Governor John Bel Edwards is wishing residents across the state a very Merry Christmas…:
CUT 9 (09) “of Louisiana”
Edwards released a statement about the latest unemployment number ahead of the holiday weekend; noting that the last time it was just 4.7 percent was in May of 2008.

Today, the last Saturday before Christmas, is known as Super Saturday – a day for last minute shoppers to pick up those gifts by the December 25th deadline. LSU Marketing Professor Dan Rice says it’s a big day for brick and mortar stores because it’s too late for online shopping…:
Cut 4 (06) “get otherwise”
About 126 million people, or 53 percent of consumers, plan to shop today, according to a report from the National Retail Federation.

Employees at Monroe-based CenturyLink were reportedly told this week that they won’t be getting a holiday bonus as they have before. Yahoo Finance reports that CenturyLink CEO Glen Post sent out an email to the company and said they still have to make progress in stabilizing and growing cash flow, because overall operating results this year were well below expectations. Yahoo reports CenturyLink declined to comment.

Much colder weather is arriving in time for Christmas…:
Cut 2 (29) “I’m Jeff Palermo”