06:30 Newscast, December 22nd, 2017

This will be a record setting holiday for traveling this Christmas. Over 103 million Americans will take to the roads and skies between now and the first of the year, according to AAA. Spokesman Don Redman says even though gas prices are higher than last year, travelers feel more confident about the economy…:
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The increase in travelers this year over 2016 is a record 3.1% increase.

The Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office says one man is in custody for allegedly beating a man to death, and then going to “great lengths” to dump and conceal the body. They believe 39-year-old Chad Glascock was at the home of the victim, 31-year-old Brent Pollard of Livingston, when the two got into a physical fight that resulted in Pollard’s death. When detectives located Pollard’s body, Glascock was put in jail on drug and murder charges.

This will be a big weekend for Christmas present crunch time, and retailers are rolling out plenty of last-minute deals to get that holiday dollar. The last Saturday before Christmas is known as Super Saturday, and LSU Marketing Professor Dan Rice says it’s a big day for brick and mortar stores because it’s too late for online shopping in most cases…:
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About 126 million people, or 53 percent of consumers, plan to shop on Saturday, according to a report from the National Retail Federation.

The US House has passed an $81 billion disaster recovery bill, which includes a fix to the issue where flood victims who applied for SBA loans were not able to access Restore Louisiana recovery grants. The fate of the bill is less certain in the US Senate.