This
year, perhaps we can all take a lesson from the Saints offense—it’s all about “we” not “me.” This year, the
stereotypical “diva” receiver just won’t make it in New Orleans’ offense, because Drew Brees spreads the ball
around too much and often throws to other plays who are open. Drew Brees: “A lot of the receivers have a
similar personality…They’re all unselfish players..They all push and motivate each other, even if it’s
quietly.” Full article [7].
BP
representatives recently indicated that Cameron International, the maker of the Deepwater Horizon blowout
preventer that failed to prevent a blowout, agreed to pay $250 million to BP under a legal settlement. The
settlement comes in advance of a federal trial over the catastrophic Gulf oil spill. 
For the
first time in 20 years, hurricane forecasters will wait until spring to predict how many storms will form in
the Atlantic Basin. Colorado State University forecasters will still issue a discussion of possible hurricane
activity, but the first estimate of the number of storms won’t come until April. 
Over
the next few months, Alexandria officials will make some tough decisions. The city’s recent audit revealed
more than $4.8 million in surplus funding for its General Fund. Mayor Roy indicated the surplus brought the
city's General Fund balance back to near its highest point. Now, decisions need to made on how to use the
surplus funds. 
The
2011 Komen Alexandria Race for the Cure Awards and Recognition Ceremony will be held Dec 16 in the Alexandria
Convention Hall. The second annual Komen Alexandria Race for the Cure was held on Oct. 15, with more than
5,500 registered participants. 
LSU’s
Tigers wasted no time getting back to playing shape this week. They will play No. 2 Alabama in the BCS
national championship game on Jan. 9, in New Orleans. LSU’s Mathieu and Claiborne became the first two players
from the same school to be named first team AP All-Americans at the same position in history. 
LED
Secretary Moret: "Since Gov. Bobby Jindal took office in early 2008, LA's economy outperformed the South and
U.S. by reasonable measures…LA's job performance has been better than nearly every other Southern state since
January 2008…employment levels grew faster than the South and the U.S.” 
The
Alexandria City Council has a new member and leadership group. Jerry W. Jones Jr. will replace Jonathan D.
Goins. Harry B. Silver is the new president, and Mitzi Gibson will be the new vice president. 
Nasuni
Corp., a company that’s been evaluation the Cloud market since 2009, recently concluded that only six of the
leading 16 cloud storage providers are ready for primetime. Their decision: The top performers were Amazon S3
and Microsoft Azure. Other services that passed the evaluation included AT&T, Nirvanix, Peer 1 Hosting and
The
Saints are currently tied with San Francisco for the No. 2 playoff seed in the NFC, which comes with a bye in
the first round of playoffs. New Orleans has already clinched its third-straight playoff berth, and—for the
first time—have at least 10 wins in three straight seasons. Their goal:“We need this win. I think it’s enough
motivation for us to go out and handle business.” 
Leesville
has a new Veterans Affairs Medical Center clinic, located at 3353 University Parkway (La. Highway 467).
Services include primary care, mental health, pharmacy education, phlebotomy, nutrition counseling and medical
social work. 
In the
midst of the BP oil spill, Louisiana erected sand berms to shield inland marshes from contamination. Despite
conflicting opinions on the wisdom of this decision, it turns out this might have been a good idea after all
because the berms actually had the effect of bulking up the deteriorating barrier islands. Now, LA plans to
fund the restoration of two barrier islands — Scofield Island and Shell Island, both south of Plaquemines
Parish — with some of the funds BP paid to build the berms. 
A
recent report issued by the World Trade Center of New Orleans indicated that Louisiana leads overall growth of
U.S. exports. To date, LA’s 2011 worldwide merchandise exports increased by 45% in value over the same period
in 2010. Among the top 10 exporting states, Louisiana had the highest rate of growth. 
A
recent Commerce Department report indicated that, in October, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to its lowest
point and was the fourth straight monthly decline. A lower deficit is the latest sign that the economy has
rebounded after nearly stalling in the spring. Economists expect slightly stronger growth in the final three
months of the year. 
There’s
a contest unfolding in Washington between a coalition of entertainment conglomerates and drug companies and
the Internet giants. The fight is over a pair of bills that would shut down "rogue websites" devoted to
pitching pirated or counterfeit movies, music, medicines and other goods at American consumers from overseas.
The LA
Federation of Business and Professional Women will hold a Mid-Year Board Meeting on January 21, 2012 in
Lafayette. Featured speaker will be Tonya Bolden-Ball, of Renewed Perspectives LLC, a consulting company
specializing in teambuilding, leadership, and character development. 
Jerrell
Antwine, of Antwine Plumbing and Heating, is the new Central Louisiana Business League's 2011 Jimmie Rax Sr.
Business Person of the Year, and received the award at the CLBL's annual meeting and holiday gala. The event
featured small businesses owners who gave testimonials about the assistance received through the Alexandria
Metropolitan Foundation and CLBL's network of affiliates. 
Some of
LA’s public colleges are adding academic programs that include athletic training and three doctorate of
nursing practice programs. While three new degree programs in the same field may seem like duplication,
Purcell said the health-care industry has a lot of workforce demands. 
State
officials say the LEAP test, currently given to fourth- and eighth-graders will be phased out and replaced
with new tests that will be used to make public school courses more rigorous. Current rules mandate that
fourth- and eighth-graders must pass the LEAP test and meet additional standards in order to move to the next
grade.