Report: Kuwait may revive Louisiana refinery project

An Arabic-language newspaper is reporting Kuwait may revive plans to build a refinery in Louisiana as compensation for canceling a $17.4 billion joint venture with Dow Chemicals. Al Watan, citing unidentified sources familiar with the matter, says the Louisiana refinery would make up for canceling the Dow deal, says Reuters. Dow had planned to sell a share of five global businesses to Kuwait, but the deal fell apart because of political pressure. Kuwait Petroleum Corp. discussed building the refinery along the Mississippi River with former Gov. Kathleen Blanco in late 2006. The project would have been the first refinery built from the ground up in the U.S. in more than 30 years, but the state-owned petroleum company decided in 2007 to build a new refinery in Kuwait. Kuwait's oil minister says he is unaware of any plans to revive a refinery project, reports Reuters.

Winnings down at Belle, Hollywood

Winnings were down 5.7%, to $17.5 million at Baton Rouge's two riverboat casinos in July, compared to the year earlier. Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge brought in $10.8 million, a 5.2% drop from the $11.4 million that came in during July 2008. The Belle of Baton Rouge saw a steeper drop, going from $7.1 million in July 2008, to $6.7 million in July. Despite the decline, the local riverboat casinos held up better than the state average. Louisiana's riverboats brought in $154.6 million in July, a 6.1% decrease from the $164.8 million in winnings reported in July 2008.

Hurricane Bill now Category 4 storm in Atlantic

Hurricane Bill became a dangerous Category 4 storm with top sustained winds near 135 mph early today, and forecasters said it could get even stronger as it howls over the open Atlantic. The National Hurricane Center says people in the Leeward Islands should monitor Bill's progress, though the core of the storm was expected to pass well to the northeast of the islands late today and early Thursday. Forecasters see the storm veering away from the East Coast, but a weaker version may head up to New England by the end of the week.

Report: Louisiana second most conservative state

A new Gallup Poll found that Louisiana was the second most conservative state in the nation. Forty-seven percent of Louisiana residents who responded to a survey taken during the first half of the year described their political affiliation as “conservative.” That ties Louisiana with Utah and Oklahoma, behind only Alabama (49% conservative) and Mississippi (48%). Louisiana had the lowest percentage of self-identified "liberals" at 14%, causing the state to rank as the second most conservative in the nation. See the full report here.

Government-Foster Green Light project dedicated

A ribbon cutting will be held Thursday morning for the improvements to the intersection of Government Street and Foster Drive. This is the seventh Green Light project to be completed. The $2.8 million project added a left turn lane from Government onto Foster and installed a left turn lane from Foster onto Government. Mayor Kip Holden says the project was finished 80 days ahead of schedule and under budget.

Poll: Few support public insurance option

Fifty-eight percent of the people who responded to a Daily Report survey say a public insurance option should not be part of any federal health care reform plan. Thirty-seven percent of respondents say the public insurance option should be part of the plan and 5% were undecided. More than 1,250 people participated in the survey.

Today's question: Do you use social networking sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn to screen potential employees?

News roundup: Graves working with entrepreneurial group … More companies following potential employees on social networking sites

He knows the SCORE: Raising Cane's is helping to promote SCORE's upcoming seminar on how to start and manage a business. Radio and TV ads featuring Cane's founder Todd Graves are now airing. Graves says this is his way of giving back to the organization, which helped him get his restaurant chain started. The next daylong SCORE seminar will be held Saturday at Bon Carre Business Center, to register or for more details, click here.

Watch what you post: The number of companies who say they screen potential employees based on what they post on social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace has more than doubled in the past year, from 22% to 45%. Thirty-five percent of the companies who participated in the CareerBuilder survey say they have not hired employees based on content they found on social networking sites. The biggest factor in not hiring was job candidates posting provocative or inappropriate photographs or information, while references to drug and alcohol use was the second biggest disqualifier.