The Best and the Worst of the Week
Local U.S. Postal Service
carriershave collected 221,809 pounds of food for Second Harvesters Food Bank during their annual Letter Carriers Food Drive. The take exceeded last year&185;s total by more than 31,000 pounds and equaled an average of 202 pounds of food carried on foot by the 1,100 New Orleans-area letter carriers who participated in the fundraiser. About 37,000 families donated to the food drive.
P.K. Scheerle of New Orleans
has been named the 2004 Humanitarian of the Year by the American Red Cross&185; Southeast Louisiana chapter. A registered nurse, she is founder and president of American Nursing Services Inc. staffing agency. The Red Cross honor cites Scheerle&185;s leadership in such organizations as the LSU Health Sciences Center Foundation and the United Way&185;s Women&185;s Leadership Initiative.
Calvin Mackie,
an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Tulane University, has received a 2003 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math and Engineering Mentoring. The award, given this year to nine people and eight institutions, honors those who help women, minorities and the disabled advance in those fields. Mackie was cited for his frequent educational presentations to students and employers.
Benjamin Miles,
the deputy chief of police in Sorrento, was found guilty of beating a tourist so badly last year in New Orleans that the victim needed reconstructive surgery. Miles and Shane Theriot, the police chief's son and a former corrections officer for the Ascension Parish sheriff's office, attacked Gregory Wells on Bourbon Street, mistaking him for a man who had been involved in a brawl earlier that night.
