Jobs trump airplane After reading the story, "Unequipped pest plane idle 6 years" (front page, Dec. 20), I started shaking my head in disbelief over our local government at work. All I can say is that I hope come mosquito season the overpriced 1979 King Air finally gets in the air and does the job it was meant to do in 2003, or I say let's go back to the trucks. It just might save a few county workers their jobs in 2010! ...more

December 24, 2009

Moderate Senate Democrats threatened today to scuttle health-care legislation if their demands aren't met, while more liberal members warned their party leaders not to bend. ...more

November 22, 2009

Facing fierce resistance, the Obama administration today backed off a plan to ban sales of raw oysters from the Gulf of Mexico during warm weather. ...more

November 14, 2009

A Louisiana justice of the peace who refused to marry a couple because the bride was white and groom was black has resigned. ...more

November 3, 2009

Senate Democrats voiced deep disagreements Tuesday about the idea of a government-run health insurance plan, suggesting that the decision by Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada to include a public plan in major health care legislation had failed to unite his caucus. ...more

October 28, 2009

The controversy over new offshore drilling splashed Monday onto the opening day of the Democratic National Convention, with Floridians rejecting a Louisiana senator's request for a chance to talk to them about the idea. ...more

August 26, 2008

A long way from Iraq and the war debate in Washington, Herman Moore sat outside a tent in a downtown New Orleans homeless camp, trying to make sense of a proposal that helps Iraqi war refugees but will likely exclude Hurricane Katrina victims. ...more

June 9, 2008