The new school year is approaching and the Department of Heath and Hospitals is reminding parents to be sure your child is up-to-date on vaccinations. State immunologist Dr. Frank Welch says vaccines have proven safe and effective in preventing illness and death from many infectious diseases…:
CUT 9 (07) “within the classroom”
He says now would be a good time to call your pediatrician just to be sure your child is properly vaccinated before the go back to school.

Gas prices have been steadily falling throughout the past week. The current statewide average for a gallon of regular is $3.30 which is down almost 6 cents from this time last week. We pay 20 cents less for gas than the national average and analyst in Louisiana say we could be down below $3.20 before the end of August.

In a recently released ranking of the “50 Great Affordable College Towns in the US”, Monroe comes in at number 33 in the nation. ULM President Nick Bruno says in these days of rising tuition costs, students consider things like cost of food, housing, utilities and transportation when choosing where they want to attend college…:
CUT 14 (07) “on that list”
He says the Monroe community is great about supporting it’s university which is a huge plus for ULM.

The massive sinkhole in Bayou Corne happened 2 years ago yesterday. The disaster caused the evacuations of 350 people and John Boudreaux, Director of the Director of the Assumption Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness says people are still frustrated:
CUT 5 (06) “their lives”
He says most residents were offered a buyout from Texas Brine and almost everyone left.