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...

Read More »

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...

Read More »

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...

Read More »

                   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.

...

Read More »

                   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.

...

Read More »

            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...

Read More »

                  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...

Read More »

                  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....

Read More »

                 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.”

...

Read More »

            Anybody remember Mrs. Fletcher? “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” Was it ever that easy?

            On the northshore, ambulance service providers respond to thousands of calls each year. A combination of “routine” medical emergencies such as heart attacks, severe falls, motor vehicle accidents, and simple “transport” runs to doctor visits, keep the companies, public agencies – and the employees who staff them – busy from dawn ‘til dusk, 24/7/365.

            By far the largest provider of ambulance service in St. Tammany and Tangipahoa Parishes is the Lafayette-based Acadian Ambulance. “Acadian Ambulance began in 1971 in Lafayette parish with two ambulances and eight team members,” said Danny Lennie, Vice President of Operations for Acadian.  “Today we serve 38 parishes/counties in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.  We now have over 2,600 team members and transport approximately 1,000 patients per day.”

            “We began operations in Tangipahoa in 1982 with three ambulances...

Read More »

 

For a time, it seemed the only construction activity happening on the northshore was residential, as builders adapted to accommodate the inundation of new residents in late 2005 and 2006. As that market maxed out, you couldn’t drive more than a few miles hereabouts without witnessing the construction of commercial space – offices, restaurants, banks, hotels, and retail centers – being rapidly constructed to accommodate those businesses serving the newly expanded population.

Then came 2008. Things changed, and they changed fast. The “housing bubble” finally burst nationwide. The sub-prime mortgages collapsed and, although they represented only three percent of mortgages nationwide (and a mere pittance in Louisiana), the banking industry went into full-scale panic. Credit lines were frozen or taken away. Mortgage loans became scarce, as did financing of virtually every kind. Retail space sat – and sits – empty.  National chains such as Circuit City started closing – for good. Homebuilders in particular...

Read More »

 

With more than 900 miles of navigable waterways – more than any parish in Louisiana – St. Tammany is a natural place for water recreation, particularly in summer months. But when you hop on your Jet Ski, sailboat or even just your fishing skiff, officials say the rules of safety still apply.

At the St. Tammany Sheriff’s Office , Capt. Pat McLaney commands the Marine Enforcement unit within the Operations Division, overseeing a staff of 13 law enforcement professionals. Their job – and it’s a big one – is to patrol the waterways of the parish in search of safety violators, search for missing persons on the water and, most importantly, to keep people safe.

“We have six patrol boats in the waterways of St. Tammany, spread throughout the Parish,” McLaney said. “They are also responsible for search and rescue on waterways.”

Unlike the deputies who patrol the streets, Marine Enforcement deputies don’t work in the finite enforcement area of natural boundaries or even the yellow and white...

Read More »

 

Once in the realm of science fiction, modern medicine has achieved advances beyond what people imagined only a few decades ago. If it’s true, as is often said, that there have been more technological advances in the last 100 years than in the previous millennium, a good portion of those advances have been in the identification and treatment of disease.

At northshore medical facilities, the enhancement of technology and staffing in recent years has given patients and their healthcare providers increasingly advanced options for non-invasive diagnostic tests.

“When you say ‘diagnostic imaging,’ it includes general X-ray, ultrasound, CT, MRI, mammography, PET/CT, and bone density studies,” said JoAnn Forsyth, director of M.D. Imaging in Slidell, where all of those procedures are performed.

“Our first order of business is diagnostics,” said Pat Maltese, head of the radiology department at St. Tammany Parish Hospital. “A patient presents with a complaint. The (diagnostic) exam allows us...

Read More »

 

Tired of hearing about the economy and how it is supposed to affect us but isn’t? Then skip this story.

It’s almost natural to assume, given the gloom and doom of recent media reports, that folks are cutting back on luxury spending. But if you subscribe to that line of thinking, you’re probably not an avid northshore golfer.

Membership and attendance at northshore golf courses is healthy and steady, and no one seems to expect that to change. While the costs of the game vary widely depending on where you choose to play, devotees seem far from ready to hang up their clubs and fire their caddies.

At Hammond’s Oak Knoll Country Club, 340 members participate in golf outings. With a $250 initiation fee and $130 a month for family membership – a rate that drops by 50 percent for members who live outside a 30-mile radius – the club is, in fact, growing.

“That’s a gradual increase over the last few months,” said Jake Narro, PGA Head Golf Professional at the Club.  “We haven’t seen a...

Read More »

 

Water recreation is as much a part of Louisiana culture as crawfish and corruption. Local marina owners and boating retailers say the market for watercraft and bayou bank parking spaces remains steady, if slow. In fact, from marinas renting slips and providing fuel for boaters to retail sales lots with a wide array of boats to buy, business is in a very good place.

“We sell and service Honda outboard motors,” said Mary Eirich, owner of Slidell Marine, Inc., on Old Bayou Liberty Road. “We sell pontoon boats. We also have a restaurant and a ship store that sells boating and fishing supplies. We also sell fuel.”

Fuel, in fact, is an increasingly difficult commodity for boaters to find at marinas, Eirich said.

“There are fewer and fewer,” Eirich said. “After Katrina, a lot opted not to re-open.”

Eirich, however, got into the marina business after Katrina, as she and her husband expanded their holdings of Cypress Cove Boating Center on Pontchartrain Drive to include Slidell Marine. And...

Read More »

 

Following the worst natural disaster in United States history – the small matter of a killer storm that starts with a “K” – the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) set out to redo its flood elevation maps. The results have raised ire and confusion, and could imperil the ability of local residents to get flood insurance at all.

Flood insurance is a complicated issue. Since private insurance carriers will no longer offer it in homeowner’s policies, the federal government stepped in with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). NFIP rates are based on flood zones. Flood zones are based on Base Flood Elevations (BFEs). BFEs are established by FEMA. Follow all that? In short – or in alphabet soup – to get NFIP you have to reference the BFEs established by FEMA. 

Adding another step, the BFEs have to be adopted by local governments – city or parish councils, for example – before NFIP will or can remain in effect.

NOW do you get it?

Not if you’re lucky. Coastal St. Tammany...

Read More »

 

Expecting house guests this summer? Better hope their names aren’t Ana, Bill, Claudette or Danny. Erika, Fred, Grace and Henri can stay away, too. And let’s just hope we never come anywhere close to seeing Wanda.

The 2009 storm names are an ominous guest list of visitors we might expect – and hope not to – during the June 1 through November 30 Hurricane Season.

The very notion of “Hurricane Season” can bring a mix of emotions, long before the first clouds start swirling in the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico. For some, memories of Hurricane Katrina are too painful to remember. For others, denial is the preferred emotion. But for anyone who used to think “it can’t happen here,” there are memorials and ceremonies every August 29 to say different.

Professional prognosticators who specialize in storm season predictions are saying 2009 will be an “average” season. Scientists at the University of Colorado’s Department of Atmospheric Science start issuing predictions each December and update the forecast as the season nears and then progresses. According to the April 7, 2009, update, things shouldn’t be that bad this year.

...

Read More »

 

 Bailouts and buyouts, bulls and bears, bubbles and bandits, failures and foreclosures. Been watching the news lately? It’s all you hear. But local banks say the time is ripe for businesses to start or expand.

 When the “housing bubble burst” back in late 2007, investors started to worry and developers began to hurt. When gas prices soared in summer 2008, things got a little hairy. When the credit market constricted last year and the stock market fell to record lows, folks started to run scared. And when, finally, we were officially declared “in a recession,” it seemed like everyone’s worst fears were coming true.

 Soon, the fear suggested, we’d all be unemployed, banks would foreclose on every home in the country before collapsing in on themselves, and soup kitchens would replace grocery stores and restaurants.

 It was a sad time.

 But it was also a lot of hooey, at least – or especially – in southeast Louisiana.

 “Businesses in Louisiana are faring better than businesses...

Read More »

 

Recession woes are everywhere and folks are cutting back on luxury spending, right? Wrong. An economic downturn, while having a negative impact on certain market sectors, is also having the ancillary effect of pumping some businesses in the upward direction. “Pumping,” in fact, may be a very suitable word, since swimming pool sales are brisk not in spite of but in response to fears of recession.

Huh?

Turns out that instead of spending money on expensive trips or big-ticket items that lose value (like cars and trucks), folks are investing in home improvement projects and taking “stay-cations” in their own backyards instead of vacations at exotic resorts. “I’ve been busy for a couple of months,” said Chris Tartamella, owner of Caribbean Pool and Patio in Hammond. “If you want your pool in for Memorial Day, you need to shop early.”

“The temperatures have been a bit low, but things are good,” said Evi Jeansonne, co-owner of Pools and Stuff in Slidell. “Busy season just started.” “Business...

Read More »