| By DREW BROACH | Deputy metro editor |
HER HONOR’S HOUSING: Is New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell living rent- and tax-free in a posh, government-owned apartment overlooking Jackson Square, instead of her house in Broadmoor? That’s what the nonprofit Metropolitan Crime Commission asked the City Council to investigate Thursday, citing evidence that Cantrell has all but moved herself into an Upper Pontalba Building unit that carries a fair market rental value of $2,991 per month but that historically has been used to host and entertain visiting dignitaries. DXC DEFAULTS: Five years ago, Louisiana and New Orleans officials announced with fanfare that tech giant DXC Technology was opening a “digital transformation center” in New Orleans’ Central Business District, promising 2,000 jobs in what Gov. John Bel Edwards at the time billed as the state's largest-ever tech-focused economic development project. But DXC has hired just 300 local workers and is occupying only three of the 10 floors it leased in a granite Poydras Street skyscraper, and now the state has terminated the company’s $18.6 million incentive package because of DXC’s repeated failure to meet job and payroll benchmarks. CLOBBERED BY CLIMATE: If it seems like the Gulf of Mexico is seeing more severe hurricanes, that’s because it is. In just the past five years, six storms of Category 4 or 5 have struck Gulf states, providing new evidence that climate change is indeed intensifying hurricanes. In the wake of Ian, the latest Category 4 storm, raking Florida, Louisiana emergency response and rescue groups under various Cajun Navy banners have deployed to the Sunshine State to rescue survivors and deliver recovery supplies. Thanks for starting your Friday with Morning Headlines. Catch the latest news all day on NOLA.com. D.B. | 