Eileen Fleming

New Orleans is marking Fat Tuesday with traditional parades and parties in the French Quarter. Tourism officials are estimating a million people are attending the annual celebration.

Hundreds of thousands of people are jamming the streets of New Orleans as Mardi Gras builds to Fat Tuesday celebrations. Rainy conditions haven’t stopped the party.

New Orleans officials are trumpeting a new business deal with General Electric as a “game-changer” for the city's economy. It’s seen by some as a pivotal shift away from the traditional tourism economy.

New Orleans officials are celebrating news that more corporate jobs are heading to the city. They say it’s a major break from more traditional, lower-paying tourism jobs that have been anchoring the city economy.

BP has won a ruling that bars some references to earlier accidents from a trial over its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The federal judge hearing the case feared opening a “trial within a trial.”

New Orleans Mardi Gras 2012 is under way. City officials have plans in place to make sure it’s safe through Fat Tuesday.

A proposal to cut mental services at the Interim LSU hospital system in New Orleans has officials scrambling to find space to treat the mentally ill. Officials say the cuts are not only a health issue, but also a matter of public safety.

This year’s Super Bowl celebrations have ended in Indianapolis. But planning is already under way in New Orleans for next year’s game.