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Investigations

  • Lee Zurik Investigations
  • Outside the Office
  • FOX 8 Defenders
  • Crimetracker
  • Great Health Divide

Outside the Office

Mayor Latoya Cantrell denies having an affair with NOPD Officer Jeffrey Vappie

Zurik: Recordings reveal Cantrell administration tried to reinstate Vappie to security team while under NOPD investigation

Updated: Mar. 22, 2023 at 10:51 PM CDT
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Jeffrey Vappie changed clothes in the Pontalba apartment that other protectors of Mayor Cantrell rarely if ever entered

Outside the Office

Mayor LaToya Cantrell and NOPD Officer Jeffrey Vappie

Zurik: Fact-checking Cantrell’s HANO claims involving NOPD’s Jeffrey Vappie

Updated: Mar. 22, 2023 at 5:20 PM CDT
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Records contradict new claims by Mayor Cantrell regarding NOPD officer Jeffrey Vappie's time at HANO board meetings

Outside the Office

Mayor LaToya Cantrell asked security team members to carry her purse, do her personal shopping...

Zurik: Former Cantrell protectors describe holding mayor’s purse, doing her shopping, chauffeuring daughter

Updated: Mar. 21, 2023 at 10:34 PM CDT
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Scope of requested duties often went beyond security, officers told PIB

FOX 8 Defenders

An administrator said the OMV has 62 job openings and is trying to hire more people to answer...

Fox 8 Defenders: Lawmakers grill OMV leaders over poor phone service

Updated: Mar. 20, 2023 at 10:10 PM CDT
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By Meg Gatto
An administrator said the OMV has 62 job openings and is trying to hire more people to answer calls and return messages faster

Outside the Office

Zurik: NOPD investigators question Mayor Cantrell’s security team about timesheets

Updated: Mar. 20, 2023 at 5:28 PM CDT
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Long hours, big paychecks and little oversight: New recordings shed light on the operations of Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s security detail

Lee Zurik Investigations

Permission to Practice: Doctors, patients say insurance prior-authorizations put profits over people

Updated: Mar. 20, 2023 at 2:53 PM CDT
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By Emily Featherston, Jamie Grey, Lee Zurik, Bailey Williams and Payton Romans
Insurance companies say these reviews lower costs and protect patients, but what requires advance permission varies plan to plan, and critics argue the policies get between a patient and their doctor.

Outside the Office

ZURIK: Investigators question Mayor Cantrell’s security about travel, down time

Updated: Mar. 17, 2023 at 5:00 PM CDT
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Officers said they always billed taxpayers for 16 hours while traveling with the mayor, regardless of how long they actually worked.

Outside the Office

‘Incredibly disappointed;’ Vappie’s attorneys say recording leak compromised investigation

Updated: Mar. 17, 2023 at 2:44 PM CDT
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By FOX 8 Staff
In a statement sent on Fri., March 17, attorneys Branden Villavaso and Nicholas Lindner say the investigation is compromised.

Outside the Office

Zurik: Investigators grill mayor’s security about travel and Vappie’s HANO board appointment

Updated: Mar. 16, 2023 at 10:01 PM CDT
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Prior to Officer Vappie joining the mayor's security team, no officer ever traveled with her. Another member of the team says he doesn't know of any other officer on a public board.

Outside the Office

Inspector General recommends renting Pontalba apartment to the public

Updated: Mar. 16, 2023 at 4:49 PM CDT
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By FOX 8 Staff
The Pontalba could be generating nearly $36,000 a year in revenue, Michel says.
Radar
Radar

Outside the Office

‘Comedy of errors’: Former NOPD chief blasts release of Vappie recordings, calls for independent investigation

Updated: Mar. 15, 2023 at 10:56 PM CDT
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By David Jones
Members of the law enforcement community blasted the release of materials in the Vappie investigation.

Outside the Office

Zurik: Officer Vappie investigation recordings raise questions about time spent with Mayor Cantrell in Pontalba apartment

Updated: Mar. 15, 2023 at 10:13 PM CDT
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Officer Vappie was interviewed for nearly four hours and repeatedly referred to Mayor LaToya Cantrell as his supervisor, but it’s clear investigators wanted to know if a more personal relationship existed between the mayor and a member of her executive protection team.

Outside the Office

Police monitor alleges leak in NOPD’s Vappie investigation; City attorney admits to ‘mishap’

Updated: Mar. 15, 2023 at 1:33 PM CDT
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By Lee Zurik, Ken Daley and Natasha Robin
City Attorney, NOPD say material inadvertently given to a HANO board member

FOX 8 Defenders

Fox 8 Defenders: Callers say they can’t get through to the OMV

Updated: Mar. 14, 2023 at 8:18 AM CDT
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By Meg Gatto
Frustrated customers say calls and voice messages go unanswered by state agency

Lee Zurik Investigations

Zurik: New construction lien claims Mayor Cantrell owes $20,000 for unpaid roof repair bill

Updated: Mar. 13, 2023 at 10:23 PM CDT
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Mayor LaToya Cantrell faces more financial trouble as a national company claims she and her husband refused to pay a $20,000 bill for roof repairs.

Lee Zurik Investigations

Zurik: Contract for Cantrell mailer reveals possible misuse of taxpayer money

Updated: Mar. 8, 2023 at 10:05 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
FOX 8 obtains a new document that experts say appears to provide proof that Mayor LaToya Cantrell misused tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money.

Outside the Office

Zurik: Vappie’s return to Mayor Cantrell’s protection detail scuttled, NOPD federal monitor says

Updated: Mar. 7, 2023 at 10:25 PM CST
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By Ken Daley and Lee Zurik
Consent Decree Monitor Jonathan Aronie said he intervened in the reassignment request in December

Lee Zurik Investigations

ZURIK: Restauranteurs hopeful New Orleans revisits decades-old French Quarter food cart ordinance

Updated: Mar. 2, 2023 at 11:53 AM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
A city ordinance from April of 1972 prevents all but one company from getting a permit to sell food on the sidewalks and street corners of the French Quarter.

Recall Election

Zurik: Inaccurate Orleans voter records spurred settlement in recall petitioners’ lawsuit

Updated: Mar. 1, 2023 at 11:31 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik
Louisiana's Secretary of State says 25,000 active voter adjustment for recall purpose wasn't arbitrary

Lee Zurik Investigations

ZURIK: Coroner accused of padding paycheck with potentially unnecessary autopsies

Updated: Feb. 28, 2023 at 10:01 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
The Lafourche Parish coroner has charged taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars each year in addition to his salary. But some sources claim he created a staffing crisis, and is performing extra work himself to pad his paycheck.

FOX 8 Defenders

New La. bill would remove tax exemption status for non-profit ‘slumlords’

Updated: Feb. 28, 2023 at 4:25 PM CST
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By Meg Gatto
The bill also gives authority to local municipalities to determine if a non-profit is fostering sub-standard living conditions at its properties.

National

Daycare Dilemma: How parents navigate unlicensed and licensed child care systems across the country

Updated: Feb. 27, 2023 at 12:11 PM CST
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By Rachel DePompa and Daniela Molina
According to a ChildCare Aware study, in 2021 the national average price of child care in the U.S. was more than $10,000 annually. Availability has also become an issue post-pandemic as childcare providers struggle to meet staffing needs. These factors both play a role when it comes to parents choosing the best option for their kids, with some turning to in-home daycares to fill in the gap. However, some home daycares are unlicensed with little or no regulation.

Talking Trash

ZURIK: Invoices show disparity in New Orleans’ waste collection contracts

Updated: Feb. 23, 2023 at 10:10 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
One company picks up trash for about half of New Orleans but gets paid millions less each year than the two other companies that split pickup in the other half of the city. Now, some city leaders say it is time to level the playing field.

Top Story

FOX 8 Defenders: Child begs for help at Bellemont apartments

Updated: Feb. 23, 2023 at 10:07 PM CST
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By Meg Gatto
One state lawmaker plans to file a proposal to pull the tax exempt status of property owners who run non-profits, but who lawmakers say are slumlords. The idea for the bill came after our FOX 8 Defenders investigations exposed what residents said were deplorable living conditions at apartments owned by a religious non-profit. Now, one group hits the pavement trying to help tenants who feel they have nowhere else to turn.

National

Hazed and Excused: Colleges and universities rarely expel fraternities, sororities for hazing violations

Updated: Feb. 20, 2023 at 12:18 PM CST
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By Jill Riepenhoff and Joce Sterman
Bowling Green State University in Ohio agreed to a $2.9 million settlement with the family of Stone Foltz, who died in 2021 following an alcohol-fueled fraternity hazing event. The university vowed to unite with the Foltzes in their mission to eradicate hazing. The Foltzes sued Bowling Green, in part, for its failure to punish the bad actors on its campus in the years prior to Stone’s death. Their lawsuit listed dozens of examples in which allegations of hazing weren’t fully investigated by the university or cases in which fraternities and sororities were merely placed on probation for serious violations. It's a similar story at other campuses across the country.

Lee Zurik Investigations

Cantrell campaign spent $72,000 on image consulting in 2022

Updated: Feb. 16, 2023 at 12:06 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Cantrell's Campaign Finance Report, filed just before the deadline, shows she spent $198,000 out of her campaign account in 2022.

Talking Trash

ZURIK: Kenner claims IV Waste overbilled residents millions of dollars

Updated: Feb. 15, 2023 at 4:52 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Kenner and IV Waste are now locked in a legal battle.

Lee Zurik Investigations

ZURIK: Decades-old ordinance gives food cart monopoly in French Quarter

Updated: Feb. 14, 2023 at 11:06 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Only one pushcart food vendor currently is permitted on the streets of the French Quarter

FOX 8 Defenders

Fox 8 Defenders: City admits mistakes amid languishing roadwork woes

Updated: Feb. 13, 2023 at 11:32 PM CST
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By Meg Gatto
New Orleans motorists and homeowners are frustrated by unfinished road work projects across the city

Lee Zurik Investigations

ZURIK: Lopsided investigations and inconsistent punishment alleged within NOPD’s Public Integrity Bureau

Updated: Feb. 9, 2023 at 11:49 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Former NOPD officers and Police Association of New Orleans attorney Eric Hessler accuse the NOPD’s public integrity bureau of lopsided investigations and inconsistent enforcement of policies.

Outside the Office

ZURIK: Police monitor warns of potential conflicts in Vappie investigation

Updated: Feb. 9, 2023 at 5:02 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Stella Cziment wrote a letter warning of potential conflicts regarding the NOPD’s internal investigation into Officer Jeffrey Vappie's timesheets.

Outside the Office

ZURIK: Mayor Cantrell calls focusing on security officers’ timesheets ‘unfair’

Updated: Feb. 8, 2023 at 5:05 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Mayor LaToya Cantrell provided hardly any details about what members of her executive protection team are doing while logging long work days, sometimes nowhere near her.

FOX 8 Defenders

Fox 8 Defenders: Scammers posing as landlords putting renters at risk

Updated: Feb. 7, 2023 at 10:58 PM CST
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By Meg Gatto
Experts say scammers are using every avenue possible to try and take advantage of people and they’re becoming more aggressive.

Outside the Office

Zurik: Mayor Cantrell allowed family members to use city-owned Upper Pontalba apartment, emails show

Updated: Feb. 6, 2023 at 10:54 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
New Orleans taxpayers own one of the units in the Upper Pontalba Apartments, but newly obtained emails appear to show Mayor LaToya Cantrell using the unit as a guest house for family members.

Outside the Office

Zurik: Mayor Cantrell’s security detail sometimes outnumbered those policing an entire NOPD district

Updated: Feb. 6, 2023 at 10:24 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Records show Mayor Cantrell's protection officers on the clock in New Orleans even when she was out of state or in France

Lee Zurik Investigations

ZURIK: Fewer signatures needed to recall New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell

Updated: Feb. 3, 2023 at 5:01 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Mayor Cantrell recall petition needs fewer signatures than originally thought.

Outside the Office

ZURIK: Mayor Cantrell’s security officers clocked time while nowhere near her

Updated: Feb. 2, 2023 at 10:01 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
FOX 8 combed through hundreds of pages of documents to find officers clocking long hours, even when they’re nowhere near Mayor Cantrell.

FOX 8 Defenders

Fox 8 Defenders: Apple Air Tags help locate stolen Hyundai in New Orleans

Updated: Jan. 31, 2023 at 6:01 PM CST
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By Rob Masson
Owners of Kias and Hyundais are looking for alternative solutions to a chronic theft problem, popularized by a group of thieves on TikTok.

Outside the Office

Cantrell: Divorce filing ‘none of my business,’ and ‘none of yours’

Updated: Jan. 25, 2023 at 4:50 PM CST
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By FOX 8 Staff
Mayor LaToya Cantrell doubled down on denying she had an affair with a former member of her security team.

Outside the Office

NOPD officer denies admitting to affair with Mayor LaToya Cantrell, attorney says

Updated: Jan. 19, 2023 at 3:54 PM CST
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By FOX 8 Staff
A lawyer for NOPD Officer Jeffrey Vappie would not deny that an affair occurred, only that his client did not admit to having an affair with anyone to his wife.

Talking Trash

ZURIK: Council member calls for level playing field for trash collectors

Updated: Jan. 19, 2023 at 6:11 AM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
"It’s not fair. It’s an unlevel playing field. How can you expect Mr. Richard at $13.75 a can to compete with other contractors who are getting $23 to $28 a can? You just can’t, because those other companies can pay their people more money."

Top Story

New Orleans mayor denies having affair with member of security team

Updated: Jan. 18, 2023 at 9:49 PM CST
|
By FOX 8 Staff
Mayor Latoya Cantrell denies having an affair with NOPD Officer Jeffrey Vappie. That denial comes after a divorce filing saying Vappie admitted to having an affair with the mayor to his wife.

Talking Trash

ZURIK: Ousted contractor says Cantrell administration orchestrated trash crisis

Updated: Jan. 17, 2023 at 10:04 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
A former trash contractor for the city of New Orleans believes LaToya Cantrell's administration may have orchestrated the recent trash crisis in order to move the trash contract out of his company's hands.

Outside the Office

ZURIK: Divorce filing alleges Mayor Cantrell had extramarital affair with NOPD officer

Updated: Jan. 17, 2023 at 4:02 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
New details of a divorce petition obtained by Fox 8 imply New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was involved in an extramarital affair with Officer Jeffrey Vappie.

Crimetracker

Nursing home owner Bob Dean misspent millions on cars, guns, family, DOJ alleges

Updated: Jan. 12, 2023 at 4:24 PM CST
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By Mykal Vincent
A new complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Justice alleges nursing home owner Bob Dean swept millions of dollars from the homes into his personal banking accounts.

Outside the Office

ZURIK: FBI expands investigation into Mayor LaToya Cantrell

Updated: Jan. 4, 2023 at 10:04 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Sources tell Fox 8 the FBI now is asking about Mayor LaToya Cantrell's schedule, use of a city-owned apartment and her time spent with a member of her security detail.

Top Story

FOX 8 Defenders: Residents complain of sporadic trash pick-up

Updated: Jan. 4, 2023 at 9:56 PM CST
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By Meg Gatto
Some New Orleans residents say they're fed up after weeks of no trash pick-up from Richard's Disposal. Others say their pick-up is sporadic and they have no idea when the trash company is coming to their house.

State

KSLA INVESTIGATES: Grieving, frustrated families fear police bias in unsolved trans murders in Shreveport

Updated: Dec. 22, 2022 at 7:19 PM CST
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By Stacey Cameron
These murders have few clues and different killers, but the victims all share something in common.

Outside the Office

ZURIK: Former mayor contradicts Mayor Cantrell’s claims about Pontalba apartment

Updated: Dec. 15, 2022 at 10:30 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Mayor LaToya Cantrell claims her use of a city-owned apartment is in line with past mayors. But now former Mayor Marc Morial says he never used the apartment the way Cantrell is utilizing it.

Lee Zurik Investigations

ZURIK: City to comb through Mayor Cantrell’s hotel upgrades amid Fox 8 investigation

Updated: Dec. 13, 2022 at 10:27 PM CST
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By Lee Zurik and Dannah Sauer
Mayor Cantrell could be writing another check to taxpayers after the city reviews more of her 2022 travel accommodations.
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