9-20-16
LAFAYETTE IS LISTED AMONG THE BOTTOM TEN HOUSING MARKETS IN THE NATION. THE LIST OF 400 HOUSING MARKETS WAS PUT TOGETHER BY NATIONWIDE ECONOMICS, AND ALL THE BOTTOM TEN MARKETS ARE LINKED BY BEING IDENTIFIABLE ENERGY MARKETS. LAFAYETTE WAS RANKED 398 IN MARCH AND LITTLE HAS CHANGED OVER THE LAST SIX MONTHS BECAUSE OF LOW OIL PRICES, ACCORDING TO SENIOR ECONOMIST BEN AYERS. TWO OTHER LOUISIANA MARKETS ARE IN THE BOTTOM TEN…HOUMA-THIBODEAUX AND HAMMOND.
YESTERDAY WESTLAKE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS GOT A LOOK AT THE PLANS FOR A NEW CASINO AT THE ISLE OF CAPRI. NEW MEXICO-BASED LAGUNA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION IS WANTING TO BUY THE ISLE OF CAPRI AND ARE WAITING FOR APPROVAL OF THEIR 135 MILLION DOLLAR OFFER BY THE LOUISIANA GAMING COMMISSION. THE CHIEF OF SALES AND MARKETING SKIP SAYRE SAYS THEY EXPECT THE PURCHASE TO BE APPROVED WITHIN SIX TO EIGHT MONTHS. HE SAYS THEY HAVE SET ASIDE 18 MILLION DOLLARS FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AND EVEN PLAN ON GIVING THE CASINO A NEW NAME.
An attorney for a Louisiana sheriff charged with directing officers to assault inmates claims federal court officials broke the rules by switching judges for his case without explanation. Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal and 11 subordinates have been charged in connection with the alleged beatings of several inmates.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi originally was assigned to preside over the cases. But those cases were reassigned to a different federal judge four days after a prosecutor asked her to prematurely end the hearing where she was accepting a deputy’s guilty plea.
A new audit says four state agencies didn’t comply with a 2013 state law aimed at better tracking of Louisiana’s tax break programs. In a report released Monday, Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera’s office says 46 of 79 tax incentive reports, that agencies are supposed to submit under the law, either didn’t contain all the requirements — or weren’t submitted at all. Purpera’s office says that means that state lawmakers don’t have the information to decide if the tax break programs are performing as intended. Lawmakers have been trying to get a better handle on the money spent on tax breaks, to determine if they want to make changes as Louisiana grapples with continued budget problems.
FORMER NFL QUARTERBACK AND BREAUX BRIDGE NATIVE JAKE DELHOMME HAS BEEN NAMED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR LAFAYETTE BASED MIDSOUTH BANCORP AND ITS SUBSIDIARY, MIDSOUTH BANK. DELHOMME, WHO HAS SERVED ON THE BOARD FOR FOUR YEARS, WILL TAKE OVER THE CHAIRMANSHIP ON DECEMBER 31ST. HE IS SUCCEEDING WILL CHARBONNET SENIOR, WHO IS RETIRING. CHARBONNET HAS SERVED AS CHAIRMAN SINCE 1990.
POLICE HAVE APPREHENDED THE MAN THEY BELIEVE TRIED TO ROB A MCDONALD’S IN KINDER WITH A HAMMER AND MACE. EMPLOYEE MARY DUPLECHAIN TELLS KPLC TV THAT THE MAN STARTED TRYING TO ROB PEOPLE WHO WERE IN THE DRIVE THRU YESTERDAY AFTERNOON. HE THEN THREATENED EMPLOYEES AT THE RESTAURANT AND REACHED THROUGH THE DRIVE THRU WINDOW, STEALING THE BOTTOM PART OF THE CASH REGISTER. THE ROBBER LEFT BEHIND THE HAMMER, WHICH HAD HIS FINGERPRINTS.
THE OPELOUSAS CITY COUNCIL HAS GRANTED A NINETY DAY REPRIEVE FOR A HISTORIC BUILDING ON SOUTH COURT STREET THAT HAS BEEN ABANDONED FOR MORE THAN A DECADE. THE HOUSE, WHICH IS MORE A HUNDRED YEARS OLD, WAS THE LA GARCONIERRE BOYS HOME, BUT IT STOPPED OPERATING AFTER THE ST. LANDRY JUVENILE SERVICE BOARD BECAME DEFUNCT. THE HOUSE WAS BUILT IN THE 1890’S FOR LOUIS GILBERT DUPRE JUNIOR, WHO WAS A JUDGE AND STATE REPRESENTATIVE. JOHNNY SEBASTION OF THE OPELOUSAS HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION SAYS THEY NEED TO TAKE A STAND OR EVERY HISTORIC BUILDING IN OPELOUSAS COULD BE LOST.
LOUISIANA DRIVERS ARE NEARLY TWELVE PERCENT MORE LIKELY TO COLLIDE WITH A DEER THAN THEY WERE LAST YEAR. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
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