Courtside improvisation: New Orleans may no longer have an NBA team with “Jazz” as its name, but home games of the New Orleans Hornets will soon include live courtside jazz. The Hornets announced a partnership today with New Orleans jazz trumpeter Irvin Mayfield, artistic director of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and owner of two jazz clubs in the city. A band is on tap to perform Wednesday night when the Hornets play the Memphis Grizzlies in a preseason matchup. The official “Inspired to Play” initiative kicks off Dec. 28, when the Hornets take on the Boston Celtics. The city acquired its first NBA franchise, the New Orleans Jazz, in 1974. The team moved to Salt Lake City five years later, and Louisiana snagged the Hornets from Charlotte, N.C., in 2002.
Rubble habitat: Construction has started on a new artificial reef in the northern portion of Lake Pontchartrain. The reef—named the “Dudley and Kim Vandenborre Reef”—honors the man who approached the Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana with the idea to recycle the material from the Twin Spans damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to build artificial reefs in the lake. Officials say the four-acre reef, located in Lake Pontchartrain at permitted sites between the Interstate 10 and La. 11 bridges, will create an ideal habitat for all sorts of marine species, including speckled trout, redfish, drum and flounder. CCA Louisiana Habitat Chairman John Walther says they expect the reef will begin supporting marine life after its deployment.
Building a better future: Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation is giving $750,000 to Teach For America’s work in eight regions, including south Louisiana. Teach For America recruits, trains, and supports top college graduates and professionals who commit to teach for two years in underserved public schools. More than 9,000 Teach For America corps members are teaching in 43 regions across the country, and nearly 24,000 alumni of the program are working from every sector to expand educational opportunity. The $750,000 allocation from Lowe’s represents the second of two grants in two years to Teach For America that total $1.25 million. The south Louisiana region, where 150 Teach For America corps members are reaching some 9,500 students this school year, will receive $100,000.
