WBRZ - Baton Rouge

Tagged News

• Incident at BR hotel sparks investigation

  May 31, 2013 10:04 AM

  BATON ROUGE - Police responded to hotel in the College Dr. area early Friday after reports of shots fired at the facility. Officers were called out to the Comfort Suites on Valley Creek Dr. just after 4 a.m. Few other details are known, but at least one person... more »

• 18 hurt in shuttle bus crash near Atlanta airport

  May 24, 2013 10:52 AM

  ATLANTA - Authorities say 18 people have been taken to the hospital following a crash between a hotel shuttle bus and a tractor-trailer near Atlanta's airport. Atlanta Fire Rescue Department spokeswoman Janet Ward says the accident happened around 10:30 a.m. Friday. She says it's not immediately clear what caused the... more »

• $1 million in jewels stolen near Cannes film fest

  May 17, 2013 8:48 AM

  PARIS- A French police official says jewelry worth about $1 million has been stolen from a safe in a Cannes hotel room, against the backdrop of the Riviera resort town's film festival. Cmdr. Bernard Mascarelli, a judicial police spokesman in the nearby city of Nice, said a culprit or culprits... more »

• W French Quarter hotel sells for $25.5 million

  April 1, 2013 4:08 PM

  NEW ORLEANS - The W hotel in New Orleans' French Quarter has been sold but will keep its name. News releases say Chesapeake Lodging Trust bought the W New Orleans-French Quarter for $25.5 million from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. Both chains say Starwood has a longterm contract to... more »

• Hotel explosion injures 3 near SeaWorld San Diego

  January 30, 2013 2:27 PM

  SAN DIEGO- Authorities say an explosion at a hotel near SeaWorld San Diego has injured three people, one seriously. San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Maurice Luque (loo-KAY') said the cause of Wednesday's explosion at the Heritage Inn Sea World Hotel is unclear. The victims were taken to a hospital to... more »

• Baton Rouge preparing for Super Bowl fans

  January 15, 2013 10:28 AM

  BATON ROUGE - Party in New Orleans, stay in Baton Rouge. That's the message the NFL is spreading ahead of Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans on Feb. 3. Hotel and travel agents expect the Baton Rouge market to be at 90 percent capacity for the big game, so... more »

• Police looking for pair of vending machine thieves

  December 4, 2012 12:57 PM

  GONZALES - Police in Gonzales are trying to identify a man and woman accused of breaking into soft drink vending machines. The man is described as very tall, between 6' 4'' and 6' 6'' with a shaved head and tattoos on his right arm. The woman is much... more »

• Billy Cannon to greet fans before Ole Miss game

  November 15, 2012 10:26 AM

  BATON ROUGE - LSU great Billy Cannon will be on hand to greet fans Saturday morning, November 17, 2012 at The Cook Hotel and Conference Center at LSU. In conjunction with LSU's 2:30 p.m. clash with Ole Miss, Cannon will sign autographs at the hotel from 9 to 11... more »

• Hilton sale, hotel construction good signs for downtown BR Play Video

  September 10, 2012 5:49 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Hospitality industry experts see good things in Baton Rouge's future, after the recent sale of the Hilton Hotel downtown. Prism Hotels and Resorts, a management group, purchased the Hilton for about $40 million. Experts said they don't expect big changes at the well-known property in the... more »

• L'Auberge grand opening this Saturday

  August 31, 2012 5:56 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Pinnacle Entertainment announced their L'Auberge Casino and Hotel in Baton Rouge would hold its grand opening this weekend. The casino will open with a ceremonial throw of the dice Saturday at 1:45 p.m., according to spokesperson Molly Malloy. The new casino and hotel in the... more »

• Boomtown Casino to add 150-room hotel

  July 24, 2012 1:10 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment says it will build a 150-room hotel at the site of the company's Boomtown Casino in Jefferson Parish. Construction of the $20 million development in the New Orleans suburb of Harvey is expected to begin in September and should be completed in late... more »

• Woman sentenced to 40 years in fatal stabbing

  July 18, 2012 6:49 AM

  AMITE - A Tangipahoa woman has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty in the stabbing death of a Kentwood motel manager. District Attorney Scott Perrilloux said Tuesday that state District Judge Ray Chutz sentenced 36-year-old Joyce Stinson Myers, who pleaded guilty July 10 to a... more »

• Chemical fire burns overnight, some residents head to hotels for the night Play Video

  May 21, 2012 10:11 PM

  WEST BATON ROUGE- Hundreds of Port Allen and Erwinville residents are spending the night in hotels as a chemical fire continues to burn. Monday morning there was an explosion at the Air Liquide plant on Highway 190 near Port Allen. Acetylene gas, used for welding, is burning, and that... more »

• Crews prepare to demolish historic Baton Rouge hotel

  May 11, 2012 1:30 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Bulldozers and excavators reported to the site of a once prominent hotel Friday, in preparation of its planned demolition on Monday. The owner of the Belmont Hotel says he's going to demolish everything except for the the Great Hall which he has plans to renovate. ... more »

• Whitney Houston 911 call released

  April 11, 2012 5:59 PM

  BEVERLY HILLS - Authorities have released the 911 call hotel security made to paramedics after Whitney Houston's lifeless body was found in a Los Angeles hotel room two months ago. But the minute-long call from a security worker at the Beverly Hilton Hotel reveals few details about the Grammy-winning... more »

• City leaders, developer break ground on new hotel downtown Play Video

  November 30, 2011 3:49 PM

  BATON ROUGE- A new hotel means more than 50 new jobs and the potential for economic growth in Downtown Baton Rouge. Construction is underway at the corner of Lafayette and Main Street for the new Hampton Inn and Suites. The $17-million project is expected to be complete by... more »

• Work almost completed on Renaissance Hotel in Baton Rouge

  June 6, 2011 5:26 PM

  BATON ROUGE- A hotel construction project nearly six years in the making is almost complete along busy Bluebonnet Boulevard. Developer Mike Wampold told News 2, he expects the Renaissance Hotel to open this September. It will feature 256 guest rooms, an upscale restaurant, wine bar, spa, fitness center and... more »

• Second banker caught in hotel sex bust

  May 31, 2011 2:57 AM

  NEW YORK- The former chairman of one of Egypt's major banks has been arrested on charges of sexually abusing a maid at a Manhattan hotel. It comes just weeks after the arrest of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on similar allegations. Police say Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar was arrested at... more »

• One arrested after teen says she was used for prostitution

  January 31, 2011 11:50 AM

  BATON ROUGE – Police arrested a Baton Rouge man Saturday and accused him of using an underage girl for prostitution. Officers arrested 29-year-old Erick Jermaine Banks at a Baton Rouge hotel after being called there on a sexual assault complaint. When officers arrived at the hotel they contacted a 15-year-old... more »

• Police searching for armed hotel robber

  December 29, 2010 3:08 PM

  DENHAM SPRINGS - Authorities are asking for help identifying and locating the man that robbed a hotel in Denham Springs earlier this week. Monday night, city police were called to the Candlewood Suites Hotel on Rushing Rd. and told that around 9:30 p.m. an armed man had come into the... more »

• Pinnacle gets zoning for BR casino

  November 16, 2010 7:10 AM

  BATON ROUGE - Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. has received final zoning approval for its $357 million riverboat casino-hotel project in Baton Rouge. Las Vegas-based Pinnacle won approval last month from the Louisiana Gaming Control Board to double the size of its hotel to 200 rooms and add an 800-space parking garage.... more »

• Official: NYPD called to Charlie Sheen's hotel

  October 26, 2010 1:14 PM

  A law enforcement official says actor Charlie Sheen was hospitalized for a psychiatric evaluation after a woman told police he was throwing furniture in his New York City hotel room. The official tells The Associated Press that police were called to Sheen's room at The Plaza around 2 a.m.... more »

• Crews respond to car fire inside BR parking garage

  October 26, 2010 11:57 AM

  Firefighters say an attendant was able to quickly extinguish a vehicle that caught fire in a downtown parking garage, sending smoke billowing out into the district. Crews were called to the Belle of Baton Rouge parking garage at 11:43 p.m. for reports of a car on fire, and said... more »

• Florida men arrested on drug charges

  October 12, 2010 10:40 AM

  A traffic stop in Walker led authorities to a hotel room stashed with drugs. 36-year old Kenneth Wright and 50-year old Eric Bable, both of Florida-- led authorities to their hotel room where nearly a thousand tabs of Roxycodone were discovered. The drugs were valued at about $25,000. Both are... more »

• Pinnacle expands plans for Baton Rouge casino

  September 27, 2010 5:34 PM

  The final plans for a casino in Baton Rouge just got a lot bigger. Pinnacle Entertainment released new plans today for their casino and hotel that are nearly twice as large as the initial proposal. The company increased its budget from $250 million to $357 million, doubled the number of... more »

• Deputies: man used copier in truck to make fake money

  September 20, 2010 11:48 AM

  A man accused of using counterfeit money has been arrested a second time for the same crime. Louis Gene Santiny, Jr. from Grand Isle, La. was arrested in Terrebonne Parish after deputies say he was trying to use a fake $100 bill at a hotel. Employees at the hotel... more »

• Storm-damaged NO hotel to reopen next year

  August 18, 2010 12:01 PM

  Renovation work has begun on the Hyatt Regency New Orleans - the hotel that became a familiar symbol of Hurricane Katrina's destruction when shattered glass poured onto streets and furniture was sucked out of broken windows. The $275 million project is aimed at a fall 2011 reopening. At that... more »

• Kentwood hotel manager stabbed to death

  July 13, 2010 9:27 AM

  The Kentwood Police Department is investigating the murder of a hotel manager that happened last Sunday. Police Chief James Rimes says they were called to the Kentwood Plaza Inn off of I-55 around 6:55 p.m. The responding officer was directed to a hotel room where a 54-year-old man was lying... more »

• Last of south Caddo evacuees return

  May 6, 2010 8:36 AM

  South Caddo Parish residents evacuated from their homes after natural gas leak are back home today. It had been 16 days since the problem was discovered at the Exco Operating Company site on Norris Ferry Road in south Caddo Parish. Four dozen families spent more than two weeks away from... more »

• Frustrated evacuees ready to go home

  May 4, 2010 5:27 AM

  More than 70 south Caddo Parish residents still living in a Shreveport hotel are ready to go home. They had to leave April 19 after rising pressure in a natural gas well prompted evacuation of their neighborhood. On Friday, they were told to expect to stay in the hotel another... more »

• Casino company might expand size of BR project

  April 28, 2010 5:44 AM

  The head of Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. says the casino company might expand its plans for a new gambling riverboat and hotel complex in Baton Rouge. CEO Anthony Sanfilippo says Pinnacle is confident it can establish a "best-in-market" gambling complex in Baton Rouge. Pinnacle plans to compete with two existing casino... more »

• Supporter of lesbian teen offers to hold prom

  March 12, 2010 9:44 AM

  At least one supporter has offered to help a lesbian student and her classmates hold an alternate senior prom after her Mississippi school district canceled the dance rather than allow Constance McMillen to take her girlfriend. New Orleans hotel owner Sean Cummings tells The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson he was so... more »

• NH hotel fire spreads to nearby buildings

  February 26, 2010 5:23 AM

  New Hampshire firefighters say a blaze that started in an oceanfront hotel spread to other buildings and engulfed the entire block. The fire erupted around midnight in the unoccupied three-story Surf Hotel in Hampton, a densely populated community along the Atlantic coast an hour's drive north of Boston. Firefighters say... more »