SunCom Wireless
has donated cellular phones and service to the New Orleans YWCA Battered Woman's Program. The phones will be distributed to women whose estranged spouses or partners may pose a threat to their safety. YWCA officials say domestic violence is the leading killer of women in Louisiana.

Philip M. Hannan,
retired Archbishop of New Orleans, was recognized with the highest honor bestowed by the national Boys and Girls Town: the Father Flanagan Award for Service to Youth. Girls and Boys Town presented Hannan with the award last week as it opened its second Louisiana shelter, a girls' home in Gretna dedicated to providing emergency services for abused, abandoned and neglected teenage girls.

The state Office of Telecommunications Management
still has not implemented an internal audit system despite repeated warnings from Legislative Auditor Dan Kyle. For the eighth year in a row, a state audit found gaping inaccuracies and misstatements in the agency's books -- errors that Kyle attributes to the lack of an internal audit function.

Rep. Hunt Downer
criticized a request for more money to hire guidance counselors and social workers to deal with troubled children in public schools, asking, "Whatever happened to a good swift kick in the pants?" The Houma Republican's comment, which came when education groups asked the House Appropriations Committee for the funds, demonstrates an astonishing lack of familiarity with real-life problems faced by Louisiana schools.

Other Stories This Week in News:

News Feature
When Rights Might Be Wrong
Pennington's $350,000 Decision
Best Foot Forward

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