The Trump effect, the city/rural divide and Lafayette’s 2019 election postmortem
The 2019 election season is officially under wraps, showcasing hard-fought campaigns and matched enthusiasm among voters. Here’s a breakdown of the results.
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News + Notes
Special taxing districts for Downtown, Northside, Acadiana Mall and more move forward
The gist: Six new economic development districts passed introduction Tuesday by the City-Parish Council, in a rush of legislation on the council’s waning agenda for the year. The districts would levy new sales and hotel taxes to make improvements advocates say would spark economic activity in areas that need it. A vote on final adoption […]
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Outgoing council approves pay raises, digging a deeper hole for the next
The gist: The City-Parish Council approved pay raises for the fire department, public employees, and the marshal’s office Tuesday. In total, these raises increase annual expenses for the city general fund by $3.7 million and the parish general fund by another $60,000. Without offsetting revenue gains or cuts to expenses, both the city and parish […]
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Council Preview: six new taxing districts, a riverwalk, LUS controversy and more
The gist: Outgoing officials want to go out with a bang. Tuesday’s council meeting, one of the last of the year, is chockablock with major initiatives. On the table: the LUS inquiry, more pay raises and six new taxing districts, one of which would finance developing a river walk on the Vermilion.
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Youngsville mayor makes late endorsement of Alm-LaBar
Youngsville Mayor Ken Ritter, a Republican, issued an eleventh hour endorsement of Carlee Alm-LaBar, a no party candidate, in Saturday’s runoff for mayor-president. Ritter is the first Lafayette Parish mayor to formally back a campaign.
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LUS becomes political football in waning days of M-P race
The gist: Long considered the goose that laid the golden egg, Lafayette Utilities System, along with its sister entity, LUS Fiber, is now mired in political controversy heading into Saturday’s mayoral runoff between Carlee Alm-LaBar and Josh Guillory. Mayor-President Joel Robideaux has floated accusations of unlawful transactions between the systems, initiated leadership changes and launched […]
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Costly upgrades could spell retirement or conversion of LUS’s coal plant
The gist: For the first time in its history, Lafayette’s publicly owned utility opened its doors to public involvement in how it plans for the city’s power needs, a process called an integrated resource plan, or IRP. A big decision before LUS and its customer-owners: what to do with its coal-fired power plant.
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Analysis: Lafayette will have its hands full paying for pay raises
The City-Parish Council’s decision to authorize $3.8 million in pay raises for the Lafayette Police Department was unanimous but not without complication. While the move is a victory for police, who said the new money was needed to stop a crisis in officer turnover, the added costs have put a spotlight on a weakening of […]
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Innovation trust eyes Downtown, Oil Center for ‘innovation district’
The gist: The public innovation trust created by the mayor-president is targeting Downtown and the Oil Center as potential anchor points for a new innovation district. Trustees discussed options last week at the body’s fifth and final meeting of the year.
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Lafayette sheriff files suit claiming Lafayette Parish, LCG not paying bills at parish jail
The gist: In early October, Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mark Garber filed suit against Lafayette Parish and Lafayette Consolidated Government, asking the court to decide what costs the parish is responsible for to run the parish jail. Filed in state district court, the suit claims the parish hasn’t been paying its fair share, and if Garber’s […]
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Making noise in Quiet Town
Lafayette’s Quiet Town neighborhood is starting to get quiet again because Alzina Dural is making noise.
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Waitr’s rocky year gets rockier
The gist: Waitr Inc.’s stock price hit new all-time lows last week, sinking below $1 per share. Meanwhile, paperwork has been filed for a class action lawsuit on behalf of investors accusing the app-based food delivery company and key personnel of materially misrepresenting the state of its business. Waitr’s rough first half of the year […]
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