Baton Rouge news

• Louisiana's budget is a financial mess, who's to blame?

  17-06-2016 23:21
  
  Blame any one, any group or any thing you like. The reality is the blame rests with us.
  
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• Bus passengers uninjured, truck driver transported after crash on I-10

  17-06-2016 21:43
  
  GROSSE TETE - 44 bus passengers were uninjured in a crash on I-10 east near Grosse Tete Friday night, but the driver of an 18-wheeler involved in the accident was transported to the hospital.#WATCH Scene after crash involving bus, 18-wheeler. Truck driver was transported https://t.co/Sli6Z0Dxvd @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/Xl6ohxZ6rC— Hunter Robinson (@hunterWBRZ) June 18, 2016
  Details surrounding what happened were not immediately clear, but the wreck did cause some congestion.The severity o
  
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• New Jersey couple face charges after 276 dogs found in home

  17-06-2016 18:22
  
  HOWELL - A couple accused of having 276 dogs in their bi-level New Jersey home face more than 550 counts of animal cruelty.The Monmouth County prosecutor's office says Charlene and Joseph Handrik have been charged with 276 counts of animal cruelty for providing inhumane living conditions and 276 more for failing to get veterinary care.The Handriks could face fines and penalties if found guilty.Prosecutors say the dogs lived in deplorable conditions at the couple's home in Howell but were in rela
  
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• Led Zeppelin's Page dodges court questions, riffs air guitar

  17-06-2016 17:15
  
  LOS ANGELES - Led Zeppelin works that include "Stairway to Heaven" had revenues of nearly $60 million over the past five years, an economist testified Friday in a lawsuit accusing the band of lifting a passage from another songwriter's tune for its best known work.Michael Einhorn told jurors in federal court in Los Angeles that songwriters Jimmy Page and Robert Plant have received $58.5 million since 2011 for dozens of works, including "Stairway," their band's 1971 hit and most recognizable song
  
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• Louisiana's budget problem could be $200M worse after low corporate tax collections

  17-06-2016 16:26
  
  Corporate tax collections were supposed to be $359 million for this budget cycle. Currently, they are at $50 million.
  
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• 'Cold-blooded mowing of victims seen in surveillance footage from Pulse nightclub

  17-06-2016 15:25
  
  ORLANDO, Fla. - Federal authorities have recovered video from security cameras inside Orlando's Pulse nightclub that shows shooter Omar Mateen firing his assault rifle and systematically killing innocent victims, sources told ABC News.The violence depicted in the video can only be described as "cold-blooded mowing, walking through the rooms mowing people down," one source said.Sources characterized the video -- pulled from cameras deployed in multiple rooms of the nightclub -- as chilling and un
  
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• Parents of black girl, 12, with rope burn sue Texas school

  17-06-2016 15:22
  
  WACO - A lawsuit has been filed against a private school in Texas by the parents of a 12-year-old black girl who suffered severe rope burn around her neck during an overnight field trip.The Dallas Morning News reports that the family is seeking $3 million in damages.The lawsuit was filed Monday in Travis County against Live Oak Classical School in Waco and the owner of the ranch where the incident occurred.Authorities are investigating how the girl was injured.The family has said they believe it
  
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• Patent dispute could block Apple's iPhone 6 sales in Beijing

  17-06-2016 15:15
  
  SAN FRANCISCO - Apple is embroiled in a Chinese patent dispute that threatens to block future sales of the iPhone 6 in Beijing unless the company can overturn a regulator's recent ruling.The potential ban stems from a decision issued last month by the Beijing Intellectual Property Office. The agency found the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus infringed on a Chinese company's patent for the exterior design of its smartphone called the 100C.Apple Inc. is still being allowed to sell the both of the affect
  
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• Pot fans unite at cannabis conference in New York City

  17-06-2016 15:00
  
  NEW YORK - At this conference, everyone has marijuana on the brain.On Friday, members of nearly every facet of the emerging marijuana industry gathered in New York City for the Cannabis World Congress and Business Exposition.Men and women in business suits mixed with shorts-wearing hippies sporting blazers covered with prints of marijuana leaves. Customized lighters and packets of gummy bears sat next to the traditional pens, stickers and mints on marketing tables.Organizers say their main goal
  
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• Benson properties 'business as usual' after settlement

  17-06-2016 14:36
  
  NEW ORLEANS – A spokesperson for Tom Benson said Friday that the New Orleans Saints owner’s properties will remain “business as usual” after a settlement was reached between Benson and trustees.The spokesperson for Benson said the terms of the settlement will remain confidential, but both the National Football League and the National Basketball Association have been informed of the terms.“Operations for all Tom Benson business properties includin
  
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• DiCaprio deposition ordered in 'Wolf of Wall Street' lawsuit

  17-06-2016 14:24
  
  CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. - A federal judge says actor Leonardo DiCaprio can be questioned for litigation stemming from "The Wolf of Wall Street."
      
  U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Locke, in Central Islip, New York, issued the ruling Thursday in a lawsuit brought by Andrew Greene against Paramount Pictures Corp. and others in 2014.
      
  Greene contends that the portrayal of a character who engaged in illegal and morally questionable acts in the 201
  
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• Ryan: Republicans should follow 'conscience' on Trump

  17-06-2016 14:12
  
  WASHINGTON - House Speaker Paul Ryan says Republican lawmakers should follow their conscience in deciding whether to support Donald Trump, the GOP's presumptive nominee for president.Ryan told NBC's "Meet the Press" that "the last thing I would do is tell anybody to do something that's contrary to their conscience. Of course I wouldn't do that."Ryan has endorsed Trump. He told host Chuck Todd in an interview to be broadcast Sunday that he understands he is in a "very strange situation" to be sup
  
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• Edwards says lawmakers should feel 'urgency'

  17-06-2016 13:49
  
  BATON ROUGE - Gov. John Bel Edwards said he believes there's time in the dwindling days of the special session to persuade House lawmakers to back more tax bills to lessen budget cuts.Bills that will raise around $220 million in the budget year that begins July 1 have received final passage, but so far, the House has balked at passing anything more.Edwards and lawmakers received grim news this week from an LSU economist who sits on the state's income forecasting panel. Jim Richardson said Louisi
  
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• New law provides for more animal shelter oversight

  17-06-2016 13:41
  
  NEW ORLEANS - New legislation will require publicly funded animal shelters in the state to register with the animal welfare officials in an effort to identify areas in the state where more animal assistance is needed.The law, which passed with amendments, was brought about because the Humane Society has observed a high number of animal shelters that are substandard and sometimes fail to provide basic services for the animals in their care.This is most common in rural areas, where the Humane Soci
  
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• Man accused of raping 14-year-old at gunpoint multiple times

  17-06-2016 12:55
  
  BATON ROUGE - Police arrested a registered sex offender Friday morning after he was accused of raping and molesting a 14-year-old girl at gunpoint on multiple occasions.36-year-old Corey Williams was booked on two counts of first degree rape and molestation of a juvenile after BRPD arrested him Friday morning.The victim told children’s advocates on Thursday that Williams had been raping and molesting her at least every other week since the incidents began in October of last year.The vi
  
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• Woman tries to run over man with child in back seat, hits CATS bus

  17-06-2016 12:53
  
  BATON ROUGE - A woman is in Baton Rouge Police custody on Friday after investigators said she tried to run a man over with her car before crashing into a CATS bus with her eight-month-old child in the back seat.Niesha Wiggins, 20, was arrested on charges of aggravated assault, aggravated criminal damage to property, simple assault and child desertion.On Thursday, the victim was walking down the sidewalk when Wiggins drove her car off the road and in his direction. The man said that he f
  
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• CDC: Puerto Rico may see hundreds of Zika birth defects

  17-06-2016 12:50
  
  NEW YORK - A top U.S. health official is warning that dozens or hundreds of babies in Puerto Rico could develop severe birth defects because of Zika, based on how an outbreak is playing out there.Screening of blood donations in the island territory has indicated a rapid increase in the spread of the virus. Officials expect infections will increase through the summer.Consequently, Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Friday that dozens or hundreds
  
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• Largest LGBT group calls for gun law changes

  17-06-2016 12:44
  
  ORLANDO - The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national LGBT rights organization, is calling for several measures to curb gun violence in the aftermath of the attack that killed 49 patrons and staff at a gay nightclub in Orlando.The group said Friday it was endorsing steps to limit access to assault-style rifles, expand background checks and limit access to firearms for suspected terrorists and people with a history of domestic abuse.A resolution on the gun measures was approved Thurs
  
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• Deputes: Caregiver didn't help elderly woman after fall

  17-06-2016 12:38
  
  ASSUMPTION - Deputies arrested a caregiver who they say failed to act when an elderly woman fell and was injured.
  The Assumption Parish Sheriff's Office says 30-year-old Valencia R. Benjamin was a caretaker for the woman.
  Several employees and caretakers in charge of caring for the woman were interviewed during an investigation.  Deputies said Benjamin was present when the woman fell and was injured, but failed to report the injuries and seek medical treatment.
  The elderly woman was tre
  
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• Services to be held Friday for slain 'Voice' singer

  17-06-2016 12:33
  
  MEDFORD - Family and friends are gathering in New Jersey to remember "The Voice" singer Christina Grimmie.The 22-year-old was shot to death last week as she signed autographs after a show in Orlando, Florida. Her assailant fatally shot himself after being tackled by her brother.A viewing was scheduled Friday at Fellowship Alliance Chapel in Medford, followed by a memorial service Friday night.Grimmie lived in nearby Evesham Township, a small community about 20 miles from Philadelphia, before mov
  
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• 1 year after church shooting, much is the same in Charleston

  17-06-2016 12:28
  
  CHARLESTON - After nine black parishioners were slain at a Charleston church, South Carolina did what many thought would never happen: It moved the Confederate flag off Statehouse grounds.The June 2015 massacre resonated across the country as streets, parks and even lakes were stripped of the names of Confederates.But for the most part, Charleston and other areas of the South remain unchanged.Charleston's Confederate commemorations remain intact - and longstanding racial issues endure.A white ma
  
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• Lawsuits may offer fodder for Trump, Clinton attack ads

  17-06-2016 12:19
  
  SAN DIEGO - The presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are both trying to prevent the public release of videos that are critical to legal cases involving the candidates.Trump's lawyers are intensifying efforts to stop the release of video of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee testifying under oath in a fraud lawsuit about the now-defunct Trump University. They told a federal judge in San Diego on Wednesday that the video could be used by the media and Trump's opp
  
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• Woman says Orlando club shooter stalked her

  17-06-2016 12:15
  
  ORLANDO - A bartender says the gunman in the massacre at a gay nightclub stalked her nearly a decade ago when he started coming into her Florida bar.Heather LaSalla of Fort Pierce, Florida, told The Associated Press that Omar Mateen sent her so many uncomfortable messages on Facebook that she blocked him.She says she ran into him again at a park in November while she was with her young son and Mateen was with his. She says he talked about his son's soccer league, but he still had a weir
  
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• Louisiana student denied graduation still gets celebration

  17-06-2016 12:09
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A Louisiana honors student and standout athlete who was blocked from participating in his graduation ceremony last month because of facial hair is getting the celebration he was denied.Democratic state Rep. Katrina Jackson of Monroe and the Rev. Roosevelt Wright III of New Orleans are sponsoring a delayed ceremony for Andrew Jones. The new celebration is scheduled Friday at 7 p.m. at the African-American Heritage Museum in Hammond.Tangipahoa Parish Schools Superintendent Mark Kolwe
  
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• Economist: State could face up to $200M deficit this year

  17-06-2016 12:06
  
  BATON ROUGE - An economist who helps decide Louisiana's state income forecast has delivered grim news to Gov. John Bel Edwards and legislative leaders, saying the state could end up with as much as a $200 million deficit this year.If the expectation pans out, it would worsen state financial problems in the upcoming budget year that begins July 1.Jim Richardson, an LSU economist who serves as the independent member of the state's Revenue Estimating Conference, said he met Thursday with Edwards, S
  
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• 'Master Chef Junior Edition' seeking contestants

  17-06-2016 12:01
  
  NEW ORLEANS - The "Master Chef Junior Edition" is looking for contestants.The show's casting team will be holding an open casting call for Season 6 on Saturday, June 25, in New Orleans.The Daily Star (http://bit.ly/1UyePae ) reports casting Associate Producer Jessie Luczynski said they're looking for home cooks between the ages of 8-13 from in and around the New Orleans area. Auditions are from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the The Ritz-Carlton.Children auditioning must come with an apron and a filled out ap
  
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• Pulse nightclub shooting GoFundMe breaks $5M in donations

  17-06-2016 09:49
  
  ORLANDO, Fla. - The most prominent GoFundMe page set up for victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando has broken site records as it passed the $5 million raised mark on Thursday.The Orlando Sentinel reports the website now lists 300 campaigns for victims and families of victims that passed a total of $5.35 million in donations by Thursday. The largest of those funds, set up by non-profit Equality Florida, smashed records on Monday for fastest-growing fund and largest fund.49 people died
  
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• Amite High student denied graduation still gets celebration

  17-06-2016 09:06
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A Louisiana honors student and standout athlete who was blocked from participating in his graduation ceremony last month because of facial hair is getting the celebration he was denied.Democratic state Rep. Katrina Jackson of Monroe and the Rev. Roosevelt Wright III of New Orleans are sponsoring a delayed ceremony for Andrew Jones. The new celebration is scheduled Friday at 7 p.m. at the African-American Heritage Museum in Hammond.Tangipahoa Parish Schools Superintendent Mark Kolwe
  
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• Nebraska family 'devastated' by fatal gator attack at Disney

  17-06-2016 08:18
  
  ORLANDO, Fla. - The parents of a Nebraska toddler killed by an alligator at a Walt Disney World resort say they're devastated by the death of their son.
  A statement by Matt and Melissa Graves of Omaha, Nebraska, says words can't express the shock and grief their family is experiencing.
  They are thanking authorities in Orlando, Florida, for their assistance after the gator grabbed 2-year-old Lane Graves from shallow water in a lake at a Disney hotel.
  An animal described as being as long as 7 feet
  
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• 12 health centers share $4M in federal funds for dental care

  17-06-2016 08:14
  
  BATON ROUGE - Twelve health centers in Louisiana will share $4.3 million in federal funds targeted at increasing access to dental health care in the state by hiring more specialists to see more underserved patients.
  Five of the centers are in the New Orleans area, two in Baton Rouge and one each in Houma, Franklin, Shreveport, Delhi and Winnfield.
  Lack of access to preventive and routine dental care can result in dental conditions requiring more costly emergency dental treatment. Oral health pro
  
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• Louisiana Senate votes for $400 million worth of tax changes

  17-06-2016 04:24
  
  They want at least $450 million.
  
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• Louisiana corporate tax collections could be low, exacerbating budget problems

  17-06-2016 01:56
  
  Louisiana had budgeted for $359 million in corporate tax collections this year. As of the end of May, it had only received $50 million.
  
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