The Louisiana Department of Health will be offering free flu shots to anyone who hasn’t been vaccinated yet this season, on Wednesday January 31st. State Immunization Director Dr. Frank Welch says the flu season is so bad this year, and there’s a fear that the Mardi Gras rush will aggravate the spread of the virus. He says get the shot before Wednesday if you can..
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The no-cost flu shots will be administered at 55 Parish Health units across the state.

Iberia Parish Superintendent Dale Henderson announces that a longtime New Iberia kindergarten teacher died this week from suspected flu and pneumonia complications. 56-year-old Robin Dressel, who’d taught at Magnolia Elementary for more than 30 years, will be laid to rest today. She was a graduate of Loreauville High School and UL-Lafayette.

Special contract crews have been working in New Orleans to flush out 15,000 clogged catch basins in the city; and say there have been 93,000 pounds of Mardi Gras beads sucked up from the storm drains. That’s 46 tons and they were all pulled from St. Charles between Poydras Street and Lee Circle.

Louisiana receives a green light for having nine critical traffic safety laws on the books. The Bayou State is listed as a “best state” in the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety report. Tara Gill, the Director of State Programs, says the ignition interlock offender law for convicted drunk drivers is one reason Louisiana scored high…:
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Gill also praises the efforts of the state in enforcing no texting while driving legislation.