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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, J a n u a ry 28, 2026
50¢N
152ND YEAR, NO. 16
Grocery SLIDELL REMEMBERS operator buys
PHOTO BY MELINDA RAWLS HOWELL
Audubon Regional Library System Director Trevor Collings was selected on Jan. 21 to be the next director of St. Tammany Parish libraries.
St. Tammany Library system has new director
MLK
Board offers job to Trevor Collings
BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer
The next director of the St. Tammany Parish Library system is coming from a few parishes to the west. The St. Tammany Parish Library Board of Control unanimously selected Trevor Collings on Jan. 21 to lead St. Tammany’s 12-branch library system, which employs more than 100 people and has an annual budget of more than $13 million. Collings currently is director of the Audubon Regional library system in St. Helena and East Feliciana parishes, where he recently oversaw the conversion of a Presbyterian church into a library branch in Clinton. The library board voted to offer Collings a salary of $120,000. Collings accepted and will begin Feb. 23. Collings will replace former St. Tammany Library Director Kelly LaRocca, who left the position in September to take a job at the state library. In a news release from the parish library system on Jan. 22, Collings said he was grateful for the board’s confidence and excited to begin the job. Collings was one of four finalists the library board interviewed on Jan. 21. Collings chose to have his interview with the board conducted in private, which was an option given to all four finalists, but in a statement to the public after the interview, he said, “I applied for this position because I’ve always respected this library system and the community it serves.” Collings and another candidate, Washington Parish library director Sonnet Ireland, were both from Louisiana, while one candidate
ä See LIBRARY, page 3A
PHOTO BY GRANT THERKILDSEN
Hundreds of Slidell residents took part in events held in Slidell Jan. 19 to honor Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whose message of change through nonviolence is remembered on the national holiday bearing his name. ä More MLK commemorations. PAGE 2A
two anchor sites at North Shore Square Revitalizing mall site has vexed Slidell officials for years
BY BOB WARREN Staff writer
For years, Slidell officials have grappled with calls from constituents to revitalize the largely empty North Shore Square Mall. On Jan. 23, news broke that a well-known St. Tammany Parish grocery operator, Acquistapace’s, has purchased two of the former anchor sites in the mall. Adam Acquistapace, a member of the family that owns and operates the company, declined to release details, but he said one of the stores would operate under Acquistapace’s banner. He declined to say how much the company paid for the mall spots, which formerly housed Conn’s Home Plus and JCPenney stores. The mall is owned by Morguard, a company based in Canada that manages billions of dollars in real estate across North America. “We’ve been working on this project for about two years,” he said. “We were eyeing up the Northshore (Boulevard) corridor for a while.” Acquistapace was on stage with Slidell Mayor Randy Fandal, who broke the news during his State of Slidell speech before the East St. Tammany Business Association. “Slidell is open for business,” Fandal said, later adding that the Acquistapace development might come online by year’s end. Later, Acquistapace was reluctant to give a timeframe but said the company is working as quickly as it can. Acquistapace’s currently operates a grocery store in downtown Covington, and smaller, specialty stores in Mandeville and Slidell. The stores are popular for their large selection of cheeses, wines and liquor, in addition to run-of-the-mill groceries. Once a regional shopping hub and economic force in eastern St. Tammany, the mall has faced an exodus of stores over the past
ä See MALL, page 3A
Husband and wife king and queen of two different krewes
Clinton Sharp, King Dionysus XLI and Victoria Sharp, Queen Titan XV, stand in front of the large banner made for the party they hosted for members of both krewes, as well as family and friends. The design incorporates both of their crowns.
BY SUZIE HUNT
in September, Victoria Sharp’s name was pulled out of the proverbial hat, naming her Queen Titan XV. It is common for couples to share What is needed when a husband is chosen king of one krewe and his wife royal duties for a Carnival krewe. It is is queen of another? A monumental quite unusual in Slidell for a married amount of organization and lots of cre- couple to serve as royals in separate krewes in the same year. To commemativity. Clinton Sharp, M.D., was chosen orate the occasion, the Sharps have King Dionysus XLI at the krewe’s coroä See KREWES, page 3A nation ball in July. A few months later
Contributing writer
PHOTO BY SUZIE HUNT
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