Slidell News & Guides Articles

Statewide party runoff races and four local tax propositions are scheduled for the Saturday election St. Tammany Parish voters are heading into the Saturday, June 27, 2026 election with a mix of party-primary races and local propositions on the ballot, according to the St. Tammany Parish Registrar of Voters and the Louisiana Secretary of State. Officials list the June 27 election as Louisiana’s 2nd Party Primary and Municipal General Election. In St. Tammany, the ballot includes Democratic and Republican contests for U.S. Senate, a Republican race for Public Service Commissioner District 1, a Republican race for Board of Elementary and Secondary Education District 1, and four local tax propositions. According to the St. Tammany Parish Registrar of Voters, the June 27 ballot will include:...

June 9 Agenda Includes Ordinance To Call A Special Election On Proposed Home Rule Charter Amendments The Slidell City Council’s June 9 agenda includes an ordinance that would propose amendments to the city’s Home Rule Charter and call a special election for voters to decide them. The agenda packet identifies that measure as Item No. 26-06-3647. City records in the same agenda packet show the Charter Review Committee met May 19 and voted to advance seven proposed changes into ordinance form. The minutes say those items were expected to be introduced at the June 9 council meeting and then scheduled for a council vote on June 23 so they could be prepared in time for a December ballot. Among the changes that can be confirmed from the publicly available minutes are a proposal to change the...

Parish shelter says it has more than 200 dogs in a system built for 120, with a Slidell adoption event scheduled June 20 St. Tammany Parish government is asking residents to adopt, foster, volunteer or donate after the parish animal shelter again moved into emergency overcrowding status. The parish’s Department of Animal Services said its shelter system has exceeded 120-dog capacity and is now caring for more than 200 dogs. A parish news release said the shelter had topped 215 dogs when officials issued a public “Mayday” call, describing the canine population as roughly 70% above designed capacity. Animal Services Director Robert Bremer said in the parish statement that adoptions have slowed, rescue transfers have dropped off and animals continue arriving through owner surrenders and...

Officials are making another case for public safety funding after earlier tax defeats left gaps in the parish criminal justice system. St. Tammany Parish officials are again trying to persuade voters to back law enforcement and criminal justice funding in a political climate that has been shaped by years of tax fatigue. The sheriff’s office has been part of a broader parish conversation over how to fund public safety and court-related operations after earlier revenue measures failed. St. Tammany Parish government said in its 2026 budget rollout that state law requires the parish to fund parts of the criminal justice system, including obligations tied to the district attorney, sheriff, judges and other offices, but that there is no dedicated revenue source to fully meet some of those...

City Budget Records And A Recent Council Agenda Suggest Long-Discussed Intersection Work Near Country Club Drive Is Gaining Momentum. A long-discussed roundabout project on Robert Boulevard in Slidell appears to be moving closer to construction, according to city budget records and a recent City Council agenda. The City of Slidell’s 2025 adopted budget identifies a capital project to construct a roundabout at Robert Boulevard and Country Club Drive. In the city’s proposed 2027 budget, the same project is still listed, and a progress table places the Robert Boulevard at Country Club Boulevard roundabout at 20 percent completion. Further evidence of movement came in the Slidell City Council agenda for May 26, 2026. The agenda summary included an amendment that would allocate $2 million to...

New Act Removes A Longstanding State Statute Tied To The St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement District A Louisiana law that gave special authority to the St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement District is set to be repealed after state lawmakers approved House Bill 286 and Gov. Jeff Landry signed it into law as Act 62. The change takes effect Aug. 1, 2026. The measure repeals Louisiana Revised Statute 33:7728, a state law specific to the St. Tammany district. According to the enrolled bill, the repeal removes provisions tied to the district’s independent authority over spending, its ability to extend services outside its boundaries, certain employee health insurance claim language, and older references involving district boundaries and naming. The repeal follows action by the St. Tammany...

Parish Zoning Records And STARC Announcements Show Plans Advancing On Shamrock Road Near U.S. 190 A new STARC residential community home is moving closer to construction in Slidell, according to St. Tammany Parish zoning records and public posts from the nonprofit. Parish documents show STARC of Louisiana, led by Executive Director Mark Baham, sought to rezone a 1.767-acre parcel at the northeast corner of U.S. Highway 190 East and Shamrock Road from HC-2 and NC-4 to A-3 suburban zoning. The zoning case, listed as 2024-3690-ZC, states the property is intended to be used as a residential group home for STARC of Louisiana. The matter appeared before the St. Tammany Parish Zoning Commission in March 2024 as a recommendation for approval before later Parish Council action. A separate parish...

A Keep Louisiana Beautiful grant is already producing results in St. Tammany Parish. A state beautification grant is helping St. Tammany Parish crack down on illegal dumping and reduce litter in Slidell. Officials say a surveillance camera funded through Keep Louisiana Beautiful led to a gross littering citation in Lacombe, while a separate grant added four new trash receptacles in Olde Towne Slidell’s entertainment district. St. Tammany Parish officials said the parish’s Department of Environmental Services used a $10,000 surveillance camera grant awarded in June 2025 to buy cameras that were deployed in March 2026. Soon after installation, one of those cameras captured a vehicle allegedly dumping a toilet along a roadside in the Lacombe area. According to St. Tammany Parish, the...

Tommy Williams Wins Slidell Police Chief Race As Council Seats Are Decided Slidell voters selected Tommy Williams as the city’s next police chief in Saturday’s election, giving him 3,500 votes, or 64.7 percent, over Brian Nicaud’s 1,911 votes, or 35.3 percent. The race decided who will take over the elected chief’s office after Randy Fandal left the post following his election as Slidell mayor. Williams will now move into one of the city’s highest-profile public safety roles as Slidell continues to manage policing, traffic and quality-of-life issues across a community of nearly 29,000 residents. Voters also filled seats on the Slidell City Council. In the two at-large council races, Leslie Denham led the field with 2,284 votes, or 27.4 percent, followed by Tom Abney with 2,160 votes, or...

Sue Helen Ford’s project turns downtown landmarks into a self-guided local history walk A Slidell Girl Scout has earned the Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouting, for a project that invites residents and visitors to explore the city’s past one stop at a time. Sue Helen Ford created the Slidell History Stroll, a self-guided walking tour through Olde Towne Slidell that uses QR codes placed at historic and notable locations. When scanned with a smartphone, the codes take users to short histories about the sites and the people and events connected to them. City of Slidell materials describe the project as a collaboration involving Ford, the city and the Slidell Museum. The project debuted in August 2025 during White Linen Night, when participants were invited to take part in a...

A Once-Dominant Regional Mall Is Now A Redevelopment Story Northshore Square helped define modern retail in Slidell for decades. The mall opened in 1985 and grew into the Northshore’s main enclosed shopping center, drawing customers from St. Tammany Parish, Washington Parish and nearby Mississippi counties. Morguard’s current leasing materials still describe the site as a 621,292-square-foot regional mall at 150 Northshore Blvd. near Interstate 12, with a broad trade area and high-visibility access along one of Slidell’s busiest commercial corridors. That role has changed sharply in recent years. The enclosed interior shut down in 2019 after years of tenant losses and changing shopping habits. Since then, Northshore Square has shifted from being a traditional mall story to being a...

Public Records Show Chuck Branton’s Current Term Ends June 1 As The Parish Council Weighs A New Vote The St. Tammany Parish Council has scheduled an appointment item to fill one expiring seat on the Library Board of Control, according to the council agenda for its May 7 meeting. The agenda identifies the item as a parishwide appointment to a seat with a term expiring June 1, 2026. Public appointment records list that seat as currently held by Charles Branton. Library records currently list Branton as president of the seven-member Library Board of Control. The library’s board page says the board includes six members appointed by the Parish Council and one by the parish president, who also serves as an ex officio member. The council agenda does not identify a second nominee for the seat,...

Authorities Say The Investigation Remains Open As Officials Work To Determine How Maurice A. Appleton Died The skeletal remains recovered last month from a retention pond near Slidell have been identified as Maurice A. Appleton, according to the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office. Authorities said Appleton, born in 1959 and last known to live in Slidell, had been missing for several months before the identification was made. His next of kin has been notified, according to reporting based on the coroner’s announcement. The investigation began on April 20, when St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to a retention pond near Indiana Avenue and U.S. 11 after someone fishing in the area found what appeared to be human skeletal remains in the water. The sheriff’s office said...

Two Separate Fights Over Parish Funding And Oversight Have Shifted Since Late 2025 A legal and political fight over public funding in St. Tammany Parish has changed course in recent months, with the St. Tammany Parish Mosquito Abatement District dropping its lawsuit against the Parish Council and a separate bill tied to the district attorney’s budget being pulled from the Louisiana House. The mosquito district announced Dec. 11, 2025, that its board had withdrawn a lawsuit it filed against the St. Tammany Parish Council a month earlier. District officials said the suit was no longer needed after the council decided to end its Government Efficiency Committee investigation into the agency. In its public statement, the district said it had already taken several cost-cutting steps, including...

Chief Says Investigators Have Made Significant Progress In This Case And In A Separate Shooting On Voters Road Slidell police are asking for the public’s help as detectives search for four suspects in a robbery and kidnapping case that Chief Daniel Seuzeneau said is connected to a victim meeting someone through an app. According to Seuzeneau, investigators are looking for four Black males believed to be in their late teens or early 20s. Police said one suspect was last seen wearing a black hoodie and another was last seen wearing a white tank top. They were last reported heading toward the Lincoln Park subdivision. Anyone with information is asked to call Slidell Police at 985-643-3131 or CrimeStoppers at 504-822-1111. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward....

Annual Juried Show Will Feature Gulf Coast Artists At The George Dunbar Gallery In Olde Towne The City of Slidell is preparing to open its annual Mixed Media juried exhibition on Friday, May 8, at the George Dunbar Gallery inside the Slidell Cultural Center at City Hall. According to the city’s Department of Cultural & Public Affairs, the exhibit will begin with a public reception and awards presentation from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on May 8 at 2055 Second St. in Olde Towne Slidell. The exhibition is scheduled to remain on display through June 26. City officials say the show is open to artists age 18 and older from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Each artist may submit up to three works, with a $25 flat entry fee. The city describes Mixed Media as an annual juried...

Parish leaders say a growing general fund shortfall is forcing a decision on how to pay for the criminal justice system and other state-required agencies. St. Tammany Parish officials are moving toward a sales tax as their preferred answer to a long-running funding problem affecting the parish jail, the 22nd Judicial District Court, the district attorney’s criminal division and other agencies the parish is required by state law to support. The issue came into sharper focus this spring after the Louisiana Legislative Auditor found the parish’s general fund is structurally imbalanced. The audit said St. Tammany has been relying on non-recurring money to cover recurring costs and that state-mandated expenses consume the vast majority of the fund each year. According to the parish and the...

St. Tammany Council Weighs Three Funding Options For Courts, Jail And Other Mandated Services Officials say the parish must choose a new revenue path as the general fund shortfall grows. St. Tammany Parish leaders are moving toward a decision on how to shore up funding for the criminal justice system and other state-mandated services, with the Parish Council set to choose whether to pursue a sales tax, a property tax or a franchise fee. The issue was placed on the agenda for a special council meeting Thursday night, where members were scheduled to hear presentations from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor, the parish finance department and the parish’s financial adviser before taking up a resolution declaring which option the council intends to pursue. According to the resolution, the...

Voters Will Decide Several Head-To-Head Council Contests On May 16 Slidell voters are heading into a busy municipal election with a string of one-on-one City Council races on the ballot and at least two districts guaranteed to get new representation. Districts A and B will both have new council members after the May 16 election. Current District A Councilwoman Leslie Denham and District B Councilman David Dunham still appear on the city’s current council roster, but both are running for council at-large instead of seeking re-election in their district seats. That leaves both district posts open this year. According to the St. Tammany Parish sample ballot, District A voters will choose between Rene Arcemont and Landon J. Washington. In District B, voters will choose between Sean Fadely...

City Says Federal-Funded Study Will Examine Traffic, Walking, Biking, Golf Cart Access And Other Transportation Needs Through Fall 2027 The City of Slidell has started work on a new Mobility Master Plan that officials say will help shape future transportation projects across the city and nearby areas. According to the city, the plan is funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods grant program. Federal officials describe that program as supporting planning and construction efforts that improve access to jobs, schools, health care, food and other daily destinations while reconnecting communities affected by past transportation barriers. In Slidell, Louisiana, the effort is expected to run from November 2025 through fall 2027. City...