Mardi Gras is an official City/Parish holiday and will be observed on Tuesday, February 16, 2010. All City/Parish offices will be closed on this day.

Solid waste collection (garbage and trash) in East Baton Rouge Parish will be made on Tuesday, February 16, 2010, by Allied Waste under their contract with the City/Parish for residential and governmental buildings. Recyclable material in EBR Parish will be collected as normal on Tuesday, February 16, 2010. The North Landfill will be open to all haulers both commercial and the general public on Tuesday, February 16, 2010.

The February 10, 2010 Metropolitan Council will consider an item under Public Hearings to Appropriate $12.4 million for the expansion of the Baton Rouge River Center and the Riverfront Plaza Project.

You may follow the LIVE streaming video of the Metropolitan Council Meeting at http://www.brgov.com/metro21/meeting.asp

Baton Rouge will become the first mid-sized city in the country to launch a new training program for recent college graduates who want to pursue careers in local government.

Both Houston and San Francisco have been participating in the City Hall Fellows program since its inception in 2008. Baton Rouge plans to kick off its City Hall Fellow Program in August with five to six Fellows.

Founded by Baton Rouge native and Episcopal High School graduate Bethany Rubin Henderson, City Hall Fellows grooms America’s best and brightest college graduates for careers in local government.

The nonprofit City Hall Fellows program offers paid Fellowships to outstanding recent college graduates with ties to its partner cities, Henderson said. Fellows work full-time for 12 months on high-need, high-impact projects while serving as special assistants to senior city administrators and officials. Each Fellow also receives more than 300 hours of training through the program.

Henderson said she established City Hall Fellows in 2008 in response to the looming leadership crisis facing our cities. A recent study by the International City/County Management Association showed that, within a decade, more than half of our country’s local government workforce will be of retirement age, she added.

Henderson will be in the Baton Rouge February 8-11 to recruit seniors and recent college graduates from local colleges and universities for Baton Rouge’s first group of Fellows. She will be joined by Niiobli Armah, a Southern University graduate and former student body president, who was a participant in the City Hall Fellows’ program in his native Houston. Application materials and instructions for applying to become a City Hall Fellow are available online at www.cityhallfellows.org. The deadline to apply for a position in Baton Rouge is March 10.

###

roadtourflyer_2

2010 Census “Portrait of America” Road Tour will be in Baton Rouge on Tuesday, February 9th from 12 noon to 3 p.m.

The Portrait of America Road Tour showcases a rolling civics lesson, allowing the public to view the 2010 Census questionnaire firsthand, to observe video messages from others who have visited the Tour, and to question Census employees about the Census. The Tour brings the benefits of the 2010 Census to life and makes the census personal and relevant to those who see it. More information is available at http://2010.census.gov/2010census/roadtour/what_is_the_road_tour.

This will be a great opportunity for all members of the community to experience an educational and interactive event about the 2010 Census. Please pass it along to anyone you feel would be interested

Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden has joined Louisiana officials encouraging the NFL to allow the state’s small business owners to use the fleur-de-lis and the phrase “Who Dat” without threat of legal action by the league.

“While the NFL has made an effort to narrow their opposition to the countless small merchants who have been printing merchandise to the delight of fans throughout Louisiana, they have still gone too far,” Holden said.

“Certainly, any claim by the NFL on the phrase “Who Dat” or the fleur-de-lis, both which have been a part of Louisiana culture for many years, appears heavy-handed at a time when our entire state is celebrating the Saints’ success,” Holden said. “These have both been in the public domain for so long that any Louisiana merchant should have the right to use them.”

Holden said the NFL’s claims affect small businesses across the state and he urged the Governor and Attorney General to protect all Louisianan’s rights to these symbols.

“After a Saints’ victory this Sunday, there are going to be even more people around the country who want to join the Who Dat Nation,” Holden said. “I would say to the NFL, protect the Saints and the league’s marks, but let these symbols of Louisiana culture reign free.”