The Best and the Worst of the Week
R. King Milling, chairman of the America's WETLAND Foundation and a leading member of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, has been awarded the 2006 National Conservation Special Achievement Award by the National Wildlife Federation. Milling, who was initially asked by former Gov. Mike Foster to lead the charge on behalf of Louisiana's wetlands, is also chair of the governor's Advisory Commission for Coastal Protection, Restoration and Conservation — and president of Whitney Bank.
Russell Athletic,
an athletic apparel maker, will be outfitting St. Augustine High School's 2007 football team with new uniforms, replacing the team's jerseys that were ruined by Hurricane Katrina. The contribution was given at half-time during St. Augustine's home basketball game against O.P. Walker last week. The team's new jerseys will feature Russell Athletic's "XC" technology, which uses compression fit material that is difficult to grab, and ventilator technology to accelerate body cooling.
Alden J. McDonald Jr., CEO of Liberty Bank & Trust,
recently made Fortune magazine's prestigious annual "Portraits of Power" list for 2006. McDonald also chairs the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce. He is credited with leading the post-Katrina rebuilding effort by example — Liberty Bank, the city's largest black-owned bank, is enjoying its most profitable year ever, despite having lost half its branches. Others named to the list include Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates, Condoleezza Rice and Al Gore, among others.
The Nagin Administration
has consistently refused or stonewalled recent requests for public records, particularly with regard to pricey contracts awarded for trash hauling. Two weeks ago, city officials refused to provide freshly opened bid documents to The Times-Picayune, even though the state public records law requires immediate access to readily available documents. An assistant city attorney initially demanded a written request and then gave the lame excuse that the one lawyer in that office who deals with public records was gone for the day.
