Republican Congressman Steve Scalise of Metairie, has acknowledged, while serving in the Louisiana Legislature, he once addressed a white supremacist group. In May of 2002, Scalise spoke at a convention of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization, which the Southern Poverty Law Center classifies as a hate group. In a written statement, Scalise spokesperson, Moira Bagley Smith, says that Scalise spoke to rally support for conservative fiscal policies in Louisiana and in no way to endorse the views and mission of this group.

With 2015 around the corner, now would be a good time to start getting a plan together to improve your financial situation. Michelle Southern reports…

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The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s Traffic Safety Culture Index shows that only one-in-four of drivers feel that the use of prescription drugs behind the wheel poses a threat to their personal safety. To educate drivers on the impact that prescription and over-the-counter drugs can have on safe driving ability, spokesman Don Redman says they have developed the free RoadwiseRX website…

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Redman says that many prescriptions, and some over-the-counter medications, can impair a driver in a similar way that alcohol does.

Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Greg Langley says more garbage is produced in the month of December than any other month. He says plenty of folks got new gifts that require batteries which is one item they always prefer to keep out of landfills…

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The DEQ encourages people to recycle their Christmas trees and Langley says most cardboard and wrapping paper can be reused.