Tom Wright
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The law allows judges in New Orleans' First and Second City Court to charge $5 for a wedding at the courthouse. But in First City Court, three judges charged $80. In Second City Court in Algiers, Judge Teena Anderson-Trahan charged even more, $100.
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A critic of convention centers says the one here in New Orleans must not care about being wrong. Almost two years ago, we investigated the Morial Convention Center and showed how their attendance numbers are way off. Now, new numbers show the trend continues, possibly worse than ever.
In one year, a New Orleans judge may have received her $100 wedding fees 473 times, pocketing as much as $47,300 in cash. But she may not have reported all the earnings to state ethics officials. Did she report them to tax authorities?
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Chilling surveillance video shows burglars on Bancroft Dr. in Lakeview. Neighbors say the gunmen didn't just hit this car. In fact, they say these types of crimes have been happening regularly for the past two years.
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"There were at least two guns and as soon as I saw them running towards me, I knew it wasn't going to be good," says one victim.
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The numbers in healthcare pricing documents typically are closely held secrets. But we've unmasked the costs some of your insurance companies pay for services - costs that directly impact the amount of money coming out of your pocket.
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Louisiana State Police have suspended a ticket-writing agreement with many local parishes, pending an internal review. The suspension and review result from a FOX 8 undercover investigative series.
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Our months-long undercover surveillance investigation found Louisiana's highest-paid state trooper may have falsified timesheets, claiming he worked full LACE overtime shifts but instead spending much of that time at his house.
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Despite advice not to hire supporters, Entergy went ahead and did so anyway. That's more information included in the public records we requested from city hall.
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FOX 8's Sabrina Wilson sits down with New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell to discuss the police, the Sewerage and Water Board, her legal tangle with the state attorney general and other critical issues as the mayor's groundbreaking term of office gets underway.
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Three members of a powerful state board failed to show up to a meeting after they were featured in two FOX 8 investigations. That board regulates river pilots, some of whom pilots can make almost $800,000 a year.
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Fallout from a FOX 8 investigation in May: Louisiana's governor has received two letters asking him to remove three powerful board members from a commission that governs river pilots. We have new questions and new findings that those commissioners may have broken the law.
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We've uncovered a letter that likely has never been seen by the general public - one that impacts a handful of well-connected Louisianans earning more than half a million dollars a year. To understand its significance, we present a back story that involves money, political influence and one of the state's most valuable natural resources - the Mississippi River.
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Erin Earl wanted a quaint, intimate wedding. A friend told her about Second City Court, located in the Algiers courthouse. Her fiancé picked the date, Valentine's Day. She called the office of Second City Court Judge Teena Anderson-Trahan, and her unfortunate experience began.
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A local ethics expert says a potential conflict of interest by a state senator could get the attention of the La. Supreme Court. That's because the senator never disclosed that possible conflict when he discussed a bill in the legislature.
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Some legal observers are keeping a close eye on an unfolding FOX 8 investigation of four Orleans Parish judges who are pocketing as much as $25,000 a year in cash - even though the law says they shouldn't.
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A new study shows 40 percent of Americans are one financial hardship away from slipping into poverty.
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Four New Orleans judges perform weddings in their courthouses.But a FOX 8 investigation finds the judges are pocketing the fees themselves - and that may be a violation of state law.
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Our investigation last year showed a police report in which then-State Police Commissioner Calvin Braxton allegedly told a trooper he shouldn't have arrested his daughter, who was driving drunk. The report says Braxton threatened to get the trooper reassigned.
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"It is apparent from all objective standards, juvenile crime is surging in the City of New Orleans," said District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro.
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The longtime head of the Metropolitan Crime Commission warns of apparent conflicts of interest in the casino's lobbying campaign .
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Jason Williams says the potential conflicts detailed in our latest FOX 8 probe need to be investigated further. Those conflicts involve an army of lobbyists hired by Harrah's to push a 30-year license extension through Louisiana's legislature.
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Six years before Harrah's current lease at the foot of Canal Street expires, the company wants a 30-year extension to its casino license - and its lobbying effort has drawn fire for potential conflicts of interest, involving local authorities and state lawmakers.
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New Orleans police have arrested the former president of the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network, who allegedly stole more than $70,000 of taxpayer money.
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FOX 8 has uncovered allegations of bullying, threats, harassment by a powerful board member who may owe you half a million dollars.
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Our series used hundreds of hours of video surveillance to find state troopers earning money - while sitting at home.
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FOX 8 is proud to announce a new national award for our investigative work.
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A grand jury has indicted Michael Ragusa on a charge of malfeasance in office. He was the subject of a FOX 8 investigation last May.
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The auditor's conclusions came after FOX 8 dug up questionable spending by the president of the nonprofit, more than a year ago.
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There are almost 20,000 inactive oil and gas wells lying In the water, off highways and even in backyards across the state of Louisiana. Thousands of them were abandoned by their operators and left for the state to clean up, with your money. State law forbids such orphan operators from doing business in Louisiana - or does it?
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Slidell police did not want you to see their internal report; the department told us we couldn't have it. But a source handed it over: 53 pages of allegations of police misconduct.
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Week after week, bill after bill, the evidence grows: If you want to improve your home or company finances, you need to take control of your healthcare costs. Our Medical Waste investigation picks up with fresh examples of real money being saved by consumers just like you. And if you run a business - or even a government agency - those savings could be in the millions.
The LACE program, briefly suspended after a FOX 8 investigation, will resume next Monday with some changes that police hope will improve oversight and accountability.
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Local and federal law enforcement worked together for a holiday round-up of offenders to end the year on a good note.
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Federal prosecutors in New Orleans say Rickey Roberson of New Orleans was sentenced to 13 months, restitution in the amount of $84,308, three years supervised release, and six months of home detention with ankle monitoring.
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When the former State Police superintendent answered our questions in February, Col. Mike Edmonson wasn't being honest. That revelation comes from a new report by the agency Edmonson once led.
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The state of Louisiana has fallen way behind in properly plugging some 4,000 abandoned oil and gas wells. It's a problem we told you about in our "Left for Dead" investigation in early November. Now, we have the results from air and soil samples taken at a handful of well sites near residential communities.
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Our investigation found four state troopers potentially committing payroll fraud, earning overtime from what's called the LACE detail program while our undercover surveillance found them at home.
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The United States has a shortage of livers ready for transplant to patients who need them. That means many Americans will die before they get a transplant opportunity. So why are rich transplant patients from overseas flocking to some U.S. hospitals, including Ochsner in New Orleans?
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When we started our undercover investigation, we focused on the LACE program, an overtime detail that allows troopers to write tickets for parish governments and make extra money. But we quickly realized questions about potential payroll fraud extended to regular State Police shifts, funded by every taxpayer in Louisiana.
More fallout from our State of Unrest investigation of four state troopers now under criminal investigation. A local parish district attorney says she refuses to pay the full bill sent to her by State Police for some of those troopers' overtime work.
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Four state troopers were paid a premium of your money, and our evidence suggests they did not deserve it. Three of the four are among the highest-paid employees in Louisiana. Each makes about $200,000 or more every year. But our undercover surveillance investigation found they may not be earning much of that money.
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DA Hillar Moore says his office will do the investigation with State Police and, if any criminal violations are found, his office will handle the prosecution.
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State Trooper Daryl Thomas makes more money than any other law enforcer in Louisiana - more than any district attorney, police chief, the attorney general, even his boss, the superintendent of state police. Last year taxpayers paid this trooper $240,000. But our undercover surveillance investigation, backed up by timesheets and traffic citations, shows Thomas may not have legally earned much of that money.
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Almost 4,000 abandoned oil and gas wells dot Louisiana's landscape and waters, from Oil City to Golden Meadow and beyond. Many of them have been deteriorating for decades; some of them are leaking. And year to year, just as the state cleans up scores of orphan well sites, hundreds more are abandoned by their operators.
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Almost 4,000 abandoned oil and gas wells dot Louisiana's landscape and waters, from Oil City to Golden Meadow and beyond.
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Pictures of kitchen equipment, paid for with FEMA money help tell this story from Plaquemines Parish.. A former interim parish president says the photos are part of his case against a former director of operations and others - proof, he says, that the accused took public equipment for their own business interests.
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Louisiana produces some of the world's best seafood. But the overfishing of some our tastiest species has forced our local restaurants to find some seafood outside the state.
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