Cold weather maintained its grip on Vicksburg with high temperatures nearing 50 and lows in the 30s and upper 20s accompanied by periodic strong winds. Warmer temperatures were predicted for the weekend.
The Mississippi River was at 13.23 feet Jan. 31. It was at 14.26 feet Friday. Flood stage is 43 feet.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved resolutions seeking a local and private bill to levy either a countywide or city food and beverage and hotel tax not to exceed 2 percent to fund a sports complex. The resolution also seeks a bill allowing the city or county to lease public property and lease it back if a private developer is found to develop the park. The Warren County Board of Supervisors on Thursday authorized Board President Bill Lauderdale to sign the joint resolution. The action came after city and county officials toured the city’s 200-acre Fisher Ferry property, which is being reconsidered by city officials as a possible site for a proposed sports complex.
In other city news, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved $9.3 million in capital improvements for the city that included street paving, improvements to city buildings and recreation facilities and a new fire station.

The Board of Supervisors turned down an offer from Nancy Bell, executive director of the Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation, to help sell two historic buildings at 1015 and 1019 Adams St. The two county-owned buildings are being sold as a package for $172,000. The supervisors had planned to demolish the buildings, which are in the city’s historic district, but their request to raze them were denied twice by the city’s Board of Architectural Review. The house at 1015 Adams St., known as the “old Verhine building,” was built in the 1890s and was home to Verhine & Verhine law firm from 1991 to 2002, according to city directories. The county’s former justice court building at 1019 Adams St. was completed in the 1870s as a house and was once the law office of John Prewitt before he became a circuit judge.

Vicksburg native Malcolm Butler, a defensive back for the New England Patriots, became a national celebrity after he intercepted a 1-yard pass at the goal line to preserve a 2824 Super Bowl win for the Patriots. City officials said they are planning an even to honor Butler in the future.

Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. was one of five recipients of the Harriet Tubman Award presented by the Magnolia Bar Association, a state association of African-American lawyers. The award recognizes individuals or organizations that have distinguished themselves within the African-American community as trailblazers and stalwarts in business, civil rights, religion and/or politics. The recipients must demonstrate courage and dedication toward creating opportunities for minorities while setting aside personal goals.

Warren County’s unemployment rate increased in December, rising from 7.1 percent in November to 7.7 percent, according to information from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.

The Vicksburg-Warren County School District officials announced formation of engineering and health academies to help prepare students for jobs in the technical and medical fields.

A Vicksburg man was charged with aggravated assault after an attack that injured a 37-yer-old man and a 12-year-old boy. Warren County sheriff’s deputies arrested Levi Branch. 22. 1414 Martin Luther King Blvd., after the attack.

Local deaths included Ruthie Mae Costillo, Ellis Theodore Mulkey Sr., Patsi Durham Holliman Clements, Ora Augusta “Pat” Pickett, Nell LaHatte Webster, David G. Toler, Dorothy Mae Johnson, Florence King, Max Stephen Lamb, Jane Hill Cohn, Lenora Davis, Robert W. “Bob” Andrews, Daven Anderson Murphy and David Selmon.