WBRZ - Baton Rouge

Updated: 2:52 PM 5/17/2012

NEW ORLEANS - Suspended Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma has filed a defamation lawsuit against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans claims Goodell has made false statements about Vilma while discussing the NFL's bounty investigation of the New Orleans Saints. Goodell has... (More)

Updated: 2:51 PM 5/17/2012

BATON ROUGE, La. - The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's office is trying to find the identity of a man being treated as we person of interest in a murder that happened in the 6000 Block of Oak Park near Sumrall on Monday night. 24 year old Dederick Droze was... (More)

Updated: 2:45 PM 5/17/2012

BATON ROUGE - A proposal to ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving has failed to win support in the Louisiana Senate. The Senate Transportation Committee voted 2-1 Thursday against the House-backed proposal. New Orleans Rep. Austin Badon, a Democrat, says he proposed the bill as a safety... (More)

Updated: 2:17 PM 5/17/2012

BATON ROUGE - The Southern Jags have survived day two of the SWAC baseball tournament, defeating Grambling State this morning, 8-0. The Tigers really hurt themselves with seven errors. Southern's Jose de Leon threw a complete game shutout, striking out eight. Jaguar freshman D.J. Wallace, the SWAC's freshman... (More)

Updated: 1:22 PM 5/17/2012

JACKSON - Jimmy Buffett says creating jobs on the Gulf Coast is a rewarding part of his new Margaritaville Casino and Resort in Mississippi. Buffet was in Jackson Thursday when the Mississippi Gaming Commission signed off the certification for the casino, set to open Tuesday in Biloxi. The meeting was... (More)

Updated: 1:16 PM 5/17/2012

ATHENS, Greece - The Olympic torch has passed to London. Hundreds of Greeks huddled beneath umbrellas and sat on the stone steps of the ancient stadium in Athens on Thursday to watch the ceremonial handover of the Olympic flame to the organizers of the 2012 London Olympics. They cheered the... (More)

Updated: 1:05 PM 5/17/2012

Get ready for a hot afternoon with mostly sunny skies and less humid conditions as an area of high pressure builds over the Deep South. High temperatures will be in the upper 80s. Expect mostly clear skies this evening as the temperatures fall into the 70s. We will... (More)

Updated: 12:50 PM 5/17/2012

PHILADELPHIA - A woman who calls herself the "Black Madam" has been ordered to stand trial in Philadelphia on allegations she administered illegal buttocks injections. Forty-two-year-old Padge Windslowe is charged with aggravated assault and deceptive practices. At a preliminary hearing Wednesday, an exotic dancer testified that she paid $1,000 for... (More)

Updated: 12:39 PM 5/17/2012

SEATTLE - Seattle police are scratching their heads about this one. A car prowler shattered a window of a parked Jeep, stole nothing and left behind a little something for the car's owner - a dozen tortillas scattered across the floor. The crime happened last week near the University of... (More)

Updated: 12:31 PM 5/17/2012

WASHINGTON - Meteorologists say America's unusually warm year is likely to extend through the summer. And that's a bad sign for wildfires in the West. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's forecast for June through August calls for warmer-than-normal weather for about three-quarters of the nation. Only the northwestern U.S. and... (More)

Updated: 12:24 PM 5/17/2012

Today's Birthdays: Actor Peter Gerety is 72. Singer Taj Mahal is 70. Singer-songwriter Jesse Winchester is 68. Rock musician Bill Bruford is 63. Singer-musician George Johnson (The Brothers Johnson) is 59. TV personality Kathleen Sullivan is 59. Actor Bill Paxton is 57. Boxing Hall-of-Famer Sugar Ray Leonard is 56. Actor-comedian... (More)

Updated: 12:07 PM 5/17/2012

NEW ORLEANS - A state grand jury has indicted a University of Alabama fan on sexual battery and obscenity charges for assaulting a passed-out LSU fan at a Bourbon Street restaurant in January. Brian Downing, 32, is expected to turn himself in tomorrow, according to a New Orleans newspaper.... (More)

Updated: 11:46 AM 5/17/2012

HAYNESVILLE- State police say two women were killed when a car ran off U.S. Highway 79 in Claiborne Parish and struck a tree.

The crash happened around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday

Trooper say the driver of the car, 80-year-old Donald L. Perkins of Haynesville, is being treated at a Shreveport hospital

Eighty-one-year-old Mae G. Perkins of Haynesville and 95-year-old Marcella A. George of New Orleans were killed.

Updated: 11:19 AM 5/17/2012

BATON ROUGE- Louisiana's property insurer of last resort has gotten permission to secure a $75 million cash line of credit in case a hurricane damages the state. The Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has enough money set aside to cover a $110 million legal judgment against the company, but that... (More)

Updated: 11:15 AM 5/17/2012

BATON ROUGE- Lawmakers say they have brokered an agreement in an ongoing dispute between the oil and gas industry and landowners over how to clean up environmental damage done in drilling years ago. The proposal, included Thursday in a bill by Sen. Robert Adley, would allow cleanup plans devised by... (More)