La. mom accused of beating school bus driver because she thought she was mean to her daughterRICHWOOD, La. — Police booked a woman with beating her daughter’s school bus driver. The 29-year-old woman faces charges of battery of a schoolteacher and simple battery of the infirm. La. gov asks feds to probe whether foreign countries are manipulating shrimp marketplaceBATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal asked the federal government Wednesday to investigate whether foreign countries are unfairly manipulating the shrimp industry’s marketplace. URS venture to provide preconstruction work for New Orleans flood control projectSAN FRANCISCO — URS Corp. said Wednesday that a joint venture headed by the engineering and construction company received a contract to provide preconstruction services for the St. Bernard levee project in New Orleans to reduce flooding risk. With natural gas prices at 7-year lows, producers are sparse during government lease auctionNEW ORLEANS — Energy companies are not showing a lot of interest in offshore leases for natural gas being offered by the government. Drilling tracts off Texas coast draw lukewarm interest, with low gas prices and strong supplyNEW ORLEANS — With natural gas prices down two-thirds or more from a year ago and supplies backlogged, interest in Texas offshore leases has dropped. Census director: Forms will be hand-delivered in New Orleans to address post-Katrina worriesNEW ORLEANS — Census forms will be hand-delivered in the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas affected by the 2005 hurricanes Katrina and Rita to get the most accurate count possible following concerns that the region could lose federal representation and funding. Ex-Stanford adviser: SEC was warned of shady dealings 5 years before firm was shut downBATON ROUGE, La. — A former financial adviser with R. Allen Stanford’s financial company told a U.S. Senate panel on Monday that she warned the Securities and Exchange Commission about the firm’s hawking of shady investments five years before it closed the firm and accused the Texas billionaire of running a Ponzi scheme. Gingrich & Sharpton, longtime rivals, working with administration on educational problemsWASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and civil rights figure Al Sharpton say they’re anxious to start working with Education Secretary Arne Duncan to upgrade failing schools. Sharpton, Gingrich join education secretary to push cities to fix failing schoolsWASHINGTON — Education Secretary Arne Duncan is joining forces with two unlikely allies, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Republican former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, to push cities to fix failing schools. Ineligible for election, actor laughs over ‘Brad Pitt for Mayor’ T-shirt push in New OrleansNEW ORLEANS — The idea of Brad Pitt running for New Orleans mayor has generated a lot of buzz around the city even though he isn’t eligible. It also generated some laughs for the actor in a Thursday television interview. Man arrested after riding bicycle with 3-foot-long alligator on his shouldersBOUTTE, La. — The 3-foot-long alligator on a bicyclist’s shoulders was a real attention-getter. St. Charles Parish sheriff’s deputies stopped the cyclist. He allegedly ran, leaving both wheels and his toothy little rider. Capt. Pat Yoes, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said deputies booked 38-year-old Terron D. Ingram on Friday with resisting arrest, possessing drug paraphernalia, and cruelty to animals by abandonment. Hornbeck Offshore Services plans to offer $200 million in senior notes due 2017COVINGTON, La. — Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc., which provides supply vessels for the petroleum industry, said Wednesday it plans to offer about $200 million in senior notes due 2017. Belo expands use of SpotCrime mapping services to New Orleans and PhoenixBALTIMORE — Television station operator Belo Corp. said Tuesday it will receive crime-mapping services from SpotCrime at stations in New Orleans and Phoenix, expanding service it already gets in Charlotte and Dallas/Ft. Worth. Feds execute search warrant on New Orleans Police Department in bridge case; computers takenNEW ORLEANS —Two computers were removed from the New Orleans Police Department during a search by the FBI as part of a probe into a deadly bridge shooting in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, officials said Monday. Specialty cigar shop owners, like the cigarette industry, fret over higher taxes, smoking bansNEW ORLEANS —With the world becoming ever less welcoming for tobacco smoke of all kinds, the owners of specialty shops that sell premium cigars have converged on New Orleans with the same concerns as mass-market cigarette manufacturers — higher taxes and anti-smoking laws. La. movie studio involved in dispute with some Saints and other investors put under overseerNEW ORLEANS — A judge decided Friday to place a movie studio involved in an investment dispute with some members of the New Orleans Saints under a special overseer after the studio’s head ignored her order to appear at a hearing. Promotional Disney train brings early Christmas to cities across the countryNEW ORLEANS — In dozens of cities across the country, Christmas is coming early this year — and it’s arriving by train. Conviction in ex-congressman freezer cash case comes after botched Ted Stevens prosecutionALEXANDRIA, Va. — A jury handed federal prosecutors a victory in finding an ex-congressman guilty of bribery, racketeering and other charges, four months after a corruption conviction against former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was tossed aside in an embarrassing blow to the Justice Department. Twitter intolerance: Some NFL teams wage clampdown on tweets, even by fansDAVIE, Fla. — The only tweets during the Miami Dolphins scrimmage Saturday will come from the officials’ whistles. Saints players Grant, Shockey say movie studio in dispute with teammates owes them $510,000NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Saints defensive end Charles Grant and tight end Jeremy Shockey claim they’re owed $510,000 by a movie studio at the center of an investment dispute involving current and former teammates. Ear-pulling navigational helmet, VR floor among ‘Emerging Tech’ at New Orleans showNEW ORLEANS — If you pull on my ear, will I follow you anywhere? Entergy board declares regular quarterly dividend of 75 cents, payable Sept. 1NEW ORLEANS — Entergy Corp. on Friday said its board set a regular quarterly dividend of 75 cents per share. Judge freezes most assets of La. film studio where Saints players invested in tax creditsNEW ORLEANS — A judge Friday froze most of the assets of a movie studio at the heart of a $1.9 million investment dispute involving members of the New Orleans Saints. Critical La. oil port might not stand another major hurricane; direct hit could cause crisisCAMINADA HEADLAND, La. — The booming oil hub called Port Fourchon, a nerve center in the nation’s oil supply chain, is turning into a sitting duck for hurricanes as the beach that protects it from the Gulf of Mexico washes away. 60 immigrant detainees hunger strike in Louisiana; authorities deny poor conditionsNEW ORLEANS — A group of detainees at a Louisiana immigration detention center have begun three-day hunger strikes to protest poor conditions there, immigrant advocates said. Exxon Mobil 2Q profit down 66 percent as lower crude, gas prices cut into earningsExxon Mobil Corp. on Thursday reported its lowest profit in nearly six years, a 66 percent plunge from the second quarter a year ago as the world’s biggest publicly traded oil company confronted sharply lower crude and gas prices and anemic demand for refined products. White officers involved in fatal shooting of black, 73-year-old northern La. man resignHOMER, La. — Two white police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a 73-year-old black man in northern Louisiana have resigned from the force. Studio head who took $1.9M from Saints players, others settled failed investment for $450kNEW ORLEANS — A film studio executive who never repaid $1.9 million he took from New Orleans Saints players and others paid $452,000 to settle a dispute over another failed investment, court records show. Porn actress considering La. Senate race has a tough week with Fla. arrest, car explosionNEW ORLEANS — It’s been a tough week for porn actress Stormy Daniels — complete with a domestic violence charge and a car explosion — as she continues to mull a U.S. Senate bid that could make life uncomfortable for incumbent first-term Louisiana Republican David Vitter, still recovering from a sex scandal. Credit crunch puts a pinch on recovering New Orleans; tax-free ‘GO Zone’ bonds find few takersNEW ORLEANS — New Orleans got approval for more than $1 billion in tax-free bonds to help spur development after Hurricane Katrina, but it’s finding few takers nearly four years later. |