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Deacon John Moore
won Best Concert Video at the 2003 Surround Music Awards for his DVD release Deacon John's Jump Blues. The DVD, which topped competition from the Dixie Chicks and Led Zeppelin, features Moore performing with an all-star lineup of local musicians, including Teedy Boutte, the Zion Harmonizers, Allen Toussaint and Dr. John.

Fran Pradd,
assistant vice president of Liberty Bank and Trust, received the third annual Social Services Needs-of-People Award for her efforts to help provide banking services to people who are mentally ill, homeless or recently released from incarceration. The Money Management Advocacy Council Icon group presented the award in a ceremony at Sweet Lorraine's Jazz Club.

The New Year's Coalition,
formed to raise awareness of the dangers of firing guns on New Year's Eve, helped curb the problem again this year. Last week, police reported a 24 percent drop in complaints of shots fired, and the city enjoyed the fourth consecutive year without death or injury stemming from celebratory gunfire.

St. Bernard Parish hunters and trappers,
in a seasonal tradition to flush out prey, last week set marsh fires that filled much of the metro area with smoke. St. Bernard Fire Chief Thomas Stone said the annual fires increase air pollution and cause traffic accidents and respiratory ailments in residents.

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