Louisiana

Wednesday, July 30, 2008 9:19 AM CDT BEI Construction Co. workers do the concrete work that is part of one of the landscape islands in the Gateway Shopping Center. PONCHATOULA - Gateway Shopping Center off West Pine Street, Poncha-toula's oldest shopping center, is undergoing a facelift.Landscaping, brick and stucco facades and the demolition of two buildings near West Pine Street will make the shopping center aesthetically appealing and a more valuable asset to the city.Michael Cloen, who is supervising the project for BEI General Contractors of Kenner, said work started July 4 and is expected to be completed by Thanksgiving.The building fronts will have alternating brick and stucco exteriors. (Read the full post about ‘Gateway getting facelift’…)

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 9:25 AM CDT

The Tangipahoa Economic Development Foundation has a new slate of officers and a welcome mat for new members.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of TEDF. The organization has become a vital instrument in shaping the area’s economic development over the years.

New President Joseph Mier related that Tangipahoa is called the “crossroads of the South” because of intersecting interstates 12 and 55 that provide the best direct routes to Los Angeles, Jacksonville, Chicago and the many large metros in between.

“We recognize the opportunity that our location provides and we have a strategic plan for this foundation and for our region,” he said.

That includes attracting new jobs and business investment, enhancing the climate for retention and expansion of existing business, addressing education and workforce development needs and providing advocacy for economic development and public policy.

(Read the full post about ‘TEDF at 30 years’…)

NEW ORLEANS — An alligator bit off an 11-year-old boy’s arm Wednesday, according to police.

Officers said the boy and two girls played near a body of water at the Kingspoint subdivision near Slidell when the gator attacked and tried to pull the boy under.

Police said the boy’s arm was likely to still be inside the alligator’s stomach, and officers were searching for the animal around 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The boy was airlifted to the hospital, according to officials.

Last month, a teen in Okeechobee, Fla. lost an arm in an alligator attack while swimming across a canal. (Read the full post about ‘Alligator Bites Off Boy’s Arm’…)

OPELOUSAS, La. — Rising fuel costs may be changing the image of the standard police cruiser. Muscle may give way to fuel efficiency - at least in some cases.

The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s office has just ordered five economy cars - four of them are going to the sheriff’s records department but one is being assigned to the patrol division as a test vehicle.

Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said if it works out, it may become a model for his fleet of more than 100 vehicles. He said the days of having only high-performance pursuit cars in any law enforcement fleet are over.

Guidroz said the new vehicles he purchased get about 32 miles to the gallon compared to his current patrol cars that get closer to 12 miles per gallon. (Read the full post about ‘Sheriff Experimenting With Fuel-Efficient Cars’…)

NEW ORLEANS — The Regional Transit Authority has chosen Veolia Transportation, one of the biggest players in transit management, to take command of New Orleans’ broken bus and streetcar system.

The RTA board voted Wednesday to negotiate a three-year contract with Veolia, a $46 billion conglomerate based in France that provides bus, rail and other services for 5,000 transit authorities in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world.

If the RTA is satisfied with the company’s performance, the agency could extend the deal by two years. (Read the full post about ‘French Company Taking Over Street Car Management’…)

NEW ORLEANS — Although New Orleans’ biggest theaters have been shuttered since Katrina, the theater community is thriving. New companies have sprouted up. Actors and directors are moving into the city. And - especially for smaller companies – attendance is on the rise.

Explanations vary.

Aimee Hayes, artistic director at Southern Repertory Theater, said theater can help us look at our lives and search for meaning.

Barbara Motley owns Le Chat Noir, a 125-seat cabaret where theater people gather after their own shows. She calls the change a deepening that began when Southern Rep brought in Ryan Rillette as director in 2002.

She said Rillette turned the theater from Southern Gothic to a major regional theater where new plays were the mainstay. (Read the full post about ‘New Orleans Theater Sees A Post-Katrina Boom’…)

Sunday, July 27, 2008 9:55 PM CDT

More than 30 small retail store owners from across the U.S. and Canada converged on downtown Hammond this week as part of a three-day Louisiana Retail Retreat adventure sponsored by T.J. Reid of Amite.

Reid, who is a nationally known retail consultant, author and editor/publisher of Fashion Advantage magazine, guided them through retail districts in downtown Hammond, Baton Rouge and Gonzales.

Terry Lynn Smith of the DDD welcomed the visitors. Ruby was the host store.

In downtown Hammond, they visited Clothes-Minded, An Affair to Remember, Step by Step and Blue Bayou Booksellers and had lunch at Honey-Baked Ham Deli on East Thomas.

They raved about the friendliness of the retail community, Reid said.

(Read the full post about ‘Retailers visit Hammond’…)

NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana farmers have begun harvesting their corn crop but the continued hot, dry weather is taking a toll on sugarcane, pasture land, cattle and hay in the state.

That’s according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The department, in its weekly crop report, said 70 percent of the state was short or very short on soil moisture for the week that ended Sunday.

Last week, the U.S. Drought Monitor showed a band of moderate drought across central Louisiana and abnormally dry conditions in much of the rest of the state.

NEW ORLEANS — State education leaders are looking into a potential inspector general role within the state-run Recovery School District, or RSD.

Rene’ P. Greer, communications director for the Louisiana Education Department, said RSD leaders are exploring an IG role as a way to further “create transparency and strengthen the credibility of the RSD with its stakeholders.”

New Orleans Inspector General Robert Cerasoli last week said he planned to meet with state Education Superintendent Paul Pastorek about a possible inspector general “function” within RSD.

NEW ORLEANS — Scientists said the Gulf of Mexico’s oxygen-starved “dead zone” is a bit smaller than predicted, because Hurricane Dolly stirred up the water.

Scientists had predicted that flood runoff would bring so much fertilizer and other nutrients into the Gulf that the area of low oxygen would be a record 8,300 to 8,800 square miles.

The Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium’s research vessel Pelican finished its annual survey on Monday. LUMCON director Nancy Rabalais said the low-oxygen area covers about 8,000 square miles. (Read the full post about ‘Gulf Dead Zone Falls Short Of Record’…)