"We have built a better community," City Councilman Jared Brossett told a crowd outside the store.What symbol of resiliency and determination was he talking about?
"Today signifies the state of Gentilly is stronger than ever and the spirit of its residents will not be broken. ... This site, which was once a symbol of blight and neglect, is now a symbol of resiliency and determination."
Some of the biggest individual recipients have a major presence in the city: Teach for America, which has more than 200 instructors in local classrooms, received almost $17 million; and the KIPP Foundation, a charter school operator that will be running nine schools in New Orleans this fall, received about $9 million.
The Recovery School District, a state body that took over most New Orleans schools after Hurricane Katrina, received $667,000.
Among other local recipients: The Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, a group that counts most New Orleans charter schools as members, got about $375,000; the Urban League of Greater New Orleans got $200,000; John Dibert Community School got $250,000; charter operator ReNew got a total of $500,000 for two schools that it runs; and the UNO Charter School Network got $230,000.
BATON ROUGE - The head of the state's emergency services division is leaving his post to take a similar job with Wal-Mart Corp.
Mark Cooper, who has headed the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness since 2008, will become a senior director of emergency management for Wal-Mart International, Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Tuesday.