The Rating Game

Record-low interest rates lead to an uptick in refinancing options for commercial realty.
By Heather Miller

Home refinancing is at its highest in three years with fixed mortgage rates floating at an all-time low, but for local businesses looking to save money and find better terms on their commercial loans, now could also be the time for you to start exploring refinancing options.

Several local banking execs say the historically low fixed interest rates have created a more robust market for refinancing commercial real estate,

‘Best. Year. Ever.’

Gregg Gothreaux had to say it three times before the audience realized its significance.
By Leslie Turk

Lafayette Economic Development Authority President and Chief Executive Officer Gregg Gothreaux told the audience at the inaugural May 17 State of the Economy event that his presentation would give them definitive answers about the local economy and used the opportunity to take a playful jab at economists. “Because,” he said, “we all know if you laid all the economists in the world end to end, they still couldn’t reach a conclusion.”

Muddy Bank

From foreclosures to fraud to suicide, a lawsuit filed against Opelousas-based St. Landry Homestead Bank alleges a wild ‘Ponzi scheme’ in rural Cajun Country.

By Heather Miller

It’s been six months since U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty ordered the federal government to pay $1.67 million in civil damages to Hubert Vidrine, an Opelousas resident who in 1999 was wrongfully indicted by the feds on charges of illegally storing hazardous waste at the Canal Refinery in Church Point he managed at the time. (As it turns out, the federal EPA agent who headed the meritless investigation of Vidrine did so to facilitate an extramarital affair he was having with a fellow investigator.)

But as the former Church Point refinery manager and local businessman puts to rest a 15-year fight with the federal government over false criminal environmental charges and malicious prosecution, Vidrine now finds himself facing another bizarre battle in court.

The Lafayette Connection

Local attorneys discuss their role in the epic partial settlement with BP.
By Heather Miller

Had the historic, massive litigation of the BP oil spill gone to trial as scheduled on Feb. 27, Lafayette attorney Jim Roy would have given one of the opening statements on behalf of hundreds of thousands of plaintiffs who were impacted by one of the worst environmental disasters in recent history.