News roundup: Junior League pegs annual Hollydays economic impact at $2M … Darius Rucker to play fundraiser show for OLOL Children’s Hospital at L’Auberge … U.S. workplace fatalities down in 2011

News roundup: Junior League pegs annual Hollydays economic impact at $2M … Darius Rucker to play fundraiser show for OLOL Children’s Hospital at L’Auberge … U.S. workplace fatalities down in 2011

Published Sep 21, 2012 at 10:00 am (Updated Sep 21, 2012)

Sleigh bells, cash registers, ringing: Junior League of Baton Rouge says over 17,000 visitors attend Hollydays each year, generating approximately $1.2 million in revenues for the merchants involved and creating a total economic impact of $2 million. Junior League says it gave back $525,000 of the money it raised at last year's Hollydays to its 15 community projects and estimates more than 300,000 people were positively affected as a result. This year’s Hollydays, the 29th annual, is slated for Oct. 24-27 at the Baton Rouge River Center. Get all the event details here.

Might get lucky: Darius Rucker will play a special concert to benefit Our Lady of the Lake’s Children Hospital at L’Auberge Casino & Hotel on Thursday, Oct. 11. Rucker is already slated to play a show at the casino with Better than Ezra the following day, Oct. 12. L’Auberge donated $125,000 in kind to the benefit performance, which includes the cost of securing Rucker for the show. VIP packages for the event, which include four tickets, go for $1,500. General admission tickets are $150. All the details are available here.

Watch your step: A total of 4,609 people died on the job in the United States during 2011, according to preliminary data out from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s down slightly from 4,690 fatal work injuries in 2010. The bureau says on-the-job "violence and other injuries by persons or animals accounted for 780 fatalities, or about 17% of the fatal injuries in the workplace in 2011." Included in that count are 458 homicides and 242 suicides. Those are just a few of the interesting statistics in the report, which you can see in its entirety here.

Today’s poll question: Do you believe Louisiana's $2,100 average wage decline from 2010 is primarily attributable to salary stabilization following a post-Katrina recovery surge?