Daily Report

Composed of two main lakes—University and City Park—and four smaller bodies of water, the 275-acre recreational area known as the LSU lakes is among the most popular spot in Baton Rouge for scores of joggers, walkers, kayakers, anglers and picnickers. But as tranquil as they appear, the lakes are in peril. Authorities say they were not properly dug and have grown shallower since they were constructed as a Works Progress Administration project in the early 1930s. "There's no question they are disappearing," says LSU associate professor of hydrology Yi Jun Xu, who has studied the lakes' water quality since 2008. "They're in poor condition right now, and if we don't do something, they will return to swamp." While local officials and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers believe they have the right plan to clean up the lakes, at $21.1 million it's not cheap to implement. LSU, which owns the majority of the six lakes, doesn't have the money, says Jason Soileau, assistant director of planning, design and construction for LSU Facility Services. "The university is facing challenges and difficult economic times right now. The lakes are highly important, and this is a good plan that provides sustainability, but we don't have the funding." Read the complete Business Report cover story by Maggie Heyn Richardson here.

Louisiana's police retirement system may finally be ready to get rid of its golf courses. Minutes from the Municipal Police Employees Retirement System's January meeting—made official less than a week ago—indicate trustees have unanimously authorized their attorney to start looking into the possibility of auctioning off unspecified properties. General Counsel Randy Roche has been authorized to "investigate the process in conducting a real-estate auction on behalf of MPERS should the board opt to exercise this option in the future." West Monroe Police Chief Christopher Elg had recommended last fall that MPERS hire a real-estate firm to auction off the courses, but the board voted it down. The vote authorizing Roche to explore the possibility of an auction came one day after a meeting of the MPERS real-estate committee to discuss the golf courses; committee members included Elg, Lafayette Police Department Capt. Kelly Gibson, Monroe Police Department Cpl. Mark Huggins and Kenner Police Chief Stephen Caraway. None of those trustees was on the board when the decision was made to invest in golf courses. An independent auditor discovered that MPERS has lost a total of $46 million in Stonebridge Golf Club, Olde Oaks Golf Club and its surrounding real-estate development near Bossier City. The actual value of the properties has been appraised at $11.2 million. The retirement system, which manages the pensions of more than 10,000 law-enforcement employees in Louisiana, recently hiked its employer contribution rate to 31%. —Penny Font

Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer says he'll formally end his bid for the GOP presidential nomination on Thursday night and will continue his campaign as an independent. "As the GOP and the networks host debate No. 20-something this evening, they have once again turned their backs on the democratic process by choosing to exclude a former governor and congressman," Roemer says in a statement released this morning, alluding to his being left out of tonight's GOP debate in Arizona. "I have decided to take my campaign directly to the American people by declaring my candidacy for Americans Elect. Also, after many discussions with the Reform Party, I am excited to announce my intentions of seeking their nomination." Roemer's speech Thursday will take place at 11 a.m. in Santa Monica, Calif. You can watch it online here. In other Roemer-related news, the Republican Party of Puerto Rico says Roemer will be the first name on the ballot for the island's March 18 primary. Roemer won the spot in a lottery overseen by election officials in the U.S. island territory. The second spot goes to Mitt Romney, followed by Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Fred Karger and Rick Santorum. Puerto Ricans cannot vote in the general election but they can vote in primaries. About 400,000 people are expected to cast ballots in the Republican primary to chose 23 delegates, which are awarded proportionally unless one candidate gets 50% of the vote.

President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 28%—and wants an even lower effective rate for manufacturers, a senior administration official says—as the White House continues to lay down an election-year marker in the debate over tax policy. In return for a lower rate, corporations would have to give up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy. Corporations with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on their foreign earnings. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is to detail aspects of Obama's proposal, which the president first outlined in general terms in his State of the Union speech last month. Though chances of accomplishing such change in the tax system may be slim, the proposal is part of a larger tax plan for Obama that is central to his re-election strategy. It dovetails with Obama's call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on individuals making $200,000 or less. While the 35% nominal corporate tax rate is the highest in the world, deductions, credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay a much lower rate. Under the administration's framework, the rate cuts, closed loopholes and the minimum tax on overseas earnings would not increase the deficit. That means many businesses paying substantially less than the 35% corporate tax via loopholes and subsidies could end up paying more under Obama's plan. Others, however, would pay less, and some would simply benefit from a more simplified system. Read the full story here.

Today's poll question: Do you support President Barack Obama's proposal for corporate tax reform?

Home sales across the country rose in January to the highest pace in nearly two years, flashing signs of a healthy spring buying-season ahead, according to figures released this morning by the National Association of Realtors. January home sales rose 4.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million. That's the highest level since May 2010. Sales have risen in three of the past four months, but they remain well below the 6 million that economists equate with a healthy market. First-time buyers, who are considered critical to a recovery, increased slightly on the month to 33% of sales. In healthy markets, first-time buyers make up at least 40%, analysts say. Homes at risk of foreclosure made up 35% of sales last month, up from 32% in December. The eight-parish Baton Rouge metro region posted a 15% sales increase in January—with 429 homes sold, compared to 372 in January 2011—reports the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors. The total dollar volume of homes sold was also up 11%, to $76.3 million, from a year ago. East Baton Rouge Parish saw sales rise 10% in January, Ascension Parish sales rose 31%, and Livingston Parish posted a 19% increase on the month. The average sales price in the entire region fell to $177,825, from $184,774 in January 2010.

The Internal Revenue Service knew R. Allen Stanford was taking loans from his Antigua bank and found nothing wrong with the arrangement, the Texas tycoon's tax lawyer testified Tuesday as Stanford's fraud trial resumed for its fifth week, The Houston Chronicle reports. "The IRS always treated those as loans to Mr. Stanford," said Larry Campagna, who represented Stanford in personal and business tax disputes with the IRS in 1998 and again in 2003. The IRS did change its position, however, about the correct way to characterize payments from Stanford to his Houston-based Stanford Financial Group, the parent company of Stanford's scores of business operations. He was sole owner of Stanford Financial and its subsidiaries. Although the tax agency ruled that those should be listed as loans on 1998 tax returns, it said the payments should be recorded on 2001 and 2002 returns as dividend payments to Stanford, Campagna said. Defense attorney Robert Scardino asked Campagna if anything about the returns prompted the IRS to ask criminal investigators to initiate a fraud probe. "No," Campagna said, before he was dismissed from the witness stand. Stanford is accused of leading a $7 billion Ponzi scheme and faces a litany of stemming charges, all of which he denies. Read the full story here.

After the fire: When Barnes & Noble launched the Nook Tablet last fall, it did so at a higher price and with more storage space than the rival Amazon Kindle Fire. But on Tuesday, Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet emerged as a level competitor with Amazon's tablet, The Los Angeles Times reports. Barnes & Noble announced a new version of its Nook Tablet, with 8 gigabytes of storage and a price of $199, matching the Kindle Fire on both points. The previous version of the Nook Tablet, released in November, is exactly the same as the new lower-priced offering, except it has 16 gigabytes of built-in storage and sells for $249. Get a detailed comparison of the tablets in the full story here.

A vision of the future: People who constantly reach into a pocket to check a smartphone for bits of information will soon have another option: a pair of Google-made glasses that will stream information to the wearer's eyeballs in real time. Quoting several Google employees familiar with the project who asked not to be named, The New York Times reports the glasses will go on sale to the public by the end of the year. The sources say the glasses are expected "to cost around the price of current smartphones," or $250 to $600. They also said the glasses will be Android-based and will include a small screen that sits a few inches from the wearer's eye. Read the full story here.

Showdown on the horizon: Microsoft lodged a formal complaint today with the European Union's competition regulator against Google's Motorola Mobility, saying the company's aggressive enforcement of patent rights against rivals breaks competition rules. The complaint follows a similar step by Apple against Motorola last week. Motorola is in the process of being taken over by Google for $12.5 billion, the biggest acquisition in the California company's history. The Associated Press has the complete story here.