Business & Technology

LACASSINE, La. — Construction of a $5 million rum distillery in Jefferson Davis Parish continues, with production expected to start this fall.

Trey Litel, president of Louisiana Spirits, tells the American Press (http://bit.ly/OjaSjJ) that some of his company's rum is expected to be available by year's end.

Litel brings 25 years of sales and marketing expertise, including over 10 years with Bacardi USA, to the job.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance benefits in Louisiana for the week ending June 30 decreased from the previous week's total.

State labor department figures released Friday show initial claims fell to 3,456 from the previous week's total of 3,633. The figure was lower than it was for the comparable week a year earlier, when there were 4,169 initial claims.

The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure of claims, decreased to 3,792 from the previous week's total of 3,972.

Gary Cha and his family came to the U.S. from South Korea in the 1970s. They opened Yes! Organic Markets in food deserts and other unlikely neighborhoods around Washington, D.C. and Maryland. Cha speaks with host Michel Martin about his heritage, his business and racial tension between some Asian store-owners and African-American residents.

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Coming up, we'll meet a couple who didn't just worry when their daughters started coming home making disparaging comments about their own looks. They decided to surround the girls with positive messages that they, too, are beautiful. We'll meet them and hear what they did in just a few minutes.