Baton Rouge news

• Police arrest 35 suspected members of Long Island gang

  21-10-2016 21:13
  
  BRENTWOOD, N.Y. - Police have arrested 35 suspected members of a Long Island gang days after the skeletal remains of a young man were discovered.
      
  Authorities say the remains found this week in Brentwood were those of 18-year-old Jose Pena-Hernandez.
      
  Suffolk County police say the teenager was a member of the MS-13 gang, which has links to El Salvador and Los Angeles.
      
  Four teenagers from Brentwood High
  
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• Supposed niece, others seek shares of Prince's estate

  21-10-2016 21:07
  
  CHASKA, Minn. - A Minnesota judge says he'll try to rule quickly whether Minnesota law entitles a purported niece, grandniece and nephew of Prince to shares of the late rock superstar's estate.
      
  Attorneys for Prince's siblings said at a hearing Friday that the purported family members' claims should be rejected because they're not Prince's blood relatives.
      
  Carver County District Judge Kevin Eide is expected to declare in the coming m
  
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• Man sues over arrest after police mistake doughnut glaze for meth

  21-10-2016 21:03
  
  ORLANDO, Fla. - A Florida man arrested last year after police mistook doughnut glaze in his car for meth is suing the city of Orlando and a drug-testing kit company.
      
  The Orlando Sentinel reports Daniel Rushing filed a lawsuit last week, claiming negligence by the city and the kit's manufacturer.
      
  Rushing was arrested on drug charges last December when Orlando police officers spotted four tiny flakes of glaze on his floorboard and tho
  
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• Sprinter exploring ways to mentor youth after daughter's death

  21-10-2016 21:00
  
  LEXINGTON, Ky. - Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay says he will help explore ways to mentor youth in Lexington after the shooting death of his 15-year-old daughter over the weekend.
      
  Gay said in a statement released Friday that he's determined his daughter's death won't be "senseless. We must come together as a community to protect each other, giving our young people the tools they need to resolve their conflicts and lead successful lives - the kind that Trinity was well
  
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• EBRSO searching for missing registered sex offender

  21-10-2016 20:09
  
  BATON ROUGE - Deputies are searching for a man who went missing Thursday evening.East Baton Rouge Sheriff's deputies identified the missing man as 27-year-old Trevin L'Marcus Blackmore.Blackmore was convicted in August 2011 for pornography involving juveniles. He was released in April 2014.Blackmore is not believed to be a threat, according to detectives.They describe Blackmore as an African American male about 5-feet 10-inches tall, weighing 150 lbs. They say he has brown eyes and black hair in
  
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• Donald Glover cast as Lando Calrissian in Han Solo film

  21-10-2016 17:14
  
  LOS ANGELES - Donald Glover is joining the "Star Wars" universe.Disney announced Friday that the writer, actor and rapper will play Lando Calrissian in the upcoming Han Solo "Star Wars" film.Alden Ehrenreich was previously cast as the title character.Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller say the new film will explore Lando in his formative years, before the events depicted in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi."The untitled film is set for release in 2018.Permalink| Comments
  
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• I-10 westbound closed at Sorrento due to accident

  21-10-2016 16:42
  
  SORRENTO – Traffic officials said that the left lane of I-10 west is closed to traffic after an accident near Sorrento Friday afternoon.According to DOTD, the accident happened around 4:28 p.m. Friday on I-10 just past LA 22. Traffic is currently passing through the right lane. The right lane has opened leaving the left lane blocked on I-10 West past LA 22. Congestion has reached 2.5 miles.— Baton Rouge Traffic (@BR_Traffic) October 21, 2016Traffic cameras s
  
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• Former La. House speaker appointed to Public Service Commission

  21-10-2016 15:26
  
  BATON ROUGE – Governor John Bel Edwards appointed former Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives Charles "Charlie" Dewitt, Jr. to serve on the Louisiana Public Service Commission for District 4.Dewitt will take over the vacancy as a result of the passing of Clyde Holloway.Dewitt's appointment runs from Oct. 24 to Dec. 31. An election for the seat was already scheduled for Nov. 8."Charlie served as Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives during a Republican administr
  
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• 1 classification upgrade in new batch of Clinton emails

  21-10-2016 15:25
  
  WASHINGTON - One email in a new batch of Hillary Clinton's emails released Friday by the State Department contains classified information.The department on Friday posted to its website 112 documents recovered by the FBI during its investigation into Clinton's private email server. In one email, the department censored several paragraphs that it determined contained foreign government information deemed "confidential" - the lowest level of classification.The FBI provided the State Department with
  
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• Shelter at Home application deadline Friday

  21-10-2016 14:58
  
  BATON ROUGE – Residents have a few hours left to apply for FEMA's Shelter at Home program.The deadline to apply for FEMA's Shelter at Home program is Friday, Oct. 21 at 5 p.m. for those wishing to apply in person at a disaster recovery center, 6 p.m. for those who apply by phone and midnight for those who apply online.Applications can be submitted online at www.shelterathome.la.gov or can call 1-800-927-0216. (Anyone using the online system to submit an application must call t
  
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• Governor Edwards requests additional $125 million for disaster relief

  21-10-2016 14:22
  
  BATON ROUGE – Governor John Bel Edwards has updated his request to President Barack Obama for disaster assistance for an additional $125 million.The $125 million requested is to fund projects such as the Comite River Diversion Canal to ensure that similar projects can address future flood impacts.Edwards in total has requested more than $4 billion in assistance in order to respond to families, businesses and communities in need and recovering from the August flood.Additional requests i
  
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• Pentagon identifies American killed in Iraq on Thursday

  21-10-2016 14:10
  
  WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has identified the American killed in Iraq on Thursday as a 34-year-old Navy chief petty officer named Jason C. Finan.The Pentagon said Finan's hometown is Anaheim, California, and that he was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Three.He died of wounds sustained in a roadside bomb attack north of Mosul. He was part of a U.S. team advising and assisting Iraqi Kurd fighters known as peshmerga.Finan is the fourth U.S. combat death in Iraq since U.S. militar
  
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• Edwards seeks cheaper environmental review for flood repairs

  21-10-2016 14:08
  
  BATON ROUGE - Gov. John Bel Edwards is seeking a waiver of federal regulations that would require environmental reviews of any flood-damaged, single-family home that is repaired with federal disaster block grant aid.The governor's office Friday released a letter sent to U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro requesting the waiver in using the aid earmarked by Congress after August floods ravaged south Louisiana.Edwards said the environmental reviews cost about $3,500 per insp
  
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• Man accused of dialing 911 42 times in two days

  21-10-2016 14:03
  
  Baton Rouge – A Baton Rouge man was charged with improper use of 911 after police say he called the emergency number 42 times over a two-day span.According to arrest records, officers were dispatched to 48-year-old Fredrick Wright’s home Thursday after he dialed 911 on a cell phone. Dispatchers said that Wright refused to answer any questions and just whispered and pressed buttons as the call taker tried to help him.Police then discovered that Wright had dialed 911 a total of
  
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• Louisiana State Police accepting prescription drugs for disposal

  21-10-2016 13:59
  
  BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana State Police will be accepting prescription drugs on Saturday for proper disposal and to combat drug abuse. State Police along with the Drug Enforcement Administration will hold a National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, which aims to provide a convenient and responsible way of disposing prescription drugs while also educating the public about the potential for prescription drug abuse. Prescription drug abusers report tha
  
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• Pest control company mix-up solved by 2 On Your Side

  21-10-2016 13:58
  
  BATON ROUGE - One person who flooded in August says she found termites in her gutted home. Veronica Berteaux says she pays for an annual termite contract and was surprised she got the run-around when she tried to deal with the pests.When she couldn't get answers, she called 2 On Your Side.For the last three years, Berteaux has dished out about $350 a year for yearly inspection and treatment by pest control company Terminix. She scheduled an appointment for Sept. 2. and showed a&nbsp
  
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• Early voting: Democrats show strength in key battlegrounds

  21-10-2016 13:54
  
  WASHINGTON - Hillary Clinton appears to be displaying strength in the crucial battleground states of North Carolina and Florida among voters casting ballots before Election Day, and may also be building an early vote advantage in Arizona and Colorado.Donald Trump, meanwhile, appears to be holding ground in Ohio, Iowa and Georgia, according to data compiled by The Associated Press. Those are important states for Trump, but not sufficient for him to win the presidency if he loses states like Flori
  
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• Trick-or-treating times announced for parishes

  21-10-2016 13:37
  
  BATON ROUGE - Officials have announced trick-or-treat times for residents as Halloween is around the corner. Some areas for trick-or-treating may be closed due to repairs still be conducted or debris still being picked up since the August flood.The following are the times for trick-or-treating on Monday, Oct. 31.:*Parishes are bolded, and municipalities are in plain textAscension Parish- 6 to 8pmDonaldsonville- 6 to 8pmGonzales- 6 to 8pmSorrento- 6 to 8pmLivingston Parish- 6 to
  
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• Belaire football takes the field after head coach's suspension

  21-10-2016 13:29
  
  BATON ROUGE - Belaire High School's football team took the field Friday night, less than one week after their head coach was suspended for a plan to play an ineligible player.The scandal may have cost Belaire a chance at a championship, but as new head coach Kevin Jackson said, there's a lot more to this game than just winning.The recent coaching scandal is still fresh in the minds of the Belaire High team. What had been a respectable season so far was stripped away by the High School Football A
  
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• Denham Springs Elementary temporary campus location to be on Hatchell Lane

  21-10-2016 13:27
  
  DENHAM SPRINGS – A temporary location for Denham Springs Elementary will be on Hatchell Lane at The Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, school officials announced on Friday.The school has been unable to return to its campus since the August flood. According to assistant superintendent, Joe Murphy, the church agreed to enter into a zero-dollar lease with the school system for the use of the land. Murphy said that workers will begin clearing the property on Friday, Oct. 21 to
  
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• Southern's Devon Gales returns to Baton Rouge

  21-10-2016 13:19
  
  BATON ROUGE - Ahead of Southern University's homecoming game, one player is making his return after going though tremendous times last year.Saturday will be a very big day for Devon Gales. Not only will he be back with his friends and fellow players on the Southern football team, but it will also be his first game since his injury last year.Since the life changing moment just over a year ago, but in every moment since, Gales has done his absolute best to put on a smile and inspire the people aro
  
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• Report: Louisiana denied Russian request to monitor election

  21-10-2016 12:56
  
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana and two other states say they have denied a request by Russian officials to be present at polling stations during the Nov. 8 election.The Oklahoma secretary of state's office says it received a letter in August from Russia's consulate general in Houston seeking to have one of its officers present at a voting precinct to study the "US experience in organization of voting process."But the office denied the request, noting Oklahoma law prohibits anyone exce
  
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• Warner Bros. promises previously unreleased Prince music

  21-10-2016 12:52
  
  ST. PAUL, Minn. - Warner Bros. Records says it is about to unveil two projects by the late megastar Prince that include previously unreleased material.According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press (http://bit.ly/2eA07ht ), the albums will be the first official Prince releases since he died April 21 of an accidental drug overdose."Prince 4Ever" is a 40-song compilation of his biggest hits from his Warner Bros. days along with two previously unreleased songs: "Batdance" and "Moonbeam Levels." It's due i
  
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• Woman with skull on stick leads Sacramento police to body

  21-10-2016 12:49
  
  SACRAMENTO - It sounds like a Halloween prank but Sacramento police say it was all too real.Authorities say a homeless woman led them to a decomposed body after she was seen walking down the street with a human skull on a stick.Police tell KTXL-TVthat the woman was spotted Wednesday on Connie Drive.Police stopped her at an abandoned house.Sgt. Bryce Heinlein says the woman told them she had found the skull and led them to an abandoned homeless camp a couple blocks away. That's where officers fou
  
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• New Tennessee reactor becomes nation's first of 21st century

  21-10-2016 12:45
  
  SPRING CITY, Tenn. - A Tennessee reactor is now complete, making it the nation's first new nuclear generating plant of the 21st century.News outlets report the Tennessee Valley Authority on Wednesday morning officially declared the Unit 2 reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant operational after more than nine years of construction and $4.7 billion in expenses.TVA President Bill Johnson says the new reactor in Spring City will provide TVA a carbon-free, reliable source of baseload power for
  
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• Deputy Nick Tullier's son speaks for the first time

  21-10-2016 12:40
  
  BATON ROUGE - The son of injured and hospitalized sheriff's deputy Nick Tullier spoke publicly for the first time about his father in a national TV interview this week.Trent Tullier questioned whether he and his dad will ever be able to do the things they once did together. On CNN he asked, "What's going to happen? Am I still going to have a father that's going to have conversations with me?"Trent Tullier was emotional in the interview with the network news crew who appeared to film the story fr
  
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• 18-wheeler submerged along I-55

  21-10-2016 12:11
  
  RUDDOCK – An 18-wheeler is submerged after a crash on I-55 north near the Ruddock exit.Witnesses told WWL, WBRZ's sister station, that good Samaritans pulled a woman and child from the submerged 18-wheeler. Three family members were inside in the vehicle and are safe and being treated for moderate injuries.State Police say that the incident occurred after a hit-and-run crash involving a white pick-up truck pulling a trailer that cut off the 18-wheeler. Police are now
  
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• Grand jury to hear case against Ascension Parish president in November

  21-10-2016 12:07
  
  GONZALES - A grand jury will hear a case involving allegations that Ascension Parish President Kenny Matassa bribed a man to not run for a seat on the Gonzales City Council.The grand jury will meet on November 15th, sources told WBRZ News 2 Friday. In September, the district attorney, Ricky Babin, said he was finishing the case and was expecting to present it to the grand jury by the end of the year.The investigation started before the flood, but was slowed as heavily damaged Ascension Parish wo
  
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• AT&T service restored, outage caused by third party, rep says

  21-10-2016 09:39
  
  ASCENSION – AT&T officials have reported, as of Friday morning, that services have been restored to customers who experienced outages in Ascension Parish Thursday afternoon.Officials say that customers were affected after a "fiber cable cut" between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.According to AT&T, technicians worked through the night to resolve the issue and service is "currently running normally."As of Friday morning, officials say that the "cut" was caused by a third party clea
  
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• US confirms 11th death due to Takata air bags

  21-10-2016 09:27
  
  DETROIT - The U.S. government is confirming another death due to the rupture of an air bag made by Takata Corp.
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  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says a 50-year-old woman died Sept. 30 in Riverside County, California.Honda Motor Co. confirmed the woman's death and said she was driving a 2001 Civic.This is the 11th known U.S. fatality attributed to Takata air bags.The air bags can inflate with too much force, which causes their metal interior to rupture and spew shrapnel into
  
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• Typhoon Haima churns toward China after lashing Philippines

  21-10-2016 09:23
  
  BEIJING - A typhoon that slammed into the northern Philippines, triggering flooding and landslides and leaving seven people dead, is now churning toward southern China.The typhoon is expected to make landfall this afternoon on China's mainland south.Authorities in the city of Shenzhen have ordered schools, markets and factories to close.Permalink| Comments
  
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• US internet disrupted as key firm gets hit by cyberattack

  21-10-2016 09:11
  
  NEW HAMPSHIRE - There have been reports of internet disruption across the East Coast of the United States after a key firm was hit by a cyberattack.New Hampshire-based Dyn said its server infrastructure was hit by a distributed denial-of-service attack, which works by overwhelming targeted machines with malicious electronic traffic.The company said in a series of statements that the attack took place early Friday local time and created disruption, but that "services have been restored t
  
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• Multiple car accident closes lane on I-10 WB

  21-10-2016 08:51
  
  BATON ROUGE - Commuters may want to take an alternate route Friday morning as the right lane is blocked on I-10 westbound at the Pecue Overpass due to an accident involving three cars.The delay from this incident has reached Highland Road.News 2's Ashley Fruge is monitoring the roadways. We will have updates on WBRZ.com and Twitter.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Strippers fighting Louisiana age law want names under cover

  21-10-2016 08:45
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Three women fighting Louisiana's new law making 21 the minimum age for working as a stripper are arguing in federal court that they shouldn't have to reveal their names.Each woman is listed in court records as Jane Doe. Each wants to keep it that way, but the state alcohol commissioner - the defendant in the suit - objects.The state says in its filings that federal courts only allow plaintiffs to hide their identities in rare cases. And they note that the plaintiffs - ages 18, 19 a
  
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• Car on fire closes lanes on I-110 NB

  21-10-2016 06:53
  
  BATON ROUGE - Commuters may want to take an alternate route Friday morning as two right lanes are blocked on I-110 northbound past Florida Boulevard due to a car on fire.The delay from this incident has reached Government Street.News 2's 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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• All lanes now open on I-110 NB

  21-10-2016 06:53
  
  BATON ROUGE - All lanes are now open on I-110 northbound.Friday morning, two right lanes were blocked on I-110 northbound past Florida Boulevard due to a car on fire.News 2's Ashley Fruge is monitoring the roadways. We will have updates on WBRZ.com and Twitter.Permalink| Comments
  
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