Daily Report

Due to severe weather that's forecast to blow through Baton Rouge Saturday morning and afternoon, the start of the Spanish Town Mardi Gras Parade has been moved from noon to 4 p.m., says Bruce Childers, president of the group that puts the parade on. "Boy, did I wake up to a hornet's nest this morning," Childers says. "Basically, the weather situation is continually worsening, and we're adjusting the best we can." Mayor Kip Holden and the Baton Rouge Police Department gave Childers the option of either canceling the parade or moving its start time to 4 p.m. because of public safety concerns, he says. "Obviously we don't want a repeat of last year," when heavy rains drowned out much of the parade, Childers says. "The parade krewes have put a lot of time and expense into this, and we want the crowds to be there and the participants to enjoy themselves." Childers says krewes rolling in the parade should now plan on beginning to queue up at 2 p.m. Saturday's forecast calls for an 80% chance of rain with severe thunderstorms, lightning and high winds likely. The Krewe of Poseidon parade, which traditionally rolls after the Spanish Town parade on the same route, is not rolling this year, Childers says, but that decision was made months ago and is not weather related. While the city-parish has sent out a release saying the parade will start at 3:30 p.m., Childers says it's unlikely the parade will get rolling before 4 p.m. because it typically takes about two hours to get the floats staged. "But if they're saying 3:30 (p.m.), that’s fine, we’ll try for 3:30 (p.m.)," he says. —Steve Sanoski

Editor's note:This story has changed since its original publication.

A half dozen Hancock Bank and Whitney Bank branches in Baton Rouge, and another in Denham Springs, are being closed and consolidated with other existing branches, the combined banks' Integration Director Carl Rackley tells Daily Report. As part of a merger between the two banks finalized last summer, all consolidations of branches will take place over the weekend beginning Friday, March 16, Rackley says. Branches being closed locally include:

• Downtown Hancock branch at 301 Main St., to be consolidated with the downtown Whitney branch in City Plaza, 445 North Blvd.
• Mid City Hancock branch at 4962 Florida Blvd., to be consolidated with the Whitney branch at 5328 Government St.
• Sherwood Forest Hancock branch at 2927 South Sherwood Forest Blvd., to be consolidated with a Whitney branch at 3617 South Sherwood Forest Blvd.
• Broadmoor Hancock branch at 10188 Florida Blvd., to be consolidated with the Whitney branch at 9808 Florida Blvd.
• Essen Hancock branch at 5063 Essen Lane, to be consolidated with the Whitney branch at 7117 Perkins Road.
• Shenandoah Whitney branch at 6031 Jones Creek Rd., to be consolidated with the Hancock branch at 13380 Coursey Blvd.
• Denham Springs Whitney branch at 822 South Range Ave., to be consolidated with the Hancock branch at 523 Florida Ave.

"The combination of these companies creates a much stronger branch delivery system, and these consolidations are going to give our customers even more convenience," Rackley says, noting the local consolidations will be among about 20 total in Louisiana. —Steve Sanoski    Read full story here.

The U.S. Coast Guard says an oil tanker barge collided with another barge on the Mississippi River around 2 a.m. today, spilling oil and leading officials to close a five-mile stretch of the river. Officials say the collision happened about 50 miles upriver from New Orleans, near LaPlace. The wreck tore a gash into the double-hulled tank of the tanker barge, which was being pushed by a tugboat. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer John Edwards says neither vessel sank and no one was hurt. He says the leak has been contained, and the Coast Guard is now trying to determine how much oil spilled. A cleanup company has been hired to deal with the spill. The Coast Guard says the tugboat immediately laid down 100 feet of containment boom and another 30,000 feet was available if needed. St. Charles Parish shut down both of its water intakes from the river, saying it has an adequate supply of clean drinking water. The parish says the accident posed no threat to the public.

Mock conservative commentator Stephen Colbert on Thursday afternoon passed up Buddy Roemer—the former congressman, governor of Louisiana and bona fide presidential candidate—as the sixth-most popular "draft candidate" of Americans Elect, The Times-Picayune reports. The nonpartisan, nonprofit organization is hoping to place a presidential candidate, chosen by its online electorate, on the ballot in all 50 states in the fall. But Colbert's rise— and the anemic participation to date in drafting a candidate—raises the question of just how seriously one can take Americans Elect. With tens of millions of dollars in donations from mostly unidentified backers, the organization promises it will gain ballot access in every state for a cross-partisan ticket. But so far, the "draft candidate" with far and away the most support is Rep. Ron Paul, a Republican candidate for president who has indicated he doesn't plan on going the third-party route. Paul has a little over 2,000 supporters, still far short of the 5,000 supporters in each of 10 different states needed to qualify for the Americans Elect competition (though, the rules allow that "candidates with a similar level of experience as past presidents need only 1,000 supporters in each of 10 different states"). Read the full story here, and check out the Americans Elect website for the full standings here.

Though Republicans hold majorities in both houses, Democratic leaders are counting on caucus solidarity and pushback on GOP members from state employees, teachers and senior citizens to moderate if not thwart Gov. Bobby Jindal's most far-reaching proposals on education, retirement and budgeting. Rep. John Bel Edwards, D-Amite, leader of the House Democratic Caucus, cites bills to increase the retirement age and state employee contributions to retirement accounts as ones that will generate unified Democratic opposition and some Republican crossover. Recognizing the governor will have the votes to get much of what he asks for, another strategy for Democrats is to remind voters who is responsible. "They (Republicans) are absolutely going to own it if it passes," says Edwards.

—With the RESTORE Act—to direct 80% of BP oil spill fines to coastal states—stuck in Congress, the state's delegation is looking to hitch the bill's language to measures more likely to pass soon. This week, Congressman Steve Scalise succeeded in attaching the RESTORE wording to an energy bill nearing House passage. In the Senate, Sen. Mary Landrieu has filed an amendment to include RESTORE in the highway funding bill, as she works with Sen. David Vitter, who is one of a bipartisan quartet handling the bill. He will also be on its conference committee.

They said it: "Based on the history of how we have gotten the short end of the stick, the governor is taking the bull by the horns …" —State Rep. Patrick Connick on the governor's plan not to use bridge tolls in the budget, in The Times-Picayune

(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in shale formations "has no direct connection" to groundwater contamination, a study released Thursday by the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin concludes. The Houston Chronicle reports the study finds that many problems attributed to hydraulic fracturing "are related to processes common to all oil and gas drilling operations," such as drilling pipe inadequately cased in concrete. Many reports of contamination can be traced to above-ground spills or other mishandling of wastewater produced from shale drilling and not from hydraulic fracturing, Charles "Chip" Groat, an Energy Institute associate director who led the project, says in a statement. "These problems are not unique to hydraulic fracturing," says Groat, who is also president of the newly formed Water Institute of the Gulf. In hydraulic fracturing, a mix of water, sand and chemicals are pumped into a well under high pressure to help release natural gas and oil from shale rock. The study is being hailed by the energy industry, which has long maintained there's no direct link between hydraulic fracturing and contamination of groundwater. But industry critics say the study should be vetted by independent experts. And critics were heartened that the study noted some aspects of drilling can lead to groundwater contamination. Read the full story here.

Justin Page, chef/owner of the newly opened Bushwood BBQ restaurant on Perkins Road, between College Drive and Acadian Thruway, has just one rule for his menu. "Don't get cute," he says. "Keep it really simple." Page and his three partners—Chris Holman, Matt McCollister and John White—possessed no restaurant background but had years of experience in tailgating and barbecue competitions. Upon deciding that they wanted to open a restaurant, the quartet chose to focus on a limited menu, though one made extremely well. Adhering to this philosophy, Bushwood serves up only three kinds of smoked meats—brisket, Boston butts and chicken breasts—which customers can order on sandwiches and sliders, then customize with more than a half-dozen varieties of Bushwood's signature barbecue sauce. This, Page says, is where creativity comes into play. Check out the Bushwood BBQ website here, and the rest of this week's 225 Dine e-newsletter here.

Paying the price: Consumer prices rose modestly in January on higher costs for food, gas, rent and clothing. But economists downplayed the increase, saying inflation will likely ease in the coming months as prices for raw materials level off. The consumer price index increased 0.2% last month, after a flat reading in December, the Labor Department reports this morning. Excluding volatile food and energy, so-called core prices ticked up 0.2%. A big reason for the increase was that clothing prices jumped 0.9%. Medical care, rent and tobacco prices also increased. Car prices were unchanged, and airfares fell. Get the full story from The Associated Press here.

Pollsters and poll stars: Slide to Dec. 1, 2011, on the USA Today presidential poll tracker and you'll see Rick Santorum at the bottom of the GOP field, polling at about 2.4%. But go to today's poll, and you'll see Santorum leading the field, with 33.8%—and you won't even find four of the candidates who were ahead of him back in December. Give yourself a break from the grind today and check out the interactive poll tracker here, where you can also track all the delegate votes and state primary results.

Today's poll question: Do you think the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board made the right choice in selecting Carlos Sam as the district's interim superintendent?