La. House speaker: State shouldn’t rush on Saints deal even if it means losing Super Bowl

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana’s House speaker says he doesn’t want the state to rush a deal to keep the Saints in New Orleans, even if it means Louisiana could miss hosting the 2013 Super Bowl.

‘Blues Brother’ actor on mission to help New Orleans’ neighborhood rebuild after Katrina

NEW ORLEANS — Add Dan Aykroyd’s name to the list of celebrities helping New Orleans rebuild neighborhoods devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Cities tackle backyard pools that become green-shrouded mosquito havens in foreclosure

NEW ORLEANS — Mosquito control workers can measure the recession by the number of green, cloudy swimming pools they see — algae-covered havens for mosquitoes dotting neighborhoods hit by the foreclosure crisis.

Hornets searching for answers to Nuggets’ aggressive defense in Game 2

DENVER — Dahntay Jones’ in-your-face defensive style appears to be getting on the nerves of the New Orleans Hornets.

New Orleans police: 23-year-old booked with kidnapping, robbing, killing 19-year-old couple

NEW ORLEANS — Police say a man turned himself in Tuesday and was booked on charges of kidnapping two teens from an apartment and fatally shooting them in an abandoned house in New Orleans.

Former president, Shark among hundreds to write Perry in support of Masters loss

Kenny Perry never took pity on himself for losing a two-shot lead with two holes to play in the Masters. Everyone else did that for him.

PGA Tour picks up another key sponsorship renewal

NEW ORLEANS — The PGA Tour picked up another key sponsor extension Tuesday when Zurich Financial said it would continue its title sponsorship of the New Orleans tournament through 2014.

Postseason NBA Schedule

Philadelphia 100, Orlando 98

Orlando 96, Philadelphia 87

Bird: Pacers coach O’Brien safe despite back-to-back losing seasons

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers don’t believe quick fixes and knee-jerk reactions are the way back to the playoffs, so they are giving Jim O’Brien the rare chance to keep guiding an NBA team after back-to-back losing seasons.

Standard & Poor’s boosts New Orleans’ bond rating to investment grade, move key to bond sale

NEW ORLEANS — Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has boosted its bond rating for the city of New Orleans to investment grade, significant for the city as it continues recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

Mankad-Oudsema lose LA challenger final

BATON ROUGE - India’s Harsh Mankad and America’s Scott Oudsema went down fighting to top seeds Bobby Reynolds and Rajeev Ram in the doubles final of the $50,000 ATP challenger tennis.

Mankad-Scott in final, Somdev-Huey out of ATP Challenger

BATON ROUGE - India’s Harsh Mankad and his American partner Scott Oudsema advanced to the doubles final but Somdev Devvarman and Treat Conrad Huey of Philippines faltered in the semi-final in the $50,000 ATP challenger tennis.

Somdev in doubles semis of ATP tourney

BATON ROUGE - India’s Somdev Devvarman and Phillipines’ Treat Conrad Huey have shocked third seeds Todd Widom and Michael Yani to storm into the semi-final of the $50,000 ATP challenger tennis.