Baton Rouge news

• Ascension Parish schools welcome students back on first day

  08-08-2016 19:05
  
  BATON ROUGE – Over 20 Ascension Parish schools welcomed 22,000 students on Monday.For Dutchtown Principal, Carli Francois, the beginning of school this year was something she has been waiting for."I miss them terribly, the first couple of weeks, and we appreciate the quiet, while we analyze the data, but then we are ready to set goals, ready to start thew year, and we want to have these kids back in the building, absolutely," Francois said.However, some faces she hasn't seen b
  
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• Baton Rouge leaders work towards police reform

  08-08-2016 18:47
  
  BATON ROUGE- It was a lunch meeting but no one seemed to have time to eat. Cops, council members and black pastors discussed police policies Monday in response to the July 5th Alton Sterling shooting."Nothing is off the table and nothing should be off the table," said councilman Trae Welch.No specific changes were identified, instead the group agreed to meet on a weekly basis to develop a plan of action.Up for discussion Monday was the recent debate over police residency. Councilwoman C
  
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• BR Area Association of Black Journalists receives national award

  08-08-2016 18:17
  
  BATON ROUGE – The Baton Rouge Area Association of Black Journalists (BRAABJ) was awarded the National Association of Black Journalists' (NABJ) Professional Chapter award.The award was presented at the NABJ/NAHJ Convention in Washington, D.C. last week. WBRZ 2une In news producer, Cheryl Stroy, is the current president of BRAABJ.The award is presented to a professional affiliate chapter for its accomplishment during its eligibility and includes, but not limited to, the number of new mem
  
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• Florida Blvd at Sherwood Blvd briefly closed after multi car crash

  08-08-2016 18:01
  
  BATON ROUGE – A multi-car crashed blocked roads in Baton Rouge Monday afternoon.According to WBRZ’s Brett Buffington, Florida Blvd was closed at Sherwood Forest Blvd around 5:40 p.m. Monday.Images of the scene show first responders working the crash. The tires of a Blue SUV appear to be bent more than 45 degrees and the front end is smashed.#BREAKING multi-car crash has Florida Blvd closed at Sherwood Forrest Blvd., headed into the city. @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/3kFa4hZGEt&m
  
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• Vikings DE, former LSU Tiger, Danielle Hunter hasn't turned 22 yet

  08-08-2016 17:10
  
  MANKATO, Minn. - In an atmosphere of constant turnover in the chase for fresher, cheaper NFL talent, age can be as much of an asset as size, smarts, speed and strength.Danielle Hunter was quite the addition to the Minnesota Vikings last year. Not only did he rank second among all rookies with six sacks, taking full advantage of a part-time role, but Hunter was the youngest player in the league."I use it as an advantage," said Hunter, who won't turn 22 until Oct. 29. "There's guys still older tha
  
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• New Jersey little league team honors slain Baton Rouge officers

  08-08-2016 17:08
  
  HERSHEY, Pa. – A South New Jersey little league team honored Baton Rouge's fallen heroes last week in a unique way. Instead of wearing jerseys with their own names and numbers, the jersey names were replaced with the name and badge number of a fallen officer.The South Jersey Sand Sharks honored the officers during their championship baseball game in Hershey, Pa, according to a Fox29 report."The way things have been lately with law enforcement and all the tragedies we've had, we wanted
  
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• State Rep. from Slidell calls for firing of state superintendent

  08-08-2016 16:56
  
  BATON ROUGE – A state representative from Slidell is calling for Louisiana Superintendent John White to be fired from his position.State Rep. Kevin Pearson said that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education should terminate Superintendent John White after his job performance evaluation last week."In the since years since White began implementing his reforms, Louisiana has fallen to the absolute bottom," Pearson said. Pearson said that White's task was to improve the sta
  
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• Pit bull leads his owner to puppy 'left for dead'

  08-08-2016 16:21
  
  It looks like pit bulls stick together.A man walking his dog, a pit bull named Ace, in Jersey City, New Jersey, was led off track on July 31 into a building's basement. There, the man found Theo, a puppy pit bull in dire need of medical attention.According to Second Chance Rescue NY, the animal rescue organization that is aiding in the puppy's recovery, Theo was found with severe head trauma."He had been hit and then left for dead," Kim Collins, a volunteer with the organization, told ABC News.
  
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• Person stabbed in uncooperative situation Monday

  08-08-2016 16:17
  
  BATON ROUGE - Police responded to a reported stabbing Monday afternoon.The incident happened at the intersection of North 36 Street and Zion Street around 4 p.m. Monday.  Authorities were later dispatched to a shooting but police said a victim was actually stabbed but the investigation ran into roadblocks when those involved became uncooperative. Permalink| Comments
  
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• One injured in afternoon shooting in Baton Rouge

  08-08-2016 16:17
  
  BATON ROUGE - Police are investigating a shooting in Baton Rouge Monday afternoon.The incident happened at the intersection of North 36 Street and Zion Street around 4 p.m. Monday.Details are limited at this time. EMS transported one person from the scene with a minor injury. This is a developing story. Stay tuned to WBRZ on Facebook and Twitter for updates as more information becomes available.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Judge hears of possible solutions to heat at Angola

  08-08-2016 16:13
  
  BATON ROUGE - The state of Louisiana has spent more than $1 million in taxpayer money to fight a lawsuit that claims three death row inmates are exposed to dangerous heat levels in their cells.After more than three years of litigation, prison officials may have finally found a low-tech solution to the problem - at a cost of less than $2,000. And it would avoid the need for a far costlier air conditioning system at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson heard
  
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• Group plans to make house into Hurricane Katrina memorial

  08-08-2016 14:24
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A citizens group wants to turn a house flooded by Hurricane Katrina into a memorial.Levees.org founder Sandy Rosenthal says it may be the nearest house still remaining by one of the three levee breaches that filled 80 percent of New Orleans with water after the storm in August 2005.Eleven years later, the one-story brick house is still vacant, an open hole in one back wall and a tarp-covered hole in the roof.Rosenthal says she wants the exterior to look as it did just after the cit
  
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• New Orleans-flavored funeral for jazz musician Pete Fountain

  08-08-2016 14:18
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Famed jazz musician Pete Fountain, who died Saturday, will get a New Orleans-flavored send-off during funeral services next week.Fountain's son-in-law and manager Benny Harrell said services will be held Aug. 17 at the city's St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter. Harrell said the service will be open to the public. He added, "Pete was loved by the world so the world can come say goodbye."The visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. followed by a eulogy and then a funeral m
  
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• Governor's budget chief: Deficit from last year 'inevitable'

  08-08-2016 14:05
  
  BATON ROUGE - Gov. John Bel Edwards' top financial adviser says it's "inevitable" Louisiana will have a deficit to close from the last budget year, though it's too soon to say how large the gap will be.Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne said Monday there's one more week of tax collection data to receive before the books are formally closed on the year that ended June 30.But he told the Baton Rouge Press Club that economists and financial advisers expect a shortfall that will have to be
  
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• No injuries after plane lands on I-10

  08-08-2016 13:22
  
  LAPLACE - Authorities say no one was injured after a small plane crash-landed on I-10 near Laplace Monday morning.Photos from the scene show the single-engine fixed-winged Cessna 150L plane on the median of I-10. FAA records show the plane is registered to Lester and Jeannine Palmisano of Kenner.A small plane just landed on the interstate i10 East a mile b4 Laplace ?????? pic.twitter.com/2tNH9u4EqN— El Jon Sneaux (@MidCityAce) August 8, 2016The St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff's Off
  
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• Federal grant could bring millions to north Baton Rouge

  08-08-2016 13:20
  
  SCOTLANDVILLE- Scotlandville residents learned about a grant that could bring millions to the area at a community meeting Monday evening.Community members came together at the Jewel J. Newman Community Center to discuss the $30 million grant from the federal government aimed to support under served communities. The grant was announced at a Scotlandville Promise Neighborhood program.If Scotlandville is awarded the grant it would be paid out over five years.Officials in Scotlandv
  
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• Martha Stewart, Snoop Dogg to host dinner party show on VH1

  08-08-2016 13:14
  
  NEW YORK - Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg are teaming up to throw celebrity dinner parties as part of a new VH1 reality show.The cable channel says the show with a working title of "Martha & Snoop's Dinner Party" is set to premiere in the fall. VH1 says each week will feature a "half-baked evening of cocktails, cooking, conversation, and fun where nothing is off limits."Stewart and Snoop Dogg would seem to be an unlikely pairing, but the two have made numerous appearances together over the ye
  
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• Wildlife officials: Stop painting shells of Florida turtles

  08-08-2016 12:25
  
  MIAMI - Florida wildlife officials have a message for people who like to paint the shells of live turtles and tortoises in bright colors: stop it.The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recently posted pictures on social media of two threatened gopher tortoises with painted shells. Officials say it's illegal and also harmful to the animals.The Miami Herald reports that painting shells of turtles and tortoises can hinder their ability to absorb vitamins from the sun, cause
  
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• Trump to outline economic plan as he seeks to reverse slide

  08-08-2016 12:23
  
  MANCHESTER - Donald Trump is focusing his economic message on boosting jobs and making the country more competitive on a global stage by cutting business taxes, reducing regulations and increasing domestic energy production.With a speech Monday to the prestigious Detroit Economic Club, the Republican presidential nominee seeks to reset his campaign and delve into a subject that is seen as one of his strengths.The speech also is aimed at showing that Trump is a serious candidate in spite of a dis
  
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• Trump proposes 15 percent cap on business taxes

  08-08-2016 12:23
  
  WASHINGTON - Donald Trump is overhauling the income tax proposal he unveiled during the Republican primary and increasing the amount that would be paid by the highest-income earners.Trump says in an economic speech in Detroit that he wants to simplify the tax code to three brackets: 12 percent, 25 percent and 33 percent of income.That's a change from September, 2015, when he proposed four brackets that would pay zero, 10 percent, 20 percent and 25 percent.Trump says the "tax simplificat
  
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• New Catholic school welcomes inaugural class

  08-08-2016 12:23
  
  BATON ROUGE - A new Catholic high school in Baton Rouge opened its doors to its inaugural class of students on Friday.Bishop Robert Muench, staff, faculty and students were on hand at Cristo Rey Baton Rouge Franciscan High School for a ribbon cutting, mass and school blessing.The new, Catholic, private high school was approved as the 32nd school in the Cristo Rey Network by the national board in late June. The network was originally founded in Chicago in 1996.School officials say Cristo Rey will
  
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• The Pledge of Allegiance: BREC Independence Park Summer Camp

  08-08-2016 09:10
  
  BATON ROUGE- Today's Pledge of Allegiance comes from the 6-9 year old girls at BREC Independence Park Summer Camp.Be sure to watch The Daily Pledge every weekday on 2une In at 5:58 a.m. to see if y our child's school is featured!Permalink| Comments
  
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• Louisiana Federation of Teachers gets new leader

  08-08-2016 09:03
  
  BATON ROUGE - The interim president of one of Louisiana's two teachers unions is a veteran New Orleans educator.
  48-year-old Larry Carter also hopes to become full-time president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers in November.
  Former LFT President Steve Monaghan retired after nearly 13 often turbulent years.
  Carter is president of the United Teachers of New Orleans, an affiliate of the LFT.
  UTNO includes about 600 teachers and other school workers in traditional and public charter schools.P
  
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• Final I-49 concept expected in December

  08-08-2016 08:56
  
  LAFAYETTE - Planning for the Interstate 49 connector in Lafayette is moving into the next phase now that the number of design concepts has been narrowed.
  The goal is to have a single concept in place by the end of December.
  Project consultants released evaluation results of 19 design concepts for a section of the connector on Thursday. The concepts included the design approved in the 2003 federal Record of Decision and others that emerged since the project was resurrected in 2015 after a hiatus.
  
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• Gas prices continue to fall with decline expected to continue

  08-08-2016 08:38
  
  BATON ROUGE - Average retail gas prices in the Capital Area fell another 2.2 cents per gallon last week, bringing the average to $1.89 a gallon.According to GasBuddy’s records, prices at the pump yesterday were 41.4 cents per gallon lower than the same time last year. Prices have dropped 13.7 cents just since the same day last month.Currently, the lowest gas prices in the country are available in Jackson, Mississippi, were a gallon will only set you back $1.84 a gallon.As of this writi
  
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• Prairieville man dies in LA 44 crash

  08-08-2016 08:05
  
  PRAIRIEVILLE - State Troopers say a Prairieville man wasn’t wearing a seat belt after he died at the scene of a crash in Ascension Parish just after midnight Monday.47-year-old Bart Todd was traveling southbound on LA 44 when for unknown reasons, he crossed the center line into the northbound lane and ran off the roadway. Todd’s vehicle continued off the road until it struck a culvert.State Police have confirmed that Todd wasn’t wearing a seat belt and suffered fata
  
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• Limited Delta flights resume after global system shutdown

  08-08-2016 07:52
  
  BATON ROUGE - Delta says limited flights are to begin after a global computer shutdown caused thousands to be stranded and large numbers of cancellations.Delays will continue through the morning as the system comes back online.Departing flights from Baton Rouge Metro Airport that were impacted include flights to Charlotte, Dallas and Atlanta. All arrivals are delayed.Earlier in the morning, the airline was tweeting to angry customers saying its IT systems were down everywhere and that "flights a
  
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• Delta grounds flights due to systems problems

  08-08-2016 07:52
  
  LONDON - Delta Airlines has grounded flights for this morning because of a computer outage.
  The airline has been tweeting customers, saying its IT systems are down everywhere and that "flights awaiting departure are currently delayed."
  The airline says flights enroute have been operating normally.Delta flights out of Baton Rouge's airport are listed as delayed, more info on local flights is available at the BTR website.Permalink| Comments
  
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