Baton Rouge news

• Marco Rubio rallies in Baton Rouge ahead of Saturday primary

  29-02-2016 21:38
  
  BATON ROUGE - One of the top contenders to be the Republican nominee for president is planning to rally in Baton Rouge Friday evening, though a venue hasn't been announced yet.Sen. Marco Rubio (R) will make a stop in the capital city Friday. Doors will open at 4:45 p.m., and the event will start an hour later. A location is expected to be announced soon, but tickets are free and available on Eventbrite.Rubio, a first-term U.S. Senator from Florida, is polling second and third in most polls, behi
  
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• Arson suspected in mobile home fire

  29-02-2016 21:24
  
  BATON ROUGE - Arson investigators were called after a mobile home caught fire in Baton Rouge Monday night.The Baton Rouge Fire Department was dispatched to Magnolia Mobile Homes Estate, off Victoria near Winbourne just before 8 p.m. Monday. They were able to quickly extinguish the flames quickly and prevented them from spreading to neighboring trailers, however, the mobile home was destroyed.According to witnesses, no one was currently living there, but the previous tenants were just evicted las
  
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• Louisiana budget doesn't have a revenue problem: JR Ball

  29-02-2016 19:54
  
  Louisiana's government, despite nearly $3 billion in shortfalls, doesn't have a revenue problem. Nor does it have a spending problem, especially if you're one who believes in government's ability to solve problems and provide services. What the state of Louisiana...
  
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• Deputies investigating afternoon shooting on Hanks Drive

  29-02-2016 18:14
  
  BATON ROUGE - Deputies are currently investigating a shooting in north Baton Rouge Monday afternoon.Sources told WBRZ News 2's Brett Buffington that one man was found shot in the head at 7300 Hanks Drive.Deputies have Victoria Dr closed near Hank Dr for shooting investigation. Source says man found shot in the head. pic.twitter.com/WjdXBAa2lo— BrettBuffingtonWBRZ (@BrettBuffington) March 1, 2016This is a developing story. Stay tuned to WBRZ on Facebook and Twitter for the upda
  
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• LSU students removed from Capitol after senate chamber disruption

  29-02-2016 17:51
  
  BATON ROUGE – Two LSU students were removed from the state Capitol Monday afternoon after causing a disruption in the senate chamber.Peter Jenkins was escorted out of the Capitol after dropping a banner that read, “Save Our Schools #SOSLA.” Security quickly grabbed the banner and removed the students.“We are here to ask our legislature to do their jobs and save our schools,” Jenkins told WBRZ News 2’s Mark Armstrong.Je
  
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• KKK leader: Police rejected request for security

  29-02-2016 17:08
  
  LOS ANGELES - A Ku Klux Klan leader who was injured when his small group of demonstrators brawled with counter-protesters in a Southern California park this weekend says he called police beforehand asking for security and was told, "We don't do that."In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, Will Quigg says he contacted the Anaheim Police Department but that his requests for a police presence were denied.Three people were stabbed and several others injured in the melee involving
  
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• VA watchdog releases reports on wait-time manipulations

  29-02-2016 16:44
  
  WASHINGTON - Reports documenting scheduling problems and wait-time manipulation at the Department of Veterans Affairs are being made public, as the agency's internal watchdog bows to pressure from members of Congress and others to improve transparency.The VA's Office of Inspector General released 11 reports Monday outlining scheduling problems and manipulation of records at VA hospitals and clinics in Florida. The reports are the first of 77 investigations to be made public over the next few mon
  
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• Senators shut down House leader's talk of deficit spending

  29-02-2016 16:41
  
  BATON ROUGE - The leader of the House budget committee provoked harsh reactions from senators by suggesting Louisiana may need to deficit spend to make it through the budget year.House Appropriations Chairman Cameron Henry, a Republican, told the Senate Finance Committee the state may "be rolling" some of the budget shortfall to next year.Senators Monday said that would damage public trust, harm Louisiana's credit rating and worsen next year's financial problems. The governor's chief budget advi
  
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• Hammond woman arrested after wild multi-parish pursuit

  29-02-2016 16:38
  
  BATON ROUGE – A Hammond woman who told officers she had "smoked a tiny bump of meth" Sunday evening was arrested after leading troopers on a wild two-parish pursuit, arrest records show.The chase began when troopers spotted a damaged Jeep that matched the description of one used in a hit-and-run crash in Ascension Parish. A trooper saw the Jeep at the intersection of Highland Road and La. Hwy. 61 Sunday night, arrest records show. The driver, a woman in her twenties, also matc
  
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• NY judge: US cannot make Apple provide iPhone data

  29-02-2016 15:48
  
  NEW YORK - A New York judge says the U.S. Justice Department cannot force Apple to provide the FBI with access to locked iPhone data in a routine Brooklyn drug case.U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein ruled Monday. The decision follows a California magistrate judge's order requiring Apple to create software to help the U.S. hack the iPhone of a shooter in the Dec. 2 killing of 14 people in San Bernardino, California.In October, Orenstein invited Apple to challenge the government's use of a 178
  
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• Rubio: Trump is a spray-tanned pants-wetter

  29-02-2016 15:46
  
  WASHINGTON - Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's is throwing fresh jabs at Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, inviting the crowd to "have a little fun."Rubio is shifting from policy to personal attacks on Trump , mocking everything from the billionaire businessman's tan to subtle questions about his manhood. He even implied that Trump wet his pants during a recent debate.Crowds across the South appear receptive to the junior senator's change in tone, exploding into cheers and lau
  
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• Plaquemine teacher aide accused of sexually abusing teen

  29-02-2016 15:39
  
  PLAQUEMINE- A teacher's aide in Plaquemine is in hot water tonight, accused of two counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile.That employee also helped out with the band. When allegations surfaced he was fired.Erwin Marionneaux is accused of touching a 15-year-old and sending her inappropriate text messages. It was inside the walls of Plaquemine High where investigators say Marionneaux met his victim.Her family's attorney says it was good parenting that uncovered the relationship."Her
  
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• Comedian Katt Williams arrested on battery charge in Georgia

  29-02-2016 15:36
  
  GAINESVILLE - Comedian Katt Williams has been arrested on a battery charge in Georgia after a store employee told police that Williams punched him during an argument.Gainesville police Sgt. Kevin Holbrook says officers responded to an assault call at a pool supply store around 11:30 a.m. Monday. Holbrook says officers found Williams outside "lying on the ground with his hands behind his back as though he was ready to go to jail."Hall County sheriff's Deputy Nicole Bailes said in an email that Wi
  
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• Red Cross providing mobile aid station for storm relief

  29-02-2016 15:31
  
  CONVENT – Red Cross disaster relief workers are still on the ground in Convent and other areas affected by last week’s severe weather.According to the Red Cross, volunteers served over 1,600 meals Saturday between lunch and dinner to residents in Assumption, Livingston, St. James and St. John the Baptist parishes.Sunday, Red Cross provided mobile aid stations to residents in Convent and other disaster affected areas. The St. James Parish aid station is set up at the entrance
  
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• Scotlandville High senior accused of having gun at school

  29-02-2016 14:38
  
  BATON ROUGE – Authorities say a Scotlandville High School senior was arrested Monday after a gun was found in his backpack.According to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, 17-year-old Major Payton was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Monday for illegal carrying of a weapon on school property and violation of a weapon free zone.Deputies say school officials received an anonymous tip that Payton had the gun on school property. Officials made contact wi
  
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• Baton Rouge man accused of raping teen

  29-02-2016 14:22
  
  BATON ROUGE – Deputies say a Baton Rouge man was arrested Sunday after they say he raped a 17-year-old in January.East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s deputies were called on Jan. 14 in reference to a possible rape. The victim said she met 24-year-old Tiris Cage via cell phone a week before the incident. The two exchanged text messages and nude pictures.The victim told investigators that on Jan. 13, Cage came to her front door of her home and exposed himself. She said she slammed the d
  
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• Man charged with sexual battery after fight with girlfriend

  29-02-2016 13:51
  
  BATON ROUGE – Deputies say a Baton Rouge man was arrested Sunday after they say he was involved in a physical fight with his girlfriend Saturday.Around 2 a.m. Sunday, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s deputies talked to a victim who said she was involved in a fight with her boyfriend, 28-year-old Joshua Totten.The victim told deputies that Totten got angry with her after finding out she was cheating on him with another man. She said Totten asked her who she was texting and th
  
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• FedEx worker: 'God saved me' as twister spun above her last week

  29-02-2016 12:55
  
  PAINCOURTVILLE - Stories of survival continue to be told nearly a week after twisters tore through south Louisiana.Monday, video of a woman's desperate attempt to run for cover shows just how scary the weather was last week. The video is a recording of security camera footage at Sagona's True Value Hardware in Assumption Parish. It shows the powerful twister move through the town and Kyra Johnson looking for a place to stay safe."I could have been blown, ripped away.. but nothing, nothing touche
  
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• Tough talkin' 'Cajun John Wayne' resigns from St. Landry Sheriff's Office

  29-02-2016 12:45
  
  OPELOUSAS – The charismatic sheriff captain who put St. Landry Parish on the international map with his viral videos, resigned from the Sheriff’s Office Monday.According to a KATC-TV report, Clay Higgins made the announcement Monday morning on the steps of the St. Landry Parish Courthouse.Higgins says he was not forced to resign, but he felt he needed to turn in his badge. "I will not kneel to violent street gangs. I will not kneel to murderers or the parent
  
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• 4 hurt in shooting at Ohio school; 14-year-old in custody

  29-02-2016 12:35
  
  MADISON TOWNSHIP, Ohio - A sheriff says a 14-year-old student pulled out a gun in a southwestern Ohio school cafeteria and opened fire, hitting two students.Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones says two other students were injured at Madison Local Schools either as they tried to get away or from shrapnel from the shooting.Jones says the suspect ran from the school, threw the gun down and was apprehended nearby.Jones says the 14-year-old was a student and there was a motive to the shooting which h
  
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• Treasurer could save Louisiana money with office move

  29-02-2016 12:22
  
  BATON ROUGE - Gov. John Bel Edwards administration is questioning why Treasurer John Kennedy hasn't moved his employees to cheaper office space to help the state save money.Edwards' chief financial adviser, Jay Dardenne, sent a letter to Kennedy on Friday asking him for more information about 12,000 square feet of office space the treasurer leases for nearly $370,000 a year.The governor's office released documents showing the Division of Administration told Kennedy he could save nearly $294,000
  
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• New Jersey woman pleads guilty to setting her newborn on fire in road

  29-02-2016 11:54
  
  MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. - A woman has pleaded guilty to setting her newborn on fire and leaving her in the middle of a New Jersey street.Hyphernkemberly Dorvilier pleaded guilty Monday in Mount Holly to aggravated manslaughter. She had previously pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.Authorities say the 23-year-old Pemberton Township resident doused her newborn with accelerant and set her on fire in January 2015. The baby had third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body. She died two hours after she
  
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• Philadelphia bar offers Leap Day marriage proposal prizes

  29-02-2016 11:24
  
  PHILADELPHIA - A historic Philadelphia tavern is offering some Leap Day incentives to women looking to settle down.KYW-TV reports McGillin's Olde Ale House is trotting out a Leap Day tradition encouraging women to propose to men. According to Irish folklore, February 29 was the one day of the year where women could pop the question to men. Legend has it that St. Brigid had complained to St. Patrick about how unfair it was for women to wait for men to propose, and they brokered the Leap Day deal.
  
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• Microsoft to ship developer HoloLens for $3,000 in March

  29-02-2016 11:19
  
  Microsoft says it will start shipping a developer version of its augmented reality device, HoloLens, for $3,000 on March 30.That's around the same time Facebook's Oculus will begin shipping the consumer version of its Rift virtual-reality headset for $600. HoloLens differs from the Oculus Rift in that it makes the viewer see three-dimensional objects in the real world, rather than blocking out the real and replacing it with a 360-degree fictional universe.The HoloLens operates on Windows 10 and
  
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• Electronic cards to make WIC easier to use

  29-02-2016 11:07
  
  WASHINGTON - Pregnant women and parents using the Women, Infants and Children program will have an easier time buying food at the grocery store.The Agriculture Department is announcing Monday it will require states to transition from paper vouchers to electronic cards over the next five years. WIC will now use the same type of Electronic Benefits Transfer cards used by food stamp recipients.Around half of the nation's infants benefit from WIC. The program offers grants to states to give food vou
  
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• Trump disavows support of former KKK leader

  29-02-2016 11:02
  
  WASHINGTON - Donald Trump is stepping back from comments he made over the weekend when he claimed to know nothing about former Klu Klux Klan leader David Duke, saying that he couldn't hear the questions clearly.Trump was asked Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" whether he rejected support for his presidential campaign from the former KKK Grand Dragon and other white supremacists after Duke."Well, just so you understand, I don't know anything about David Duke. OK?" Trump told host Jake
  
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• Iranian moderates win majority in parliament, clerical body

  29-02-2016 09:54
  
  TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian reformists and relative moderates who support last year's nuclear deal won the most seats in parliament and a clerical body charged with selecting the next supreme leader in a major setback for hard-liners who opposed the agreement, official election results showed Monday.Final results released by the Interior Ministry and broadcast on state TV show that reformists, who favor expanded social freedoms and engagement with the West, and other backers of President Hassan Rouha
  
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• Governor Edwards Declares Severe Weather Awareness Week

  29-02-2016 09:48
  
  Meteorologically speaking, it is now severe weather season for Southeastern Louisiana and Southern Mississippi. While tornadoes, damaging thunderstorm winds, large hail, and flash floods can occur at any time of the year, now through May is the time in which these hazards most often occur. As such, the week of February 29, 2016 has been designated "Severe Weather Awareness Week" for Louisiana. So as we flip the calendar from February to March, take a few minutes each day to be sure you and your
  
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• Education chief: House cuts would shutter most of agency

  29-02-2016 09:04
  
  BATON ROUGE- The Louisiana House is proposing to take a hatchet to the Department of Education in the final four months of the budget year.
      
  House lawmakers recommended cuts that Superintendent of Education John White says would shutter nearly every program in his agency, including early childhood programs, vouchers and standardized testing.
      
  Republicans in the House have said they want to make deeper cuts than what is proposed by Gov
  
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• Flood board appeals dismissal of suit against oil companies

  29-02-2016 08:19
  
  NEW ORLEANS- A south Louisiana flood board's lawyers head to a federal appeals court in hopes of reviving a lawsuit against dozens of oil and gas companies.
      
  The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East filed the suit in 2013. It claims coastal oil and gas activity contributed to damage and loss of wetlands that form a hurricane buffer for New Orleans.
      
  A federal district judge dismissed the suit last year. The 5th U.S. Cir
  
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• Alabama to be hub of scientific study of Southern tornadoes

  29-02-2016 08:01
  
  ATLANTA- Weather researchers say they expect about 40 scientists from around the nation to participate in "VORTEX Southeast," an upcoming study of the unique characteristics of tornadoes that develop in the South.
      
  Like earlier studies in the Midwest, the research based in Huntsville, Alabama, will run through March and April and will include mobile radars, drones and other equipment that can measure tornado intensity.
      
  Social scienti
  
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• Louisiana's flu season expected to spike in coming weeks

  29-02-2016 07:19
  
  BATON ROUGE- Louisiana has seen a mild start to this flu season, but doctors and national experts say that may be about to change.
      
  The latest data available from the state Department of Health and Hospitals show a small number of cases, with only about 7 percent of all tests taken for influenza coming back positive for the week of Feb. 6.
      
  Doctors and more recent data from Columbia University in New York report a spike in flu-like ca
  
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• February 29, 2016 Morning New Pop

  29-02-2016 07:01
  
  Here are today's top stories:Red Cross assisting in Convent recovery effortsWarning about slow flu seasonSaturday's Academy Awards Mild ahead of another cold frontUpdates all day, every day:FACEBOOK | TWITTERPermalink| Comments
  
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• Louisiana sales tax increase: Proposal extends 1-cent hike for five years

  29-02-2016 02:50
  
  The Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committeeapproved the extended sales tax hike -- the one with a five year sunset -- on a 10-1 vote Sunday (Feb. 28).
  
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