ABITA SPRINGS • BARKER’S CORNER • BUSH • COVINGTON • FOLSOM • LACOMBE MADISONVILLE • MANDEVILLE • PEARL RIVER • SLIDELL
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S T TA M M A N Y FA R M E R.N E T
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W e d n e s d ay, N ov e m b e r 12, 2025
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152ND YEAR, NO. 5
SALUTE TO VETS
Advocates staging third Sleep Out for Vets
BY JESSICA SAGGIO Contributing writer
For 20 years, Eddie “Nighel” Anderson was homeless. Addicted to drugs and alcohol, he spent most nights under the Interstate 10 bridge in New Orleans. That was, if he wasn’t picked up and put in jail or in the VA hospital. The Vietnam veteran ping-ponged a few times between New Orleans and California, but stayed homeless nonetheless, taking up residence in loSLEEP OUT cal parks or living the streets. He FOR VETERANS on knows a thing or two about a cold night WHAT: An overnight with nowhere to go. sleep out event to The vet was highlight the struggles drafted into the of homelessness, with Vietnam conflict at speakers, food, activities just 17 years old, and has never been and vendors; also a the same since. He fundraiser for the host came home to what nonprofit — Project felt like an ungrateBlessings All Year Round ful country that organization and home scorned him for his participation, defor veterans. spite it being against WHERE: American his will. And what Legion Post 16, 2031 he saw in Vietnam Ronald Reagan Highway, scarred him. “They took a 17 Covington year-old kid from WHEN: Nov. 22-23 the projects and 11 a.m. – 6:30 a.m. sent him to the junHOW MUCH: Free gle to kill people,” admission, but said Anderson. “You had little kids that donations welcome MORE INFO: Facebook. would grab your leg com/ProjectBlessings33 and then they blow up. You think you’re doing something good for your country and they mistreat you.” He developed PTSD and schizophrenia, and nightmares took over. There were few resources at the time, and he eventually turned to drugs to self-medicate. He left a wife and two children in the path of his self-destruction. “Being Black and being a junkie out there, nobody cares about you,” he said. That was until four years ago. While completing a rehabilitation program, the now 75-year-old vet met Tiffany McGaryCyprian, founder and operator of the Project Blessings All Year Round organization and home for veterans. The rehab program
One of the more popular items handed off this float was, no surprise, small American flags.
Mandeville parade honors American heroes BY ANDREW CANULETTE
PHOTOS BY MATTHEW PAYZANT Staff writer
ABOVE: The Mandeville High School U.S. Marine Corps Junior ROTC unit presents the colors. From left, are Emma Jones, Gavin Nadeau, Cillian Kinney and Brantleigh Jones. RIGHT: The fun-loving 610 Stompers bring their groovy dance routines to the lakefront on Nov. 8.
Organizers couldn’t have asked for a better day than the one they got Nov. 8 for the annual Mandeville Veterans Day Parade. Everyone attending was greeted by postcard-perfect weather and a ä More photos from the host of marching units (rangparade. PAGE 2G ing from ROTC groups to the vivacious and outrageous 610 Stompers), as well as scores of veterans who were both in the parade and scattered around oak-lined Lakeshore Drive. Many hands were shaken and necks were hugged as veterans of America’s armed forces were greeted by the appreciative crowd — gathered a few days before the actual date of Veterans Day (Nov. 11) so more people could attend the annual parade. A jambalaya cook-off followed, as did a concert by Rockin’ Dopsie and the Zydeco Twisters. Proceeds from food sales were dedicated to veterans causes. The parade was organized by NextOp, an organization devoted to helping recent veterans and post 9/11 service members find meaningful employment. Since 2017, the company has helped more than 1,200 local vets find work in Louisiana.
ä See SLEEP OUT, page 2A
Covington Council adopts a slimmer 2026 budget BY KIM CHATELAIN Contributing writer
The Covington City Council unanimously approved a slimmed-down $32.47 million budget for 2026 during its Nov. 4 meeting. Mayor Mark Johnson’s spending plan reflects a decrease in spending of just over $4 million from the amount approved for the current year. In his budget message, Johnson said the 2026 budget does not include new
major projects. However, that “planned pause” in government expenditures that will leave the city with a healthy fund balance. The 2026 budget estimates approximately $28.8 million in operating expenditures and about $3 million in capital expenses. Another $654,091 will go to debt service. Last November, the council approved a budget that allocated similar amounts for operating costs ($28.1 million) and debt service
Abita Meadows development wins conditional OK BY WILLIE SWETT
($646,230). But that 2025 budget included $7.9 million for capital projects. “A drive around town will reveal that our city staff is operating at 100% and that adding more projects to their plate at this time would cause a decline in the quality of work project,” Johnson said in his message. “This pause allows us to not only rebuild our coffers but also to strive for private sector quality work
More than a month after a state judge ordered Abita Springs’ mayor to jail for not allowing a controversial housing development to be built, the first phase of the development has won “conditional approval” from a town board. The Abita Springs Planning and ZonFILE PHOTO BY ALEX LUBBEN ing Commission on Oct. 30 granted conditional approval to the “final plat” A bulldozer sits on an empty lot in the Abita for phase 1 of the Abita Meadows Meadows subdivision in Abita Springs. The subdivision, meaning the developer town and the developer have been locked in a could soon seek building permits to
ä See COVINGTON, page 2A
ä See ABITA, page 2A
Staff writer
dispute over the subdivision that has bounced around the courts.
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