BusinessReport.com

Friday, May 16, 2008

Issue: May 08, 2007

Exhausting!

A complex funding formula, fractured political leadership, poor planning and decreasing dollars are driving forces behind Baton Rouge’s history of gridlock.

On the market

Commercial Realtors select the city’s most attractive retail sites, including several former grocery stores.

With Sen. Walter Boasso going back to the Democrats, John Georges writing big checks for candidates in both parties and the sheriffs' endorsing
Republican Rep. Bobby Jindal, the distinctions are getting blurry.

Give downtown a chance

Young professionals want downtown to be a place where people can gather, go shopping, go to galleries and (gasp) walk around with an open container.

A bridge too near

The clock is ticking for Pointe Coupee, which eyes its future link to West Feliciana with a mix of trepidation and hope.

Rating child care

Sixty-five percent of children under six in Louisiana live in households without a stay-at-home parent, according to the 2006 Agenda for Children-Kids Count Special Report on Child Care. Children’s advocates say it gives day-care centers enormous influence during the time the brain is most ripe for learning.

Taking off

Metro Airport lands a low-cost carrier and a soft-drink plant and receives positive news from a regional study.

No vacancy

Despite the addition of about 600 new apartment units last year and more than 1,700 under construction, Baton Rouge struggles to fill the demand.

First showdown on ethics bills

The LAEthics 1 package is set to go before a house committee on Wednesday. Will it pass? Will it be watered down? Also, teachers find rally doesn't help their cause, more trouble on the Road Home and Pinnacle vote should be postponed.

Company news

May 8 - May 21, 2007

Keep ’em separated

Attempts to create different credit reports for businesses are a step in the right direction.

Divided we stand

B.R.’s legislative delegation hasn’t met formally this year and hasn’t elected a chairman in a year, but some lawmakers are coalescing behind community initiatives.