At the table: Gov. John Bel Edwards has appointed AT&T Louisiana President Sonia Perez to the Board of Regents. Perez will fill the at-large seat for the remainder of the term, which expires Dec. 31, 2018. Edwards in a statement calls Perez a strong supporter of higher education, saying she understands the needs of employers and what it takes to develop a well-trained workforce. Perez—one of Business Report’s 2017 Influential Women in Business—has served as president of AT&T Louisiana since 2010 and is the first woman to hold the post.
Getting juiced: You may live a long way from the devastation of Hurricane Irma, but if you buy orange juice, you’ll be feeling the effect at the supermarket checkout counter, USA Today reports. Orange juice could cost as much as $2.30 more per gallon because Irma destroyed a broad swatch of Florida’s citrus crop. Just how high OJ prices rise depends on whether Brazil can increase its exports to the U.S. to help cover the shortfall, according to experts in the futures markets. The Florida Department of Citrus estimates that 30% to 70% of the state’s crop was destroyed. Read more.
Bright and shiny: The biggest gem found in a century has sold for $53 million, or $47,777 a carat, Bloomberg reports. Vancouver-based Lucara Diamond Corp. sold the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona diamond this morning to Graff Diamonds of London. The Lesedi diamond is about as large as a tennis ball and is second in size only to the Cullinan, a 3,106-carat gem found in South Africa in 1905. And while its high price tag is certainly worth noting, the diamond is not the most expensive ever sold. That distinction goes to the 813-carat Constellation stone Lucara also found. That stone sold for a record $63 million, or about $77,500 a carat. Read more.
