A former Louisiana governor has a tip for Governor-elect John Bel Edwards before he officially takes office. Former Democratic governor Kathleen Blanco says every new governor is tested when they first enter office. She says it will be interesting to see how Edwards will handle those pressures with the legislature…

cut 8 (09) “unpredictable”

Blanco served as governor from 2004 – 2008. Edwards’ inauguration is Monday.

State officials say an effort to make quality child care more affordable for about 15,000 low-income Louisiana families will go into effect this month. The Child Care Assistance Program will help pay the cost of child care for children up to 4-years-old while their parents are at work, school, or in a job training program. The program will lower out-of-pocket expenses for most low-income families by 60-percent and will be financed through a federal grant.

Louisiana small businesses aren’t very confident about 2016. State director of the National Federation of Independent Business, Dawn Starns, says before owners start making decisions about expanding, building, or bringing on new staff, they want to see how Governor-elect John Bel Edwards plans to fix the state’s fiscal mess…

cut 12 (11) “of optimism”

She says things were more upbeat a couple of years ago.

According to the personal finance site, CardHub, Ruston is one of the top 10 cities out of about 2500 nationwide, with the least sustainable credit card debt. Several cities on the list are college towns, like Ruston. Louisiana Tech Finance Professor Dr. Bill McCumber says most students are without jobs and use plastic more to pay for things with the idea they’ll get full time employment once they graduate…

cut 5 (09) “to that income”