Military officials say the bodies all but two of the eleven servicemen killed after an Army helicopter crash Tuesday night off the Florida Panhandle have been recovered. The bodies of seven Marines and two Hammond based soldiers from the Louisiana National Guard have been found. The bodies of the other two Guardsmen are believed to still be inside the helicopter. The names of the deceased have not been released.

Bogalusa Representative Harold Ritchie files a bill that would increase the tax on a pack of cigarettes to the national average. The governor has proposed an increase in the state’s cigarette tax to the southern regional average, but Ritchie believes the tax on cigarettes should be higher…

cut 13 (10) “ever starting”

Ritchie’s bill would raise the tax from 36-cents to a $1.54 per pack. It will be considered during the legislative session that begins April 13th.

A new Centers for Disease Control study shows that two out of every three people diagnosed with cancer in the US survive five years or more. Among the most common types of cancer, the study reports a five-year-survival rate of 97-percent for prostate cancer and 88-percent for breast cancer. Associate Dean for Research at LSU’s School of Public Health, Ed Trapido, says the improvement in prostate cancer survival is because of an increase awareness and earlier detection…

cut 5 (12) “entire lives”

He says better treatment and improved therapies have improved survival statistics for breast cancer patients. The cancer survivor estimates are based on cases of invasive cancers reported during 2011.