Rick Portier

Jul 30, 2024 | wafb.com | Rick Portier

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - While you may be glued to your set and your phone tracking the medal count in Paris, you probably missed a recent double-gold medalist right here in Baton Rouge. Amy Maggio could not have done what she did without a special gift from a total stranger. On a sunny day when the heat index reached well over 100, Amy Maggio took to the BREC tennis courts for practice. "I was always athletic" She said as she aced one. For Amy, tennis is a new sport. Running was more her game.

Jun 8, 2024 | wafb.com | Rick Portier

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Brad and Stacey Casso know that putting together an art show can be a lot like building a puzzle. "You have to visualize what you want to see in the end," Brad said from the top of a ladder. The couple is measuring, hammering, and hanging a lifetime of artwork inside The Gallery at the Manship. And when that lifetime spans nearly seven decades of watercolors, every decision matters. Brad's dad, Larry Casso saw Louisiana through the eyes of a lover.

Apr 13, 2024 | wafb.com | Rick Portier

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - When Garth Brooks sang about the rodeo, he probably didn't have a group of kids in the Capitol Region in mind, but the Greenwell Springs Youth Riders are galloping their way into rodeos across the Gulf Coast. The group has called BREC's Shady Park in Central home since the 1950s. In the midst of the snorts, whistles, and pounding hooves, you'll find nine-year-old Kathryn Raye, the youngest of this year's riders, straddled across her black mare Annie.

Mar 23, 2024 | wafb.com | Rick Portier

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The year was 2008. Elcanah Senevour of Geaux Crossfit had just graduated McKinley High when he failed his first CrossFit workout. Sixteen years later, he's training some of the fittest athletes in the world. "I was just laying around doing nothing," said Senouvor in a gym filled with professional fitness athletes. "It was $100 for two months of fitness. So, I signed up. Did a class.

Dec 7, 2023 | knoe.com | Rick Portier |Derron Daquano

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - You’re 17 years old. You’ve run away from yet another foster home where your foster parents have isolated you, possibly abused you. You meet someone who says he’ll take care of you, give you a place to live, feed you. He seems nice. You go with him, and he sells you for sex. The story of how Sheri Combs was lured in and forced into a life of abuse and rape is typical of how many teens are trapped into sex trafficking.