Baton Rouge news

• Trump tweets that Spicer's future is 'bright'

  21-07-2017 21:57
  WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump says Sean Spicer is a "wonderful person who took tremendous abuse from the Fake News Media."
   Trump also says in a late Friday tweet that Spicer's future is "bright."
   Spicer resigned earlier in the day, six months into the administration, after Trump tapped New York businessman and political supporter Anthony Scaramucci for the job of White House communications director. Spicer had been filling that role temporarily and wanted the job for h
  
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• Man pleads guilty as accessory in fatal Mardi Gras shootings

  21-07-2017 21:31
  GULFPORT, Miss. - A Mississippi man has pleaded guilty to charges that he was an accessory after the fact to shootings that killed two people last year after a Mardi Gras parade.
   News outlets report Jermaine Rashod Ratcliff of Gulfport entered his plea in court Thursday, saying he lied to police questioning him after the Feb. 7, 2016, shootings at the end of a Mardi Gras parade in Pass Christian. Two parade attendees, Carlos Bates and Isaiah Majors, were killed by the gunfire.
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• Coroner: Woman's death was not by strangulation after all

  21-07-2017 20:45
  GRETNA - Authorities say fears that an 84-year-old woman had been murdered in bed at a Louisiana senior care facility were unfounded.
   Pauline Ballon died Tuesday at the facility in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie. Officials declared the death a homicide Wednesday after an initial coroner's report showed signs of strangulation.
   However, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand told reporters Thursday that investigators found no sign that anyone entered her apartment.
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• Police searching for suspect in Thursday armed robbery

  21-07-2017 20:13
  BATON ROUGE - Officers are looking for a suspect in a home invasion on North Donmoor Avenue Thursday.According to an arrest record filed by the Baton Rouge Police Department, Shykeem Tyshawn McNeal is wanted on charges of aggravated battery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and two counts of aggravated second degree battery.Officers say they responded to the 6800 block of Rembrandt Avenue in reference to a shooting just after 1:45 p.m. Thursday. When on scene, they were told two vi
  
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• LPSO searching for missing veteran

  21-07-2017 19:34
  DENHAM SPRINGS - The Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help in locating a missing veteran.Deputies say 48-year-old Christy Mann was last seen in the Denham Springs area on foot.When she went missing, Mann was wearing a white t-shirt, black and white shorts, and a backpack, according to officials. She may have been walking with her service dog, a mixed bulldog.Deputies described Mann as having brown eyes and black shoulder-length hair, often wearing glasses and a base
  
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• Three displaced after lighting strike causes house fire on Stone Gate Drive

  21-07-2017 17:31
  BATON ROUGE – The Baton Rouge Fire Department confirmed that a lightning strike caused a house fire in the 14000 block of Stone Gate Drive. Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the attic of the house. BRFD says the fire caused about $30,000 worth of damage to the house, which is valued at $200,000. According to the fire department, three people are displaced as a result of the fire. Red Cross was notified to assist the displaced individuals
  
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• 42-year-old woman killed in hit-and-run crash on Florida Blvd.

  21-07-2017 17:00
  BATON ROUGE – Baton Rouge Rouge Police Traffic detectives are investigating a fatal hit-and-run crash that occurred in the 15900 block of Florida Boulevard. The crash claimed the life of a 42-year-old black woman, according to BRPD. The crash happened around 3 a.m. on Friday.  According to BRPD, the woman was walking on the edge of the inside lane of the street just west of the O'Neal Lane/Central Thruway intersection when she was struck. The woman died at the scene.
  
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• Wife of St. Tammany fire chief found amid fire wreckage had been shot to death

  21-07-2017 16:47
  SLIDELL - A woman whose burned body was found in a Louisiana home destroyed by fire last week died not from the flames but from a gunshot wound.  The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office said in a news release Friday that DNA evidence confirmed the identity of the victim to be Nanette Krentel, the wife of St. Tammany District 12 Fire Chief Stephen Krentel.  An autopsy revealed a gunshot wound that killed the 49-year-old woman.  No information
  
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• Gambler drops 75 pounds to win a share of a $1 million bet

  21-07-2017 14:41
  LAS VEGAS - A professional gambler dropped some pounds and gained some wealth after betters wagered $1 million he couldn't reduce his body fat to less than 10 percent.  Walter Fisher tells the New York Post he began overeating while on a losing streak and gained 40 to 50 pounds in a month. The 6-foot-1 Fisher weighed 245 pounds and was more than $100,000 in debt in December. The Post reports that's when a group of gambler acquaintances bet $1 million Fisher couldn't drop his b
  
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• Chester Bennington died by hanging, coroner confirms

  21-07-2017 14:32
  LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles County coroner confirmed Friday that Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington died by hanging.  Coroner's office spokesman Ed Winter says the 41-year-old rocker hanged himself from a bedroom door in his home near Los Angeles.  Bennington was found dead Thursday.  Winter says a half-empty bottle of alcohol was found in the room, but no drugs were evident. Bennington struggled with drug and alcohol addictions at va
  
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• Man found fatally shot in vehicle on N. Sherwood Forest

  21-07-2017 14:00
  BATON ROUGE – Baton Rouge Police detectives are investigating after one man was found dead in a vehicle in the 1300 block of North Sherwood Forest Drive.According to BRPD, a black man was found inside the vehicle around 12:31 a.m.The motive and time of the shooting is not known at this time, BRPD says.Anyone with information relative to this incident is urged to contact the Violent Crimes Unit at 389-4869.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Restore La. conducting door-to-door outreach survey to help flood-impacted homeowners

  21-07-2017 13:56
  BATON ROUGE – The Restore Louisiana Homeowner Assistance Program began door-to-door canvassing this week to speak with homeowners impacted by the 2016 August flood to help them fill out and complete the survey program.Staff members will have official Restore Louisiana vests and name badges and record information on tablet computers. Officials say the outreach effort is expected to continue until mid-August. Completing the survey is the first step in requesting help with repai
  
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• Officers remove snake found in Walker clinic

  21-07-2017 13:53
  WALKER – A snake found its way into a clinic in Walker on Friday afternoon. Officers of the Walker Police Department were able to get a snake out of the North Oaks Walk-in Clinic after about 10 minutes. The department said the snake caused a scene in the clinic until it was escorted out. The snake is still alive following the incident and no one was injured, the department says. The Walker Police Department says the snake was believed to be a rat snake.&
  
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• Woman burns deputy with cigarette while getting arrested for animal cruelty charges

  21-07-2017 13:42
   WASHINGTON PARISH – A woman was arrested on charges of animal cruelty and resisting officers on Thursday after deputies found three malnourished dogs in an abandoned house in the area. According to the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to reports of dogs killing a neighbor's chickens due to the dogs being neglected and not being fed. A detective went to an abandoned home off of Highway 60 in Washington Parish where the three dogs were l
  
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• WBRSO: Woman wanted for using stolen check to buy washer, dryer

  21-07-2017 13:04
  PORT ALLEN – The West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office is seeking help from the public in identifying a woman who allegedly tried to use a stolen check to buy a washer and dryer. Deputies are searching for 44-year-old Annette Marie Burch who is wanted for one count of forgery and two counts of identity theft. According to the sheriff's office, Burch went to Bellelos Furniture Store on Highway 1 on June 30 and presented a check that was stolen from a 78-year-old victim. B
  
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• New Orleans man charged after fight led to fatal 3-story fall

  21-07-2017 12:39
  NEW ORLEANS - Court records show a man has been accused in the death of another man nearly five months after both fell three stories from a New Orleans building during a fight over a mutual female friend.  The Times-Picayune reports that Orleans Parish court records show 52-year-old Henry E. Matthews was booked on Tuesday with manslaughter. Matthews' arrest documents show 38-year-old Garland Faciane died April 3 of injures from the Feb. 25 fall.  Witnesses to
  
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• Morgan City police searching for man last seen Tuesday

  21-07-2017 12:17
  MORGAN CITY - Police are searching for a 23-year-old man who has been reported missing since Tuesday.Officers say Edward Giroir was reported missing by his family earlier this week.Giroir is described as 5'8" and approximately 145 lbs.Anyone with information is asked to call the Morgan City Police Department at (985) 380-4605.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Texas doctor accused of opioid deaths

  21-07-2017 09:30
  AUSTIN, Texas - A state panel has suspended the medical license of a Texas doctor who federal authorities say wrote unnecessary prescriptions for powerful drugs that contributed to the overdose deaths of at least seven people.  A disciplinary committee of the Texas Medical Board took the action Thursday against 56-year-old Howard Gregg Diamond. His practice was based in Sherman, north of Dallas.  The board says in a statement that Diamond "poses a continuing
  
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• Louisiana congressman praises US rice deal with China

  21-07-2017 06:26
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A Louisiana congressman says the announcement of an agreement allowing rice exports to China is welcome news.
   Rice is a major crop in the Acadiana region represented by Clay Higgins. The first-term Republican congressman says the expanding market will be good for a crop that contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to the state's economy.
   U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced Thursday that the department and Chinese officials had worked out final
  
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• Red snapper recreational season continues off Louisiana

  21-07-2017 04:37
  
  BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says anglers have caught about 655,600 pounds of red snapper off the Louisiana coast this summer, and will be able to go after the fish again this weekend.  The state is more than halfway to its self-imposed limit. The department will end the season for angles when it appears the catch will total just over 1 million pounds.  Under an agreement between the U.S. Commerce Department and all five Gu
  
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