Fall weather made its way into Vicksburg and Warren County with highs in the 70s and low 80s and nighttime lows in the 40s.
The Mississippi River was at 21.67 feet Oct. 18. It was at 27.46 feet Friday. Flood stage is 43 feet.

For the first time in its 17-year history, the Vicksburg Convention Center closed the fiscal year in the black. Executive director Annette Kirklin said the convention center ended fiscal 2014 with a $7,010 balance. The center also exceeded its projected 160 usage days by 36, with 196 days. Under a contract between the city and VenuWorks, the Ames, Iowa-based management company that operates the convention center, the surplus and the extra use days mean VenuWorks will receive a bonus from the city.

NRoute, the city’s public transportation service, finished fiscal 2014 in the black for the first time since it became an independent agency in 2007. The bus system finished the fiscal year with a net income of $18,499.70.

A 12-member jury acquitted Dr. Lawrence Francis Chenier of conspiracy and failed to reach a verdict on the 73 counts of prescription forgery filed against him. Chenier, who lives in Vicksburg but practices medicine in Tallulah, La., was accused of writing prescriptions under phony names to help his girlfriend’s drug habit. His girlfriend, Pattie Carr, pleaded guilty in September to five counts of prescription forgery. She has not been sentenced.

The Warren County Board of Supervisors said it will appeal a decision by the Vicksburg Architectural Review Board that denied the county’s application to demolish the former justice court building at 1019 Adams St. and a house at 1015 Adams St. known as the “old Verhine Building.” The review board’s decision was the second time in six months it denied the county’s request to demolish the buildings.

Members of the Vicksburg Beautification Committee learned the city is eligible for state grants to develop a recycling program for the city. The committee is examining the best use for a $50,000 Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality grant for recycling. The member learned they can apply for grants each year.

The Southern Heritage Air Foundation held its “Best Little Air Show in the World Saturday at the Vicksburg-Tallulah Regional Airport, featuring aerobatics and World War II aircraft.

Re-enactors with the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry visited the Vicksburg National Military Park to talk with students and tourists about the all-black cavalry, which was formed in late fall of 1863. Besides talking to students and visitors, the re-enactors toured the park and the National Cemetery, where more than 7,000 U.S. Colored Troops are buried.

A group known as the Friends of the Vicksburg Bridge have written a letter to Kansas City Southern officials about opening the old U.S. 80 bridge for a park.

Local deaths included Leroy Brown, Amos “Doom” Griffin, John H. Pinkard, Sylvester Pinkney, Annie Ruth Jones, Jesse Woods Sr., Demetris Darcel Young-Baafi, Wilma Washington Taylor and Jack Winston Tillotson.