| By DREW BROACH | Staff writer |
FEDERAL TAKEOVER: Amid a surge in murders and carjackings in New Orleans, federal prosecutors are increasingly assuming control of cases that are usually litigated in local courts. U.S. Attorney Duane Evans said he set out to assign gun cases to “damn near every unit” in his criminal division, in hopes of prosecuting “the worst of the worst.” Nationally, federal gun prosecutions were down 11% last year, but in the 13-parish Eastern District of Louisiana, they were up 85%. ALTERED PLANS: For Bob Dean, 2021 was the year to cash in. He’d fueled a lavish lifestyle for years through some of the most poorly rated nursing homes in Louisiana, and now Dean was poised to sell his seven remaining properties for $70 million. When Hurricane Ida ruined his plans that year, Dean ordered his nursing home bank accounts be swept clean of millions of dollars, and went on a personal spending spree totalling almost $2 million, the federal government says. For more stories like this, subscribe to our free Louisiana Investigative Journalism newsletter. It’s free. KATRINA’S TOLL: More than 17 years after Katrina and the federal levee failures flooded New Orleans, the National Hurricane Center has reduced the death toll by almost a quarter, from 1,833 people to 1,392. Here’s why. Get more environment news by signing up for our free Louisiana Coastal Watch newsletter, emailed weekly. Thanks for starting your Sunday with Morning Headlines. Catch the latest news all day on NOLA.com. D.B. | 