Landrieu announces funding for I-10/Pecue interchange
Louisiana has received $9.5 million in transportation infrastructure funds, including money for the Interstate 10-Pecue Lane interchange, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu announced. The interchange was the biggest local project to be included for funding in the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill. Other local projects include $1 million for the Center for Planning Excellence to provide planning grants and technical assistance to communities; $700,000 for the Ascension Parish Council to buy the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center; and $650,000 for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development to build an interchange at Interstate 12 and Pete's Highway in Denham Springs.
Green Light Plan coming in under budget
Bids for Green Light Plan road projects continue to come in below initial estimates, according to the plan’s most recent quarterly report. Through June 30, plan officials report a cumulative savings of nearly $11.1 million compared to estimated construction costs. Through the end of this year, officials estimate a total commitment of $262 million for Green Light Plan projects. Greater competition among bidders has been a major factor in driving down costs.
LaPolitics by John Maginnis: B.R., LCA seek clarity on bond issue
Lawyers for the city of Baton Rouge and the Louisiana Chemical Association will try today to clear up a legal question hanging over a proposed $887.5 million bond issue election this fall. LCA President Dan Borne said he didn't mean to cause a front-page dispute with Mayor Kip Holden when he questioned if a 2008 law would exclude industrial areas from the 9.9-mill property tax and half-cent sales tax to go on the Nov. 14 ballot, pending a vote by the Metro Council. "We are a statewide association, so whatever applies in Baton Rouge will apply all over the state," says Borne. Holden says he is awaiting the LCA's lawyer's opinion before he calls a press conference today to refute Borne's earlier remarks. The LCA-sponsored law, passed in 2008 by Rep. Eddie Lambert, R-Gonzales, exempts industries from special service districts, such as for water and lighting, if the industries already provide those services within their gates. The parish's bond attorney stands by his opinion that the 2008 law does not apply to the proposed special taxing district. Holden says he does not plan to seek an attorney general's opinion.
—In the special Supreme Court election in northeast Louisiana, which will be the largest in the state on the fall ballot, the only judge who is running leads in a poll that mainly registers name recognition. Campaigning has yet to begin in earnest for the Oct. 17 primary. The 400-sample Verne Kennedy poll done for a group of area businessmen last June showed District Judge Marcus Clark of Monroe with 20%, Monroe attorney Paul Hurd with 9%, former governor's counsel Jimmy Faircloth of Alexandria with 6% and undecided with 65%. How well Faircloth runs will be seen as another test of whether Gov. Bobby Jindal's popularity transfers to candidates he favors. On Monday, the governor attended a Faircloth fundraising event in Alexandria, which, according to one attendee, raked in over $100,000.
—Healthcare reform moved closer to the House floor this week with an agreement between the Democratic House leadership and members of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition, but Congressman Charlie Melancon was not one of them. Melancon is a Blue Dog member of the House Energy and Commerce committee, which is working to report a healthcare bill. But he is not one of the four committee members who back a modified bill to lessen mandates on employers and to reduce 10-year costs to $900 billion. His office released this statement, "Congressman Melancon does not support the compromise because he is still concerned about how the bill, in its current form, will affect individuals and small businesses in south Louisiana."
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
Editor: Special taxing district drives parish further apart
When it comes to asking voters to decide really, really, really important stuff in East Baton Rouge Parish, the Metro Council is perfectly okay with stacking the deck to make sure that government gets what government wants, says Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball. The best example is a new district for Mayor Kip Holden's proposed $887.5 million bond issue that excludes Baker, Central and Zachary. "The creation of a special taxing district gets the mayor one giant step closer to getting his bond proposal approved. And while that may be really, really important, it does nothing to bring this parish together," Ball says. Read the column here. Send comments to editors@businessreport.com.
A new taste at DeAngelo’s
DeAngelo’s Casual Italian Dining has hired a new corporate chef. Mike Dardenne, former executive chef at White Oak Plantation, has been shaking up the status quo at the popular chain, bringing a new spin to old favorites and introducing innovative dishes that give a South Louisiana sensibility to the menu without straying from DeAngelo’s Italian roots. Haven't noticed a change? You will: Dardenne and owner Louis DeAngelo are rolling out the new options slowly but steadily, starting with the Bluebonnet, Coursey and Jefferson locations. Click here to read 225 Dine, and find out more about what this former White Oak Plantation executive chef is bringing to the table. Also this week in Dine: Raising Cane’s considers new menu items; Anheuser-Busch rolls out tailgate-party-appropriate cans of Bud Light in purple and gold; and find out what Baton Rouge dishes United Home Healthcare CEO Amy Strother is obsessed with.
Recession eases; GDP dip smaller than expected
The economy sank at a pace of 1% in the second quarter of the year, a new government report shows. It was a better-than-expected showing that provided the strongest signal yet that the longest recession since World War II is finally winding down. The dip in gross domestic product for the April-to-June period, reported by the Commerce Department today, comes after the economy was in a free fall, tumbling at an annual rate of 6.4% in the first three months of this year. That was the sharpest downhill slide in nearly three decades.
The economy has now contracted for a record four straight quarters for the first time on records dating to 1947. That underscores the grim toll of the recession on consumers and companies. Many economists were predicting a slightly bigger 1.5% annualized contraction in second-quarter GDP. It's the total value of all goods and services—such as cars and clothes and makeup and machinery—produced within the United States and is the best barometer of the country's economic health.
"The recession looks to have largely bottomed in the spring," says Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. "Businesses have made most of the adjustments they needed to make, and that will set up the economy to resume growing in the summer."
Poll: Overwhelming majority say recession hasn't ended
Eighty-six percent of respondents to a Daily Report poll say they don’t believe the national recession has ended. Nine percent of people who participated in the survey say they think the recession has ended and 5% are unsure. Nearly 1,450 people participated in the survey.
Today's question: What statistics are you waiting to see for you to say that the recession is over?
News roundup: Body of missing man found … Closing on key part of Saints deal extended
Discovered early Friday: The body of Benjamin Brown, a 28-year-old man who had been missing since Wednesday, was discovered shortly after midnight, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's officials say. Brown was found in the bushes near the United Plaza Building, the cause of death appears to be a traumatic injury from falling or jumping from the top of the building. Brown, an accountant at Postlethwaite & Netterville, was caught by a security camera entering the office at 5:20 a.m. Wednesday, but was not seen at work.
Agreement will keep the team in town: New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson has been given an extension to purchase an office tower as part of a deal between the team and the state. The deadline to close on the Dominion Tower has been extended from Saturday to Sept. 15 to give time for a legislative committee to approve two parts of the agreement. Benson also is buying an adjoining shopping mall and parking garage from the building's California-based owner. The plan calls for most of the tower to be occupied by state agencies with the state paying rent to Benson. The now-empty shopping mall is expected to be turned into an entertainment area.
