News Alert: Metro Airport awaiting fate of Delta service to D.C.
Baton Rouge Metro Airport officials say they're waiting for confirmation on an announcement from Delta Air Lines that passenger service between Baton Rouge and Washington D.C. will end June 5. Ronnie Pickard, the airport's marketing and air service manager, says the Delta liason airport officials are used to dealing with wasn't aware of the decision. Pickard says airport officials have contacted Delta's Atlanta headquarters to make sure it's not merely a scheduling glitch. Amid hard times for the U.S. airline industry, Delta announced last week its plan to ground up to 4% of its fleet—about 20 planes—because of excruciating fuel costs. The airline also announced it will extend voluntary buyouts to 30,000 eligible employees, or about half its staff. Pickard says if turns out Delta is suspending the much-used route, airport officials will act aggressively to provide other service to Washington, D.C.--Steve Clark
Bush coming to Baton Rouge next month
President Bush will visit Baton Rouge on Tuesday, April 22 to attend a fundraiser hosted by state Treasurer John Kennedy, a Republican who is running for U.S. Senate. The location of the fundraiser, which will also feature Gov. Bobby Jindal, is yet to be determined. In an e-mail to supporters, Kennedy says the event will be "a major part of my fundraising effort." Two days after Bush's visit, U.S. Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential front-runner, will be in Baton Rouge to serve as keynote speaker for the 25th annual Business Awards and Hall of Fame Banquet presented by Business Report and Junior Achievement.
The Juban Crossing shopping center/TND project in Livingston Parish might be a casualty because of the weak national economy. An official with Jim Wilson and Associates, the Alabama shopping mall company that was co-developing the center at Interstate 12 and Juban Road, says the company isn't actively working on Juban Crossing. The official doesn't know if the deal is "totally dead" or "just on life support," and the Wilsons were unavailable for comment. Major retailers have been cutting back on the number of store openings because of the slumping economy, and getting money to build multimillion dollar shopping centers has been difficult. Officials with Creekstone Companies, which joined with Wilson for Juban Crossing, have not returned repeated phone calls. Jim Wilson and Associates developed the Mall of Louisiana, and Creekstone developed Towne Center at Cedar Lodge. Livingston Parish President Mike Grimmer says Juban Crossing is "still hot and still on track". Grimmer says he and Creekstone officials met with some big box retailers a few days ago to talk about space in the center. But Grimmer says he thinks Wilson has pulled out of the deal. Juban Crossing was announced in December 2006, and officials said construction would begin in summer 2007. The center was to include more than 1.2 million square feet of retail space and more than 1,000 homes. -- Timothy Boone
National home sales up, but prices tumble
After falling for six straight months, sales of existing homes posted an unexpected increase in February although the median home price tumbled by the largest amount on record, The Associated Press reported. The National Association of Realtors said that sales of existing homes rose by 2.9% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.03 million units. It was the biggest increase in a year and caught economists by surprise. Part of the sales improvement may have reflected more aggressive price cutting. The median home price fell to $195,900. That was the largest year-over-year drop on records that go back to 1999.
LSU should stay dry despite high river stage
The Mississippi River at Baton Rouge is expected to hit flood stage on March 30 and crest at 39 feet on April 7, according to the National Weather Service. While a 40-foot stage would cause "extensive flooding" of the LSU campus and vicinity, according to an NWS bulletin, indications are that LSU will dodge that bullet, says Kai Roth, senior hydrologist with the Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center in Slidell. Heavy rainfall in recent weeks has caused heavy flooding in the Midwest and is now swelling the Lower Mississippi. "We're seeing pretty substantial flows—probably the highest since 2005," Roth says. LSU scientist Roy Dokka says the Army Corps of Engineers would divert river flows into the Bonne Carré and/or Morganiza spillways long before allowing the Mississippi to overtop levees in Baton Rouge, though people with camps in the spillway zone should monitor the situation closely. --Steve Clark
Rotolo's to open Mid City location
Rotolo's Pizzeria will open its third Baton Rouge location, on Government Street near South Foster Drive, in late April or early May. Mitch Rotolo, who owns the chain, says he likes the Mid City area and thinks it will be thriving in the future. "There aren't a lot of big franchises in that area," he says. "There are independent stores up and down that street. We think that will be a good fit for us, especially with the lunch crowd." Rotolo says the menu at the Government Street restaurant will be the same as the Nicholson Drive and Coursey Boulevard locations, with pizza, sandwiches and calzones. The restaurant will also feature a pub, with draft and import beers, and delivery service is a possibility. This will be the eighth Rotolo's, joining locations in the New Orleans area and Hammond. --Timothy Boone
Superdome to let the sun shine in
Four windows will be added this summer to the Louisiana Superdome as part of the third phase of a $210 million renovation to the stadium, New Orleans CityBusiness reports. The windows, on the stadium's club level, will allow people to see the Crescent City skyline and shine some natural light into the stadium. At the same time, metallic louvers will camouflage the windows so the stadium will maintain its uninterrupted silver surface. The work is part of an upgrade to the club level, which also includes VIP escalators and a new interior design scheme. The escalators and windows will cost $10.8 million in state funding. Another $21 million will go to replacing the Dome’s remaining exterior aluminum panels, including $6 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to repair panels damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Read the story here.
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News roundup: Louisiana seventh in car-expense list; Family business seminar set; Woods’ streak ends at CA Championship
Not-so-cheap wheels: Louisiana ranked seventh on a list of the states where it costs the most to own a car. The survey, by Edmunds.com, an automobile information Web site, estimated ownership costs over a five-year period, based on taxes and fees, insurance, fuel and other expenses. According to the report, it costs $56,850 to own a car in Louisiana for five years. Hawaii was ranked as the most expensive state ($59,457), followed by California ($59,347), Alaska ($58,052), Nevada ($57,763), West Virginia ($57,532) and Connecticut ($57,303). New Hampshire was the least expensive, followed by South Dakota, South Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin (costs for the least-expensive states were not available). How to transfer a business: Attorneys from Kean Miller will hold a 7:30 a.m. breakfast seminar Friday at Juban's Restaurant to address strategies in passing down a family business or considering a sale to a third party. The free event will cover business, corporate, tax and community property advice. To RSVP, contact lauren.babin@keanmiller.com or 382-3472. Tiger tamed: Geoff Ogilvy won the CA Championship this morning, saving a round that seemed in peril with a chip-in for par at the 13th hole and going on to claim his second victory in a World Golf Championship event. A final-round of 1-under 71 was good enough for him to finish at 17 under, one shot better than Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh, all closing with 68s in the rain-delayed tournament near Miami. Tiger Woods was alone in fifth at 15 under, losing for the first time in his last eight starts worldwide and ending a season-opening streak in which he had gone 3 for 3 on the PGA Tour and 4 for 4 overall.
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