State To Pay $1.3M To End Battle Over Cypress Mill

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The state will pay $1.3 million to settle litigation stemming from the financing of a failed cypress mill in Tangipahoa Parish.

Commissioner of Agriculture Mike Strain told The Advocate (http://bit.ly/SigO0H ) that the decision to settle came after the state lost court battles that went as far as the state Supreme Court.

At issue was former commissioner Bob Odom's granting of state financial backing to a $3.2 million loan that Louisiana State Cypress secured from Texans Federal Credit Union. The cypress mill failed and Louisiana Cypress stopped repaying the loan. So, the credit union went to court seeking money from the state.

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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com