The Week in Vicksburg
Published 12:00 am Monday, December 3, 2007
December 2, 2007
One day of rain with 1.25 inch of precipitation recorded marked another seasonal week. Highs varied up to the mid-60s most days. Lows were chilly with readings a or one degree below the freezing mark on two nights.
The Mississippi River varied little on the gauge at Vicksburg. The period began with a reading of 4.2 feet and ended at at reading of 5 feet. The forecast was for a reading of 6.1 feet today.
Harry C. Sharp was re-elected chairman of the Vicksburg Main Street board of directors.
Local United Way agencies listed their special needs for the holidays. The annual compilation is designed to pair those willing to give to charities with specific needs.
Michael David Scallions, 26, was killed when he was ejected from his vehicle as it spun out of control and crashed on North Washington Street.
The schedule was set for 12 Nights of Christmas, a holiday tour of some of Vicksburg’s prestigious homes.
Two strong-arm robberies were reported to authorities and resulted in the arrest of two Madison Parish residents.
Thelma Newsome, who works nights as a switchboard operator at the VA hospital in Jackson, says she wishes burglars would leave her tiny Vicksburg business alone. Her hot dog hut has been burglarized four times.
The job of board attorney Paul Winfield was seen as most tenuous as the Warren County Board of Supervisors prepares to make appointments. Most on the new board will be the same trio who backed the service of former board attorney Randy Sherard.
Lawyers for the bevy of parties involved in arguing about the future of collapsed and damaged downtown buildings had a day in court on procedural matters. Judge Isadore Patrick took their motions under advisement.
Vicksburg Senior Center volunteers got to see the results of their labor as “Santa’s Lane” characters were placed in the Downtown Art Park.
Sixty-seven years after being called to active service even before World War II, surviving members of Company B, 106th Engineer Association had their annual luncheon marked by memories and a toast.
Three teenage girls were charged with causing $6,400 damage to windows at two junior high schools.
Vicksburg High School tapped 28 students for membership in the National Honor Society based on their scholarship, leadership, service and character.
Bovina resident David Chaney said he was upset not so much by bursts of fumes from a natural gas valve and scrubbing station near his Bovina home as he was that emergency officials seem not to know whom to call about it. Environmental officer Kelly Worthy said equipment at the scene was functioning correctly and there was no danger.
Interim Director Michael Gaul and four others who were not identified will be interviewed as finalists to be director of the E-911 Dispatch Center.
As drawn by the Vicksburg District of the Army Corps of Engineers, new plans for the Yazoo Backwater Pumping Station drew applause from most area citizens and officials when unveiled at a public hearing. Environmental groups opposed the plan, which is likely to be the subject of litigation.
Talking informally, Warren County supervisors said a regional detention facility might be an option instead of a new county jail. The cost of ferrying prisoners could be offset by having some court appearances via teleconference.
In addition to Michael Scallions, deaths included Estelle Marshall, Melvin McQuarter Sr., Wilma Jean Smith, Francis Joseph “Frank” Campbell, Claudia Inez Cunningham, Dorothy Boyd Green, Harold Scott, T.G. Watson, Margarette Jean Edwards, Margaret Chriss, Claude Taylor Bagley Jr., Thelma Hubbard, Fred Matthew Johnson Sr., Clara Ruth Perry, Arthur B. West, Corine Wheeler, Janie Mae Cook Williams, Thelma Ree Jackson Barber, Mary C. Douglas and Robin Oglesby.