Bouquets & Brickbats: local heroes and zeroes
Loyola University New Orleans
was honored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching with the group's "Community Engagement Classification," which recognizes institutions of higher learning that engage with and contribute to important community agendas. Loyola was one of only 115 academic institutions nationally to receive the award. In a statement, Loyola President the Rev. Kevin Wildes said the honor "underscores our Jesuit mission."
Reconcile New Orleans,
the nonprofit that runs Central City's Cafe Reconcile, won $25,000 in Entergy's "Power to Care" challenge. More than 10,000 Facebook users voted for the charity to receive the grant, which will be used to train five students in culinary and hospitality jobs this year. Green Light New Orleans, the Louisiana Children's Museum, the Louisiana SPCA and the Preservation Resource Center won runner-up grants of $1,000 apiece.
Home for the Holidays,
a Dec. 23 benefit at the House of Blues, raised more than $35,000 for the Daniel Price Memorial Fund for Aspiring Artists. Price, an artist and New Orleanian, was slain on a trip to San Francisco in 2003. The fund enables fine arts graduates of the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts to pursue higher education in the arts. Among the performers at the benefit: Kermit Ruffins, Shamarr Allen, Amanda Shaw and Rockin' Dopsie Jr.
Sean Hunter,
former director of aviation for the Louis Armstrong/New Orleans International Airport, pleaded guilty in federal court Jan. 5 to one count of obstruction of justice. The case involved a BMW 525i sedan owned by Hunter's wife and co-defendant, Shauna Crowden Hunter, that was falsely reported as destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. Hunter faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced May 11.
