9-18-15
Lafayette-based Home Bancorp has completed the $74.5 million acquisition of Louisiana Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Bank of New Orleans. The New Orleans Advocate reports the combined company has total assets of about $1.5 billion, $1.2 billion in loans and $1.2 billion in deposits. Under the deal, Louisiana Bancorp shareholders receive $24.25 per share in cash. Home Bancorp is the parent company of Home Bank.
A MOSS BLUFF WOMAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED FOR CRUELTY TO A JUVENILE. KIM MYERS OF THE CALCASIEU PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS THEY RECEIVED A CALL TUESDAY FROM A MIDDLE SCHOOL ABOUT A STUDENT WHO HAD BRUISES ON HIS UPPER TORSO AND IN THE RIGHT RIB CAGE AREA. THE STUDENT SAID A BOYFRIEND OF A FAMILY MEMBER HAD BEATEN HIM WITH A BELT LAST WEEK ON WEDNESDAY AND HE HAD BEEN KEPT HOME FROM SCHOOL THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. THE FAMILY MEMBER, 36-YEAR-OLD ALISA ARDOIN OF MOSS BLUFF, WAS ARRESTED ON TWO COUNTS OF CRUELTY TO A JUVENILE, AND AN ARREST WARRANT HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE BOYFRIEND, 44-YEAR-OLD WILLIAM JONES OF MOSS BLUFF, WHO IS WORKING OUT OF STATE.
A CLERK AT OPELOUSAS CITY HALL HAS BEEN PLACED ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE AFTER 15-HUNDRED DOLLARS WENT MISSING. MAYOR REGGIE TATUM TELLS THE DAILY ADVERTISER THAT THE CLERK COUNTED THE MONEY BUT LEFT IT UNATTENDED TO DO ANOTHER JOB, AND THAT’S WHEN THE MONEY WENT MISSING. TATUM SAYS HE’S INSTITUTING NEW SECURITY MEASURES TO MAKE SURE THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN AGAIN. HE SAYS FROM NOW ON TWO PEOPLE WILL COUNT MONEY AND CAMERAS WILL BE PLACED IN THE ROOM WHERE MONEY IS COUNTED.
Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration has won approval for $80 million in state construction plans, using all available spending capacity for the budget year before the governor exits office in January. The State Bond Commission, which must sign off on construction spending, agreed to the plans without objection Thursday.
The action gives cash lines of credit to dozens of projects that will be financed in the budget year that ends June 30. It also commits the state — and Louisiana’s next governor, elected this fall — to a long list of future projects.
RETAIL BUSINESSES ARE STRUGGLING IN LAFAYETTE PARISH, ACCORDING TO FIGURES RELEASED BY THE LAFAYETTE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY. IN JULY, RETAIL SALES WERE DOWN EIGHT PERCENT COMPARED TO LAST JULY. YEAR-TO-DATE SALES ARE OFF BY THREE PERCENT. THE HARDEST HIT AREAS ARE BROUSSARD, WHICH HAS SEEN A 21 PERCENT DECREASE IN RETAIL SALES, AND THE UNINCOPORATED PARTS OF THE PARISH, WHERE RETAIL SALES HAVE DROPPED 17 PERCENT.
SOWELA TECHNICAL COLLEGE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS 37-HUNDRED STUDENTS ENROLLED THIS FALL, AN INCREASE OF NEARLY TWO HUNDRED OVER LAST FALL. IT’S THE THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR OF INCREASED ENROLLMENT AT THE SCHOOL. CHANCELLOR NEIL ASPENWALL SAYS HE EXPECTS THE TREND TO CONTINUE WITH THE COMING 67 BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. HE TELLS AMERICAN PRESS THAT PEOPLE ARE REALIZING THAT COMMUNITY COLLEGES ARE THE ANSWER TO IMPROVING THE ECONOMY AND PUTTING PEOPLE BACK TO WORK.
JEFF HORCHEK HAS AN UPDATE ON AN INVESTIGATION OF TWO ACADIANA LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.
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Louisiana’s 15 riverboats, four racetrack slots casinos and Harrah’s land-based casino brought in nearly $214.1 million in August, 1.7 percent less than the $217.8 million the gambling halls won the year before. State police released the August figures Thursday. Lake Charles saw its winning go up by 21.5 percent, thanks to the addition of Golden Nugget.
