Collecting honors: LSU outfielder Mikie Mahtook has been named a first-team All-American by Baseball America magazine. Mahtook, a junior from Lafayette, led the SEC in slugging percentage, walks, triples and steals. He finished second in the conference in batting average, home runs and runs scored. He’s the third Tiger to make Baseball America‘s All-American team in the past four years, joining outfielder/first baseman Blake Dean, who made the squad in 2008, and pitcher Louis Coleman, who got the honor in 2009. Mahtook was a first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in the Major League Baseball Draft, which was held earlier this month.
Economy may be factor: U.S. births apparently have declined for a third year in a row, probably because of the weak economy. Births had been on the rise for years, and the number hit an all-time high of more than 4.3 million in 2007. But the count has been dropping since then. Last year, it fell 3% to slightly more than 4 million births, according to preliminary figures released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s possible the decline is leveling off: The falling birth rate seems to have bottomed out in October, November and December. However, it’s too early to say whether that marks an end to the trend, says Paul Sutton, a CDC demographer who was the report’s lead author. Experts believe the downward trend is tied to the economy, which officially was in a recession from December 2007 until June 2009 and is still flagging. The theory is that women who are unemployed, or who have money problems for other reasons, feel they can’t afford to start or add to a family.
Want to retain, attract firms: President Barack Obama has issued an executive order setting up a government project to retain and attract business to the United States. The program will be run out of the Commerce Department but will involve departments and agencies across the government to promote the United States as a hospitable place for investment. The effort comes as Obama tries to emphasize job creation in the face of 9.1% unemployment and sluggish economic growth. According to the order, the cost of the program will be paid out of the Commerce Department’s existing budget. A working group made up of senior officials from the executive branch will coordinate promotion activities and address business concerns.
