Discussions continue between the Jindal administration and legislative leaders on how to prevent a 400-million cut in state funding for higher education. Senate President John Alario says one option would be to limit the size of tax credits, especially when the credit is more than what the person or business pays in taxes…:

CUT 12 (05) “counting on before”
The state faces a one-point-six billion dollar revenue shortfall for the fiscal year that begins July 1st, which could also mean large cuts for health care.

There’s been a tragedy in Lake Charles. Cops say a three year old child go a hold of a family weapon and shot and killed herself by mistake. Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso says the guns were left out in a hurry, and three children encountered them when the tragedy took place. He says this is a valuable lesson for parents in that we have to be aware of our children at all times…:
CUT 10 (05) “buy gun locks”
He says no charges have been filed in this case but it’s in the hands of the DA.

The Powerball jackpot has grown to a half a billion dollars for tonight’s drawing. This one has been building since November 29th and has really shot up in the past couple of weeks. These Louisiana residents have a good idea of what they’ll do if they wind up with all six winning numbers…:
CUT 6 (07) “start living”
The ticket sale cutoff time is 9pm.

The American Automobile Association says the price of gas in Louisiana is shooting up faster than the national average, but that’s because the pump price here was so low to begin with. We’re up 2 cents from yesterday to $2.06 according to AAA.