Baton Rouge news

• MLB rookie hazing rules ban dressing as women

  12-12-2016 21:30
  
  NEW YORK - That baseball hazing ritual of dressing up rookies as Wonder Woman, Hooters Girls and Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders is now banned.Major League Baseball created an Anti-Hazing and Anti-Bullying Policy that covers the practice. As part of the sport's new labor deal, set to be ratified by both sides Tuesday, the players' union agreed not to contest it.The policy, obtained by The Associated Press, prohibits "requiring, coercing or encouraging" players from "dressing up as women or wearing c
  
  Read more

• Romney honored to have been considered for State

  12-12-2016 21:26
  
  WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney appears to be out of the running for secretary of state, writing on Facebook that it "was an honor to have been considered" for the job in Donald Trump's Cabinet.Romney writes: "My discussions with President-elect Trump have been both enjoyable and enlightening. I have very high hopes that the new administration will lead the nation to greater strength, prosperity and peace."Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential candidate, was a vocal critic of Trump during the electi
  
  Read more

• MH370 search ship leaves Australia for perhaps final time

  12-12-2016 21:05
  
  PERTH, Australia - A lone survey vessel has left an Australian port for perhaps the final time to search for the Malaysian airliner that mysteriously crashed into the southern Indian Ocean two years ago.Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester's office said Tuesday thatthe Dutch survey ship Fugro Equator left Fremantle on Monday night to continue the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 alone.His office says whether the voyage is the ship's final monthlong deployment from Frem
  
  Read more

• BR ranked 8th most "sinful" city in the country

  12-12-2016 20:33
  
  BATON ROGUE - Watch out Las Vegas, the city of Baton Rouge has been ranked the 8th most "sinful" city in the U.S., according to WalletHub.com.The website reportedly compared the 150 most populated cities in the U.S. across 27 "key indicators" of "evil deeds."The data set used ranges from "violent crimes per capita" to "excessive drinking" to "potential cheaters," according to the website.Other Louisiana cities with spots on the list include New Orleans ranked 10th and Shreveport ranked 20th.Sour
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Trump to tap Exxon CEO to lead State Dept.

  12-12-2016 19:30
  
  WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump has selected Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson to lead the State Department.That's according to two people close to Trump's transition team.The decision caps a lengthy process that often played out In public and exposed rifts within Trump's transition team. But Tillerson's close ties to Russia could still complicate his Senate confirmation hearings.Trump was set to formally announce Tillerson's nomination Tuesday morning. The people close to Trump's transiti
  
  Read more

• Trump to name secretary of state pick Tuesday

  12-12-2016 19:30
  
  WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump says he'll announce his pick for secretary of state Tuesday morning.Trump revealed his plans Monday night on Twitter. His search for the country's top diplomat has stretched out in a highly public fashion for weeks.Trump has been considering former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, once a vocal Trump critic; Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, who leads the Foreign Relations Committee; and Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who met twice with Trump during the past w
  
  Read more

• Concrete pumped into sinkhole on eroded California cliff

  12-12-2016 19:27
  
  PACIFICA, Calif. - Workers pumped sand and concrete into a sinkhole that opened up over the weekend on the coast south of San Francisco, plugging most of it ahead of a storm expected this week.Monday's work came after the sinkhole emerged Saturday on a cliff in Pacifica. It closed access to a popular beach and caused concerns about recurring erosion due to heavy rains and high waves.KNTV reports that large waves, known as king tides, may have caused it. Weather forecasters say the king tides are
  
  Read more

• Ohio man who set girlfriend on fire convicted; gets 11 years

  12-12-2016 19:24
  
  COLUMBUS, Ohio - A man accused of throwing gasoline on his girlfriend and setting her on fire behind an Ohio gas station has been convicted of aggravated arson and other charges after pleading no contest and has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.A statement from Franklin County's prosecutor says Michael Slager entered the plea Monday in Columbus. A judge then found the 41-year-old Gahanna man guilty of aggravated arson, felonious assault and possession of criminal tools.Slager didn't speak in
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• CSX train hits, kills Florida child, 2; injures baby sitter

  12-12-2016 19:22
  
  ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. - Authorities say a CSX train struck a 2-year-old boy and his baby sitter who were walking on the tracks northeast of Tampa, Florida, killing the child.Pasco County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that Hunter Fink was walking with his 4-year-old sister, their baby sitter and a man identified as Cody Williams along raised train tracks on Monday when they realized a train was coming.The news release said Williams grabbed the sister and jumped off the tracks about 8 feet b
  
  Read more

• Family finds joy in Christmas light display following August flood

  12-12-2016 17:41
  
  CENTRAL – One home on Sullivan Road in Central lights up the entire street with synchronized lights on decorations and snowmen for each of the members of the Hohensee family.The extraordinary light show started eight years ago after the family was watching television."Then we saw a commercial one year and it allowed us to animate the lights so we started. Into that we looked into do-it-yourself controllers and before you know it we were doing 600 channels of controlled lights," James H
  
  Read more

• Prosecutors wants shooter of Will Smith to serve 60 years

  12-12-2016 17:17
  
  NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans district attorney says he'll seek a 60-year sentence for the man who shot ex-Saints star Will Smith - the maximum 40 years for manslaughter in Smith's death, with 20 years added for attempted manslaughter in the wounding of Smith's wife.Cardell Hayes is set for sentencing on Feb. 17. Jurors found him guilty Sunday night of the lesser manslaughter charges, deciding against murder in the shootings that followed a traffic collision last April.District Attorney Leon Can
  
  Read more

• Central family to compete on 'The Great Christmas Light Fight'

  12-12-2016 16:53
  
  CENTRAL – For four seasons, The Great Christmas Light Fight has highlighted families across the country for their Christmas light displays, but tonight it is the Hohensee family from Central in the spotlight.The Hohensee family will compete against families from New York, Connecticut and Florida for the $50,000 prize.James Hohensee said that the massive do-it-yourself project does not stop at the decorations."I hand built these machines which is computer controlled and it cuts the patt
  
  Read more

• State to receive $26 million from FEMA mitigation grant program

  12-12-2016 16:08
  
  BATON ROUGE – Governor John Bel Edwards announced that Louisiana will receive $26 million in Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding from FEMA for the March floods.Through the program, funds may be used for projects that support both state and parish hazard mitigation plans to reduce losses from future disasters. Of the $26.1 million awarded, $3 million will be reserved for state projects. The remaining $23 million will be allocated to all interested parishes that received declarations
  
  Read more

• Congressman criticizes Louisiana's flood spending plan

  12-12-2016 15:41
  
  BATON ROUGE - U.S. Rep. Garret Graves says he expects Louisiana to need additional congressional aid to recover from the August flood, and he's displeased with the plan to spend the money received so far.Graves raised objections Monday to plans developed by Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration to spend $400 million on home repairs in low- to moderate-income households.The Republican congressman says Louisiana shouldn't discriminate on income and should have sought a waiver of federal rules requ
  
  Read more

• Funeral held for Joe McKnight after road rage shooting

  12-12-2016 14:59
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Six former New York Jets teammates were pallbearers at the funeral for football player Joe McKnight, who was shot and killed Dec. 1 during a road-rage incident in suburban New Orleans.The Advocate reported that Monday's service in New Orleans was officiated by Bishop William McPherson, who told the congregation at New Home Ministries that he had baptized McKnight.McKnight played for the Jets from 2010 to 2013. His pallbearers were former teammates Sione Po'uha, Antonio Cromartie, B
  
  Read more

• LeBron James producing Muhammad Ali documentary for HBO

  12-12-2016 13:47
  
  LOS ANGELES - King James is set to tell the story of The Greatest.HBO says Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James will be the executive producer of a documentary on boxing champion Muhammad Ali for the network. The film will be directed by Antoine Fuqua, who also helmed the boxing drama, "Southpaw," and "Training Day." Fuqua will also produce.James says in a statement announcing the still-untitled project that Ali "transcended sports and used his platform to empower people, which paved the way fo
  
  Read more

• Baton Rouge police officer cleared in Earth Day altercation

  12-12-2016 13:41
  
  BATON ROUGE - Baton Rouge police haven't found sufficient evidence to support an excessive force complaint against an officer who punched a teenage boy arrested at an Earth Day celebration.The Advocate reports that Sgt. Todd Bourgoyne was placed on leave but returned to active duty after an internal affairs complaint against him wasn't sustained by Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr.Cellphone video of the April 17 altercation showed Bourgoyne striking the 16-year-old boy several times as other officer
  
  Read more

• Terminally ill 5-year-old boy dies in Santa's arms

  12-12-2016 12:15
  
  KNOXVILLE - A Tennessee Santa Claus says a terminally ill 5-year-old boy died in his arms after he gave the boy a present in the hospital.The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports Eric Schmitt-Matzen, who does about 80 events a year as Santa, was asked a few weeks ago to visit the dying boy.Schmitt-Matzen says after giving the boy a toy, the boy asked how he would be able to tell when he got to where he was going after he died. Schmitt-Matzen told him to tell them he was "Santa's Number One e
  
  Read more

• Audit: Inadequate oversight of work program for prisoners

  12-12-2016 12:04
  
  BATON ROUGE - A new audit says Louisiana's state prisons agency does an inadequate job ensuring that inmates given loosened restrictions and offsite job assignments are eligible.The legislative auditor's office review of the Department of Corrections' "trusty programs," released Monday, says none of Louisiana's prisons fully complied with the programs' requirements.Auditors found some inmates given trusty status weren't eligible for it. That includes some prisoners working in state buildings, li
  
  Read more

• Trump says he'll leave businesses before Jan. 20

  12-12-2016 11:56
  
  WASHINGTON - Donald Trump says he is leaving his businesses before Jan. 20 so he can "focus full time" on being president.He says on Twitter that his sons Don and Eric, along with other executives, will manage the companies, and adds, "No new deals will be done during my term(s) in office."Trump had been scheduled to hold a news conference this week on the future of his business empire, but it was postponed until next month. Sean Spicer, a Trump transition team spokesman, said the legal team nee
  
  Read more

• Flight diverted to New York's JFK airport due to bomb threat

  12-12-2016 11:43
  
  NEW YORK - Authorities say a Lufthansa flight has been diverted to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport due to a bomb threat.Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman says Lufthansa Flight 441 was heading from Houston, Texas, to Frankfurt, Germany, Monday night when a threat was called in to the airline's corporate headquarters in Cologne (kuh-LOHN'), Germany.Coleman says the pilot was notified and chose to divert to JFK as a precaution. The plane was taken to a remote area of the airpo
  
  Read more

• Police: 2 Georgia officers shot during traffic stop

  12-12-2016 11:31
  
  LAVONIA, S.C. - Police say two Georgia officers have been shot while trying to arrest a suspect in a stolen car.Multiple media outlets report that Lavonia police Chief Bruce Carlisle says the shooting started as a traffic stop. Carlisle says that when the two officers noticed the vehicle had been reported stolen from Greenville, South Carolina, they attempted to arrest the driver. The driver then shot both officers and fled on foot.He says the officers were taken to a Greenville hospital with in
  
  Read more

• Coast Guard suspends search for motorcyclist who fell off Causeway Bridge

  12-12-2016 11:21
  
  NEW ORLEANS – The Coast Guard has suspended the search for a man who fell into Lake Ponchartrain from the Causeway Bridge following a motorcycle accident.The search was suspended on Sunday around 8 p.m. for the 35-year-old man. The Coast Guard and local agencies searched for 125 nautical miles in Lake Pontchartrain.The Coast Guard received a report on Saturday around 11 p.m. that the man fell after an accident on the Causeway Bridge.The Coast Guard used two response boats and
  
  Read more

• Broome to announce inauguration date, next steps as Mayor-President elect

  12-12-2016 09:41
  
  BATON ROUGE – Mayor-President elect Sharon Weston Broome will hold her first press conference on Monday since being elected.The press conference will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday in the East Baton Rouge Metro Council Chambers.Broome will announce her transition co-chairs, the inauguration date and her next steps as Mayor-President elect.Broome defeated her opponent, Bodi White, by about 2,000 votes. Broome succeeds Kip Holden.WBRZ will livestream the press conference on Facebook at 2 p.
  
  Read more

• 6 months later, 49 killed at Pulse are remembered in Orlando

  12-12-2016 09:22
  
  ORLANDO - Family members, friends and survivors of the Orlando nightclub massacre stood outside Pulse where candles were lit behind stars with the names of each of the 49 patrons who were killed.They hugged each other outside the shuttered gay club in the early morning hours Monday to mark the six-month anniversary of the massacre.Many wore black and others wore rainbow-colored "Orlando United" T-shirts and ball caps.At 2:02 a.m., the exact time gunman Omar Mateen started shooting inside the clu
  
  Read more

• 3 Baton Rouge residents jailed for helping fugitive

  12-12-2016 09:16
  
  BATON ROUGE - Three Baton Rouge residents who allegedly helped a fugitive avoid police have been arrested.Baton Rouge police say 80-year-old Emma Davis Ellison, 53-year-old Helen Andrea Spencer and 63-year-old John H. Burris allowed 32-year-old Joshua Spencer to use their phones to look for other places to stay and gave him money to help elude capture. Each was arrested Thursday on a count of accessory after the fact to attempted first-degree murder. Bond was set at $20,000.It was unknown if any
  
  Read more

• High school student arrested for threats

  12-12-2016 09:09
  
  BENTON - A 14-year-old boy has been arrested, accused of terrorizing after he allegedly wrote statements that implied violence against other students at his school.Bossier Parish Sheriff Julian Whittington says the Parkway High School student initially gave another student a letter with threatening comments against other students. That student notified a teacher who notified authorities.Whittington, in a news release, said the student was removed from class Friday and his backpack was searched f
  
  Read more

• Kennedy: 'Lot of work left' as treasurer before Senate term

  12-12-2016 09:03
  
  BATON ROUGE - Fresh off a landslide win, U.S. Sen.-elect John Kennedy says he'll head to Washington this week for orientation. But he doesn't plan to immediately relinquish his job as state treasurer.The Republican winner of this weekend's runoff election said Sunday that he's "got a lot of work left to do" in his final weeks as treasurer and wants to help craft ideas for stabilizing Louisiana's state budget during his remaining tenure.Even after he's one of Louisiana's two U.S. senators, Kenned
  
  Read more

• Defense wants Charleston church survivor's testimony struck

  12-12-2016 08:57
  
  CHARLESTON, S.C. - Attorneys for the man charged with killing nine people during a Bible study in a Charleston church are again arguing prosecutors' first witness tainted the case against their client.The defense team for Dylann Roof argues in court papers filed Monday comments made by one of the survivors of the Emanuel AME Church shooting could influence other witnesses who were in the courtroom at the time.Felicia Sanders testified last week Roof belonged in "the pit of hell." Defense attorne
  
  Read more

• Accused shooter had list of black churches

  12-12-2016 08:57
  
  CHARLESTON, S.C. - A prosecution witness has testified that a list of black churches was found in the car of the man charged with killing nine people at a South Carolina church when he was arrested last year.Former State Law Enforcement Division agent Brittany Burke testified Monday the names of a handful of other churches and their addresses were found on a handwritten list in a backpack in Dylann Roof's car.Burke is one of the agents who processed evidence found in Roof's car when he was arres
  
  Read more

• Annual Golden Globe nominations announced

  12-12-2016 08:15
  
  BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -Damien Chazelle's Los Angeles musical "La La Land" sang and danced its way to a leading seven Golden Globes nominations, with Barry Jenkins' celebrated coming-of-age tale "Moonlight" close on its heels with six nods."La La Land" earned nominations for its lead actors, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, as well best picture, comedy or musical. Chazelle is also among those up for best director in the nominations announced Monday by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association."Moonligh
  
  Read more

• Egypt says chuch attack was a suicide bombing

  12-12-2016 08:05
  
  Egypt's president says a suicide bomber caused the explosion that killed 24 Christians during Sunday Mass at a Cairo chapel.President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Monday identified the bomber as 22-year-old Mahmoud Shafiq Mohammed Mustafa.He says three men and a woman have been arrested in connection with the attack at a chapel adjacent to Cairo's St Mark's Cathedral, the seat of the Coptic Orthodox Church.The president spoke after Health Ministry officials revised down the number of victims to 24,
  
  Read more

• Trump dismisses hack report

  12-12-2016 07:13
  
  NEW YORK - President-elect Donald Trump has branded as "ridiculous," a CIA assessment that Russia interfered in the November election and could be the basis of an early test with fellow Republicans. A few lawmakers seek to investigate the assessment, as well as issue warnings over the incoming president's potential pick for secretary of state, an Exxon executive with ties to Moscow.Permalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• Snow, freezing rain make for messy morning commute

  12-12-2016 07:07
  
  CHICAGO - Winter weather has descended on parts of the Great Lakes and the Northeast. Forecasters say snow, freezing rain and rain are expected and winter storm warnings have been issued.As of last night, the storm had dumped more than a half-foot on several states in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions, causing dangerous travel conditions.Up to 10 inches of snow is expected to fall in parts of Michigan.In Detroit, a Delta plane with 70 people on board ended up in snow grass after trying to turn
  
  Read more

• Police raids across Turkey after deadly bombing attack

  12-12-2016 07:03
  
  ISTANBUL - Turkey's police rounded up more than 200 members of a Kurdish political party on Monday as the country mourned the dozens killed in a bombing attack near an Istanbul soccer stadium, state media reported.The state-run Anadolu Agency there were 235 arrests in 11 cities on terrorism-related charges and for spreading terrorist propaganda on social media.The report did not specify the name of the organization targeted or whether the individuals rounded up were suspected of involvement in a
  
  Read more

• Russia blames IS recapture of Palmyra on US

  12-12-2016 07:01
  
  BEIRUT - A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin says the unwillingness of the United States to work with Moscow in Syria has contributed to the loss of the ancient city of Palmyra to the Islamic State group.Syrian troops aided by Russian airstrikes drove IS from Palmyra in March, but the militants stormed back into the city over the weekend.Meanwhile, Syria's military says it has gained control of 98 percent of eastern Aleppo.Permalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• New Zealand swears in prime minister

  12-12-2016 06:58
  
  WELLINGTON, New Zealand - New Zealand has sworn in its 39th prime minister following the shocking resignation of John Key.Bill English, a former finance minister and farmer, was sworn in Monday.English was chosen as the new leader by the conservative National Party caucus after two other candidates for the job withdrew last week.Permalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• Suspect dies, 2 officers wounded in shooting

  12-12-2016 06:56
  
  BYRON, Ga. - Authorities have identified the man who they say shot two Georgia police officers before he was killed by officers returning fire.Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent J.T. Ricketson says 31-year-old Rainer Tyler Smith died in the exchange of gunfire early Monday.Ricketson says Smith fired on Byron police officers James Wynn and William Patterson as they entered his house through the back door about 2:30 a.m.Ricketson says officers returned fire, striking and killing Smith.
  
  Read more

• 2 Georgia police officers shot while serving a warrant

  12-12-2016 06:56
  
  BYRON, Ga. - There's no word on the conditions of two police officers in central Georgia who were shot early this morning while serving a search warrant.The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says a drug task force went to a home in Crawford County, and two officers entered the home after no one answered.Authorities say that's when someone inside started shooting at them, and the officers were able to return fire.There's also no word on the condition of the shooter.Permalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• China says Trump's Taiwan comments cause 'serious concern'

  12-12-2016 06:54
  
  BEIJING - China says it has "serious concern" about President-elect Donald Trump's latest comments suggesting he's reconsidering America's relationship with Taiwan.A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry says Trump's comments in a TV interview over the weekend raise the possibility that U.S.-China relations would be "badly affected."The foreign ministry says the "one China" policy is the "political foundation" of any Sino-American ties.Permalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• Scores killed as crowded church collapeses in Nigeria

  12-12-2016 06:52
  
  LAGOS, Nigeria - Witnesses and an official say the roof of a church has collapsed onto worshippers in southern Nigeria, killing at least 160 people.Congregants say the Reigners Bible Church in Uyo city was still under construction when it was used for a ceremony to ordain a bishop Saturday.They say hundreds of people were inside when metal girders crashed and the corrugated iron roof caved in.Officials say the death toll could mount as a crane removes debris.The state government says it will inv
  
  Read more

• Thousands evacuated as cyclone nears southern India

  12-12-2016 06:49
  
  NEW DELHI - Authorities in southern India have evacuated thousands of people from low-lying areas after weather experts issued a cyclone warning.Schools and offices were closed and state authorities were on alert Monday in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh states as Cyclone Vardah neared India's southeastern coast.Police and disaster management teams evacuated more than 15,000 people from low-lying areas, moving them to safer places as heavy rains and strong winds lashed the region.The meteorologica
  
  Read more

Follow @BatonRougeNews_ on Twitter!