ABITA SPRINGS • BARKER’S CORNER • BUSH • COVINGTON • FOLSOM • LACOMBE MADISONVILLE • MANDEVILLE • PEARL RIVER • SLIDELL
Farmer The St.Tammany
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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 u ly 22, 2026
152ND YEAR, NO. 41
50¢N
SEND IN THE CLOUDS
PHOTO BY MATTHEW DOBBINS
This recent sunset view from Oak Harbor Boulevard was blanketed by clouds, but no less beautiful.
Prep work, construction of $17.6M Slidell Police HQ could start in August BY JIM DERRY
Staff writer
The Slidell City Council approved a bid of $17.6 million to begin construction on a new site for its police headquarters and Chief Tommy Williams is hoping work will begin within the next month. Voelkel McWilliams Construction LLC, had the lowest bid of the 10 companies that submitted a bid for the project. They ranged from the winner to the high bid of $21.1 million. The new site, which also will include the city jail, will be built on Robert Boulevard near the corner of Fountain Drive. And while it will be similar in size to the current 36,000-square-foot police fa-
COVINGTON
Deputy chief sworn in as top cop
cility on Sgt. Alfred Drive in Olde Towne, everything now will be together in one complex. Along with the jail, the new building also will house more meeting rooms and offices for officers and staff. The current headquarters has been in use since 1963, and the project to replace it has been in the works for some time. The council approved the sale of up to $19.8 million worth of bonds in September 2024. “They have been working in a building that should have been torn down 20 years ago, certainly after Katrina,” then-police chief Randy Fandal, and now mayor of
Portrayed as a compassionate uniter with a badge, Kevin Collins was sworn in as Covington police chief during a jam-packed inauguration ceremony at the city’s Firehouse Events Center on July 13. The 41-year-old Collins was promoted from deputy chief to the city’s top cop following the recent retirement of former Chief MiPHOTO BY KIM CHATELAIN chael Ferrell. Collins has been with the Covington City Council President Mark Verret, right, speaks with Covington Police Department for 13 years, Police Chief Kevin Collins shortly before Collins was sworn in holding key roles in the Criminal Patrol and
ä See SLIDELL, page 2A
ä See CHIEF, page 2A
BY KIM CHATELAIN Contributing writer
July 13 .at the Firehouse Events Center. Tim Lentz, a former Covington Police chief, is in the background on the left.
New director says St. Tammany libraries are well-loved BY SUZIE HUNT
Contributing writer If you ask Trevor Collings what he likes about his new job as director of the St. Tammany Parish Library, he responds that it’s rarely dull. “Every day is different. I enjoy that because it’s always interesting,” Collings said. Since taking on the role as the
head of one of the state’s largest library systems in February, one of Collings’ challenges has included working with a bigger system than his previous job as the director of the Audubon Regional Library system in St. Helena and East Feliciana parishes. “The scale and scope are much larger. We serve a population of approximately 280,000 people, with nearly a million books and
ä See LIBRARIES, page 2A
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Trevor Collings became director of the St. Tammany Parish Library in February, and he says that directing one of the state’s largest library systems almost never presents him with a dull moment.
other items in circulation,” he said. The parish library system also has 12 local branches. He sees in this community an enthusiasm for library services that he hasn’t always seen in other areas. “One of the things that excites me most is seeing our libraries so well used and loved by the public. That’s not always the case,”
PHOTO BY SUZIE HUNT
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Prices good at all New Orleans, Gretna, Kenner, Metairie, Marrero, Slidell, Mandeville and Covington stores July 22th - July 29th, 2026.