From staff reports

Competition to become Miss Mississippi’s Outstanding Teen will begin tonight as 29 Mississippi teens, ages 13-17, vie for the crown.

Miss Mississippi 2006 Taryn Foshee and current crown-holder Jasmine Murray will host the two nights of preliminary competition and the final Friday.

Tickets can be purchased by calling the Miss Mississippi Pageant Office, 601-638-6746.

Tickets for all three nights at Vicksburg Auditorium are $50; single-night tickets are $15 each for tonight and Thursday, and $25 for Friday.

The pageant is an arm of the Miss Mississippi Pageant.

Park to expand program

to focus on landscape

The Vicksburg National Military Park is expanding its interpretive programs and presentations to include the importance of the park’s natural landscape.

Currently the park is working on several projects that will help restore the landscape to its historic 1863 appearance and they plan to make the grounds an important part of

Presentations will be made by park staff members detailing the role terrain played in the Civil War, specifically the protection it provided the city, as well as the natural resources soldiers were forced to use during the siege.

The presentations will be part of the park’s Living History Program, a program presented each summer detailing Civil War life and activities through demonstrations and interpretive speeches.

Presentations will be offered each weekday at varying times throughout the day.