Take a wine from the wild side, Lafayette
Wild Child Wines is on the hunt for unique, uncompromising grapes. This isn’t your grocery store’s wine section.
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With Lafayette’s police chief out, uncertainty now surrounds his deputy chief
The gist: Lafayette Police Chief Toby Aguillard formally resigned earlier this week, ending what appeared to be a brewing standoff between the short-tenured chief and his would-be boss, Mayor-President Josh Guillory. The new administration is planning further restructuring of the police department, which could result in the ouster of Deputy Chief Reggie Thomas, according to […]
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Council Preview: Three council meetings, two new infrastructure departments
The gist: Get stoked, readers. There are three council meetings Tuesday night. The 2018 charter amendments creating separate city and parish councils kick in this week with the first-ever meetings of the new bodies, sandwiching a joint meeting — also the first such convening.
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Exiting office, Robideaux casts doubt on LUS Fiber
The gist: LUS Fiber’s business model is broken, outgoing Mayor-President Joel Robideaux argued in a presentation Tuesday that wrapped up his months-long investigation into the municipal telecom’s finances. Robideaux will self-report to state regulators millions, most of which is disputed, in overcharged or unwarranted payments he says were intended to prop up Fiber in violation […]
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Current Creators: Just-Cris Lazard
Just-Cris Lazard is a local comedian battling cancer in this week’s Current Creators.
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New parish-level data highlights Lafayette’s continued economic struggles
The gist: For the first time ever, the Bureau of Economic Analysis has released parish-level gross domestic product data. Previously, local GDP data was only available for Lafayette’s metro area, which includes four neighboring parishes. The more precise geographic data gives better insight into the parish economy’s performance from 2001 to 2018. Not surprisingly, this […]
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Council Preview: LUS/Fiber review, new taxing districts, corrections funding and pay raises
The gist: This is it — barring any special meetings — the last-ever meeting of the Lafayette City-Parish Council. Wasting no political opportunity, the agenda is chocked full of hot-button items.
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Answering your questions about EDDs
Are they TIFs? How much are the taxes? Where are the districts?
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COLUMN: EDDs gone wild as trust in government tanks
Setting aside the philosophical argument about EDDs in general, the way these particular districts are designed is problematic.
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Charter transition committee struggles through the stickiest part of consolidation
The gist: Nearly wrapped up after three months of biweekly meetings (the every other week kind), the committee charged with smoothing Lafayette’s transition to government by two councils wrestled with the essence of consolidation: cost allocation between city and parish funds for common services. Members lamented political tension to come.
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LPTFA steps in to pay for stopgap sewer fix Downtown
The gist: The board of a Lafayette public trust voted to front the cost of adding a new sewer pump Downtown as an intermediate fix to the district’s nagging sewer capacity problem.
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Controversial political advocacy attracts new elected officials to fundraiser
The gist: Hardline conservative advocacy Citizens for a New Louisiana, which began life as a Facebook gadfly, attracted several incoming officials, including the mayor-president-elect, to a fundraiser and social gathering last week.
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