Cooler temperatures made their way into the area during the week with highs ranging from the low 60s to mid- to low 50s during the day and temperatures in the 30s at night.
The Mississippi River was at 15.25 feet Dec. 6. It was at 17.85 feet Friday. Flood stage is 43 feet.

Vicksburg kicked off the holiday season with a series of events that drew thousands of people to the downtown area. Events began Friday with the arrival of Kansas City Southern Railroad’s Holiday Train, which stopped near the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Depot on Levee Street. Saturday morning, shoppers looking for unusual gifts browsed through the craft boots during Holly Days at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center. Saturday evening, residents later lined Washington Street for the Christmas Parade of Lights.

Robert Rosenthall, owner of the Beck House at 1101 South St., filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development claiming city officials discriminated against him by forcing to follow the city’s ordinances on restoring historic buildings and making white owners obey the code. The complaint centers around the Board of Architectural Review’s decision to deny his application to install a metal roof on the house while allowing the owners of a neighboring historic home to out a metal roof on their home.
In other city matters, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen upheld a decision by the Architectural Review Board that prohibited the Warren County Board of Supervisors from demolishing two county-owned homes at 1015 and 1019 Adams St. The board also approved a resolution asking the Mississippi Department of Revenue to pull the resort status from four bars in the city. Approval would force the businesses to stop alcohol sales at 2 a.m.
The owner of an apartment building on Grove Street that was razed by the city has filed suit in Warren County Circuit Court claiming the city failed to give adequate notice before taking the building down. The suit seeks $58,200 in damages.

The Warren County Board of Supervisors discussed hiring appraisers to check whether business that owe tax money are open or closed. The discussion comes in the wake of a discovery that the county has about $1.5 million in unpaid property taxes.
In another county matter, a suit filed in federal court by a former ferry pilot claims he was fired because of his age.

Officials with the Vicksburg National Military Park discussed increasing entrance fees at the park during a public hearing at the park. The fee increase is part of a nationwide program by the National Park Service to ensure that all its parks that charge entry fees are charging fees comparable to other parks in the same classification. VNMP is considered a Tier 1 park, which is one of the system’s smaller parks.

The Salvation Army began distributing bicycles and toys Thursday as part of its annual Angel Tree program to provide gifts to children senior citizens.

Mary Ann Mobley, the first Miss Mississippi to be crowned Miss America, died Tuesday at her home in Beverly Hills Calif., after a battle with breast cancer. She was 75.

Local deaths included Robert B. Hills Jr., Jeanette Wade Robinson, Nancy Ann Jordan, Susie M. Harris-Meyers, Landon Elijah White.