Baton Rouge news

• Garden District rape suspect has extensive criminal past

  08-05-2016 18:17
  
  BATON ROUGE – New details emerged about the criminal history of the man accused of breaking into a home in the Garden District and raping a woman Thursday.Court documents obtained by WBRZ News 2 revealed that 22-year-old Thairie Xavier Robinson has a substantial criminal history including multiple burglary convictions and a sex crime arrest.Those same documents also reveal that probation officers asked repeatedly over four years for Robinson’s probation to be revoked.Baton Ro
  
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• Scotlandville football player said he saw God after serious neck injury

  08-05-2016 15:47
  
  BATON ROUGE – A Scotlandville High School football player who was seriously hurt during a practice Wednesday says he is blessed and doing well.Scotlandville junior Marcus Thomas had to get rushed to a local hospital Wednesday of last week for what was then described as a "serious" neck injury. He was later transfered to an ICU.From the hospital Saturday, Thomas posted multiple videos on his Twitter account to explain what had happened and to tell friends that he was doing well. Thomas
  
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• 'Captain America: Civil War' nabs fifth best-opening ever

  08-05-2016 14:08
  
  LOS ANGELES - Disney and Marvel's "Captain America: Civil War" has strong-armed its way to becoming the fifth-highest domestic opening ever according to studio estimates Sunday.The film grossed a massive $181.8 million this weekend, bumping "Iron Man 3" out of the top five all time debuts. "Civil War" now ranks right below "Marvel's The Avengers" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron."The 13th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe sees an ideological showdown between Iron Man and Captain America, and has
  
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• Austin voters keep fingerprinting for Uber, Lyft drivers

  08-05-2016 14:03
  
  AUSTIN, Texas - Voters in Austin have decided that fingerprinting drivers for ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft must continue.Saturday's vote defeated a proposal that would have repealed a February ordinance that says drivers must complete fingerprint-based background checks.Uber and Lyft lobbied hard against the measure and threatened to pull out of Texas' capital city if the security condition was not repealed.The manager of Uber Austin, Chris Nakutis, says company officials are dis
  
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• For Obama's legacy, a few bright spots with Trump as nominee

  08-05-2016 13:57
  
  WASHINGTON - There's no cheering at the White House for Donald Trump. Yet for President Barack Obama, things could be worse.Trump's ascent as the presumptive Republican nominee makes some of Obama's main achievements more likely to survive after the next president takes over.Trump's policy prescriptions are full of contradictions and short on specifics, but in general they're closer to Obama's than those of Ted Cruz and Trump's former GOP rivals.Cruz steadfastly opposes Obama's outreach to Cuba,
  
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• Winning Powerball ticket sold in New Jersey

  08-05-2016 13:54
  
  TRENTON, N.J. - Lottery officials in New Jersey say the winning ticket that matched all six numbers in the Powerball drawing worth $429.6 million was sold in Mercer County.Officials said early Sunday the location will not be disclosed until certain security procedures are completed, and it's anticipated that the location will be revealed by Monday.In a statement, New Jersey Lottery executive director Carole Hedinger calls winning the seventh-largest jackpot in Powerball history "a life-
  
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• Gas prices jump by 9 cents over past 2 weeks, averages $2.27

  08-05-2016 13:49
  
  CAMARILLO, Calif. - The average price of gasoline has jumped by 9 cents over the past two weeks to $2.27 a gallon for regular grade.Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that the hike is mostly due to crude oil prices edging up. The price at the pump has risen 50 cents over the past 12 weeks.In the Lower 48, the highest average price of regular gasoline was $2.83 per gallon in San Francisco. The lowest was $1.92 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.The U.S. average diesel price is $2.28 per gallon,
  
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• Houma woman, 34, dies in Saturday accident

  08-05-2016 13:46
  
  HOUMA - State police are investigating a traffic accident that killed a 34-year-old Houma woman.Saturday's accident happened shortly before 8 a.m. Troopers say Tekel Coleman was driving south on Louisiana Highway 24.Her car ran off the road, entered a small ditch and struck a concrete driveway.Coleman's vehicle overturned and she was fatally injured. She was pronounced dead by the Terrebonne Parish Coroner's Office.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Man accused of French Quarter stabbing

  08-05-2016 12:04
  
  NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans police say a 50-year-old man is accused of attacking his ex-girlfriend in the French Quarter tourist district and stabbing one of several men who tried to make him stop.Spokesman Aaron Looney says Everett Williams and the man he allegedly stabbed were taken to hospitals with injuries.He says Williams allegedly confronted and attacked the woman near Jackson Square, in the heart of New Orleans' tourist district, about 2 p.m. Sunday.Looney says several men tried to stop Wi
  
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• State: Car insured by Affirmative? Get new coverage. Now.

  08-05-2016 12:02
  
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's Office of Motor Vehicles reminds drivers whose vehicles are insured by Affirmative Insurance or Affirmative Casualty Insurance that they need to have new coverage by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. Otherwise, says Commissioner Karen G. St. Germain, they could face a penalty for cancelled insurance.The Illinois Department of Insurance ordered Affirmative into liquidation in March.Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has said that about 11,000 Louisiana policy holders are a
  
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• Texas man sentenced for taking girl to La for prostitution

  08-05-2016 12:01
  
  SHREVEPORT - Prosecutors say a 27-year-old Texas man faces nearly 15 years in prison for bringing a 14-year-old Dallas girl to northwest Louisiana for prostitution.U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley says federal District Judge Elizabeth Foote sentenced Larry Bluitt of Dallas last week to 14 years and 10 months in prison.Authorities say Bluitt dropped the girl off at a Shreveport hotel after agreeing to bring her to a man who answered an online ad for prostitution in December 2014.The man was an unde
  
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• At what age an adult? Many in Louisiana say 17 is too young

  08-05-2016 01:46
  
  Jurisdictions across the country are re-evaluating get-tough-on-crime policies.
  
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• TOPS, hospitals at center of Louisiana budget fight

  08-05-2016 00:58
  
  Democrat John Bel Edwards has made the state's hospitals his top priority while House Appropriations Chairman Cameron Henry, a Metairie Republican, says fully funding TOPS will be his focus.
  
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• John Bel Edwards, Louisiana House budget chief don't have same priorities

  08-05-2016 00:58
  
  Democrat John Bel Edwards has made the state's hospitals his top priority while House Appropriations Chairman Cameron Henry, a Metairie Republican, says fully funding TOPS will be his focus.
  
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