Today's Headlines / Mon, June 30, 2008
News Alert: Jindal vetoes legislative pay raise
Gov. Bobby Jindal on Monday morning vetoed a bill that doubled the base pay for state legislators. Jindal made the announcement at a news conference in the State Capitol. "I have opposed this pay raise at every turn and from the very beginning. A doubling of legislative pay is clearly excessive and it takes effect prior to the next election, which I believe is bad policy," Jindal said. "This bill would also have set up a system to give legislators automatic pay raises in the future without additional legislative votes--which is a lack of accountability that we cannot accept."
Jindal had previously said he would not veto the pay raise to allow the legislature to conduct its own internal affairs. "I clearly made a mistake by telling the legislature that I would allow them to handle their own affairs," Jindal said. "As with all mistakes, you can either correct them or compound them. I am choosing to correct my mistake now." Lawmakers voted to raise their annual base pay from $16,800 to $37,500; the raise was to go into effect Tuesday.
Meanwhile, five lawmakers had been the targets of recall petitions resulting from the raise. The latest petition, against Rep. Hunter Greene, R-Baton Rouge, was filed Monday morning. Also targeted for recalls were House Speaker Jim Tucker and Republican Rep. Franklin Foil of Baton Rouge. Two recall petitions were filed against Jindal, one by Ryan Fournier of Jefferson, and the second by David Mastrianni of Baton Rouge.
Security stepped up for downtown Fourth of July
In the wake of last year's double shooting, security will be heightened for the traditional downtown Fourth of July celebration Friday. While not divulging a number, Baton Rouge Police Chief Jeff LeDuff says there will be more than last year's 80 officers, thanks in part to help from the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office. LeDuff also touted his department’s recent acquisition of four mobile "force multipliers," which are essentially portable lighting towers with cameras and microphones that are networked to police command posts. Plainclothes officers will police the crowd. LeDuff stressed officers will not be pulled from their respective districts in the city to provide the extra security. Once the 9 p.m. fireworks show is over, police will turn on floodlights and disperse the crowd as quickly as possible; officials are urging visitors to plan alternate routes in and out of downtown in case of heavy traffic. LeDuff also reminded residents that shooting fireworks is illegal in East Baton Rouge Parish, except for the official display.—David Jacobs
State boards continue losing membership
With a midnight deadline looming to either resign or face stringent financial disclosure requirements, members of the state’s boards and commissions are still in the process of making their final decisions today. The expected exodus has officials worried, since recruiting qualified candidates to fill the open positions could prove difficult because of the new reporting rules ushered in as part of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s push for ethics reform.
For starters, the Board of Regents has lost W. Clifford Smith, owner of the engineering firm T. Baker Smith, which has offices in Baton Rouge. The influential board is responsible for coordinating all aspects of public higher education in Louisiana. “I didn’t want my business to be advertised so publicly,” Smith says. “And besides, it’s time for more young people to get involved, and this is a good time for that.”
Juana Woodard of Houma also resigned Monday morning from the Louisiana State Arts Council. She says she wasn’t notified by the state about the pending implementation until Saturday evening. A handful of other members from the council are preparing their resignations as well, Woodard adds, which could mean a temporary halt in meetings until the positions are filled again. “I want to know what’s going to happen in August when there’s $4.2 million in grants to disperse,” Woodard says. “They are creating a mess.” The same situation has already struck the 11-member Ethics Board, which has only two remaining members. A quorum can no longer be obtained, and the board is all but shut down for the time being.—Jeremy Alford
EATEL expands services to high-speed customers
Subscribers to EATEL's high-speed Internet service now have free access to exclusive online content from Disney, ESPN and SOAPnet. The content includes access to a library of Disney cartoons, shows and games, the ability to watch up to six sporting events at once and in-depth access coverage of soap operas. The services can be accessed through eatel.com or eatel.net.
La. investors doing well in CNBC stock contest
Five of the top 25 spots in a CNBC stock picking competition are currently held by south Louisiana residents. Les Hausse, an investment adviser with Greenwing Securities currently holds the ninth and 14th spots, while his daughter, Ashley is seventh and 11th. Hausse says the competition was a "family effort"; since every contestant can enter up to five portfolios, his whole family entered the maximum. "I identified a pool of about 12 stocks, and we all chose different combos to diversify a little bit," Hausse says. William Guarisco of Thibodaux is the current leader. For the overall standings, click here. When the competition wraps up on July 18, the top six finishers will divide up a pool of $1 million. Hausse says he's "tickled" to see Louisiana residents doing so well. "We just hope we can hang on and get in the money," he says.—Timothy Boone
Poll: Downtown needs a grocery store
Daily Report readers say a grocery store is the kind of retail development that downtown Baton Rouge needs. Sixty percent of the people who responded to an online survey say that a supermarket is the most pressing need downtown. Sixteen percent say the area needs a convenience store, while 15% say a pharmacy is the most pressing need. Nine percent say a women's clothing store is needed. Nearly 1,900 people participated in the survey.
Today's question: What is your reaction to Gov. Bobby Jindal's decision to veto the legislative pay raise?
News roundup: Knapp to speak to downtown businesses; former LSU researcher wins settlement against government; Volunteer Health Corps gives out awards
Chamber head to address downtown group: Adam Knapp, the CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, is slated to be the guest speaker at the next Downtown Business Association. The meeting will be held at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, July 16 at The Buzz Cafe. Hatfill accused in connection with attacks: Steven Hatfill, a former Army biodefense researcher who was fired from a job at LSU after being named a "person of interest" by former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft during the federal investigation into the 2001 anthrax scare, has settled his lawsuit against the U.S. government for $4.6 million, The New York Times reports. Hatfill was associate director of LSU's National Center for Biomedical Research and Training when he was fired by the university in September 2002. Hatfill was never officially identified as a suspect in the case, though an investigation of his credentials found he had falsely claimed to hold a Ph.D. in molecular cellular biology. Saluting volunteers: The Volunteer Health Corps of Baton Rouge recently presented its first Bonne Coeur awards to Dr. Trent James and Brenda Brown. James, an internist at Baton Rouge Family Medical Center, and Brown, a registered nurse at Baton Rouge General, were honored for their volunteer efforts to help the medically underserved.
Deadline for Top 100 nominations approaching
Business Report is asking local, privately owned companies to submit information to qualify for our annual Top 100 Private Companies list to be published July 15. We rank companies by gross revenue. Based on past numbers, companies with less than $12 million in revenue are unlikely to make the Top 100 list. For more information, e-mail jbayhi@businessreport.com. The deadline to submit information is 5 p.m. Thursday.
