At the helm: The Louisiana Small Business Development Center and LSU Shreveport have selected Rande Kessler as interim director of the LSBDC at LSUS. As director, Kessler is responsible for managing, promoting and evaluating LSBDC services to improve delivery and impact. He will work with small business owners to provide counseling, training and technical assistance. Kessler will also be tasked with working closely with local, state and federal officials to assist with regional economic development efforts. The LSBDC at LSUS is one of 10 college-based centers in Louisiana and serves small businesses and entrepreneurs in Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, DeSoto, Lincoln, Red River and Webster parishes.
Burning down the house: Fire investigators in Ruston believe a weekend fire that gutted a Louisiana Tech University fraternity house originated in the fireplace while students burned old class notes to celebrate the end of their school year. Saturday afternoon, students noticed smoke coming from the ceiling area above the fireplace and originally believed it was a chimney fire. They tried to put out the fire using a garden hose from the rooftop. The Shreveport Times reports that investigators believe an hour passed before 911 was called, which could have allowed the flames to spread undetected throughout the walls of the structure. There were no serious injuries in the blaze, but three firefighters were treated at and released from a hospital. Ruston Fire Department spokesman Eric Brazzel says the $1 million building was a total loss.
Call me up in dreamland: Google says it has completed its acquisition of phone maker Motorola and has appointed a Google executive as the new CEO of the business. Google and Motorola announced the $12.5 billion deal last summer, expecting it would close late last year or early this year. Approval from Chinese regulators was slow in coming. On Saturday, China approved the deal, on condition that Google’s Android software would remain free for other phone makers for at least five years. Google is buying Motorola, a pioneer in the cellphone industry, to prop up its patent portfolio and help defend phone makers who use Android against litigation.
