The shortened holiday week got off to rocky start for Baton Rouge on Monday when NBC announced it would not be airing the Miss USA pageant live from the city on Sunday, July 12, as scheduled.
The network made the announcement in response to disparaging comments that pageant co-owner and GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump made about Mexican immigrants when announcing his candidacy recently. Virtually every pageant host, judge and guest artists followed suit by backing out of the pageant in turn.
The announcement left many wondering if Baton Rouge and other state agencies—who collectively pledged some $545,000 to pageant operators to lure the event back to Baton Rouge for a second straight year—could recoup any money. Metro Councilman John Delgado formally asked city-parish officials to suspend any payments to the pageant in the letter.
As Daily Report first reported on Tuesday, the contract Baton Rouge officials inked with the Miss USA pageant to provide $280,000 in city-parish funds never specifically required a global broadcast by NBC. But supporting documents provided to the Metro Council when they approved the allocation in April show the estimated value of the broadcast at $20 million.
Last year’s event took place before a sold-out Baton Rouge River Center crowd. About 70 countries saw the NBC broadcast, which included many flattering shots of the Capital City.
This morning, independent cable and satellite channel Reelz announced it has acquired the broadcast rights and will air the event live. However, the channel’s reach is much less extensive than NBC’s, leaving the question open as to whether or not Baton Rouge and Louisiana will see an adequate return on its investment in the pageant.
Also this morning, Daily Report was the first to report that opponents of the St. George incorporation effort have jumped into the legal fight over the signature count on the petition to get the issue on a ballot.
Residents Against The Breakaway has filed a petition for intervention in the lawsuit filed last week by organizers of the City of St. George incorporation effort against the East Baton Rouge Parish Registrar of Voters, which determined in June that their petition drive had fallen 71 signatures short of the number required to bring a public vote on the matter.
The St. George opponents’ legal filing contends that the registrar’s job is complete and a Baton Rouge judge—who is scheduled to take up the matter in a hearing at 9 a.m. Monday—should reject the St. George proponents’ suit, which would allow for additional signatures to be included on their petition.
