Baton Rouge news

• Mugger killed by victim in BR altercation

  24-03-2017 21:00
  
  BATON ROUGE - A person being robbed shot their attacker, who died at a hospital Friday.Police released details of the shooting after Kylin Spencer died.  The attempted robbery happened Thursday night, police said.Spencer, 19, and another person tried to rob someone at gunpoint around 10 p.m. Thursday in the 12200 block of La Margie Avenue.   The victim shot at the pair of robbers, hitting Spencer.Police said the investigation is ongoing and did not release details abou
  
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• Small-town Marksville tries to rise above police killing of 6-year-old boy

  24-03-2017 20:35
  
  While others assess blame for tragedy, residents seek to move forward
  
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• Marksville officer says he fired shots 'to stop a threat': report

  24-03-2017 19:36
  
  His murder trial, for killing 6-year-old boy, nears close
  
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• Tara without power after tree falls on car

  24-03-2017 19:28
  
  BATON ROUGE- Authorities are responding to a tree that fell onto a car near the intersection of Tara and Old Hammond Hwy.Authorities preliminary reports say that at least one person was trapped inside.Entergy's website is reporting about 1,000 customers without power near Tara. You can view the outages here.A WBRZ crew is en route. Check back for updates.Permalink| Comments
  
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• At least 3 injured after tree falls on cars near Tara

  24-03-2017 19:28
  
  BATON ROUGE- Authorities are on the scene of a tree that fell on two cars on Old Hammond Hwy between Tara and Drusilla.Rescue crews had to pull several trapped people from two vehicles.Authorities say at least three of the victims were transported to a local hospital. Two of the victims' injuries were described as significant.Police officers are directing traffic in the area.Police think the incident is weather related. It does not appear anyone ran into the tree and witnesses on scene say it's
  
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• What are locals saying about the failed health care bill?

  24-03-2017 18:07
  
  BATON ROUGE – The debate over the future of health care is not over across the country and in Louisiana following the abrupt pull of the GOP health care bill.Some in Louisiana now have health care because of the Obamacare, however on the other hand, many small businesses and individuals say they are struggling under a broken system.John Overton runs a small IT company called Turn Key Solutions. He employs about one dozen employees and is always looking to expand, however he says that O
  
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• Beloved cat with microchip went missing, adopted by another family

  24-03-2017 17:49
  
  ADDIS - A woman is distraught after finding out her missing cat has been adopted. The cat was microchipped but animal control told her it couldn't detect anything.Whitney Prudhomme adopted her two cats seven years ago. They were Christmas presents for her daughter."They've been in my care ever since," she said.That is up until a few weeks ago, when Prudhomme went out of town for a few days and her cat Mia went out the front door and into a feral cat trap.The cat, with a half gold and ha
  
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• Springfield High School to receive grant to rebuild flood-damaged library

  24-03-2017 17:08
  
  SPRINGFIELD – Springfield High School will receive $20,000 through a grant program, Beyond Words, that will support the school's rebuilding of its library following the August flood.The school's library, including all books and technology, was completely destroyed following the flood. The Beyond Words grant program, established in 2006, provide funding to school libraries affected by disasters.The program has awarded more than $1.8 million and has impacted more than 90,000 stu
  
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• Vehicle hit by oncoming cars after flipping on Hwy. 61

  24-03-2017 16:44
  
  ST. FRANCISVILLE – Eyewitnesses described a crash that closed part of Highway 61 Friday as something out of a nightmare: a flipped car, slammed by others after it rolled down the highway.The wreck happened around 2 p.m. near Magnolia Full Gospel Baptist Church just north of the Myrtles Plantation.Traffic reports indicated the highway was either closed or traffic had slowed to nearly a crawl as authorities tended to the injured and cleared the highway up to two hours later.Specific info
  
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• One killed, three hurt in St. Francisville wreck

  24-03-2017 16:44
  
  ST. FRANCISVILLE – State Police said a multi-vehicle crash on Highway 61 left one person dead and others injured.Four vehicles were involved in the crash that happened around 2:30 Friday afternoon.  The wreck happened near Magnolia Full Gospel Baptist Church just north of the Myrtles Plantation.State Police said Michael Bilowich, 69, died.  Investigators said the driver of a sedan crossed into oncoming traffic, prompting a large SUV to swerve and flip. &n
  
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• Woman plots with brother, friend to shoot child's father

  24-03-2017 16:32
  
  BATON ROUGE – A woman was arrested after police say she plotted with her brother and friend to shoot her child's father.Apriel Bennett, 27, was arrested on four charges of principal to attempted first degree murder, principal to aggravated assault with a firearm and principal to simple battery.According to arrest documents, Bennett intentionally started an argument with her child's father in order to get him to return to her home on Midway Avenue after he dropped the
  
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• Ex-Penn St president guilty of 1 count of child endangerment

  24-03-2017 16:26
  
  HARRISBURG - Former Penn State president Graham Spanier has been found guilty of one count of child endangerment over his handling of a child sex abuse complaint against retired assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.Jurors on Friday acquitted the 68-year-old Spanier of the other two counts he faced: conspiracy and another count of child endangermentThe verdict comes more than five years after Sandusky was first charged with sexually abusing children.An investigator told jurors in Spanier's cas
  
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• Church volunteer accused of raping 15-year-old girl

  24-03-2017 14:04
  
  BATON ROUGE – A man faces second-degree rape charges after police say he raped a 15-year-old girl last year.Terry Lee Morgan was charged with second degree rape Friday. He was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.On Nov. 17, Baton Rouge Police were told that a 15-year-old girl had been raped by Morgan. At an interview at a Children’s Advocacy Center, the victim’s mother said Morgan had volunteered with her at a local church.The mother said she remembered s
  
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• Prairieville man dies in Ascension Parish motorcycle crash

  24-03-2017 13:40
  
  GEISMAR – State Police say a Prairieville man has died in a motorcycle crash in Ascension Parish Thursday afternoon.According to Louisiana State Police, the crash took the life of 56-year-old Paul Stephens around 11 p.m. Thursday.Investigators say Stephens was driving a motorcycle westbound on LA 30 east of LA 73 when he tried to pass an 18-wheeler using the center turn lane. Police say Stephens struck a raised divider in the median and was ejected from his motorcycle. He came to rest
  
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• Man indicted on murder charges after parents dismembered

  24-03-2017 13:09
  
  KNOXVILLE - A Louisiana man has been indicted on murder charges after authorities say he killed his parents in their Tennessee home and tried to dissolve their bodies in acid while he was visiting them for Thanksgiving.The Knox County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that a grand jury Wednesday indicted 28-year-old Joel Michael Guy Jr., of Baton Rouge, on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of abusing a corpse and one count of felony murder.Guy is charged in the November deaths of
  
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• Tennessee school bus driver pleads not guilty in deaths

  24-03-2017 13:06
  
  CHATTANOOGA - A Tennessee school bus driver has pleaded not guilty to six counts of vehicular manslaughter in a crash last November that killed six children.WTVC-TV reports that Johnthony Walker was arraigned via video Friday morning in Hamilton County Criminal Court.Walker is also charged with four counts of reckless aggravated assault, one count of reckless endangerment, one count of reckless driving and one count of use of a portable electronic device by a school bus driver.Authorities have s
  
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• Activist speaks to Ascension deputies on race relations

  24-03-2017 12:44
  
  ASCENSION – Community activist Maxine Crump spoke to leaders of the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office on the dialogue of race relations within the community.Sheriff Jeff Wiley invited Crump to start a dialogue to understand the issues around racism and ways of eliminating it within society. Crump also spoke to leaders about how issues such as diversity and equal rights are important in society and also shed light on her non-profit organization, Dialogue on Race Louisiana.The Ascension
  
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• US imposes sanctions on China, North Korea entities, people

  24-03-2017 12:26
  
  WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is imposing sanctions on 30 foreign companies and people from 10 countries, including China.The State Department said Friday that the entities and people contribute to activity that "only serves to escalate regional conflicts further and poses a significant threat to regional security."The statement says that a group of eleven entities and individuals were sanctioned for transfers of sensitive items to Iran's ballistic missile program.The companies included
  
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• Charter Communications to hire 20K workers over 4 years

  24-03-2017 11:43
  
  WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump is praising a plan by cable company Charter Communications to invest $25 billion and hire 20,000 American workers over the next four years.Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Charter Communications CEO Thomas Rutledge joined Trump at the White House for the announcement. Rutledge says that the company will return the call center jobs acquired through Time Warner Cable to the United States, opening a new call center in McAllen, Texas, and hiring 600 workers the
  
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• Two arrested in drug search in Paincourtville

  24-03-2017 11:18
  
  PAINCOURTVILLE – Deputies say two Assumption Parish men were arrested on various narcotics charges after a search in Paincourtville early Thursday morning.According to Sheriff Leland Falcon, Oscar Davis, 41, and Alex Cedotal,52, was arrested after SWAT teams raided a home that was being used to traffic drugs. During the search, agents seized marijuana, methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and body armor.Davis was charged with distribution of marijuana and heroin, possession of marijuana
  
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• Three killed in rural highway crash Friday

  24-03-2017 11:11
  
  GREENSBURG - At least three people died in a car crash along a rural stretch of highway in St. Helena Parish Friday night.Sources told WBRZ, the wreck happened around 9 p.m. on La. 10 about two miles west of Greensburg.  Authorities were still investigating the crash as of this post, and had not release specific information.More will be released overnight or Saturday morning.  Check back for updates.****************Follow the publisher of this post on Twitter: @treyschmaltzPerm
  
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• Trump aide with Russia ties offers to talk to House panel

  24-03-2017 11:02
  
  WASHINGTON - The Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee says former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has volunteered to speak with the panel as part of its ongoing investigation into Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 election.Rep. Devin Nunes of California told reporters that Manafort's counsel contacted the committee Thursday to offer lawmakers the opportunity to interview him.Nunes said he does not know if the interview will take place in a public forum or behind
  
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• Heimlich hero: Video captures student saving friend's life

  24-03-2017 09:29
  
  LA CROSSE - A Wisconsin high school student is being called a hero for using the Heimlich maneuver to rescue a choking friend in the school cafeteria.Video of the incident shows several students at La Crosse's Central High School eating lunch when one of them, Will Olson, begins to choke on a cheese curd. After several seconds his friend, Ian Brown, calmly walks over, put his arms around Olson's abdomen, and presses upward several times before successfully dislodging the food from Olson's airway
  
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• Baton Rouge sued again over protest arrests after Sterling shooting

  24-03-2017 09:18
  
  BATON ROUGE - Law enforcement officials in Louisiana's capital face another federal lawsuit accusing them of violating the rights of protesters arrested after a black man's fatal shooting by police.Attorneys from the Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center in New Orleans filed Thursday's lawsuit on behalf of several Baton Rouge residents arrested after the July 2016 shooting death of Alton Sterling during an altercation with two police officers.The suit claims the arrests were part of a
  
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• Baton Rouge Zoo to host Louisiana Earth Day celebrations

  24-03-2017 08:54
  
  BATON ROUGE – BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo will host the 27th annual Louisiana Earth Day celebrations next month.Louisiana Earth Day will join forces with the Baton Rouge Zoo’s “Party for the Planet” event on April 22. The event will be from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Regular zoo admission fees apply.“We’re excited to partner with the Zoo and offer something new this year for our citizens,” Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome sa
  
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• Disney CEO: 'Last Jedi' not changed due to Fisher's death

  24-03-2017 08:33
  
  SANTA MONICA - Disney CEO Bob Iger says the upcoming "Star Wars" sequel has not been changed due to the death of Carrie Fisher.Fisher completed filming her role as Princess Leia in "The Last Jedi" before her death following a heart attack in December.Iger said in an interview at a University of Southern California tech conference Thursday that Fisher "appears throughout" the film and her performance "remains as it was."Iger says Disney is discussing "what could be another decade and a half of St
  
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• Col. Mike Edmonson's last day as LSP Superintendent

  24-03-2017 07:22
  
  BATON ROUGE – Louisiana State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson will enter retirement Friday afternoon.Col. Edmonson, the longest serving LSP leader in Louisiana’s history, said the move is in the best interest of the state and his family.Edmonson has been with the state police for more than three decades. He was first appointed at LSP Superintendent by former Governor Bobby Jindal in 2008. Governor John Bel Edwards chose to keep him in that position.Concerns had been raise
  
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• Spacewalking astronauts prep station for new parking spot

  24-03-2017 07:01
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL - Astronauts have ventured out on a spacewalk to prep the International Space Station for a new parking spot.NASA's Shane Kimbrough and France's Thomas Pesquet floated out the hatch Friday morning.Their main job 250 miles up involves disconnecting an old docking port. This port needs to be moved, in order to make room for a docking device compatible with future commercial crew capsules. The new port - the second of two - will fly up late this year or early next.If all goes well, f
  
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• Ivanka Trump: A White House force, just not an 'employee'

  24-03-2017 06:56
  
  WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump will have security clearance, a West Wing office and the ear of her father on important policy matters. But don't call her an employee.When it comes to government work, "employee" is more than just a word. That designation triggers transparency and ethical provisions, including a law prohibiting conflicts of interest.Government watchdogs have written a letter to White House counsel Don McGahn expressing concern that she's not been deeme
  
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• Rachel Dolezal struggles after racial identity scandal

  24-03-2017 06:54
  
  SPOKANE - A woman who rose to prominence as a black civil rights leader in Spokane, Washington, and then lost her job when her parents exposed her as white is struggling to make a living these days.Rachel Dolezal says she has been unable to find steady work in the nearly two years since she was outed as a white woman in local media reports.Dolezal tells The Associated Press that she is uncertain about her future and feels she has been treated cruelly.She says she still identifies as black, despi
  
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• Trump administration approves Keystone XL pipeline

  24-03-2017 04:49
  
  WASHINGTON- The Trump administration has issued a presidential permit to pipeline builder TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline.White House press secretary Sean Spicer tweeted that President Donald Trump would discuss the pipeline later Friday morning.The State Department says that it determined that building Keystone serves the U.S. national interest. That's the opposite conclusion to the one the State Department reached during the Obama administration.The State Department says it consi
  
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• London's attacker identified

  24-03-2017 04:43
  
  LONDON - London's top terror officer says Khalid Masood, who attacked Britain's Parliament, killing four people and wounding some 50, was born Adrian Russell Ajao.Counter-terror chief Mark Rowley revealed the name in a briefing Friday outside Scotland Yard in which he also said there've been two more significant arrests.That brings the total number of people in custody for the Wednesday attack to nine.The attacker was born in southeastern England and had most recently been living in the central
  
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• Republican health care bill clears procedural hurdle

  24-03-2017 04:04
  
  WASHINGTON - Republicans have pushed the GOP health care overhaul past an initial procedural hurdle in the House. That moves the chamber toward a climactic final vote that's a big gamble for President Donald Trump and congressional leaders.Friday's procedural vote was 230-194.The early vote inserted changes into the measure that leaders hoped would win over unhappy Republicans. It would improve Medicaid benefits for some older and handicapped people and abolish coverage requirements President Ba
  
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• No move on the Healthcare Bill

  24-03-2017 04:04
  
  WASHINGTON - Words like showdown and make-or-break aptly characterize the hoped-for House vote today on the Republican health care overhaul bill, which has been beset by a rebellion from both moderates and conservatives. President Donald Trump claims he's finished negotiating with GOP holdouts, saying if the bill doesn't pass, President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act will remain in force.Permalink| Comments
  
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• House sets risky health care vote after Trump demands it

  24-03-2017 04:04
  
  WASHINGTON - Republicans have set course for a climactic House vote on their health care overhaul.Their decision came after President Donald Trump claimed he was finished negotiating with GOP holdouts and determined to move on to the rest of his agenda, win or lose.House Speaker Paul Ryan set the showdown for Friday. At a Capitol meeting late Thursday, top White House officials told GOP lawmakers that Trump had decided the time for talk was over.In an embarrassing setback hours earlier, party le
  
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