| By DREW BROACH | Staff writer |
ALL ABOARD! The past half-century has not been kind to passenger rail travel through New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast: Kansas City Southern ended its Southern Belle service between New Orleans and Baton Rouge in 1969, and Hurricane Katrina destroyed the tracks between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, in 2005, halting that service and turning depots along the coast into artifacts of a bygone era. Now, however, the prospect of resurrecting both routes has communities along the lines scrambling to buy land, build infrastructure and open businesses. BAILOUT: Facing a huge and growing number of unpaid claims left by failed insurance companies, a Louisiana-chartered bailout program that ensures policyholders don’t get stiffed wants to borrow $600 million by selling bonds to banks and investors for the first time in three decades. Taxpayers might end up footing the bill. SCHOLARSHIFT: For years, Benjamin Franklin High in New Orleans was the top-rated public school in Louisiana, in official state rankings, unofficial evaluations and the minds of many casual observers. Not this year, according to U.S. News & World Report, which has anointed a new No. 1. Thanks for starting your Sunday with us. Keep up with the news all day on NOLA.com. D.B. | 