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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — By arresting a former BP engineer, federal prosecutors are showing their hand in the Gulf oil spill case. They have been probing whether BP PLC and its employees broke the law by intentionally lowballing how much oil was spewing from its out-of-control well. The arrest came two years and four days after the drilling-rig explosion. 

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A proposal that would allow gay couples and other unmarried couples to adopt children together in Louisiana has been defeated by a House committee. The bill would have allowed adoptions by people who aren't related to a child by blood but live in the same home and establish a relationship with the child. 

BP is heading back to federal court in New Orleans on a proposed settlement over its oil spill two years ago. Shrimp processors are objecting to some terms.

A former BP engineer is the first person facing criminal charges stemming from the oil spill two years ago in the Gulf of Mexico. Allegations center on deleted text messages.

Former BP engineer Kurt Mix of Katy, Texas, is facing two counts of obstruction of justice. He’s accused of deleting 200 text messages exchanged with a company supervisor. Prosecutors say Mix was discussing internal information about failing efforts to cap the gushing underwater well.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Saints are denying an anonymously sourced ESPN report alleging that general manager Mickey Loomis' booth was wired so he could listen to opposing coaches' radio communications during games in the Superdome. The ESPN report says Loomis would have been able to eavesdrop on opponents from 2002 to 2004. The network could not determine if the system was ever used.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Halfway through the regular legislative session, lawmakers are still having to deal with next year's $25 billion budget that faces a list of trouble. Those include falling income estimates, ties to uncertain retirement changes and disputes over how much one-time money should be plugged into the spending plan. The state's revenue forecasting panel on Tuesday is planning to tweak income estimates.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Justice Department says its recent inspection of the New Orleans jail found "alarming conditions" and uncovered persistently high rates of prisoner-on-prisoner violence and staff misconduct. Authorities have been negotiating terms of a consent decree that would require certain changes at Orleans Parish Prison.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Comedian and actor Kevin Hart has been added to the main stage lineup for the 2012 Essence Music Festival.

Organizers say Hart, hot on the heels of his starring role in this week's No. 1 film, "Think Like a Man," will debut his comedic talents during the festival scheduled for July 6-8 at the Superdome. Hart joins a lineup that includes Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Charlie Wilson, Ledisi, Fantasia, and Eve.

The festival drew more than 422,000 attendees last year.

The Secretary of State’s Office is checking results of the race for one of two at-large seats on the New Orleans City Council. Experts don’t expect the review will the change the result.

April 20th marked the two-year anniversary of BP’s Macondo Well explosion, which set off one of the worst oil spills in our nation’s history, causing extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats, and to the coastal communities which depend upon them.  The full impacts of the disaster are still unfolding, but in Shell Beach, Louisiana, there are signs of how marine life is reacting to the oil and the dispersants which flooded their waters two years ago.

Eve Abrams visited Campo’s Marina, as boats needing gas, ice and bait pulled in and out along the bayou.