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By Casey Collier
The Lamp Post Art Stroll will be held Thursday, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in downtown Franklin.
It is sponsored by Franklin Merchants Association. Participating merchants will have tell-tale sandwich boards on the sidewalk in front of their stores, as well as price specials and door prizes.
Refreshments will be served and a silent auction will take place at The French Door.
Diane Wiltz, FMA, said, “This is an opportunity to give local artists the chance to showcase and sell some of their creations.”
Whether photography, paintings or sculpture, Wiltz says all are invited to take part.
The art stroll is taking place on Thursday, to keep in the spirit of the FMA’s First Thursdays program, which they have been taking part in for the last two years.
The first Thursday of every month, the FMA merchants stay open a little later than usual to accommodate patrons who have to work into the early evening. Wiltz said, “We always say, ‘shop local.’ Well, we know they don’t get off until five (working patrons). If all the shops on Main Street close at five, they can’t shop locally because we’re closed. So, we stay open beyond 5 o’clock.”
The FMA is also inviting women thinking of attending the stroll to feel free to wear their spring hats, as some of the ladies from the FMA will be in theirs.
This will be the first year for the stroll, but Franklin has seen iterations of it, on and off, for years. In the 1980s, it was called the Art Festival, and even at present, Franklin celebrates an annual art walk in August. The FMA is looking to achieve a certain result with their first annual art stroll—comfort and ease; and if they succeed, they intend to repeat the event.
An ordinance was passed by the city council to allow open containers of alcohol for the duration of the event, so adult libations will be served to those patrons who are interested.
Debbie Tibbs, photographer, said she is looking forward to showing people her photographs over a glass of wine.
Wiltz said, “What we are trying to do is rejuvenate Main Street.”
She said she likes the thought of seeing people strolling up and down Main Street, and she pointed out that those merchants who have guest books for visitors to sign, often hear confessions that the downtown area of Main Street is Norman Rockwell-esque with its charm.
It is that charm which Wiltz and fellow merchants would like to share with residents and tourists alike, not to mention strengthening the artistic community in Franklin, to boot.
Kathy Latiolais, merchant and artist, said her store, The French Door, highlights an artist every month. So, for her, the stroll’s allure lies in the exposure it offers to artists and customers.
Wiltz finished with, “What is it you’re looking for? Come see us,” she nods and smiles, “Come see us.”

WASHINGTON — Wanted: A million people willing to share their DNA and 10 years of health habits, big and small, for science.
On Sunday, the U.S. government will open nationwide enrollment for an ambitious experiment: If they can build a large enough database comparing the genetics, lifestyles and environments of people from all walks of life, researchers hope to learn why some escape illness and others don’t, and better customize ways to prevent and treat disease.
“A national adventure that is going to transform medical care,” is how Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, describes his agency’s All of Us Research Program.
Congress has authorized $1.45 billion over 10 years for the project. It all hinges on whether enough people around the country will sign up, either online or through participating health centers.
There’s already interest: More than 25,000 people got early entry to the project over the past year through an invitation-only pilot test run by participating universities and health providers.
WHY STUDY SO MANY?
Most of today’s medical care is based on what happened to the average person in short studies of a few hundred or thousand patients with a specific health condition.
And most people who volunteer for those studies are white, leaving questions about the best care for people of different races.
“One-size-fits-all is far from an optimal strategy,” Collins said Tuesday in announcing enrollment for All of Us.
The project involves “precision medicine,” using traits that make us unique to forecast and treat disease. Learning enough to individualize care requires studying a massive number of participants: The healthy and not-so-healthy, young and old, rural and urban, blue-collar and white-collar — and people of all races and ethnicities.
For now, participants must be at least 18. Next year, the study will open to children, too.
While there are other big “biobanks” of genetic data from at least 100,000 people, the NIH project aims to be the largest and most diverse of its kind. At least half of the participants must be from groups traditionally under-represented in medical research, Collins stressed.
GENES AREN’T THE WHOLE STORY
Sure, what genes you harbor can raise your risk for various diseases. But other factors can increase or reduce some genetic risks.
So first volunteers will share electronic health records and blood samples, and answer periodic questionnaires about their diet, sleep, environmental exposures and other lifestyle factors. They might wear fitness trackers and other sensors.
And later this year they’ll start undergoing genetic testing, initially to look for so-called “variants” in DNA that affect disease risk, similar to what some private companies now sell, Collins said. Fully mapping the genetic code is too pricey now for a million people, but that more comprehensive approach eventually will be used with some participants, too.
Among the first lessons Collins hopes to learn is about resilience: Why do some people stay healthy despite smoking or pollution or poor nutrition?
“We have no idea how those people escape those odds,” he said.
LEARN YOUR RESULTS
Unlike with most medical studies, participants can choose to see their own test results and share them with their physician long before the study reaches any big-picture conclusions. A caution: There are still many questions about how best to use the results of genetic tests. Still, “we will try to help their doctors sort through what it means,” Collins said.
One result that might bring a quick benefit: Genetic variants can signal who is prone to side effects from more than 100 drugs, information that could be used to prescribe a safer drug if only their doctors knew, Collins added.
PROTECTING PRIVACY
The privacy of DNA databases made headlines last week when investigators used a free genealogy website to track down a suspected California serial killer. That’s pretty different than the security under which medical DNA must be handled.
NIH said it has taken as many steps as possible to safeguard against would-be hackers. Volunteers’ medical data is stripped of identifying information and replaced with a code. Only scientists meeting specific security requirements will be cleared to study the data. NIH also said federal “certificates of confidentiality” prohibit disclosure to law enforcement.
Privacy wasn’t a worry for Michelle McNeely, 41, an early participant at Dallas’ Baylor Scot & White Health System. She underwent breast cancer treatment in 2016 and considers taking part in All of Us a way to give back.
“If they can use my genes and someone’s genes in California and someone’s genes in New York to find some common ground, to help discover some cure — they can use my genes all day long,” McNeely said.
—The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

BATON ROUGE — Louisiana's secretary of state announced Tuesday that he is leaving his elected position as calls for his resignation increased amid allegations that the state elections chief sexually harassed one of his employees.

Secretary of State Tom Schedler said in a letter to the governor that he will be stepping down May 8, becoming the highest-level public official in Louisiana to be felled by sexual misconduct accusations since the #MeToo movement began unseating people in positions of power in Hollywood, the media and government.

"I leave office with a heavy heart knowing I have disappointed the people in my life who care for me the most," Schedler said in the letter. "But I also have experienced from them the miraculous power of forgiveness and grace during the twilight of my career, and for that I am grateful."

The Republican secretary of state had previously announced plans to stay until his term ended in January 2020, despite a pending sexual harassment lawsuit against him by an employee. But the drumbeat for Schedler's resignation grew louder after the release of sexually themed emails Schedler had sent to the woman who sued him.

A special election will fill the remainder of Schedler's term.

Tuesday's announcement was a stunning fall for Schedler, a longtime elected official from the New Orleans suburb of St. Tammany Parish who was well-liked by colleagues and known for his bipartisan approach to the job he's held since 2010.

But in February, one of Schedler's employees filed a lawsuit, claiming Schedler harassed her for years and punished her when she rebuffed his repeated advances. Schedler's spokeswoman said the pair had a consensual sexual relationship. The woman's lawyer denies that.

The woman claims Schedler frequently sent her love letters, sexually propositioned her and showed up at her doorstep with unwanted gifts, including sex tapes. She claims Schedler enlisted help from state security personnel to report on her whereabouts. The lawsuit says the harassment began about a decade ago and escalated over the years.

Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards and several female lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, urged Schedler to leave office after the lawsuit was filed.

The secretary of state refused to step down, but announced in March that he wouldn't run for re-election next year. In that March press conference, Schedler didn't directly respond to the allegations or deny them beyond calling the lawsuit "unfair." At the time, he said that "the truth lies somewhere in the middle." He refused to answer questions.

Then, he went back to work, showing up to budget and other legislative hearings at the Louisiana Capitol and seeming likely to hang onto his position until the next regularly scheduled election.

But accusations of Schedler's misconduct returned to the forefront last week with the release of the sexually suggestive emails, which were sent on a state account and obtained by The Advocate. The emails showed the secretary of state telling the woman he loved her, demanding she spend time with him and calling her a "hot gal."

Schedler's office partially blacked out parts of the communications between the secretary of state and the woman in its response to The Advocate's public records request, but the newspaper obtained complete versions of some of the emails, showing many of the redacted sections contained sexually themed or embarrassing remarks by Schedler.

After the release, Republican U.S. Sen. John Kennedy called on Schedler to resign, saying the emails show the secretary of state "crossed the line and abused his position." GOP U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy also followed suit, saying Schedler should end his tenure in office.

"Increasingly it appears the allegations against Secretary Schedler are true," Cassidy said in a statement.

A former state senator, Schedler was working as first assistant to the secretary of state when he moved to the top job after his predecessor won election to a new position. Schedler then won the secretary of state's office in the 2011 election and was re-elected four years later.

He is the most prominent Louisiana political figure to face sexual misconduct allegations amid the #MeToo movement. Before Schedler, one of Edwards' deputy chiefs of staff was accused of sexual harassment in November and immediately resigned.
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