Good state budget news has been hard to find, but we found some. Governor John Bel Edwards says the state ended up with a 143-million dollar surplus for the fiscal year that ended June 30th. Edwards says it’s a sign Louisiana’s economy is improving….
cut 6 (08) “….forecasts”
Economists say a higher than anticipated increase in personal income and sales tax collections created the surplus. House Speaker Taylor Barras (BAR-rah) says the surplus should go towards refilling the Rainy Day Fund. Legislators took 99-million dollars from the fund last fiscal year.
Lake Charles and Alexandria are among the fastest growing economies in the country according to U-S Commerce Department. But on the flip slide, Houma and Lafayette are among the fastest shrinking economies because of the downturn in the oil and gas industry.

Sad story out of Livingston Parish, a five-year-old boy was struck and killed by a vehicle after leaving an ice cream truck. Denham Springs Police spokesperson Amber Fairburn says the driver indicated he did not see the child…
cut 13 (09) “….Toyota Tundra”
As of now, no charges have been filed against the driver.

A new report from the USDA finds there are over 41 million Americans, including 13 million children, who lived at risk of hunger in 2016. Bread for the World, a movement to end hunger in the US, broke the numbers down by state, and found that Louisiana is the second hungriest in the nation. President David Beckmann says this should be a wake-up call…:

Cut 3 (11) “or eating at all”
Beckmann said the hunger problem in the state is concentrated among African Americans.