JOPLIN, Mo. (KSNF/KODE) — As the official start to summer approaches, many people across the Midwest are still recovering from a record number of destructive spring tornadoes. According to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center, April and May of 2024 had the second most tornadoes on record, only behind the historic year of 2011 when an EF-5 tornado struck Joplin — claiming 158 lives and causing $2.8 billion in damage, making it the costliest single tornado in U.S. history. May of 2024 had the fourth most May tornadoes on record (1950 to present), and the most since 2019. (Image ..read more

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The East Baton Rouge District Attorney wants a not guilty verdict given to a former Baton Rouge police officer overturned in Appeals Court. On March 26, Judge Eboni Johnson Rose convicted former Baton Rouge Police Officer Donald  Steele of misdemeanor malfeasance in office but there was a problem. There is no such charge under Louisiana state law, according to East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore. So that verdict was put on pause after both the state and defense team asked for clarification.  On April 18, Steele walked out of court after Judge ..read more

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — An award-winning STEM summer camp from Rice University is heading to Southern University's campus. Rice's Tapia STEM Camp curriculum, along with Southern University's summer camp programs, would allow ExxonMobil employees to interact with and help middle and high school students learn about carbon capture and storage. The Tapia STEM Camps is named after Rice University's Dr. Richard Tapia and was created to promote STEM excellence and equity among students. “I’m very happy we are giving these students an opportunity to see how wonderful all the things in STEM can b ..read more

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – In an op-ed in the New York Times, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for social media companies to set up warning labels on their apps and website, like those you see on cigarette boxes. He wrote their use "is associated with significant mental health harms" for kids. "These harms to kids have got to stop," Julie Scelfo, Mother Against Media Addiction founder, said. Scelfo says this an important step forward. "Spending endless hours on screens is not it," Scelfo said. Dr. Murthy said kids who spend more than three hours a day on social media deal with double the r ..read more

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A top high school baseball recruit has officially withdrawn from the 2024 MLB Draft to attend LSU. Derek Curiel is an outfielder from Orange Lutheran High School in Orange, California. Curiel is a No. 10 high school prospect in the country, according to Perfect Game. Curiel intends to enroll at LSU during the summer and be part of Coach Jay Johnson's team for next season. Curiel posted to his Instagram account, "After talks with my family, advisors, and loved ones, I have formally withdrawn my name from the 2024 MLB Draft. I will be enrolling early this summer at L ..read more

(NewsNation) — Is a bird flu pandemic imminent? Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield seems to think so, and he says it’s just a matter of when. In the last two years, bird flu has been blamed for the deaths of millions of wild and domestic birds worldwide. However, it seems to have hardly touched people. Redfield told NewsNation's Brian Entin on Friday that he believes "bird flu will enter humans" and that it could have "significant mortality." Drinking coffee could lower death risk from being sedentary: Study Redfield noted that he doesn’t know ..read more

Rudy Giuliani’s creditors attempted to persuade a bankruptcy judge to appoint a trustee to take control of the former New York City mayor’s finances Monday.  Following more than two hours of arguments, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane made no ruling on creditors’ request but expressed worry about multiple aspects of the case, including financial reporting issues and Giuliani’s struggle to keep an active bookkeeper and accountant.  “There are reasons to be very concerned here. I'm not going to beat a dead horse,” Lane said just before adjourning the hearing.  Giuliani filed for Ch ..read more

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The Baton Rouge Police Department has released more information about the suspects accused of planning to ambush and kill officers. Police arrested Yazavier Gaines, 18, Bryson Lumbers, 20, and Dwayne Williams, 25 after they learned of the violent group's plan. According to police, the group had multiple photos and videos of brandishing handguns equipped with machine gun conversion devices on their social media. On June 4, the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and detectives conducted a search warrant and located a Glock with a machine gun converter. Gaines, Lumber ..read more

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) - A Baton Rouge Creole restaurant is gaining attention after popular TikTok food critic Keith Lee visited and rated the food. Lee, who is in Baton Rouge for his food tour, has visited several places in the city including KOK Wings and Things, brunch restaurant Fork N Spoon, smoothie shop Dr. FeelGood and Smoke Bayou, a local BBQ place. Over the weekend, Lee posted his food review of The Bayou Affect. The restaurant received over 30% of the vote in a poll about the place that embodies the Baton Rouge food scene, according to Lee. In his video, Lee said the customer se ..read more

(NewsNation) — Coffee consumption is believed to benefit health, and new research shows it may lower the risk of death among sedentary drinkers compared to those who sit for prolonged periods of time and don't drink coffee. The study, published in the journal BMC Public Health, aimed to assess the association between daily sitting time and coffee intake on all-cause and cardiovascular disease deaths among U.S. adults. Researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) conducted between 2007 and 2018, including 10,639 adults. The NHANES survey, wh ..read more