Spencer Soicher
Reporter
Baton Rouge, La.
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Spencer is from Denver, Colorado and spent many of his childhood nights in Mile High City newsrooms where his dad was a sportscaster. Since then, he's always known he wanted to work in television.
Spencer graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2019 with a degree in journalism. Hook 'em Horns!
During his time as a student at Texas, Spencer worked as an intern at KUSA in Denver, KUTV in Salt Lake City, and KVUE in Austin.
Education
Updated: Nov. 13, 2019 at 1:31 PM CST
|By Spencer Soicher
As it finally begins to look and feel like fall outside, members of the Baton Rouge community are stepping up to help others. The address to drop off coats at the Winnfield Funeral Homes is 7221 Plank Road.
Updated: Nov. 3, 2019 at 10:37 PM CST
|By Spencer Soicher
As the end of daylight saving time has arrived, the Baton Rouge Fire Department and the American Red Cross say it’s time to check those smoke alarms.
Updated: Oct. 31, 2019 at 8:00 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
WAFB’s Spencer Soicher spent the day finding Baton Rouge’s best costumes.
Updated: Oct. 30, 2019 at 4:23 PM CDT
|By Mykal Vincent and Spencer Soicher
Calvin Toney was shot and killed during a DCFS investigation into potential child abuse.
Updated: Oct. 28, 2019 at 6:48 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
The East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Reform Coalition (EBRPPRC) is singing the praises of the new policy allowing faster processing for people who are arrested.
Updated: Oct. 24, 2019 at 7:26 PM CDT
|By Rachael Thomas and Spencer Soicher
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) held a public meeting Thursday about the proposed construction of a flyover ramp from I-10 W and an exit ramp from I-12 W to College Drive.
Updated: Oct. 23, 2019 at 7:32 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
A new 2019 database report released Oct.22 by the national environmental non-profit, Environmental Working Group (EWG), says Baton Rouge tap water contains four different contaminants that are over EWG’s health guidelines, but well below federal limits (where applicable).
Updated: Oct. 22, 2019 at 7:45 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
There are about 200 paramedics on the East Baton Rouge EMS staff, but the organization says it has plenty of positions that need to be filled.
Updated: Oct. 20, 2019 at 10:28 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
Sadie Roberts-Joseph possessed a smile that so many loved. Now, the goodness behind that smile is being appreciated and remembered.
Updated: Oct. 16, 2019 at 8:32 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
When WAFB caught up with Raheem Pierce in March he was a senior at Plaquemine High School who was planning a run at the Iberville Parish Council.
Updated: Oct. 15, 2019 at 5:09 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
There are plenty of opinions on how the lines for St. George were drawn, but it’s got some spinning in circles more than others.
Updated: Oct. 14, 2019 at 12:46 AM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
It's the first day for residents in newly incorporated St. George. Some say they are excited about the fresh start. Others say the uncertainty is taking its toll.
Updated: Oct. 10, 2019 at 6:33 PM CDT
|By Nick Gremillion and Spencer Soicher
Legendary Baton Rouge blues musician Henry Gray, 94, is now in hospice care, his family announced on the musician’s Facebook page.
Updated: Oct. 9, 2019 at 8:33 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
Proponents and opponents of the incorporation of St. George had a last final push to inform and sway voters at a forum in front of the Republican Women of Baton Rouge.
Updated: Oct. 8, 2019 at 6:49 PM CDT
|By Mykal Vincent and Spencer Soicher
A new study says poor road and bridge conditions are costing drivers thousands.
Updated: Oct. 7, 2019 at 11:03 AM CDT
|By WAFB Staff and Spencer Soicher
Authorities and public school officials in Ascension Parish are working together to address 'acts of unkindness' in schools.
Updated: Oct. 7, 2019 at 6:19 AM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
A school in Baton Rouge will remain closed through Friday, Oct. 4 in order to safeguard students and staff from the flu.
Updated: Oct. 6, 2019 at 10:04 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
Woman’s Hospital has partnered with The Anna’s Grace Foundation in putting on "The Walk to Remember.” It’s a walk around the Independence park area of Baton Rouge for families of children that died during pregnancy or infancy.
Updated: Oct. 3, 2019 at 5:49 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
Two new political ads have been released detailing alleged sexual harassment by a former high-ranking official in the administration of Governor John Bel Edwards.
Updated: Oct. 2, 2019 at 5:49 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher and Mykal Vincent
A man driving a dark-tinted car dressed as a police officer allegedly pulled over a woman near the state line.
Updated: Sep. 30, 2019 at 7:34 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
The early voting period for the 2019 Louisiana election has opened, and people from around the state have taken advantage of the opportunity to get their vote counted ahead of time.
Updated: Sep. 29, 2019 at 9:55 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
A popular Livingston daycare is without its superhero. Carol Hutchinson, or as she called herself, Wonder Woman, was killed Saturday, Sept. 29, allegedly by a man that friends say was her boyfriend.
Updated: Sep. 24, 2019 at 8:17 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
A Baton Rouge staple for soccer matches and British feel is getting a new name. The Londoner on S Sherwood Forest Boulevard is now being called That Pub on Sherwood, at least temporarily.
Updated: Sep. 23, 2019 at 7:21 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
Linda Gobert’s mother has dementia and she was tricked by a man who drove her to a bank to cash a $3,000 check.
Updated: Sep. 22, 2019 at 10:32 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
Jehu Poitier, the Baton Rouge firefighter and Bahamas native that began collecting donations to send back to victims of Hurricane Dorian has collected so many supplies, that he has too much to pack up on his own.
Updated: Sep. 19, 2019 at 7:35 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
The Cajun Navy 2016 is in Beaumont with their boats to do search and rescue after Imelda’s rains brought widespread flooding to the area.
Updated: Sep. 18, 2019 at 7:50 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
After the viral video showing a group of people apparently just walking out of a store in the Mall of Louisiana allegedly without paying for an arm full of clothes, plenty of people wondered, why did nobody stop them?
Updated: Sep. 17, 2019 at 10:17 AM CDT
|By Mykal Vincent and Spencer Soicher
An investigation is underway after a woman was seen draping pairs of jeans over her arms and walking out of a retail store.
Updated: Sep. 17, 2019 at 9:28 AM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
Text messages from strangers are the new way political candidates in Louisiana are trying to get ahold of voters. The practice has been dubbed “text-ivism.”
Updated: Sep. 15, 2019 at 9:51 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
The beef in the back of your freezer that keeps accumulating “snow” may still be good. And, if it is, someone could probably use it. On Sunday, Sept. 15 in Baton Rouge, Hunters for the Hungry was collecting meat from all over to give to those in need.
Updated: Sep. 12, 2019 at 8:17 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
Nearly three months after LSU student, Sarah James, was hit and killed by a driver who allegedly couldn’t see her, the intersection of Jennifer Jean Drive and Bob Pettit Boulevard at Nicholson Drive, has been adjusted.
Updated: Sep. 11, 2019 at 7:28 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
On Sept. 11, 2001, people across the U.S. watched terror and made the brave decision to enlist. September is National Suicide Awareness Month and the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) says suicide among veterans is an epidemic.
Updated: Sep. 10, 2019 at 7:29 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
Patrick Wilkerson, who owns the Bengals and Bandits merchandise store near LSU, has been busy packing boxes. This week, in addition to seeing purple, gold, and black in his store, he’s seeing some green too.
Updated: Sep. 9, 2019 at 6:02 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
Candidates running to be the next commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agricultural and Forestry (LDAF) met at a Press Club forum in Baton Rouge Monday, Sept. 9 to address key concerns before the Oct. 12 election.
Updated: Sep. 4, 2019 at 6:38 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
There are no term limits for the clerk of court office in East Baton Rouge Parish. Doug Welborn is now in his seventh term and has been the clerk for 28 years, but a well-known city councilwoman is trying to shake things up at City Hall.
Updated: Sep. 3, 2019 at 8:06 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
If you haven’t gotten a ticket to the Sept. 7 football game between Texas and LSU, you could probably pocket that money and buy a Super Bowl ticket.
Updated: Sep. 2, 2019 at 7:06 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
There’s plenty of fun up for grabs outside of Baker High School at the Greater Baton Rouge American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization’s (AFL-CIO) 2019 Annual Labor Day Parade & Picnic. Monday morning, kids flocked to the street for handfuls of candy.
Updated: Sep. 1, 2019 at 7:27 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
Like many of us, Ben Husser has been getting updates on Hurricane Dorian from the news. But unlike the rest of us, he and the search and rescue crew from Cajun Navy 2016 are headed to the action.
Updated: Aug. 29, 2019 at 6:23 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
The East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council has approved a nearly half million dollar supplement that’ll be split between the East Baton Rouge District Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Public Defender.
Updated: Aug. 29, 2019 at 4:36 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
The East Baton Rouge Parish Library has a new toy, and its going to be in the Baton Rouge Metro Airport.
Updated: Aug. 28, 2019 at 7:24 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
Aynn Murray is in the process of moving across town to a new home, but she says that process has been a nightmare.
Updated: Aug. 27, 2019 at 7:43 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
The Andover Community Home in Zachary, where an allegedly disabled 25-year-old man escaped from and was later shot, has a record of violations with the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), per records obtained by WAFB.
Updated: Aug. 25, 2019 at 3:02 PM CDT
|By Kevin Foster and Spencer Soicher
Members of the Baton Rouge community are mourning the death of well-known Istrouma High School Principal Reginald Douglas.
Updated: Aug. 20, 2019 at 7:28 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
In April of 2018, BREC opened the newly renovated botanical gardens at Independence Park. The renovation project cost an estimated $800,000, but now, while beds at the front of the park look well groomed, not everything is a bed of roses.
Updated: Aug. 19, 2019 at 1:30 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
An area on Nicholson Drive near Tigerland will be getting better lighting after an LSU student was hit by an SUV and killed.
Updated: Aug. 18, 2019 at 8:50 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
A year after Baton Rouge woman Sadie Thibodaux was found dead after she’d gone missing on a boat on Lake Pontchartrain, her loved ones came together to ensure she’ll always remembered.
Updated: Aug. 15, 2019 at 7:12 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
After uproar came earlier in the week about the East Baton Rouge Parish Library budgeting more than $94,000 for a new OmniGlobe, WAFB obtained the library’s 2018 budget, which contains more head scratching allocations of taxpayer dollars.
Updated: Aug. 14, 2019 at 5:59 PM CDT
|By Liz Koh and Spencer Soicher
Wednesday, Aug. 14 was move-in day at Southern University, which means there were plenty of teary-eyed parents, excited freshmen, and lots of U-Hauls.
Updated: Aug. 13, 2019 at 7:53 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
Ascension Public Schools held a groundbreaking ceremony for Bluff Ridge Primary on Tuesday, Aug. 13, with plans to have the school ready for the fall of 2020. Bluff Ridge Primary is one of four new schools set to open. Bullion Primary school opened for the 2019-20 school year.
Updated: Aug. 12, 2019 at 6:58 PM CDT
|By Spencer Soicher
People say they aren’t surprised that an allegedly mentally disabled man living at the Andover Community Home in Zachary was able to escape.