On the move: Due to the Taylor Swift show at Tiger Stadium on Friday, a number of roads will be closed on the LSU campus, and that’s led organizers of the Louisiana Clean Fuels Conference and Expo to change the location of its annual daylong event Friday. Rather than being held on campus at the LSU Energy, Coast & Environment Building, the conference and expo will take place as the Capitol Park Welcome Center, 702 River Road. Parking in the Welcome Center garage is free to all attendees. An awards ceremony and kickoff event will also take place on Thursday evening at the Baton Rouge River Center. While the location is changing for Friday’s events, the agenda is not. See the full lineup.
It’s all too much: A Louisiana household would need to make a minimum of $15.48 an hour to afford the market rent for a two-bedroom apartment, according to a new report that highlights a wide gap between stagnant incomes and rising rents in many parts of the country. As The Wall Street Journal reports, renter households across the U.S. would need to make an average of $19.35 an hour working full time to afford a two-bedroom unit—which is far above federal minimum wage of $7.25 and about $4 more than the estimated average wage of U.S. workers, according to the report released today by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. There is no state in the country where someone earning either the state or federal minimum wage can afford a market-rate one-bedroom apartment, according to the report. Read the full story.
Hammers ringing: U.S. homebuilders ramped up construction in April to the fastest pace in nearly seven and a half years, hinting at newfound momentum for an economy that has struggled in recent months. The Commerce Department reports that housing starts last month increased 20.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.14 million homes. That pace ranks as the fastest clip since November 2007. Housing starts surged in the Northeast, Midwest and West, while slipping slightly in the South. Construction of single-family houses climbed 16.7% in April, an indication that sales of new homes should also rise in the coming months. Apartment building shot up 31.9%. Approved building permits increased 10.1% from March to an annual rate of 1.14 million in April. The Associated Press has the full story.
