Baton Rouge news

• Marcelle announces mayoral run

  31-05-2016 20:53
  
  BATON ROUGE - State Representative and former Metro Councilwoman C. Denise Marcelle announced she will be running for EBR Mayor-President this fall in a press release issued Tuesday evening.In a statement, Marcelle says she made the decision after "being encouraged by many citizens from all areas of the parish".Marcelle will make an official announcement Thursday at 11 a.m. at the Baton Rouge Marriott.Marcelle is the 8th person to announce their candidacy, joining State Senator Sharon Weston Bro
  
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• Livingston gravitational wave observatory designers share $1.2M science prize

  31-05-2016 19:18
  
  The Livingston LIGO observatory, and its twin in Hanford, Wash., last year measured a gravitational wave created by the merger of two black holes
  
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• Frustration grows in search for 7-year-old Japanese boy left in woods with bears

  31-05-2016 19:10
  
  Father says child was left behind as punishment for throwing rocks at cars along a road in the area.
  
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• Government Street to get a makeover; work not to start for another year

  31-05-2016 18:54
  BATON ROUGE - Government Street in Baton Rouge is set to get a makeover, however it will be another year and half before work will begin.The street will have the existing four lanes reduced to three from the I-110 to Lobdell and designated left turns to be added in the middle to reduce congestion and accidents that are commone to the area. "We have an excess number of accidents on Government Street that are either rear enders or  when someone darts out there an accident," Rodne
  
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• Free summer program offered for teens in high-crime areas

  31-05-2016 18:46
  
  BATON ROUGE- A free summer program is now being offered to those located in high-crime communities.Louisiana State University has been working with the city to help fight off crime under a federal grant and one of the things the city is implementing is a free summer program that has started this week and will continue for the next eight weeks.For the past two years, the LSU Wellness Ambassador Program was an in-school program that worked with highschoolers at Glen Oaks High.Now the program is of
  
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• Man injured after diving into river at rec site

  31-05-2016 18:38
  
  BATON ROUGE - A man was taken to the hospital after being injured while diving into a river in the Frenchtown Road Conservation Area.The conservation area is a part of the BREC system. The park is located just north of Florida Boulevard along the Livingston-East Baton Rouge line in between the Amite and Comite rivers. An ambulance took the man to the hospital. *****************Follow the publisher of this post on Twitter: @treyschmaltzPermalink| Comments
  
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• Alligators found eating human body in Florida, police say

  31-05-2016 18:21
  
  Two alligators were discovered eating a dead body on the edge of the Everglades.
  
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• Former NFL player Will Smiths blood alcohol level was above legal limit

  31-05-2016 18:02
  
  NEW ORLEANS- Former NFL New Orleans Saints player Will Smith's blood alcohol level was higher than the legal state limit when he was involved in road rage incident that resulted in him being shot and killed last month.
  According to sources, Smith's BAC was .20, while the state's legal limit is .08.The toxicology report could be turned over to Cardell Hayes' attorney on Wednesday.
  Smith was shot and killed following an altercation with Hayes after Smith's vehicle bumped into Hayes' on Magazine St
  
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• Lapsed insurance payment plan bill headed to governor's desk

  31-05-2016 17:36
  
  BATON ROUGE - A Baton Rouge lawmaker's bid to create payment plans for people struggling to pay lapsed car insurance fines is headed to the governor's desk.
      
  With a 94-0 vote Tuesday, the House gave final passage to the bill from Democratic Rep. Denise Marcelle.
      
  Louisiana law requires drivers to have insurance on their vehicles. Marcelle's bill outlines payment plans for drivers owing the Office of Motor Vehicles more than $250 in la
  
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• John Bel Edwards to visit New Orleans to tout Medicaid expansion

  31-05-2016 17:28
  
  New Orleans will become the seventh city to get a visit from Edwards and DHH Secretary Rebekah Gee.
  
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• Semi-finalists for Ascension Parish Superintendent to be interviewed

  31-05-2016 17:27
  
  GONZALES- The Ascension Parish School Board will interview the semi-finalist candidates this week to fill the Superintendent position.
  There are four semi-finalists left. Two of the original six candidates who were invited for an interview, Alonzo "Lonnie" Ray Luce and Harrison Peters, withdrew from the process.On May 23, the Ascension Parish School Board narrowed down the selection to 10 candidates out of 47 applicants."It is not uncommon for candidates to withdraw during a search process, but
  
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• Body found near Bonnet Carre Spillway identified as missing 88-year-old woman

  31-05-2016 17:04
  
  NEW ORLEANS- The body of a woman found in Lake Pontchartrain near the Bonnet Carre Spillway on May 4 has been identified, according to NOPD.The woman identified is 88-year-old Estelle Webb who had been missing from her Heaton Street home in New Orleans since Apr. 28.The Louisiana State Police laboratory positively matched DNA from the body to DNA from personal items of Webb.Workers with the CN Railroad notified St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office deputies when they found the body in May.Webb was
  
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• Oregon advances to semifinal of the NCAA championship

  31-05-2016 15:56
  
  EUGENE - NCAA champion Aaron Wise won the anchor match Tuesday to help Oregon rally past defending champion LSU and into the semifinals of the NCAA championship.The Ducks trailed in all five matches at one point. They were up 2-1, with the fourth match in extra holes, when Wise beat Eric Ricard 3 and 2.Oregon, the host school at Eugene Country Club, advanced to Tuesday afternoon's match against Illinois, a 4-1 winner over South Carolina.Top-seeded Texas had no problem in beating Oklahoma 4-1. Th
  
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• City leaders in email spat over chairs at health care meeting

  31-05-2016 15:47
  
  BATON ROUGE - City leaders became caught in a petty email thread Tuesday over chairs for a meeting that's become a controversial and complicated debate over politics, health care and business.In messages circulated to officials and the media, Metro Council member Chauna Banks accused the mayor's office of trying to derail a meeting about health care in North Baton Rouge slated for later in the day. The mayor's office fired back that Banks-Daniel's intentions for spearheading th
  
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• 1-year probation for man who threw alligator into restaurant

  31-05-2016 15:25
  
  WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A Florida man who threw an alligator through a drive-thru window was sentenced to a year of probation after throwing himself at the mercy of the court.Twenty-four-year-old Joshua James told the judge Tuesday that he's sorry he threw the alligator through the window at a Wendy's last October. He said he found the nearly four-foot gator by the side of the road and meant to play a prank on a friend at the restaurant.James was initially charged with felonies including assault
  
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• Louisiana lawmakers unanimously request open burning study

  31-05-2016 15:19
  
  BATON ROUGE - The Department of Environmental Quality will study the open burning of hazardous waste in Louisiana, under a resolution from state lawmakers.With a 92-0 vote Tuesday, the House gave final passage to the resolution from Rep. Gene Reynolds, a Minden Democrat. The Senate already had unanimously approved it.Open burning critics say it poisons the air and drinking water.Reynolds originally proposed to ban such burning statewide, responding to concerns from people who live near Clean Har
  
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• 14 La. holiday weekend traffic deaths double 2015 total

  31-05-2016 15:17
  
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana State Police say there were twice as many Memorial Day weekend traffic deaths in the state this year as there were in 2015.
      
  A Tuesday news release says there were nine fatal crashes resulting in 14 deaths statewide during the holiday weekend. Last year, seven Memorial Day weekend crashes left seven dead.
      
  Troopers said failure to wear seatbelts and suspected drunk driving were factors in several of the deaths.
  
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• State asks to rule out next Louisiana execution before 2018

  31-05-2016 14:45
  
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana won't carry out its next scheduled execution before January 2018 if a federal judge approves a request by state Attorney General Jeff Landry's office.In a court filing Tuesday, Landry's office asked for an 18-month extension to a judge's order that delayed the execution of Christopher Sepulvado.A federal lawsuit challenging Louisiana's method of lethal injection has kept Sepulvado's execution on hold since February 2014. The state's execution protocols changed as drugs us
  
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• NFL's Cam Newton brings Nickelodeon series to White House

  31-05-2016 14:35
  
  WASHINGTON - Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has scored big for his new Nickelodeon series that launches Friday.
      
  Newton brought 10-year-old Rosie Smolowitz to the White House to interview Michelle Obama for the cable TV series "All in with Cam Newton." The NFL star helps kids fulfill some of their dreams.
      
  A White House spokeswoman says the first lady highlighted a program called "Every Kid in a Park." The program grants fre
  
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• Enrollment for Louisiana's Medicaid expansion opens Wed.

  31-05-2016 14:22
  
  BATON ROUGE - People interested in getting insurance coverage through Louisiana's new Medicaid expansion can begin signing up Wednesday.
      
  Residents can apply online at www.healthy.la.gov or by phone at 1-888-342-6207. Gov. John Bel Edwards and Health and Hospitals Secretary Rebekah Gee also are expected to announce local application centers at an enrollment kickoff event Wednesday in New Orleans.
      
  Louisiana will become the 32nd state
  
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• Retired McNeese State University president dies in Italy

  31-05-2016 14:07
  
  LAKE CHARLES - Retired McNeese State University President Robert Hebert has died while vacationing in Italy with his family. He was 77.
      
  The university said in a news release Tuesday Hebert died of a brain hemorrhage on Monday.
      
  Hebert, a native of Abbeville, came to McNeese in 1969 as an associate professor of history. He served as vice president of academic affairs from 1980 to 1987 and became the fifth president of McNeese in 1987.
  
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• If TOPS is cut, every scholarship likely to be reduced

  31-05-2016 13:56
  
  If there is a cut to the TOPS college scholarship program, Louisiana lawmakers want everyone to take a piece of it.
  
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• Mom says 6-year-old daughter gave new life to others following deadly crash

  31-05-2016 13:51
  
  BATON ROUGE - The mother of a 6-year-old girl who died from injuries sustained in a three-vehicle crash on Highland Road last Thursday tells News 2 her daughter was able to give new life to three others through donating her organs Tuesday.The crash happened at around 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 26 at the intersection of LA 42 (Highland Road) and LA 427 (Old Perkins Road) in East Baton Rouge Parish. 6-year-old Ava Branstetter, of Prairieville, would later die from the injuries she sustained in tha
  
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• Hacked Texas construction signs call Donald Trump a lizard

  31-05-2016 13:51
  
  DALLAS - Electronic construction signs in the Dallas area appear to have been hacked, displaying messages calling Donald Trump a reptile and imploring early morning commuters to take a day off work.The portable signs along Interstate 30 and elsewhere flashed messages early Tuesday including, "Donald Trump is a ... shape shifting lizard!" Another message read, "Bernie for president," referring to Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders.Another sign said: "Work is canceled. Go back home."The signs app
  
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• Cars stall in flood-prone areas following Tuesday evening thunderstorm

  31-05-2016 13:27
  
  BATON ROUGE - A pop-up thunderstorm Tuesday afternoon left standing water in some flood-prone areas of Baton Rouge.Tuesday evening thunderstorm leaves oft-flooded streets flooded, cars stall out @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/QgEUYjBqmf— Hunter Robinson (@hunterWBRZ) June 1, 2016
  WBRZ cameras captured several cars stalled out on Essen Lane near I-10. Reports of high water also came in from the Jefferson Highway/Corporate Boulevard/Old Hammond Highway area..@La_DOTD cameras capture lightning str
  
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• Website for Bayou Classic game tickets, events, and hotel rooms

  31-05-2016 13:24
  
  BATON ROUGE- A website has been launched for purchasing tickets for the Bayou Classic game, events and even book hotel rooms for those who plan to travel to attend the annual football game. The Bayou Classic football game, between rivals Southern University and Grambling State University, takes place on Nov. 26 with events taking place all throughout the weekend leading up to the game and following.The game is set to start at 4 p.m. in the New Orleans Mercedes-Benz Superdome.Attendees of the gam
  
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• Central fire looking for information after corrosive material is dumped illegally

  31-05-2016 13:21
  
  CENTRAL - The Central Fire Department is seeking information after an unknown, corrosive substance was dumped Tuesday evening.BR Hazmat was also called to the scene near the intersection of Wax Road at Banway Drive after someone illegally dumped 2 55-gallon-drums which were leaking a corrosive fluid. A cleanup crew removed the drums.The Central Fire Department is asking that anyone with information about the crime call (225) 261-2000.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Man wanted for questioning after LSU catering van stolen

  31-05-2016 13:18
  
  BATON ROUGE - A man is wanted for questioning by LSU Police after a university catering van was stolen.Campus police released surveillance camera stills of the wanted individual early Tuesday afternoon.Anyone with information about the man or the stolen LSU catering van is urged to contact LSU Police at (225) 578-3231. Tips can also be submitted anonymously online at www.lsu.edu/police.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Man wanted after fight that left victim with fractures in his face

  31-05-2016 13:14
  
  DONALDSONVILLE - Ascension Parish deputies arrested one man and are looking for a second following a fight that left one man with broken bones in his face.Deputies released a photo of Oliver Solomon, 20, Tuesday evening. He's wanted for 2nd degree battery and disturbing the peace.A second suspect, Cordell Forcell, turned himself in Saturday night following the incident at a house party at a home in Donaldsonville. Investigators say Forcell and Solomon and walked up to the victim from across the
  
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• Already hurting for doctors, Louisiana could lose even more

  31-05-2016 13:11
  
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's deep, persistent budget troubles are endangering the future of state medical training programs.
  Proposed cuts to safety net hospitals could damage the stream of new doctors for a generation, in a state that has chronic shortages of health care workers and some of the worst health care outcomes in the nation.
  And just the chatter about the financial threats is already having ripple effects, with other states' doctor-training programs cherry-picking some of Louisiana's to
  
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• Police seeking suspect for domestic violence, cruelty to juveniles charges

  31-05-2016 13:10
  
  THIBODAUX- Thibodaux Police is asking for the public’s assistance in locating a suspect wanted for several charges.Kemoyne Matthews has warrants for domestic abuse aggravated assault with child endangerment, cruelty to juveniles aggravated assault, second degree battery and false imprisonment.On Wednesday, May 25 around 5:30 p.m., Matthews held a victim and the victim’s child against their will at their home in the 100 block of Alice Drive for several hours.Matthews previousl
  
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• Man charged with murder following heroin overdose

  31-05-2016 12:50
  
  GONZALES - The Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office arrested a man on 2nd degree murder charges in the overdose death of a man from Baton Rouge.The charges stem from the death of Abraham Said, 20, in the 43000 block of R. Daigle Road in Gonzales on May 3rd. During the initial investigation, deputies say they learned Andre Wilson, 20, prepared the syringe and administered heroin to Said. Later that day, Wilson was charged with obstruction of justice, possession of heroin and possession of drug parap
  
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• VIDEO: Car runs over motorcyclists in road rage incident

  31-05-2016 12:49
  
  LUTZ, Fla. - Two people on a motorcycle were injured during a road rage incident in Florida on Monday night, and the video is causing a social media stir.The witness who captured the video said he was in utter shock after he saw the driver run over the couple of bikers. The man said the driver of the car ran the bikers off the road before they eventually caught up to the vehicle. When this happened, he pulled out his phone and started documenting the incident.The witness said the exchange betwee
  
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• Boutte restaurant destroyed after on fire for hours

  31-05-2016 12:43
  
  BOUTTE – The state fire marshal’s office is investigating a fire that destroyed a restaurant in Boutte, LA. Crews from four fire departments were on the scene late Monday night trying to tame the fire, according to Captain Pat Yoes of the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office.The restaurant was that caught fire was Zydeco’s Cajun Restaurant off of US-90.Traffic slowed as drivers were directed to one lane for several hours.Fire fighters said the fire started around
  
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• Mayor testifies in day 3 of fired police chief's appeals hearing

  31-05-2016 12:27
  
  DENHAM SPRINGS - An appeals hearing for the fired Denham Springs Police Chief recessed Tuesday night, again without a decision about Scott Jones' fate.Denham Springs Mayor Gerard Landry was among those questioned Tuesday evening. It was the third night of the hearing which began last Tuesday and Wednesday before recessing for the Memorial Day Weekend.Scott Jones and Captain Steve Kistler were fired in April at a special council meeting. The pair were accused of mishandling a domestic violence ca
  
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• Family pulls coyote from Lake Pontchartrain

  31-05-2016 12:26
  
  SLIDELL - A family rescued what they thought was a dog while fishing on Lake Pontchartrain over the weekend.When they got close to the animal though, they learned they had happened across a coyote swimming three miles out in the lake.Juliette Keller Velthouse said they were able to get the animal into a net. Her brother then piloted the boat to shore before the coyote went on its way, according to Velthouse.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Lawmakers vote to boost penalties for texting while driving

  31-05-2016 12:21
  
  BATON ROUGE - Penalties could grow for disobeying state laws that ban texting or posting to social media sites while driving and that restrict cell phone use for young drivers, under a bill heading to the governor.
      
  Violators currently face traffic fines of up to $175 for the first offense and up to $500 for second and subsequent violations.
      
  Baton Rouge Sen. Yvonne Dorsey Colomb's bill would increase those fines to up to $500 for a f
  
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• Debris still sitting curbside nearly 2 weeks after intense storm

  31-05-2016 12:13
  
  BATON ROUGE - Nearly two weeks after a storm rolled through the Baton Rouge-area, knocking out power, snapping branches and toppling trees, many residents are still staring at the debris on their curb."We still have the great wall of Shenandoah," Josh Michaels told News 2's Brittany Weiss.News 2 spoke to Michaels the day after the storm hit. He had a massive pile of debris in his yard then, and it's still there.The Department of Public Works says it's trying to keep up by putting new trucks on t
  
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• Woman accused of shooting man in face at Aster St. apartment

  31-05-2016 12:04
  
  BATON ROUGE - A woman will face an attempted murder charge after she was accused of shooting a man in the head at an Aster Street apartment complex.25-year-old Quinyana Jackson was booked on charges of attempted second degree murder and carrying of a firearm by a convicted felon after she was arrested early Monday morning.Baton Rouge Police said officers were summoned at around 3 a.m. to an apartment in the 1000 block of Aster Street where they found a victim suffering from a gunshot wound to th
  
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• High court rejects La. inmate's death penalty challenge

  31-05-2016 09:53
  
  WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court is rejecting a Louisiana inmate's appeal to consider a nationwide ban on the death penalty.The justices on Tuesday turned away a challenge from death row inmate Lamondre Tucker.Tucker's appeal is the latest to challenge capital punishment as unconstitutional after Justice Stephen Breyer issued a dissent last year calling for a re-evaluation of the death penalty. Breyer criticized the process as arbitrary, prone to mistakes and time-consuming.The Louisiana Supreme C
  
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• WBRZ's Fireworks on the Mississippi set for July 4 at 9 p.m.

  31-05-2016 09:33
  
  BATON ROUGE - WBRZ News 2 will host WBRZ’s Fireworks on the Mississippi, sponsored by The USS Kidd, which is the largest fireworks show in Louisiana on July 4, 2016.WBRZ is proud to continue the tradition created by the Manship Family. WBRZ and The USS Kidd will provide the Baton Rouge Area with a massive fireworks display at 9 p.m. on Monday, July 4, 2016.  WBRZ’s Fireworks on the Mississippi is a holiday staple in our community and has been gladly supported by WBRZ
  
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• Monster gator spotted on Florida golf course

  31-05-2016 09:09
  
  PALMETTO, Fla. - Surreal video has emerged on the web after a golfer encountered a massive gator on a Florida golf course.Charles Helms posted the video to his Facebook page last Wednesday after he spotted the monstrous gator roaming freely on the Buffalo Creek Golf Course in Palmetto, Florida.The post has gone on to make social media and mainstream news waves."I was stunned and silent," said Helms in a phone interview with WFTS.Helms says he has never seen anything like the huge reptile. He say
  
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• Petition wants parents charged after gorilla's death

  31-05-2016 09:04
  
  CINCINNATI - Hundreds of thousands of signatures have already been applied to an online petition that has been created in response to the death of Harambe the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo.The ape was shot dead on Saturday after a young boy fell into its enclosure.The petition, which calls Harambe’s death a “sad incident,” is asking for the boy’s parents to be “held accountable for the lack of supervision and negligence that caused Harambe to los
  
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• US home prices rise in March as spring buying season begins

  31-05-2016 08:21
  
  WASHINGTON - U.S. home prices kept climbing in March as the spring home buying season began, but so far the higher costs haven't thwarted sales.
  The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index increased 5.4 percent in March compared with a year earlier. That is the same annual gain as in February.
  Solid job growth, modest increases in wages and salaries, and low mortgage rates are fueling Americans' willingness to buy homes. There is also a limited supply of homes on the market,
  
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• May 31, 2016 Morning News Pop

  31-05-2016 08:17
  
  Here are today's top stories:LSP: 4 dead after fiery collision in ClintonMetro-council woman host public meeting about ER in North Baton RougeEBR to host online property auctionGetting back in the swingUpdates all day, every day:FACEBOOK | TWITTERPermalink| Comments
  
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• Boy attacked by shark over Memorial Day weekend

  31-05-2016 08:10
  
  NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. - Officials say a 13-year-old boy was badly hurt in a shark attack at a Florida beach on Sunday afternoon.The attack took place in Neptune Beach just before 3 p.m.Neptune Beach Police said the boy and his stepfather were swimming in chest-deep water when he was attacked. He suffered a bite measuring 8 inches behind his right knee and top of his calf.While the injuries were serious, law enforcement said they were not life-threatening. The boy was taken to UF Health in Jacksonv
  
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• TOPS, hospitals take a bigger cut in latest Louisiana state budget proposal

  31-05-2016 03:03
  
  Services for the elderly and people with disabilities are just about the only thing that is fully funded in the latest version of the Louisiana state budget.
  
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• REAL ID bill heads to governor, would give drivers choice in compliance

  31-05-2016 00:56
  
  With a 28-9 vote Monday, the Senate gave final legislative passage to a bill that lets a driver decide between a license that meets the federal act requirements or one that does not.
  
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