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Scotlandville resident Gloria Hawkins, 71, used to get up at 3 a.m. to cook breakfast so heat from the kitchen wouldn’t circulate around her house during the day.

Before she received assistance from the free Home Weatherization Assistance Program , Hawkins said she and her family suffered in heat, especially when they used kitchen appliances.

“I couldn’t even turn the oven on to cook cornbread or anything. It’d get so hot,” Hawkins said. “All the heat would just stay in the living room where we sit.”

But the blistering room temperatures have ceased, thanks to the Quad Area Community Agency, one of the weatherization service providers in southeast Louisiana.

The program allows anyone who qualifies to access part of a federally-funded pot of $3.5 billion, part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, to weatherize their home for free.

In late July, the agency installed a two-part foam insulation in Hawkins’ attic and in the front of her house. It also installed a new refrigerator and air conditioner, along with new shower heads, LED light bulbs, smoke detectors and kitchen hood vents, Hawkins said.

It didn’t take long for her to notice immediate changes, starting with less sweating.

“In fact, I don’t sweat at all now,” she said. “I don’t have to put a towel around my neck when I cook in the morning. I can sleep more and cook later in the mornings because of the new vents that pull heat out the kitchen.”

Other home improvements on Hawkins’ house included ductwork repairing and weatherstripping to reduce air infiltration.

Hawkins said she used to have to put towels under her door to keep the hot air out in the summer and cold air out in the winter, but the weatherization help has made that unnecessary.

Beyond making life more comfortable for residents, the program’s home adjustments improve heating and cooling efficiency, comfort level and air quality, which can reduce energy costs.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, cost-effective efficiency improvements can reduce energy consumption in low-income households by 13% to 31%.

Hawkins said she hasn’t received a new Entergy bill since the improvements to her home, but she is looking forward to seeing what difference has been made.

“But what I can say is that my house is cool now,” Hawkins assured.

She said she found out about the free program from her brother in-law. For more information, she attended the Center for Planning Excellence’s May 21 event at the Jewel J. Newman Community Center to register.

In partnership with the Quad Area agency and East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council member Chauna Banks, the center hosted three outreach events throughout the summer to help residents submit their home weatherization applications. Almost 200 applications were submitted, according to center project manager Lyneisha Jackson.

People who missed registration can still apply, Jackson said. Scotlandville residents can access applications from the Jewel J. Newman Community Center, the East Baton Rouge Parish Library’s Scotlandville Branch and the Center for Planning Excellence website, she added.

“I’m happy people are getting the help they really need,” Jackson said. “This is a part of our job.”

Hawkins said she recommends people sign up. She said she has lived in Scotlandville her entire life. Her longtime heat problems were solved in about four hours of weatherization services, Hawkins said.

“I just want to appreciate them for what they did because it’s a lifesaver,” Hawkins said. “I’m glad I listened to my brother in-law.”

Not a Scotlandville resident? You may still be eligible for home weatherization. For more information, contact the Quad Area Community Agency at (225) 209-0780. According to the eligibility chart, a family of four with a monthly income of $4,416 or less is eligible to apply for the free weatherization. Review application guidelines and required information at https://www.lhc.la.gov/weatherization-assistance-program-wap

Make plans now to attend Food Truck Round-Up at the Rowe from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19, at Perkins Rowe, 10000 Perkins Rowe.

This free event will include food trucks lined up from Barnes & Noble to Kendra Scott, along with live music from Melissa Sings in Town Square. In the event of rain, Melissa Sings will perform in The Great Hall.

For more information, call (225) 767-2001.

Everbowl grand opening

The first 300 people who visit Everbowl, 8211 Village Plaza Court, during its grand opening between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18, will receive a free bowl giveaway.

There’s no catch, but the restaurant would love to see your photos of your @everbowl creations by tagging Everbowl in your social media posts.

For more information, visit everbowl.com .

Bon Appetit!

Tickets are on sale for Opéra Louisiane’s special performance of Lee Hoiby’s comic one-act opera, “Bon Appétit!” at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9, at Juban’s Restaurant & Bar, 3739 Perkins Road. This delicious opera is a comedic take on a classic episode of Julia Child’s popular television show — set to music.

With his short opera “Bon Appétit!,” American composer Lee Hoiby took on the making of a chocolate cake, as told through the actual words of the celebrity chef.

“Bon Appetit!” will be paired with Leonard Bernstein’s “The Four Recipes.” The songs are recipes from the 1899 French cookery book “Fine French Cooking (Everything That Has to Do with the Table, Manual Guide for City and Country” by Emile Dumont.

In Opéra Louisiane’s clever staging the soprano singing the song cycle will attempt to cook these intricate dishes and fail miserably, only to turn on the television to watch Child bake an extraordinary cake that she epically fails to replicate.

Tickets are $150 and include a three-course meal, wine, beer, soda and the musical performance. Visit bontempstix.com/events/bon-appetit-9-9-2022 .

Carrabba’s wine dinner

Before saying so-long to Summer, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, 7275 Corporate Blvd., is bringing back wine dinners to celebrate.

The restaurant invites guests to hang onto flavors they love during the upcoming Season’s Peak Wine Dinner hosted at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 24. Attendees will enjoy a four-course food and wine pairing featuring classic Italian dishes with wine varietals that complement the summer season.

Trust Pop-Up Dinner

Four courses, four cocktails and one simple question: Do you trust the chef?

Find out at the next Trust Pop-Up Dinner, “Hot August Nights,” from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21, at Soulshine Kitchen and Bar, 144 W. Chimes St.

Just because it’s hot doesn’t mean you can’t slip out of those wet, sweaty clothes and into a dry summery cocktail and four-course menu that’ll warm your soul and make you feel cool. Guests will choose between two ingredient options for each course and trust that what comes out of the kitchen will be life-changing.

Tickets are $80 by visiting eventbrite.com/e/trust-pop-up-dinner-at-soulshine-kitchen-bar-ep-3-hot-august-nights-tickets-400987021977 .

New Salad Station

Salad Station, the gourmet-your-way salad concept, is bringing a little lagniappe to Ascension Parish with the opening of its second Gonzales location and 28th overall location for the brand.

The new location will open at the end of August in The Lagniappe Center at 14601 Airline Highway. The grand opening will give customers the opportunity to win free salad for a year, prizes, gift cards and Salad Station swag.

This will be the third Salad Station location for Megan and Daniel Womack, who also own and operate the original Gonzales location on Cabela Parkway, as well as the Mobile, Alabama, location. After the successful launch of their first Salad Station location in 2019, the Womack family has continued to expand healthier eating through the Salad Station’s unique pay-by-the-pound concept, where you only pay for what you create.

For more information, visit thesaladstation.com .

The data and numbers are starling, but the New Orleans sex crimes situation is more dire when we pause and connect lives to what’s going on — or what isn’t happening.

Far too many sex crimes are not being properly handled. Reporter Missy Wilkinson recounted the story of a girl who reported a 2015 assault; not much happened for quite some time. A sexual assault forensic exam was completed, but there was no DNA evidence to use for comparison. She was violated more than 25 times before the man responsible — her father — was convicted for molestation and other crimes, seven years from the first time she reported the assault.

“The system as a whole, not just NOPD, let her down,” said Christian Hébert-Pryor, an assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case.

This is disgusting, and it shouldn’t take so long to resolve such a horror.

The New Orleans Office of Inspector General shared a 2014 audit finding that the New Orleans Police Department’s Sex Crimes and Child Abuse unit officers received but ignored hundreds of child abuse and rape allegations and improperly handled service calls.

The New Orleans Health Department’s Sexual Violence Response Advisory Committee was created by Mayor Mitch Landrieu in 2015 to deal with the problems. The committee suggested reducing detective caseloads, adding more updated equipment, reducing a sexual assault kit backlog and enhancing training for sex crime detectives and staff. In 2016, the Office of Inspector General found “a remarkable turnaround.”

Now, six years later, it seems some of the progress made has been lost since the 2015 recommendations were made. Other proposals have not been implemented.

During a recent City Council Criminal Justice Committee meeting, the health department’s Sexual Violence Response Advisory Committee reported that the New Orleans Police Department clears one of every 20 sex crime cases and one of every 8 child abuse cases. Part of the problem: Detectives in the unit are handling about 89 cases per detective. That’s more than three times the recommended caseload. The committee suggests a caseload of 26 cases per detective per year.

There is no question that the New Orleans Police Department has significant staffing issues overall, a situation that is having a detrimental impact on the department incident response times and other responsibilities.

Crimes involving sexual violence are disgusting and it is significant that the New Orleans Health Department knows that and took the issue seriously.

NOPD spokesperson Gary Scheets said the heavy caseload is attributable to increased reporting of sex crimes and department-wide personnel issues. The department plans to hire civilian investigators to help. But there’s more to be done.

The New Orleans police don’t have a crime lab that can process DNA evidence, and the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab where they send the evidence has a backlog of 73,000 samples . That is a big problem, and one that has an impact on law enforcement agencies across the state.

For people in the Baton Rouge area, that issue is reminiscent of the reign of terror of Derrick Todd Lee , who killed seven women in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Emergency funding for clearing rape kits was provided by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation as part of the effort to apprehend Lee, who was apprehended in 2003.

Next to intentionally killing someone, sexual assaults, batteries and rapes might be the most offensive crimes and victims and their families deserve better than what they can count on at this point. We can’t say now that sex crime offenders know that they will be held accountable with swift action.

A set of Livingston Parish residents wants a court to review the approval of a subdivision with more than 2,000 lots, saying that when the Parish Council voted on the plan its developers weren’t in full compliance with the parish’s rules.

Planners for the Deer Run subdivision slated to be built near Denham Springs didn’t have a working phone number on a billboard announcing the project, the group says.

The Parish Council approved the development in June, despite public opposition. For weeks, residents packed council meetings in opposition to the subdivision , which is set to be built on 4-H Club Road across from Hillion Hood Road. They urged their elected officials to consider how hundreds of Deer Run homes would worsen traffic, increase flooding and overcrowd their schools — broad concerns that had already led to council members passing a temporary moratorium on development to impose checks on new construction.

Livingston Parish has grown rapidly, and developers are eager to house those yet to come. After the devastating flood of 2016, many residents have expressed fears that excessive expansion could lead to drainage problems that will imperil their homes.

The subdivision had previously failed in a tie vote before council member Shane Mack put the item back on the agenda for June 23.

When the preliminary plat was up for a vote, the residents’ petition recounted how one council member, Gerald McMorris, “made a point to dial on his own phone the telephone number that was posted on the sign advertising the Project.”

McMorris publicly said the number did not work and that the sign therefore violated the parish’s ordinance on procedures for subdivisions with improvements that require a working number be posted on billboards advertising a development, according to the petition.

Depsite McMorris’ concerns, the council voted to approve the subdivision’s preliminary plat.

“The failure to comply with the Parish ordinance that specifies public notice requirements for approval of a subdivision plat is fatal in the action of the Council approving the plat,” the petition says.

Residents requested the decision “be declared null,” according to the document.

The petition was filed Aug. 5 at the 21st Judicial District Court on behalf of Holly Clark, a resident, against the parish. Parish President Layton Ricks said he could not comment due to pending litigation.

Attorney Steven B. Loeb, who represents Clark and the group calling itself the “5th District Livingston Concerned Citizens Association,” said Monday he hadn’t received an answer to the pleading yet.

“I hope that we can have a reasonable conversation about what’s going on so that my clients’ concerns can actually be heard,” Loeb said.

Other efforts to curb development include the parish’s push to implement zoning restrictions for unincorporated areas. Last year the council established 18 zoning categories, and just last week one member proposed the first zoning map for the rural parts of his district.

One month after approval for a Denham Springs-area 2,000 lot subdivision failed in a tie vote before the Livingston Parish Council, it appeared again on the agenda.

This time, it passed.

Deer Run, which is slated for 4-H Club Road across from Hillon Hood Road, has loomed large over the council for several months. The neighborhood is the latest in a string of large developments proposed in the last year that ultimately pushed the parish council to pass a temporary building moratorium that remains ongoing .

The council has promised a check on development since last year when members imposed the parish’s first ever zoning categories in a region known for its strong support of property owners.

Nevertheless, new projects have continued to flood the parish unabated, bringing more and more angry and anxious people to pack meetings. They fear their way of life — which has long been rural and quiet — will be destroyed in the rush.

Residents had spent weeks urging the council to consider how thousands of Deer Run homes would worsen traffic, increase flooding and overcrowd their schools.

Rather than a dedicated, hours-long procession of opposition to the proposal as seen in previous meetings, only a few residents spoke out last Thursday before the official vote to approve the expansive Deer Run subdivision.

“We have come to meetings for months and we’re tired of having to babysit,” said Melissa Johnson, a resident who asked the council to defer the vote. “I think people are just exhausted.”

Although the subdivision proposal had failed in a 4-4 tie several weeks before, council member Shane Mack put the item back on the agenda and said the developer had abided by all their ordinances.

“I couldn’t find a justifiable reason to deny the preliminary site plan — to deny him his right to develop that property being that he was following the law to the ‘T’ and met every single requirement in the book,” Mack said. “I put myself in his shoes.”

The Deer Run subdivision is being developed by Ascension Properties, Inc.

Potential legal challenges have been at the heart of the council’s approvals of controversial developments.

Before the latest round of ordinances intended to rein in rampant growth swept through the council, members spent long hours in public meetings bickering over whether they could reject a different subdivision in the same unincorporated Denham Springs-area .

After the council reached out for guidance, the state attorney general’s office suggested that rejecting the subdivision plan could get them slapped with a lawsuit . The parish attorney agreed, and the subdivision ended up passing with that opinion in hand.

As their constituents have reacted in anger time and again over various approvals, council members have repeatedly said they don’t like passing certain projects — but their own laws give them little choice.

In the meantime council members have ramped up their efforts to pass a flurry of ordinances in recent weeks aimed at restricting development to foster “responsible growth” before their self-imposed, 60-day moratorium deadline. Those include: requiring developers to submit studies early in the planning process that show how their projects would affect traffic, drainage, fire protection and schools; reducing the number of lots to 2.5 per acre; and regulating development on wetlands, among others.

Last Thursday’s Deer Run decision passed with just two council members — Randy Delatte and Gerald McMorris — voting no. Although the parish remains under the moratorium, the original site plan was submitted before the pause.

The few residents who spoke at the meeting expressed their disappointment that the council was again considering the subdivision. They appeared disheartened, disillusioned and desperate while standing at the podium — suggesting they knew their efforts were futile.

Johnson, the resident who asked the council to defer the vote, was particularly concerned because she said her councilmember, R.C. “Bubba” Harris, has been difficult to reach while he has been in and out of the hospital for health issues. He was absent from the meeting.

She begged the council to do more than consider their own legal interests.

“Y’all were voted in to do what’s best for the residents of this parish,” Johnson said. “That’s just all there is to it.”