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
|
W e d n e s d ay, O c t o b e r 22, 2025
152ND YEAR, NO. 2
50¢N
FILE PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD
Randy Fandal, left, and Daniel Seuzeneau walk the route as the Krewe of Antheia parade rolls in Slidell in 2023.
Seuzeneau to be interim Slidell police chief BY BOB WARREN Staff writer
Food & Fun
Daniel Seuzeneau, the longtime spokesperson for the Slidell Police Department, will lead the department on an interim basis following the departure of Police Chief Randy Fandal, who won a special election on Oct. 11 to be mayor. Fandal recently appointed Seuzeneau as assistant chief and, per the city’s charter, the assistant chief slides into the interim chief role upon an elected chief leaving that office. Seuzeneau, who most recently was chief administrative officer of the department, will serve as chief for the remainder of the open term, which expires June 30. Both Fandal and Seuzeneau were scheduled to be sworn into their new roles on Oct. 21 at 10 a.m. at the Slidell Municipal Auditorium, which was past deadline for this edition of the St. Tammany Farmer. For coverage of the swearingin ceremonies, go online to www. sttammanyfarmer.net. Full coverage of the event will be printed in the Oct. 29 edition of the Farmer. Fandal collected 72% of votes on Oct. 11 to beat Bill Borchert, who served eight months as mayor after Greg Cromer resigned the office in January to take a job with
PHOTOS BY MATT DOBBINS
Carnival rides light up the night on the St. Margaret Mary campus Oct. 18 during Day 2 of the annual Slidell Food & Fun Fest.
The Slidell Food & Fun Fest has been a keystone event
for a few generations, and this year’s celebration, held
Oct. 17-19, again drew a crowd looking for fun with
midway rides, games, food, drink, music and much more. Known to most in east St. Tammany as the “St. Margaret Mary Fair,” the festival is an annual fundraiser for the Catholic school and church of the same name, located on Robert Boulevard on the north edge of Slidell.
Carter Anderson nearly goes horizontal inside the tumbling drum at the exit of the fun house. ä More photos. PAGE 2A
ä See CHIEF, page 4A
Reading to tiny patients as loving acts of healing
Second charter school ready to open near Covington next fall
BY DARREN COOPER
BY KIM CHATELAIN
“... Parents can feel isolated from the baby, but when (babies) hear the voices, they know somebody is out there.”
“It is demonstrated that it benefits speech and language development. We know that babies in Nothing beats the sound the NICU are at risk for of a gentle and soothing speech delay and lower voice, especially to the IQs because of medical frailest infants confined SUZANNE FRAICHE, complications, sometimes to a Neonatal Intensive St. Tammany Health System’s it takes them longer to Care Unit, commonly NICU nursing director catch up,” Fraiche said. called a NICU. “And parents can feel isoSt. Tammany Health System’s NICU Nursing Director Sulated from the baby, but when (babies) hear the voices, they know somebody is zanne Fraiche said there are studies showing that being read to at such a ä See NICU, page 4A young age has lasting impacts. Contributing writer
Contributing writer
PROVIDED PHOTO
New mom Meghan Kurtz reads to new baby Phoebe in the St. Tammany Parish Health System NICU.
ä See CHARTER, page 2A
SAVE 20 ¢
SAVE $ 52 2 LB
SAVE 3
A new charter school is taking shape near Covington. The Academy of Classical Education will open in August 2026 and serve kindergarten through eighth grades with a classical liberal arts curriculum focused on character development, academic challenge and civic virtue, school officials said. It will be under the auspices of Charter Schools USA, an education management organization that operates about 100 schools in four states, including
SAVE 72 ¢
$ 32 LB
— ONLY —
VALUE PACK USDA SELECT BEEF
7
$ 67
Boneless New York Strip Steak
LB
NEW CROP WASHINGTON STATE GROWN
Honeycrisp Apples
— ONLY —
97
¢
LB
— ONLY —
14.5 - 15 OZ CAN SELECT
Always Save Vegetables
49 ¢ Pillsbury
Green Beans, Corn or Sweet Peas - Limit 12
15.2 OZ
Cake Mix
visit rouses.com for more weekly ad specials!
— ONLY —
97 ¢
Prices good at all New Orleans, Gretna, Kenner, Metairie, Marrero, Slidell, Mandeville and Covington stores October 22nd - 29th, 2025.