Latest dispatches from bayou country

Recently I've been exploring innovative education ideas in Baton Rouge. Among them is a planned charter school dubbed the Capitol Education Center, which would provide vocational training to youths who likely would have to leave Louisiana in search of work if they earned less specialized four-year degrees.

The initiative is spearheaded by William Jenkins, president emeritus of LSU and a South African emigre. He told me in an interview that his passion for providing practical schooling stems from his first-hand experience seeing apartheid:

“I was born into and grew up in apartheid South Africa,” he says. “A large number in that country were excluded from participating in a trained workforce. That was in many ways the Achilles’ heel of the country. South Africa still has a long way to go [to train nonwhites] to be able to fully engage in industry and commerce, and to have careers.

“I have a deep concern about, as a society, how we advance and how we compete nationally and internationally, absent a fully trained workforce."

My article on the school concept is out now here.

I also wrote about independent pharmacist Claud Derbes (prounounced "derby"), who found some clever ways to trump big-box competition:

Derbes vies with chains such as Walgreens and CVS by offering flu shots, shingles and pneumonia vaccinations, and a quick customer response despite being a compound-prescription pharmacy, meaning his technicians mix medicines by hand.

He says customers drop off orders and then zip down to shop at Walmart, where they chide friends who wait an hour for medication that takes 15 to 20 minutes to get at Derbes’ store, despite the old-fashioned preparation method.

“They see friends and say: ‘Well, you’re a fool. What are you doing that for?’” Derbes says with a laugh. “We’ve been very fortunate. Business has grown very well.”

That article is here.

And, I wrote about a stimulus bill plan that provides discounts for companies that want to buy buildings, land and related assets in order to expand locally, rather than relocate in order to grow. That article on the Small Business Administration's 504 loans is here.

The Baton Rouge Business Report and I appreciate your clicks.

'You have to face things like, “One day I’m going to die" '

For a refreshing change, I've had some time to work on articles and story ideas this cycle for the Baton Rouge Business Report.

Last in print was my 10 questions interview with a local estate planner, who noted that the concept of "usufruct" in Louisiana law means a wife can use assets of her late husband that ultimately will go to their children, regardless of whether she remarries and has more children, then tries to will those assets to her new family.

The notion stems from French law or the Napoleonic Code, as opposed to English common law; sounds like a sensible concept for all 50 of our great states. Read Paul Rabalais' thoughts on why it is so easy to put off planning your estate -- after all, he says, "You have to face things like, 'One day I’m going to die' " -- and other matters here.

I also recently wrote about the city's massive bond measure that officials hoped would allow them to build an educational theme park along the Mississippi River on bayou country ecology; the vote on the Alive project and other infrastructure funding was Saturday. That brief article is here; apparently the initiative, which officials never could succinctly explain to voters (what we in journalism call an "elevator pitch") died a miserable death at the polls.

More articles should magically appear online sometime Tuesday right here. Hope to count your clicks from this site, dear readers.