Baton Rouge news

• John Bel Edwards, Jeff Landry's court battle over LGBT executive order delayed

  16-11-2016 20:49
  
  After meeting with the judge behind closed doors for more than 90 minutes Wednesday (Nov. 16), Edwards and Landry's legal teams emerged with an agreement to argue the case later this month.
  
  Read more

• After turbulent summer, frustrations linger in Baton Rouge

  16-11-2016 20:00
  
  Divided city struggles with Alton Sterling shooting, killing of three law officers, historic flood
  
  Read more

• Baton Rouge deputy wounded in July police shooting moving to Houston rehab facility

  16-11-2016 18:40
  
  Nick Tullier has been hospitalized in Baton Rouge since July 17, when he was shot in the head and stomach.
  
  Read more

• More than 1,500 Ascension homes deemed substantially damaged

  16-11-2016 17:35
  
  GONZALES – Ascension Parish officials announced Wednesday that 1,553 homes have been deemed substantially damaged due to August’s historic flooding.“We will begin sending out letters today, to notify property owners of their substantial damage assessment,” Parish President Kenny Matassa said.Matassa’s office says more than 10,000 homes have been evaluated to determine if they meet the standard for substantially damaged. To be considered &lsqu
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Nine fallen officers honored with Medal of Honor

  16-11-2016 17:28
  
  BATON ROUGE – A ceremony honoring nine fallen officers in Louisiana was held Wednesday.The nine officers, who died in the line of duty in 2015, were honored during the Medal of Honor ceremony held by the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement.
  Officers from around the state attended the ceremony to pay the officers' respect for their service, duty and sacrifice. Police chiefs and assistant police chiefs shared their thoughts about each of the fallen officers.
  "Some of the best things
  
  Read more

• AT&T customer billed for flooded equipment

  16-11-2016 17:14
  
  BATON ROUGE - Some AT&T customers say they have received bills in the mail for their flooded equipment.Becky Nissen's AT&T equipment was submerged in August. She got a bill in the mail Monday for $633."They should have some compassion, my son has had to start over with just what he could," she said.Nissen says she gifted her son AT&T U-verse TV and she gets the bills. His trailer flooded in August, taking in more than a foot of water, which was enough to ruin everything. She called A
  
  Read more

• Teacher pleads guilty to giving students marijuana brownies

  16-11-2016 17:04
  
  COVINGTON – A former high school teacher pleaded guilty to giving brownies with marijuana in them to two of her students.The former teacher, 31-year-old Camille Breaux Brennan, taught at Hannan High School.Brennan admitted to giving brownies to two students in May 2015. One of the students reportedly became sick and told a family member that she ate brownies with marijuana in them that were given to her by her teacher.
  According to the District Attorney's Office of Washington and St. T
  
  Read more

• Louisiana voters didn't show appetite for tax deduction change

  16-11-2016 16:42
  
  The failure of one constitutional amendment last week may affect the governor's tax policy moving forward.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Ascension Parish disaster recovery center to remain open until Dec. 16

  16-11-2016 16:41
  
  ASCENSION – The Ascension Parish disaster recovery center will remain open until Dec. 16, parish officials say.The center, located at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center 4H Building will remain open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  Disaster survivors who have registered with FEMA may visit any Disaster Recovery Center for face-to-face help.Center are staffed by representatives from FEMA, the Small Business Administration and other disaster recovery experts.
  To find a disaster reco
  
  Read more

• TOPS cuts won't hit students at University of New Orleans

  16-11-2016 16:09
  
  BATON ROUGE - The University of New Orleans will cover the full tuition costs for TOPS students in the spring, even though the state cut funding for the program.Louisiana only is paying about 42 percent of tuition costs for TOPS students in the spring semester. That leaves students and parents to pay the remaining 58 percent.But NOLA.com reports UNO announced Tuesday it will fill in the gaps left by the state for its 1,000 TOPS students.University president John Nicklow said he worried
  
  Read more

• Holiday Helpers to host 30th annual Thanksgiving dinner; volunteers welcome

  16-11-2016 16:01
  
  BATON ROUGE – Holiday Helpers of Baton Rouge will host is 30th annual Thanksgiving Together dinner at the Raising Cane's River Center.Meals will be served on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Those who wish to volunteer should show up ready to help on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 6 p.m. and/or on Thanksgiving morning between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m.
  Food that will be served will include Turkey, ham, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce, sweet potato, green beans, rolls dessert, Coke,
  
  Read more

• LSU's Fournette named Doak Walker semifinalist

  16-11-2016 15:33
  
  BATON ROUGE – LSU junior running back Leonard Fournette has been named as one of the 10 semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award.Fournette is one of seven juniors to be named a semifinalist for the award which goes to the nation's top running back. Fournette is also a semifinalists for the Maxwell Award.Fournette was also a finalist for the award in 2015 after his record-breaking sophomore year and goes into this year's season with 803 yards on 117 attempts.Even with missing three games
  
  Read more

• Pluto's frozen heart may hide slushy underground ocean

  16-11-2016 13:49
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL - Evidence is mounting for an ocean of slushy water at Pluto, buried beneath its frozen heart.Scientists said Wednesday that Pluto may have rolled over on its axis eons ago, the result of tidal forces with jumbo moon Charon. They say an underground sea is the most likely explanation.These latest findings are based on observations by NASA's New Horizons, which made an unprecedented flyby of Pluto last year. The spacecraft is now 365 million miles from Pluto and enroute to a 2019 cl
  
  Read more

• House Democrats urge Trump to drop Bannon

  16-11-2016 13:47
  
  WASHINGTON - House Democrats have sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump asking him to rescind the appointment of Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon as a senior White House adviser.The letter, which has signatures from 169 out of the 188 Democrats in the House, says the appointment of conservative flame-thrower Bannon undermines Trump's ability to unite the country. It points out stories from the website that are derogatory toward Jews and Muslims, among other groups."Millions
  
  Read more

• Judge in Will Smith shooting case to sequester jury

  16-11-2016 13:44
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A judge says the jury hearing the murder case of former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith will be sequestered during the upcoming trial.Local media outlets report Judge Camille Buras also decided Wednesday to move the start of jury selection back four days, to Dec. 5.Prosecutors have charged Cardell Hayes in Smith's April 9 death. They had asked the judge to limit the jury's exposure to outside influences, citing national media coverage.Hayes' attorney argued against sequestrati
  
  Read more

• Judge again refuses to toss Bill Cosby's sex-assault case

  16-11-2016 13:43
  
  PHILADELPHIA - A Pennsylvania judge has denied Bill Cosby's latest attempt to get his sexual assault case dismissed.Judge Steven O'Neill on Wednesday rejected arguments that Cosby was unfairly prejudiced because prosecutors waited a decade to bring charges over a 2004 encounter at his suburban Philadelphia home.The ruling clears the way for the 79-year-old entertainer to go on trial by June.O'Neill also rejected the defense's request for competency testing for 13 other accusers who could be call
  
  Read more

• NCAA: Southern gets 5 years probation after issues with athlete eligibility

  16-11-2016 12:35
  
  BATON ROUGE – The National Collegiate Athletic Association reports that Southern University faces several penalties due to the university's lack of "institutional control" when it failed to monitor student-athlete eligibility, according to a Division I Committee on Infractions panel.The university faces up to five years probation, a $5,000 fine, a reduction in scholarships and several other penalties. The panel reported that the university improperly certified more than 200 student-ath
  
  Read more

• Trump team 'not going to rush' Cabinet picks

  16-11-2016 12:32
  
  WASHINGTON - A spokesman for President-elect Donald Trump says the transition team is "not going to rush" to put forward potential Cabinet selections.Jason Miller said Wednesday that Trump's team wants to feel confident their choices will be able to be confirmed by the Senate and can implement the president-elect's vision.Miller told reporters at Trump Tower in New York City that President Barack Obama did not have "his entire Cabinet formed within the first week" after his election in 2008.He s
  
  Read more

• Vigil held for unsolved murder victim

  16-11-2016 12:10
  
  BATON ROUGE- Loved ones cried and embraced each other Wednesday night at the scene of an unsolved murder in North Baton Rouge. Jonathan Sam, 25, was gunned down after he intervened in an armed robbery last Thursday afternoon at G&T Tire shop on Plank Road and Erie."I'm angry because that was my child," said Sam's mother Joyce Lee.Sam worked odd jobs at the shop. Police say he witnessed a man robbing a customer last Thursday when he intervened and was killed."It was unnecessary," said Bryan G
  
  Read more

• Minnesota officer charged in Philando Castile's killing

  16-11-2016 11:50
  
  ST. PAUL, Minn.- A Minnesota prosecutor says evidence shows Philando Castile, a black motorist, complied with a police officer and told him he was carrying a gun in the critical moments before he was shot to death.Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said Wednesday that when Castile's body was pulled from the car, his .40-caliber handgun was deep in a front pocket of his shorts.Officer Jeronimo Yanez pulled Castile over in a St. Paul suburb July 6. Choi says evidence including squad car video shows
  
  Read more

• Bon Jovi donation helps save Ben Franklin's gravestone

  16-11-2016 09:49
  
  PHILADELPHIA - A fundraising campaign to help save Benjamin Franklin's damaged gravestone is no longer livin' on a prayer.Rocker Jon bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, on Tuesday donated $5,000 to the Christ Church Preservation Trust to quickly push it past its $10,000 goal.The marble ledger tablet marking Franklin's grave at Philadelphia's Christ Church Burial Ground has developed a significant crack on top of the pitting caused by the ritual of tossing pennies onto Franklin's grave.Thousands of
  
  Read more

• New hearing set on Edwards LGBT protection order

  16-11-2016 09:29
  
  BATON ROUGE - A hearing on the attorney general's effort to block Gov. John Bel Edwards' order banning discrimination in state government against LGBT people has been pushed back to Nov. 29.Both sides arrived in court Wednesday. But lawyers for the two elected officials disagreed on what should be handled in the hearing.Judge Todd Hernandez spent nearly two hours in a closed-door meeting with the lawyers, trying to work out scheduling details. When they emerged, the new hearing date was set.Repu
  
  Read more

• LGBT rights dispute between Edwards, Landry heads to court

  16-11-2016 09:29
  
  BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana attorney general's effort to block Gov. John Bel Edwards' order banning discrimination in state government against LGBT people has reached a courtroom.Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry says the Democratic governor's anti-discrimination order violates state law and exceeds the governor's authority. Landry's asking Wednesday for a judge to issue a preliminary injunction, prohibiting Edwards from enforcing the order.Edwards accuses the attorney general of playing p
  
  Read more

• Nine taken to hospital after school bus, cane truck wreck

  16-11-2016 08:07
  
  POINTE COUPEE PARISH - Four people from a school bus were among the nine transported from the scene of a crash between the bus, a pickup and a sugar cane truck Wednesday morning.According to @LAStatePolice, school bus and pickup stopped. Cane truck did not stop. 9 people transported, 4 from bus. Scene is clear now. https://t.co/GZn1tX2b4p— Michael Vinsanau (@MVinsanau) November 16, 2016Authorities said the crash happened when the cane truck failed to stop, hitting the other two vehicle
  
  Read more

• Obama's alumni-to-be contemplate life after the White House

  16-11-2016 07:00
  
  WASHINGTON - The Obama administration comes crashing to a halt on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day. And that means an end of employment for about nearly 500 White House staffers who work for President Barack Obama.Hoping to ensure his staffers find decent jobs, Obama and his team have brought in representatives from Facebook, Instagram and other companies to offer insights into the job market. Officials from LinkedIn are helping White House staffers identify ways to market their skills.And Georgetown U
  
  Read more

• Afghan officials say suicide bomber kills 4 in Kabul

  16-11-2016 06:55
  
  KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan security officials have confirmed that at least four security forces were killed when their vehicle was attacked by a suicide bomber in the capital Kabul.The security officials, who did not want to be named as the investigation into the attack is still underway, said Wednesday that 11 others were wounded in the attack which took place in Puli Mohmood Kahn area near the Afghan defense ministry compound.They said it is not clear if the bomber was on foot or on a motorbi
  
  Read more

• Many outdoor activities banned as fires burn across South

  16-11-2016 06:50
  
  NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Starting campfires, lighting fireworks and smoking cigarettes are among the outdoor activities being banned across the South as fires burn in forests stressed by drought.Even parking a car off-road is prohibited for fear that a hot tailpipe could ignite dry leaves below.U.S. Forest Service spokesman Adam Rondeau has said the agency is tracking wildfires that have burned a total of 80,000 acres across the South. That includes a north Georgia fire that's burned an area the size
  
  Read more

• UNO will cover its TOPS students' tuition this spring, LSU will not

  16-11-2016 01:12
  
  TOPS recipients at many Louisiana universities will have to cover 58 percent of their tuition bills in the spring -- though not at UNO.
  
  Read more

Follow @BatonRougeNews_ on Twitter!