Our Lady of the Lake officials were shocked this week when a state health official told the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday that the state’s 2016-17 budget lacks money to continue a public-private partnership with the hospital for indigent medical care and graduate medical education.
But Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne reassured top executives the next day that the state will find money to continue the partnership.
“I wanted them to hear directly from me,” says Dardenne.
The same day as the House Appropriations Committee meeting, Gov. John Bel Edwards told more than 250 health care executives, advocates and doctors that the state will find a way to bring an emergency care facility to north Baton Rouge.
Also this week, longtime Baton Rouge foodies got some good news. Amid the recent closure of some old staples, Phil’s Oyster Bar is being recreated in the Southdowns Shopping Center by the sons of the late longtime owner, Gus Piazza.
And Jay Ducote has signed on for one of the 10 food vendor spots in White Star Market, a gourmet food hall inside the mixed-use Square 46 development in Mid City on Government Street.
Here’s a rundown of some of the other top stories making headlines in Daily Report this week:
- Dantin Bruce Development has about 14 acres of land under contract in the Baton Rouge Health District and is trying to rezone the property from residential to commercial so businesses can join the fledgling district.
- The companies behind the proposed Waterstone of Baton Rouge senior care facility bought the 4.5-acre property on Siegen Lane on Thursday, paving the way for the project to move forward.
- The East Baton Rouge Parish Redevelopment Authority this week began the process of finding and selecting a design and architecture team to lead the planned redevelopment of the former Entergy site on Government Street.
- Hatchit Co. and Big Fish Presentations, two local creative agencies with a specialty in digital marketing, branding and presentation training, have joined forces to create a new firm, Three Sixty Eight, with 19 employees and combined billings of an estimated $1.3 million.
- Baton Rouge Metro Councilman John Delgado says he plans to call for a vote on his proposed economic opportunity zone in north Baton Rouge—which the council has twice deferred—when it comes back up on the April 13 meeting agenda.
- In an effort to create a center of engagement for entrepreneurs in the Capital Region, the Research Park Corp. is launching today a new arm of its organization called NexusLA.
- Domestic and dating violence creates safety issues in the workplace, leads to billions of dollars in health-related and lost productivity costs, and affects workplace performance, according to Melanie Fields, an assistant district attorney for East Baton Rouge Parish and the special prosecutor for domestic violence.
- For the first time in 70 years, Theatre Baton Rouge patrons will have to pay sales tax on tickets and season subscriptions, thanks to a temporary 1-cent state sales tax increase slated to go into effect today.
- With ridership on the Capital Area Transit System’s rebranded Red Stick Trolley—formerly the Garden District Trolley—continuing to dwindle, Congressman Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, is calling for the agency to do away with the route and re-evaluate just about every aspect of its operations.
- The new Baton Rouge Zoo could feature zip lines and adventure courses, a sky lift giving riders a bird’s-eye view of the zoo, splash pads, a rope course, rock wall and a carousel featuring endangered animals.
—Ryan Broussard
