08:30 LRN Newscast

2018 is off to a very cold start. Lows this morning were in the teens to low lows 20s and wind chills were in the single digits in some areas. Phil Grigsby, with the National Weather Service in Slidell, says this artic air mass is not going away…
cut 3 (10) “…weekend”
A hard freezing warning is in effect for tonight into tomorrow morning

It’s cold for those who work outside, but State Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson says several major construction projects will take place in 2018. He says major work will be done on I-10, west of the Basin Bridge to Lafayette. They will also break ground on the widening of the highly traveled interstate between Highland Road in Baton Rouge to La 73.:
Cut 7 (10) “Baton Rouge.”
Wilson says I-49 north will also be completed in Caddo Parish.

The number of Craft Breweries in Louisiana has more than doubled in the last five years and as a result of the tax reform legislation passed by Congress, we could see a few more. Executive Director of the Louisiana Craft Brewers Guild Cary Koch…
Cut 13 (08) “its been.”
Koch says the state’s craft brewing industry is worth about 740-million dollars a year.

Many people will attempt to quit smoking as one of their New Year’s resolutions. Louisiana is 47th out of 50 states for tobacco use, as over 22-percent of adults light up. Smoking Cessation Trust CEO Mike Rogers says one of the main reasons people don’t succeed is they try to go it alone
Cut 4 (10) “people do.”
Rogers advises smokers who plan to quit to remove cigarettes and other tobacco products from your home, car and work.