Senator says deepwater activity ‘virtually shut down’: U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu is again urging the Obama administration to issue deepwater drilling permits. The Louisiana Democrat called on the administration to approve new permits at a Senate Energy Committee meeting. Landrieu says deepwater drilling has been “virtually shut down” since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion last April. She says drilling can be done safely. Landrieu says five deepwater platforms in the Gulf of Mexico have left to drill in other parts of the world, costing the Gulf Coast about 5,000 jobs.
Differences with chairman cited: The chief executive of Stewart Enterprises Inc., the second-largest provider of funeral services in the nation, is retiring, citing differences with the company’s chairman and his plan to do missionary work. The Jefferson-based company says president and chief executive officer Thomas Crawford will retire at Stewart’s annual shareholder meeting on April 7. The board appointed Thomas Kitchen, Stewart’s senior executive vice president and chief financial officer, to succeed him. Stewart says Crawford decided to retire to accept a post presiding over 600 Mormon missionaries during a three-year term beginning July 1. However, disagreements with board chairman Frank Stewart Jr. also figured into the decision. The company says it will begin considering possible acquisitions and has hired a funeral industry veteran, Glenn McMillen, to guide the process. Stewart currently owns and operates 218 funeral homes and 141 cemeteries in the United States.
