Get motivated: Former LSU men’s basketball coach Dale Brown will be at LSU on Saturday to sign his newly released motivational book, Getting Over the Four Hurdles of Life. The signing will take place at the Cook Hotel, 3848 West Lakeshore Dr., from 10 a.m. to noon. Brown, who coached the Tigers from 1972 to 1997, has penned several books and is widely recognized as one of the top motivational speakers in the United States.
Selling it: Mayor Kip Holden and several other local officials are hosting a press conference Thursday to unveil a new smartphone app that will allow local businesses to offer goods and services to film productions shooting in the region. The unveiling will be at 11 a.m. at the Old State Capitol, 100 North Blvd. “Local businesses can even offer discounts to the productions in order to sweeten their bid to attract the film and TV industry,” reads a release. Last year alone, the movie and television industry spent nearly $200 million filming projects in the Baton Rouge area, according to the mayor’s office.
Pushing freight: The Port of New Orleans has had a second straight record-setting year. Its container volume was up 11.6% compared to 2010, and 46% from two years ago, President and CEO Gary LaGrange reports. He says the port added a new Latin American container service and a sixth shipping line last year. In December, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari awarded the port a $16.7 million federal grant to build a specialized, 12-acre freight rail yard to capitalize on New Orleans’ access to six Class 1 railroads.
