Baton Rouge news

• Raising gas tax seen as 'most reliable' way to fund roadwork

  05-12-2016 23:55
  
  Louisiana governor's task force says $700 million more needed for roads, bridges
  
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• Woman killed, New Jersey state trooper injured in crash

  05-12-2016 21:59
  
  MILLVILLE, N.J. - A woman has been killed and a New Jersey state trooper has been seriously injured in a crash.The two-vehicle crash happened Monday night in Millville.State police say the trooper was flown to an area hospital.Authorities have not released the name of the woman or the injured trooper.No other information was immediately available.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Mexico: 14 gunmen killed in gunbattle with patrol of marines

  05-12-2016 21:56
  
  VERACRUZ, Mexico - Police in Mexico's Gulf coast state of Veracruz say 14 criminal suspects have been killed in a gunbattle with a patrol of Mexican marines.A statement from the state police Coordination Group says the shootout began when gunmen attacked a police patrol car in the township of Jesus Carranza in a remote part of the state.The Monday statement says marines arrived as backup and also came under fire. It says 14 attackers were killed and an unknown number fled.The marines reportedly
  
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• Police: 2 shot during Christmas parade in North Carolina

  05-12-2016 21:06
  
  SANFORD, N.C. - Police say two people have been shot during a Christmas parade in central North Carolina.Sanford Police Capt. Harold Layton tells the Sanford Herald that one person is in serious condition after the Monday evening shooting and the other person's injury is not life threatening.Multiple media outlets report that the parade was halted after several shots were fired about 8 p.m.Police say one suspect is in custody and the investigation is ongoing.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Jets honor Joe McKnight with moment of silence

  05-12-2016 20:34
  
  EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The New York Jets have held a moment of silence before their game against the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium to honor former running back Joe McKnight, killed last Thursday in Louisiana.Authorities said McKnight, 28, was shot during a road rage incident that was possibly sparked by a driver cutting off another on a nearby bridge in Terrytown, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. The shooter was identified by police as Ronald Gasser, 54, and he was release
  
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• Move to delay finalizing election results pulled

  05-12-2016 20:31
  
  RALEIGH, N.C. - Pending litigation challenging North Carolina's process to ensure people who use same-day registration to vote are whom they claim to be are no longer could delay final election results this fall.A federal judge late Monday granted a request by lawyers for the head of a conservative-leaning group to withdraw his bid to prevent the certification of statewide results until the voter verification was complete. A hearing on blocking the certification had been set for Thursday.Attorne
  
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• Sheriff says more bodies not likely in warehouse fire

  05-12-2016 20:28
  OAKLAND, Calif. - Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern says sheriff's officials don't believe additional bodies will be found in the Oakland warehouse fire.Ahern told The Associated Press Monday he couldn't be absolutely positive until the entire recovery effort was complete. The death toll is at 36.Fire officials have said crews have gone through roughly three-quarters of the building.The blaze erupted during a dance party late Friday night.Investigators with the district attorney's office are
  
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• New Orleans man arrested for production of child pornography, enticement of minors

  05-12-2016 19:59
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A New Orleans man was arrested and charged with production of child pornography and coercion and enticement of minors, according to the FBI.On Monday Dec. 5, The FBI New Orleans Division's Violent Crimes Against Children/Human Trafficking Task Fore arrested Matthew Pere, 32, in New Orleans after a lengthy investigation, FBI said.Pere was transported to St. Bernard Parish Jail. He could be sentenced 15 to 30 years for the production of child pornography charge, and 10 years to life
  
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• Deputy dies when personal car goes into San Antonio sinkhole

  05-12-2016 17:22
  SAN ANTONIO - Officials say an off-duty sheriff's deputy has died and two other people hurt when two vehicles plunged into a water-filled sinkhole in San Antonio, Texas.The Bexar County Sheriff's Office on Monday identified the victim as 69-year-old Deputy Dora Linda Nishihara, who was a courthouse bailiff.A crane was used to retrieve her personal car from water about 12-feet deep. Nishihara's body was inside the vehicle.Sheriff's spokesman James Keith says Nishihara was not working Sunday when
  
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• Passengers survive after vehicle flips, lands upside down in Covington crash

  05-12-2016 17:00
  
  COVINGTON – The passengers of a vehicle involved in a horrifying single car crash made it out alive on Sunday in Covington.The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office and the St. Tammany Fire Department responded to the scene of a crash where a vehicle flipped and landed upside down on Harrison Avenue in Covington.According to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office, the "Jaws of Life" were used to free the passengers from the vehicle. All of the passengers of the vehicle survived.The sher
  
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• Passengers survive after vehicle flips, lands upside down in Convington crash

  05-12-2016 17:00
  
  CONVINGTON – The passengers of a vehicle involved in a horrifying single car crash made it out alive on Sunday in Covington.The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office and the St. Tammany Fire Department responded to the scene of a crash where a vehicle flipped and landed upside down on Harrison Avenue in Convington.According to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office, the "Jaws of Life" were used to free the passengers from the vehicle. All of the passengers of the vehicle survived.The sh
  
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• US Sen. Vitter bids farewell, says he was 'blessed' to serve

  05-12-2016 16:43
  
  BATON ROUGE - U.S. Sen. David Vitter called his tenure in Congress "the greatest honor of my professional life," as he gave a farewell speech ahead of the end to his 12-year tenure in the Senate.The Republican incumbent didn't run for a third term, after losing the Louisiana governor's race last year. His term ends in January.Vitter successfully pushed for term limits when in the Louisiana Legislature. While he's been unable to enact something similar in Congress, he said Monday he was "imposing
  
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• Baker schools and BR to receive more than $6 million in flood recovery grants

  05-12-2016 16:21
  
  BATON ROUGE – The City of Baton Rouge and the Baker School System will receive more than $6 million in grants for flood recovery.Representative Cedric Richmond announced the availability of the federal funds on Monday afternoon.The Baker School System will receive $3.9 million for cleaning, damage removal and sanitation of school buildings impacted by the flooding in August. The City of Baton Rouge will receive $2.9 million for performing emergency protective measures as a result of th
  
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• Prosecutors can use Cosby's deposition at trial, judge says

  05-12-2016 15:35
  
  PHILADELPHIA - A Pennsylvania judge has ruled that damaging testimony Bill Cosby gave in an accuser's lawsuit can be used at his criminal sex assault trial.The defense had insisted that Cosby only testified after being promised he wouldn't be charged in the Andrea Constand case.Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill concluded Monday that Cosby never had a promise from prosecutors that he could never be charged.The 79-year-old Cosby acknowledged in the 2006 deposition that he had given young wome
  
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• Cause of house fire that killed 3-year-old in St. Helena under investigation

  05-12-2016 15:10
  
  GREENSBURG – State Fire Marshals are investigating a fire that claimed the life of a 3-year-old on Friday.The fire was reported around 2 p.m. on Friday in the 2800 block of Otis and Willie Matthews Road in Greensburg. Upon arriving to the scene, firefighters found the home completely engulfed in flames.Once the fire was extinguished the body of the three-year-old was discovered in a bedroom of the home.The cause of the fire has not been determined and investigators determined
  
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• Prosecutors plan to retry police officer in Walter Scott shooting following mistrial

  05-12-2016 14:47
  
  CHARLESTON, S.C - Prosecutors say they intend to retry a fired South Carolina police officer whose murder trial ended in a mistrial on Monday when jurorscould not reach a verdict.Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said Monday that she will retry the case against 35-year-old Michael Slager, who was being prosecuted in the death of an unarmed, black motorist Walter Scott. Jurors were also considering a lesser charge of voluntary man slaughter.Slager also faces a trial in federal court next year on charges
  
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• Mistrial declared in Walter Scott police-involved shooting

  05-12-2016 14:47
  
  CHARLESTON, S.C - A mistrial has been declared in the trial of a South Carolina police officer charged with murder in the death of a black motorist.Circuit Judge Clifton Newman declared the mistrial after a jury said Monday that it was unable to unanimously agree on a verdict for Michael Slager.The judge had told jurors they could also consider a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.Slager was standing trial for shooting 50-year-old Walter Scott to death in North Charleston after stopping him
  
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• Man convicted in son's hot-car death gets life, no parole

  05-12-2016 14:33
  
  MARIETTA - A Georgia man convicted of murder after his toddler son died in a hot SUV has been sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.Jurors last month convicted Justin Ross Harris of malice murder and other charges in the June 2014 death of his 22-month-old son, Cooper. The malice murder conviction means they believed Harris left the young boy to die on purpose.Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark sentenced the 36-year-old Harris at a hearing Monday.Pro
  
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• Jimmy Kimmel to host Academy Awards

  05-12-2016 13:26
  
  NEW YORK - Jimmy Kimmel will host the 89th Academy Awards this year. Kimmel will be hosting the show for the first time, the Academy of Motion Pictures said Monday. In September, he hosted the Emmy Awards for the second time.The selection of Kimmel gives ABC, home of the Oscars telecast, the choice the network had sought. The academy waited much later than usual to name a host for the Feb. 26 ceremony.This year's show is being produced by Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd.Permalink| Com
  
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• Fournette to enter NFL draft following Citrus Bowl

  05-12-2016 13:15
  
  BATON ROUGE – LSU junior running back Leonard Fournette announced on Monday that he will be entering the NFL draft.Fournette made the announcement through a written letter that he posted on Twitter on Monday explaining his decision to enter the draft following the Citrus Bowl against Louisville. Forever LSU, Forever Buganation pic.twitter.com/sdkN0JaonF— 7? Leonard Fournette (@_fournette) December 5, 2016"I make this announcement now so that there will not be specula
  
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• Police searching for man involved in fatal domestic violence shooting

  05-12-2016 13:14
  
  HAMMOND – The Hammond Police Department is looking for one man involved in a domestic violence shooting that left one person dead.Police are looking for 25-year-old Martin Haynes.Three people were arrested following the incident and they are cooperating with police.No further details about the incident have been released at the time of this post.Anyone with information about the incident or the whereabouts of Haynes is urged to contact the Hammond Police Department at 985-277-5700.Perm
  
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• Baby's first flight: Woman gives birth while on airplane

  05-12-2016 12:53
  
  CHARLESTON, S.C. - A Southwest Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Charleston, South Carolina, after a baby was born in the middle of the flight.Airline spokeswoman Melissa Ford tells local news outlets that Flight 556 was on its way from Philadelphia to Orlando, Florida, on Sunday when a woman went into labor.Ford says medical personnel who were on the flight helped with the delivery, and the family was taken to an area hospital when the plane landed.Officials say the flight and the rem
  
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• Airline Hwy. reopens at Florida following accident

  05-12-2016 12:48
  BATON ROUGE – Airline Highway (U.S. 61 North) has reopened to traffic at Florida Boulevard following an accident on Monday morning. Traffic was being diverted onto Florida Boulevard. According to DOTD, congestion from the accident has reached Old Hammond Highway. Monitor WBRZ's traffic tracking system here.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Driver dies in crash on Hwy. 955 near Ethel

  05-12-2016 12:41
  EAST FELCIANA – The East Feliciana Sheriff's Office reported a fatal crash outside of Ethel on Monday around 10 a.m.According to the sheriff's office, one driver, a woman, was dead on the scene once deputies arrived. The crash was on Highway 955 west of Highway 19 outside of Ethel.Four people, including the woman, were in the car at the time of the crash. One man and two children sustained injures, however their conditions are not known at the time of this post.Authorities sai
  
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• Dick Clark's New Years Eve to include live broadcast from New Orleans

  05-12-2016 12:33
  
  NEW ORLEANS - "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest," the annual year-ending television special, will include a live broadcast from New Orleans in its countdown to 2017, WWL reports.Producers announced Monday that the special will include a live remote broadcast from New Orleans in its Dec. 31 broadcast on ABC. The show will capture the fleur de lis drop and fireworks display at Jackson Square. The live broadcast will also include performances from the AllState Fan Fest, part o
  
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• EBR Sheriff's deputies searching for 3 suspects after car chase

  05-12-2016 12:16
  
  BATON ROUGE - A vehicle chase involving police has ended in Brownfields neighborhood in Baton Rouge, where sheriff's deputies began searching for three male suspects.The incident occurred around 10 p.m. on Monday when shots were fired from a vehicle at another in the northbound lanes of Plank Road near the Coca Cola Bottling Company. Upon arrival, a car was found at the scene. The deputy attempted to stop the car, however it fled.A chase ensued and lasted for about five to ten minutes. The chase
  
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• Owner no longer wants to sell club targeted by mass shooting

  05-12-2016 12:04
  ORLANDO - The owner of the Florida nightclub where the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place says she's no longer interested in selling the property to the city of Orlando.Pulse nightclub owner Barbara Poma said in a statement Monday that she can't walk away from the property.Last month, the city of Orlando announced plans to purchase Pulse and eventually convert it into a memorial.The city had planned to pay $2.25 million for the gay nightclub property.Poma says in her statement
  
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• Christmas decorations, bathroom vandalized at Jambalaya Park in Gonzales

  05-12-2016 11:55
  
  GONZALES – Police are investigating after city employees found Jambalaya Park in Gonzales vandalized Monday morning. On Monday, Gonzales City Hall employees found ornaments were taken from the city's tree and smashed on the ground, lights in Jambalaya Park were ripped from the fences and shattered and toilet paper on the stalls and floor in the park's bathroom."This is incredibly upsetting," said City of Gonzales Mayor Barney Arceneaux. "Why anyone would intentionally set out
  
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• Low early voting turnout for Louisiana's Saturday election

  05-12-2016 11:30
  
  BATON ROUGE - Early voting was sluggish in advance of this weekend's runoff election, with fewer than 6 percent of Louisiana's 3 million registered voters casting ballots.About 171,000 voters cast ballots early for the Saturday election that will decide an open U.S. Senate seat and two open U.S. House seats, along with dozens of local elections.That's only a third of the people who early voted ahead of last month's primary election, which had the attention-grabbing presidential race on the ballo
  
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• Jury selection begins in Will Smith trial

  05-12-2016 09:21
  NEW ORLEANS - Questioning of potential jurors is set to begin in the trial of a man charged with fatally shooting former New Orleans Saints star Will Smith earlier this year.Twenty-nine-year-old Cardell Hayes has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in Smith's death, and attempted second-degree murder in the wounding of Smith's wife.Monday's trial opens with jury selection in New Orleans.Smith died after being shot eight times the night of April 9.Smith's SUV had been rear-ended by a Humme
  
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• School bus crash near Lakeside Primary School

  05-12-2016 08:49
  
  GONZALES - Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office has confirmed that a school bus and vehicle crashed Monday morning at the intersection of LA 931 and LA 431 near Lakeside Primary School.APSO said there are no injuries on the school bus, but there may be injuries inside the vehicle.A WBRZ crew is heading to the scene now. This is a developing story. Refresh this page for updates and check Twitter for alerts.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Dylann Roof to judge: Let lawyers back on death penalty case

  05-12-2016 08:40
  
  COLUMBIA, S.C. - The white man charged with the shooting deaths of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church wants to stop acting as his own lawyer, at least for now.The request filed Sunday comes a week after a federal judge allowed Dylann Roof to represent himself in the June 2015 slayings at Emanuel AME Church.In a handwritten request, the 22-year-old Roof asks U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel to bring his defense team back on board for the guilt phase of his federal death penalty
  
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• Sepp Blatter loses appeal at CAS against 6-year FIFA ban

  05-12-2016 08:38
  
  ZURICH - Sepp Blatter says he has lost his appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport against a six-year ban by FIFA.Blatter says in a statement it is "difficult" to accept but that "the way the case progressed, no other verdict could be expected."The former FIFA president, who was banned for approving a $2 million payment to Michel Platini in 2011, says he will accept the decision.Blatter could have appealed to Switzerland's supreme court. It can annul verdicts if legal process was abused.The
  
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• Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis reveal new baby boy's name

  05-12-2016 08:35
  
  Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis have offered some details on the new addition to their family, a baby boy named Dmitri Portwood Kutcher.Kutcher announced on his website that Dmitri was born at 1:21 a.m. on Nov. 30 and weighed in at 8 pounds, 15 ounces.On the subject of baby photos for the public, Kutcher says in an article on his website that he and Kunis would "like to allow our kids to make their own choices on whether to have a life in the public eye or not," adding "we don't want to make the c
  
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• 2 dead after gunfire erupts near Salt Lake City

  05-12-2016 07:02
  
  SALT LAKE CITY - Authorities say two people are dead after gunfire erupted Sunday evening near Salt Lake City.The Utah County Sheriff's Office says the violence flared as a woman called police to say a man was shooting at her vehicle.In a series of events still being untangled, KSL-TV reports that officers rushed to the scene near a Wal-Mart store in American Fork and found the woman dead.Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon says officers chased the suspect's vehicle to a movie theater on Main Street.H
  
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• Japanese leader Abe to visit Pearl Harbor with Obama

  05-12-2016 07:00
  
  TOKYO - Japan's leader says he will visit Pearl Harbor with U.S. President Barack Obama at the end of this month.No serving Japanese prime minister has ever visited the U.S. Naval base in Hawaii that was attacked by Japan in 1941, propelling the United States into World War II.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he'll visit Hawaii in late December and hold a final summit meeting there with Obama before the American leader leaves office.Earlier this year, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president
  
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• Pakistani police say hotel fire kills 11 in Karachi

  05-12-2016 06:58
  
  KARACHI, Pakistan - A Pakistani police officer says a fire that swept through a four-star hotel in the southern port city of Karachi has killed at least 11 people.Tauqeer Naeem says more than 50 people suffered injuries in the Monday morning blaze, which started in the hotel kitchen. He says an exact cause of the fire was not known.Dr. Semi Jamali at Karachi's Jinnah's Hospital says some foreigners were among those being treated for burns.Most of Pakistan's buildings don't meet safety standards
  
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• Off-duty New York City correction officer fatally shot

  05-12-2016 06:57
  
  NEW YORK - An off-duty New York City correction officer has been fatally shot.Police say 25-year-old Alastasia Bryan was shot Sunday night while sitting in a car outside a home in the Flatlands neighborhood of Brooklyn.Officers say they found her with gunshot wounds to her head and torso. She was pronounced dead at the scene.The Correction Officers' Benevolent Association has issued a statement saying the correction family is "shocked and grieving the horrific murder" of Bryan.A motive for the s
  
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• New Zealand Prime Minister John Key resigns after 8 years

  05-12-2016 06:56
  
  WELLINGTON, New Zealand - New Zealand's popular Prime Minister John Key stunned the nation on Monday when he announced he was resigning after eight years as leader.Key had been widely expected to contest his fourth general election next year. But he said he wanted to ensure he didn't make the mistake that some other world leaders have done, and instead wanted to leave while he was on top of his game.Speaking in a shaking voice, Key said he had made personal sacrifices for the job and the role ha
  
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• 2 cars submerged in San Antonio sinkhole; 1 man rescued

  05-12-2016 06:54
  
  SAN ANTONIO - A San Antonio official says a 60-year-old man has been rescued after two cars were submerged inside a sinkhole created when a large sewer line ruptured.San Antonio Fire Battalion Chief Brian O'Neil tells the Express-News that a woman sustained minor injuries when she rescued the man who drove into the sinkhole Sunday night.O'Neil says the man and woman were taken to the hospital and are "in good shape." Authorities were trying to determine if there was another person inside one of
  
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• Fake news story led gunman to popular DC pizzeria

  05-12-2016 06:51
  
  WASHINGTON - Police say a man who said he was investigating a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a pizza place fired an assault rifle inside the Washington, D.C., restaurant Sunday.Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Aquita Brown says police got a call Sunday afternoon about a male with a weapon on Connecticut Avenue, in an affluent neighborhood of the nation's capital.The Washington Post reports 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Car
  
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• Trump taps former campaign rival Carson as housing secretary

  05-12-2016 06:48
  
  WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump has chosen former Campaign 2016 rival Ben Carson to become secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.Trump's decision, announced early this morning by his transition office, comes as the real estate mogul continues a series of interviews, meetings with aides and other deliberations aimed at forming his administration.In a statement, Trump says he's "thrilled to nominate" Carson, saying he "has a brilliant mind and is passionate about s
  
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