News roundup: Sandy gives Netflix a boost as much of the Northeast hunkers down … Romney and Obama hail New Orleans' charter schools as a model for America … New Orleans posts guide for Super Bowl vendors

News roundup: Sandy gives Netflix a boost as much of the Northeast hunkers down … Romney and Obama hail New Orleans' charter schools as a model for America … New Orleans posts guide for Super Bowl vendors

Published Oct 30, 2012 at 10:00 am (Updated Oct 30, 2012)

Extra down time: Apparently not everyone on the East Coast is glued to the Weather Channel or CNN. Entertainment giant Netflix has seen a big surge in streaming in cities that are in lockdown because of Hurricane Sandy, The Los Angeles Times reports. Netflix says streaming on Sunday and Monday is up 20% compared with last week, with New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Boston accounting for a large portion of the increased figures.

Singing praises: A recent feature story by Britain's The Guardian explores ongoing school reform in Louisiana, as well as the support most of the changes have received from both Democratic President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney. "The creation of a fully-fledged market in education is endorsed by Mitt Romney. If elected, the Republican candidate would provide $25 billion in federal money to back school voucher systems," the article says. "In education, as in health, vouchers are a dividing line between the parties. President Obama has embraced charter schools and increased accountability for teachers, but stops short of letting public money follow children to private schools." Read the full story here.

Are you ready? As it prepares to host the 2013 Super Bowl, the city of New Orleans is touting a new online guide for vendors, retailers and event organizers who need information on the New Orleans permitting process. The guide outlines the permitting and licensing requirements and provides an overview including fees and criteria. It also provides information on business activities that will be allowed in a Super Bowl "clean zone"—an area where business activities that ordinarily are not allowed will be temporarily permitted. Businesses that want the permits are being urged to apply well in advance of deadlines spelled out in the guide. You can check out the guide here.

Today’s poll question: Have you attended any forums or debates featuring local candidates thus far this election season?

Editor's note: Daily Report is compiling a list of endorsements for candidates in the East Baton Rouge Parish mayoral, Public Service Commission District 2, and Louisiana Supreme Court 5th District races. You can check it out here; and if your association or organization has an endorsement in one of these races you'd like to share, please email it to ssanoski@businessreport.com.