LRA allocates block grants

The Louisiana Recovery Authority on Thursday allocated $500 million in block grant money to help leverage billions of dollars in federal spending on infrastructure torn up by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, along with $171 million for small-business and tourism economic development programs.

The LRA meeting at the Jackson Barracks, at the Orleans-St. Bernard parish line, came against the backdrop of an announcement by Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Louisiana National Guard leaders of plans for a more than $200 million overhaul of the flood-damaged military base, including more public uses of the tract and restoration of antebellum homes.

from the Times Picayune