Baton Rouge news

• Louisiana Republican Party has a 'cash flow' problem in wake of floods

  27-08-2016 22:36
  
  Donations promised before the Louisiana Flood didn't end up materializing.
  
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• Louisiana GOP rejects censure of Dardenne, Angelle for not endorsing Vitter

  27-08-2016 22:18
  
  Angelle and Dardenne, both Republicans, had refused to endorse U.S. Sen. David Vitter in last year's gubernatorial election.
  
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• 2 men still missing after plane crash in Lake Pontchartrain

  27-08-2016 21:59
  
  NEW ORLEANS – Authorities say dive teams are still looking for two people after a small plane crashed into Lake Pontchartrain Saturday night. The Cessna aircraft crashed near the New Orleans Lakefront Aiport around 8:20 p.m. Saturday night. A private yacht rescued one woman, who was taken to Oschner Hospital in New Orleans. Authorities have not released her medical condition.Two men remain missing.Video from the scene shows boats deployed on the water as well as helic
  
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• Trump tweet on Chicago shooting prompts backlash

  27-08-2016 20:54
  
  WASHINGTON - Donald Trump is receiving criticism for his latest tweets, after NBA star Dwyane Wade's cousin was fatally gunned down near a Chicago school where she intended to register her children."Dwyane Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago," Trump wrote Saturday. "Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!"Dwyane Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will
  
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• Louisiana GOP puts off voting on restrictions aimed at David Duke

  27-08-2016 20:48
  
  State GOP leaders want to ban convicted felons, like Duke, from running as Republicans.
  
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• Former Saints player Benjamin Watson tears right Achilles, likely out for season

  27-08-2016 18:39
  
  BALTIMORE - Ravens tight end Benjamin Watson has torn his right Achilles tendon and is likely lost for the season.The injury occurred on Baltimore's first offensive play in a preseason game against the Detroit Lions on Saturday night.Watson appeared to trip while running a pattern and slumped to the turf. After he finally got up, he had to be helped off the field.Signed as a free agent in March, Watson was expected to be a key element in the Ravens' passing game. He had 74 catches for 825 yards
  
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• Federal agencies won't block removal of New Orleans monument

  27-08-2016 16:20
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Two federal agencies say they won't try to block the city of New Orleans' attempt to remove a monument to an 1874 revolt against Louisiana's federally-backed post-Civil War government.In court papers filed Friday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation say they have "no further legal or programmatic interest" in preserving the monument.In December, the New Orleans City Council voted to remove the monument commemorating
  
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• Additional Plaquemine landing ferry added to relieve traffic

  27-08-2016 16:10
  
  BATON ROUGE –Officials say an additional ferry will operate at the Plaquemine landing starting Monday to ease traffic congestion.DOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson said the announcement comes due to the influx of traffic throughout the Baton Rouge area as communities rebuild after the historic flooding.The additional ferry will allow up to an additional 120 vehicles an hour to cross the Mississippi River. It will only operate on weekdays from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., according to Wilson.The fe
  
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• Florida-bound flight from New Orleans diverted after engine problem

  27-08-2016 14:51
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A flight from New Orleans to Orlando was diverted after an engine problem according to Southwest Airlines.Spokesman for Southwest Chris Mainz said that there were no injuries to the 99 passengers and 5 crew members on board.The flight landed in Pensacola, Florida around 9:40 a.m. Saturday.Southwest has notified the National Transportation Safety Board and will inspect the damage when authorized and work with the agency to determine the cause of the problem., said Mainz.&am
  
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• Transgender North Carolinians get restroom-access win

  27-08-2016 14:09
  
  RALEIGH, N.C. - A federal judge ruled Friday that two students and an employee must be allowed to use restrooms matching their gender identity at University of North Carolina campuses, and he said they have a strong chance of proving the state's bathroom-access measure violates federal law, a judicial rebuke that transgender rights advocates hailed as a victory.U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder temporarily blocked the University of North Carolina from making the three plaintiffs follow the re
  
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• Dukes of Hazard actor's Louisiana home, studio swamped

  27-08-2016 14:06
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Actor, writer and director John Schneider, known for his past role on the "Dukes of Hazzard" and current role on "The Haves and the Have Nots," thought the first flood he experienced at his Louisiana production studio was bad.Now, he knows there are different levels of what's considered "bad."Schneider's Livingston Parish-based studio - which includes his home, offices, cars, wardrobe, sound stages, and more - flooded in mid-March but the water didn't get into his 116-year-old home
  
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• FDA now asking blood banks to screen for Zika virus

  27-08-2016 13:34
  
  WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration is now asking for all blood banks in the U.S. to begin screening for the Zika virus. While blood donation testing was initially only required in areas with active Zika transmission, the FDA is now asking for all U.S. states and territories to screen for the Zika virus in order to protect the blood supply in the nation.Blood banks test all donations for blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis and West Nile, but with the new FDA requirement, the
  
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• Bodies of 2 Louisiana men recovered from Missouri lake

  27-08-2016 13:26
  
  SUNRISE BEACH, Mo.- The bodies of two men from Louisiana have been recovered after a boating accident at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.The Missouri State Highway Patrol has identified the two men as 49-year-old Richard Prince of Metairie and 40-year-old Bradley Dunphy of Lafayette.The two men were out near Sunrise Beach on Friday evening when their boat went airborne, flipped and hit the water. The patrol said that Prince had been driving the boat when the accident occurred.The boa
  
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• Authorities: Death toll in earthquake that struck central Italy has risen to 291

  27-08-2016 13:19
  
  ASCOLI PICENO, Italy - Authorities say the death toll in the earthquake that stuck central Italy has risen to 291 after a man being treated in a hospital succumbed to his injuries.The Civic Protection agency said the man had been receiving treatment at a hospital in Perugia.Funerals have begun in Italy for some victims of the earthquake. Italy is observing Saturday as a day of national mourning for those killed by the quake.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Livingston Parish residents seek flood answers at community meeting

  27-08-2016 12:52
  
  DENHAM SPRINGS - Livingston Parish residents attempted to get answers concerning how to begin the rebuilding process at a community meeting Saturday.Many of the residents were looking to find out whether home elevation would be necessary or required."This is a question that's going to have to be answered at the federal level," Denham Springs Mayor Gerard Landry said. "That's why I reached out to our U.S. senators and congressmen as early as I did."Paul Wesley attended the town hall meeting. His
  
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• Man, 46, charged in deaths of 2 Mississippi nuns

  27-08-2016 12:50
  
  DURANT, Miss. - Authorities say they have charged a 46-year-old man in connection with the deaths of two nuns who were killed in Mississippi.Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said in a statement Friday night that Rodney Earl Sanders of Kosciusko has been charged with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Sister Margaret Held and Sister Paula Merrill, both 68.Their bodies were discovered Thursday after they failed to show up for work at a clinic in Lexington,
  
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• Darren Sharper files notice of appeal in federal rape case

  27-08-2016 12:26
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Former NFL star Darren Sharper has filed a federal court notice that he now plans to appeal his conviction and nearly two-decade sentence in a drug and sexual assault case - a case in which he pleaded guilty.Sharper had pleaded guilty or no-contest in four states where he faced allegations that he drugged and raped women. Charged in both state and federal jurisdictions, he had entered a plea deal that called for a roughly nine-year sentence.But U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milaz
  
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