WBRZ - Baton Rouge

Updated: 7:00 PM 6/19/2013

BATON ROUGE - Gov. Bobby Jindal has agreed that state agencies should be banned from paying unequal wages to employees of different genders for the same job. Jindal signed the Equal Pay for Women Act into law Wednesday. The bill by New Orleans Sen. Ed Murray doesn't affect private companies.... (More)

Updated: 6:22 PM 6/19/2013

GONZALES- The Ascension Parish Council will introduce a proposal Thursday evening at their regular meeting which would levy a one mil tax on homeowners in parish to raise funds for a juvenile detention center. The tax would raise about $900,000 a year and cost about $25 for a home... (More)

Updated: 6:22 PM 6/19/2013

ST. HELENA - Louisiana State Police are investigating if a passenger was riding with Malcolm Sibley when he crashed into a truck early Saturday morning. Cody Iasigi, 21, of Liberty, Miss., later died at a hospital from injuries sustained in the crash. Troopers said he and two others,... (More)

Updated: 6:00 PM 6/19/2013

WASHINGTON - The House has voted to cut food stamps by $2 billion a year. The chamber rejected 234-188 a Democratic amendment to a wide-ranging farm bill that would have maintained current spending on food stamps and cut farm subsidies instead. The bill cuts the $80 billion-a-year program by about... (More)

Updated: 5:30 PM 6/19/2013

BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's top education board is reviewing how the state education department stores and shares public school student data. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education agreed Wednesday to create a task force looking at the issue after concerns were raised about a state data-sharing agreement with an... (More)

Updated: 4:44 PM 6/19/2013

BATON ROUGE- The attorney representing convicted killer Brett Gerald wants his sentence reduced. Tommy D'Amico is filing an appeal with the First Circuit Court of Appeals, calling his client's 35-year sentence for seven counts of vehicular homicide excessive. He believes Gerald's sentence for each count shouldn't run consecutively. ... (More)

Updated: 4:32 PM 6/19/2013

GRAND ISLE - A waterspout off the coast of Grand Isle created a big stir during storms this afternoon.

The waterspout moved in from the bay side of the island around 3:45 p.m. today.

The National Weather Service reported it blew a portion of a camp roof off, but didn't do any major damage.

There were no reports of any injuries.

IMAGE: Amy Spencer

Updated: 4:30 PM 6/19/2013

EUNICE, La. - The "sexting" case against former Eunice High School teacher Jackie Fruge, originally filed in Eunice Municipal Court, is likely to be upgraded to a felony and moved to the state district court. The Daily World reports both prosecutors and defense attorney Laura Rougeau have agreed to the... (More)

Updated: 3:16 PM 6/19/2013

BATON ROUGE - The LSU Board of Supervisors has agreed to a contract privatizing its rural Bogalusa hospital in January. The Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, which operates four private hospitals in Louisiana, will take over management of LSU's Bogalusa Medical Center, effective Jan. 6. As with similar... (More)

Updated: 2:45 PM 6/19/2013

NEW ORLEANS - Federal prosecutors have secured new indictments against a former BP engineer and a former BP executive charged separately with obstructing investigations of the company's 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Wednesday's indictment of former BP executive David Rainey adds language alleging that he knew of... (More)

Updated: 2:41 PM 6/19/2013

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve expects the U.S. unemployment rate to fall faster this year and next than it did in March. The Fed now predicts unemployment will fall to 7.2 percent or 7.3 percent at the end of 2013 from 7.6 percent now. It thinks the rate will... (More)

Updated: 2:35 PM 6/19/2013

MIAMI - Forecasters say Tropical Storm Barry has formed off the southeastern Mexican coast. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the Atlantic season's second tropical storm is drenching areas in its path with up to 10 inches of rain in some places, raising the threat of flash floods. Barry... (More)

Updated: 2:15 PM 6/19/2013

NEW ORLEANS - Representatives from southeast Louisiana sheriff's offices met in New Orleans to discuss preparations for the current hurricane season. Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman hosted Wednesday's meeting. At a news conference, he discussed evacuation plans for his office's facilities and inmates in the Orleans Parish Prison. Also discussed... (More)

Updated: 1:34 PM 6/19/2013

SHREVEPORT - Six executives of a Louisiana company have been arrested on charges of improperly storing explosives. Among those arrested Tuesday were 65-year-old Explo Systems President David Fincher of Burns, Tenn.; 57-year-old Vice President David Smith of Winchester, Ky.; and 67-year-old Vice President of Operations William Terry Wright of... (More)

Updated: 1:00 PM 6/19/2013

VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II has moved a step closer to sainthood. A Vatican official says a commission of theologians approved a miracle attributed to his intercession, clearing a key hurdle. The case now goes to a commission of cardinals and then Pope Francis. John Paul's canonization... (More)