Louisiana news

• House committee advances bill to cut corporate income tax rate; part of governor's special tax session

  11-11-2024 13:33 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - The House Ways and Means Committee took steps Sunday toward achieving the governor’s tax overhaul by advancing a bill to cut the corporate income tax rate, now one of the highest in the nation, in stages from 7.5% to 3.5%.The full House voted 69-6 to send the plan to the House Appropriations Committee for further consideration.Also on Sunday, the Ways and Means Committee voted to allow parishes to eliminate the business inventory tax.If passed by the House and the Senate
  
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• Baton Rouge woman receives car during Progressive, Enterprise giveaway honoring veterans

  14-11-2024 17:24 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — A Baton Rouge veteran was given a new car on Thursday thanks to Progressive's Keys to Progress program. The program is part of an annual effort in partnership with Enterprise Rent-a-Car to recognize veterans and provide them with reliable transportation.Nearly 100 military families are getting a new vehicle this year, including Baton Rouge's Erika Hanson."I just want to say thank you very much for everything you are doing. You guys are a big community and thank
  
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• Car fire shuts down traffic on North Ardenwood

  14-11-2024 17:15 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — A furniture truck caught fire Thursday afternoon in a North Ardenwood Drive intersection. The truck caught on fire at North Ardenwood Drive and Renoir Avenue. White smoke filled the air as firefighters put out the flames. Crews got the situation under control by 4:30 p.m.Officials at the scene told WBRZ that no one was injured and the driver was able to get out of the vehicle unhurt. Baton Rouge Police officers were re-directing traffic in the area.&
  
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• Woman sentenced 37 months in federal prison after Highland Road Chase Bank robbery

  14-11-2024 16:59 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE -  A woman was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison after an October 2023 bank robbery that took place at the Chase Bank on Highland Road, according to the United States Department of Justice.Jazmine Johnnie, 23, of New Iberia, admitted to attempting to rob the bank of $45,000 on Oct. 10, 2023. According to the admissions, Johnnie went to the location in a rented Dodge Challenger on Oct. 9 and told a teller she would return the next day.The next day, s
  
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• GM recalling big pickups and SUVs because the rear wheels can lock up, increasing risk of a crash

  14-11-2024 16:30 via wbrz.com
  
  DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is recalling nearly 462,000 pickup trucks and big SUVs with diesel engines because the rear wheels can lock up, increasing the risk of a crash.The recall in the U.S. covers certain Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups from the 2020 through 2022 model years. Also included are the 2021 Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban.Documents posted Wednesday on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration websi
  
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• Man accused of using social media to solicit minors arrested by Livingston Parish deputies

  14-11-2024 16:15 via wbrz.com
  
  LIVINGSTON — A man was arrested by Livingston Parish deputies for using social media to solicit minors. Marcus Davis, 33, was arrested on one count each of indecent behavior with juvenile and computer-aided solicitation after an investigation by Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force deputies in October.According to arrest records, Davis was booked into the Livingston Parish Detention Center on Oct. 17. Davis' bond is set at $200,000.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Deputies searching for missing 13-year-old girl last seen five days ago in LaPlace

  14-11-2024 15:50 via wbrz.com
  
  LAPLACE — The St. John the Baptist Parish deputies are searching for a missing 13-year-old girl who has been missing for five days.Jokaia Polk was last seen on Nov. 9 around noon on Canterbury Drive in LaPlace.Polk is a Black girl, approximately 5’ 1” tall and weighs approximately 110 lbs. She has waist length “Faux-Locs” extensions
  in her hair. She is a student at Langston Hughes Academy in New Orleans.Permalink| Comments
  
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• LSU student government urges school to keep tigers out of Tiger Stadium, even if they aren't Mike

  14-11-2024 15:49 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — Members of LSU's student government have passed a resolution asking the school to bar the display of live tigers during sporting events, regardless of whether the governor wants to restore a tradition, the university's student newspaper reported.The Student Senate resolution was sponsored by 15 senators and passed unanimously Wednesday night, The Reveille said. The non-binding resolution will be forwarded to LSU President William F. Tate IV, LSU athletic director Scott W
  
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• Patterson Police K9 receives bulletproof vest donation

  14-11-2024 15:25 via wbrz.com
  
  PATTERSON - Patterson Police's K9 officer Zoey will be outfitted with a bulletproof vest after a charitable donation to the department from an organization that makes protective vests for four-legged officers. Zoey's vest was donated from "Vested Interest in K9s Inc.," a national organization that has provided more than 5,800 K9 officers the life-saving protection they need in the field. K9 Zoey's vest will be ready in ten weeks and embroidered with the words "In honor of thos
  
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• Napoleonville man arrested for third DWI offense in Plattenville

  14-11-2024 15:21 via wbrz.com
  
  PLATTENVILLE - A 24-year-old man was arrested for his third driving while intoxicated offense after deputies noticed his vehicle stopped in a traffic lane.According to the Assumption Parish Sheriff's Office, a special operations unit was traveling at La. Highway 1 and Spur 70 bridge when they observed a vehicle stopped in the traffic lane and the driver hanging out the open door.The drivers was identified as Hunter M. Ponvelle, 24, and he was described as incoherent and walking poorly. He faile
  
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• Trump names Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Department of Health and Human Services

  14-11-2024 15:10 via wbrz.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, putting him in charge of a massive agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and the social safety net programs Medicare and Medicaid.“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformati
  
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• Trump expected to name Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Department of Health and Human Services

  14-11-2024 15:10 via wbrz.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to two people familiar with the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity.HHS is a massive Cabinet agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and the social safety net programs Medicare and Medicaid.Kennedy, a former Democrat who ran as an indepe
  
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• FBI searching for man connected to underage sexual exploitation investigation

  14-11-2024 15:06 via wbrz.com
  
  NEW ORLEANS — The FBI is searching for a man who may have information on the identity of a victim of an ongoing underage sexual exploitation investigation. The man, identified by the FBI New Orleans field office as John Doe 49, is believed to be between 45 and 65 years old. He is bald, has a dark goatee and has at least five tattoos — the word "Dabby" on his right chest, "197" followed by additional text on his left bicep and additional tattoos on his left and right
  
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• East Baton Rouge Parish Assessor's Office investigating website malfunction

  14-11-2024 14:28 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - The East Baton Rouge Parish Assessor's Office website malfunctioned Thursday and investigators are trying to determine what happened. It's unclear what caused the website, ebrpa.org, to go down. After clicking on the website, the home page is no longer there. Instead, a GoDaddy website appears, offering the domain name for $120. The assessor's office says they are hoping to have the website back up and running by the end of the day. Tax notices will be mailed out
  
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• I-12 west scheduled for right lane closures from I-10/I-12 Merge to College Drive on Friday

  14-11-2024 14:25 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE — Alternating right lane closures will happen on Interstate 12 west from the I-10/I-12 Merge to College Drive on Friday, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development said.The closures will happen from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. as workers install temporary stripping onto the road as part of the College Drive Flyover project.The right lane will be closed from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., and both right lanes will be closed from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.Permalink| Comments
  
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• New center set to open in January to help people of all ages cope with grief

  14-11-2024 13:20 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - A new center near The Hospice of Baton Rouge is opening soon to help people of all ages deal with their grief. The Retreat at Quarters Lake hosted a media tour Thursday at its grounds just off Essen Lane. The 15,000 square foot campus is designed as a grief support center for children, teens, and adults alike. The center will host group therapy sessions, seminars, educational resources, and conferences on grief and healing. "After 40 years of service in
  
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• Maringouin man accused of stealing crossbow scope from sportsman's store arrested

  14-11-2024 11:56 via wbrz.com
  
  MARINGOUIN — A Maringouin man accused of stealing a crossbow scope from a sportsman's store in West Baton Rouge Parish was arrested Thursday. Hunter Gunn, 37, was arrested on felony theft charges by the West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office.Gunn is accused of going into the sportsman's store on Oct. 25 and removing the scope from a crossbow, placed it in his pocket and leaving without paying. He then left in a truck, deputies added.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Man accused of stealing crossbow scope from sportsman's store in Maringouin arrested

  14-11-2024 11:56 via wbrz.com
  
  MARINGOUIN — A man accused of stealing a crossbow scope from a Maringouin sportsman's store was arrested Thursday. Hunter Gunn, 37, was arrested on felony theft charges by the West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office.Gunn is accused of going into the sportsman's store on Oct. 25 and removing the scope from a crossbow, placed it in his pocket and leaving without paying. He then left in a truck, deputies added.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Satire publication The Onion buys Alex Jones' Infowars at auction with help from Sandy Hook families

  14-11-2024 11:12 via wbrz.com
  
  CHICAGO (AP) — The satirical news publication The Onion won the bidding for Alex Jones’ Infowars at a bankruptcy auction, backed by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims whom Jones owes more than $1 billion in defamation judgments for calling the massacre a hoax.“The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for,” Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie was killed
  
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• Man wanted by deputies for cashing fake checks worth thousands of dollars from U.S. Treasury

  14-11-2024 09:44 via wbrz.com
  
  PONCHATOULA — A man is wanted for cashing fake checks worth thousands of dollars from the U.S. Treasury by deputies.In April, Jerome Robinson, 34, is accused of going to multiple branches of The First Bank to deposit and then cash out the fake checks. The first instance of check fraud resulted in a check cashed for $9,334.78 at a First Bank location on LA 190, Tangipahoa Parish deputies said. Robinson is then accused of withdraw two, $7,000 checks at the same branch. Later, a
  
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• Man shot, killed one-year-old daughter before shooting himself following police chase, deputies say

  14-11-2024 08:46 via wbrz.com
  
  CONVENT - Following a police chase Wednesday evening, a man shot and killed his one-year-old daughter before killing himself.Deputies with the St. James Parish Sheriff's Office said the first call came from a woman requesting deputies to oversee a man collecting his belongings from a residence in Paulina, but he did not show up to retrieve them and the deputy left. Almost two hours later, the woman called back and requested a welfare check be performed on the man and her child, who had left.&am
  
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• Power restored in Juban Crossing area after early-morning outage

  14-11-2024 07:45 via wbrz.com
  
  DENHAM SPRINGS - Power is restored after an outage early this morning in the area around Juban Crossing. At around 6 a.m., 1,500 customers were out of power under Entergy in the area around Juban Crossing. Power was restored shortly before 7 a.m..WBRZ has reached out to Entergy for more information on what caused the outage. Permalink| Comments
  
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• Blighted properties on Government Street getting attention from Metro Council

  13-11-2024 21:41 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - Along Government Street, not far from Electric Depot, there are a series of buildings with knocked-out windows and ripped-off roofs. Still, relief could be on the way as the East Baton Rouge Metro Council addresses blighted properties in the city-parish.The site, 1706 Government Street, sits vacant. Graffiti covers the interior walls and the roof is long gone. It’s in District 10, Metro Council member Carolyn Coleman’s district, and city records show a complain
  
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• Metro Council approves $6 million in development of 132 new mixed-income and other housing units

  13-11-2024 21:03 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - The Metro Council approved $6 million in development for affordable housing throughout East Baton Rouge Parish Wednesday.The $6 million would go toward 132 units, which includes the Hotel Lincoln Housing Development, the Villas at Mohican near Plank Road, the Dayton Street Housing Development, the Melrose IV Housing Development, the 1335 North Residences Project at the Historic Prince Hall Masonic Temple, and the Melrose III Housing Development.The mayor's office put out a stateme
  
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• One person in serious condition after shooting on Plank Road and Winbourne Avenue

  13-11-2024 20:51 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - One person is in serious condition after a shooting on Plank Road and Winbourne Avenue, according to officials. No other information is available at this time.Permalink| Comments
  
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• One person in serious condition after shooting by Plank Road and Winbourne Avenue

  13-11-2024 20:51 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE - One person is in serious condition after a shooting by Plank Road and Winbourne Avenue, according to officials. The shooting took place by the Boost Mobile at Plank Road and Ozark Street. Preliminary reports from police say the victim was a juvenile.No other information is available at this time.Permalink| Comments
  
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• WBR malfeasance trial involving two brothers at State Fire Marshal continues into day two

  13-11-2024 20:35 via wbrz.com
  
  PORT ALLEN - Day two of the trial of the two brothers accused of money laundering in West Baton Rouge resumed Wednesday. Robert McCormick and Thomas McCormick are accused of pocketing more $800,000 from the Office of the State Fire Marshal using statewide emergencies as covers to do so.While the trial was slated to start at 9 a.m., it began late as the defendants parked their RV in front of the courthouse and were made to move it.On Wednesday, Thomas Horne, who works with the Louisiana Legislat
  
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• Two suspected drug dealers arrested, over 60 grams of fentanyl seized in multi-agency drug bust

  13-11-2024 19:11 via wbrz.com
  
  DONALDSONVILLE — Two Donaldsonville men were arrested on multiple drug-related charges Wednesday by the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office.Leroy Manor, 39, and Jeremiah Millien, 44, were detained following a months-long investigation conducted by Ascension deputies, the Gonzales Police Department, the Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Baton Rouge DEA’s Office.Manor was arrested for possession of a Schedule II controlled dangerous substance (CDS),
  
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• State senate pushes back measure regarding juveniles tried as adults, could be taken up Thursday

  13-11-2024 18:43 via wbrz.com
  
  BATON ROUGE -- The Louisiana Senate pushed back two measures that were planned to be taken up Wednesday. These bills come in the middle of a special session focused on tax reform.One of the bills is a proposed constitutional amendment, detailing at what age children can be treated as adults in criminal court. It's called Senate Bill 2. It would change the wording of Article Five, section 19 of the Constitution of Louisiana.Currently, 15 and 16-year-olds, and in some cases 14-year-olds, can alre
  
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• Sorrento man arrested for possession, distribution of child porn

  13-11-2024 18:20 via wbrz.com
  
  SORRENTO — A Sorrento man was arrested for two counts of possession and distribution of child pornography Tuesday, according to Louisiana State Police.Jesse Nigro, 30, was arrested after investigators with the LSP Special Victims Unit, the Attorney General’s office and the Department of Homeland Security conducted a search warrant at his home.Nigro was booked into the Ascension Parish Jail. The case remains under investigation.Permalink| Comments
  
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