WBRZ - Baton Rouge

Updated: September 2, 2010 10:55 PM
By Heather Harel
Source: WBRZ

A classroom discussion inspired a middle school student in Baton Rouge. Now, he’s taking action.

News 2’s Sylvia Weatherspoon found out the lesson Rory McCracken teaches kids about marine life to make a difference.

Tags classroom discussion oil spill marine life Rory McCracken 2 Make a Difference

Updated: September 2, 2010 9:21 PM
By Heather Harel
Source: Baton Rouge Police Department

Update: A man has been arrested for a shooting that happened around 10:15 this morning on Boulevard De Province.

Police arrested 23-year-old Dominique Rivers for the murder of 37-year-old Derrick Lucas. Authorities said Lucas came home during work and surprised Rivers as he was burglarizing Lucas’ home. Lucas confronted Rivers, who then struck him in the head with a blunt object and fled.

While Lucas was in the process of attempting to get help from nearby neighbors, Rivers returned with a handgun, forced Lucas inside his home then shot him in the head.

Lucas was found in his home with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Rivers will be booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for first degree murder and illegal use of a weapon.

Tags update shooting Boulevard De Province Dominique Rivers Derrick Lucas burglary

Updated: September 2, 2010 9:56 PM
By Heather Harel
Source: Denham Springs Police

Update: All lanes are open on Interstate 12 westbound near Range Avenue after a fatal accident that occurred around 6:15 this evening.

Authorities said the driver of an 18-wheeler died after the vehicle went off the roadway on the right side of I-12 a quarter of a mile east of 4-H Club Road in Denham Springs then hit a concrete drainage canal. Police said the driver appeared to have been ejected from the 18-wheeler. No one else was hurt.

A viewer who asked to remain anonymous told News 2 he was nearby, heard the accident and was one of the first people on the scene. He said he and another police officer who arrived shortly after performed CPR on the driver. The viewer said the man appeard to have had a pulse when he first arrived but eventually stopped breathing after paramedics and police attempted to pull him out of the canal.

Authorities said some oil leaked out of the 18-wheeler onto the roadway, and diesel went into the canal. They said the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness and the Department of Environmental Quality were on the scene. Police said the oil and diesel have been contained with sandbags, and DEQ will return between 7:30 and 8 a.m. tomorow with a crane to lift the truck from the canal.

Tags accident 18-wheeler man dead I-12 Range Avenue

Updated: September 2, 2010 7:54 PM
By Michael Marsh
Source: Associated press

Researchers want feedback from people who meet Asimo the Robot in Austria so they can make it more communicative. The robot was developed by Honda and looks like a four-foot child in a spacesuit. By playing interactive games with people, the researchers are trying to understand if Asimo's gestures make sense to humans. It conveys happiness and invites people to come play. The robot's skills are impressive since it can run, walk, respond to simple voice commands and recognize faces with its camera eyes.

Tags Asimo robot Honda Austria researchers humans

Updated: September 2, 2010 7:44 PM
By Michael Marsh
Source: Associated press

A new postage stamp recognizes Mother Teresa's humanitarian work and will be released in a ceremony on Sunday at Washington's National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The Roman Catholic nun won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her half-century of work with the sick and destitute of India and other areas. She was declared an honorary citizen of the United States by Congress in 1996.

Tags Mother Teresa stamp National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Updated: September 2, 2010 7:36 PM
By Michael Marsh
Source: NY1 TV

A 4-year-old was found dead in her apartment in Brooklyn, New York and investigators are looking at signs of abuse because she was so emaciated. She had a history of health problems. Police removed her bed as evidence and sources say she weighed just 15 pounds and had marks on her wrists and hands. They also say an oxygen machine found in the room wasn't turned on. The girl's mother is being questioned.

Tags 4 year old emaciated Brooklyn New York bed oxygen machine child abuse

Updated: September 2, 2010 7:28 PM
By Stephanie Ryan, Heather Harel
Source: Baton Rouge Police Department, WBRZ

Baton Rouge Police are searching for the person who shot and killed a man early Thursday morning.

Police said 24-year-old Ramond Wilford was shot around 3:30 a.m. in the 1500 block of Marque Ann Drive. Neighbors said they heard multiple gunshots and found Wilford dead. They said they didn’t see anything.

"We combed the area. We spoke with neighbors, hoping that in the early morning hours, someone might've seen something out there, and apparently no one saw anything," said Cpl. L'Jean Mckneely with the Baton Rouge Police Department.

All police said they know now is Wilford was at a club with a group before his life ended in an area neighbors said is too dangerous to stay in.

"Every time you look around, there's break-ins, robberies, murders," said Thadius Brothers, who has family in the area. "Every time you look around, it's something."

Brothers said he hopes to move his nieces and nephews out of the area before any stray bullets hit him or someone he loves.

Police have not released a description of any possible suspects and said they don't know what the motive for the shooting may have been.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the BRPD Homicide Office at 225-389-4869.

Tags Marque Ann Drive murder shooting Baton Rouge Police Department Cpl. L'Jean McKneely

Updated: September 2, 2010 7:18 PM
By Kristy Davis
Source: WBRZ

Officials in Port Allen said they’re ready if the mayor or police chief decide to step down after they were indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday.

News 2 combed through the indictment and found FBI agents didn’t just approach Mayor Derek Lewis and Chief of Police Fred Smith with bribes; the men allegedly asked for them.

The indictment shows Lewis admitted how badly he wanted tickets to a Saints/Patriots game, saying, “I didn’t twist your arm; I near broke it off!”

As for the chief, the indictment shows he went as far as to ask for a six-month lease on a condo in New Orleans where he could go to relax without his wife knowing about it.

Mayor Pro Tem R.J. Loupe spoke to News 2 by phone. He and other council members said they were disappointed in their mayor and police chief. Loupe said he’s ready to step in as interim mayor if needed.

Lewis and Smith were indicted on a combined 22 counts of corruption in the Cifer 5000 garbage can cleaning scheme. Both men are accused of taking bribes in exchange for hotel stays, tickets to sporting events and cash. In exchange, the feds said the men gave up confidential information, police badges and commissions and threw their support behind the Cifer system.

Tags Mayor Derek Lewis Chief of Police Fred Smith Port Allen indictment Cifer 5000

Updated: September 2, 2010 6:00 PM
By Rob Krieger
Source: WBRZ

The remains of a large dog dumped on the side of Hutchinson CC Road in Springfield has residents cringing. Animal advocates said they think it could be the victim of a dog fighting ring.

"To me, I would be concerned that it was a bait dog that was somehow injured and killed that they didn't want to dispose of it either at their vet or in their home trash, for fear that it would be discovered what had happened to the dog," said Terri Dunlap with the SPCA of Livingston.

As if finding one decomposing dog along the road wasn't disturbing enough, the folks from the SPCA of Livingston continued searching the road Thursday morning and found another dog in a much more shocking circumstance.

"Obviously a dog that's been tethered by some sort of a rope looks like it had been thrown from a vehicle or dumped on the sign of the road, possibly has been dead for about a week by the condition of the body," said Dunlap.

Still, residents said finding animal carcasses on the side of the road is nothing new.

"I've lived back here five years, and this is an ongoing problem. It's a dumping ground, dead, live, puppies, dogs, cats, kittens. It's really a crisis," said Valli Harry, who lives just a few blocks away from one of the dump sites.

The SPCA of Livingston plans on continuing to search for clues on who is dumping dogs, in hopes of ending the sickening practice.

"It's horrific when you see something like that. The dog was thrown away like it was complete trash. There is no humanity in what you see here," said Dunlap.

If you'd like to help the group with adoptions or fostering, visit www.livingstonspca.com.

Tags dead dog road SPCA of Livingston

Updated: September 2, 2010 4:41 PM
Source: Associated Press

Engineers have removed a temporary cap that stopped oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's blown-out well in mid-July.

More oil is not expected to leak into the sea, but crews are on standby with collection vessels just in case.

The cap was removed Thursday as a prelude to raising the massive piece of equipment underneath that failed to prevent the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

The government wants to replace the failed blowout preventer first to deal with any pressure that is caused when a relief well BP has been drilling intersects the blown-out well.

Once that intersection occurs sometime after Labor Day, BP is expected to use mud and cement to plug the blown-out well for good from the bottom.

The April 20 rig explosion killed 11 workers and led to 206 million gallons of oil spewing from BP's well.

Tags engineers temporary cap oil Gulf BP