REVIEW|Flood, hurricane, tornadoes top Vicksburg news of year

The year 2008 in Vicksburg will be remembered as one when the Mississippi River jumped its banks to the highest it had been in 35 years, leaving water standing in homes north of downtown in Kings and Ford Subdivision for more than a month.

After snowmelts in the North and rain upriver in Midwestern states, the river crested on April 19 at 50.9 feet, nearly 8 feet above flood stage of 43 feet and less than a foot below the 1973 high of 51.6

The river did not fall below flood stage until May 10, and at year’s end, about 16 residents were continuing negotiations for a Federal Emergency Management Agency buyout.

During the high water, which flooded banks all through the state, about 1,250 employees of LeTourneau Technologies were laid off for about a month while water inundated the oil rig manufacturing plant south of the city.

Then, even as floodwater approached record levels, at least two tornadoes hit near Vicksburg on April 4, one at Eagle Lake and one just south of Interstate 20 between Vicksburg and Bovina.

With winds of about 100 mph, the tornadoes snapped or uprooted hundreds of trees and significantly damaged an estimated 30 to 40 residences, mostly mobile homes.

An additional 15 to 20 homes had storm-related roof damage at Eagle Lake, and one injury requiring medical care was reported. Trees and telephone lines were down throughout Vicksburg, with some neighborhoods losing power for more than a day.

The threat of ferocious winds didn’t stop in April. Evacuees fleeing Hurricane Gustav’s landfall across southern Mississippi and Louisiana in late August prompted six churches in Vicksburg to open as Red Cross shelters.

The shelters took in about 700 people total and the city’s hotels were full with evacuees. Gustav caused no significant damage locally.

First new casino in years; hotel business booms

Riverwalk Casino and Hotel opened on Warrenton Road south of Vicksburg on Oct. 28 as the city’s fifth casino — and the first to open in 14 years.

In the months before, Ameristar Casino, the city’s largest casino and third-oldest, completed a $100 million expansion, which included an eight-story parking garage, a live poker room, two restaurants and an expanded gaming floor.

Despite the growth, gaming tax revenue paid to the city, county and school district was off by about 3.8 percent in fiscal year 2008, which ended Sept. 30.

Despite the company’s growth, the sluggish economy was blamed for two rounds of layoffs at Ameristar. In November, the casino announced it was laying off 28 employees locally and offering reduced hours to 57 others, part of a 4.5 percent cut of the company’s work force nationwide. The first layoffs came in August, with 25 employees losing their jobs locally and 244 being laid off at the company’s eight properties nationwide. None of the city’s four other casinos laid off workers during the year.

Layoffs were not limited to gambling venues.

In October, Anderson-Tully announced 55 employees would lose their jobs following the closing of one of its mills in Vicksburg on Dec. 30.

The closing of Mill D, between the Yazoo Diversion Canal and rail tracks that parallel Levee Street, correlates with the completion of an $8 million facility at Mill K at 1725 N. Washington St. The two mills will be consolidated at Anderson-Tully’s headquarters.

Separately, two Warren County plants announced closings and layoffs in key economic sectors.

Yorozu Automotive Mississippi closed its auto parts supply plant at the Ceres Research and Industrial Interplex this month, citing declining sales in the vehicles for which it supplied parts, primarily larger Nissan vehicles. The General Motors plant in Shreveport which received Yorozu-made parts for Chevrolet pickups will be shuttered for the first six weeks of 2009.

In January, home venting system manufacturer Simpson Dura-Vent began ceasing operations at its Warren County plant. Its corporate parent cited falling sales due to the housing market crash.

The closings left just three industries at Ceres Research and Industrial Interplex — Tyson, Vicksburg Metal and Magnolia Metal & Plastic. Additional space at the Flowers industrial park is occupied by Entergy and the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

Space at the empty “spec building” on the property remains that way, as a deal to build environmentally friendly housing on the property announced by its principals in June has not materialized. The Mississippi Development Authority has said the project is still considered active, though not necessarily limited to locating in Warren County.

At near year’s end, International Paper’s Vicksburg Mill reported that a downturn in orders will keep the mill idle until the second week of January. Up to 1,500 salaried jobs will be cut by the end of 2009 in an effort to boost profitability for the Memphis-based paper and packaging company.

After disappearing completely for most of 2007, business at the Port of Vicksburg began picking up late this year — creating a bright spot in the local economy.

The port’s T-dock crane support platform was replaced and allowed more raw materials to move. More than $1.5 million in revenue flowed to the Warren County Port Commission from 176,280 tons of pig iron, steel and pipe segments, among other materials.

Negotiations on a renewed pact with Kinder Morgan to operate the port will continue into 2009. A long-term arrangement to ship steel to the SeverCorr plant in Columbus is sought as part of a new contract.

Despite the economy, this year saw a large addition of hotels in the city, with six properties breaking ground. Three have been completed thus far, bringing the total number of hotels in the city to 29.

Meanwhile, occupancy rates and average daily rates have continuously climbed through the year, with year-to-date figures through October showing the occupancy rate at 69.7 percent, up from 62.4 percent in 2007, and the average daily rate at $76.53, up from $72.07 in 2007.

EPA veto takes the wind out of Corps pumps sails

The decades-long battle over a proposed pumping station for the Yazoo Backwater Area appeared to be ended in September when the Environmental Protection Agency invoked a special statutory power to veto the project under the Clean Water Act.

But in the last month, Mississippi Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker, both Republicans, said the EPA does not have the legal authority to veto the $220 million pumping station and the senators reportedly are working to pump another breath of life into the project.

In its decision, the EPA stated the project would have negative effects on the Delta’s wetlands ecology and wildlife, as well as on estuaries farther down the river in South Louisiana. If the veto is finalized, the Yazoo Backwater Project would be the first since 1990 to be stymied by the EPA through the Clean Water Act since 1990.

Airport picture changes with city’s new interest

The City of Vicksburg took a renewed interest in the Vicksburg Municipal Airport this year, making the airport an official department of the city and leaving the airport board in a strictly advisory position.

In October, work began on a remodeling of the airport terminal, and a Birmingham consultant with 38 years of experience was contracted to help develop short- and long-range plans for the airport.

Curt Follmer, 62, former senior vice president and general manager of Rainbow Casino, was hired this month as the new general manager of the airport. Around the same time, officials announced they were seeking to bring a $60 million defense technology testing facility to Vicksburg, which would be partially based at the airport. Meanwhile, the city renegotiated its contract with its three other operating partners at Vicksburg-Tallulah Regional Airport — Tallulah, Madison Parish and Warren County — agreeing on a five-year contract instead of one that would have automatically renewed in December and required the city to commit to help fund VTR for 25 years.

Tourism in area down, but park had big year

Following nationwide trends, Vicksburg saw a decline in tourism as record-high gasoline prices of more than $4 per gallon put the brakes on a lot of traveling.

Despite the numbers, several additions were made to the Vicksburg National Military Park.

Confederate Gen. John C. Pemberton’s Headquarters on Crawford Street, also known as the Willis-Cowan House, was opened to the public on Mondays in June and July for the first time since the VNMP acquired it in 2003.

In October a dozen new tablets were unveiled at the park at a ceremony featuring such guests as country musician Trace Adkins, Director of the National Park Service Mary Bomar and Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. The tablets were paid for via a $142,000 grant, of which 50 percent was raised locally by the Friends of the Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign — a nonprofit group formed in early 2008.

Also in October, the first monument honoring the efforts of soldiers from Connecticut was formally dedicated at the Grant’s Canal site across the Mississippi River, near Delta.

The Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau profited roughly $150,000 from the April sale of its downtown building at 1221 Washington St., which had been vacant since the January 2006 collapse of two nearby buildings on Clay Street.

The VCVB has been using a manufactured building behind the visitor center at 3300 Clay St. as a temporary administrative building. However, a city permit to use the temporary building expires in July.

The VCVB board approved a budget in December for 2009 that included spending $75,000 on renovations to its visitor center on Clay Street, overhauling its Web site for $75,000 and $150,000 for relocation expenses as it looks for a new headquarters.

Delta Queen docks, waits on final word

On Nov. 3, the Delta Queen, the historic paddlewheel riverboat that has made hundreds of stops at City Front since 1948, steamed into Vicksburg for what might be the last time. At near year’s end, it was docked in New Orleans, caught between its past and future.

Owners Majestic America Line put the boat up for sale in the spring and were looking for a buyer. Any new owner must receive congressional exemption from the 1966 Safety of Life at Seas Act to keep the boat operational as an overnight passenger vessel, as the Queen’s exemption expired Nov. 1. Bills filed to continue the boat’s exemption have stalled in committee, blamed on issues related to labor unions. On Dec. 3, congressional backers appealed to President Bush for an executive order to keep the boat in operation.

County raises taxes on costs, planning

Long-awaited planning on a new jail in Warren County began in 2008, a process which, paired with record energy costs much of the year, formed the basis of a property tax increase.

Warren County was among several counties in Mississippi that raised millage rates when setting its 2008-09 budget — translating into a $28 increase for every $100,000 in assessed value for homes inside Vicksburg city limits.

The City of Vicksburg did not raise taxes for the year.

Overall, $486,216 in new spending was approved by supervisors in this fiscal year’s budget. No major cuts in services were budgeted; state-mandated and court-ordered raises made up the rest of the added spending.

Just more than $136,000 was marked to pay Colorado-based consulting firm Voorhis/Robertson Justice Services Inc. for jail planning this year.

The firm plans meetings with local officials in January to begin the study. Selecting a site and financing will be determined as the study goes on, officials have said.

Bridge panel, county continue talks over KCS

Talks between county supervisors and the Vicksburg Bridge Commission stepped up in 2008 concerning the old U.S. 80 bridge and the county’s relationship with Kansas City Southern Railway.

After three sessions closed to public scrutiny between May and November, neither board reported progress. At issue since 2005 is the toll paid per rail car by the railroad to the commission.

The commission has desired $14 per car since it adopted new terms three years ago. KCS has not recognized those terms and has paid between $3.75 and $4 per car.

Funds from rail tolls are expected to reach $1.2 million for fiscal 2008-09. Rail traffic for the year across the old bridge was down in fiscal 2008 over 2007 by more than 8 percent.

County sets voting record; new faces on school board

Warren County voters showed up in record numbers for the historic presidential election Nov. 4.

Nearly 59 percent of local voters cast a ballot in the race that saw Democrat Barack Obama defeat Republican John McCain nationally, but narrowly chose the GOP nominee countywide. The turnout percentage has been topped before, but not the total number of votes cast — 21,764 for president, either in person or by absentee.

Statewide, McCain won 56 percent of the state’s voters. U.S. Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker won re-election, with Warren County in the win column for each. Ditto for U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, who was returned to the House for an eighth full term, with local voters supporting the incumbent.

Locals also favored Jim Kitchens, who bested three opponents here and regionwide to join two other challengers who defeated incumbent justices on the Mississippi Supreme Court.

In local races, two seats on the Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees will have new occupants.

Former bank officer Jim Stirgus Jr. defeated incumbent Betty Tolliver for the District 3 position, while former Vicksburg mayor Joe Loviza outpolled three opponents to win the District 4 seat vacated by Jan Daigre, who did not seek a second term.

On the Warren County Election Commission, the District 1 seat was won by former county supervisor Patricia “Petesy” Smith, who was unopposed. Incumbents in Districts 2, 4 and 5 were returned to office, while a special election is expected in the coming months to fill the District 3 seat for which no candidate qualified in the general election.

All Saints’ gets new life with AmeriCorps’ plan

All Saints’ Episcopal School will be back in use in 2009, following an agreement inked in 2008 with AmeriCorps that will establish the school as the fifth campus and training facility for the volunteer organization. AmeriCorps agreed to lease 75 percent of the All Saints’ property from the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, which co-owns the school with the Episcopal dioceses of Louisiana, Arkansas and Western Louisiana.

Renovations have begun on the campus and if all goes as planned, officials anticipate 60 to 80 volunteers could be living at All Saints’ by July.

The volunteers will serve a 12-state area in the Southeast. The other four AmeriCorps campuses are in Denver, Sacramento, Perry Point, Md., and Vinton, Iowa. Classes at the 100-year-old property at 2717 Confederate Ave. were discontinued in 2006.

Local health care takes on new face

A new chief executive at Vicksburg’s lone hospital and a makeover in available services offered highlighted changes in the health-care industry.

Vance Reynolds was named CEO at River Region Medical Center following a nationwide search to replace Phillip Clendenin after he resigned in July. Most recently, Reynolds held a similar position at Chesterfield General Hospital in Cheraw, S.C.

Other moves during the year at the hospital and its associated properties involved employing physician teams in the cardiovascular unit and as supplemental staff to its emergency room doctors. Staff at its Marian Hill chemical dependency unit will move off McAuley Drive to the third floor of River Region West on North Frontage Road by mid-2009. Also, staff retained at the closed Vicksburg Clinic have moved from the West Campus and merged into The Street Clinic on Grove Street and Physicians Practices of River Region, a complex of outpatient clinics in Vicksburg.

Non-emergency, in-patient care at the U.S. 61 North facility was ceased for Medicaid patients from Louisiana, citing inequitable reimbursements from Mississippi’s neighboring state. Litigation is pending in the matter, with the hospital seeking unspecified amounts based on estimates of equitable payments in the last five years.

A second option for those seeking specialized medical attention arrived in July, as Medical Associates of Vicksburg opened on South Frontage Road in the former Sack & Save grocery.

Operated by Central Mississippi Medical Center, the clinic’s arrival marked the first competing provider of services to River Region since the latter’s establishment in 2002. The clinic’s staff of doctors is headed by longtime Vicksburg internist Dr. Paul Pierce III and offers exams and laboratory testing.

Developers have said the medical mall will add a pharmacy, rehabilitative services and an office for durable medical equipment in later phases.

Explosion at IP mill kills one, injures 17

An explosion May 3 at International Paper’s Vicksburg mill on Mississippi 3 killed one contract worker and injured 17 others.

Marcus Christopher Broome, 28, was killed when a boiler exploded, and four men spent months at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Ga., following the blast.

In November, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found a pair of violations and fined IP $77,000 as the mill resumed operations. At least two lawsuits have been filed against IP by those injured.

Nine killings reported in city, county in 2008

Leading crime news, nine homicides were reported in Warren County in 2008, seven of those in the city. Five of the deaths came in one bloody week in June

* Keiwana Hoza Jones, 25, 1312 China St. Apt. A, was charged in the Feb. 9 Shaken Baby Syndrome death of his live-in girlfriend’s 4 1/2-month-old son, Matthew L. Parker. Jones was indicted on manslaughter charges in August; a date for his trial had not been set at year’s end. Matthew was the son of 29-year-old Matthew Nash, who was in the Warren County Jail, charged in the killing in June 2007 of 25-year-old Justin Maurice Harris. Nash’s trial in June ended in mistrial.  

Nash was one of four brothers and another man charged in Harris’ killing. Two of them were sentenced in 2008 to life in prison plus 53 years. Anthony Trevillion, 30, was convicted in April of murder, shooting into an occupied dwelling, two counts of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm as a felon; his brother, Armond Trevillion, 28, was convicted of the same crimes in December.

Alonzo Trevillion is set to go to trial Feb. 23. Prosecutors have said Nash will be retried.

Also charged is 32-year-old Rufus Armstrong. Court dates have not been set for Nash and Armstrong. The five men were arrested following the shooting spree on Grammar Street that led to Harris’ death. The spree was said to be sparked over an argument between Anthony Trevillion and Harris, who had children with the same woman. A fifth member of the Trevillion family, Aletha Trevillion, 33, 1310 China St. Apt. B, was arrested twice in April, the first time in the stabbing of her roommate. On the second, for threatening a witness in her brother Anthony’s trial; a trial date has not been set. In October, the Warren County Grand Jury declined to indict Aletha Trevillion on the aggravated assault charge.

* James Ledell Lumpkin, 46, 204 Sherman Ave., was charged with capital murder in the kidnapping and death of 15-year-old Sharonda L. “Na-Na” Brown. Sharonda, a Warren Central High School student, was missing for three days before her body was found, face down and uncovered, May 27 on the side of Mississippi 3 in Yazoo County; sexual assault tests run during the autopsy were inconclusive. Lumpkin, who was the father of one of the teen’s half-sisters, was denied bond and remains in the Warren County Jail. His case is to be heard in the January term of the Warren County grand jury. Capital murder can carry a death sentence.

* Donald Wayne Vinson, 39, 350 Vinson Road, was shot to death in February at the Town & Country Lounge, 3350 N. Washington St., following a family argument. Arrested in connection with the killing was Vinson’s brother-in-law, James Ainsworth, 24, 279 Opperman Road. Ainsworth was no billed, meaning there was not enough evidence or cause to indict, by the October session of the Warren County grand jury, who felt Ainsworth acted in self-defense.

* Walter C. Cole, a retired Vicksburg police officer, was found shot to death July 23. Cole, 75, 258 Jefferson Circle, Apt. 250-B, was found in a green Chrysler PT Cruiser on Pittman Road, near his Waltersville Estates Home with a bullet hole in his head. No arrests had been made and no suspects named at year’s end, Vicksburg police Lt. Bobby Stewart said. Before retiring from the police force in the early 1990s, Cole rose to the rank of assistant chief, third in command at the department. He then worked as a detention officer for the Warren County Sheriff’s Department.

June became the deadliest month in Vicksburg in 2008, with five homicides reported within a single week.

* Antonio Glasper, 22, 74 Redhawk Road, and Eric Campbell, 27, 503 Fairground St., were indicted for murder in the October session of the Warren County grand jury in a drive-by shooting on June 8 at the 712 Speed St. home of David Becker, 26, and Lee Sherman Yates, 42. Becker died June 22, causing charges for Glasper and Campbell to be upgraded to murder. Yates also was injured in the shooting, but recovered. Glasper remained in Warren County Jail at year’s end; Campbell was out on bond. Trial dates have not been set for either men.

* Eric Davis, 34, 112 Meadowvale Drive, was arrested in a June 25 shooting that resulted in the death of his neighbor, 23-year-old Devin M. Moore, 106 Meadowvale Drive. Vicksburg police believe the argument began over a property-line dispute and escalated. Davis’ case is set to be heard in the January session of the Warren County grand jury.

* Eric DeShawn Jackson, 26, 2609 Grant St., was arrested following a June 26 shooting on Ken Karyl Avenue that resulted in the deaths of a 25-year-old mother of three, Denise Jackson, and her unborn child as well as 25-year-old Preston L. Qualls. Denise Jackson was shot at her 2634 Ken Karyl Ave. home, after Eric Jackson, who was not related to Denise Jackson, opened fire after what police believe was an argument over a video game. Qualls’ body was found the following day, two houses from the home where Denise Jackson and her child were killed; police believe Qualls was struck by one of Jackson’s stray bullets.

Jackson, who surrendered to police 12 hours after the shooting, was indicted on three homicide charges in October and remained in the Warren County Jail at year’s end. A date for his trial had not yet been established.

In a case from 2007, Jason Davis, 22, 125 Lee Circle, was sentenced to life in prison without parole after being found guilty in a September 2007 shooting that killed 21-year-old Thaddeus Jeffery, who had been struck twice in the back and once in the heel near the Exxon station at Clay Street and Mission 66. Davis surrendered to police 12 hours after the shooting but claimed it was self-defense. A jury found him guilty of murder in September.

Two sentenced after 2007 fatal DUI wrecks

Two traffic accidents in 2007 resulted in homicide charges that, in turn, resulted in two trials and sentencings in 2008.

* Brandy Wallace, 26, who listed her address as 133 Roseland Drive, was sentenced to the maximum of 25 years in prison after she pleaded guilty in July to aggravated DUI that resulted in the death of 81-year-old John E. Parrette. Parrette was struck by Wallace in November 2007 as he was checking his mail in front of his home on Roseland Drive. It was the second DUI for Wallace, who will serve 20 years in prison after having had five years of her sentence suspended by Judge Isadore Patrick.

* Tim Pee, 22, 106 Colonial Drive, was sentenced to 13 years in prison with all 13 suspended upon the successful completion of treatment at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center after he pleaded guilty in August to aggravated DUI that resulted in the death of his passenger, 27-year-old Christopher Rawlings. Pee faces two years of house arrest followed by two years of probation and 400 hours of community service following his completion of rehab. Rawlings was killed in May 2007 when the GMC Yukon driven by Pee flipped on Confederate Avenue.

Bank robbers hit 4 times in Vicksburg, Warren

Four bank robberies were reported in Vicksburg and Warren County during 2008.

Charged with robbing the Trustmark branch at 3406 Halls Ferry Road, the first bank robbery of the year, was Kevin Dale McCain, 48, 406 W. 7th Ave., 9B, Petal. McCain reportedly went into the bank Jan. 30, handed a teller a note demanding money and left with about $2,100. He was arrested later in Mendenhall, about 75 miles southeast of Vicksburg, after being stopped for traffic violations and later recognized as a wanted person by a police officer who had seen bank camera images on a Jackson TV newscast.

At year’s end, McCain remained in the Warren County Jail on that charge and is being held for Texas authorities on a charge stemming from a Jan. 25 bank robbery in Marshall.

A second bank robbery occurred at BancorpSouth, 3312 Pemberton Square Blvd., on May 5. A Pennsylvania couple was arrested and charged by the FBI, which is prosecuting the case.

Jarrod Darnell Smith, 36, 1509 Mauch Chunk Road, Allentown, and his wife, Shonda, no age available, were charged by the FBI with seven counts of bank robbery in Mississippi and Pennsylvania.

In Warren County, the Britton and Koontz branch at 2059 U.S. 61 was robbed March 20. No suspects have been identified in that holdup, which also caused a 40-minute precautionary lockdown at Sherman Avenue Elementary School as officers searched the woods nearby.

The fourth bank robbery occurred Dec. 18 at BancorpSouth at Indiana Avenue and South Frontage Road.

Timothy Gandy, 41, whose last known address was 11352 Mississippi 21, Forest, was arrested by Hattiesburg police and Mississippi Bureau of Investigations agents after being identified by the surveillance video. Gandy is also being charged with robbing a BancorpSouth in Hattiesburg.

Highway Patrol veteran accused in sexual abuse

A 20-year veteran of the Mississippi Highway Patrol was indicted in January by grand juries in two counties for child sexual abuse and, at year’s end, his cases were undecided.

Dane Davenport, 46, who had attained the rank of master sergeant and had run the Department of Public Safety’s driver’s license station on Grove Street, was tried in Warren County Circuit Court in September. Davenport was accused of four counts of sexual battery of a child younger than 14 and five counts of fondling of a child younger than 16 — stemming from incidents occurring from 1999 to 2007. The case ended in mistrial.

A second trial, in October in Oktibbeha County, also ended in a mistrial, less than an hour after it began, after testimony was given that had been ruled inadmissible. Davenport faced one count of fondling of a child younger than 16.

He will be retried May 11 in Warren County. Oktibbeha County Circuit Judge James Kitchens on Jan. 23 will hear motions related to admissibility of evidence at the retrial, which will be scheduled then.

Davenport has been on unpaid administrative leave from MHP since his indictment.

Methamphetamine busts noted in city, county

Methamphetamine busts in both the city and county dominated crime dockets in 2008.

Beginning in March, nearly 20 people were arrested throughout the year in Vicksburg and Warren County for manufacture, possession or possession of precursor chemicals for methamphetamine.

In seven cases since September, 14 people were arrested, including one Chance Lane couple arrested in December while out on bond from a meth-related arrest in November.

In August, a father and daughter were charged with running a mobile meth cooking lab in a pickup.

In the city, a couple was arrested Oct. 21 at their Cherry Street residence and charged with possession of meth, manufacturing meth and child abuse. Their two children, ages 1 and 4, were in a room adjacent to where at least 23 batches of the highly explosive drug had been cooked, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said.

The city and county saw incidences of meth-related activity across the area, but made several stops in the Poole Road and Chance Lane area.

At one home on Poole Road, three men were injured and admitted to a burn center in Georgia after a meth lab exploded. No charges had been filed in that case at year’s end.

In another hot spot, a meth lab was found in Redwood, where deputies discovered a loaded shotgun with scope and silencers.

Attorney loses appeal of fraud conviction

Robert Arledge, the Vicksburg attorney convicted of conspiracy and mail and wire fraud charges involving the diet drug Fen-Phen, was denied an appeal by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The verdict had been challenged by Arledge’s attorneys, who said key evidence was not allowed at trial and exhibits that were allowed were insufficient.

Arledge’s lawyers also argued part of the $5.8 million restitution he was ordered to pay was excessive because three claims against drug maker Wyeth totaling $54,000 and deemed false were indeed legitimate. The appeals panel agreed the district court should study the restitution amount.

Arledge is serving a 6 1/2-year prison sentence in an Alabama federal prison for knowingly allowing clients to make false claims to a $3 billion claims settlement fund the drug maker, then known as American Home Products, had established for those who had taken the drug Fen-Phen and been harmed. Federal prosecutors said Arledge’s false claims cost the company more than $6.7 million. Jurors acquitted Arledge of 17 counts of money laundering.

Arledge has lost his license to practice law in Mississippi.

Bovina Elementary reopens; intercession weeks begin

Bovina Elementary School reopened for the 2008-09 school year after almost a decade of being vacant.

Built in 1953, the building was renovated to make it ready for 400 students, most of them pulled from Beechwood and Sherman Avenue elementary schools.

About 35 teachers, cafeteria workers and custodians staff the school, Vicksburg Warren School District’s eighth elementary.

Separately, the 2008-09 school year brought a significant change for the district in the form of a new academic schedule that incorporates bonus weeks. The bonus weeks, or intercession weeks, are designed to remediate students who need extra help throughout the school year rather than wait until summer school. The goal is to fix the problem in time for the students to catch up with their classmates.

Each nine-week period is followed by a bonus week, for a total of four, this academic year falling on Oct. 6-10, Jan. 5-8, March 16-20 and June 2-5.

The intercession weeks were only offered to third- through sixth-graders this year, but Superintendent Dr. James Price has announced plans to expand the program to include more ages as well as include enrichment classes for those who wish to take honors courses or who would like to graduate early.

In yet another district change, the district’s board of trustees voted 4-1 in October to change the grading scale from its current 7-points to a 10-point scale.

Under the new scale, which will go into effect during the next academic year, a numeric class average of 90 to 100 will be an A; 80-89, B; 70-79, C; 65-69, D; and 64 and below, F. On the existing scale a 93-100 is an A; 85-92 is a B; 75-84 is a C; 70-74 is a D; and 69 and below is an F, or failing grade.

The reason for the change was to ensure the district’s students stay competitive in college admissions and scholarship opportunities, as several surrounding states and counties in Mississippi had already passed the change.

Ed champ, quilter, ex-store owner died

Grey Ferris, a former state senator and a longtime advocate for public education in Mississippi, was among the notable Vicksburg and Warren County residents who died in 2008.

Ferris, a farmer and attorney who committed himself to reforming education in rural and underfunded areas of the state, died at 62 on June 13 on his farm in south Warren County.

Martha “Twick” Morrison was remembered for her Methodist ministry locally and across the world after she died Feb. 7 at age 76.

As her son Robert Morrison III said, Morrison “ignored political  boundaries” to do what she believed was her ministry, working in Latin America, Southeast Asia, Russia and Eastern Europe.

Two weeks after her death, she and her works were recalled when a Riverfront Mural honoring Methodism, on which she had worked extensively, was unveiled at City Front.

Charles H. Abraham Jr. was 79 when he died Dec. 14, six years after retiring from the Charles’ department store he and his wife operated on Washington Street for 50 years.

Remembered for “always trying to keep Vicksburg together,” Abraham was active for years in board roles with the Vicksburg Housing Authority and in work at his church, St. George Antiochian Church.

Martha Butcher Skelton was a noted educator who gained fame nationwide for her quilting long before her death Nov. 4 at age 89. Skelton’s works — she had made more than 200 quilts in her lifetime — have been displayed at the Museum of American Folk Art in New York and at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and were part of a traveling exhibition sponsored by Family Circle magazine.

A crime ended the life of Walter C. Cole, 75, who was described as a “pioneer in law enforcement” after his death on July 22.

Cole was one of the “Lucky 7,” the name the first seven black officers hired by the Vicksburg Police Department in the 1970s gave themselves.

Cole was found shot to death by a bullet in his head near his Waltersville Estates home; at year’s end, no arrest had been made.