Baton Rouge news

• More cable barriers to be added along I-10 West

  19-12-2016 18:01
  
  Work to install more cable barriers along I-10 West will start on Monday night in an effort to make the interstate safer.The first work will be between the start of the Basin Bridge and Grosse Tete. There are already more than a hundred miles of cable barriers on interstates in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. State Police said that the barriers have helped stop head-on crashes.The project costs around $3 million, however the state says that it is priceless since lives are saved."All of a sudden, yo
  
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• EBRSO gives children Christmas shopping spree

  19-12-2016 17:04
  
  BATON ROUGE – The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office teamed up with Target to make sure that children have gifts for the holiday.Through a Target grant, 20 children received a $250 gift card to go Christmas shopping.Many, like Trenesse Thompson, were not sure how she was going to manage the holidays, since she is a single mother and was impacted by the August flood."I didn't know how I was going to get all of their Christmas stuff," Thompson said.However, her six-year-old son, was picke
  
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• Stuck in the mud, FEMA trailer sinking

  19-12-2016 17:00
  
  DENHAM SPRINGS - A woman trying to rebuild after the flood says FEMA has her stuck. Her manufactured housing unit is sinking into her front yard and now she's got a mess with few answers.Kerry Efferson says the whole process of getting a MHU on her Denham Springs property has been frustrating. Her property was inspected and flagged in October, paving the way for hope. For weeks, Efferson called to check on the MHU and the delivery date but no one ever came. Last Monday, she says FEMA told her th
  
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• Trump wins Electoral College vote, presidency

  19-12-2016 16:47
  
  WASHINGTON - Donald Trump has cruised to victory in the Electoral College despite thousands of anti-Trump protesters who converged on state capitols across the country.Monday's vote ensures that the billionaire will become America's 45th president.Texas put the Republican president-elect over the 270-vote threshold. Electors had been deluged with emails, phone calls and letters urging them not to support Trump. Two Texas electors cast protest votes against Trump, but in the end he had more than
  
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• Mom who left son in snowstorm apparently under influence

  19-12-2016 16:33
  
  THORNTON - A Colorado woman accused of leaving her son alone in a car overnight during a snowstorm appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol around the time she apparently abandoned the boy.Court documents say that surveillance video captured 26-year-old Nicole Carmon walking into a gas station Friday night in suburban Denver looking disheveled and appearing distressed. Investigators say she seemed to say something about "Target" and pointed to a nearby Target store before walking o
  
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• Man arrested for stabbing girlfriend with screwdriver following an argument

  19-12-2016 15:37
  
  THIBODAUX – A man was arrested after he stabbed his girlfriend with a screwdriver following an argument.The Thibodaux Police Department arrested 27-year-old Kerry Howard for aggravated second degree battery and domestic abuse battery.On Saturday, Dec. 17, Howard and the victim, who were in a relationship, began arguing because Howard was upset that she had a friend over at their home. Following the argument, the woman and Howard agreed it was time for Howard to move out.The next day ar
  
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• $2 million to go toward improving passenger rail in 3 states

  19-12-2016 15:01
  
  BATON ROUGE - More than $2 million in federal funds will go to 11 communities in three southern states to restore and improve passenger rail service.The Southern Rail Commission on Monday announced the Federal Railroad Administration funding for the communities in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.The communities will get money for station-area planning and construction projects to improve safety, access and convenience.Four Alabama cities are among those chosen: Anniston, Birmingham, Mobile an
  
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• Teen arrested for accidentally shooting friend; lying about drive-by shooting

  19-12-2016 13:59
  
  BATON ROUGE – A 19-year-old was arrested for lying to the police about a drive-by shooting after he accidentally shot his friend.The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office arrested 19-year-old Javonte Miles for illegal use of a weapon and negligent injuring.On Saturday, Dec. 17 around 1:40 a.m. the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office was contacted by BRPD in reference to a shooting victim at the hospital. Officers stated that the victim was dropped off at the hospital by two friends after bei
  
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• Judge cleared of misconduct for sentence in Stanford case

  19-12-2016 13:26
  
  SAN FRANCISCO - A California agency that oversees judicial discipline in the state says a judge committed no misconduct when he sentenced former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner to six months in jail for sexually assaulting a young woman on campus.The California Commission on Judicial Performance ruled Monday that there was no evidence that Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky displayed bias in handing down a sentence decried as too lenient by critics across the country.The commission s
  
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• Settlements in cases over Katrina police shootings

  19-12-2016 13:15
  
  NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans' mayor says he will announce the settlement of civil rights lawsuits over deadly police shootings after Hurricane Katrina.A news release Monday says Mayor Mitch Landrieu would make the announcement later in the day. A spokeswoman for the mayor's office says the settlements resolve lawsuits over the deaths of three people who were killed in two separate police shootings after the 2005 hurricane and a fourth person who was fatally beaten by an officer shortly before the s
  
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• $13.3M settlement in Katrina police shootings

  19-12-2016 13:15
  
  NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans' mayor has announced $13.3 million in settlements of lawsuits over deadly police shootings after Hurricane Katrina and a fatal beating just before the 2005 storm.At a Monday afternoon news conference, Mayor Mitch Landrieu also apologized to the victims' families and said he hopes their forgiveness will help the city find peace in the future.Landrieu said the settlements are with 17 plaintiffs.A spokeswoman for the mayor's office says the settlements resolve lawsuits ove
  
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• College financial aid officer stole $22K from students

  19-12-2016 12:55
  
  ALEXANDRIA - Federal prosecutors say a 43-year-old Alexandria woman has been sentenced to a year in prison for stealing more than $22,000 from students at a private college. U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley says Makquel Gailes also must pay $22,700 restitution.Finley says Gailes was a financial aid officer at Unitech Training Academy's Alexandria campus. The school's website lists programs in daycare management and medically related fields.Finley says that when a student's federal financial aid wa
  
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• Pentagon says China has returned unmanned underwater drone

  19-12-2016 12:25
  
  WASHINGTON- The Pentagon says China has returned the unmanned underwater drone the Chinese Navy seized last week.
      
  In a statement issued late Monday, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook says the Chinese Navy vessel that had seized the drone returned it near the location where it had been taken. The incident occurred in the South China Sea near the Philippines.
      
  Cook says the U.S. will continue to investigate the incident. Earlier Mond
  
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• Official: Russia ambassador to Turkey has died after attack by gunman

  19-12-2016 12:22
  
  ANKARA, Turkey - A Russian official says that the country's ambassador to Turkey has died after being shot by a gunman in Ankara.Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the announcement in a live televised statement.Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov was several minutes into a speech at the embassy-sponsored exhibition in the capital, Ankara, when a man wearing a suit and tie shouted "Allahu akbar" and fired at least eight shots, according to an AP photographer in the audience.Permalink|
  
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• Deputy's children get Christmas shopping spree

  19-12-2016 12:10
  
  BAKER- East Baton Rouge Parish Deputy John DePedro and his wife Dawn were planning a small Christmas for their two young children this year. They were hit hard in the flood and don't have a lot of money for presents."We're living in a FEMA trailer and have a 1-foot Christmas tree," he said. "We were just going to spend Christmas as a family and try to rebuild."The DePedro's are like hundreds of first responder families in the Capital region. When the flood hit, they put their personal d
  
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• Man arrested for punching woman, son intervenes

  19-12-2016 12:00
  
  BATON ROUGE – A man was arrested following a domestic abuse incident with a woman and her son over the weekend.The Baton Rouge Police Department arrested 31-year-old Burnell Johnson for domestic abuse battery and cruelty to a juvenile.The incident occurred at a home on Saturday, Dec. 18, when Johnson pushed the woman at the home, causing her to fall on the couch. While on the couch, Johnson got on top of the woman as the two were struggling to reach for the woman's cell phone.The woman
  
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• Five West Feliciana inmates get baptized at detention center

  19-12-2016 11:02
  
  WEST FELICIANA – Five inmates of the West Feliciana Parish Detention Center were baptized last week.Detention Center Chaplain Pastor Dennis Lawrence, who has been preaching at the detention center every week for the past six years, performed the baptisms.Inmates, Jeremiah Elliot, Haneif Smith, William Roach, Jr. Lamarco Webb and Decar Lofton were baptized. The men came forward about their desire to be baptized following a sermon.Detention Center Warden Darrel Roan said that ma
  
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• Illegal immigrant, wanted for murder in El Salvador, arrested in St. Tammany

  19-12-2016 09:44
  
  ST. TAMMANY – An illegal immigrant, who had an outstanding international warrant for murder, was arrested following a traffic stop in St. Tammany Parish.St. Tammany Sheriff's Parish Office arrested 36-year-old Juan Sanchez-Roldan from El Salvador.On Friday, Dec. 9, a St. Tammany Parish sheriff's deputy conducted a traffic stop on a truck Sanchez-Roldan was driving near the intersection of Highway 190 and U.S. 190 Service Road in Covington. Upon checking Sanchez-Roldan through the Natio
  
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• Costs top $500,000 in case of man whose son died in hot car

  19-12-2016 09:03
  
  ATLANTA - Documents show that the cost of sending a Georgia man to prison for life after his son died in a hot car outside Atlanta is estimated to be about $550,000.A judge this month sentenced 36-year-old Justin Ross Harris to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Jurors had convicted him of malice murder and other charges in the June 2014 death of his 22-month-old son, Cooper.The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Georgia taxpayers spent about $275,000 for the unsuccessful d
  
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• The Pledge of Allegiance: St. James Episcopal Day School

  19-12-2016 09:01
  
  BATON ROUGE- Today's Pledge of Allegiance comes from the Kindergarten class at St. James Episcopal Day School.Be sure to watch The Daily Pledge every weekday on 2une In at 5:58 a.m. to see if your child's school is featured!Permalink| Comments
  
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• Missing infant returned home; authorities search for father

  19-12-2016 08:56
  
  MARRERO - A 3-week-old baby who was kidnapped from Jefferson Parish has been returned to his mother, and a warrant has been issued for the arrest of his father.The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office tells local media that baby Kingston Davis was found "in good condition" Sunday.Officials say 24-year-old Cameron Davis, the baby's father, had been visiting the child Friday at the mother's home. Davis allegedly pointed a handgun at the mother before leaving with the infant, saying he would
  
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• Coast Guard evacuates woman from cruise ship

  19-12-2016 08:54
  
  NEW ORLEANS - U.S. Coast Guard officials say they evacuated a 60-year-old woman from a cruise ship off the Louisiana coast to get her emergency medical attention.The Coast Guard said in a statement that the rescue happened early Monday morning, about 14 miles south of Southwest Pass, Louisiana.Authorities said the cruise ship Carnival Triumph on Sunday night requested the woman was in need of dialysis and needed to be picked up from the vessel. The Coast Guard said a 45-foot boat from Coast Guar
  
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• Trump aides: Democrats' complaints are sour grapes

  19-12-2016 07:15
  
  WASHINGTON - Sour grapes. That's how Donald Trump's closest advisers see Democrats' complaints that Moscow hacked their private emails this election season in a bid to sow discord among their supporters and sway the election toward Republicans.The pushback comes ahead of the Electoral College vote, which is expected to make official Trump's election win.Trump's incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus, says there's no evidence that Russian interference in the election changed the outcome.But for
  
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• Electoral College meets amid effort to deny Trump presidency

  19-12-2016 07:13
  
  WASHINGTON - Electors are gathering today in every state to formally elect Donald Trump president even as anti-Trump forces try one last time to deny him the White House.Protests are planned for state capitals, but they're unlikely to persuade the Electoral College to dump Trump. An Associated Press survey of electors found very little appetite to vote for alternative candidates.Republican electors say they have been deluged with emails, phone calls and letters urging them not to support Trump.T
  
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• Georgia deputy wounded in hospital shootout with gunman

  19-12-2016 07:09
  
  DUBLIN, Ga. - Police in central Georgia say a deputy has been wounded during a shootout with a man at a hospital.Authorities said the deputy's injuries are not life-threatening.Dublin Police Chief Tim Chatman tells The Telegraph of Macon that officers were called to Fairview Park Hospital on Sunday night and encountered a gunman, who opened fire.Authorities say officers returned fire and the Laurens County deputy was wounded in the lower leg. Police said the suspect initially got away, but was l
  
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• Authorities rescue 7 cavers in southern Indiana

  19-12-2016 07:08
  
  CORYDON, Ind. - Authorities say they've rescued seven cavers who didn't exit a southern Indiana cave as planned.The Indiana Department of Natural Resources said in statement early Monday that the remaining five cavers were extracted from Binkley's Cave near Corydon around 3 a.m. Monday and were treated for hypothermia and exposure. Two other cavers were escorted from the cave earlier and also treated for hypothermia and exposure.The DNR says the seven are experienced cavers who were conducting a
  
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• UN Security Council to vote on resolution on Syria's Aleppo

  19-12-2016 07:01
  
  UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote today on a resolution aimed at immediately deploying U.N. monitors to eastern Aleppo, a move France says will be critical to prevent "mass atrocities" by Syrian forces, and especially militias, who captured the rebel stronghold.The resolution comes as thousands more trapped Aleppo civilians and rebels await evacuation in freezing temperatures in the rebel enclave.The text calls for the United Nations and other institutions to monitor
  
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• Turkey says some 4,500 people have been evacuated from Aleppo since midnight

  19-12-2016 06:58
  
  BEIRUT - Turkey's foreign minister says that a total of 12,000 people have so far been evacuated from the besieged city of Aleppo to an area under opposition control.The evacuations were made possible through a cease-fire deal brokered by Russia and Turkey that paved way for rebels and civilians to leave the last opposition-held enclave in the city.Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency says a total of 131 wounded people - including 46 children - have been brought to Turkey for treatment since the ev
  
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• Jordan tourist site shut after deadly attack, probe launched

  19-12-2016 06:52
  
  KARAK, Jordan - Jordanian troops with armored vehicles have blocked access to a popular tourist site - a Crusader castle - following attacks in the area that killed 10 people the previous day, including a Canadian visitor.State-media said on Monday that Jordan launched an investigation into the shootings, among the bloodiest attacks in recent years.The attack was also the latest in a series of assaults over the past year that challenged the pro-Western kingdom's claim to be an oasis of calm in a
  
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