Baton Rouge news

• As Bayou Bridge Pipeline draws protests, northeast Louisiana project moves forward: report

  23-02-2017 23:16
  
  Natural gas pipeline expansion in northeast Louisiana doesn't get the same attention as the proposed Bayou Bridge crude oil pipeline project.
  
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• Accused fraud contractor arrested by Walker Police Department

  23-02-2017 20:47
  
  WALKER - The contractor accused of fraud in Ascension, Livingston, and East Baton Rouge Parishes has been charged again by the Walker Police Department.Walker Police obtained a warrant for Matthew Morris' arrest on charges of residential contractor fraud, contractor misapplication of insurance payments, insurance fraud, and extortion.According to Walker Police Captain John Sharp, Morris contacted a resident of Walker to repair damages to a home on Jessica Drive. A contract between the homeowner
  
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• Govt: 746 people subjected to travel ban on Jan. 28-29

  23-02-2017 20:02
  
  NEW YORK - The government has given civil rights attorneys a list of 746 people subject to President Donald Trump's travel ban who were detained or processed by U.S. border agents in the turbulent 27 hours after a judge partially blocked enforcement of the executive order.
      
  A federal judge in New York had ordered the list turned over by late Thursday.
      
  The list includes travelers who landed in the U.S. on the weekend that Trump's ban
  
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• Police say nerve agent found on killed N. Korean

  23-02-2017 19:45
  
  KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Police in Malaysia say the half brother of North Korea's leader who was killed in a Kuala Lumpur airport more than a week ago had a nerve agent on his eye and his face.
      
  A statement Friday from the inspector general of police said that a preliminary analysis from the Chemistry Department of Malaysia identified the agent as "VX NERVE AGENT."
      
  Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, di
  
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• $9.5 million in penalties in deadly 2012 oil platform blast

  23-02-2017 19:17
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Federal prosecutors say an oil industry services company has been ordered to pay $9.5 million in penalties in cases arising from a 2012 offshore platform fire that killed three workers.
      
  The penalties against Houston-based Wood Group PSN were announced Thursday by the U.S. Justice Department in Washington and U.S. attorneys in New Orleans and Lafayette, Louisiana.
      
  Wood Group was ordered to pay $7 million for falsely rep
  
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• Parents stay strong after daughter left paralyzed following domestic violence shooting

  23-02-2017 18:39
  
  BATON ROUGE – The parents of a woman who was left paralyzed following a domestic violence shooting on Wednesday is happy their daughter is alive. Angela Gabriel was shot 9-10 times by her boyfriend, Carl Thomspon, Jr., when she was in the bathtub. The couple was having an argument before the shooting occurred. Thompson turned himself into authorities after calling police to the scene."If I could talk to him I would want to know why he did this,"Lois Clark, Gabriel's m
  
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• TOPS cuts may continue through next year

  23-02-2017 17:55
  
  BATON ROUGE – The Edwards' administration proposed a state budget Thursday that keeps the cuts to the TOPS scholarship program intact. In the proposal, students would only receive 70 percent of their scholarships beginning fall 2017. It's the same amount students are receiving this year after lawmakers cut the program in the 2016 session.The TOPS scholarship offers two to four years of in-state college tuition to Louisiana high school students who meet the requirements. In Dec
  
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• Multiple calls to fix growing sinkhole gone unanswered

  23-02-2017 17:52
  
  DENHAM SPRINGS - There's a sinkhole in Richard Bigelow's backyard that's been growing since April. He says he's given the parish plenty of opportunities to fix the problem but it has not.Bigelow's wife is an active gardener. Next to their budding vegetables is a sinkhole that opened up months ago."It's kind of scary," he said.It started out as a small hole that's grown over time. Inside the hole is a white pipe that carries storm water to a pond behind Bigelow's home."There's a leak somewhere,"
  
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• Parents of 2-year-old boy buried under New Orleans bridge plead guilty

  23-02-2017 16:55
  
  GRETNA - The parents of a toddler who was found buried in a garbage bag under a Louisiana bridge have pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.After Thursday's plea, State District Judge Raymond Steib Jr. sentenced Gabrielle Whittington and Onterio Thompson, both 22, to five years in prison - three of those suspended - and three years of probation.NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports the couple was originally arrested on the obstruction charge and unlawful disposal of human remains after Thompson
  
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• Crews responded to morning house fire on Parkwood Drive

  23-02-2017 16:36
  
  BATON ROUGE – Firefighters responded to a house fire in the 12000 block of Parkwood Drive on Thursday morning.
  Crews arrived to find smoke coming from the rear of the house. Firefighters were able to contain it to one room. No one was home at the time of the fire.
  According to the Baton Rouge Fire Department, the fire was electrical and started in a breaker box.
  The house received an estimated $175,000 worth of damages. Permalink| Comments
  
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• American Airlines to use larger jets for flights at BTR airport

  23-02-2017 15:48
  
  BATON ROUGE – American Airlines will add to the number of larger Bombardier CRJ 700 jets to its Baton Rouge Metro Airport flight schedule starting April 5th. American Airlines currently uses 6 of its 12 larger CRJ 700 jets at the airport, traveling to and from its Dallas-Fort Worth hub. American will use 10 of the 12 jets for the Dallas-Fort Worth service starting this Spring. The airline will also use 4 of the 6 CRJ 700 jets for its BTR Charlotte hub flights.
  Delta and United
  
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• American Airlines to use larger jets for flights at BTR

  23-02-2017 15:48
  
  BATON ROUGE – American Airlines will add the number of larger Bombardier CRJ 700 jets to its Baton Rouge Metro Airport flight schedule starting April 5th. American Airlines currently uses 6 of its 12 larger CRJ 700 jets at the airport, traveling to and from its Dallas-Fort Worth hub. American will use 10 of the 12 jets for the Dallas-Fort Worth service starting this Spring. The airline will also use 4 of the 6 CRJ 700 jets for its BTR Charlotte hub flights.
  Delta and United co
  
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• Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg had lunch in Baton Rouge; Find out what he ordered

  23-02-2017 15:38
  
  BATON ROUGE – Facebook founder and billionaire Mark Zuckerberg and his wife had lunch at a popular Government Street eatery Thursday.Zuckerberg is on a road trip and Baton Rouge's Smokin Aces BBQ was his midday stop Thursday. On his Facebook page, Zuckerberg most recently posted pictures of a stop in Vicksburg, Mississippi.“After a tumultuous last year, my hope for this challenge is to get out and talk to more people about how they're living, working and thinking about the fu
  
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• Edwards' budget would leave TOPS short, trim most agencies

  23-02-2017 14:58
  
  BATON ROUGE - Fresh off a special session to close a deficit, Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration is looking ahead to next year's budget.The governor's top financial adviser unveiled to lawmakers Thursday the administration's $29 billion-plus operating budget proposal for the financial year that begins July 1.The proposal would trim most agencies' spending, leave the TOPS college program unable to cover full tuition costs and have hospitals facing some cuts.Spending would rise, with most of th
  
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• Drone captures 'cat and mouse' game with Siberian Tigers

  23-02-2017 14:55
  
  HEILONGJIAN PROVINCE – Some cameramen in China found out what happens when you mix Siberian tigers with drones.Video footage published by China’s Central Television shows some “rather chubby tigers” chasing a drone around their habitat in China’s Heilongjiang Province.It was all fun and games until a two or three-year-old tiger swiped the camera from the sky. Then the group tore the metallic bird to pieces.Staff used a well-protected vehicle to p
  
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• SpaceX makes good on space station delivery a day late

  23-02-2017 13:30
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL - SpaceX has made good on a 250-mile-high delivery at the International Space Station.Astronauts captured SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship Thursday, a day after a GPS problem prevented the capsule from coming too close. The navigation error was quickly fixed, and everything went smoothly the second time around.The Dragon - loaded with 5,500 pounds of supplies - rocketed away Sunday from NASA's historic moon pad in Florida. The pad had been idle for nearly six years.The station's six-per
  
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• Taco Bell pulling popular chicken-shelled chalupa

  23-02-2017 13:25
  
  IRVINE - A Taco Bell treat that has a shell made entirely of fried chicken will vanish from the fast food chain's menu despite its popularity.Taco Bell spokesman Rob Poetsch says the Naked Chicken Chalupa always was planned as a limited-time offer, but it has proven to be popular and exceeded the company's expectations. A date for the end of its run hasn't been announced.After two years of testing, the chalupa made its national debut on Jan. 26. The shell of the sandwich looks a lot like a taco
  
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• Man in custody after escaping from Plaquemine courthouse

  23-02-2017 13:23
  
  PLAQUEMINE – A man briefly escaped custody at the Iberville Parish Courthouse in Plaquemine Thursday. Sheriff Brett Stassi tells WBRZ that Jammie Dennis was sentenced to 30 days in jail at court Thursday morning. As he was being escorted from the courthouse, Dennis broke away, climbed a fence and got into his Chevrolet Camaro.Stassi said the man fled for 10 miles before being taken into custody again. Permalink| Comments
  
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• Former House speaker predicts 'Obamacare' won't be repealed

  23-02-2017 13:22
  
  WASHINGTON - Former House Speaker John Boehner predicted on Thursday that a full repeal and replacement of "Obamacare" is "not going to happen."Boehner was forced out by conservatives in 2015. The Ohio Republican says he started laughing when he heard President Donald Trump and Republicans promise swift action on undoing and replacing the health law.He says: "Republicans never ever agree on health care."Boehner spoke at a health care conference in Orlando. His remarks were reported by Politico.H
  
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• Fishermen at odds over impact of Trump executive order

  23-02-2017 13:22
  
  PORTLAND - Fishing groups are divided over whether President Donald Trump's "one in, two out" approach to federal regulations will benefit their industry, harm it or affect it at all.Trump issued an executive order in January that says when a public agency proposes a new regulation, it must also identify two regulations to be repealed. The order caused a flurry of debate, and a lawsuit from political opponents, over whether it's a wise idea or even possible.Commercial and recreational fishermen
  
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• Quiet Cassidy town hall after rowdy crowd on Tuesday

  23-02-2017 13:17
  
  NAPOLEONVILLE - A disruptive, but calm crowd pressed U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy Thursday morning in Napoleonville. The town hall came just one day after raucous audience members made it difficult for Cassidy to take questions from general audience members in Metairie.The hour that the Senator spent in Assumption Parish was mostly focused on affordable healthcare.As Cassidy introduced the hotly-contested topic, audience members continued to grill into the Senator, most times, without lett
  
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• Inmate found dead in Orleans Parish jail

  23-02-2017 12:14
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A 23-year-old inmate has been found dead in the Orleans Justice Center jail.The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office says in a statement that the inmate's cellmate found him unresponsive at 8 p.m. Wednesday, at which point medical and security staff "quickly responded" to give emergency treatment until EMS arrived. The inmate was pronounced dead at 8:15 p.m.The OPSO says there were no physical signs of trauma or self-inflicted injury on the inmate. His name is being withheld pending not
  
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• New Orleans JCC evacuated after morning bomb threat

  23-02-2017 12:00
  
  NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans Jewish Community Center was evacuated Thursday morning after receiving a bomb threat, local media reports.According to WWLTV, the building, located on St. Charles Ave., received a threatening phone call around 9:15 a.m. New Orleans Police were called to the scene and cleared the building.New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said the FBI is investigating the incident and the phone call was deemed non-credible.“Be clear, anti-Semitism will not be tolera
  
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• Police: 2 officers, 1 suspect wounded in DC shooting

  23-02-2017 11:59
  
  WASHINGTON, D.C. - Authorities say two police officers have been shot and wounded in Washington, D.C.
      
  Police spokesman Officer Sean Hickman says the incident occurred late Thursday night on the northeast side of Washington. Hickman says the wounded officers were conscious and breathing when they were transported to a hospital.
      
  Authorities also say an adult male suspect was shot and taken to the hospital. His condition is not yet kno
  
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• EMS employee on leave after alleged sexual battery

  23-02-2017 11:50
  
  BATON ROUGE – LSU Police are investigating after a woman said she was sexually battered by an EMS employee earlier this month.According to police reports, the victim told investigators that the incident happened in the early morning hours of Feb. 13. She said she was sexually battered by an unknown EMS employee while she was being treated for an illness.A spokesperson for EMS said that an employee is currently on leave and EMS is also investigating the incident. More details w
  
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• One year after deadly tornadoes struck south Louisiana

  23-02-2017 11:48
  
  CONVENT – One year ago Thursday, at least 10 tornadoes touched down across south Louisiana. One of the hardest hit areas was an RV park in St. James Parish where two people were killed.Feb. 23, 2016, is a date burned into the minds of many residents of Sugar Hill RV Park in St. James Parish. One year later, there are few signs that point to destruction.Mark Anderson and his team went to work immediately following the tornado. He said he will always remember the damage that was done."We
  
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• District Attorney releases 2016 domestic violence report

  23-02-2017 11:41
  
  BATON ROUGE – District Attorney Hillar Moore's office released its 2016 Domestic Violence Report Thursday morning.According to the report, Moore's office said overall caseload involving domestic violence decreased in 2016. The report says this decline can possibly be attributed to community efforts like BRAVE and FYSC and coordination with the Baton Rouge City Court.The DA's office prosecuted approximately 1400 misdemeanor domestic abuse battery cases in 2016. Of those cases, 543 plead
  
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• Sparks fly at town hall meeting with Congressman Garret Graves

  23-02-2017 11:08
  
  BATON ROUGE - Tempers flared at a town hall put on by Congressman Garret Graves Thursday evening.A packed room of concerned citizens wanted to hear about three topics: flooding, the Affordable Care Act, and the Comite Diversion Canal project.Some people applauded conversations regarding President Trump's administration, while others held up signs in opposition."I really want to make sure the congressman hears our concerns and understands, many people are here who rely on the Affordable Care Act.
  
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• Man with outstanding warrants arrested after Hammond standoff

  23-02-2017 09:36
  
  HAMMOND – Deputies in Tangipahoa Parish say a man wanted for several outstanding warrants was apprehended Tuesday.The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office said it received a tip Tuesday morning with the whereabouts of 25-year-old Dayjordan Spears. Moments later, investigators learned that Spears had barricaded himself in a home on West David Drive in Hammond.Deputies called a K-9 officer to the scene. Deputies learned that an infant child was inside the room with Spears and cou
  
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• Winning numbers drawn for $435 million Powerball jackpot

  23-02-2017 06:49
  
  DES MOINES - The winning Powerball numbers have been drawn for the jackpot that's climbed above $400 million for the first time in nearly three months.The numbers are 10-13-28-52-61 and Powerball 2. The game's website says one winning ticket was sold in Indiana.During Wednesday night's drawing, it was announced that the jackpot jumped to an estimated $435 million.Powerball is played in 44 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.The top prize drops back to $40 milli
  
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• North Dakota officials plead with last protesters to leave

  23-02-2017 06:46
  
  CANNON BALL - Public officials in North Dakota are pleading with the remaining protesters at the Dakota Access oil pipeline camp to pack up and leave so authorities can resume cleaning up the premises without any further arrests.Most of the campers marched out of the area ahead of a Wednesday deadline to get off the federal land, and authorities arrested 10 people who defied the order in a final show of dissent. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum says none of the law enforcement officers left the mai
  
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• UL Lafayette wants new degree for French immersion teachers

  23-02-2017 06:43
  
  LAFAYETTE - The University of Louisiana at Lafayette hopes to start a summer program for people who want to teach elementary French immersion classes.It would grant a master's degree in elementary education with a concentration in elementary French immersion.The Advertiser reports that the proposal goes before a university system Board of Supervisors committee Thursday. It would need approval by the system, the Board of Regents and the Louisiana Department of Education.A Lafayette Parish school
  
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• Trump administration lifts transgender bathroom guidance

  23-02-2017 05:22
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) - The Trump administration has lifted federal guidelines that said transgender students should be allowed to use public school bathrooms and locker rooms matching their chosen gender identity.The Wednesday decision is a reversal of an Obama-era directive issued in May. It will now be up to states and school districts to interpret whether federal sex discrimination law applies to gender identity.A letter sent to schools nationwide Wednesday by the Justice and Education departments
  
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• LIVE UPDATES: Thursday's commute

  23-02-2017 05:07
  
  BATON ROUGE - News 2's Ashley Fruge has you covered with live updates for your Thursday commute.Beat the traffic every time using WBRZ's advanced traffic tracking technology. Click here to go to our traffic center.Tweets by WBRZtrafficPermalink| Comments
  
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