BATON ROUGE - East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said the parish is working to clear debris left behind by Barry.

The parish has entered a contract with another company to assist Republic Services.

"We recognized that we really need to expedite the debris removal and of course our DPW workers are still doing work post-Barry," Broome said.

The parish is asking residents to separate their tree debris from their household debris.

"We still need people to be patient as we clean up the debris. Because what we're in the process of doing is getting permits that would allow a more expeditious process of disposing of the debris," Broome said.

Since the parish only has one landfill, officials are working to get permits to dispose the debris at other locations.

Toward the end of the interview, WBRZ's Malary Pullen asked Broome about the recent murder of 75-year-old Sadie Roberts-Joseph. Investigators believe Roberts-Joseph was suffocated before her body was found stuffed in a trunk of a car last week.

Roberts-Joseph is well-known in the area for founding the Odell S. Williams Now & Then Museum of African-American History back in 2001. She remained active at the museum throughout the years, also acting as its organizer.

Broome described Roberts-Joseph as a passionate woman and an advocate for nonviolence.

"It is an ongoing investigation," Broome said. "But I can tell you Chief Murphy Paul and his team of investigators have intensified their efforts around this tragic killing of Sadie."