Lee Zurik
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As the city of New Orleans's most honored investigative reporter, Lee has been uncovering and reporting impactful stories on WVUE since 2009. Following up his tenacious inquiries with detailed analysis and powerful storytelling, Lee delivers unprecedented accountability of government officials, private citizens and corporations. Lee has been honored with journalism’s top honors including two George Foster Peabody Awards, three Alfred I. duPont Silver Batons, nine National Edward R. Murrow Awards, and the Investigative Reporters and Editors Medal. Lee is a New Orleans native and a graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications.
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A Lee Zurik investigation revealed NOPD Sgt. Todd Morrell was being paid to work while he was racing cars.
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Nine months after an explosion of a tank battery in Southwest Louisiana that claimed the life of a fourteen-year-old girl, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources announced a new rule is now in effect that could prevent another tragedy.
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A New Orleans Police Department sergeant has been observed on surveillance camera at home while he was supposed to be on a detail assignment.
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New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson indicated in an interview with FOX 8 that the investigation into the department’s detail program and the suspension of detail work for 26 police officers could take some time.
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An analysis of timesheets and off-duty detail assignments has found that certain New Orleans police officers might be violating the department’s policy on the maximum hours an officer can work.
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In an internal memo obtained by FOX 8, Deputy Superintendent Otha Sandifer said effective immediately 26 officers would be suspended from performing secondary employment, or detail work, until further notice.
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One group of New Orleans Police Officers are earning six figures a year -- but appear to be working two jobs at the same time.
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A New Orleans police sergeant appeared to be behind the wheel of a racecar on multiple occasions instead of being behind the wheel of his patrol car for assigned duty shifts and specially-assigned details.
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One day following a FOX 8 Lee Zurik Investigation exposing a secret Entergy committee that pays individuals for input, the power company releases information about the group.
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Entergy has a secret it has been keeping from its customers and the New Orleans City Council.
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As lawmakers vow to push changes following the evacuation of more than 850 nursing home residents to a warehouse to ride out Hurricane Ida, one former lawmaker cautions that change is not easy in the industry.
Eight months after an explosion of an oil tank in Southwest Louisiana killed a teenage girl, a state agency hopes to have a new rule in place soon that could prevent another child from being injured or killed.
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The lack of access to dental care plagues many parts of rural America.
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While the Saints’ latest post-hurricane homecoming did not end with a win like they had envisioned, it was a homecoming game after Hurricane Katrina that likely sealed the Saints’ future in New Orleans for many years.
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Gayle Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans, says there is no way the basketball franchise will be sold as long as she is alive.
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It’s a topic that seems to come up at least once a decade -- what is the future of the New Orleans Saints and will they stay in New Orleans?
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The City of New Orleans provided few answers Tuesday in response to a FOX 8 Lee Zurik Investigation that found the city’s contractor in charge of specifically collecting trash not associated with Hurricane Ida, was collecting nearly everything found on the street, including storm debris.
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City contractors that are supposed to keep trash and storm debris separate are mixing them together, which could mean a higher bill for whoever picks up the bill -- either the City of New Orleans or the federal government.
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El Departamento de Salud de Luisiana (LDH) confirmó el jueves por la mañana que el número de muertos había aumentado a 15 entre los residentes de hogares de ancianos evacuados a una bodega de almacenamiento en la parroquia de Tangipahoa antes del huracán Ida.
15 of over 800 nursing home residents evacuated to a makeshift shelter ahead of Ida have died, according to LDH.
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Bob Dean, the owner of seven nursing homes that evacuated more than 800 residents to a warehouse ahead of Hurricane Ida, plans to appeal the state’s decision to revoke the licenses for the facilities, his attorney said Friday.
Lawsuits are mounting against Bob Dean, the owner of seven nursing homes and the warehouse he used to shelter hundreds of residents during Hurricane Ida
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Along with poor conditions and not enough space for hundreds of residents, one of the lawsuits states the warehouse was not zoned for use as a shelter and family members were not notified of their destination.
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Evacuation plans from the seven nursing homes that had licenses revoked showed they claimed to be prepared for a large evacuation with plans for supplies and food, but the Louisiana Department of Health and families of those evacuated ahead of Hurricane Ida disagree.
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Officials have revoked the licenses of seven nursing homes involved in an evacuation that crammed elderly and vulnerable residents into a warehouse.
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Nursing home residents who were crammed inside of a warehouse shelter in Tangipahoa Parish where seven people died describe conditions inside as a ‘nightmare.’ The residents were among hundreds evacuated from seven nursing home facilities on the Southshore to the warehouse facility in Independence, La. ahead of Hurricane Ida.
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The head of a state nursing school says a board member pressured for a student’s admission on multiple occasions, despite the student falling below the cut-off for the program.
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The leader of the state’s board over private security has been placed on leave after numerous allegations of wrongdoing surfaced around his leadership of the agency.
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The State of Louisiana’s public records laws are in place to provide transparency to public agencies. But one New Orleans-based agency may be skirting those laws by not responding to requests.
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As lawmakers debate including female drivers in more crash test standards, the agency in charge is staying quiet.
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Updated daily, this COVID-19 hotspot map illustrates where the largest number of new cases (relative to population) have been reported in the last seven days.
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The New Orleans Office of Inspector General has recommended charges be filed against two additional city inspectors who likely did not physically inspect the Hard Rock Hotel construction site before its collapse.
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Bridging the Great Health Divide explores issues in rural America through the lens of residents, doctors and other health care providers.
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A report suggests criminal charges should be filed in relation to a city inspector’s work connected to the Hard Rock Hotel construction site that collapsed in 2019, killing three workers.
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A New Orleans company, applied for and received a Paycheck Protection Program loan of nearly $200,000, but a FOX 8 Investigation found that at the time of the application, the company likely had no employees on staff.
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Gray Television stations will air a documentary about disparities in rural health care and the people working to bridge the great health divide.
Thousands of so-called ‘Shut-In Future Utility’ wells litter the Louisiana landscape with little enforcement to permanently plug them. One of those wells claimed the life of a Louisiana teenager, whose family says there was no warning of the site being dangerous.
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The purpose of the food stamp program is to help low-income families access healthy foods, but in rural America, that can be difficult.
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Bills in both the U.S. House and Senate look to update crash test dummies and testing procedures to make sure drivers are equally protected.
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Before last year food insecurity impacted about 10% of all U.S. residents. Experts estimate that number has at least doubled since the pandemic.
Antes del año pasado, la inseguridad alimentaria afectó a aproximadamente el 10,5% de los residentes de EE. UU. Una vez que la pandemia cerró en gran medida la economía, los expertos estiman que el porcentaje de personas que sufren de inseguridad alimentaria al menos se duplicó.
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In November 2018, the state declared an emergency because of possible fracking failures that contributed to the environmental disaster. In that declaration, the state expressed concern that natural gas had entered the aquifer. Years later, a company has not been held accountable.
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A major oil company’s offer to plug so-called orphaned wells, left for dead in Terrebonne Parish was passed up by the state Department of Natural Resources and now the state could end up paying millions to do the work themselves.
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The federal government gives out subsidies to help farms through tough times, but much of the information about these taxpayer-funded payments is kept secret.
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Before the state approves any measures to finance storm restoration from last year's hurricane season, Entergy customers and a watchdog group want the state’s largest power provider to answer more questions about cost-saving moves and record profits in 2020.
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Experts say one of the most advertised safety standards largely doesn't account for more than half of all licensed drivers.
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An investigative unit made up of three state agencies exists to curb the amount of insurance fraud in the state. But a FOX 8 Investigation found all of the spending by one of those agencies doesn’t seem to be going to insurance fraud cases, in possible violation of the law that founded the unit.
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Nearly two years after FOX 8 and The Athletic investigated the financial mismanagement of a group that promised a so-called Field of Dreams in the Ninth Ward, a new group has formed to make that dream a reality.
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A third investigator says he believes the 2005 death of Joey Georgusis was a murder and not an overdose, as originally classified by the coroner’s office.
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In nearly every Appalachian and Delta community, residents die on average before their 78th birthday, which is the average life expectancy in the United States. Health care providers are working on innovative ways to combat the unique disparities in the regions.