A federal judge in New Orleans says BP’s reckless conduct is what caused millions of gallons of oil to gush into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Judge Carl Barbier’s ruling states BP is 67 percent to blame for the spill, while rig owner Transocean take 30 percent, and contractor Halliburton takes 3 percent. Associate Director of the Tulane Energy Institute, Eric Smith, says the fine is based on the number of barrels of oil spilled…

cut 7 (09) “by a factor of four”

He says the oil giant will appeal this ruling.

Louisiana State Police announce the arrest of 21 sex offenders in Calcasieu Parish busted for using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Sgt. James Anderson says “Operation Off Limits” included cooperation with several other law enforcement agencies…

cut 9 (05) “networking sites”

State law prohibits registered sex offenders convicted of certain crimes involving minors from accessing social networking sites.

The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office says a man who set up a scholarship fund to honor a Slidell woman who died in the car crash is accused of stealing money from the account. 19-year-old UNO student Hayley Howard was missing for four days in March before her car was found in water near Lake Pontchartrain. Captain George Bonnett…

cut 3 (09) “was missing”

Bonnett says 29-year-old Jonathan Holcomb is charged with felony theft.

According to new a study compiled by Forbes Magazine, the Houma-Thibodaux area ranks No. 8 among America’s fastest-growing small cities. Story contributor Joel Kotkin says of the top 10 fastest growing small cities, five are energy driven boom towns with high wage employment…

cut 13 (05) “are going to do well”

He says they looked at factors like job growth, income growth and population growth.