Baton Rouge news

• Trump says he won't attend correspondents dinner this spring

  25-02-2017 20:01
  
  WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump says he won't be attending the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner this spring.In a tweet on Saturday, the president doesn't give a reason but says he wishes "everyone well and have a great evening!"The annual fundraiser for college scholarships mixes politicians, journalists and celebrities.Trump has long had an adversarial relationship with news media. In recent weeks, he has accused some news outlets of publishing "fake news."Trump has als
  
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• Baton Rouge family helps those in need during Mardi Gras season

  25-02-2017 18:49
  
  BATON ROUGE - One family has set out on a mission to supply the needy with everyday items they can't come up with themselves. The Allen Family fills hundreds of plastic baggies with everyday necessities like deodorant, tooth paste and cheese crackers to pass out at Saint Vincent De Paul's homeless shelter."You may call this something little, but is a lot to donate tooth brush, tooth paste, deodorant soap, whatever you can give," said Juanita Valentine, a member of The Allen Family.This
  
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• Mississippi authorities look for murder, assault suspect

  25-02-2017 18:11
  
  JACKSON, Miss. - Mississippi authorities have launched a nationwide search for a man wanted for murder and aggravated assault.Mississippi Bureau of Investigation spokesman Warren Strain says the suspect, 28-year-old Alex Bridges Deaton, is the boyfriend of 30-year-old Heather Robinson, who was found dead at the Vineyards Apartments. Her car, a white 2012 GMC Arcadia sports utility vehicle, was missing.He also is a suspect in the shooting of a woman as she jogged early Friday morning in Rankin Co
  
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• Woman sentenced to 10 months for stealing from New Iberia company

  25-02-2017 17:24
  
  LAFAYETTE - Federal prosecutors say a Breaux Bridge woman has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for stealing more than $64,000 from a New Iberia company.U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley, in a news release, said 66-year-old Joan C. Edgar was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell on one count of wire fraud.Drell also ordered her to pay $64,860 in restitution and a $5,000 fine.According to the Sept. 20, 2016 guilty plea, Edgar worked as an office manager for a New Iberia compa
  
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• Man shot on New Orleans parade route

  25-02-2017 16:01
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Police say a man was shot along a parade route Saturday afternoon.According to a report from WWLTV, a firearm was shot from inside of a port-o-let at the corner of St. Charles and Napoleon Avenues and wounded a man on the neutral ground. NOPD says the man was shot in his side. No arrests have been made in connection to the shooting.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Remains found in St. Charles identified as man who went missing in 2012

  25-02-2017 15:43
  
  HAHNVILLE - Remains found in a wooded area of St. Charles Parish in November belong to an elderly man who went missing during Hurricane Isaac.The sheriff's office said Friday that Antoine Edmund Sr. was reported missing on Aug. 29, 2012, when it's believed he walked out of the home where he was staying and wandered off during the storm. Edmund was 92 years old at the time and was said to have Alzheimer's.WWL-TV reports Edmund was identified using LSU's FACES lab, which determined the remains wer
  
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• Emergency repairs to begin at Cabildo, Presbytere

  25-02-2017 14:30
  
  NEW ORLEANS - About $3.4 million in emergency repairs are needed to save the historic Cabildo and Presbytere buildings that flank St. Louis Cathedral from crumbling.The Louisiana State Museum says moisture intrusion at the 200-year-old French Quarter buildings has put the plaster and stucco at risk of breaking off, potentially falling onto pedestrians outside or damaging museum artifacts inside the buildings.Both buildings are listed as National Historic Landmarks with the National Park Service.
  
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• IS fighters in Syria's Homs target gas pipeline

  25-02-2017 13:39
  
  BEIRUT - Syrian State News Agency SANA is reporting that Islamic State militants in the country's central province of Homs have lobbed mortars at natural gas pipelines, putting some production lines out of service.Syrian Minister of Electricity Mohammad Zuheir Kharboutli told State TV the attack on the southern factory will reduce its capacity to generate power by 65 percent. The Oil Minister Ali Ghanim said the factory feeds the national grid with 6.6 million cubic meters a day but he added mai
  
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• New York Times to broadcast 'truth' ad during Academy Awards

  25-02-2017 13:36
  
  NEW YORK - The New York Times will air a commercial called "The Truth Is Hard" during the Oscars, just days after the company and other news organizations were blocked from joining an informal, on-the-record White House press briefing.The 30-second ad includes audio from voices in the vein of news clips, talking about certain "truths," like "the truth is our nation is more divided than ever" to "the truth is the media is dishonest."It premiered on YouTube Thursday and has more than 1.5 million v
  
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• Malaysia looks for deadly chemical traces at airport

  25-02-2017 13:34
  
  KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysian authorities have begun sweeping the airport terminal where North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un's half brother was killed to check for possible traces of the nerve agent that was suspected to have been used in the attack.The investigation has unleashed a serious diplomatic fight between Malaysia and North Korea, a prime suspect in the Feb. 13 killing of Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur's airport. Friday's revelation by Malaysian police that the banned chemical weapon VX
  
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• Malaysia looks for chemical traces at airport

  25-02-2017 13:34
  
  KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysian authorities have begun sweeping the airport terminal where North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un's half brother was killed to check for possible traces of the nerve agent that was suspected to have been used in the attack.The investigation has unleashed a serious diplomatic fight between Malaysia and North Korea, a prime suspect in the Feb. 13 killing of Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur's airport. Friday's revelation by Malaysian police that the banned chemical weapon VX
  
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• Transgender boy moves within 1 win of girls Texas title

  25-02-2017 13:30
  
  CYPRESS, Texas - A 17-year-old transgender boy has moved within one match of winning a Texas state girls wrestling title.Mack Beggs pinned Kailyn Clay to improve to 56-0, putting him in Saturday afternoon's championship match.Beggs is a junior from Euless Trinity in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. His family has said he would rather be wrestling boys. Some girls and their advocates agree.They say the testosterone Beggs has been taking while transitioning from female to male has made him too strong t
  
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• Governor's Rome trip cost state $15,000 for security detail

  25-02-2017 13:26
  
  BATON ROUGE - Gov. John Bel Edwards' trip to meet the Pope in Rome cost taxpayers $15,000 for his state police security detail.Edwards personally paid travel costs for him and his wife for the weeklong trip in January.The travel expenses for the governor's bodyguards were billed to the Louisiana State Police, which released its costs Friday to The Associated Press in response to a public records request.The biggest charge was nearly $8,600 spent on overtime. Flights and transportation cost $3,00
  
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• Celebrities launch pot brands as California legalizes drug

  25-02-2017 13:23
  
  SAN FRANCISCO - Country singer Willie Nelson, the children of the late reggae icon Bob Marley and comedian Whoopi Goldberg are just a few of the growing number of celebrities publicly jumping into the marijuana industry and eyeing the California pot market.The market is expected to explode after voters in the state legalized the recreational use of weed.Regulators are still scrambling to get California's recreational marijuana market launched and are racing to issue licenses to growers and selle
  
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• No decision made on $4M sitting in Louisiana escrow account

  25-02-2017 13:12
  
  BATON ROUGE - As they wrapped up their special legislative session, Louisiana lawmakers didn't resolve a disagreement between Gov. John Bel Edwards and Attorney General Jeff Landry.At issue was $4 million sitting in an escrow account.The Democratic governor wanted to move the money elsewhere to fill gaps in the state's budget. The Republican attorney general said that money is part of his budget and would damage his office's ability to function if taken.Lawmakers decided against taking the dolla
  
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• 8-year-old girl fatally shot after Houston car crash

  25-02-2017 13:07
  
  HOUSTON - Police say an 8-year-old girl has been fatally shot after the vehicle she was in was involved in a car crash in Houston.Investigators say the girl and her mother were traveling down a Houston roadway early today when their Honda Accord was hit by a speeding Pontiac.Police say the Pontiac and a dark four-door sedan were speeding down a street when the Pontiac crashed into the vehicle the girl was in.According to police, the drivers of the Pontiac and the sedan then got out of their vehi
  
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• New Orleans city planners deadlock on ferry terminal demo

  25-02-2017 13:01
  
  NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans City Planning Commission has deadlocked on a plan to tear down the dilapidated Canal Street ferry terminal for replacement with a glass building.News outlets report that the City Council now gets the proposal from the Regional Transit Authority and its operator, Paris-based Transdev.The $32 million project also would make a walkway between the aquarium and Riverwalk shopping mall. The agencies say they have $15 million in federal grants.Opponents say the plan caters
  
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• Victim says alleged shooter asked about visas

  25-02-2017 12:21
  
  OLATHE, Kan. - One of two immigrants from India who were shot in a suburban Kansas City bar says the attacker was asking about their visa status shortly before the attack, which some have suggested was a hate crime.Alok Madasani told The New York Times that while he and Srinivas Kuchibhotla were on the patio of the Olathe, Kansas, bar Wednesday evening, the man asked what type of visa they had and whether they were in the country illegally. They were not.Madasani says he went to get a m
  
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• Study: Louisiana has far fewer public defenders than needed

  25-02-2017 12:14
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A study released by the American Bar Association says Louisiana has far fewer public defenders than it needs to effectively represent poor people caught up in the criminal justice system.The study was released this month against a backdrop of recurring litigation and public debate over the state's system of providing lawyers for the indigent.The study by the ABA and the Baton Rouge-based accounting and consulting firm Postlethwaite & Netterville says the state needs 1,769 full
  
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• Dealership taken for a ride when $150k Maserati disappears

  25-02-2017 12:11
  
  BOCA RATON, Fla. - A Maserati is missing after police say a man conned a salesman during a test drive.Boca Raton police say 45-year-old Michael McGilvary II went to a dealership to test drive a $150,000 Maserati GranTurismo.He and a salesman drove to a marina so McGilvary could supposedly show his girlfriend the car. They walked down the dock, then McGilvary told the salesman he would get his girlfriend. When he didn't return after 30 minutes, the salesman searched for McGilvary. The valet told
  
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• Suspect dead, 2 Florida officers wounded in shootout

  25-02-2017 12:08
  
  CASSELBERRY, Fla. - A suspect died and two police officers suffered minor wounds during a shootout at a central Florida home.Casselberry Police Chief Larry Krantz told reporters the two officers responded early Saturday to a reported disturbance at a home in the Orlando suburb. When they arrived, the suspect came outside with a shotgun and fired. The officers returned fire.Krantz said the suspect went back inside his house, where he was later found dead. He said it is unclear if the officers sho
  
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• Warren Buffett says don't waste money on investment fees

  25-02-2017 12:05
  
  OMAHA, Neb. - Billionaire Warren Buffett wants investors to be wary of the high fees Wall Street routinely charges because of the damage they do to investment returns, and he emphasized his confident outlook in the U.S. economy.Buffett devoted a section of his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders Saturday to explaining again the benefits low-cost index funds have over most other investments.He says he estimates that wealthy investors who use high-priced advisers have wasted over $100
  
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• Suspect thought she was playing a prank

  25-02-2017 12:02
  
  KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Vietnam says the Vietnamese woman under arrest in Malaysia for allegedly helping to carry out the deadly attack on North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un's half brother thought she was taking part in a prank.Doan Thi Huong is among two women arrested for the Feb. 13 airport attack on Kim Jong Nam, which Malaysian police say was carried out with the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent.Vietnam's foreign ministry said in a statement posted on its website that a representative fro
  
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• Opposition leader backs US tack on IS, Iran

  25-02-2017 11:57
  
  BEIRUT - A leader of the main Syrian opposition group says the group shares the priorities of the new U.S. administration to fight the Islamic State group and contain Iran.Nasr Hariri, in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press in Geneva says: "We have a lot of points that we share with this new administration of America," said Hariri. "On the top of these priorities is fighting terrorism."He said members of the Trump team met with members of the main Syrian opposition before and after
  
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