Motion denied: Rev. Jimmy Swaggart’s Family Worship Center Church is not entitled to a new trial and will have to pay $2.8 million in damages plus interest to Health Science Park, a local investor group that for more than 10 years has been trying to exercise its purchase option on 60 acres of property on Swaggart’s campus. Nineteenth Judicial District Judge William Morvant denied Swaggart’s motion for a new trial after a hearing Tuesday. Attorneys for the ministry had argued the February jury verdict was not a fair representation of the evidence in the case. HSP still hopes to purchase the property at its pre-Katrina, agreed-upon price of $6.7 million and develop a mixed-use medical center on the site. Swaggart can appeal the verdict to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
In support of: As Louisiana lawmakers are trying to shrink state spending on office leases, they are sending a bill to Gov. John Bel Edwards that seeks to maximize available space in state-owned buildings. The Associated Press reports a 37-0 vote of the Senate on Tuesday gave final passage to the bill by Rep. John Schroder, R-Covington. The House already had unanimously supported the measure. Supporters say the bill would help track vacancies in state buildings and steer state agencies to use that space, rather than outside leases that can be more expensive.The measure would require the governor’s administration to maintain a list of vacant space in state buildings. The administration would be required to notify state agencies that rent space in non-state buildings of available state office space.
Slow down: Private U.S. companies added jobs at the slowest pace in three years in April, a private survey found, a sign that slower growth and volatile financial markets could weigh on hiring. The Associated Press reports ADP, a payroll processing and cloud-based solutions firm, says businesses added 156,000 jobs in April, down from 194,000 in March. Manufacturers shed 11,000 jobs, after losing 3,000 the previous month. Services firms added 166,000, down from 189,000. The slowdown also was driven by weaker hiring at medium and larger companies. Small businesses added jobs at the same pace as previous months. The figures come just two days before the U.S. government’s official jobs report. The ADP numbers cover only private businesses and often diverge from the official figures. Economists forecast that employers added 200,000 jobs in April, while the unemployment rate remained 5%.
