The National Hurricane Center says the eye of Cat-5 Irma is closing in on the Virgin Islands, but most models still show it staying away from Louisiana. NHC Meteorologist says David Zelinsky says the 5 day cone of probability currently shows Irma impacting Florida…:
CUT 6 (11) “does shift”
He says it’s a good idea not to not focus on the exact forecast track, especially at the longer ranges.

Governor John Bel Edwards is urging Congress to clear a road block that has touched thousands of homeowners who flooded in Louisiana over the past year, and could also impact Texans as they recover from Hurricane Harvey. Currently, residents are blocked from using federal assistance money to pay off SBA loans that they take out after disasters. But Edwards says removing that restriction would provide badly needed relief for people rebuilding their lives.

Today the TOPS Task Force is meeting for the first time, as state leaders take a closer look at the scholarship program. Jennings Senator Blade Morrish authored the legislation that created the group. He says almost no changes have been made to TOPS in the past 20 years, but a lot has changed in higher education…:
Cut 3 (11) “and we do now”
The task force will meet twice a month for the next four months before issuing their report in February.

Gas prices continue their rapid climb throughout the nation, and in Louisiana jumped another 3 cents from the prior day to 2.39 for a gallon of regular, but that should start to level off soon. AAA says the climb is due to Hurricane Harvey shutting down some Texas refineries, which are slowly but surely starting to come back online.