Times have rarely been harder in Louisiana. The oil bust has devastated the state's most important industry. Cotton is no longer king, nor is sugarcane. The unemployment rate of 12.8% is the second highest in the nation, just behind Mississippi's. Some 80,000 people have left the state since 1983. The Governor, smooth-talking Edwin Edwards, has survived two trials on racketeering and fraud charges, though he did not emerge unscathed. Two state administrators have been jailed on corruption charges, and two others are under indictment. "I am frightened about our future," says Greenwell Springs Resident Joyce Payer. "I am worried about my...
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