Baton Rouge news

• Livingston superintendent explains parents can opt on 100% virtual classrooms for students

  23-07-2020 09:29 via wbrz.com
  
  LIVINGSTON PARISH - Livingston Parish Schools Superintendent Joe Murphy reiterated Thursday that parents who are fearful of sending their children to in-person classes amid the coroanvirus health crisis have the option of enrolling their children in a completely virtual instruction plan.In a Thursday morning email, Murphy provided additional clarification related to what students can expect if their parents opt to not send them to their designated school campus during the Phase 2 and/or Phase 3
  
  Read more

• A pair of LSU athletes nominated for upcoming ESPY's

  26-06-2024 13:54 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - A pair of LSU athletes are nominated for ESPY's, ESPN's end of the sports year awards show which will be broadcast live on Thursday, July 11 at 7 p.m. on WBRZ from Los Angeles.LSU football quarterback Jayden Daniels and LSU gymnast Haleigh Bryant were both nominated in their "best college athlete" category and Bryant was a two-time nominee as she is also up for "best breakthrough athlete."New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson is also up for the "best comeback athlete" award af
  
  Read more

• Man accused in death of Loranger woman, her daughter transferred to Louisiana jail

  26-06-2024 13:35 via wbrz.com
  
  POINTE À LA HACHE — The man accused of killing a Loranger woman and her 4-year-old daughter was extradited to Louisiana on Wednesday.Danial Callihan, 36, was listed as in custody at the Plaquemines Parish Detention Center. The inmate list in the jail misspelled his name as Callahan.Callihan was indicted in Tangipahoa Parish on Thursday. Callihan faces two counts of first-degree murder, as well as one count each of aggravated kidnapping of a child and second-degree kidnappin
  
  Read more

• Baton Rouge-based aviation academy to take over former charter school campus on Plank Road

  26-06-2024 12:48 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — The former campus of IDEA University Prep will be acquired by a Baton Rouge-based aviation charter school, IDEA announced Wednesday.Helix Community Schools' acquisition of IDEA's Plank Road campus for its Helix Aviation Academy comes a little more than a month after IDEA announced its University Prep campus would shut down at the end of the school year. Helix Aviation's current campus on Airpark Boulevard is a mile north of the former IDEA University Prep.Helix will repu
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Livingston deputies: One dead in apparent suicide after Holden RV fire

  26-06-2024 12:45 via wbrz.com
  
  HOLDEN — Firefighters and deputies were summoned to an RV fire in Holden on Wednesday morning and found a man dead in an apparent suicide, the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office said.Around 6 a.m., deputies responded to a possible death on George White Road. Officials found an RV on fire when they arrived, and the fire was quickly extinguished.Once deputies went inside the RV, they found a man's body. The Livingston Parish Coroner was on scene and said the death appeared to be a suici
  
  Read more

• US Supreme Court rejects challenge from Louisiana and others over Biden social media policies

  26-06-2024 09:21 via wbrz.com
  
  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with the Biden administration in a dispute with Republican-led states over how far the federal government can go to combat controversial social media posts on topics including COVID-19 and election security.By a 6-3 vote, the justices threw out lower-court rulings that favored Louisiana, Missouri and other parties in their claims that officials in the Democratic administration leaned on the social media platforms to unconstitutionally
  
  Read more

• Detectives seeking information on unsolved 2021 murder

  26-06-2024 08:36 via wbrz.com
  
  ST. GABRIEL - Police are still searching for answers regarding an unsolved murder that happened in 2021. The St. Gabriel Police Department was called to Timothy Brown's home in December of 2021. Brown had multiple gunshot wounds and he died at the scene. Investigators and Brown's family are still looking for answers. Anyone with information about Brown's death is encouraged to call Capital Region Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-7867. Permalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• For Tesla's futuristic new Cybertruck, a fourth recall

  26-06-2024 07:08 via wbrz.com
  
  DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is recalling its futuristic new Cybertruck pickup for the fourth time in the U.S. to fix problems with trim pieces that can come loose and front windshield wipers that can fail.Tesla has recalled the stainless steel-clad Cybertruck four times since it went on sale Nov. 30.The new recalls, announced in documents posted Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, each affect more than 11,000 trucks.The company says in the documents that the front
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Baker woman arrested for attempted tax fraud after allegedly using stolen data to file 10 returns

  26-06-2024 05:32 via wbrz.com
  
  BAKER - A woman attempted to secure over $25,000 in tax returns by filing with stolen personal information. The Louisiana Department of Revenue said Keiasha Brister was arrested Tuesday. Brister was accused of filing ten fraudulent tax returns in between February and April of this year using fake payroll and stolen information. The LDR intercepted the returns and stopped Brister from receiving over $25,000 in tax refunds. Brister was booked into the parish prison for
  
  Read more

• Historic 'Catfish Town' building may be torn down

  25-06-2024 21:47 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - A downtown casino is requesting a historic Baton Rouge building be torn down so the land can be used as a parking lot. The Belle of Baton Rouge requested a demolishment of Catfish Town, a 100-year-old building, to add a parking lot. The request was sent to the Historic Preservation Commission, who denied it because of the historic value of the building."We didn't think the purpose of their plans were worthy of demolishing that important building," board member of
  
  Read more

• Sports2-A-Days Preview: Southern Lab Kittens

  25-06-2024 19:09 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - The Southern Lab Kittens took home the Division Four state football title last year in part because of a large senior class that helped push them over the top.Now in 2024, those seniors are gone and the next batch of Kittens are having to prove themselves capable of living up to the standard set before them.Head Coach Darrell Asberry will be breaking in a new quarterback in junior Jerry Botley.  Botley has been in the system learning under last years starter Marlon Brown
  
  Read more

• Baton Rouge stone shop is on the search for a thief

  25-06-2024 17:48 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — A business owner is asking the public for help identifying a thief who broke into his custom stone shop on Sunday morning.Owner of Cast Stone Creations Tony Higgins said the thief was caught on camera and got away with several tools and a four wheeler. He believes the thief jumped the fence, went to his toolbox to grab pliers, and then cut a hole to drive the four wheeler out. Higgins said the chain of events has left him feeling unsettled.“I bring my small son
  
  Read more

• Baton Rouge business is on the search for a thief

  25-06-2024 17:48 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — A business owner is asking the public for help identifying a thief who broke into his custom stone shop on Sunday morning.Owner of Cast Stone Creations Tony Higgins said the thief was caught on camera and got away with several tools and a four wheeler. He believes the thief jumped the fence, went to his toolbox to grab pliers, and then cut a hole to drive the four wheeler out. Higgins said the chain of events has left him feeling unsettled.“I bring my small son
  
  Read more

• Webworms weaving their way in and out of your plants; how to get rid of them

  25-06-2024 17:30 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - Right now in Southeast Louisiana, you'll see lots of fuzzy light blond caterpillars called fall webworms. "In the spring going into the summer, what we've been seeing in the nursery lot and across Baton Rouge is the eastern tent caterpillar or webworm, and they make webs in big leaf trees, in the corners of branches, usually it's up high where you can see it," Beau Mutrie with Louisiana Nursery said.They don't sting, but they enjoy eating tree leaves and creating large we
  
  Read more

• Web worms weaving their way in and out of your plants; how to get rid of them

  25-06-2024 17:30 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - Right now in Southeast Louisiana, you'll see lots of fuzzy light blond caterpillars called fall webworms. "In the spring going into the summer, what we've been seeing in the nursery lot and across Baton Rouge is the eastern tent caterpillar or webworm, and they make webs in big leaf trees, in the corners of branches, usually it's up high where you can see it," Beau Mutrie with Louisiana Nursery said.They don't sting, but they enjoy eating tree leaves and creating large we
  
  Read more

• Residents hopeful Amazon facility will drive economic growth along Florida corridor

  25-06-2024 17:21 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - Homeowners in the Broadmoor subdivision are welcoming their new neighbor — a $200 million Amazon Fulfillment Center. The facility resides at the location of the former Cortana Mall. Suzanne Alban, who has lived in Broadmoor for nearly two decades, remembers the old mall like it was yesterday."When Cortana was here, it was really, really, really busy," Alban said.David Hinson, a Broadmoor resident of three years, says he's excited to see more economic development
  
  Read more

• Tiger Stadium ranked low in EA's Toughest Places to Play

  25-06-2024 17:12 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - A mid-summer ranking of the toughest college football places to play is ruffling feathers all across the South, but maybe nowhere are they as disgruntled as in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.EA Sports released their list of the toughest places to play as a preview to their upcoming video game EA SPORTS College Football 25 that releases in the middle of July.LSU's Tiger Stadium was ranked as the third toughest place to play, which is respectable and would be noteworthy in most any ranking.
  
  Read more

• Four from Baton Rouge Police's now-defunct 'Street Crimes' unit indicted in 2020 abuse case

  25-06-2024 16:52 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — Four Baton Rouge police officers who worked in the now-defunct "Street Crimes" unit were indicted Tuesday on charges linked to the alleged abuse of a suspect in 2020. BRPD officers Todd Thomas, Doug Chustz and Troy Lawrence Sr. were formally charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy to commit malfeasance in office. Officer Jesse Barcelona was charged with conspiracy to commit malfeasance in office.The WBRZ Investigative Unit reported that the arrests st
  
  Read more

• Four BRPD Street Crimes officers indicted in 2020 abuse case

  25-06-2024 16:52 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - Four Baton Rouge police officers who worked in the now-defunct 'Street Crimes' unit were indicted Tuesday for charges to an alleged abuse incident from 2020. BRPD officers Todd Thomas, Doug Chustz and Troy Lawrence Sr. were formally charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy to commit malfeasance in office. Officer Jesse Barcelona was charged with conspiracy to commit malfeasance in office.The WBRZ Investigative Unit reported that the arrests stemmed from an incid
  
  Read more

• Walker man arrested for allegedly holding Baton Rouge woman hostage in her home, raping, assaulting her

  25-06-2024 16:41 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — A Walker man accused of beating and raping a woman in her Baton Rouge home was arrested Tuesday, records show.David Blake Coutee, 38, was arrested in Livingston Parish and is accused of first-degree rape, aggravated second-degree battery, false imprisonment, aggravated damage to property and aggravated assault in East Baton Rouge Parish. The rape, assault and imprisonment took place June 11 and 12, a Baton Rouge Police affidavit says.Coutee came to the woman's house late
  
  Read more

• Louisiana's RNC delegates speak on upcoming convention, give Trump running mate picks

  25-06-2024 16:38 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - Next month's Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has a big question surrounding it: Who will Donald Trump choose as his running mate on the Republican ticket?In Baton Rouge, Louisiana's delegates to the RNC spoke to a room of supporters at the Café Americain on Tuesday about the upcoming convention, as well as their hopes for the Republican Party.WBRZ asked multiple delegates about who they'd pick if they had the chance."To use a sports analogy, when
  
  Read more

• Contractor leaves trench through kitchen, refund requested

  25-06-2024 16:34 via wbrz.com
  
  BAKER — A Baker woman says she paid a contractor to do work in her kitchen and the work was never finished. Monique Wright says she wants a refund.When you walk into Wright's kitchen, the first thing you'll notice is that the floor is torn up and part of her cabinetry is missing. There's a deep trench several feet long going from the wall to the sink. She had hired someone to dig up a broken pipe in her slab and replace it with a new one.A project that was supposed to take two days is
  
  Read more

• Baker neighborhood without water as crews work on repairs

  25-06-2024 16:29 via wbrz.com
  
  BAKER - Some Baker residents are without water Tuesday after a leak was found. Officials said homes on Day Drive, North Day Drive, South Magnolia Drive, North Magnolia Drive, West Magnolia Drive, Cypress Drive, Center Street, South Street and Ray Weiland Drive were affected by the outage. At 4 p.m., town officials said crews were out repairing the line, but did not give an estimated restoration time. Permalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• Baker neighborhood out of water as crews work on repairs

  25-06-2024 16:29 via wbrz.com
  
  BAKER - Some Baker residents are out of water Tuesday after a leak was found. Officials said homes on Day Drive, North Day Drive, South Magnolia Drive, North Magnolia Drive, West Magnolia Drive, Cypress Drive, Center Street, South Street and Ray Weiland Drive were affected by the outage. At 4 p.m., town officials said crews are out repairing the line, but did not give an estimated restoration time. Permalink| Comments
  
  Read more

• WATCH: EBR's superintendent candidates make their own videotaped pitches for top schools job

  25-06-2024 16:28 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board this week is expected to narrow its list of superintendent candidates from five to three, or perhaps fewer, as it hopes to have a new leader in place by July 11.The leaders of Louisiana's second-largest school district recently asked the semifinalists to provide videotaped statements, and WBRZ has posted them to its website. The candidates hope to replace Sito Narcisse, who took a buyout in January after the board voted to not ren
  
  Read more

• U.S. Surgeon General declares gun violence a public health emergency

  25-06-2024 16:00 via wbrz.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. surgeon general on Tuesday declared gun violence a public health crisis, driven by the fast-growing number of injuries and deaths involving firearms in the country.The advisory issued by Dr. Vivek Murthy, the nation's top doctor, came as the U.S. grappled with another summer weekend marked by mass shootings that left dozens of people dead or wounded."People want to be able to walk through their neighborhoods and be safe," Murthy told The Associated Press in
  
  Read more

• One person brought to hospital after Underwood Drive house catches fire

  25-06-2024 15:35 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — An Underwood Drive house off North Foster Drive caught fire midday Tuesday, Baton Rouge Fire said.Firefighters were initially called to the home on a first-aid call for possible burns around 12:40 p.m., fire officials said. After the first unit arrived a few minutes later and found someone in the front yard with smoke coming out of the home, more units were dispatched.EMS brought the injured person to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said. B
  
  Read more

• Morse reiterates strip search policy that allows intrusions without 'probable cause' that a crime occurred

  25-06-2024 15:02 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — Police Chief T.J. Morse reiterated in federal court Tuesday that it is proper for city police officers to strip search people even if they don't have probable cause to believe a crime has occurred, rejecting a lawyer's argument that the standard should be much higher.Morse, who became chief this year after directing the agency's training division for years, replied "I don't know" to several questions involved in day-to-day operations, and testified that "I've never condu
  
  Read more

• Grosse Tete draw bridge repairs could last well into the fall, highway officials say

  25-06-2024 14:32 via wbrz.com
  
  GROSSE TETE — Louisiana highway officials said Tuesday that it could be well into the fall before repairs are completed on a draw bridge that connects Grosse Tete and Plaquemine.The Department of Transportation and Development said a contractor is removing mechanical equipment and hydraulic lines from the draw bridge, which was struck by a barge June 6. The collision took the bridge out of service, forcing a 46-mile detour between the west side of the Port Allen Lock and its west side
  
  Read more

• Zachary native, Super Bowl-winning quarterback Doug Williams honored in local hall of fame

  25-06-2024 13:40 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — A Super Bowl-winning quarterback who went to a local high school was finally honored as a member of the inaugural class of the East Baton Rouge Parish School System Athletic Hall of Fame after not being able to attend the May ceremony.Doug Williams was honored with a jacket on Saturday at his football camp at Memorial Stadium. The former Chaneyville High School — now Northeast High — and Grambling State quarterback won a Super Bowl with the Washington
  
  Read more

Follow @BatonRougeNews_ on Twitter!