Baton Rouge news

• Gradual increase in Louisiana gas tax might attract support, sponsor says

  24-05-2017 22:30
  
  Republican lawmaker working to drum up votes in the House
  
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• Lawmaker delays vote on Louisiana gas tax hike

  24-05-2017 21:23
  
  BATON ROUGE - A Louisiana lawmaker pushing to increase Louisiana's gas tax is urging his House colleagues to consider the proposal, which so far doesn't have enough votes to win passage.
   Republican Rep. Steve Carter, of Baton Rouge, delayed a scheduled vote on the tax hike bill until next week.
   On Wednesday night, he told the House the tax increase - which would raise more than $500 million a year for transportation work - would help fix Louisiana's crumbling road and bridges
  
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• Mike Pence visits Louisiana flood victims he met last year

  24-05-2017 20:05
  
  Vice president in Baton Rouge area to hear from business people
  
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• Victim struck in head by ricochet bullet at BR firing range

  24-05-2017 18:50
  
  BATON ROUGE - One person was hospitalized after being struck in the head by a ricochet bullet at a firing range Wednesday.The incident was reported around 6:30 p.m. at the Precision Firearms firing range. According to authorities, one person was hurt when a bullet ricocheted and struck the victim in the head.Sources say the victim was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.We will update this story with more information as it becomes available.Permalink| Comments
  
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• LPSO: 21 arrested in Walker drug busts

  24-05-2017 18:09
  
  WALKER - The Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office has announced the arrest of 21 individuals who were detained in multiple drug busts Tuesday.According to Sheriff Jason Ard, LPSO worked with several other agencies to complete "Operation Wildcat", which involved executing a series of search warrants in Walker. As a result of the operation, $17,000 worth of illegal drugs and several firearms were seized and removed from the streets of Livingston Parish.Agents retrieved 400 grams of marijuana, 400 pr
  
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• Police: Livingston Parish man admits to possession of child pornography

  24-05-2017 17:28
  
  LIVINGSTON – A Livingston Parish man was arrested on Wednesday after investigators say he admitted to possession of child pornography.The Louisiana State Police Bureau of Investigations – Special Victims Unit arrested 47-year-old Leonard Hulsey for charges related to the distribution of images of child pornography.Investigators executed a search warrant at a home on Paul Bay Road in Livingston. As a result of the search, a suspect was identified and believed to be at a hotel
  
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• Concerned over construction project handling

  24-05-2017 17:16
  
  BATON ROUGE - Residents along Wartelle Ave. at Tara Blvd are concerned over how a Baton Rouge sewer project is being handled. Suzie Adler says along with her neighbors, she's been left in the dark about what's happening and their properties have been damaged. Adler is also worried about the safety of residents, who walk in the area while workers are moving heavy machinery.The City-Parish hired Grady Crawford to do this project and a number of others. The project along Wartelle Ave. incl
  
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• Nextdoor partners with FEMA for targeted emergency updates

  24-05-2017 16:57
  
  BATON ROUGE – Nextdoor, the neighborhood social network, announced a national partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in efforts to give emergency updates to users easily. FEMA will use Nextdoor to help local neighborhoods prepare for, protest against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards, according to the company. The partnership will allow for FEMA to deliver local, targeted emergency disaster messages and information to Nextdoor network users d
  
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• BRPD dealing with fewer applicants, increase in open positions

  24-05-2017 16:23
  
  BATON ROUGE- The Baton Rouge Police Department is trying to fill 54 open positions that are currently available. It comes at a time when applications to become a Baton Rouge Police Officer are down, which recruiters say is a national trend.
  Pay is one of the biggest challenges. Smaller departments are paying more than the starting $32,979 that a Baton Rouge Police graduate makes during their first year.
  A number of graduates from the 83rd academy recently finished this year despite all of the ch
  
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• Attorneys for Alton Sterling's family demand firing of officers

  24-05-2017 16:17
  
  BATON ROUGE – Attorneys for family members of Alton Sterling sent a letter to the Baton Rouge Police Department on Wednesday demanding the firing of the two officers involved in the shooting death of Sterling.The letter is addressed to BRPD Chief Carl Dabadie and Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome. The letter "demands the immediate termination" of Officer Blane Salamoni and Officer Howie Lake II from the police department. The demand stems from the family's meeting with the
  
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• Man stalked ex-girlfriend while living in her attic, arrested in Baton Rouge

  24-05-2017 16:13
  
  BATON ROUGE - A man was arrested Wednesday after he stalked his ex-girlfriend from her attic and attacked her earlier this month.According to the Lafouche Parish Sheriff's Office, 21-year-old Taylor Broussard was arrested in Baton Rouge Wednesday after he attacked his ex-girlfriend in her Larose home. The sheriff's office says Broussard forced his way into the home and attacked the victim on May 3. Broussard allegedly got into an argument with the victim before striking her and
  
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• BRPD seeking contractor accused of fraud

  24-05-2017 15:36
  
  BATON ROUGE - Police are seeking a contractor accused of taking thousands of dollars from a woman without completing work on her home.According to Baton Rouge Police, 45-year-old Darrell Cager allegedly entered an agreement with the 60-year-old victim to renovate parts of her home along with a separate family home. The victim told police that she initially paid Cager around $27,535 for materials and labor cost.  The victim said that Cager later contacted her again and said he needed add
  
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• Rubberneckers cause crash as motorcade winds through Baton Rouge

  24-05-2017 14:59
  
  BATON ROUGE – People sustained minor injuries after a crash likely caused by rubbernecking on I-110 Wednesday as the Vice President of the United States' motorcade drove through Baton Rouge.Vice President Pence was in the area for an event in Port Allen. The motorcade was traveling from the westside to the Baton Rouge airport on I-110 when the wreck happened around 3 p.m.The crash blocked lanes on I-110 North near the airport exit. The Vice President arrived and departed on Air Force 2
  
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• Gov. Edwards outlines state's concerns in letter to VP Pence

  24-05-2017 14:56
  
  BATON ROUGE - Governor John Bel Edwards greeted Vice President Mike Pence with a letter in-hand as he landed in Baton Rouge Wednesday.Upon his arrival, the governor presented the vice president with the letter which outlined areas of concern for the state in relation to President Trump's recently released budget.Edwards focused on Louisiana's medicaid expansion in particular, citing Pence's own decision to expand medicaid for Indiana during his tenure as governor."I shared my concerns with the V
  
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• Raising Cane's donates $100,000 to pet therapy program

  24-05-2017 14:43
  
  BATON ROUGE – Raising Cane's donated $100,000 to Pet Partners, the nation's leading pet therapy organization.The donation is the result of the restaurant company's sale of 10,000 commemorative plush puppies honoring the life and service of Cane II, Raising Cane's beloved mascot who died in November at 16 years old.Cane II volunteered locally through Pet Partners' local affiliate Tiger HATS, a program of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, and visited local hospitals like Our Lady of
  
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• Louisiana senate rejects minimum wage increase

  24-05-2017 14:42
  
  BATON ROUGE - Gov. John Bel Edwards' push to raise Louisiana's minimum wage has sputtered again in the Senate, leaving the state's lowest-wage workers to be paid at the federal rate of $7.25 per hour.The Senate Finance Committee voted 7-3 Wednesday against the proposal sponsored by Sen. Troy Carter, a New Orleans Democrat. The vote split along party lines, with Democrats supporting the wage hike and Republicans opposing it.Carter's bill would have boosted the minimum wage to $8 per hour in 2018
  
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• Council on Aging: 'Mistakes have been made' but issues will be fixed

  24-05-2017 14:38
  
  BATON ROUGE – A new member of the EBR Council on Aging's oversight board said mistakes have been made in the agency's operation, but the board will work harder to make sure procedures are followed.Jennifer Moisant, the new chairwoman of the COA board, acknowledged the mistakes in a letter to taxpayers.The Council has drawn additional scrutiny since a controversial property tax was narrowly approved in 2016 to fund services for the elderly.The tax passed amid a scandal involvin
  
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• Police: Mississippi man locked disabled child in hot car to punish mom

  24-05-2017 14:28
  
  COLUMBUS, Miss. - A Mississippi man is under arrest on a felony child abuse charge after police say he purposefully locked a disabled child in a hot car to punish the girl's mother.Thirty-one-year-old Brandon Windham was arrested last Thursday after witnesses said he walked away from a car with a girl inside. The Clarion-Ledger reports that the heat index was 90 degrees at the time.The child, who is between 6 and 10, is disabled and wasn't able to free herself. She was stuck for 10 to 20 minutes
  
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• House OKs bill making nude photo sharing in military a crime

  24-05-2017 14:25
  
  WASHINGTON - The House has unanimously approved legislation that makes it a crime for U.S. service members to distribute intimate photos or videos of people without first getting their consent.The measure is a direct response to a nude-photo sharing scandal that has rocked the Marine Corps. Lawmakers voted 418-0 to pass the bill Wednesday.The scandal came to light after it was discovered that sexually explicit photos of female and male Marines were being shared on a secret Facebook page.Rep. Mar
  
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• NBA All-Star game coming to Charlotte in 2019

  24-05-2017 13:57
  
  CHARLOTTE - The NBA All-Star game will be coming to Charlotte in 2019, two years after the city was to host the event.The NBA announced Wednesday the game will be played at Spectrum Center, home of the Charlotte Hornets.The All-Star game had been set for Charlotte last February, but the NBA moved the game to New Orleans because of the state law restricting the rights of LGBT people.NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a release that while he understands the concerns of those who say the repeal o
  
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• GOP lawmaker says partisanship clouding gas tax debate

  24-05-2017 13:51
  
  BATON ROUGE - A Louisiana Republican lawmaker chastised by her party's leaders for supporting a gas tax increase has shot back that the GOP effort to kill the bill is short-sighted partisanship.Rep. Julie Stokes, a Kenner Republican, said in a statement that "partisanship and election posturing are clouding the real debate" over crumbling roads and bridges in Louisiana.Stokes' comments came after the state GOP governing body, the Republican State Central Committee, voted to oppose the 17-cent ga
  
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• Services planned for 6-year-old Mississippi boy shot to death after car theft

  24-05-2017 12:51
  
  CANTON - Services have been set for a 6-year-old boy shot to death after a car theft outside a Jackson grocery store.WLBT-TV reports that a celebration of life for Kingston Frazier is planned for noon Friday at Morning Star Baptist Church.Byron McBride Jr.; Dwan Wakefield Jr.; and D'Allen Washington are charged with capital murder in the case.Frazier was asleep in the back of his mother's car when it was stolen last week.Court papers show Wakefield told investigators McBride stole the car and sh
  
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• North Baton Rouge businesses pitch to investors for chance at check

  24-05-2017 12:39
  
  BATON ROUGE - Entrepreneurs in North Baton Rouge got a chance to learn from the pros as part of a workshop aimed at bolstering businesses in the area.The goal of "Conscious Capitalism Bootcamp" is "planting new seeds of prosperity in North Baton Rouge.""The bootcamp is sort of a look into, what does it mean to be a business that is built for more than just makin gmoney," founder Jeff Cherry said.An all-day event, entrepreneurs learned new techniques to help their businesses thrive and add new li
  
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• Suspect in Times Square car crash that killed 1 is indicted

  24-05-2017 12:07
  
  NEW YORK - A man accused of intentionally mowing down pedestrians with his car on a Times Square sidewalk has been indicted by a grand jury.Twenty-six-year-old Richard Rojas did not appear in court in Manhattan on Wednesday and the charges have not yet been made public. He was previously arrested on charges of murder and attempted murder.Authorities say the Bronx man acknowledged being high on drugs when he plowed through a pedestrian-packed sidewalk for three blocks May 18 before crashing a bar
  
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• Budget office to gauge health bill effect on coverage, cost

  24-05-2017 07:25
  
  WASHINGTON - The Congressional Budget Office plans to release its estimate Wednesday of what impact the Republican House-passed health care bill would have on coverage and premiums.
  The report could give talking points to House Republicans for their bill, or to Democrats who voted unanimously against it.For GOP senators holding private meetings to sketch out their own legislation, the report's figures could serve as a starting point as they consider changing the House's Medicaid cuts, tax credit
  
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• Playboy model who shot nude of unwitting woman due in court

  24-05-2017 07:23
  
  LOS ANGELES - A Playboy centerfold who snapped a photo of a naked 71-year-old woman in a gym locker room and posted it on social media mocking the woman's body is expected to appear in court to resolve a criminal charge.A lawyer for Dani Mathers said she's planning to show up at a hearing Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.The 2015 Playmate of the Year faces a misdemeanor charge of invasion of privacy for posting the photo on Snapchat with a caption saying she couldn't "unsee" the image.Def
  
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• Trump's food stamp cuts face hard sell in Congress

  24-05-2017 07:20
  
  WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's budget builds on more than two decades of Republican efforts to cut food stamps.
  With Republican majorities in the House and Senate, conservatives who have pushed for the cuts are hoping they can rein in the program's $70 billion cost.But making changes has always proved a hard sell, especially in the Senate, where lawmakers have been hesitant to slash what is supposed to be a temporary safety net for Americans who find themselves unable to adequately feed t
  
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• British Police make arrest in the Manchester deadly attack

  24-05-2017 06:32
  
  British police and intelligence agencies arrested three more suspects in connection to the Manchester suicide bombing Wednesday. Investigators say they worked to piece together the allegiances of the bomber and foil any new potential threats.Manchester health officials have raised the number of wounded in the concert bombing, saying 119 people sought medical treatment at the city's hospitals after the suicide attack Monday night.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Scott Angelle resigns Louisiana Public Service Commission for federal job

  24-05-2017 02:25
  
  He'll lead the Trump administration agency that regulates offshore oil and gas drilling
  
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• Louisiana gas tax increase panned by Republican leaders

  24-05-2017 02:00
  
  Four Republicans voted in committee for 17-cent-a-gallon hike; full House to consider it
  
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• Mike Pence flies into Baton Rouge on Wednesday to meet with business operators

  24-05-2017 01:12
  
  Vice president wants to hear about health care, creating jobs, economy, White House says
  
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