Baton Rouge news

• Two "Tiger" families stay connected after organ donation

  14-10-2017 21:13
  BATON ROUGE- Two "Tiger" families stay connected through college football after their relatives participate in an organ donation. Life-long LSU fans, Holly and Jonathan Perry lost their infant son to a brain bleed back in 2015. The two were heartbroken by the loss."They had done some surgeries and then they couldn't do anymore," Jonathan told WBRZ. "So we started talking about organ donation." After his death, the grieving parents donated his heart to another&nbsp
  
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• 2017 Election: State Treasurer race to head to runoff

  14-10-2017 19:27
  Polls for this year's elections have closed.Votes were cast for state treasurer and three constitutional amendments. Local parishes also voted in smaller polls. Early voting shows a tight race for state treasurer. Below are updates of the state treasurer and amendment polls. These numbers will be updated every 10 minutes.TreasurerRuns in multiple parishes3881 of 3904 precincts reporting - 99%absentee reporting - 100%Votes86,693  Angele Davis (REP) 22
  
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• Police arrest suspected drunk driver after fatal crash

  14-10-2017 19:11
  BATON ROUGE - Police arrested a man accused of causing a fatal crash while intoxicated Saturday. Baton Rouge Police Department officials say around 6:25 a.m., 41-year-old Bennie Walker III was driving a 1999 GMC Sierra when he turned onto North Sherwood Forrest Blvd. from a Tams Dr. into oncoming traffic in the southbound lane.Walker's vehicle struck a 2016 Chevrolet Impala driven by 40-year-old Tonisha Shepherd, according to investigators.Shepherd was transported to a local hospital w
  
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• 8-year-old child dies after falling off the balcony of cruise ship

  14-10-2017 17:37
  MIAMI- A little girl died after falling off the deck of a Miami cruise ship SaturdayAn 8-year-old girl slipped from the top the Carnival Glory cruise ship and fell to the deck below it.The ship's crew immediately transported the victim to a nearby trauma center where she would later be pronounced dead. Erika Benitez of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told ABC News that the girl arrived at the ship's medical unit with grave injuries. Homicide detectives have yet to discover the reas
  
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• Zachary Police Department investigating death of a child

  14-10-2017 17:20
  ZACHARY - Zachary Police are investigating the death of a child at a house on Hancock Street. Chief David McDavid told WBRZ that they're investigating how the child died. ZPD first responded to a disturbance at the same home around 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Westbank man arrested after being busted with drugs, weapon

  14-10-2017 17:11
  MARRERO - Louisiana State Troopers have arrested a Marrero man after finding drugs and a high caliber pistol in his possession. Authorities say 22-year-old Keron Barnes was stopped on I-10 near the Clearview Parkway exit for speeding Saturday morning. During the stop, State Troopers found nine Hydrocodone pills, 1.5 Tramadol pills and a loaded Vector Arms V51 7.62 caliber pistol in Barnes' vehicle. He was arrested and booke
  
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• Man arrested after falling asleep at the wheel, fleeing police

  14-10-2017 16:09
  BATON ROUGE - A man was arrested after police found him asleep at the wheel underneath a traffic light near Choctaw Dr. Saturday morning. Police approached 31-year-old Alvin Jones asleep in a blue Dodge Caravan, after an officer noted that the vehicle had not moved for a full traffic light cycle. According to the affidavit, when the officer approached the car, Jones awoke and attempted to flee the scene with a pistol in his lap.Baton Rouge Police officers chased Jones
  
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• Motion Picture Academy expels Harvey Weinstein

  14-10-2017 15:53
  LOS ANGELES - Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been revoked by its board.  The decision was reached Saturday in an emergency session. It comes after recent reports by The New York Times and The New Yorker that revealed sexual harassment and rape allegations against Weinstein going back decades. The move by the Academy is virtually unprecedented.  The Academy is the world's top movie org
  
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• Attempted Michigan carjacker foiled by bystander

  14-10-2017 15:40
  ALLEN PARK, Michigan - Authorities in Allen Park are searching for an attempted carjacker after his plan was foiled by a truck driver. Allen Park Police posted a video to their Facebook page of the incident. A woman was pumping gas into her car when a man walks next to her driver side door and hops in. The driver gets in on the passenger side, trying to thwart the robber as he tries to drive off. The thief almost makes it to the edge of the parking lot when the driver
  
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• FINAL: LSU Tigers rally to defeat Auburn 27-23

  14-10-2017 14:49
  Baton Rouge, LA - The Tigers held Auburn to a field goal on their first drive of the ball game with Daniel Carlson drilling a 46 yard field goal to give Auburn a 3-0 lead.After a DJ Chark fumble, Auburn got the ball back and cashed in on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Jarett Stidham to Will Hastings to make the Auburn lead 10-0 with 11:31 to go in the 1st Quarter.The Tigers defense, continued giving up big plays later in the quarter after a 50-yard 3r
  
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• Oil spills into Gulf of Mexico after underwater pipe bursts

  14-10-2017 14:48
  NEW ORLEANS - The U.S. Coast Guard is responding to an oil spill off the coast of Louisiana.  The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said in a news release Friday that oil spewed out of an underwater fractured pipe in the Gulf of Mexico about 40 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana.  The offshore oil and gas operator, LLOG Exploration Offshore, says between 7,950 and 9,350 barrels of oil were released before the spill was halted. There were no rep
  
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• Trump's lawyers: Courts have no say over his Twitter feed

  14-10-2017 14:29
  NEW YORK - Lawyers for President Donald Trump say a judge should reject a lawsuit challenging Trump's ability to block his critics from following him on Twitter.  The lawyers filed papers late Friday to try to put an end to a Manhattan federal court lawsuit that makes First Amendment claims. They say Trump's Twitter feed, which has more than 40 million followers, is not state action.  The lawsuit was filed in July by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Co
  
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• Hundreds attend service for victim of Las Vegas shooting

  14-10-2017 14:01
  TEWKSBURY, Mass. - Hundreds of people have gathered to remember a 42-year-old Massachusetts woman who was among the 58 people killed in the mass shooting at a Las Vegas country music festival.  The service for Rhonda LeRocque was held Saturday in the auditorium of Tewksbury Memorial High School.  WBZ-TV reports that the Tewksbury woman was remembered as a "fireball" and loving woman with a deep faith.  A wake was held on Friday afternoon at
  
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• Louisiana company's next CEO to stay in Colorado

  14-10-2017 13:29
  MONROE - The next CEO for Louisiana's largest public company says he plans to keep living in Colorado, but CenturyLink's headquarters will remain in Louisiana.  Jeff Storey is president and CEO of Level 3 Communications Inc., which is based in Broomfield, Colorado, and which CenturyLink Inc. is buying.  Under the planned deal, he will take charge of Monroe-based CenturyLink on Jan. 1, 2019.  CenturyLink is a global communications and informa
  
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• Puerto Rico raises Hurricane Maria death toll to 48

  14-10-2017 13:27
  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Authorities in Puerto Rico have raised the death toll from Hurricane Maria by 3 to 48 based on a review of medical records.  Secretary of Public Security Hector Pesquera says the medical examiner concluded the hurricane was the deciding factor in the newly disclosed deaths.  One occurred in the central town of Caguas when a person was unable to get dialysis treatment after the storm knocked out power.  Another happene
  
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• Wind-fueled flames force new evacuations

  14-10-2017 13:24
  SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Winds kicked up overnight, forcing new evacuations for about 400 homes as wildfires continue to rage in California's wine country.  The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Saturday the affected areas include the Oakmont retirement community that was evacuated earlier in the week when fire ravaged portions of Santa Rosa.  CalFire spokesman Jonathan Cox says the fire also reached a sparsely populated part of Sonoma, a
  
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• Body cameras, now gun cameras? Some police trying them out

  14-10-2017 13:23
  A small number of police departments are showing interest in a new type of video camera that can be mounted directly on officers' guns.  They say it may offer a better view of officer-involved shootings than body cameras. But some law enforcement officials and civil rights groups note that gun cameras start recording only after weapons are drawn and won't capture what led up to a confrontation.  Proponents say officers' arms, walls and other objects can get i
  
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• Firefighters respond to house fire on Blackberry Street

  14-10-2017 13:07
  BATON ROUGE - Firefighters with the Baton Rouge Fire Department responded to a working house fire on Blackberry Street Saturday afternoon.According to BRFD, the fire was reported in the 6000 block of Blackberry Street near N Ardenwood Drive just before 1:00 p.m. Firefighters were able to bring the fire under control 10 minutes after arriving on scene. The fire originated in the living room of the house, according to BRFD. No one was inside at the time of the fire, and no one r
  
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• Virginia State University campus on lockdown after shooting

  14-10-2017 12:48
  PETERSBURG, Va. - Virginia State University is on lockdown after a shooting on campus.  University police tweeted on Saturday night, "Shooting on Campus - VSU is on lockdown. Avoid the area. Updates to follow."  A second tweet said police were still on the scene, the campus remains on lockdown and to continue to avoid the area.Local authorities say one person was shot in the pelvis and transported to the hospital in critical condition. The university
  
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• Light turnout expected for Louisiana's election

  14-10-2017 12:40
  BATON ROUGE - Louisiana voters are casting ballots in a fall election to fill the state treasurer's seat, decide whether to add new provisions to the state constitution and settle municipal competitions.  Polls opened at 7 a.m. Saturday. They close at 8 p.m.  The races seem to have drawn little interest, and Secretary of State Tom Schedler predicts a dismal turnout, around 15 percent.  Six candidates are vying to be Louisiana's next treasure
  
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• New Orleans vote for mayor draws 18 candidates

  14-10-2017 12:38
  NEW ORLEANS - Eighteen people are on the ballot as New Orleans voters choose a successor to Mayor Mitch Landrieu, a term-limited Democrat who leaves office next year.  There appears little chance of anyone getting a majority in Saturday's race, meaning the top two finishers would meet in a November runoff.  Three people have led pre-election polls: Former state civil court Judge Michael Bagneris, City Council member Latoya Cantrell and former municipal court
  
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• Vatican court convicts ex-hospital president

  14-10-2017 12:37
  VATICAN CITY  - A Vatican court has convicted the former president of the pope's children's hospital of abuse of office for diverting $500,000 in donations to renovate a cardinal's flat and sentenced him to a suspended one-year sentence.  The court on Saturday absolved the former treasurer of the Bambino Gesu children's hospital. The case was notable in that neither the cardinal who benefited from the renovation nor the contractor who was apparently paid twice for doi
  
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• UPDATE: 12-year-old New Orleans girl reported missing has been found

  14-10-2017 12:36
  UPDATE: FBI officials say Priscilla Moreci was found safe at 5 p.m. Sunday in a New Orleans neighborhoodNEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans office of the FBI is investigating the disappearance of a girl from the French Quarter. According to authorities, 12-year-old Priscilla Moreci went missing Thursday night. She was supposed to meet her father after school in the 900 block of St. Philip Street. Moreci was last seen on surveillance cameras near Burgundy S
  
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• FBI searching for 12-year-old girl last seen in French Quarter

  14-10-2017 12:36
  NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans office of the FBI is investigating the disappearance of a girl from the French Quarter. According to authorities, 12-year-old Priscilla Moreci went missing Thursday night. She was supposed to meet her father after school in the 900 block of St. Philip Street. Moreci was last seen on surveillance cameras near Bergundy St. and Dumaine St. She is about 5'3"tall and weighs around 115 pounds. Moreci&nbsp
  
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• Memorial service held for slain boy scout ranger

  14-10-2017 12:15
  EAST FELICIANA-  Friends and family of a slain boy scout ranger held a memorial service Saturday. Friends and family gathered at the Avondale Scout Reservation to pay their respects to the late camp ranger, Brad DeFranceschi, who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting earlier this week. Police identified and arrested Ryan Sharpe for DeFranceschi's murder as well as two other men, but loved ones told WBRZ they'll need much more to wrap their heads around the e
  
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