Shell gives seniors 26 computers
The Hammond Senior Center is going wi-fi.

Fireworks tonight!
The gates at Zemurray Park open at 5 p.m. today for the start of Hammond's annual July 4th celebration.

LeBlanc's opens with bang
There’s a new grocery store in town.

Assessor sees encouraging signs with home resales
Daily Star City Editor

'Hams' run 24-hour test
PONCHATOULA — The Ponchatoula Community Center was the hub Saturday for the Southeast Louisiana Amateur Radio Club and the biggest annual event for ham radio operators all across the nation and Canada.

'Peter Pan' prefers flying to landing
“Peter Pan” loves flying despite a slight fear of heights.

Animal Control has nice pets for adoption
This walker hound was brought as a stray to the Tangipahoa Parish Animal Control.

Rain briefly wets parts of parish
The skies opened up on Ponchatoula Tuesday afternoon with enough rain for passing cars to splash.

Heat damages lane of Interstate 55
BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has closed the left lane of I-55 southbound between Hammond and Independence in Tangipahoa Parish to allow crews to repair parts of the pavement damaged by excessive heat.

Anti-litter campaign paying dividends
City officials and neighborhood residents continued to push the anti-littering message in Lincoln Park Subdivision Saturday with a cleanup campaign.

Ponchatoula singer picked for reality show
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Ponchatoula original is hoping for country music stardom on the second season of CMT’s reality show “Can You Duet.”

Girl's body found in river
The body of a 5-year-old girl, who disappeared in the Tangipahoa River while swimming with her mother and two siblings Wednesday was found Thursday morning.

Girl feared drowned in river
PONCHATOULA — A 5-year-old girl was feared drowned in the Tangipahoa River

Guess heads new taxing district board
AMITE — Former school board member and retired banker Logan Guess was elected chairman of the newly formed Educational Facilities Improvement District.

Jazz funeral planned for Bill Hemmerling
PONCHATOULA — New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival will present a full jazz funeral Friday for acclaimed folk artist Bill Hemmerling.

Volunteers from Greensboro clear Hammond ReStore site
Residents of Greensboro, N.C., were in Hammond Monday morning to clean up the Habitat for Humanity ReStore site.

Carver transforms oak tree into eagle
Richard Murphy Hospice House’s Edwin Neill Memorial Garden has a new guardian.

Tangipahoa River coming off bad list
After two decades of effort, angst and hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Tangipahoa River will be removed from the state's impaired rivers list.

Movie crew uses port for sci-fi scenes
MANCHAC — Actors, actresses, extras and support personnel taped a segment of the movie “Flesh Wounds” at Port Manchac on Monday.

Judge gives deadline on deseg review
NEW ORLEANS — A hearing date has been set in federal court on the Tangipahoa Parish School System's proposed desegregation plan.

Numbers up at library programs
Circulation is up and so is attendance for the Tangipahoa Parish Library’s Summer Reading program so far.

Ella Jackson celebrates happy 106th birthday
Ella Jackson and friends celebrated her 106 birthday at Hammond Nursing Home on Monday.

Hammond gets back Ladies Top 28
SHREVEPORT — The Ladies Top 28 girls prep basketball state championship tournament is returning to Hammond.

Hammond Square area lures more stores
A third Sonic Drive In is coming to Hammond.

LeBlanc's to open June 30th
Renovations are nearing completion at LeBlanc’s, Hammond’s latest grocery store.

It's Hurricane Season
AMITE — The 2009 hurricane season is predicted to be “normal,” but National Weather Service spokesman Frank Revitte says, “That's no reason to let your guard down.”

After school math tutoring available
A $30,000 Learn and Serve grant from the University of Louisiana System is helping South-eastern Louisiana Univer-sity to continue and expand a free after-school mathematics tutoring program successfully piloted last year.

Business

Loranger farm expects berries to last 10 more days
LORANGER — Blueberry season is almost over, but there’s still a plentiful supply at Berry Hill Farm in Loranger at least for the next 10 days or so.

Hammond offers nearly 100 places to eat, drink
Variety is the spice of life in Hammond.

Roseland starts process to annex
ROSELAND — Town officials have already started the process to bring and sponsor video bingo to raise revenue.

Jobless rate reaches 7%
The May unemployment rate for Tangipahoa climbed to 7 percent.

Carter's Supermarket to open in Springfield
SPRINGFIELD — Springfield is now home to two Associated Grocers’ franchises.

American Bank and Trust opens
Downtown Hammond’s newest bank, American Bank and Trust Company Inc., has been attracting notice for the past year and is finally open at 506 S.W. Railroad Ave.

Compass Career College expands
Compass Career College announces the opening of a new cosmetology and esthetics facility at 42368 Deluxe Plaza Suite 22.

Scrap metal business picks up
The scrap metal business is starting to breathe again, but it’s been a rough few months, said Ricky Forrest of Florida Parishes Scrap.

Market features Peoples Jazz
Peoples Jazz Group will entertain guests Saturday for Hammond Market.

More restaurants at Hammond Square
A new family-style restaurant specializing in gourmet hamburgers will open in September, a Greek and Lebanese cafe within the next two weeks, and a Cajun-Mediterranean-Asian restaurant Aug. 23, all at Hammond Square.

Indy will open gambling parlor
INDEPENDENCE — Town officials are partnering with non-profits and area restaurants to get into the gambling business

City to host Homeownership Fair
The city of Hammond will observe National Homeown-ership Month with a Homeownership Fair June 27 and is taking applications for upcoming counseling, financial fitness and homebuyer education classes.

Community garage sale attracts 1,000 shoppers
At least 1,000 shoppers poured through the Daily Star’s first communitywide garage sale held Saturday to benefit the Newspapers in Education program.

Hammond Square's Best Buy hires 100
The "big blue box" store Best Buy will open to the public at Hammond Square a week from today with $20 gift cards to the first 50 customers who enter the store at 9 a.m.

Restaurant to open Monday at Hammond Square
A roadhouse-style steak restaurant is set for a “soft” opening Monday at 4 p.m. at 2035 Hammond Square Drive, near the interstate. The 5,500-square-foot facility will seat 190 patrons.

Chillin' with the chamber
The Hammond Chamber of Commerce’s Chillin’ with the Chamber fundraiser on June 26 will offer eventgoers the opportunity to sample the area’s newest restaurants, some before they open to the public.

Tax free weekend brings mixed results
The 2009 hurricane season officially began Monday, and a hurricane preparedness tax free weekend this past weekend sparked some interest.

Da Parish: Arabi refinery celebrates
Sunday, May 17, was scheduled to be a sunny spring day; however, Mother Nature had other plans.

Corrections

Proposed tax would replace all but constitutional
The Tangipahoa Parish School Board’s desegregation funding proposal calls for a parishwide 29.5 mill school tax in place of all existing school property taxes except for the 4.06 constitutional tax.

No requirement for invocations
AMITE — Those leading patriotic recitations before the Tangipahoa Parish School Board will not be required to also take part in the invocation before the meeting starts.

Education

Uniforms for Kids registration set for next week
Parents or guardians can register children for free school uniforms through the "Uniforms for Kids" program next week.

Deseg hearing to continue Monday
NEW ORLEANS — The desegregation case hearing on Tangipahoa Parish schools will continue in federal court Monday.

SLU budget cut comes to $6.67 million
It’s official. Southeastern Louisiana University will suffer a $6.67 million budget cut for the 2009-2010 fiscal year that begins today.

New principal at PHS: board committee picks Strickland
The Personnel Committee of the Tangipahoa Parish School Board voted Daniel Strickland as Ponchatoula High School's new principal Monday.

SLU awaits new budget
With a budget required to be in place for Wednesday, July 1, Southeastern Louisiana University continues to wait for solid budget reductions figures.

Chamber hears details of school plan
The Hammond Chamber of Commerce board will meet next month to decide whether or not to support the plan or take a neutral stance on the parish school improvement plan, said Chairman Daryl Ferrara.

After school math tutoring available
A $30,000 Learn and Serve grant from the University of Louisiana System is helping South-eastern Louisiana Univer-sity to continue and expand a free after-school mathematics tutoring program successfully piloted last year.

NAACP attorney wants more time
NAACP attorney Nelson Taylor did not meet a June 20 court deadline for his clients’ expert report or proposal for desegregating the Tangipahoa Parish School System.

25 complete Leadership Tangipahoa
With 25 members, Leadership Tangipahoa’s largest class ever graduated June 10.

Southeastern Louisiana University can wait no longer.
President John Crain announced Thursday that despite efforts to achieve significant relief from proposed budget cuts through the Legislature, the university must move forward with a budget plan.

Taxing district board named
AMITE — Five parish residents have been named to the new Educational Facilities Improvement District for the Tangipahoa Parish School Board.

School board considers taxing districts
AMITE — The Tangipahoa Parish School Board will consider resolutions Tuesday to create a parishwide school district and an educational facilities improvement district to coincide with the proposed desegregation plan.

Judge orders new deseg conference
NEW ORLEANS — The lead attorney for plaintiffs in the decades-old desegregation case against the Tangipahoa Parish School System was a no-show for a court-ordered telephone status conference set for Thursday.

Let's help needy families outfit kids for school
St. Vincent de Paul members are asking those in the community who can afford to spare a few dollars to help raise $50,000 to buy school clothes for 2,500 children from Tangipahoa Parish’s needy families.

State expected to return Northwood to parish
AMITE — Control of Northwood High School, a temporary alternative public school for problem students in Amite, will likely return to the control of the Tangipahoa Parish School Board before next fall.

Space limited for pre-K students
Space will be limited this fall for pre-kindergarten students in the Tangipahoa Parish public schools.

House debates school board reform bill
BATON ROUGE — Tangipahoa and St. Tammany school systems are fortunate in that they, unlike some others, do not need the school board reform measures proposed in House Bill 851, two local legislators say.

Blueprint calls for performanced-based formula
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Following are remarks that Jimmy Maurin, a Hammond resident and business leader, presented to the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday.)

Obituaries

obituaries for July 5, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries published July 4, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries for Friday, July 3, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries for July 3, 2009
Death Notices

Death Notices
Kelly Carlo Domiano

Obituaries published June 30, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries published June 28, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries for Saturday, June 27
Michael "Mike" Goudeau

Obituaries for June 26, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries for June 19-21
June 19

Obituaries
Death Notices

Obituaries for June 23, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries for June 23, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries for June 18, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries for June 17, 2009
Death Notices

0bituaries for Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries for June 14, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries for Friday, june 12
Death Notices

Obituaries for June 11, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries for June 10, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries published June 9, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries published June 7, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries published June 6, 2009
Death Notices

Death Notices
Lola Brumfield

Obituaries for June 4, 2009
Death Notices

obituaries for Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Death Notices

Obituaries for Sunday, May 31, 2009
Death Notices

Public Meetings

Amite town council adopts budget
AMITE — Proposed pay raises for Police Chief Jerry Trabona, City Clerk and Tax Collector Mary Lou Lee and Street and Water Superintendent Joe Dupuy are to be decided at the town council’s meeting Tuesday.

Citizens' road petition gathers 1,000 signatures
LIVINGSTON — While the Livingston Parish Council continues to debate the details of a new set of parish road standards, the citizens’ roads petition initiative has already gathered its first 1,000 signatures.

Hammond council orders 6 homes destroyed
Ten blighted homes within city limits have been recommended for demolition by the City Building Department.

Heritage museum director pushes for money
The Tangipahoa African American Heritage Museum wants a piece of the children’s museum pie.

Citizens group pushes road upgrades
LIVINGSTON - The Livingston Parish Council’s inaction on improving the system for accepting new roads into the parish has left citizens with little choice but to start their own initiative and referendum process, said Scott Jones, executive director of Citizens for Highways and Infrastructure of Livingston Parish.

Fagan Drive odors continue
Odors emitted from the city’s waste water treatment facility on C.M. Fagan Drive could continue to cost the city money into the next fiscal year.

Council omits museum money
The Hammond City Council will make its budget recommendations for the 2009-2010 fiscal year Tuesday without funding for the Tangipahoa African American Heritage Museum.

Fagan Drive odors continue
Odors emitted from the city’s waste water treatment facility on C.M. Fagan Drive could continue to cost the city money into the next fiscal year.

Ordinance to address property purchase
AMITE — Parish officials laid the groundwork to purchase land for a new Amite Library branch location on Monday.

Council to fine tune city budget
Hammond City Council members will begin fine tuning a $35.2 million budget Tuesday for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

Hammond gets stimulus money
The City of Hammond is one of 55 applicants throughout the state that will get federal stimulus funding, the Department of Environmental Quality announced Wednesday.

Hammond council schedules budget talks
The Hammond City Council will hold three budget hearings next week before the passage of its 2009-2010 fiscal year budget on June 16.

School board to present awards
AMITE — More teacher awards will be bestowed during the Tangipahoa Parish School System meeting Tuesday.