Counting down: The two Hancock Fabrics stores in Baton Rouge will close for good once every fabric and craft in each store is sold. The closure is expected to take about eight to 12 weeks, says Kelly Phillips, marketing director for B. Riley Financial. B. Riley Financial is the parent company of Great American Group, which bought the assets of Hancock Fabrics in a bankruptcy sale in late March. All 185 of Hancock Fabrics’ stores nationwide will close down, including the Baton Rouge locations at 3464 Drusilla Lane in the Drusilla Village Shopping Center and at 11244 Florida Blvd. in Sherwood Plaza. Phillips says she was unsure if the company acquired the leases for the Baton Rouge stores, but she says Great American Group has no plans to use that space.
Taking over: Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser has announced that Robert Barham, assistant secretary of state parks, will take the reins as the acting secretary of the state Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. Barham’s appointment is effective April 11. According to the office, he will assume the duties of the the position without additional compensation and continue in his current role. “I am extremely grateful to Assistant Secretary Barham for his willingness to take on this challenge and to help move the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism forward,” Nungesser says in a statement. Barham served 14 years after a state senator and eight years as secretary of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Coming back: Gov. John Bel Edwards will deliver the 2016 LSU Law Commencement address scheduled to take place Friday, May 27, at the Baton Rouge River Center. Edwards, who hails from Amite, is a 1999 graduate of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center. “The governor was an outstanding law student and Coif graduate, whom I and several other members of our current faculty had the pleasure of teaching,” LSU Law Interim Dean Bill Corbett says in a statement. “The 2016 graduating class wanted the governor to serve as its commencement speaker, and we are most grateful that he has made time in his busy schedule to do this.”
