TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalFirst NBC Bank fails, ordered closed; will be absorbed by Whitney Bank
The beleaguered First NBC Bank was abruptly ordered closed by state regulators Friday, and it will be acquired by Whitney Bank, officials announced.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which is responsible for insuring bank deposits, was named receiver of the failed community bank.
It “immediately transferred” all the bank’s "transactional deposit" accounts to Whitney, according to a news release from the state Office of Financial Institutions, which made the decision to close the bank.
Transactional deposit accounts include checking, savings, money market and NOW accounts.
Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/business/article_0f0a0f54-2c5a-11e7-8565-577c68c4ad5d.html
Special election for state Sen. Troy Brown's old seat, school tax elections top Saturday's ballot
Voters in parts of eight River Parishes will pick from a slate of 13 candidates Saturday to replace former state Sen. Troy Brown while those in East Baton Rouge Parish weigh in on two school tax renewals.
The two elections highlight a handful of contests Saturday in the Baton Rouge area as voters in Livingston and St. James parishes will be asked to decide on tax propositions while Livingston Parish voters will also be asked to decide who will be the next French Settlement police chief.
Polls across the region open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.
Meg Casper, spokeswoman for the Louisiana Secretary of State, said Friday election officials expect turnout to hover between 8 percent to 14 percent in municipal general elections being held in 46 of 64 Louisiana parishes.
But she said some races, like the battle to replace Brown, a two-term Democrat from Napoleonville, could see a higher turnout. Runoffs for Lake Charles mayor, the former Bossier Parish House seat of recently elected Congressman Mike Johnson, and a contested appellate judicial seat in Acadiana are other high-profile races that could buck the low-turnout expected elsewhere, Casper said.
Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_627e2a04-2c59-11e7-87ab-cb15025d7340.html
Arkansas panel backs reinstatement in judge's DWI case
LITTLE ROCK—An Arkansas judicial commission recommended Wednesday that a circuit judge arrested in January on drunken driving charges be reinstated.
The Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission said Circuit Judge William Pearson, 57, is taking action to avoid such behavior again.
The commission filed a motion with the Arkansas Supreme Court to reinstate the 5th Judicial Circuit's Division 1 judge to the bench.
"Pearson has been open and candid in all communications with the commission," Executive Director David Sachar wrote in a letter of admonishment, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Read more: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/arkansas/story/2017/apr/27/arkansas-panel-backs-reinstatement-judges-dwi-case/671525/
Exide Technologies locks out employees amid union negotiations
Exide Technologies in Fort Smith began an employee “lock out” Tuesday following an impasse in union contract negotiations with employee representatives of IBEW Local 700.
The move comes 10 months after the announcement of $30 million expansion project to accommodate the U.S. Navy’s “Project Neptune” to improve nuclear submarine batteries.
Exide Technologies, formerly known as GNB Technologies on Zero Street, has more than 200 employees.
“Negotiations are ongoing, and until they are complete, Exide will have no comment,” wrote Exide Technologies spokesperson Christina Scavone in an email.
Read more: http://www.swtimes.com/news/20170426/exide-technologies-locks-out-employees-amid-union-negotiations
In child-meal fraud, Little Rock man given 2 years
A 26-year-old Little Rock man who in January admitted being part of a scheme to steal federal funds meant for providing food for poor children was sentenced Friday to 2½ years in prison.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Miller also ordered Michael Lee to repay $660,428.07 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which provided the state-administered funds through its Child and Adult Care Feeding Program.
Lee pleaded guilty Jan. 4 to 20 counts of wire fraud, admitting that between March 2012 and May 2014, he fraudulently sought reimbursement for feeding hundreds of children in Arkadelphia and Little Rock.
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Of 14 people charged in nine indictments related to the scheme since December 2014, two were convicted in a jury trial in April and await sentencing; five pleaded guilty and have been sentenced; and seven others who pleaded guilty before trial also await sentencing.
Authorities have reported uncovering more than $11 million in the fraud related to the Arkansas feeding programs.
Read more: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/apr/29/man-sentenced-in-child-meal-fraud-case-/
Arkansas governor rejects call for independent review of execution
LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Asa Hutchinson told reporters Friday he will not seek an independent investigation of any of the four executions the state carried out in the past two weeks, saying the state Department of Correction’s routine internal review process will be sufficient.
“I see no reason for any investigation other than the routine review that is done after every execution,” Hutchinson said during a news conference at the Capitol on the morning after the execution Thursday night of Kenneth Williams.
“From what I have seen, the routine review is what should be accomplished and expected and nothing more than that,” he said.
The Federal Public Defender’s Office in Little Rock and the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas issued separate calls Friday for investigations. They expressed particular concern about Thursday night’s execution.
Read more: http://www.swtimes.com/news/20170428/arkansas-governor-rejects-call-for-independent-review-of-execution
Budget cuts coming, Arkansas governor says
LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Friday he will cut $70 million from the state’s budget for the last two months of the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Hutchinson said during a news conference at the Capitol he is ordering the budget reduction because state revenues are lagging below projections.
Savings that have been generated through efficiency measures will allow the state to cut the budgets of certain agencies without affecting services or laying off employees, he said.
“We expect to be able to fully fund operations for the year,” he said.
Read more: http://www.swtimes.com/news/20170429/budget-cuts-coming-arkansas-governor-says
State Supreme Court rules against congressman's mother in dog-kennel defamation case
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled the operator of a dog kennel cannot sue advocacy groups after they said she ran one of the "worst puppy mills" in the state.
The court Tuesday unanimously upheld a Dent County circuit court decision that dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by Mary Ann Smith of Salem, Missouri.
Smith is the mother of 8th District U.S. Rep. Jason Smith.
In the decision written by Chief Justice Patricia Breckenridge, the Supreme Court dismissed Mary Ann Smith's defamation claims because her petition did not allege any actionable statements.
"Because these statements were subjective assessments not provable as false and did not imply any objective facts provable as false, these statements are not actionable as defamation as a matter of law," the chief justice wrote.
Read more: http://www.semissourian.com/story/2407081.html
Missouri lawmakers pass limits on public construction
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri local governments no longer would be able to require union working conditions for public-construction projects under a bill passed Thursday by the Republican-led Legislature.
Counties, cities and other local governments currently have the option to issue bid requirements mandating union working conditions for contractors if less than half a project's funds come from the state. The bill, which passed the House 104-52, would prohibit that.
The legislation also wouldn't allow local governments to give preferential treatment to union contractors. Governments that violate those provisions would lose state funding and tax credits for two years.
Supporters argue ending project labor agreements will give non-union contractors more opportunities in bidding for public-construction jobs and lower the cost of those projects.
Read more: http://www.semissourian.com/story/2407478.html
Methodist court ruling a blow for openly lesbian bishop
NEW YORK (AP) — The first openly lesbian bishop in the United Methodist Church can stay on the job for now, but she is subject to a disciplinary review that could lead to her removal, the top church court ruled Friday.
Bishop Karen Oliveto's civil marriage to another woman violates church law that bars clergy who are "self-avowed practicing homosexuals," the Judicial Council said. However, a decision over whether she can remain in the position must come from a separate disciplinary process, the court ruled.
Oliveto was elected last year to lead a Denver-area church region that is part of the Methodist Western Jurisdiction, which has rejected the denomination's position that "the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching." Within minutes of her election, a challenge was filed by the Oklahoma-based South Central Jurisdiction, leading to Friday's ruling.
The case is the latest chapter in an intensifying fight over LGBT recognition that is fracturing the 12.8 million-member denomination — the third-largest faith group in the U.S. Earlier this week, bishops announced a special 2019 meeting of its top legislative body, or General Conference, expressly to address church law on sexuality and find ways the denomination can avoid schism.
Read more: http://www.newspressnow.com/news/national/methodist-court-ruling-a-blow-for-openly-lesbian-bishop/article_202fc76a-c608-517d-b6e1-5d7578b9530c.html
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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Current location: Bryan, Texas
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