Get prepared for a hard freeze overnight…pretty much anywhere you are in Louisiana. Temperatures are expected to drop into the teens, withstiff winds making it feel even colder. LRN meteorologist John Weatherby…:

CUT 06  (10)        ”…many locations.”

The Louisiana ASPCA worries that too many of us will leave our pets outside in tonight’s bitterly cold weather. Executive Director Jeff Dorson reminds us that leaving the pets out with no proper food or shelter in such conditions is also ILLEGAL…:

CUT 03  (10)        “…with nothing.”

Dorson says your pets can suffer frostbite, hypothermia and even freeze to death if you leave them out. So, bring them in…please.

A new head of the state Department of Children & Family Services has been appointed. Terri Ricks takes over after the resignation of Marketa Walters a few weeks ago. Governor Edwards says DCFS is understaffed and underfunded, and he hopes to fix that…:

CUT 09  (11)        “…they have.”

Edwards says the state will have a surplus of over $600-million for the fiscal year that starts in July and he’ll work to get DCFS a bigger budget from those funds. DCFS has seen two children under its watch die from drug poisoning and had a foster parent sexually assault a number of kids under his care.

One last note about the coming frigid weather: Entergy, CLECO and other utility says they will suspend cutting off anyone’s power for non-payment right through New Year’s day, so no one need to worry about the heat going out with temperatures below freezing.