Going up: A construction kickoff ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, at the new Hampton Inn & Suites under development downtown at Lafayette and Fourth streets. Ground was broken Sept. 21 on the $17 million, 137-room hotel. Greenville, S.C.- based Windsor/Aughtry Co. is developing the property.
This is only a test: The Obama administration is conducting the first-ever nationwide test of the U.S. Emergency Alert System this afternoon. State and local authorities have long used the alert system to warn of oncoming storms or child abductions. But today’s 30-second test at 1 p.m. is the first time it will be activated nationally. In the event of a terrorist attack or other major disaster, a president could use it to make an official announcement. FEMA chief Craig Fugate warns some video systems may make it look like a real emergency. Fugate says that and other flaws are being addressed. Officials are confident there’ll no be no repeat of the Cold War scare of 1971, when a teletype operator sent the wrong message to the old Emergency Broadcast System—and stations across the country either went off the air or began emergency operations.
Win: Margaritaville Resort and Casino is expected to be up-and-running in Bossier City by 2013, adding 1,262 permanent jobs to the local market, the Shreveport Times reports. The complex will include a casino, an 18-story hotel with 400 rooms, a two-story entertainment venue and a 400-seat restaurant. Construction will begin in January, William Trotter III, co-manager of Bossier Casino Venture, tells the newspaper. Construction contracts reached $100 million and should create another 1,000 construction jobs. “It will have a significant impact, in my estimation, on the community,” Trotter says. “Construction work is a job multiplier and will be for 15 months in Bossier City.”
