Rezoned: The Baton Rouge Metro Council has approved the rezoning of live music venue Beauvoir Park from Light Industrial to Commercial Alcoholic Beverage. The venue, which surged in popularity during the pandemic for being one of the only live music venues operating in the area, closed in April and filed for rezoning around the same time. The park has been working with venues like Gallery 14 and Red Stick Social to continue bringing live music to Baton Rouge in the meantime.
Rising interest: Mortgage rates rose this week, pushing the benchmark 30-year home loan to the 3% mark for the first time since mid-April. Signs continued of the economy’s recovery from the pandemic recession and a burst of inflation rattled stock markets. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported today that the average for the benchmark 30-year home-loan rate increased to 3% from 2.94% last week. At this time last year, the long-term rate was 3.24%. See the report.
Rise in victims: The fatality rate of pedestrians struck by vehicles jumped 21% last year, despite the lowest driving activity in two decades, according to data from the Governors Highway Safety Association. As Route Fifty reports, 6,721 pedestrians died in the U.S. in 2020, up from 6,412 in 2019—an increase of 309, or 4.8%. Read the full story.
