Rainfall early in the week moved Vicksburg much closer to annual averages. A total of 4.7 inches was recorded during the week, which also saw the first day of spring. Temperatures were seasonal with daily highs ranging from 50 degrees to 77 and overnight lows ranging from 45 degrees to 53.

The Mississippi River also rose most of the week, starting at 24.1 feet on the Vicksburg gauge and ending at 28.3 feet. The forecast was for a reading of 30 feet today.

Doug Branning, former assistant principal and coach at Vicksburg High and teacher and coach at Tallulah Academy, will be new headmaster at Porters Chapel Academy. He will succeed Lynn Baker.

John Allen “Jerry” Derivaux, longtime local State Farm agent and community and church worker, died. He was 79.

If an Army Corps of Engineers interpretive center, featuring a static display of the MV Mississippi at City Front, is to be completed in 2011, funding and contracts must be finalized by September, a Corps timetable showed. To date, $8.5 million has been spent on the project.

Three teens believed to be members of a gang called K3 were arrested and charged with murder in the aftermath of the killing of Antonio Tevay Turner, a father of two. Police believe the three were trying to rob Turner when he was shot twice in the back. It was the first homicide of 2009 in Vicksburg.

Students who are members of the local United Way’s Teen Help organization held a session for local seniors, teaching them how to use features on their cell phones and the Internet.

A 22-year-old, William Jefferson, was charged with burglary in a break-in at Turning Heads Cleaners.

Betty Bullard, a longtime church and community leader in Vicksburg who has founded a restaurant and restored buildings including the George Washington Ball home, was tapped for the board of the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Michael Watkins, 23, was jailed on charges he robbed the Regions Bank branch on East Clay Street. Authorities didn’t say what it was, but said Watkins left something at the bank that led to him being identified as a suspect.

A bill to name the board room in the Mississippi Department of Education in honor of former Sen. Grey Ferris of Vicksburg, who died in June, was sent to the governor for his signature.

Vicksburg officials said owners of residents near a major sloughing area at Washington and Clark streets should not worry. Work planned to replace a bridge there with a railroad tunnel will stabilize erosion, the city’s engineer said.

Redwood student Colin Wilson had work published in Highlights, a magazine for children.

Local funeral directors said they had worked out arrangements to provide vaults and burial services at Green Acres Memorial Park. The cemetery’s owners have been taken to court by the state for failing to account for money prepaid by families and the private burial ground is now operating under court oversight.

Public schools presented a spending plan for the 2009-2010 school year that is $1.8 million less than this year’s. Superintendent James Price said most of the reduction will be in personnel spending and by attrition. No layoffs are expected.

Three of the four Democratic candidates for mayor appeared at a debate and said their main goal was replacing incumbent Vicksburg Mayor Laurence Leyens, who is an independent. Leyens, seeking a third term, will face the eventual Democratic nominee one-on-one on June 2 ballots.

In addition to Jerry Derivaux and Antonio Turner, deaths during the week included Claire L. Williams, Larry Crumb Sr., Lena G. Van Etten, Freddy Lee Herron, Susan McBroom Sasser, Paul Francis Franco, Ludella Mae Shears and Ke’Lari Amor Ross.