Indicted New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has been keeping a low profile since an 18-count indictment was handed down against her on public corruption charges. The U-S Attorney’s Office alleges that Cantrell defrauded the city out of 70-thousand dollars by using her out of state trips and an apartment in the French Quarter to spend time with officer Jeffrey Vappie romantically under the guise that he was her bodyguard.

The mayor has previously said her relationship with Vappie was strictly professional.  But prosecutors say they found 15-thousand messages sent through the What’s App platform that provides evidence of a love affair.

Loyola University Law Professor Dane Ciolino says having an affair is not a crime, it’s using taxpayer money and then the coverup. He says if Cantrell is found guilty on most of these charges it could result in a federal prison sentence of five to six years….

Cut 8 (11) “…probateable crimes”

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple has provided data that several auto insurance companies are reducing their rates. Temple says the average statewide reduction is two percent, but some policyholders are seeing even higher reductions, because there have been fewer accidents since 2024…

Cut 5 (11) “…accident frequency”

Temple says the legal reforms approved by the state legislature will also help soon.

You can now get on a train in New Orleans and take it to the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coasts as Amtrak’s Mardi Gras service begins its twice-daily run between the Crescent City and Mobile. Southern Rail Commission Chairman Knox Ross says the next step is to connect New Orleans and Baton Rouge with a passenger train…

Cut 12 (11) “…corridor”

1996 was the last time there was passenger rail service between New Orleans and Mobile.