EBR sales tax collections up 4.2% in first six months of ’08

Through the first half of 2008, East Baton Rouge Parish sales tax collections increased $4.2%. The Department of Finance says it has collected $76.3 million through the end of June, compared to $73.3 million that was collected during the first six months of 2007. The biggest gains have come outside of the Baton Rouge city limits; sales tax collections there are up 12.2% to $31.9 million. Inside the city limits, collections have dropped by almost 1%, to $44.3 million. This increase in sales tax collections outside the city limits could be a reflection of new retail activity, such as the expansion at the Mall of Louisiana and Perkins Rowe, two areas outside the city.

Census data has little good news for Louisiana

A new U.S. Census report on fertility contains little good news for Louisiana. Demographer and political analyst Elliott Stonecipher notes that the data released today is from 2006, the year immediately following the storms. However, at that point in time, Louisiana ranked 17th in the nation in births per 1,000 people, which means fewer future young adults to enter the workforce. Also, the state ranked third in births among women never married, sixth among women living in poverty and eighth among women who are not high school graduates. To read the full report, click here. For a chart of state statistics, click here.

LSU’s Miles also is family man

LSU football season kicks off in less than two weeks, and 225 magazine has a profile of Tigers Coach Les Miles and his life away from the game. Miles makes a point of staying involved in the lives of his four children, going to Little League games and taking them out to dinner at local restaurants. Former LSU athletic director Skip Bertman compared Miles and his wife, Kathy, to Leave it to Beaver or Father Knows Best, but the championship coach says that's not accurate. "I don’t think Leave It to Beavers ever sweat, and I don’t think there was ever a mess in their house," Miles says. Read the 225 cover story here.

Payton to promote First Bank

New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton has signed an agreement to become a spokesman for First Bank and Trust. The New Orleans-based bank, which has a branch in Baton Rouge, has donated $50,000 to Payton’s Play It Forward Foundation. “I’ve had rewarding banking experiences with First Bank and Trust employees and its leadership,” Payton says. “Now, thanks to the bank’s donation to my foundation, together we can make a real difference in the quality of life for those who live and work beside us.” Payton will participate in the bank’s outreach to promote customer service, and will be featured in advertising.

Tropical storm nears Florida Keys

Some Key West stores were shuttered today as rain and wind gusts from Tropical Storm Fay began to lash at south Florida after the storm claimed up to 35 lives in the Caribbean. Roughly 25,000 tourists had evacuated, Monroe County Mayor Mario Di Gennaro said, but some bars and restaurants were doing business, even if crowds were considerably thinner than typical for this time of year. At 11 a.m., Fay was located over the Florida Straits, 70 miles south-southeast of Key West and 80 miles east-northeast of Havana, Cuba. Fay had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, but forecasters said Fay could become a hurricane as it nears the southwest Florida peninsula on Tuesday. To track Tropical Storm Fay, click here for the National Hurricane Center’s Web site.

New Orleans schools still have ‘long way to go’

The cover story of Sunday's New York Times Magazine looks at New Orleans public schools after Hurricane Katrina. The city's low-performing school system was practically wiped away by the floods, clearing the slate for an ambitious reform. More than half of the students are now going to charter schools, and idealistic young teachers have come in to show that the children can experience educational success. “We have a long way to go, frankly,” says Kira Orange Jones, who runs Teach For America's New Orleans operations. “I mean, that sort of goes without saying. But we have to start somewhere.” Read the story here.

Louisiana Family Forum launches voter registration drive

The Louisiana Family Forum, an advocacy group for faith-based issues, is dropping $250,000 this fall to bring 50,000 people to the polls. The “Ring the Bell” campaign kicked off earlier this month and will eventually complete a tour of 60 cities. The goal is to convince pastors to register 100% of their congregations to vote. In all, the LFF is targeting 500 independent and evangelical churches in its voter outreach program. “It is time for pastors to stand up and speak out against the forces that attempt to bully them into silence during election season,” LFF Executive Director Gene Mills says. “Pastors have a responsibility to affirm moral principles in politics, despite the illegitimate outcries of ‘separation of church and state’ from the uninformed.” The LFF has also partnered with the Gerard Health Foundation, a Christian fundamentalist group that gets involved with high-profile issues like abortion, to create a Web site that helps people register to vote. Obviously, the mission of the registration drive is all about influence, a detail the new registration site doesn’t gloss over. “Just imagine the impact that Bible-believing Christians could have on the direction of our government, the character of our leaders, and the health of our nation if we all functioned as the stinging salt and the shining light as Jesus intended,” states a passage on the Web site. “So vote your values as a Christian.”—Jeremy Alford

Executive spotlight: David G. Belanger Sr.

David G. Belanger Sr. is the chief operating officer for one of Baton Rouge's best-known businesses, Community Coffee. Belanger has been with Community for the past 10 years. “I was attracted to Community because we share the same values and they encourage leaders to operate as entrepreneurs, which align well with my style of management,” he says. For the full Q & A with Belanger, click here. Here is one of the highlights:

How do you take your coffee/tea?

I prefer one Splenda in my Community Dark Roast Coffee and two Sweet-n-Lows in my Community Iced Tea.

Poll: Most do majority of flying out of Baton Rouge Metro

Sixty-two percent of respondents to a Daily Report survey say they do the majority of their flying out of Baton Rouge Metro Airport. Sixteen percent of the people who responded to an online poll say they always use the local airport, while 29% say they leave from Metro Airport more than three-quarters of the time, and 17% say they fly from here more than half of the time. Seventeen percent say they fly out of Metro Airport less than a quarter of the time and 10% say they never use the airport. More than 1,000 people participated in the survey.

Today's question: How good are you with money?

News roundup: Romano's Macaroni Grill chain sold … Shaq plans New Jersey condo development … Grodner drops out of Metro Council race

Private equity group buys chain for $131.5 million: Brinker International says it will sell a majority stake in its Romano's Macaroni Grill chain to Golden Gate Capital, a private equity firm. Under the agreement, Brinker will get $131.5 million in cash. Of that amount, $6 million will be contributed to Mac Acquisition, a unit of Golden Gate. There are Macaroni Grill locations in Baton Rouge, Mandeville and Shreveport. … How about building something in Baton Rouge? Former LSU basketball star Shaquille O'Neal is getting in the real estate development business, The New York Times reports. O'Neal plans to build a 25-story condominium tower in downtown Newark, N.J., a $90 million project that would be the first luxury residential project in the city in four decades. "I’m from Newark," O'Neal told the newspaper. "That is where I want to do something big.” O'Neal, who now plays for the Phoenix Suns, says he plans to play basketball for two more seasons then become a full-time developer. … One less candidate in District 12: Donna Grodner has dropped out of the race for the District 12 seat on the Metro Council. Grodner, an attorney, had a conflict between her work and the amount of time she needed to campaign.

Business Report, 225 phones not working

Phone service to Business Report and 225 magazine has been knocked out this morning after a fiber-optic cable was cut. Other downtown businesses are reportedly affected by the outage.