Baton Rouge news

• Front of Central subdivision turning into a trash dump

  26-12-2016 17:42
  
  CENTRAL – One Central subdivision is seeing a huge pile of trash grow by the day.The pile sits on the corner of Frenchtown Road near the Geo Je's community and consists of trash, household items and insulation.Residents say they are fed up with it being in their neighborhood."It's growing and it's very frustrating, it's a dump," resident Donna Dufour said.Some residents believe the trash pile is a last resort for people who are getting rid of debris since the city is not doing pickups
  
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• Day after Christmas one of the most popular shopping days

  26-12-2016 17:24
  
  BATON ROUGE – The day after Christmas is well known to many shoppers returning unwanted gifts, however it also offers some of the best shopping deals.Monday, many shoppers went to the Mall of Louisiana to take advantage of the day's deals.Some even say the deals are better than Black Friday's."I think they, as far as the store I've been in, they had a better sale after Christmas than they did before," shopper Datria London said.Retailers also look forward to the day as it is one of the
  
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• Safe Haven Law provides safe, legal, alternative to abandonment

  26-12-2016 16:49
  
  BATON ROUGE - A newborn baby left in a garbage can in a Walmart bathroom is doing better and has been taken off oxygen, according to police in New Roads.The mother, 34-year-old Kyandrea Thomas is in jail, accused of giving birth and dumping her baby in the trash.The Department of Children and Family Services says what happened Friday could have been prevented and Louisiana's Safe Haven law could have kept Thomas out of jail.The law says, if a parent is unable to care for their baby, or
  
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• 42-year-old statue of saint vandalized in Gonzales

  26-12-2016 16:15
  
  ASCENSION – A 42-year-old statute of a saint, that stands outside of a church, was vandalized in Ascension Parish.The statue was of Saint Mark located at the Saint Mark Catholic Church in Gonzales. Pictures show parts of the statue broken to pieces on the ground. The Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office said that it is believed the incident occurred on Christmas night or early Monday morning.Anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to call the Ascension Parish
  
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• Left lane of I-110 reopened following closure due to police activity

  26-12-2016 15:29
  
  BATON ROUGE – One lane of I-110 southbound at Government Street was closed due to police activity on Monday around 3:30 p.m.According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, there was a chase with a suspect wanted for attempted murder on the interstate. The suspect was taken into custody and brought to the Violent Crimes Unit. The Department of Transportation and Development said that the left lane of the interstate was blocked for a few minutes causing some congestion, but late
  
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• Pioneering astronomer Vera Rubin dies at 88

  26-12-2016 15:16
  
  PRINCETON - A pioneering astronomer who helped find powerful evidence of dark matter has died. Vera Rubin was 88.Allan Rubin said Monday his mother died of natural causes Sunday. He says the Philadelphia native had been living in the Princeton, New Jersey, area.Rubin found that galaxies don't quite rotate the way they were predicted, and that lent support to the theory that some other force is at work, namely dark matter.Dark matter, which hasn't been directly observed, makes up 27 percent of un
  
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• Man injured following shooting on Clayton Drive

  26-12-2016 14:07
  
  BATON ROUGE – The Baton Rouge Police Department responded to a shooting on Monday in the 4900 block of Clayton Drive.The shooting occurred around 1:30 p.m.According to BRPD, one man was shot and sustained not life threatening injuries.Check back for updates as more information becomes available.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Brother of former NFL player fatally shot in east New Orleans

  26-12-2016 13:40
  
  NEW ORLEANS – A man found fatally shot in east New Orleans has been identified as the brother of a former NFL player.WWL reports that 38-year-old Robert Smith, the brother of former New York Jets wide receiver Courtney Smith, was found lying in the front yard of a home in the 7900 block of Lamb Street.The shooting occurred on Monday around 7:30 a.m. According to the New Orleans Police Department, Smith suffered from a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene. Smith's family s
  
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• 'Rogue One' tops new releases to dominate holiday box office

  26-12-2016 13:28
  
  LOS ANGELES - It was an intergalactic holiday at movie theaters as "Rogue One" blasted past a quartet of new releases to hold onto the top spot at the weekend box office.The "Star Wars" story added another $96 million to its coffers over the four-day holiday period, according to studio estimates Monday.The animated animal musical "Sing" debuted in second place with $56 million. The Jennifer Lawrence-Chris Pratt space tale "Passengers" opened in third with $23.1 million.Two other new releases, "W
  
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• 4 inmates sought after Christmas jailbreak

  26-12-2016 13:18
  
  NEWPORT - Authorities in Tennessee are searching for four inmates who broke out of jail on Christmas.Media reports quote the Cocke County Sheriff's Office as saying six inmates escaped from the jail early Sunday after removing a toilet from the wall and going through a hole behind it that led to the outside of the facility.A statement by the sheriff says that prior plumbing repairs had loosened the concrete holding the toilet and leaking water had rusted the bolts holding it.The reports say two
  
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• New rules won't float with boat owners in Orleans suburb

  26-12-2016 13:10
  
  KENNER- Recreational boats on trailers are nothing unusual in many Louisiana neighborhoods.Now, new restrictions on where boat owners in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner can park their vessels are drawing complaints.The complaints have led city officials to say they are exploring whether they should alter or delay some of the new rules, which were approved in March.According to The New Orleans Advocate a new zoning code, in the works for years, includes rules on where boats could be parked at Ke
  
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• Colombia probe finds jetliner ran out of fuel before crash

  26-12-2016 12:39
  
  BOGOTA - Colombian aviation authorities say a preliminary investigation has found that the plane that crashed with a Brazilian soccer team aboard had run out of fuel.Monday's statement by the Civil Aeronautics agency says the conclusion is based on the plane's black boxes and other evidence.The British Aerospace 146 operated by the Bolivia-based LaMia charter company crashed as it was trying to approach the airport in Medellin, Colombia, while carrying a Brazilian soccer team on Nov. 28. Seventy
  
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• Church vandalism possibly tied to Gonzales Christmas display destruction

  26-12-2016 12:10
  
  GONZALES - The Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office is trying to identify who would destroy a large marble statue of Saint Mark.Sometime between late Christmas night and early Monday morning, investigators say, someone destroyed the statue at St. Mark Catholic Church on LA 621."I was surprised. Who could do this," Father Rubin Reynolds questioned. "That was my first thing."Described as the icon of their parish and valued between $7,000 and $10,000, Fr. Reynolds said the statue had been in front of
  
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• Louisiana fireworks hurt nearly a dozen people each New Year's Eve

  26-12-2016 11:57
  
  PORT ALLEN- One of the best ways to ring in the New Year is with a bang but state officials caution people about fireworks.An average of nine people in Louisiana are hurt every firework season (July 4th and New Year's Eve) according to State Fire Marshal Butch Browning."Most injuries occur because they were handling the pyrotechnic or they remanufactured the pyrotechnic. They put a bunch of them together and you have a much more volatile explosion," said Browning.He recommends
  
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• Motorcyclist killed after crash with truck on LA 18

  26-12-2016 11:44
  
  JEFFERSON PARISH – A crash on LA 18 in Waggaman claimed the life of one motorcyclist on Christmas. The crash occurred around 2:30 p.m. when 37-year-old Derek Williams was driving a Honda Shadow motorcycle east on LA 18 as he was approaching Avondale Garden Road. A Dodge Durango, driven by 30-year-old Ronya Boyd, was traveling west on LA 18.Boyd failed to make a right curve in the road and crossed into the east bound lane. The Dodge struck the motorcycle and Williams was ejecte
  
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• DC police: Knife-wielding man shot by officer dies

  26-12-2016 11:09
  
  WASHINGTON - District of Columbia police say a man shot by an officer when he ignored commands to drop a knife has died.Police said in a statement that officers responding to a domestic disturbance report in northeast Washington on Sunday found a man armed with a knife. Police say he ignored officers' commands to drop the knife and at least one officer fired, striking him.Police say the man was taken to a local hospital, where he later died. Police identified him as 29-year-old Gerald Hall.Polic
  
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• State income tax filings begin Jan. 23

  26-12-2016 09:43
  
  BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Department of Revenue will begin accepting 2016 state income tax returns on Jan. 23. LDR will accept returns filed electronically at www.revenue.louisiana.gov/fileonline, through third-party commercial software along with paper returns submitted through the mail and in person. The IRS will also begin accepting federal returns on the same date.Also on Jan. 23, taxpayers can begin downloading paper tax forms from the LDR website, however taxpayers are
  
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• UN's Ban Ki-moon to push Times Square 2017 countdown button

  26-12-2016 09:14
  
  NEW YORK - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will perform one last ceremonial duty before ending his 10-year leadership of the world body.Organizers of the Times Square New Year's Eve celebration announced Monday that Ban will push the Waterford crystal button to begin the official 60-second countdown to 2017.The South Korean statesman was elected as the eighth secretary-general by the United Nations General Assembly in October 2006. Dec. 31 will be his last day in office. Antonio Gut
  
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• Dillard, St. John Housing Authority get HUD money

  26-12-2016 09:08
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Dillard University in New Orleans and the Housing Authority of St. John the Baptist Parish are the Louisiana recipients of newly announced federal grants to help people find jobs and achieve economic independence.A Department of Housing and Urban Development news release says Dillard received $246,000 and the St. John authority was awarded more than $228,000.Friday's announcement says the awards were part of the $32.5 million awarded around the nation through HUD's Resident Opportu
  
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• Another setback for prosecutors in 2013 killing

  26-12-2016 09:04
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A state appeals court has overturned the obstruction of justice conviction of a man charged in connection with an alleged contract killing in New Orleans.The New Orleans Advocate reports that last week's decision by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals was the latest setback in the case for the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office.The victim of the 2013 shooting was Lien Nguyen. His wife was acquitted in September on a charge that she plotted with a man to have him killed.A jury d
  
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