For another day: The Friday installment of Live After Five featuring the band AM/FM has been rescheduled for June 2 due to the unavailability of Baton Rouge police officers this weekend, the Downtown Business Association has announced. The detail is required for permitting. The free concert series, in its 19th year, will resume next week on Friday, May 12, with The Todd O’Neill Band taking the stage at Repentance Park.
Purchased: Renewable Energy Group has acquired approximately 82 acres of land at its Geismar biorefinery from Lion Copolymer in a deal valued at $20 million. REG was leasing the land at the Geismar plant, as well as more than 61 adjacent acres which the company plans to improve to support existing production capacity and future expansion opportunities. The lease will be terminated at closing. The transaction is expected to reduce REG’s operating costs and create opportunities for expansion at Geismar, a biorefinery that produces 75 million gallons annually of renewable hydrocarbon diesel and also produces renewable naphtha and renewable liquefied petroleum gas.
Unraveling: A House panel approved legislation today that would gut much of the Dodd-Frank law enacted after the 2008 economic meltdown. The Associated Press reports the bill cleared the Republican-led House Financial Services Committee on a party-line vote of 34-26. Republicans argue that the law passed under former President Barack Obama is slowing economic growth because of the cost of compliance and by curbing lending. Democrats, however, warn the GOP bill will create the same conditions that led to the financial crisis and pushed the economy to the brink of collapse. The bill now goes to the full House for a vote. Read more.
