Confirmed: U.S. Reps. Cedric Richmond and Garret Graves and Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Shawn Wilson will speak at Mayor Sharon Weston Broome’s inaugural Better Transportation and Roads Summit on Tuesday. The free summit will take place at The Renaissance Hotel and aims to generate a focused dialogue about the region’s future transportation needs. Broome’s office says the summit will help city-parish officials develop a comprehensive transportation plan that will eventually go before the Metro Council. The summit will include the following sessions: Corridors and capacity; mobility and urban enhancement; and smart technology and safety. Registration for the summit begins at 7:30 a.m., with the sessions taking place from 8 a.m. to noon. The summit will be streamed live on the city-parish’s Twitter page, @TheCityofBR. Get more information.
Closing: Office Depot is closing its Baton Rouge location at 7979 Florida Blvd., and it is liquidating all of the store’s inventory in anticipation of the store’s May 20 closing. Reuters has previously reported the retailer, which scrapped a merger with rival Staples last May over antitrust concerns, announced in August that it would close 300 stores over a three-year period to cut annual costs by $250 million by 2018. Office Depot had closed 400 stores by the second quarter of 2015. The store also planned to cut general and administrative costs. On Tuesday, Office Depot announced that it had reached an agreement to sell its business in Australia and New Zealand to private equity firm Platinum Equity. Office Depot also has locations on Siegen Lane and College Drive.
Going down: The average U.S. mortgage rate fell below a key threshold of 4% this week, its lowest level in five months. As The Associated Press reports, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate home loans declined to 3.97% this week from 4.08% last week. Interest rates on mortgages began to rise after President Donald Trump won the November election. But they’ve started falling as the fate of tax reform and other policies has become uncertain. The 30-year rate stood at 3.59% a year ago and averaged 3.65% in 2016, the lowest level in records dating to 1971. Lower rates make it easier for homebuyers to afford their monthly mortgage payments. The rate on 15-year mortgages declined to 3.23% from 3.34%. Read more.
