1:30 LRN Newscast Feb 19

With oil refineries shutting down due to the recent winter weather across the south, gas prices have risen almost 3 cents overnight to 2.28 a gallon for regular gas.  Triple-A Fuel Analyst Don Redman says prices were already on the rise before the storms and the weather only made things worse.  Redman believes that gas prices will continue to increase.

Cut 4 (10) “…a month ago.” 

It won’t be until Saturday afternoon before the highways are free of ice in north Louisiana. State Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson says some melting will occur today, but they expect re-freezing tonight as temperatures fall into the teens.

Cut 12 (12) “ …in the morning” 

Public Service Commission Chairman Craig Greene says once the winter weather has passed the PSC will investigate what went wrong and why power providers had such poor communication with customers. Greene says companies’ failure to give customers a heads up when they would be subject to a rolling blackout needs to be addressed. He says there must be a better system in place.  

Cut 10 (12) “…out” 

On Monday COVID vaccine eligibility will increase by another 475-thousand. The historic winter storms delayed COVID vaccine shipments across the state. But Governor Edwards says with an increase in weekly allocations he’s comfortable in allowing more to be vaccinated.

Cut 6 (14) “…this week.”