Giving back: The LSU College of Humanities & Social Sciences has received the largest endowed chair in the university’s history. A $1.8 million donation honoring LSU alumnus Edwin K. Hunter was matched, in part, through the Louisiana Board of Regents Endowed Chairs for Eminent Scholars Program to create the Edwin K. Hunter Chair in the Traditions of Rhetoric and Argument in Communication Studies. Hunter is president of the Lake Charles law firm Hunter, Hunter & Sonnier. He also is a businessman with ventures in the oil and gas industry, the development of medical devices and a water-bottling company in Kentwood.
Reopening: After eight months of renovations, Izzo’s Illegal Burrito announced today the reopening of its location at 6220 Corporate Blvd. The restaurant closed on Nov. 12 after a contractor hired to remodel the building’s interior found the exterior insulation and finish system, of eifs, was failing. Izzo’s owners had to close the restaurant immediately and get to work fixing the structural issues. Along with that work, the owners have freshened up the interior with new lighting patterns, wall finishes, equipment and sneeze guards, in addition to other repairs. Ozzie Fernandez, Izzo’s co-owner, told Daily Report in April that the Corporate location will essentially be a new restaurant when it reopens.
Rising: The Wall Street Journal reports the overall price of goods shipped to the U.S. rose in June due to a rebound in oil markets, but underlying trends raised new concerns about the strength of the global economy. Import prices, measuring what U.S. companies pay for foreign goods, increased 0.2% in June from a month earlier, according to a U.S. Labor Department report released today. Rising import prices often point to stronger spending by consumers and businesses, a sign of economic strength. Import prices have risen for four consecutive months, partly reversing a long decline that began in mid-2014. Read the full story.
