News + Notes – Page 127

June 27, 2018

Trump and LAGOP formally back Higgins’ re-election, spurred by Rudy Giuliani’s earlier endorsement of challenger Josh Guillory

▸ The gist: Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a top surrogate and personal attorney for President Trump, stirred up national palace intrigue when he endorsed upstart Republican challenger Josh Guillory’s run against incumbent Rep. Clay Higgins. In response, Trump and the Louisiana GOP officially endorsed Higgins. Giuliani made an appearance in Lafayette this week to raise funds for Guillory

June 27, 2018

Lafayette passed a complete streets policy

▸ The gist: Snuck in among some more contentious items on last week’s agenda, a complete streets policy for LCG was formally adopted by the City-Parish Council. The resolution aligns local transportation policy with state and regional codes and will guide transportation and development efforts to include more bike, pedestrian and transit access.

June 27, 2018

Geoff Dyer to resign his post as CEO of the Downtown Development Authority

▸ The gist: Dyer announced Tuesday that he will officially leave DDA this August to take a private sector job in Calgary, Canada. DDA will also fill three board vacancies at that time.

June 27, 2018

LPSS is under fire. What are the legal risks?

Nearly 12 years after the Schools of Choice program helped LPSS escape federal scrutiny, the same program is at the center of a federal lawsuit alleging manipulation and exclusionary practices.

June 20, 2018

The council has one more shot at deconsolidation this year

The gist: The council did not introduce or discuss any deconsolidation on Tuesday, but there’s still one more council meeting before the deadline to get a measure on the Dec. 8 ballot. Keep your eyes peeled on July 10.

June 20, 2018

Creating a new fire district for the unincorporated parish is another proxy battle about consolidated government

The gist: The council moved one step closer toward creating a new fire district for unincorporated areas of Lafayette Parish. If the boundaries are adopted at the next council meeting, that would likely mean a new millage appearing on the ballot to fund fire services in the area.

June 20, 2018

Sheriff Garber explained his sales tax to the City-Parish Council

The gist: At Tuesday’s council meeting, Sheriff Mark Garber gave an overview and explanation of a new parishwide sales tax he intends to put on the Dec. 8 ballot. As proposed, the tax would generate $38 million annually to fund new law enforcement personnel both for the sheriff’s office and for the Lafayette Police Department. […]

The Current Explorer

June 20, 2018

Two years and waiting: a look inside the drainage action plan

Homeowners continue to await drainage work promised in a tax rededication passed last year. The work is not a fix; it’s a Bandaid.

Community

June 13, 2018

Tax incentives, CREATE lure three film companies to Lafayette

Film industry workers have been settling into Lafayette recently, lured largely by state tax incentives, city assistance and the rich cultural and artistic milieu of Lafayette.

The Takeaway

June 11, 2018

Podcast: Downtown Lafayette and a city in transition

It’s clear that Lafayette is at a tipping point. In virtually every facet of civic life, we’re up against some kind of crisis. So what good does it do worry about Downtown?

June 6, 2018

And just like that, the moratorium lifts: Artmosphere is now a bar

▸ The gist: It’s been a long and strange journey, but Artmosphere’s regulatory limbo is now over. The council voted to allow the popular Downtown venue to operate as a bar rather than a restaurant.

June 6, 2018

An impassioned appeal failed to stop a controversial car dealership project in a flood-prone neighborhood

▸ The gist: Residents in a neighborhood hard hit in the 2016 floods appealed the approval of plats for a new car dealership parking lot that cuts deep into a mostly residential area. Despite an emotional plea, the City-Parish Council denied the appeal.