn cauliflower, I’m in love. 

Four or five years after the blogging boom, the paper is now allowing its more popular beat writers to have blogs. And who are writers asking for advice? That would be ME. 


whoo boy

I have my own ideas, of course, but what do y’all think makes a good blog?

Jammies and underwear should NOT feel like I put them in the freezer for whatever reason when I take them out of the dryer.*

Has anyone invented butt warmers for the toilet (that don’t involve yarn, naturally)? Because it ain’t right that I should be freezing my ass off INSIDE MY CRIB. Good Christ. Glad my outdoor assignment was canceled today (for lack of snow instead of appendage-freezing-off weather, of all things); now, I can throw myself into such intellectual pursuits as laundry and oven-cleaning, and maybe some Crap TV at Girlie’s later if I can be persuaded to go outside.

Everything seems to be back in order after hell week—Mother’s settled in, and after sleeping most the day Friday, I don’t feel quite as beaten down anymore. Chatting with my pal Laura was also somewhat helpful: She lost her mom a little more than a year, I think, before Dad died, and her dad, God love him, isn’t much further along than Mother in the grieving process (though he IS much more responsible for his own health and can take care of his own doctors’ appointments). So anyway, Laura has three sisters and a brother, and her dad has started mentally noting what they call “grieving points,” wherein her dad reports to each of them who’s paid the most attention to their mom’s tomb for the week (i.e.: “Your sister left the most beautiful arrangement and stayed x amount of time"). The object, apparently, is that all the siblings are then supposed to top the others’ efforts. Fortunately, all five them have sick senses of humor, so they’re well aware of what their dad is doing and can laugh heartily about it. That right there is what I wish I had the most; I mean, I can tell people how ridiculous some of the shit is that goes on with Mother and me, but it feels like all I’m doing is being an ungrateful cunt, and that includes to those who either have met her or have known her as long as they’ve known me. With siblings—or even Dad himself—at least there’s someone who knows exACTly how it is, and you don’t feel like you have to defend yourself when you’re frustrated. And you know, I had no intention of turning this into another “Woe is me” diatribe, so pardon me while I go suck it up ...

There. That’s better.

So Friday night I covered my alma mater’s MLK Jr. celebration, which featured King’s youngest daughter, Bernice. And once again, it was an assignment that there was no way in hell it could be given the treatment it deserved in 8 to 10, which is what I’m typically writing these days. The reporter chick from the competition and I just looked at each other like, “Fuck. Where do you even start?” Just amazing, and timely to something my sister and I have been talking about the past few weeks, but I’ll talk about that later since I think it’s been two hours since I sprayed the crap out of the oven and therefore should probably clean it before I stick my cauliflower thingy in to cook.

Well, nothing like finding out the desk (or a certain person on it) is talking smack about me.

I’d explain the context if I didn’t think it would bust out the person who told me anything was said, but I will say this: I may eat, breathe and shit the paper as my full-time gig, but technically I don’t work for it anymore. Therefore, I don’t have any sort of power to decide to scratch any story at my capricious whims. As such, if I’ve covered something that I don’t think merits space, I call the person in charge and run it by them; if they agree, I don’t file, and if they don’t, I pull something out of my ass.

Jerk-off.

Anyway.

I had hoped a mid-afternoon shower and once-over with the loofah would be enough to restore my will to live, but alas, it wasn’t. My last two days have been spent hauling Mother around to her first two tests, the endoscopy and, because the doctor discovered her duodenum is narrow, an Upper GI series this morning. The running-around alone would be enough to make someone crazy, but add to it the following things:

-- Mother calling me at ass o’clock Tuesday morning, yelling that we have to leave RIGHT NOW because they can get her in earlier (and not really believing her because of past histrionics);

-- having to run her errandssit with her because she’d been sedated and might be woozy all day (she wasn’t); and

-- smushing myself into two chairs trying to sleep while waiting THREE FUCKING HOURS for this test today as a crazy Asian old guy yelled at his son and a bunch of snotty little kids ran around screaming and being snotty;

and you would be as useless as I was today when I got home. Seriously, I conducted an interview and then just sat in front of my computer in a fog all afternoon because I’m so worn out. About the only thing good in all this is that switching Mother’s meds last week has kept her relatively calm. If she’d have been on Defcon Mother, someone would’ve been dead by now.

I threw “narrow duodenum” into the Google monster, and everything that came up first had to do with duodenal ulcers (of which I had one, like, 13 years ago, and it sucked). Seeing that Upper GIs are used to find ulcers, we may have a diagnostic winner. We’ll find out tomorrow morning.

when I drink two large cups of Dunkin’ Donuts hot chocolate and coffee mixed together (a concoction I never would’ve imagined would be so darn delicious, so thanks to my pal Ray for convincing me)? Aside from plying me with enough caffeine to keep me awake for the next three days, I can tell you what it DOESN’T do: Prevent me from setting my notebook on the roof of my car and then driving off.



Good thing I was paying extra-special attention today, or I’d have been screwed.

So, I got about four or five pounds of pork simmering in my new crock pot for dinner this evening, but I’m a little concerned that because the removable part is stoneware and not glass, we might not be eating until 9-ish or 10-ish. For whatever reason, it just doesn’t seem to be heating up like it should, even though I have it on high. (Of course, starting it way earlier than 5 p.m. probably would’ve countered that, but there was a DANCE! COMPETITION! to cover—you remember DANCE! COMPETITION! right, Cat?—and much to my surprise and good fortune, the teams didn’t suck to high heaven.) Good thing Girlie and Soph had a late dinnerlunch (and I finally dared to remove and sterilize the containers of corn and peaches buried in the back of the fridge since, oh, summer? Shhhhhhhhh!), because I just might be sending food home with them instead of eating heavy that late at night.

Think of trying weight-loss miracle drug Alli? You might need to read this first, although I wouldn’t recommend it because I just about shit myself from laughing—proving once again that I’m nothing if not an 11 year-old boy: Lookit [Edited to add: I think this would be an appropriate time to remind y’all of this gem, which still never fails to make me laugh when I have a ... well, you know: Lookit]

Thanks to Li’l Kate for this one.

Could you please, please PLEASE not vote for candidates who spend your money like the thieves that they are and then flaunt in your faces? How much more does this woman and her family have to rip off from the Gary Community School Corp. before people become horrified that their tax dollars are going toward expensive vacations that have nothing to do with the students? And ESL as a second language, my ass. The native tongue of Creole, or Pidgin English, doesn’t necessitate ESL.

Taxpayers on hook for trip to Hawaii

January 11, 2008


By Sharlonda L. Waterhouse and Carole Carlson
Post-Tribune staff writers

Gary School Board member Andrea Ledbetter defended her trip to the Hawaii International Conference on Education earlier this week saying Hawaii shares many of the same urban ills as Gary. She termed the state a “tropical Gary.”

While Ledbetter declined to say if the cash-strapped school district paid for the trip, she said she planned to turn in expenses for reimbursement. Sources confirmed the school district would receive the bill that Ledbetter estimated at about $1,500.

Ledbetter flew to Hawaii and stayed at the Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa, operated by Marriott. She was joined by her father, Andrew Ledbetter, who she said attended the conference also but paid his own way.

In 2005, Ledbetter took a $3,144 school-paid trip to Okinawa, Japan. She said the visit was for educational and professional enlightenment. The district ordered her to repay trip expenses she placed on her school district credit card.

Ledbetter said she submitted a proposal to participate in the Hawaii conference and she plans to share insight gleaned there with board members.

She said she gained “perspective on what the school district needs.”

Ledbetter criticized the newspaper for writing about her trip. “You always try to make something negative out of it,” she said.

The Ledbetters stayed past the Jan. 5 to 8 conference dates.

On Jan. 9, Ledbetter’s father, Andrew, answered a call to the family hotel room but hung up when asked about the trip.

Upon returning to Gary on Thursday, Ledbetter discussed the trip, but declined to say how she paid for it: “Ask public information,” she said.

The public information office is awaiting the receipt of official credit card statements.

School Board President Nellie Moore, who ran for office under the pledge of ensuring greater financial accountability for the district, did not return numerous calls or respond to a request for information on how the trip was paid for.

According to the official conference site, registration was $440. The room cost was $205 to $245 per night, for a minimum of three nights. Airfare was estimated at $1,500.

Ledbetter, however, said the trip was not that expensive—only $1,500 total. She said she bought discounted first-class tickets and walked most places.

Superintendent Mary Steele-Agee was scheduled to present at the conference, according to a brochure listing her as a chairwoman for a workshop titled: “Turning Around a Failing District: Setting a Course for High Achievement.”

That was scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 6. Steele-Agee did not attend, however.

“What I saw down there is that school districts from all over the country invite the youngest teachers, bringing new perspective. Hawaii suffers from a lot of issues that we have ... . English as second language classes was the biggest topic,” Ledbetter said.

Ledbetter is up for re-election this year and is expected to be challenged by educator and businessman Marion Williams.


Contact Sharlonda L. Waterhouse at 648-3085 or swaterhouse@post-trib.com

Aw. HELL. NAW:

By John Byrne
Post-Tribune Staff Writer

INDIANAPOLIS—Pharmacists who refuse to dispense certain contraceptives would get protection from termination under a bill a Senate committee supported Wednesday.

The Senate Health and Provider Services Committee voted 6-5 to pass Senate Bill 3, which would protect pharmacists who refused to dispense drugs that “cause an abortion” or “destroy an unborn child.”
Sen. Jeff Drozda, R-Westfield, said his bill was not meant to address contraceptives such as birth control pills or so-called “Plan B” drugs.

Drozda said he was simply adopting the language used in states which have already enacted such protections.

But he acknowledged he believes contraceptives would be covered by the bill.

Under current state law, pharmacists are not required to dispense such drugs if they have a moral objection to the products. But they can then be fired from their jobs for the refusal.

Before voting against the measure, Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, said Drozda should include a list of the drugs he means to protect pharmacists from having to dispense.

Contact John Byrne at (317) 631-7400 or jbyrne@post-trib.com

Exposure to something that whets the appetite, such as a picture of a mouthwatering dessert, can make a person more impulsive with unrelated purchases, finds a study from the February 2008 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. For example, the researchers reveal in one experiment that the aroma of chocolate chip cookies can prompt women on a tight budget to splurge on a new item of clothing.

but hate what the humidity is doing to my hair, especially my bangs. It got so bad today that I ran into my D-list celebrity BFF’s whining “Make it stoooooooop!” So he did, and now I have a slanty thing going on, just like I used to have but longer. As long as they stop bending like they were, I’m fine with that.

Got the last of my Christmas presents over the weekend: A gorgeous pasta pot/vegetable steamer thingy plus several things to cook in it from my lovely brother B-Dubs (Thank you, Baby! Dig it thusly!). Of course, when I told Girlie of this, she immediately conned me into making dinner this weekend, so now I have no idea what I’m going to make. Omelets were suggested, which would be a fine idea if I weren’t so weird about eggs, and I don’t have enough gnocchi to do anything with that. So if anyone has any suggestions, I’m game. (Actually, Tara, if you could resend me that cauliflower thingy AGAIN, I’d love you for it.)

Speaking of Girlie, she called me the other day before picking me up to tell me of a new phenomenon that simultaneously perplexed and frightened: Did you know that you can purchase “marital aids” at Walgreen’s? Not just your standard condoms and K-Y either, but, like, MARITAL AIDS. She discovered this as she was printing off pictures from the holidays, and you can get them online only, but who knew? I mean, I’ll admit that when I’m thinking MARTIAL AIDS, Walgreen’s is the last place I’d think about getting them from, but I guess it would be convenient in some universe, maybe. Can you imagine the ad copy on that, though? 

The paper beat me to it yesterday (or rather Wednesday, since that’s when the following was written):

Clay should admit Gary has crime woes

January 3, 2008

A mayor should be the top cheerleader for his or her city, whether it’s Olga Velazquez pitching a lakeshore park in Portage or Jon Costas backing bus service in Valparaiso.

In Gary, Mayor Rudy Clay needs to put down the rose-colored glasses and make the reduction of crime and violence his No. 1 priority. That can’t happen until Clay admits Gary is infested with thugs and gangbangers who find it easy to kill.

In comments about Gary’s homicide rate in today’s Post-Tribune, Clay dismisses Gary’s ills and blames domestic disputes as the main source of violent deaths in his city. That’s an irresponsible comment.

Take a close look at the names of the 71 people who died violent deaths in Gary last year. Most are young men in their 20s whose killers acquired guns too easily.

Meanwhile, homicides are dropping in the nation’s largest cities. New York City recorded 484 slayings as of Dec. 25—down 17 percent from last year and the lowest since record-keeping began in 1963.

Chicago marked its lowest total since 1965 with 435 killings through Dec. 26. A Chicago official hailed its tough stance on gangs, guns and drugs.

Yet, in Gary, the mayor doesn’t even recognize there’s a crime problem. It’s all domestics, family disputes, says his honor.

So, while other cities take hard looks at crime and make strides forward, Gary struts out a bunch of politically connected auxiliary police officers with no policing expertise. They should be assigned to parades.

There is real science that exists to analyze and fight crime. Other cities do have a clue; they are stopping the violence. Gary—again—is getting left behind on its far-too-deadly streets. Before change can occur, there must be an awareness, not an excuse.

We’re not even a week into 2k8, and our pal Rudy is at it again:

By Jon Seidel
Post-Tribune staff writer

GARY—Getting into a fight with the wrong person was the leading cause of violent deaths for all of 2007 in Gary, but that was especially true in the latter half of the year.

Since July 1, Gary police have investigated 37 homicides. Of those, 18 were caused by a fight or altercation, according to Lake County Coroner’s statistics.

In all, 29 of the 71 homicides committed in 2007 were categorized the same way.

Mayor Rudy Clay, though, believes the increase in deaths last year was driven by a spike in domestic homicides.

Eleven people were killed after household arguments spilled over into violence last year. Six of those occurred after July 1, anchored by a brutal triple homicide in August.

That’s compared to a total of four domestic homicides in 2006.

“In Gary, Indiana, our homicides are not like, say, Chicago, thugs and drugs and gangs and young people killing each other in the schools,” Clay said. “That’s not the cause of it in Gary.”[Emphasis mine]

Chicago police officials couldn’t be reached for comment in response to Clay’s statements.

However, Chicago is on track to have its lowest homicide toll since 1965, when police reported 395 killings. The city had logged 435 slayings through Dec. 26. In the early part of the decade, police often reported more than 600 a year.

Chicago officials credit the improvement to their tough stance on gangs, guns and drugs.

“Those three ingredients, so to speak, are what we’re focused on,” police spokeswoman Monique Bond told The Associated Press. “That’s really what leads to random violence.”

Clay said he wants to enlist Indiana University Northwest early this year to conduct an in-depth analysis of homicides in 2007 to find out why the rate of violent killings jumped by nearly 40 percent.

“Tell us what’s really going on,” Clay said.

He said he is also hoping a new job resource program at City Hall will help calm some of the anger boiling over in the homes.

“We think if people in the community had more jobs, we think it will bring down the anger among people,” Clay said.

Families of the victims in 2007 tend to agree that anger is overwhelming people in the city. Much of it, they say, is frustration from not being able to find jobs.

According to the U.S. Census, 54 percent of Gary’s population is in the labor force, as opposed to the national average of 65 percent.

The percentage of families in Gary below the poverty level, according to the Census, is 27 percent, as opposed to the national average of 10 percent.

Marguerite Dyson, whose son Jermaine Dyson was shot and killed in the Aetna area last year, has decided to move away from Gary.

She said there are no employment opportunities for young people, especially those with criminal records who want to start a new life.

“If you have a record you can’t get a decent job,” Dyson said.

Renee Kellom, a relative of homicide victim Shadonna Cheatham, said too many people feel free to kill others in Gary.

Cheatham was shot in the head at her home in the 4400 block of West 24th Avenue on July 26. Dia K. Nelson has been charged with her murder, but remains at large.

“It shouldn’t be so easy to just kill somebody and walk away,” Kellom said.

You know how you sent the cd to me? Did you send those as mp3 files or iTunes files? And if I were to send iTunes files, would the person on the receiving end download them as iTunes files or mp3? Need to know.