Baton Rouge news

• Crash survivor searches for good samaritan who saved his life

  07-09-2017 21:04
  GREENSBURG - A crash survivor is searching for a man who he claims saved his life.Matthew Kyzar, 29, was involved in a single vehicle accident after losing control of his car."My back tire on my Acura TL blew out and it threw me sideways and when it threw me sideways I hit the ditch. And I guess the back of the car went airborne and the car tumbled and flipped four times," Kyzar said.State Police investigated the single vehicle accident on Highway 43 north of Greensburg, LA Saturday morning aro
  
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• Police: Shooting victim found on North 38th Street

  07-09-2017 19:57
  BATON ROUGE - Police say one person was hurt in a shooting on North 38th Street Thursday.The shooting occurred in the 1400 block of North 38th Street around 7:30 Thursday night. According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, officers arrived on scene to find one victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper left thigh.Police say the victim told them he was traveling in the 1300 block of north 44th when he was shot.Sources tell WBRZ the victim was transported from the scene in serious cond
  
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• Police: One hurt in shooting on North 38th Street

  07-09-2017 19:57
  BATON ROUGE - Police say one person was hurt in a shooting on North 38th Street Thursday.The shooting occurred in the 1400 block of North 38th Street around 7:45 Thursday night. According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, officers arrived on scene to find one victim suffering from a gunshot wound.There is currently no further information on the victim's condition.This is the second shooting police are investigating in Baton Rouge Thursday night. The first involved a 9-year-old and one other
  
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• City of Baker placing speed cameras in residential areas

  07-09-2017 19:33
  BAKER - Officals in Backer are placing speed cameras in residential areas where drivers have a habit of going a bit too fast."They come through here, doing 65-70, that's dangerous," Mayor Darnell Waits said. "That's the biggest deal, [the speed camera] slows the traffic down."But drivers are now being warned before coming to a speed-enforced photo camera. It's a new state law.Despite the warning, these cameras raise hundreds of thousands of dollars every year for the city of B
  
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• Non-profit tackles Baton Rouge's blight problem

  07-09-2017 17:22
  BATON ROUGE - In a city with an increasing blight problem, non-profits like Habitat for Humanity, are doing their part by purchasing blighted properties and flipping them into new homes."It's the great American dream to own a home and that's true no matter what your income level is," said Lynn Clark, executive director of Habitat for Humanity.The non-profit recently spent more than $100,000 to buy 15 blighted properties.Creating family friendly environments is the ultimate goal."What we found w
  
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• Geophysicist: Weight of Harvey rains caused Houston to sink

  07-09-2017 16:13
  HOUSTON (AP) - A California geophysicist says the sheer weight of the torrential rains brought by Harvey has caused Houston to sink by 2 centimeters.  Chris Milliner, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, says water weighs about a ton per cubic meter and the flooding was so widespread that it "flexed Earth's crust."  He told the Houston Chronicle that he used observations from the Nevada Geodetic
  
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• Ascension Parish launches series of roadway construction projects

  07-09-2017 16:00
  ASCENSION PARISH - Officials have announced the start of the first project in Ascension Parish's initiative to improve multiple roadways.According to Parish President Kenny Matassa, construction crews have begun the first project of the Move Ascension Transportation initiative. Matassa said the $35 million series of projects aims to improve transportation corridors serving the Gonzales area and North Ascension.The Parish Council recently approved the first of several projects, a propos
  
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• Two Southern officials fired as school retools

  07-09-2017 15:01
  BATON ROUGE- Southern University fired two high profile administrators at the school, WBRZ learned Thursday.Dean of Students Marcus Coleman and Project Director Dr. Vaneshette Henderson were both notified on September 1, 2017, that the University was severing ties with them. Both employees last day with the University is at the close of business on October 2, 2017.The latest string of terminations came during a tumultuous time for the University. Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Dr. Brandon
  
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• Worker treated for chlorine exposure at Plaquemine chemical plant

  07-09-2017 14:49
  PLAQUEMINE - Authorities say one person was treated after they were exposed to chlorine at a chemical plant in Iberville Parish.The incident occurred Thursday afternoon at Olin Chlor Alkali Products, which is located on the DOW Chemical campus in Plaquemine. According to the Office of Emergency Preparedness, a series of four rectifiers tripped at the site. Officials say this likely released chlorine, injuring a worker.Olin says the worker was treated on-site, and sent to an ar
  
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• Watchdog agency: US nuclear dump running out of room

  07-09-2017 14:11
  ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A government watchdog agency says the only underground nuclear waste repository in the United States doesn't have enough space for radioactive debris left over from decades of bomb-making and research, much less tons of surplus weapons-grade plutonium.  A Senate committee requested the review from the U.S. Government Accountability Office amid concerns about ballooning costs and significant delays related to a 20-year-old pledge the U.S. made with Russia to
  
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• LSU unveils new Skyline Club at Tiger Stadium

  07-09-2017 14:08
  BATON ROUGE - You may be in the "nosebleeds", but LSU is certain you're going to love it.
  "We wanted to add something to the fan experience up here, so we had the ability to add the food component; had the ability to have alcoholic beverages up here, and really add to that overall experience," said assistant marketing director Matt Shanklin.The Skyline Club takes up sections 650-658 and can seat up to 1,500. Although fans have been able to sit up here for the past three years, there was no food
  
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• Pentagon: Trump order to end DACA raises issues for military

  07-09-2017 14:04
  WASHINGTON - The Pentagon says the military could be affected by the president's decision to end the Obama-era program that protects young immigrants brought into the country illegally as children.  The Pentagon says about 900 people currently in uniform - or who have signed up to serve - are recipients of work authorization through the Obama program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival, or DACA.  Lt. Col. Paul Haverstick is a Pentagon spokesman. Ha
  
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• Austin officer accused of faking his own death resigns

  07-09-2017 14:02
  AUSTIN, Texas - A Texas police officer has resigned after allegedly trying to fake his own death and fleeing to Mexico.  The Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV report that 29-year-old Coleman Martin delivered his resignation letter on Wednesday to the Austin Police Department.  Court documents allege that Martin told his wife that he planned to drown himself. She reported him missing on April 25, and investigators found his abandoned truck near a lake the
  
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• Woman escapes handcuffs, leads police on high-speed chase

  07-09-2017 13:57
  LUFKIN, Texas - After escaping from handcuffs, a woman led police on a high-speed chase that ended with her crashing a stolen police vehicle.The Lufkin Police Department released video of the incident Tuesday.Officers were called to a parking lot of an Ulta store concerning a possible shoplifter. Authorities found the suspect, 33-year-old Toscha Sponsler, in the parking lot.Sponsler was arrested and placed into a police vehicle. She was able to escape from her handcuffs, climb to the front of t
  
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• Evacuation orders multiply in Florida

  07-09-2017 13:43
  Evacuation orders are multiplying across Florida as local officials try to get the most vulnerable populations to move to safety ahead of Hurricane Irma.  Miami Dade has now made evacuations mandatory for all of its coastal areas, barrier islands and mobile homes. Monroe County's mandatory order stands for the entire Florida Keys. Broward County's order remains voluntary for mobile homes and low-lying areas. Collier County issued a voluntary evacuation order for Marco Island.&
  
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• Irma causes severe damage in the Caribbean Islands; At least 13 dead so far

  07-09-2017 13:40
  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Hurricane Irma is flooding parts of the Dominican Republic as it roars by just off the northern coast of the island it shares with Haiti.  Officials said about 500 tourists in the Bavaro-Punta Cana area were moved to more secure shelters just ahead of the Category 5 storm.  Civil Defense Director Rafael Carrasco says a landslide in the Samana Peninsula affected eight houses and more than 2,500 people have been evacuated. &
  
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• Louisiana high schoolers perform below national ACT average

  07-09-2017 13:39
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's high school students performed below the national average on the ACT college readiness test.  Figures released Thursday by the Iowa group that administers the test show the latest average score among all states was 21. Louisiana's average was 19.5.  The test measures how students perform in English, reading, math and science. A perfect score is 36.  Louisiana announced in August that public high school students had
  
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• Appeal heard in deadly 2014 Bourbon Street gunbattle

  07-09-2017 13:08
  NEW ORLEANS - A Louisiana appeals court is considering the case of a man serving a 60-year-sentence for his role in a deadly 2014 gunfight that left a bystander dead on New Orleans' Bourbon Street.  Trung Le (lee) was convicted in 2016 on charges of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter in the gunbattle that also injured nine.  The gunfight happened early on June 29, 2014, as tourists walked the famous street of nightspots in the historic French Quarter.&am
  
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• Homeowner holds robber at gunpoint until police arrive

  07-09-2017 12:19
  BATON ROUGE- A local man is facing multiple charges including armed robbery after putting a gun to a man's head in his front yard and demanding money Wednesday.The incident took place at a residence on East Brookstown Drive just after 12:15 a.m. The victim told authorities he was in his front yard when someone walked up behind him and put a gun to his head. The suspect, identified as Travion Springer, then demanded money from the victim.Springer lead the victim into the residence to re
  
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• Ex-Manson disciple must get past governor to see freedom

  07-09-2017 08:23
  CHINO, Calif.- Getting the approval of a parole panel was the easy part for Leslie Van Houten, the youngest of Charles Manson's murderous followers.Between her and her release stands a governor who has shown zero willingness to allow anyone involved in the Manson killings to go free. Van Houten, now 68, was found suitable for parole by the two-person state panel after a hearing on Wednesday.Now, she must still be approved by the state Parole Board, which is likely, but then must hope Gov. Jerry
  
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• Prime real estate: Amazon looks for 2nd headquarters

  07-09-2017 07:48
  NEW YORK- Amazon is on the hunt for a second home.The e-commerce giant said Thursday that it will spend more than $5 billion to build another headquarters in North America. Amazon will stay put in its sprawling Seattle headquarters, and the new space will be "a full equal" with as many as 50,000 jobs, said founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.The announcement is certain to create a scramble among cities and states vying to make the short list. Cities have until next month to apply through a special websi
  
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• Shooting kills woman, hurts man in New Orleans apartment

  07-09-2017 06:47
  NEW ORLEANS- New Orleans police say a shooting inside an apartment has killed a woman and injured a man.Local news outlets report police say the incident occurred Wednesday afternoon in the Desire Development Neighborhood. Police public information officer Ambria Washington says the shooting happened shortly before 5 p.m.The woman suffered gunshot wounds to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. The man was transported to a local hospital.Police said in statement Housing Authority of Ne
  
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