News roundup: Fewer Louisiana homeowners than expected seek flood aid … NASA administrator visits New Orleans … Ten companies to share ideas for medical inventions at pitch event this month  

Surplus: Louisiana expects to spend $649 million on homeowner rebuilding aid after the 2016 floods, only about half the federal money the state set aside for the effort. Forty-four percent fewer households than anticipated are expected to access money allocated for homeowners in the Restore Louisiana program, because its estimated that more than 20,000 south Louisiana households with significant damage never took the first step to tap into the $1.3 billion in assistance by filling out the initial surveys to receive aid. Read the full story.
Star power: NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine made his first official visit to the New Orleans site where workers assemble major parts of the Orion spacecraft and the huge rocket that will carry it into space. Bridenstine delivered remarks Monday at the Michoud Assembly Center. Workers at Michoud, led by prime contractor Boeing, are building the core stage of the 322-foot-tall rocket known as the Space Launch System, according to a NASA announcement.
Shark tank: Ten healthcare-industry entrepreneurs, including New Orleans-based Levisonics and Lafayette-based ExperonHealth, are gearing up to pitch their medical solutions for a chance to win $2,500 and help make their ideas a reality at the Get Started Medical pitch contest on Aug.  30 in Lafayette. The event at the Atchafalaya Grand Ballroom University of Louisiana, Lafayette campus is open to the public and is sponsored by Cox Business in partnership with Accelerate South and the Lafayette General Foundation. Read the full announcement about the pitch contest.