News Alert: LSU cancels Tuesday classes

LSU officials have cancelled classes on Tuesday because of the threat posed by Hurricane Gustav. The measure will also affect classes at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center and the LSU AgCenter. University officials say they are monitoring the progress of the storm to determine if classes will be canceled on Wednesday. Southern University, Baton Rouge Community College and East Baton Rouge Parish public schools say they haven’t made a decision yet regarding Tuesday. The East Baton Rouge Parish Library will close all branches at 4 p.m. Saturday and remain closed Sunday and Monday.

News Alert: Appalachian State-LSU moved to 10 a.m

LSU’s football season opener Saturday against Appalachian State has been moved to 10 a.m., officials from the university and governor’s office announced this morning. The game was originally scheduled to kick off at 4 p.m. LSU System spokesman Charles Zewe said there would be no pregame activities. The game will be broadcast on ESPN Classic.

N.O. marks Katrina anniversary as Gustav looms

With a new storm threatening to cause chaos in New Orleans all over again, a horse-drawn carriage brought the last seven unclaimed bodies of Hurricane Katrina victims for entombment at a memorial site this morning during ceremonies marking the disaster’s third anniversary. The ceremonies were tinged with a recognition of how much the city has rebuilt since Katrina’s floods—as well as fear that another disaster could be looming. “We look ahead to a better day, as we also prepare for another threat,” Mayor Ray Nagin said as he helped guide a gleaming coffin into a mausoleum. About 200 people attended the ceremony. Many rang hand-held bells at 9:38 a.m., the time that levee breaches that inundated the city are believed to have begun. As Tropical Storm Gustav swirled near Jamaica this morning after being blamed for 67 deaths in Hispaniola. Forecasters said the storm could hit the Louisiana coast early next week as a major hurricane, and city and state officials were preparing for possible weekend evacuations—the first in the state since Katrina and Rita in 2005.

In other Gustav news:

-- At 10 a.m., Gustav was located about 165 miles east-southeast of Grand Cayman with top sustained winds of 65 mph. The storm was moving west-northwest about 8 mph. A turn to the northwest was expected later today with a continued northwest motion Saturday and Sunday.

--The National Hurricane Center’s forecast cone has Gustav making landfall on the south Louisiana coast near Houma and Morgan City about 8 a.m. Tuesday, and the center of Gustav west of Alexandria at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

--Fred Zeigler, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Baton Rouge-New Orleans office in Slidell, says most computer models have Gustav making landfall between the Atchafalaya Basin and the mouth of the Mississippi River. Zeigler says there are several outliers as far west as Corpus Christi, Texas, and as far east as Panama City, Fla. “There’s nothing unusual about the level of uncertainty this far out.” Zeigler says forecasters are watching a ridge of high pressure over the western Atlantic Ocean; the more the ridge builds, the more the storm would go to the west.

--The Louisiana Realtors cancelled their Industry Edge Convention & Expo, which was scheduled for Sept. 3-5 at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans. All registration fees will be refunded.

Company plans $300 million chemical plant in Geismar

Westlake Chemical Corporation says it will build a new chlor alkali plant at its vinyls manufacturing complex in Geismar. The project is estimated to cost $300 million and it will create 400 to 500 construction jobs and 100 permanent jobs. The plant is set to open in the first half of 2011. GO Zone bonds issued last year will cover part of the cost of the project.

Fire causes outage to 1,200 Cox customers

A late-night fire knocked out Internet access to about 1,200 Cox Communications customers, most of them in downtown Baton Rouge. According to Cox officials, a fire at a transformer on Florida Boulevard damaged fiber-optic lines. The fire happened Thursday between 10 p.m. and midnight. Internet access has returned to some customers, and Cox says everyone should have Web service back by late this afternoon.

Editor: Want to bet that bond issue costs homeowners more money?

A 9.9 mill property tax to pay for Mayor Kip Holden's $989 million capital improvements package will be on the ballot this fall. Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball has a proposition: He's willing to put up a bottle of Pinot Noir that the tax will end up costing homeowners more money by 2012, thanks to property reappraisals and the parish's habit of rolling millage taxes forward. "Who wants to make a bet?" he says. Read the column here. Send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.

La. Politics by John Maginnis: Sittig leaving PSC; McPherson plans to run

Public Service Commissioner Dale Sittig will be appointed executive director of the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port next month. His stepping down from the PSC will prompt a special election early next year for which Sen. Joe McPherson, D-Woodworth, plans to run. "It looks like it's going to happen," said Sittig, a former legislator, of his gubernatorial appointment. The open PSC seat will be of great interest to the business community, especially utility companies, who count Sittig as a favorable vote on decisions that often break 3-2 in their favor. Utility representatives are concerned that the populist McPherson could alter the balance of power on the commission.

—Nearly half of the $15,000 in contributions that independent 6th Congressional District candidate Michael Jackson received in the last quarter came from one family of Republicans. Lane, Todd and Bobbi Grigsby each gave the maximum $2,300 to the African American legislator, whose independent candidacy is seen as a huge drag on Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Cazayoux's campaign for a full term. The Grigsbys have also donated to Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, while Lane Grigsby plans an independent expenditure against Cazayoux, as he did in the spring special election.

—When the Jindal administration seeks legislative approval next month of its plan to privatize parts of the Medicaid system, it will face some tough questions about the problems being experienced by the Florida pilot program on which Louisiana's is modeled. This week, three big managed-care companies covering 60% of the Florida plan's enrollees notified the state they are dropping out of the program. Like Florida, the Louisiana plan envisions paying HMO-like companies a set amount to assume the risk for serving each enrollee. DHH Secretary Alan Levine oversaw the 2006 startup of the Florida plan when he was health care adviser to then-Gov. Jeb Bush. The announced withdrawal of Florida's three largest providers, who cited a phased-in reduction of rates, casts doubt on the viability of that plan as well as Louisiana's. Click here for a Business Report article on Florida's connection to Louisiana's pending Medicaid reform experiment.

John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly at Lapolitics.com.

Graves, Morrison buy Zachary property for $1.2 million

Raising Canes founder Todd Graves and movie theater owner Shane Morrison have purchased almost 2.2 acres in Zachary for $1.2 million. The land is next to the Raising Canes' location on Main Street, but it is not related to the business, a company spokeswoman says. The land is a personal investment for Graves and Morrison, and they don't have any immediate plans for the property.--Timothy Boone

Central Plumbing buys Greenwell Springs land

Central Plumbing and Supply has purchased the old Ed Price Building Materials location on Greenwell Springs Road for $725,000. Central Plumbing plans to move its operations to the 5.5-acre site. The land became open last fall, when Baily Lumber bought out Ed Price and consolidated operations at its Airline Highway store.

225 looking for fantasy football enthusiasts

Do you take part in a local fantasy football league? Are you preparing for this season's draft? Let us know and 225 magazine might cover and photograph your event. Tell us where and when you're holding your draft, and how to get in touch with you by e-mailing us at yourstories@225batonrouge.com or call 928-1700.

ESPN’s Herbstreit honors LSU players, B.R. restaurant

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit has honored several LSU football players and a Baton Rouge restaurant with his annual "Herbie Awards", which go to the best people and places college football has to offer. Defensive end Tyson Jackson and defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois topped their respective categories. Ranked among the best at their position were wide receiver Demetrius Byrd, guard Herman Johnson, tight end Richard Dickson and safety Chad Jones. Herbstreit says Tigers running back Keiland Williams will become a household name by September's end. LSU was judged to have one of the best student sections, and Ruffino's was named as one of Herbstreit's favorite restaurants—he gives a special kudos to the Italian/Cajun eatery's crabmeat cheesecake appetizer. Read the full list of awards here. While ESPN will televise Saturday's Appalachian State-LSU game at 4 p.m., Herbstreit and the College GameDay crew will be in Atlanta for the game between Alabama and Clemson.

Poll: Most thought McCain would pick Romney

Forty-six percent of people who responded to a Daily Report survey thought U.S. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, would pick former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as his vice president. Eleven percent of respondents thought he would choose another senator, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, while 10% thought McCain's vice president would be Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Eighteen percent of respondents thought McCain would choose someone else as the Republican vice presidential nominee. Turned out they were right: McCain announced this morning that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would be his running mate. More than 1,200 people participated in the survey.

Today's question: Where will Hurricane Gustav make landfall?

No Daily Report on Monday

Daily Report will not be published Monday because of the Labor Day holiday. The newsletter will be back Tuesday morning.

News roundup: Jindal pens op-ed on Katrina anniversary … Republicans considering postponing convention because of Gustav … GM recalls more than 850,000 vehicles

Three years ago today: Gov. Bobby Jindal has written an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal about fiscally conservative reforms that have helped Louisiana rebuild in the three years since Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of the state. "These storms forced us to rethink our aspirations as a state. We are not just rebuilding the failed institutions of the past- we are rebuilding smarter," says Jindal. Read the editorial here. Gulf storm could cause problems for GOP: Republican officials say they are considering delaying the start of the GOP convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul because of Tropical Storm Gustav, which is on track to hit the Gulf Coast, and possibly New Orleans, as a hurricane early next week, The Washington Post reports. The threat is serious enough that White House officials are also debating whether President Bush should cancel his scheduled convention appearance on Monday, the first day of the convention. Electric fault spurs GM recall: GM is recalling 857,735 vehicles equipped with a heated windshield wiper fluid system for a potential short-circuit problem, according to federal safety regulators. A short-circuit in the system may cause other electrical features to malfunction, create an odor or cause smoke, increasing the risk of a fire, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on its Web site. The recall involves the 2007-08 model year Chevrolet Silverado, Tahoe, Avalanche and Suburban, Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV and Escalade EXT, GMC Acadia, Sierra, Yukon, Yukon XL and Saturn Outlook; 2006-2008 Hummer H2, Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne; and the 2008 Buick Enclave.