The St. Tammany Farmer 04-15-2026 by The Advocate

Scan here to sign up for our weekly newsletter,

Commandments mandate on way to full school board

BY JIM DERRY

Contributing writer

Seven weeks ago, a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the mandate of a state law requiring that all Louisiana classrooms must display the Ten Commandments. At its monthly Finance and Administrative committee meeting on April 9, the St. Tammany Parish School Board preliminarily approved a resolution that “directs the superintendent (Frank Jabbia) and administration to proceed with the implementation” of the new legal requirement

Final approval is expected to come at the full board meeting April 16, but the decision sending it through to the board didn’t come without 20 minutes’ worth of clariﬁcation, debate and hesitation.

Jabbia set the stage before any of the 13 board members present spoke on the subject

“We’re all on the same page, that we are instructed to move forward,” he said. “This is already happening across the state, and we were late responding because we needed clariﬁcation. We have received that clariﬁcation

According to Louisiana Revised Statute 17:2124, the Ten Commandments must be typed “in a large, easily readable font” on an 11-by-14 poster or framed document in each public elementary, secondary and charter school classroom.

Jabbia

In St. Tammany Parish, there are about 3,000 public classrooms

Posters were donated from a private entity to all 69 school boards across the state, and Jabbia said the school system is only allowed to use materials that have been donated

The donated posters received, which came from The Louisiana Family Forum and feature a picture of “Moses the Lawgiver” on one side and U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson on the other with the Ten Commandments in between, were the main source of debate.

“There have been many things that come across the desk of this board that we do not agree with I just want to put that out there,” committee chair Michelle Rufﬁno Gallaher said.

Several other board members followed by asking if they could ﬁnd someone local to print the Ten Commandments “without all this other stuff.”

The resolution passed, 12-0-1, with Rufﬁno Gallaher abstaining and two other board members absent, and it is advanced to next week’s full meeting for ﬁnal approval.

The board will also likely decide whether to ﬁnd outside donors to print their own posters.

“They have to be completely donated,” Jabbia stressed. “I don’t think Mike Johnson wanted his face on there, either I don’t think anyone asked him.

Jack McGuire forges path in retirement

BY SUZIE HUNT Contributing writer

In retirement, one would think Jack McGuire would want to slow down, ﬁnd an easy chair and smell the lovely roses in wife Sue’s garden. But ﬁve minutes into a conversation with the man makes it evident that his mind is still on drive and not ready for park.

The longtime Mandeville resident and former four-term City Council member, McGuire recently launched his latest nonﬁction book, “Killing the Kingﬁsh — The Huey Long Assassination.” Published through the University Press of Mississippi, it is the end product of years of research on the subject.

“When I retired from the Savings & Loan Association in New Orleans, Sue said I had to have a project so that I wouldn’t be under

ä See MCGUIRE, page 3A

TAKING FLIGHT

Jack McGuire sits in his office beneath an original portrait of Andrew Jackson painted in New Orleans during a trip commemorating the Battle of New Orleans.

BY JIM DERRY Contributing writer

Several years ago, Toby Cortez wanted to help ﬁnd a way for veterans to release stress and be able to better deal with anxiety and the aftereffects of posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, the stress of remembering traumatic events.

Enter mountain biking. And one of the better sets of trails for those interested in the sport can be found in Washington Parish in Bogue Chitto State Park, just outside of Franklinton. In fact, over the past four years, the state has transformed what used to be just “a couple of trails” into an entire park dedicated to biking. It currently holds 17 miles worth of trails with areas for competitive biking, that include a pro-jump park, a slope-style course, En-

PHOTO BY SUZIE HUNT

PHOTOS BY MATTHEW DOBBINS

Shayann Scartino puts in the speed to get her beautiful dragon kite in the air.

Getting a kite into the air

TRAIL

Continued from page 1A

looking to get away from the everyday hustle and bustle.

That’s why so many veterans ﬁnd it a perfect spot to visit

My father-in-law is a veteran of Vietnam, and I saw how much it was affecting his life and his spouse and everyone,” said Cortez, development coordinator for the Northshore Off-Road Biking Association, who led development of the mountain bike trails at Bogue Chitto Cortez said it was clear that something needed to be done for the vets, and mountain biking seemed just the answer

“Mountain biking is absolutely perfectly suited to be able to bring anyone no matter whether you’re able-bodied or disabled out here and improve their mindset. It can do so in multiple ways, whether it be through companionship and camaraderie or with the sport itself. You ﬁnd another mission. You just have another purpose in life when you get together and ride.” Marine Corps veteran Carlos Pearce, of Covington, has become a regular and is involved in helping coordinate trips for other vets Last month, he assisted in bringing in a group of adaptive riders, many of whom have lost the use of their legs. With the expansion of the park, it is now open to those who have special bikes and need wider trails.

After they’re done riding for the day Pearce said group members all huddle together to “cut up, cry, laugh” or do whatever else they want to do.

“We have all lived a different life than most, and it’s really tough to relate when you haven’t gone through it,” Pearce said “When you’re able to talk to someone who knows the pain — things you’ve seen and things you’ve done and things you feel — it’s a relief.”

How it began

In 2019, after deciding that developing trails suitable for mountain biking was the way to go, Cortez rounded up some

investors and called on Lt. Gov Billy Nungesser to expand the trails at Bogue Chitto. It wasn’t a hard sell.

By 2022, the expansion began with help of a state bill that initially allocated $938,000 to the construction and design, along with about $500,000 in private investments. Since then, almost $4 million in public and private money has been spent on the trails and amenities.

Attendance at the park has nearly doubled on an annual basis over the past half-decade, from about 70,000 per year to an estimated 140,000-plus in 2025.

“When I took ofﬁce, they were going to close seven state parks because we didn’t have the money I knew I had to do something long-term,” said Nungesser, who, as part of his duties, heads the state’s Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. “We started looking at private-public partnerships to bring more people in, but also to make some money

“… If you look at those trails on the weekends, you’ll see mountain bikes, horse trailers and all kinds of things,” he said. “It has changed that community.”

In addition to increased park attendance and beautiﬁcation of the area, the support of local businesses has also signiﬁcantly increased, and the park has become “an educational resource” for the local homeschooling community

Families now use the area as a dynamic outdoor classroom to teach their children about nature, all the while being able to use the public area as an open source of physical education.

Cortez has made it his mission to continue to build Bogue Chitto into a multi-faceted destination that serves the region. Still, it is a respite for veterans that Cortez seems to enjoy most.

“It’s a pretty simple formula: You come, you ride, we cook, you eat,” he said.

To get more information on the Northshore Off-Road Biking Association and the biking trails, visit www.norbatrails.org. More info on Bogue Chitto State Park can be found at the Louisiana State Parks website, www.lastateparks.com.

Developer seeks to build up to 154 homes in Covington

BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer

A developer is planning to build up to 154 single-family homes in a new subdivision off the busy U.S Highway 190 in Covington, the latest major new housing development in a growing area of Covington that comes as St. Tammany Parish faces larger pressing questions about where and how to grow

The proposed 34-acre neighborhood, dubbed “Piney Ridges Estates,” would be near Penn Mill Road close to Covington High School, according to documents submitted to the parish laying out the conceptual plan for the project. The homes would be on a quarter-acre lots, include central sewer and water lines, and the neighborhood will feature a playground and dog park.

The conceptual plan recently received unanimous approval from the St Tammany Parish Council, meaning the developer, Derek Pelloquin of Precision Developments, based in Carencro, can now move on to the engineering phase.

The Piney Ridges Estates plan is the ﬁrst new housing development the council has had to consider since the release of a major housing study that found the parish needed to build up to 17,300 homes by the end of 2030 to keep up with population and job growth.

After decades of growth, officials in recent years have become wary of approving new housing as residents complain that growth has outpaced the area’s infrastructure, leading to traffic and flooding issues.

Pelloquin ﬁrst sought approval for the subdivision’s conceptual plan from the parish in 2025, but the Planning and Zoning Commission denied it and the developer did not win enough votes from the parish council to overturn it on appeal

The developer and property owner then sued in the 22nd Judicial District Court, arguing the denial was arbitrary and not based on health, safety or welfare concerns, court records show The parish never ﬁled a response to the lawsuit, but Pelloquin said his attorney had multiple conversations with the parish’s attorney after the lawsuit. A lawyer for the parish, Emily Couvillon, declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

In February 2026, the conceptual plan came back before the planning commission and this time it unanimously approved it, but the plan returned to the council after a local environ-

mental group, Northshore Riverwatch, appealed that decision.

Investments and donations

Pelloquin said in all, he planned to invest an estimated $10 million for the subdivision to be ready for homes to be constructed on it. That would include paying for sewer and water roads, electrical infrastructure and a retention pond.

He also said he was donating over two acres to the parish for a future ﬁre station on U.S. 190 and Penn Mill Road.

Pelloquin said that after the conceptual plan is approved, he will conduct a drainage study and will also seek approval from the Department of Environmental Quality for the subdivision’s sewage plans. He aims to use the private utility Magnolia Water for sewer and water service.

Engineering studies generally begin after a conceptual plan is approved, said Planning and Development Director Ross Liner

After the engineering phase is over, the issue could appear again before the council. Pelloquin said he would be spending $480,000 in engineering on the project.

Arguing before the parish council on April 7, Northshore Riverwatch Executive Director Matthew Allen warned of potential flooding and pollution from the subdivision. He said around 70 of the homes in the subdivision would be in the ﬂoodplain, which has seen six major ﬂoods in the last four decades, and raised concerns about the subdivision’s sewerage discharge

into a nearby tributary of the Tchefuncte river

Around a dozen people, including some potential future neighbors, also came to the council to lodge their opposition to the project, but did not speak.

While some council members expressed concern about ﬂooding in the area on Thursday the council appeared open to the developer’s arguments that the subdivision was still in the early stages.

“This is a concept plan,” said Council member Martha Cazaubon, whose district the development would go in. Pelloquin may ultimately ﬁnd he cannot put in as many homes as proposed, she said, something he said was likely

The discussion comes amid larger conversations among parish ofﬁcials about how to balance the demand for growth in the parish with residents’ concerns about ﬂooding, drainage and inadequate infrastructure.

There are a handful of other subdivisions that have been built on Penn Mill Road near U.S 190, including Simpson Farms, Cazaubon said. Another, called Vincent Heights, is under development.

“It is a dense area, but it’s on a major highway,” she said in an interview

There was also an unsuccessful plan to build hundreds of homes on hundreds of acres in the nearby Goodbee area. Other nearby development ﬁghts have involved even more extensive litigation, such as the Covington Trace Ridge Apartments that that developer later dropped.

PROVIDED PHOTO BY NORTHSHORE OFF-ROAD BICYCLE ASSOCIATION

Louisiana military veterans ride the Bogue Chitto Mountain Bike Trail as a source of healing and reconnection that offers therapeutic benefits reaching well beyond physical fitness.

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD Material was ready for construction for a home in north Covington in September 2013.

PHOTOS BY MATTHEW DOBBINS

With some help from dad, Craig, Genevieve Bilgo is learning how a kite interacts with a bit of wind while play outside Lamb of God Lutheran Church in Slidell.

During Genevive Bilgo’s first lessons, dad Craig shows her how the all-important string helps guide her kite.

Look! Genevieve Bilgo has her kite up after lessons from her dad while the two attend a kite-flying event hosted by Lamb of God Lutheran Church on April 11.

Major ﬂood work getting attention in Mandeville

BY KIM CHATELAIN

Contributing writer

A major infrastructure project along the western side of North Causeway Boulevard in Mandeville has lots of motorists along that busy main thoroughfare wondering what’s going on. Weeks ago, several trees and a chain-link fence were removed from the public right-of-way between U.S. 190 and the service road, making way for heavy construction equipment and lots of large cement pipes being buried as part of the work. It’s all a part of a $9.85 million project designed to alleviate ﬂooding along and around La 22, a busy east-west roadway that bisects U.S. 190 in the heart of Mandeville.

At its meeting April 9, the

Mandeville City Council got an update on the project from Public Works Director Keith LaGrange, who said the work is now in full swing. In addition Mayor Clay Madden posted a video on social media to curb the public’s curiosity The project involves upgrading the subsurface drainage system along the La. 22 corridor from Dalwill Drive to North Causeway Boulevard, then south along North Causeway to Bayou Chinchuba. Larger pipes — ranging in diameter from 24 inches to 72 inches — are being installed to improve the ﬂow of storm water from La. 22. Most of the pipes will be 72 inches, city ofﬁcials said Madden said the project will add substantial drainage capacity to greatly benefit businesses and

neighborhoods along and near La. 22.

While work is currently being done along U S. 190, crews will soon be moving onto the La. 22 portion of the project. Much of the work along La. 22 will be done at night so as not to negatively impact traffic ﬂow, Madden said. Richard Price Contracting Co., of Denham Springs, was awarded the construction contract. The state Ofﬁce of Facility Planning and Control is funding 75% — roughly $7.39 million of the $9.85 million cost, with the city covering the rest. The U.S. 190 work necessitated clearing underbrush from the tree line along the roadway At least two dead trees and six pine trees were also removed to clear the way for the drainage work, Madden said.

Madisonville moves ahead with water system work

BY JIM DERRY

Contributing writer

After many months of talking and debating, the Madisonville Town Council took the ﬁrst steps toward building a new water tower and well.

The council voted 4-0 on April 8, with Louis Ogle absent, to move forward with a plan for the Baton Rouge engineering ﬁrm of Forte & Tablada Inc. to begin designing a new water well to replace the town’s dying south well. Unlike past meetings, there was almost no debate and just a few questions for project leader Bianca Hillhouse, who represents Forte & Tablada. The initial plans were approved at a price of $165,300.

Hillhouse told the town their application with the state through the Local Government Assistance Program for a potential 100% loan forgiveness grant was not accepted But there are still high hopes of winning approval of a different grant that would pay 49% of the total cost of replacing the well and tower If that goes through, the town would be on the hook for about $4.6 million of the expected $9 million cost of all the work to be done.

After discussion, Pelloat said he hopes the budget can then be amended as necessary and all but be completed by the May meeting before gaining ﬁnal approval in June for the July 1 start of the next ﬁscal year Madisonville has two water wells, both about 60 years old. The north well is running near its original capacity of 490 gallons per minute; however, the south well, located off the 1000 block of Pine Street, is seeing its output reduced by about half of its original capacity

One of the improvement phases would also include replacing the piping, which ofﬁcials said would ﬁx the town’s water issue of excess manganese a hard, brittle metallic element that is good for humans in small amounts, but can be especially harmful to toddlers and infants in larger quantities.

All members of the council publicly say there’s no question that the south well must be replaced, with the only real debate stemming from where the money will come from. That can now be debated through the introduction of the proposed budget later this month.

MCGUIRE

Continued from page 1A

her feet all the time,” McGuire said of his wife. “After reading four or ﬁve books out there about Long’s assassination, I found them to be incorrect on a lot of things. I decided it would be a good project to research.”

As the author of “Win the Race or Die Trying: Uncle Earl’s Last Hurrah,” a chronicle of Louisiana Gov Earl K Long’s last campaign, McGuire is not averse to examining historical subjects. For his latest book, McGuire filled two file cabinet drawers with old newspaper clippings, journal articles and information from other sources over a period of several years. Much of his work was done in his office, where a portrait of Andrew Jackson has pride of place over his desk. The original artwork was painted in Jackson’s hotel room during a visit to New Orleans in 1840 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans. When McGuire was ready to map out the book’s outline, he left his office and took over the couple’s oversized dining room table with all his documents and notes.

The stacks of paper became a workable chapter outline. That guide gave birth to the book that ﬁnds McGuire in the midst of a statewide book tour The upcoming schedule includes stops in Alexandria, Terrebonne Parish and an author’s presentation event at the St. Tammany Parish Library — Causeway Branch at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 7.

“I enjoy talking about Long and the background stories surrounding his time in ofﬁce, so I’m looking forward to the presentation at the library,” McGuire said.

When McGuire was ﬁnished with his research papers involving Long, he donated the collection to the State Archives in Baton Rouge last August, with the stipulation that the gift be sealed until his book was published. “Killing the Kingﬁsh” debuted in the archives in March, and his donation is now on public display there.

It’s easy to see that the McGuires are passionate about Louisiana. Their home near the Mandeville lakefront, rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina, is ﬁlled with Louisiana themed art, framed antique maps and books about people and events pertaining to their home state. The house is nestled in a garden designated as a Louisiana Certiﬁed Habitat by the Louisiana Native Plant Society, with wild irises bloomed in the front yard.

Although McGuire retired from the council decades ago, he still keeps active locally as a member of the Mandeville Civil Service Commission, an entity he helped form prior to leaving his council position.

“It used to be that employees had to support the current elected ofﬁcials, like the mayor or the police chief, or risk losing

“It used to be that employees had to support the current elected officials, like the mayor or the police chief, or risk losing their job That’s how the politics worked back then. Now all city employees must be nonpolitical. They cannot show support for a candidate or make political contributions.”

JACK MCGUIRE, author and member of the Mandeville Civil Service Commission

their job. That’s how the politics worked back then. Now all city employees must be nonpolitical. They cannot show support for a candidate or make political contributions,” McGuire said. He enjoys his involvement on the commission as it reviews cases during their monthly meetings.

Having ﬁnished his latest book, McGuire went looking for a new objective.

“Sue says I need another project for when this book tour winds down,” he said. A Master Gardener, she has a busy schedule of her own, according to her husband.

“Today, she’s working at Marigny Elementary School. She’s helping K-1 students learn to grow their own vegetables in the school’s garden. Yesterday, she and 12 other Master Gardeners were here in the kitchen making soup from ﬁve types of vegetables the children had grown. The kids are having their soup today at school,” McGuire said.

Keeping Sue’s directive in mind, McGuire is turning his sights on a logbook written by a British naval captain in the 1760s.

“The logbook is part journal, part correspondence record of Capt. William Cornwallis and his ship, the H.M.S. Guadalupe. It’s his records from 1766 to 1768 about his travels from Great Britain to Pensacola and into the Gulf of Mexico,” McGuire said. The captain was the brother of British General Lord Charles Cornwallis, who surrendered to George Washington at Yorktown in 1781. There is much in the logbook that piques his interest. Most importantly, according to McGuire, Cornwallis copied his outgoing correspondence to the admiralty in the journal before he sent it to Great Britain. He also included the replies he received for a very thorough record of events on the ship.

“There’s also more ordinary notes about odd things, like how many lashes sailors received as punishment and that the hardtack was full of maggots,” he said. “But then there are more exciting reports, like when his ship encountered pirates and Cornwallis chased them. I’d like to see if I can perhaps get a journal article written after working through the captain’s notes” McGuire said. It appears Louisiana’s maritime history from the time of the American Revolution will be ﬁlling Jack McGuire’s leisure time during this special anniversary year

Mayor Jean Pelloat stressed there already is $3 million allotted for this work from “surplus income” in the proposed 2027 ﬁscal budget, which will ofﬁcially be introduced at the town’s April 22 committee meeting, followed up with an April 29 session for public comments on budget plans.

“With surplus moneys, I am recommending we approve the budget with $3 million in there for us to move forward on the water system,” he said. “That’s why it’s listed in the capital improvement section

Some constituents have expressed concern that their water bills will rise, although the total amount or percentage of increase will remain murky until the work is done and ﬁnal costs have been tallied.

Over the course of the past several months, Pelloat has repeated what he said in January: “If you have a well that is over 50 years old, I would say its life is limited. If you get to 60, you are doing good, and we can’t expect more than 70. One day, one way or another, this will need to be done. This has been a capital outlay request for four years.”

Pelloat

Most of the pipe being installed in the ongoing flood project along North Causeway Boulevard are the 72-inch variety

PHOTOS BY KIM CHATELAIN Workers are installing 72-inch pipes along North Causeway Boulevard as part of a $9.85 million project designed to alleviate flooding in the area, especially along and around La. 22.

April brings a bounty of crawﬁsh fundraisers

BY KADEE KRIEGER

Contributing writer

Ah, the scent of fresh lemons and pungent cayenne is in the air It’s springtime in St. Tammany, and that means ﬂowers are blooming and crawﬁsh pots are boiling all over the place.

That also means several charitable organizations are once again cooking up plenty of crawﬁsh in April, banking on the public’s love affair with boils — both the culture of them and their tasty little 10-legged crustacean stars — to again lure patrons to their local fundraisers.

Crawﬁsh Cookin’ for a Cause along the Mandeville lakefront on April 12 led off a series of crawﬁsh-focused, post-Easter fundraisers that came complete with live music and water-side games for the kids.

In that one, proceeds went to Grant’s Gift Foundation — providing resources to people with special needs, especially underprivileged and disabled children and Hark ALS, which helps lessen the ﬁnancial burdens faced by families battling ALS

Anyone who missed that day of crawﬁsh and community camaraderie still has two more charitable boils happening on April 18. Just pick one, or attend both

The 15th St. Paul’s School Alumni Association Crawﬁsh Cookoff will be held at the school campus on Jahncke Avenue in Covington from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m to beneﬁt Hope House

This all-you-can-eat competition between dozens of teams will also feature live music from the St. Paul’s Jazz and Combo bands and other student bands. Advance tickets are $45 for adults, $35 for teens and $20 for ages 12-7. Children under 7 are admitted free Hope House Executive Director Thomas Mitchell said the event is a key fundraiser for his organization that facilitates forensic interviews with child victims of abuse. Hope House helped bring healing and justice to 643 children in Washington and St. Tammany parishes last year, at no cost to families.

“We’ve had the privilege of being part of this event since its inception, and it has generated meaningful support to help the children we serve recover from trauma,” Mitchell said. “Our staff and volunteers truly enjoy being part of the cookoff and connecting with the St. Paul’s community, whose continued support makes this work possible.”

The other charitable boil scheduled that day is the 21st Louisiana Crawfish Cookoff to benefit Hospice House from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Fritchie Park in Slidell. This Hospice Foundation of the South’s signature event will boast more than 60 teams boiling 40,000 pounds of crawfish and 17,500 pounds of fixings. Competitors vie for the title “Best Crawfish in St Tammany Parish” as decided by celebrity judges and competing teams Admission at the gate is $45 for ages 13 and older; children 12 and under get in free Advance purchase tickets are $40 at www crawfishtickets.com. Included with admission is unlimited crawfish and live music. Beverages and other food will also be available for purchase.

The Hospice Foundation of the South provides resources for medical and emotional care of terminally ill patients and their families. Learn more about Hospice at TheHospiceHouse.org. For information about the cook-off visit www.visitthenorthshore. com/event/slidells-all-you-can-eat-crawﬁshcook-off/6352/. But the bounty continues.

There’s still another crawfish-centric fundraiser the next weekend, on April 25, when the fifth annual Crawfish Cook-off for the Corps happens from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Pontchartrain Yacht Club in Old Mandeville.

The event, featuring crawﬁsh, hot dogs and cold beer, raises money for the Pontchartrain Yacht Club Veterans Regatta and the Marine Corps League LCpl. Justin D. McLeese Detachment 1487’s Veterans and Community Service Missions. Those attending are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets to listen to music by “DJ Dynamite Dave.” The yacht club’s new swimming pool will also be open, and there will be a bounce house for kids. For more information, visit www.sccacookoffs.com/event-details/5th-annual-crawﬁsh-cook-off-for-the-corps.

There’s something special boiling on the Mandeville lakefront April 12, but for Lynette Tullos, some serious lagniappe of the 15th annual Crawfish Cookin’ for A Cause fundraiser in Old Mandeville is the venue’s splashpad and fountain in the park.

Mudbugs doing good in Mandeville

Friends, family and lovers of mudbugs turned out to revel in the sunshine, enjoy breezes off Lake Pontchartrain and generally do some good April 12 at the 15th annual Crawfish Cookin’ for A Cause boil in Old Mandeville’s Lakeside Park. All the money raised will benefit Grant’s Gift Foundation, aimed at kids with special needs, and HARK, which helps families battling the financial burden of ALS.

Live music is part and parcel of Crawfish Cookin’ for A Cause in Old Mandeville.

PHOTOS BY GRANT THERKILDSEN

Brooklyn Rohwer and Sophia Goncaobes enjoy some crawfish on the lakefront.

Mama mia, just look at what happens when folks takes seriously Crawfish Cookin’ for A Cause on Lake Pontchartrain in Mandeville.

Lots of good things — and some

Russ Acosta with the GMFS mortgages team cooks up some crawfish.

FROM SHADOWS TO SPOTLIGHT

The St. Tammany Parish social calendar is ﬁlled with important events throughout the year We’ve asked organizers to help us highlight people who work behind the scenes to quietly make our most beloved events successful We’re calling the feature “From Shadows to Spotlight” and letting it be a reminder that not only is one of our area’s biggest events coming up, but also to remind readers the tremendous effect one caring person can have on our community. Be well! Andrew Canulette, editor, St. Tammany Farmer

PHOTO BY BOBBY GILBOY

Children’s services expanding

BY SHEILA GRISSETT Staff writer

It was a good week for children in St. Tammany when next steps were taken by two linstitutions that are focused on improving life for the parish’s younger residents.

The St. Tammany Health System ceremoniously cut the ribbon April 7 on its new 3,000-square-foot Parenting Center at 21404 Koop Drive near Mandeville, just off the Tammany Trace Trailhead.

The facility is situated near both the Trace trail and the Kidz Konnection Playground in space previously occupied by the Children’s Museum of St. Tammany, which has relocated. The space has now been expanded and refurbished to provide the Parenting Center with dedicated spaces for reception, reading, classroom learning, craft activities, active play and more.

29th St. At the April 6 event, visitors got a tour of the construction site and heard details of what it will offer its members.

Boys & Girls Clubs provide a wide variety of programs for youth in several core areas: education, the arts, character and leadership, sports and recreation, health and wellness, and workforce readiness. Their programming includes various curriculum such STEM, Project Learn, Passport to Manhood and Smart Girls.

Leslie Durio

Personal loss drives volunteer

BY JESSICA SAGGIO

Contributing writer

After uterine cancer left Leslie Durio at a crossroads, she made perhaps one of the hardest decisions of her life: Accept the reality that she couldn’t have children or adopt.

She was already in her 40s, and although she had beat the cancer, she just didn’t want to put a child in a position to have a old mom who was too old. So she made the most difﬁcult choice of her life right then and there. If she couldn’t have children, she would take all of her energy and put it into volunteering and giving back to her community

“I said, ‘You know, let’s just volunteer the heck out of everything,’” she said of a conversation she had with her husband.

And now, twenty-some years later she has done just that.

Involved in more than 20 nonproﬁts, Durio is the volunteer extraordinaire. She served as a shelter volunteer during Katrina and with the Red Cross in New York City following 9/11. She’s been the volunteer zookeeper caring for rhinos at the New Orleans Zoo, and there are few events in Covington she isn’t directly involved in. She stays busy And what’s up next on her jam-packed schedule?

Durio is the friendly face ushering guests to their seats during the Abita Springs Opry season that opened in March, something she has done for almost 20 years on Opry night in the Abita Springs Town Hall. The next Opry show is scheduled April 18. Durio started as a volunteer for the Opry in 2007 after attending the shows as a patron. She loves the music and the environment and offered to lend a helping hand after spotting a potential need. Opry management immediately accepted and put her to work as an usher She also helps hand out paychecks, she said, making her a bright spot for both guests attending and the bands and staff who get paid.

“I’m just happy to be there,” Durio said. “I feel guilty because I’m getting benefits too. I’m getting paid in T-shirts and kittens,” she joked. “I have like 20 different volunteer groups I’m in, and I love doing it, but I feel guilty I get to eat some free food at the event or meet the famous people in the concerts. And it’s like, ‘Wow I get to do all this and they’re thanking me for doing it.’” But Opry producer Bryan Gowland said her dedication is uniquely meaningful. She’s the first person guests truly interact with, and she sets the tone for the event, he said. Durio is also the one who resolves conflicts if seats get mixed up, and

ABITA SPRINGS OPRY

WHAT: Series of musical performances by bands to preserve the area’s roots by playing old-time country, Bluegrass, southern gospel, zydeco, Cajun, Irish tunes and more

WHEN: April 18, 7 p.m. –9 p.m.; doors open 5:45 p.m. WHERE: Abita Springs Town Hall, 22161 Level St,Abita Springs

HOW MUCH: $20 donation per ticket and all seats reserved. Buy in advance by calling (504) 214-7777, or buy at the door

WHO: April 18 show features Bad Penny Pleasure Makers; The Get Along Gang; The James McClaskey Rhythm Band; and Sunny Side Jazz Band

WHAT ELSE: Before the show buy gumbo, hot dogs, homemade baked treats and beverages prepared and sold outside by local nonprofits. Sometimes musicians decide to warm up on the front porch before the show; after the show, everyone invited to jam with some of the night’s musicians across the street at Abita Brew Pub.

in one case, she was ﬁrst on the spot to handle a medical emergency in the crowd.

“She is just so dependable,” Gowland said. “She’s cheerful. She’s willing to help people. She’s a very charming person who is kind I’m grateful for her.”

Although the Opry is just one of Durio’s volunteer gigs, she said it has remained a special one.

A self-proclaimed people person, she just “truly, sincerely loves meeting people,” and at the Opry she gets to meet three sets of people: staff members, guests and musicians.

“It is so fun and enjoyable. I love the music and the people,” she said. “It’s just a fun, friendly atmosphere with great music and great people. What more could you ask for?”

Outside of the Opry, she works part-time at the Covington Trailhead Museum and Visitor Center, a job she said she also adores. At 66-years-old she said she’s nowhere ready to retire, and if anything wishes she could work more. And while Durio has faced dire challenges — even the obstacle of facing her own mortality she has fully embraced life.

“This has always been my mantra: For all the money and time and love my husband and I would have put into children, we want to help by volunteering with everything in our little corner of the world,” Durio said. And that she has.

In its larger, relocated facility the center will be able to better provide local parents and children the tools they need to grow together as a family, St. Tammany Health System ofﬁcials said.

Through an array of programs — from parenting and babysitting classes to playdates and a variety of socialization events the center is dedicated to promoting conﬁdence and competence in parents, encouraging optimal development for their children and enhancing the well-being of families as a whole.

Children were welcome at Tuesday’s event, which included refreshments, selfguided tours of the center and the chance to grab some time on the nearby playground.

Meanwhile, not far away in Covington, the community got its ﬁrst ofﬁcial look at the progress of the city’s

Special guests included the new club’s namesake, Doug Brooks, president and chairman of Brooks Highway Group; St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper; and Covington Police Department Deputy Chief Kevin Collins.

“The club brings structure, fun, friends, a place where you can get help with studying and even meals,” Brooks said. “Just a little bit of security gives (the club members) a feeling that there really is a place they can go where someone cares.”

future Boys & Girls Club, the Doug A Brooks Family Donor Fund. No date has been set for the club to open, but a spokeswoman said it is expected that Boys & Girls Club members will be in the building by the start of the 2026-2027 school year in August.

It is expected to serve about 150 children ages 6 to

18, providing a permanent Boys & Girls Club home in Covington after years of using temporary space in a number of St. Tammany Parish School system buildings. The project began in September at the corner of W. 29th Avenue and N. Tyler Street, and now a colorful blue and white building stands on the site at 626 W.

The new facility will be used not just for club members after school, but for other members of the community as well. Through various local partnerships, Boys & Girls Clubs will provide professional help to those in need, such as family or behavioral services, outside of normal club hours. There are six Boys & Girls Clubs sites scattered throughout the metro Louisiana region in New Orleans, Slidell, Gretna, Baton Rouge, and soon, the club

PROVIDED PHOTO BY ELLIE RAMIREZ

namesake Doug Brooks and Angel Nelson, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Louisiana, exchange remarks April 6 on the construction site of the new club being built in Covington.

PHOTO BY MATTHEW DOBBINS

always a good time to play on the Kidz Konnection Playground, which is now

Hands-on event introduces maritime careers

BY LISA VON EBERSTEIN

Contributing writer

A smashed watermelon sent red pulp and rind splashing in every direction at the Maritime Museum Louisiana in Madisonville on March 26, becoming an unforgettable lesson in maritime workplace safety

Another watermelon was dealt the same hammer blow, but this time it was protected by a hard safety helmet. The messy demonstration by a maritime safety company drew gasps and laughter from about 200 high school students. The point was clear. On the water, safety gear can mean the difference between a close call and a catastrophe.

The demonstration was part of We Work the Waterways Maritime Interaction Day, a hands-on event designed to introduce students from high schools across St. Tammany Parish to the wide range of careers available in Louisiana’s maritime industry.

Organized through the national We Work the Waterways outreach program in partnership with Maritime Museum Louisiana, the second annual event aimed to expose teenagers to an industry many see every day but know little about. Louisiana’s maritime sector accounts for roughly one in ﬁve jobs in the state, making it one of the region’s most signiﬁcant economic drivers.

“I think it’s something they don’t realize they have in their backyard,” said Samantha Fontenot, a Slidell High School teacher who accompanied the students. Students listened to presentations and rotated through stations demonstrating vessel buoyancy, radio communications, firefighting, rescue and more, speaking directly with industry professionals about jobs both on the water and on shore.

Jim MacPherson, executive director for the museum, said a main goal of the event is to keep young talent in Louisiana.

“The We Work the Waterways program opens students’ eyes to the vast opportunities within Louisiana’s maritime industry, empowering them to see that they don’t have to leave the state to ﬁnd rewarding, high-impact careers,” he said.

Many of the students encountered maritime careers in depth for the ﬁrst time. Some said the event broadened their understanding of the jobs and gave them new options to consider for the future.

“It’s very eye-opening. It’s just something I never knew,” said Blake Washburn, an 11th-grade student who visited with his carpentry class. He said he has considered welding, electrical and plumbing for his future, but now, becoming a captain is a new possibility

underrepresented and will slowly disappear unless more high school and college students learn about it.

He said the most critical need is for manual labor

“As educational director I see Maritime Industry Day as more than an event. It’s a launch point.

—

Eleventh-grade student Zion Vance, who attended with his automotive technology class, may also switch gears. “Originally I was going to try to do welding,” he said.

“Looked into carpentry I was gonna become a cabinet carpen-

ter But I do like stuff on water I personally lived on the water. I can see myself doing a lot of the — a lot of the careers here.”

Keegan Waldrop, director of development and education at the museum, said maritime trade is

We’re connecting students directly with the industries that drive Louisiana’s economy and showing them a future they can step into today,” Waldrop said “Information — ﬁrst to contact, ﬁrst to contract. That’s very important, especially with these kids.”

Presenter Brett Sprenger, re-

Recipients and donor families to celebrate their heroes

Staff report

In celebration of organ and tissue donations throughout this month, there will be a Path of Remembrance gathering in Covington on April 18 giving donor families and recipients the chance to honor their donor heroes.

This family-friendly gathering at the LOPA Donor Memorial Park from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m. will have special events for children. It is free to attend, but registration is requested at lopa. org/path.

It will be one of ﬁve remembrances statewide in support of the almost 3,000 donor families that the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency has worked with by offering guidance, resources and compassion.

The LOPA, along with hospital and community partners, are involved in the activities as part of National Donate

Life Month in April. These tributes and ceremonies are especially poignant this year, as 2025 marked the largest number of lives saved and individuals healed through organ and tissue donation in Louisiana’s history

The year saw 336 organ donors and 838 tissue donors give the gift of life, resulting in 997 lifesaving organ transplants and thousands of tissue grafts restoring sight, mobility, and health for individuals in Louisiana and across the country The expanded use of data and recovery technologies have resulted in clinical systems that improve organ and tissue placement efﬁciency and reduce missed opportunities for donation, contributing to a 13 percent increase in the total number of organs transplanted.

“What’s most important to remember is that behind every number, is a person and a family whose decision to say ‘yes’ to donation has created a living, lasting

impact,” said LOPA President and CEO Brett Gordon He said recent achievements reﬂect a combination of innovation, collaboration and the dedication of the people behind LOPA’s mission of answering every need and every donation, every day

“Every advancement we make helps ensure more donor heroes are able to fulﬁll their decision to save lives, and that more families waiting for a miracle receive one,” Gordon said. “Clinical perfusion advancements have been particularly impactful, allowing us to better preserve organ function and expand transplant possibilities.”

Louisiana residents are encouraged to join the Louisiana Donor Registry through a variety of pathways: inperson at the Ofﬁce of Motor Vehicles, online at lopa.org, through the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, or via the LA Wallet App.

Expanded memorial to be rededicated to fallen officers

Staff report

The St. Tammany Parish Law Enforcement Memorial, recently expanded to ensure that all fallen ofﬁcers can continue to be included in this legacy of honor, will be rededicated April 20 in Covington. The memorial was established almost a decade ago to honor the men and women of courage who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty But over time, the

Law enforcement officers stand at attention during the reading of the honor roll at the St. Tammany Sheriff’s Office annual Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony at the courthouse in Covington in 2014.

gional vice president for Sabine Surveyors LTD, said outreach events like this help counter a cultural push toward four-year degrees by highlighting careers in the trades and maritime sector

“It’s like this grossly under-advertised, undermarketed opportunity for employment,” Sprenger said. “And that’s why We Work the Waterways I believe was founded, was to educate kids to kind of get more people into the maritime workforce, whether it’s as logisticians, welders, boat drivers, mechanics, admin, all kinds of things.”

THURSDAY |APRIL 16TH| 10AM St. BernardParishGov’t

120 W.Agriculture St.| Chalmette LA 70043

Preview: Wed 4/15 from 9A-3P | Chevy1500, Chevy 2500, Chevy Express Van, ChevyCobalt, Dodge KennelTruck, Ford F150’s, Ford F250’s, Ford F350’s, Ford Vans, Ford Buses, Int’lBucket Trucks, Jeep Liberty,VariousTrailers, Various Zero Turn Mowers, Rotary Cutters AirCompressor, Bobcat E80Excavator, Kobelco 210 Excavator, KubotaM4800 Tractor, KubotaM9540 Tractor, Cushman Turf Trucksters,Smithco Grader,Katolight Generator, JD Gators,Kubota Trackhoe, KubotaMX5100 Tractor, Kohler Generators, Case Drum Roller,Madvac LR50 LitterCollectors, NissanForklift, TerexLight Plant,Various Audio Equipment &More!

THURSDAY |APRIL 30TH| 9AM

CitiesofSlidell & Mandeville,Towns of Madisonville & Pearl River,STP Sheriff, TouristCommission,School Board& Clerk of Court& Others 101 Magnolia St. |Slidell,LA70460

Preview:Wed 4/29 from 9AM to 3PM| Ford SnowballVan,Ford Fusions,ChevyTahoes,FordF150’s, Ford F250’s, Ford F350 Crane Truck, Ford F350 DumpTruck, Ford E350, Ford F450, Ford F550, Ford LCFL55 Pipehunter Sewer Cleaner,Int’l 4300Dump Truck, Freightliner Vac-Con BasinCleaner, 30T 6,000-Gal Jet A Fuel Truck, Various Trailers &Other Vehicles, 40’ Shipping Containers,CAT416 Backhoe, JD 80C Excavator,Int’l Sewer Truck, JD 6415 Tractor, JD 5425 Tractors,Case590 Series Backhoes, GradallXL3100, Target Concrete Saws, Orenco FiberglassTanks, EZ-Go Golf Carts, Pressure Washers, Lawn Equipment,VariousPumps,CommercialKitchen Equip,Hafco IndustrialVacuum,Motorola Radios, Computers, Battery Backups, Monitors &Laptops,Shelves of SiliconeO-Rings,PistonSeals,Poly Seals, Buna 70 &90O-Rings,& Viton 70 O-Rings,Johnson 35-Lb CraneHook,CumminsMiniLathe, & Much More! Buyer’spremium of 10%will applytoonsitebidders &16% will applytoonlinebidders.$25 Notary FeeApplies. Visit

Students get a high five as they arrive at the We Work the Waterways Career Exploration Event at the Maritime Museum in Madisonville.

PHOTOS BY GRANT THERKILDSEN

Northshore High School student Blake Washburn learns how to use a life jacket to pull someone out to the water during the We Work the Waterways Career Exploration Event on March 26 at the Maritime Museum.

Shawn Lingawi, of Turns Services, demonstrates during the Waterways Career Exploration Event what can happen to a watermelon

or a human head

that is not covered by personal protection equipment at work.

PHOTO

A festival without chaos or noise

BY JESSICA SAGGIO

Contributing writer

While festivals are a rich part of life for many people in this region, others simply cannot take the crowds, the nonstop noise, even some of the smells and the generally frenetic pace of the festival scene

Such large events just aren’t always a good match for people on the autism spectrum who can be easily overstimulated but have no safe, quiet place to get away from it all in a public venue.

Realizing those things, lifelong best friends Cindy Taylor and Karen Milliken knew exactly how they could make a real difference in St. Tammany Parish. They needed to create an event that would both cater to those on the spectrum, while also being a destination for their families to get needed resources.

And with that, the Northshore Autism Acceptance Festival was born and will take place for the ﬁrst time April 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Mandeville Trailhead.

“There’s never been one, and there’s a tremendous need,” said Taylor, founder of the newly formed Northshore Neurodiver-

NORTHSHORE AUTISM ACCEPTANCE FESTIVAL

WHAT: Festival that celebrates and supports individuals on the spectrum and their families with appropriate fun zones, guest speakers, resource vendors and a quiet area for breaks.

WHERE: Mandeville Trailhead, 675 Lafitte St.

WHEN: April 19 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

COST: Free admission

PARKING: Overflow parking available at the David C.Treen Instructional Technology Center and a trolly will shuttle guests to and from the event.

FOR MORE: Visit nnnautism.org

sity Network nonproﬁt hosting the free fest.

While Taylor and Milliken said they do not have immediate family members who face these challenges, they do have many people they love who are on the spectrum. The pair said they both have ADHD attention-deﬁcit/hyperactivity disorder — and that helps them relate to many of the sensory challenges those on the spectrum experience.

But ultimately, their interest lies in advocating for those on the spectrum who are so greatly underrepresented and often overlooked in Louisiana.

Their Northshore Autism Acceptance Festival will feature six fun zones: Balloon Zone, Bubble Zone,

Foam Zone, Jump Zone, Sand Zone and Sensory Zone. There will also be a Quiet Zone for those who need to take a break from the festivities

“We will be controlling volume levels with 15 minutes of quiet time between any kind of talking,” Taylor said “It’s truly a sensory event, which is going to be different.”

Additionally almost 80 vendors and resource sites will be set up that cater to the needs of people on the spectrum and their families Vendors will include everything from places for those with autism to get a variety of needs met, from haircuts and child care to the services of chiropractors, physical therapists, occupational

therapists, speech therapists, dentists, pediatricians and more.

The idea is to gather as many resources for the families as possible as a one-stop shop to see what services in the parish are equipped, trained or willing to work for those with autism and other neurodiverse minds, Taylor said. Police and ﬁre departments will also be represented at the event.

Music and guest speakers will be located on one end of the event; vendors of food or anything emitting particular smells will also be in a separate area, as many on the spectrum are affected by such sensory experiences. Food and beverages will be for sale, including spectrum-friendly offerings without food dyes, a high sugar content or sugar alternatives.

Additionally, volunteers will be formally trained by those with expertise on how to interact and serve neurodivergent guests.

Any proceeds from the event will support the Northshore Neurodiversity Network, which was founded to expand access to quality education and foster community understanding. Taylor said the organization’s ultimate goal is to build a “ginormous school.”

“A campus with a giant plot of land with a building and anything for anyone from anywhere who is on the spectrum and that includes ADHD and ADD. There are a lot of other disabilities. We don’t just use the word autism,” she said.

Milliken said the campus would ideally offer education catered to these individuals, as well as areas where caregivers can get a reprieve. The project is still in its infancy, but she said brainstorming for their dream campus is still very much in the works.

In the meantime, the two friends hope the festival ﬁlls a gap in the parish and kicks off a grassroots effort to provide a more diverse and spectrum-friendly St. Tammany

“My passion is just helping people in general, and that’s how I’ve been my entire life,” Milliken said. Taylor calls them both “big-time mama bears” who just want to help.

“When we’re in, we’re all in, and what other people are going through will dictate how our day goes and whether we sleep,” she said. “We deﬁnitely take on other people’s struggles.”

Tammany Trace bridge will be replaced

BY KIM CHATELAIN

Contributing writer

A section of the Tammany Trace between the Abita Springs Trailhead and Gordon Avenue is closed to allow for the demolition and replacement of a bridge over the Abita River The roughly $1.6 million project is expected to be completed and this section of the popular recreational trail reopened by the end of the year, according to Michael Vinsanau, director of public information for the St. Tammany Parish government. The new, 300-foot steel trestle bridge’s superstructure will be built off-site and brought to the area for installation The existing wooden span, which is one of one of 32 bridges along the 31-mile Tammany Trace, has deteriorated over the years and is being replaced due to safety concerns, parish ofﬁcials said.

March 30 marked the start of the project and the ofﬁcial closure of the bridge. The project is similar to one completed in 2023 to replace a rickety pedestrian span over Little Bayou Castine in Mandeville. When the ribbon was cut on that bridge, Parish President Mike Cooper indicated that other aged bridges along the hike and bike trail would eventually need to be replaced. Vinsanau said perhaps as many as half of the spans could be targeted for replacement, although most are shorter in distance than the ones over the Abita River and Little Bayou Castine.

Originally a corridor for the Illinois Central Railroad, the Tammany Trace is now a hike and bike trail that spans from downtown Covington, through Abita Springs, Mandeville and Lacombe and ends in Slidell. St Tammany Parish government purchased the abandoned railroad corridor in 1992 and launched what was Louisiana’s ﬁrst Rails-to-Trails conversion. It laid down 31 miles of asphalt and remodeled railroad trestles into pedestrian bridges. The popular recreation trail is maintained by parish government. The Trace is used by roughly 300,000 riders, runners and walkers each year, ofﬁcials said.

PHOTOS

Pﬁster Sisters, Matt Rhody and Amasa Miller make jazz

BY SHEILA GRISSETT Staff writer

The always entertaining Pﬁster Sisters will headline the April 19 Third Sunday Concert at Christ Episcopal Church in Covington, sharing traditional New Orleans jazz and continuing the legacy of innovative jazz vocal harmony popularized by New Orleans’ own Boswell Sisters in the 1920s. The three “sisters” performing in Covington — Holley Bendtsen, Yvette Voelker and Karen Stoehr (soul sisters, not siblings) will be accompanied by Amasa Miller on piano and Matt Rhody on violin Selections will include “Sentimental Journey,”

“Heebie Jeebie Blues,” “Dinah,” “St. Louis Blues” and “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B.”

The original Pﬁster Sisters made their public debut at the 1980 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and continued on to perform traditional jazz in three-part harmony in the U.S. and Europe, appearing in venues as varied as the Lincoln Center, the Ascona Jazz Festival in Switzerland and the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola They made records; played themselves in an episode of the HBO series Treme; and were regulars at the Jazz Fest here at home.

Much of the Pﬁster Sisters’ music is inspired by their respect and affection for the Boswell Sisters, credited by some with inventing jazz vocal harmony, who attained national prominence during the twilight of the Jazz Age and onset of the Great Depression. The Pﬁster

Sisters’ third album was even named “All’s Well That’s Boswell.”

“If any group could ever represent the sweetness and slightly naughty nature of New Orleans’s fairer sex, it would, no doubt, be the Pﬁster Sisters,” wrote Mary Foster for The Associated Press. These days, children and grandchildren keep the Pﬁster Sisters closer to home, and they can be

heard most often now in the New Orleans area. Their one-hour concert in Covington begins at 5 p.m. and, as is tradition, will be followed by a reception in the church parish hall for the performers and audience members to meet, mix and mingle.

The church, at 120 S. New Hampshire near downtown Covington and just before the Bogue Falaya Park entrance, has a

QUACK-A-FALAYA: This annual rubber duck race is the Covington Rotary Club’s main spring fundraiser. Race begins at 10:30 a.m. April 18 with the goal of “racing” 1,200 rubber duckies in the Bogue Falaya River. A bright yellow duck is assigned for every $20 donated. The ﬁrst duck to ﬁnish wins $1,000, and winners need not be present. See facebook.com/CovRotary/ for details and to sponsor a racing duck.

The Third Sunday concerts at Christ Episcopal Church in Covington traditionally fills it sanctuaries for the music. The next concert features the Pfister Sisters, and the public is invited.

handicapped-accessible entrance on the park side of the main church.

The Third Sunday Concert Series is a longtime outreach of Christ Episcopal Church, a music ministry of monthly concerts featuring local artists who specialize in their own particular variety of roots music. For more information, call (985) 892-3177 or visit christchurchcovington.com.

ONE WAY LOVE: “A Night of Hope” gala in Slidell at 6 p.m. April 18 at the Slidell Municipal Auditorium, 2056 Second St., brings together the community to support local atrisk youth. Includes cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, gourmet buffet, open bar, live entertainment, silent auction and 50/50 drawing. Get tickets, $125 each, and more info at https://www.onewaylove.org/ events/a-night-of-hope-2026/.

BRAWLING BULLDOGS: This April 18 Car and Craft Show from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Fontainebleau High School will raise money for FHS wrestling competitions, travel, uniforms and equipment. Fun for the family with food, crafts and music. Vendors and auto participants should contact fhswrestlingdawgs@gmail. com/.

NORTHSHORE AUTISM ACCEPTANCE FESTIVAL: A day of fun, inclusive activities April 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Mandeville Trailhead. Funds raised will help the Northshore Neurodiversity Network’s mission of expanding educational opportunities for individuals on the spectrum. For ways to get involved or to ﬁnd out more about the festival, see www.nnnautism.org or email info@nnnautism.org.

NORTHSHORE GARDEN & PLANT SHOW: Annual St. Tammany Master Gardeners Association event in St. Tammany Parish Fairgrounds is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 24-25. Shop large selection from regional growers: from roses, perennials and trees to

FILE PHOTO

PROVIDED PHOTO

The current Pfister Sisters include, from left, Yvette Voelker Karen Stoehr and Holley Bendtsen.

Inner Wheel members present a gift and a donation to the Helping Hands Ministry in Slidell during a meeting between, from left, Inner Wheel Vice President Pam Anderson, Helping Hands Ministry founder Betty Thomas, Inner Wheel President June Green and Secretary Renee Arsenault.

PROVIDED PHOTOS

Inner Wheel members helped serve lunch at the recent ‘Magic of Reading — Stronger Together”’event sponsored by the Rotary Club at the Slidell Boys and Girls Club They are, from left, Pam Anderson, June Green, Renee Arsenault, Sharron Newton and Debbie Sullivan.

Inner Wheel has only one chapter in Louisiana

BY SUZIE HUNT

Contributing writer

Among the various nonproﬁt organizations in St. Tammany parish, Slidell is home to a unique group of women with local spirit and international ties.

The Slidell contingent of Inner Wheel USA is the only Inner Wheel chapter in Louisiana and is one of 28 chapters in the United States, according to treasurer Gay DiGiovanni.

“We may be small, but we are dedicated to serving people here and abroad,” she said proudly of the local chapter’s 33 members.

Inner Wheel is an international organization with a mission to promote true friendship service and foster international understanding. Begun in 1924 in England, the ﬁrst chapter in the United States was formed in 1951.

Internationally, the organization is known for its work raising funds to provide children who have upper limb loss with custom prosthetic arms or hands, as well as Koalaa sleeves to assist with daily living and sports activities. The prosthetics are made by Hanger Clinic.

The Slidell chapter holds a yearly walkathon to raise needed funds to help with therapies and equipment those children need.

“It’s really more a stroll for fun and to build awareness of what our members do locally and internationally,” DiGiovanni said.

The February event held in Heritage Park raised almost $5,000 for the cause, according to member Dede Ricard

“The beauty of this organization is it gives people a focus. Each club is unique, and our members bring their own perspective on how we can do more for our community,” she said.

“A lot of people know us through the walkathon, but we support many different nonproﬁts locally and nationally,” DiGiovanni said.

Each year, the chapter votes on a oneyear sponsorship project to go along with a long-standing commitment to reading enrichment at Brock Elementary School, according to DiGiovanni. The recipient for the group’s yearly focus in 2026 is Rainbow Child Care. Members deliver support from a wish list provided by the organization’s leadership, including material items and hands-on volunteer time. Past recipients for the group’s assistance included Hope House in Covington and Savannah Smiles.

“We will work with them throughout the year The organization gives us a wish list of items or services we can provide, and we do our best to give them what they need to succeed,” DiGiovanni said This is in addition to supporting other nonproﬁts, such

as Helping Hands Ministry and the Rotary Club’s Magic of Reading event.

Along with their one-year philanthropy projects, a long-term commitment to a local school has made a big impact on students.

For more than a decade, local Inner Wheel members have supported a Reading Challenge program at Brock Elementary in Olde Towne. Working with third grade teachers, Inner Wheel buys books and prizes for use at the school and lend their encouragement to get students excited about reading.

“To qualify for a prize, the student must read six books and write a book report The top reader at the end of the year wins a bicycle. We’ve 100% participation and it’s great to see the kids excited about reading,” she said.

The extra attention has made a difference in the student’s reading scores on standardized tests while also gaining greater conﬁdence in their academic abilities, according to Kim Thomas, a teacher at Brock

“This incentive-based initiative encourages young learners to develop a lasting love of reading and writing,” said Thomas.

“We see their excitement. Now there are younger brothers and sisters in the school that want to do it when it’s their turn,” she said.

On an international level, DiGiovanni has connected with Inner Wheel members across the globe. She has become pen pals with members in New Zealand, England and India.

“I was interested in what type of work chapters did in other parts of the world. I have a niece in New Zealand, so I decided to contact a chapter there. I’ve also gotten to know women in Manchester England, where Inner Wheel started,” she said. She ﬁnds that groups share a common purpose: to make their communities better

“I’ve had Zoom calls with ladies in India. Inner Wheel is growing fast there. It’s a place where women have a voice and respect,” DiGiovanni noted. “We also have much in common. Besides talking about our volunteer work, we talk about our children and grandchildren. Through emails with my friends in New Zealand, we talk a lot about knitting and crocheting.”

In 2024, DiGiovanni attended the organization’s centennial celebration in Manchester and got to meet some of her correspondents.

“It was interesting to interact with women from different cultures. We’re all part of an international community while helping at ground level. It gives you a good feeling,” said DiGiovanni.

For more information about Inner Wheel USA or the local chapter call (504) 7823448 or June at (985) 290-5008.

MUSIC

LIVE: Christian Serpas and Ghost Town will entertain at Mandeville Live’s free Friday night community concert April 17 at the city’s trailhead from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Longtime newspaper music writer and critic Keith Spera describes them: “Ghost Town has a little bit of country, a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll, a little bit of rockabilly and a whole lot of fun.” Food and beverages sold on-site, so no ice chests, eats or drinks from home allowed. Bring fest chairs and blankets for seating.

ROCKET: The next Friday Night on the Square in Terra Bella takes place April 17 featuring The Rocketmen fronted by lead vocalist and keyboardist Aaron Joseph. The band’s Ultimate Elton John Experience will be tribute a tribute to John’s energy and best-known music at 111 Terrabella Blvd. near Covington. Food trucks on site, so no outside food or drinks from home. Bring lightweight chairs and blankets for seating.

YOUTH: The free Sunday Bayou Jam concert April 19 in Heritage Park will feature Slidell High School’s Band and Choir Showcase from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Enjoy young musicians from the community perform at 1701 Bayou Lane. Visitors may bring picnics for home and use the park’s playground and splash pad. Don’t forget to bring a fest chair or blanket for seating.

ROCK MORE: A free Thursday Rockin’ the Rails concert April 16 at the Covington Trailhead features Bottoms Up, a cover band with members from the northshore and southshore playing top party rock ’n’ roll favorites. Bring a fest chair or blanket and take in the music from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Picnics welcome, but food and drink trucks are on-site.

PARK ROCK: Pelican Park near Mandeville will hold a concert on The Groves outdoor stage from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. April 18. ALT’R EGO will play favorite alt rock and pop tunes from the 1990s and 2000s. Local vendors will sell food and desserts. Don’t forget dancing shoes.

RIVERSIDE: There will also be a free Sunset at the Landing public concert on April 17 at the Columbia Street landing in Covington, but no performers had been announced at press time. Show takes place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Bring your fest chairs or picnic blankets for seating and relaxing.

LA MUSIC: Northlake Performing Arts Society will sing the songs of Louisiana in a double concert weekend April 17 & 19 when the community singers present “Iko Iko” in the Covington High School Auditorium. Friday concert at 7:30 p.m., Sunday’s at 3 p.m. Tickets $15 for ages 13 and up; younger get in free. Get them online at npassingers.org

IRISH: There’s a free traditional Irish session from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on April 16 in back room of Abita Brew Pub, 72011 Holly St., where musicians and music-lovers can play and sing favorite pieces of Celtic music. Visit thesession.org/tunes to ﬁnd music catalog or go to nstms.org for details.

CELTIC/IRISH: A free Irish slow/fast session with Madeline Hill from noon to 2 p.m. on April 26 (ﬁnal Sunday) at St. John’s Coffeehouse, 535 E. Boston St., in downtown Covington. Play numbers slow to learn, then speed up the tempo. See nstms.org for details and music.

YOUNG: Young at Heart, a monthly program for adults 55+ at First Baptist Church Covington, invites residents to attend a program featuring solo vocalist and acoustic instrumentalist Brett Thomassie in the Central Hall at 10:30 a.m. on April 21. Registration is required by noon on April 16 at FBCCOV.org/ adults-55. A hot lunch will follow for a cost of $15.

HERITAGE: On April 18, the guqin, a 3,000-plus-year-old string instrument known as “Father of the Ancient Chinese Music,” will be played for the ﬁrst time in St. Tammany Parish during a cultural show at Avanti Senior Living Community, 2234 WaterCross Parkway, in Covington. The guzheng, xiao, piano, dancing and singing will also be featured. The “Timeless Melodies from the East and the West” concert will be held from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the guqin will be introduced and played by Cuilan Li. For more, call (985) 317-6110.

ON STAGE

CUTTHROAT: The Evangeline Theater Company will present “Glengarry Glen Ross,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama written by David Mamet. The local production, directed by Emily Carmadelle, will show April 17 through May 2 at the newly located 2635 N. Causeway Blvd. theater in the Mandeville are. Watch four salesmen competing tooth and nail to sell mostly worthless properties to unwitting customers. The stakes are huge for the winner and the loser, so the men will do anything to come out on top in Chicago’s 1980s real estate market. Friday and Saturday shows at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m. Contains strong language and is intended for mature audiences. Reserved seats $27 at evangelinetheater.com/.

A HERO: “Shrek, the Musical” will be presented at Slidell Little Theatre, 2024 Nellie Drive, April 17 through May 3, with Friday and Saturday shows at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. This Tony Award-winning fairy tale adventure features new songs from Jeanine Tesori and the book by David Lindsay-Abaire. It’s a musical bringing all the beloved characters from the ﬁlm to life on stage and proving there’s more to the story than what meets the ears. Adult tickets $35; students and seniors, $25 at Slidelllittletheatre.org.

TRAGEDY: Because he was gay, Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old college student, was

kidnapped, severely beaten, and left tied to a fence in the middle of the prairie outside Laramie, Wyoming, in late 1998. His bloody, bruised and battered body was discovered the next day, and he died several days later in an area hospital. Members of the Tectonic Theater Project made six trips to Laramie in the 18 months following Shepard’s death, and that included the prosecution of two young men accused of killing him (Both now serving consecutive life terms). The theater group conducted more than 200 interviews during their visits and have constructed a deeply moving theatrical experience from these and their own experiences in “The Laramie Project.” This is a PG-13 performance due to mature subject matter, language and discussion of violence, so plan accordingly. Tickets from $14 to $22 at 30byninety.org; shows April 18 to May 3 at 880 Lafayette St. in Mandeville.

HEALING: St. Tammany Hospital Foundation’s Healing Arts Committee is seeking entries by April 20 to include in its next exhibition of the Rotating Gallery Series, part of its annual Healing Arts Initiative. All community artists, including St. Tammany Health System employees, are invited to apply. The exhibit will hang from May 18 to Aug. 17 on the ﬁrst ﬂoor at the Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington. Call (985) 898-4110 for guidelines and an online application.

VOTE: The People’s Choice Spring Art Show, hosted by the Slidell Art League, will hang in the St. Tammany Parish Library’s Slidell Branch, 555 Robert Blvd., through April 22. It is the community’s art show, and community members are invited to come into the library, see the art and vote for their favorite. Awards will be given at a reception of the artists and their art at 7 p.m. on April 17. LACOMBE: See the Lacombe Art Guild’s spring show, “Brushstrokes and Beyond,” from April 24 to May 8 on the walls of the atrium at Lakeview Hospital in Covington. More at www.LacombeArtGuild.com.

COMMUNITY GUMBO

BIKES GALORE: The Louisiana Bicycle Fest is again happening in Abita Springs on April 18 celebrating “all things wheeled, weird and wonderful.” The fun starts at 9 a.m. at the old Town Hall. Generally, about 1 p.m., those who want can end the event by joining a leisurely, meandering bike ride about the village. Those riding regular bicycles are invited to join those who will careen around on their own weird inventions. Feel free to costume as the spirit moves you.

WALK: The Girod Street Stroll in Old Mandeville takes place from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. April 18 when a $40 ticket buys 40 drink stops while live music plays and visitors meet up with friends and family. Get tickets at oldmandevillebusiness.com/. MEET: The Northshore Democratic Women’s Club, focused on bringing awareness to issues affecting the community, hosts a meeting at 3 p.m. April 19 in the Abita Town Hall. Speakers will be U.S.

FILE PHOTO BY GRANT THERKILDSEN Christian Serpas & Ghost Town back in Mandeville.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Northshore artist, educator Gail Hood at Atrium

BY SHEILA GRISSETT Staff writer

Northshore artist and arts educator Gail Hood, who was instrumental in establishing the Christwood Atrium Gallery, is being honored with a retrospective of her life’s work in that Covington gallery

There will be an opening reception for Hood and her show on April 25 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and the pubic is invited. The exhibition will hang in the Atrium on the Christwood residential campus through May 30.

“I’m deeply grateful to Gail Hood and her husband, Henry, for the role they played in bringing the Atrium Gallery to life,” said Ann Loomis, curator of the Atrium Gallery for 14 years.

“From the very beginning, they worked closely with me to shape its concept and layout, sharing their knowledge and creative insight so generously The gallery’s first exhibition, featuring artists they carefully curated, set the tone for everything that followed.”

She studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Rouen, France; Carleton College in Minnesota; Tulane University in New Orleans; The Art Institute of Chicago; the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn; and Columbia University in New York, where she received a master of ﬁne arts degree.

for herself during years of experiencing, experimenting and learning.

Hood’s life of art stretches back to early days; she even took art classes at St. Scholasta during her time there as a young student, but that was only the start of an extensive arts education that spanned many states and took her to Europe more than once to study and paint

Along the way Hood grew to love much she found in the work of master painters in the impressionism and abstract expressionism styles, and influences of both are there in the personal style she has created

Her paintings are generally devoid of humans or modern human construction. Instead, she returns over and over to the gifts of the natural world, and while she paints what she ﬁnds in different southern states, she seems to paint most often the beauty that continues to reveal itself to her in and around the Little Tchefuncte River Hood began her career

of art instruction at Florida State University before returning to Louisiana in 1962, where in time, she met and married and began painting along the Little Tchefuncte near their Folsom home. She also taught art at St. Scholastica (her alma mater), Mandeville High School and Southeastern Louisiana University before retiring from teaching in the mid 2000s. Hood’s paintings can be found in various corporate, private and public collections, including the Historic

New Orleans Collection. In 2010, the New Orleans Museum of Art featured one of her paintings in its major exhibition, Women Artists in Louisiana, 1965-2010.

“Gail is truly a northshore treasure, admired and loved by so many Her work resonates deeply within the community and has been collected throughout the region, a testament both to her artistic vision and the genuine connection she creates through her art,” Loomis said.

‘Hunting Camp Road, Arkansas’

‘The Little Tchefuncte River’

PROVIDED PHOTOS

Longtime painter and arts educator Gail Hood is a well-known name and face on the northshore, where a retrospective of her work will soon be exhibited in the Atrium Gallery on the Christwood campus near Covington.

PROVIDED PHOTO

The pantry at Community Christian Concern in Slidell was running low when Grace Fellowship of Slidell came to the rescue, donating 262 pounds of food, 33 pounds of hygiene items and a donation check of $50 to help restock. The donations were readied, from left, by food pantry coordinator Nancy Arce and volunteers Susan Lowrie, Marilyn Finch, Baylor Hingle, Carol Carrone, Rhonda Gray and Paula Frey. Donations can always be delivered to the pantry at 2515 Carey St. “Gail

testament both to her artistic vision and the genuine connection she creates through her art.”

LOOMIS, curator of the Atrium Gallery

Northshore softball wins 13th straight game

Northshore coach Chelsea Nette shares a moment with senior Mallory Senat at third base against Slidell on April 9.

STAFF PHOTO BY JOSEPH

ä See story. PAGE 2B

| Wednesday, april 15, 2026 1Bn

POWER PLAYER

Covington junior Maddie Schieble excels at powerlifting and baseball this season

BY JOSEPH HALM Staff writer

Covington junior Maddie Schie-

ble has always been a competitor

That competitive nature is what drew the left-hander to baseball in the ﬁrst place.

She was at a youth baseball skills competition where her brother Michael, was participating One of the coaches asked her to join the home run derby Then, she placed second in the outﬁeld throwing contest.

It was the beginning of a long journey as she soon joined a 9U baseball team.

“I liked the competition,” Schieble said. “I liked the diversity. I liked the bigger ﬁeld and the smaller ball. I like how you could do more things with it. I think the rules of softball were more simple. It felt like there was a lot

BY JOSEPH HALM Staff writer

Chris Biehl could feel the itch to coach coming back.

The former Brother Martin boys’ basketball coach was teaching at Fontainebleau this school year when long-time friend and Bulldogs’ coach Randall Ginn asked him to help out.

classroom was close to Ginn’s,

more competition in baseball.”

Schieble played both softball and baseball until she was 12, when the softball grew to 12 inches in diameter She said that in her last softball tournament, she “was basically just bowling it” to the batters.

From then on, it was baseball all the time.

“She’s tremendous,” Maddie’s father, Chris, said. “Looking back at it, trying to make the junior high baseball team was probably more nerve-racking for us than her making the high school team because it hadn’t been done before. Also, we weren’t sure how the other parents would react, but everyone was great. It’s been a good run.”

Maddie played JV as a freshman and sophomore at Covington, but she’s making quite the impression this season on varsity

Junior Stalwart

The ﬁrst varsity start for any athlete can be nerve-racking, and Maddie remembers hers as clear as day It was the home opener against St. Augustine on Feb. 9. “I honestly wasn’t expecting to get into the game I got into,” Maddie said. “I was sitting in the dugout, and I was eating CheezIts, I’m pretty sure. Coach (Jeff) Dragg comes up to me, grabs my shoulders, and he says, ‘Don’t freak out, but I need you in relief after Bradey (Miller).’ And I had to process it for a minute.”

She went to the bullpen, got ready and calmly threw two innings of relief, allowing one run on four hits and a walk.

Maddie said she focused on her catcher, Beau Boudreaux, and

New school record highlights Mandeville track team’s banner day at Allie Smith meet

BY MIKE PERVEL

Contributing writer

It was a good day to be a Mandeville Skipper at the 16th annual Allie Smith Invitational at Covington on April 9.

Mandeville won the girls’ competition with 98 points, holding off Ponchatoula by eight points. On the boys’ side, Mandeville was second behind Ponchatoula by a seven-point margin.

It was also a record-setting day for the Skippers’ 4x200-meter girls’ relay team, which broke a 25-year-old school record with a time of 1 minute, 42.66 seconds, besting the old mark by 0.12 seconds.

What made the new record even more impressive was that the team of freshman Leah Collier, sophomore Mackenzie Hayes, senior Chloe Gallien and senior anchor Naleah Crandle was running the event together for the ﬁrst time.

“The girls worked hard in practice, preparing and were excited about competing together They did what they needed to do and executed it perfectly,” Mandeville ﬁrst-year coach Howie Inman said.

“We have great senior leadership, and they’re blossoming, having won ﬁve of the six meets thus far, finishing runner-up in the other one.” Northlake Christian sophomore Princess Caitlyn Lang was named the girls’ Overall MVP She was a two-event winner, setting a new

PHOTO BY MATT DOBBINS

Mandeville’s

competes in the triple jump at the Allie Smith Invitational on April 9.

personal best in the long jump (16 feet, 11.5 inches) and winning the 200-meter dash (26.11).

“The meet went pretty well, and I’m glad I got the PR in the long jump, but I was terrible in the triple jump. I fouled too much on my attempts,” Lang said.

“I kind of peaked at regionals last year, and coming off a concussion suffered last year I’m whipping myself back into shape.”

Covington sophomore Brooklyn Baham won the Track MVP with an impressive 30 points. She won

“Sometime in early December, I went in there, and that kind of poked the bear,” Biehl said. “I started helping out a little bit. Coach Ginn could not have been better to me. He understood that I wasn’t ready to jump back in fully, but I helped out a little bit. It was a little odd for me, but it got my hunger to coach worked up a little bit.” Biehl broke down game ﬁlm and helped out when his schedule allowed. When the 59-year-old Ginn retired on March 20, that left the door open for Biehl to throw his hat in the

search. “Sometimes you wonder why doors open the way they do, but it made sense,” Biehl said. Fontainebleau made it ofﬁcial on April 8, naming Biehl as its next head coach. “I’m really excited,” Biehl said. “I feel like it is a really big blessing for me. I feel like I’m in the right place at the right time in my life, so I’m really excited to get started.” Biehl, 53, is an experienced hire. His ﬁrst head coaching position was at Pope John Paul II in 1997. His head coaching journey has also in-

bench waits for

The

home after he tied the game with a solo home run

on April 6.

BY JASON RUSSELL

Contributing writer

Mandeville’s Creshaun McCollum just has a ﬂair for the dramatic. With the Skippers down 2-1 in the top of the seventh at St. Paul’s on April 6, the freshman second baseman blasted a home run to tie the game and set off a six-run rally, lifting Mandeville to a 7-2 victory and a second District 6-5A title in three years.

McCollum was also the hero of teams’ first district meeting at Mandeville on April 1, hitting a walk-off, bases-loaded single to give the Skippers a 6-5 victory The return game seemed a little more special for McCollum and his teammates. “I was seeing them all game and knew I was going to get one on the barrel,” McCollum said. “The energy was just insane after that.

cluded stops at Hannan, Hancock, Miss., De La Salle and, most recently, Brother Martin. In his 12-year run at Brother Martin, which ended after the 2025 season, the Crusaders won two Catholic League titles and made the playoffs every year, amassing 255 total wins. Biehl led Brother Martin to three quarterfinal appearances, three semiﬁnal appearances and a runnerup ﬁnish in 2017. Biehl said the pull to return to coaching was strong, and

ä See SCHIEBLE, page 3B ä See BIEHL, page 3B ä See MANDEVILLE, page 3B ä See TRACK, page 4B

HALM

PHOTO BY JOE TROMBATORE

Covington’s Maddie Schieble winds up against Mandeville on March 19

Brennyn Badeaux

PHOTO BY JOEY MICHEL

Mandeville

freshman Creshaun McCollum to touch

against St. Paul’s

Chris Biehl

Northshore senior Sanchez sets stolen base record

Panthers win 13th straight

BY JOSEPH HALM Staff writer

Northshore coach Chelsea Nette couldn’t contain her smile.

Senior Mallory Senat had just belted a triple in the ﬁrst inning as the Panthers cruised to a 19-3 District 7-5A win at Slidell on April 9.

The Panthers’ coach gave Senat a loving tap on the helmet as the right ﬁelder showed off her speed by cruising into third.

Northshore has speed to spare as the Panthers stole seven bases in the game and have 155 swiped bags on the season.

The Panthers’ speed has played a major role in their current run, as Northshore has won 13 straight games while outscoring opponents 175-41.

“I definitely think we’re clicking offensively,” Nette said “I think we’re just focused on having quality at-bats. We’re quick on the bases, and we have a lot of kids in our lineup who are really tough outs. We do a really good job of making other teams pay for their mistakes.”

Northshore (21-9, 7-1) had more to celebrate than just a 13th straight victory Senior Ella Sanchez stole two bases to set a new single-season school record with 40 stolen bases on the season.

“It feels really good,” Sanchez said. “I’m excited. I’ve always been aggressive on the bases, and I’m fast, so if there is an opportunity for me to steal, I’m going to take it.”

Senat, who has 23 stolen bases, said the Panthers embrace their role as speed demons on the base paths.

“We have a ton of speed on our team, and we love that,” said Senat, who drove in four runs. “We’ll be stealing bases left and right. It gets everyone hyped up in the dugout. I love it.”

Despite their recent surge, the Panthers struggled with a 1-5 start to the season against a tough schedule But Northshore stuck to its training, and the wins started to come. Nette

said the turning point came when the Panthers traveled to Lafayette and went 2-1 at the Acadiana tournament.

“I definitely feel like they’re battle-tested,” Nette said. “But I think the biggest thing is that they’re having fun. They had a ton of fun in Lafayette that weekend, and they kind of came home a different team with a different mindset Every game, I tell them that

we’re 0-0, and our goal is to be 1-0. I think it helps keep things from getting too big. It’s making the game fun for them again. Winning is fun.”

Senat agreed: “At the beginning of the season, I think we were just a little rusty and then we started to get comfortable, especially with each other We weren’t playing as a team, and now, we are That has helped a

Walker beats Hannan, 12-2

BY JOSEPH HALM Staff writer

Walker scored all of its runs with two outs as the Wildcats cruised to a 12-2 victory in six innings over Hannan at Coquille Park on April 7.

“Our girls do a good job of focusing on the task at hand,” Walker coach Hali Westmoreland said “We are blessed with girls who want to hit the ball. Each atbat, our goal is to improve in some aspect. They did a good job of making adjustments. Hannan plays really good softball, so we were excited to face good competition.” The battle between 20-plus-win teams offered both clubs a chance to test their postseason preparedness before the softball brackets are released on April 15.

The Wildcats (21-3) came in as the top seed in D-I nonselect and have now won 12 in a row, while the loss snapped Hannan’s 15-game win streak.

“We hung with them for four innings, but they are good at adjusting,” Hannan coach Becky Lambert said. “They’re a good-hitting team. That’s what they do I knew we’d have to throw both pitchers. It was a good learning experience.” Hannan took a 1-0 lead in the second as Kodi Ricks singled to open the inning and later scored on an error The Wildcats responded in the top of the third as Harlee Usry blasted a two-run, two-

out home run to right ﬁeld to give the visitors the lead for good. Walker put the game out of reach with a four-run ﬁfth inning as shortstop Adalyn Stoltz belted a three-run triple to push the lead to 6-2 and chase starter Ava Kulivan. The Wildcats didn’t slow down in the sixth as they plated six runs and sent 10 batters to the plate against reliever Hunter Conners. The big hits in that inning were a two-run double by Brynlee Pitre and a two-run single by Alexis Pitre. Alexis Pitre got the win in

relief, allowing one run on four hits and four walks in ﬁve innings. She struck out three.

For Hannan (21-3), Riley Williams drove in a run with an RBI double, while Kulivan went 1 for 2 with a walk. Kulivan also took the loss, allowing six runs on four hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings. She struck out four Lambert said that, despite her team managing only ﬁve hits, she was pleased with the effort.

“Losing is learning,” Lambert said. “I thought our energy at times would go up and down depending on

how the game was going. We need to work on staying high-energy the whole time. I thought we were very disciplined at the plate. I thought we had good at-bats. We didn’t chase a lot.”

Westmoreland said both teams will now turn their focus to a postseason run.

“Once those brackets come out, it is a whole new season,” Westmoreland said. “We’re excited that the bats are coming alive, but we’re going to keep our heads down and keep working. Hopefully, we’ll see Hannan on May 2 out at Frasch.”

LINESCORE

lot.”

Northshore looked like a well-oiled machine against Slidell as the Panthers batted around twice in the game and took advantage of nine errors to cruise All nine Northshore starters reached base at least twice, while Abbigail Allen allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits in four innings to get the win.

For Slidell (8-16, 2-6),

A pair of Salmen football players announce college destinations

BY JOSEPH HALM Staff writer

A pair of Salmen football players announced their college destinations on April 8. Running back Jimmy Chanzy is headed to the NAIA’s Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, while defensive lineman Joshua Loydrake will play for Division III Belhaven in Jackson, Mississippi.

“I trusted in God and showed everything that I needed to on the ﬁeld, and today is the result,” Chanzy said. “Today means a lot. Some people are not able to sign today, so I feel like it is a blessing from God. Playing college football was always my dream, so today is really special.” Chanzy was a three-year starter for the Spartans. He was an all-district linebacker as a sophomore before switching back to his natural running back position for his ﬁnal two years of high school. He finished his Salmen career with 2,243 yards rushing and 23 TDs on 401 carries for a 5.6 yards per carry average. Loydrake was a two-year

starter and a four-year team member who started playing football in the eighth grade. He ﬁnished his Salmen career with 48 tackles, three TFLs and two sacks.

“I loved the coaches and my teammates when I visited,” Loydrake said. “I got close with them, and whenever I felt out of place, they brought me in and started talking to me more I really like that The campus is beautiful. It is really the perfect place for me.” Salmen coach Eric Chuter said both players’ work ethic set them apart.

“We’re really proud of both of these young men,” Chuter said. “Joshua Loydrake worked hard in the weight room and the classroom to be successful. He has developed into a great kid and a great leader I think someone is getting a steal with him.

“Jimmy (Chanzy) started on defense as a sophomore, and then, we moved him to his more natural position of running back. He leaves here with more than 2,000 yards. He was a team captain. We’re going to miss him, but we’re really excited for his future.”

Kyleigh Ardoin

Northshore pinch runner Jada Johnson slides safely back to second.

Northshore pitcher Abbigail Allen winds up.

STAFF PHOTOS BY JOSEPH HALM

Northshore’s Mallory Senat steals second against Slidell on April 9.

Northshore senior Ella Sanchez belts a single against Slidell.

STAFF PHOTO BY JOSEPH HALM

Salmen football players Joshua Loydrake (Belhaven), left, and Jimmy Chanzy (Bethany College) announced their college destinations on April 8.

Hannan starter Ava Kulivan releases a pitch against Walker

Walker’s Harlee Usry, center, was all smiles after hitting a 2-run home run against Hannan.

STAFF PHOTO BY JOSEPH HALM

Walker reliever Alexis Pitre releases a pitch against Hannan on April 7.

on April 9.

a two-run

St. Paul’s beats Covington

6-run fourth inning decides district finale

BY DAVE WOODALL

Contributing writer

St. Paul’s used a six-run fourth inning to sweep the season series with District 6-5A rival Covington as the Wolves cruised to a 10-2 win at Heap Field on April 9.

The win moved St Paul’s (198, 6-2) one step closer to a ﬁrstround playoff bye when the Division I select brackets were released on April 14. Wolves’ second-year coach

Michael Scanlon said sweeping Covington — St. Paul’s won the ﬁrst district game 7-3 on April 7 is a momentum builder

“It has always been a big-time rivalry between us,” Scanlon said. “They got the best of us last year, beating us both times, so we wanted to ﬁnish out district play the right way Any time you can beat a really good ball club that’s well coached and plays hard, you have to be proud of your group. We are on our quest for 20 wins in the regular season, so we will be motivated and ready to go, hoping to secure a ﬁrst-round bye.”

The Wolves (19-8, 6-2) came

into the contest at No. 12 in the D-I select power rankings, and they maintained that spot with one regular season game left.

The top 12 seeds will receive a ﬁrst-round bye.

Covington (10-20, 2-6) got off to a quick start, scoring a run to open the game on a single by Myles Estrada, who moved to second on a passed ball. Beau

Boudreaux followed with an RBI single for a 1-0 lead

The Wolves answered, scoring two runs in the bottom of the ﬁrst inning to take a 2-1 lead.

Clay Sims walked and Brennan Villa singled before Easton Springmann blasted a two-run triple to give St. Paul’s the lead for good.

The Wolves added two more runs in the second inning, highlighted by a two-run single by Sims to up the lead to 4-1, and St. Paul’s put the game away with a six-run fourth inning

Will Clements and Sims both recorded triples as the Wolves batted around. Springmann belted a double and Villa added a single as the Wolves built a 10-1 lead.

Covington’s Jaxson Dragg reached on an error in the ﬁfth inning and scored on an RBI double by Estrada to round out the scoring.

Bradley Stucker recorded the

win for the Wolves, allowing two unearned runs on ﬁve hits and a walk in ﬁve innings He also struck out six.

“I pounded the zone pretty well tonight,” Stucker said. “I was rocky at times, giving up a few walks and a hit batter They hit me pretty well, but I trust my defense, so I don’t try to strike everyone out.”

St. Paul’s right ﬁelder Springmann, who ﬁnished with three RBIs, said he was proud that the Wolves were able to pound out 10 hits at the plate.

“I was seeing the ball really well tonight against their left-hander,” Springmann said. “(Covington starter Matthew Fussell) threw me a slider on the ﬁrst pitch, and I saw it well for that triple. Overall, we played pretty well tonight. Our goal this year was to win 20 games, and we can do that by beating Lakeshore here on Saturday.”

LINESCORE COVINGTON — 100 010 0 — 2 | 6 | 1 ST. PAUL’S — 220 600 0 — 10 | 10 | 1 TOP HITTERS COVINGTON (10-20, 2-6): Myles Estrada, 2-4, RBI, 2B, R; Beau Boudreaux, 1-3, RBI; Jared Dumkin, 2-3. ST. PAUL’S (19-8, 6-2): Clay Sims, 3-3, 2 RBIs, 3B, BB; Brennan Villa, 3-4, RBI, SB, 2 R; Easton Springmann, 2-3, 3 RBIs, 2B, 3B BB, R; Will Clements 1-2, RBI, 3B, BB, R. DECIDING PITCHERS WP: Bradley Stucker, 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER 1 BB, 6 K. LP: Matthew Fussell, 3.1, 8 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 3 K.

Panthers win back-to-back district baseball titles

BY JOSEPH HALM Staff writer

The T-shirts were already printed, but that didn’t diminish the importance of the moment

Northshore wanted to put an exclamation point on its second straight District 7-5A baseball title, and the Panthers did so in style.

Northshore senior Jacob Neely struck out 12, while the offense pounded out 16 hits en route to a 15-1 victory at Slidell on April 9.

“The guys were ready to play,” Northshore coach Jay Hodges said. “They prepared well. They came out and swung it. Jacob Neely was phenomenal. He got ahead of hitters, so it was a really good night. We’re extremely pleased to be back-to-back district champions, but we know there is more baseball to play.”

Tied at 1 after two innings, the Panthers took control with a ﬁverun third inning that included a two-run single by Connor Smith, an RBI double by Kirk Johnson and a two-run single by Dane Gray

That inning turned a tight game into a comfortable 6-1 Northshore lead that only grew from there as the Panthers scored nine runs over the ﬁnal three innings.

“We’re a brotherhood; We’re more than just a team,” said Smith, who ﬁnished 4 for 5 with four RBIs and four runs scored.

“When you have a guy out there giving his all on the mound, we want to swing the bat. We did a good job of that tonight. Jacob (Neely) has been nails all year, so it was great to give him run support.”

That third inning was all the run support that Neely would need as he allowed just three singles and one unearned run in seven innings.

“It was a pretty good allaround win,” Neely said. “The defense showed out for me I didn’t start off with my best stuff. Toward the end, I started racking up Ks, but I was giving up some hard-hit balls early, and my defense made some amazing plays.”

The domination was Northshore’s seventh straight victory as the Panthers look to secure a ﬁrst-round home playoff series this week. Northshore (23-9, 7-1) came in at No. 13 in the Division I nonselect power rankings. The playoff pairings were released on April 14.

“We’re playing well at the right time,” Hodges said. “We’re playing well defensively We’re pitching well, which we have been pretty much all year The bats are coming around. I like it.

It’s the right time to get hot.”

Smith said while the Panthers, who were state quarterﬁnalists a year ago, have bigger goals for this season, winning back-toback district titles was special.

“It’s a great feeling,” Smith said. “My freshman and sopho-

SCHIEBLE

Continued from page 1B

attacked the strike zone.

“I may not throw fast, but I try my best to have movement on my pitches,” Schieble said. “I use my two-seam (fastball) most of the time on righties because I get them to miss. I can move my changeup. My curveball is hit or miss. Those are my three pitches.”

Maddie has been a workhorse relief pitcher this year With one game left in the season, she has pitched 27 2/3 innings, facing 147 batters in 17 games, allowing 34 hits with 18 earned runs and 17 strikeouts.

“She’s been a part of most games for us this season,” Covington coach Jeff Dragg said. “She throws strikes. She competes. She has the ability to throw multiple pitches for strikes. She changes speeds. She’s an effective left-hander.”

Dragg said he would “take 100 Maddie Schiebles any day.”

“A lot of high school athletes are okay with being okay,” Dragg said. “Because she has some bigger dreams and being a female trying to make it in baseball, I think that has driven her to work harder than some athletes would be willing to do.”

Record Setter

While baseball is her ﬁrst love, Maddie started powerlifting the summer going into her freshman year

“At ﬁrst, it was a way to learn how to lift weights properly for training for baseball,” she said. “Then, it turned into more of a love for it as I started to get into it more. Once I got to experience the sport more and more, I really grew to love it.”

In baseball, 5-foot-2, 126-pound Maddie is used to being physically smaller than most of her teammates, so she also enjoyed powerlifting because she was stronger than most in her weight class.

“She’s great,” Covington powerlifting coach John Burford said.

“She’s a real hard worker She’s always been passionate about baseball, and then, we were fortunate enough to get her into powerlifting. She’s turned out to be pretty good at that and developed a passion for it.”

Maddie won the 132-pound weight class at the South Regional on Feb. 28. After the regional meet, which

MANDEVILLE

Continued from page 1B

“We feed off of each other every game and if somebody gets a big hit, everyone goes crazy and the momentum just keeps on going.”

St. Paul’s had its own ﬁreworks in the bottom of the sixth as Clay Sims broke a 1-1 tie with a one-out solo home run on a full count to send the home crowd in a frenzy McCollum shut that excitement down just three pitches into his atbat, depositing a fastball over the left-ﬁeld wall to make it 2-2.

weight class at the state meet on March 27.

was held at Covington, she pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief with three strikeouts against Hannan that evening.

Burford said her work ethic sets her apart.

“She’s one of the last ones to leave the school on any given night,” Burford said. “I was just ﬂoored that after the regional meet, she went and pitched two innings of relief. That was really cool.”

That work ethic helped her set a new composite state bench record of 230 pounds in the 132-pound weight class at the Division I State Meet on March 27. She ﬁnished as state runner-up with lifts totaling 910 pounds, just ﬁve pounds less than state champion Margaret Bordelon of Pineville.

Busy summer

Maddie has no plans of slowing down any time soon.

Last summer, she participated in the All-American Women’s Baseball Classic in Durham, N.C. She went 3 for 6 at the Classic, and she hopes to play in it again this season.

Maddie added that she would like to participate in the Women’s Baseball World Cup one day But ﬁrst, there will be more work to improve her strength and pitching. She credited her coach, Mandeville’s Luke Fortenberry, for her continued improvement.

Maddie’s mother, Shelly, said her daughter’s growth in both sports has been impressive to watch.

“Just because she has a uterus doesn’t mean she can’t pitch,” Shelly said. “She’s just built differently The mechanics are so important for her It’s a big part of her strength. That’s why she’s so successful in the bench press. It’s been a lot of fun to watch.”

Ole Miss commitment Greyson Parker (6-0) threw six innings of ﬁve-hit ball, striking out 11 and giving up two runs.

Parker said he was never worried even after giving up the late home run to fall behind 2-1.

“I knew we had it in us,” Parker said. “It’s happened before and when they went up 2-1, I knew my team had it.”

And while Parker said there is more to play for, the district title means a lot to the Skippers.

“It means everything,” he said. “Obviously we have playoffs coming up, but we won tonight and we’ll enjoy it and get back to work tomorrow.”

Northshore pitcher Jacob Neely struck out 12 during a 15-1 District 7-5A win over Slidell on April 9.

BY MATT DOBBINS

more years, we didn’t make the playoffs, and we had losing records. To be a quarterﬁnalist last year and ﬁnish 32-8, it was special. To win back-to-back district titles with these guys is really special. I can’t think of a better group of guys to go to war with. I’d do it every day for the rest of my life.” Neely said the path to continuing the current win streak is simple. “The key is just to keep playing the same baseball that we have been for the last seven games,” Neely said. “We need to get strike one on the mound and keep the same approach at the plate that we’ve been having.”

The blast started an avalanche as the Skippers batted around in the inning. The home run was followed by a double and two singles to make it 4-2.

A sacriﬁce bunt, two St. Paul’s errors and two more hits by Mandeville brought McCollum back to the plate, but this time with a 7-2 lead, McCollum struck out to end the frame, but the damage was done.

Mandeville coach Brady Benoit said his team never loses its poise, even when it gets behind.

“I think the conﬁdence comes from the work they put in,” he said. “They trust the process and trust each other

“I didn’t really say much after (Sims’) home run. I just told them to go up there and give us a chance and put together quality at-bats.”

St. Paul’s (17-8, 4-2) went up and down in order in the bottom of the seventh, getting a one-out walk to keep hope alive. But Mandeville ended the game on a 5-4-3 double play to ﬁnish district play unbeaten.

The ﬁrst six innings were a pitchers’ duel as Mandeville starter and

BIEHL

Continued from page 1B

Fontainebleau offered the perfect situation.

“I’m a coach, and you try to convince yourself that you can take some time off, but it didn’t take long this year before I started to get the itch,” he said. “My wife was trying to convince me that I needed to get back into it. I was watching game

ﬁlm at 10 or 11 o’clock at night.”

Biehl, who met with the team on April 8, credited Ginn for giving him a chance to regain a feel for coaching after a brief hiatus.

“I’m really grateful that Coach Ginn was as open and understanding as he was,” Biehl said. “He was my

St. Paul’s starter Jude Reason threw six-plus innings, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks with ﬁve strikeouts before being lifted for reliever Sammy St. Pierre after the McCollum home run.

Mandeville (21-7-2, 8-0) took the early lead when Kaden Croft scored on a wild pitch in the top of the second inning to make it 1-0. St. Paul’s tied it at 1-1 on a leadoff single by Blake Kelsey, who went to second on a passed ball and later scored on Reason’s RBI single. Mandeville had a chance in the ﬁfth to take the lead getting a runner to third, but two ﬂy outs ended the threat.

LINESCORE MANDEVILLE – 010 000 6 – 7 | 10 | 0 ST. PAUL’S – 000 101 0 – 2 | 5 | 2 TOP HITTERS MANDEVILLE (21-7-2, 8-0): Peyton Gomez, 2-4, RBI; Landon Moss, 2-3, RBI, R; Carter Winchester, 2-3; Creshaun McCollum, 1-4, HR, RBI, R. ST. PAUL’S (17-8, 4-2): Jude Reason, 2-3, RBI; Clay Sims, 1-3, HR, RBI, R; Blake Kelsey, 1-3, R. DECIDING PITCHERS WP: Greyson Parker, 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 11 K. LP: Sammy St. Pierre, 1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.

biggest advocate. He treated me so well this year We’re very different Xs and Os, and we’re very different personalities.

“But the greatest compliment you can give a coach is to say that you’d be really glad if your son played for him, and I’m telling you, I would have loved for my children to play for Coach Ginn. He’s a genuinely good man, and I’m grateful I had the opportunity to work with him this past year.”

Ginn said he feels like the program he has led for the past six years is in good hands.

“This is what I was hoping for when I kept twisting his arm to come hang out at practice,” Ginn said. “We’ve known each other for 25 years, and I couldn’t leave my players in the hands of anyone better.”

PHOTO BY JOEY MICHEL

St. Paul’s Easton Springmann belts

triple against Covington

PHOTO

PROVIDED PHOTO

Covington’s Maddie Schieble set a composite bench press record for the 132-pound

Continued from page 1B

the 100 dash (12.60) and 300 hurdles (44.69).

“The 300-meter hurdles is my favorite event, so I’m glad I continue to win that. I was trying to get a new PR, but I was a little off on that It’s all about staying focused, pushing myself and trying to set new PRs every time I race,” Baham said.

St. Thomas Aquinas senior Kendriyan Simms earned the Field MVP, ﬁnishing second in the shot put (32-3) and discus (102-7). On the boys’ side, Ponchatoula ﬁn-

ished with 118 points, holding off Mandeville by just seven points. Salmen (95) came in third.

“I’m really proud of the team,” Ponchatoula second-year coach Colby McDonald said. “We had a good night When you practice hard leading up to meets, good things usually happen. We had some younger guys competing and it’s good to see them contribute.”

Mandeville senior Brayden Berglund was named the Overall MVP with 22.5 points, winning the 800 (1:53.76) and 1,600 (4.27.97).

Berglund talked about wanting to break the school record in the 1,600 (4:16).

“I led both of my races from start to ﬁnish, but I came up a little short in the mile,” he said. “I’m recovering

from some injuries, so I’ll continue to do the work to get all the way back. Our team did a really good job, competing to the end.”

Berglund’s teammate, junior Chase Thibodeaux, earned the Track MVP, winning the 200 (22.49) and also running the anchor leg on the ﬁrst-place 4x100 (43.11) and 4x400 (3:31.37) relay teams.

“We had an amazing team effort, just coming up a little short to Ponchatoula We battled for sure. I felt good overall, but I needed to maintain better form in the 100 meters, only getting third place,” Thibodeaux said. Mandeville junior Luke Demelo, who won his sixth straight long jump (21-7), also established a new PR by two inches.

At Covington High School

BOYS

TEAMS: 1. Ponchatoula (PHS), 118; 2. Mandeville (MHS), 111; 3. Salmen (SAL), 95; 4. Fontainebleau (FHS), 83; 5. Covington (CHS), 73; 6. St. Thomas Aquinas (STA), 38; 7. Pearl River (PRHS), 17; 8. Pine, 15; 9t. Lakeshore (LHS), 14; 9t. Holden (HHS), 14; 11. Northlake Christian, 10; 12. Hannan (HAN), 1.

Individual events

100: 1. Laiken Jordan, PHS, 10.95; 2. Braeshun Weary, CHS, 11.01; 3. Chase Thibodeaux, MHS, 11.08

200: 1. Chase Thibodeaux, MHS, 22.49; 2. Braylon Handy, SAL, 22.61; 3. Laiken Jordan, PHS 22.67.

400: 1. Judan Benjamin, FHS, 50.63; 2. Grant Forrest, STA, 50.84; 3. Taelin Edwards, PHS 51.56.

800: 1. Brayden Berglund, MHS, 1:53.76; 2. Tate Gilman, MHS, 2:04.94; 3. Ivis Discua, SAL, 2:10.50.

1,600: 1. Brayden Berglund, MHS, 4:27.97; 2. Maxwell Newman, MHS, 4:42.68; 3. Jordan Brandt, LHS, 4:53.28.

3,200: 1. John Krennerich, FHS, 10:22.17; 2. John Cresap, MHS, 10:26.63. 3. Brent Tissue, FHS 10:43.31

110 HURDLES: 1. Joel Jefferson, PHS 15.64; 2. Kordé Harris, SAL, 15.73; 3. Luke Demelo, MHS, 15.94.

300 HURDLES: 1. Joel Jefferson, PHS, 40.27; 2. Andray Smith, SAL, 41.03; 3. Gabriel Lee FHS, 41.27.

4X100: 1. MHS, 43.11; 2. CHS, 43.96; 3. SAL, 43.98.

4X200: 1. SAL, 1:30.56; 2. CHS, 1:31.47; 3. FHS, 1:32.85.

4X400: 1. MHS, 3:31.37; 2. CHS, 3:39.80; 3 STA, 3:42.13. 4X800: 1. MHS, 8.39.67; 2. CHS, 8:54.83; 3.

FHS, 9:04.24. SHOT PUT: 1. Lyrian Hart, Pine, 46-3; 2. Reginald Bouie, SAL, 42-10. 3. William Walker, PHS, 41-9.

DISCUS: 1. Brent Sylve, PHS, 143-5; 2. Seth Jones, CHS, 140-2; 3. Devin Moore, PRHS, 130-4. JAVELIN: 1. Tate Soileau, STA, 182-7; 2. Cohen Naramore, PHS, 175-11; 3. Cole Wilder, STA, 163-8. LONG JUMP: 1. Luke Demelo, MHS, 21-7; 2. Gerardo Cervantes, HHS, 21-5.5; 3. Camron Robinson, SAL, 21-0.

TRIPLE JUMP: 1. Malik Brown, PHS 45-0; 2. Kyrin Goins, SAL, 43-9; 3. Bryce Wiliams, FHS, 43-5.5. HIGH JUMP: 1. Chance Marchand, CHS, 6-2; 2. Jordan Kitchens, SAL, 6-2; 3. Terrance Vaughn, PHS, 5-6. POLE VAULT: 1. Jack Evans, FHS, 14-6; 2. Camron Robinson, SAL, 11-6; 3. Israel Agent, CHS, 11-0.

GIRLS TEAMS: 1. Mandeville (MHS), 98; 2. Ponchatoula (PHS), 90; 3. St. Thomas Aquinas (STA), 74; 4. Fontainebleau (FHS), 59; 5. Northlake Christian (NCS) 48; 6t. Hannan (HAN), 46; 6t. Covington (CHS), 46; 8. Salmen (SAL), 26; 9. Holden (HHS), 25; 10. St. Scholastica (SSA), 21; 11. Pine, 18; 12. Christ Episcopal (CES) 16; 13. Pearl River (PRHS), 9; 14. Lakeshore (LHS), 8; 15, Phoenix, 4. Individual events

100: 1. Brooklyn Baham, CHS, 12.60; 2. Princess Caitlyn Lang, NCS, 12.73. 3. Chloe Carter, STA, 12.92.

200: 1. Princess Caitlyn Lang, NCS, 26.11; 2. Chloe Carter, STA, 26.26; 3. Brennyn O’Rourke, HAN, 26.71. 400: 1. Chloe Carter, STA, 59.02; 2. Brennyn O’Rourke, HAN, 1:00.37; 3, Lola Koenig, SSA, 1:01.27.

800: 1. Katelyn Doyle, MHS, 2:26.03; 2. Lola Koenig, SSA, 2:26.06; 3. Jacklyn McMenamin, HAN, 2:29.37. 1,600: 1. Jacklyn McMenamin, HAN, 5:22.94; 2. Katelyn Doyle, MHS, 5:35.82; 3. Lucille Nunez, SSA, 5:43.15. 3,200: 1. Noah Watson, CES, 12:01.52; 2. Genevieve Blanc, MHS, 12:23.11; 3. Carrie Duke, MHS, 13:53.90. 100 HURDLES: 1. Mackenzie Hayes, MHS, 14.98; 2. Brooklyn Baham, CHS, 16.41; 3. Carlaja Clines, PHS, 16.53. 300 HURDLES: 1. Brooklyn Baham, CHS 44.69; 2. Chelsea Clasen, STA, 48.57. 3. Zykeria Daniels, Pine, 49.84. 4X100: 1. MHS, 50.01; 2. CHS, 50.65; 3. FHS, 51.61. 4X200: 1. MHS, 1:42.66; 2. STA, 1:49.77; 3. PHS, 1:51.43. 4X400: 1. MHS, 4:01.92; 2. FHS, 4:21.44; 3. STA, 4:28.44. 4X800: 1. PHS, 11:39.93; 2. FHS, 11:41.86; 3. CHS, 11:59.06.

SHOT PUT: 1. Jade Triste, STA, 34-0; 2. Kendriyan Simms, STA, 32-3; 3. Tallulah Furman, LHS, 32-0.

DISCUS: 1. Margit Pelto, FHS, 109-11; 2. Kendriyan Simms, STA, 102-7; 3. Kyra Moore, PRHS, 95-11.

JAVELIN: 1. Maggie Hughes, HHS, 102-7; 2. Olivia Jump, PHS, 93-3. 3. Parris Powell, SAL, 92-7. LONG JUMP: 1. Princess Caitlyn Lang, NCS, 16-11.5; 2. Ava Dale, NCS, 16-10; 3. Zariyah Ratliff, Pine, 15-10. TRIPLE JUMP: 1. Makayla Collier, PHS 32-11; 2.

Olen Bryant, a longtime resident of Slidell, Louisiana, passed away on March 31, 2026, at the age of 87. He was born in Kent‐wood Louisiana, on May 20, 1938, to a family of sharecroppers including his parents, the late Effie Clark Bryant and Johnny Monroe Bryant, along with six siblings Although Olen did not have his own pair of shoes until he was al‐most 13-years-old and was required to work from a very young age to help support his family, these early hardships shaped a strong and enduring work ethic that stayed with him throughout his life. At age 14, determined to build a better future, Olen left the cotton fields and told an employer he was 18 in order to secure better work as a dairy farmer. He remained working there until he was actually 18 when he then began work‐ing at a fueling station quickly climbing the ranks to a managerial role Guided by a strong work ethic instilled in his early years Olen consistently worked his way up in every position he held. In 1977 his employer gave him the opportunity to purchase his first truck, and that is where the legacy of COB Enterprises of Louisiana began and continues to run strong 49 years later Beyond his many accom‐plishments in work and business, Olen's greatest pride and deepest joy were always found in his faith and in the love he shared with his family Olen met the love of his life, Joyce Bryant, 67 years ago, and they shared nearly 64 years of devoted marriage He found his greatest hap‐piness in time spent with his children, Cynthia Bryant Kelly Roxanne Bryant (Chris) Arthur, and Clint Olen (Sharon) Bryant; adored grandchildren, Brooke (Joel) Smith Kelly (Michael) Craig, Brandon (Falyn) Kelly Dylan (Dar‐ian) Kelly, Conner (Kali) Bryant, Seth (Kylee) Bryant, Kinsleigh Bryant, Brooke Stuart, and Michael Stuart; and 10 great-grand‐children, who were the center of his life Olen s faith was a guiding force, and he always gave credit for his personal and pro‐fessional successes to our Lord Jesus Christ He served as a Eucharistic Minister for St Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church faithfully bringing commu‐nion to those who were homebound Olen was deeply committed to his community He played an instrumental role in the growth of soccer in Slidell helping to establish local fields and working to bring the sport into the public schools. Golf held a special place in Olen's heart for more than 40 years. He quickly became an accom‐plished player, but it was the time spent on the course that meant the most to him The game brought him joy, peace, and lasting friendships. His golfing companions be‐came hers, and the mem hey shared were the most mean his life Olen Brya behind nu‐merou ga s and many stories that will be cher‐ished forever by all that knew him He will be missed not only by his family, but also by his church family and count‐less friends he has made along his journey through life Olen's life reminds us to walk with faith, serve others with love, and em‐brace every moment with joy. May we go forth carry‐ing on his generosity, dedi‐cation, and light that he shared with all of us. Arrangements by Audubon Funeral Home in Slidell.

Charles Voelkel Jr., a resident of Pascagoula Mississippi for over 40 years passed away on April 2, 2026, at the age of 95. He was born on June 15 1930, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to his loving parents, the late Charles Voelkel Sr. and Barbara Schwartz Voelkel. Charles was preceded in death by his wife, Annabelle Voelkel with whom he shared 36 devoted years of marriage; two sons, Mark Voelkel (Brenda) and Charles Voelkel III; and three sib‐lings Leonie Alessi Steve Voelkel, and Henry Voelkel Charles leaves behind, to cherish his memory, eight children, David Voelkel (Mary), Cathy Voelkel Bar‐bara Poche (Raymond), Paula Frazier (Taylor) Danny Voelkel (Karen), Theresa Oakes (Frank) Jennifer Callicoatte (Judd), and Rachel Romaine (Neil) as well as numerous grandchildren, greatgrandchildren and greatgreat-grandchildren, all of whom brought him great pride and happiness Charles bravely served in the United States Navy and graduated from Louisiana State University in New Or‐leans where he earned a Bachelor of Science. His military service and educa‐tion provided a strong foundation for the life and work that followed He re‐tired from Sup Ships after a long and dedicated ca‐reer Through his years of work, he was known for his reliability and strong work ethic Charles was an avid gun collector and took great pride in his collec‐tion. He was a devout Catholic

Arrangements by Audubon Funeral Home in Slidell.

Blaize Foster, Holden, 32-10.25; 3. Gabrielle Tanner, FHS, 32-7.5.

HIGH JUMP: 1. Kaylei Long, PHS, 4-11; 2. Lila Discua, SAL, 4-11; 3. Aubrey Ethridge, HAN, 4-9. POLE VAULT: 1. Emma Romano, NCS, 100; 2. Kaylin Hessel, MHS, 9-0; 3. Reagan McKinney, FHS, 8-6.

PHOTOS BY MATT DOBBINS

Runners from Fontainebleau and Mandeville exchange batons during the 4x100-meter relay race.

Salmen’s Lila Discua finished second in the high jump at the Allie Smith Invitational on April 9.

Voelkel Jr., Charles

The promotional video from Visit the Northshore has achieved a social media reach of half million views! The Harbor Center is also utilizing a state marketing grant (Explore Louisiana) to reimburse a por‐ tion of out of area advertising.

Compliance Re‐minders - Financial disclosures are due May 15. Board members were also reminded to com‐plete sexual harass‐mentpreventionand ethics training. GM will resend links as requested Kitchen RentalCooking Classes: Ms. Paz met with Chef Charmaine to explore renting the kitchen for cooking classes (approx. twice a month, 6–20 attendees). The Board discussed the pros and cons and ended with the gen‐ eral consensus to explore the concept further Ms. Paz will develop a pricing and policy proposal and bring back to theBoard.

Sales Report: Ms. Jessica Hester re‐viewed the Sales and Marketing Re‐ports stating that the Harbor Center is up 114% in key tracked categories. She then wentovertheMarch and April bookings Ms. Hester noted that the facility use in the prior weeks included several back to back events requiring multiple overnight room turns, and explained the volume of busi‐ness the clients were conducting, under‐scoring the Harbor Center’s role as an economic driver She then went over Facebook growth, email marketing, website traffic and advertisingrevenue

Commissioner Comments: Mr Davis briefly dis‐cussed the impor‐tance of continued monitoring of state and parish funding opportunities (capi‐ taloutlayandappro‐ priations) and the value of maintain‐ing strong relation‐ships with the tourist commission, legislators andlocal hotels for room blocks and larger events Mr Davis then requested the Board draft a letter of support to reap‐ point Mr Glen Boyer to the Mos‐quito Abatement Board. Mr Myers motioned to ap‐prove drafting the letter and Ms. Wilkin seconded the motion with all in favor

Mr Myers pro‐ moted the Lobby Lounge artists Kray Van Kirk on March 19 and The Krickets on April 16th, adding that Lobby Lounge will have a booth in the Food TruckFestival. Mr Davis stated the next meeting is April2,2026.

Adjournment: Mr Myers motioned for adjournment and Mr Calvin sec‐onded the motion withallinfavor Respectfully sub‐mitted, JudiChase 183620AP15-1T $174.29

804 W 12thAvenue, Covington. Applicants: Lynn Mizell and Tami Perry

Owners: Lynn Mizell and Tami Perry

CASE NO. 26-0408 BOA Variance request from the Covington Louisiana Code of Ordinances Appen‐ dix B- Comprehen‐ sive Zoning Ordi‐nance of 2010, Part 3. Use District –Section 3.10-RS-2 Single-family resi‐dential zoning –3.1006 Performance Standards (7) Maxi‐mum Building Cov‐erage. The subject propertyhasthemu‐nicipal address of 1116 S. Vermont Street, Covington, LA70433 Applicant: Studio MV LLC/Matthew Voelkel Owner: Frank Tranchina

CASE NO. 26-0409 BOA- Variance Request from the Covington Louisiana Code of Ordinances Appen‐ dix B- Comprehen‐ sive Zoning Ordi‐nance of 2010, Part 4 General Provi‐sions Section 4.7 Fencing Regula‐ tions – Section 4.702(1)HeightRe‐strictions The sub‐jectpropertyisiden‐tified as Lot 10A, Square 1911, Divi‐sion of New Cov‐ington, and has mu‐nicipal address of 204 S Buchanan Street, Covington, LA70433. Applicant: Jeremy &BrookTorres

Owner: Jeremy & BrookTorres

These meetings will be held in the City Council Chambers located at 222 East Kirkland Street Covington,LA If you have com‐ments, please e-mail them to eagee@ covla.com or mail them to the City of Covington Planning Department at P O. Box 778, Coving‐ton,LA70434. For more informa‐tion, or to review case material or to inquire about speak‐ing at the public hearing, please call the City of Coving‐ton Planning De‐partment at (985) 867-1214. Thanks for your interest in Covington’sfuture. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special as‐sistance, please con‐tact the ADA Coor‐dinator at (892-1811 ex 270) Covington City Hall describing the assistance that is necessary. APPEALS: Any persons jointly or severally aggrieved by any decision by the Board ofAdjust‐ment of or any offi‐cer, department, board, or bureau of the municipality, may present to the District Court of the Parish or City in which the property affected is illegal in whole or in part specifying the grounds of the ille‐gality The petition shall be presented to the court within 30 days after the filing ofthedecisioninthe officeoftheBoard 182438AP8-15-2T $191.70

PUBLICNOTICE

TheCityofSlidell invitespublic reviewand commentonthe City's2026-2027 Community Development BlockGrant (CDBG)Annual ActionPlan.

Proposed projects include but are not limited to public fa‐cility and infrastruc‐ture improvements; creating partner‐ships; urgent need public facility and public service activ‐ities, fair housing education and ad‐ministration. No displacementofper‐sonswilloccur. All residents, partic‐ularly low to moder‐ate income persons, are encouraged to attend the open house and public hearing.

A draft of the action plan is available for review at the City of Slidell Planning De‐partment from 8:30am to 3:30pm, Monday through Friday (excluding holidays) and on the City's website at wwwmysllidell. com May 1, 2026, through June 4, 2026. To request a particular accom‐modation, for in‐quiries about acces‐sibility, comments, or to ask questions, email cdbg@cityofs lidell.org,; call 985646-4320, or deliver written requests to CDBG, c/o Plan‐ning Department, 250 Bouscaren Street, Suite 203, Slidell, LA 70458 24 hours prior to the meeting. 183819AP15-22-2T $141.66

PUBLIC NOTICE –UPDATED*

TheSlidellPlanning and Zoning Com‐missions will meet on Monday, April 20, 2026 at 7:00pm in the Council Chambers at 2045 2nd St Slidell, LA for a public hearing on:

SUBD2026-0022: Arequest for a Final Plat to subdivide 2 lots with a total 32.8329 acres; lo‐cated at 1 Tiger Drive; identified as a 27.781 ac parcel, and a 5.0519 ac par‐ cel; into one (1) par‐ cel, Tract SHS; in Section 3, Township 9 South, Range 14 East, Greensburg Land District, City of Slidell, St Tam‐many Parish Louisiana.

SUBD2026-0023: Arequest for a Final Plat to subdivide one (1) lot with 3.059 acres; located at 108 Christian Lane; identified as Lot 1B; into two (2) lots, Lots 2B d 1C; in Section Township 8 So Range 14 Greensburg District, City Slidell, St Tam Parish,Louisian CUP2026-0002: request for a C tional Use Pe foraWomen’s sitional Ho Center at 108 Ch tian Lane; iden as Lot 2B in Se 35, Townshi South, Range East Green Land District, of Slidell, St many Pa Louisiana. For more info tion, go to m lidell.com/plan ning/boards/pz email ningdept@cityof lidell.org, or (985)646-4320. 182437AP8-15$96.42

the District where the proposed activ‐ity is located The public is invited to comment on this permit request for a period of forty-five (45) days. Re‐sponses should con‐veysoundreasoning for or against the proposal and be mailed to Scenic Rivers Program, LDWF, 2000 Quail Drive, Room 432, Baton Rouge, LA 70808." 183778AP15-2229-3T $694.39

PUBLICNOTICE IAMAPPLYING to the Office Of Alco‐hol & Tobacco Con‐trol of the State of Louisiana for a per‐ mit to sell beverage of high and low al‐coholic content at retailintheParishof St Tammany at the following address: Heritage Hwy 22 Spirits & Grocery LLC 4964 LA-22, Mandeville LA 70471. Owner: Ashvinkumar Chaudhari 183802AP15-22-2T $186.92

PUBLICNOTICE

NOTICE OF IN‐

TENT

Notice is hereby given that Carson's Table,locatedat690 Lafitte Street, Man‐deville La 70448, intends to apply to the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and To‐bacco Control for a permit to sell alco‐holic beverages at retail at the above location Name of Appli‐ cant/Owner: Carson DuranWandell. Type of Permit: ClassA- Restaurant (AR) Any opposition to the granting of this permit should be madeinwritingto: Louisiana Office of Alcohol and To‐baccoControl P.O Box66404 Baton Rouge, LA 70896 183796AP15-22-2T $281.70

PUBLICNOTICE Request for Scenic River Permit on TchefuncteRiver The Secretary of the Louisiana Depart‐mentofWildlifeand Fisheries (LDWF) as Administrator of the Louisiana Nat‐ural and Scenic Rivers System is currently consider‐ing the application of Randy Mire to construct a sheet pile bulkhead and associated singlefamily residence, pool and decks on the Tchefuncte River Copies of the application can be vi ed t th

pile bulkhead and associated singlefamily residence, pool and decks on the Tchefuncte River. Copies of the application can be reviewed at the LDWF main office, 2000 Quail Drive, Baton Rouge, LA The public is invited to comment on this permit request for a period of forty-five (45) days Re‐sponses should be mailed to LDWF Scenic Rivers Pro‐gram, P.O. Box 98000, Baton Rouge, LA 708989000. 183780AP15-2229-3T $472.50

PUBLICNOTICE

Request for Scenic River Permit on WestPearlRiver

The Secretary of the Louisiana Depart‐mentofWildlifeand Fisheries (LDWF) as Administrator of the Louisiana Nat‐ural and Scenic Rivers System is currently consider‐ing the application of Danny Kemp to build a home addi‐tion Copies of the application can be reviewed at the LDWF main office, 2000 Quail Drive, Baton Rouge, LA The public is invited to comment on this permit request for a period of forty-five (45) days Re‐sponses should be mailed to LDWF Scenic Rivers Pro‐gram PO Box 98000 Baton Rouge LA 708989000 182028AP1-8-153T $428 73

PUBLICNOTICE

The Secretary of the Louisiana Depart‐mentofWildlifeand Fisheries (LDWF) as Administrator of the Louisiana Nat‐ural and Scenic Rivers System is currently consider‐ing the application of All State Finan‐cial Company for a permit to construct a ± 2.28 acre dry de‐tention pond on Par‐cel4BofMaisonDu Lac Subdivision to provide fill mitiga‐ tionforthecommer‐cial portion of Par‐cel 4B as well as Timbercreek Subdi‐vision (SRP #1372) on Timer Branch St Tammany Parish Louisiana. Copies of the appli‐ cation can be seen by the public at the LDWF main office, 2000 Quail Drive, Baton Rouge, LA The public is invited to comment on this permit request for a period of forty-five

LDWF main office, 2000 Quail Drive, Baton Rouge, LA The public is invited to comment on this permit request for a period of forty-five (45) days. Re‐sponses should be mailed to LDWF Scenic Rivers Pro‐gram 2000 Quail Drive, Baton Rouge LA70808. 182070AP1-8-153T $563.14 I, Brian Keith Baird , have been convicted of FORCIBLE RAPE (ATTEMPTED). MyAddress is: 65176 HIGHWAY 3081 PEARL RIVER, LA70452 Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 9/26/1959

PUBLICNOTICE The Secretary of the Louisiana Depart‐mentofWildlifeand Fisheries (LDWF) as Administrator of the Louisiana Nat‐ural and Scenic Rivers System is currently consider‐ing the application of Ryan Juneau to modify a bankline on Flower Bayou. Copies of the appli‐ cation can be re‐viewed at the LDWF main office, 2000 Quail Drive, Baton Rouge, LA The public is invited to comment on this permit request for a period of forty-five (45) days Re‐sponses should be mailed to LDWF Scenic Rivers Pro‐gram P.O. Box 98000, Baton Rouge LA 708989000. 183768AP15-2229-3T $395.97

PUBLICNOTICE

Trevor Nixon and Destanie Nixon Is doing business as D&T Treatz & Thingz LLC (the owners) is applying to the Office of Al‐cohol & Tobacco Control of the State of Louisiana for a permit to sell bever‐ages of alcohol and tobacco at the restaurant/store in the Parish of St Tammany (Pearl River,LA) at the fol‐lowingaddress: 71013 Highway 41 Pearl River LA, 70452 D&T Treatz & ThingzLLC owners.Trevor Nixon and Destanie Nixon 184027AP15-22-2T $245.22

I, Steven Brad Bedgood , have been convicted of CARNAL KNOWLEDGE OF AJUVENILE.

MyAddress is: 2419 Bluebird ST SLIDELL, LA 70460

Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 1/09/1987 Height: 5' 6 Weight: 192 Hair Color: BLONDE Eye Color: BLUE Scars/Tattoos: Mark: Tattoo: Upper_R_ArmANGELWING, LOVE // Tattoo: L_Hand - SKULL, M (MIDDLE FINGER) // Tattoo: Upper_L_ArmCROSS // Tattoo: L_wrist - TAMI // Tattoo: L_forearmMCKAYLA, ARON // Mark:NONE REPORTED // Piercing: EarBOTH PIERCED // Scar: NeckSURGICAL(R_SID // Tattoo: NeckREDNECK (R_SIDE) // Prosthesis: - NONE REPORTED // Ultraviolet Tattoo- NONE REPORTED // Tattoo: R_arm EYEBALL, BRAD, CROWN // Tattoo: forearm - SKULL, GLOBE, BLOODY WORLD // Tattoo: R_Hand - STAR, B // Tattoo: abdomen CROSS // Ta

(52)202012566

Home Loan & Thrift,LLC vs Claudine Wood Tardo, Wife of/ and QuinnTardo,Sr Sheriff's Civil Divi‐sion Parish of St. Tam‐many StateofLouisiana

Notice is hereby given that by virtue of a Writ of Seizure and Sale issued out of the Honorable 22nd Judicial Dis‐trict Court for the Parish of St. Tam‐many in the above entitled and num‐bered cause dated July 6, 2020 and to me directed I, Randy Smith, Sher‐iff, have taken pos‐ session of and will offer for sale at pub‐ lic auction to the highest bidder in the courthouse located at St Tammany Parish Courthouse, 701 N Columbia St, Covington, LA 70433, beginning at 10:00 am Wednes‐day, April 29, 2026, the following prop‐erty:

Property Descrip‐ tion: ONE CERTAIN LOT OR PARCEL OF GROUND, to‐getherwithallofthe buildings and im‐provementsthereon, and all of the rights, ways, privileges, servitudes, advan‐tages and appurte‐nances thereunto belonging or in any‐ wise appertaining,situated in the Parish of St. Tam‐many, State of Louisiana, and more fully described as follows, to-wit: LOT 15, SQUARE 12, PINECREST SUBDIVISION, Slidell, St Tam‐many Parish Louisiana.All in ac‐cordance with the

Hufft, Thriffiley & Dunbar 8311 Highway 23, Ste.104 Belle Chase, LA 70037

TermsofSale:With‐out appraisal 10% at adjudication and balance within 30 days RANDY SMITH, SHERIFF $91.99

(52)202214915

PennyMac Loan

As part of the public review process, the 2026-2027 Annual Action Plan will be available for review and comment on Thursday, April 30, 2026, 9am to 7pm during an Open House hosted by the City of Slidell, which is being held in the Mayor’s Commu‐nity Room, First Floor City Hall, 2055 Second Street, Slidell,LA70458.A public hearing pre‐ sentation will be held from 10:00am to 11:00am to dis‐cuss the overall per‐ formance of the CDBG program, past projects and the proposed submis‐sion of the 20262027 Annual Action Plan

The 2026-2027 CDBG Annual Ac‐tion Plan identifies the specific projects the City will fund with Community Development Block Grant Funds The CDBG funds allo‐cated to the City of Slidell for FY 20262027 are $207,801. The City proposes utilizing 80 % of the allocation received for project activities within the COBG Target Area CT409 and 20% forAdmin‐istration and Plan‐ning.

Proposed projects include but are not limited to public fa‐cility and infrastruc‐ture im PUBLICNOTICE CITY OF COV‐INGTON BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT HAS SCHED‐ULED A MEET‐ING FOR MON‐DAY, APRIL 20, 2026,

I, Brian Keith Baird , have be convict FORCIBLE (ATTEMPT

many StateofLouisiana

Notice is hereby given that by virtue of a Writ of Seizure and Sale issued out of the Honorable 22nd Judicial Dis‐trict Court for the Parish of St. Tam‐many in the above entitled and num‐bered cause dated October 23, 2023 and to me directed I, Randy Smith Sheriff, have taken possession of and will offer for sale at public auction to the highest bidder in the courthouse located at St Tammany Parish Courthouse, 701 N Columbia St, Covington, LA 70433, beginning at 10:00 am Wednes‐day, April 29, 2026, the following prop‐erty:

Property Descrip‐ tion: ACERTAIN PIECE OR PORTION OF GROUND, together with all the build‐ings and improve‐ments thereon, and all the rights ways privileges, servi‐tudes, advantages and appurtenancesthereunto belonging or in anywise apper‐ taining, situated in the Parish of St Tammany, State of Louisiana, and ac‐cording to a plat of survey by Albert A. Lovell & Associ‐ates, Inc., Consult‐ing Engineers, dated June 17, 1982, said property is de‐scribed as follows, to-wit:

0.331 acre parcel of land being the N.E. 1/4 of Square 56 of the TOWN OF MAILLEVILLE, located in Section 42, Township 7 South, Range 11 East G.L.D. near the City of Coving‐ton, St Tammany Parish, Louisiana. Said property mea‐sures 120' front on 6th Street, by a depth and front of 120' on Rubey Street, (aka Ruby Street), and forms thecornerof6thand RubyStreets. Being the same property previouslydescribed as lying in Section 42, Town‐ship 6 South, Range 11 East St Tam‐many Parish Known as "MAILLEVILLE, " more fully de‐scribedastheNE. Municipal Address: 71349 RUBY ST, COVINGTON, LA 70433-8812

Writ Amount:

$48,023.73

Plaintiff Attorney: Title Management Group,Inc. 3421 N. Causeway Blvd Suite300 Metairie,LA70002

TermsofSale:With‐out appraisal, 10% at adjudication and bal within 30

(52)202414772

Lakeview Loan Ser‐vicing,LLC vs Andrew Brock, Sr a/k/a Andrew Brock,KevinBrock and the UnopenedSuccession of and UnknownHeirsof Gwendolyn Bour‐geois Brock a/k/a Gwendolyn Bour‐geois Brock a/k/a Gwendolyn B. Brock a/k/a Gwen‐dolynBrock

Property

Sheriff's Civil Divi‐sion Parish of St. Tam‐many StateofLouisiana

Notice is hereby given that by virtue of a Writ of Seizure and Sale issued out of the Honorable 22nd Judicial Dis‐trict Court for the Parish of St. Tam‐many in the above entitled and num‐bered cause dated March 5, 2025 and to me directed, I, Randy Smith, Sher‐iff, have taken pos‐ session of and will offer for sale at pub‐ lic auction to the highest bidder in the courthouse located at St Tammany Parish Courthouse, 701 N Columbia St Covington, LA 70433, beginning at 10:00 am Wednes‐day April 29, 2026, the following prop‐erty:

Property Descrip‐ tion: Pinehurst of Kings‐point Subdivision, Phase 8M, Lot 273 as referenced in the Mortgage recorded at instrument num‐ber2230448 Municipal Address: 1402 DENMARK CT, SLIDELL, LA 70461-4564 Writ Amount: $184,794.74

Plaintiff Attorney: Law Offices of Her‐schelAdcock,Jr P.O BOX87379 BATON ROUGE LA70879 TermsofSale:With‐out appraisal, 10% at adjudication and balance within 30 days RANDY SMITH, SHERIFF $66.48

(52)202511757 Longbridge Finan‐cial LLC vs LindaPalencia Sheriff's Civil Divi‐sion Parish of St. Tam‐many StateofLouisiana Notice is hereby given that by virtue of a Writ of Seizure and Sale issued out of the Honorable 22nd Judicial Dis‐trict Court for the Parish of St. Tam‐many in the above entitled and num‐bered cause dated April 16, 2025 and di ed I,

Plaintiff Attorney: Jackson & Mcpher‐son 935 GRAVIER

STREET SUITE1400 NEW ORLEANS, LA70112

TermsofSale:With‐out appraisal 10% at adjudication and balance within 30 days RANDY SMITH, SHERIFF $61.67

(52)202513153

Finance of America

Reverse,LLC vs Herbert W Smith a/k/aHerbertSmith

Sheriff's Civil Divi‐sion

Parish of St. Tam‐

many StateofLouisiana

Notice is hereby given that by virtue of a Writ of Seizure and Sale issued out of the Honorable 22nd Judicial Dis‐trict Court for the Parish of St. Tam‐many in the above entitled and num‐bered cause dated June 16,2025 andto me directed I, Randy Smith Sher‐iff, have taken pos‐ session of and will offer for sale at pub‐ lic auction to the highest bidder in the courthouse located at St Tammany Parish Courthouse, 701 N Columbia St, Covington, LA 70433, beginning at 10:00 am Wednes‐day, April 29, 2026, the following prop‐erty:

Property Descrip‐ tion: Certain parcel of land situated in Sec‐tion 36, Township 4 South, Range 10 East and Section 1, Township 5 South, Range 10 East con‐taining 27.96 acres as referenced in the Mortgage recorded at Instrument# 1954831.

Municipal Address: 84062 North FAC‐TORY RD, FOL‐SOM,LA70437 Writ Amount: $578,386.18

Plaintiff Attorney:

(52)202516114

courthouse

at St. Tammany Parish Courthouse, 701 N Columbia St Covington, LA 70433, beginning at 10:00 am Wednes‐day, April 29, 2026, the following

Property Descrip‐ tion: 2023

NEWS 24/7 ON (52)202515482 Bank of America, N.A. vs Christopher Michael Washing‐ton and Keshawn Washington (Ke‐ shawn Patton Wash‐ington) Sheriff's Civil Divi‐sion Parish of St. Tam‐many StateofLouisiana

Notice is hereby given that by virtue of a Writ of Seizure and Sale issued out of the Honorable 22nd Judicial Dis‐trict Court for the Parish of St. Tam‐many in the above entitled and num‐bered cause dated October 3 2025 and to me directed, I, Randy Smith, Sher‐iff, have taken pos‐ session of and will offer for sale at pub‐ lic auction to the highest bidder in the courthouse located at St Tammany Parish Courthouse, 701 N Columbia St, Covington, LA 70433, beginning at 10:00 am Wednes‐day April 29, 2026, the following prop‐erty:

Property Descrip‐ tion: ALL THAT CER‐TAIN LOT PIECE OR PARCEL OF GROUND, together with all the build‐ings and improve‐ments thereon, and all the rights ways, privileges, servi‐tudes, appurte‐nances and advan‐tages thereunto be‐longing or in any‐ wise appertaining,situated in STTAM‐MANY PARISH, STATE OF LOUISIANA,being more fully de‐scribed as follows to-wit:

LOTS 7-10, SQUARE 3 BEACHVIEW SUBDIVISION ST TAMMANY PARISH, LA. all in accordance with subdivision plan recorded in the offi‐cial records of St Tammany Parish, StateofLouisiana.

Municipal Address: 3490 CITY DR, SLIDELL, LA 70458-8751 Writ Amount: $139,552.98

Plaintiff Attorney: LOGS Legal Group, LLP 3510 N. Causeway BlvdSuite600 Metairie,LA70002 Terms of Sale: With appraisal, 10% at adjudication and balance within 30

21st Mortgage Cor‐poration Vs JudithJonesGarrett Sheriff's Civil Divi‐sion Parish of St. Tam‐many StateofLouisiana Notice is hereby given that by virtue of a Writ of Seizure and Sale issued out of the Honorable 22nd Judicial Dis‐trict Court for the Parish of St. Tam‐many in the above entitled and num‐bered cause dated January 12, 2026 and to me directed I, Randy Smith Sheriff, have taken possession of and will offer for sale at public auction to the highest bidder in the courthouse located at St Tammany Parish Courthouse, 701 N Columbia St, Covington, LA 70433, beginning at 10:00 am Wednes‐day, April 29, 2026, the following prop‐erty:

Property Descrip‐ tion: 1 2020 Platinum 16 x 80 mobile home bearing serial num‐berPHAL06108

StorageLocation: Occupant 64105 HIGHWAY 3081 Trlr.61 PEARLRIVER,LA 70452

Municipal Address: 64105 HIGHWAY 3081, Trlr 61, PEARLRIVER,LA 70452

Writ Amount: $39,386.41

Plaintiff Attorney: TrevathanLawFirm 8235 YMCA PLAZA DR STE 400 BATON ROUGE LA70810

TermsofSale:With‐out appraisal 10% at adjudication and balance within 30 days RANDY SMITH, SHERIFF $63.60

(52)202610553 Neighbors Federal CreditUnion vs EdwardFogartySheriff's Civil Divi‐sion Parish of St. Tam‐many StateofLouisiana Notice is hereby given that by virtue of a Writ of Seizure and Sale issued out of the Honorable 22nd Judicial Dis‐trict Court for the Parish of St. Tam‐many in the above entitled and num‐bered cause dated February 6, 2026 and to me directed, I, Randy Smith, Sheriff, have taken possession of and will offer for sale at public auction to the highest bidder in the courthouse located at St. Tammany Parish Courthouse, 701 N Columbia St, LA ning at Wednes‐29, 2026, g prop‐escrip‐Yamaha SP ATV EX‐

Loan Services,LLC vs William Dean, Jr and Traci Elizabeth Savoisa/k/aTraci E.Savoisa/k/aTraci Savois (52)202515589 Sheriff's Civil Divi‐sion Parish of St Tammany State of Louisiana

Notice is hereby given that by virtue of a Writ of Seizure and Sale issued out of the Honorable 22nd Judicial Dis‐trict Court for the Parish of St. Tam‐many in the above entitled and num‐bered cause dated October 15, 2025 and to me directed, I, Randy Smith, Sheriff, have taken possession of and will offer for sale at public auction to the highest bidder in the courthouse located at St Tammany Parish Courthouse, 701 N Columbia St Covington, LA 70433, beginning at 10:00 am Wednes‐day, April 29, 2026, the following prop‐erty:

Property Descrip‐ tion: Lot 48, Carolyn Park Subdivision, Section 3, as refer‐enced in the Mort‐gage recorded at in‐strument number 2369291

Municipal Address: 1028 SAINT MARY ST SLIDELL, LA 70460

Writ Amount: $227,251.35

Plaintiff Attorney: Law Offices of Her‐schelAdcock,Jr P.O BOX87379 BATON ROUGE, LA70879

TermsofSale:With‐out appraisal, 10% at adjudication and balance within 30 days

RANDY SMITH, SHERIFF $62.15

cation: Storage er Ser‐X 3787 N, LA

ddress: 3787, N, LA Amount:

torney: Sides aht & fferson uge LA

e: With 10% at and thin 30 MITH,

in Print? Sign up for home delivery of the newspaper in addition to full digital access on your phone, tablet or computer Access to the daily e-replica of the