Louisiana news

• 'Why is it so hard to open this bridge?': residents frustrated with Port Hickey Road bridge closure

  08-01-2025 21:52 via wbrz.com
  
  ZACHARY - An old bridge in Zachary is causing distress to residents with its closure leaving just one path to leave the neighborhood. East Baton Rouge Parish officials said repairs take time, but some residents are not willing to wait.The bridge in question is the Port Hickey Road bridge, which resident Eric Smith said has been closed for at least eight years."It's real scary when you know a storm is coming, someone is sick and they can't get out. The ambulance can't get in and nobody can get o
  
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• Metro Council approves creation of task force to examine city-parish tax dollars

  08-01-2025 21:41 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - In a unanimous vote, the Metro Council voted yes on the formation of a task force to analyze city-parish funds Wednesday.The city-parish is grappling with the financial aftermath of the formation of the city of St. George, which is expected to cut city-parish revenue by nearly $40 million this year.Metro Council members are looking for ways to make ends meet. The chairman of the task force, District 4 Councilman Aaron Moak, says this is not about raising or lowering taxes. The goa
  
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• Mayor-President Sid Edwards honors Badawi, Hunter families with presentation at Metro Council meeting

  08-01-2025 20:58 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sid Edwards honored two victims of the Bourbon Street attacks and their families at a Metro Council meeting Wednesday.Edwards started with Kareem Badawi, an Episcopal high school alum who was attending the University of Alabama. Edwards discussed Badawi's desire to see something new as his reason to pick the University of Alabama, alongside other positive qualities."I went into a restaurant last night, and I ran into a friend of Kareem's," Edwards said.
  
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• LSU's Aneesah Morrow is closing in on NCAA rebounding records

  08-01-2025 19:17 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - LSU's Aneesah Morrow is leading the nation in rebounding and is just a couple of games away from reaching a milestone in women's college basketball that less than ten players have ever accomplished.Morrow currently leads the country with 15 double-doubles and is also the top player hitting the glass, averaging 14 rebounds per game.The senior transfer from DePaul is averaging 18.1 points per game which is sixth in the SEC and is only 14 points shy of 2,500 in her career.She is also
  
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• Ten Commandments law not implemented in every school district, yet

  08-01-2025 18:10 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - Several laws went into effect on Jan. 1, including a law mandating teachers display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, but school boards and lawmakers are still figuring out how the law will take shape across the state.This was the first time teachers and students were back in the classroom in the New Year, but is unclear how many classrooms have implemented the new law. Between court cases challenging whether displaying religious text in publicly funded schools is constitutional
  
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• LPSO: Two juveniles arrested after vehicle thefts in Albany, Holden areas

  08-01-2025 17:53 via wbrz.com
  
  HOLDEN - Two juveniles were arrested after multiple auto thefts, according to the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office.Deputies say multiple thefts of motor vehicles were reported within the Albany and Holden areas. Two juveniles were identified as culprits and the cases have been cleared.The incidents are still under investigation.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Louisiana native discusses dealing with ongoing California wildfires

  08-01-2025 17:34 via wbrz.com
  
  LOS ANGELES -  Thousands of people have evacuated as wildfires devour acre after acre in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles. Five people have died and at least 1,000 homes and businesses have been destroyed.Chris Dargin is from Louisiana and works for the Los Angeles Dodgers, he said dealing with a wildfire is much different than the weather events he grew up with in Louisiana."It's crazy like anywhere you go in the world, wherever you go in the world there are just natural disa
  
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• Mayor Sid Edwards told the Rotary Club he plans on unifying city by tackling crime, blight

  08-01-2025 17:32 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — Mayor-President Sid Edwards set forth his vision of a better Baton Rouge at the Rotary Club on Wednesday afternoon.Edwards said there are several hurdles the city must overcome. These range from crime to divisiveness.He said he has a plan to tackle crime, starting with increasing officers' pay and hiring retired police officers.“We’re looking at a new policy ‘Retire Rehire,’ and trying to get them back into the building back on the
  
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• LSU veterinary professor is finalist for a national veterinarian of the year award

  08-01-2025 17:02 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - A Baton Rouge veterinarian is up for a national award. Dr. Sara Lyle of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine is one of four finalists nationwide for the Westminster Kennel Club's National Veterinarian of the Year.Dr. Lyle is the first veterinarian from LSU to receive this honor. She is the associate professor of theriogenology: the study of animal reproduction."We actually do multiple species, mainly dog and horse. We're mainly concerned with getting whatever pregnant or preservi
  
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• Jefferson Highway project to resume next week; project still expected to finish in 2026 after delays

  08-01-2025 16:42 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - The State Department of Transportation and Development is gearing up for another round of roadwork on Jefferson Highway.The first phase of the $18 million project was completed last year and work has been temporarily halted on further stages due to the cold weather.Public Information Officer for the DOTD Rodney Mallett told WBRZ work on phase two of the project will resume next week. The next phase includes repaving the outside lanes of Jefferson between Drusilla Lane and
  
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• Report: Former NYPD commissioner hired to assess security for New Orleans after Bourbon Street attack

  08-01-2025 16:21 via wbrz.com
  
  NEW ORLEANS - A former New York City police commissioner has been hired to assess New Orleans' security vulnerabilities and recommend improvements after last week's attack on Bourbon Street that left 14 dead, according to WWL-TV.William Bratton served as the New York City police commissioner twice, as he was first under then-mayor Rudy Giuliani in the 1990s and returned to serve the role from 2014-2016. He currently serves as co-chair of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, which provides re
  
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• Bayou Barbie Angel Reese graces the cover of Vogue's Winter 2025 magazine

  08-01-2025 16:19 via wbrz.com
  
  NEW YORK - Former Tiger and WNBA star Angel Reese was featured on the cover of Vogue's Winter 2025 magazine - When Sports Met Fashion.The Bayou Barbie had a historic freshman season: she set the WNBA record for most double-doubles by a rookie and most consecutive double-doubles in the league, she celebrated her 22nd birthday at the MET Gala and bought a women's professional soccer team. Basketball runs in her family, but Angel Reese “was a fashion girlie from young too,&r
  
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• Report: Largest wine, spirit distributor in country may open distribution center in Geismar

  08-01-2025 15:57 via wbrz.com
  
  GEISMAR - The largest wine and spirit distributor in the country is working to open a major distribution center in Ascension Parish, according to The Advocate.The Advocate says Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, which is based out of Miami, is setting up a 375,000 foot warehouse on Industrial Drive in Geismar.Forbes says the company is the 10th largest private company in the United States, employing 24,000 people and generating $26 billion in revenue. A company fact sheet says the company dist
  
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• Man accused of setting Cotton Street home on fire arrested

  08-01-2025 15:55 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — A man accused of setting fire to the second story of a Cotton Street home was arrested for arson.Baton Rouge Fire officials said Wednesday that 68-year-old Anthony Gandy was arrested for negligent arson.Firefighters responded to the fire near the corner of Cotton Street and Thomas H. Delpit Drive around 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 2. The home was considered a total loss due to heavy smoke and water damage.One person suffered minor injuries and declined transport to the hospital.Ga
  
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• Ascension Parish Schools, Livingston Parish Schools among districts affected by PowerSchool hack

  08-01-2025 15:25 via wbrz.com
  
  DONALDSONVILLE — Ascension Parish Schools and Livingston Parish Schools were among several school districts affected by a hack of educational software provider PowerSchool, administrators said Wednesday.PowerSchool told the school districts' IT department about the hack late Tuesday, saying that someone used a compromised credential to access date stored in the company's Student Information System.After PowerSchool learned of the hack on Dec. 28, it locked down the system and contacte
  
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• Ascension Parish Schools among districts affected by PowerSchool hack

  08-01-2025 15:25 via wbrz.com
  
  DONALDSONVILLE — Ascension Parish Schools was among several school districts affected by a hack of educational software provider PowerSchool, administrators said Wednesday.PowerSchool told the school district's IT department about the hack late Tuesday, saying that someone used a compromised credential to access date stored in the company's Student Information System.After PowerSchool learned of the hack on Dec. 28, it locked down the system and contacted authorities. "(Power
  
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• Public hearing on carbon capture injections test well in Ascension Parish planned for late January

  08-01-2025 15:13 via wbrz.com
  
  DONALDSONVILLE - A public hearing is scheduled for late January regarding a company seeking a permit for the first carbon capture test injection well in Ascension Parish, according to a public notice.Blue Sky Infrastructure, a company based out of Houston, is seeking a permit for their River Parish Sequestration Project in Louisiana, which will be used to construct a Class V test well near Donaldsonville. It would be located near La. 943 and McCall Bayou.According to the company, the p
  
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• State Fire Marshal: 11 dead from fires since the new year began

  08-01-2025 15:10 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — Across the state, 11 people have died in fatal fires since the new year started, the Louisiana Fire Marshal's Office said Wednesday.Eight fatal fires have been reported since Jan. 1. Four people died in an overnight Winnsboro fire on Jan. 7. The other fire deaths were all single fatalities, including two dead in Abbeville on Jan. 7 and Jan. 2, respectively. Others  died in Church Point on Jan. 2, New Orleans on Jan. 4, Shreveport on Jan. 7, Hin
  
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• Entergy asking to collect new hurricane fee to recoup costs from Francine

  08-01-2025 14:33 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - Entergy has asked the Public Service Commission if it can put an additional fee on bills to recover costs from Hurricane Francine. The proposed fee would be 80 cents for every residential customer using 1,000 kwh, beginning in March 2025.The decision will be made at the Public Service Commission meeting on Jan. 15. Hurricane Francine, which made landfall on Sept. 11, was a Category 2 storm with winds up to 100 mph, which caused flooding and damage across the capi
  
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• Report: Hyundai to build multibillion-dollar steel mill in Ascension Parish

  08-01-2025 14:31 via wbrz.com
  
  DONALDSONVILLE - Auto company Hyundai is planning to build a multibillion dollar steel mill near Donaldsonville, according to The Advocate.The facility would be built on several hundred acres of sugar cane field near Donaldsonville, where the land was re-zoned by the parish for industrial use.Hyundai and Louisiana officials agreed on incentives and tax in December, with Hyundai planning to break ground as soon as 2026. The Advocate says if approved by stated and local regulators, it could be ru
  
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• Report: Todd Graves buys downtown Nashville building with Margaritaville in record-breaking deal

  08-01-2025 14:25 via wbrz.com
  
  NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Raising Cane's founder and CEO Todd Graves made a record-breaking purchase of a building housing a Margaritaville in downtown Nashville, the Nashville Business Journal reports.The $75 million purchase of the three-story building in downtown Nashville's Broadway Street broke records for the area. It cost a per-square-foot price of $2,870.A Cane's spokesperson said that Graves intends to keep the Margaritaville, opened by late musician Jimmy Buffett, open. Graves sees
  
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• Deputies arrest one, searching for others connected to Bayou L'Ourse robbery

  08-01-2025 13:22 via wbrz.com
  
  BAYOU L'OURSE - Deputies arrested one person and are looking for others who allegedly robbed a man at gunpoint more than a year ago. The Assumption Parish Sheriff's Office said on Dec. 28, 2023, a man was walking near the corner of La. 663 and La. 398 when he was hit in the head and then robbed by men wearing ski masks with guns. Deputies said they took his cash. Alvin Fitch Jr. was arrested and held in Ascension Parish in May 2024. He was moved to Assumption Parish Jail in Ja
  
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• USPS suspends mail service on Thursday for national day of mourning honoring late Jimmy Carter

  08-01-2025 13:18 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — The United States Postal Service will not deliver mail on Thursday for the national day of mourning honoring the life of former President Jimmy Carter, who died Dec. 30 at age 100.President Joe Biden declared Thursday a national day of mourning, which means all post office locations will be closed.Regular mail service will also be suspended on the day of mourning, with limited package delivery. Permalink| Comments
  
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• Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office audit alleges two parish drivers got paid more than $6,000 for hours they didn't work

  08-01-2025 11:28 via wbrz.com
  
  PLAQUEMINE — The Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office has turned over the investigation of two parish transport drivers who allegedly got paid more than $6,000 for hours they didn't work to prosecutors, a parish audit showed.The audit alleges that the two salaried transport drivers, no longer employed by the sheriff's office, were not working the required hours for their shifts and that the employees did not submit leave requests for these hours.In total, $6,127 in ill-gotten funds were
  
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• Iberville Parish audit alleges two parish drivers got paid more than $6,000 for hours they didn't work

  08-01-2025 11:28 via wbrz.com
  
  PLAQUEMINE — The Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office has turned over the investigation of two parish transport drivers who allegedly got paid more than $6,000 for hours they didn't work to prosecutors, a parish audit showed.The audit alleges that the two salaried transport drivers, no longer employed by the parish, were not working the required hours for their shifts and that the employees did not submit leave requests for these hours.In total, $6,127 in ill-gotten funds were paid betwe
  
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• Slidell mayor resigns from municipal seat to take position in Landry administration

  08-01-2025 11:16 via wbrz.com
  
  SLIDELL - Mayor Greg Cromer announced his last day in office as leader of Slidell would be Jan. 20 as he accepts a position with the state Department of Transportation and Development under Governor Jeff Landry's administration. "“It is with a heavy heart that I announce that I am stepping down as your Mayor. It has truly been one of the most difficult decisions of my life,” said Cromer. “Serving the citizens of Slidell has been the best and most rewarding
  
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• Bogalusa mayor says anyone who believes his involvement in drug ring is 'sadly mistaken'

  08-01-2025 09:51 via wbrz.com
  
  BOGALUSA - A city mayor who was arrested Tuesday for his alleged involvement in a drug operation said anyone who believes in his charges is "sadly mistaken."Tyrin Truong, 25, was arrested Tuesday and booked for drug dealing and soliciting prostitutes. He bonded out later Tuesday afternoon."I pray that God reveals every person that had a hand in this, and there are many. I thank my family, friends and multitude of supporters for your outpouring of love. If you think I ran a drug operation (and a
  
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• Three people taken to hospital after being shot in Baldwin

  08-01-2025 09:29 via wbrz.com
  
  BALDWIN - Three people were taken to the hospital in unknown conditions after being shot late Tuesday night. The Baldwin Police Department said the shooting happened sometime around 11 p.m. on Lincoln Street. Three people were injured and taken to the hospital, but no further information was provided. Police said the investigation was ongoing. Permalink| Comments
  
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• LDWF warns of potential fish kills due to freezing temperatures

  08-01-2025 09:10 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - With colder temperatures moving into the southern U.S. and bringing an arctic blast to Louisiana, wildlife agents are warning residents of the potential for fish kills. Fish kills happen due to temperature extremes in fish waterways and can indicate a localized problem with the water when investigated further. Coastal species commonly impacted by low water temperatures are white trout, red drum, black drum, and spotted seatrout. The Louisiana Department of Wildli
  
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• Trump asks the Supreme Court to block sentencing in his hush money case in New York

  08-01-2025 08:05 via wbrz.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to call off Friday’s sentencing in his hush money case in New York.Trump’s lawyers turned to the nation’s highest court Wednesday after New York courts refused to postpone the sentencing by Judge Juan M. Merchan, who presided over Trump’s trial and conviction last May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.The Supreme Court asked for a response from prosecutor
  
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• US Justice Department accuses six major landlords of scheming to keep rents high

  08-01-2025 07:31 via wbrz.com
  
  DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department is suing several large landlords for allegedly coordinating to keep Americans’ rents high by using both an algorithm to help set rents and privately sharing sensitive information with their competitors to boost profits.The lawsuit arrives as U.S. renters continue to struggle under a merciless housing market, with incomes failing to keep up with rent increases. The latest figures show that half of American renters spent more than 30%
  
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• Louisiana will no longer mail certain tax paperwork to businesses

  08-01-2025 06:56 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - In 2025, the Louisiana Department of Revenue will no longer mail printed copies of tax paperwork to businesses, a decision that will save taxpayers up to $100,000 in printing and mailing costs. The LDR will no longer mail state tax returns to individual businesses starting this year. Rather than receive mailed copies of their state tax returns, businesses can file their taxes electronically through the Louisiana Taxpayer Access Point here, file through their resp
  
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• Two dead, thousands displaced as wildfires burn out of control in and around Los Angeles and homes are destroyed

  08-01-2025 06:33 via wbrz.com
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — California firefighters battled wind-whipped wildfires that tore across the Los Angeles area, destroying homes, clogging roadways as tens of thousands fled and straining resources as the fires burned uncontained early Wednesday.The flames from a fire that broke out Tuesday evening near a nature preserve in the inland foothills northeast of LA spread so rapidly that staff at a senior living center had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down
  
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• Thousands flee as wildfires burn out of control in and around Los Angeles and homes are destroyed

  08-01-2025 06:33 via wbrz.com
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — California firefighters battled wind-whipped wildfires that tore across the Los Angeles area, destroying homes, clogging roadways as tens of thousands fled and straining resources as the fires burned uncontained early Wednesday.The flames from a fire that broke out Tuesday evening near a nature preserve in the inland foothills northeast of LA spread so rapidly that staff at a senior living center had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down
  
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