Sugar refinery to create 145 jobs in St. James Parish

Imperial Sugar Co., Sugar Growers & Refiners (SUGAR) and Cargill have closed a $100 million bond offering to finance construction of a sugar mill in St. James Parish, with building slated to begin immediately. The refinery, capable of producing 1 million tons of sugar per year, will be adjacent to Imperial’s existing Gramercy facility and will create 145 permanent jobs along with 500 construction jobs. For the project, priced at $120 million, Imperial Sugar, SUGAR and Cargill each will contribute an additional $30 million toward construction and operations and will own equal shares of the refinery under a new venture, Louisiana Sugar Refining. A spokesman for Imperial says under the agreement, SUGAR will sell raw product to the refinery, while Cargill and Imperial Sugar will market and sell the finished product. The refinery is set to open in 2011.—Emma James

News anchor Hennessy leaving WAFB-TV

WAFB-TV weekend news anchor Kellee Hennessy announced today she is leaving the station Wednesday after 17 years. A resident of Watson, Hennessy, 39, says the move will allow her to spend more time with her family, provide an opportunity to expand her Denham Springs boutique The Glass Slipper and make more time for volunteer work. “It’s not an easy decision, but my family really needs me,” she says. ”This is a whole new chance for me.” The Denham Springs native joined WAFB as an intern and became anchor of the TV station’s weekend morning shows when they debuted in the early ’90s. She did not know if the station has found a replacement for the position. “It’s been a dream come true,” she says. “Baton Rouge has been a great place to work, and WAFB has been unbelievable. This is going to be one of the toughest things to do.” Hennessy was selected as a Business Report Forty Under 40 winner in 2008; to read her profile, click here.—Emma James

Dean’s Natchez properties sold at auction

Three historic Natchez, Miss., properties owned by Baton Rouge developer Bob Dean—Eola Hotel, Eola Guest House and the Prentiss Club—have been sold at auction. Tommy Williams of Williams & Williams auction firm in Tulsa, Okla., presided over Tuesday's auction. A Williams & Williams onsite bid representative submitted the high bids against an onsite crowd of about 20 people. The bidders' identities were not revealed since the sales are not final. Williams told The Natchez Democrat that the closing will occur within 30 days of acceptance of the bids by Dean of Baton Rouge. Dean also owns The Hotel Bentley in downtown Alexandria. The Bentley has been closed since December 2004.

Dean also auctioned some of his Baton Rouge holdings earlier this week, including the 180-square-foot Commerce Building on Laurel Street; 83,000-square-foot Dean Tower on Florida Boulevard; an eight-story building at 339 Florida St.; two warehouses on Choctaw Street near ExxonMobil; and 55 acres acres of undeveloped land at Plan Road and Main Street in Zachary. Neither Dean nor Dan Falls of Williams & Williams returned calls.

State government contracts added to LaTrac

Detailed information on Louisiana government services contracts has been added to LaTrac, the state's Transparency and Accountability Portal and Online State Spending Database, according to Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis. She announced today that Louisiana now joins just three other states—California, Georgia and Texas—that provide such information online. The new feature allows users to search contracts by categories or to view all contracts and sort them by government agency, contractor name, contract type or amount. Details can be viewed by clicking on the row of a given contract. The new feature can be accessed though the main LaTrac Web site at www.latrac.la.gov or directly at www.latrac.la.gov/contracts.

Survey: Most Louisianans ‘strongly oppose’ public health insurance

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says 55% of Louisiana’s residents oppose health-care reform plans being discussed by Congress, with seniors and independents in particular skewing toward skepticism. In a poll of 600 registered voters, the chamber also says 51% of respondents “strongly oppose” a government-run health insurance option. In choosing which priority is most important within health-care reform, 41% of Louisiana respondents selected cost control, followed by 35% who selected quality of care. Only 14% said covering the uninsured was their top priority; 10% said they did not know what to think. “Polling clearly shows that Louisianans overwhelmingly oppose the current direction of health care legislation,” said Bruce Josten, executive vice president of government affairs at the chamber. “The chamber has been a strong advocate for reforms that improve access to quality care and lower costs but, like Louisianans, we are very concerned about the legislation Congress is now considering.” Ayres, McHenry & Associates, conducted the poll Nov. 8-10. For detailed results, click here.

State health-plan group gives dire prognosis on Congressional reform plans

The Louisiana Association of Health Plans today warned that residents could end up with higher health care premiums and reduced benefits if Congress’ reform plans become law. “Louisiana health plans have supported comprehensive health care reform since the beginning of the national debate. Our plans have offered significant changes that include creating greater access to coverage by dropping the use of pre-existing condition provisions,” says Gil Dupré, CEO for LAHP, adding that current proposals would add to the cost of coverage for working families and individuals. The association held a conference call this morning to air its views and take questions, although no listeners presented any. If Senate reforms move ahead, the association says premiums in Louisiana could increase 49% in the individual market and 28% in the small group market over 10 years, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation and others. Dupré says the reason for the projected premium jump is that “current legislation relies on tax increases and benefits cuts rather than ways to reduce health care costs.”

LWC says initial unemployment claims decrease

First-time claims for unemployment benefits in Louisiana fell by 46% last week after claims from a temporary one-week layoff in the transportation equipment sector began tapering off. According to the Louisiana Workforce Commission, there were 4,623 initial jobless claims for the week ending Saturday. Initial claims for the comparable week ending Nov. 15, 2008, totaled 3,333. Last week, there were 61,379 continuing claims, up from the previous week’s 60,676. A year ago, there were 29,238 continuing unemployment claims.

Raleigh Studios forms alliance for production facility in Budapest

Raleigh Studios, which has facilities at Celtic Media Centre, has formed a strategic alliance with FotoKem, a leading movie post-production company, to operate a full-service lab and post-production facility at Raleigh’s new studio in Budapest, Hungary. "Our goal has been to establish a studio in Europe that will support producers with very strong American and European brands," says Michael Moore, president of Raleigh, in a statement. Services provided by FotoKem will allow productions to qualify post-production work under Hungary's 20% production tax incentive.

Citizens group mislabels Landrieu’s party affiliation

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint today with the Federal Election Commission against Sen. Mary Landrieu’s campaign committee, Friends of Mary Landrieu, Inc., allegedly regarding “a mysterious $25,300 ‘donation’ to the U.S. Treasury made last year” by the campaign. The citizens group, however, identified Landrieu’s political affiliation as “R-La.,” when she is a well-known Blue Dog Democrat.

Baton Rouge man recalls place at historic event

Over the last three decades, Richard A. Lipsey has watched as his eyewitness-to-history observations have been turned, twisted and tortured in support of conspiracy tales surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy 46 years ago this month. The Baton Rouge businessman is not amused. Such storylines—some from the left, some from the right, and some from the ozone—upset Lipsey “greatly,” he says. So much so that it has soured one of the nation’s biggest gun distributors on interviews about those momentous events in November 1963. To him, the matter is settled: “The Warren Commission had it right.” To Lipsey, it is as obvious as the monstrous trophy polar bear that stands encased in the former big-game hunter’s Baton Rouge office: one gun, fired by Lee Harvey Oswald from the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository. Forget grassy knolls, multiple gunmen, muddled wound analyses and switched bodies, Lipsey intones. “It’s ridiculous.” He has pretty good bona fides for saying that: Lipsey was within feet of the Kennedy’s corpse when forensic pathologists, eight hours after the fatal shots were fired, sifted through the president’s ravaged brain and body to determine what happened. Read Lipsey’s incredible account in this month’s 225 by clicking here.

News roundup: Former CNN news host considers run for White House, Senate … Cautious optimism as job losses slow … Louisiana Ethics Board asks for review

Dobbs eyes career options: A week after abruptly quitting his longtime job as a CNN television news host and commentator, Lou Dobbs said he is considering career options including possible runs for the White House or U.S. Senate, Reuters reports. Dobbs, 64, a veteran CNN anchor who had become one of the most divisive figures in U.S. broadcast journalism, announced last Wednesday he was leaving CNN after spending the better part of 30 years at the 24-hour cable news network. He still hosts a daily radio show.

Recession might be easing: The pace of job losses slowed in many U.S. states in October, and the unemployment rate slipped in hard-hit Michigan, the Labor Department said today, hinting the recession may be easing in some areas. Michigan's jobless rate fell to 15.1% in October from 15.3% in September, although it remains the highest in the United States. The rate in Nevada, the second-highest, dipped to 13% from 13.3%. Rhode Island was close behind at 12.9%, followed by California at 12.5%. North Dakota continued to have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 4.2%, up from 4.1% the previous month. Nebraska had the second lowest at 4.9%, followed by South Dakota at 5%.

Formal request made: The state Board of Ethics has formally asked the Louisiana 1st Circuit Court of Appeal to review a decision by a panel of administrative law judges that dismissed conflict-of-interest charges against a key Jindal administration floorleader on ethics issues. In September, the administrative law judges ruled that the ethics board took too long to prosecute seven allegations that state Rep. Rick Gallot violated state law by being the attorney for the Black and Gold Facilities Inc. in business dealings with Grambling State University and the University of Louisiana System's Board of Supervisors, which his mother, Mildred Gallot, serves on. Gallot and his attorney, Joe Bleich, said the ethics board is overstepping its bounds. They contend state law gives the administrative law judges authority to make the final decision in the case.