Baton Rouge news

• Truck carrying propane tanks catches fire on Mississippi interstate

  14-08-2023 20:57
  
  POPLARVILLE - A semi-truck carrying a load of propane tanks was reduced to tires and an undercarriage Monday afternoon when it caught fire. Pictures shared by the Mississippi Highway Patrol showed the remnants of the truck and ashy propane tanks scattered on I-59 outside of Poplarville. Tanks covered the road and flooded the bar ditch. Traffic was shut down in the area for four hours while crews worked to get the fire under control. Firefighters battled the flames, trying to k
  
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• Trump and 18 allies charged in Georgia election meddling as former president faces 4th criminal case

  14-08-2023 20:22
  
  ATLANTA (AP) — Donald Trump and 18 allies were indicted in Georgia on Monday over their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state, with prosecutors using a statute normally associated with mobsters to accuse the former president, lawyers and other aides of a “criminal enterprise” to keep him in power.The nearly 100-page indictment details dozens of acts by Trump or his allies to undo his defeat, including beseeching Georgia’s Republican secr
  
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• 10 indictments returned in Georgia as grand jury wraps up Trump election probe

  14-08-2023 20:22
  
  A grand jury in Georgia that has been investigating former President Donald Trump over his efforts to undo the 2020 election results in that state returned 10 indictments Monday, though it was not immediately clear against whom.Documents were presented around 9 p.m. by the county courts clerk to the Fulton County judge who for months has been presiding over the investigation.The grand jury heard from witnesses into the evening Monday in the election subversion investigation into Donald Trump, a
  
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• Amid excessive heat, Ascension Parish school bus drivers pleading for AC on buses

  14-08-2023 18:10
  
  ASCENSION - As temperatures get hotter, school districts are floating the idea of putting air conditioning on buses. One group of drivers in Ascension Parish says the time to act is now. When temperatures reach 100 degrees, the internal temperature of a school bus can exceed 125 degrees. Some bus drivers told WBRZ on Monday that it's like driving an oven."The heat from the motor is coming in our faces and in our laps. And all of the small children sit in the front, pre-k, kindergarten.
  
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• Southern University golf cart malfunctions, drives through dining hall window during private campus tour

  14-08-2023 17:37
  
  BATON ROUGE - Southern University employees were cleaning up glass Monday afternoon after a golf cart drove through the Mayberry Dining Hall. The accident happened shortly before 5 p.m. WBRZ was on the scene where two floor-to-ceiling window panes were broken. Employees had brooms and were clearing the glass. School officials said a Southern employee was driving two people on the golf cart for a campus tour. The three said that the golf cart malfunctioned and drove through the
  
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• Southern University employees cleaning up glass after golf cart drives through dining hall window

  14-08-2023 17:37
  
  BATON ROUGE - Southern University employees were cleaning up glass Monday afternoon after a golf cart drove through the Mayberry Dining Hall. The accident happened shortly before 5 p.m. WBRZ was on the scene where two floor-to-ceiling window panes were broken. Employees had brooms and were clearing the glass. Officials said one person was taken to a hospital for their injuries. A small pool of blood was visible on the concrete outside of the building. No information on the ext
  
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• Livingston Parish deputies looking for missing man, may be disoriented

  14-08-2023 17:27
  
  ALBANY -  Livingston Parish deputies are searching for a man with a traumatic brain injury who has been reported missing. The Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office is searching for 55-year-old Randy Klein from Albany. People who last saw Klein said he was disoriented. Deputies said he was near Hutchinson Cemetery Road and Vivian White Road. Anyone with information on Klein's whereabouts should call 911. Permalink| Comments
  
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• LA-1 near Lynndale Drive closed due to road buckling

  14-08-2023 16:55
  
  PORT ALLEN - The right lane of LA-1 near Lynndale Drive is closed until further notice as crews work to fix a buckle in the road. According to the Department of Transportation and Development announced the emergency closure at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The closure will last until the road is fixed. No detours were listed. Permalink| Comments
  
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• LA-1 near Lynndale Drive briefly closed Monday due to road buckling

  14-08-2023 16:55
  
  PORT ALLEN - The right lane of LA-1 near Lynndale Drive while crews worked to fix a buckle in the road. According to the Department of Transportation and Development announced the emergency closure at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The roadway reopened shortly after 6 p.m. Monday evening. Permalink| Comments
  
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• Child hit by truck while walking across Lovett Road in Central

  14-08-2023 16:39
  
  CENTRAL - A child was taken to a hospital Monday after being hit by a truck. According to Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran, the child was walking across Lovett Road around 3:25 p.m. when they were hit by a truck. An ambulance took the child to a hospital where they are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the truck was not arrested or ticketed. The crash is under investigation. Permalink| Comments
  
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• Parish worker fired for urinating in Ascension water supply pleads not guilty

  14-08-2023 16:11
  
  DONALDSONVILLE - A Baton Rouge man accused of relieving himself in a pool of water at a treatment plant in Ascension Parish has pleaded not guilty, months after video of the crime was released by the parish government. Michael Mastin, who was formerly employed at the plant, was arrested back in March after surveillance videos seemingly caught him in the act at the Donaldsonville facility. Mastin, 57, was fired after supervisors discovered the video, and he was later arrested o
  
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• 2 children killed in vehicle fire after crash with semi-truck

  14-08-2023 15:57
  
  RAYVILLE - Two children died early Monday after the car they were riding in was rear-ended by a semi-truck and then caught fire. According to State Police, 43-year-old Kasey Thompson was driving 9-year-old Bryn and 7-year-old Harrison Thompson along Highway 42 around 7 a.m. when the car slowed to turn left. Troopers say a semi-truck driven by 70-year-old James Barnes was behind Thompson and crashed into the back of her car. The vehicle caught on fire. Both Bryn and Harrison di
  
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• State District Attorneys Association working to block clemency hearings for death row inmates

  14-08-2023 15:21
  
  BATON ROUGE - The State District Attorneys Association is working on a plan to have a judge intervene to stop the pardon board from conducting clemency hearings for inmates sitting on death row.Last week, Governor John Bel Edwards issued a strongly worded letter to the pardon board that he appoints — urging them to take action. The LDAA said the board can't violate its own rules and beliefs and hearings for individuals who are ineligible shouldn't happen."We were surprised that they r
  
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• Governor declares state of emergency due to extreme heat throughout Louisiana

  14-08-2023 15:11
  
  BATON ROUGE - Governor John Bel Edwards has declared a state of emergency amid a rash of concerns brought on by extreme heat throughout the state.The move will free up more state resources that can be used to combat heat-related emergencies. Last week, WBRZ reported on a surge of heat-related deaths in Louisiana in June and July. In those months alone, Louisiana reported 16 heat deaths, far outpacing the state's yearly average of 10. Read the full announcement below.Today, Gov
  
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• Michael Oher, former NFL tackle known for The Blind Side, sues to end Tuohy's conservatorship

  14-08-2023 15:03
  
  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Michael Oher, the former NFL tackle known for the movie “The Blind Side,” filed a petition Monday in a Tennessee probate court accusing Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of lying to him by having him sign papers making them his conservators rather than his adoptive parents nearly two decades ago.In the petition filed Monday in Shelby County Probate Court, Oher asks for the conservatorship to be terminated along with asking for a full accounting of t
  
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• I-110 South blocked after car hauler spilled flattened vehicles onto interstate

  14-08-2023 14:46
  
  BATON ROUGE - I-110 was closed off to southbound traffic after a handful off flattened vehicles fell from the back of a car hauler late Monday morning.The interstate was first closed sometime before noon near the N 22nd Street exit. The truck was reportedly carrying cars that had already been crushed prior to transport.As of around 12:30 p.m., no injuries had been reported. The southbound side of I-110 remains closed at the crash scene. Permalink| Comments
  
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• Car hauler spills flattened vehicles onto I-110 in Baton Rouge

  14-08-2023 14:46
  
  BATON ROUGE - I-110 was closed off to southbound traffic after a handful off flattened vehicles fell from the back of a car hauler late Monday morning.The interstate was first closed sometime before noon near the N 22nd Street exit. The truck was reportedly carrying cars that had already been crushed prior to transport.No injuries were reported. I-110 South has since reopened at the crash scene. Permalink| Comments
  
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• New Orleans mayor's husband has died, city says

  14-08-2023 14:01
  
  NEW ORLEANS - Jason Cantrell — the husband of New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell and a longtime lawyer in the area — has died, the city announced Monday. “It is with great sadness and heartache that we announce the passing of First Gentleman Jason Cantrell," the city said in a press release obtained by WWL-TV. "He was a devoted husband and father, as well as a dedicated public servant who valiantly served the residents of this city not only alongside Mayor
  
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• Peyton Manning adds a new title - professor at his alma mater, Tennessee

  14-08-2023 13:51
  
  KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Peyton Manning, the five-time NFL MVP and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has a new title.Just call him Professor Manning.The University of Tennessee announced Monday that Manning has been appointed a professor of practice at the College of Communication and Information starting this fall. Manning graduated from Tennessee in 1997 with a degree in speech communication.He said in a statement his time as a student there was a foundation for teaching him c
  
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• Hitman lays out murder-for-hire timeline, recounting final moments of used car dealer's ex-wife

  14-08-2023 13:50
  
  BATON ROUGE - A man who pleaded guilty to his role in a 2015 murder-for-hire plot testified in a Baton Rouge courtroom Monday, laying out a timeline for jurors that ended with the death of a businessman’s ex-wife. Hamid Ghassemi is accused of paying $10,000 to have three men kill Teherah Ghassemi, whose body was found in a shallow grave in St. Helena Parish in 2015. Daniel Richter, 41, admitted lining up two others to abduct and kill the woman, and told jurors that H
  
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• Authorities find woman imprisoned at La. home while making arrest in months-old arson case

  14-08-2023 13:30
  
  ARNAUDVILLE - Deputies with the Louisiana fire marshal's office discovered a woman who had been kidnapped and sexually abused after they searched the home of a man implicated in a months-long arson investigation. The agency said Nathaniel Carry, 68, was initially facing charges after investigators linked him to a Feb. 24 fire at the home of his ex in Krotz Springs. No one was home at the time of the fire, but a pet dog was later found dead inside.Fire investigators eventually labeled t
  
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• EBR School Board holds emergency meeting regarding shortage of bus drivers, working equipment

  14-08-2023 12:26
  
  BATON ROUGE - Just days into a new school year, students are already having troubles getting to class or getting there without breaking a sweat. It's why parents showed up the East Baton Rouge School Board's emergency meeting on Monday evening."There's no reason that any bus here be without air conditioning. You would not go get in your cars and drive home without the air conditioning on in the summer. Don't expect our kids to do it," a speaker said.Many parents took to the podium asking Superi
  
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• Officials report 'mass casualty event' after boat crash in Texas - Several injured, teen missing

  14-08-2023 07:42
  
  LAKE AUSTIN, Texas - Several people were injured and one is missing after a boat ran aground and ejected a passenger in Texas Sunday. According to ABC, the boat hit a wake from another vessel. The driver lost control and hit the river's bank on the right side. Emergency officials said two people were taken to a hospital with serious injuries, two with "potentially serious injuries," and a teenager was listed as being missing.Two others were also injured but did not go to the h
  
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