The National Association of Peace/Anti-Violence Education (NAPE) is still taking registration for its conference New Orleans on Saturday, April 12, 2008.The conference will take place at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary at 3939 Gentilly Boulevard from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with the theme “Peace Education: A Significant Element in the Reconstruction of Public Education”.
High school faculty and administrators, namely guidance counselors, are highly encouraged to register for this conference in order to learn helpful strategies for instituting peace education among their respective students.The conference is not limited to educators, however.People who deal with children and teenagers in violent environments are also encouraged to register for the conference.
NAPE was founded in 1999 by Dr. Rose Duhon-Sells, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs at Southern University at New Orleans.The organization promotes peace/anti-violence learning strategies through training and seminars conducted by association members and community volunteers.Although NAPE initially targeted elementary school teachers, the membership has grown well beyond that demographic to social workers, counselors and other professionals.Today NAPE has members in four states.
“Our primary goal is to equip educators, scholars and other professionals and community members with the necessary skills and confidence to become models of peace in their behavior and interaction with students in K-12 schools,” says Duhon-Sells.“There is a critical need to provide peace education as content knowledge as a means for enabling students to make better choices when faced with conflicts and to encourage them to think responsibly when dealing with adverse situations.”
Dr. Sells is available for print and broadcast interviews.Attendees can also access more information about the conference at www.napeorg.org or they can call Melba Venison at (504) 286-5088.
Road Home
Latest Program Statistics
As of March 31, 2008
Total applications recorded:
185,106 (final)
Initial appointments held:
166,093 (final)
Eligible applicants:
154,830
Benefit options selected:
137,147
Option 1 - 118,993
Option 2 - 10,104
Option 3 - 2,809
Decline benefits - 1,750
Delay benefit selection - 3,517
No funding:
3,530
Elevation only:
13,142
Sold home prior to application:
4,829
Closings held:
104,886
Total amount of awards disbursed:
$6.2 billion*
Average award disbursed:
$58,841*
These numbers are reported as of March 28, 2008
Jobs
The Louisiana Department of Labor’s Rapid Response unit will conduct orientation sessions to assist the 119 workers who will lose their jobs when Hood Industries closes its Coushatta mill on May 16.
Workers will have a choice of attending either an 8:30 a.m. or a 12:30 p.m.
session on Monday, April 7, at the company’s facility at 306 Wilkinson St.
A worker transition center will be open at the facility from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays beginning Thursday, April 10 and will offer services through Thursday, April 24.The center will offer computers and Internet access and will assist the affected workers with job searches, skills assessments, training information and résumé preparation.
Hood Industries is a lumber manufacturer with other locations in Waynesboro, Miss. and Metcalfe, Ga.The layoffs are expected to begin May
2 and be completed by May 16.
“Establishing an on-site worker transition center creates a home-base environment for the affected workers,” said Greg A. Anders, state Rapid Response coordinator.“Workers are able to share potential job leads with their co-workers while in the process of determining their re-employment needs.”
Rapid Response assistance is available to workers affected by major layoffs and plant closings. The orientation sessions are designed to inform affected employees about the services available to them through the Louisiana Labor Department’s Rapid Response Program.
assistance information, occupational retraining, trade adjustment assistance, debt counseling, out-of-area job search assistance, relocation assistance, on-the-job training, unemployment insurance and other supportive services as needed.
Rapid Response services are offered at no cost to the employer or the participating employees.
More information about Rapid Response is available on the Department of Labor Web site at www.LAWORKS.net.
House of Blues
The International House of Blues Foundation-New Orleans (IHOBF-New Orleans) is pleased to announce that applications are currently being accepted for the 2008 Blues Ambassador Scholarship. Each year, IHOBF-New Orleans awards one Blues Ambassador Scholarship to a college-bound high school senior who has demonstrated interest and achievement in the arts and/or shown leadership in promoting understanding among people of diverse backgrounds.
The 2008 Blues Ambassador Scholarship will be awarded either in the amount of $10,000 for a four-year program of study or $5,000 for a two-year program of study. Funds are disbursed in the amount of $2,500 per year for either four years or two years provided that the recipient meets all requirements. Applicants must be high school seniors graduating from a public school in Orleans Parish, maintain a minimum grade point average of 2.5 or equivalent through the 7th semester and be accepted to a 2 or 4 year institution of higher learning. Completed applications, including all supplementary materials, must be received by 5:00pm on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 in order to be eligible for consideration. A complete list of guidelines and eligibility requirements
can be found on the application.
Applications are available through Orleans Parish public high school guidance counselors, the IHOBF website at www.ihobf.org/programs/programs_basFrameset.asp and the IHOBF-New Orleans office. For more information about the Blues Ambassador Scholarship or to request an application, please contact IHOBF-New Orleans by telephone at 504-522-8281 or via email at ihobfneworleans@hob.com.
The International House of Blues Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the arts to schools and communities through programs that promote cultural understanding and encourage creative expression. IHOBF programs teach about aspects of American culture and history through the arts, highlight African American cultural contributions and support youth participation in the arts. IHOBF-New Orleans is one of ten IHOBF locations nationwide. The IHOBF is supported by House of Blues Entertainment, Inc., House of Blues Foundation Room members and other public and private donors. For more information please visit the IHOBF website at ww.ihobf.org
First Bank And Trust
First Bank and Trust announced today that Monica L. Franques has been promoted to retail branch operations manager, leading a team responsible for functions that provide critical support to the company’s branches in Louisiana and Mississippi, including branch operations, audit and administrative functions.
In addition, she manages the bank’s security program and ensures that the organization meets its obligations under the federal Bank Secrecy Act.
Before joining First Bank and Trust in 2004, Franques was operations manager for Gulf Coast Bank & Trust Company. She previously had served as a branch manager and in other management positions for JPMorgan Chase and an assistant branch manager for Regions Bank.
Franques, a native of Lafayette, La., studied accounting at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, now the University of Louisiana – Lafayette, and serves as treasurer for the Metropolitan Orleans Bank Security Association.
Founded in 1991, First Bank and Trust is a New Orleans-based bank with $675 million in assets and branches in New Orleans, Metairie, Algiers, Kenner, Harahan, Covington, Harvey and Baton Rouge; a loan production office in Lafayette; home mortgage offices covering the Gulf South as FBT Mortgage; and branches of the affiliated People’s Bank headquartered in Amite, La., and First Bank and Trust of Mississippi headquartered in Biloxi. Also part of parent First Trust Corporation are FBT Investments, FBT Advisors and First Insurance Agency.
Health Care
Medical Properties Trust, Inc. announced today that it has completed the acquisition of seven properties for approximately $138 million in the previously announced healthcare facility portfolio that the Company is purchasing from HCP, Inc. (NYSE:HCP).
The facilities that Medical Properties Trust acquired are:
ClevelandRegionalMedicalCenter in Cleveland, Texas;
Chesterfield GeneralHospital in Cheraw, South Carolina;
MarlboroParkHospital in Bennettsville, South Carolina;
CornerstoneHospital of Houston – ClearLake in Webster, Texas;
CornerstoneHospital of Bossier City in Louisiana;
Cornerstone Hospital of SoutheastArizona in Tucson; and
Mountain ViewHospital in Idaho Falls, Idaho;
Subject to customary closing conditions and expiration or waiver by certain tenants of preemptive purchase rights, the Company expects to complete the acquisition of substantially all of the remainder of the properties in the portfolio during the second quarter of 2008 for an aggregate additional purchase price of approximately $220 million.
