Baton Rouge news

• How health care advocates won the PR battle to expand Medicaid

  21-06-2016 22:00
  
  There was a concerted effort to sidestep legislative efforts to kill the expansion.
  
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• With clock ticking, Senators delay on crafting state spending plans

  21-06-2016 21:12
  
  BATON ROUGE -  Senators are having trouble working out a final version of their plans to spend the $284 million raised in the special legislative session.The Senate Finance Committee planned a Tuesday meeting to craft its version of the bill to plug the money into next year's budget. But after delaying the meeting twice, the committee hearing was canceled entirely and rescheduled for Wednesday.Committee Chairman Eric LaFleur said the House version of the budget bill contained $27 millio
  
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• LSP: Texas man had child porn on his cell phone

  21-06-2016 21:07
  
  HOUMA - State Police arrested a Texas Man in Terrebonne Parish Tuesday and charged him with possession of child pornography.The investigation began earlier this month when law enforcement began searching for Thomas Walker, 20, for violating the terms of his probation. After troopers arrested Walker, he was extradited back to Texas for the probation warrant.Troopers say Walker, who is a convicted sex offender, gave them reason to believe that his phone may contain pornographic images of children
  
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• John Bel Edwards signs funding overhaul for indigent defense

  21-06-2016 20:47
  
  Louisiana has been struggling to fund public defenders offices across the state.
  
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• Police warn of scam involving fake Entergy representatives

  21-06-2016 20:17
  
  WALKER - Police in Walker are warning residents of a reported scam in the area where a 1-800 number contacts Entergy customers and tells them their balance is past due.According to a post on the department's Facebook page, the caller informs the resident that the owe between $900 and $1,200 and that their power will be disconnected within 4 hours if the money isn't paid.The fake representatives then asks the resident their zip code and directs them to the nearest "payment center" where they're i
  
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• Inmate escapes from WBR jail, gets caught with marijuana

  21-06-2016 16:29
  
  PORT ALLEN - A West Baton Rouge Parish trustee is locked up in the main part of the jail after investigators said he escaped over the weekend. Investigators said when he got caught, they found two bags of marijuana on him.According to investigators, 37-year-old Haron Link was serving time for armed robbery in Iberville Parish after getting convicted last November.The incident is yet another issue for the West Baton Rouge Parish Detention Center which had 22 escapes over a two year period, accord
  
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• Suspect identified in Livingston dirt bike theft

  21-06-2016 16:23
  
  LIVINGSTON - A suspect has been identified in connection with the theft of a dirt bike from a home in Livingston last week.Deputies reported on their Facebook page that 35-year-old Joshua Richardson is now wanted for theft of a motor vehicle on Tuesday.Police in Livingston asked for the public’s help in identifying a suspect after the unidentified man drove a pickup truck with Mississippi plates up to a residence in the Red Oak Road area and loaded the homeowner’s Yamaha TTR
  
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• Mother arrested after whipping her 3 sons for breaking into house

  21-06-2016 16:05
  
  BATON ROUGE - Sheriff’s deputies say they arrested a Baton Rouge mother after she admitted to whipping her sons as punishment for breaking into a house.30-year-old Schaquana Spears was booked on child cruelty charges after she was arrested on Monday morning.The arrest reports says her 13-year-old reportedly told East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office detectives that Spears had struck him with an RCA cord multiple times. The boy had cuts on both arms and marks across his body, acco
  
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• Wife, attorney of man accused in school admin's murder interviewed by Nancy Grace

  21-06-2016 16:02
  
  BATON ROUGE - The wife and attorney of a man who has been charged in the murder of a Baton Rouge teacher were interviewed on Monday night on the Nancy Grace show.Kala Marks, the wife of Robert Marks who was booked on first degree murder and first degree feticide charges after the body of school administrator Lyntell Washington was found, remained in support of her husband throughout the interview.Washington's 3-year-old daughter was found wandering in a parking lot alone near her mother's car wi
  
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• Oil canals in national preserve in Louisiana to be filled

  21-06-2016 14:41
  
  BARATARIA PRESERVE - In the heyday of oil exploration on Louisiana's coast after World War II, companies dug about 10,000 miles of canals as straight as Kansas highways through a natural world that's unraveling today - due, in part, to those canals.Soon, about 16.5 miles of canals are to be filled in the Barataria Preserve - making a small dent in a massive problem.Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on Monday toured canals in the preserve by airboat. She called the work crucial.The National Park Se
  
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• Motion filed to move trial for officer accused in killing of 6-year-old

  21-06-2016 14:41
  
  MARKSVILLE - Several motions have been filed in the trial of a police officer accused in the 2015 shooting death of a 6-year-old in Marksville, including one that seeks to change the venue of the trial.Derrick Stafford faces one count of second degree murder and one count of attempted second degree murder after he and another Marksville city deputy were accused of shooting and killing Jeremy Mardis in November 2015 at the end of a police pursuit. Christopher Few, the boy's father, was injured in
  
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• Louisiana House votes to fund TOPS for fall semester, shift shortfall to spring

  21-06-2016 14:32
  
  "The idea would be that we frontload TOPS so that students, they can prepare for the spring semester." -- Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie
  
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• Nebraska parents bury 2-year-old son killed by alligator

  21-06-2016 14:02
  
  OMAHA, Neb. - A funeral has been held for a 2-year-old Nebraska boy killed by an alligator at Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.The Mass for Lane Thomas Graves was held Tuesday at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in west Omaha and was limited to family and friends. Lane was pulled into the water and drowned last week despite the frantic efforts of his father.In a statement, Matt and Melissa Graves thanked the "friends and strangers who share in our loss and who have shown us profound compas
  
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• Online gun shop reports selling 30,000 AR-15s in week after Orlando shooting

  21-06-2016 13:53
  
  BELLEVUE, Penn. - An online gun store reported selling more than 30,000 AR-15 rifles over a period of seven days.Hunter’s Warehouse is based in Bellevue, Pennsylvania. They claim that since nearly 50 people were gunned down in an Orlando nightclub mass shooting, the AR-15 has only proved more popular with web-based shoppers.A close relative of the M-16 assault rifle that has been on practically every American battlefield since Vietnam, the Armalite Rifle 15 has proven a popular choice
  
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• NRA released video praising AR-15 days after Orlando mass shooting

  21-06-2016 13:27
  
  WASHINGTON - The National Rifle Association released a YouTube video that urges Americans to buy more AR-15 rifles just days after Omar Mateen launched an attack that left 49 people dead and 53 more wounded in Orlando.In the 5-minute “NRA News” video, NRA spokesman Dom Raso describes the gun as the country’s “best defense against terror and crime.”Raso says he is a patriot, athlete and Navy SEAL. Raso says the AR-15 is a “common sense c
  
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• Suspects rebooked on murder charges in heroin overdose death

  21-06-2016 13:22
  
  DESTREHAN - Deputies in St. Charles Parish rebooked a pair of suspects in connection with a drug overdose in Destrehan earlier this spring.Jamie Hymel and Roderick Hackett were first arrested for distribution of heroin and other narcotics-related offenses in connection with the death of Richard Keller, Jr. on Mar. 2.However, a coroner’s report has revealed that Keller died due to multiple drug toxicities including heroin, fentanyl and alcohol. The sheriff’s office has now reb
  
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• Couple gets married underwater at N.O. aquarium

  21-06-2016 13:13
  
  NEW ORLEANS – A couple decided to take the ultimate dive into their lives together with an underwater wedding over the weekend.A Georgia couple, Jaime Craine and Blake Baker, got married Saturday, June 18, at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans. The two tied the knot in the Great Maya Reef tunnel in the aquarium while it was open to visitors.Audubon Nature Institute Manager of Special Events Denise Sarver said that she was happy the couple picked the venue for their wed
  
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• Lawsuit alleges Louisiana judge runs debtors' prison

  21-06-2016 13:12
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Civil rights lawyers in Louisiana say a judge is running a modern-day debtors' prison by sending poor defendants to jail when they can't pay fines and charging them a questionable "extension fee" to avoid jail time.The Southern Poverty Law Center filed the lawsuit Tuesday against Judge Robert J. Black in Bogalusa and the Bogalusa City Court.The group is representing four plaintiffs from the small town about 75 miles north of New Orleans.The group says the judge routinely sends peop
  
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• Reworking of state indigent defense spending signed into law

  21-06-2016 13:07
  
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana will rework how it spends the money it allocates to defending the poor, to ensure two-thirds of it flows to local indigent defenders, under a new law signed by Gov. John Bel Edwards.That measure was among a package of bill signings released Monday evening by the governor's office.The bill by Rep. Sherman Mack, an Albany Republican, requires the Louisiana Public Defender Board to dedicate at least 65 percent of its annual financing to local defenders of the indigent, which
  
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• 2 bodies discovered in burning vehicles near Lafayette

  21-06-2016 12:59
  
  LAFAYETTE - Deputies in Lafayette are investigating after two bodies were found in two different burning vehicles early Tuesday morning.At around 1:15 a.m., Lafayette Sheriff’s Office detectives responded to an incident to which the Carencro Fire Department had already been dispatched. A vehicle was found burning in the 100 block of Disette Road. After the fire was put out, a body was found in the vehicle.At around 3:30 a.m., another vehicle fire was reported to the City of Scott Fire
  
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• Mega Millions jackpot reaches $333 million

  21-06-2016 12:54
  
  BATON ROUGE - The Mega Millions lottery game has reached an estimated jackpot of $333 million for the Tuesday night drawing, making it one of the largest jackpots in the history of the multi-state game.The jackpot starts at $15 million and grows from there until a lucky winner is selected.While Friday night’s drawing did not see one of those winners, a winner selected on Tuesday will have the option to collect the $333 million jackpot in the form of a 30-year annuity or take a one-time
  
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• 'Game of Thrones' to get fan convention

  21-06-2016 12:19
  
  NEW YORK - Fans of HBO's "Game of Thrones" will have the chance to immerse themselves in their favorite show next summer.
      
  The show's fan site Watchers on the Wall said Tuesday it will host a three-day convention in Nashville, Tennessee, from June 30 to July 2, 2017. The agenda will include panels, performances, workshops, speeches and a chance to get autographs from and photos with people connected to the show.
      
  Zack Luye, co-directo
  
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• US Supreme Court declines to hear 'Angola 5' appeal

  21-06-2016 12:14
  
  NEW ORLEANS - The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of David Brown, the "Angola 5" member who was sentenced to death for the killing of a prison guard during a 1999 escape attempt.
      
  A state judge overturned the death sentence, but it was reinstated in February by the Louisiana Supreme Court.
      
  The U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling Monday.
      
  Defense advocates had hoped the case would promp
  
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• The Pledge of Allegiance: Perkins Road BREC Summer Camp

  21-06-2016 09:39
  
  BATON ROUGE- Today's Pledge of Allegiance comes from the 6 & 7 year old girls at Perkins Road BREC Summer Camp.Be sure to watch The Daily Pledge every weekday on 2une In at 5:58 a.m. to see if your child's summer camp is featured!Permalink| Comments
  
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• Louisiana House passes budget that includes reductions to TOPS, medical schools

  21-06-2016 03:16
  
  The House has only agreed to raise an extra $284 million to plug the state budget gap of at least $600 million, and possibly as much as $800 million.
  
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