AM Newscall December 30th, 2014

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s Traffic Safety Culture Index reveals that Americans have a higher tolerance for drug-impaired drivers than they do for alcohol impaired drivers. Eric Gill reports…

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With 2015 fast approaching, now would be a good time to start getting a plan together for improving your personal finance situation. Michelle Southern reports…:

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You’ve probably accumilated plenty of trash this month during the Holidays and the Department of Environmental Quality is urging you to recyle. Michelle Southern reports.

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New research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reveals that Americans have a higher tolerance for drug-impaired drivers than they do for alcohol impaired drivers. It shows two-thirds of Americans say drinking and driving poses a very serious threat on the road, while just over 50-percent feel the same way about drug use. Spokesman Don Redman says State Troopers in the New Orleans area have seen an increase in drug use during DWI arrests…

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The Traffic Safety Culture Index also shows that just over 25-percent feel that the use of prescription drugs behind the wheel poses a threat to their personal safety. Redman says that many prescriptions, and some over-the-counter medications, can impair a driver in a similar way that alcohol does…

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Previous studies have found that certain antidepressants can increase crash risk by up to 41-percent. To educate drivers on the impact that prescription and over-the-counter drugs can have on safe driving ability, Redman says they have developed the free RoadwiseRX website… (www-dot-roadsiderx-dot-com)

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With 2015 fast approaching, now would be a good time to start getting a plan together for improving your personal finance situation. Bennett Blackledge is a financial advisor in Baton Rouge and he says if you don’t already have one, the best gift you can give yourself in the new year is a sound plan…:

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Blackledge a great new years resolution could be resolving to save between 5 to 10 percent of your take home pay…:

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Blackledge says you should sit down and look at how much you spent for Christmas in 2014, and begin in January making a financial savings plan for next Christmas. He says many people are getting year end bonuses and he encourages folks to plug that money into a credit card balance…:

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You’ve probably accumulated plenty of trash this month during the Holidays and the Department of Environmental Quality is urging you to recycle. DEQ spokesman Greg Langley says more garbage is produced in the month of December than any other month. He says if you’ve got a lot of boxes, many businesses will accept used packing supplies…:

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Langley says they also encourage people to recycle Christmas trees because it reduces the amount of material that goes into landfills and provides compost, mulch and wood chips for us by local gardeners. He says local governments throughout the state have different tree recycling programs and you can get information at deq.louisiana.gov or on their Facebook Page…:

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Langley says if you do recycle your tree you should remove lights, ornaments, tinsel and other decorative items before disposing of them. He says most cardboard and wrapping paper can be reused. Langley says plenty of folks got new gifts that require batteries which they always prefer to keep out of landfills…:

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The Music City Bowl is today featuring the LSU Tigers and Notre Dame. The game kicks off at 2pm and will be televised on ESPN. Notre Dame will start sophomore Malik Zaire (Ma-Leak, Zie-Ear) at quarterback in place of senior Everett Golson. Irish coach Brian Kelly said at a press conference Monday they do plan to play both players…:

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Golson started all 12 regular season games for the Irish but had struggled down the stretch and was pulled in favor of Zaire during Notre Dame’s 49-14 loss to USC in the regular-season finale. Kelly says they are pleased with the way Golson has looked the past couple of weeks..:

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In response to Kelly’s announcement, LSU coach Les Miles made it clear the starting quarterback switch wouldn’t change much in the way his defense heads into Tuesday’s game…:

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