Jackson Free Press

Karen Gordon, owner of High Biscuits (7048 Old Canton Road, Ridgeland, 769-300-4948), a British-style tearoom that also has a contemporary southern atmosphere, wants to do something different for Jackson's neighborhood cafe scene.

"I decided to open a tearoom because I thought there wasn't anything like that around," Gordon said. "I knew that if I was to succeed with a restaurant, it should be something new and unique, and on a small scale."

Gordon opened High Biscuits in November of last year, keeping her operation low-key at first to give her staff time to adjust and to introduce Jackson to the concept of a British tearoom. Now, High Biscuits is set to have a ribbon-cutting with the Ridgeland Chamber of Commerce April 9, which will serve as its grand opening. The ceremony will feature the introduction of bubble tea to High Biscuits' menu.

Gordon describes bubble tea as an iced beverage similar to the Starbucks Frappucino, with milk and sweetener poured over ice and pearl-shaped tapioca balls, from which the tea gets its name. Free samples of bubble tea will be available at the event. Gordon also plans to open High Biscuits for custom events such as showers and children's events following the grand opening.

High Biscuits imports its teas from a British company called the English Tea Store. The selection includes a special Earl Grey-vanilla blend, a green tea called gunpowder with nut and oak flavors, and a French lavender and Chinese green tea blend called Lavender Butterfly. High Biscuits' specialty house tea is a black and green tea blend with maple and blackberry flavors, served iced or hot.

"I wanted to make sure that we offer blends that our customers won't find in the grocery store or even local specialty shops," Gordon said. "All of our tea is made to order, and every blend is available hot or iced."

High Biscuits also offers house-made chicken salad or chopped salad, two kinds of soup, plain cream scones and southern tea cakes on a daily basis. Other food selections change on a daily basis, including a variety of sandwiches, pastries, savory tarts and quiches.

"We try hard to make our establishment a fun and casual place suitable for anyone of any age or gender," Gordon said. "Everyone is welcome here."

High Biscuits is open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturdays for arranged custom events only.

Venyu Solutions and UMMC Prepare to Construct Telehealth Center

Baton Rouge, La., data company Venyu Solutions, LLC officially unveiled plans to build a technology center that would, in part, house University of Mississippi Medical Center's new telehealth service.

UMMC stated in a news release that the hospital has entered into a lease agreement with Venyu Solutions to construct a stand-alone, 16,000-square-foot facility to accommodate the increase in the services UMMC's Center for Telehealth provides to hospitals, clinics, corporations and patients across the state. The lease will begin on or around July 1, 2016.

The Venyu Technology Center will be at the site of the former McRae's department store on the corner of Meadowbrook Road and State Street in Fondren. In addition to the new building, UMMC will renovate existing structures, such as the former McRae's building, to host a data center for Venyu, with plans for other businesses in the future.

Most of the new technology center's structures already exist, but UMMC has specifically designed the building to house the UMMC Center for Telehealth to meet the growing demand for the services. The telehealth center specializes in online video and other technology that collects health-care data to provide medical care, wellness care and public health services. The program functions as a virtual clinic, including direct medical diagnostics and treatment from physicians, specialists and nurses, and dispensation of pharmaceuticals when appropriate.

Venyu and UMMC are constructing the leased building exclusively for the Center for Telehealth's expansion, including a Telehealth Operations Center to facilitate and provide services to hospitals, clinics, corporations and correctional facilities; Center for Telehealth technology operations and call center, administration and support services; and a remote Patient Monitoring Center to monitor and provide care for patients in their homes using mobile technology.

NAMI's Train-the-Trainer Academy

NAMI Mississippi, the state branch of the nonprofit National Alliance on Mental Illness, is hosting the first NAMI MS Train-the-Trainer Academy March 20-22. NAMI is an advocacy organization of behavioral-health professionals and family members, peers and friends of persons living with serious mental illness, dedicated to support, education and research.

NAMI Mississippi is seeking facilitators, teachers and mentors to apply to for the upcoming training program. The training is free, and the group will provide rooms and meals. Rooms are double occupancy and within 20 miles of Jackson.

Training is also available for the NAMI Signature programs, which the organization owns and develops. Due to the investment of time and money to train volunteers, prospective Signature Program Leaders must meet outlined requirements for the program for which they are training. All NAMI Signature Program Leaders must be national or state trainer-certified NAMI Members, at least 18 years of age, and must teach a minimum of two course cycles in the education program for which they train.

Prospective teachers for NAMI Basics must be parents or other primary caregivers of an individual who exhibited symptoms of a mental illness prior to age 13 (the formal diagnosis may have been made years later, but symptoms were present prior to age 13). Teachers must agree to present the course twice.

NAMI Connection facilitators are adults living in recovery with a mental illness and must be willing to help facilitate a group for at least one year.

NAMI Family-to-Family teachers must be family members (parents, siblings, adult children, spouses or partners) of individuals who are living with mental illness. Teachers must agree to present the course twice.

NAMI Family Support Group facilitators must be family members of individuals who have mental illness and must be willing to help facilitate a group for at least one year.

Presenters for NAMI's "In Our Own Voice" are adults living in recovery with a mental illness and must agree to deliver the presentation twice.

NAMI Peer-to-Peer mentors and assistants are adults with mental illness living in recovery and must agree to present the course twice.

Submit a training application here. Contact the NAMI MS office at 601-899-9058 or email [email protected] to receive an application by mail. All trainings are simultaneous, so applicants can only apply for one training program. The deadline for applications is March 6.