The Best and the Worst of the Week
Bruce Springsteenadded yet another encore to his inspired Jazz Fest performance. After winning over local hearts and minds with his Seeger Sessions repertoire of folk and protest songs, The Boss recently donated $80,000 to the New Orleans Musicians' Clinic. The gift will support the clinic's medical services and performance grants program. Staffed by the LSU Health Sciences Center and LSU School of Medicine, the clinic has provided care to local musicians and their families for more than 10 years.
Doris Voitier,
superintendent of St. Bernard Parish Schools, was honored at Cable's Leaders in Learning Awards in Washington, D.C., with an award for general excellence. Voitier was recognized for her extraordinary efforts to open the St. Bernard Parish Unified School just 11 weeks after Hurricane Katrina severely damaged most of St. Bernard's school facilities. She was one of only three educators from across the nation to win the general excellence award.
Atlantik-Bruecke,
a German foundation created after World War II to support co-operation with the United States, has donated $1.1 million to support renovations of the gymnasium at Lusher Charter School's Fortier campus. To be called the Atlantic Bridge Community Resource Center, it will have both athletic facilities and meeting space. Atlantik-Bruecke is a business group formed in response to the aid provided by the Marshall Plan to rebuild Germany.
Two NOPD officers
were arrested recently for allegedly shaking down a French Quarter massage parlor. The two veteran officers, Quincy Shelling and Joshua Burns, have since resigned from the force and both face charges of armed robbery and malfeasance. A Metairie man who is not a police officer was also arrested and charged. Police are re-examining a similar previous accusation against Burns that an investigation had determined was unsubstantiated.
