Lafayette In The Running For Bloomberg Award

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — Lafayette is competing for a $5 million award from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's foundation.

The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/RRsNAe ) the competition is designed to encourage governments to explore new ideas to improve the lives of residents.

Lafayette is one of 20 cities selected out of 305 that entered the competition and is the only one in Louisiana to make the cut in the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge.

The winner of the $5 million award will be announced next year, along with four additional $1 million awards.

Lafayette's proposal centers on using games to spur civic engagement, said city-parish spokeswoman Carlee Alm-LaBar.

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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com

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