The Week in Vicksburg

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, September 5, 2007

September 2, 2007

Temperatures ranged from the mid- to upper 90s almost every day during the week except toward week’s end when a day of clouds and intermittent rain resulted in a high of 84 degrees. Lows were in the mid- to lower 70s every night. Although scattered showers were visible, there was an official measurement of rain on only one day for a total of .61 inch.

The Mississippi River started the week at 9 feet on the Vicksburg gauge and fell for three days before rebounding and starting to rise. The river ended the week at 10.2 feet and a reading of 11.3 feet was expected today.

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Vicksburg will have a new ordinance in 30 days that creates a special exception for “nightclubs,” meaning a business that derives more than 40 percent of its revenue from sales of alcoholic beverages. Officials said none will be allowed downtown.

Rhonda Smith, formerly of Vicksburg, has been licensed as a minister in Georgia.

In the first prep football game of the year, Porters Chapel defeated Claiborne 13-6.

Mixed Martial Arts promoters say their ability to draw good crowds in Vicksburg means there will be more events here. The sport allows participants to use boxing, wrestling and other techniques in one-on-one fighting.

Warren County supervisors were asked to chip in $50,000 toward the expected $695,000 in total operating costs NRoute faces in 2008. The fledgling public transit system operates six vans on mostly city routes, with fare income generating less than 10 percent of the local supplement to federal and state grants. District 5 Supervisor Richard George said it wasn’t likely that the board, which contributed $35,000 this year, would increase its allocation.

Cappaert Manufactured Housing and a subcontractor settled on fines to be paid for violations identified by federal Occupational Safety and Health Agency inspectors. The fines were more than halved, to $50,000, sources said, largely due to remedial steps taken and pledges of future cooperation.

Warren County voters followed the statewide trend giving most of their Democratic runoff votes to Mike Sumrall of Mount Olive, who is seeking to become the next state auditor. Local voters split with other Central District counties, favoring Addie Green for a Public Service Commission post. Lynn Posey won that nomination. Fewer than 900 people cast ballots in the runoff, with the Redwood precinct reporting no votes cast all day.

Lt. Col. Robert Armstrong, Jr.ROTC instructor at Vicksburg High School, was named the U.S. Army’s 2007 Mississippi Teacher of the Year. “It’s all about helping kids aspire to greater things,” Armstrong said. The Gulfport native spent 22 years on active duty and is also a minister in the United Methodist Church.

Vicksburg National Military Park historian Terry Winschel said he’s certain that relics in the Yazoo River near Silver City, are from one of the steamboats named Natchez that was pressed into service for troop transport and as a “cotton clad” gunboat during the Civil War. The remnants of the boat, believed scuttled to avoid being captured by Union forces, are visible because Yazoo stages are so low.

No parents of students at Vicksburg Intermediate School asked for transfers of their children based on a letter from school administrators informing them of that option. Test results for special education students resulted in the sanction under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

A gas leak near a casino construction site on Warrenton Road resulted in evacuation of five homes for several hours.

Back-to-back nights of Red Carpet Bowl football games were held. The first night featured Warren Central vs. South Panola and the second featured Vicksburg High vs. Clarksdale.

Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Bill Seratt said the VCVB uses modern software to track the effectiveness of its advertising campaigns — and he also rides around looking at license plates to see where tourists are coming from.

Deaths during the week included Iris F. King, Stephan A. Gordin, Edna Earle Otis and Lethel Thompson.