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W e d n e s d ay, Au g u s t 27, 2025
20 years later
St. Tammany remembers Hurricane Katrina
Before Katrina. After Katrina. That’s how nearly all southeast Louisiana residents who lived here for the devastating hurricane continue to define life following one of the most harrowing events in state, if not American, history. What began as a tropical wave in the Caribbean and crossed Florida as a relatively mild Category Andrew 1 storm, grew Canulette into a Category ANDREW’S 5 monster that ANGLE filled the Gulf before slamming into the Louisiana coast near Buras on Aug. 29, 2005. By the time Katrina made landfall, it had weakened to a Category 3, with sustained winds of up to 129 mph. And still, the damage was practically incalculable, from Plaquemines Parish through St. Bernard Parish and eventually St. Tammany Parish, particularly the eastern edge of the northshore. Katrina passed just east of Slidell, pushing 20 feet of water in front of it with accompanying winds of more than 100 mph. The floodwater and winds were higher just across the state line in Mississippi, and failed levees in New Orleans allowed water to submerge the city for weeks. The situation was dire everywhere, as people suffered from a disaster
ä See ANGLE, page 3A
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Task force forms to battle child exploitation on northshore BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer
FILE PHOTO BY GRANT THERKILDSEN
Kirk Davis tears out some plaster from a wall as Stephen Short sweeps up at Brock Elementary School on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007. Brock was inundated with water during Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29, 2005, and eventually reopened in 2008.
INSIDE ä James Hartman, former Sheriff’s Office PIO, recalls Katrina moments that stick. Page 4A ä Former schools superintendent recalls devastation, but also crucial cooperation by community. Page 5A ä Mary and Eric DuBuisson reflect on how storm changed direction of their lives. Page 6A ä Former Parish President Kevin Davis says St. Tammany made good choices during recovery. Page 6A ä Ben Morris, Slidell’s former mayor, spent second term in FEMA trailer. Page 7A ä Couple builds life together in wake of Katrina. Page 7A
In response to a rising number of tips about suspected child exploitation, District Attorney Collin Sims has announced a new task force aimed at preventing child exploitation. “It’s like you’re drowning in information, and no one alone can go out there and work it,” Sims said at a news conference at the Children’s Advocacy Center’s Hope House in Covington. The task force is a collaboration of the 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, the sheriffs of St. Tammany and Washington parishes, and other state and federal partners. Murrill said the number of cyber tips that her office’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force has received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has skyrocketed in recent years, from 809 in 2013 to 13,644 in 2023. A tip might include someone possibly sharing child pornography or enticing a child to share sexual content. Normally, Sims said, after Murrill’s office receives the tips, they are directed to the appropriate local law enforcement agencies. But with the new task force, Sims’ office will also track the tips for St. Tammany and Washington parishes and help direct them to the appropriate agency. “It’s a force multiplier,” Sims said. The announcement of the new task force also comes on the heels of another task force Sims’ office is spearheading, a multiagency group created to arrest and prosecute opioid dealers. Unlike the opioid task force, which includes agencies in Tangipahoa and Jefferson parishes, the child exploitation task force is focused on St. Tammany and Washington parishes. “I think the thing that I underestimated
ä See TASK FORCE, page 2A
Library Director Kelly LaRocca Voters face changes leaving for job at state library in registration rules LaRocca’s departure follows years of political turmoil spurred by controversy over library’s collection
BY JESSICA SAGGIO Contributing writer
BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer
St. Tammany Library Director Kelly LaRocca, who successfully campaigned to renew the library’s funding source in March while navigating a yearslong FILE PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD controversy around the library’s collection, plans to leave her position for a job at the state library system St. Tammany Parish Library Director Kelly LaRocca at the end of September. “I’m looking forward to being a private citizen she said will provide a “new way to look at libraries again,” LaRocca said in a phone interview on Aug. for me — from a state perspective.” In the past three years, as the St. Tammany Library 21. “I don’t think I’ll be having as much involvement in politics — at all.” ä See LIBRARY, page 2A LaRocca will be an associate state librarian, which
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ä See CHANGES, page 2A
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Eileen deHaro can rattle off stories about disappointed voters like it’s her job, and it is, sort of. DeHaro is not only the local League of Women Voters president, she is also a commissionerin-charge for the elections department in St. Tammany Parish. This means, not only is she working at the front end educating voters ahead of time, but she’s there at the polls to help them on election day in an official capacity. The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, nonprofit American organization founded in 1920, and its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and advocating for
voting rights. DeHaro advises residents to check their voting status regularly to head off mistakes or misunderstandings, a check that is especially important in Louisiana this election cycle, where big changes in voting laws are taking effect. Always be prepared, deHaro said. She’s seen what can go wrong. Like the couple who had registered together, but only one registration went through, or the woman who got stuck at the wrong polling location for an hour waiting on a ride. Then there was the military serviceman who thought he could both register and vote on the same day. The stories could go on and on. And with the changes in voting
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