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• 1st tropical storm of eastern Pacific season forms

  May 15, 2013 4:33 PM

  MIAMI - Forecasters say the first tropical storm of the eastern Pacific hurricane season has formed off the coast of Mexico. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says Tropical Storm Alvin formed Wednesday. It had maximum sustained winds of about 40 mph (64 kph) and was moving west at... more »

• Man accused in 'Breaking Bad' theft arrested again

  April 11, 2013 10:05 AM

  ALBUQUEQUE, N.M.- An Albuquerque man accused of breaking into "Breaking Bad" actor Bryan Cranston's car late last year and stealing a script has been arrested again. Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office records show that 29-year-old Xavier McAfee was arrested Wednesday on another count of auto burglary. Deputies arrested McAfee last month... more »

• Debate on immigration to get under way

  April 8, 2013 7:37 AM

  WASHINGTON - Senators writing a comprehensive immigration bill hope to finish their work this week. Their plan is sure to open a raucous public debate over measures to secure the border, allow tens of thousands of foreign workers into the country and grant eventual citizenship to the estimated 11... more »

• Earthquake rattles southern Mexico

  March 26, 2013 8:54 AM

  MEXICO CITY - Earthquakes shook Mexico City on Tuesday, causing buildings to sway in the capital and sending thousands fleeing into the streets as an earthquake alarm sounded. There were no immediate reports of damages or injuries. Mexico Seismology Service said the quake had a magnitude of 5.9... more »

• Officials: 9-year-old mother is at least 12, impregnated by stepdad

  February 13, 2013 6:30 PM

  MEXICO CITY - Authorities in the Mexican state of Jalisco say tests have revealed that a girl who gave birth two weeks ago is between 12 and 13 years of age, not 9 as the parents had claimed. Jalisco state prosecutors also say the girl was impregnated by her stepfather... more »

• Napolitano trumpets border security on 2-day tour

  February 5, 2013 3:12 AM

  SAN DIEGO - U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is in San Diego to trumpet what she calls dramatic improvements in border security. Napolitano told reporters after touring the border Monday that the difference from 20 years ago is like comparing a rocket ship to a horse and buggy.... more »

• 14 dead, 80 injured in Mexico oil company blast

  January 31, 2013 7:44 PM

  MEXICO CITY - Mexico's state-owned oil company says 14 people have died and 80 are injured in an office building explosion at its headquarters in the capital. An explosion at the main headquarters of Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, also damaged three floors of the building, sending hundreds into the streets... more »

• Mexico breaks up alleged border sex-slavery cult

  January 30, 2013 10:22 AM

  MEXICO CITY - Mexican officials say they have broken up a bizarre cult that allegedly ran a sex-slavery ring among its followers on the U.S. border. Mexico's National Immigration Institute says 14 foreigners have been detained in the raid on a house near Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo,... more »

• La. AG's oil spill tab nears $24M

  January 14, 2013 2:48 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's attorney general has spent nearly $24 million building the state's legal case against BP over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. And records show much of the money has gone to outside law firms that have contributed to his campaigns. The $15.4 million that Attorney... more »

• Mexico bakes nearly mile-long 'rosca' cake

  January 4, 2013 12:33 PM

  MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexican bakers have made a traditional holiday ring cake that instead of measuring the usual two feet or so, weighed in at 10 tons and stretched in a nearly mile-long circle on Mexico City's main plaza. National bakers association vice president Antonio Arias says the bready... more »

• Feds nearing deal with Transocean over Gulf spill

  January 3, 2013 11:06 AM

  NEW ORLEANS- The Justice Department is nearing a $1.4 billion settlement with Transocean Ltd., the owner of the drilling rig that sank after an explosion killed 11 workers and spawned the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Two people with knowledge of the negotiations say Switzerland-based Transocean... more »

• Judge approves settlement in BP class action suit

  December 22, 2012 9:50 AM

  NEW ORLEANS - A federal judge has given final approval to BP's settlement with businesses and individuals who lost money because of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP PLC estimates it will pay $7.8 billion to cover economic and medical claims from more than 100,000 businesses and individuals.... more »

• Source of persistent Gulf sheen remains a mystery

  December 18, 2012 4:19 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Officials say underwater inspections at the site of BP's Deepwater Horizon rig disaster have failed to identify the source of a persistent sheen on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. The Coast Guard said Tuesday that the recent inspections confirmed BP's Macondo well, which blew out... more »

• Investigators seek cause of crash that killed singer Jenni Rivera

  December 10, 2012 4:31 PM

  MONTERREY, Mexico - A Mexican aviation official says it will take at least 10 days to have a preliminary report on the plane crash that killed singer Jenni Rivera. The 43-year-old singer, born in California, was on a Learjet with six other people that took off from Monterrey early Sunday... more »

• Officials trying to identify body pulled from Gulf

  November 27, 2012 5:26 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - The Jefferson Parish coroner's office is trying to determine whether the decomposed body of a man recovered from the Gulf of Mexico is a worker missing since a fire erupted on an offshore oil platform on Nov. 16. The Coast Guard says the body was spotted Monday... more »

• Oysters available for holiday tables

  November 20, 2012 4:03 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Grocers and a leading oyster processor in Louisiana say supplies for holiday tables appear to be ample this year, but the news is not all good. The state Wildlife and Fisheries Department said late Tuesday that commercial oyster harvests east of the Mississippi River are at historic... more »

• Judge asked to extend deadline in BP settlement

  November 14, 2012 2:22 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - BP and a team of plaintiffs' attorneys are urging a federal judge to extend a deadline for businesses and individuals to revoke their requests to opt out of a proposed class-action settlement of economic damage claims spawned by the Gulf oil spill. Potential claimants had until Nov.... more »

• Federal judge urged to approve BP settlement

  November 8, 2012 10:49 AM

  NEW ORLEANS - BP PLC and a team of plaintiffs' attorneys are urging a federal judge to give final approval to a proposed class-action settlement of economic damage claims spawned by the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier is holding a "fairness... more »

• La. AG seeks trial for state claims over BP spill

  October 25, 2012 4:02 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Louisiana Attorney General James "Buddy" Caldwell's office is asking a federal judge to set a trial date for some of the state's economic loss claims against BP PLC stemming from the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In a court filing Wednesday, Caldwell's office claims... more »

• BP: Source of sheen from equipment

  October 18, 2012 3:25 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - BP PLC says a sheen on the Gulf of Mexico appears to have come from oil seeping out of a piece of discarded equipment used to contain its massive 2010 oil spill. On Thursday, the company said underwater surveys determined oil probably leaked from an 86-ton steel... more »

• Coast Guard searching Gulf for missing crewman

  October 17, 2012 3:03 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - The Coast Guard is searching for a missing 26-year-old Turkish crewmember approximately 230 miles south of New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico. Officials say the second mate was last seen walking the deck of the Aqua, a Maltese-flagged 816-foot tanker vessel, Tuesday night wearing a green... more »

• Paul becomes major hurricane in Pacific off Mexico

  October 15, 2012 4:14 PM

  MIAMI - Forecasters say Paul has become a major Category 3 hurricane in the Pacific off Mexico and a hurricane warning has been issued for a swath of Baja California's western coastline. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Paul's maximum sustained winds have increased to 120 mph (195 kph) as... more »

• Study: Virtually all Ala. tar balls from BP spill

  September 20, 2012 3:59 PM

  AUBURN, Ala. - A new chemical analysis shows that virtually all the tar balls now washing on to the Alabama coast are directly linked to the BP oil spill more than two years ago. The report released Thursday by Auburn University says that tar balls caused by the spill are... more »

• Lawmakers to hear from 'gun-walking' investigator

  September 20, 2012 8:50 AM

  WASHINGTON - The report on the bungled federal gun-trafficking probe known as Fast and Furious is the subject today at a hearing by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The report faults the Justice Department for mistakes made in an operation that allowed hundreds of guns to reach... more »

• Coast Guard suspends search for missing kayaker

  September 14, 2012 5:04 PM

  GRAND ISLE - The Coast Guard suspended the search today for a kayaker who didn't return from a fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico near Grand Isle. Lt. Matt Kor said Eric Richards, 32, of Prairieville left on the trip Monday morning. They were notified Tuesday night he... more »

• Coast Guard searches for missing kayaker in Gulf

  September 12, 2012 12:41 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - The Coast Guard is searching for a missing kayaker in a more than 600-square-mile area of the Gulf of Mexico near Grand Isle. Eric Richards, 32, of Prarieville went fishing Monday and was reported missing about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Coast Guard says that after Richards didn't... more »

• Transocean, feds considered $1.5B settlement

  September 10, 2012 1:06 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Transocean Ltd. and the Justice Department have discussed a $1.5 billion settlement that would resolve federal claims over the company's role in the 2010 rig explosion that led to the nation's worst offshore oil spill. But Switzerland-based Transocean Ltd. said in a regulatory filing Monday that several... more »

• Remnant of Isaac lurks in Gulf

  September 6, 2012 2:25 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - If a remnant of Hurricane Isaac becomes a tropical system in the Gulf of Mexico - which forecasters say could happen - it would be a rare event. In 2005, a remnant from a tropical depression that dissipated near Puerto Rico eventually became part of a new... more »

• Rigs, platforms evacuate Gulf ahead of Isaac

  August 26, 2012 5:10 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - The federal government says oil and gas operators are evacuating offshore platforms and rigs that could wind up in Tropical Storm Isaac's path through the Gulf of Mexico. Isaac is expected to become a Category 2 hurricane before making landfall late Tuesday or early Wednesday. The bureau... more »

• DEA, Mexico target methamphetamine production

  August 23, 2012 2:54 PM

  WASHINGTON - The Drug Enforcement Administration and the government of Mexico are pledging increased cooperation in attacking illegal methamphetamine production. Under a newly announced agreement, the DEA and Mexico will bolster intelligence sharing and joint law enforcement training efforts. Mexico has experienced a dramatic increase in seizures of clandestine methamphetamine... more »

• Tropical Storm Isaac expected to become hurricane

  August 23, 2012 2:46 PM

  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Forecasters say there's still a lot of uncertainty about the path that Tropical Storm Isaac will take. It's expected to head toward Florida as a hurricane by Monday, but the National Hurricane Center says some forecast models show it could go further west into the... more »

• TS Helene re-forms in Gulf of Mexico

  August 17, 2012 5:06 PM

  GULF OF MEXICO - The Mexican government issued a tropical storm warning for the coast of Mexico after Air Force hurricane hunters determined that Tropical Storm Helene reformed in the Bay of Campeche today. The storm is headed for the Mexican coast and could be pushed along the coast... more »

• New report ties cold Gulf water, dolphin deaths

  July 18, 2012 4:25 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Researchers say snowmelt that chilled coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico may have contributed to baby dolphin deaths in the winter of 2011. A new research paper says 86 baby dolphins are known to have been aborted or died shortly after birth during the period. Researcher... more »

• Mexico laments part of US immigration ruling

  June 25, 2012 5:06 PM

  MEXICO CITY - The Mexican government says it's disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld part of an Arizona law requiring police check the immigration status of anyone they stop. Mexico's Foreign Relations Secretary notes that Monday's ruling set aside as unconstitutional three parts of the controversial law, including the... more »

• Va. inventor claims design for BP well cap stolen

  June 20, 2012 5:27 PM

  ATLANTA - An inventor claims his design was the basis for the cap used to choke off the flow of oil to the Gulf of Mexico nearly three months after BP's undersea well blew in 2010. And he says it was stolen. Charles Adams of Radford, Va., filed a federal... more »

• Mississippi mud may be used to stave off erosion

  June 19, 2012 5:12 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - There's mud - lots of it - flowing down the Mississippi River and getting washed out into the Gulf of Mexico every day. Now, in an effort to help stave off the catastrophic loss of the mighty river's threatened delta, the Army Corps of Engineers says it... more »

• Gulfport man gets 12.5 years for oil spill fraud

  June 7, 2012 5:09 PM

  GULFPORT, Miss. - A Gulfport man, identified as the mastermind of a family scheme to illegally obtain about $100,000 in oil spill recovery money, has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison. The Sun Herald reports U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden sentenced 50-year-old Bobby Earl Keys to 12½... more »

• One injured in Gulf platform fire

  May 29, 2012 5:32 PM

  VENICE- Coast Guard crews from South Louisiana are working a platform fire about 20 miles off Louisiana's shoreline. One tank caught fire this morning on a platform owned by Energy XXI. Seven people were on the platform when the fire started; all were evacuated but one person was injured.... more »

• Coast Guard responds to downed helicopter in Gulf

  May 28, 2012 5:07 PM

  GRAND ISLE - A Coast Guard spokesperson confirmed to News 2 a helicopter crashed into the Gulf of Mexico earlier this afternoon. Petty Officer Steve Lehman said at 4:13 p.m. they received a report of a downed PHI helicopter with only one person on board. Lehman said the... more »

• Shipwreck discovered off Gulf of Mexico

  May 18, 2012 11:14 AM

  NEW ORLEANS- Gin bottles, cannons, muskets and ceramic dinnerware, some 200 years old, have been discovered at a shipwreck site in little-chartered waters off the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists say the site, about 200 miles off the coast and about 4,000 feet deep, is one of... more »

• Mexican topless candidate sparks debate

  May 10, 2012 12:24 PM

  MEXICO CITY - Social networking sites are buzzing with debate over a Mexican congressional candidate who released a campaign poster showing herself topless. Candidate Natalia Juarez says the poster is intended to fight prejudices. Twitter user Camila Deborarte tweeted "I'd vote for her." But Itzel Garcia responded, "What a shame!... more »

• Earthquake rocks Mexico City

  May 1, 2012 12:30 PM

  MEXICO CITY - A moderate earthquake off the coast of Baja California swayed buildings in Mexico City Tuesday. Mexico City's mayor says there were no immediate reports of damage in the capital. The U.S. Geological Survey says the 5.0 quake was centered 114 miles off the coast of Cabo... more »

• Wal-Mart Stock Slides on Bribery Allegations

  April 23, 2012 7:28 PM

  Shares of Wal-mart took a dive after news reports alleging executives of the company in Mexico used a vast bribery scheme to build new stores and covered it up. Wal-Mart stocked dropped nearly 5 percent during trading, at one point. This weekend, the New York Times reported Wal-Mart used millions... more »

• Jindal heading to New Mexico later this month

  April 17, 2012 6:52 AM

  BATON ROUGE - Secure in his second term, Gov. Bobby Jindal is continuing to help other Republican candidates and organizations with their fundraising efforts. Jindal is scheduled to attend an April 27 luncheon to raise dollars for the Republican Party of New Mexico. An invitation obtained by The... more »

• Congress punts on setting aside BP fines for Gulf

  March 30, 2012 7:23 AM

  NEW ORLEANS - Congress has passed a stopgap three-month transportation bill that does not include a provision to send 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill to Gulf states. The bill was passed Thursday after heated partisan debate. A Senate version of... more »

• Organization cancels trip to Mexico over travel warning Play Video

  March 27, 2012 5:33 PM

  BATON ROUGE- The Baptist Collegiate Ministry on LSU's campus cancelled a mission trip to Mexico following a travel alert issued by the U.S. Government. The warning urges people to avoid travel to 14 of Mexico's 31 states. It was issued in February. Over the past six years, approximately... more »

• Shaw inks deal to sevice power plants in Arizona, New Mexico

  February 27, 2012 3:09 PM

  Baton Rouge- The Shaw Group Incorporated has announced it has signed a new contract with Arizona Public Service Co. to provide maintenance and construction services to eight fossil power plants in Arizona and New Mexico. Shaw already holds a contract with APS to provide maintenance, modifications, construction and radiological... more »

• Company sued over 2004 oil spill in Gulf of Mexico

  February 2, 2012 2:14 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - An environmental watchdog group is suing the company it blames for an oil spill 11 miles off the coast of Louisiana that allegedly has been flowing into the Gulf of Mexico for more than seven years. In a federal lawsuit filed Thursday in New Orleans, the Waterkeeper... more »

• Child Ticketed, Mom goes to Press

  January 12, 2012 7:30 PM

  A 6-year-old boy in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico got a ticket for reckless driving,driving without a license and not having his toy motorcycle registered after it crashed it into a SUV. Karla Noriega is the boy's mom and says police impounded the kid-sized motorcycle that her son got for Christmas. She... more »

• BP loses 2 big Gulf oil spill rulings

  November 15, 2011 1:58 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - BP has lost two big rulings in its fight to shield itself from potentially having to pay billions of dollars more in damages related to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that BP PLC is not entitled to coverage... more »

• Bacteria may have caused dolphin abortions, deaths

  October 27, 2011 5:17 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Dolphin experts say common bacteria known to cause abortions in marine mammals killed some of the hundreds of dolphins that have washed ashore in the northern Gulf of Mexico since February 2010. More than 100 of the dead dolphins were babies or fetuses. But Teri Rowles... more »

• BP, 2 other companies cited over Gulf oil spill

  October 12, 2011 5:20 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Federal regulators have cited oil company BP PLC and two other companies - Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton - for alleged safety and environmental violations stemming from last year's rig explosion and massive oil spill in the Gulf. The companies have 60 days to appeal Wednesday's citations... more »

• 2 Ala. residents plead guilty to oil spill fraud

  September 26, 2011 11:59 AM

  MOBILE, Ala. - Two residents have admitted filing false claims so they could receive money meant for people harmed by last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Pamela Washington and Robert Brown pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy to commit fraud. The Mobile Press-Register reports that prosecutors... more »

• Bill aimed at restoring Gulf goes to full Senate

  September 21, 2011 4:18 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - A bill that calls for 80 percent of BP penalties to go toward restoring the Gulf of Mexico has moved onto the full U.S. Senate. On Wednesday, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the bill, called the Restore Act. Next, it goes to the... more »

• New evidence cites more BP oil spill mistakes

  September 13, 2011 4:56 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Interviews and documents obtained by The Associated Press show a BP scientist identified a previously unreported deposit of flammable gas that could have played a role in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. But the oil giant failed to divulge the finding to government investigators for at... more »

• La. oil workers missing off stormy Mexico coast

  September 9, 2011 1:55 PM

  MEXICO CITY - Mexico's state oil company says it is searching for 10 workers who were evacuated from a platform in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Tropical Storm Nate. Four of the workers, who are employed by Houston-based Geokinetics Inc., are from New Iberia. Randy Reed, president... more »

• US, Mexico seek deal on oil below maritime border

  September 2, 2011 2:43 PM

  WASHINGTON - The U.S. and Mexico are working toward a deal on how to share and regulate oil in reservoirs crossing their maritime border. The State Department says officials spent two days this week in Washington beginning formal talks on a "trans-boundary energy agreement" for hydrocarbon reservoirs underneath the... more »

• State of emergency in La for Gulf storm

  September 1, 2011 6:48 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Louisiana's governor has declared a state of emergency as a slow-moving area of storms lumbers toward the state from the Gulf of Mexico, bringing the possibility of flash floods and stormy seas. Gov. Bobby Jindal says the National Weather Service is not predicting a hurricane but... more »

• Oil spill fund wants Miss. case in federal court

  August 15, 2011 5:18 PM

  JACKSON, Miss. - The administrator of BP's $20 billion oil spill fund wants a federal court to preside over a Mississippi lawsuit, instead of the state court where the suit was filed. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has said Washington lawyer Kenneth Feinberg isn't properly handling the fund for... more »

• Feds: No need for drastic measures for sea turtles

  August 11, 2011 3:28 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Contrary to the wishes of environmentalists, the federal government says it will not place emergency restrictions on Gulf of Mexico shrimpers to protect endangered and threatened sea turtles from shrimp trawl nets. Federal regulators say drastic measures are not needed because the number of dead sea... more »

• Tropical Storm Don forms in southern Gulf

  July 27, 2011 5:30 PM

  MIAMI - Forecasters say Tropical Storm Don has formed in the southern Gulf of Mexico and its track over the next several days shows that it's headed toward southeastern Texas. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Wednesday that it doesn't appear the storm will strengthen into a hurricane.... more »

• Researchers: Gulf drilling could add 230,000 jobs

  July 22, 2011 9:57 AM

  NEW YORK - An energy research group predicted that an increase in drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico could create 230,000 jobs and add $44 billion to the economy next year. IHS on Thursday echoed the industry's argument that regulations enacted following the Gulf oil spill have slowed... more »

• Whale research team focuses on oil spill

  July 21, 2011 6:15 PM

  BATON ROUGE- One of the world's most sophisticated whale research vessels is making a pit stop in Baton Rouge this week. The Ocean Alliance's Odyssey ship is stocked with high tech lab equipment made for studying whales. The group is on a five year research expedition to study the... more »

• Report: Red snapper in Gulf being overfished

  July 14, 2011 3:33 PM

  PORTLAND, Maine - Forty stocks of fish populations are subject to overfishing in U.S. waters, but progress is being made to rebuild stocks and reduce overfishing, federal officials said Thursday. The number of fish populations being fished at too high of a level at the end of 2010 was... more »

• La. seeks over half billion in BP-funded projects

  July 11, 2011 4:55 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says the state will seek approval for more than a half billion dollars in projects to restore coastal areas and fisheries affected by last year's huge BP oil spill. The money would come from $1 billion that BP agreed to spend in... more »

• 4 schools get $25M for oil spill health studies

  July 7, 2011 1:56 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Studies at four Gulf Coast universities will focus on continuing fear that last year's oil spill is making people sick, especially if they eat lots of fish. All four will look at people's mental and physical health over the next five years. Three will also look... more »

• Tropical storm forms in Gulf, heavy rain expected

  June 28, 2011 9:43 PM

  MIAMI - Forecasters say Tropical Storm Arlene has formed in the Gulf of Mexico but is not likely to threaten the U.S. coast. The government of Mexico on Tuesday issued Tropical Storm warnings for the northeastern coast from Barra De Nautla north to Bahia Algodones. The storm is... more »

• Oil spill pelicans are having babies on Ga. coast

  June 15, 2011 4:04 PM

  SAVANNAH, Ga. - Brown pelicans rescued from the oil spill off Louisiana last year are hatching babies in their new home on the Georgia coast - surprising some scientists who feared the oiled shorebirds would stop reproducing. Tim Keyes of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said Wednesday he's... more »

• Grounded tanker in Mississippi River freed

  June 15, 2011 3:48 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - A grounded oil tanker on the Mississippi River has been freed from the mud where it got stranded about 5 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The 800-foot tanker Ratna Puja was southbound carrying a load of carbon black oil when it got stuck Monday night.... more »

• Adrian becomes major hurricane in the Pacific

  June 9, 2011 5:55 PM

  MIAMI - Forecasters say Hurricane Adrian has strengthened to a powerful Category 4 storm off the Pacific coast of Mexico but is still expected to stay offshore. Forecasters say maximum sustained winds for the first hurricane of the 2011 season increased Thursday evening to about 130 mph (209 kph).... more »

• Exxon makes new oil discovery in Gulf of Mexico

  June 8, 2011 3:29 PM

  NEW YORK - Exxon Mobil Corp. said Wednesday it is the first company to discover oil from a new deep-water well in the Gulf of Mexico since last year's massive oil spill. The oil giant said its exploration project 250 miles southwest of New Orleans hit oil and gas... more »

• DEQ: Smoke from Mexico to hike ozone in Louisiana

  May 27, 2011 4:17 AM

  BATON ROUGE- Louisiana's Department of Environmental Quality says smoke from wildfires in Mexico may increase ozone levels in Baton Rouge and the New Orleans area on Friday to a level considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. It says moderate southwesterly winds ahead of a cold front are likely to carry the... more »

• Judge orders action on 6 deepwater permits

  May 10, 2011 5:23 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - A federal judge has given the Obama administration 30 days to act on six permits for deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman issued the order Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by Ensco Offshore Co. and others. He rejected Interior Department... more »

• House passes bill making it easier to drill

  May 5, 2011 2:26 PM

  WASHINGTON - The Republican-controlled House has passed the first of three bills aimed at making it easier for oil companies to drill offshore. The House passed the first measure 266-149 Thursday. It would force the government to conduct three lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and one off... more »

• US rig count jumps by 28, mostly in Texas

  April 22, 2011 4:10 PM

  HOUSTON - The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by 28 this week to 1,800. Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc. reported Thursday that 913 rigs were exploring for oil and 878 for gas. Nine were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, the... more »

• AP: Experts fear another oil disaster

  April 14, 2011 3:46 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - With everything Big Oil and the government have learned in the year since the Gulf of Mexico disaster, could it happen again? Absolutely. An Associated Press examination of the industry and interviews with experts on the perils of deep-sea drilling show there are still serious... more »

• Report: Effects of spill will unfold over years

  April 12, 2011 5:35 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - A new report by a prominent environmental group says the effects of the BP oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico and the animals that live in it will take place over years, if not decades. The National Wildlife Federation says it is much too soon... more »

• Houston company aids La. oil spill cleanup

  March 23, 2011 6:36 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - A Houston company is helping the Coast Guard clean up oil that has reached the shores of Louisiana even though the company doesn't believe it was responsible for the spill. A statement issued Wednesday by Anglo-Suisse Offshore Partners says the company was surprised to learn that... more »

• Probe: Pipe piece caused blowout preventer failure

  March 23, 2011 11:19 AM

  NEW ORLEANS - A federal probe has found that a trapped piece of drill pipe prevented a key failsafe device from properly sealing off the blown oil well that caused last year's massive Gulf oil spill, according to a report released Wednesday. The 551-page report said the device, known... more »

• No new beach cleaning needed on Gulf, feds say

  February 11, 2011 5:08 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - The Coast Guard says the cleanup of oiled beaches along the Gulf of Mexico has reached a point where crews, heavy equipment and thorough scrubbing can cause more damage to the ecosystem than leaving what oil is left alone. A Coast Guard report released Friday says... more »

• La. leaders ask Obama for meeting on Gulf drilling

  February 2, 2011 1:31 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Political leaders in south Louisiana are asking President Barack Obama to meet with them to discuss how local economies have been hurt by the slowdown in offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Six parish presidents and two mayors sent a letter Tuesday to Obama asking him... more »

• 91,000 Gulf oil spill claims, just one final payment

  January 31, 2011 2:52 PM

  OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - Thousands of people and businesses are awaiting final settlement payments from BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill compensation fund, but records show that only one has been paid - after BP intervened. The Gulf Coast Claims Facility was set up in August to independently administer BP's... more »

• Flinging Pot with a Catapult

  January 27, 2011 7:34 PM

  Marijuana smugglers are using an old invention in a new way to get pot acorss the border from Mexico into Arizona. They're seen on surveillance video preparing a catapult and launching packages of marijuana over the border fence. A Mexican army officer says the three-foot tall catapult was found about... more »

• Spill commission calls for more reform

  January 10, 2011 4:40 PM

  WASHINGTON - Despite reforms put in place since the massive BP oil spill, a presidential investigating panel has concluded that the government and the oil industry still haven't done enough to avert another catastrophic accident offshore. The blowout and rig explosion in April that killed 11 workers and released more... more »

• Two proposals for permanent oil spill rescue center

  December 29, 2010 1:21 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Before the last birds plucked from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill had left a rescue center in Hammond, La., some of the station's former staffers were looking for $2 million to open a permanent center to take charge after the next oil spill. A group including... more »

• Master of fishing boat missing in Gulf of Mexico

  December 13, 2010 6:49 PM

  WHITE LAKE - The Coast Guard is searching for a 49-year-old fishing boat master about 3 miles offshore from the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico. The fisherman was the master of the 85-foot Miss Carol. The Coast Guard says the master was last seen at about 12 a.m.... more »

• Obama: No offshore driling in East Coast waters

  December 1, 2010 11:13 AM

  WASHINGTON - In a reversal, the Obama administration says it will not pursue offshore drilling in East Coast waters, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico. A senior administration official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that because of the BP oil spill, the Interior Department will not propose any new... more »

• E-mails show struggle to guess size of Gulf oil spill

  November 25, 2010 11:16 AM

  WASHINGTON - A review of thousands of government e-mails from last summer shows that the Obama administration struggled behind the scenes to determine just how much oil was leaking into the Gulf of Mexico from a broken BP well. The e-mails, obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of... more »

• Feds: Oil dispersant worked better than thought

  November 23, 2010 2:00 PM

  WASHINGTON - The federal government now figures that oil dispersants did a better job of breaking up the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico than it first calculated. A new analysis released Tuesday says the controversial chemicals helped break up about 32 million gallons of oil - about... more »

• Federal waters reopened after Gulf oil spill

  November 15, 2010 3:11 PM

  NEW ORLEANS – The federal government is allowing commercial and recreational fishers back into more than 8,400 square miles of Gulf waters that had been closed after the BP oil spill. The area extends from the Louisiana state water line to due south of the Alabama and Florida state line,... more »

• Number of people denied BP money up sharply

  November 1, 2010 3:54 PM

  OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - BP's claims chief says the number of residents being denied compensation for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is rising sharply because of a flood of new claims without proper documentation or with no proof at all. Some 20,000 people have been told they have no... more »

• Feds: new tests confirm safety of Gulf seafood

  October 29, 2010 4:58 PM

  Federal scientists say a new spate of testing for chemical dispersant in Gulf of Mexico seafood has found no problems, and Gulf seafood is safe to eat. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Food and Drug Administration said Friday that the new round of testing found only a... more »

• More Gulf waters open to shrimping, fishing

  October 28, 2010 4:14 PM

  BATON ROUGE - More waters in the Mississippi River Delta that were closed after the BP oil spill were opened today for Louisiana commercial and recreational fish and shrimp harvesters. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries today ordered that a section of waters in Placquemines Parish be immediately opened... more »

• Jindal travels to New Mexico for campaign rally

  October 26, 2010 3:13 PM

  Governor Bobby Jindal is back on the campaign trail, this time helping out Republican candidates in New Mexico. Jindal traveled to New Mexico for a campaign rally for GOP gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez, as part of a Republican Governors Association tour of states with tough governor's races. Jindal... more »

• BP mum on future plans in Gulf

  October 13, 2010 11:48 AM

  BP wouldn't say Wednesday whether it will seek new permits to drill in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico now that the moratorium imposed after its massive spill has been lifted. Other oil companies, such as Royal Dutch Shell, have made clear their intentions to begin drilling as soon as the... more »

• Hurricane Paula gains strength off Yucatan

  October 12, 2010 1:21 PM

  Hurricane Paula has strengthened into a Category 2 storm with top sustained winds of 100 miles per hour off the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Tuesday that Paula was moving north-northwest at near 10 mph. The storm was about 140 miles... more »

• Hurricane Paula destroys homes

  October 12, 2010 12:41 PM

  Hurricane Paula has smashed some homes in Honduras as it heads toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Emergency officials say heavy rains and high winds destroyed 19 homes in northeastern Honduras. Paula is expected to dump 3 to 6 inches of rain on Honduras, northern Belize, eastern portions of Mexico's... more »