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The bystander who killed a businessman embroiled in a brawl with a Baton Rouge police officer may be aided by one of the nation’s most permissive justifiable homicide laws, legal scholars and others say. Louisiana allows the use of deadly force in self-defense or defense of others to “prevent a violent or forcible felony involving danger to life or great bodily harm.” People also can shoot intruders inside a home, business or car even if there is no such threat — and need not make any effort to retreat. That’s different from most states, which sanction physical force to prevent...

A witness has come forward to change one key detail in that shooting involving a police officer which has caused such an uproar in Baton Rouge. Auto Zone store records place this witness in the parking lot as the fight and deadly shooting occurred. The witnesses tells a story not heard before, claiming he heard exactly what was said between the officer and shooting victim, George Temple. Out of fear of retaliation, the witness has requested his identity not be disclosed. The witness says he was parked just a couple of spaces away from the black Mercedes George Temple was...

There were two big developments Monday in the case of a motorist who was shot and killed along Greenwell Springs Road Friday after a fight with a police officer. Investigators say an autopsy shows the deadly bullet was fired by a bystander, not the officer. Police also announced that no charges would be filed in the case, either against the police officer involved or the bystander who fired the fatal shot into the head of George Temple. East Baton Rouge Sheriff's spokesman Greg Phares says Officer Brian Harrision was escorting a funeral procession Friday when he pulled Temple over and...

Musician Tom Washington is playing a new tune in a new city. When Hurricane Katrina threatened his home in New Orleans, Washington packed up his family and his piano and headed to Baton Rouge. Washington said his life looked pretty bleak about five months ago -- he lost everything after the storm, but now he's trying to begin a new life in a new place. "We've lost a lot," Washington said. "I lost my mom the night before the storm, so that was a great loss." Things started to change for the displaced musician when he met with Pastor Shelton...

Gov. Kathleen Blanco left for Holland on Monday to learn how the Dutch created the huge flood-control system that protects a land much farther below sea level than Louisiana. The trip means the Democratic governor will miss President Bush's visit to New Orleans, scheduled for Thursday... The governor was among more than 40 government, business and education leaders - including Sens. David Vitter and Mary Landrieu ... Landrieu said the ambassador told her about that country's flood of 1953, when 1,800 people died. "He said, `Why don't you all come over and see what we've done since then?'" Landrieu recounted....

I was advised yesterday that I've been hired for a 3-6 month contract in Baton Rouge and have been on the phone with extended stay hotels in the area. I've found there is no room at the inn due to Katrina evacuees. I'm in search of a garage/basement apt within 20 miles of downtown Baton Rouge that's reasonably priced. If it's furnished that's all the better..I will need to move in late Saturday, (Dec 17).. I planned on leaving here tomorrow morning (Friday), but it now makes no sense. I've revised my departure to Saturday, Dec 17. Please freepmail me...

They've become as much a holiday tradition as wreaths and egg nog -- the Salvation Army bell ringers you see around town. But Salvation Army officials say it's getting harder and harder to find places to ring their bells, and it is costing them big. The Salvation Army says it's getting harder each year to find major businesses willing to allow bell ringers to stand outside their business. Over the past few years, Target, Barnes and Noble, Home Depot and Toys R Us have removed bell ringers from their property. All of those stores had a large customer base willing...

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- The population of Louisiana's capital city has ballooned since Hurricane Katrina, its schools and neighborhoods now home to thousands of displaced New Orleans residents. A commission appointed by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was set to visit Baton Rouge Thursday night and listen to the displaced residents' concerns as the panel's members come up with recommendations on how to fix the ravaged city and lure refugees home. The meeting was one of five across the South that the Bring New Orleans Back Commission planned with evacuees before issuing a recommendation to Nagin by the end...

They're starting to call it YATon Rouge. Not only have people from New Orleans found refuge here, but now New Orleans businesses are starting to set up shop in the Capitol City. The Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce says more than a dozen merchants have moved their businesses here since Katrina. A few who are working on the move include Boudreaux's Jewelers, Mandina's Restaurant, Chattabox Dress Shop, and the Cork and Bottle. Already moved and settled in downtown is Rasputin's, a Russian restaurant and bodka var similar to the one on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. Also, Thursday was...

When a group of New Mexico State Police officers returned from two weeks of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in Louisiana in September, they brought with them haunting tales of devastation, refugees and the wide swath of destruction the storm had wrought on the Gulf Coast. They also carried with them something darker, more disturbing even, than the might of Katrina itself. The Sante Fe Reporter has learned New Mexico police allege they witnessed numerous and shocking incidents of police abuse committed by members of the Baton Rouge Police Department. According to New Mexico Department of Public Safety spokesman Peter Olson,...

A Baton Rouge man is replacing the disaster mortuary commander arrested Thursday in that park sex sting. East Baton Rouge Sheriff's deputies arrested 61-year-old Gary Daugherty of Florida after he allegedly asked an undercover agent for sex in a BREC park. Arbie Goings is going to be the new man in charge over at DMORT. He's the funeral director for Rabenhorst funeral home. DMORT Incident Commander Chuck Smith appointed Goings Thursday night, only minutes after Smith learned deputies arrested Daugherty. Gary Daugherty was wearing his disaster mortuary shirt, was driving a federal vehicle, and was on federal time when East...

The man in charge of helping hurricane victims find their lost loved ones is now behind bars. He's accused of asking a male undercover deputy for sex in a Baton Rouge area park. East Baton Rouge Sheriff's deputies arrested him and two other men Thursday for allegedly soliciting men for sex in BREC's Forest Park. That's on South Harrell's Ferry near Millerville. Gary Arthur Daugherty of Florida was the Disaster Mortuary Commander for the FEMA Family Assistance Center. Now, he's charged with attempted crimes against nature. Deputies say they headed to Forest Park after complaints from parents about men seeking...

They allegedly lied to get Red Cross money that was earmarked for hurricane victims. Now, two East Baton Rouge Sheriff's deputies have been forced to resign and could face criminal charges. Col. Greg Phares would not say how much Red Cross money the two deputies received, nor would he say how they allegedly lied to get those assistance cards. However, Phares did imply there could be others. Both Jason Palmer and Cpl. Chad Montgomery worked in criminal investigations for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's department. I say worked because now they're the focus of a criminal investigation. Phares says he...

The LSU Health Care Services is considering buying St. Charles general hospital and leasing Elmwood Hospital to provide some of the services previously available at Charity and University hospitals. The idea would be to use St. Charles General as an acute care hospital and using Elmwood as a level-1 trauma center. The move is being considered at a time when the state's public health care system is in financial trouble. Without Charity and University hospitals, doctors who work with the LSU Health Sciences Center are coming up short on patients and payroll. “In Baton Rouge our patient population has doubled...

Baton Rouge evacuees who need to get back and forth to New Orleans will be able to catch a free bus beginning Monday, October 31. A spokesman for the Department of Transportation said the shuttle will be on a 15-day trial and could be continued if it is successful. The buses will depart from the public transit terminal on Florida Boulevard and drop off at Basin and Canal Street in New Orleans. The first bus leaves at 4:30 a.m. and will continue every half hour until 9 a.m. Return buses will depart New Orleans beginning at 1 p.m. and going...

The pilot who made an emergency landing on a busy street near Baton Rouge Wednesday, crashed his plane while trying to take off from the same street Thursday afternoon. Television news crews captured the crash on videotape. The pilot was not injured. The pilot, Michael Simon of Eunice, Louisiana and his wife made the emergency landing after running out of fuel on a trip from South Carolina to Baton Rouge. They were about three miles from the Baton Rouge Metro Airport when the pilot put his plane down on Plank Road in Baker, Louisiana. The couple was not injured in...

First the storm, then the floods. Now hell is apparently freezing over. Galatoire's is opening in Baton Rouge. The storied French Quarter restaurant, one of the steadfast symbols of New Orleans' singular cultural heritage, will, for the first time in its 100 years, regale customers with soufflé potatoes and trout amandine at a restaurant other than the one Jean Galatoire opened on Bourbon Street in 1905. Galatoire's Bistro, as the new restaurant will be called, should open in the capital city mid-November "maybe sooner," Rodrigue said. The Bourbon Street restaurant suffered roof damage, he said, and will need to have...

CROWLEY, La. (AP) - A 26-year-old firefighter with the Crowley Fire Department was arrested and booked by special agents with state attorney general's office on charges of computer-aided sexual solicitation of a minor and pornography involving juveniles. Scotty Lavergne, who lives in Church Point, was arrested at the Central Fire Station in Crowley. Lavergne's arrest is the result of an ongoing Internet undercover operation performed by agents at the attorney general's office. Lavergne is a captain with the Crowley Fire Department. Lavergne allegedly established an unlawful Internet relationship with a person who he believed was a 14-year-old female. Lavergne was...

Three roommates were comparing their handguns in the drive-through of a fast-food restaurant Tuesday when one of the pistols accidentally discharged, killing a woman in the front seat. Police identified the victim as Teaira Richard, 19, 10769 Alco St., Apt. 3. Nicole Latrise Daniels, 20, who listed the same address as Richard, was booked into Parish Prison on one count of negligent homicide. Bond was set at $40,000. The incident happened about 3:30 p.m. at the Popeyes at 10706 Florida St. Daniels was in the back seat looking at a pistol one of the other two roommates had just bought,...

BATON ROUGE -- St. Helena Parish Sheriff Ronald 'Gun' Ficklin, already indicted in a chop shop scheme, is facing new charges accusing him of defrauding the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections of more than $140,000.