Spending for Easter is expected to reach a record high, as the holiday came a few weeks later this year. Anna Serafin Smith with the National Retail Federation says their yearly survey finds 80-percent of consumers will celebrate and spend a record total of over 18-billion dollars.
Cut 12 (09) “happy Easter”
Smith says customers will spend an average of $152 per person on Easter, including food, clothing, candy and gifts.

The Louisiana SPCA advising families to put chocolate bunnies over real bunnies in Easter baskets this year. Spokesperson Deepak Saini recommends giving kids a basket with marshmallow chicks or candy rabbits. He says hundreds of rabbits are abandoned after Easter each year.
Cut 7 (10) “of work”

The Humane Society of Louisiana is searching for who is responsible for apparently dragging a pit bull from a moving vehicle in Acadia Parish. Executive Director Jeff Dorson says they have no idea who could have done such a thing to a helpless animal…:
Cut 4 (07) “activity”

Dorson says the owner didn’t have the resources to care for the dog, so their members raised over $800 to help pay for the dog’s care.

Although the buring of M6 propellant at Camp Minden in Webster Parish is finised, the job might not be over yet. The Louisiana National Guard could extend their contract with ESI to continue buring hazardous substances there but LSU Shreveport science professor Brian Salvatore wants it to stop. He says the Webster Parish Police Jury passed a resolution in December for the company to remove the burn chamber. But he says they voted again last week and decided to rescind the resolution.
Cut 10 (08) “their heads”