Capital Region named second-best economic development market

Baton Rouge is ranked second by Southern Business and Development magazine among the top 10 mid-markets of the decade, based on the amount of new and expanded project wins over the last 10 years. Some of the notable projects in the top-10 issue include: Albemarle, Electronic Arts, SNF Holding Company and The Shaw Group. Project wins that affected rankings must have consisted of 200 or more jobs and/or $30 million or more in capital investment. Huntsville, Ala., was the only city to top Baton Rouge.

Baton Rouge was also ranked third-best metro area in economic development in 2009 by Site Selection magazine.

Adam Knapp, BRAC president and CEO, says he attributes the area's success to the chamber's "Campaign for a Greater Baton Rouge." The Southern Business and Development Story can be found here.

Only a few hours remain to file bills for session

At 6 p.m., lawmakers will no longer be allowed to introduce bills for the regular session that is now in its fourth week. That means members of the House and Senate still have a few more hours to get their ideas into the pipeline before amendments—or hitchhikers, as they're sometimes called—become the main vehicle for advancing measures not already in the hopper.

On the House side, 1,342 bills have been introduced. The two most recently included come from Rep. Franklin J. Foil, R-Baton Rouge; his House Bill 1341 would authorize the LSU Board of Supervisors to increase tuition and fees for students at the LSU Law Center. On the Senate side, 725 bills have been introduced. Among the latest is Senate Bill 722 by Sen. Conrad Appel, R-Metairie, which would require state campaign finance reports to be searchable online by the names of contributors.

So, does this indicate a busier-than-usual session, based on volume alone? Well, there are currently 2,067 bills filed on the Legislature's website. Two years ago, during the last comparable regular session, there were a total of 2,202 bills introduced. That's a difference of 135 bills. Whether lawmakers will actually surpass that policy threshold is a question that can be answered at day's end. The session, however, has another two months of life, and legislators won't face adjournment until June 21. For a look at all of the bills up for consideration, click here. —Jeremy Alford

Kleinpeter gets national sustainability award

Officials from Kleinpeter Farms Dairy are being presented with the 2010 Seal of Sustainability during a ceremony on Capitol Hill today. Kleinpeter is one of two businesses receiving the honor from the Sustainable Business Institute, which is awarded to companies that have demonstrated continuous commitment to sustainable practices. Officials cited several factors for awarding Kleinpeter the seal, including the company's practices of capturing heat from the ice cream plant refrigeration system to heat water for cleaning and pasteurization, implementing a company-wide recycling program that separates recyclable from non-recyclable waste and partnering with the City of Baton Rouge and the Recycling Foundation to encourage consumers to recycle used milk jugs. Jeff Kleinpeter, president and CEO, who is in Washington, D.C., to accept the award, says being good stewards of the environment has been advantageous to his company. He says the dairy got much local publicity for its recycling program, which led to increased sales. "So doing the right thing has paid off for our company in direct benefits to the environment, and also to our bottom line," Kleinpeter says. "We hope this gives other companies more reasons to enact similar policies and protect the environment." This is the second environmental award Kleinpeter has received in the past month. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality gave the company an Achievement Award for its pollution prevention programs.

CC's connects with customers via Foursquare app

CC's Community Coffee House will use the latest in social media applications to connect with customers via their smart phones. CC's will take the company's trolley café, which looks like a New Orleans streetcar, to festivals and special events throughout south Louisiana in April and May. The company will provide updates on the trolley's location via Foursquare: an app that uses GPS technology to let users report their whereabouts to friends.

Customers are encouraged to use Twitter or Facebook to follow the trolley. Once they connect with the trolley, they will receive a coupon book with discounts for more than $30 in CC's products and other participating local businesses.

In Baton Rouge, the trolley café can be found at Fest For All on May 1, at the May 8 event Head 2 Toe held at Crowne Plaza, and at Mall of Louisiana. The "Geaux Baton Rouge" booklet includes discounts from CC's, Ninfa's Mexican Restaurant, Sweet Wishes Gourmet Cupcake Shoppe, The Royal Standard and Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry.

To become a fan of CC's Community Coffee House, click here. Follow CC's on Twitter here.

Shaw says Saudi chemical plant up and running

The Shaw Group says an ethylene plant in Saudi Arabia is fully operating. The Baton Rouge-based company provided proprietary technology, engineering and construction management for the Eastern Petrochemical Company plant in Al-Jubail. The new plant, designed for an annual output of 1.3 million metric tons, will provide ethylene for an ethylene-glycol plant and a polyethylene plant at the same location. Ethylene can be used to create compounds utilized in processes for products such as medical sterilization and rubber for tires.

Regions reports smaller-than-expected quarterly loss

Regions Bank, which has been hard-hit by the declining real estate market in Florida and Georgia, posted a quarterly loss that was smaller than had analysts expected. Based in Birmingham, Ala., Regions says its net losses were $265 million, or 21 cents per share. Analysts had forecast a loss of 27 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters. Net interest income was up 2.7% to $831 million. The latest figures are a sign of stability for Regions, but the bank's officials say they are focused on returning the company to profitability. Regions reported losses in four of the last five quarters.

Poll: Most say state should give schools letter grades

Eighty-five percent of people who responded to a Daily Report poll say the state should give letter grades to public schools, in order for parents and the public to get a better idea of their relative performance. Twelve percent were against grading schools and 3% were undecided. Nearly 1,100 people participated in the survey. Gov. Bobby Jindal has proposed assigning letter grades instead of the current performance labels, which run from five-star schools to academically unacceptable.

Today's question: Now that three of the five parish presidents who serve on the Baton Rouge Loop Authority have come out in opposition to the project, will the road ever be built?

College sports landscape could undergo significant changes

The Big Ten has sped up its timetable for adding schools, a move that could drastically alter the makeup of college sports conferences, reports The New York Times. While the Midwestern conference wants to add Notre Dame, there's talk it could add several schools, such as Missouri, Rutgers, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Connecticut. If these additions happen, they could lead other conferences to add teams, opening up such possibilities as Texas' joining the SEC. Jake Crouthamel, Syracuse's former athletic director, told the newspaper he could see the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Pac-10 forming 16-team "superconferences" and abandoning the NCAA. "If you look at the history of what's been going on for the last decade, I think it's leading in that direction," he says. Read the story here.

News roundup: Lafayette businessman enters Senate race ... Apple asks blog to return new iPhone ... Mother's Day spending expected to increase

Will run as independent conservative: Mike Spears, a Lafayette businessman and Gulf War veteran, says he is running for the U.S. Senate. "It's time to re-ignite the fight for liberty, to take the Tea Party into the halls of Congress, to take back our country," Spears says. Spears is co-founder of Firefly Digital Inc., a website design and development company. He describes himself as an independent conservative. Spears will be running against Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. David Vitter and Democratic challenger Charles Melancon, currently a member of Louisiana's U.S. House delegation. Qualifying for the race is July 7 through July 9. The general election is Nov. 2.

Somebody is in a lot of trouble: Attorneys for Apple have asked a tech website to return what the site claims to be a prototype of the next iPhone, reports The New York Times. The company sent a letter to Gizmodo, a tech blog, saying that the site has a device that belongs to Apple. An Apple employee left the purported next-generation iPhone, whose release isn't expected for several months, in a Silicon Valley bar. Gizmodo paid $5,000 for the device, took it apart and ran a review on the site. While Apple has declined to comment, The Times says the device reviewed is the next-generation iPhone. There are reports that Apple CEO Steve Jobs called Gizmodo, asking for the return of the iPhone. Read the full story here.

'M is for the many things she gives us': Mother's Day spending is expected to increase slightly this year over 2009 levels, according to projections from the National Retail Federation. The average person will spend $126.90 on Mother's Day gifts this year, compared with $123.89 in 2009. Sixty-five percent of the people polled by the federation say they will buy flowers, while 52% will take their mothers out to dinner. Mother's Day, which is May 9, is the second biggest gift-giving holiday in the U.S.