By Darren Heitner, Contributor
Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista is now on the Board of Directors of the No. 1 bat used by Major League Baseball players. The bat that Bautista brings with him to home-plate is not manufactured by Louisville Slugger or Rawlings. Instead, it is one that over one-third of Major Leaguers use — bats made by Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Marucci Sports. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By Rob Quinn
News of the landmark 2003 Supreme Court case that struck down anti-sodomy laws has taken a long time to reach law enforcement in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In at least a dozen cases since 2011, including one this month, men have been arrested under a state law banning “unnatural carnal copulation”… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
A newspaper is reporting that an East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office task force arrested at least 12 men since 2011 under a sodomy law that was invalidated a decade ago by the U.S. Supreme Court. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
By capblack
This Saturday, July 20th, 2013, I will use Al Sharpton’s call for a national gathering in front of federal courthouses to go to Baton Rouge and share “Don’t Love The Thugs- Shove The Thugs!” (a plea for an urban safety movement to finally combat Black On Black Crime by refusing to embrace thugs any longer)!
By Associated Press LSU leading running back Jeremy Hill, already serving two years’ probation in connection with a 2011 arrest, was arrested again early Saturday morning after allegedly punching another man in the side of the head outside a Baton Rouge bar near campus.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at ESPN Headlines
By Megan O. Steintrager I recently returned from a week visting family in Baton Rouge and I was reminded for the umpteenth time that while most people think of New Orleans when it comes to good eating in Louisiana, the state’s capital city has plenty of great eats too–and not just at my mom’s house. Here are a few of my favorite restaurants from this most recent trip to Baton Rouge, below: George’s: I have heard the burger is great at this dark and casual bar, but I always get an oyster or shrimp po-boy (or half and half when one of my family members is willing to share). The sandwiches are loaded with plump, juicy Gulf seafood (I counted more than 20 big fried shrimp on one sandwich). The crisp, grease-free onion rings make a great side, though the servings here are so large that my family started making jokes about a whole new kind of UN-Doable Challenge in which they goaded me to try to eat an entire po-boy and a side of rings. Heads & Tails: The boiled crawfish at this seafood market are among the best I’ve ever had–mud-free, perfectly seasoned (spicy but not overly salty), and firm, never mushy. In addition to the seafood counter there’s a full-service restaurant, though we opted to bring home our 30 pounds of crawfish (pictured) so we could really make a mess. Serop’s Cafe: The vegetarian platter at this Lebanese restaurant is my favorite detox food after several days in a row of rich Cajun and Creole cuisine. The baba ghanouj, mujadrah, hummus, and stuffed grape leaves are the best I’ve had anywhere–not just in Baton Rouge. In addition to these, the Red Stick has many New Orleans transplants, such as Acme Oyster House and Galatoire’s Bistro (I had some really good Gulf black drum topped with crabmeat–the all purpose South Louisiana fancifier–at Galatoire’s on my most recent visit). Have you eaten in B.R.? What are your favorite places?
The remains of a soldier awarded the Medal of Honor after being killed in the Korean War will be returned to his relatives for burial with full military honors more than 62 years after his death, officials announced Wednesday.
Army Lt. Col. Don C. Faith Jr., of Washington, Ind., will be buried April 17 in Arlington National Cemetery, officials from the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office said.
Faith, a veteran of World War II who continued to serve in the Army during the Korean War, was seriously injured by shrapnel on Dec. 1, 1950, and died a day later from those injuries. But his body was not recovered by U.S. forces at the time.
He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the United States‘ highest military honor recognizing personal acts of exceptional valor during battle.
“What’s so amazing is that our country doesn’t give up,” Barbara “Bobbie” Broyles, Faith’s only child, told FoxNews.com on Wednesday. “They keep looking for the missing and the prisoners of war and people who are unaccounted for in battles.”
Broyles, her husband and the couple’s three children will travel to Washington next week for her father’s burial. And with the current political climate in North Korea, she said it’s “particularly important” to remember veterans of the Korean War.
“It’s now just becoming apparent how critical the Battle of Chosin was,” Broyles told FoxNews.com in reference to conflict along the eastern side of the Chosin Reservoir from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1, 1950.”We sacrificed a lot to help Korea.”
At the time of his death, Faith and his unit — 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment — were attached to the 31st Regimental Combat Team as it advanced along the eastern side of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea.
During attacks by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces, Faith assumed command with his supervisor missing, and he continuously rallied his troops, personally leading an assault on an enemy position, defense officials said.
In 2004, a joint team from the U.S. and North Korea surveyed the area where Faith was last seen and located his remains. To confirm the find, scientists used circumstantial evidence, forensic identification tools and mitochondrial DNA, using samples from Faith’s brother for comparison.
“I’m incredulous,” Broyles, a 66-year-old psychotherapist, said when reached at her home in Baton Rouge, La. She praised Department of Defense scientists and researchers for their relentless work. “He’s been missing for 62 years and it’s a wonderful, wonderful thing that he’s been found.”
More than 7,900 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War, U.S. defense officials said.
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/S3h0ND0FtCg/
A large rental truck sideswiped a sport utility vehicle carrying Gov. Bobby Jindal home from his son’s soccer game in Baton Rouge, but the governor was not hurt, officials said Sunday.
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
McGlinchey Stafford Awards Diversity Fellowship to First-Year Law Student Kenneth Barnes
NEW ORLEANS–(BUSINESS WIRE)– National law firm McGlinchey Stafford PLLC announced today that it has awarded Kenneth Barnes the 2013 1L Diversity Fellowship, a distinguished honor given each year to a first year law student. The McGlinchey Stafford 1L Diversity Fellowship represents the firm’s active commitment to a diverse workplace and the inclusion and retention of talented professionals.
Mr. Barnes is a dynamic leader and is well-deserving of this prestigious fellowship from McGlinchey Stafford. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and is currently attending Louisiana State University’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center. Before attending law school, Mr. Barnes was the founder and CEO of Knightcrawler Marketing LLC, a marketing firm based in Baton Rouge, LA. This year the program received more than 50 applications and the firm selected Mr. Barnes because of his proven leadership skills and excellent academic record.
The 2013 Diversity Fellowship includes a six week paid summer associate position in the firm’s New Orleans office, a $5,000 scholarship and formal mentoring by McGlinchey Stafford attorneys throughout the recipient’s law school career. As the 2013 Diversity Fellow, Mr. Barnes will also participate in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Scholars Retreat, which brings together diverse law students from around the country to learn about interview skills, transitioning from law school into practice, the state of diversity in the legal profession and the value of networking, to build relationships among one another and to meet and interact with general counsel and managing partners of the LCLD member organizations nationwide.
“We are all very excited to have Ken as our McGlinchey Stafford Diversity Fellow this summer and look forward to mentoring and supporting Ken throughout his journey to become a successful attorney,” said Mindy Brickman, Chief Diversity Officer at McGlinchey Stafford.
The McGlinchey Stafford 1L Diversity Fellowship represents the firm’s long-term commitment to creating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive work place and to promoting diversity within the legal profession. From the firm’s inception, McGlinchey Stafford has challenged the status quo and earned a reputation as a progressive, merit-based business that rewards individual achievement and potential. The firm’s commitment to diversity is reflected in McGlinchey Stafford’s work as a founding member of the LCLD and as an active supporter of the National Bar Association and Association of Women Attorneys, among others. The McGlinchey Stafford 1L Diversity Fellowship is simply one aspect of the firm’s commitment to attracting, developing and promoting diverse attorneys and starts at the beginning of a lawyer’s career …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Two inmates have pleaded guilty to kidnapping in connection with a crime spree through four states that began with an escape from a Louisiana jail and included the death of an Ohio man they took captive.
Darian Pierce and Ricky Wedgeworth entered the pleas Monday in federal court in Jackson. U.S. District Judge David Bramlette set sentencing for May 30. Prosecutors recommended each man be sentenced to the maximum of life in prison.
According to federal prosecutors, Pierce and Wedgeworth escaped from the Louisiana State Police compound in Baton Rouge on March 4, 2011, and kidnapped Ohio businessman David Cupps from a hotel in Vicksburg, Miss., a few days later.
Cupps’ beaten and strangled body was found in Bessemer, Ala.
Pierce and Wedgeworth were caught in Tennessee after 10 days on the run.
The Coast Guard says crews hope to start work Wednesday to remove thousands of gallons of oil from a damaged barge on the Mississippi River, but it’s not clear how long that could take or when the river will reopen.
A 16-mile stretch of river was closed near Vicksburg for a fourth day Wednesday after two barges collided with a railroad bridge and one began leaking oil.
Tugs have held the ruptured barge to the bank on the Louisiana side of the river, across from Vicksburg’s Riverwalk and Lady Luck casinos, since Sunday’s crash.
The plan is to pump the oil to an empty barge that was on site Wednesday morning, said Petty Officer 1st Class Matt Schofield.
“We’d like to be optimistic and start doing it as soon as we can, but there are a lot of things that could change between now and then,” Schofield said.
Severe weather that swept through the area overnight Tuesday shut down cleanup operations for a time, but crews were working again Wednesday morning, Schofield said.
The Coast Guard said 7,000 gallons of crude oil were unaccounted for, but it’s not clear if it all spilled into the river or if some seeped into empty spaces inside the barge. Schofield said Wednesday that oil is still seeping from the damaged barge, but crews were “able to recover it faster than it’s coming out.”
Crews have been working to contain and remove oil since the barge, owned by Corpus Christi, Texas-based Third Coast Towing LLC, struck a railroad bridge and began leaking early Sunday. The company has refused to comment.
The Coast Guard said the environmental impact has been minimal because a boom is containing the leak around the barge and the leak is slow. Crews are using a skimmer to collect the oil.
The closure has been costly for the shipping industry.
Schofield said 55 vessels, including towboats, and 834 barges were idled at the closed 16-mile stretch of the river, one of the nation’s vital commerce routes.
About 168.4 million tons of cargo a year move along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge, La., and the mouth of the Ohio River, carried by nearly 22,300 cargo ships and 162,700 barges, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. About 3.6 million tons of cargo are handled annually by the port of Vicksburg.
When low water threatened to close the river earlier this month, the tow industry trade group American Waterways Operators estimated that 7.2 million tons of commodities worth $2.8 billion might be sidelined over the last three weeks of January.
Salt destined for Northern roads is moving upriver in January, said spokeswoman Ann McCulloch. “We’re still moving corn, soybeans and grain, but also coal and petroleum … stone, sand and gravel,” she said Tuesday.
Barges carry 20 percent of the nation’s coal and more than 60 percent of its grain exports, according to the group.
Ron Zornes, director of corporate operations for Canal Barge Co. of New Orleans, said each idled towboat could cost a company anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 a day. The low end would be for a single boat with a couple of barges and the high end for one in “a system of towboats that acts sort of like a bus system.”
“So if one bus is stopped, it gums up the whole system,” he said.
On the other hand, vessel traffic tends to be lower in January than during peak harvest season, when grain from the U.S. heartland is shipped south to be loaded onto massive ships near New Orleans.
Nature’s Way Marine LLC of Theodore, Ala., has been named the responsible party for the oil spill, a designation that is assigned under the federal Oil Pollution Act.
The barges were being pushed by the company’s tug Nature’s Way Endeavor. The company has declined requests for information from The Associated Press.
Companies found responsible for oil spills face civil penalties tied to the amount of oil that spilled into the environment.
Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Lally said Tuesday it’s too early in the investigation to know if the company could face penalties or fines.
The Nature’s Way Endeavor was pushing two tank barges when the collision with the bridge happened about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, authorities said. Both barges were damaged, but only one leaked. Authorities declared the bridge safe after an inspection.
The leaking tank, which was pierced above the water line, was carrying 80,000 gallons of light crude, authorities said. The Coast Guard hasn’t said how much oil was in the other tanks on the barge.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
Holy cow!
A Louisiana supermarket was forced to yank its low-cost milk special after state auditors objected to the price.
Fresh Markets in Perkins Rowe was selling milk for $2.99 a gallon as part of a weekly promotion deal, but Louisiana requires that retailer markups be at least 6 percent above invoice and shipping costs, The Advocate reports.
State Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain said Fresh Market violated state regulations by selling milk below cost as part of a promotion.
The supermarket routinely sells a gallon of skim, 1 percent, 2 percent or whole milk for $2.99 on Tuesdays, limiting the quantity to four per customer, according to The Advocate.
“They can sell it 6 percent over cost all day long. It’s when they sell it below cost that it becomes a problem,” Strain told the paper.
Strain’s office reportedly sent an auditor to the store to investigate the Fresh Market promotional deal after getting a complaint.
During the second week of January, the price for a gallon of whole milk in Baton Rouge ranged from $4 to $6.89.
Click for more from The Advocate
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
Six teenagers have been arrested in a mass brawl that sparked a stampede and the evacuation of a shopping mall in Louisiana.
More than 200 teens were in the food court when the fight broke out Saturday night at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge. The mall shut down early for the night after everyone was evacuated.
East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s deputies arrested three boys and three girls, ages 13 to 15.
Spokeswoman Casey Rayborn Hicks tells The Advocate the six were booked on several charges, including disturbing the peace, simple battery and resisting an officer.
Hicks said deputies were still investigating how the fight started. No injuries were reported.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
Six teenagers have been arrested in a mass brawl that sparked a stampede and the evacuation of a shopping mall in Louisiana.
More than 200 teens were in the food court when the fight broke out Saturday night at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge. The mall shut down early for the night after everyone was evacuated.
East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s deputies arrested three boys and three girls, ages 13 to 15.
Spokeswoman Casey Rayborn Hicks tells The Advocate (http://bit.ly/117H6cD ) the six were booked on several charges, including disturbing the peace, simple battery and resisting an officer.
Hicks said deputies were still investigating how the fight started. No injuries were reported.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
By Rob Quinn 
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
Source: Newser – Great Finds
A Louisiana woman ran afoul of police when she gave her neighbors an unusual holiday greeting, hanging Christmas lights in the shape of a middle finger.
Sarah Childs was in a dispute with some of her neighbors in Denham Springs, just east of Baton Rouge, so she decided to send a message with her decorations. Neighbors complained and police threatened to arrest her, so she and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana sued the city.
A judge ruled in her favor Thursday.
“I imagine it will be back up before too long,” ACLU of Louisiana executive director Marjorie Esman said of the display.
Childs erected the lights on her roof last month. She has removed them twice – once after a police officer told her she could be fined and again after another officer threatened to arrest her, her lawsuit said.
U.S. District Judge James Brady issued an order temporarily barring city officials from interfering with the display. The two-page order said the city’s “continued efforts” to prevent Childs from displaying her holiday lights will violate her rights to free speech and due process. He scheduled a Jan. 7 hearing in Baton Rouge.
Denham Springs attorney Paeton Burkett said the city will comply with Brady’s order, but she declined to comment on the lawsuit.
“We’re going to sit down with everybody involved and see if there’s any merit to it,” she said.
Mayor Jimmy Durbin and Police Chief Scott Jones, who are named as defendants, didn’t immediately respond to calls seeking comment.
The suit said the police department dispatched an officer to Childs’ home after several neighbors complained directly to the mayor. The officer told Childs she would be violating the city’s “obscenity statute” and could be fined if she didn’t take it down, according to the lawsuit. However, Denham Springs doesn’t have an obscenity statute, the suit said.
Childs removed the lights but put them back up after the ACLU defended her in an open letter to the city. That time, the display showed two hands with extended middle fingers.
After another round of complaints, the city responded with a “collateral attack,” issuing her two tickets, according to the suit. One accused her of obstructing the flow of traffic as she walked down the side of a street. Another ticket accused her of disturbing the peace while singing an impromptu song about her neighborhood dispute while standing in her driveway.
“Childs’ impromptu song allegedly contained some obscenities directed at her neighbors, so the city cited her for simple assault,” the suit said.
The ACLU would not say exactly what the neighborhood dispute was about, and a no one answered at a telephone listing for Childs.
Source: Fox US News
Military officials announced Friday that they have identified remains of a serviceman killed in action during the Vietnam War.
Army patrols identified the soldier as Army Capt. James J. Johnstone of Baton Rouge, La., who died when his airplane crashed in 1966 in Laos. Officials said scientists used his AMEX car, military ID card and a tooth to figure out his identity.
A spokesperson for the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) said the remains of the other pilot on board, Maj. James L. Whited, were also identified.
Johnstone will be buried with military honors in Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012.
“I couldn’t be more excited, I’m on an adrenaline shot,” daughter Shawn Johnstone, 46, told The Advocate.
Capt. James M. Johnstone was the pilot of an OV-1A Mohawk aircraft that crashed in Attapu Province, Laos, while conducting a daytime reconnaissance mission on Nov. 19, 1966.
According to The Advocate, Shawn Johnstone said she was given a 100-page book detailing the multiple investigations conducted by the military while looking for the wreckage.
After the crash, villagers took valuables from the site, including her father’s American Express card, The Advocate reports. When a villager returned the card to government officials more than 40 years later, a new investigation into the crash was opened.
Shawn Johnstone said she had never stopped believing her father’s remains would be located. “I’m a big believer in miracles, always have been,” she said.
Source: Fox US News
