Thursday, grab a burger at Times Grill (1827 Front Street) in Slidell, and help a wounded NOPD Officer through his recovery. On the morning of February 23, NOPD Officer John Passaro was shot responding to an armed robbery on Poland and St. Claude. The wounded Officer has a difficult road ahead, and friends and family are asking the Greater New Orleans community to show their support.  

Elton "Mark" McCabe spent months in prison in South Sudan, and politicians like David Vitter pushed the government there for his release. But after returning to the U.S. Monday, the Slidell man quickly found himself back in custody. The feds arrested McCabe Thursday, accusing him of taking kickbacks from subcontractors in exchange for work on reconstruction at the Kandahar Airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan. 

by Erica Boni

Now that Thanksgiving is out of the way, it's time for the sugar plum fairies and rats to dance again. When the Nutcracker was first released in 1892, it was anything but well received. Since the 60’s, however, it has gained increasing popularity as the public has warmed to the fantasy filled Christmas eve tail that follows the imagination of a wealthy young German girl as her dreams of a Nutcracker prince slaying a mouse king of seven heads come to overtake reality.

Any local fisher knows it's hard to hide big haul. Pontchartrain Blue Crab's Gary Bauer learned that this extends to processors, too. Bauer allegedly hid the fact that his Slidell company didn't report buying about 285,000 pounds of seafood from January 2010 - July 2011. The 54-year-old turned himself in last week, and was charged on 18 counts of filing false public records and 18 counts of injuring public records, according to the state Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Unfortunately, the Blue Angels weren't the only fighter jets that had to be called into airspace above Southeast Louisiana today. A small plane flown by a Slidell doctor crashed into the Gulf around 11:20 a.m. The Cessna 421 took off from Slidell bound for Sarasota this morning. The plane was reported as flying erratically, and the Air Force dispatched a pair of F-15 fighter jets to attempt to make contact with the man WDSU is identifying as Dr. Peter Hertzak, who was alone in the plane.

When it comes to potholes in sinking South Louisiana, It's time to call in the big guns. According to the AP, Slidell is set to ring in the New Year with stealth technology originally designed for the military to detect where dirt seeped into sewers, and mete out serious sinkhole threats. The technology was developed at Louisiana Tech. Slidell Mayor Freddie Drennan seems surpisingly willing to allow forces to encroach across his border. Maybe Pakistan could take a diplomacy lesson. Full story here.

FRENCH QUARTER - It took a little cooperation with the Show Me State, but the man New Orleans police believe killed a Slidell eye doctor in October was arrested today. Bobby Troy, 20, was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Moberly, Missouri, just before midnight Wednesday. He is accused of the October 16 robbery-murder of Brent Hachfeld, a 37-year-old optometrist, which occurred at corner of Dauphine and Dumaine Streets in the early morning hours. At a press conference from the scene of the crime, NOPD Chief Ronal Serpas said a family member called to turn Troy in.

by Ben de la Cour (Updated 10/18, 2:30 p.m.)

Police are investigating a homicide in the French Quarter after a 37-year old doctor was found lying unconscious on the 900 block of Dauphine St near the intersection with Dumaine early Sunday morning. Officers were called out around 4:30am to a “medical situation” where they found Dr. Brent Hachfeld, an optometrist from Slidell, lying unconscious on the sidewalk bleeding from the back of his head with additional lacerations to his face.

Proving that there is a limit to how little runners can wear, Slidell police arrested a 26-year-old man today for allegedly jogging naked next to a group of teenagers. Drew Rodriguez was spotted naked on three occasions since April 21. Two of those times, he was running past teenage boys, who quickly fled. At another siting, he was driving his blue Chevy Malibu, which police used to link him to all three incidents. Rodriguez was booked on two counts of obscenity and one count of indecent behavior with a juvenile. 

Behold! The wonders of smart phones. A man was arrested Monday for taking cell phone videos and pictures up women's dresses at a Slidell Wal-Mart. Anthony Mosconi Jr., 31, of Mcneill, Miss., apparently tried to delete pictures from his phone before police arrived, Fox 8 reports. An "inappropriate" video was found of a woman in a yellow dress, and Mosconi was charged with "video voyeurism." The more generous among us might have some sympathy for this young artist. As expressionists Max Kurzweil and  Amedeo Modigliani can tell you, a woman in a yellow dress is a difficult subject to resist.