Nearly 100 workers lose jobs at Plaquemine plant

Nearly 100 contract maintenance workers lost their jobs at a vinyl manufacturing plant in Plaquemine. The workers were employed by Turner Industries but were assigned to maintenance positions at Georgia Gulf. Georgia Gulf spokeswoman Ashley Mendoza could not give an exact number but said the number of laid-off employees was between 75 and 100. Georgia Gulf manufactures vinyl that goes into products such as windows, siding, and other building and construction products. A spokesman for Turner Industries says the company would make every effort to assign the affected employees to jobs at other facilities.

LaPolitics by John Maginnis: Senate challenges House

The stakes and the temperature rose in a looming clash between houses of the Legislature over how to avert major budget cuts to higher education. The Senate passed, 29-9, a bill to freeze the phase-in of personal income tax deductions, defying 55 House members who signed a letter last week pledging to vote against the bill. Before debate started, Senate President Joel Chaisson II, D-Destrehan, chastised the signatories for taking a stand against the Senate bill before the upper chamber considered it. In his remarks, Chaisson didn't mention the governor, who said he would veto the bill if it gets to his desk. The odds of it even getting to the House floor are dim, given that 12 of 18 members of the House Ways & Means Committee, where SB 335 is headed, signed the letter of opposition.

—In his attempt to curb the power of local school boards, education superintendent Paul Pastorek chose the battle and took the fight to board members by criticizing them in speeches around the state. But when it came to a vote this week, he and his allied forces, including the governor, were beaten in the House. With the other three bills in his school board reform package already dead in committee, Pastorek's core bill, to shield superintendents from the interference by board members on hiring and firing decisions, was rejected by the House, 46-51. School board members and teacher groups mobilized early to lobby hard against the package of bills by Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge. But their real target seemed to be Pastorek, whose public criticism of school boards, his brusque manner and his high salary stirred resentment among legislators, especially in rural areas.

—Speculation on who will be the next federal judge in the Western District has shifted from Lafayette to Shreveport. Sen. Mary Landrieu is expected to make her recommendation soon for the presidential appointment to replace retiring Judge Tucker Melancon in Lafayette. She was expected to replace him with another appointee from Acadiana. But according to several sources, the Western District judges voted to locate the judgeship in Shreveport in order to balance caseloads. That shift has produced a new set of contenders. The only elected official mentioned is District Judge Jeanette Garrett of Shreveport.

(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)

Editor: Actions, not words

There's been yapping aplenty about the financial crisis that the state's higher education system faces, says Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball. But there's been no real action, plans or leadership. "Here’s the truth: Political and education leaders are using the cash-flow crisis as subterfuge to mask the very depressing fact that higher education in this state is as abominably broken as our K-12 system," he says. Read the full column here. Send comments to editors@businessreport.com.

Fete Rouge local response to canceled culinary festival

The Baton Rouge Epicurean Society and the Baton Rouge Convention and Visitor’s Bureau have solidified plans for the first annual Fête Rouge: A Louisiana Celebration of Food and Wine, a three-day festival slated for Aug. 27-29 downtown. The festival was created by the BRES after the Southern Breeze Wine and Culinary festival was postponed until 2010, says Renee Areng, executive vice president of sales and marketing for the CVB. “Once we became aware that Southern Breeze was not returning this year, we asked the Baton Rouge Epicurean Society to create a wine and culinary event,” Areng says. “They accepted and Fête Rouge is the result.” The festival will kick off with an awards banquet honoring Frank Bologna with the third annual Grace “Mama” Marino Lifetime Achievement Award on Aug. 27 at the Sheraton Atrium. Bologna, a resident of Baton Rouge for 81 years, is responsible for the success of family business Bologna Brothers Wholesale and Baton Rouge Wholesale. Proceeds from the events will benefit local childhood nutrition programs and local programs of the Baton Rouge Epicurean Society. For a full list of Fete Rouge events and prices, click here.—Emma James

Jobless rate hits 9.4% in May, but layoffs slow

With companies in no mood to hire, the unemployment rate jumped to 9.4% in May, the highest in more than 25 years. But the pace of layoffs eased, with employers cutting 345,000 jobs, the fewest since September. The much smaller-than-expected reduction in payroll jobs, reported by the Labor Department today, adds to evidence that the recession is loosening its hold on the country. It marked the fourth straight month that the pace of layoffs slowed. The increase in the nation's unemployment rate from 8.9% in April underscores the difficulties that America's 14.5 million unemployed are having in finding new jobs. Economists had expected the rate to hit 9.2% last month. If laid-off workers who have given up looking for new jobs or have settled for part-time work are included, the unemployment rate would have been 16.4% in May, the highest on records dating to 1994. Even with layoffs slowing, companies will be reluctant to hire until they feel certain that economic conditions are improving and that any recovery will last.

GM to sell Saturn brand to Penske

General Motors Corp. has a tentative deal to sell its Saturn brand to former racecar driver and dealership group owner Roger Penske, according to two people briefed on the deal. GM has scheduled a conference call this morning to discuss the sale, and Penske will be on the call along with Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deal has not been made public. Penske would get Saturn's dealership network, which consistently has scored highly in customer satisfaction surveys. Penske has said his company, Penske Automotive Group Inc. of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., is interested in the Saturn brand and intended to make an offer.

Penske Automotive Group also distributes Daimler AG's Smart subcompacts in the United States, but Smart has its own dealership network and Saturn dealers would not distribute the tiny cars, one of the people said. Initially GM would continue to make cars for Saturn, but Penske would also sign deals with other automakers to manufacture vehicles for the brand, said both people, who asked not to be identified because the plans have not been made public. Penske Automotive owns the second-largest U.S. automobile retail chain in terms of sales. It also owns heavy-duty engine manufacturer Detroit Diesel and has race teams in the IndyCar, NASCAR and Grand-Am series.

We're looking for Top 100 nominees

Business Report is asking privately-owned companies in the Capital Region to submit information to qualify for its annual Top 100 Private Companies list to be published July 28. Business Report ranks companies by gross revenue. Based on past numbers, companies with less than $15 million in revenue are unlikely to make the Top 100 list. For more information, e-mail jgennaro@businessreport.com. The deadline to submit information is 5 p.m. on June 30.

Marcelle Bienvenu talks recession menus

The key ingredients restaurants need during a recession are buying local and simplifying menus, says Marcelle Bienvenu, renowned Louisiana chef and food columnist. Baton Rouge, unlike markets in Lafayette and Houma-Thibodeaux with rootsy dining experiences, has more white-tablecloth restaurants and fine dining. Yet, the upscale eateries seem to be surviving, thanks to scaled-down, less expensive menus such as Sullivan’s $69 for two three-course dinners and Juban’s $16 three-course lunches. “The menu may not be as varied, but if the restaurant uses good products, it doesn’t have to be over the top,” says Bienvenu, who believes the Red Stick Farmer’s Market is a great, inexpensive tool for helping restaurant owners buy locally. “That’s going to be the ticket.”

Also in 225 Dine this week: A “lite” Aunt Sally’s praline made with a new Mandeville natural sweetener, New Orleans culinary activist Poppy Tooker visits the Red Stick Farmers Market on Saturday, and consultant Sarah Kracke shares a sweet obsession. Click here for more.

Poll: Which restaurant should enter the market?

Thursday's Daily Report poll has been taken down due to vote stacking.

Today's question: Which of these restaurant chains would you most like to see enter the Baton Rouge market?

News roundup: Bankruptcy filings up to 6,000 a day ... Most Americans feel secure in their jobs

Busted: Consumer and commercial bankruptcy filings are expected to hit 1.5 million in 2009, according to USA Today. That's a sharp increase over the 1.1 million filings that happened in 2008 and a fallout from the rising job losses and the tight credit markets. The Automated Access to Court Electronic Records says filings hit 6,000 in May, up from an average of 5,850 in April. Read the story here.

It can't happen here: A new survey shows that although two out of every three Americans know someone who has been laid off during the current recession, 79% feel secure in their own jobs. The poll, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International for Bankrate, found that older workers were less confident about their jobs. Thirty-two percent of those over 50 say they feel "insecure" about their current employment, compared with 13% of workers under 34.