New Orleans CityBusiness articles from April 2008

New Orleans CityBusiness archives from April 2008

United Way of Greater New Orleans reaches $20M mark with fewer donors.
April 1, 2008... Byline: Stephen Maloney Despite a substantial drop in the number of donors since Hurricane Katrina, this year's United Way of Greater New Orleans fundraising drive netted more than $20 million to help fund the organization's 64 agencies....

Commentary: Gov. Jindal remains on a roll.
April 1, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Gov. Bobby Jindal followed up the "grand slam" of his Ethics Special Session by "batting 1.000" at the Business Special Session. These were descriptions the governor himself applied to the sessions. Some pundits...

Legal experts to meet in N.O. about criminal indigent defense.
April 1, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports Legal experts from around the country are scheduled to discuss the challenges of criminal defense for Louisianians who can't afford it during a symposium at Loyola University New Orleans. Loyola's College...

N.O.-area unemployment rate stays below national, state figures.
April 1, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports The unemployment rate for the New Orleans area dropped in February to 3.1 from 4.1 in January and 3.2 in February of 2007, the Louisiana Department of Labor reported today in unrevised figures. The...

Tulane to present 4th Celebracion Latina.
April 1, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports Tulane University's Stone Center for Latin American Studies will present the fourth annual Celebracion Latina from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Napoleon Avenue and Magazine Street in...

Company: First U.S.-approved Swiss absinthe to debut in N.O.
April 1, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports A Swiss absinthe maker has chosen New Orleans to debut what it says is the first authentic Swiss absinthe - using an original recipe that includes wormwood - to be legalized in the United States in nearly...

FEMA: 18,176 trailers remain in Louisiana.
April 1, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports The number of government-issued trailers in Louisiana has fallen 37.2 percent since a phaseout of the units began on Nov. 26, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said today. As of today, there are...

Nonresidential construction up despite homebuilding decline.
April 2, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Despite another lackluster month for homebuilding in February, nonresidential construction rose 0.1 percent over January and was up 11 percent over the past year, the Associated Builders and Contractors...

New Orleans-based EPL makes second discovery this year in Bay Marchand.
April 2, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Energy Partners Ltd. today said it made its second discovery of 2008 in the Bay Marchand field on the Gulf of Mexico shelf and has begun drilling its third well in the program. The field is located just...

'Lifetime experience': CEO Les Hirsch departs after leading recovery of Touro Infirmary in N.O.
April 2, 2008... Byline: Richard A. Webster Les Hirsch officially started his job as CEO of Touro Infirmary Aug. 22, 2005. Seven days later, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the levees gave way and floodwaters covered more than 80 percent of the city....

SEC commissioner to speak at Tulane corporate law forum.
April 2, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Paul Atkins, commissioner for the Securities and Exchange Commission, will be the keynote speaker at Tulane University's 20th annual Corporate Law Institute. The event runs Thursday through Friday at the...

FEMA chief to face questions about hurricane preparedness.
April 2, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator David Paulison will testify Thursday before a Senate committee evaluating FEMA's ability to handle a national catastrophe. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-New...

Survey: Merger business could pick up in a year.
April 2, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report A slight majority of leading merger and acquisition advisers believe that the economy is fundamentally sound and the merger business will pick up in one year to 18 months, according to a new survey by...

N.O. charter schools looking for certified teachers.
April 2, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Certified teachers are invited to join the New Orleans charter school movement by attending the second annual New Orleans Charter Schools Certified Teacher Fair from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Xavier University's...

Public schools in Louisiana shrug off private school tax break.
April 2, 2008... Byline: Stephen Maloney Gov. Bobby Jindal signed a bill providing a tax deduction for private school tuition into law March 24, but lawmakers and school officials doubt it will have much effect on pubic or private school funding. Senate...

Parc des Familles in Jefferson Parish gets first major roadway.
April 2, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Parc des Familles, which at 610 acres will be the largest park in Jefferson Parish once complete, has its first major roadway, paving the way for additional park construction, Jefferson Parish said...

Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District wants feedback on borrow sites.
April 3, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District wants public input on five potential sites where it will obtain borrow material to build and improve levees. Comments on three sites on the West Bank of...

Gourmet hamburger restaurant planned for Magazine Street in N.O.
April 3, 2008... Byline: Emilie Bahr Staff Writer Charcoal, a two-story, 6,300-square-foot gourmet hamburger restaurant, is slated to be built at the intersection of Magazine Street and Jackson Avenue. Craig Walker Jr. and Blaine Prestenbach, 20-somethings...

N.O. lawmakers want state funding for public school infrastructure.
April 3, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Two state lawmakers from New Orleans are calling for state government to begin providing funding for school infrastructure needs, saying 41 other states already provide such funding. Sen. Cheryl Gray and Rep....

Jefferson Parish Street Beat: April 4, 2008.
April 3, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Phone call turns into firearm pilfering A Gretna man was arrested Saturday after authorities say he attempted to steal a gun from a man who had let him into his home. Police say Andrew McIntyre, 37, was allowed...

N.O. Mayor Nagin to attend mayors forum in China.
April 3, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Mayor C. Ray Nagin will travel to Zhengzhou, China, on Sunday to join 400 other mayors from China and worldwide citiies for the International Mayors' Forum on Tourism April 9-11. At the conference, city...

State of Louisiana streamlines FEMA reimbursement process for parishes.
April 3, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff One month after the state implemented a new system to speed up reimbursements to hurricane-affected governments, the wait time has been cut by about 70 percent, from as high as 60 days to just a week. The...

Parents back Mid-City school in N.O.
April 3, 2008... Byline: Stephen Maloney The once-busy entrance to Morris F.X. Jeff Elementary School on Rendon Street is boarded up and glass from shattered windows is scattered across its trash-strewn lawn. Damage from Hurricane Katrina has led the...

La. Sen. Landrieu asks NASA to keep Michoud jobs.
April 3, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-New Orleans, wants a meeting with NASA Administrator Michael Griffin to prevent job cuts at Michoud Assembly Facility in eastern New Orleans. On Tuesday, NASA said more than half of the...

Wal-Mart roadway construction in Jefferson Parish begins Monday.
April 3, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Roadway construction for a proposed Wal-Mart will affect traffic for a little more than a month. Beginning 9 a.m. Monday and ending 4 p.m. May 15, one lane eastbound and one lane westbound on Veterans Boulevard...

North Shore company in Lacombe pleads guilty to federal environmental offense.
April 3, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff M&N Foods Inc., a Lacombe manufacturer of spaghetti sauce and salad dressing, on Thursday pleaded guilty before a federal judge to failing to file reports for more than two years with the Louisiana Department of...

Kenner deadline for FEMA trailers approaching.
April 5, 2008... Byline: New Orleans CityBusiness Staff Report By May 31, 2008, any temporary housing unit, including FEMA trailers or camper-type trailers, that have been identified by the City of Kenner and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)...

National World War II Museum celebrates expansion Monday.
April 6, 2008... Byline: New Orleans CityBusiness Staff Report The National World War II Museum celebrates their $300-million capital construction expansion at special event Monday with military flyover, historical artifacts and political leaders, including...

Construction jobs down for month, year.
April 6, 2008... Byline: New Orleans CityBusiness staff report On April 4, 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released employment data for March which shows a clear decline in nonresidential construction employment, from both monthly and...

State Sen. Cheryl Gray holds town meeting.
April 6, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports State Sen. Cheryl Gray invites residents of Senate District 5 to a town meeting to discuss security districts at 6:30 p.m. April 14 at St. Matthew United Church of Christ, 1333 S. Carrollton Ave. in New...

Louisiana to participate in National Early Childhood symposium.
April 6, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports As part of an effort to build states' capacity for developing science-based policies that enhance children's learning, behavior and health, Louisiana, along with 13 other states, has been selected to...

Whole Foods Markets will attempt Guinness World Record April 12.
April 6, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports Whole Foods Market will attempt to set a Guinness World Record for simultaneously "cracking open" hundreds of hand-selected wheels of two-year-aged Parmigiano Reggiano wheels at their stores around the...

Emeril Lagasse to host Chef Jam! fundraiser.
April 6, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports Chef Emeril Lagasse will headline the Chef Jam! fundraiser to be held April 17 at the New Orleans Board of Trade, 316 Magazine Street. Chef Jam! will run from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Music and food will be...

Delgado Community College hosts advanced registration through May 16.
April 6, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports Delgado Community College is holding Advanced Registration for 2008 summer Session and Fall Semester. For summer 2008 classes, continuing, transfer and readmit students may register online at www.dcc.edu...

Construction begins in N.O. on $300M WWII museum expansion.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Jaime Guillet Staff Writer National World War II Museum officials today broke ground on the theater-canteen complex, the first portion of a $300-million expansion of the museum. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-New Orleans, and museum...

Ochsner Health System, Hornets to hold blood drive in New Orleans.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Ochsner Health System is partnering with the New Orleans Hornets to hold blood drive Tuesday at the "Ochsner Night at the Hornets" home game against the Utah Jazz. The Ochsner Bloodmobile will be part of Buzz...

'American Idol' selects Louisiana charity for fundraiser episode.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff A Louisiana charity will be featured on "American Idol" this week for the television show's "Idol Gives Back" annual fundraiser. The Louisiana Children's Defense Fund's New Orleans Freedom School and local...

U.S District Court in New Orleans orders St. Bernard to restore electricity for rentals.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Ariella Cohen A federal judge has stopped the St. Bernard Parish Council from proceeding with a plan to evict a group of tenants from single-family homes that were never granted required permits for rental use by the council. The...

Razed and confused: Lawsuit alleges city of N.O. illegally ordered demolitions.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Ariella Cohen When Michael Duronslet arrived at the corner of St. Ferdinand and North Galvez streets and saw only a plot of reddish-brown dirt where before there had been a boarded-up home, his first thought was he was standing on...

Economy takes bite from New Orleans-area menus.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Emilie Bahr Restaurants are increasing prices, downsizing portions and, in some cases, removing certain items from the menu -- necessary responses, owners and chefs say, to a run-up in food, energy and insurance costs the likes of...

Community defense links public with Orleans Parish justice system.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Richard A. Webster When Christine Lehmann came on board as chief of the Orleans Parish Public Defender's Office in October 2006, the first thing she noticed was the phone hardly rang, a rarity for criminal defense attorneys who are...

Commentary: Lights (red), camera, action -- tickets.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Mark Singletary The city of New Orleans might soon be licking its chops over more than $6 million in new revenues. How might the newfound money best be spent? And, where is it coming from? Beginning last week, on April Fool's Day...

Brewing dispute: Pair moves forward with plans to build gourmet hamburger restaurant in N.O.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Emilie Bahr After getting the go-ahead from the City Planning Commission, the Historic District Landmarks Commission and the Garden District and Irish Channel neighborhood associations, Craig Walker Jr. and Blaine Prestenbach...

University of New Orleans students map recovery.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Stephen Maloney In a studio on the top floor of a building on the University of New Orleans' Lakefront Campus, a small group of graduate students is developing a plan for a tightknit Vietnamese community in eastern New Orleans. The...

Where We're At -- New Orleanians tell CityBusiness how they think the recovery is progressing.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Greg LaRose Since taking over Pan-American Life Insurance Co. in 2004, President and CEO Jose Suquet has shot down rumors that his downsizing and streamlining of the company was a precursor for its relocation to Miami, where Suquet...

N.O.-based Whitney Holding Corp. promotes John Turner to president, succession complete.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports Whitney Holding Corp., parent company of Whitney National Bank, has promoted John Turner Jr. to president of the company and the bank. Turner replaces John Hope III, who became chairman and CEO March 16...

N.O. begins red light traffic camera enforcement.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports As of Tuesday, the city of New Orleans began issuing citations to red-light traffic camera violators at four intersections. The citations follow a monthlong warning and training period. "Our goal is to...

New Orleans developer HRI, Deuce McAllister team to renovate historic Mississippi hotel.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports New Orleans developer HRI Properties, Saints running back Deuce McAllister and Jackson, Miss., attorney David Watkins are teaming on an $82-million renovation of the historic King Edward Hotel in downtown...

NASA transition will cut 1,100 Michoud jobs.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports More than half of the 1,900 jobs associated with external fuel tank production at a NASA facility in eastern New Orleans will be cut by 2010 after the space shuttle program is shut down, NASA officials...

Developers to open Crowne Plaza in Kenner.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports A group of Metairie developers plans to open a franchised Crowne Plaza hotel in Kenner sometime in the third quarter. Joe Jaeger Jr. of the MCC Group LLC confirmed he is one partner involved with...

Lauricella Land Co. pitches $80M plan to save Colonial Country Club.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports An Elmwood company plans to redevelop Colonial Country Club into Belle Rive, an $80-million-plus project designed to save the financially challenged golf course. Lauricella Land Co. has relieved the...

What others say.
April 7, 2008... Byline: From CityBusiness Staff Reports 'Vallas: New Orleans is a breeze,' Philadelphia, March 29 Reforming the hurricane-ravaged New Orleans school system has proven an easier task than running the schools in Philadelphia, former city...

New Orleans City Council toughens code for abandoned buildings.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Jaime Guillet Strengthening neighborhoods is behind new, aggressive code enforcement procedures to tackle abandoned properties in New Orleans, said Office of Recovery and Development Administration Director Ed Blakely. City Hall,...

Commentary: Colombian flare sets Baru apart from crowd.(Recipe)(Restaurant review)
April 7, 2008... Byline: Tom Fitzmorris *** Baru Bistro and Tapas $$$ 3700 Magazine St. No reservations. 895-2225. Lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday www.barubistro.com No part of New Orleans has more interesting restaurants than the entirety of...

Commentary: Jindal solutions target N.O.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Editorial Gov. Bobby Jindal said it is time to focus on solutions. In his own words, Jindal said we must restore the charming history of New Orleans while building a foundation for a prosperous future in the...

Commentary: Finally a big cost break for business insurance.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Terry O'Connor Commercial property insurance rates and coverage are not sexy topics unless you are a business owner paying though the nose in Louisiana for such coverage. Then the past two months have been exciting indeed. A...

Commentary: Scalise's congressional bid creates state Senate vacancy.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Jeff Crouere In the special election for the 1st Congressional District seat formerly held by Gov. Bobby Jindal, state Sen. Steve Scalise, R-Metairie, is locked in a spirited GOP run-off against state Rep. Tim Burns, R-Mandeville....

Hospital headache: Questions about new facility in New Orleans.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Richard A. Webster A state Senate panel convened a hearing March 25 to clarify the status of Louisiana State University's proposed $1.2-billion, 484-bed teaching hospital. But the meeting raised just as many questions as it...

New Orleans Medical Briefs: April 7, 2008.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports Newborns given wider screenings The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals is finalizing new regulations to screen for an additional 18 genetic diseases in newborn babies. Previously, only 10...

Look Who's Talking...Samir S. El-Dahr, M.D. and Professor of Pediatrics and Physiology at Tulane.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Christian Moises Age: 49 Family: wife, Jane; and sons C.J., 20, Sami, 13 Education: doctor of medicine, University of Aleppo, Syria; pediatric residency at University of Maryland; fellowship in pediatric nephrology, University of...

Calendar April 9 - May 9.(Calendar)
April 7, 2008... Byline: From CityBusiness Staff Reports April 9 EnCourage support group will have a group meeting on how to talk to your children about cancer at The Center for Restorative Breast Surgery located at 1717 St. Charles Ave. from 5-7 p.m. The...

Cypress Bend Real Estate Development breaks ground on $48M Covington office park.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Cypress Bend Real Estate Development has started construction on a $48-million, 24-acre office park in Covington. The development includes a four-story, 105,000-square-foot Class A office building, an...

Culinary Institute of America adds New Orleans' Brennan family to Hall of Fame.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report The Brennan family of Commander's Palace fame is one of the newest members of the Culinary Institute of America's Hall of Fame. The New Orleans family is one of only three families to ever win CIA's...

FEMA: More than 18,000 trailers remain in Louisiana.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report The number of government-issued trailers in Louisiana has fallen 37.2 percent since a phase-out of the units began Nov. 26, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. As of last Tuesday, there...

Sellout crowds welcome Hornets back to N.O. after 6 away games.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Stephen Maloney After six away games in a row, the New Orleans Hornets came home this weekend to back-to-back sellout crowds as they defeated the New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors. Friday night's 118-110 victory over...

Audubon to unveil $1.2M breeding facility in N.O. for whooping cranes.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species will unveil a new $1.2-million facility dedicated to assisted reproduction of whooping cranes, the rarest crane in the world. The announcement will be at 10 a.m....

Riverfront redevelopment plan in N.O. to be presented to public.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Plans to redevelop a section of New Orleans East Bank riverfront from Jackson to Poland avenues will be the subject of a free, public meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Woldenberg Village's Auditorium at the...

New Orleans-based The Receivables Exchange expands to N.Y.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness staff reports New Orleans-based The Receivables Exchange, the first online marketplace for accounts receivable, today said it has expanded its offices to New York to support demand by institutional investors....

Corps watches Louisiana levees as Mississippi River rises.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has increased its monitoring of Mississippi River levees in Louisiana as the river continues to rise. On Saturday, the Corps said it was watching the water level to determine...

Mesa Energy sells interests in Plaquemines Parish project.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Mesa Energy Inc. said today its subsidiary Poydras Energy Partners has entered into two agreements to sell participation interests in the Main Pass 35 Project in Plaquemines Parish. One of the agreements is with...

West Bank apartment complex in N.O. converted to work force housing.
April 7, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Sraff In a project to provide work force housing in the New Orleans area, developers are selling more than 315 one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes at starting prices of $72,000 on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish....

University of N.O. students map recovery through Viet Village project.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Stephen Maloney In a studio on the top floor of a building on the University of New Orleans' Lakefront Campus, a small group of graduate students is developing a plan for a tightknit Vietnamese community in eastern New Orleans. The...

Commentary: Lights (red), camera, action -- tickets.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Mark Singletary The city of New Orleans might soon be licking its chops over more than $6 million in new revenues. How might the newfound money best be spent? And, where is it coming from? Beginning last week, on April Fool's Day...

Road Home begins awarding elevation checks.
April 8, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports The state has begun distributing checks for home elevations through The Road Home program, six weeks after announcing a plan to streamline the disbursement of elevation funds. The first checks went out...

Economist: Housing market in Louisiana set for improvement.
April 8, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports Louisiana can count on its housing market getting better, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors said today. The comments of Lawrence Yun came on the same day that NAR released its...

Louisiana rolls out work zone safety campaign.
April 8, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is launching a new campaign to raise awareness about work zone safety. Starting Wednesday, DOTD will begin airing television public service...

Lafayette court fines Omni Energy $3M in trade secret lawsuit.
April 8, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports A Lafayette court last month awarded Munich, Germany-based Siemens Water Technologies Corp. $3.04 million in damages and $686,823 in interest after finding Carencro-based Omni Energy Services Corp....

Homeland security forum to be held in N.O.
April 8, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports A homeland security forum will be held in New Orleans from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Pan-American Life Center, 601 Poydras St. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-New Orleans, and FBI special agent in charge of...

Ralph Brennan serves up seafood cookbook.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Emilie Bahr Since Hurricane Katrina, a spate of new cookbooks has added to the already extensive catalogue of New Orleans recipe guidebooks, capturing the national fondness for the city and its epicurean legacy. These include...

N.O.'s WWNO names new general manager.
April 8, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports WWNO-FM, the only National Public Radio affiliate in the New Orleans area, has named Paul Maassen its new general manager. The station is housed at the University of New Orleans' lakefront campus. Maasen...

N.O. criticized for hasty demolition process post-K.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Ariella Cohen When Michael Duronslet arrived at the corner of St. Ferdinand and North Galvez streets and saw only a plot of reddish-brown dirt where before there had been a boarded-up home, his first thought was he was standing on...

Houston consultants to oversee $23M Thibodaux hospital expansion.
April 8, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Reports The Houston office of Boyken International, a worldwide program management and consulting firm, will provide cost and schedule management services for Thibodaux Regional Medical Center's $23-million South...

Louisiana Road Home closes on 57 percent of applications.
April 9, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report The state's Road Home program has closed on 105,516 grants, 57 percent of the 185,106 applicants, the program reported today. The federally funded program awards compensation grants to property owners who...

Tobacco company applauds Louisiana smoking ban in cars.
April 9, 2008... Byline: CityBusiness Staff Report Star Scientific Inc., a tobacco company that aims to reduce toxins in tobacco products, is applauding Louisiana and other states that have banned smoking in vehicles when children are passengers. The ban...