Under another name: Baton Rouge-based Dow Federal Credit Union says it has been rebranded as Essential Federal Credit Union, effective at the start of this year. The community-chartered credit union has 24,000 members across East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, West Feliciana, Ascension, Livingston, Iberville, Pointe Coupee and St. Helena parishes. “The Baton Rouge community is an essential part of us, and our credit union hopes to provide the stability and support families’ need to succeed,” says Essential FCU President and CEO Richard Williams in a prepared statement.
Booked: Authorities say a Baton Rouge woman and her son are accused of fraud in their work as tax preparers. The Louisiana Department of Revenue says in a press release issued Wednesday that Madie Langley and Darin Langley, tax preparers at Matrix Computers and Tax Services, were arrested for filing or maintaining false public records and computer fraud. Darin Langley faces 24 counts of suspected fraud and Madie Langley faces 16 counts of suspected fraud. Investigators say they found tax returns submitted by the Langleys with suspicious information, including false businesses and false business losses.
Unsupported: The new Republican-controlled Congress is facing an old problem: where to find the money for highway and transit programs. With gasoline prices at their lowest level in years when the new Congress convened, there had been talk that it might be time to raise federal gas and diesel taxes, which haven’t budged in more than 20 years. But already, GOP leaders are tamping down expectations, leaving no clear solution to the money problem. “I don’t know of any support for a gas tax increase in Congress,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the No. 2 Senate GOP leader, tells The Associated Press. Read the full story.
