ABITA SPRINGS • BARKER’S CORNER • BUSH • COVINGTON • FOLSOM • LACOMBE MADISONVILLE • MANDEVILLE • PEARL RIVER • SLIDELL
Farmer The St.Tammany
Scan here to sign up for our weekly newsletter, The North Shore Report
S T TA M M A N Y FA R M E R.N E T
ELECTION 2025
Tammany schools’ $325M bond issue heads to Saturday ballot
|
W e d n e s d ay, A p r i l 30, 2025
from da’ pot at the Hospice House Crawfish Cook-Off
PROVIDED BY ST. TAMMANY PARISH
A rendering of the 25-acre nature park the parish has planned for an area abutting the Tammany Trace in Lacombe.
Parish begins construction of 25-acre park on Bayou Lacombe
BY ANDREW CANULETTE Staff writer
ä See BALLOT, page 2A
BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer
PHOTOS BY MATTHEW DOBBINS
Brian Richard, of Team Rotary, pours hot boiled crawfish into a serving boat, ready for the crowds to consume at the 20th annual Hospice House Crawfish Cook-Off.
Slidell’s Fritchie Park packed for 20th annual fundraiser BY ANDREW CANULETTE
Staff writer
The 20th annual Hospice House Crawfish Cook-Off was as big a hit as it’s ever been when thousands of people packed into Slidell’s Fritchie Park on April 26 for the all-you-care-to-eat affair. Turns out, no surä More photos. prise, that folks in south Louisiana can PAGE 2A eat a lot of crawfish. More than 40,000 pounds of mudbugs (that’s 20 tons, y’all) were boiled up for the hungry crowds. Several dozen teams did their own boils, and the secrets in the seasoning, the soaking and all manner of surprises made each batch taste unique. Still, this was a down-home crawfish boil — the kind the people of St. Tammany Parish are accustomed to attending and one the teams in the Hospice House cook-off do so well. There were a variety of ice-cold drinks to wash down the spicy crawfish, as well as
Nick Winters sucks da’ head. bites for folks with different tastes. Throw in good music and good friends and this year’s Hospice House Crawfish Cook-Off was one for the ages. For more information on the Hospice Foundation of the South, its Hospice House, the cook-off and more, go online to thehospicehouse.org.
Slidell acquires Robert Boulevard, $3.687M from state Move allows city to make long-awaited improvements
BY ANDREW CANULETTE
Staff writer
Slidell Mayor Bill Borchert announced last week that the state recently transferred to the city ownership of almost the entire stretch of La. 1091, better known as Robert Boulevard. The recent acquisition includes the portion of Robert Boulevard from East Pinewood Drive to Borchert Gause Boulevard. The state Department of Transportation and Development also gave the city $3.687 million to assume ownership of the
FILE PHOTO PROVIDED BY SLIDELL POLICE DEPARTMENT
The northern-most intersections on Slidell’s Robert Boulevard long have been some of the most difficult to navigate in the city. Slidell recently acquired ownership of the boulevard (also known as La. 1091) from the state and was granted $3.687 million in the deal. City leaders are hoping to make improvements along the busy roadway, including installation of a traffic circle at the entrance of John Slidell Park, only one ä See SLIDELL, page 2A block away from where the automobile accident in this photo occurred in 2014.
At a wooded enclosure not far from where he used to jump into the bayou from a cypress tree as a kid, Joe Impastato, now a St. Tammany Parish Council member, joined other parish officials on April 25 in announcing a new 25-acre park along Bayou Lacombe that will be accessible to pedestrians and cyclists via the Tammany Trace recreation trail. The new park, Impastato said, will ensure the area remains a place for kids to hang out. “This gives them access to the bayou in a healthy, wholesome, safe way,” he said. The 25-acre, $2 million park is the culmination of two decades of work by the parish. It will include a kayak launch, gardens, boardwalks through wetlands and a historic caboose on a rail spur — a relic left over from when the Illinois Central Railroad operated a rail line along what is now the Tammany Trace. The groundbreaking was a day before the 30th anniversary of the Tammany Trace, a significant driver of tourism for the parish. As Louisiana’s first Rails-to-Trails conversion, the 31-mile Tammany Trace traverses much of the parish from downtown Covington to the edge of Slidell and attracts about 300,000 runners, walkers and cyclists annually, parish officials say. Based on community input, the parish decided to make the park only accessible via the Tammany Trace or the bayou, Cooper said. The nearby Bayou Lacombe boat launch off Main Street will remain accessible via car. “This property celebrates the rich history of Lacombe and offers passive recreational activities, while preserving the surrounding natural environment,” Parish President Mike Cooper said at the groundbreaking. The area was long home to Choctaw Indians, former Parish Councilman Al Hamauei said. Later, in the mid-20th century, the area was used for industrial purposes. Shells dredged from Lake Pontchartrain were placed on barges and brought up the bayou and sold as building material, Hamauei added. In a nod to that industrial past, the new park will have an Industrial Discovery Zone, as well as three other themed areas, Cooper said. Impastato said he helped secure a deal for the parish to buy the new park’s property from the previous owner in the early 2000s, when he first served as a council member. Then Hamauei, who followed Impastato as the District 7 council member from 2006 to 2012, helped acquire a grant to purchase the property when he was in office. But it was not until about two years ago that the parish found the money to build the park. Another District 7 council member, Jimmie Davis, who served between 2020 and 2024, said he helped acquire a State Parks matching grant. Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, who was not at the event, was also involved in acquiring the grant, Davis said. Now, with $1.1 million in state and federal grants and $1 million in parish dollars in hand, parish officials say the park will take only about a year to construct.
SAVE $ 20 2
SAVE $ 02 1 LB
SAVE
SAVE $ 00 3 LB
PER BAG
2PER PACK
$ 29
perfect for
— ONLY —
— ONLY —
— ONLY —
SOLD IN A 10 LB PACK AT $5.70 EACH PREVIOUSLY FROZEN
Chicken Leg Quarters Limit 5 packs
50¢N
BOILIN’ HOT
Slidell Memorial’s $51.5M bond issue also up for vote St. Tammany Parish voters will decide Saturday on a $325 million bond issue the public school system seeks to fund major renovations at 23 of the district’s 55 schools, upgrade security and technology, expand its bus fleet and build a Discovery Center in Lacombe to expand STEM and robotics education. Six other items are on the ballot in various parts of the parish, but the school initiative is the only one open to all parish voters. Each of the parish’s 170 precincts will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. The school system’s bond issue would be the largest in the district’s history. The proposal involves no tax increases but continues a 13.7-mill property tax that would back the bonds needed to pay for the work. Schools Superintendent Frank Jabbia said if the proposal passes, the district can fast-track capital improvement projects to address critical needs across the system and potentially save millions of taxpayer dollars. Some $251 million would fund major renovations at schools that haven’t seen substantive upgrades in decades, Jabbia said. A major part of the plan is to eliminate portables classrooms from parish campuses. Of the remaining bonds that would be issued, approximately $32 million would fund upgrades to school safety, security and computer systems. Another $12 million
151ST YEAR, NO. 29
57
¢
LB
¢ 97 Pork Sirloin SOLD IN BAG
Roast
LB
SOLD IN 5 COUNT BAG ONLY 32¢ 32¢ PER AVOCADO!
Hass Avocados Limit 2 Bag
1
$ PER 59BAG
fish
tacos!
FARM RAISED
Fresh Tilapia Fillet
visit rouses.com for more weekly ad specials!
— ONLY —
4
$ 99 LB
Prices good at all New Orleans, Gretna, Kenner, Metairie, Marrero, Slidell, Mandeville and Covington stores April 30th - May 7th, 2025.