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Central Louisiana AIDS Support Services has received a $50,000 grant to purchase a vehicle for its staff to deliver HIV testing and prevention education to rural parts of its eight-parish region. The grant, announced this week, was made possible by the Community Foundation of Central Louisiana. The Community Impact endowment underwrites one project each year that demonstrates an ability to make a substantial impact on central Louisiana.

An explosives recovering and recycling business at the Camp Minden industrial site has not released details about what caused a Monday night magazine explosion that rocked northwest Louisiana. Jimmie Oxley, co-director of the Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence in Explosives at University of Rhode Island, says TNT is no longer manufactured in the United States. Oxley says few companies specialize in extracting it from weapons, and government inspections are rigorous at such plants.

The Union County Master Gardeners will debut their new xeriscape-designed garden at 3:30 p.m., on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at the South Arkansas Arboretum in El Dorado. The garden features flowers, shrubs and trees that require little or no extra watering. The garden was made possible through a grant from the Union County Water Conservation Board.