Baton Rouge news

• Former WAFB employee arrested, charged with video voyeurism

  22-11-2017 21:22
  BATON ROUGE - Police have booked a 27-year-old on two counts of video voyeurism. Morgan McDermitt, a former WAFB employee, was arrested Wednesday after police say he secretly filmed women using the restroom on two separate occasions.According to the arrest affidavit, McDermitt admitted to placing a cell phone in a bathroom Tuesday at WAFB studios on Government Street to record someone using the toilet.A female employee noticed the cell phone&nbsp
  
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• Governor's office staffer resigns amid sexual harassment allegations

  22-11-2017 19:49
  BATON ROUGE - WBRZ has confirmed that a key member of John Bel Edwards' staff has resigned amid an investigation into alleged sexual harassment within the governor's office.The resignation was first reported in a story by LaPolitics.com. The report says that a number of sexual harassment allegations were being leveled at Deputy Chief of Staff of Programs and Planning Johnny Anderson before his sudden departure Wednesday. Deputy Chief of Staff of Communication
  
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• 3 high school football players charged with raping teen girl

  22-11-2017 19:38
  WEST YORK, Pa. - Three high school football players have been charged with raping a 14-year-old girl at gunpoint after she left a Pennsylvania town fair.  The York Daily Record reports the 16-year-old boys from the Central York High School football team are charged as adults.  The girl says she was with friends at the York Fair on Sept. 16 and the boys followed them. She says when she left the fair she was "taken to unknown locations" and was "forced" to have
  
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• Commission alerted to review allegations against TripAdvisor

  22-11-2017 19:33
  BOSTON - The Federal Trade Commission could take action against TripAdvisor after the Massachusetts-based travel company was accused of deleting hotel reviews that contained allegations of rape and other crimes.  Several people told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this month they were sexually assaulted at Mexican hotels and resorts but the online reviews that mentioned the crimes were taken down.  The Boston Globe says after the report was published Democrati
  
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• Man charged in pit bull's fatal beating, stabbing

  22-11-2017 17:58
  HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - Authorities in Florida say they've made an arrest in the case of a young pit bull that eventually died after being beaten, stabbed and stuffed into a suitcase.  The Sun Sentinel reports that 31-year-old Brendan Evans was arrested Wednesday and charged with aggravated animal cruelty.  Hollywood police say the dog, named Ollie, died at an animal hospital last month, two days after officers traced his cries to a blue suitcase that was left behi
  
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• Police: Detective shot day before grand jury testimony

  22-11-2017 17:42
  BALTIMORE - Baltimore's police commissioner says a detective killed last week was slain a day before he was set to testify in a corruption probe into activities of indicted police officers.  Commissioner Kevin Davis announced the revelation Wednesday, a week after the detective was shot in the head in a vacant lot.  Rumors have been running rampant in Baltimore about the unsolved case.  Davis emphasizes that Detective Sean Suiter was not the
  
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• Another shuffle in the mayor's office with departure of spokesperson

  22-11-2017 17:37
  BATON ROUGE – The mayor appears to be losing another key member of her administration.WBRZ learned Wednesday, Janene Tate is set to become the director of communications for the Southern University System. Tate is currently the mayor's spokesperson, handling media requests and availabilities. Tate is essentially the city's chief publicist.Tate has handled Mayor Sharon Weston Broome's public message since April. According to a previous report by The Advocate, Tate was working on a cont
  
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• Woman raises more than $50K for homeless veteran who helped her

  22-11-2017 17:11
  PHILADELPHIA - A New Jersey woman who was helped by a homeless man when she ran out of gas in Philadelphia has raised more than $50,000 to help him.  Kate McClure started the Gofundme.com campaign earlier this month after she said she ran out of gas on Interstate 95.According to NBC2, Johnny Bobbitt, a Marine Corps veteran, told her it wasn’t safe and to get back into her car and lock the doors. A few minutes later, McClure said Johnny returned with a red ga
  
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• Federal judge blocks Texas ban of common abortion procedure

  22-11-2017 17:03
  AUSTIN, Texas - A federal judge has blocked a new Texas law seeking to ban a commonly used second-trimester abortion method.  U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel extended indefinitely a temporary ban he'd previously issued. That overturns - at least for now - a state law that Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed in June banning the procedure known as dilation and evacuation.  Texas is set to appeal, but federal courts in at least four other states already had blocke
  
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• Roy Moore's campaign spokesman resigns

  22-11-2017 16:55
  WASHINGTON - Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore's campaign spokesman has resigned.  Campaign chairman Bill Armistead says John Rogers has resigned as communications director. Armistead says the campaign appreciated "his valuable contributions to our team."  Hannah Ford, the deputy campaign manager, is taking over press duties. Rogers confirmed to the Associated Press that he has resigned.  Moore's campaign has been hit with accusations that
  
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• Baton Rouge organizations give back this Thanksgiving

  22-11-2017 16:55
  BATON ROUGE - The Salvation Army has partnered with a number of organizations including the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank to help give back this Thanksgiving season.Volunteers made a number of stops around the Baton Rouge area Wednesday to hand out hot lunches to those in need.The prep for the day of giving started last week. Volunteers began cooking up the 150 turkeys on Monday at the Louisiana Culinary Institute. The Salvation Army and the food bank say this day would not be possible without
  
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• Thieves steal 1,800 gallons of vodka from LA distillery

  22-11-2017 16:36
  LOS ANGELES - Police are searching for thieves who swiped more than 1,800 gallons of vodka from a Los Angeles distillery.  Investigators say the suspects sawed through dead bolts to get inside a storage room at the Fog Shots distillery  Company representative Art Gukasayan says the thieves made away with about 90 percent of the company's holiday inventory and that the take was worth about $278,000.  KABC-TV reported Wednesday that detectives
  
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• Naked man arrested after carjacking in hotel parking lot

  22-11-2017 15:25
  BATON ROUGE - Police say a naked and confused man was taken into custody Tuesday night after he allegedly punched another man and stole his truck in a hotel parking lot. According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, an officer responded to a hotel in the 6400 block of Greenwell Springs Road around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. The victim told police he had been sitting in his work truck when the naked attacker walked up, punched him in the forehead and pulled him out of the vehicle. Th
  
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• Accused sex offenders arrested on more than 500 counts of child pornography

  22-11-2017 14:21
  NEW ORLEANS- Authorities have arrested two men on numerous counts of child pornography charges.According to a release from Attorney General Jeff Landry's office, both men are registered sex offenders.Jonathan Michael Ruiz, 36, was booked on 550 counts of possession of sexual abuse images/videos of children under the age of 13. He was arrested and booked into the Orleans Parish Prison. Ruiz is currently on probation for similar crimes, and Probation and Parole has placed a hold on him.R
  
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• Thousands pay respects to officer slain during traffic stop

  22-11-2017 14:20
  NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. - Thousands of police officers from around the country turned out to pay respects to a rookie Pennsylvania police officer who was fatally shot in a traffic stop last week.  Law enforcement officers from as far away as Colorado and Rhode Island, as well as students and residents lined the roadways as Officer Brian Shaw's funeral procession moved through the streets of New Kensington on Wednesday. Some held handmade signs, like one that read, "God Bless Offic
  
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• Pence visits injured service members at military hospital

  22-11-2017 13:55
  BETHESDA, Md. - Vice President Mike Pence has paid an early Thanksgiving visit to injured service members.  Pence and his wife, Karen, met privately Wednesday with five patients undergoing treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.  They later met with recovering patients, relatives and doctors and other caregivers at a USO facility on campus.  Among those the Vice President met with included a woman wit
  
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• Community leaders take part in St. Vincent de Paul annual turkey carving contest

  22-11-2017 13:47
  BATON ROUGE- In what has become an annual tradition, community leaders are volunteering their time to participate in the St. Vincent de Paul's 8th annual turkey carving contest.Community leaders at the event include Mayor Sharon Weston Broome and District Attorney Hillar Moore.The contestants will be judged on a number of categories. The contestants help St. Vincent de Paul staff and volunteers prepare the turkeys that will be given to the poor and homeless on Thanksgiving Day.The event was hel
  
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• Black Friday and Cyber Monday perks for blood donors

  22-11-2017 13:03
  BATON ROUGE- During the holiday season, blood banks tend to see a decrease in donors coming in.In an effort to entice donors to come in, United Blood Services is offering donors a $25 Amazon gift card.Those who donate on Nov. 24 or Nov. 27 will receive the gift card through points in the online rewards store. The rewards store can be accessed at bloodhero.com. Donors should allow 48 hours for points and gift card availability.Those wishing to donate can do so at the Baton Rouge Center at 8234 O
  
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• Thanksgiving holiday brings heavier than usual traffic to town

  22-11-2017 11:39
  BATON ROUGE - The day before Turkey Day certainly had the roadways stuffed all over town."I've been all over the city to different job sites, and from one side of baton rouge to the other, traffic has been pretty much gridlocked all day," said Baton Rouge resident Joseph Brown.
  What is usually only a rush hour problem happened the entire day on the i10 bridge, especially going east into the city."Some of those chemical plants that are south of us in Iberville parish are now letting off their wo
  
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• Airline defendants to pay $95 million in 9/11 settlement

  22-11-2017 11:34
  NEW YORK- Insurers for defendants including American Airlines and United Airlines have agreed to pay $95 million to settle claims that security lapses led planes to be hijacked in the Sept. 11 attacks.The settlement was described in papers filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. Developers of the new World Trade Center buildings had once demanded $3.5 billion from aviation companies after hijacked planes destroyed three skyscrapers on Sept. 11, 2001.Developer Larry Silverstein and World Trade
  
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• Delaware police citations for good deeds carry turkey reward

  22-11-2017 09:59
  MIDDLETOWN, Del.— A Delaware police department slapped 15 people with citations this week — a write-up carrying not a fine, but a reward of a free turkey.The News Journal of Wilmington reports the Middletown Police Department partnered with RCCG Amazing Grace Church this year to recognize acts of kindness and improve perceptions of law enforcement.Organizer Frank Richardson and church pastors thought the initiative would be a good way to reach out to the community. To that e
  
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• Three little bears run from the law

  22-11-2017 09:20
  TAHOE CITY, Calf.- A deputy from the Placer County Sheriff's Office was patrolling the Lighthouse Center when he encountered three little bears.The video was taken in Tahoe City, California. Once Deputy Nevins pulls up, the bears immediately flee. It looks like one of the bears was trying to get into a trash can.The deputy can be heard saying he, "Got a couple of fleeing felons."Permalink| Comments
  
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• LDWF to construct new oyster reef in Calcasieu Lake

  22-11-2017 08:29
  CALCASIEU PARISH- To increase oyster habitat and fisheries production, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is constructing new an oyster reef in Calcasieu Lake.LDWF says the project will consist of spreading approximately 12,500 cubic yards of crushed limestone on the lake bottom to create approximately 100 acres of artificial oyster reef near the east side of the lake.Quality First Marine, the contractor, will utilize high-pressure water cannons to spray the cultch material (cru
  
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• Formerly conjoined twins released from hospital in time for Thanksgiving

  22-11-2017 08:05
  PHILADELPHIA,Pa.- Formerly conjoined twins girls who spent 485 days in a Philadelphia hospital were released on Monday.WWL-TV reports that Erin and Abby Delaney were born 10 weeks premature on July 24, 2016 at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The duo was joined at the top of their heads, and at 10 months were separated by a team of 30 medical professionals, according to a statement from the hospital.Erin and Abby's surgery lasted 11 hours and marked the 24th time that surgeons
  
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• Lawsuit over decades of illegal arrests faces roadblock

  22-11-2017 07:49
  BATON ROUGE- A federal investigation revealed that authorities in a rural Louisiana parish routinely used illegal "investigative holds" to arrest hundreds of people for questioning and secretly keep them jailed for days without criminal charges.But a federal judge's ruling could preclude most of these people from getting any class-action compensation for their ordeals.In a court filing last Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick Hanna recommended dismissing three people's claims because they wer
  
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• Disney star Jordan Fisher wins 'Dancing with the Stars'

  22-11-2017 07:40
  LOS ANGELES- Disney Channel star Jordan Fisher has been crowned the winner of "Dancing with the Stars" alongside partner Lindsay Arnold.Fisher beat out violinist Lindsey Stirling and actor Frankie Muniz for the Mirrorball Trophy on the season 25 finale of the ABC reality competition Tuesday.Fisher paid tribute to Arnold on Twitter after the announcement, writing: "There aren't words to describe the feeling of going through BATTLE with my SISTER. Putting in all the time and effort and energy for
  
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• Stone Energy merges with Talos Energy

  22-11-2017 07:03
  LAFAYETTE - Houston-based offshore oil and gas firm Talos Energy says it's acquiring Lafayette-based Stone Energy in a merger worth nearly $2 billion.The deal means that Talos, a private equity firm, will go public on the New York Stock Exchange with Stone, which is traded publicly. The new company will be known as Talos Energy Inc.In a joint news release Tuesday, company officials said the merger is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018.Talos' shareholders will own 63 percent of the
  
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• Lawyers don't have enough money to defend accused cop-killer in death-penalty case

  22-11-2017 06:44
  NEW ORLEANS- The man accused of killing New Orleans Police Officer Marcus McNeil was in court Tuesday, but instead of being arraigned, the court is now scrambling to find attorneys to represent him.WWL-TV reports that facing the possibility of the death penalty for first-degree murder of a police officer, Darren Bridges had been represented by the Capital Defense Project of Southeast Louisiana.Kerry Cuccia, lead capital defense attorney, said his office can’t represe
  
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• Pledge deaths at US colleges fuel reviews of Greek life

  22-11-2017 06:18
  COLUMBUS, Ohio- The deaths of at least four fraternity pledges this year have helped fuel a re-examination of Greek life at U.S. colleges.More and more schools are hitting pause on the organizations as they grapple with how to prevent hazing, alcohol misuse and other misconduct.The move comes after pledges died at Florida State, Texas State, Penn State and Louisiana State universities.Twenty-six people are charged in the Penn State case over the death of a 19-year-old student.At Louisiana State
  
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• Louisiana man accused of killing ex-wife with an ax indicted

  22-11-2017 06:04
  CHALMETTE- A grand jury has indicted a man accused of attacking his ex-wife in front of her home with an ax as she was leaving for work, killing her.Multiple media outlets report that 56-year-old Mark Owens was indicted Tuesday on first-degree murder charges in the killing of 48-year-old Kimberly Owens in September.Authorities say Owens attacked the woman in front of her home in Chalmette, a New Orleans suburb.St. Bernard Parish Sheriff James Pohlmann said Kimberly Owens had obtained a restrain
  
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• Cadets graduation in Lafourche Parish

  22-11-2017 05:51
  LAFOURCHE PARISH- Cadets from the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office Regional POST Academy classes 104 and 105 graduated Tuesday night.The guest speaker a the graduation was Baton Rouge Police Department Ret. Chief Jeff Leduff.The sheriff's office said 29 cadets from 11 agencies completed their peace officer training.Permalink| Comments
  
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• HOLIDAY TRAVEL: Live updates for your travel day

  22-11-2017 05:36
  BATON ROUGE - News 2's Ashley Fruge’ has you covered with live updates for your day before Thanksgiving drive.Beat the traffic every time using WBRZ's advanced traffic tracking technology. Click here to go to our traffic center. Tweets by WBRZtrafficPermalink| Comments
  
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