Baton Rouge news

• Aimless pizza shop gunman latched onto internet, religion

  07-12-2016 18:26
  
  SALISBURY, N.C. - Before he was charged with firing an assault rifle inside a Washington restaurant, where he had been drawn by an online hoax, Edgar Maddison Welch was known as a well-meaning father of two girls.But acquaintances also say he unnerved some with his religious fervor and sometimes had trouble detaching himself from the internet.Police say he came to the pizza restaurant Sunday on a self-imposed mission to investigate a false account of a child sex ring that had spread through fake
  
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• Dissidents urge Trump to press China on human rights

  07-12-2016 18:24
  
  WASHINGTON - Exiled Chinese dissidents are urging President-elect Donald Trump to champion human rights in China and recognize self-governing Taiwan as "a full democratic country."Several former political prisoners spoke before at congressional commission days after Trump spoke by phone with Taiwan's president in defiance of decades of diplomatic convention. That has fueled speculation Trump could adopt a tougher American policy toward China, although he has shown little interest in advocating f
  
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• Company overseeing Prince's estate to change, documents show

  07-12-2016 18:21
  
  CHASKA, Minn. - Court documents show the trust company overseeing Prince's estate wants to resign, but the late rock superstar's siblings disagree on a replacement.Minnesota-based Bremer Trust was named temporary special administrator after Prince died in April. The company told the judge Wednesday it never intended to keep the job beyond Jan. 2.Prince's sister, Tyka Nelson, said in filings late Tuesday she wants New York-based Fiduciary Trust Company International named as new special administr
  
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• Megyn Kelly to Trump aide: Stop stirring up social media

  07-12-2016 18:17
  
  WASHINGTON - Megyn Kelly is calling on President-elect Donald Trump's social media director to stop encouraging hostile elements among some of his supporters.London's The Guardian reports the Fox News anchor said at a speaking event in Washington on Monday that a small group of Trump supporters "really enjoys nastiness and threats." She said Dan Scavino's job during the campaign was "to stir these people up and that man needs to stop doing that."Scavino was highly critical of Kelly after she spa
  
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• Flooded home not considered total loss by FEMA, creating insurance issues

  07-12-2016 17:34
  
  CENTRAL - A homeowner thought he was covered by insurance when his home flooded in August. Now he's learned that's not exactly the case.Like many others, Herb Cornelius bought a home and purchased flood insurance. His home received 50 inches of water during the flood. The house is two feet below base flood but until now it's never flooded.FEMA says parts of the home were left untouched by flood water and remain undamaged. As a result, it will not max out Cornelius' insurance policy and will only
  
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• Sheriff says more drugs on the street following undercover drug bust, shooting

  07-12-2016 17:23
  
  BATON ROUGE – The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office was involved in a shootout with 23-year-old George Pikes after he allegedly sold heroin to undercover officers on Tuesday.The sheriff says the demand for the drug has increased."I also feel like the reduction in sentencing for heroin distributors, those that sell it, I think that kind of opened the door a little bit for them to say I can go back to selling heroin now because I'm not faced with a life sentence or whatever," EBR Sheriff
  
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• Expedition eyes sunken mini sub on Pearl Harbor anniversary

  07-12-2016 17:03
  
  ANCHORAGE - Federal archaeologists and scientists used a remotely operated vehicle Wednesday to document the condition of a mini submarine used in the attack on Pearl Harbor 75 years ago.A Navy destroyer, the Ward, sunk the sub in the first shots fired in World War II by U.S. forces that resulted in casualties, and the first shots fired in the Pacific.The submarine belonging to the Japanese Imperial Navy carried a two-man crew.Cameras from a remote vehicle operated from a National Oceanic and At
  
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• Official: Oakland fire trapped people on second floor

  07-12-2016 16:59
  
  OAKLAND - Investigators say a fire at a warehouse in Oakland that claimed 36 lives progressed rapidly, trapping people on second floor.Special agent in charge of the San Francisco office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Jill Snyder said Wednesday people on the second floor of the warehouse did not know there was a fire on the first floor until it was well developed.She says smoke went up the stairwells to the second floor.The fire broke out at the warehouse dur
  
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• Maritime instructor accused of selling fraudulent training certificates

  07-12-2016 16:40
  
  NAPOLEONVILLE – A former Louisiana maritime instructor was charged for allegedly accepting payments to fraudulently certify students.Maurice George, 45, has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and eight counts of wire fraud.George allegedly planned a scheme to embezzle $334,892 from his employer, Beier Radio, between 2007 and 2013. He took more than 200 payments between $1,200 and $2,000 from students in exchange for fraudulently certifying their log
  
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• City to break ground on 'shopping bypass' boulevard

  07-12-2016 15:21
  
  BATON ROUGE - Construction will start soon on the long-awaited alternate route between I-10, the Mall of Louisiana, Perkins Rowe shopping center and Perkins Road.The city announced it will break ground on the Paulat Boulevard project Thursday morning. Phase 1 will include an alternate access to Perkins Rowe from Perkins Road. Eventually, the street will connect to Mall of Louisiana Boulevard. Linking the two shopping centers will also give drivers access to I-10, allowing people to avoid Bluebon
  
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• 2 juveniles charged in Tennessee wildfires that killed 14

  07-12-2016 14:44
  
  SEVIERVILLE - Authorities have charged two juveniles for starting an East Tennessee wildfire that killed 14 people and destroyed or damaged more than 1,700 buildings.The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, local District Attorney General James Dunn and Great Smoky Mountains National Park announced charges at a news conference Wednesday.Dunn said the juveniles face aggravated arson charges for the fire in the Chimney Tops area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Nov. 23. The fire spread to t
  
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• Taiwan paid Dole's lobbying firm for work that included arranging phone call

  07-12-2016 14:17
  
  WASHINGTON - Last week's phone chat between Donald Trump and the president of Taiwan wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment thing.According to federal filings and published reports, it was the result of six months of behind-the-scenes work by former Sen. Bob Dole, acting on behalf of the Taiwanese government.The filings show that Taiwan paid Dole's lobbying firm $140,000 from May to October for the work Dole was doing -- which included putting language in the GOP platform supporting Taiwan.Dole tells
  
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• Congress OKs biomedical bill, eyes adjournment

  07-12-2016 14:14
  
  WASHINGTON - Congress has sent President Barack Obama a bipartisan bill speeding government drug approvals and bolstering research on cancer and other diseases.It's part of a final burst of legislation for the 114th Congress, which leaders hope to adjourn for the year by week's end.Lawmakers are also working on bills financing federal agencies into April, mapping Pentagon programs and charting water projects.The Senate gave final congressional approval to the biomedical measure Wednesda
  
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• Texas eyes immunizations as more kids file exemptions

  07-12-2016 14:10
  
  AUSTIN - Texas could host the nation's next major fight over stricter requirements for immunizations as its rates of schoolchildren who refuse to get shots for non-medical reasons rises.The number of Texas kindergarten through 12th grade students who reported filing conscientious exemptions for at least one immunization last school year increased 19-fold since 2003. It's still less than 1 percent of enrolled students.Texas and 17 states allow philosophical exemptions to vaccines. California used
  
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• GOP lawmakers criticize boost in health spending

  07-12-2016 14:06
  
  BATON ROUGE - Republican lawmakers on the House budget committee are bristling at the spending increases in the state health department, saying the agency can't keep growing every year.Rep. Rick Edmonds, a Baton Rouge Republican, called the growth in health care spending "astonishing." Rep. Tony Bacala, a Republican from Prairieville, said state spending on the health department exceeds all state sales tax collections.Health Secretary Rebekah Gee pushed back Wednesday against the critic
  
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• Social services leader seeks money for child welfare cases

  07-12-2016 14:04
  
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's social services agency is asking for a sizable jump in next year's budget, largely to deal with child welfare cases that the department leader says are overwhelming workers.Children and Family Services Secretary Marketa Garner Walters told the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday without additional funds, "we are not serving children and families well."The department has taken repeated cuts since 2009, slashing its budget in half.Walters said those cuts have hamp
  
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• LSU's Dave Aranda to get 3-year, $5.5 million contract

  07-12-2016 13:44
  
  BATON ROUGE – LSU Defensive Coordinator Dave Aranda will get a three-year, $5.5 million contract from LSU that also includes him associate head coach.The agreement runs through Mar. 31 2020 and includes a first-year salary of $1.8 million followed by $1.85 million and then $1.9 million. Aranda will have the option to buyout of 40 percent of his remaining guaranteed base and supplemental salary if he accepts a non-head coaching position within 500 miles of Baton Rouge and 15 percent if
  
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• Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank receives $1.4 million grant for restoration

  07-12-2016 13:19
  
  BATON ROUGE – The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank received a $1.4 million grant from FEMA to help in restoring flood-related damages.The grant reimburses expenses to dispose of debris, clean and disinfect property and equipment along with restoring refrigeration and freezing at the Choctaw Drive distribution facility damaged in the August flood. The grant will also provide the food bank with a temporary facility to support the continuation of its operations.The funds were made available
  
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• Trump: Romney still in the running for Secretary of State

  07-12-2016 13:13
  
  NEW YORK - He's not just the president-elect -- he's now Time Magazine's "Person of the Year." And Donald Trump is continuing the process of putting his administration together, telling NBC's "Today" show that he expects to pick a secretary of state next week.He says Mitt Romney is still in the running. Trump has put Romney through a very public audition process -- and he's allowed his aides to take the unusual step of denouncing him in interviews. Trump denied he was stringing Romney along to m
  
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• Feds: Woman made death threats to Sandy Hook victim's parent

  07-12-2016 13:10
  
  MIAMI - Federal authorities say a Florida woman has been charged with making death threats against the parent of a child who died in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.The U.S. Department of Justice announced the charges Wednesday. Its statement said 57-year-old Lucy Richards of Tampa made the threats because she thought the December 2012 shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, were a hoax.The child's parent now lives in South Florida. The department didn't release the parent's identity or ex
  
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• APSO searching for missing 29-year-old man from Prairieville

  07-12-2016 12:28
  
  ASCENSION – The Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office is searching for a missing 29-year-old man.Darryl Lee Dean Jr. was reported missing from his Prarieville home on Tuesday, Dec. 6. Dean, Jr. is 5'10'', 150 pounds and was last seen wearing blue jean shorts and a blue shirt.According to the sheriff's office, no foul play is suspected at the time of this post.Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Darryl Lee Dean, Jr. is encouraged to contact the Ascension Parish Sheriff's
  
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• Work finishing up at temporary flood debris site

  07-12-2016 11:55
  
  BATON ROUGE- A temporary flood debris site is getting ready to close it's doors, but state leaders still have some questions about its lasting impact on the area.
  The temporary site on North Sherwood Forest near Choctaw was opened earlier this year to help accelerate the flood cleanup, much to the dismay of nearby homeowners who worried it would have a negative effect on the area.
  Now, just about three months later, residents say they're happy the dump is finally shutting down, but they're pleas
  
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• Jury picked in Dylann Roof-church slayings trial

  07-12-2016 11:35
  
  CHARLESTON - The 12 jurors who will hear the death penalty trial of Dylann Roof have been picked and will decide whether the white man killed nine black people in racially motivated attack at a Charleston church.Jury selection took about 20 minutes Wednesday. According to a reporter who observed the process, it appears that the panel is racially mixed. Police say Roof shot nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June 2015. Authorities say the 22-year-old man wanted
  
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• 'Mannequin challenge' video leads to arrests in Alabama

  07-12-2016 11:31
  
  HUNTSVILLE - A "mannequin challenge" video of people staging a shootout has led to the arrests of two men in Alabama and the seizure of several guns and marijuana.Madison County Sheriff's Office Capt. Mike Salomonsky tells local news outlets the video led investigators to serve a search warrant Tuesday morning at a Huntsville home.The search turned up two handguns, a shotgun, a rifle and marijuana that appeared to be packaged for sale.Officers arrested 23-year-old Terry Martez Brown and charged
  
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• House GOP eyes food stamp overhaul

  07-12-2016 11:24
  
  WASHINGTON - House Republicans are laying the groundwork for a fresh effort to overhaul the nation's food stamp program during Donald Trump's presidency, with the possibility of new work and eligibility requirements for millions of Americans.The GOP majority of the House Agriculture Committee is releasing its two-year review on Wednesday. It stops short of making specific policy recommendations, but it does hint at areas that congressional Republicans could focus on with their GOP monopoly under
  
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• Survivor recalls fear, anger on day of Pearl Harbor attack

  07-12-2016 11:23
  
  PEARL HARBOR - Surprise, fear, anger and pride.That's what Pearl Harbor survivor Jim Downing recalls about the attack that plunged the U.S. into World War II.Downing plans to return to Pearl Harbor Wednesday with other survivors to mark the 75th anniversary of the attack that left more than 2,300 service people dead.Thousands of servicemen and women and members of the public are also expected to attend the ceremony.Downing, a 103-year-old resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado, served on the USS
  
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• LSU halfway through allotted 9,500 tickets to Citrus Bowl

  07-12-2016 09:29
  
  BATON ROUGE - University officials say LSU has sold 4,200 of its allotted 9,500 tickets to the Citrus Bowl against Louisville.The 20th-ranked Tigers and the 15th-ranked Cardinals meet on Dec. 31.The Advocate reports the flashy matchup between LSU's stiff defense and Louisville's potential Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Lamar Jackson has helped make the game one of the most attractive of any bowl this season.The game kicks off at 10 a.m. in Orlando, Florida.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Shreveport kid wins $30K for school in cooking contest

  07-12-2016 09:23
  
  SHREVEPORT- A Shreveport seventh-grader has won $15,000 for himself and $30,000 for his school after being named one of five national winners in the 2016 Ben's Beginner Cooking Contest.Media outlets report that Caddo Middle Magnet School student Samuel Davis submitted a meatball recipe and snapshot with his family to the contest earlier this year.On Monday, Uncle Bens - a company known for its rice products - was scheduled to host an assembly at Caddo Middle Magnet to demonstrate healthy eating
  
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• 'I hear shots fired. I see Will's body jolt'

  07-12-2016 09:12
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A witness to the April killing of former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith says she saw Cardell Hayes repeatedly shoot her friend and then look down without remorse at Smith's lifeless body.Rebecca Dooley says she saw Smith's body "jolt" when Hayes shot him following a heated argument over a traffic dispute.Dooley said she and her husband were riding with Smith and his wife when Hayes' Hummer slammed into Smith's SUV. She said they all got out as their argument became h
  
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• Emotions raw on witness stand at Will Smith death trial

  07-12-2016 09:12
  
  NEW ORLEANS - The first witnesses called in the trial of the man who fatally shot retired football star Will Smith included a longtime teammate who choked up as he described their friendship and Smith's widow, who was wounded in the April 9 shooting.Deuce McAllister, a fan favorite during nine seasons as a star running back for the New Orleans Saints, became emotional Tuesday as he testified.Later came Racquel Smith - struck in the legs by gunfire the night her husband was shot by 29-year-old Ca
  
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• School employees get bonus for their hard work after flood

  07-12-2016 09:01
  
  DONALDSONVILLE - The Ascension Parish School Board has agreed to pay all the employees of the district about $500 this month, in addition to their regular pay, to recognize the challenges they've overcome since the flood this summer.The Advocate reports Troy Gautreau, chairman of the School Board's budget committee, which met before the regular school board meeting Tuesday, said many district employees were dealing with flooded homes themselves, "and didn't miss a beat."The amount of the one-tim
  
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• Will the recount continue in MI?

  07-12-2016 07:11
  
  PHILADELPHIA - A federal judge in Detroit has called a hearing for this morning to consider whether Michigan's presidential recount should continue.A federal judge allowed the recount to begin Monday, but his decision dealt with the timing, not the merits of the count.On Tuesday, a Michigan appeals court ordered the state's election board to reject Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein's petition for the recount, finding that she had no chance of emerging as the winner in the state.Perma
  
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• Pearl Harbor 75th

  07-12-2016 07:09
  
  TOKYO - Seventy-five years ago a Japanese admiral led the attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor.Today, the mayor of his hometown is joining his Honolulu counterpart to mark the Pearl Harbor anniversary - as friends.The mayor of Nagaoka, Japan, will lay flowers at the main memorial event and join a smaller ceremony a day later co-organized by Japan and the U.S. for the first time.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Obama statement on Pearl Harbor anniversary

  07-12-2016 07:09
  
  PEARL HARBOR - President Barack Obama in Washington issued a statement Wednesday on the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.Obama says he and first lady Michelle Obama join Americans in "remembering those who gave their lives" on Dec. 7, 1941.More than 2,300 service people died that day.Obama said "we can never repay the profound debt of gratitude we owe to those who served on our behalf."Thousands, including servicemen and women and members of the public, are expected to attend a cer
  
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• Syrian rebels in Aleppo propose 5-day ceasefire

  07-12-2016 06:59
  
  BEIRUT - Syrian rebel factions are proposing a five-day cease-fire to evacuate the seriously wounded out of Aleppo and to bring in aid.The rebels' proposal comes as Syrian government and allied forces have gained control of three-quarters of the enclave that the rebels had controlled since 2012.The proposal calls for the immediate evacuation of 500 seriously wounded Aleppo residents and for allowing civilians wishing to leave to head to northern rural Aleppo province, where there is almost no go
  
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• Trump is Time magazine's Person of the Year

  07-12-2016 06:58
  
  WASHINGTON - Donald Trump is Time magazine's Person of the Year.The president-elect's selection was announced Wednesday morning on NBC's "Today" show.The Manhattan real estate magnate went from fiery underdog to win the White House over Democrat Hillary Clinton.Trump won the Electoral College vote, while Clinton won the popular vote.Time's managing editor Nancy Gibbs said Clinton was the No. 2 finalist.Donald Trump is TIME's Person of the Year 2016 #TIMEPOY https://t.co/5pTGOksevE pic.twitter.co
  
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• Deadly quake in Indonesia

  07-12-2016 06:56
  
  MEUREUDU, Indonesia - A strong earthquake has rocked Indonesia's Aceh (ah-cheh) province. The quake killed nearly 100 people and sparked a frantic rescue effort in the rubble of dozens of collapsed and damaged buildings. The chief of the army in Aceh province says at least 97 died, while four people were pulled from the rubble alive.The Indonesian Red Cross says it's mobilizing aid for earthquake survivors from Aceh's provincial capital, Banda Aceh, and the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, with an i
  
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• Hundreds protest white nationalist's speech at Texas A&M

  07-12-2016 06:52
  
  COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Hundreds of people protested a white nationalist's speaking engagement at the Texas A&M University campus.Several groups protested outside of the student center Tuesday night during and before the appearance by Richard Spencer, who leads a white nationalist organization. Some silently held placards while others loudly chanted slogans. A&M police say two non-students were arrested but gave no details.Hundreds gathered at nearby Kyle Field to hear music and speeche
  
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• Donald Trump's victory tour coming to Baton Rouge, TV station says

  07-12-2016 02:10
  
  Visit planned Friday, day before U.S. Senate runoff between John Kennedy, Foster Campbell
  
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