Baton Rouge news

• Congressman Cedric Richmond apologizes for 'offensive' remarks

  05-03-2017 20:05
  
  WASHINGTON - Congressman Cedric Richmond released a statement apologizing for irreverent comments he made at an awards ceremony last week.“After a discussion with people I know and trust I understand the way my remarks have been received by many,” Rep. Richmond said. “I have consistently been a champion for women and women’s issues, and because of that the last thing I would want to ever do is utter words that would hurt or demean them. I apologiz
  
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• NOPD recruit arrested for domestic abuse

  05-03-2017 19:06
  
  NEW ORLEANS - The NOPD has placed a recruit under emergency suspension after he was arrested for domestic abuse battery.According to WWLTV, Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Deputies arrested 29-year-old Justin Hammonds in River Ridge Sunday morning.The Sheriff's Office said Hammonds' 28-year-old wife reported her husband was angry and hit her several times at their apartment. Authorities said Hammonds climbed out of the apartment window, but returned soon after.The NOPD's Public Integrity Bur
  
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• Cursive handwriting sees revival in school instruction

  05-03-2017 17:02
  
  NEW YORK - Cursive writing is looping back into style in schools across the country after a generation of students raised on keyboarding, texting and printing out letters longhand.Alabama and Louisiana passed laws in 2016 mandating cursive proficiency in public schools, the latest of 14 states to require cursive. And last fall, the 1.1 million-student New York City school system encouraged teaching cursive to students in the third grade.Penmanship proponents contend writing words in a single lin
  
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• Bird flu detected in chicken breeding facility in Tennessee

  05-03-2017 14:17
  
  NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Agriculture officials say a commercial chicken breeding facility in south-central Tennessee has been hit by a strain of bird flu.The state Agriculture Department says in a news release that tests confirmed the presence of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, or HPAI, at a facility in Lincoln County. The facility alerted the state veterinarian's office on Friday about an increase in chicken deaths.The statement did not name the facility. The facility and about 30 other poultr
  
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• Man accused of kidnapping arrested after police chase

  05-03-2017 14:15
  
  PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Authorities say a man accused of kidnapping has been arrested after allegedly shooting at a deputy during a high-speed chase in southeast Mississippi.Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell tells local news media that suspect Terrell Lee Johnson was a passenger of an SUV when he shot at a deputy during the chase early Sunday morning. Johnson was wanted on charges of aggravated assault, robbery and kidnapping in Mobile, Alabama.Ezell says a Mobile woman was driving the vehicle with
  
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• Man accused of kidnapping arrested after Mississippi police chase

  05-03-2017 14:15
  
  PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Authorities say a man accused of kidnapping has been arrested after allegedly shooting at a deputy during a high-speed chase in southeast Mississippi.Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell tells local news media that suspect Terrell Lee Johnson was a passenger of an SUV when he shot at a deputy during the chase early Sunday morning. Johnson was wanted on charges of aggravated assault, robbery and kidnapping in Mobile, Alabama.Ezell says a Mobile woman was driving the vehicle with
  
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• 'Logan' slices box office with $85.3M, 'Moonlight' gets bump

  05-03-2017 13:30
  
  NEW YORK - The R-rated "X-Men" spinoff "Logan" slashed into the weekend box office, opening with a massive $85.3 million that surpassed expectations and ranks among the top March debuts ever.The 20th Century Fox release features Hugh Jackman in what he has hinted could be his final performance as Wolverine. Word of mouth got a boost from good reviews for the unusually dark and dramatic comic-book movie that - like "Deadpool" - further proves moviegoers' hunger for less conventional superhero fil
  
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• Rouses in Gonzales back open after suspicious package causes evacuation

  05-03-2017 13:17
  
  GONZALES - A Rouses Supermarket on Airline Hwy. in Gonzales was evacuated after a suspicious package was left by the front door, according to the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office.The package was initially spotted by a worker who then notified management. After determining the bag did not belong to a customer, authorities were called.The Sheriff's Office said the package has since been removed and the store is back open. Authorities evacuated the grocery store until the package could be
  
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• Texas police officials reassigned amid leaked video, records

  05-03-2017 12:41
  
  FORT WORTH, Texas - Two police commanders in Texas have been temporarily replaced as investigators determine who leaked police video and other material in the controversial arrest of a black woman and her daughters by a white Fort Worth police officer.KXAS-TV in Dallas reports an assistant chief and deputy chief were questioned in the matter.The Fort Worth Police Department began an internal investigation after officer William Martin's body-camera video was leaked. Martin's disciplinary records
  
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• Liver transplant surgical pioneer Dr. Thomas Starzl dies

  05-03-2017 12:32
  
  PITTSBURGH - Dr. Thomas Starzl, the pioneer of liver transplantation and the driving force behind the world's first baboon-to-human liver transplants and research on anti-rejection drugs, has died. He was 90.The University of Pittsburgh, speaking on behalf of Starzl's family, says the renowned doctor "died peacefully" Saturday at his home in Pittsburgh.Starzl performed the world's first liver transplant in 1963, the world's first successful liver transplant in 1967, and pioneered kidney transpla
  
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• Biloxi 'blanket lady' honored for work with veterans

  05-03-2017 12:26
  
  BILOXI, Miss. - At the Biloxi Veterans Administration, Lillian Thornton is often called the "blanket lady" but that's a term of affection.WLOX reports that Thornton has crocheted more than 200 lap blankets over the past six years.She donates them to the VA where they are distributed to veteran patients at the hospital.The staff there surprised her when she was dropping off another bundle of blankets recently.They gave her a framed certificate of appreciation for all the time she's spent on the h
  
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• On Louisiana's public schools' fees, report urges caution

  05-03-2017 12:23
  
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's public school districts charge fees for everything from uniforms and school supplies to lockers and parking.A new report prepared for the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education urges districts to use "extreme caution" in enacting such fees in a state where many students come from low-income households.The News-Star says the report is included in documents posted for the education board's upcoming meetings, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.The results come from a
  
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• Obama intel director on wiretap: 'I can deny it'

  05-03-2017 12:20
  
  WASHINGTON - The former director of national intelligence in the Obama administration denies there was a secret court order for surveillance at Trump Tower.James Clapper says that in the national intelligence activity he oversaw, "there was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president, the president-elect at the time, as a candidate or against his campaign."Clapper says as intelligence director he would have known about a "FISA court order on something like this. Absolutely, I can deny
  
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• Muslim group urges district attorney to cancel training

  05-03-2017 12:17
  
  ALEXANDRIA - A Muslim civil rights group is urging a Louisiana district attorney to cancel a training seminar on investigating "jihadi operations" in the U.S., calling it biased and a misuse of taxpayer money.Rapides Parish District Attorney Phillip Terrell's office said in a statement Thursday that it was "surprised at the objections" to this week's training seminar in Alexandria. The statement suggests the three-day seminar will proceed as planned.In a letter to Terrell on Wednesday, the Counc
  
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• White House wants probe of wiretap allegations

  05-03-2017 12:13
  
  WASHINGTON - White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders called for a congressional investigation of allegations that the former Obama administration ordered wiretaps of Trump Tower during the last presidential campaign. But Sanders refused to say where the current president got his information or why he blamed the former president.Sanders says on ABC's "This Week": "If they're going to investigate Russia ties, let's include this as part of it. That's what we're asking."Sanders would not elab
  
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• Income tax audits plummet as IRS loses agents to budget cuts

  05-03-2017 12:09
  
  WASHINGTON - As millions of Americans file their income tax returns, their chances of getting audited by the IRS have rarely been so low.The number of people audited by the IRS in 2016 dropped for the sixth straight year, to just over 1 million. The last time so few people were audited was 2004.The IRS blames budget cuts, and this year's budget isn't any higher than last year's.The IRS has seen its budget shrink from $12.2 billion in the 2010 budget year to $11.2 billion last year. Over that per
  
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• Dubai police detain British daredevil over skyscraper climbs

  05-03-2017 12:06
  
  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A British daredevil known online for his videos of skyscraper climbs was detained by police in Dubai over his recent climbs there.James Kingston told The Associated Press in a message Sunday that he had been detained and later released, without elaborating. He wrote online Saturday that "four undercover agents plucked me from my hotel room."Dubai police and British Embassy officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the AP.However, the state-o
  
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• Deadly floods hit southern Zimbabwe, destroying many homes

  05-03-2017 12:03
  
  TSHOLOTSHO, Zimbabwe - Floods in Zimbabwe have killed nearly 250 people since December in regions that were recently suffering from drought. Those who have survived the floods say they have lost virtually all their possessions.Government officials said nearly 900 people have been airlifted by helicopters from flooded areas in rural southern Zimbabwe. Since December, floods have killed 246 people, injured 128 and left nearly 2,000 homeless. Five bridges on major highways have been swept away nati
  
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• Firefighters respond to large brush fire in Zachary

  05-03-2017 11:38
  
  ZACHARY - Multiple fire departments responded to a large brush fire in Zachary on Saturday morning.According to Central Fire Department's Facebook page, on March 4 around 10:15 a.m., Chaneyville Fire Department responded to the fire near Arleen Ave. and Watson Dr.Central Fire Department, along with companies from Pride and Zachary were called for assistance, according to Central FD.The fire was put under control around noon on Saturday, Central FD said.No injuries were reported. According to Cha
  
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• Community holds march against violence following fatal shooting

  05-03-2017 11:32
  
  BATON ROUGE - Dozens of people marched the streets Sunday despite the rain and wet pavement, encouraging their neighbors to report crime when they see it.The marchers are sick and tired of all the violence in their community and hope this march sends a message."The only way the community can heal itself is from and rid itself from the violence is from the community itself, not from the top down," said Hillar Moore, East Baton District Attorney.The march came to an end right whe
  
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• Man hit, killed walking on Joor Road overnight

  05-03-2017 09:00
  
  BATON ROUGE - A man died late Saturday night after being hit as he walked across Joor Road.State Police said it was unclear why Andrew Mulkey, 51, of Zachary was crossing the highway.  Mulkey was hit by a small Jeep SUV as he crossed the highway north of Greenwell Springs Road.The crash happened around 11 p.m. Saturday.It is unknown if Mulkey was impaired at the time of the crash, but a toxicology sample will be taken for analysis.  The driver of the SUV was given a chemical br
  
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