COVINGTON • FOLSOM • LACOMBE • MADISONVILLE • MANDEVILLE • SLIDELL
ST. TAMMANY
N O L A.C O M
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W e d n e s d ay, J u ly 24, 2024
LIFE
ELECTION 2024 QUALIFYING
Candidates line up for Covington, Abita council races on Nov. 5 ballot
1an
Farmer wins Newspaper of Year honors for fifth year
OFF THE FIELD
Staff report
BY BOB WARREN Staff writer
Five candidates are set to compete in two special races for open seats on the Covington City Council and Abita Town Council on Nov. 5. Meanwhile, when the three-day qualifying period ended Friday, Todd Burrall won the District E seat on the Covington City Council when no other candidate signed up for that race. The council races are the highlight of a small Nov. ä Parish takes 5 local ballot in St. Tammany planned tax Parish. The key reform item off that November ballot. election day, of course, PAGE 2A will be the intense presidential race that is setting up between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Louisiana also has six congressional seats up for grabs, as well as races for a state Supreme Court justice and a number of appeals court judge posts. The District E Covington Council seat opened earlier this year when Mark Verret won a special election for the at-large Covington Council post that opened when Rick Smith was elected to the Parish Council last October. Burrall, 46, is a commercial banker and longtime Covington resident. He has never held office before, he said. “I’m thrilled. I absolutely thrilled,” he said Friday afternoon. In the other Covington race, District B Council member John Botsford and Jerry Lee Coner qualified for an open at-large seat. Botsford is a Republican. Coner, an Independent, is a former council member who ran for an at-large seat in 2023 but withdrew after a residency challenge. That at-large seat opened when Larry Rolling was elected to the St. Tammany Parish Council last November. In Abita Springs, Regan Kelley Contois, Stewart “ManyLightnings” Eastman and Claire Carley Guidry have qualified for the race for an open seat on the Town Council. Contois is an Independent, Guidry is a Republican, and Eastman’s party is listed as “other.” The special race is being held to elect a member to the council to fill the seat of Lynne Congemi, who died in January. Contois was appointed by the council to fill the post on an interim basis. In other St. Tammany-related qualifying, Judge Allison Penzato, a Republican, was reelected to her seat on the state 1st Circuit Court of Appeal bench. And 21st Judicial District Judge Blair Downing Edwards, a Republican from Hammond, was the lone qualifier for the 3rd District, Division A seat on the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal. Incumbent Appeal Court Judge Wayne Ray Chutz is retiring.
PROVIDED PHOTO
Former Covington High star Mike Williams was an All-Southeastern Conference player and All-American at LSU. He was drafted in the first round of the NFL draft in 1975 by the San Diego Chargers.
Mike Williams is an LSU legend, but Covington is always home BY JOSEPH HALM
Staff writer
Mike Williams still has his signature smile, even if he can’t run as fast as he once did. The now 70-year-old former Covington High and LSU standout spent nine seasons in the NFL, but his favorite memories of all the games he played at the highest levels are still crystal clear. “The thing I remember most is spending time hanging with the guys,” Williams said. “I just like being around people. That was STAFF PHOTO BY JOSEPH HALM the main thing.” Former Covington High, LSU and NFL So who is Mike Williams? standout Mike Williams in the front yard of The simple answer is he’s someone who his Covington home likes helping people where he can and inserting a quick joke into any conversation. But despite his efforts to stay behind the The more detailed response is that he scenes, his athletic ability prevented that. is someone who had a historic career at Everyone still stops and waves if they see LSU — he was one of the first two players to break the LSU football color barrier and him outside. “I played baseball and football, but when was LSU’s first Black player to earn AllI picked up a football, that was it. When I American status. But he always shied away from the public started playing football in high school, that took away baseball,” Williams said. “Footeye, preferring to spend time with family and friends. ball was just something that came natural. “He had a wonderful career at LSU and in Then, as I got bigger, I learned to play a the NFL,” his daughter, Michelle Williams, little better.” said. “Off the field, he’s just very humble He didn’t start playing football until juand quiet and generous about giving back nior high, but by the time he was a senior to the community. He doesn’t like a lot of at- at Covington High, he finished third in the tention. He does it behind the scenes. That’s ä See WILLIAMS, page 4A just his way.” Editor’s note: “Where are they now?” The St. Tammany Farmer asked that question about some of the best athletes in local sports history and then we went out and found them. Each edition this summer, we’ll reacquaint readers with one of these familiar faces. We’ll take a deep dive into the success stories that began in parish youth leagues, continued at local high schools and then colleges near and far. Many of these homegrown talents played professional sports, too, reaching the pinnacle of athletic achievement. This week, we feature former Covington High, LSU and NFL star Mike Williams.
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For the fifth consecutive year, the St. Tammany Farmer was named Newspaper of the Year among the state’s weekly publications by the Louisiana Press Association. Results of the organization’s Better Newspaper Contest were announced during the LPA’s annual meetings held July 19 at the City Club in Baton Rouge. The contest honored Louisiana’s top journalists and work produced in the 2023 calendar year. The award continued the Farmer’s run of excellence since being purchased by the Georges Media Group in 2017. The newspaper, which is headquartered in Covington but is the official journal for the entire parish, is celebrating its 150th year of publishing in 2024, making it the oldest business in the parish. “I can’t think of a more fitting way to honor the Farmer’s long history than being honored yet again with the Louisiana Press Association’s Newspaper of the Year Award,” said St. Tammany Farmer editor Andrew Canulette, who joined the newspaper’s staff shortly after it was purchased by locally owned Georges Media. “This was no doubt the most satisfying of the five times we’ve won this award,” Canulette said. “We have a tremendous team — a handful of full-timers and more than a dozen freelance writers and photographers. They all put their hearts into this job and just about every single one of them won an individual LPA award this year. For them to be rewarded for their hard work informing, educating and entertaining our readers makes me extremely proud. “And it goes without saying that winning first place in General Excellence is an extreme point of pride.” Award winners this year include: n St. Tammany Farmer sports editor Joseph Halm who won six individual honors at this year’s meetings. Halm’s piece on Northshore High School and the city of Slidell honoring LSU baseball player Brayden Jobert after the Tigers won their seventh national championship won first place for best sports story. A piece Halm penned on longtime volleyball coach Danny Tullis making a big career move following the tragic death of his son took third place in the same category. Halm also won second place for Best Sports Column and swept the top 3 sports in the Best News Video category. n Freelance reporter/columnist Jessica Saggio won three awards, including the top two spots in the Best Feature Story category. Her piece on a boy trying to win a national competition for having the best mullet haircut to raise awareness for heart disease won first place. Another on a young girl starring in a touring Broadway production of the Tina Turner story placed second. Saggio also won the coveted Sam Hanna Award for producing the year’s Best Regular Column. Her sometimes humorous, sometimes
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