Ascension lots sold for $7.7 million

Developer Kevin Nguyen sold 199 lots in his Keystone of Galvez subdivision to A T Management. A T, headed by Allen Thomason, paid $7.7 million for the lots off La. 933 in a deal that happened Tuesday. Thomason bought 145 lots at $40,000 each and 54 lots at $35,000 per lot. They will construct houses on them for sale. Thomason and Vicknair builders have been buying lots in Galvez in blocks of 10 for the past year before they went ahead and bought out the rest of the developed properties in the subdivision. Nguyen kept the remaining land that has been approved for an additional 500 lots. He will install utilities and develop the lots as market conditions improve.—Tom Cook

Marchers protest Jindal's decision not to take funds

Despite weather forecasts, a group known as the Concerned Citizens Coalition was holding firm this morning on its promise to march from Memorial Stadium to the State Capitol for a rally. The group wants to protest Gov. Bobby Jindal’s refusal of $98 million in federal money that’s intended for unemployment assistance. “We’ve come too far to call it off now,” says Nadra Harrison Hall, a spokesperson for Every Child Matters and one of the event organizers. “We’ve told all of our people to bring rain gear.”

Overall, President Barack Obama’s stimulus package directs about $3.8 billion to Louisiana in aid and tax breaks, but Jindal’s plan to turn down the unemployment dollars has created a firestorm. Jindal says the stimulus dollars come with costly strings attached that would require the state to change its laws and possibly hike certain taxes. The state’s most influential business lobbies are backing the governor’s stance.

Members of the CCC, which consists of groups such as the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations and the NAACP, argue that Louisiana needs the cash, especially as the state faces a $1.3 billion shortfall.

Organizers were expecting hundreds to attend this morning’s march, but the rain may have dampened those hopes. The concluding rally will play host to a number of speakers from Baton Rouge like political organizer Joseph Delpit and Democratic legislators, such as Senate President Pro Tem Sharon Weston Broome and Rep. Regina Barrow.—Jeremy Alford

Shaw gets $375 million FEMA contract

The Shaw Group's environmental and infrastructure division has been awarded a contract worth up to $375 million to support FEMA's disaster assistance program. The five-year contract covers comprehensive emergency management for disasters in nine states, including Louisiana and Texas. Shaw will help FEMA with immediate disaster relief, such as providing housing, construction services and staffing. Shaw has worked with FEMA in the past, opening disaster recovery centers, building group sites and supplying temporary housing after hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike.

Chamber opposes concealed carry on campuses

The Baton Rouge Area Chamber has come out against a bill that would allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry a gun onto college campuses. BRAC warns the legislation would create safety issues for college students, faculty and staff and could hamper economic development efforts. "We have been working extremely hard to ensure that the area’s higher education institutions are of national caliber," says Adam Knapp, BRAC president and CEO. "Allowing concealed weapons on their campuses harms their ability to attract the quality students and research faculty necessary to secure the competitiveness of our region." The presidents of all of Louisiana's college campuses have come out against the concealed carry bill by Rep. Ernest Wooton, R-Belle Chasse, along with LSU football coach Les Miles, members of the state Board of Regents, and the management boards over the LSU, Southern University and the University of Louisiana systems.

Foster at Government intersection work begins

A groundbreaking will be Thursday for improvements to the Foster Drive and Government Street intersection, the 15th Green Light Plan road project to start construction. The project includes a new left-turn lane from Government onto Foster and an additional left-turn lane for southbound Foster onto eastbound Government, at a cost of almost $8.68 million; the project is scheduled for completion by the end of October. For a Business Report cover story about the Green Light program, click here.

Retailers employ nearly 58,500 in Capital Region

A new report by the National Retail Federation says stores, restaurants and bars employ 58,479 people in the 6th Congressional District. That's nearly 18% of all the people who work in the area. Restaurants and bars have the biggest share of retail workers, accounting for 22,536 jobs. Retail sales in the district topped $10.3 billion in 2008. Statewide, retail accounted for 19% of Louisiana jobs and sales were $63.8 billion. To see the full report and state-by-state numbers, click here.

April existing home sales rise nationally by 2.9%

A real estate group says sales of previously occupied homes rose modestly from March to April as buyers swooped in to take advantage of prices that were 15.4% below year-ago levels. The National Association of Realtors says home sales rose 2.9% to an annual rate of 4.68 million last month, from a downwardly revised pace of 4.55 million in March.

The results slightly beat economists' forecasts. Sales had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 4.66 million units, according to Thomson Reuters. The median sales price plunged to $172,000, down from $201,300 in the same month last year. That was the second-largest drop on record after January, when prices fell 17.5%.

Poll: Most feel the same about local economic health

Forty-eight percent of people who responded to a Daily Report poll say they feel the same about the health of the local economy as they did three months ago. Twenty-seven percent of respondents to an online survey say they feel less confident about the economic health of the Capital Region, while 24% say they feel more secure than they did in February. Nearly 1,300 people participated in the survey.

Today's question: How far will LSU go in the NCAA baseball tournament?

News roundup: Hot career choices for new college grads named ... Report says healthy lifestyles on the decline

Where the jobs are: Developing casual games, teaching English as a foreign language and clinical trials design for oncology are some of the hot career options for recent college graduates, according to a new study. The report from the University of California San Diego Extension says other blossoming fields include occupational health and safety, data mining and geriatric health care.

We're getting bad: A new study says a declining number of adults are following healthy lifestyle patterns, such as exercising, eating fruits and vegetables and maintaining a healthy weight. The study by researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina, which will be published in the June issue of the American Journal of Medicine, finds that the percentage of adults from 40 to 74 with a body mass index greater than 30 has increased from 28% between 1988-1994 to 36% from 2001 to 2006. The number of people eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day has also dropped during that period, from 42% to 26%.