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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, D e c e m b e r 10, 2025
50¢N
Parish Council adopts $202M budget
152ND YEAR, NO. 9
Sgt. Justin Napier helps bring the brass during the Marine Forces Reserve Band’s Dec. 3 holiday concert in the Harbor Center.
Criminal justice agencies, mental health see major cuts
ä More photos.
PAGE 2A
BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer
In a split vote, the St. Tammany Parish Council has approved the parish’s 2026 operating budget, funding major investments in infrastructure projects but also making significant cuts to some criminal justice agencies and the parish’s mental health hub, Safe Haven. The $202 million spending plan approved Feb. 4 comes after a budget process that was not nearly as contentious as last year’s, but was still laden
ä See BUDGET, page 3A
PHOTO BY BOBBY GILBOY
Irwin Marant, photographed at the Covington Trailhead, with a statue of a saluting Ronald Reagan in the background.
PHOTOS BY MATT DOBBINS
Sgt. Henry Tibble, Cpl. James Causey and Sgt. Devin Davis got the crowd going with their ‘Bugler’s Holiday.’
Covington veteran continues to serve decades after Vietnam BY KADEE KRIEGER Contributing writer
Covington resident and U.S. Army veteran Irwin Marant keeps a box with a few pieces of memorabilia from the months he spent in Vietnam, among them a Purple Heart for being wounded in action and the Bronze Star for bravery. Now, more than 50 years after receiving those prestigious medals while convalescing as an amputee in a Japanese hospital, he’s being recognized again, this time for his work helping veterans who are struggling after returning home from service. Marant, 72, is the 2025 Veteran of the Year, designated by the Governor’s Office of Disability Affairs, and will be honored Dec. 10 during an awards ceremony at the Old State Capitol in Baton Rouge. He spent less than a year on active duty before a helicopter crash claimed his hand and part of
ä See VETERAN, page 2A
HOLIDAY
HORNS
tots to receive at Christmas and enjoying spirited holiday music — with plenty of horns, just the way we like it here — by the Marine Forces Reserve Band. The Dec. 3 concert, for the price of a new toy or monetary donation to Toys for Tots-St. Tammany,Tangipahoa and Washington parishes, took place in the Harbor Center near Slidell.
More than 150 apply to lead library system Board of Control’s three-person search the end of September to take a job with Committee begins review committee discussed aspects of the ap- the state library. The search has not been without some plication process and answered some of candidate pool pointed questions from an audience of drama: In October, it became public
BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer
A St. Tammany library board committee met recently to begin reviewing more than 150 applications board members say they’ve received from candidates interested in becoming the library system’s director. At its Dec. 3 meeting, the Library
10 or so people at the Covington library branch before going into executive session to privately discuss most of the applications. The board is seeking a director for the parish’s 12-branch library system, which has been the subject of controversy over books with LGBTQ+ themes since 2022. Former library director Kelly LaRocca resigned her position at
that the job posting for the new position was created by Connie Phillips, who had filed more than 150 challenges of material at the library, at the request of Library Board President Chuck Branton. Branton said he asked Phillips to make the job posting and that the document she made was what the personnel
ä See LIBRARY, page 3A
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