Traveling on: Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne says Jim Hutchinson is resigning his position as assistant secretary of the Louisiana Office of Tourism, effective Friday, Nov. 11. LeAnne Weill will serve as acting assistant secretary until such time as Dardenne, in conjunction with the Louisiana Tourism Development Commission as prescribed by statute, can conduct a nationwide search to appoint a new leader. The assistant secretary is the top job in the Louisiana Office of Tourism and serves at the pleasure of the lieutenant governor. The job duties encompass all of the state’s tourism efforts, including advertising, public relations and Internet marketing contracts, the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, the Scenic Byway Commission and 13 welcome centers. Dardenne says he expect to complete the search for a new assistant secretary before the 2012 legislative session begins on March 12.
Picking up: First-time claims for unemployment insurance in Louisiana for the week ending Oct. 29 increased from the previous week’s total. The state labor department figures released today show the initial claims increased to 3,435 from the previous week’s total of 3,231. The figure was lower than it was for the comparable week a year earlier, when there were 3,596 initial claims. The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of benefits applied for, increased to 3,454 from the previous week’s total of 3,404. Continued unemployment claims filed for the week ending Oct. 29 totaled 40,503, a decrease from 41,225 the previous week. The four-week moving average for such claims decreased to 41,053 from 41,491.
Dropping off: East Baton Rouge Parish residents can drop off household hazardous materials for safe disposal on Saturday, Nov. 19, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium, 1702 Foss St. The event is only for the collection of residential hazardous materials; those materials generated by businesses and other commercial sources—or from people who live outside East Baton Rouge—will not be accepted. For details on what’s being accepted and what’s not, and how you should bring materials to the site for disposal, click here.
