BATON ROUGE - A house in a neighborhood off of Bluebonnet Boulevard near I-10 is causing trouble and unwanted traffic. The situation has gotten so bad, that people are afraid to go outside and enjoy their street.

Cory Bech lives a few houses from what he calls a scene out of The X Files. He recently went to the house on Houston Drive after his mailbox was damaged by one of the people living there. Inside, he found a disturbing scene of garbage, destruction, and neglect.

"No Sheetrock, just trash everywhere, stink, flies everywhere, I didn't want to be in there too long because I was worried about my lungs," said Bech.

As Bech walked up to the house, the door was left ajar, had large holes, and missing the knob. In the video, he taps the door and it swings open to reveal piles of clothes, trash, holes in the walls, a dirty mattress, and a room that was once a kitchen. It's unclear whether or not the property has working electricity and running water. Bech says he recorded his visit for his safety.

"Nobody wants to walk by here because they're afraid they're going to run into Timmy," said Bech.

Two men live in the house, but there are plenty of other people who visit the property throughout the day. Bech says one of them owns the property and the other has "destroyed his house and terrified the neighborhood."

The windows have been knocked out, exposing the property to the elements and critters. While he was there, Bech asked the men not to damage any more mailboxes.

The sheriff's office has visited the house several times in 2023 and 2024. The calls are for medical, disturbances, and stolen property. Reports say there's a person in the home with a "violent psych history."

The property backs up to I-10, where two holes large enough to fit people through have appeared in the barrier wall. Neighbors say they have witnessed people crawl in and out of them. DOTD is working to fix the holes.

The city has had several calls about blight at the property beginning in November 2022. The city enforced tall grass and weeds in September 2023. There's a pending blight court date on July 25 for junk, trash, and debris.

The house was purchased by Austin Duszynski in 2013 and the property taxes are current.

Timothy Willeman was also staying at the house. One is for simple damage to property and entering or remaining on premises after being forbidden from an incident on May 5, 2024, at the Circle K on Bluebonnet Boulevard. Court documents say he was banned from the store for previous thefts. The document says he got mad and smashed a glass door. Willeman has since been booked.

Bech posted the video he took of the house online hoping someone would see it and offer assistance.

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BATON ROUGE - Heavy machinery has been digging out dirt and sediment from the University Lake System for months. Now a year into the project, two lakes are nearing completion and it's time to move the barges into University Lake.

It's a project that's drawn some criticism and continues to as the project takes shape. LSU Foundation President Rob Stuart says he gets a lot of feedback about what's been going on and what hasn't.

"One of the comments we constantly hear from people is 'I love what you're doing but why do you have to build the islands? Why do you have to make the bird sanctuary so big?'" Stuart said.

Long story short, they need a place to put the dirt. The cost to move it out of the lakes would be nearly three times as much. Repurposing what's dug up is a cheaper option. It's why onlookers will notice several islands taking shape, a change in shoreline, and a much larger bird sanctuary.

One island near Stanford Avenue is drawing some questions. The island is built at 20.5 feet above sea level. Recently, a dirt berm has been placed around the island along with a pump to pump water out after it flooded. Two trees died and have since been replaced, under warranty.

Project Manager Mark Goodson says the lake water level is several inches higher than normal right now.

At the corner of Stanford Avenue and West Lakeshore Drive is a new weir. Three gates help control the water level. If there's a big rain event, the city can drop the gates and bring the lake level down. A notch, currently stopped with sandbags, will keep the water flowing into Bayou Duplantier.

When timed right, the weir can hold three to four feet of stormwater runoff. The entire system is designed at 20 feet above sea level.

There's much more work to be done - dredging in the University Lake is next. There is already a lot going on there including the expansion of the bird sanctuary, outer bank building and islands. The bird sanctuary and islands are built up with large geo tubes filled with sediment. Over time those tubes will disintegrate. The tubes will be capped and covered with low-lying plants.

Walkers, riders, bikers, and people who live around the lakes have noticed vegetation explode after last year's drought exposed the lake bottom. The vegetation will be removed and landscaping will be happening later this year and early 2025.

"They'll be landscaped with native material that's low-growing for the most part, and it's meant to help filter runoff before it enters the lakes," Goodson said.

At the deepest point, the lakes will be nine feet, and four and a half feet deep near the edges. University Lake near Stanford at East Lakeshore Drive is the deepest to allow for drainage and stormwater runoff.

"To help with the sediment, we're creating four bays which are dug to deeper levels than the rest of the lake," Stuart said.

Those bays will be cleaned every so often.

The trees and branches pulled from the lakes that haven't been used in other areas will be made into mulch. The rest is piled on May Street near Dalrymple Drive and will be sold at auction. Goodson says they are looking to hold a public auction in August.

May Street will be replaced with a bridge to connect the two lakes for people to boat through. Assuming FEMA money is allocated, everything to dredge and landscape the lakes is funded. Bike paths and other designs are next.

"We will probably have to look at more local funding and people who are interested," Stuart said.

Logs that have been left behind, specifically in Lake Erie, will be removed.

More can be found on the project's website.

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PLAQUEMINE - The City of Plaquemine says a number of incorrect utility bills were traced back to one meter reader and that meter reader is no longer with the city.

The city says the bills have been sorted out, but some utility customers who have reached out to 2 On Your Side say they're not so sure.

Page Tate says he had to make the tough choice of paying his utility bill over his rent, or be disconnected.

"I got a disconnect notice," Tate said.

The last three months, Tate's utility bill has averaged $400 a month. He says his electric usage doesn't reflect what's on his bill.

"Something is wrong with that, something is wrong," he said.

He paid his June bill and now he's short on rent. Tate says it's a choice he shouldn't have to make and thinks that he's being over charged.

Tate isn't the only one who has reached out to 2 On Your Side with concerns. Pat Huesmann says he's been fighting his utility bill battle for months and after his meter was replaced he's still having issues.

"Three months ago we got a $1,600 bill," Huesmann said.

There's more where that came from - Huesmann has received several four-figure bills and he's still waiting for his issue to be resolved.

"I don't know what they're doing, I wish we could get a reasonable answer," Huesmann said.

The City of Plaquemine has several job openings as it works through customer issues. The latest is a meter reader. The city is one short after they found several bills were incorrect because of readings by one meter reader. That employee is no longer with the city and the incorrect bills are being sorted out. The city says in most cases the issue has been corrected before payment.

Tate has already paid.

"After explaining what my situation is and not even trying to help me, that's what I'm angry about," Tate said.

The City of Plaquemine says it's not sure how many bills were affected by this one meter reader. There are four meter readers employed by the city. When a customer brings an issue to the city's attention, the issue is investigated and corrective action is taken if warranted. The city says it's currently sifting through about 300 applications for a Customer Service Director. Both the department director and the assistant director resigned their positions.

Some cases, like Huesmann's, will not be investigated until that position is filled. Mayor Ed Reeves says he hopes to have a new Customer Service Director hired in July.

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CENTRAL - Charges for a dozen security lights have mysteriously shown up on one woman's utility bill. It's been three months and since Jo Carol Herbert has been unable to resolve the situation on her own, she emailed 2 On Your Side.

It's not the first time Herbert has reached out for help with trouble related to her utility bill at her property in Central. She says something is not right.

"I don't have any security lights," Herbert said.

Her bill says otherwise.

"I thought, what is wrong here? And then I thought my neighbor has all the security lights," she said.

Herbert's property is next door to Life Tabernacle Church. She had a tenant move into the property in the spring and says she opened her Entergy account in April. Right away, she noticed her bill was outrageous - almost $1,200. That's when she saw what was driving up the cost.

Entergy is billing her for a dozen security lights, which is an extra $573. Somehow, there's a mix-up. Herbert called Entergy and was assured someone would be out to verify she didn't have security lights. Fearing a disruption in electricity, she paid the bill.

Herbert has a gate to her property and says no one from Entergy showed up to verify her claim.

"Nothing was done!" she said.

The security light charges are on the April, May, and June bills. Herbert says she's called Entergy several times.

The utility company has threatened to disconnect her, but Herbert says she isn't paying another dime until the situation is resolved. She's convinced the lights belong to her neighbor and wants to know how they got on her bill.

Entergy's customer service department is looking into the situation.

Pastor Tony Spell of Life Tabernacle Church says he pays 11 Entergy bills each month but did not speak on the number of security lights there are on the church property.

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BATON ROUGE - One man was evicted after he moved out of his apartment and now months later the landlord is hitting him up for rent and late fees.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Housing Authority tells 2 On Your Side that because Kentrell Valentine did not put in writing that he'd be moving out of his apartment, his apartment manager went ahead and filed an eviction after he had cleaned up and left.

It's something that has cost Valentine his independence.

"I mopped and swept and cleaned everything out," Valentine said.

Last December, Valentine made a choice for his own safety. He went to the EBRPHA and told them he'd be vacating his apartment at Kelly Terrace in Baton Rouge.

"They started breaking into my vehicle, I heard gunshots," Valentine said.

With crime too close to home, Valentine moved out of his apartment the first week of the year. On Jan. 9, 2024, Valentine visited the EBRPHA on North Boulevard to drop off his key and a written note explaining why he was leaving. The key nor the note was accepted.

"Everything then just went downhill," Valentine said.

Two weeks ago, after filling out an application at a new apartment complex, Valentine learned he had been evicted from Kelly Terrace. There is an $834.50 charge and an eviction on his credit report. The charge consists of rent for January and February, late fees and an eviction filing fee.

After speaking with the Kelly Terrace Community Manager, the EBRPHA says there were still items inside Valentine's unit and that is why the key was not accepted.

Before leaving his apartment, Valentine took detailed photos. In one of the pictures is a lawn chair that he left behind because it was there when he moved in.

"That's why I left it there, that was the only thing there in the whole apartment," he said.

Under the lease agreement, Valentine was to provide a written 30-day notice should he wish to move. He never wrote it, so he's in a tough spot today.

Valentine is disabled and cannot work. He lives on a fixed income and is searching for a safe place he can afford to live.

The EBRPHA says if Valentine pays the outstanding balance they can provide a letter showing the money has been paid.

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BATON ROUGE - During a quest to find the grave of her family member, one woman is helping to draw focus to an area of the Capital City where history is buried.

Sue Howes called 2 On Your Side's Brittany Weiss after visiting Magnolia Cemetery and discovering that her late baby brother's plot was nowhere to be found. Howes had suspected that the headstone was covered by dirt and grass had grown on top of it.

It turns out that's exactly what happened. Howes found the disguised headstone while walking around. She dropped to her hands and knees and started digging through dirt and grass to find the marker for her late brother, Roy Sullivan. Her brother had only been alive a few days before he passed in 1935.

Magnolia Cemetery is a National Historic Site. Graves date back to the 1850s. Certain markers are very old and broken, parts are overgrown, and it makes Howes feel sad.

"I don't feel calm or the peace I have in time of coming here because of the neglect," Howes said.

The cemetery has been maintained by BREC for decades. Howes says there should be more respect for the loved ones buried in the cemetery, while some of them might not have living relatives to look after their graves.

"They need to be respected for what they did or didn't do," she said.

The discovery of her brother's grave brought tears to her eyes. It's got her thinking about the other markers covered with grass and weeds that may be hidden around the cemetery.

"It's painful to see," she said.

The Park Operations Director plans to go out to the site next week to take pictures and evaluate the cemetery. BREC will have a more detailed response next week.

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BATON ROUGE - Some tenants living at the Concord Condominiums say they're having trouble getting their maintenance requests addressed. It's the same property that's had a history of poor money management. Last year the office manager was fired over poor record keeping.

Five tenants have reached out to 2 On Your Side with concerns. Their problems range from a collapsed ceiling to appliances that don't work and bug infestations.

One tenant says she's experiencing "extreme issues" in regard to maintenance requests and other property issues.

Earlier this month, the ceiling in Tonya James' condominium fell on top of her sleeping daughter and granddaughter. Her granddaughter, who is a year and a half, was taken to the hospital for her injuries.

Three weeks later, the situation in James' unit has not been cleaned up or patched. There's an open hole in the ceiling and insulation scattered around the room. Fallen Sheetrock is leaning against a bed with protruding nails.

"It's just ridiculous," she said.

James has been instructed to move to another unit on the property. It's an apartment she says is dirty and covered in bugs. James says she has requested help moving her belongings across the property but has not been given help.

"It's got roaches over there," she said.

Other tenants report a bedbug infestation, water leaking from the ceiling, appliances like stove tops that haven't worked for months, aging air conditioning systems that don't cool properly, and sewer issues. Tenants say they report the issues to maintenance and are marked canceled or completed when many of them have not been addressed.

There are more than 100 units on this Baton Rouge property. The property also has an HOA. Servio Capital Management oversees 44 of the units. After speaking with the company on Thursday, some of the issues are known to the company while others are not. A detailed list was provided to the company, which plans to take a closer look at the concerns.

In James' case, Servio was unaware that she had not moved and required assistance. They were unaware of the bug issue in the new unit she was offered. Servio says it plans to pay for the medical bills for her granddaughter.

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BAKER — A Baker woman says she paid a contractor to do work in her kitchen and the work was never finished. Monique Wright says she wants a refund.

When you walk into Wright's kitchen, the first thing you'll notice is that the floor is torn up and part of her cabinetry is missing. There's a deep trench several feet long going from the wall to the sink. She had hired someone to dig up a broken pipe in her slab and replace it with a new one.

A project that was supposed to take two days is now in its third week.

"He disappeared Father's Day weekend," she said.

Wright filed an insurance claim for the damage and said she has paid out $7,800 so far. The pipe is no better than it was and her kitchen is a mess. While removing cabinets, her countertop was broken into several pieces — they're now sitting in a trash pile near the street.

"I don't know what to do because I can't have my kids in here like this," said Wright.

After learning the contractor is not insured and has no license to work, Wright is now requesting a refund.

"I'm in the hole now, more than $7,800 because I have to get all the stuff that they tore out fixed," she said.

For living in such a mess, Wright appeared calm Tuesday afternoon. She says she's had time to process what's happening and only wants her problems fixed. With a refund, she can hire someone else to do the job.

Tuesday, 2 On Your Side spoke with the contractor. His name has been withheld from this story since he has agreed to refund Wright. If the funds are not delivered, this story will be updated.

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BATON ROUGE - Confusion over a permit could cost one man thousands of dollars.

Rich Knecht, a contractor, says he's having trouble with the permitting office after fixing up a house, with intentions to rent it out as a duplex. The city is saying he doesn't have permission to do so.

"It would have been nice if they told me that in the beginning, I wouldn't have spent all this money separating everything," Knecht said.

The house, which has been sitting vacant since the 2016 flood, has been completely redone from top to bottom. The property has a new roof, insulation, wiring, flooring, cabinets, tiling, and the whole nine yards. Knecht says he got about 90 percent done with the project and was told his plan to turn it into a duplex is not allowed.

The city says the contractor doesn't have the right permit and the house cannot be a duplex. The city says once it noticed the property was being turned into two units, it told Knecht it couldn't be done because it's not zoned for two units.

Knecht says the city has known about his plans from the beginning and even got the paperwork to change the address.

"It cost me a fortune and then he told me, no it can't be done," Knecht said.

The property was purchased in 2020 and Knecht has steadily been having inspections ever since. The house has two of everything - two kitchens, two electrical panels, and two water meters. Now he fears the money and time he put into the place will be for nothing.

"Now I have an over-sized house with two kitchens, two laundries, two of everything and I can only charge so much for it," he said.

The city says when the property owner called for a gas test inspection, an inspector saw that the house was set up for a duplex and informed Knecht he would need a separate permit. The property owner applied for and was issued a second gas permit as well as a second address for the property.

While the city admits the gas permit was issued in error, the property has several more steps to take to establish a two-family dwelling. The gas permit has since been voided.

Knecht now has the option to go to planning to see if the property zoning can be changed to allow for a duplex. His other option is to revert the property to a single-family house.

Knecht hopes his investment won't be a flop, but if he has to turn the house back into a single-family property he could face a loss of about $1,000 a month.

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UPDATE: The city of New Orleans dismissed the parking ticket Thursday after 2 on Your Side's reporting on the situation.

Read the original story here:

BATON ROUGE - It's a parking ticket mix-up that one Baton Rouge woman says is not hers to pay. The City of New Orleans mailed Susan Gould a ticket demanding payment and that payment has now tripled.

The mix-up is causing Gould stress and what she calls an unnecessary effort to prove the truth.

"I haven't been in New Orleans in over 30 years and I flew!" said Gould.

When she first got the notice in the mail in March, she thought it was a scam. Gould quickly learned it was not a scam and what started as a $30 ticket has now tripled. Despite the $90 fine hanging over her head, Gould refuses to pay it.

"It's really just the principle of the thing, I mean, if they're doing it to me who else are they doing it to," said Gould.

She insists the ticket office has the wrong person. The violation was issued on February 20, 2024, around 9:30 a.m. for parking in a cab zone on Loyola Avenue. Gould says she has logged at least a dozen calls about the ticket but can't seem to get the issue resolved.

Her white, 2014 Hyundai Tucson is parked in her garage. The ticket has her license plate, but the car color and the car year are different. Gould says someone made a mistake.

Gould contacted 2 On Your Side in May. The city ticket department suggested Gould mail in an explanation of what happened. This week, Gould heard back from the City of New Orleans and found that she's still responsible for paying the fine.

"They're just not happy with what I'm telling them, I don't know what else to say," she said.

Gould says she is the only one who drives her car. She doesn't go far - only to the grocery store, doctor appointments, and to visit family nearby.

"I only put 60 miles on my car the whole month of February," she said.

Retired from a career in sales, Gould takes meticulous notes. According to her planner, on the morning of February 20, Gould was at home recovering from surgery. A neighbor came by at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to walk the dog and that morning a repairman was at her house working.

"I took my blood pressure at 6:48 a.m. and 8:40 a.m.," she said.

Despite her story, New Orleans wants her $90. She says if she had been in New Orleans on that day, she would have paid the $30 ticket. Instead, her battle drags into the fourth month.

Wednesday, the New Orleans ticket office suggested Gould send in another explanation and photo evidence of her license plate, car color, and registration.

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BATON ROUGE - Tree trimming trucks are giving hope to one neighborhood that's had several power outages so far this year. They were in the Mayfair Park area starting Monday morning.

Entergy responded fast, inspecting the power lines to provide Barbara Woods and her neighbors with electricity. She spoke with 2 On Your Side earlier this month about the problems she has during inclement weather in her neighborhood. Woods says she says a prayer every time it rains.

"I pray and ask God to please help us, you know," she said.

Woods called 2 On Your Side hoping to get some answers. Those answers showed up this week in the form of bucket trucks and chainsaws.

"Thank goodness, maybe this time it's being fixed," Woods said.

Entergy says there have been a handful of outages in the Mayfair Park area since early 2023. The outages tend to happen during stormy weather when trees impact the electric system. Woods recalls it happening more than a handful of times.

"If the wind blows and there's thunder and lightning and all of this then we lose power," Woods said.

It's not the case across the street, where Woods says they don't have power problems. There are about a dozen or so homes that lose power when their neighbors across the street don't have an issue.

Entergy says the electric department did not find any substantial issues with the power line, but the vegetation department identified some steps to enhance service reliability. Crews will clean up vines on the electric equipment and perform trimming in areas where necessary. Entergy says it's planning to collaborate with the neighborhood to potentially remove a couple of trees that could pose a risk during severe weather.

Woods hopes the steps being taken by the utility company will provide a better outcome in the future.

"I'm keeping my fingers crossed," Woods said.

Entergy says it takes all customer concerns seriously and is committed to improving service reliability in the area. Entergy says its efforts aim to ensure that the neighborhood is better prepared to withstand storms and other adverse conditions.

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PONCHATOULA - An $800 fine and a license suspension from the Office of Motor Vehicles vanished after a year and a half, but it took the help of 2 On Your Side to get there.

One woman spent that year and a half driving her husband to and from work because of the fine they vowed not to pay.

"I'm not going to give them my money when they don't deserve it," said Maddison Aikman.

Thursday, Jude Aikman took a seat behind the wheel and drove himself. He says the whole situation has been inconvenient.

"I don't feel it should have took this long to get it resolved," said Jude Aikman.

Jude and Maddison say the fine was not theirs to pay. The charge was tacked on after the card they had been using to pay a lapsed insurance fee was canceled for suspected fraud. Before a new card was in the mail, the OMV tried to debit their account. Things spiraled out of control when Maddison couldn't get anyone to pick up the phone to change the card number or hear her story in person at an OMV office.

"They're doing a really terrible thing and I know it's not just to us," said Maddison Aikman.

In April, 2 On Your Side got involved and learned that the OMV would remove the fine if they could get official documentation from the bank that said the card on file was canceled due to fraud. It took some time to contact the bank, but once the paperwork was issued the fine cleared up.

"It took us a little bit to get the paperwork to the OMV," said Jude Aikman.

Now Jude is back on a payment plan, clearing up fines for lapsed insurance dating back to 2019. The $800 fee is no longer part of that dollar figure. It also means he's back on the road.

"I've been able to take my own self to work," said Jude Aikman.

Last week, OMV Commissioner Dan Casey sat down with 2 On Your Side to talk about a bill passed by the legislature that would reel in those fines for people who lapse insurance. Thousands of people owe the state anywhere from $125 to $30,000.

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BATON ROUGE - An older property in Baton Rouge is falling apart and has turned into a spot for people to leave their junk. The people living around the house on Sora Street are asking the city to step in and take it down.

It's a view Donna Franklin says she didn't ask for.

"It's horrible," she said.

Out front of the structure is a large pile of discarded building materials including shingles, siding, and nails. Franklin says the pile has been sitting there for at least a year. Over time the pile has grown as more people discard their belongings on the dead-end street.

"It's off the grid and you only come down here if you live down here, it's not a through street," Franklin said.

The house has no windows, doors, or a roof. It is not habitable, except to critters. All Franklin wants is a safe, clean neighborhood where her grandchildren can grow and play.

According to the City Parish, the property taxes were last paid in 2021. It has been up for condemnation before, but was rescinded. That same year, the property owner had a demolition permit that expired. The parish visited the lot last month to take photos and says there's an active court order to pick up the pile of debris. Franklin says she's heard it before.

"We're just getting a lot of empty promises saying someone is going to come out and do something and they never do," Franklin said.

Tired of people treating her street like a trash can, she called 2 On Your Side. While some neighbors are doing their part to keep their properties clean, the situation across from Franklin is not helping.

"Somebody need to pick the ball up and get this done," Franklin said.

The parish says the junk, trash, and debris at this property should be picked up by the end of the month.

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BATON ROUGE - For years, people have been facing large fines for lapsed insurance. Pending the governor's signature, the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles is making some changes intended to help people who owe large fines.

The purpose of the fines is to encourage people to get and retain car insurance. The fines have sent many people into serious debt and never-ending payment plans. Thousands of people owe anywhere from $125 to $30,000.

"I think it may have gotten out of control," said OMV Commissioner Dan Casey.

Casey says HB683 will reel things in for delinquent drivers who have fines that have ballooned out of their reach.

"It allows us to reset the fines back to the original fine they were charged with," he said.

Casey says the OMV has about $477 million in unpaid debt. A lot of it - $220 million - is old debt dating beyond 2016. That's going to be wiped out.

"The rest of the fines are going to get reset and we'll renegotiate with the consumer to get them back licensed and legal on the street," said Casey.

It will also put a cap on how much drivers could owe.

Casey provided an example of one driver who owes about $15,780. When the fines are reset to the original amount, it will drop what that person owes to $1,630.

A law passed in 2015 gave the OMV authority to collect the fines. Soon after, the agency mailed out more than a million letters to collect that debt. In 2016, delinquent drivers were allowed to apply for a payment plan to whittle down those fines monthly. If the fines go unpaid, they're sent to the Office of Debt Recovery, where they rack up more fees.

"It affects about a half million folks that have stops on their licenses," said Casey.

Those people sent to the ODR have "flags" on their driver's licenses. They can legally drive, but until that debt is paid off they cannot renew their driver's license or registration.

The reset will happen gradually. While the OMV is dealing with an older system the cases will be handled one at a time until everything can be moved to a newer system.

"We're going to hopefully get these cleared for you and get you back on the road without this burden on your back," said Casey.

The OMV now has more people answering phones and people can take care of their fines in person at an OMV office with an appointment, instead of only over the phone. Once the bill becomes law, people who are currently on a payment plan will get an email with an addendum to their contract reflecting the new amount.

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PLAQUEMINE - A family in Iberville Parish says the city's utility company has some explaining to do. Pat Huesmann says his utility bills range from $200 to $1,200 with an outlier at almost $11,000.

Huesmann says there's no rhyme or reason why they fluctuate so much and wants answers.

"It's been frustrating," said Huesmann.

Three years ago, the Huesmann family moved into their Plaquemine home on Canal Street after undergoing a major renovation. Soon after the family moved in they noticed their utility bill continued to go up.

The house is about 3,100 square feet with two A/C units and a small pool. Huesmann says the lights and air conditioning units are on timers and they live under a huge tree canopy, which allows them to keep their thermostat between 73 and 75 degrees during the warm months. Huesmann says the bills don't reflect their usage.

"There has been no consistency in our monthly bill," he said.
Huesmann says they got the utility company involved a long time ago. Someone there told them their bills were estimated since the meter couldn't be read. Huesmann was told that the meter reader was unable to enter their yard while their dog, a 6.5 lb. Yorkie was outside.
"That's what we were told," he said.

After another high electricity bill three months ago, Huesmann started making a fuss. He contacted the utility director and the mayor. Last month, someone from the utility company came to swap out the meter at the house.

"They emailed us and said the meter was bad," said Huesmann.
The new meter has been in use for about a month. Now Huesmann wants to know about the past three years of bills and whether or not he was overcharged.

"I don't know what they're doing, I wish we could get a reasonable answer," he said.

At the end of May, 2 On Your Side started contacting the utility company about Huesmann's situation. Emails and voicemails were not returned. On Thursday, after several calls to the utility company and the mayor's office, 2 On Your Side learned that several people have quit within the utility department.

A spokesperson for the city says the former director and assistant director of the utility customer service office quit. While Mayor Ed Reeves, Jr. had asked the previous director to look into Huesmann's situation that person left before the investigation findings were revealed.

The city is advertising for a new Customer Service Office Director. Once that person is hired, they will look into Huesmann's billing history. The city says the bill history and issues with this residence are a priority.

 

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BATON ROUGE - A group of homes in a neighborhood off of Staring Lane has been having repeat power outages for years. One of the homeowners, Barbara Woods, says it happens nearly every time the wind blows or the rain falls.

"This has been a continuous thing," she said.

It happens so often, that Woods says she prays before every weather event. Lately, she needs more than prayer.

"Why can't they fix the problem, is all I'm saying," Woods said.

Over the years, Woods says she's spent hours and hours in the dark and in the heat. There are about a dozen homes connected to the same line that are having the issue. While the power goes off on one side of the street, it stays on across the road.

"I tease my neighbor across the street, I pay the bill just like you, why do I keep losing power," said Woods.

After speaking with Entergy about her troubles, she called 2 On Your Side hoping for a permanent fix.

"They patch it; they never fix it," she said.

Entergy says it is looking into Woods' concerns.

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BATON ROUGE - A woman's trash bin has been stolen three times since she moved into her home six months ago. Jennifer Freeman says thieves hide goods in the bin and then wheel it away.

The hassle of getting that bin replaced encouraged Freeman to call 2 On Your Side.

Last Wednesday, on trash day, Freeman wheeled her bin out to the curb. That same day it was taken. A camera captured what appeared to be a man walking down the street carrying two cases of beer. The man looks into the neighbor's bin then walks over to Freeman's bin and loads the two cases inside and wheels it away.

"He put the beer in there and went down the street with it," she said.

Freeman's house number is visible on the outside of the bin. It's not the first time her camera captured her bin being stolen. This past March, three men walked away with Freeman's empty can. She said it appeared they had put shoe boxes inside. It was after that incident that she decided to purchase tracking tags.

As of Monday morning, her stolen can is sitting in a carport a few blocks away. It appears the thief spray-painted over the house number.

"All trashcans have serial numbers so you can still find it," she said.

And in Freeman's case, it also has a tracking tag attached to the bottom. Each time the can is taken Freeman calls the police and files a report.

"That's to get another trashcan, you have to call the police to get a file number, call 311 and they'll issue you another trashcan but if not you got to pay for it," she said.

It's a hassle, one Freeman has had to take off work for. It's something she can't wrap her head around.

"It's aggravating, out of all the things in the world to steal a nasty, filthy, dirty trashcan," she said.

Her new bin arrived over the weekend. She marked it with her address and secured a tracking tag to the back, hoping it will prevent it from being taken a fourth time.

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BATON ROUGE - A dead tree that was threatening a woman's home has been taken down. The city's drainage department removed the tree Friday morning.

Julia Walen reached out to 2 On Your Side in April about the tree after she had spent months trying to get the parish to help.

"I've reached out at least 12 times this year," said Walen.

The tree, which grew along Jones Creek in Broadmoor was behind Walen's home. It has been dropping limbs since last summer when two of them pierced holes in Walen's roof. After Walen reached out to WBRZ the city came by to mark the property line and found that the tree should come down.

"Kind of been looming over our house for a while," said Walen.

She wanted the tree gone before hurricane season and it happened just in time, hurricane season starts June 1.

"If the winds were to blow the wrong direction it could have fallen on my house," she said.

Walen says she feels relieved to know that the tree isn't threatening her home any longer.

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BATON ROUGE - His mom took out a loan to fuel her gambling addiction. She lost the money and is at risk of losing her car after putting up the title for collateral.

Michael Wilson contacted 2 On Your Side hoping that loan businesses will change their policies.

"I hope they do better because they're ruining lives," Wilson said.

At the end of April, Wilson's mom visited a loan business in Gonzales and took out a loan for $600, but with additional fees, insurance, and 42% interest, she owes almost $2,000. Wilson says his mom, who is 86, has attended Gamblers Anonymous meetings, is on a fixed income and filed for bankruptcy twice in the past six years.

"She's a good lady, just likes to gamble too much," he said.

The loan term is 18 months. In exchange for the $600, the loan company had Wilson's mom put up her car title as collateral.

"To me, that's just predatory," he said.

Wilson pays his mom's bills and gets an alert on her credit report, which is how he found out about the loan. He can't understand why someone gave her a loan.

Anyone 18 and older is eligible to apply for a consumer loan in Louisiana and a customer's spending habits are often not taken into account. Bankruptcy does not disqualify or eliminate a consumer from receiving a loan in Louisiana.

"They took her car title for $600, that's predatory! They should have some type of policy or at least ask the people what's going on - why do you need $600," Wilson said..

Title loans are only legal in about half of the United States. Credit history is not accounted for, since the car title itself is the collateral. They're typically high-interest and short-term.

"She lost the money on May 3, the full $600 she gambled it away," Wilson said.

After what happened to his mom, Wilson hopes things will change for the next person and that loan companies like the one she went to are more inquisitive.

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BATON ROUGE - If you are in the home buying or selling market right now, get ready for some changes. Those changes are being implemented soon and are intended to make things more transparent when it comes to real estate.

Following a settlement by the National Association of Realtors in a lawsuit brought by home sellers, buyers, sellers, and agents will be navigating some changes to the home sale process.

"I think it's just going to make the whole process more transparent," said Kristina Cusick, president of the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors.

It's not the first time Cusick has seen adjustments in her industry. One big difference will be in the Multiple Listing Service, or MLS, a database of homes for sale.

"As buyer's agents we will not see the compensation that's offered to us in the MLS, we're going to have to negotiate that through the purchase agreement," Cusick said.

Sellers can still offer to pay the buyer-broker's commission, but it can't be published in MLS. Agents are now required to use a buyer-broker agreement. Cusick says many have already done this but it hasn't been a precondition.

"This has to be taken care of before we tour a home," she said.

The buyer broker agreement will let you know what the agent plans to do for you and spell out their compensation.

"When someone calls us and wants to see a house and we have not worked with them, we have to meet with them and go over what we're going to do for them and go over those services and get the buyer's representation agreement signed before we can move forward," Cusick said.

Compensation agreements could become more creative. Cusick says they have and will remain negotiable.

The Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors is looking to make the changes to MLS in mid-August.

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