Baton Rouge news

• Dogs crash car into Walmart after owner leaves them inside

  01-08-2016 21:39
  
  WAYNE, W.Va. - Witnesses say a dog was at the wheel of a car that slowly crashed into a West Virginia Walmart.Shoppers told WSAZ-TV that two dogs were in the car - one in the driver's seat and one in the passenger's seat - as the vehicle rolled into the building in Wayne on Friday. No injuries were reported.The car owner says she left the car running while she went into the store so the dogs could stay cool. She says the dogs must have somehow managed to get the car out of park.A store
  
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• Maringouin residents upset at spike in water bills

  01-08-2016 21:30
  
  MARINGOUIN - Some residents in Maringouin say their water ates have more than double within the past month, and they're not happy about it."Do it gradually," said resident Wanda Mills. "They don't know our pocket book, they don't know our income. I make $732 a damn month. I can't pay my whole paycheck to the town hall. If I do, what am I gonna have?"It's first time the fees have gone up in more than two decades. On Monday night, the community gathered for a town hall meeting to discuss the chang
  
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• Restaurant offers discount to concealed weapon permit holders

  01-08-2016 18:47
  
  BATON ROUGE – One restaurant wants to reward those who have a concealed carry permit for their weapons.The Little Pizza Joint in Denham Springs welcomes customers' guns.
  "We support the second amendment. We support the open carry. We support safety of weapons," Kevin Whitehead, owner of the pizzeria.
  Whitehead said the restaurant is now offering a ten percent discount for anyone with a valid concealed weapon's permit. Customers like Derrick Hernandez said that more places shou
  
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• Tropical storm likely Monday, moving west to Yucatan Peninsula

  01-08-2016 18:29
  
  Wind speed potential estimated at 40 to 45 mph
  
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• 2 suspects wanted in armed robbery of Circle K

  01-08-2016 17:55
  
  BATON ROUGE - Detectives say they've identified one of two suspects believed to be behind the Sunday morning armed robbery of a Highland Road convenience store.Baton Rouge Police said the crime happened at the Circle K in the 5300 block of Highland Road at its intersection with Lee Drive. The robbery happened at around 11 a.m. Sunday.Police said the male suspect approached the front counter while posing as a customer with merchandise. When it was his turn, he reportedly showed the cashier a gun
  
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• Opinions on smartphone app driver's license remain divided

  01-08-2016 17:37
  
  BATON ROUGE - A new law state law has paved the way for Louisiana residents to use a smartphone app in place of their physical driver's license.At this point, the state is still developing the official driver's license app. Louisiana will become the first state in the country to allow a digital license of this sort.While the app could definitely come in hand for drivers looking to leave their wallets at home, businesses like bars will not be required to accept the smartphone license if they don'
  
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• Happier Meal? McDonald's nixing some unpalatable ingredients

  01-08-2016 17:23
  
  McDonald's, which is trying to shake its image for serving processed junk food, said Monday it's eliminating some unpalatable ingredients from its most popular menu items.That includes making Chicken McNuggets and other items without artificial preservatives, and removing high-fructose corn syrup from its burger buns. McDonald's did not immediately respond when asked about which specific preservatives are being removed.The changes come as the world's biggest burger chain fights to win back custo
  
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• 10-year-old one of two victims in separate pool-related incidents Monday

  01-08-2016 16:58
  
  BATON ROUGE - A ten-year-old was one of two victims in pool-related accidents Monday afternoon.Around 4:30, 911 calls were made about possible drownings on Burbank and another at the Southern Oaks Athletic Club on Shenandoah near Jones Creek.Ambulance leaving apartment complex with 10 yr old child found unresponsive in a pool. @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/vJfOmSRNx3— Brett Buffington (@BrettBuffington) August 1, 2016The emergency at the athletic club ended up not being a drowning, bu
  
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• Judge awards $50K over alleged sex assault by police chief

  01-08-2016 16:56
  
  BATON ROUGE - A federal judge has awarded $50,000 in damages to a woman who accused a former Louisiana police chief of sexually assaulting her in his office while she was drunk and he was on duty.U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick's ruling Monday says the town of Sorrento and its former police chief, Earl Theriot, are both liable for violating the woman's constitutional rights.Dick ruled in the woman's favor in June at the conclusion of a daylong trial for the woman's civil lawsuit. Dick concluded
  
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• Payments from 2012 BP settlement $7.9 billion so far

  01-08-2016 16:55
  
  NEW ORLEANS - The office that processes claims for businesses and people who suffered economic losses from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill says it has approved payments totaling $8.5 billion as of June 30.Of that, $7.9 billion in claims has been paid.The figures are in the latest federal court filing from Michael Juneau, the administrator of claims paid under a 2012 settlement BP reached with businesses and individuals affected by the spill after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion. More recen
  
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• Apple to release 'more diverse' emoji

  01-08-2016 16:49
  
  Just a few weeks after the announcement that new, more diverse emoji would be coming to smartphones and other devices, Apple said today that it would be adding or redesigning over 100 emoji characters in time for a major software update this Fall.After a petition was filed by Google employees last month, Unicode -- the organization that governs the emoji characterset, which Apple, Google, and several others are members --agreed that 11 new professions would be added to the icon group. The profes
  
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• Yuengling Lager finally makes its way to Louisiana

  01-08-2016 16:37
  
  BATON ROUGE - Yuengling Lager has finally made its way to select locations in the state with some of those sellers receiving their supply on Monday.It makes Louisiana the 19th state where suds from "America's oldest brewery" can now be purchased.Restaurants and stores in Baton Rouge reported they've already received their first stocks of the beer maker's Traditional Lager, Light Lager and Black and Tan brandsYuengling is based in Pennsylvania and has been producing beer since the 1800's
  
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• Phone surveys on hurricane preparedness to begin

  01-08-2016 16:31
  
  BATON ROUGE – The Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness is conducting a study on Hurricane Preparedness.LSU's Stephenson Disaster Management Institute will be conducting a phone survey on individual preparedness actions. The survey will be conducted during August, September and October. The average phone survey will take 22 minutes depending on the responses/experiences from participants.Calls will be made to residents in Ascension, Jefferson, Lafourche, Liv
  
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• Tweets are latest controversy for Miss Universe organization

  01-08-2016 16:03
  
  LAS VEGAS - Racist language in old tweets from the freshly crowned Miss Teen USA is the latest controversy for a pageant organization with a bumpy recent history.The flap came over the weekend, shortly after 18-year-old Texan Karlie Hay was crowned Miss Teen USA in Las Vegas on Saturday. Social media users quickly unearthed an account with Hay's name that featured the N-word in tweets from 2013 and 2014.The Miss Universe Organization found itself condemning the language. The organization said Ha
  
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• Firefighter treated at scene of blaze Monday

  01-08-2016 15:42
  
  ZACHARY - A firefighter was treated for becoming overheated at the scene of a large house fire Monday.The blaze was at a construction site where a home was being built.  The fire started after 3 p.m. The two-alarm fire began in the attic of a home on Rue Lierre Street, a new development off Rollins Road.  Due to the size of the home and the heat, Central Fire assisted with staffing at fire stations in Zachary so more Zachary crews could work the blaze
  
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• 1 injured in shooting on Laurel Street

  01-08-2016 15:40
  
  BATON ROUGE - Police say one man was taken to the hospital after shooting in the 2600 block of Laurel Street on Monday afternoon.The shooting happened after a car crash just after 3 p.m. near the intersection of Laurel Street and North Eugene. The victim suffered non-life threatening injuries, according to BRPD.Police say they are now working to determine if the victim of the shooting was inside of a vehicle that crashed near the scene of the shooting. The victim's family told News 2 th
  
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• 49 jobs go with upcoming closure of Gramercy sugar plant

  01-08-2016 15:23
  
  BATON ROUGE - Close to 50 jobs will be affected as a sugar packing facility in Gramercy plans to cease operations late next month.A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification from the Louisiana Workforce Commission was released on Monday. It says about 49 jobs will be eliminated permanently with the September 30 closure of the Imperial Sugar packing facility.The facility is located on Highway 641 in Gramercy. A newer facility was completed in Gramercy further down the road.LWC&rs
  
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• Study: Louisiana has worst school system in America

  01-08-2016 14:43
  
  In light of back-to-school season, the personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2016's States with the Best & Worst School Systems.In order to identify the best school systems in America,WalletHub’s analysts compared the quality of education in the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 17 key metrics. The data set ranges from pupil-teacher ratio to dropout rate to average SAT and ACT scores.According to an Economic Policy Institute rep
  
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• Refunds due to 1,500 retirees in state insurance program

  01-08-2016 13:33
  
  BATON ROUGE - About 1,500 people in Louisiana's health insurance program for state workers, public school employees and retirees have been overcharged for their coverage and are due refunds.That's the word from Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration, which has released the preliminary findings of an audit of the Office of Group Benefits.The administration says some retirees who are enrolled in both Medicare and in Group Benefits coverage were charged a higher premium rate than they should have be
  
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• Pikachu statue erected in New Orleans park

  01-08-2016 13:19
  
  NEW ORLEANS – A Pikachu statue mysteriously appeared in a fountain in the Lower Garden District of New Orleans. The statue comes in the midst of the Pokemon Go game craze in the past few weeks.The statue was erected sometime Sunday morning and was made to look like it is bronze to match the fountain. The fountain, and now statue, is located in a small park near the intersection of Terpsichore and Prytania streets in New Orleans.It is unknown who placed the statue in t
  
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• Woman arrested on fourth DWI offense in Thibodaux

  01-08-2016 13:17
  
  THIBODAUX – Thibodaux Police arrested a woman on her fourth drinking while intoxicated offense on Thursday night.Around 11:50 p.m., police saw and stopped a gray Toyota Camry without a license plate in the area of Canal Boulevard and St. Charles Street in Thibodaux. The driver, 31-year-old Arielle Dumas, told police that she didn't have an ID on her and then provided a false name.Police noticed that Dumas was displaying signs of intoxication and admitted that she has been drinking. Dum
  
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• Woman arrested for fourth DWI offense in Thibodaux

  01-08-2016 13:17
  
  THIBODAUX – Thibodaux Police arrested a woman on her fourth drinking while intoxicated offense on Thursday night.Around 11:50 p.m., police saw and stopped a gray Toyota Camry without a license plate in the area of Canal Boulevard and St. Charles Street in Thibodaux. The driver, 31-year-old Arielle Dumas, told police that she didn't have an ID on her and then provided a false name.Police noticed that Dumas was displaying signs of intoxication and admitted that she has been drinking. Dum
  
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• Suspects wanted for burglary of mobile phone store on North Street

  01-08-2016 12:58
  
  BATON ROUGE – Baton Rouge Police Detectives are attempting to identify two men who are responsible for the burglary of mobile phone store on North Street.The burglary occurred at the Easy Link Wireless store on July 26 around 4 a.m. in the 3000 block of North Street.
  The two suspects broke the front glass, entered the business and took an undisclosed amount of merchandise from the store, according to BRPD.Anyone with information on the identify of the two suspects is urged to contact t
  
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• 10 additional Zika Cases found in Florida; Governor activates 'emergency response'

  01-08-2016 12:48
  
  MIAMI – Ten additional cases of Zika virus infection have been reported in northern Miami, according to government officials.
  Florida Gov. Rick Scott has activated the "emergency response" team from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention to help stem the outbreak.Four people were confirmed last week to have the virus after, most likely, contracting the disease via infected mosquitoes in a 1-square-mile area in northern Miami, according to Gov. Scott. The outbreak is the fir
  
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• Owners say they'll reopen Pulse nightclub as memorial site

  01-08-2016 09:32
  
  ORLANDO - The owners of Pulse nightclub in Florida say it will reopen as a memorial to the 49 people who died there.The announcement was posted Sunday on One Pulse Foundation's social media accounts. The foundation was set up by the nightclub's owners to "provide financial assistance to the victims" and to "contribute to the creation of a permanent memorial."Details about when the site will reopen as a memorial haven't been released.Gunman Omar Mateen opened fire at the gay nightclub in Orlando
  
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• One dead in head-on collision in Pointe Coupee

  01-08-2016 09:00
  
  VENTRESS - State Police are investigating a fatal head-on collision on Highway 415, north of Highway 414 in Pointe Coupee Parish.Joshua Mougeot, 29, died on the scene. According to police, Mougeot was traveling northbound on LA 415, whil Gregory Martin, 56, was traveling southbound. Mougeot crossed the median and hit Martin's vehicle head-on.Mougeot was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash, but suffered fatal injuries. Martin was also properly restrained and received moderate injuries.I
  
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• All lanes opened on I-10 W

  01-08-2016 08:19
  
  PRARIEVILLE - All lanes are opened on I-10 West near LA 73 Monday morning.An accident briefly closed the left lane of the interstate. Congestion has reached about 4 miles.Ashley Fruge will have your traffic updates during Good Morning America. We'll have the latest on WBRZ.com.Permalink| Comments
  
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• All lanes open on I-10 W

  01-08-2016 08:19
  
  PRARIEVILLE - All lanes are now open on I-10 West near LA 73.An accident briefly closed the left lane of the interstate on Monday morning. Congestion reached about 4 miles.Ashley Fruge is monitoring the roadways during Good Morning America. We will have updates on WBRZ.com and Twitter.Permalink| Comments
  
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• NOPD: Body found inside burning dumpster

  01-08-2016 07:32
  
  NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans police are investigating the discovery of a body inside a burning trash bin.Police says the man's severely burned body was found by firefighters just before 6 .a.m. MondayPolice say they are working the crime as a homicide.The unidentified body was been taken to the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office for an autopsy.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Getting students into college goal of 2 charter schools

  01-08-2016 06:58
  
  BATON ROUGE - Two public charter schools that focus explicitly on preparing children for college are opening their doors in Baton Rouge.The Advocate reports Apex Collegiate Academy is the first out the gate opening Monday with 100-plus sixth-graders in space it is renting from Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church in Scotlandville. Eight miles to the southeast Laurel Oaks Charter Academy is opening on Aug. 15 with at least 60 kindergartners.Both schools were approved as charter schools in December by sta
  
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• Southern Illinois police officer shot, wounded during chase

  01-08-2016 06:55
  
  CARBONDALE, Ill. - Authorities say someone speeding away from a shooting scene in southern Illinois opened fire on pursuing officers, seriously wounding one before getting away.The Carbondale Police Department says in a news release that the shooting occurred late Sunday after officers on patrol heard shots fired and drove toward the gunfire.The officers tried to stop a tan, four-door vehicle as it sped from the scene, but the driver didn't pull over. Someone in the vehicle fired at the officers
  
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• Miss Teen USA winner to keep crown despite racist tweets

  01-08-2016 04:52
  
  LAS VEGAS - The new Miss Teen USA will get to keep her crown despite an outcry over tweets she once wrote using racist language.The Miss Universe Organization, which owns the Miss Teen USA pageant, issued a statement Sunday chastising Karlie Hay's words but also "supporting her continued growth."After she was crowned Saturday night in Las Vegas, social media users found tweets containing the N-word linked to an account with Hay's name.A screenshot of the four tweets from 2013 and 2014 has been m
  
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• BRFD responded to early morning house fire on Shelley Street

  01-08-2016 03:34
  
  BATON ROUGE - Fire investigators believed arson as cause of fire on an empty house at the 4300 block of Shelley Street Monday morning.According to BRFD, people were seen entering the unoccupied home Sunday evening.Baton Rouge Fire Department responded to the call shortly after 12:30 a.m. The fire was under control before the first unit arrived around 1:30 a.m. When firefighters arrived, more than half of the building was already engulfed in flames.Before they were able to bring it under control,
  
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