Baton Rouge news

• Impairment suspected in deadly Pointe Coupee Parish crash

  12-11-2016 19:54
  
  MORGANZA – State police say impairment was a factor in a crash that left two Morganza residents dead in Pointe Coupee Parish Saturday afternoon.The crash happened on LA 1 near LA 420 in Pointe Coupee Parish just before 3 p.m. Saturday. Louisiana State Police report that 21-year-old Christopher Armster and his passenger 34-year-old James Guidry died at the scene.Crash investigators say Armster was driving southbound on LA 1 at a high rate of speed when he failed to stop and struck an 18
  
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• Trump pledges restraint with Twitter from White House

  12-11-2016 17:17
  
  WASHINGTON - Donald Trump is pledging restraint on Twitter as president.But you can already tell he'll be mightily tempted to let loose with those trademark tweets.He tells "60 Minutes" he's going to be "very restrained, if I use it at all."But he went on to call Twitter "tremendous" and said social media is "where it's at."As he put it: "I have a method of fighting back."The president-elect says social media helped him win races in states where he was vastly outspent, and he thinks he's proved
  
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• After poll failure, expert makes good on promise to eat bug

  12-11-2016 17:07
  
  PRINCETON - A Princeton University polling expert who said he would eat a bug if Donald Trump got more than 240 electoral votes has followed through on his promise.It is totally over. If Trump wins more than 240 electoral votes, I will eat a bug. https://t.co/3eefhWzI3y— Sam Wang (@SamWangPhD) October 19, 2016
  Sam Wang, of the Princeton Election Consortium, made good on his Twitter word on CNN Saturday.He ate from a can of gourmet-style crickets and added in some honey.He said John the
  
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• Police: grocery store employees steal $25,000 in refund scam

  12-11-2016 15:26
  
  BATON ROUGE – Police say three employees at a Baton Rouge grocery store stole more than $25,000 through a return refund scam. According to arrest records, Baton Rouge police officers were called to the Albertson’s Grocery Store on College Drive Friday in reference to employee theft.Store management told officers that 19-year-old Jalen Oliver Ray, 22-year-old T Lara Nicole Pitts and a third cashier used false return refunds to steal more than $25,000 from the store.Po
  
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• Edwards asks court to define state attorney general's role

  12-11-2016 14:42
  
  BATON ROUGE - Gov. John Bel Edwards is asking a Baton Rouge court to define the role of Louisiana's attorney general - laying out what he can and can't do in state government.NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports the Edwards administration's request comes in response to Attorney General Jeff Landry's decision to sue the governor.Landry is trying to block Edwards' executive order that bans discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in state government. The governor and att
  
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• 4 detained after shooting at Trump protest

  12-11-2016 14:12
  
  PORTLAND - Police in Portland, Oregon, say they have detained four people in connection with a shooting that left one wounded during a protest of President-elect Donald Trump.A news release says police believe the four are gang members.The man who was shot early Saturday while participating in a march is recovering and is expected to survive. Police say a shooter was in a vehicle on a bridge that spans the Willamette River and that there was a confrontation with someone in the protest m
  
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• Officials: 150 US border agents being sent to South Texas

  12-11-2016 13:58
  
  EDINBURG, Texas - Federal officials say 150 Border Patrol agents will be deployed to South Texas from Arizona, California and elsewhere to help process a spike in immigrants who have been apprehended after illegally entering the U.S.U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement Saturday that agents from Tucson, Arizona, and San Diego will be temporarily reassigned to the Rio Grande Valley. Agents working another portion of the Texas border will join them.The additional agents will assis
  
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• As wildfire smoke streams across South, masks urged for some

  12-11-2016 13:25
  
  ATLANTA - Wildfires near the Georgia-North Carolina line are spewing smoke so thick that residents are being urged to wear special masks if they must do outdoor activities.The fires have prompted evacuations in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee in recent days.The largest of dozens of ongoing wildfires in the South has now burned 13,300 acres - or more than a third of the vast Cohutta Wilderness area - in the north Georgia mountains just south of the Tennessee line, fire managers said in an u
  
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• Tax Commission member resigns after revealed he has tax debt

  12-11-2016 13:15
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A New Orleans businessman who hasn't paid property taxes in 30 years on a building he owns has resigned from the Louisiana Tax Commission.That move followed an investigation by WVUE-TV  that uncovered Jimmie Thorns' outstanding tax debt.Thorns' business, Jim Thorns Inc., acquired a building in the 1980's but hasn't paid a penny in property taxes. The current outstanding bill is $140,000.Gov. John Bel Edwards appointed Thorns to the commission, which ensures fair, accurate
  
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• Official says death toll in bomb blast at Sufi shrine in southwest Pakistan increases to 45

  12-11-2016 13:01
  
  QUETTA, Pakistan - Official says death toll in bomb blast at Sufi shrine in southwest Pakistan increases to 45.Sarfaraz Bugti, home minister for Baluchistan province, confirmed that the blast occurred with hundreds in attendance at the shrine of Sufi saint Shah Bilal Noorani. He said rescue efforts were ongoing.Abdul Hakim Lasi, an official with the Edhi Foundations rescue service that arrived at the scene, suggests more than 30 people may have been killed.No one has yet claimed responsibility b
  
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• Pope Francis pushes for inclusion in race, class, religion

  12-11-2016 12:54
  
  VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis is advocating policies of inclusion, saying God's plan doesn't exclude people based on their social class, race or religion.Francis told a group of faithful on Saturday that Christians should welcome others "without classifying them on the basis of social condition, language, race, culture, religion."He added "mercy is that way of acting, that style, with which we try to include others in our life, avoiding closing up into ourselves and into our selfish securities."Fr
  
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• 3,000 take part in Los Angeles Trump protest

  12-11-2016 12:50
  
  PORTLAND, Ore. - About 200 people have been arrested in Los Angeles after a mainly peaceful protest over the election of Donald Trump as president.Police say about 3,000 people took to the streets Friday night, winding up near City Hall after several hours of marching. Some waved American flags or carried signs reading "Not My President."Police began breaking up the protest at around 2 a.m. Saturday and arrested people for failure to disperse.Police tell City News Service that three juveniles we
  
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• Alaska police officer shot; second man killed in attack

  12-11-2016 12:44
  
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Police in Alaska say an officer has been shot multiple times in what they described as an ambush.The attack happened early Saturday morning. The man suspected of shooting the officer was killed, and the officer is expected to survive.Police spokeswoman Jennifer Castro says the officer was in surgery following the shooting in downtown Anchorage just before 5 a.m.The officer was responding to reports that a theft suspect was on foot, and the officer was pulling over his cruiser
  
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• Prosecutor: Jury favored toward lesser charge

  12-11-2016 12:39
  
  CINCINNATI - An Ohio prosecutor says jurors were leaning toward convicting a white former police officer on a lesser charge but couldn't agree in the case involving the fatal traffic stop shooting of an unarmed black motorist.Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters says the jury in Cincinnati was tilting toward a voluntary manslaughter conviction and an acquittal on the murder charge.A judge declared a mistrial Saturday after the jury said it was deadlocked deliberating some 25 hours after getting
  
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• Monday deadline for flood victims to register with FEMA

  12-11-2016 11:56
  
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana residents with damage from the severe mid-August flooding have only a few days remaining to register for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.The deadline is Monday.FEMA offers grants to homeowners and renters for temporary housing and home repairs, as well as other post-disaster expenses.Registration with FEMA can be done online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov , by calling 1-800-621-3362, downloading the FEMA mobile app or visiting a federal disaster recovery c
  
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• 2016 pecan crop struggling in Louisiana

  12-11-2016 11:54
  
  SHREVEPORT - The LSU AgCenter says Louisiana pecan growers who were eager to bounce back from last year's disappointing crop will likely have their hopes dashed this year.Pecan specialist Charlie Graham predicts a smaller than usual harvest.Graham said in a news release that insects, mites and disease have caused trees in Louisiana to defoliate and yields to drop. But fortunately, prices and demand remain strong.He says Louisiana growers will likely harvest 4 million to 5 million pounds of pecan
  
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• Louisiana tax commissioner resigns after it's discovered he didn't pay taxes: Fox 8

  12-11-2016 00:04
  
  Jimmie Thorns stepped down from the state tax commission after it was discovered he owed $140,000 in back taxes to the City of New Orleans.
  
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