The state health department says one out of ten visits to a health care provider are for flu-like symptoms. Flu bug expert Dr. Frank Welch says flu season has peaked just in time for Mardi Gras.
Cut 7 (05) “…go get it.”
The flu causes about 500 deaths and nearly three-thousand hospitalizations every year.

Abbeville Senator Bob Hensgens has pre-filed a bill for the legislative session that begins in April that would give teachers a 250 dollar tax deduction for buying school supplies, reviving a temporary deduction that expired in 2008. Hensgens says a similar bill failed two years ago, but is bringing the legislation back after reading a report on teacher spending…
Cut 13 (10) “…should encourage.”

Higher Ed Commissioner Kim Hunter Reed said this week the cost of attending a community college is too expensive when compared to what students in other southern states are paying. But Chancellor of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System Monty Sullivan, says their schools only receive state funding and tuition, while other states have three funding sources.
Cut 4 (11) “…oranges.”
Sullivan says their board is constantly looking at keeping costs down for students, while raising the value of the education.

Seven different local governments are using state-appointed administrators to help manage their financial books. Legislative auditor Daryl Purpera says they’ve never had so many state administrators at one time and the goal is to quickly get a town’s finances back in order so control can be handed back to the local elected officials….
Cut 11 (08) “…the situation.”
Purpera says the longest running case of fiscal administration is Madison Parish Hospital, which has been under administration for three years.