| By KASEY BUBNASH | Staff writer |
Good morning and thanks for starting your week with us. Here's a look at some of our top headlines. Crime drop: New Orleans saw its murder rate plummet by more than 40% in the first half of this year, a drop that’s among the largest seen in the nation’s most murderous cities. Missy Wilkinson and Jeff Adelson explain what's behind this year's murder rate, one of the lowest year-to-date totals in decades. Big Easy Weight Loss: “Gamechanger” is the word routinely used by obesity researchers to describe the effects of weight loss drugs like Wegovy, Zepbound, Mounjaro and Ozempic. And in Louisiana, where about 4 in 10 adults are obese, the market for such drugs is enormous. Emily Woodruff has a look at one local company that's jumping in. Beryl intensifies: Hurricane Beryl made history as it approached the Windward Islands Sunday, quickly strengthening into the Atlantic's first Category 4 storm ever to form in June. Here's what we know about Beryl so far. If you're curious how Hurricane Beryl grew from a tropical storm into a dangerous hurricane over the last three days, you can see its progression here. We've got plenty more news, entertainment and sports from The Times-Picayune here. Thanks for reading. Kasey | 