Baton Rouge news

• White House rejects Maduro phone call

  11-08-2017 21:36
  WASHINGTON - The White House says it has rejected a request from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to speak by phone with President Donald Trump.
   A statement released late Friday by the White House press secretary says, "Trump will gladly speak with the leader of Venezuela as soon as democracy is restored in that country."
   Trump said earlier Friday that he wouldn't rule out military action against Venezuela in response to the country's descent into political chaos followin
  
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• Louisiana's tallest building gets new name as bank moves in

  11-08-2017 20:19
  NEW ORLEANS - Louisiana's tallest building is getting a new name.
   The 51-story white New Orleans skyscraper known as One Shell Square since it opened in 1972 will be called the Hancock Whitney Center beginning next year.
   Mississippi-based Hancock Holding Co. will move headquarters of its Whitney Bank subsidiary and 400 employees into seven or more floors that it's leasing. The bank's overall headquarters will remain in Gulfport.
   Bank executives wouldn't detail to l
  
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• Judge dismisses Denver DJ's suit against Taylor Swift

  11-08-2017 20:09
  DENVER - A judge has thrown out a Denver DJ's case against Taylor Swift just before jurors hear closing arguments in dueling lawsuits over whether the radio host groped her during a photo op and whether she and her team got him fired for it.
   U.S. District Judge William Martinez determined Friday that the pop star could not be held liable because David Mueller hadn't shown that she personally set out to have him fired after the backstage meet-and-greet in 2013. Mueller's identical alle
  
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• Mom says bus driver left her child stranded on first day of school

  11-08-2017 18:35
  BATON ROUGE - A bus mix-up on the first day of school, in East Baton Rouge Parish has a mom fuming.Kayla Beatty said her nine-year-old son, who attends Claiborne Elementary, was put on the wrong bus not once, but twice. The first was a mistake was with the bus route but the second bus the boy got on at the Greenwell Springs transfer station should have brought him home. Instead, Beatty, says her son was told to get off the bus he was on. According to the mother, the y
  
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• Prime suspect in kidnapping whose sidekicks died arrested

  11-08-2017 18:08
  LAFAYETTE - A man wanted in connection with a kidnapping case that involved authorities in West Baton Rouge has been arrested.Lawrence Michael Handley was arrested in Slidell Friday afternoon.  He will be transferred to Lafayette Police custody, authorities said.  A U.S. Marshals Task Force, a special group of agents who hunt down the most wanted suspects, found Handley at a hotel around 4 o'clock. Handley is tied to the kidnapping of a woma
  
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• La. passengers aboard cruise ship experiencing problems in Gulf of Mexico

  11-08-2017 16:38
  NEW ORLEANS – Passengers from Louisiana with access to the internet shared pictures and messages about their cruise ship breaking down in the gulf this week.A message thread from one passenger started Thursday with a post about being “at a dead stop in the middle of the gulf.” By Friday, they reported that crewmen were working on the engines and had encountered problems again – though able to slowly cruise along.But, no one seems to be too worried. Posts
  
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• Firefighters investigating blaze at home on Meadow Brooke Avenue

  11-08-2017 15:57
  BATON ROUGE - St. George firefighters extinguished a blaze roaring through the roof of a home on Meadow Brook Avenue.Officials with the St. George Fire Department say they responded to a home in the 7200 block of Meadow Brook Avenue just before 2 p.m. When they arrived on scene, they found heavy fire visible in the center of the home extending through the roof.Crews entered the home and extinguished flames in the main part of the house and the attic. It was put under control in about 20 minutes
  
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• Rig worker critically injured after falling from drilling operation

  11-08-2017 15:34
  BATON ROUGE – First responders were dispatched to a fall of a drilling worker at an operation in a field off Nicholson Friday.Preliminary information available reports the worker was working on a drilling rig of some sort and fell about 30 feet then became trapped in an area of the rig that was still off the ground.The rig was set up in property on the east side of Nicholson south of Tigerland.Fire crews dispatched a high-rise rescue unit.The worker, a man, was critically hurt and tak
  
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• Louisiana's budget gap for next year projected to be $1.5B

  11-08-2017 15:15
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's looming mid-2018 budget gap is projected to be $1.5 billion.
   That's the official price tag presented to lawmakers Friday, the first update on the so-called "fiscal cliff" since the legislative sessions ended in June.
   Most of the shortfall projected for the budget year that begins July 1, 2018, is tied to expiration of $1.1 billion in temporary sales taxes enacted by lawmakers last year.
   The rest of the hole accounts for rising costs expect
  
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• SLU announces raises for employees

  11-08-2017 14:47
  HAMMOND – Southeastern announced merit raises for its faculty and staff for the first time in nearly seven years Friday.SLU President John Crain said some $3 million in the university’s current budget will be allocated to raises. The raises apply to full-time faculty and staff employed as of June 30.Raises will be about 5.25% of the current salary base, the university said in a news release. Individual faculty and unclassified staff raises may be more or less than this amoun
  
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• Man shot, killed while threatening people inside home

  11-08-2017 14:27
  PONCHATOULA – Sheriff's deputies are investigating the shooting-death of a man who was shot and killed in an argument where he threatened the shooter, authorities said Friday.Ronald Morgan, 53, was found dead at an unidentified address in the Ponchatoula area Thursday night.Detectives said Morgan refused to leave the home of someone who had a protective order against him and eventually pulled out a knife and made threats toward the people there. Morgan was shot by someone while making
  
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• Deputies ask for help finding missing woman

  11-08-2017 13:56
  ST. AMANT – Deputies are searching for a missing 44-year-old woman.The sheriff's department asked for help locating Stephanie Serpas. Serpas has not been seen for about two weeks.Foul play is not suspected, authorities said.*****************Follow the publisher of this post on Twitter: @treyschmaltzPermalink| Comments
  
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• Deputies: Man arrested after acting obscene in window

  11-08-2017 13:35
  BELLE ROSE - A 26-year-old man was booked into jail in Assumption Parish after deputies said he exposed himself in the window of a mobile home in July.Cory L. Butler was charged with obscenity.Deputies said witnesses reported seeing Butler standing in the window of the home being obscene. Deputies did not reveal where the incident happened but listed Butler's address as on Tyler Lane in Belle Rose. ***************Follow the publisher of this post on Twitter: @treyschm
  
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• New England hospital evacuated over odor, illnesses

  11-08-2017 13:09
  EXETER, New Hampshire – An odor sicked more than a dozen people at a hospital in New Hampshire, north of Boston Friday morning.The hospital was evacuated as authorities investigated the odor and treated as many as twenty people who were ill. The situation began around 11:15 Friday morning – 10:15 in Louisiana.Little information is available, but authorities labeled the call as a “mass-casualty incident,” according to the area's ABC affiliate, WMUR.Check b
  
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• Overturned dump truck brings traffic to a grind

  11-08-2017 13:01
  CENTRAL – There were heavy delays on Greenwell Springs Road as authorities dealt with an overturned dump truck that spilled its load.The crash happened between Morgan and Magnolia Beach Road near JBS Construction. Traffic was backed up toward both other streets after lunch Friday.Authorities said there were no injuries.Pictures show a giant mess, though. The truck appears to have ran off the road and into a ditch, causing the rig to topple over.Click HERE to access WBRZ's advanced tra
  
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• Shooting victim sought help at urgent care facility Friday

  11-08-2017 12:56
  BATON ROUGE – Police are investigating a Friday morning shooting where the victim sought help at an urgent care facility.Paramedics took the person from LSU's North Baton Rouge walk-in clinic on Airline Highway around 10 o'clock. The person originally arrived at the location in a private car, authorities said, after being shot elsewhere.Police said the 35-year-old victim is not cooperating with authorities, only telling detectives, he was shot somewhere on Plank Road.The victim's inju
  
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• Area utility worker rescued after being shocked, stranded at top of pole

  11-08-2017 09:29
  ANGOLA – A utility worker was shocked by an electric bolt while working at the top of a utility police Friday morning, authorities released in a Facebook post.The West Feliciana Parish Fire District 1 reported the worker was shocked around 5:45 and was stranded at the top of the pole. Firefighters arrived and after about 30 minutes, were able to rescue the worker.The West Feliciana Parish Sheriff's Office and Angola State Penitentiary first responders assisted, the department said.The
  
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• Pedestrian struck on College Dr. left with minor injuries

  11-08-2017 07:17
  BATON ROUGE- Officials are working the scene of a pedestrian struck on College Dr. near IHOP.Although details are limited at this time, we have learned that the victim is being transported to the hospital with non-threatening injuries.Permalink| Comments
  
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