Baton Rouge news

• Senate Finance approves 'raise the age' bill

  25-04-2016 23:56
  
  Bill now moves to full Senate as Gov. John Bel Edwards praises committee action.
  
  Read more

• Louisiana budget gap shrinks to $600M, Edwards administration says

  25-04-2016 22:33
  
  Gov. John Bel Edwards not estimates Louisiana's budget gap for the budget cycle that starts July 1 is $600 million -- not $750 million.
  
  Read more

• 2 hospitals question Gov. John Bel Edwards' Medicaid expansion savings projections

  25-04-2016 21:37
  
  University Medical Center and Lafayette General say the savings aren't conservative enough. Edwards administration officials disagree, but If they're wrong, the hospitals could face another round of mid-year budget cuts.
  
  Read more

• DOTD looking at improving LA 30

  25-04-2016 19:05
  
  ASCENSION PARISH- The Department of Transportation and Development is looking to improve traffic along LA 30.Traffic is currently so bad, that drivers take alternative routes to avoid it.“It’s a straight shot from my area to come to work this way. But I avoid it and I actually make so many zig zag turns, just to avoid the traffic,” Tammy Newsome, driver of LA 30, said.The state is looking at new alternatives such as adding a roundabout or j-turns to cut down on traf
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Senate seeks to limit eleventh-hour pay hikes from governors

  25-04-2016 18:39
  
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's state senators are taking aim at last-minute pay raises by exiting governors.
      
  The Senate voted 36-0 Monday for a proposal that would require lawmakers on the joint House and Senate budget committee to sign off on certain state worker pay raises between a gubernatorial election and the governor's inauguration day.
      
  New Orleans Sen. Wesley Bishop's bill would cover the raises given to political appointees call
  
  Read more

• Raise the Age bill passes in Senate Finance Committee

  25-04-2016 16:44
  
  BATON ROUGE- The Louisiana Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved the Raise the Age bill on Monday.
  The bill would submit 17-year-olds who commit delinquent acts to the juvenile criminal justice system, rather than trying them as adults or keeping them in adult prisons prior to trial.The act would allow for courts to retain their discretion to send juveniles to an adult prison in more violent cases.The change is to be implemented over the next four years. The bill is by Senator J.P. Morre
  
  Read more

• Business owner, former NFL WR shot in leg during robbery

  25-04-2016 16:18
  
  BATON ROUGE - A former wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers and Baton Rouge business owner was shot early Monday morning during a robbery at a townhouse in the city.37-year-old Nathan Black was shot in the leg, according to his Facebook page. Black owns a personal training facility in the Capital City.East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office deputies reported responding to the scene of the shooting at the Briar Hollow Townhouse complex off Siegen Lane at Briar Hollow Avenue.Invest
  
  Read more

• Abortion, immigration, medical marijuana debated in Legislature

  25-04-2016 15:22
  
  State lawmakers are pondering many social issues in the 2016 session. Here's a look at some that they are undertaking.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Strip club helps in arrest of man wanted for attempted kidnapping

  25-04-2016 14:56
  
  BATON ROUGE- The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office arrested 28-year-old Michael Elliot for aggravated kidnapping, attempted armed robbery and false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon after the help from a strip club manager.The incident occurred on April 7 around 10 p.m. when the victim and his friend were at the Penthouse Strip Club in the 4600 block of Bennington Avenue.The victim told officers that he began talking to Elliot, who was sitting next to him by the stage.Later in the n
  
  Read more

• Landrieu reacts as US chides sheriff over New Orleans jail

  25-04-2016 14:56
  
  NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu's office issued a brief and subdued response to the latest court filing in a years-long effort to reform the city's jail.The Justice Department and lawyers for inmates asked a federal judge Monday to have a third party take over operations of the jail from Sheriff Marlin Gusman.Landrieu's administration had urged such action in 2013, when Landrieu and Gusman were feuding publicly over jail operations. The judge declined to order the takeover then.On
  
  Read more

• Amy Schumer weighs in on Lafayette theater shooting

  25-04-2016 14:45
  
  LAFAYETTE - Actress and comedian Amy Schumer has opened up about her reactions to the Lafayette theater shooting in this month’s issue of Vanity Fair.Schumer, who appears on the magazine’s cover, provides an extensive interview about her work and life.She talks explicitly about the night the shooting happened at Lafayette's Grand theater during a showing of her film “Trainwreck.” Two women, Jillian Johnson and Marci Breaux, died while another nine
  
  Read more

• BRFD: Morning house fire on Balboa Drive

  25-04-2016 14:40
  
  BATON ROUGE - Firefighters say a pot left on the stove was behind a fire in 9600 block of Balboa Drive Monday morning.BRFD reports they were on the scene at around 7:50 a.m. to find the fire in the kitchen. Investigators say the fire burned around the stove before it extended into the attic.The rest of the home received some smoke damage, resulting in an estimated $13,000 worth of damage.The Baton Rouge Police Department, EMS and Entergy were also assisting on the scene.Permalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• Livingston Parish employee arrested for DWI after crash resigns

  25-04-2016 14:10
  
  LIVINGSTON - A Livingston Parish employee who is accused of crashing a parish vehicle while driving drunk has resigned from his position.State Police said Shevis Ball blew a BAC of .168 after the man was administered a breath test following the crash that severely damaged the Livingston Parish Ford F-150 Ball was driving on Apr. 19. The front end was smashed in and airbags in the front and on the sides deployed.Ball was arrested at the scene on La 16 south of La 63 and booked on charges of DWI a
  
  Read more

• Common Core testing begins Monday in La. public schools

  25-04-2016 13:55
  
  BATON ROUGE - About 300,000 public school students are taking tests this week tied to the Common Core education standards without the boycotts or heated political rhetoric that marked the testing last year.Hollis Milton, president of the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents and West Feliciana Parish schools superintendent, reported that "there's an overall calmer environment" for testing this year.Most students in third grade through eighth grade will spend parts of Monday through Thu
  
  Read more

• Proposed Louisiana food inspection cuts may pose health risk

  25-04-2016 13:50
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Proposed state budget cuts will have an effect on those that like to eat out and buy groceries.If the budget proposed by Gov. John Bel Edwards for next year is approved, there will be fewer inspections of the retail food industry.The Department of Health and Hospitals is planning for a possible staff reduction that could include up to 16 sanitarian staff membersDHH Deputy Secretary Michelle Alletto said the impact would be 20,700 fewer retail food inspections next year. Alletto say
  
  Read more

• Ohio woman dies after hit by train while seeking 'goatman' creature

  25-04-2016 13:45
  
  LOUISVILLE, KY - An Ohio woman was killed as she walked on an aging but still active railroad trestle while apparently investigating a local urban legend with her boyfriend last weekend.The local coroner says 26-year-old Roquel Bain died of multiple blunt force injuries suffered during the collision and a subsequent fall from the rails. The collision was first reported by police at 7:30 Saturday night.The coroner pronounced Bain dead at the scene after what is estimated to be a fall of between 8
  
  Read more

• Coast Guard searching for missing man near Grand Isle

  25-04-2016 13:34
  
  NEW ORLEANS- The Coast Guard and local agencies are searching for a missing person in Grand Isle.The man missing is 25-year-old Larkeis Durell Bradford.He was last seen wearing a camouflage hat a purple and white shirt. He is about 5’8 in height.The Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received the report around 11 a.m. on Sunday. According to the Coast Guard, he was last seen fishing from the Grand Isle beach in the vicinity of Walnut Lane.Coast Guard Station Grand Isle and Coast Guard Air
  
  Read more

• Electronic driver's license bill passes committee vote

  25-04-2016 13:33
  
  BATON ROUGE - A bill to create an electronic Louisiana driver’s license passed the House Transportation Committee Monday. If it becomes law, the Office of Motor Vehicles would create a smartphone app that a driver could use to present a valid electronic driver’s license to law enforcement or to other state and local government agencies. As the bill stands now, a driver could choose to obtain only the electronic license and not the physical license. The renewal cost of the ele
  
  Read more

• Maury Drummond, long-time former USS Kidd executive director, dies

  25-04-2016 13:21
  
  BATON ROUGE- Maury Drummond, the former USS Kid director died Sunday night.Alex Juan, who succeeded Drummond, confirmed his passing to WBRZ on Monday.“It’s a huge loss, obviously for Baton Rouge,” she said.St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Zachary posted on their Facebook page about Drummond’s passing.Drummond was the executive director of the USS Kidd for nearly 30 years before resigning from his position. Permalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• Gay woman says New Orleans Family Dollar refused to serve her

  25-04-2016 13:12
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A Family Dollar store on the corner of Canal and Broad has made headlines in New Orleans after a cashier refused service to an openly gay woman when she attempted to make a purchase."The cashier was just loudly stating her opinion on her disdain for gay people," said Melissa Langford to WWL-TV, "Eventually I spoke up because I couldn't take it anymore."Langford said things only got worse from then on. A cell phone video of the incident captures the clerk saying, “I&rs
  
  Read more

• Estimate of Louisiana's budget shortfall drops to $600M

  25-04-2016 13:07
  
  BATON ROUGE - The price tag for Louisiana's budget shortfall next year has dropped to $600 million.
      
  Gov. John Bel Edwards' chief financial adviser Jay Dardenne told state senators Monday that a gap once pegged at $750 million is lower.
      
  Dardenne says that's thanks to savings from Edwards' planned Medicaid expansion and to changed estimates of how many people will use Medicaid services in the financial year that begins July 1.
  &nb
  
  Read more

• Fox Finders track sightings across Baton Rouge

  25-04-2016 13:04
  
  BATON ROUGE - People across Baton Rouge say some new tenants have made homes in their neighborhood: Foxes. Many of the encounters have been caught on camera.Mid-City, Kenilworth, Highland, University Acres and the LSU lakes are just a few of the locations where foxes have been reported on the Facebook page Fox Finders of Baton Rouge.Experts say the number of foxes roaming around the city shouldn't come as a surprise."All of the animals come out in the springtime after the winter," Hilton Cole, t
  
  Read more

• LSU DB Jalen Mills NFL Draft profile

  25-04-2016 13:00
  
  Versatility a strength for Tiger DB.
  
  Read more

• Nurse arrested for forging prescriptions

  25-04-2016 12:51
  
  THIBODAUX - Police reported the arrest of a Houma woman employed as a nurse for forging prescriptions.49-year- old Vickie Ezell was arrested for unlawfully prescribing, distributing, dispensing or assisting in illegally obtaining of CDS.On Mar. 11, a pharmacy in Houma notified a Thibodaux-based doctor that suspicious prescriptions were being written in the doctor’s name and filled at their pharmacy.The Thibodaux Police Department learned that Ezell, who worked as a nurse in th
  
  Read more

• Deputies investigate possible murder in Zachary

  25-04-2016 12:09
  
  ZACHARY - Sheriff’s deputies in East Baton Rouge say they’re currently investigating a possible murder that took place over the weekend.EBRSO detectives say they responded to the scene in the 19600 block of Deer Creek around 8:45 p.m. Sunday night to perform a welfare check.The body of 62-year-old Stephen Kennedy was found inside. Investigators are now looking into the case as a possible homicide.An autopsy is scheduled to be completed by the coroner by Tuesday.Anyone with in
  
  Read more

• Wreck before I-10/12 West merge causes morning backup

  25-04-2016 09:57
  
  BATON ROUGE - A mid-morning crash before the I-10/12 merge has caused significant delays westbound through Baton Rouge on Monday. The left lane is blocked due to vehicle recovery operations, according to DOTD.
  Traffic is passing through the four right lanes. Congestion related to the incident have stretched back to Bluebonnet Blvd. There is no word on injuries yet.Permalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• US ends Honda probe for failing to report deaths, injuries

  25-04-2016 09:22
  
  DETROIT - The U.S. government says it has closed an investigation into Honda's failure to report deaths and injuries after the company met all of its obligations.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted on its website Monday that Honda paid a $70 million fine and took steps needed to make sure similar failures don't happen again.The government fined Honda in December of 2014. At the time it was the largest civil penalty levied against an automaker.The company a
  
  Read more

• Cleveland settles lawsuit over Tamir Rice shooting for $6M

  25-04-2016 08:38
  
  CLEVELAND - The city of Cleveland has reached a $6 million settlement in a lawsuit over the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, a black boy shot by a white police officer while playing with a pellet gun.An order filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland on Monday says the city will pay out $3 million this year and $3 million the next.The wrongful death suit against two officers and the city alleged the officers acted recklessly when they confronted the boy in November 2014.Video of the encounter sh
  
  Read more

• April 25, 2016 Morning News Pop

  25-04-2016 08:08
  
  Here are today's top stories:New Orleans residents warn tourist about crimePlans for ER and other medical services slated for North BRDancing with Big BuddyTo the end of AprilUpdates all day, every day:FACEBOOK | TWITTERPermalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• EBRSO investigating shooting at Briar Hollow

  25-04-2016 07:30
  
  BATON ROUGE - East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office are investigating an early morning shooting at the Briar Hollow townhomes off of Siegen Lane.BREAKING: EBRSO responding to a shooting at Briar Hollow town homes off of Siegen. Details coming on @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/G7FdHqLQ4u— MichaelVinsanau WBRZ (@MVinsanau) April 25, 2016Investigators said a man was shot in the leg and drove himself to the hospital. The identity of the man is unknown.The investigation is ongoing. We will have more det
  
  Read more

• BRFD responded to house fire on Keokuk Drive

  25-04-2016 05:16
  
  BATON ROUGE - Baton Rouge Fire Department responded to an early morning house fire just before 4 a.m. on Keokuk Drive.According to the fire department, firefighters arrived at the scene and saw fire coming from the rear window of the home.Fire crews got the fire under control around 5 a.m. No injuries are reported. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.This is a developing story. Stay tuned for more information on WBRZ. Permalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• Gas prices jump by 8 cents in past 2 weeks, lowest in Baton Rouge

  25-04-2016 00:26
  
  The lowest price was $1.82 in Baton Rouge.
  
  Read more

Follow @BatonRougeNews_ on Twitter!