Boutique moving into old Living Foods location

The former Living Foods store by the Perkins Road overpass is undergoing extensive renovations and expansion to make room for Stella boutique. Chris Town, whose construction company is handling the work, says the façade of the building has been removed and about 1,300 square feet will be added. That will bring the building up to 3,300 square feet. Town wouldn't disclose when the work will be completed, but says it's on the "fast track." "We're getting a lot of cooperation from everyone, including the weather," he says. Plans are for Stella, a women's clothing boutique currently in Towne Center, to occupy 2,300 square feet. The remaining space will be up for lease, Town says. While the Living Foods building is separate from the redeveloped Perkins Road Hardware site, which is being converted to a mix of restaurants and condominiums by Donnie Jarreau, Town says there are similarities between the adjoining properties. "We're going to fit in with the look of the Perkins Road Hardware site, with that modern contemporary style," he says.—Timothy Boone

Cox raising cable, Internet rates

Cox says it is raising rates for home cable and Internet customers, effective Dec. 8. Basic cable customers will pay $2.58 a month more, while expanded basic customers will have to put up an additional 42 cents, bringing the increase up to $3 a month. Customers who get premium movie channels such as HBO or Showtime, will pay $1 a month more per movie package. Home Internet customers will pay $2 to $3 a month more for service, depending on if they get the starter, value, preferred or premier package. Cox Ultimate Internet subscribers and business customers will not see an increase. Jacqui Vines, senior vice president and general manager for Cox Louisiana, says the price increases are due to higher retransmission fees and programmer fees from channels such as ESPN and Disney. "With these recent changes, most of our video customers will see a rate increase of less than 6%,” Vines says. Cox is adding several high-definition and digital channels and shuffling around its lineup. New HD channels include ESPNews, Investigation Discovery, msnbc, Tennis Channel, Disney XD and BBC America. CSPAN3, The Sportsman Channel and The Word will be added to the lineup. The system is also increasing customer Internet speeds.

Lamar posts smaller-than-expected loss

Lamar Advertising posted a $4.8 million third-quarter loss, better than what analysts were expecting. The Baton Rouge-based billboard company lost 5 cents a share in the quarter, compared with the estimated 16 cents a share loss analysts predicted. Lamar has been battered by the national recession and the downturn in advertising from big clients such as auto dealers and real estate companies. The firm brought in $271.8 million in revenue during the quarter, 13% below what was generated in the third quarter of 2008, when Lamar had $312.5 million in revenue. Despite the downturn, that beat the $265.5 million in revenue analysts projected. Lamar says it expects fourth-quarter revenues of $257 million, above the $253.2 million projection offered by analysts.

Shaw gets deal for Turkish plant expansion

The Shaw Group has been awarded a contract to expand an ethylene plant in Turkey. The value of the deal with Petkim Petrochemical Holding AS was not disclosed. Shaw built the plant in Aliaga, Turkey, in 1986 and performed basic engineering for an expansion in 1999, which brought annual production from 300 kilotons to 520 kilotons. The plant expansion will increase production of ethylene, the most-produced organic compound in the world, by about 10%. Ethylene can be used to create compounds utilized in processes for products such as medical sterilization, rubber for tires or chemical weapons agents.

Tax report on La.: Some good, some bad

A surprising number of states taxed working-poor families deeper into poverty last year, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Others, meanwhile, made giant strides in relieving such families of tax burdens in 2008. As for Louisiana, the nonpartisan research group’s latest report points to both positives and negatives. For instance, Louisiana is among the 16 states that taxed working-poor, married couples with two children in 2008. "Undermining families' efforts to work their way out of poverty is never a good idea," said Phil Oliff, the report's co-author. "But it's especially harmful in the current recession, when people are already struggling just to get by." The report measures the "tax threshold" in each state—meaning the income level at which families begin owing income taxes. In Louisiana, the threshold for two-parent families of four was $20,300, well below the $22,017 national poverty line for 2008. On the other hand, the report notes Louisiana implemented an Earned Income Tax Credit at 3.5% of the federal credit. The report suggests the EITC significantly increased Louisiana’s threshold in 2008 and cut poor families’ income tax liability by more than half compared to 2007. But overall, the nonprofit concludes that the state still has a ways to go. “While these changes were a major improvement, Louisiana still imposed the 15th highest income taxes in the nation on families of four with income at the poverty line in 2008,” the report states.—Jeremy Alford

Ida reaches hurricane strength; possible Gulf Coast threat next week

Ida became a hurricane this morning before making landfall in east-central Nicaragua. The late-season storm, with winds near 75 mph, had already uprooted trees, knocked down power lines and forced the evacuation of 300 people on Corn Island after forming Wednesday in the southwestern Caribbean. According to the 9 a.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Ida was located about 75 miles north of Bluefields, Nicaragua. The storm was moving toward the northwest near 6 mph, and a turn to the north-northwest is expected later today, followed by a turn toward the north late Friday or Friday night. On this forecast track, the center of Ida will move across eastern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras during the next couple of days. Perhaps more troublesome, however, are forecast models that indicate Ida could threaten the northern Gulf of Mexico. The NHC’s five-day forecast has Ida as a tropical storm moving slightly west of north in the southern Gulf of Mexico—west of Key West, Fla., and south of Pensacola, Fla.—at 7 a.m. Tuesday. “Louisiana is no stranger to hurricanes, but we haven’t seen a storm this late in the season in a very long time,” says Robyn Cadwallader, response director for the Louisiana Capital Area Chapter of the American Red Cross. For the National Hurricane Center’s Web site, click here.

Poll: Don't use one-time funds for Medicaid shortfall

Fifty-three percent of people who responded to a Daily Report poll say the state shouldn't use one-time funds to fill a $308 million shortfall projected for Medicaid. Thirty-nine percent of respondents to the online survey say they support the proposal from Alan Levine, secretary of the state Department of Health and Hospitals, and 8% were undecided. More than 800 people participated in the poll.

Today's question: Should LSU, BREC and the city-parish make budget cuts to generate $16 million to restore the lakes near LSU and City Park?

News roundup: October sales offer relief to merchants ... New U.S. jobless claims drop

Second consecutive monthly gain: Consumers, enticed by cooler weather, early holiday discounts and an improving economy, spent a little more in October, handing the retail industry its second-consecutive monthly sales gain after more than a year of declines. Among the bright spots were Costco Wholesale Corp.; TJX Cos., which operates T.J. Maxx and Marshalls; and Gap Inc., all of which reported solid gains for October. But the biggest surprise were improving sales at luxury retailers like Saks Inc., and Nordstrom Inc. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs tally, sales at stores opened at least a year rose 2.1%, compared with a 4.2% drop in October 2008.

Lowest since January: The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits last week fell to the lowest level in 10 months, evidence that job cuts are easing as the economy slowly heals. Still, companies are reluctant to hire and economists expect the unemployment rate will tick up to 9.9% percent when October's figure is reported Friday. The jobless rate hit a 26-year high of 9.8% in September. The Labor Department says that first-time claims for jobless benefits fell by 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 512,000. That's better than economists' estimates of 523,000. Despite the improvement, initial claims remain well above the roughly 400,000 that economists say will signal job creation.