NEW ORLEANS - NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. announced that in-person classes for some students in the district will start as soon as Sept. 14 if positive coronavirus trends continue. Since the school year began, Orleans Parish public…
NEW ORLEANS - Despite the threat of two hurricanes and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there was time for some business as usual in New Orleans this week. Here are news highlights compiled from staff and wire reports: Hurricane Marco fizzled…
NEW ORLEANS - As pharmaceutical firms race to bring the first COVID-19 vaccines to market, scientists are already working on version 2.0. Two Tulane University researchers were awarded a $150,000 "Fast Grant" for a project to make next-generation COVID-19 vaccines…
NEW ORLEANS - A Biz New Orleans survey of local business leaders shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has inspired - perhaps even required - many to become innovators. In 2020, formerly bustling restaurant dining rooms are now staging areas for…
NEW ORLEANS - Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who had a combination of high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes were over three times more likely to die from the disease, according to a new Tulane University study. The study, published in…
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A brightly decorated refrigerator sits on the sidewalk outside of an old white shotgun house in New Orleans’ 7th ward neighborhood. Covered in delicately painted cherubs, doves and alligators, this “community fridge” is stocked with frozen…
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Sixty percent of Louisiana's parishes will continue to receive information about residents who have tested positive for the coronavirus, under data-sharing agreements they signed with the state — even as questions arise about whether local officials…
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Each month, online lending marketplace LendingTree analyzes the number of new business applications and the percentage of business applications by high-propensity businesses filed in each state to find areas where small businesses are growing, compared to the…
NEW ORLEANS – With bars across the state of Louisiana closed due to COVID-19 Phase 2 regulations, the Crescent City Classic has announced a new 75k virtual challenge to give runners, walkers and cyclists the opportunity for virtual stops at…
BATON ROUGE (AP) — U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy announced Thursday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus and is experiencing some COVID-19 symptoms. He said he is quarantining in Louisiana. The Republican senator, 62, who is running for reelection on…
BATON ROUGE – Some Louisiana lawmakers are questioning whether staffing at a field hospital set up at the Ernst N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans to potentially treat up to 2,000 COVID-19 patients could have been reduced significantly and…
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — As Louisiana's college students return to campus, Gov. John Bel Edwards is urging them to take precautions against the coronavirus outbreak, worried the schools could undercut recent progress the state has made in battling the pandemic.…
COVINGTON - Going out to the movies seems like an activity from another lifetime - but not for long. Marcus Theatres announced the Aug. 28 opening of Covington Cinema in Covington. Operators say the theater will follow enhanced protocols in…
NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Policy Institute for Children released findings on how the COVID-19 pandemic is having ongoing adverse affects on child care providers. Problems include financial losses, closures and lack of support to deal with the health crisis.…
NEW ORLEANS - A Biz New Orleans survey of area business owners has revealed extreme fatigue with the coronavirus pandemic overall and a lot of conflicting opinions about what’s taken place during the last five months and what needs to…
BATON ROUGE - State Treasurer John M. Schroder announced that all qualifying small businesses now can receive a grant from the Main Street Recovery Program, even if they received prior federal assistance such as a Paycheck Protection Program loan. The…
NEW YORK (AP) — Target reported recorded-setting sales growth online and at established stores over the past three months, more evidence that big box retailers have become essential points of supply during the pandemic. Online sales surged 195% and same-store…
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Tuesday that he will reject an emergency plan for the fall elections because it doesn't expand mail-in balloting options for people quarantined because of the coronavirus pandemic or those at…
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana should start issuing checks for $300 in weekly federal coronavirus unemployment aid next week, but as many as 87,000 people receiving state unemployment may not be eligible for the federal assistance, Gov. John Bel Edwards said…
NEW ORLEANS – The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has revived a decades-old conversation about who gets to use more than 80 acres of prime Uptown real estate that are currently home to the Golf Club at Audubon Park. In March, when…
METAIRIE - The Louisiana Main Street Recovery Program is a new state law designed to reimburse eligible small businesses for up to $15,000 in expenses incurred due to COVID-19. Administered by the Louisiana Department of Treasury, the program aims to help…
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans turned to Walmart’s online business as well as its stores for supplies and home goods as the virus surged in new regions, resulting in soaring sales for the fiscal second quarter. Walmart's online sales nearly…
NEW ORLEANS – According to the World Health Organization, smokers are likely to be more vulnerable to COVID-19 because they may already have lung disease or reduced lung capacity which would greatly increase risk of serious illness. “If infected by…
BATON ROUGE - State Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon announced his approval of rate decreases for private passenger auto policies for two major auto insurers in Louisiana. Progressive Insurance Group submitted a rate filing for a decrease of 2.3% on new…
BATON ROUGE – ExxonMobil announced that it has donated an additional 2,000 gallons of locally manufactured hand sanitizer that has been distributed to area first responders, the Foundation for East Baton Rouge School System, Louisiana State University, Southern University and…
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge in New Orleans refused Monday to block a state order closing bars to stop the spread of COVID-19, handing a defeat to 10 southeast Louisiana bar owners who had sued to stop the…
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge on Friday closely questioned a Louisiana state health official about data the state used in a decision to close bars — but not restaurants that contain bars — amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Ten…
NEW ORLEANS – Early optimism among people of the gulf south at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic is fading as 2020 rolls on according to the newest edition of the Gulf South Index, a cooperative research project launched earlier…
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Crawfish farmers are now eligible for a $16 billion coronavirus aid program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Crawfish are among scores of commodities added Tuesday to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program announced in May. Louisiana’s congressional delegation, state Agriculture…
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A new report estimates that about one in four Louisiana students lack the internet access needed to take virtual classes as schools resume with a heavy emphasis on remote learning. “We are in a much…
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana's work to track coronavirus cases, to help slow the spread of the outbreak, can't keep up with the state's pace of new infections or overcome the lack of useful information provided by the thousands of…
BATON ROUGE – Louisiana legislators on Friday rapped Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration for allowing $60 million in state employee pay raises to go forward during the COVID-19-driven economic downturn. Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne said the State Civil Service…
BATON ROUGE – During Friday’s meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, which includes members of the state House of Representatives and Senate, State Treasurer John Schroder discussed the Main Street Recovery Grant Program which reimburses small businesses…
NEW ORLEANS - The picture on the front page of the paper says it all: a former New Orleans bakery worker is now earning a few dollars an hour holding up one of those signs on the street to capture…
DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines is planning to drop flights to up to 30 smaller U.S. cities if a federal requirement to continue those flights expires at the end of next month, an airline executive familiar with the matter said…
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana will accept President Donald Trump's partial extension of federal unemployment aid amid the coronavirus pandemic, though without increasing the state's payout to jobless workers, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Thursday. The state has submitted its…
BATON ROUGE – About 86% of public schools in Louisiana are either operating or intend to operate a hybrid learning model combining in-person and online learning, state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said Thursday. Conversely, about 69 percent of private…
NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans Saints announced today that the team will not host fans at its Sept. 13 game vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers due to the amount of COVID-19 infections in the region. So, in other words,…
NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans is seeing improvement in its COVID-19 infection rate but it's too early to say how soon the city's public school students will be able to return to classrooms, the city's health director said Wednesday at…
BATON ROUGE – While the details about how President Donald Trump’s new unemployment benefits proposal will work are unclear, it’s no substitute for an official aid package from Congress, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Tuesday. “Nobody – not the president,…
NEW ORLEANS – This week, the City of New Orleans launches a series of initiatives that are designed to support outdoor dining as restaurants continue to grapple with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Outdoor Dining Program will use…
RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) — Governors and state labor department officials were scrambling Monday to determine whether they could implement President Donald Trump’s executive order to partially extend unemployment assistance payments to millions of Americans struggling to find work in the…
BATON ROUGE – The National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Optimism Index fell 1.8 points to 98.8 in July, near the survey’s historical average. Overall, four of the 10 Index components improved, five declined, and one was unchanged. The…
METAIRIE - Jefferson Parish Schools announced it will delay the start of the school year until Aug. 26 to coincide with the availability of "rapid response" COVID-19 tests from Ochsner Hospital for Children. Dr. James Gray, the system's new superintendent,…
BATON ROUGE – Louisiana oil and gas leaders are asking for federal help to get through the worst downturn the state’s industry has seen since the 1980s. In April, an oversupply of oil combined with crashing demand amid the COVID-19…
NEW ORLEANS — Despite a delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, construction of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana’s third reef made from recycled oyster shells is underway in Barataria Bay. The 800-ton "living shoreline" - which is two-thirds of…
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana's legislative auditor found two rural parishes' claims that the state was double-counting their positive coronavirus tests in the official tally of cases was unfounded, upending theories pushed in conservative circles that the data is being…
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — As Louisiana tries to protect vulnerable nursing home residents from coronavirus outbreaks, the facilities still have a significant source of risk for new infections. Hundreds of employees coming and going each day have refused to take…
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — Whether President Donald Trump has the constitutional authority to extend federal unemployment benefits by executive order remains unclear. Equally up in the air is whether states, which are necessary partners in Trump's plan to bypass Congress,…
NEW ORLEANS - Some acronyms roll off the tongue more smoothly than others. The "Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed to Survive" Act (or "RESTAURANTS Act" for short) isn't the easiest name to pronounce - but the…
