Governor-elect John Bel Edwards’ advisory panel on transportation recommends tax increases to provide an additional 75-million dollars a year in transportation funding. Incoming Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson says more dialogue is needed before a decision on where the additional dollars will come from…

cut 4 (09) “for the buck”

A higher gasoline tax, a sales tax on auto repairs, and tolls are some of the suggestions.

Analysts predict we’ll continue to see affordable gas prices in 2016. Don Redman, with the American Automobile Association, says we could see prices dropping even more before springtime…

cut 13 (08) “to decline”

Redman says right now we’re looking at a statewide average of $1.77 for a gallon of regular gasoline compared to $2.06 at this time last year.

The National Weather Service is lowering the projected crest of the Mississippi River from the Louisiana-Arkansas line to about Vicksburg, Mississippi. Marty Pope, with the N-W-S in Pearl, Mississippi, says they’re now expecting a foot and a half drop in the river crest…

cut 7 (10) “the 17th”

He says a drop in these crest projections is good news, especially in Vidalia, where there is a convention center, many hotels and a hospital along the riverfront. But Pope says crest projections are not changing for areas to the south like Baton Rouge and New Orleans.