BP hiring Witt for gulf recovery; efforts to kill well delayed

BP announced today it is hiring a former Clinton-era emergency management official and his consulting firm to help with the recovery from the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Incoming BP CEO Bob Dudley was in Biloxi, Miss., to outline his company's long-term efforts to help the Gulf Coast. The company's plans include hiring former Federal Emergency Management Agency head James Lee Witt and Witt Associates, a public safety and crisis management consulting firm. BP did not say how much Witt would be paid. Last month, Dudley asked Witt to go to New Orleans to review how the company could improve its response. Local officials, especially in Louisiana, have been clamoring for more long-term commitments, in reaction to reports that the oil spill is dissipating, at least on the water's surface.

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man for the gulf oil spill, says there's been a delay in a procedure that will help stop the gusher for good. Allen says debris was found in the bottom of the relief well that must be extracted before crews can pump mud into the busted well in a procedure known as a static kill. The sediment settled there last week when crews popped in a plug to keep the well safe ahead of Tropical Storm Bonnie. They found the sediment as they were preparing for the static kill, and now they have to remove it. They had hoped to start the static kill as early as Sunday, but removing debris will take 24 to 36 hours.

Initial jobless benefits decrease in Louisiana

First-time claims for jobless benefits in Louisiana decreased. The Louisiana Workforce Commission says there were 4,395 initial claims for the week ending Saturday. That's down from 5,237 for the week ending July 17. For the comparable week ending July 25, 2009, there were 5,033 first-time claims. Those still without jobs claimed 59,365 additional weeks of unemployment compensation, up from 57,971 for the week ending July 17. For the comparable week of 2009, there were 64,151 additional weeks of benefits claimed.

Ferrara gets another order from Indianapolis

Ferrara Fire Apparatus, the Livingston Parish-based company that makes fire trucks, has been awarded a contract to build six vehicles for the Indianapolis Fire Department. Details of the contract were not released, but the deal calls for Ferrara to build five custom pumpers and one rear-mount platform. Once the vehicles are delivered, the Indianapolis Fire Department will have 22 Ferrara trucks in its fleet.

DOTD announces bridge, interstate lane closings

For the second Sunday in a row, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development will close the Interstate 10 Mississippi River Bridge early Sunday morning for a sign replacement project. The bridge will be closed to traffic from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. so workers can hang sign trusses. All traffic will be detoured to U.S. 190 and La. Highway 1.

Meanwhile, a lane of traffic from both the eastbound and westbound sides of I-10 between Siegen Lane and the I-10/1-12 split will be closed each night to facilitate an ongoing widening project. The closures will be in effect between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. starting Sunday. Southbound Bluebonnet Boulevard under the 1-10 overpass will also be closed during those times. The work is expected to be completed Tuesday morning.

Study says pregnancy weight can affect childhood obesity

A study indicates that how much weight a woman gains during pregnancy can affect the chances of her child becoming overweight or obese. Research conducted on lab rats at the Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center in Little Rock suggests that the mechanisms that regulate body weight in a child may be permanently altered by signals associated with the mother's weight. Beth Reames, LSU AgCenter nutritionist, says the offspring of overweight mothers were sensitive to high-fat food and put on more weight and fat mass. Reames says women who have a healthy weight should put on 25 to 35 pounds while pregnant; overweight women should gain 15 to 25 pounds, and obese women should only add 11 to 20 pounds. "Even if you're overweight before pregnancy, it's important to gain a healthy amount of weight during pregnancy," Reames says.

Back to school sales tax holiday set for Aug. 6-7

Shoppers, get ready. Louisiana's annual sales tax holiday begins in a week. On Aug. 6-7, most retail purchases will be exempt from the 4% state sales tax. The exemption applies to the first $2,500 of the cost of most items that aren't for business use. The sales tax break doesn't apply, however, to local taxes collected by parishes, towns and other taxing entities. Items that aren't eligible for the tax break include vehicles, hotel rooms, most meals and laundry services, according to the state revenue department. By law, the sales tax holiday occurs annually on the first Friday and Saturday of August. More information is online at revenue.louisiana.gov/taxholiday.

'A Confederacy of Dunces' marks 30th anniversary

The publication of John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces 30 years ago was a happy ending to an unbelievable but true tale that invaded public consciousness just as deeply as the novel did. Toole's mother, Thelma Toole, successfully persuaded Louisiana author Walker Percy to read a virtually illegible carbon copy of the manuscript seven years after her son had committed suicide. Toole's novel, which would receive a Pulitzer Prize, languished another four years and received numerous rejections before LSU Press published the book in 1980. Louisianans continue to recognize themselves and their world in A Confederacy of Dunces; and the novel continues to introduce our strange, fabulous, utterly unique culture to the rest of America and abroad. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of its publication, there's an exhibit ending Saturday at LSU's Hill Memorial Library spotlighting the book's many translations. To find out more about this iconic comic novel and its continued influence on American culture, read the 225 magazine story here.