Baton Rouge news

• House rejects Edwards bill to lessen income tax deductions

  19-06-2016 19:35
  
  BATON ROUGE - Lawmakers in the Louisiana House have spurned a proposal sought by Gov. John Bel Edwards to scale back a tax break for people who itemize deductions on their state income tax forms.The bill would have raised $88 million to lessen budget cuts next year.With no debate, 55 House members voted Sunday night against the bill by Bogalusa Rep. Malinda White. It received 46 votes of support.The proposal, rewritten on the House floor, would have ended a person's ability to deduct their state
  
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• Wade expects LeBron to be locked in for Game 7

  19-06-2016 19:09
  
  OAKLAND - Dwyane Wade is at Game 7 of the NBA Finals, and LeBron James' close friend and former Miami Heat teammate says he's as excited as the other fans who will be taking their seats at Oracle Arena."The buildup for this game has just been incredible," Wade told NBA TV about a half-hour before the tip-off. "I know everybody in this building - I know I am - is glad to be here. Hopefully this is a game where we can say 'We were there.'"Wade says James has a mechanism that allows him to
  
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• Edwards vetoes 3 bills from regular legislative session

  19-06-2016 19:07
  
  BATON ROUGE - Gov. John Bel Edwards has vetoed three bills governing construction financing, state worker pay raises and corrections facilities.The governor's office released the vetoes Sunday, involving legislation from the regular session that ended earlier this month.Edwards scrapped a bill to provide financing for the state construction budget. A new construction budget and companion financing bill are being considered in the special legislative session.A second vetoed measure would place li
  
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• State police working accident at I-10 Grosse Tete exit

  19-06-2016 18:04
  
  GROSSE TETE – State Police are working a traffic accident on I-10 west by the Grosse Tete exit near the Atchafalaya River Basin Bridge Sunday afternoon.Around 5:28 p.m., the left of lane of I-10 West was blocked due to an accident. Traffic passed through the right lane but traffic congestion began to form. About 10 minutes later, the incident was cleared and all lanes were reopened but congestion had reached eight miles in length.The Department of Transportation advised driver
  
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• Gay pride security: Local says, 'New Orleans is a safe city'

  19-06-2016 16:33
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A band at New Orleans Pridefest 2016 played the Mardi Gras Indian song "Iko Iko" with a gay pride twist, singing, "We won't run and we won't hide ... Gonna fill this world with love and pride."About 100 people listened, danced and took selfies behind a barricade on that block Sunday afternoon, and about as many more listened farther down Bourbon Street.Sheila Frost of Slidell, her 14-year-old daughter, Emma, and a friend of Emma's, also 14, were dancing. Frost said she hadn't worri
  
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• Hundreds rally after pastor praises shooting

  19-06-2016 15:16
  
  ORLANDO - Hundreds of protesters are chanting "love conquers hate" outside a Northern California church where last week a pastor said during his sermon he was upset more people weren't killed in the attack on an Orlando nightclub that left 49 people dead.The Sacramento Bee reports more than 500 demonstrators holding rainbow flags and signs that read "We are Orlando" and "Pride Over Prejudice" are standing Sunday outside the Verity Baptist church in Sacramento and decrying last week's se
  
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• Bear attacks woman running marathon in New Mexico

  19-06-2016 15:11
  
  VALLES CALDERA NATIONAL PRESERVE - Wildlife officials say a bear attacked a woman running a marathon in a national preserve in northern New Mexico.The woman suffered several bites and scratches and had injuries to her head, neck and upper body that weren't life-threatening.The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish says the woman was racing Saturday afternoon when a female black bear confronted her in the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Officers say the victim surprised the bear after her cub
  
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• Pastor: Church sign on Ramadan drew angry call, posting

  19-06-2016 15:09
  
  DALLASTOWN - A pastor says he got an angry phone message from a school board member who's also a Republican convention delegate about a church sign that reads: "Wishing a blessed Ramadan to our Muslim neighbors."Rev. Christopher Rodkey said he got a call June 11 about the sign outside St. Paul's United Church of Christ, in Dallastown, Pennsylvania, from a man who called it "despicable."He said it came from Matthew Jansen, a Spring Grove Area district board member and delegate who supports Donald
  
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• Gas prices drop nearly a penny, still average $2.37 a gallon

  19-06-2016 15:05
  
  CAMARILLO - The average price of gasoline has leveled off to $2.37 for a gallon of regular unleaded.Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that the price dropped nearly a penny since peaking two weeks ago. The slight decline came after nearly three months of rising prices.Lundberg says the price of crude, ample supplies and a strong refining capacity will probably lead to further price declines at the pump.The Lundberg Survey found the average price of midgrade unleaded was $2.63 a gallon
  
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• National Rifle Association: More gun control not the answer

  19-06-2016 15:03
  
  WASHINGTON - The National Rifle Association is reaffirming its position that more gun control won't stop extremists or criminals from carrying out attacks.Chief lobbyist Chris Cox says the Florida nightclub massacre - the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history - doesn't change the NRA's opposition to tighter gun laws. He spoke a day ahead of Senate votes on four measures to control the sale of guns. None is expected to passNRA CEO Wayne LaPierre tells CBS' "Face the Nation" that "the pol
  
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• 'Star Trek' actor Anton Yelchin killed by own rolling car

  19-06-2016 14:57
  
  LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles police say Anton Yelchin, an actor best known for playing Chekov in the new "Star Trek" films, was killed by his own car as it rolled backward down his driveway.Officer Jenny Hosier says the car pinned Yelchin against a brick mailbox pillar and a security fence early Sunday. He had gotten out of the vehicle momentarily, but police didn't say why he was behind it when it started rolling.Hosier says Yelchin was on his way to meet friends for a rehearsal. When he
  
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• Scientists battle to save world's coral reefs

  19-06-2016 14:53
  
  HONOLULU - More than 2,000 international reef scientists, policymakers and stakeholders are gathering in Hawaii this week to discuss the latest coral science and what can be done to stop widespread death of the world's reefs.The International Coral Reef Symposium convenes Monday to try to create a more unified conservation plan for coral reefsIn the face of global warming and after decades of increasingly devastating coral reef destruction, the world's top marine scientists are struggling to fin
  
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• Attorney general: Silent on Clinton email case with Obama

  19-06-2016 14:51
  
  WASHINGTON - Attorney General Loretta Lynch says the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server hasn't been compromised by President Barack Obama's endorsement of Clinton in the 2016 White House race.Lynch tells "Fox News Sunday" that she's never spoken with Obama about the investigation and she doesn't see any conflict of interest.She says "career agents and lawyers" are handing the investigation and they "will follow the facts and follow the evidence wherever it leads."The
  
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• 'Finding Dory' blows animation record out of the water

  19-06-2016 14:49
  
  LOS ANGELES - The forgetful blue fish of "Finding Dory" is box office gold. The Pixar sequel far-surpassed its already Ocean-sized expectations to take in $136.2 million in North American theaters, making it the highest-grossing animated debut of all time, according to comScore estimates Sunday. The 2007 film "Shrek the Third" was the previous record-holder with a $121.6 million debut."Finding Dory," which comes 13 years after "Finding Nemo" hit theaters, is also now the second-largest June open
  
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• State supreme court won't hear St. Tammany fracking appeal

  19-06-2016 14:45
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A sharply divided Louisiana Supreme Court says it won't hear a challenge to a state decision awarding a permit to a company that wants to drill an oil well in St. Tammany Parish.Helis Oil & Gas said before the decision that it's ready to begin drilling an exploratory well, and will begin moving a drilling rig onto the site June 29.The 4-3 vote leaves in place an appeals court ruling that Louisiana must consider a parish zoning ordinance against industrial activity at the site,
  
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• 3-year-old twins die after being found in truck in Louisiana

  19-06-2016 14:39
  
  BOSSIER CITY - Police in Bossier City say 3-year-old twins have died after being found unresponsive in a pickup truck outside their home.Autopsies will be conducted on the brother and sister, Oliver and Aria Orr.According to KTBS, Bossier City Police responded to a home in the 3400 block of Horeshoe Trail around 3 p.m. Saturday. Police say in a news release that the mother contacted neighbors Saturday to say she was looking for her children. They were found in the truck outside
  
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• Groundbreaking set for Walker High School upgrades

  19-06-2016 12:29
  
  WALKER – Workers will soon get started on million dollar improvements to Walker High School later this month.Officials are set to break ground on a $25 million capital improvement during a ceremony on June 27. The construction is part of a plan approved by voters in 2014.Walker School Board Member Jimmy Watson said Monday’s groundbreaking marks the official start of the biggest components of the plan.“We are excited about this new school and the positive influence i
  
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