Work underway on crosswalks at busy intersection
Pedestrian path will link Heritage Park with Olde TowneinSlidell
BY JESSICA SAGGIO
Contributing writer
Slidell’sOlde Towne and nearby Heritage Park are two of the city’s mainattractions. Now,construction is underway on pedestrian walkways to connect the two. Crewsstarted work earlierthis month on a$1.2 million projectthat
willcreate direct paths for pedestrians and cycliststoconnect the Olde Towne historic district with Heritage, which isnestled along Bayou Bonfouca justacross Front Street. The crosswalks will form an “L,” or ashape similar to the number “7” that will cross on the north sideofFront Street where it intersectsFremauxAvenue, and
againonthe east side of Fremaux at the same intersection.
The project has been discussed for years, beginning during former mayor Freddy Drennan’sadministration. Planswereformalized in 2022 under current mayor Greg Cromer,and thecrosswalks are expected to be complete by February
Richard C. Lambert Consulting, of Mandeville, designed the crosswalkproject. Covington-based Kort’sConstruction Services, Inc. is the contractor Plans callfor aconcrete sidewalk starting at Bayou Lane in Heritage Park thatwill cross the railroad tracksand Front Street on the northern side of the intersec-
Teachers allowedjeans once aweek
Boardalsoapproves
$503.3 millionbudget for fiscal year ’24-’25
BY ANDREW CANULETTE Staff writer
After spending an hour of arecent committee meeting debating the meritsofits teachers being allowed to wear jeans at work,the St.Tammany ParishSchool Board had nothing to say on the matter at itsfull monthly meeting on Sept. 19. The board passedits consent calendar by a13-0 vote, including the item outlining changes to the district’semployee
dress code. The amended item allows teachers to wear jeans on the last day of each workweek while allowing paraeducators a choice to wear denim daily
Theoption to wear,ornot wear jeans was thoroughly vetted in a committee meeting Sept. 5atthe Schoen Building in Covington. Board member Michelle Hirstiusintroduced an item that evening asking that the district’s3,400-plus teachers be allowed to wear jeans daily if they desired, rather than onlyonspecial occasions, which was previous practice.
Amajority of board members supported loosening the rule, but the notion of allowing denim all day,every day didn’tget enough traction. Schools Superintendent Frank Jabbia spoke against the idea, saying “I understand times have changed but Idon’twant to give anyone areason to not treat us as professionals.”
Several board members also questioned how “dressing down’ in denim might affect order in theclassroom
tion at Fremaux. The path would then come back across Fremaux on the east side. Signage, striping and signalsare planned to maximize safety
Additionally,the city plans to slightly realign ablock of First Street during thebuild,makingit more of aperpendicular intersectionwith Front Street rather than the angled feed it is now,Slidell
JESSICA SAGGIO
BY
Contributing writer
Covington’sShirley T. Primes does not like to be in the spotlight.
So when the organizers of the St. Tammany Parish Fair surprised her with news that this year’sevent would be dedicated in her honor,she was at aloss.
“I really don’tknow how to act,” said Primes. “You don’tvolunteer for recognition. Youdoitfrom the heart. That’swhy I’m alittle off-center in the limelight.”
Primes has been aquiet linchpin of the fair for the past 18 years, working alongside her daughter,Melissa Primes Dottolo, who is past president of the Parish Fair Association. Primes first got involved while trying to convince Dottolo to take over the fair’s pageant and promised to help her if she did. In turn, Dottolo accepted and took her mom along for the ride.
However,what started out as avolunteer position helping with the pageant took a surprise turn afew years later.Scrambling to fill positions, the fair’sboard needed new leadership. Primes couldn’tmake the meeting, she said, but Dottolo attended.
“She came home and said, ‘Mom! Igot elected president!’ And you know whogot elected treasurer?” Primes recounted. “You!’” Primes also took over the position of secretary.And, of course, that expanded into helping with advertising, entertainment, the essay and poster contests and even cooking for fair-related events. She still helps codirect
PHOTO BY GRANT THERKILDSEN
ShirleyPrimes has been named special honoree at this year’sSt. TammanyParish Fair, which runs Oct. 2-6 at the St. TammanyParish Fairgrounds.
PHOTOSBYMATTHEW DOBBINS
B. Free dances with Ophelia Kinsley, 6, tothe music of Julio and Cesar at LagoFest on Sept. 21 at theMandeville Trailhead
Parish Counciljoins voices urging replacementofU.S.90bridges
BY BOBWARREN Staff writer
Another group of St. Tammany Parishelected officials has joined in the push to speed thereopening of a stretch of U.S. 90 at the Louisiana-Mississippi state line. Commonlyknown as Highway 90, it runs across south Louisiana but has been closed near theborder with Mississippi since 2022 because of thebad condition of aseries of bridges that crossvariouslegsofthe PearlRiver
The St. TammanyParish Council recentlypassed a resolution urging thestate Department of Transportation andDevelopment to
The inaugural LagoFest brought abrilliant blend of Latin music, dance, food and friends tothe Mandeville Trailhead on Sept.21. It was aperfect way for the husband-and-wife team of Dayha Velandiaand Trevor Darling, who created thefestival,tokickoff Hispanic Heritage Month,whichisobserved Sept.15 through Oct. 15. President RonaldReagan established the monthlong celebration in1988, which is timed withdates of independence in severalLatin American countries, including Costa Rica, El Salvador,Guatemala, Honduras,Nicaragua, Mexico, Chile and Brazil.
move quickly to replace the bridgesand reopen the stretch of highway. It also asks state and federal authoritiestodesignate Highway 90 as an “auxiliary hurricane evacuation route.”
The state highway departmentclosed it after inspectors said the bridges, which datetothe early 1930s, were structurally unsound and unsafe for vehicles
The highway department hassaid it plans to replace the bridges, but doesn’t have atimeline.Money,ofcourse, is thebig issue: Thehighway departmentsays replacing all the bridges could cost upward of $350 million
The Parish Council’sresolution, adoptedatthe coun-
cil’sSeptember meeting, follows similarurgings by the northshore’slegislative delegation. Area elected officials have pointed out that Highway90isanespecially importantalternative eastwest roadway when wrecks snarlthe nearby Interstate 10 andthatitisalso avital route during hurricane season.
“Right now there’sjust not any money available,”
DOTD spokesperson Daniel Gitlin said.
Gitlin saidDOTDunderstands the project is important andisworking to expedite the design, but that at somepoint money will have to be allocated forit.
“Weare fully engaged and
cooperating.We’re open to any conversations,” he added. In August, DOTD put out a notice seeking possible takers for the old bridges. Since they are in the state’sHistoric Bridge Inventory,there is federal money available for companiesoragenciesthat will commit to removing the bridges and finding anew use forthem TheSt. TammanyCouncil’sresolution, sponsored by membersDavid Cougle, PatBurkeand Jeff Corbin, notes that the council has no authority over DOTD but adds that it does speak for the people of St. Tammany. Theresolution wasadopted in a13-0 vote.
BY ANDREW CANULETTE Staff writer
Slidell MemorialHospital unveiled the largest expansioninits 65-year historyon Sept. 17 with the grand opening of theSurgical Services and Patient CareTower —a three-story building located behind the main hospital and facing Florida Avenue
The expansion brings 61,028 square feet of new hospitalspace to thecampus,including anew intensive care unit on the first floor of the tower,aswell as sevenoperating room suites and adaVinci 5surgical robot on the second floor.The thirdfloor boasts 26 private roomsand apatient care unit withnegative pressure rooms designed to prevent thespread of airborneviruses.
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sible in April 2021 when east St. Tammanyvoters approved a$23 millionbond renewal that helped finance theproject. Construction began in November 2022. The tower is part of $52 million in recent upgrades to Slidell MemorialHospital facilities. SizelerThompson Brown Architects, of New Orleans, designed the expansion. Mandeville-based DonahueFavret Inc. was the contractor SlidellMemorial
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STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD
The West PearlRiver bridgeonU.S.90that connects Louisiana and Mississippihas been closed since 2022.
PHOTOSBYGRANT THERKILDSEN
Blaise Provitola from Intuitive Surgical describes howasurgicalrobot works during atour of Slidell Memorial Hospital’snew Surgical Services and Patient Care ToweronSept. 17.
three-storyaddition faces Florida Avenue and is behind Slidell Memorial’s main building which fronts Gause Boulevard.
Sisters Leire andLauriePeralta, 2, check things out at LagoFest.
PHOTOSBYMATTHEW DOBBINS
Yvonne Vasquez, Molly Sansovich, Karen Elvis, Dareni Chastain, Yahaira Arabella and Andrea Vigil bring their best dance moves toLagoFest.
Trevor Darling and his wife, Dayhanna Velandia, are co-chairs of the first LagoFest, held Sept.21in Mandeville.
Waska NOLA offers Colombianinspired dishes, such as this spread of ArepadePollo, at the fest.
LAGO FEST
