Chris Welty / Fox 8 / May. 22, 2024 NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Shoplifting incidents across New Orleans have surged by 35% compared to last year, according to NOPD. On Monday, a video posted on social media showed three women allegedly stealing armfuls of clothes from a store on N Peters in the French Quarter.…
By Lee Zurik and Ken Daley / Fox 8 / May. 13, 2024 NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s request for a restraining order against a citizen who has photographed her in public with her former police bodyguard is a “pathetic” attempt to deflect attention from her own questionable actions, a crime watchdog said Monday (May…
Chris Miller/. WWL / May 7 The New Orleans Police Department is hiring a law firm to investigate whether any rules were broken when Jeffrey Vappie, a police officer on Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s bodyguard team, dined with the mayor at a French Quarter restaurant. The third-party investigation is meant to avoid the appearance of impropriety,…
DREW BROACH/ Nola.com / May 6, 2024 Operation Wrinkled Robe was the FBI’s name for its nine-year investigation and prosecution of Jefferson Parish Courthouse corruption. It produced 14 criminal convictions: of judges Ronald Bodenheimer and Alan Green of Louisiana’s 24th Judicial District Court, three executives of Bail Bonds Unlimited, five sheriff’s deputies and four other people. Three other…
David Jones/ Fox 8/ May 2 NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – With a little more than two months until Louisiana’s new “permitless” carry legislation takes effect, New Orleans leaders continue to push for carveouts for the city but keep hitting walls in the legislature. Governor Jeff Landry has not taken a public stance on carveouts, but…
Mike Perlstein/WWLTV/ May 1 NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana’s new gun law that allows almost anyone to carry a concealed weapon once they turn 18 has sparked concerns about more senseless bloodshed in a state that already ranks among the worst in the nation. So far, those grim warnings have fallen on deaf ears, as New Orleans officials…
Lee Zurik and Mykal Vincent/ Fox 8/ May 1 ST. BERNARD PARISH, La. (WVUE) – Questions surround the misuse of taxpayer money in St. Bernard Parish after Coastal Director John Lane hosted a wedding reception for his son at the historic courthouse without paying to rent the facility. The event took place on Dec. 30, 2023, while…
Nola.com/April 17/ There’s a difference between honest criticism and personal attacks or piling on. Legitimate criticism arises from legitimate differences of opinion or violations of legal or ethical rules, whereas the latter uses accusations or innuendo to garner attention by shocking the sensibilities and doing harm. This is true in our daily lives, but especially so in politics. The…
WDSU/ Cassie Schrim/ April 15 NEW ORLEANS — The Metropolitan Crime Commission is calling for an investigation into the New Orleans mayor and one of her security detail officers. The MCC released a letter Monday that was sent to the Public Integrity Bureau The letter asks that the PIB investigate a lunch between Mayor LaToya…
Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer/ Fox 8/ April 15,2024 NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The head of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, Rafael Goyeneche, is calling on the New Orleans Police Department to launch an internal investigation into a meal shared between Mayor LaToya Cantrell and a member of her executive protection team, Officer Jeffrey Vappie. Photos obtained by…