If you’ve lived or worked on the northshore for more than about 10 minutes, you’ve probably discerned the one constant: growth – and we’re not talking about the grass. 

Immediately after that nasty hurricane nigh onto five years ago, it seemed St. Tammany and Tangipahoa Parishes were the place to be.  The ONLY place to be.  In the whole wide world.  Everybody – yes, EVERYBODY – was here.  The surge in population brought a surge in tax revenue and retail sales, but it also brought growth even more accelerated than the most clairvoyant of demographers and planners had predicted.  “Exponential” became the number-one descriptor, replacing “steady” as the word of choice to pair with “growth.”

Boomtown we were, and boomtown we are.

In the months that followed, as many folks repaired or rebuilt their southshore abodes and drifted back towards the now-medium-sized city on the Mississippi River, things settled down just a tad.  The housing market, flooded with spec homes during the diaspora, faltered,...

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                 With the announcement that the federal government will require a 90-percent improvement in fuel efficiency by 2050, one could almost hear the collective sigh of economists thinking, “Well, as if they don’t have it bad enough….”  Thing is, you could place every economist in the world end-to-end and they won’t reach a conclusion.  And car dealers hereabouts say things are looking pretty good.

                  “Business last month was great,” said Mark Campbell, general sales manager at Bill Hood Ford in Hammond.  “We’re up about 25 percent year-over-year.”   “Business is very good,” said Adam Bowen, general manager of Rainbow Suzuki Imports in Covington.  “Business is picking up” said Kenny Bothner, general sales manager of Eddie Tourelle’s Northpark Nissan and Hyundai, also near Covington.  “We have taken the turn for the better.  From last year at this time to now is just incredible.  We’ve seen the turn in the last three months.”  Not bad for an industry that a year ago was on the serious...

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             The news has been grim for years now.  Spurred-on by Congress, lenders made loans to people who really couldn’t afford to pay them.  Then sub-prime mortgages wrecked the banking industry.  Then unqualified lenders led to mass foreclosures.  The credit market got so tight you could bounce a quarter off of it – if you had a quarter left, or could find a place to borrow one.  And all of it led to problems for homebuilders, both large and small, who couldn’t make the payments on spec houses and had to shut their doors.

It was a very sad time.

It was also a lot of hooey.

Sub-prime mortgages accounted for only about three percent of all mortgages.  Foreclosures spiked, but didn’t really “soar.”  Lenders tightened credit requirements in response to federal regulators who, in the opinions of many, overreacted.  The rest … well, the rest pretty much happened as presented.  So while the trickle-down problems were real, the impetus wasn’t as cut-and-dried as some would have you think.

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                  If you’ve been around the northshore for more than a few years, you may remember a time when your plastic, paper, aluminum and glass waste could be hauled to the curb separate from your regular garbage to be picked up for recycling.  It was a brief time, but for those wanting to do their part for the environment and reduce landfill waste, it was the thing to do.  These days, it is not so common.                 

While some municipal governments require contracted trash-haulers to provide recycling service, in places where it is not required it is usually just not done. 

                  “The only places we provide recycling service are Mandeville and Covington,” said Gus Bordelon, Area Marketing Manager for Coastal Waste.  “It is very limited where you can take it.” 

                  Indeed, Hurricane Katrina wiped out the larger, local recycling centers in New Orleans, so haulers now have to take recyclable materials to Baton Rouge for disposal.  And they have to pay...

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Top news!  The economy is in the tank!  Banks are failing, foreclosures are rampant, bankruptcies are at an all-time high!

Not around here, and not if you have the coveted “J.D.” after your name.  While restaurants and retailers may be struggling – arguably due more to fear than reality – at least one sector of the economy is booming: the practice of law.

At Daigle, Fisse, Kessenich, managing partner Howard Daigle said the firm is continuing to boom.  “We have 14 lawyers in the northshore office, four paralegals, and 12 general staff.  We have affiliate office arrangements in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.”

An isolated case?  Nope.

“We expanded on the northshore from nine attorneys to 14 in the last 24 months,” said Kevin Cole, director of Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith. “We don’t expand for the sake of expanding, but to meet the needs of our clients.  We will grow to meet the needs of our clients.  Each of the new offices we have added has been in response to client requests.”

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If you find yourself feeling ill any time soon, you’re not alone.  Just about everyone is sick and tired of the “economic downturn” – or is at least tired of hearing about it.  For some, however, the dip in some economic indicators has affected their healthcare decision-making or even their ability to get access to care. 

The ensuing trouble for patients is that putting off necessary healthcare can result in even worse problems requiring more extensive (and expensive) care.  The ensuing trouble for hospitals is a declining clientele and financial woes.  No matter how you slice it, even with a fancy MRI machine, it’s an unhealthy picture.

Nonetheless, local hospital administrators interviewed for this story indicated expansion plans are moving forward and services are still top-notch on the northshore, economics be damned. “Nationwide there was a 24% dip in volume at hospitals in 2008-2009,” said Sam Caruso, Jr., director of Slidell Memorial Hospital’s main campus. “This is true of the metro New...

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                  If you notice major construction projects along the I-12 Corridor, you may be looking at the work of one of the region’s economic development foundations.  EDFs, usually non-governmental agencies that operate with government support, often fly below radar in ongoing efforts to bring and retain businesses.  Not only are the projects you see often the fruits of their labor, so are the projects you don’t even notice.

                  Most of the five northshore parishes – St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington and Livingston – have economic development offices operating, and the fifth – St. Helena – works cooperatively with the other four to make things happen. 

                  In Tangipahoa Parish, the TEDF works with a staff of 1 ½ employees on a budget of about $150,000 a year to lure and retain businesses.  Formed in 1978 and funded by direct budget allocation from the State of Louisiana and area business, TEDF works to assist in efforts of business recruitment and job-creation...

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                  Did you know that St. Tammany is home to the Gulf South’s only national award winning development dedicated to the Baby Boom Generation? Located on Hwy. 1085, directly across from the First Baptist Church of Covington is Maison du Lac, winner of the National Association of Home Builders 2009 Gold Award for the Best Planned Community in the country in the 50+ housing market.

                  This 22 million dollar phased project was the vision of the late Oil & Gas, Communications Executive and Real Estate Developer Max Thornhill of Brookhaven, Mississippi and is being brought to fruition by his heirs. A beautiful 156 acre tract of land, situated less than a mile north of I-12 off the Hwy 21 corridor, places South Louisiana on the cutting edge of the burgeoning active adult market. The 6000 sq.ft. plantation style  Resident’s Clubhouse, luxury condominiums, and numerous project amenities were designed by the distinguished Basham & Lucas architectural firm of Jacksonville, FL. The individual...

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In the days of the post-sub-prime mortgage calamity, the housing market nationwide hit some rough times.  After years of “lend, lend, lend!” federal regulators tightened lending rules on financial institutions, making it harder and harder to get financing.  In Southeast Louisiana, the post-Katrina building boom on the northshore brought literally thousands of single-family residences into existence, in part a response to the rapid population growth and in part due to false anticipation of a continued exodus. 

Housing inventory shot sky-high, people went into the homebuilding business to make a quick buck, and homes without storm damage sold for tens of thousands of dollars above actual value in short order.  Nowadays, things are different, and the question is no longer whether it’s a buyer’s market or a seller’s market, but whether it’s a market at all.

Notwithstanding the slump, real estate does continue to move.  Really.  As hard as it is to count “For Sale” signs without losing track, and as...

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                Christmas trees and ornaments packed away, lights stripped from the eaves and King Cakes ordered?  Great.  Now, ‘tis the season for a new kind of adventure.  And what Santa Claus giveth, the IRS may taketh away…at least if you’re not careful.

Amid parades, parties and the ubiquity of madness called “Mardi Gras,” April 15 may seem like a distant future.  Not so much.  And it’s not enough to just hunker down and pray for daylight; you have to prepare for when the Taxman cometh.

The first quarter of every year is the busiest for accountants and tax preparers, and 2010 is starting off as no exception.  Despite the “economic downturn,” businesses and individuals are still gearing up for that looming date when the IRS comes calling like a kid playing Hide and Seek:  “Ready or not, here I come!”

If you don’t already have an accountant or tax professional on top of your records and plans, it’s never too late to start.   And if you’re already online with the pros, you probably have...

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                As Carnival season approaches, northshore krewes are gearing-up for the holiday of the year.  But after another year of parade preparation combined with another year of economic recession, krewes are looking at the same problem they had last year: declining membership.

The crowds are still there, but the costumed riders – and distributors of coveted throws – are fewer in number.   “We lost 100 members this year and we’re down two floats,” said Tara Ingram-Hunter, vice president of Slidell’s Krewe of Selene.

“We lost quite a few members,” said Allen Little, captain of the Krewe of Perseus. “We used to have 17 floats.”  This year, Perseus will have only 13 floats.

“We have 350 members currently, and that is down slightly from previous years,” said Brett Lowe, captain of the Original Krewe of Orpheus in Mandeville.

So why the declining membership?  Surely not a waning interest in the Carnival tradition?

“The current economy is a direct (cause) of our membership...

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This is my new year's resolution:

When my mother-in-law begins to yell and shout Through the window I would like to throw her out.

 

But I resolve not to do it, here is why: I'm afraid of hitting someone passing by.

Spike Jones, “Happy New Year” 

            Ah, New Year!  The natural extension of the holiday season that began six weeks ago with Thanksgiving and the harbinger of the bacchanal called Mardi Gras.  And, of course, the season of resolutions. 

            It has become almost expected that each of us make resolutions he has no real intention of keeping.  Quit smoking?  Check.  Diet and lose 20 pounds by swimsuit season?  Check.  Thrice-weekly trips to the gym?  Check.  Buy the Brooklyn Bridge from a guy on the corner?  About as likely.           

            But for public officials around the northshore, it’s also a time to look ahead to some other lively fiestas and make some serious decision-making and goal setting.  If only because they are...

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Psst!  Have you heard?  There’s a recession.  Pass it on. 

And if you haven’t heard, you’ve been living on the moon for the last 18 months.  Thing is, around the Northshore the recession is… well… as they say, not so much.  Unemployment hereabouts is lower than in the region, state and nation.  Building permits and home sales are inching upward.  And while tax revenue is down from last year, it’s still up-up-up from 2004 – you remember: the pre-Katrina, pre-false economy days when things were normal? 

No doubt there have been job losses, a foreclosure or three, and businesses failing. But jobs always get lost, foreclosures always happen, and businesses always fail.  It is what it is.  So what’s a banker to do? 

“We believe there has been an economic downturn and it has affected the industry,” said Laura Brandt, vice president and director of Citizens Bank and Trust Company. 

But, Brandt was quick to add, for most consumers the impact isn’t severe. 

“Customers that have performed...

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                   Think things are pretty bad?  Unemployment is through the roof, right?  Here on the northshore, not so much.  Retail sales are at rock-bottom!  Um… no, not really.  It’s gonna be a hard candy Christmas?  Well… not really.

                  “We’re going to have a Christmas.  People are tired of gloom and doom,” said Ann Freibert, Specialty Leasing Manager at Northshore Square Mall in Slidell, one of two properties owned by Morguard Revenue Properties. 

                  “We’re doing a lot better than most,” said Grady Brame, Executive Vice President of Stirling Properties, which owns or manages dozens of retail shopping centers, including Hammond Square, Mandeville’s Premier Center, and the Stirling Covington Center (informally the “Target Center”) on Hwy. 21.  “It’s not easy out there, but most of our properties are holding their own.” 

                  Indeed, anything more than a cursory glance at local and regional data will show that although the economy may, in fact, be tanking in California or Kentucky, hereabouts things are pretty hot – or at least tepid – compared with other locales.

...

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                   Well it was.  There’s no denying it, much as some of you might like.  As if 2008 wasn’t memorable enough, the last 11 months (it’s only 11 at this writing) have brought beauty and angst, fear and loathing, and enough eyebrow-raising events to make it even more memorable than ’08.  Really. 

                  Top Story of the Year.  Hands down.  As if there was any doubt:  Mandeville.  Enough said… almost.

                  “Hysteric Mandeville on the Lake.”  After the saga began in early 2008 with allegations of a misused police benevolent fund, the situation in Mandeville city government escalated – or deteriorated, depending on your perspective.  And it escalated rapidly.  A couple of alleged DWIs, an indictment for perjury, a state audit, the “forced retirement” of the 30-year police chief and… well… it wasn’t pretty.  It got even less pretty in October 2009, when the mayor pled guilty to federal charges and resigned.  It was, for the second year in a row, the top story.  Now served by interim Mayor Bubby Lyons, who has promised not to seek the office in the March special election, the city is returning to something like “normal” while candidates line up to seek the remainder of the mayor’s term, which will end in 2012.

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            The first motto of Louisiana was incorporated with the long-recognized symbol of the Brown Pelican, and bore in Latin the message our state’s founders had surely hoped would be embodied in its people: Non sibi sed suis – not for oneself, but for one’s own.  The motto has since been replaced by “Union, Justice & Confidence,” but the Brown Pelican endures as the official symbol of Louisiana.  And last month, the revered animal that adorns the state flag was officially removed from the list of endangered species in Louisiana.

            U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu joined Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Sam Hamilton at a Nov. 11 press conference to announce the bird’s removal from the list.  “I am extremely proud that Louisiana, and the shores of Lake Pontchartrain in particular, has been chosen to host today’s important announcement,” said Sen. Landrieu. “It is a tribute to the great work that has gone into saving this lake and...

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                  When Greg Cromer was elected to the state House of Representatives two years ago, one of his requests for committee assignments was with an eye on the future of state government:  Knowing that the 2010 Census would require a redrawing of Louisiana’s legislative districts, Cromer sought and received a seat on the House and Governmental Affairs Committee, a sub-body of the Legislature that usually gets scant attention but which will, in short order, be a powerful place to be.

                  “This is one of the reasons I asked to be on this committee,” Cromer said. “I thought it was important that St. Tammany have representation in this process.”  The way it works is complex in its simplicity.  Legislators will have the task of redrawing their own district boundaries for both the House and Senate, based on new population data from the U.S. Census Bureau.  Sounds fairly easy, right?  Wrong.

                  After the House and Governmental Affairs AND the Senate and Governmental...

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                  If any story has dominated the news in the last 20 months, it can be summed-up in one word: Mandeville.

                  It started with alleged misuse of a Police Department benevolent fund, evolved into accusations of perjury against the longtime mayor, and culminated in a state audit that showed financial improprieties. Along the way, sideline events included an apparent drunk-driving incident or two, some fired Causeway officials, a failed recall effort, a state indictment, and stories of a long-ago DWI by … shall we say, a “prominent elected official.”  For a while, it was impossible to pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV without seeing an “update” – often a rehashing of the situation from start to finish with a new detail or two thrown in.

                  And now… it’s over.  Sort of.

                  When former Mayor Eddie Price entered a plea of “guilty” to federal tax evasion charges and resigned his position in October, it was a turning point for the city....

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                 Before the 2009 Hurricane Season ends, another “H” time – Hunting Season – is kicking off.  And while the former is clearly the more dangerous, the same rules apply: Preparation is a far better option than recovery.

                  Bow-Hunting, or Archery Season opened Oct. 1, and Small Game Season opened two days later, launching what is among the busiest times of year for agents of the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

                  “Our primary function is to protect the natural resources of the state,” said Sgt. Darryl Galloway, a Wildlife Enforcement Agent with the Wildlife and Fisheries agency.  “But we don’t just enforce the law; we try to educate people.”

                  That education includes passing on knowledge of basic hunting safety to hunters of all ages.  To that end, Galloway and his colleagues work to ensure that hunters are properly trained – not only in the use of firearms and other hunting weaponry but in personal safety, as well.  The state offers a hunter safety course that is, in fact, mandatory for most sportsmen (and women, of course).  “Any person born after Sept. 1, 1969, has to complete the course,” Galloway said.  “All 50 states now require some form of mandatory hunter education.”

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