Obama will visit school and run meeting

NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama this week will visit the only school to reopen in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward since Hurricane Katrina, the White House said.

The president will also conduct a town hall meeting Thursday on his first visit to New Orleans since he took office. Initially, plans called just for the town hall but local officials including Louisiana's two U.S. senators -- Democrat Mary Landrieu and Republican David Vitter -- asked him to add stops, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Monday.

After a stop at Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School, the president is scheduled to conduct a town hall meeting at the UNO Recreation and Fitness Center.

"This will enable the people of New Orleans to convey their thoughts, challenges, and feedback directly to him," the White House said in a press release, noting that Obama toured the city five times after Katrina and before becoming president.