ICYMI: Mayor Sharon Weston Broome announced she intends to seek a third term in office next year, on Talk Louisiana with Jim Engster on WRKF 89.3. Broome, a Democrat, won the runoff election for East Baton Rouge Parish mayor-president in December 2016 against Republican Bodi White. She won a second term in December 2020 against the late Steve Carter. Read more about Broome’s plans from WAFB-TV.Â
Grön Fuels: Fidelis New Energy, the company behind the Grön Fuels complex in West Baton Rouge Parish, this week formed a partnership with the Babcock and Wilcox Company to produce clean hydrogen. The alliance pairs B&W’s bubbling fluidized bed boiler technology and equipment with Fidelis’ proprietary patent-pending technologies to produce zero-carbon intensity hydrogen. Read more about the deal.Â
Applications rise: The recent drop in mortgage rates sparked a 5% increase in applications to refinance a home loan, CNBC reports. Volume, however, was still 86% lower than the same week one year ago. Even with rates lower than their previous high of more than 7% last fall, at the current rate just 270,000 borrowers could benefit from a refinance, according to Black Knight, a mortgage technology and analytics firm. A year ago, with the rate half what it is now, roughly 7 million borrowers could benefit. Read the full story. Â Â
