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Many states now offer sales tax holidays in August on clothing and computers to help families during the  back-to-school shopping season. Sadly, only a handful of states do the same for natural disaster preparedness. With hurricane season kicking off June 1, it's a good time to stock up on batteries, generators, bottled water, radios and other emergency supplies. If you live in Virginia or Louisiana, you're in luck, as both states offer tax-free sales of such items. (Alabama's  tax holidays for disaster prep are typically in late February.)

Virginia's "Hurricane Preparedness Equipment Holiday" runs May 25 to May 31 and typically covers emergency aid items that cost up to $60 and generators costing $1,000 or less. A complete list of exempt items is available at Virginia's tax holiday website.

In Louisiana, May 25 and May 26 are set aside as tax-free days for buying hurricane preparedness supplies. More information on Louisiana's tax hurricane tax holiday is available at the state's website.

While researching states that hold disaster prep tax holidays, I found several in Tornado Alley that offer them for guns and energy-efficient appliances. It might be wise to add disaster prep to the list – just sayin'.

If you're curious about other tax-exempt days, TaxRates.com has a comprehensive list of state sales tax holidays.

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Los Angeles is top dog when it comes to the number of dog attacks on postal carriers, according to the U.S. Postal Service.

Let Insurance.com help you find affordable home insurance now.

The ranking of the top cities for dog attacks on letter carriers was released to kick off National Dog Bite Prevention Week, which starts May 20.

Perhaps more common are home insurance claims for dog bites, which have accounted for more than one-third of all homeowners insurance liability claims -- in terms of dollars paid out  -- for several years in a row, according to the Insurance Information Institute (III).

The latest data show the trend is not changing any time soon. Dog-bite claims cost more than $489 million in 2012, comprising more than one-third of all home liability claim payouts, according to the III. The average cost paid out for dog bite claims was $29,752 in 2012 compared to $29,396 in 2011.

While the costs of settling dog-bite claims jumped by 1.2 percent last year, the number of claims dropped by 1.4 percent in 2012, the first dip since 2010. The increase in claim costs was offset by the slight decrease in the number of claims. The total costs associated with dog-bite claims in 2012 were basically unchanged from the prior year, just .2 percent lower.

Meanwhile, State Farm's annual list of states with the most dog-bite claims is out, with California again taking the No. 1 spot, and Georgia making the rankings after being a no-show last year.

Top 10 States for State Farm Dog Bite Claims in 2012

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Wow, I have to say, I never thought I would know as much about Angelina Jolie's breasts as I do now.

Jolie's op-ed about her decision to have a preventive double mastectomy is generating a lot of discussion, naturally.

Genetic testing showed that Jolie tested positive for a gene mutation that put her at a high risk for breast cancer.

"It sounds like an extreme choice but a woman who has inherited a harmful mutation of either the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene is about five times more likely than average to develop breast cancer and up to 40 percent more likely to develop ovarian cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute," writes Liz Neporent of ABC News.

For women predisposed for breast cancer, having such surgery can lower their risk of developing the disease by 90 percent, says Dr. Mehra Golshan, director of Breast Surgical Services at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

But you don't have to be a celebrity to have your DNA tested. Advances in genetic testing are making the procedure more accessible for the average person. Typically, health insurance plans will cover the cost of testing if your doctor recommends it, though insurance providers have different policies about which tests are covered, according to the Genetics Home Reference website, run by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Beyond who pays the bill, there are, of course, other insurance implications. Chief among them is whether insurers can use genetic testing information when considering your coverage.

Health insurers are not allowed, under state and federal laws such as the  Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), to discriminate against anyone because of a genetic predisposition to a particular disease. But things get a bit murky when it comes to life, disability and long-term care coverage.

In some states, genetic test results are kept private under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), according to the National Conference of State Legislators. Other state laws say genetics information may be shared when there is “actuarial justification.” And in some states insurers can use your genetic test information though they can't do the testing themselves, writes Ed Leefeldt at Insure.com.

Meanwhile, if you or someone you know already has cancer or just received a diagnosis, read our five must-know facts about cancer insurance.

Think you know all you need to know about fire sprinklers? Maybe not, says the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), which points out several misconceptions surrounding these property safeguards.

Being more sprinkler-savvy might be smart, especially when considering homeowners insurance. Besides protecting a residence, installing fire sprinklers could snag a policy discount. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) -- which surveyed various insurers including State Farm, Allstate, Farmers, Travelers and Nationwide, among others -- says that many homeowners can trim as much as 10 percent from their premiums. The average discount is about 7 percent, according to the NFPA.

The IBHS, an active supporter of local and state legislation requiring fire sprinklers be installed in new homes, spells out the five most common sprinkler myths:

1. One goes off, they all go off

Not so. The IBHS explains that sprinkler heads react to temperatures in each room individually. That means only the sprinkler closest to the fire will activate. "In fact, 90 percent of fires are contained by the operation of just one sprinkler," the IBHS says in a statement.

2. Sprinklers go off by themselves, ruining homes

Major accidents can happen, but the IBHS notes that "records show that the likelihood of this occurring is very remote." The association adds that fire sprinklers are rigorously tested and designed to prevent such accidents.

3. Sprinklers damage more than the actual fire

An uncontrolled fire will cause more damage than the water used to extinguish it, says the IBHS. "The sprinkler system will limit a fire's growth," the association says. "Therefore, the damage from a residential sprinkler system will be much less severe than the smoke and fire damage if the fire had continued unabated."

4. The systems are too expensive for most homeowners

Not cheap, but not exorbitant either, according to the IBHS, which says a sprinkler system costs about the same as new carpeting, a paver stone driveway or a whirlpool bath -- "none of which save lives." Quoting the Fire Protection Research Foundation, the association says that amounts to about $1.61 per square foot in construction costs to install a sprinkler array.

5. Mandatory sprinklers will slow the building of new homes

The IBHS says the NFPA looked at the issue in 2009 by comparing residential construction in four counties in Maryland and Virginia. Two of the counties required sprinklers be installed, the other two did not. "The study concluded that the presence of sprinkler mandates did not have a negative effect on the number of homes being built," according to the association.

The IBHS underscores the value of fire sprinklers by pointing out that the U.S. Fire Administration says a residential fire breaks out every 87 seconds in America. The sprinklers, the IBHS notes in its statement, "reduce civilian fire deaths by an estimated 83 percent, reduce direct property damage by more than two-thirds per fire, and are responsible for an estimated 65 percent reduction in firefighter injuries."

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