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• 14 charged in case of bizarre jail video

  May 10, 2013 2:00 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Indictments were filed Friday against 14 inmates in connection with videos showing prisoners brazenly using drugs, drinking beer and flashing a loaded gun in the New Orleans jail. The videos, made in June and July 2009, came to light in April during a federal court hearing on... more »

• Man bleeds to death after accidentally shooting himself

  April 29, 2013 11:42 AM

  NEW ORLEANS - Authorities said a 26-year-old New Orleans man died over the weekend after he accidentally shot himself while trying to repair his gun. John Gagliano, chief investigator for the Orleans Parish coroner's office, tells The Times-Picayune Dejuan Antoine died around 1:30 a.m. Saturday. A woman who was with... more »

• Young musicians cling to Cajun, zydeco traditions

  April 26, 2013 12:27 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Members of the Cajun band T'Monde are young, but they like their music old. The band of 20-somethings opened the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Friday with century-old, fiddle-heavy Cajun tunes. As music fans wielding folding chairs and umbrellas filed through the gates of the... more »

• Woman accused of stabbing, killing boyfriend

  April 8, 2013 11:16 AM

  NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans police have arrested a woman who allegedly stabbed her boyfriend to death. The Times-Picayune reports 32-year-old Octavia Gary of New Orleans was booked Sunday with the second-degree murder of 40-year-old Anderson Soco. Police say the stabbing occurred during an argument. It was unclear whether Gary... more »

• Outside expert hired to probe Super Bowl outage

  February 15, 2013 2:03 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - The company that supplies electricity to the Superdome and the stadium's management company have hired an outside expert to investigate the cause of the power failure during the Super Bowl earlier this month. Entergy spokesman Michael Burns said Friday that the utility and SMG have hired Utah-based... more »

• Manningham a Super Bowl spectator for 49ers

  January 29, 2013 3:47 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Mario Manningham hobbled into the Superdome on crutches and found a seat in the stands to watch his San Francisco teammates go through media day frenzy, nearly two weeks after undergoing left knee surgery and a year after making the catch of his career in the New... more »

• Judge puts a hold on Super Bowl "Clean Zone"

  January 24, 2013 4:33 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - The ACLU said a federal court put a temporary restraining order in place to keep part of the Super Bowl's "Clean Zone" from being put into effect in New Orleans. The zone would restrict the use of banners, signs and flags during the Super Bowl celebrations... more »

• Source: Alicia Keys to sing Super Bowl anthem

  January 18, 2013 10:36 AM

  NEW ORLEANS - A person familiar with Super Bowl entertainment plans tells The Associated Press that Alicia Keys has been lined up to perform the national anthem before the NFL championship game in New Orleans on Feb. 3. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the NFL has... more »

• Galatoire's returns to Baton Rouge

  January 15, 2013 10:24 PM

  BATON ROUGE- New Orleans' culinary flare returned to the Capital City Tuesday. Galatoire's reopened after closing nearly two years ago. The restaurant is in a new location: at the corner of Acadian Thruway and Perkins Road. In March 2011, managers said the restaurant was shutting down temporarily... more »

• United says failed generator forced 787 landing

  December 5, 2012 4:39 PM

  CHICAGO - United Airlines says a failed electrical generator is the reason one of its new Boeing 787s made an emergency landing in New Orleans. The flight from Houston to Newark diverted to New Orleans shortly after takeoff on Tuesday. No one was hurt. United says one of the plane's... more »

• Appeal court: teacher furlough day illegal

  November 15, 2012 3:51 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - A state appeal court says that the Jefferson Parish Public School System illegally cut teachers' pay by imposing an unpaid day of leave for every teacher in the district. The Jefferson Federation of Teachers sued the school board after it ordered the furlough. District Judge Steve Windhorst... more »

• SEC, Big 12 get 12-year deal from ESPN for Sugar

  November 14, 2012 4:52 PM

  NEW YORK - The Big 12 and Southeastern Conference have agreed to a 12-year deal with ESPN for the rights to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. A person familiar with the contract said it was worth about $80 million per year. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because... more »

• La. to pay up to $90M to end Superdome bond deal Play Video

  October 18, 2012 2:52 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana will pay as much as $90 million to get out of a troubled borrowing deal that helped upgrade the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. The State Bond Commission gave preliminary approval Thursday to a debt refinancing for the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District that will include the... more »

• Second LSU student arrested after NO shooting

  October 10, 2012 10:51 AM

  BATON ROUGE - Police at LSU arrested a second student in connection with a shooting in New Orleans. LSUPD arrested Nathan Andrew Yuhas of Pennsylvania yesterday afternoon in suspicion of principal to attempted first-degree murder. He was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison as a fugitive from... more »

• Obama vows to defend Medicare, Social Security

  September 21, 2012 10:48 AM

  WOODBRIDGE, Va. - President Barack Obama says programs like Medicare and Social Security are not "handouts," telling seniors that he will defend health and retirement benefits for today's seniors and future generations. Obama says in a video address to the AARP that Medicare and Social Security "are not handouts. You... more »

• Smith, Hargrove visit NFL for talks on bounties

  September 18, 2012 4:02 PM

  NEW YORK - Will Smith and Anthony Hargrove have left their meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell regarding the Saints bounty scandal. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello says the players left the NFL offices around 4 p.m. (EDT), about three hours after they arrived. Smith and Hargrove did not make themselves... more »

• 'Spags' has Saints defenders trying on new roles

  July 30, 2012 12:49 PM

  METAIRIE - When Steve Spagnuolo took over as New Orleans defensive coordinator this year, he brought a philosophy that it is good to ask players to do things they've never done, as long as he believes they can do it. Spagnuolo's fresh look at personnel already has led to a... more »

• Alleged baby gator heisters arrested

  July 12, 2012 4:11 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans police say they've arrested the men accused of stealing 10 baby alligators from the Audubon Zoo. Police say 29-year-old Rodney L. Thornton was arrested after an officer saw him trying the doors of parked cars Wednesday night. A news release says Thornton ran, dropping a... more »

• 10 baby gators stolen from zoo; 8 returned

  July 10, 2012 4:28 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans police are looking for two men accused of possessing 10 alligators stolen from the Audubon Zoo. Zoo workers found signs of a break-in at a gift shop before the zoo opened July 4 - and only five baby gators in a tank that had held... more »

• Prosecutors: No need for new trial in Katrina case

  June 5, 2012 4:25 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - Prosecutors are urging a judge to reject defense attorneys' claims that a "secret public relations campaign" by federal authorities deprived five former police officers of a fair trial on charges stemming from deadly shootings on a New Orleans bridge following Hurricane Katrina. In a court filing Tuesday,... more »

• Trial opens for suit against Costner over BP deal

  June 4, 2012 10:48 AM

  NEW ORLEANS - Jury selection has begun in a legal fight between two Hollywood stars over investments in a device used to try to clean up BP's 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In his lawsuit, actor Stephen Baldwin claims Kevin Costner and a business partner duped Baldwin... more »

• Teen pulled from Lake Pontchartrain dies

  May 15, 2012 2:53 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - A teenager pulled from the bottom of Lake Pontchartrain and put on life support has died. The Times-Picayune reports that 17-year-old Shone Badon died Tuesday at the Interim LSU Public Hospital, according to John Gagliano, the Orleans Parish coroner's chief investigator. Officers were called to the lake... more »

• Sign supporting Saints against Bears stolen

  September 17, 2011 10:16 AM

  NEW ORLEANS - A huge banner created by students fired up for Sunday's New Orleans Saints-Chicago Bears game has been stolen. The banner, created by students at Eleanor McMain Magnet School was 30 feet long, six feet high, reading "It's Bear Season," was stolen Thursday night, despite being anchored... more »

• Hibernia Building to be converted into apartments

  August 27, 2011 11:21 AM

  NEW ORLEANS- An icon of the New Orleans skyline - the Hibernia Building - has been sold to a joint venture with plans to convert it into 175 apartments. The deal was announced Friday by HRI Properties and Woodward Interests LLC, which are buying the 23-story building from Capital... more »

• Volunteer group aims to ease hurricane evacuations

  August 13, 2011 3:28 PM

  NEW ORLEANS- As New Orleans heads into the peak of hurricane season, an all-volunteer group is geared up to help ease the evacuation process for those who don't have their own transportation out of town. Evacuteer.org is in its third hurricane season. The volunteer group was founded by photographer... more »

• Rising river halts work on hurricane levees

  May 7, 2011 9:54 AM

  NEW ORLEANS- The Army Corps of Engineers says the rising Mississippi River has forced it to suspend work on 15 miles of hurricane levees on New Orleans' west bank and in Plaquemines Parish - from English Turn to Oakville. A news release says high water construction restrictions will keep... more »

• Nicolas Cage arrested in New Orleans

  April 16, 2011 5:52 PM

  NEW ORLEANS- Academy Award-winning actor Nicolas Cage spent the night in a New Orleans jail Friday evening after fighting with his wife. Police say that the couple were arguing in front of a home that Cage said they were renting while his wife disagreed. Cage grabbed her arm, started... more »

• 2 children, 1 man died in apparent murder suicide

  March 6, 2011 11:32 AM

  NEW ORLEANS- Authorities say they're investigating an apparent murder-suicide in which a 22-year-old man is believed to have shot two children before turning the gun on himself. Officer Hilal Williams of the New Orleans Police Department says a nine-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were killed. Their names weren't... more »

• BP to consider ways to locate boom anchors

  December 27, 2010 10:32 AM

  NEW ORLEANS - The Coast Guard says BP PLC has agreed to look at the best way to find thousands of 3-foot-tall boom anchors left behind in the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding waters after the oil spill. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Lionel Bryant tells The Times-Picayune that BP... more »

• Baton Rouge man indicted in shooting death

  November 4, 2010 6:00 AM

  BATON ROUGE - An East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury has indicted Travis Griffin in the July 9 shooting death of a New Orleans man. Travis Montrell Griffin is accused of shooting and killing Devone Johnson Sr. after the two got into a fight. more »

• Orleans clinics to stay open

  September 23, 2010 5:43 AM

  A partnership between state, federal and local governments will ensure that a network of community primary care health clinics will remain open in New Orleans. Low-income and uninsured residents will continue to have access to the clinics - regardless of their ability to pay - under a waiver negotiated by... more »

• 29 freight cars derail in New Orleans

  August 10, 2010 7:27 AM

  Investigators are trying to find the cause of a 29-car derailment of a freight train in New Orleans. No injuries were reported from Monday's accident. A fire department spokesman says tank cars involved in the wreck apparently were empty. The rest of the derailment involved hopper cars. more »

• Cosby addresses Essence Fest crowd

  July 3, 2010 9:49 PM

  Bill Cosby used his trademark humor and storytelling style to chide hundreds gathered Saturday at the Essence Music Festival's empowerment seminars into talking to their children about real life and, in the process, keeping it simple. "We've got to lay it out for them," Cosby said when asked about... more »

• Post-Katrina housing projects delayed

  June 27, 2010 11:57 AM

  Two post-Hurricane Katrina housing projects for special needs residents have been stalled for months as the State Bond Commission awaits a report from the University of New Orleans. The Times-Picayune reports that nonprofit developer Gulf Coast Housing Partnership has spent more than $1 million preparing the stalled projects: a new... more »

• Threat charge against suspended lawyer dismissed

  June 26, 2010 1:23 PM

  A federal indictment accusing a suspended attorney of e-mailing a threat to the bankruptcy court in New Orleans has been dismissed. A judge ruled that although the e-mail sent by Ashton O'Dwyer in January contained coarse language, it did not amount to a threat. O'Dwyer is undergoing a bankruptcy case.... more »

• Woman pleads guilty to Katrina-related fraud

  May 29, 2010 10:52 AM

  A woman has pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge stemming from Hurricane Katrina relief money she received. U.S. Attorney Jim Letten says that Sharon Decarlo Baker pleaded guilty in New Orleans to one theft count alleging she stole $30,000 from the Road Home program. According to court... more »

• Oil spill hearings scheduled for Tuesday

  May 8, 2010 1:24 PM

  The Coast Guard and the Minerals Management Service are holding public hearings on the investigation into what caused an oil rig explosion off the Louisiana coast. The agencies said Saturday that the hearings will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday in New Orleans. The joint investigation will be... more »

• New Orleans woman sentenced for health care fraud

  March 27, 2010 5:49 PM

  A New Orleans woman convicted of health care fraud charges has been sentenced to 21 months in prison. U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon also on Thursday ordered 54-year-old Una Favorite Brown to pay about $33,000 in restitution. In September, a federal jury convicted Brown of one... more »

• Man shoots would-be car thief

  March 25, 2010 8:43 AM

  An armed man who tried to carjack someone in New Orleans was fatally shot as he stood outside the car. Police said the identities of the victim or the person who shot him were not available early Thursday. According to police spokeswoman Hilal Williams, the man approached a motorist, pulled... more »

• High speed rail meeting under way

  March 24, 2010 10:55 AM

  A final draft report for high speed rail service is being discussed right now at the State Capitol. The group discussing this is comprised of East Baton Rouge Parish and Ascension Parish officials, as well as legislators from surrounding parishes. They are talking about how to move this project... more »

• May election to be held for House seat

  March 5, 2010 5:31 AM

  A special election to fill Rep. Karen Carter Peterson's seat in the state House of Representatives will be held in May. Rep. Karen Carter Peterson, a Democrat, was elected to the state Senate. House Speaker Jim Tucker set the special election date for May 1, with a run-off on May... more »

• Nazi albums at World War II Museum

  January 27, 2010 5:26 AM

  When private John Pistone went to the former headquarters of Adolf Hitler in the closing days of World War II, he found a nice souvenir. Pistone took home a 12-pound album filled with pictures of paintings and other artwork. Now that album may help solve one of the greatest mysteries... more »