Olom school baton rouge

A Monday morning fire at a Baton Rouge apartment complex caused by a malfunctioning dryer left almost a dozen people displaced, the Baton Rouge Fire Department said.

The blaze was reported around 4 a.m. at an apartment in the Park Place Apartments complex on S. Harrells Ferry Road. Firefighters arrived to find heavy fire coming out of one apartment.

Authorities said the fire, which started because of a malfunction clothes dryer, was contained to the apartment but other apartments near by were damaged by smoke and water.

Nine adults and one child were displaced by the fire and are being assisting by The Red Cross.

No one was injured in the blaze.

The owners of Mid Tap are opening a self-pour taproom called Tap 65 that showcases Indian cuisine and inspired cocktails on Government Street, according to the Tap 65 social media pages.

Owners Rick and Needhi Patel are reimagining, “classic Indian flare” with their new bar and restaurant after opening Mid Tap in 2019.

Tap 65 is set to open on June 29 and will be reservations only for the first two weeks of operation.

Located at 515 Mouton St, Suite 103, the bar and restaurant will have 65 rotating beers, 65 different wines and 65 different whiskeys along with specialty cocktails that have an “Indian flair,” according to the Tap 65 website .

To go along with the drinks, the food menu contains a variety of small plates and entrees featuring “upscale Indian fusion” including dishes like butter chicken masala and an Indian street food charcuterie board.

The restaurant will also host events like trivia night and live music.

Years of contentious board meetings and threats of a strike that could halt service bus service in Baton Rouge and Baker may be coming to an end after the Capital Area Transit System’s union and management agreed to a proposed new contract.

“We are pleased that an agreement has been reached between CATS and the transit union,” interim CEO Dwana Williams said in a statement about Thursday’s agreement. “Our employees, both union and non-union, are dedicated to serving the people of Baton Rouge, and this agreement will allow all of us at CATS to move forward together and continue to prioritize that service.”

The two groups had been undergoing contentious negotiations since 2020 that often spilled into public view and prompted a federal lawsuit from the union accusing former CATS CEO Bill Deville of union busting.

But within months of Williams being named CEO after Deville was stripped of his title and duties amid a series of scandals, she appears to have broken the two-year logjam.

“The things that the former administration was fighting us on were very trivial,” said Shavez Smith, a bus operator and trustee for the union. “A lot of things were held up because of the previous administration. … We closed it out attorney free. Neither side had an attorney, just adults working in the best interest of the agency.”

The proposed agreement goes before the CATS’ Board of Commissioners for a vote at their July 19 meeting, board President Kahli Cohran said.

Cohran said he hasn’t reviewed the proposal yet but called the end to the negotiations “a positive thing.”

The Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents CATS bus operators, mechanics, janitors and utility staff, agreed to a 5% wage increase, increased flexibility with vacation time and greater protections for operators during agency investigations into bus wrecks, Smith said.

Under the current contract, CATS employees were unable to use their vacation time if they were suspended in order to keep collecting pay, something they would be able to do under the proposed new contract, Smith said. Also, CATS management would be limited to reviewing bus footage to 10 minutes on either end of a wreck involving a CATS bus, something that would prevent management from penalizing operators for minor infractions throughout the day unrelated to the incident, Smith said.

The uniform allowance, or checks that CATS employees receive for maintaining their agency uniforms, would also be increased, Smith said.

The union’s demands that were rejected by Deville’s administration were approved by Williams without any changes, Smith said.

Smith also attended the board of commissioners’ monthly meeting last Tuesday to compliment interim Chief Administrative Officer Keith Cunningham’s “open door policy” with union leadership, which he credited for the two groups being able to come to an agreement.

Union members would regularly attend board meetings to criticize Cunningham’s predecessor, Pearlina Thomas, who was fired by Deville in January amid additional controversies. Smith said Thomas was trying to “dismantle” the union rather than negotiate the contract.

Thomas and Deville are suing the union in the 19th Judicial District Court for defamation related to accusations of mismanagement leveled against them by union members during a board meeting last year.

The union’s lawsuit against the agency is also continuing to proceed in federal court. Smith said he was unsure how long that would take to resolve.

Under the new agency leadership, Smith said, the union is happy, for now.

“I’m happy as long as they continue making things happy, as long as the public keeps moving forward, the buses keep rolling,” Smith said. “The agency and this administration, so far, is providing that.”

A lot has changed since AIDS emerged in the 1980s. Caused by human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, the sexually transmitted disease was fatal and untreatable. Today, medicines allow patients to live long and full lives.

What hasn’t changed is the stigma. And that, say those involved in treating HIV, discourages people from one of the keys to reducing the disease: testing.

Monday is National HIV Testing Day. First observed in 1995, the day not only encourages testing, but also follow-through with care and treatment.

Testing leads to earlier diagnoses, earlier and more successful treatment and helps minimize the spread of HIV, said Julie Cacioppo, registered nurse clinic manager for an HIV specialty clinic run by Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. A campaign since 2015 to promote testing has helped Baton Rouge fall from the nation’s No. 1 city for HIV per capita to 10th place.

Yet, the stigma surrounding HIV is such that less than one-third of the people offered free HIV testing locally take advantage of it, Cacioppo said. It’s why the Lake publicizes the clinic’s name, and enough people know its location that some patients are afraid to be seen there.

It reminds Cacioppo of when she began her nursing career in the ’80s — when some medical personnel avoided HIV patients for fear of contracting the disease, falsely believing it could be spread by casual contact.

“Medical staff are not so afraid of people with HIV (now),” Cacioppo said. “I’m not afraid of anyone. But I can tell you the community that’s uneducated about it is still afraid of it.”

Some of the stigma isn’t based in fear but moral attitudes, said Coletta Barrett, the Lake’s vice president of mission integration. Barrett learned that firsthand when she asked her primary care physician for an HIV test. The doctor closed the door and asked why. Barrett said she couldn’t ask others about their HIV without getting tested herself.

“She said, ‘Oh, thank God!’ ” Barrett said. “That exact response is why people don’t want to ask to be tested because they’re afraid of the moral judgment that goes along with it. Encouraging people to get tested will remove some of that moral judgment.”

To combat this, four area emergency rooms and one urgent care center operated by the Lake informs all patients ages 13 to 64 that they will receive free HIV testing unless they opt out. Ochsner began an identical program in 2019. In February 2020, the Lake has offered the same approach to screen emergency room patients for hepatitis C. Funding has come from city-parish government, the Louisiana Office of Public Health and Gilead Sciences, which makes HIV medications.

Patients who test positive are connected with social workers help them get medical care, including selecting a clinic and attending at least the first appointment with the patient. Treatment can lower HIV levels to the point that they can no longer be detected, and the patient can no longer transmit the disease.

“The drugs now are very well tolerated, minimal side effects,” Cacioppo said. “In the past, it was like cancer treatment where it made them feel worse than the disease along, but now it’s very simple. It’s amazing how much it’s changed in the five years I’ve been here. We’ve gone from two or three pills a day to one pill a day regimens.”

Close to 30% of those offered the testing have gone through with it. Many people decline because they consider it highly unlikely they could have HIV. Cacioppo and Barrett hope they’ll change their minds.

“People who feel like they are not at risk, it’s really important to be tested anyway because if we are testing everyone, then testing becomes normalized, and as testing becomes normalized, then having HIV, the stigma associated with that is going to be reduced,” Cacioppo said. “I have an HIV test and I’m not at risk and I tell other people, ‘Hey, go get tested. I did.’ That sends a positive message about it. We want to encourage more and more people to test so we can encourage the positive messaging and reduce the stigma.”

This month’s full moon drew many people out to sit in awe of the bright, beautiful celestial body. It reminded me of moon gardening.

Someone asked me about moon gardening in the past, and I wasn’t sure of what it was. Curious, I did some digging into the subject, and here’s what I discovered.

Moon gardens are enjoyed at night and defined by the type of plants they include — typically, plants with white or cool-colored flowers in addition to silver or variegated foliage that can be seen in the reflected light of the moon.

Cool colors such as light blue, bright yellow, chartreuse and lavender in addition to white flowers and gray and silver foliage can be more easily seen at nighttime in the garden. Moon gardens also can include flowers with heavy evening fragrance as well as light-colored hardscapes and accessories that enhance the garden at night.

The science behind moon gardening is that our eyes have limited vision of colors and contrast in the dark. However, the color white stands out in the darkness and often gives off a glowing light. Also, our senses are naturally heightened after dark to the sights, smells and sounds of the night.

By incorporating a variety of plants, you can enhance your gardens for night enjoyment. Start with selecting plants with white or cool-colored flowers that show up best against a dark background. Incorporate a mix of plants with dark foliage to provide a backdrop.

Some plant suggestions are moonflower (ipomea alba), Serena White angelonia, Infinity White New Guinea impatiens, Japanese painted fern, Ghost painted fern (Athyrium niponicum pictum), Jack Frost brunerra (Brunnera microphylla), Silver Sceptre and Ice Dance Carex morrowii, Silver Carpet Stachys byzantinia, Silver Falls Dichondra argentea, Diamond Frost euphorbia, Lobelia siphilitica, four o’clocks and morning glories. Trees with white or light-colored bark such as river birch (Betula nigra) also can show up well at night and provide some height in the landscape.

In addition to proper plant selection, you can enhance your moon garden by adding light-colored planters and white trellises or lattices that support climbing vines such as fragrant white jasmine. Use light-colored gravel and walking stones for pathways and solar lights to help illuminate them. You can also incorporate lanterns, soft string lights and candles. Choose a site in the landscape that is easily accessible and open for stargazing, allowing moonlight to illuminate the gardens.

For an overall improved ambiance, include elements that engage the senses of sight, smell and sound. Water features that make soothing sounds and reflect moonlight can be a nice addition. You also can attract night creatures such as crickets and frogs by creating natural habitat, adding to sound ambiance.

Sound also can be made by plants such as ornamental grasses or bamboo that gently rustle in the evening breeze. And do not forget fragrant plants.

A moon garden can be enjoyed at any time of day, but they become especially magical at dusk and into the dark of the night. The sights and smells of these plants can continue to be enjoyed at night after the sun sets. The hot days of summer make it less appealing to be in the garden during the heat of the day, but nights are excellent for relaxing outdoors once the sun goes down. If you’d like to enhance the experience, try a soothing moon garden.