Week in Vicksburg
Published 1:00 am Sunday, March 18, 2012
Vicksburg temps rocketed through the 70s and into the 80s, while overnight lows remained steady in the 60s after dipping into the 40s early in the week. Just less than one-tenth of an inch of rain fell during the week.
The Mississippi River rose nearly 12 feet on the local gauge, registering 33 feet by week’s end. A slight increase was expected, as forecasters predicted a reading of 33.5 feet for today.
Warren County man Fred Louis Jackson, beaten and robbed as he worked at a Jackson scrapyard in January, died from his injuries at University Medical Center. Jackson had been in a coma for 41 days. Charges against two Jackson men arrested in the beating were upgraded to capital murder.
Casey Custer, 35, said he is adjusting to his role as executive director of the Vicksburg Y, a position he took over in January from retiring Herb Wilkinson. Custer spent the last 12 years working in various capacities at the Vicksburg Y, and he attended the Y’s Warner-Tully Camp as a child.
Members of the Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees expressed concern over the number of teachers who have left their positions with the district. More than 230 certified staff have resigned, retired, been fired or simply left without contract renewal in the past three years. Reasons range from rigorous federal requirements to an overwhelming workload imposed by district administrators to a lengthened school day.
At a standing-room-only public meeting in City Hall Annex, Mayor Paul Winfield unveiled two possible sites for a proposed sports complex: a tract on U.S. 61 North just north of River Region Medical Center and a 200-acre tract at U.S. 80 and Mississippi 27. The mayor also planned to assemble an ad hoc committee consisting of coaches, financial experts, athletes and others to develop the sports complex proposal.
Despite a third-place finish statewide, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney took the primary win in Warren County. President Barack Obama received 2,757 primary votes from Warren County Democrats.
In her sexual harassment suit against the city, former city staffer Kenya Burks claimed she is not the only person with whom Mayor Paul Winfield had an adulterous affair since 2009. The city continues to assert that Burks’ claims have no merit.
Warren County’s jobless rate fell to 10.6 percent in January, its lowest level in 13 months. The figure was down from 11.1 percent in December.
Chappapeela Development Corp., a New Orleans developer, has offered to buy Grand Station Hotel. Plans call for a luxury condominium hotel and marina resort at the facility, which connects downtown Vicksburg with foreclosure-mired Grand Station Casino.
In a speech to members of Port City Kiwanis, Mayor Paul Winfield said discussions are under way with developers to sell city property off Fisher Ferry Road he contends is partially in a flood zone. He did not name a price.
In addition to Fred Louis Jackson, local deaths during the week were Betty B. Ford, Jay Joseph Raymond Kemper Gross and Mary Ann Simmons.