New Orleans CityBusiness articles from April 2007

New Orleans CityBusiness archives from April 2007

Commentary: Blanco's withdrawl gives GOP a formidable foe in John Breaux.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Jeff Crouere Now that Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco has withdrawn from the upcoming gubernatorial campaign, the race for Louisiana's top job has been turned upside down. On March 20, Blanco faced political reality by bowing out...

Crobsy Construction moves headquarters to Ninth Ward in New Orleans.
April 2, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Crosby Construction, a minority-owned facility management corporation, relocating its headquarters and operational base to the Ninth Ward at 2711 Piety St. The company will hold a ribbon cutting and grand...

Federal Stafford Act behind slow moving recovery funds.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Jaime Guillet Show us the money. It's a mantra New Orleans residents have heard from Mayor C. Ray Nagin, complaining that nearly $12 billion in federal relief money is stuck in state bureaucracy. Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco...

Energy assistance program cuts would leave N.O. recipients in the dark.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Matthew Penix Jackie Henry was sitting in her darkened Gretna home alone, depressed and jobless when suddenly her living room light, already shut off because of late payments, flickered on. Her life was instantly changed, she said....

Commentary: Red Fish Grill hooks fresh catch in land of tourist traps.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Tom Fitzmorris Red Fish Grill $$$$ 115 Bourbon St., French Quarter Lunch and dinner seven days. If a restaurant serving precisely the same food the Red Fish Grill does were in a shacky, funky kind of place somewhere on the...

Commentary: A little encouragement, please, for development.
April 2, 2007... Byline: N.O. CityBusiness Staff News surfaced last week that an Atlanta development company wants to spend $300 million to redevelop historic Lincoln Beach along Lake Pontchartrain in eastern New Orleans. City Councilwoman Cynthia...

N.O. RV Campground opens on Navigational Canal.
April 2, 2007... Byline: N.O. CityBusiness Staff The Port of New Orleans will be home to the city's newest campsite, New Orleans RV Campground. The 20-acre site is on the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal, one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina....

World Series of Poker to visit Harrah's N.O.
April 2, 2007... Byline: N.O. CityBusiness Staff Professional and amateur poker players will descend on New Orleans May 11-23 for the 2007 Bayou Poker Challenge Circuit of the World Series of Poker. This is the World Series of Poker circuit's third visit...

Restraining order keeps King Bolden's in N.O. open, for now.
April 2, 2007... Byline: N.O. CityBusiness Staff King Bolden's jazz club remains open under a temporary restraining order. But the four-year-old Rampart Street club's survival is anything but assured, as a legal battle continues. The club's future became...

SBA disburses 100,000th disaster recovery loan.
April 2, 2007... Byline: N.O. CityBusiness Staff U.S. Small Business Administration officials say the agency has fully disbursed 100,000 disaster loans totaling $4.8 billion to victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. The disbursement represents...

City of N.O. begins advertising inspector general job.
April 2, 2007... Byline: N.O. CityBusiness Staff National and local publications began running ads last week publicizing the job opening for the long-awaited New Orleans inspector general position, according to the city-appointed Ethics Review Board, which...

La. Recovery Authority report to steer debate on hurricane catastrophe fund.
April 2, 2007... Byline: N.O. CityBusiness Staff A Louisiana hurricane catastrophe fund would be mostly funded by insurance customers in the state if the program were modeled after a similar one in Florida, according to a March 28 report by the Louisiana...

Calling area expansion to save North Shore residents millions.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Matthew Penix Armed with an English degree from Southeastern Louisiana University and a long-distance calling card, Natalie Natell spent twice a week in Hammond calling potential employers in St. Tammany Parish. She had no choice....

Baton Rouge firm to begin construction on Harvey Canal floodwall with $56M contract.
April 2, 2007... Byline: N.O. CityBusiness Staff The first contract to begin construction on the Harvey Canal floodwall was awarded to Cajun Constructors Inc. of Baton Rouge, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The $56 million contract involves...

New Orleans airport releases first major study since Hurricane Katrina.
April 2, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report A new survey reveals an increase of business passengers traveling through Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Completed in December by Chicago-based consulting firm Unison Maximus, it is the...

Merlin's chocolate bunnies return to shelves for first Easter since Katrina.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Deon Roberts After Hurricane Katrina destroyed Big Easy Chocolate Inc.'s factory, the company could not make its famous Merlin's chocolate bunnies for Easter last year. But the bunnies, with their candy eyes and flower bows, are...

Ambassadors launch campaign to put positive spin on N.O. recovery.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Deon Roberts Sidney Smith still gets calls from people who ask if the water has receded in New Orleans more than 19 months after Hurricane Katrina. Smith, owner of Haunted History Tours in the French Quarter, blames the national...

New Orleans-based Tulane University adding physics engineering major.
April 2, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Tulane University is adding an engineering major to its offerings a year after Hurricane Katrina costs led the school to drop six of the eight engineering programs at the school. A four-year program in...

Demolition ceremony for New Orleans' WWII musuem expansion cancelled.
April 2, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Officials have canceled a Wednesday ceremony for the demolition of buildings to make way for a $300-million expansion of the National World War II Museum. Demolition already began this morning, said museum...

Commentary: A little encouragement, please, for development.
April 2, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Editorial News surfaced two weeks ago that an Atlanta development company wants to spend $300 million to redevelop historic Lincoln Beach along Lake Pontchartrain in eastern New Orleans. City Councilwoman Cynthia...

GOP asks Louisiana's governor to revise $1.28B state budget.
April 2, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report The Legislature's Republican delegation is asking Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco to resubmit her budget using new data from the U.S. Commerce Department which the GOP says more accurately reflects income...

Federal City to be discussed at Louisiana Technology Council meeting.
April 2, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report The $160-million Federal City project slated for Algiers will be the focus of a meeting of the Louisiana Technology Council 5:30 p.m. on April 10th. Speakers include retired Marine Maj. Gen. David Mize, who...

Waiting for Change: Road Home program in N.O. stuck in state bureaucracy.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Jaime Guillet Show us the money. It's a mantra New Orleans residents have heard from Mayor C. Ray Nagin, complaining that nearly $12 billion in federal relief money is stuck in state bureaucracy. Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco...

Cash-strapped hospitals in N.O. fight state for bigger reimbursements.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Richard A. Webster When the state Legislature approved $120 million in June to reimburse hospitals for treating the uninsured after Hurricane Katrina, local hospital administrators breathed a sigh of relief. Help had finally come...

April 2-8.
April 2, 2007... Byline: From CityBusiness Staff Reports The following calendar of business meetings and events is for April 2-8. The deadline for submissions to the business calendar is 10 days prior to the publication date. April 2 Discussion: The...

N.O. experiences baby boom.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Fritz Esker Despite a Hurricane Katrina-related population exodus from southeast Louisiana, there has been a baby boom in the New Orleans area that early signs indicate will continue throughout 2007. According to Keith Darcey,...

New Orleans Health Care Briefs: April 2, 2007.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Richard A. Webster Ochsner health system has been designated as one of only six training sites in the world for a state-of-the-art robotic surgical system. The da Vinci Surgical System by Intuitive Surgical allows physicians to...

Interview with Beth Winkler-Schmidt: Co-owner, Magnolia Physical Therapy.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Craig Guillot Beth Winkler-Schmidt opened Magnolia Physical Therapy in July 2005 after buying the remnants of her old employer's business with partner Lisa George. The practice specializes in all forms of orthopedics including...

Manager of Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in N.O. manager resigns.
April 2, 2007... Byline: N.O. CityBusiness Staff Jimmie Fore, president and general manager of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, resigned March 25 after 16 years with the center. The Convention Center's Phase III expansion was completed in 1999 under...

Commentary: Child care facilities are critical recovery building blocks.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Mark Singletary We are at our best when we help each other. Before the storm, there were about 300 child care facilities in Orleans Parish, maybe that many more in Jefferson and St. Tammany. Functional, safe and secure facilities...

Media sending mixed messages about N.O.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Deon Roberts Sidney Smith still gets calls from people who ask if the water has receded in New Orleans more than 19 months after Hurricane Katrina. Smith, owner of Haunted History Tours in the French Quarter, blames the national...

Service companies gush profits in rig rental race.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Matthew Penix When more than 6 miles of drill pipe weighing some 1.2 million pounds rumbled and bored its way into the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, Chevron-contracted rig manager Eric Hall wondered how much tougher the drilling...

Why Stay? Samer Tamimi believes N.O. has a real human culture.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Kathryn Jezer-Morton Samer Tamimi is an aspiring writer. As a longtime employee at convenience stores around New Orleans, he has amassed a lot of story material. "I've worked the night shift at (stores in) the St. Bernard housing...

N.O. Saints to stay in Superdome until at least 2010.
April 2, 2007... Byline: N.O. CityBusiness Staff The contract for the Saints to play in the Superdome has been extended to the 2010 football season, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and Saints owner Tom Benson announced. Blanco's office said "all available...

Board will go it alone in choosing new director for New Orleans airport.
April 3, 2007... Byline: Jaime Guillet The New Orleans Aviation Board likely will go it alone on choosing a new aviation director for Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and not seek help from a private consulting firm. Members of the...

New Orleans Saints trade for record-setting Dolphins kicker Olindo Mare.
April 3, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report The New Orleans Saints have acquired kicker Olindo Mare in a trade with the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a sixth-round pick (No. 199 overall) in the 2007 National Football League draft. Mare, entering his...

Fitch upgrades New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board, Audubon bonds.
April 3, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report The New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board had $24.9 million of its bonds upgraded to investment status, meaning its more likely to pay its debt and therefore more attractive to potential investors. Fitch...

Ambassadors take New Orleans recovery story national.
April 3, 2007... Byline: Deon Roberts Sidney Smith still gets calls from people who ask if the water has receded in New Orleans more than 19 months after Hurricane Katrina. Smith, owner of Haunted History Tours in the French Quarter, blames the national...

Red Cross Southeast Louisiana chapter to hold annual meeting in N.O.
April 3, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Joe Becker, the Red Cross' senior vice president for preparedness and response, will be the guest speaker at the organization's Southeast Louisiana Chapter annual meeting. The 8:00 to 10:30 a.m. May 8...

Foti: La. Road Home lump-sum change could increase contractor fraud.
April 3, 2007... Byline: Deon Roberts As his office handles 500 open cases of contractor fraud, Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti today described the problem as "level right now" more than 19 months after Hurricane Katrina. But, Foti said he worries...

Burger King to let voters decide which New Orleans charities spilt $100,000.
April 3, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Burger King has announced a project to disburse $100,000 to New Orleans-area charities. The Burger King Campaign for Your Cause fund will give the funds to local nonprofit organizations nominated by...

New Orleans Saints to play five preseason games.
April 3, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report The New Orleans Saints will face five AFC opponents in the 2007 preseason, including two games televised nationally in prime time. The club kicks off of the preseason against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the...

Hancock Bank's six Horizon investment funds reach $1B in net assets.
April 3, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Hancock Bank's six Horizon investment funds have netted $1 billion in assets to date. The three original Horizon funds were valued at $245 million at their inception in May 2000. Horizon Advisers, an...

Floridia-based Senior Home Care acquires La.-based Synergy.
April 3, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Senior Home Care Inc., a provider of home health care services, will acquire of Synergy Inc., a Baton Rouge-based home nursing service with 17 branch offices including one in Kenner. Terms of the deal...

$5.2M federal tire-removal program in Louisiana ends.
April 3, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report The federal government has ended a $5.2-million curbside tire-removal service that began after the 2005 hurricanes. After U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractors removed 259,000 "storm-related" tires from...

$1.3B Louisiana Highway 1 project to break ground Wednesday.
April 3, 2007... Byline: Jaime Guillet The $137-million first portion of the $1.3-billion Louisiana Highway 1 elevation and improvement project will kickoff 3 p.m. Wednesday with a groundbreaking to be attended by Louisiana Department of Transportation and...

Service companies gush profits in rig rental race in Gulf of Mexico.
April 4, 2007... Byline: Matthew Penix When more than 6 miles of drill pipe weighing some 1.2 million pounds rumbled and bored its way into the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, Chevron-contracted rig manager Eric Hall wondered how much tougher the drilling...

$1.02B Entergy Louisiana project expected to save customers billions.
April 4, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Entergy Louisiana today said it plans spend $1.02 billion to re-power a 530-megawatt generating unit at the company's Little Gypsy site in Montz. The Shaw Group Inc. of Baton Rouge will be the engineering and...

Main Street Realty sells to Coldwell Banker TEC Realtors in Mandeville.
April 4, 2007... Byline: Deon Roberts Main Street Realty, a 6-year-old New Orleans-area real estate company, has been sold to Coldwell Banker TEC Realtors in Mandeville. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Main Street's owner, Walter Campbell, said a...

Expo '07 in Mandeville already drawing a crowd.
April 4, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff The St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce will present EXPO '07 at the Castine Center in Mandeville. It's the largest local tradeshow for businesses throughout the greater New Orleans region. About 100 exhibitors...

Wyndham Riverfront New Orleans Hotel renamed.
April 4, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Interstate Hotels and Resorts is reflagging the Riverfront Hotel as the Wyndham Riverfront New Orleans Hotel. Businessmen Joe Jaeger, Darryl Berger, Roger Ogden and Randy Waesche opened the hotel in February 2006....

Adoption of flood guidelines clears St. Bernard for $61.2M.
April 4, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff The St. Bernard Parish Council adopted advisory base flood elevations Tuesday, opening the door for the parish to tap into $61.2 million in rebuilding dollars. The Federal Emergency Management Agency released the...

Demonstrators say city tore down St. Bernard housing encampment.
April 4, 2007... Byline: Deon Roberts A group encamped outside the St. Bernard housing complex to protest the post-hurricane shuttering of public housing says the city and housing officials tore down the camp Monday. Kali Akuno, executive director of the...

N.O. producer to screen 'Execution' at Tulane.
April 4, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff The Tulane University Criminal Law Society will hold a "Death Penalty Forum" at the world premiere screening of the film "Execution" at 7 p.m. Tuesday at McAlister Auditorium on the campus of Tulane University....

N.O. metro pollen counts aggravate allergies with a 'vengenace'.
April 4, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Pollen and mold levels are now being measured daily by The Ochsner Department of Allergy's Pollen Counter Machine. Ochsner is conducting official pollen counts for the National Allergy Bureau. Located on the roof...

New Orleans City Council: Sidney Torres is 'Mr. Clean' of N.O.
April 5, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report The New Orleans City Council today gave a special commendation to Chalmette-based contractor SDT Waste & Debris, which the city selected in 2006 to collect trash downtown. SDT CEO Sidney Torres IV's...

New Orleans Dental Conference expected to attract 2,700 attendees.
April 5, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report More than 2,700 people are expected to attend the 2007 New Orleans Dental Conference and Louisiana Dental Association annual meeting at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center April 12-14. Dentists, dental...

Gov. Blanco pledges to work hard during remainder of term.
April 5, 2007... Byline: Christian Moises Based on her comments during the 20th annual West Bank Governor's Luncheon today, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco doesn't plan to coast through her remaining months in office. "I'm not just going to quit working"...

N.O. delegation lauds diplomatic trip to D.C.
April 5, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report A 16-member delegation of city leaders met with 17 ambassadors during a two-day diplomatic mission to Washington, D.C., last month, the World Trade Center of New Orleans said. The mission's goal was...

Two robberies targeted Algiers, police say.
April 5, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Two armed robberies occurred in Algiers Wednesday morning roughly 30 minutes apart from each other, Fourth District police said. The first occurred at about 6:17 a.m. in the 3600 block of Meadow Park Lane...

$1.02B Entergy project expected to save customers billions.
April 5, 2007... Byline: Matthew Penix Entergy Louisiana unveiled plans Wednesday for a $1.02-billion power plant in St. Charles Parish capable of using an oil refining byproduct that could stabilize the cost of electricity and save customers billions....

Sen. Landrieu fundraising rolls in 1Q.
April 5, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Sen Mary Landrieu's re-election campaign raised more than $1 million during the first three months of 2007, or nearly triple the amount it took in during the last quarter of 2006. "This is the most...

World markets, CityBusiness to take three-day weekend.
April 5, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report New Orleans CityBusiness staffers will take a three-day Easter weekend. After this afternoon's Daily Update, the next edition will appear Monday. Most U.S. financial markets, including the stock exchanges,...

Michoud-built fuel tank on 850-mile trip to Florida.
April 5, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Lockheed Martin sent its newest external tank, built at NASA's Michoud facility, to Kennedy Space Center several days ahead of schedule. ET-117, which is 154 feet long and 27.6 feet in diameter, is on its...

The Shaw Group earns contracts to service, build power plants.
April 5, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report The Shaw Group Inc. has secured a $700-million contract to service nuclear power plants in three states and another contract to build a power plant in Virginia. Its Shaw Stone & Webster business unit has...

City of New Orleans says encampment violated laws.
April 5, 2007... Byline: Deon Roberts The city says it acted within its rights when it tore down an encampment built by demonstrators outside the St. Bernard housing complex. On March 24, the People's Hurricane Relief Fund, Common Ground Relief and...

Two New Orleans charter schools schedule student lotteries for overflow.
April 9, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report The Capital One - UNO Charter School Initiative will conduct lotteries Thursday for Medard Nelson and Pierre Capdau charter schools at Old Business Administration Building, Room 319 on the third floor....

Subprime lending market woes slow New Orleans-area home sales.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Thomas Leggett The subprime lending market woes are slowing New Orleans-area home sales, and experts say national and local economies could sour as federal agencies tighten lending restrictions. "Real estate agents all over New...

St. Tammany Parish Development District approves Rooms to Go center.
April 9, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports Rooms to Go plans to build an 850,000-square-foot distribution center and outlet store in Pearl River. The St. Tammany Parish Development District unanimously gave preliminary approval March 25 for a...

Interview with real estate broker Larry Schedler about affordable housing in New Orleans region.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Craig Guillot Real estate broker Larry Schedler has sold more than 22,000 multifamily units in more than 20 years. He was involved with the recent $46-million sale of the Esplanade at City Park. He believes affordable housing is...

24th annual French Quarter Fest expects up to 450,000.
April 9, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports The 24th annual French Quarter Festival will take over the Vieux Carre for three days starting Friday and attendance is expected to come close to pre-Katrina numbers. Festival officials say attendance...

Louisiana DEQ crackdown uncovers illegal dumping in New Orleans.
April 9, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports State Department of Environmental Quality officials nabbed two trash haulers after conducting a weeklong patrol of "a notorious illegal dump area" in eastern New Orleans. The haulers, whose vehicles were...

Crosby Construction moves D.C. HQ to New Orleans.
April 9, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports Crosby Construction, a Washington, D.C.-based facility management company, is relocating its headquarters to 2711 Piety St. in the Ninth Ward. Owner Vern Crosby said the company has confidence in New...

Tulane University in New Orleans on course to add physics engineering major.
April 9, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports Tulane University is adding an engineering major to its curriculum a year after Hurricane Katrina costs prompted the school to drop six of eight engineering programs. A four-year program in engineering...

Merlin's chocolate bunnies return to the shelves for first time since Hurricane Katrina.
April 9, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports After Hurricane Katrina destroyed Big Easy Chocolate Inc.'s factory, the company could not make its famous Merlin's chocolate bunnies for Easter last year. But the bunnies with the candy eyes and flower...

Victims and Citizens Against Crime in Metairie advocates for victims, provides support groups.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Richard A. Webster In the six years following her daughter's unsolved death, Beverly Siemssen said she fell into a dark hole. "My feelings were so bad that every time I closed my eyes I could see my child in a coffin," she said....

New Leaders for New Schools opens its New Orleans office.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Stephen Maloney New Leaders for New Schools opened its New Orleans office in February and applications for its five-week training course and 14 months of supplemental instruction have been rolling in steadily since. The nationwide...

Why Stay? Doctor returns to bring new blood to New Orleans' aging physician population.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Jaime Guillet Dr. Gene Kukuy and his wife, Joanna, returned to New Orleans in July 2006. "New Orleans' physician population is very old and eventually they're going to start to retire," said Kukuy, 36. "New Orleans needs young...

Commentary: Poorly timed traffic signals give green light to gridlock.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Mark Singletary Oh, to be a contractor for the New Orleans Department of Public Works. Or, how many milliseconds does it take to make a mountain out of a molehill? The winds, rain and floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina messed up lots...

St. Bernard schools treat student mental health worries.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Stephen Maloney Virtually every student at Chalmette High School, along with the principal, teachers and staff, lost homes and material possessions to Hurricane Katrina, causing physical and emotional trauma. Nineteen months...

Commentary: Thai breakers: New restaurants spice traditional dining scene.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Tom Fitzmorris The incidence of Thai cooking around New Orleans is increasing rapidly. We didn't get our first Thai restaurant until the 1980s, with new ones opening only every few years for awhile. Now it seems a new one opens...

April 9-16.
April 9, 2007... Byline: From CityBusiness Staff Reports The following calendar of business meetings and events is for April 9-16. The deadline for submissions to the business calendar is 10 days prior to publication date. April 10 Death Penalty Forum,...

Commentary: New Orleans needs united business front.
April 9, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff It's fitting after Easter to gauge how far a nearly drowned New Orleans has been able to return to life 19 months after being stricken by Hurricane Katrina and its many damaging ripple effects. Judging from the...

New Orleans streetcar to debut in N.Y. on road trip's first stop.
April 9, 2007... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report A New Orleans streetcar will be parked in Times Square and featured on "Good Morning America" as part of a New York road trip tourism officials plan to take Tuesday through Wednesday to promote the city...