The Associated Press

THIBODAUX, La. (AP) — Nicholls State University will hold a conference Wednesday reviewing the effects of the BP oil spill two years ago.

Keynote speaker is Donald Boesch, appointed by President Barack Obama to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.

Boesch is a professor of marine science at the University of Maryland.

Other speakers include Robert Dickey of the Food and Drug Administration, state health officer Jimmy Guidry and LSU environmental sciences professor Ed Overton.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Cosimo Matassa, the recording producer whose New Orleans studio was where Fats Domino recorded his first album "The Fat Man" in 1949, has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Matassa was honored over the weekend in Cleveland for his contributions to the evolution of rock and roll.

Other 2012 Hall of Fame inductees included the Beastie Boys, Guns 'n' Roses, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Chicago blues guitarist Freddie King.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Nine ships, including three tall military sailing ships, will adorn the Mississippi River in New Orleans this week as the nation kicks off the bicentennial commemoration of the War of 1812.

The ships are scheduled to arrive on Tuesday afternoon. There will be three U.S. Navy warships, three international warships and the sailing ships, including the Coast Guard's Cutter Eagle. The public can visit the ships for free between Wednesday and Sunday.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The French Quarter Festival, a free four-day music festival centered in this city's historic center, is seeing what some long-time performers say are the largest crowds ever for a festival that's been around since the 1980s.

"This is the biggest I've seen it," jazz trumpeter Leroy Jones told the Times-Picayune after a midday set with one of his bands, New Orleans' Finest.

Throngs of people packed the French Quarter and listened to music on 22 stages around the old city center.

HOUSTON (AP) — Shell Oil reports that it has mobilized an
oil spill response vessel after a light, 10-square-mile oil slick
was spotted between two of its major production sites in the
Gulf of Mexico. The light sheen was spotted about 130 miles
southeast of New Orleans.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jason Smith has helped the New
Orleans Hornets to their second win in three games. He scored
22 points on Wednesday night in a 105-96 victory over the
Sacramento Kings.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Justice Department has agreed to
turn over at least 100 scientific documents in response to BP
PLC's claims that the federal government may have
overestimated the amount of oil that spewed into the Gulf of
Mexico from the company's Macondo well.
In a court filing Wednesday, Justice Department attorneys also
vow to work with BP to resolve their dispute over the
company's assertion that the government improperly withheld
thousands of similar documents.
Last month, BP asked a magistrate to order the government to

Authorities say there are no signs of shoreline or wildlife being affected by the discharge of fuel oil from a tanker on the Mississippi River.

The Coast Guard said the discharge from a ballast pipe on the tanker Overseas Beryl was reported shortly after 10 p.m. Monday and it was plugged around 4 a.m. Tuesday.

Cleanup has begun at the site downriver from New Orleans. The amount of fuel oil spilled remained unclear at midmorning.

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — Water levels have been up in four monitoring wells for more than 85 straight days, but the state-imposed groundwater emergency in two areas of south Caddo Parish remains in place.

The state Department of Natural Resources' conservation office said in a news release that it will continue to "closely and carefully monitor hydrologic conditions" in the areas and determine if and when the water use restrictions should be removed.

General Motors will suspend production of its Chevrolet Volt electric car for five weeks amid disappointing sales.

A GM spokesman said Friday that the company will shut down production of the Volt from March 19 until April 23, idling 1,300 workers at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant.

"We're taking a temporary shutdown," said GM spokesman Chris Lee. "We're doing it to maintain our proper inventory levels as we align production with demand."