Making history: The Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center, which was built downtown in 1927 and briefly served as the state capitol in 1931 during a power struggle between Gov. Huey Long and Lt. Gov. Paul Cyr, is joining 19 other Hilton properties across the U.S. in gaining Historic Hotels of America designation, Hilton announced this morning. The designation comes from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Hilton New Orleans/St. Charles Avenue, built in 1926 and considered the first skyscraper in New Orleans, is also gaining the designation. Hilton has more details on the announcement.
Get the golden shovels: Gov. Bobby Jindal will be among a number of local, state and university officials who will be at a groundbreaking ceremony this morning for LSU’s College of Engineering’s $110 million renovation and expansion of Patrick F. Taylor Hall. Others who will be onhand for the 11 a.m. groundbreaking include LSU President F. King Alexander and LSU College of Engineering Dean Rick Koubek, as well as alumni and members of the LSU Breaking New Ground capital campaign committee. The renovation and expansion will add about 80,000 square feet to the already 300,000-square-foot Taylor Hall, which was originally known as the CEBA building, and will roughly double the amount of space the College of Engineering has in it.
A colorful state: Although Louisiana is fairly new to the “solid red” category when it comes to voting, its politicians and voters have almost always been on the conservative side, political experts tell Gannett Louisiana. Voters and elected officials for years have been registered Democrats, but that didn’t mean they were liberal. As recently as 2008, Louisiana was considered a “blue state,” at least in electing legislators. “Louisiana has always been a conservative state,” says Joshua Stockley, a political science professor at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. “I argue that the state’s conservatism has never changed. What changed is its partisanship.” Read the full story.
