Area flooding hurts businesses, attractions and restaurants
Some local business owners woke up yesterday morning to find their establishments flooded. Others decided to stay open for business yesterday despite being confident they wouldn’t get much of it.
After Monday night’s torrential downpour, many businesses closed Tuesday. Take Kirks Tires & Accessories, which was filled with roughly 3 feet of water, or TopGolf on North Mall Drive, which appeared to have also incurred some damage and remained closed Tuesday morning.
Productivity is also down. Kevin Francis, who oversees the three TJ Ribs restaurants in the Baton Rouge area, said several staff members called in, saying they couldn’t make it to work, and he also told employees to stay home if they needed to. Read on for the full story from a May 18 edition of Daily Report.
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Disney+ project ‘Crater’ filming at Celtic and around Baton Rouge
Production will begin soon in Baton Rouge on a live-action feature film for Disney+. Crater, a futuristic teen adventure.
It will be filmed at Celtic Studios and on location throughout the Capital Region, with an estimated budget of $40 million.
The project is expected to employ 325 local crew members as well as some 400 extras. Kyle Patrick Alvarez will direct the coming-of-age sci-fi movie, with Shawn Levy and Dan Levine producing through their 21 Laps Entertainment banner.
First north Baton Rouge TEDx event announced
The first north Baton Rouge TEDx event will take place in Scotlandville on May 22, Mayor Sharon Weston Broome announced this week.
TEDxScotlandville, one of only three TEDx events ever organized in Louisiana, will feature more than a dozen speakers sharing ideas on the event’s theme, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. The independently organized event aims to start discussions and share impactful ideas that inspire action.
Speakers include Broome, Council member Chauna Banks, young local activist Myra Richardson and Derrick Warren, dean at Southern University, as well as nationally known influencers and contributors.
“It’s exciting for our community to host this world-renowned speaking series right here in historic Scotlandville,” Mayor Broome said in a prepared statement. “Our community has much to contribute to the conversation about overcoming challenges and working towards shared goals.”
Check out the event’s Facebook Page for more.
Travel at Baton Rouge Metro rebounding as vaccination rates increase
Travel through the Baton Rouge Metro Airport is rising after the pandemic deterred vacations and business trips for the past year. Total passenger volume through the airport for April was down 37.5% compared to April of 2019, according to Jim Caldwell, spokesman for the airport. But compared to April 2020, passenger volume is up more than 1,200%.
“April was our best month since the pandemic,” Caldwell says. “We ended last year being down an average between 55 (percent) to 58 percent, so this is a significant improvement. Overall travel demand is rising.”
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While the airport has historically seen mostly business passengers, leisure travel is driving a higher percentage of the current growth, Caldwell says. For July, the airport is offering an average of 18.1 roundtrips daily to the five hubs it serves, down from 21.3 offered in July 2019. Of the three major airlines that fly out of Baton Rouge, American Airlines is close to its prepandemic schedule, while Delta and United Airlines are each down “a couple of flights,” according to Caldwell. In May, the airport is running 83% of its 2019 schedule.
“We’re getting close to a full, pre-pandemic schedule,” he says. “What we really need is for passenger levels to continue to increase.”
These stories originally appeared in recent editions of Daily Report. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.