Baton Rouge news

• Denham Springs company helps fuel Cajun Navy

  30-08-2017 21:58
  DENHAM SPRINGS - A local wastewater management company sent two truck operators to Texas to fuel dozens of boats and emergency personnel who was in need of gas.The operators at Wastewater Treatment Systems and Operations drove a large dump truck towing a 2,000 gallon tank of gas to Houston Monday afternoon, returning Wednesday. "We knew that there wasn't no gas in Houston," truck driver Jeffery Brice, Jr. said.The Cajun Navy were among the dozens of people who received fuel from the la
  
  Read more

• LPSO volunteers assisting in Port Arthur flood rescues and recoveries

  30-08-2017 20:55
  LIVINGSTON PARISH - Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office deputies and volunteers are going to Port Arthur, Texas to assist with rescue and recovery operations related to Hurricane Harvey.Sheriff Jason Ard is leading the team of about 20 deputies and volunteers, according to a post on their Facebook page. The team is bringing flat boats, air boats, and high water vehicles, as well as "experience and 'heart' to Texas.""It's been hard for all of us to sit back and watch the devastation unfold from o
  
  Read more

• Lemonade stand proceeds to benefit Harvey victims

  30-08-2017 20:31
  BATON ROUGE - Six-year-old Avery Iverstine may just be a first grader, but she's already making a difference. With school canceled Tuesday, Avery set up a lemonade stand on her front porch. Every dollar she made is going to help those affected by now Tropical Depression Harvey."People are coming here and they're buying the stuff," Iverstine said. "The money that they give us, we're giving to Texas so they can pay for their houses."While they sold cookies, brownies and lemonade
  
  Read more

• Mandeville man killed in crossover crash

  30-08-2017 19:26
  SLIDELL - One person is dead following a crash involving two vehicles on I-10 Wednesday.State Police said 52-year-old Jody G. Lasalle of Mandeville was killed following a crash near Oak Harbor Blvd. around 9 a.m.Troopers said Lasalle was travelling eastbound when, for unknown reasons, his truck went across the median towards the westbound travel lanes. Lasalle's truck was struck on the driver's side by another truck.Lasalle was transported to University Medical Center with moderate injuries, pa
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Families evacuated as flooding reaches Louisiana-Texas state line

  30-08-2017 19:03
  BEAUMONT, Texas - Flash flooding inundated homes and overwhelmed first responders as residents along the Texas-Louisiana border felt the wrath of Harvey's latest landfall.  Police in Beaumont, Texas, were recruiting people with boats Wednesday to help check neighborhoods for anyone needing to be rescued. Police said many were not calling 911. Instead, they were reaching out for help on social media, causing more chaos.  Twenty-five miles west in Orange, Texas
  
  Read more

• Residents dealing with smelly water in small Louisiana community

  30-08-2017 17:01
  LOTTIE - About 400 people in a town across the river say their water smells. Residents in Lottie say the stench has been noticeable for the past month.Water District Two of Pointe Coupee Parish tells 2 On Your Side it's aware and has been working to fix the issue, but homeowners say it's not fast enough.Becky Hatch says every time she turns on the water, an awful smell fills the whole house."Just a rotten smell," said Hatch. "Just poop smell."Her neighbor living across the street says washing d
  
  Read more

• Ascension and Livingston Parish waterways closed due to high water, debris

  30-08-2017 16:54
  Waterways in Livingston Parish and Ascension Parishes are closed until further notice.Due to high water and debris, all inland waterways in the parishes will be closed beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday.The closures will remain in effect until further notice from parish officials.Permalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• Some parents confused by Wednesday school closures

  30-08-2017 16:31
  BATON ROUGE - Reed and Gannon Wood would be in school on any other Wednesday morning but today it was cancelled."We're out of school and we don't really have anything to do, so we're just fishing," said Reed, a middle school student at Central Middle.Possible inclement weather from Tropical Storm Harvey prompted all of the districts to close school, but not all parents agree with the decision
  "I mean... it's not raining," Our Lady of Mercy parent Heather LeBlanc said. "It doesn't look
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Woman blames busted culvert on FEMA contractor

  30-08-2017 15:30
  BATON ROUGE - A crushed drainage pipe is causing a flooding problem whenever it rains. A homeowner says a truck drove over the culvert in front of her house and smashed the concrete pipe under her driveway.Shiela Weatherman says it happened when her FEMA Manufactured Housing Unit was removed from her property. It's been two months and she's not sure what to do since her calls to FEMA have not been answered.  As a result of the culvert not being able to drain properly, water fills a dra
  
  Read more

• Several Louisiana state parks closed due to Harvey

  30-08-2017 15:24
  Several state parks across Louisiana have closed due to inclement weather brought on by Tropical Storm Harvey.As of Wednesday afternoon, the following parks have been closed:• Fairview-Riverside SP: closed until Monday, Sept. 4, due to high water in the park and over the entrance roads.• Cypremort Point SP: Closed through Sunday, Sept. 3; however, the park is now 2-3 feet under water.
  • Fontainebleau SP day-use is closed until Friday, Sept. 1, due to high water in the
  
  Read more

• Former LSU star Leonard Fournette donating $50,000 to Harvey victims

  30-08-2017 14:16
  HOUSTON - Former LSU Running Back Leonard Fournette took to social media Wednesday to announce that he will donate thousands of dollars to the victims of Tropical Storm Harvey.In a tweet post Wednesday afternoon, Fournette said he would donate $50,000 to victims of the storm in Houston."Y'all are in my prayers, we went through Katrina we know the feeling God bless," Fournette's tweet read. Donating 50,000 to the people in Houston, y'all are in my pra
  
  Read more

• Pentagon: US troop total in Afghanistan larger than reported

  30-08-2017 14:07
  WASHINGTON- Pentagon officials for the first time say there are about 11,000 U.S. forces currently deployed to Afghanistan.That is far more than the 8,400 total acknowledged under the previous administration's troop cap.Military officials have long quietly acknowledged there were far more forces in the country than the cap allowed, but commanders shuffled troops in and out, labeled many "temporary," and used other personnel accounting tactics to artificially keep the public count low.Pentagon s
  
  Read more

• BRPD seeking vehicle involved in deadly hit-and-run on Florida Boulevard

  30-08-2017 13:52
  BATON ROUGE - Detectives with the Baton Rouge Police Department are seeking a vehicle involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash.According to police, the crash occurred July 21 in the 15900 block of Florida Boulevard. Police say 42-year-old Alisha Thomas 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.She was later found dead in the roadway by a passing motorist.Officers say the unknown
  
  Read more

• Family of 6 drowns in van during Harvey floods

  30-08-2017 13:48
  HOUSTON – The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said they found a van caught by flood water from Tropical Storm Harvey that contained the remains of a family of six.Relatives told KHOU 11 News the family drowned Sunday afternoon while trying to escape the flooding. Four children, ages 16 and younger, and their great-grandparents were found dead in the van late Wednesday morning.The driver of the vehicle, the children's great-uncle, managed to escape before the van went under wa
  
  Read more

• Fields, roads flooding in southwest Louisiana

  30-08-2017 12:53
  LAKE CHARLES - Heavy rains around the border of Louisiana and Texas are causing some flooding in western Calcasieu Parish.  Fields and roads have flooded around the town of Vinton, Louisiana. However, few homes appear to be flooded.  The Louisiana State Police has closed Interstate 10 to westbound traffic at Vinton and is only letting emergency workers pass through there.  Agents from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries have b
  
  Read more

• Official says Harvey could have damaged 40K homes

  30-08-2017 12:49
  HOUSTON - The elected official in charge of the county that includes Houston says Harvey could have damaged 30,000 to 40,000 homes.  Harris County Judge Ed Emmett told TV station KTRK on Monday that it's just an estimate officials are discussing, but that it could be even more.  He says some homes have been damaged irreparably and that there will be difficult months or even years ahead.  Emmett says one priority in trying restore so
  
  Read more

• Osteen defends initial move to not open church

  30-08-2017 12:13
  HOUSTON-Joel Osteen is defending the decision not to open his Houston megachurch as a shelter during the initial flooding from Harvey in the face of withering criticism on social media.The televangelist maintained on ABC's "Good Morning America" Wednesday that his Lakewood Church was inaccessible due to floodwaters during the early part of the storm. He says the 16,000-seat former basketball arena is prone to flooding and "the last thing we would do is put people in it right at the beginning."H
  
  Read more

• Harvey horror: Shivering tot found clinging to drowned mom

  30-08-2017 09:46
  BEAUMONT— Authorities found a shivering toddler clinging to the body of her drowned mother in a rain-swollen canal in Southeast Texas after the woman tried to carry her child to safety from Harvey’s floods.Capt. Brad Penisson of the fire-rescue department in Beaumont said the woman’s vehicle got stuck Tuesday afternoon in the flooded parking lot of an office park just off Interstate 10.Squalls from Harvey were pounding Beaumont with up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) o
  
  Read more

• Source says Trump, Hill leaders to meet next Wednesday

  30-08-2017 09:20
  WASHINGTON- Congressional aides say President Donald Trump will meet House and Senate leaders at the White House next Wednesday, as lawmakers return from an August break and plunge into a daunting pile of work.Congress will face demands to speed aid to Houston to help the swamped metropolis recover from deadly Harvey.By late September, lawmakers will have to pass one bill preventing an unprecedented federal default and another averting a government shutdown.Trump has belittled congressional Rep
  
  Read more

• Police asking two suspects to turn themselves in

  30-08-2017 08:14
  HAMMOND- The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office Street Crimes Unit is asking for two suspects to turn themselves in.The suspects are 28-year-old Eric Washington and 24-year-old Hermtrell Dangerfield.Washington is being sought by the TPSO for an outstanding warrant for simple robbery, while Dangerfield is wanted on a failure to appear in court warrant for a simple burglary charge.Anyone knowing their whereabouts is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 800.554.5245.Permalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• Gonzales road closures

  30-08-2017 07:03
  GONZALES- Some roads are holding water or are completely closed in Gonzales, Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post early Wednesday morning.Roads that have water and are passable:W. Edenborne Pkwy.Melancon at Hwy. 936Roads that are completely closed:S. Ashland at S. SouthwoodE. Palmview at S. SouthwoodS. Meadowood at E. PalmviewS. Hodgeson at E. SilverleafE. EvergreenPermalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• NATO sending three monitors to Russia war-games but wants more

  30-08-2017 05:57
  BRUSSELS- NATO says it will send three experts to observe military exercises involving Russian and Belarus troops next month but wants the two countries to allow broader monitoring of the war games.Russia and Belarus say the Zapad 2017 exercise will involve less than 13,000 troops. Under international rules, the two should allow wider access to monitors if troop numbers exceed that figure.A NATO official said Wednesday that experts will attend "Visitors' Days" in Belarus and Russia, after they
  
  Read more

Follow @BatonRougeNews_ on Twitter!