C’EST BON
Lafayette’s relatively robust economy is getting some recognition from the national press. Both Forbes and Money magazines have hailed the Hub City as one of the best nationwide to land a job. Money’s May feature, “Money 100,” lists Lafayette among the best six places in the country for finding a job. Forbes lists Lafayette as No. 3 among mid-size cities, behind No. 2 Tulsa, Okla., and No. 1 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas. Forbes cites Lafayette’s phenomenal 16.3 percent job growth between 1997 and 2009 and our low labor costs as prime reasons for earning a spot in the top three.
PAS BON
Kudos to Lafayette real estate developer Reed Andrus for his laborious and impressive work on an alternative plan for redesigning one of our community’s major eyesores, Johnston Street. But just as Andrus’ plan seems to be gaining traction and support from other concerned residents who have long worked to remedy this problem, it now has come to light that the recently completed Camellia Boulevard extension, from Kaliste Saloom to Verot School roads, also has no underground infrastructure for water, sewer or electrical distribution, which means we could soon see overhead power lines like the ones that today clutter Johnston Street. Proper planning, part of what we all now tout as “smart growth,” dictates the installation of subsurface water, sanitary sewer and electrical when new roads are constructed — especially those built in high-traffic areas that are sure to spur commercial development. Decades from now we may see a new group of community activists spending countless hours trying to solve another Johnston Street-like problem. Shame on Lafayette Consolidated Government and Lafayette Utilities System for not doing this right the first time.
COUILLON
Book ’em Daneaux! Lorenzo Green knows the contours of a jail cell. He knows them well. The 48-year-old was arrested in Alexandria last week at the Veterans Administration Hospital by law enforcement there after the Lafayette City Marshal’s Office got a tip. It was, according to local authorities, the 120th time Green has been arrested. That’s a dozen arrests times 10. Twenty-four arrests times five. Fifteen arrests times eight. His latest incarceration situation stems from warrants in Lafayette and St. Martin parishes for charges of criminal trespass, simple burglary and theft. Green’s rap sheet includes drug possession, domestic battery, aggravated assault, possession of stolen things, et cetera ad nauseum. Lorenzo Green has been a busy man; busy getting arrested, busy being a couillon.