Louisiana Voice

LouisianaVoice is in its October fundraising campaign, one of just two per year that we hold.

We don’t attempt to compete with the big boys. We’re small and we have one objective: to hold those who we elect to represent us accountable.

We didn’t elect John N. Kennedy, Mike Johnson, Bill Cassidy, et al, to go to Washington and make an absolute fool of themselves and of Louisiana in the process. But that’s what they’ve done and if others won’t point that out in spades, we certainly will.

We didn’t elect dozens of sheriffs all over the state to steal, abuse prisoners, run side hustles or to protect drug dealers and child abusers. But we found those who did and we reported on them—one of whom turned out to be an incestuous child rapist himself.

We didn’t put judges in office to use that office to benefit friendly attorneys or to punish opposing ones and their clients. Yet, only a minimal amount of digging (which other outlets appeared reluctant to do) revealed such practices which cost litigants unnecessary funds in legal fees and court costs and which kept parents and children apart.

When no one else would, we reported on those who would prey on emotions so as to groom children, encourage contributions and promote agendas that were—and are—far removed from the principles we’ve always thought our spiritual leaders represented.

Yes, that’s what we do at LouisianaVoice and while some of our stories offend certain readers, we shall not back off or bend to political or financial pressure. That’s because we don’t work for anyone but our readers and we don’t take advertising from those who might hold that over our heads as a deterrent to honest reporting.

If you support those ideals, we invite you to contribute what you can. Go HERE and then scroll down to a yellow rectangular button in the column to the right of our posts and click on that and follow directions to contribute by credit card. Remember, you have to go to the LouisianaVoice link. The email version of this post doesn’t always contain the yellow button, for some reason I can’t explain. Or you may send a check to Tom Aswell, 107 North College Street West, Denham Springs, LA. 70726. Here is our actual link: https://louisianavoice.com/

As always, thank you your support.

Troubles keep mounting for Allegiance Healthcare CEO Rock Bordelon and his array of hospitals and medical treatment centers scattered across the Louisiana landscape.

Two stories published by the Lincoln Parish Journal indicate Bordelon may be about to lose control over four of his hospitals in Ruston, Minden, Ville Platte and Eunice. The Minden Medical Center was sued last April for nonpayment of more than $170,000 for equipment and services.

Minden Medical Center sued for nonpayment; financial difficulties surface | Webster Parish Journal

That’s on top of the $14 million federal tax lien against Bordelon filed by the IRS for nonpayment of federal employee taxes.

More recently, several doctors have resigned from the Minden hospital.

And rumor has it that the latest blow was Bordelon’s being uninvited to participate in his former benefactor Gov. Jeff Landry’s annual alligator hunt fundraiser.

Of course, none of all that prevented Bordelon from participating in a two-day event hosted by Hunter Nation last month in Dallas. Also listed as co-hosts of that event was Donald Trump, Jr., organization founder and CEO Keith Mark along with several others. Bordelon was the event’s chairperson.

Bordelon, in addition to his myriad medical facilities, also hosts an online hunting program which, among other things, focus on his personal hunting expeditions in places like Colorado, Florida and elsewhere.

Hunter Nation hosted two separate spaces—the private Executive Suite and th public grassroots headquarters—during the Republican National Mid-term Convention in Dallas Sept. 9-10, which was held in the middle of Landry’s fundraiser alligator hunt.

The Executive Suite was a two-day, by-invitation event limited to 50 seats and priced from $5,000 per seat.

Upwards of 200 free passes wee given out for the grassroots headquarters event.

In the past, he has hunted with Donald Trump, Jr. and was the one-time beneficiary of a decision by Landry who, in the face of warnings of federal health cuts, increased Medicaid payments by $22 million to seven rural hospitals in Louisiana, including four owned by Bordelon. Bordelon, in addition to being a hunting buddy, has also contributed to Landry political campaigns, according to Louisiana Illuminator.

 Landry boosts Medicaid payments to political donor’s hospitals, despite warning of health cuts • Louisiana Illuminator

But unconfirmed reports indicate that Landry snubbed his old pal in the governor’s most recent alligator hunt Sept. 7-12, attended by Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and FBI Director Kash Patel. Bordelon was supposedly on his way to join the hunt wen he got the message not to come and to turn back.

Now, in the most recent development, Malcolm Butler of the Lincoln Parish Journal has written that Bordelon’s bedeviled North Louisiana Medical Center (NLMC) in Ruston “could be headed for a change in ownership.”

NLMC ownership change could be on horizon | Lincoln Parish Journal

Butler wrote in today’s edition of the Journal that Lincoln Parish healthcare leaders confirmed last Friday they have begun a process that “could ultimately transition the Ruston hospital to a new operator.”

The Webster Parish Journal also reported that Minden Medical Center CEO Keith Cox had confirmed that Allegiance will divest itself of the Minden facility, as part of ongoing negotiations which also include Mercy Regional Medical Center in Ville Platte and Acadian Medical Center in Eunice.

“Lincoln Parish Hospital Service District No. 1 Chairman Jay Guillot told the Lincoln Parish Journal that the district has been working with the Louisiana Department of Health for months and is now engaged with Allegiance in an informal process that includes the beginning stages of due diligence, establishing a value for NLMC and preliminary discussions with potential providers,” Butler wrote.

Guillot added that Lincoln Parish officials were not involved in discussions involving any of the other three facilities and that no final agreement for the sale of NLMC is currently in place. He said while local officials would prefer a specific timeline, there was no set timeline for the NLMC negotiations.

Okay, folks, it’s October and you know what that means.

Yep. Time for our second of two fundraisers per year. We come to you only in April and October as opposed to some news blogs who issue appeals on a monthly basis.

LouisianaVoice has no paywall because we want all to have access to our posts. Likewise, we do not accept advertising other than Cavalier House Books whose owner was kind enough to set up this blob in the beginning (though occasionally unauthorized ads are tacked on by our platform provider). That’s because I don’t want to be beholden to any entity. Independence is foremost.

Any financial support comes from your generosity and that is precisely why we try not to abuse the privilege. Twice a year is sufficient. I’m not in this as a livelihood; I’m simply attempting to provide a service to keep readers informed of what our public servants are up to at any given time. But realistically, there are modest expenses that have to me met to achieve that purpose.

That is why I write about furtive agreements to locate a data center in Livingston Parish, about bone-headed senators attempting to blindside a witness with bad information (see below); about evangelicals who will turn their backs on the less fortunate in order to support a tyrant; about sheriffs who believe they are laws unto themselves and about the attempted takeover—and destruction—of our public libraries by those who would impose their own brand of morals and standards on the rest of us.

If you agree with these principles, I invite you to contribute what you’re comfortable with giving. Your contribution will not be blessed nor do I promise you will be rewarded many times over for planting your seed of faith. I simply pledge I will continue to do my best to expose corruption, malfeasance, violations of public trust and hypocrisy on the part of elected and appointed officials.

To contribute, click HERE and scroll down to the YELLOW RECTANGLE labeled “Keep Us Independent,” (it’s to the right of this post) and follow the instructions to contribute by credit card or you may mail a check (you still do those?) to Tom Aswell, 107 North College St. West, Denham Springs, LA. 70726.

As always, your support, no matter how large or how small, is greatly and sincerely appreciated.

Sens. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), John N. Kennedy (R-LA)

…Because likely as not, this will be the result:

The late John Hays would’ve had a field day with these Life Surge guys.

For those of you who haven’t read my previous posts about John, he was a hard-drinking, chain-smoking, crude person who could be blunt to the point of cruelty and was notoriously unschooled in the professional field of journalism in which we “trained” journalists take so much (more often than not, underserved) pride.

He was also the scourge of con men, Ponzi scheme artisans who preyed on uninformed, innocent victims, many of them senior citizens, literally striking fear in the hearts of those who cheat people out of their life’s savings with false promises and visions of riches.

If you think I’m making John Hays out to be some kind of hero, you’re correct. That’s just what he was.

And though we operated as competitors for a time, he was my friend.

John, a native of Ruston, moved back home from San Antonio in the early 1970s, had a falling out with the local newspaper publisher (for whom I worked) over local political issues and out of spite, started his own paper, called appropriately the Morning Paper, in his kitchen that ultimately grew into a free circulation weekly of about 40,000 or so.

He died in August 2014, leaving a powerful legacy behind—as chronicled in this 1993 NEW YORK TIMES feature.

Perhaps Wesley Harris said better than I when he PENNED AN ARTILE about John for the Lincoln Parish Journal back in June.

The reason I invoke his name yet again is because of a recent spate of negative stories about Life Surge, a so-called Christian investment scheme that has a lot of big names behind it and which targets the Christian community for money, lots of it.

Well, shucks, there’s nothing new about “prosperity Christianity” trolling for money now, is there?

Except this one has a trio of local names near and dear to the hearts of citizens of Ruston in particular and north Louisiana in general and one can only imagine what havoc John could’ve inflicted on this scheme.

Those of us with good memories knew that when he was alive, shysters had better tread carefully when in the environs of north-central Louisiana. That was John Hays territory.

Anyway, for Life Surge, the latest get-rich-quick scheme, three of its high-profile “celebrity” spokespersons are Willie Robertson (son of the late Duck Dynasty Commander Phil Robertson, erstwhile Louisiana Tech quarterback until he was unseated by upstart Terry Bradshaw), wife Korie and the couple’s daughter, Sadie Robertson. Sadie, by the way, was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars and sang on the Duck Dynasty’s Christmas album, titled, appropriately, Duck the Halls.

The Robertson clan, sans Phil, still maintains West Monroe as its headquarters and Willie, Korie and Sadie are featured as “influential voices in faith and finance” at a series of one-day seminars across the U.S., touted as an “unforgettable experience with world-class speakers, visionary entrepreneurs, best-selling authors and renowned worship artists—all united to help you surge your life God’s way. (“worship artists”? Seriously?). It’s also heralded as “a one-day life-changing event—to steward your faith, finances & future.” Life Surge – Surge Your Life God’s Way!

Besides the Robertsons, also linked to Life Surge are Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, actor Kelsey Grammer, comedian Jeff Foxworthy, actress Patricia Heaton, former New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr, former baseball player David Ortiz, quarterback Russell Wilson, neurosurgeon and former HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Fox network hostess Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Joe Montana, Magic Johnson Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla and megachurch pastor Craig Groeschel, among dozens of others.

Tebow, Mazzulla and Groeschel have since attempted to disassociate (or in Tebow’s words, “pausing”) themselves with the organization after it was accused of pressuring attendees to invest tens of thousands of dollars in real estate and stock courses.

Why? Perhaps this story in Mother Jones last Thursday (Sept. 24) had something to do with their decisions:

The Gospel of High Yields: Inside Tim Tebow’s Favorite Wealth Seminar – Mother Jones

Kiera Butler wrote about attending a seminar in Atlanta last May at which Tebow was the keynote speaker. The former University of Florida quarterback told the attendees, who Butler said numbered in the thousands, to follow.

Check out this link to Butler’s interview on this podcast VIDEO about Life Surge.

The cost to attend one of these seminars? Just $20. Of course, when you have upwards of 5,000 in attendance, the money starts to gets serious before the curtain ever goes up. But wait. There’s more. For $97, one can enroll in “SurgeU.” That’s a series of courses that promise to “surge our resources and influence through real estate and trade—for Kingdom impact,” Butler wrote, adding that the concept of “Kingdom Impact” means the more money you make, the more good works you can do.

The cost of that package is a tad more: $10,000 to $40,000 and if you want to enroll but don’t have the money to do so, organizers will happily hook you up with a third-party lender.

Life Surge CEO Jeremy Nosek denied that the organization trains its representatives to pressure attendees into borrowing or incurring debt they cannot afford. In fact, Butler wrote, large screens behind the speakers during the Atlanta event carried the periodic warning that investing in Life Surge products carried risk and that “any income or earnings shared examples are not intended to represent typical or guaranteed results for the average customer. Results vary widely and you should assume that the average person may earn little to no money or could potentially lose money.” That’s a standard disclaimer in all investment brochures and advertisements.

As P.T. Barnum told us long ago, however, it’s not difficult to find suckers investors. In 2025, Life Surge boasted, 117,000 people attended the one-day events scattered all over the country.

Karen Neal, a 61-year-old former Life Surge customer, told Butler. “…[I]t’s like, do they know what’s happening to some of these people that are getting into this?”

A Life Surge employee Butler spoke with, who requested anonymity, echoed the same sentiment: Why would Christian celebrities lend their brand to the company at all? “You’ve heard all about the people who are losing thousands and thousands of dollars [who] are being asked to cash in their 401Ks and piggyback credit cards in order to pay for these classes,” the employee said. “It just doesn’t seem like something a good Christian motivational speaker or pastor would want to be a part of.”

But the speakers could be doing so with a motivation of their own.

Butler wrote that Athlete Speakers, a speakers’ bureau estimated that motivational speakers can go for fees as high as $100,000 a pop. Tebow spoke at 10 such seminars per year in 22024 and 2025 and was on track to speak to 20 this year before hitting the pause button.

LouisianaVoice has no estimate of how often the Robertson trio speaks or at how many seminars but you have to figure it’s sufficient to feather a duck’s nest pretty comfortably.

We surely could use a John Hays today.