Some leading analysts and legal observers believe the highly anticipated "trial of the century" over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, set to begin in three weeks, will end before it starts. BP and negotiators for federal and state governments are frantically working to confect a settlement so they won't have to leave the fate of billions of dollars in potential pollution fines and spill damage payments in the hands of U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier.

The stage is set for government retirement issues to become one of the big debates facing the Louisiana Legislature when it convenes for its regular session in March.

I attended public schools. Therefore, my support for them comes naturally. I believe it is in everybody's best interest, up to and including the government itself, to have a well educated citizenry.

After scraping by on handyman jobs for a year, Bert Qintana figured he'd have to leave his wife and teenage son at their home near Taos, N.M., and find work elsewhere.

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Medicaid program in Maine is short of money, and conservative Governor Paul LePage has a blunt proposal for solving the problem — drop people from the rolls.

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood hires lots of outside lawyers. They make a great deal of money for the state, and for themselves. Not everyone is happy with that situation.

As the Panama Canal expands to allow larger cargo ships to pass through, states along the Eastern Seaboard are maneuvering to make their ports compatible with the bigger and more lucrative vessels. But there is no guarantee the expensive bets will pay off.