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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana House has agreed to prohibit smoking within 25 feet of the entrance to any building where smoking already is banned.  Louisiana prohibits smoking in restaurants, public places, public buildings and many places of employment. The measure now heads to the Senate.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge has extended a deadline for BP and a team of plaintiffs' attorneys to file details of a proposed settlement designed to resolve billions of dollars in economic damage claims spawned by the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company and lawyers representing more than 100,000 individuals and businesses were expected Monday to ask U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans to give preliminary approval to the settlement agreement.

Early Monday evening, Barbier extended the deadline to Wednesday morning.

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) — 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.