CINCINNATI — Officer Lisa Johnson said it was a no-brainer for her to decide to put on a CPD uniform.

"Well, it started off, my godfather worked for the Cincinnati Police Department," Johnson said. "And my mom decided to be a sheriff's deputy, and then my brother became a Cincinnati police officer and I said, 'Well, you know, okay,' and then I became a Cincinnati police officer."

That was more than 30 years ago.

Now Johnson's daughter and younger brother are on the force.

"I get less sleep with my daughter on," Johnson said. "I got less sleep when my mom and brother were on, so it's... but I know they're serving the community."

Johnson has seen the ups and downs of the Cincinnati Police, especially back in the day when being a woman on the force was not so easy.

"I think women had to prove themselves, which I had no problems doing because I was better with some of the guys," she said. "Okay, so I didn't have a problem with that. But I did worry for other women."

Things are different now. Women currently make up about 22% of the department. And women within the CPD have risen in the ranks.

"It's an amazing job. I've been doing it for 30-plus years and have not regretted one single day of it," Lt. Col. Terri Theetge said.

Theetge is the executive assistant chief. This week she and other department leaders signed a pledge to have 30% of the department be women by 2030.

"This is more than just stepping up our game to recruit women," Theetge said. "This is also about retention, promotion, and just how we utilize women throughout the police department."

Nationwide, 104 police departments have made the same pledge in partnership with New York University. In addition, a study conducted by the university shows that departments filled with women have higher rates of public trust.

"Research has shown that women use force less often than men," Theetge said. "Women get less citizen complaints than men do. And yeah, I think it's the maternal instinct. We just approach a scenario from a different angle than men do-- not that the men's angle is wrong. Just different. That's all."

The pledge includes sharing data and working with NYU's School of Law to garner more women into law enforcement.

Interested CPD applicants can browse opportunities here.

A critically ill inmate at the Campbell County Jail has been granted conditional release — a move that allows his family, for the first time in almost a month, to receive updates on his condition.

The news they’re getting is worrying. Pierre Taylor is in a medically induced coma, and his release was granted “for end-of-life medical reasons,” according to court documents. Knowing that is still better than weeks of nothing.

“Getting direct updates now is just a complete relief,” said fiancee Dajah Bishop, who spent much of January hunting for information about Taylor’s well-being. “We are just working together just to make sure that he knows he is loved by so many in his community and his family.”

FROM JANUARY: 'No one knows where he is': Hospitalized inmate's family fights for answers

Taylor, 38, caught COVID-19 at the jail in early January and quickly slipped out of reach for Bishop, his daughter and even his attorney. For weeks, their search for answers produced only dead ends and outdated information.

No one could tell them how sick he was. No one could tell them where he was being treated.

They might not have known he was hospitalized at all without a phone call from another inmate.

“Nobody wants to be fearful every second of the day, just being concerned about a loved one that is incarcerated and not understanding and knowing what they are going through,” Bishop said.

She and Taylor’s attorney, Ben Dusing, spoke to WCPO on Jan. 26. Shortly afterward, U.S. Marshals told Dusing he could file a motion to have Taylor released on conditional bond, which would allow his loved ones to visit him virtually and get updates on his status in the hospital.

Judge David L. Bunning granted the motion soon after it was filed.

“He used the word ‘compassion,’” Dusing said. “There was also legal grounding for it. He wasn't overriding the law, but the relief that I saw was the type of relief that would have never been granted in a typical situation but for the medical circumstances.”

The news Taylor’s circle received when it was granted was harrowing: At one point, while they struggled for information, he had been given 12 hours to live. He survived but remains in a coma.

The motion granting Taylor’s conditional release limits the number of people who can receive updates on his condition and conduct virtual visits with him. If he regains consciousness and his health improves, he could return to jail. Still, Dusing said, it was an important and extraordinary recognition of Taylor’s humanity.

“It’s an institutional failure,” he said of the original information blackout. “You can’t really blame the Marshals. They have to follow the rules. It’s an instance of people kind of putting humanity in substance over form. … We have to rely upon good old-fashioned things like kindness, humanity, compassion, and just a sense of solidarity and collectivization of these governmental actors where we haven’t in the past.”

And despite the fact that she’s now got access to the most important information about Taylor’s health, Bishop doesn’t know what’s next. She said she’s proud of herself for fighting as hard as she could on his behalf, and she wants to encourage other inmates’ families to do the same.

“There just needs to be more compassion around the board, but at the same time, for your family, go hard,” she said. “Go as hard as you can until you find out what is going on.”

CINCINNATI — The thought of going back into lockdown is enough to put anyone on edge again after 16 months of constant vigilance.

There’s no immediate threat that people in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky will be ordered to once again mask up — but Los Angeles County residents in California are starting on Saturday, and other countries continue to implement localized lockdowns in response to pop-up outbreaks.

The Los Angeles mandate is sparking conversation across the country: Will it happen where you live?

Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff of the Ohio Department of Health said it’s difficult to predict whether case numbers and death will rise to levels requiring dramatic action.

“I think we’re in a very different position than we were in as we were heading into last fall,” he said. “We had no vaccine available as we were heading into last fall, and now … when we look at those 18 and older, almost 60% of Ohioans have begun the vaccination process, and when we look at those 65 and older, the numbers are better than 80%. We have a lot of good protection there.”

For now, it’s unlikely. The Ohio Department of Health declined to answer questions about whether officials were considering another lockdown.

But even the thought of backtracking into stricter quarantine measures can be anxiety-inducing, said psychologist Dr. Ashley Solomon. She believes people all over the world are living with “pandemic fatigue,” a state of mental and emotional overstimulation that comes from enduring a yearlong global crisis.

“Our alert systems are jacked up to high, and we’re looking out for any sign that we could be going backward, whether or not that’s actually true and going to happen,” she said. “It’s actually going to take some more work to work through the anxiety that’s been brought on to this pandemic and the trauma that so many of us have experienced.”

Solomon recommends practicing self-care and challenging anxious or catastrophizing thoughts when they appear. Vaccination and good hygiene stop the spread of COVID-19 and can help prevent another lockdown. Worrying doesn’t.

A Black-owned yoga studio is a rare find in Cincinnati — so rare that it pushed a local woman to create her own in Madisonville.

InoarG Yoga was opened in February by certified yoga instructor Blu Cauthen.

“InoarG, it directly means movement towards purification within, and that’s my goal here — for us, especially, because we need it,” she said Friday.

Cauthen said she opened the studio out of a need for peace during a stressful time in her own life.

"I didn’t have any time to do anything except work, work, work," she said. "I found myself on Instagram doing the yoga challenges, and I was like, ‘Whoa, I feel amazing.'”

Cauthen believes yoga helped her learn how to center herself in times of chaos. It’s a skill she’s hoping to teach anyone who enters, especially those in the Black community.

“We don’t see enough of us doing great things, bettering ourselves," she said. "We don’t see enough of us balancing everything, so, when I think of myself, I think I can reach someone that looks like me and they can come in here and feel comfortable."

The studio is open to anyone curious about yoga. Cauthen teaches classes daily and often creates special programs based around mental and physical wellness.

“We need to learn to get better within ourselves. We need to learn to start reflecting what’s within outwardly to other people,” she said. “That is really important for us especially with everything going on in the world and in the media. This right here, we are allowed to center ourselves.”

Sundays at InoarG are "community days," when classes are offered free for people hoping to try different forms of yoga and fitness.

COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — With Father’s Day around the corner, you may still be trying to figure out how to spoil the special father in your life.

How about spoiling him with a grooming session at a new Colerain barbershop? Harper’s Barbershop and Suites is up and running in Colerain under the proprietorship of Whitney B, who also runs Whitney B Hair Studio.

“I wanted to have a nice sanctuary for the guys to kind of kick back, enjoy their services, relax and watch TV and hang out,” said Whitney B.

Harper’s Barbershop is an extension of the Whitney B Hair Studio, which sits next door on Colerain Avenue. Whitney said she was ready to expand into a space that includes everyone after 10 years of focusing on the hair care of women.

“It’s laid back,” said customer Tiontai Scott. “When you get a haircut, you just want to chill. At least I do.”

Scott was in the chair of William Mitchell, who said the barbering industry has changed over the years.

“I started off cutting hair at $10-15 and here we are today, haircuts at $40-50,” said Mitchell.

Mitchell believes the new prices reflect the intricate techniques barbers use today.

“With HD and 4K cameras, everyone wants to be flawless,” he said. “It’s not just a one-two step anymore. You gotta get in between the halves and the decimals.”

Haircuts aren’t the only thing being served up at Harper’s. Whitney B is also introducing two suites that house beauty services. Right now, one is open offering manicures and pedicures.

“Independent contractors can lease out for their leisure as long as it pertains to the industry,” said Whitney B.

To book an appointment, check out @harpersbarbershopandsuites on Instagram or whitneybhairstudio.com.

Donna Speigel is optimistic, she said Friday. The Snooty Fox, her chain of luxury clothing and furniture consignment stores, is finally on the rebound after a year of constant uncertainty.

“The first couple of weeks (after we reopened), we set records we will probably never see again,” she said. “There were thousands and thousands of pieces that came in the door, and we had lines out the door to look at everything."

Shopping in person at The Snooty Fox, which has seven locations spread throughout Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky, is an experience that can’t entirely be replicated on the internet.

"Every day is like a treasure hunt,” she said. “With all the stores, we average about 2,000 pieces a day that come in. We have customers that come in everyday because they are afraid they are going to miss something."

And that kind of shopper — the one who walks in regularly to examine the Fox’s ever-changing inventory — can even get a ride from the chain itself.

Speigel said she’s excited for the resumption of her store’s day-long bus tours, which take their paying passengers from location to location in search of hidden gems.

They’ve been popular for 16 years, she added.

“People that come in the spring will already book for the fall,” according to Speigel.

Now, it’s safe to start them again.