Little Village owners plan seafood restaurant in Kress at Third & Main

The owners of the popular Little Village restaurant are planning to open a second downtown fine-dining spot this fall in the refurbished Kress at Third & Main building. A letter of intent is in place for the Little Village Fish House to move into a spot along Third Street, says John Schneider, president of Cyntreniks of Baton Rouge, which is redeveloping the Kress building. Cyntreniks is negotiating with several other retail tenants, including a deli, which would sell breakfasts and light lunches and then serve desserts and cordials at night, a movie theater and a regional women's clothing store. The plan would be to have the restaurants, women's store and theater on Third Street. On the Main Street side, potential tenants include a pharmacy, an urgent care clinic and a credit union, Schneider says. "That would take up the whole first floor," he says. Cyntreniks is talking with several tenants about the 12,500 square feet of office space on the second floor; Schneider says the developers would like to see one tenant take up all that space, but if that doesn't happen, the area would be divided up among smaller businesses. As for the residential component of the building, Schneider says the three for sale units, which range in price from $445,000 to $490,000, are being shown "pretty much at least once a day" to potential tenants. There are commitments for two of the 16 lofts and apartments for lease. Kress at Third & Main is scheduled to open in September.—Timothy Boone

American eliminating B.R.-Chicago flights, trimming Dallas flights

American Airlines will eliminate its daily flights from Baton Rouge to Chicago after Sept. 3. The company announced Wednesday it was dropping daily flights to Chicago O’Hare International Airport from every Gulf Coast airport except New Orleans. Airports in Biloxi-Gulfport and Jackson in Mississippi, Birmingham and Mobile in Alabama and Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach in Florida were also affected, The Mobile Register reported. Ronnie Pickard, a spokesman for Baton Rouge Metro Airport, says American is also reducing the number of daily flights to Dallas-Fort Worth from 10 to eight.

$300 million oil storage facility planned for St. James

A Baton Rouge-based company says it plans to apply for a permit to build a $300 million oil storage facility in St. James Parish. Petroplex International says the storage facility would be capable of holding 4 million barrels of petroleum products. Larry Sciacchetano, a spokesman for Petroplex, says the St. James location would ideally suit the oil refineries and chemical plants in the region.

Calongne to launch conservative group, not run for Congress

Laurinda Calongne, who finished second in this spring's Republican primary for the Sixth Congressional District race, says she will not run for the seat this fall. Instead, Calongne will launch a political organization, the Conservative Leadership Council, which is aimed at training future conservative leaders and helping them run for office. The CLC will also make a concerted effort to recruit and train women candidates. "I will focus my time and resources working to unify people who share the conservative values that make our state and nation stronger. If we are truly going to affect change, it has to start with each of us believing in our ability to truly make a difference and then doing so," Calongne says. State Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican, formally announced last week he would run for the seat, now being held by Rep. Don Cazayoux, a Democrat. Former state Rep. Woody Jenkins, who defeated Calongne in the GOP primary but lost to Cazayoux in the general election, has indicated he will run again.

Existing home sales climb 2% in May

Sales of existing homes edged up slightly in May although median home prices continued to fall. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums rose by 2% to 4.99 million units last month. It was only the second sales increase in the past 10 months, but it was not viewed as a sustained rebound. Many economists believe that prices will have to decline more before the housing industry can mount a sustained recovery. The median price of an existing home sold in May dropped to $208,600, a fall of 6.3% from a year go. That was the fifth-biggest, year-over-year price decline on records that go back to 1999.

Shaw Group wins $50 million contract for W.Va. power plant

The Shaw Group's maintenance division has been awarded a $50 million contract to upgrade a West Virginia power plant. The project at Appalachian Power's Amos Power Plant in Charleston will assist American Electric Power's program to cut emissions from its coal-fueled generating fleet. The work is expected to be completed in December.

Clean Business nominations sought

Nominations are now open for the 10th annual Clean Business of the Year Awards program sponsored by Keep Baton Rouge Beautiful and Business Report. Businesses and organizations in nine categories (including retail, services, industrial, center of worship, medical, public facility and school) from the Greater Baton Rouge area can be nominated. Awards recognize those organizations that contribute to the community with an aesthetically appealing appearance. Nomination forms and details can be found at kbrb.org. The deadline to submit nominations is July 19.

B.R. firm gets deal with Fox Networks

Portico Learning Solutions, a Baton Rouge-based company that provides custom eLearning software to companies and government agencies, has struck a deal with Fox Networks Group to develop an employee-training program. More than 3,300 Fox employees are set to go through the "Cool Change" program, designed to reduce the network's energy consumption.

Poll: What retailers should come downtown?

Wednesday's online poll, which asked voters to assign a letter grade to Gov. Bobby Jindal’s performance, was taken down because of evidence the numbers were being stacked in favor of Jindal.

Today's question: What type of retailer does downtown Baton Rouge need the most?

News roundup: Court rules in favor of Second Amendment gun right; Forum 35 event set for Monday; B.R. loses semipro football team

Overturns D.C. ban: The Supreme Court ruled this morning that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, the justices' first major pronouncement on gun rights in U.S. history. The court's 5-4 ruling struck down the District of Columbia's 32-year-old ban on handguns as incompatible with gun rights under the Second Amendment. The decision went further than even the Bush administration wanted, but probably leaves most firearms laws intact. The court had not conclusively interpreted the Second Amendment since its ratification in 1791. The amendment reads: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Be the Change: Forum 35 is launching a campaign to get more young Baton Rouge residents involved in public life. "Be the Change!" is a nonpartisan effort that will provide information about local boards and commissions to stoke interest in serving. The campaign kicks off with an event at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum featuring Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, who will talk about his life in public service. A workshop will be held Saturday, July 26, with details on how to run for public office and what to expect while campaigning. Forum 35 says the campaign is being launched because of the large number of vacant seats on the Metro Council. For more details, go to forum35.org. Farewell Louisiana Lightning: The Louisiana Lightning of Baton Rouge are out of the new World Football League, according to The Benton County (Ark.) Daily Record. The semi-pro team had financial problems and couldn't make trips to road games in Dallas and Beaumont, Texas. The San Antonio Warriors are also out of the WFL after players decided not to join the league.