Tigers face challenge: The LSU men’s basketball team puts its 17-game home winning streak on the line Saturday night against No. 15 Xavier. LSU hasn’t lost a game at home since Feb. 16, 2008, and have put together the fourth-longest home winning streak in Pete Maravich Assembly Center history. Xavier should be a tough test; the Musketeers have beaten Missouri, Memphis and Virginia Tech this season. Tipoff is 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN2. For The Cincinnati Enquirer’s preview of the game, click here.
What stores might close? Forbes magazine has surveyed the bleak retail landscape and come up with a list of chains that might not be around by the end of 2009. They include such shopping mall staples as Zales and Lane Bryant. Analysts say these chains have been hit hard by the slowdown in consumer spending—one-third of women recently surveyed say they plan to buy no new clothes in 2009—and the drastic drop in real estate values. Read the list here.
Worked with CLECO and the PSC: F. Malcolm Hood Jr., a longtime energy lobbyist, died Thursday night. He was 71. Hood, a native of Lincoln Parish, founded F.M. Hood & Associates, which worked with legislatures in seven states. Last year, he was honored by the Louisiana Legislature and the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, for his contributions.
