• 'D.C. Madam' case could hit Vitter in his wallet
WASHINGTON -- Sen. David Vitter, R-La., should be denied permission to use campaign money to pay more than $160,000 in legal fees related to his involvement with a Washington escort service, according to an advisory opinion released Wednesday by lawyers for the Federal Election Commission.

• Gulf lease sale brings top dollar
An annual sale of oil and gas leases in the western Gulf of Mexico drew more than $487 million in high bids Wednesday, the most the area has generated in a decade.

• Troy Carter: Promises a fresh perspective
When a fifth-place finish in the 2nd Congressional District race two years ago dashed his hopes for a political comeback, Troy Carter chalked up the defeat to voters having little time to focus on elections amid the everyday difficulties of life in the year after Hurricane Katrina.

• James Carter: Working behind the scenes
As Hurricane Katrina raced toward shore almost three years ago, it seemed inevitable to James Carter that such a monster storm would cause massive suffering. So Carter, an attorney in private practice at the time, decided to send his wife and young son out of harm's way, then hunker down in his Algiers Point home so he could join the immediate relief effort.

• ON THE HILL
--- Jindal on air, if you can find him ---

• Broad options needed on energy, Vitter says
Alternative energy sources are the future, and increased offshore drilling should be the bridge to get there, U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., told constituents Saturday.

• Bush to visit N.O. on Wednesday
WASHINGTON -- President Bush is scheduled Wednesday to make his 13th, and probably final, visit as chief executive to the New Orleans area since Hurricanes Katrina slammed into the state almost three years ago.

• Jefferson's seized papers can be used, judge rules
WASHINGTON -- Nearly all the 1,400 pages of documents taken by the FBI from Rep. William Jefferson's New Orleans home in August 2005, along with high-resolution photographs of other items, can be used against the nine-term Democrat in his public corruption trial scheduled to begin Dec. 2, a federal judge ruled Friday.

• VA brass keep options open on site of hospital
Last year, frantic that they might lose the veterans hospital to another city or even another state, local and state leaders pulled together a plan to commandeer land in a historic but struggling neighborhood on the edge of the Central Business District and offer it to the federal government as a place to build.

• Ex-DA asked feds to look at killings
Anticipating that Criminal District Court Judge Raymond Bigelow would toss the indictment accusing New Orleans police officers of shooting people after Hurricane Katrina, Orleans Parish District Attorney Keva Landrum-Johnson last week sent a letter to the U.S. Justice Department, asking the federal government to consider taking over the case.

• House Republicans drill point home over break
WASHINGTON -- No votes are being cast and C-SPAN's cameras aren't turned on, but that hasn't stopped more than 100 House Republicans from appearing on the House floor during the past two weeks to demand a vote on increased domestic drilling for oil and gas.

• Navy signs federal city lease
In a significant step toward making a campus for federal agencies and the military a reality in Algiers, the Navy and planners have agreed on basic terms for a 75-year lease of the Naval Support Activity's West Bank site, setting the stage for congressional approval.

• Storm forecast financing endorsed
The Bush administration has increased by $13 million the amount of money it wants Congress to appropriate for a program aimed at improving hurricane forecasts, including intensity, storm paths and storm surges.

• ON THE HILL
--- Louisiana donors prefer McCain ---

• Would-be candidate files an appeal
Orleans Parish School Board member Jimmy Fahrenholtz, recently kicked out of the race for Congress after submitting false information on a qualifying form, asked a federal appeals court Friday to reinstate his candidacy.

• Louisiana given 30 years to pay to raise levees
President Bush has agreed to give Louisiana 30 years to pay its $1.8 billion share of the cost of raising hurricane protection levees in the New Orleans area, Gov. Bobby Jindal and Gulf Coast Recovery Coordinator Maj. Gen. Doug O'Dell said at a surprise news conference Thursday evening.