Mayor indicted over allegations of trying to hide relationship

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was indicted Friday in what prosecutors called a years-long scheme to hide a romantic relationship with her bodyguard, who is accused of being paid as if he was working even when they met alone in apartments and traveled to vineyards for wine tasting.

Cantrell faces charges of conspiracy, fraud and obstruction, less than five months before she leaves office due to term limits. The first woman mayor in New Orleans’ 300-year history was elected twice but now becomes the city’s first mayor to be charged while in office.

Cantrell’s bodyguard, Jeffrey Vappie, was already facing charges of wire fraud and making false statements. He has pleaded not guilty. A grand jury returned an 18-count indictment Friday that added Cantrell to the case.

They’re accused of exchanging encrypted messages through WhatsApp to avoid detection and then deleting the conversations. The mayor and Vappie have said their relationship was strictly professional, but the indictment portrayed it as “personal and intimate.”

Texas Republicans start another redistricting session

Texas Republicans on Friday began a second special session to approve new congressional maps sought by President Donald Trump to bolster his party ahead of the 2026 midterm elections as California Democrats prepared to unveil their own redistricting plan in an intensifying fight over control of Congress.

The GOP’s first special session in Texas ended without approving new political maps, thwarted by Democrats who staged a nearly two-week walkout that meant not enough lawmakers were present to pass any legislation. Gov. Greg Abbott then quickly called a second session that then started without the necessary quorum to conduct business.

However, that could soon change as absent lawmakers have said they will return to Austin once California Democrats take more formal steps on their own redistricting plan that they’ve been shaping behind closed doors.

Some workers would be excluded from forgiveness program

Teachers, social workers, nurses and other public workers would be cut off from a popular student loan cancellation program if the Trump administration finds their employer engaged in activities with a “substantial illegal purpose,” under a new federal proposal released on Friday.

The Education Department took aim at nonprofits or government bodies that work with immigrants and transgender youth, releasing plans to overhaul the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Opponents fear the new policy would turn the loan forgiveness benefit into a tool of political retribution.

The proposal would give the education secretary the final say in deciding whether a group or government entity should be excluded from the program, which was created by Congress in 2007 to encourage more college graduates to enter lower-paying public service fields. The proposal says illegal activity includes the trafficking or “chemical castration” of children, illegal immigration and supporting foreign terrorist organizations. “Chemical castration” is defined as using hormone therapy or drugs that delay puberty — gender-affirming care common for transgender children or teens.

Gas valve failure may have led to fatal explosion

Preparations for a routine maintenance task may have led to an explosion at a U.S. Steel coal-processing plant near Pittsburgh that left two dead and sent 10 to hospitals, the company said Friday.

U.S. Steel said it developed the information, along with other investigators, from reviewing video footage and interviewing employees.

That has suggested to them that the explosion happened when workers were flushing a gas valve in preparation for a routine planned maintenance task, the company said.

Man struck and killed on freeway after fleeing agents

A man fleeing immigration authorities outside a Home Depot store in Southern California was struck and killed by an SUV when he ran across a nearby freeway, officials said.

Police in the city of Monrovia about 20 miles northeast of Los Angeles received a call Thursday about the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. A responding officer saw ICE agents approaching the store and conducting enforcement activity there, City Manager Dylan Feik said in a statement.

One man fled on foot and headed toward the nearby freeway, where he was struck by a vehicle, Feik said. He was taken to a hospital, where he died, the statement said.

Singer sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for $1M fraud scheme

Singer Sean Kingston was sentenced to 31/2 years in prison Friday after being convicted of a $1 million fraud scheme in which he leveraged his fame to dupe sellers into giving him luxury items that he then never paid for.

Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Paul Anderson, and his mother, Janice Eleanor Turner, were convicted in March by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud. Turner was sentenced to five years in prison last month.

Mexico, Guatemala presidents meet face to face

From mounting cartel violence, border security and a mega project to extend a controversial train line across their borders, the presidents of Mexico and Guatemala talked common goals and concerns in their first face-to-face meeting on Friday.

The two regional allies, who met in Guatemala’s northern Peten region, agreed to strengthen coordination on migration, law enforcement and economic development. But top on the agenda for both was a proposal to extend the Mexican government’s Maya Train from southern Mexico to Guatemala and Belize.

The Guatemalan leader has said he sees the economic potential of the project to the jungle region but remained adamant that the construction should not come with the kind of environmental damage that it inflicted in Mexico.

— Denver Post wire services