Happy 1/1/11

I just had to post it.

On the day before.

January 1, 2011.

Alex

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from the 1950′s.

4th & Murray Street. 1956. City Hall.

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Alex

Ghost Hunters Program filmed in Alexandria. (Update)

The Si-Fi Network Program Ghost Hunters has just wrapped up filming a segment on our town and the Bentley Hotel. It was brought to town with the efforts of Bill Hess who is in charge of the film industry promotion for Alexandria.

This program that can be seen on local cable will be viewed by two million, plus people. No matter how you view it, it is a plus factor for Alexandria.

From what I can gather, most people are treating this with a good bit of ridicule.

Be that as it may, this is a good thing, any way you look at it.

Since the 1950′s Alexandria has been living in the dark ages.

It continues even today in our city government.

That isolationism mind-set is going to take a long time to change.

It may be too late and if it changes, it will not be in  my lifetime.

To progress in any way,  a city  needs to publicize its attractions.

No matter if  they are big or small or considered by the local inhabitants insignificant in their eyes.

We have to let the outside world know that there is a city named Alexandria, Louisiana and we are proud of it no matter what you think  the shape it’s government is in or how stupid you think  the majority of its inhabitants are.

Any contact with the outside world is a plus factor for us.

National Television exposure is a plus factor. Good or bad.

I use the phrase Plus Factor a lot..but you know something, there is such  a thing.

Let your friends know about this program. It will be shown sometime in middle or late February.

It has nothing to do with our political mess. It has everything to do with promoting our town..

Good or bad…

Lets promote it, not make satire or fun of it.

We do enough of that with every thing else.

According to the producers..air date will be last of Feb or first of March. definite date in the next week or so.

The season premier  of the Ghost Hunters program on the Si-Fi Network will feature Alexandria, La. on the evening of February 23.

Alex

The Town Talk is no longer a local news source.

I have read the Town Talk for 60+ years. I remember fondly when it published the local news daily. It may have been slanted in some story’s like it is today, But it aggressively published the local news and did investigative reporting. They dug up a lot of local dirt over the years and brought a lot of problems to the light of day. I knew and respected a number of the reporters during the 60′ to the 80′s.They were hard-core. They went after new’s story’s with a vengeance.

They did not worry about being fired for bringing corruption to the attention of their readers.

That was then…Today it is a completely different story.  Their staff is namby-pamby, afraid to step on local government’s toes. Afraid of taking a strong stand on anything….They do no investigative reporting what so ever.  They have no staff or stomach to handle that type of thing.

They report on week old news and publish canned story’s  from their parent company. The paper is published out-of-town and they promote buy locally?

When you buy a Town Talk you are purchasing an out-of-town product. (Ironic is it not?)

People lost jobs over that, local people. 

 Letters to the editor have become a repetitive joke, rehashing the same old tired subjects  over and over again. Written by the same self-styled experts on old tired, now un-interesting crap.

An  “executive” editor who writes about riding his bicycle or his travels that are uninteresting non-adventures.  Giving no controversial observations at all.

Every time they do get a reporter with any journalistic talent, he or she stays just long enough to get the basic experience they need, before moving on to greener pastures…

I have not ventured out on a rant like this in quite a while. I do not vie for the attention of those wo look for sensationalism and hoopla… The daily hits and visits to my blog are not a concern.

I do not know if other readers even care about the sad journalistic state of affairs the Town Talk is in.  I would like to think they do.

When a paper is owned by an out-of-town goliath like our local paper, they have only one concern. Drain as much money from the locals as possible using a tired worn out formula of the same spoiled fish every day. Here in Alexandria it seems to work extremely well.  It’s just a shame that the paper, started in the late 1800′s no longer functions as its founder intended it to do. (They are probably spinning in their respective graves.)

Well, they are selling papers and you are still buying and reading.

With a little effort, it could be what it was intended for..

But it so much easier being a pulp rag.

Operating cost low…..Profit’s high…

Can’t beat that formula.

It works in today’s world…..

Alex

Interesting small gift web sites. Do you have one you would recommend?

I have a friend who has just launched a web site specializing in Antiques of all types.

He has been in the Antique business for over 30 years.

www.genius-antiques.com

It has many very interesting items from military to jewelry.

They have never had a local  shop and never will.

They have only done National Antique shows all over the United States.

It is well worth the visit.

If you have a site  you would like to recommend that has unique items please post it in the comments…..

I am not talking about Adult sites or Ebay or large business sites.

Just small unique gift sites, with interesting items. (Not hobby or crafts!)

Alex

Thoughts about the “high crime” areas of Alexandria, La.

This town is a cesspool of crime.

 Mainly petty and mostly dope.

 As it has been stated in print most of it is in concentrated areas.

As  a youngster I was in close contact with  the police force of Alexandria, because one of my close relatives was on the force. I saw how they effectively operated back then. The element of surprise and pressure  keep lowlife on the edge. If they do not know what is going to happen, they can not prepare for it. 

Back years ago police walked beat’s. They were assigned areas to patrol. Crime was low because the criminal did not know where the police would appear and when.

Now the police have become lazy. They use  cars to patrol. They focus on auto traffic rather than foot traffic.  If they see someone on foot they do take action, granted. But that type of crime takes a back seat most of the time, because cars are the foundation of police patrols today.

Let’s take a different approach to things and take a step backward, so to speak.

I know full well the police of today are perhaps clueless to what walking a beat is.

Those who know will probably scream in protest, because they are basically children of today.

Back in the old days the police would patrol a given area. If there was a problem they would try to contain it. There were call boxes every  few blocks that connected them to the station. That is how they got back up.

Today is different. With the art of communication as it is, each policeman can carry his own radio and even tv camera for that matter. Size or weight is not a factor anymore.

Two officers with an assigned beat walking in a high crime area would scare the hell out of the criminal elements in any neighborhood…IF….

The patrol is  on foot in a given area at RANDOM times day and night and one police car that will patrol around the given neighborhood but not around the two officers on foot.

To be effective. It HAS to be random and not predictable.

Take some of the cars off church parking lot and stop and shop duty.

There is no shortage of personal..

Do this simple thing for a while and make friends with the neighborhood residents that you are on foot patrol in.

(I am not talking about citizen patrol…That is ineffective in this type of situation…so forget about that as a rebutal..period…)

As dumb and un-knowledgeable as I am ..I guarantee you will see positive results!

“Simple solutions in todays world can only be achived with $20,000 feasibility study’s by a group of uninformed school children who have been offered ice cream if the come to the right conclusion..”

                                                                                             

The only cost involved will be the BITCHING of the officer’s involved…and there will be no extra time involved, because they are supposed to be working anyway…To me it’s a win, win situation.

Oh, and have you counted the police cars at the station  on the parking lot off Bolton Avenue at any given time? Seems we have a surplus of unused ones…

Any questions????

 

Alex.

From the “bet you did not know about this” department. Alexandria, La. 1912

As you go  up  McArthur Drive toward the O.K. Allen Bridge look to your left when you see the Tractor Supply Store. To the right of that in the field was once the Alexandria Race Track.The photo below shows the horse race track in its glory around 1912. Veterans Drive was once known as Race Track Road.

Bet you did not know that.

Alex