Posts Tagged ‘new orleans’

A three-month old suburban New Orleans baby was found dead in her crib after she bled to death from more than 100 rodent bites. This is almost as insane as the fire ants that almost killed another kid in Louisiana we posted about a while back.

FoxNews.com has the full story →

We reported a few weeks ago that Southern Star Amusement, a Baton Rouge-based firm, was looking to buy and redevelop the Six Flags New Orleans theme park. At the request of the City of New Orleans, the proposal has been delayed for one month because Six Flags is still under contractual obligations to reopen the park, which was all but destroyed after Hurricane Katrina. Six Flags is currently in institutional reorganization after it declared bankruptcy.

I was in New Orleans this weekend and passed by the park on the interstate. It’s really sad to see the park closed and left abandoned. I visited twice: once as Jazz Land and once as Six Flags New Orleans. It was nice to have a fairly major and mainstream theme park only an hour away. It’d be really great to see this proposal go through, not only because of the entertainment implications but also because of the economic ones—Southern Star Amusement wants to put about $70 million into it.

We reported in May that Southern Star Amusement, a Baton Rouge-based firm, was in talks to buy the abandoned Six Flags New Orleans theme park, which has been closed since suffering major damages in Hurricane Katrina. They reopened talks to buy the park when the parent company entered bankruptcy.

We learned today that the company signed a letter of intent with the parent company and has applied for $100 million in GO Zone bonds. Their plan, which was projected at $70 million, is to double the size of the park and add a water park as well.

Today, CNN covered two major national stories about Louisiana. Neither of them are positive and neither of them are about Baton Rouge.

The first is that Mayor Ray Nagin was quarantined in Shanghai, China on an economic development trip after a fellow passenger on an airplane showed signs of H1N1 swine flu. His wife and a member of his security detail were also quarantined. Read the full story on CNN.com →

The second is about a 17-year-old who allegedly killed his girlfriend’s eight-month-old son. He’s being charged with first-degree murder and aggravated rape and under Louisiana law will be tried as an adult. It’s likely that if convicted he will be sentenced to life without parole. Read the full story on CNN.com →

Louisiana hardly makes national news. My Louisiana Studies teacher in eighth grade noted that Louisiana is often first or last. Usually we make this news when we’re last. Baton Rouge, on the other hand, has been making national news recently because of great things. (For example, see our coverage here and here.)

It’s been reported that some Baton Rouge agencies are deciding how to profit from the New Orleans selection to host the Super Bowl in 2013 that we reported recently. When it was last hosted in 2002, the local agencies slipped up and we saw little economic activity directly related to the Super Bowl which is just a shame. So, I have a few recommendations for Paul Arrigo, president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Showcase Baton Rouge. Show the potential Super Bowl attendants that Baton Rouge is a great tourist city. Entice them to come early and leave late. Advertise the huge availability of hotels. Make the choice to stay in Baton Rouge (which is really just a short drive to the venue) easier by offering incentives: What about a shuttle to the Super Bowl? How about preferred parking in the Super Dome complex?

If I were going to the Super Bowl and was flying from out of town, I’d surely bite at a hotel package that was cheaper and offered either a free shuttle or free parking at the venue. Even if it was just cheaper, I’d probably book Baton Rouge, because the tickets are already expensive enough.

Mr Arrigo, these suggestions are the result of one college student brainstorming. I don’t even have a marketing degree! Use your position to siphon the massive economic impact of the Super Bowl to our city. Don’t let 2013 be 2002—bring the money here!

Southern Star Amusement, a Baton Rouge-based startup, is reopening the talks to buy the New Orleans Six Flags which were closed last year over a dispute between Six Flags and the City of New Orleans. The company has submitted a $70 million dollar plan that would double the size of the park and add a water park. The company says the talks are preliminary, but in light of the potential bankruptcy of Six Flags, this might become a reality sooner. The park has been closed since Hurricane Katrina due to disputes with their insurance company. The park was originally Jazzland, but Six Flags purchased it in 2002. I’ve been to the park once and while it was nice, it wasn’t nearly big enough. There were only a few enjoyable rides. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out; stay tuned for more information as the story develops.

I saw this article on Storyville’s blog about the 13 reasons Brad Pitt should run for Mayor of New Orleans. I’m not quite sure if this is meant to be taken seriously (there is talk about him running), but most of it is written quite humorosly. But this raises an important question: Should Brad Pitt be mayor of New Orleans? I’m not a local, so I can’t talk about the cultural impact on New Orleans, but from my perspective, this actually might be a good idea. Looking at all their points, some of them actually make sense. And I think I speak for everyone when I say that it’s time for the current Mayor’s tenure to expire after his abysmal job handling—well—pretty much everything. More importantly, Pitt has already shown his enthusiasm and bleeding heart for New Orleans with all of the charity he has and still is participating in post-Katrina. It’s going to be an interesting race.

What do you think?

NFL just announced that it has awarded New Orleans the 2013 Super Bowl. This selection comes after much arduous work and politicking by Benson, the Saints organization, the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and other officials. The selection was made by other NFL franchise owners who voted on New Orleans. This is extremely important to New Orleans for a lot of reasons, including the average $300 million contribution to the surrounding community and unrelenting media coverage before, during and after the event, which will showcase this wonderful state and, undoubtedly, stimulate the New Orleans tourism-centric economy. The selection ties New Orleans as the most popular venue for the Super Bowl with South Florida and marks the tenth Super Bowl hosted at the Superdome (three previously in the 1970s at Tulane Stadium).

Congratulations, New Orleans, and all affiliated parties on this success—this is extremely important to New Orleans. Now, to just get my hands on a couple of those tickets. . .

More information regarding the selection is available at the New Orleans Saints web site.