[StBernard] Parish News

[Westley Annis]

Cox Communications reported to the St. Bernard Parish Council on Tuesday
that it is moving forward on restoring services in the parish, saying they
are is ready for requests for service calls from residents.
 
Cox representative Arthurine Payton said residents must initiate a request
for reactivation or installation of Cox services by contacting the customer
service center at (504) 304-8444 or by going online at
http://www.cox.com/louisiana/hurricaneupdate.asp.

 
Restoration updates are available by calling (504) 304-1148. The hotline is
updated every Monday by noon, Payton said. Also, Cox has provided a link on
the parish government website at www.sbpg.net..
 
###
The St. Bernard Parish Council on Aging will hold an open house for the
public at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 29 in its new facility, a triple-wide
trailer office located in front of the parish government building at 8201
West Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette.

Susan McNeil, director of the Council on Aging, said the COA has registered
more than 80 people and said the open house will be an opportunity for more
people to come by the new building and learn about the range of activities
planned. 
 
A band will perform at the open house and there will be food and beverages,
she said.
Activities, scheduled to begin in mid-July, McNeil said, will include
exercise classes, line dancing, bingo and other ways for seniors to get
together and socialize. 
 
McNeil said the Council on Aging has been helped recently by a Wisconsin
woman, Mary Kay Bishop, Bishop's son and friends of the son who volunteered
their time to plant shrubbery and do other chores.
 
For more information about the COA call the office at (504) 278-4475 or
McNeil at (504) 301-7629.
### 
 
Dawn Lyons, Recovery Support Specialist & Program Coordinator with FEMA's
La. Transitional Recovery Office released the following news which features
3 of 18 FEMA grants for infrastructure going to St. Bernard Parish:
Louisiana will be the recipient of eighteen grants in association with
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita totaling close to $59 million for necessary
infrastructure improvements for Louisiana schools, hospitals, and other
public facilities. 
FEMA will issue federal grants for the following projects:
 
.         $2,636,834 to repair severe damage to the first and second floor
of C.F. Rowley Elementary School in St. Bernard Parish caused by Hurricane
Katrina;
 
.         $1,743,384 to repair and clean three locations of the LSU Health
Sciences Center;
 
.         $1,067,644 to repair and clean the auditorium and gymnasium of
Walker High School in Algiers;
.      
   $921,939 to restore equipment, book security system, and miscellaneous
school items at the Slidell Campus of Delgado Community College;
.         
$1,141,868 to replace the contents of the Cameron Main Library in Cameron
Parish, which was washed away by Hurricane Rita;
.         
$1,834,871 to replace St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Department vehicles and
jail transportation vans;
.   
      $2,694,582 to help replace contents of all Southern University of New
Orleans buildings, which were flooded by both Lake Pontchartrain and the
Industrial Canal during Hurricane Katrina;
. 
        $2,166,592 to return the upper floors, starting at the ground level
of the Louisiana Office of Facility Planning and Control University
Hospital;
.   
      $6,374,284 to repair and restore the basement of the Louisiana Office
of Facility Planning and Control University Hospital;
.       
  $1,212,525 to permanently repair the inside and outside damages to the
Allied Health building of Nunez Community College;
.  
       $1,913,544 to repair and replace the State Office Building's
mechanical equipment including its climate control and electrical systems in
New Orleans;
.   
      $1,645,147 to clean 8,170 storm basins and power wash 573,147 linear
feet of streets in the City of Lake Charles;
.         $7,650,000 to remove debris from approximately 3,000 private
property sites with Right of Entry permission within St. Tammany Parish;
.         $3,375,000 to remove vegetative debris caused by Hurricane Katrina
from an estimated 750 homes in Washington Parish;
.   
      $16,755,089 to return the basement of Charity Hospital to pre-Katrina
condition;
.        
 $1,286,441 to purchase and install temporary classrooms to accommodate
approximately 500 students for use by the Jefferson Parish Public School
System;
.     
    $2,147,688 to provide temporary housing for displaced government
employees;
.        
 $2,333,227 to repair two 9-11 Operation Center location in New Orleans that
suffered catastrophic damage as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
 
###
Blood drive for 3-year-old St. Bernard Parish girl is Saturday at 4030 Paris
Road; Community Health Day is Tuesday at Parish Health Center; President
Rodriguez announces mobile unit from Department of Motor Vehicles in parish
June 21 and every Wednesday and Thursday through July 6.

 
A blood drive is being held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at World Prayer
Tabernacle, 4030 Paris Road, to help a three-year-old St. Bernard Parish
girl with a disease of the immune system.
 
The blood drive, held through the Blood Center, will benefit Kaitlyn
Alfonso, daughter of Terry and Genie Alfonso. For more information, call
(504) 382-4211.
 
The child has been diagnosed with Histiocytosis, a disease of the immune
system which cases tumors. She is currently receiving chemotherapy for a
tumor on her brain. All blood types are needed for replacement donations,
particularly Type O.
 
Anyone unable to come to the blood drive can call 1-800-86-BLOOD or go
online at www.thebloodcenter.org <http://www.thebloodcenter.org/> . for a
list of sites for donations.