Spinosa pays $800,000 for one acre near Rouzan

Tommy Spinosa has purchased a one-acre tract of land on Perkins Road next to his Rouzan TND. Spinosa's JTS Interests paid the Roussel family $800,000 for the land in a deal that closed earlier this week. A JTS spokesman says the purchase gives Spinosa room to expand Rouzan as the development "ages and matures." JTS is gearing up to start work on the development, including marketing the property, the plan is to start construction before the end of the year. -- Timothy Boone

Baton Rouge Realtors dispute national figures

The Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors is disputing a release that came out from the National Realtors Association on Thursday, saying that by their calculations the median home price in the Capital Region has gone up slightly in the past year. The GBRAR says the median sale price for a home in the second quarter was $176,000, a 1.1% increase over the median price of $174,000 posted in 2007. According to the NAR, an organization that the GBRAR is a part of, the median home price dropped in the second quarter, falling from $174,700 in 2007 to $164,000 this year.

Ken Damann with the GBRAR says he doesn't know how the discrepancy came up. "We send them the numbers on a monthly basis," he says. The month-to-month comparisons for home sales show the median sale price went up in May, June and July. "I honestly believe they misread the report," he says. If the NAR finds a correction to be made, the change will be posted in September, Damann says. --Timothy Boone

Shaw stock continues to drop

Shaw Group continued to drop this morning, a day after an analyst downgraded the stock, saying nuclear plant construction may not surge with oil prices. Brian Chin with Citi Investment Research put a "Sell" rating on the shares, saying in a client note that the Shaw Group "has held up in spite of a crushing valuation revision downwards" for the engineering and construction peer group because most investors "think the nuclear story is somehow removed from the commodities bubble."

"Wrong view, in our opinion," Chin says. "So if commodity prices continue to roll, the nuclear renaissance story will increasingly look like a nuclear vaporware story." Since Thursday, Shaw group shares have fallen $6.19, or 11%, to $49.80.

LaPolitics by John Maginnis: State looks for bigger Haynesville payday

The $94 million from this week's Mineral Board lease sale on 4,400 state-owned acres in the Haynesville Shale is the second-largest amount the state has collected in mineral bonuses, going back to a 1969 sale that paid $150 million. That mark could be broken at next month's lease sale when over 11,000 state-owned acres, mostly river bottoms, go up for lease. When production begins on those properties in north Louisiana, the state will begin collecting 20% to 30% royalties on production.

-- Sen. Mary Landrieu has stepped up her attacks on Treasurer John Kennedy with a second negative commercial, this one noting the challenger's changed position on Social Security. The ad, continuing the "one confused politician" theme, states how Kennedy supports President Bush's stalled plan to let employees invest a portion of the money they have been paying into Social Security. He criticized the same proposal as a Democratic candidate in 2004.

-- When Congressman Don Cazayoux went on the air with TV commercials this week, independent candidate Rep. Michael Jackson went to the phones, sending out robo calls in the black community. On them, he identifies himself as "your independent Democrat for Congress" and ends it saying, "This is truly our time."

John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly at Lapolitics.com.

Editor: Time for Baton Rouge to use what it's learned

Business and political leaders from Baton Rouge have been making trips to successful cities that have thriving, knowledge-based economies such as Austin, Nashville, Tenn., Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Portland, Ore. But Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball says the city has very little to show for all they've seen and heard. "The Capital Region and the state of Louisiana -- despite any number of position papers, advisory councils and Vision 2020s -- refuses to commit its resources to the building of a think-based economy," he says. Read the column here. Send comments to editors@businessreport.com.

Ascension gets CPEX grant

Ascension Parish will get a $100,000 grant for community planning, the Center for Planning Excellence announced this morning. CPEX awarded $380,000 in Louisiana Community Planning Program grants to five communities: Ascension, St. Charles Parish, Bastrop, Lafayette Consolidated Parish and Jena. "The five communities were chosen from a pool of more than 20 applicants from throughout Louisiana," says Camille Manning-Broome, principal planner for CPEX's Louisiana Community Planning Program. Each community was required to make a dollar-for-dollar match for the money they requested.

Poll: For most, back to school costs less than $500

The overwhelming majority of people who responded to a Daily Report online survey say they spent less than $500 on back-to-school items for their children. Forty-one percent of respondents say they spent between $101 and $500 getting their children ready for school, while 38% say they spent nothing on back to school. Eight percent say sending their children back to class cost them between $501 and $1,000, while the same percentage say they spent less than $100. Five percent of parents say they spent more than $1,000. Nearly 1,000 people participated in the survey.

Today's question: This weekend marks the 60th anniversary of Baton Rouge Metro Airport. When you travel, how often do you fly out of Baton Rouge?

Olympics: Two South Louisiana athletes move on

Big volleyball win: The United States defeated China 3-2 in women's volleyball as the Chinese president looked on. The victory moved the United States to 3-2 in preliminary pool play, putting the team in a good place to make the quarterfinals. The volleyball team features two South Louisiana natives: Danielle Scott-Arruda of Baton Rouge and her distant cousin, Kim Willoughby of Napoleonville...Blake comes back to earth: A day after a big Olympic win, America's James Blake was defeated by Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in the men's tennis semifinal. Blake beat top-seeded Roger Federer on Thursday. He'll play for a bronze Saturday as the last hope for a U.S. medal in men's or women's singles...China gets the gold: Through 95 events, China has 23 gold medals and 37 over all. The United States has 14 golds, but leads all countries with 44 total medals.

News roundup: Mississippi man charged in mortgage fraud scheme; LSU Continuing Education offering workplace Spanish courses; Trump saves McMahon's mansion

Faces 13 charges: After a more than two-year sting operation involving numerous state and federal officials, a federal grand jury recently returned a 13-count indictment against a Mississippi man in connection with a mortgage loan fraud scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Warren Clifton Pierce faces one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, seven counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, two counts of money laundering, one count of concealing or covering up records with the intent to impede, obstruct or influence a federal investigation, and one count of concealing or attempting to conceal documents subpoenaed by the federal grand jury. Pierce was a mortgage broker in Hinds and Rankin counties, operating as Raintree County Marketing Co. and Integrity Mortgage Inc. He is accused of falsifying documents from July 2003 through March 2007 to get brokerage fees on loans, as well as fabricating false documents to fraudulently obtain funding for borrowers...Aprenda a cómo hablar español: A "Spanish in the Workplace" course will be offered by LSU Continuing Education this fall. This is not a conversational Spanish course, but one that focuses on simple statements, such as relaying directions and information. Classes will be offered on the LSU campus beginning Sept. 30, but times and locations can be customized for a business's specific needs. For more information, e-mail mstafford@outreach.lsu.edu. .. Nice move from The Donald: Donald Trump will soon be Ed McMahon's landlord. Trump announced Thursday he would save the television personality's Beverly Hills mansion from foreclosure by buying it for an undisclosed amount and leasing it to McMahon. The developer told The Los Angeles Times he doesn't know McMahon personally, but acted out of compassion because helping out "would be an honor." McMahon, 85, who was Johnny Carson's sidekick on The Tonight Show for three decades, has not worked for about 18 months because of a neck injury. He defaulted on $4.8 million in mortgage loans with Countrywide Financial Corp.