One thing leads to another: A new study from the Urban Institute that includes six U.S. cities, including Baton Rouge, shows that violent crime can decline in the same year that economic activity increases. An interim report presents findings from Oakland, Minneapolis, and Washington, D.C., and explores the association between gun violence and business trends by census tract. The study joins previous research in making the case to consider gun safety from a local economic perspective. A final report from the Justice Policy Center will be released in early 2017. Along with the three cities included in the interim report, Baton Rouge; Rochester, New York; and San Francisco will be included in the final report. The Urban Institute has more details.
Where credit is due: It would take the next 16 months for the average Louisianan to pay off the debt on their credit cards, according to a new report from CreditCards.com, an online credit card marketplace offering advice, news, features, statistics and tools. Louisiana is home to the nation’s 21st-highest debt burden, according to the report, which compares the average credit card debt and the median income in each state. The average Louisianan is carrying $40,998 in debt, has a credit card balance of $5,340 and owes $572.75 in credit card interest. Alaska has the nation’s highest debt burden, and North Dakota has the lowest. See the full report.
Oops: If you’re not familiar with Instagram but you’re thinking about trying it out, make sure you know what you’re doing before you start posting. The executive director of the Webster Parish Convention and Visitors’ Bureau learned that lesson the hard way while in Baton Rouge on Monday. The Minden Press-Herald reports Lynn Dorsey, 61, inadvertently posted a live video of “adult content with nudity” on the bureau’s Instagram account around 10 p.m. Monday while she was staying in a hotel in Baton Rouge for a business trip. Dorsey didn’t know she had posted the content, which has since been removed from public view, until she was contacted by the newspaper about a half hour after it went live. “It was a horrible, honest mistake,” Dorsey says. “I am mortified. I would never send that type of content out intentionally. It was a very private message for my husband; it was a brand new phone and a new Instagram feature. I am a new Instagram user, and unfortunately I pressed the wrong button.” Read the full story.
Editor’s note: The offices of Business Report will be closed on Friday, Dec. 23, and Monday, Dec. 26 in observance of Christmas, and Daily Report will not be published. It will return on Tuesday, Dec. 27. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend.
