• A MAJOR IMPROVEMENT
The beige brick and glass building is an impressive sight, its decorative copper wall glinting as motorists pass by on Interstate 12 west of Slidell.

• Coach booked with DWI resigns
Fontainebleau High School football coach Richard "Gregg" Hudson resigned Wednesday, four days after being booked with DWI in Mandeville after nearly colliding with a St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office patrol car and leading deputies on a chase on U.S. 190, authorities said.

• Crane operator dies two weeks after falling into Lake Pontchartrain at the twin spans construction site
A crane operator who fell into Lake Pontchartrain at the twin spans construction site two weeks ago has died, becoming the second worker on the project to die after an accident.

• Man gets 3 years in child porn case
A 32-year-old Slidell man was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to more than three years in prison for possessing 9,000 images and 50 videos depicting the sexual victimization of children, some younger than 12.

• St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis won't seek fourth term. Term-limit measure pulled from council
St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis announced Tuesday that he will not ask voters to approve a term-limit exemption that would allow him to seek a fourth consecutive term in 2011.

• Waste station permit is approved
The St. Tammany Parish Zoning Commission, to the disappointment and anger of a room full of Covington-area residents, approved a zoning permit Tuesday night for a solid waste transfer station north of the city.

• Wider Causeway Boulevard on way
The ride along North Causeway Boulevard, between Brookside Drive and Louisiana 22 in Mandeville, should be less congested by the end of the year, when the Causeway Commission expects to finish a more than $5 million project to widen the road from two lanes to three.

• Sheriff's Office keeps lower tax rate
With economic concerns and high property assessments looming large in taxpayers' minds, Sheriff Jack Strain said he will keep his agency's property tax at the rolled-back rate.

• Councilman pleads guilty to DWI
St. Tammany Parish Councilman Marty Gould has pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in November.

• Slidell man held in bizarre shooting
A 60-year-old woman who answered a man's online ad to share a house was shot in the face by her new roommate Saturday, shortly after she unpacked her belongings in his Slidell home, authorities said.

• Shot to leg leads to 15 years in prison
A 26-year-old Slidell man on Monday pleaded guilty to attempted murder for shooting his girlfriend's father in the leg.

• Donate Christmas tree, help wetlands
It's Project Yuletide time.

• Man pleads guilty in rape of 17-year-old
A Slidell-area man on Monday pleaded guilty to raping a 17-year-old girl from Michigan.

• BRIGHT IDEA
With parents keeping a watchful eye, some young residents of Riverlands Estates lit up the neighborhood by lending a hand with the annual luminaries celebration on Dec. 13.

• Mandeville Police Chief Tom Buell quits after missteps in Mandeville
By New Year's Eve, Tom Buell's office was stripped of the horse-themed artwork that spoke to his longtime passion for the animals.

• Animal center nearing reality
Slidell officials soon will open bids for construction of a multimillion dollar animal control center, with an eye toward completing it by the spring of 2010.

• Clothes dryer blamed for fire that leaves 4 homeless
An Abita Springs-area family is homeless after a clothes dryer sparked a fire at their house while they were on their way to Alabama.

• HOMES FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Habitat for Humanity hosted a Caroling by Candlelight event as part of a dedication ceremony for three new homes in Hope Village II at Hope Village Lane in Covington on Dec. 18. Joy Velez, Mertis Peterson and Almetta 'Renee' Route received the keys to their new homes during the ceremony.

• Wal-Mart looks two miles west for store site
When developers, in the days before Hurricane Katrina, unveiled plans for a regional shopping center with a Wal-Mart Supercenter and a Sam's Club south of Covington, hundreds of local residents voiced their opposition to the mass merchandisers' setting up shop along Interstate 12 near Louisiana 21.

• Covington city offices are closed until Monday
Covington city offices will be closed today through the weekend to complete the move of offices and departments from City Hall to their new permanent home in the Greater Covington Center.

• Interstate 10 lanes to close
There will be daily intermittent lane closures on Interstate 10 near Slidell from Monday through Jan. 18 due to construction work, the state highway department said.

• Slidell Mayor Ben Morris chooses firm to design Senior Center. FEMA to give Slidell $1.8 million to raze and rebuild building
Mayor Ben Morris has hired a renowned New Orleans architectural firm to rebuild the Slidell Senior Center, finally moving forward with the project after wrangling with FEMA for the past three years to get the agency to pay to fix the damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina.

• Twin spans worker still in hospital
A construction worker remained hospitalized in serious condition Friday after falling 30 feet into Lake Pontchartrain while working on the Interstate 10 twin spans on Tuesday.