Baton Rouge news

• Texas House rejects attempts to strengthen 'bathroom bill'

  26-05-2017 20:56
  
  AUSTIN, Texas - Texas' Republican House speaker says he won't work anymore on a "bathroom bill" targeting transgender people, putting the hotly debated legislation in jeopardy.
   House Speaker Joe Straus said Friday it was "absurd" how much time lawmakers have spent prioritizing efforts to pass a North Carolina-style law that would restrict bathroom rules for transgender people.
   The Texas Legislature adjourns Monday, and the defiance from the House again raises the prospects of
  
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• 22 candidates vying for US Rep. Chaffetz's seat

  26-05-2017 20:45
  
  SALT LAKE CITY - Nearly two dozen candidates are competing for the Utah congressional seat that U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz will soon vacate.
   State lawmakers and a mayor are among those expected to lead the packed field that met Friday's filing deadline for most candidates.
   Fifteen Republicans, four Democrats, one Libertarian and two independents are running.
   Republican state Sen. Deidre Henderson could be a key candidate. She's served in the Legislature since 2013 and
  
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• Power outages caused by accident involving electrical pole

  26-05-2017 20:07
  
  BATON ROUGE - Hundreds of people were without power after a car crashed into a utility pole.The crash happened around 7:45 p.m. on Florida Blvd. near Airline Hwy.According to a BRPD spokesperson, one vehicle was involved in the crash, hitting a utility pole. The spokesperson said there were no major injuries in the crash, if any.Around 8:00 p.m., about 900 Entergy customers are without power in the area surrounding the crash, according to a map of outages. That map can be seen here.As of 9:30 p.
  
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• New Orleans jail employee arrested in smuggling case

  26-05-2017 19:44
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A 23-year-old employee at the New Orleans jail has been arrested for trying to smuggle heroin and other drugs into the facility for an inmate.
   The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office says Ciboney Parker was arrested early Friday at the Orleans Justice Center, where she worked. She faces charges of possession with intent to distribute heroin, possession of Schedule IV drugs (tramadol) and bringing contraband into a correctional facility. Bond was set at $7,000.
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• BRPD searching for suspects in Park Forest vehicle burglaries

  26-05-2017 18:02
  
  BATON ROUGE – Baton Rouge Police detectives are trying to identify suspects who have been burglarizing vehicles in the Park Forest neighborhood since the beginning of the year.According to BRPD, the burglaries have occurred at night and to unlocked vehicles.Anyone with information on the suspects are urged to call the BRPD burglary division at 389-3824.It is not clear at the time of this post if the vehicle burglaries are connected to the 13 reported burglaries in the Round Oak and Wat
  
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• Hospital CEO brings $6M check to pay debts to budget hearing

  26-05-2017 17:32
  
  BATON ROUGE - The operator of two Louisiana state-owned hospitals is again in a dispute with Louisiana State University's medical school over unpaid debts.The disagreement spilled out into a Senate Finance Committee budget hearing Friday, with the CEO of the hospitals handing over a $6 million check to LSU in front of stunned senators. The chairman of the committee called it pathetic.G.E. Ghali, chancellor of LSU Health Sciences Shreveport, told senators the medical school was owed $12 million f
  
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• Recognizing National EMS Week

  26-05-2017 17:09
  
  BATON ROUGE - Paramedics working countless hours in the community are recognized for doing what they do best. This week marks National EMS Week.Friday, WBRZ joined an EMS crew in the middle of their shift as it responded to calls around East Baton Rouge Parish. The ride-along included a possible drug overdose and unresponsive calls.Knowing when to call for EMS can help save a life. Knowing when not to call EMS can also save lives.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Area Chipotle stores part of data breach; Here's what you need to know

  26-05-2017 17:05
  
  BATON ROUGE – Area locations of Chipotle Mexican Grill were affected by a breach of the company's file of cards used by customers to pay for meals.Malware searched for data that may have contained cardholder names, card numbers, expiration date and internal verification codes. The information is recorded by the magnetic stripe of a payment card as someone is buying a meal.The company said the malware has been removed and asked customers to monitor their credit card statements for unaut
  
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• Man, 44, arrested in Manchester bombing inquiry

  26-05-2017 15:33
  
  MANCHESTER, England - British police say a 44-year-old man has been arrested in Manchester in connection with the suicide bombing at an arena in the city that killed 22 people.Greater Manchester Police said the man was detained Friday night in Rusholme, an inner city area of Manchester, "on suspicion of offenses contrary to the terrorism act."A police statement didn't provide any details about why the man was arrested, but noted that the department's investigation of Monday's bombing after an Ar
  
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• S.C. officials investigate photos of gator forced to drink beer

  26-05-2017 14:43
  
  COLUMBIA - South Carolina wildlife authorities are investigating after photos circulated online showing beer being poured down a young alligator's throat.State Department of Natural Resources Kyndel McConchie says charges are expected on Friday.It's unclear what the charges will be, but alligators are federally protected animals. State law makes it illegal to feed an alligator or capture one without a permit.McConchie says the animal is clearly not being handled properly, as the photos show the
  
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• New 'Blue Lives Matter' laws raise concerns among activists

  26-05-2017 14:36
  
  JEFFERSON CITY - More than a dozen states this year have passed "Blue Lives Matter" laws that come down even harder on crimes against law enforcement officers. The new laws came in reaction to a spike in deadly attacks on police last year.
  Some civil rights activists say the measures could set back community relations with police. They fear the laws could also undermine the Black Lives Matter movement aimed at curbing the use of deadly force against black people by police.Nearly all states alrea
  
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• Louisiana considers altering, killing marriage-license bill

  26-05-2017 14:34
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Lawyers and lawmakers are ramping up efforts to alter or kill the Louisiana law that kept a foreign-born U.S. citizen from getting a marriage license because he couldn't produce a birth certificate.A Senate committee is scheduled on Tuesday to hear a bill that would allow judges to waive the birth certificate requirement.A federal judge temporarily blocked the law in March; earlier this week, lawyers for Viet Anh Vo asked the judge to permanently block it.Vo's lawyer says the court
  
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• Police arrest man after drugs, malnourished dogs found

  26-05-2017 14:16
  
  BATON ROUGE – A man was arrested after officers found several drugs and five malnourished dogs at his home.The Baton Rouge Police Department arrested 42-year-old Rodrigus Holmes on charges of possession with intent to distribute schedule I drugs, possession of schedule II drugs, possession with intent to distribute schedule II drugs, felon in possession of a firearm and animal cruelty.Detectives executed a search warrant on Holmes' residence on May 25 around 9:30 a.m. to find Holmes in
  
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• Man accused of Sunday morning apartment shooting

  26-05-2017 13:45
  
  BATON ROUGE – Police say a man faces multiple attempted murder charges after a shooting early Sunday morning.Gerald Dewayne Jones, 21, was charged with illegal use of a weapon and three counts of attempted first-degree murder. He was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Thursday.According to the affidavit for arrest warrant, Baton Rouge Police were dispatched around 1:10 a.m. to an apartment complex off Dawson Drive. At the scene, police found three victims, two men and one w
  
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• Man accused of March apartment shooting

  26-05-2017 13:45
  
  BATON ROUGE – Police say a man faces multiple attempted murder charges after a shooting on March 21. Gerald Dewayne Jones, 21, was charged with illegal use of a weapon and three counts of attempted first-degree murder. He was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Thursday.According to the affidavit for arrest warrant, Baton Rouge Police were dispatched around 1:10 a.m. to an apartment complex off Dawson Drive. At the scene, police found three victims, two men and one
  
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• Angola inmate charged with beating cellmate to death

  26-05-2017 13:27
  
  ANGOLA- A prisoner at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola is facing murder charges in the alleged beating death of his cellmate, one in a string of inmate-on-inmate attacks at the facility.The Advocate reports 37-year-old Wilbert Carter was rebooked on a count of second-degree murder in the death of 62-year-old Willie Brunner.West Feliciana Parish District Attorney Sam D'Aquilla says jailers found Brunner - who was serving a life sentence for a 1983 killing - March 24 on the floor of his
  
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• Three rescued from water off Dauphin Island

  26-05-2017 13:11
  
  ALABAMA – Three people were rescued after their water craft capsized 12 miles south of Dauphin Island, Alabama.The Coast Guard and the Alabama Department of Marine Resources conducted the rescue after receiving reports of a collision between a catamaran with four people aboard and a recreational water craft with three people aboard.The recreational water craft capsized and threw the three people aboard into the water.The Alabama Department of Marine Resources boat crew recovered the th
  
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• Stable gas prices expected to boost Memorial Day road trips

  26-05-2017 13:04
  
  Stable gasoline prices are expected to fuel a slight increase in long trips this Memorial Day weekend.The AAA auto club predicts that 39 million Americans will make a trip of at least 50 miles this weekend, up 2.7 percent from the same holiday last year.The nationwide average price for a gallon of regular on Friday was $2.37. That's unchanged from early January. In recent years, prices have risen 35 to 70 cents per gallon heading into Memorial Day, says Patrick DeHaan, an analyst for the price-c
  
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• Video shows man who stole computer equipment from bank

  26-05-2017 12:58
  
  BATON ROUGE – The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office is searching for a man who deputies say stole computer equipment from the Iberia Bank Financial Center located at 11130 Industriplex Boulevard.According to the sheriff's office, the incident occurred on May 9 around 3 a.m.Iberia Bank surveillance cameras captured the man looking into the building through the glass front doors. Minutes later, surveillance video showed the man carrying stolen computer equipment from inside the building
  
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• Sheriff: It's 'hard to hide' swan statue stolen by naked Florida man

  26-05-2017 12:53
  
  LAKELAND - Surveillance video shows a naked man driving away from a Florida storage center in a stolen pickup truck loaded with a statue of a large, black and white checkered swan.Now deputies are looking for the swan that was stolen last weekend. In a Facebook posting Thursday, Polk County Sheriff's officials said they know "it's got to be hard to hide one of these," adding, "Someone has seen it."Investigators say they've found the truck that was reported stolen in a nearby county, but they sti
  
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• EBRSO: Group sought in string of vehicle burglaries in south BR

  26-05-2017 12:41
  
  BATON ROUGE – East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office detectives are searching for a group of men wanted for burglarizing several vehicles in south Baton Rouge.The burglaries occurred in the Round Oak and Waterloo Subdivisions on the morning of May 25.According to the sheriff's office, 13 vehicles were left unlocked and were burglarized.Anyone with information on the string of burglaries or the identity of the suspects is asked to call the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office at 225-389-5064. T
  
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• Muslim man sues Little Caesars over pizza labeled 'halal'

  26-05-2017 12:23
  
  DEARBORN - A Muslim man who says Little Caesars served him a pizza with pepperoni made with pork has filed a lawsuit seeking $100 million.The Detroit Free Press reportsthe lawsuit filed Thursday in Wayne County Circuit Court says the pizza sold in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn was labeled "halal," meaning it shouldn't contain pork and would be prepared in a way that follows Islamic law.A Little Caesars statement says the chain "cherishes our customers from all religions and cultures" and believ
  
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• Kaine's son, 7 others, charged in protest of pro-Trump event

  26-05-2017 12:04
  
  ST. PAUL, Minn. - U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine's youngest son was among eight people charged for allegedly disrupting a March rally in support of President Donald Trump.
   Linwood "Woody" Kaine, of Minneapolis, was charged Friday with one gross misdemeanor count of obstructing the legal process and misdemeanor counts of fleeing on foot and concealing his identity in public.
   Seven other people were also charged, including two with felonies.
   A criminal complaint says Kaine and o
  
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• WANTED: woman accused of using stolen credit card number

  26-05-2017 09:14
  
  BATON ROUGE – Detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify a woman accused of using a stolen credit card at a Baton Rouge convenience store.According to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, a North Louisiana man reported that his credit card was used to purchase $238.54 worth of candy and cigarettes in the Baton Rouge area. The man said he still had the credit card in his possession and the information was possibly stolen using a skimmer.Detectives describ
  
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• Alabama executes Tommy Arthur for murder-for-hire; final words: 'I'm sorry I failed you'

  26-05-2017 08:20
  
  On Feb. 1, 1982, police found Troy Wicker Jr., of Muscle Shoals, shot to death in his bed -- a gunshot wound to his right eye.
  
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• Lawyer says Kushner willing to cooperate with investigators

  26-05-2017 08:02
  
  WASHINGTON - A lawyer for President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser says Jared Kushner is willing to cooperate with federal investigators looking into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.News media report that the FBI is investigating meetings Kushner had in December with Russian officials.In a statement issued Thursday, attorney Jamie Gorelick says Kushner previously volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about these meetings. Gorelick says Kushner will do the same if he
  
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• Trump budget dismays families hit by opioid addiction crisis

  26-05-2017 07:51
  
  NEW YORK - President Donald Trump's budget proposal weakens insurance coverage for drug addiction treatment and cuts back funding for research and prevention programs.Some see that as a betrayal of those who trusted his campaign pledge to make the opioid epidemic a top priority. Those most frustrated include parents of those lost to the epidemic who shared their stories directly with Trump before and after the election.Cuts to Medicaid worry advocates most because the program covers an estimated
  
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• Gianforte apologizes to reporter after winning

  26-05-2017 07:50
  
  BOZEMAN, Mont. - Newly elected Republican congressman Greg Gianforte apologized to the reporter he's charged with assaulting.After being declared the winner in the U.S. House race in Montana, Gianforte told supporters Thursday night that he should not have treated Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs the way he did.Gianforte told the crowd: "I should not have responded the way I did and for that I am sorry."Gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault Wednesday after witnesses said he grabbed
  
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• Pound for pound, Dillard University is a physics powerhouse

  26-05-2017 07:23
  
  One of the smallest historically black colleges in the U.S. boasts a huge accomplishment. Dillard University in New Orleans graduates more physics majors - and, notably, more female physics majors - than far bigger schools with more resources.With an enrollment of 1,200, Dillard ranks second in the country in black physics undergrads. The point was punctuated at Dillard's recent commencement exercises, with a keynote address from actress and singer Janelle Monae, a star of "Hidden Figures."Accor
  
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• 13 arrests in Louisiana fake-crash scheme

  26-05-2017 06:56
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Louisiana State Police say 13 people have been arrested in connection with an insurance fraud scheme involving staged automobile crashes.A news release says Thursday's arrests followed an investigation that began with complaints from insurance companies.Investigators say the scheme involved a group of people who regularly participated in reporting fictitious automobile crashes, bogus injuries and property damage in southwestern Louisiana.At least seven phony crashes were involved.
  
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• Trump chastises fellow NATO members over defense spending; Possible motive emerges in Manchester bombing (10 Things to Know for Friday)

  26-05-2017 05:11
  
  Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday.
  
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