Courtside: Former LSU basketball coach Dale Brown—who led the Tigers to NCAA Final Four appearances in 1981 and 1986—will be honored by the American Cancer Society on Friday, March 30, in New Orleans at the 2012 Coaches’ Huddle. Attendees will have the opportunity to mingle with college basketball coaches from around the nation who will be in town for 2012 Men’s Final Four events. The reception will take place from 7-10 p.m. at the Hilton Riverside, 2 Poydras St. For more information, call 800-227-2345.
Overcompensated: The New Orleans Inspector General says the city wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on employee life insurance over the last eight years. Among the findings in a report released Tuesday: There were overpayments totaling $250,000 over four years because the city failed to accurately calculate the number of employees eligible for benefits. And two insurance agents who provided no services received $250,000 in commissions. In a five-page response to the report, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s administration says it has taken steps to fix the situation, adding Hartford Life and Accident has agreed to stop the payments to the agents and pass the savings on to taxpayers.
Semper Fi: New Orleans wants to take a Marine data center that’s been in Kansas City since 1967 and has roughly 400 high-paying, high-tech jobs, The Kansas City Star reports. Kansas City Mayor Sly James is on a mission to block that move, and he’s getting support from the respective governors of Kansas and Missouri, as well as the congressional delegations in both states. James and others are urging the U.S. Marine Corps to keep its information technology data center in Kansas City for the long term, despite a tempting offer to move to a new federal complex in New Orleans. Read the full story here.
