Up in smoke: A ban on smoking in bars, clubs and gaming facilities in Lafayette is set to go into effect on Tuesday, KLFY-TV reports. The Lafayette Parish Council voted 7-2 in April to enact the ban. Patrons of bars in Lafayette will still be allowed to smoke on outside patios areas but smoking inside bars won’t be allowed. The city is the 11th in Louisiana to approve such an ordinance. In late June, the Metro Council opted to defer a similar proposal for Baton Rouge and will take it up again on Aug. 9. Read more.
Along the coast: Weeks Marine, one of the nation’s largest dredging companies, is building a new $60 million dredging ship because of increased focus for coastal restoration in Louisiana, The Courier reports. The JS Chatry—named for Weeks Marine’s Senior Vice President J. Stephen Chatry—will use a 30-inch hydraulic cutter suction hopper dredge with pumping power to remove sediment and build wetlands. President Richard Weeks says the national coastal restoration and protection market is growing, and his company is optimistic about the market in Louisiana. Read more.
Getting in the game: Communities across the nation are reinventing themselves as youth sports travel destinations in hopes of attracting tournaments for kids and parents who spend big on transportation, hotels and food, The Associated Press reports. To land tournaments, communities are building large multisport complexes crammed with state-of-the-art fields, rinks and courts. The youth sports industry is considered practically “recession-proof.” Spending has increased by 10% in each of the past couple years. Some $10.4 billion in spending was generated in 2016. Read more, and see a recent Business Report cover package about the business of sports in Baton Rouge.
