Baton Rouge news

• Confusing addresses have some Zachary residents asking for change

  23-05-2017 21:59
  
  ZACHARY - If you take a ride down certain roads in Zachary, you will probably notice the street addresses are not in order. East Baton Rouge Parish officials say the issues can cause problems for first responders and delivery drivers.The addresses skip from six digits to four. For residents like Brad Standige, he said the problem is causing frustration."With every delivery, not knowing where to go ... they always give us a call and get confused. They ask if we're the house with the dog kennel or
  
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• Flood victims could qualify for new bathroom, kitchen

  23-05-2017 21:43
  
  BATON ROUGE - Residents struggling to rebuild after the August flood have a chance to apply for extra money to fix their homes.The Restore Louisiana program will even hire a contractor and provide materials. But, it starts with filling out a survey.Flood victims like Danita Pigeon could have a home that feels like new thanks to the government program. She's one of the more than 36,000 people who will have a chance to qualify."It just gives us the good feeling inside that someone's willi
  
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• LSU Baseball vs Missouri rescheduled

  23-05-2017 21:00
  
  HOOVER, Ala. - Following a four-hour game 1 and a 1:46 rain delay during game 2 on Tuesday, the Southeastern Conference was forced to adjust the LSU Baseball team's opening game Wednesday against Missouri.LSU (39-17), which shared the regular-season title at 21-9 in league play, will face No. 10-seed Missouri in the third game of Wednesday's action, estimated to be at 4:30 p.m. CT.  The game was originally scheduled to be the second game of the day.Missouri defeated Texas A&M, 12-7,
  
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• Report: Saints superfan Jarrius released from hospital

  23-05-2017 20:23
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Jarrius Robertson, the smiling, trash-talking Saints superfan has been released from the hospital nearly a month after his successful liver transplant.According to a report from WWL-TV, Ochsner staff lined halls Friday as the 15-year-old walked out of the hospital with his father and brother.Jarrius wanted to let everyone know that his recovery is going well and shared a special message for his fans."Thank you for supporting me, praying for me, and everything," Ja
  
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• Louisiana teenage lifers closer to getting shot at parole

  23-05-2017 19:44
  
  BATON ROUGE - A proposal to give people convicted of murder as teenagers a chance at parole after 30 years is closer to reaching the Louisiana governor's desk.The House voted 82-3 Tuesday in favor of Sen. Dan Claitor's bill banning juvenile life-without-parole sentences in all cases except when a judge deems a first-degree murderer among "the worst of the worst."The Senate, which already passed an earlier version of the bill, must approve the House's changes. Those amendments include changing pa
  
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• Ethics exemption approved for La. State Police leader's son

  23-05-2017 19:43
  
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's anti-nepotism laws will be rewritten to carve out a special exemption for the son of the state police superintendent.A bill that received final passage Tuesday with a 33-4 vote of the Senate will let the son of Col. Kevin Reeves continue working as a state trooper even though he hadn't been with the agency for a full year as required by ethics law.The measure by Rep. Jack McFarland, a Winnfield Republican, will move the employment requirement to four months for a troope
  
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• Uber admits stiffing NYC drivers by millions of dollars

  23-05-2017 19:41
  
  NEW YORK - Uber has admitted to underpaying its New York City drivers tens of millions of dollars for the past 2 1/2 years.The ride-hailing company on Tuesday said each affected driver would get a refund of about $900, which includes interest. Uber did not give a figure on how many drivers it has in the city, but said it was in the tens of thousands.The company says it had mistakenly continued to calculate its commission based on the gross fare, before any taxes and fees were deducted. The compa
  
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• Louisiana same-sex couples denied domestic abuse protections

  23-05-2017 19:03
  
  BATON ROUGE - Lawmakers have voted to have Louisiana remain one of only two states that bar same-sex couples from receiving domestic abuse protections.The Senate voted 17-14 Tuesday against Republican Rep. Patrick Connick's bill, which removes the requirement that the victim be of the opposite sex in order for the act to be considered domestic violence.The proposal can be brought up again before the session ends June 8. The bill had already passed the House 54-42 earlier this month.There was no
  
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• FCC: No punishment for late-night host Colbert's Trump joke

  23-05-2017 19:01
  
  NEW YORK - There will be no fine for Stephen Colbert's risque joke about President Donald Trump.A Federal Communications Commission spokesman said Tuesday that the agency received "thousands" of complaints about the late-night host's May 1 show, so it reviewed the material as "standard operating procedure." It's the FCC's job to police obscene or indecent material on TV when it receives complaints.The agency found that the joke, which involved Trump, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and a crude wor
  
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• House votes to increase TOPS GPA requirement

  23-05-2017 18:44
  
  BATON ROUGE - The Lousiana House of Representatives has voted in favor of a bill that would raise the required grade point average for students looking to earn the TOPS scholarship.The house voted 53-32 in favor of the Bill 117, which would increase the GPA required for students to take advantage of the scholarship from a 2.5 to a 2.75. The bill will now move on to the senate for a vote.On Monday, the Louisiana Senate President told WBRZ that he expects the senate to pass a budget that
  
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• Barge removal started on False River

  23-05-2017 18:11
  
  NEW ROADS - Following a 2 On Your Side report, a crew made the first steps to remove a barge from False River Tuesday.The barge floated onto a woman's property when False River was high in August during the flood. It then tipped over her bulkhead into the water, where it's been ever since.Baton Rouge company Coastal Bridge began dismantling the barge Tuesday morning.Noel Loftus lives along False River. The bottom of the barge faces the back of her home, blocking her view of the water an
  
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• Jonathan Vilma, Carl Nicks to enter Saints Hall of Fame

  23-05-2017 17:10
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Two players on New Orleans' 2009 Super Bowl championship squad, linebacker Jonathan Vilma and guard Carl Nicks, will be the next inductees into the Saints Hall of Fame.Both players joined the Saints in 2008, Nicks as a rookie and Vilma in a trade with the New York Jets.Nicks was an All-Pro blocker for a 2011 offense that gained a single-season NFL record 7,474 yards. Vilma, a four-time captain, was named to Pro Bowls in 2009 and 2010.The new inductees, announced Tuesday, were voted
  
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• BRPD: Man arrested one year after deadly crash on North Boulevard

  23-05-2017 17:02
  
  BATON ROUGE -  Police have announced the arrest of a man in connection to a 2016 crash that left one person dead.According to Baton Rouge Police, the crash occurred around 9:30 p.m. May 21, 2016 in the 3400 block of North Blvd. Police say 54-year-old Bryan Kyzar has been arrested after he allegedly ran a red light and crashed into another vehicle, killing a passenger.Kyzar's Nissan Maxima reportedly drove through an intersection and struck a Mercedes
  
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• APSO: Video shows man burglarizing home on Hoods Ridge Drive

  23-05-2017 16:32
  
  ASCENSION – Deputies are searching for a man who allegedly burglarized a home on Hoods Ridge Drive in Prairieville. The Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office says the burglary occurred on May 22. Surveillance video obtained from the homeowner shows a man wearing a gray sweatshirt and tan pants peering through a window before entering the home.
  The sheriff's office says the man stole several items and was driving a silver Toyota Camry or Corolla.
  Anyone with information on the burg
  
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• EBR Coroner: 8-month-old died of blunt force trauma

  23-05-2017 16:08
  
  BATON ROUGE - Police have launched an investigation after it was determined that an 8-month-old died of blunt force trauma.According to the East Baton Rouge Coroner's Office, 8-monthold Bryaneisha Washington-Dixon died Wednesday, May 17 after sustaining blunt force trauma to her abdomen.The coroner says the manner of the girl's death is still under investigation.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Scotlandville High to honor 17-year-old cancer victim at graduation ceremony

  23-05-2017 14:23
  
  BATON ROUGE - Scotlandville High School will honor one of its students at its graduation ceremony after he passed away over the weekend.Jerome Singleton, a 17-year-old student at Scotlandville High, died Sunday after his battle with an aggressive form of cancer known as Rhabdomyosarcoma. Singleton passed away just days after achieving his dying wish of receiving his high school diploma. The school granted Singleton his diploma a week early due to his condition.Accordin
  
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• Scotlandville High honors 17-year-old cancer victim at graduation ceremony

  23-05-2017 14:23
  
  BATON ROUGE - Scotlandville High School honored one of its students at its graduation ceremony Tuesday after he passed away over the weekend.Jerome Singleton, a 17-year-old student at Scotlandville High, died Sunday after his battle with an aggressive form of cancer known as Rhabdomyosarcoma. Singleton passed away just days after achieving his dying wish of receiving his high school diploma. The school granted Singleton his diploma a week early due to his condition.Acc
  
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• NYC tightens security after concert blast in England

  23-05-2017 13:56
  
  NEW YORK - New York City police say they have tightened security at high-profile locations "out of an abundance of caution" following the deadly explosion in Manchester, England.New York Police Department spokesman J. Peter Donald said in a statement Tuesday that New Yorkers may see "heavy weapons teams," explosive detection dogs and counterterrorism officers.Authorities also are conducting random bag checks at New York City transit locations.Donald says the NYPD Intelligence Bureau "continues t
  
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• Louisiana may extend domestic abuse laws to dating partners

  23-05-2017 13:52
  
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana would extend the protections of its domestic abuse laws to dating partners, under a bill nearing final passage.The proposal by Rep. Helena Moreno, a New Orleans Democrat, would create the crimes of battery of a dating partner and aggravated assault upon a dating partner, with varying penalties.The bill is partly a response to domestic violence incidents involving a state senator who resigned this year rather than face likely removal. Troy Brown pleaded no contest twice to
  
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• Gulf Coast anglers plan protest against fishing limits

  23-05-2017 13:49
  
  ORANGE BEACH - Recreational anglers along the Gulf Coast are planning floating protests against strict federal limits on red snapper fishing.Demonstrations are being organized in fishing ports in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi for June 4.That's the day after the federal three-day fishing season ends for red snapper, one of the region's most popular catches.Federal regulators say the tight limit is needed to protect the fish. But opponents accuse scientists of using flawed science to set the ru
  
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• Bill would toughen abortion consent law for Louisiana minors

  23-05-2017 13:47
  
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana lawmakers are on track to toughen requirements for parental consent when a minor wants to get an abortion.Current law requires a notarized statement from a legal guardian of an unmarried girl under age 18 before a doctor can perform an abortion on the teenager.A proposal from Republican Sen. Beth Mizell of Franklinton would require the guardian also to provide proof of identity, including a government-issued identification card such as a driver's license. The doctor would
  
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• Angelle resigns from Louisiana Public Service Commission

  23-05-2017 13:42
  
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's state utility regulatory board has a vacancy.Scott Angelle resigned Tuesday from his elected seat on the Louisiana Public Service Commission, a job the Republican held since 2013.His resignation came the day he started his new job for the Trump administration, leading the federal agency that regulates offshore oil and gas drilling, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.Gov. John Bel Edwards will have 20 days to appoint someone to temporarily fill the vacant
  
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• Louisiana GOP leaders call for defeat of gas tax increase

  23-05-2017 13:40
  
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's Republican Party leaders are urging state lawmakers to reject a gas tax hike and have chastised GOP legislators who voted for the proposal.The party's governing body, the Republican State Central Committee, narrowly supported a resolution opposing the 17-cent per gallon tax hike at its recent meeting. The resolution was co-sponsored by GOP Chairman Roger Villere.The resolution, provided to The Associated Press by party executive director Bo Staples, calls defeat of the
  
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• One in custody after pursuit from LSU campus

  23-05-2017 13:38
  
  BATON ROUGE – One person is in custody after a pursuit with police which started at LSU's campus.The pursuit happened on Tuesday near Highland Road, Thomas Delpit Drive and East Buchanan Street.According to LSUPD, officers tried to stop a car for speeding when the car fled. The driver of the car stopped and fled on foot, while the passenger of the car remained and was taken into custody.Police are still searching for the driver.BRPD assisted LSUPD in the situation. Th
  
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• 2 escape house fire on Woodglynn Drive

  23-05-2017 13:22
  
  BATON ROUGE – Two people were able to escape a house fire caused by unattended cooking in the 3200 block of Woodglynn Drive on Tuesday morning.The fire occurred around 9:45 a.m. and the two occupants of the home were able to escape before firefighters arrived, the Baton Rouge Fire Department says.
  The fire destroyed the kitchen and living room of the home. The rest of the home received heavy smoke and heat damage. BRFD determined the fire was caused by unattended cooking on th
  
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• 'Fly the flag'? Mississippi city split on Confederate emblem

  23-05-2017 13:12
  
  BILOXI - A city on the Mississippi Gulf Coast is the latest front line in the debate over the public display of Confederate symbols in the American South.The mayor of Biloxi, Mississippi, ordered the state flag removed from city buildings in late April because it includes the Confederate battle emblem. That has sparked protest and praise in the city with a racially diverse population.The Confederate battle emblem has caused a rift for generations between those who say it represents Southern heri
  
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• New Orleans man found dead in a trash can was stabbed

  23-05-2017 13:09
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A garbage collector emptying a trash can in New Orleans discovered a man's body inside.Authorities say he had been stabbed multiple times.New Orleans police spokeswoman Dawne Massey says the garbage collector discovered the body while emptying a city-issued trash can into a garbage truck about 9:30 a.m. Monday.NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports police announced that the death is being investigated as a homicide.The Orleans Parish Coroner's Office has not released the victim's iden
  
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• Condemned church shooter Roof seeks appellate court mercy

  23-05-2017 13:09
  
  COLUMBIA - A white supremacist sentenced to death for killing nine worshippers in a racist attack at a Charleston church has petitioned an appeals court for mercy.Attorneys for Dylann Roof filed notice Tuesday they were appealing his conviction and sentence to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.Earlier this month, the federal judge who presided over Roof's trial rejected his first appeal, ruling the conviction and death sentence for the June 2015 massacre at Emanuel AME church should stand.Ro
  
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• Black caucus: White rep should resign over lynch comment

  23-05-2017 13:07
  
  JACKSON, Miss. - Black lawmakers in Mississippi are demanding the resignation of a white colleague who said Louisiana leaders should be lynched for removing Confederate monuments.Republican Rep. Karl Oliver apologized for Monday for referring to lynching in a Facebook post Saturday. Oliver also removed the post from Facebook at about the time he apologized.On Tuesday, the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus issued a statement saying Oliver's apology does not mitigate the sentiment behind his or
  
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• Funeral arrangements made for victims of Sorrento crash

  23-05-2017 12:59
  
  SORRENTO – Funeral services have been arranged for two of the three victims of a deadly Sorrento crash that occurred last week on Airline Highway.The crash happened on May 18 just south of LA 22 and took the lives of 23-year-old Thomas Jones, 22-year-old Austin Kiernan and 19-year-old Sydney Persac.Investigators say the group was traveling northbound on Airline Highway when the vehilce ran off the right side of the road and struck an embankment. The vehicle became airborne and struck a
  
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• Louisiana leaders blast Trump budget proposal

  23-05-2017 12:30
  
  BATON ROUGE – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) called President Donald Trump’s budget proposal a “nonstarter.” He was joined by Rep. Cedric Richmond Tuesday morning blasting the proposal.“Taking funding away from Louisiana’s coastline is a nonstarter,” Cassidy said. “Our state’s future depends on this funding to rebuild our coastline.”Cassidy said there are deal breakers in the current budget, in
  
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• Emerald weighing more than 600 pounds found in Brazil

  23-05-2017 12:30
  
  SAO PAULO - Miners have found a 4.3-foot tall emerald weighing more than 600 pounds in Brazil's northeastern state of Bahia.Paulo Santana of Brazil's National Mineral Production Department said the emerald was found about 20 days ago by miners of the Bahia Mineral Cooperative.He would not estimate the emerald's value. It was sold to a mine owner in the region.The buyer's lawyer, Marcio Jandir, said by telephone his client wants to exhibit the emerald in museums and libraries.Jandir did not revea
  
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• Parts of I-10 east to close for first weekend of June

  23-05-2017 12:02
  
  SORRENTO – Both eastbound lanes on I-10 will be closed for the first weekend of June.According to DOTD, the closure will start Friday, June 2 at 9 p.m. and will last until 5 a.m. Monday, June 5 where I-10 intersects with Airline Highway. The closure is needed to install a repaired section of the bridge for the westbound on-ramp.Drivers will be required to detour onto Airline Highway then proceed to LA 641 to get back onto I-10.“DOTD appreciates your patience and reminds you t
  
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• US new-home sales fell 11.4 percent in April, most in 2 yrs

  23-05-2017 09:47
  
  WASHINGTON - U.S. sales of new homes last month registered the biggest drop in more than two years.The Commerce Department says new-home sales skidded 11.4 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 569,000. It was the biggest monthly drop since March 2015.Economists had expected a more modest retreat from March sales of 642,000, which were the highest since October 2007. Sales in April were still up 0.5 percent from a year earlier.Sales fell in every region, led by a 26.3 percent
  
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• Report: 'James Bond' star Roger Moore dead at 89

  23-05-2017 08:36
  
  Sir Roger Moore, the star of the “James Bond” franchise in the 1970s and 1880s, has died at the age of 89 years old.According to ABC News, the announcement was made via the star’s Twitter account."With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated," his family tweeted.With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are a
  
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• Spacewalking astronauts tackle urgent station repairs

  23-05-2017 08:31
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL - Spacewalking astronauts are making urgent repairs at the International Space Station.Commander Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer went out Tuesday morning, three days after a critical relay box abruptly stopped working. Even though a second unit managed the data load just fine, NASA scrambled to put together a spacewalk in order to restore backup capability. The system is vital for operating the station's solar panels, radiators and robotic equipment.The failed data-relay box was ju
  
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• Police find Nazi items, explosives during murder probe

  23-05-2017 08:24
  
  Authorities say investigators found white supremacist propaganda, bomb-making materials and a framed photograph of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh at a Florida apartment where a teenager killed two roommates who once shared his neo-Nazi beliefs before he converted to Islam.According to police and FBI reports released Monday 18-year-old Devon Arthurs led police to the two bodies inside his Tampa apartment last Friday, saying he killed them after they disrespected his new faith.A fourth roomm
  
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• Brennan warned Russian against election meddling

  23-05-2017 08:21
  
  WASHINGTON - Former CIA Director John Brennan says he warned Russia against meddling in the presidential election during a call to the head of the Russian intelligence service on Aug. 4.Brennan told the House intelligence committee on Tuesday that he was the first U.S. official to call out the Russians for their activities. Brennan says he told the head of the FSB that if Russia continued to interfere, it would backfire and prevent any warming of relations.He says the Russian intelligence offici
  
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• Trump condemns Holocaust as 'the most savage crime'

  23-05-2017 08:17
  
  JERUSALEM - President Donald Trump paid a short visit to Israel's national Holocaust memorial on Tuesday, calling the Nazi extermination of 6 million Jews "the most savage crime against God and his children" during the most sensitive stop on his two-day visit to Israel.
  Trump had come under criticism in some quarters for planning just a brief half-hour stop at Yad Vashem, following a series of missteps by his administration on issues of concern to the Jewish American community, including the Hol
  
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• New roller coaster replaces the one Sandy plunged into sea

  23-05-2017 08:15
  
  SEASIDE HEIGHTS - Nearly five years after Superstorm Sandy plunged a roller coaster into the sea in what became one of the storm's most enduring images, the ride has been replaced - safely inland this time.
  Hydrus opened this month at the Casino Pier amusement park, built above the beach rather than out over the water to prevent another catastrophe.And it's not only thrilling riders; it's also raising spirits in a section of the Jersey shore where not everything is yet back to normal after Sandy
  
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• Man accused of rape, child endangerment

  23-05-2017 07:47
  
  BATON ROUGE – Baton Rouge Police say a man is accused of raping a woman while her three children were inside the home Monday.Stephonne Ladale Lewis Jr. was charged with second-degree rape and domestic abuse battery/ child endangerment. He was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Monday.According to the affidavit of probable cause, Lewis was upset with the woman Monday morning because he believed she was cheating on him. The woman said she went to her bedroom and undressed to
  
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• Teen accused of setting fire to items in Central High concession stand

  23-05-2017 07:16
  
  CENTRAL - Deputies say a teen faces a slew of charges after he allegedly broke into the Central High School baseball concession stand and set fire to some items last month.Cole Allen, 18, was charged with burglary, simple arson, simple criminal damage to property, four counts of simple burglary and theft of a firearm. He was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Monday.According to the probable cause form, the crime happened overnight between April 22 and April 23 at the Centra
  
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