Category Archives: Ascension

Staff Report| Gonzales Weekly Citizen

John Couvillon,president and founderofJMC Analytics and Polling, apolitical consulting firm,will be the featured speaker at the SeptemberAscension GOP Roundtable,sponsored by Ascension Republican Women.The Roundtable will begin at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 17 at the Clarion Inn, 1500 W. Highway 30 in Gonzales, with a meet-and-greet. The event will begin at noon.

Couvillon holds aB.S. in Accounting from Louisiana State University and aMasters Degree in Information Systems. His political expertise is sought frompublications such as the National Journal, Business Insider, The Hill, POLITICO,Roll Call, Campaigns and Elections, Real Clear Politics, and the Wall Street Journal. Couvillons polling in the 2019 Louisiana governors race made him a finalist for the Reed Awards for polling by Campaigns and Elections Magazine.

2020 Republican candidates are welcome to meet and greet with guests.

Cost for the lunch is $22, with a choice of three entrees. The event is open to the public, and guests are welcome. Reservations are requested. RSVP:225-921-5187or e-mail:ARWrUS@aol.com. Payments will be collected at the door (checks and cash preferred).

Entree Choices are: Fried Catfish, Fried Shrimp or Marinated Chicken. All meals include a salad, stuffed potato, iced tea and dessert.

Members and guests are asked to bring non-perishable items for the St. Theresa Food Bank.

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John Couvillon to speak at Ascension GOP Roundtable - Weekly Citizen

Courtesy of David Blaine Ascension (YouTube)

Illusionist, magician, and performer David Blaine, known for his mind-boggling feats,successfully accomplished another daunting stunt earlier this week. Blaine reached an altitude of about 25,000 feet by floating skyward using only heliumballoons.

The stunt, "Ascension",was likely the most dangerous and ambitious feat he has ever attempted. He partnered with YouTube Originals to live-stream the event, which he says was inspired by his daughter and his ownchildhood dream. Blaine spentmonths training prepping for the stunt; becoming an expert at skydiving and flying balloons, as well as acclimating to cooler temps found in higher air.

On Wednesday, September 2, Blaine put all those hours of training to good use when he performed the high-flying feat. After two hours of prep, he began his ascent over Page, Arizona. Gripping a bunch of about 50 large helium balloonsthese were not your birthday party variety balloons;they were much larger andoutfitted with camerasBlaine carried weights on him that he periodically dropped to increase his ascension once he lifted off.

Watch the stunt below:

The illusionist had a goal of reaching 18,000 feet, and he exceeded that by hitting a high of 24,900 feet. Once there, he let the balloons go and skydived and parachuted back to the ground where he landed safely. The stunt itself took about a half an hour, from lift-off.

An entire team of engineers, stunt experts, weather experts, and more were involved in the project.

What do you think about this high-flying stunt? Would you want to float above the earth from a bunch of balloons? What other mind-bending stunts would you want to see someone like Blane perform? Sound off on the comments.

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VIDEO: Extreme Performer David Blaine Floats High Above the Earth From a Bunch of Balloons - ourcommunitynow.com

The daily average of new coronavirus cases across a large swath of the Baton Rouge area fell by two-thirds in the 1 months since Gov. John Bel Edwards imposed a statewide mask mandate and closed bars.

Susan Hassig, a Tulane University epidemiologist, said that means if cases do bump back up after the Labor Day break and after other loosening of restrictions, including the continued growth of in-person classes, any new growth in cases will begin from a higher starting point than in March.

She said hospital officials in the Baton Rouge area remain "very, very worried" about their ability to handle new cases because of tight capacity.

"It is real, and the ramifications of people easing up or kicking back on guidance or mandates is terrifying to them," Hassig said Friday.

Edwards said Friday that he was hopeful that cases will have declined enough statewide that he can announce later this week that social distancing restrictions can be loosened from Phase 2 to Phase 3. The governor has faced criticism from business groups and some conservative leaders that he has waited too long to reopen the state further and ease the financial pain of an economy restrained by public health measures.

Trends for rolling case averages and percent positivity have continued to move more consistently downward statewide than for the portion of the Baton Rouge area in state Health Department's Region 2 in recent weeks, state dashboard data show.

State officials and some health experts said the sharp and consistent drop in new cases between mid-July and mid-August as calculated on a rolling, seven-day average had showed the mask and bar measures were, to some degree, strongly correlated with the drop in cases. A delayed but apparent effect on reduced hospitalizations statewide only furthered that conclusion, some experts added.

"It's clear that after the governor put the mask mandate in place that we began to see a decline in cases, along with decreases in hospitalizations and COVID-like illnesses," Kevin Litten, a state department of health spokesman, said in late August. "It generally takes about a week if not two to begin seeing the impact of events or decisions on COVID-19 indicators, but it can be seen in the dashboard graphs."

Even then, though, some officials said late last month that they remained worried about underlying trends in the Baton Rouge area, including lingering high percent positivity, or the rate of positive cases for a given batch of tests. The measure is seen as one possible signal of the depth of infection in the community and a marker of testing strength.

"Masks have had a tremendous effect, and we're very thankful for our patients and for the community that the mask mandate occurred, but it hasn't had enough of an effect, and I remain very concerned about Region 2's percent positivity," Dr. Catherine O'Nealsaid in late August.

O'Neal is an infectious disease expert and chief medical officer at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge.

Since her comments, Region 2's overall positivity rate continued to go up to around 13.4% through Aug. 28, as testing has slowed down significantly from highs in July during a federal effort to boost testing. Hurricane Laura has also disrupted some testing.

The Region 2 area encompasses Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana parishes.

But a parish-by-parish analysis within Region 2 and across the rest of the Baton Rouge area offers a more mixed picture of percent positivity.

East Baton Rouge, Ascension, Livingston and other parishes have seen their positivity rates drop in recent weeks, while some outlying parishes with large state-run facilities where cases have sharply increased, including East and West Feliciana parishes, have seen their positivity rise.

At the same time, bed and intensive care unit space in the BatonRouge region remains tight, state data show, though some of that may be attributed to Hurricane Laura's devastation of Lake Charles hospitals.

Since those conclusions about the mask mandates were reached in late August, the steady fall in cases has stalled out or even rebounded a bit in the Baton Rouge area, according to state data and an Advocate analysis.

During the same period, schools reopened, some with at least a hybrid of virtual and in-person classes.

East Baton Rouge, Livingston and Ascension Parishes have had students and staff get infected, forcing quarantines, though the numbers remain tiny relative to the size of the systems.

Ascension, for example, has had 46 positive cases since mid-July in a system of more than 23,000 students and 3,000 employees, but those cases have led to quarantines among some students and staff at 20 different schools. Only 15 cases remain active, a system spokeswoman said.

More than 150 students and staff in Livingston public schools were quarantined two weeks ago but that number has dropped significantly since then.

East Baton Rouge Parish schools have had a handful of cases but is planning to start in-person classes among younger students later this month. LSU has also had recent batches of positive cases.

"The educational process, especially in when it involves in-person teaching and on campus residency and everything else, is going to bring people into contact with each other in ways that they haven't been for a very long time," Hassig said. "And so it would be totally expected that cases would change and, likely, potentially, not in the way we would want them to go."

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Drop in Baton Rouge-area cases after mask mandate, bar closures may have stalled - The Advocate

An information technology division within AscensionMichigan, formerly known as St. John Providence Health System, plans to lay off 223 workers in Troy this fall and outsourcetheir jobs.

An executive with Ascension Technologiesnotified state officials this week about the layoffs, which are planned to begin Oct. 24. The affected employees work at the organization's Network Operations Center and Service Desk, which has anoffice in the North Troy Corporate Park, 800 Tower Drive.

Those who can't find different work within Ascension will get severances, the layoff notice said. Some of the affected workers also could get hired by the new vendor.

AnAscension representative on Wednesdaywouldn't provide further details about the layoffs or identify thevendor.

In a recent blog post, Ascension's Chief Information Officer Gerry Lewis said the health system will be shifting some of its IT jobs to outside vendors as part of Ascension's "digital transformation."

Ascension Michigan's hospitals include Ascension Providence Hospital in Southfield.(Photo: Ascension Michigan)

"These transitions will enable us to design, deliver and innovate the best end-to-end customer and clinician experience, using best practices and industry standards, while being good stewards of our resources," Lewis wrote in the post.

More: Trinity Health Michigan lays off, furloughs another 1,000 employees

More: Michigan unemployment claims decline, but are 4 times higher than before coronavirus

Ascension Michigan is part of St. Louis-based Ascension Health, a nonprofit Catholic health system.

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, Ascension Health has received $815 million in grants and $1.3 billion in loans through the federal CARES Act relief package, according to the website COVID Stimulus Watch.

Contact JC Reindlat 313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@jcreindl. Read more on business and sign up for our business newsletter.

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Ascension Michigan health system to lay off and outsource 223 IT jobs in Troy - Detroit Free Press

Ever since I was a kid, Ive dreamed of flying, David Blaine intones in the trailer for his new stunt, Ascension. Clearly nobody told him about aeroplanes, because Blaine recently announced plans to fly high over the Hudson River, which divides New York from New Jersey, in what he has described as his most ambitious project. And this is coming from a man who spent seven days buried alive in a coffin, stood encased in a block of ice for 63 hours, went without food for 44 days and held his breath live on TV for 17 minutes. Heres everything you need to know about Ascension.

Depending on your age, Blaines going to do a sort of tribute act to either Mary Poppins or Pixars Up by floating over the Hudson strapped underneath a bunch of helium balloons at approximately 25,000 feet on 31 August. Blaine has said he hopes to reach the height of Mount Everest, which is 29,029 feet high.

Live on YouTube on 31 August. Presumably, if youre near the river on the day, you might be able to watch it in person, but Blaine hasnt been able to confirm a location yet due to varied wind conditions.

Its hard not to imagine the glee with which the websites execs will be looking forward to the viewing figures; whether the man falls to his death like poor Franz Reichelt or floats sedately across the river to touch down safely on the other side, the spectacle sounds pretty amazing.

Obviously, the frisson of excitement comes from the fact that we dont really know. Even by Blaines standards, this is pretty ambitious he told Joe Rogan on the latters podcast that it was a crazy idea and recounted a series of horrendous stories about his near-misses and injuries sustained during preparation. It has also been pointed out just quite how alone he will be during his flight, unlike his other stunts when he had assistance and emergency services on hand at every point, though he will have emergency oxygen on hand during the flight.

But, given how accomplished an illusionist Blaine is, wed put money on it being a resounding success. Blaines taken serious steps to prepare, including 500 skydives, earning a hot-air balloon pilot certificate and a different, unspecified qualification for flying helium balloons. He has also learned to read the wind, which initially sounds like something out of an anime, but is probably quite useful if hes ever planning on becoming a pilot or yachtsman.

A short shopping list of first-year medical degree terminology, most notably hypoxia, where a lack of oxygen causes the mind to slow and thinking becomes confused, and hypothermia, which you probably know about already. Then theres the less scientific balloon failure situation, which would result in his swift transformation into a pavement pizza somewhere in suburban Newark, NJ. Blaines not wearing a parachute to go up into the air, initially, because he wants the visual image to look like his childhood dream of holding on to the balloons and floating, but he will put one on once hes above 1,000 feet. Alternatively, the helium balloons can just keep on rising and rising until they reach an upper limit of 84,000 feet, roughly twice the altitude a commercial aeroplane cruises at.

Not really, no. Many illusionists, mentalists, confidence tricksters, hypnotists and endurance stuntmen reject the idea of claiming their achievements are magic, if that means anything like done with powers that defy the laws of science. Blaine is no different and will carry out the stunt with a huge team of experts backing him up, including the weather experts, aerial engineers and (hilariously, especially when said in Blaines deadpan delivery) the worlds leading balloonists. So, all in all, hes in good hands.

David Blaine: Ascension will broadcast live on YouTube on 31 August.

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Everything you need to know about David Blaines new stunt, Ascension - British GQ

Leaders from Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford, United Surgical Partners International (USPI), and the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce were among those in attendance at Thursdays 12 PM ground-breaking ceremony for the highly anticipated Ascension Saint Thomas New Salem Surgery Center.

The multi-speciality ambulatory care center is a joint-venture between Ascension Saint Thomas and United Surgical Partners International, the nations largest ambulatory services provider with over 400 facilities. USPI serves more than 3.4 million patients per year. The Ascension Saint Thomas New Salem Surgery Center will span 13,000 square feet on 3 acres at the southwest corner of New Salem Highway and St. Andrews Drive in Murfreesboro.

Opening remarks were provided by Kelli Beam, Vice President of Membership Development for the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, who discussed Rutherford Countys growing healthcare needs. Gordon Ferguson, President and CEO of Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford, explained how the new surgery center complements the recent hospital expansion by providing an access point for convenient care in the heart of the New Salem community. Dr. Lindsay Keith of Ascension Medical Group/Saint Thomas Medical Partners attended on behalf of the facilitys group of physician investors. The blessing of the ground was led by Tracey Biles, Vice President of Mission Integration for Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford, and was followed by ceremonial shoveling of the dirt. Chris Hartshorn, Market President for United Surgical Partners International, gave closing remarks.

Project completion is expected in 2021.

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Ground-Breaking Ceremony for Ascension Saint Thomas New Salem Surgery Center - rutherfordsource.com

The annual Firefighters Banquet hosted by four Knights of Columbus chapters in east Ascension looked a bit different this year due to the coronavirus.

Attendance to the July 29 banquet, which usually includes firefighters and their families from around the area, was limited to only the fire department winners and chief officers.

Each departments' firefighter of the year was honored, said master of ceremonies James E. LeBlanc, fire chief for the St. Amant and 5th Ward departments.

Parish President Clint Cointment was the guest speaker for the banquet, hosted by St. Theresa, Our Lady of Holy Rosary, St. Mark and St. John the Evangelist Catholic churches.

Aaron Gautreaux was named overall Firefighter of the Year and Cameron Everett won the Junior Firefighter of the Year award. Both are from 5th Ward Volunteer Fire Department.

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5th Ward volunteer firefighters win top honors at firefighter's banquet - The Advocate

Ascension Parish suffered minor impacts after Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron Parish early Thursday morning but officials remained on alert throughout the day.

Sheriff Bobby Webre reported roads that were blocked with downed trees had been already cleared Thursday morning and power outages affected fewer than 1,000 households then.

"We've been so fortunate," Webre said.

He said residents and local officials had a lot of time to prepare and it showed.

Entergy restored power earlier on Thursday to 200 people in Sorrento and was working on outages in Gonzales and north of the city. DEMCO has reported that fewer than 50 customers lost power.

The parish is still dealing with lingering bands from the hurricane that could bring some wind and rain.

Parish government officials announced Thursday afternoon that all parish employees should report back to work Friday.

In Ascension, Friday's are half days for many employees. Many employees were directed to work from home on Thursday, with some key exception for the storm response.

The parish's Emergency Operations Center was partially activated Thursday, and Public Works and law enforcement officials, and the storm tracking team are located.

The Citizens Service Center is staffed and open for non-emergency calls at (225) 450-1200. For emergencies, call 911.

In Assumption Parish, a possible tornado was reported by the National Weather Service to have touched down Wednesday in Paincourtville, but local officials said Thursday they were unable to find any damage.

John Boudreaux, the parish homeland security director, said the twister matted down sugar cane stalks in fields in the small community along Bayou Lafourche and off La. 70 and La. 1 but did not uproot them.

He said he doubts the tornado actually touched the ground but speculated it could have been heavy winds.

Boudreaux added the parish has weathered Laura with no significant damage nor any house flooding. Storm surge from Laura pushed backwater into the Lake Verret basin up 6 inches. The spring floods were worse.

St. James Parish escaped the impacts of the hurricane, with no power outages and no road closures, officials said.

We were fortunate and fared very well, Eric Deroche, director of the parishs Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said.

According to the National Weather Service, a weather station at the Louisiana Regional Airport south of Gonzales saw 0.7 inches of rain since 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Winds have been strongest Thursday morning. Sustained winds have remained around 20 mph to 30 mph, with gusts of 30 mph to 40 mph.

As of 10 p.m. Thursday, the highest gust reported so far popped up for the 8:15 a.m. measurement at 41 mph.

Ascension Parish President Clint Cointment reported in a statement shortly before noon that all pumping stations are still staffed, including Sorrento, Marvin Braud and Henderson Bayou. The floodgates at Frog Bayou are also closed, protecting homeowners in the Spanish Lake area and Ridge Road.

Sand and bag locations remain open and the animals from the parish animal shelter, Cara's Houe, remains at Lamar-Dixon Expo Center is on standby alert.

Cointment said the parish remains under a flash flood watch, a tornado watch, a wind advisory, and a coastal flood watch until at least 7 p.m. Friday.

The threat is not over yet! Be vigilant and be alert, he said.

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Ascension Parish 'so fortunate'; major impacts avoided in Assumption, St. James, officials say - The Advocate

Murfreesboro, Tenn. - On September 1, Ascension Saint Thomas will officially partner with Rutherford County to provide on-site and near-site clinic services at three sites of care for Rutherford County employees, the employees dependents and County retirees.The near-site clinics are located at:

Walter Hill Elementary Stewarts Creek Elementary, Ascension Medical Group New Salem Clinic.

Rutherford County Government employees and their dependents as well as County retirees will be offered a full service primary care practice offering services including:

Disease Management and Health Coaching Medical Examinations and Assessments Health/Self-care/Consumer Education and Promotion Administration of Health and Wellness Incentive Programs Acute Care and Primary Care Case Management Services Retail Availability for Extended Clinic Services Telemedicine Mobile Health Unit Mobile Mammography

This unique partnership of on-site and near-site clinics with Rutherford County is an example of Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford's overall commitment to care for the community it serves, said Gordon Ferguson, President & CEO, Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford. We look forward to the opportunity to work with the County to keep our community members healthy.

County employees, their dependents, and our retirees are fortunate to have Ascension as a valuable healthcare asset, said Mayor Bill Ketron. We are excited about the addition of the new clinic as well.

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Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Partners with Rutherford County to Deliver On-Site, Near-Site Clinic Care - Wgnsradio

The main event in Las Vegas features a fun light heavyweight matchup between two men who love to punctuate their presence on the feet.

Embracing more of a traditional muay Thai arsenal, Anthony Smith brings a well-rounded skill set of violence to the table. Carrying a menacing feel to the way in which he marches down his opposition, Smith is capable of making pressure his friend, using it to fuel his forward assaults.

Despite his long reach and frame, the Nebraska native does a deceptively good job at changing his ranges on strikes mid-stroke or combination, following fleeing opponents when appropriate. Traditionally favoring to fight on the inside, Smith keeps an array of unforgiving elbows and knees at the ready, especially when going into or off of clinch breaks.

However, since working more exclusively with coaches like Marc Montoya and James Krause, Smith has also shown an improved jab and overall striking process, using it to either set up or disrupt offense. That said, defense has not typically been Smiths strongest suit, which means he will need to mind the returns of Aleksandar Rakic.

Utilizing his long and athletic frame, Rakics striking base shines through in his flexibility of approach.

In his first few fights under the UFC banner, Rakic demonstrated an ability to pressure effectively behind his kickboxing, mixing in leg kicks and level-changing takedown threats to boot. And in his latest outing opposite Volkan Oezdemir, Rakic showed more of his countering savvy, electing to play a bit more on the outside as he looked to come over the shoulders or underneath the guard off of Oezdemirs offense.

Although Rakic clearly carries the confidence of a young fighter, the 28-year-old, to his credit, does well at staying defensively aware (relative to his contemporaries, anyways). Whether he is rolling his head off crosses or slipping off of the lead side, Rakic does a decent job of moving his head and maintaining the range to his liking.

Regardless if Rakic looks to come forward or counter, I suspect hell be looking for the uppercut given the success Glover Teixeira had with it against Smith. But if Rakic starts to slip or look too liberally for his shots, then he runs the risk of eating a sweeping head kick or hook from his formidable foe.

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UFC on ESPN+ 33 breakdown: Will Aleksandar Rakic resume his ascension against Anthony Smith? - MMA Junkie