Temperatures over the area alternated between late spring and early winter during the week, with warm temperatures at the beginning of the week slowly changing to cooler temps with highs in the 50s and lows in the 30s, before going back to the upper 60s by the end of the week.
The Mississippi River was at 24.77 feet Dec. 20. It was at 15.82 feet Friday. Flood stage is 43 feet.

The owners of four Vicksburg bars said they will appeal a decision by the Mississippi Department of Revenue that allowed the City of Vicksburg to remove their resort status, forcing them to close at 2 a.m. instead of staying open 24 hours. City officials requested the change as a move to curb nighttime crime in the city, especially in the downtown area. The board’s resolution to the state seeking the change did not include the city’s four casinos.

Warren County supervisors approved a $1.8 million contract with Unicon of Pearl to improve erosion and drainage problems on Haining Road, which leads to the Port of Vicksburg. The supervisors also awarded a $741,800 contract to Hemphill Construction of Florence to build a temporary wastewater treatment system for TanTec, a proposed tannery to relocate in the Ceres Industrial Park. Hemphill was the lone bidder for the project. TanTec plans employ 366 people in five years at the 140,000 square-foot former Calsonic building at Ceres.

Five new county officials were sworn in during ceremonies at the Warren County courthouse: Circuit Clerk Jan Daigre, Circuit Judge Isadore Patrick, junior Circuit Judge M. James Chaney and County Judge Johnny Price. Daigre won a special election to replace former Circuit Clerk Shelly Ashley-Palmertree, who was removed from office in May by the Board of Supervisors after it learned she relocated her residence to Madison County.

Officials with the Vicksburg National Military Park announced plans to acquire a total 11,000 acres in 2015 to expand the park. The announcement comes on the heels of President Obama’s signing the National Defense Authorization Act, which gives the National Park Service the authority to add battlefield land at Champion Hill, Port Gibson and Raymond. The three areas were sites of battles leading to the siege of Vicksburg during the Civil War. VNMP Superintendent Mike Madell said the parks management team will begin working with the Park Service’s Southeast Regional Office in Atlanta sometime in 2015 to start the planning process.

Cannon Motor Co., which purchased Vicksburg Toyota in 2013, announced it had acquired Excel Honda and planned to merge both dealerships and merge them into a supersite in 2015 on North Frontage Road near River Hills Bank. The new dealership will be close to a connector road to be built by the city to link North Frontage and Wisconsin Avenue.
Teams from two Vicksburg Warren School District elementary schools won trophies at the 2014 FIRST LEGO League Mississippi championship at the Vicksburg Convention Center. The teams from Bovina and Bowmar Elementary were among 30 teams from across the state, including several other Vicksburg Warren School District teams, to compete in the competition. Bovina’s entry won the presentation award, while Bowmar took home a mechanical design award for their robot.

Local deaths included Lamar Chambliss, Violet L. Krisker, Scot A. Murrain, Edward Lee Barton II, James R. Prince, John H. Smith, Joseph J. Cupstid, Terry W. Slaughter and Andrea Jackson Thomas.