The Associated Press

A push to bring college football back to uptown New Orleans with construction of a new stadium at Tulane University continues when the university hosts a forum on the issue.

Tulane says Wednesday's event will be moderated by representatives of an architectural firm selected by the university and neighborhood representatives.

Five people have been appointed to a state Department of Education team to help Louisiana school districts implement new education standards and a teacher evaluation system.

State Superintendent of Education John White said in a Monday news release that the team will work with districts as Louisiana joins most other states in adopting uniform standards known as "Common Core." They also will aid in adoption of a teacher evaluation system called "Compass," which focuses on student improvement as well as other evaluation methods including classroom observation.

Two parents with children in a New Orleans voucher program and two pro-voucher groups are asking to join the state in fighting a lawsuit that seeks to block a statewide program using tax dollars to send children to private schools.

The intervention petition was filed in Baton Rouge district court Monday for the Black Alliance for Educational Options, the Alliance for School Choice and the New Orleans parents.

Several black Louisiana elected officials are asking the Justice Department's civil rights division to intervene in a dispute over whether state Supreme Court Justice Bernette Johnson is legally entitled to become the court's next chief justice.

A letter sent Monday to the head of the division's voting section accuses Johnson's colleagues of trying to dilute the rights of black voters by unilaterally creating a new process for deciding which justice has the most seniority.

The president of the University of Louisiana System has announced his retirement.

Randy Moffett, who's been in the job for four years, said Monday that he will leave the position in the fall to spend more time with his family.

Moffett's retirement comes after a tenure marked by repeated budget cuts that have stripped more than $426 million in annual state financing from higher education in Louisiana. The UL System has lost nearly 46 percent of its state funding since 2008.

GEISMAR — A Houston-based chemical company contends it should not be penalized for a March plant fire at its vinyl chloride complex here because an unexpected and unprecedented chemical chain reaction touched off the fire.

Michael J. Anderson, an agent with extensive experience in public corruption cases, has been named special agent in charge of the FBI's New Orleans division.

The 45-year-old native of Alexandria, Minn., joined the FBI in 1995 and has served as a supervisor in the FBI's public corruption unit.

The FBI says Anderson rewrote its public corruption field guide in 2003. He also played a supervisory role in the corruption probe of former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat serving a 13-year prison sentence.

Anderson replaces David Welker, who retired in May.

A new audit says the state Department of Environmental Quality didn't have proper controls over a state program meant to keep tires from being dumped illegally, allowing overpayments.

The report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's Office says DEQ allows waste tire processors to weigh their own tire shipments, rather than confirming the weight through a third party. Since the payments are based on weight, the audit says the lack of confirmation gives processors an ability to overstate what they've done.

Covington-based Smoothie King Franchises Inc. is being sold to a South Korean company.

Smoothie King currently has more than 600 units operating in 32 states, the Caymans and the Republic of Korea.

The purchase price was not disclosed in a news release on Monday.

Buyer SK USA Inc. is headed by Chief Executive Officer Wan Kim, a Boston University graduate who opened his first Smoothie King in 2003. Since then Wan's Smoothies Korea has opened more than 100 locations.

The state is set to begin reconstruction work on Monday on several New Orleans streets in areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

All are in the city's 9th Ward.

Barrier Construction Co. is the contractor for the $2.4 million project, which involves segments of Forstall, Tupelo and Alvar streets.

The state Department of Transportation and Development said the work will include resurfacing, repairing curbs and installing handicap-compliant ramps. Completion is expected by October.