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BOUQUETS & BRICKBATS
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09 09 03 |
The Best and the Worst of the Week
 Curtis
Thomas Jr. ,
a student at New Orleans' Audubon Montessori School, has been selected to participate
in the Junior National Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. The middle-school
student will join other youths from around the country at the program Oct. 4-9
to learn from the examples of leaders throughout American history. Curtis was
chosen based on his maturity, academic excellence and leadership potential.
Denise Parker,
manager of the state Disability Determination Services office in New Orleans,
has won the 2002 Social Security Administration Commissioner's Citation Award
for outstanding service. Parker has run the office -- a branch of the state
Department of Social Services (DSS) -- since 2001. DSS administrators praise
Parker's management, saying the New Orleans office is far more efficient and
offers better quality care since she took over.
The Board of Examiners for Nursing Facility Administrators,
a state Department of Health and Hospitals panel, admitted it was not in compliance
with state regulations governing its finances and professional contracts. Board
executive director Kemp Wright concurred with the findings of a state audit
that said the board made payments in excess of its professional services contract
limit, did not have sufficient controls over its revenue, and did not properly
manage employee leave time and attendance.
House Speaker Charlie DeWitt
acknowledged that the owners of the New Orleans Fair Grounds gave him an interest
in two racehorses in 2001 -- but told The Times-Picayune the gift had
nothing to do with his longtime support of the racetrack or a bill he authored
this year. The bill, which didn't pass, would have nullified a state Supreme
Court ruling that the Fair Grounds shorted horsemen their share of video poker
money. DeWitt's acceptance of such a gift smells worse than a dirty horse barn.
Other Stories This Week in News & Views:
Commentary
News Feature
Politics
Virgets
Scuttlebutt
Penny Post
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