LUY-Development

Category: Local News

  • Morgantown residents still wait on roadwork

    Morgantown residents still wait on roadwork

    NATCHEZ — Nearly 20 years since the inception of a $1 million project to widen and resurface Morgantown Road, Adams County officials say they are working diligently to get the project done.

    Doris Drake, who lives on Dogwood Drive just off of Morgantown Road, asked the Adams County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday if the repaving of Morgantown Road would begin anytime in 2020 but did not receive a definitive answer.

    District 4 Supervisor, James “Ricky” Gray, said the project is still awaiting results from a final lawsuit that would grant the county all the easements needed to widen the road and dig drainage ditches along either side.

    The original project design in 2005 included a turn-lane to lessen the effects of heavy traffic, Gray said. However, pushback from residents who believed a three-lane road would eat too far into their property line forced officials to redesign the project, he said.

    “When people are fighting you on a project, it can take a long time,” Gray said. “… We’ve been working on Morgantown Road since 2004 and I came on as a supervisor in 2006. … When I became a supervisor, they had designs for Morgantown Road that the citizens who lived on that road weren’t happy with. … We took the turn-lane out and redesigned the project. From there, we’ve had problems with easements. Some of the residents did not want to give up their easements. Most of them did, but some of them didn’t. We wound up going to court and have the eminent domain on most of those properties and are still fighting today. … I realize it has been a long time, but I assure you we’re working on it as hard as we can.”

    Gray said funding for the project had also been lost.

    The county had previously been approved for state aid funds for Morgantown Road but after years of working to gain easements on more than 60 land parcels the state funds were spent, Gray said.

    “(Legislators) put in something new addressing the bridges in the state Mississippi and took pretty much all of the money that we had in State Aid and put it into bridge inspections,” Gray said. “… We might have to go a different route for getting that money back, but I’m positive that it is going to work out.”

    The project was conceived within a few years of the death of an 18-year-old crossing guard Casey Schrock, who was killed at the intersection of Morgantown and Booker roads in 2001.

    Two weeks ago, a 40-year-old pedestrian, Daniel Lee Davis Jr., died after being struck by a vehicle sometime after 7 p.m. on Morgantown Road, Adams County officials said.

    Drake also asked supervisors if it would be possible to have street lamps along the road. However, officials said street lamps are only provided in the city limits and not on county roadways.

    “I’m fresh and new here, but I can say this about Morgantown Road. I have heard concerns, but we (the supervisors) have come together and presented this project to the legislators,” District 5 Supervisor Warren Gaines said during Tuesday’s meeting. “… We’ve been out there. We’ve taken pictures when it was raining and when it was dry and we have a lot of good evidence backing this project. We have plenty of residents out there in favor of it and have a pretty good package together that we will be presenting to our legislators and will also be presenting in Washington, D.C. I want the residents of Morgantown to know that we have not forgotten you. We are working hard to get that road done. I travel that road also. I travel it frequently, so I know what you’re dealing with Sometimes you might not see a lot happening, but we are moving and we are working hard to get the residents of Morgantown satisfied with that road.”

    Story From: The Natchez Democrat

    Sabrina Robertson

    https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2020/02/19/morgantown-residents-still-wait-on-roadwork/

     

  • Blues Legend and Baton Rouge native Henry Gray Passes Away at 95

    Blues Legend and Baton Rouge native Henry Gray Passes Away at 95

    Henry Gray, a Blues Hall of fame inductee and Grammy Award nominee passed away at 95 on Feb. 17. His great-grandson announced on social media: “It is with great sadness that I formally announce that my Great Grandfather Henry Gray has transitioned. My family and I appreciate every prayer, every donation, every smile, and every word of encouragement that you have given throughout his more than 70-year career. I will post the funeral arrangements as soon as we make them. Thank you all.”

    A Louisiana resident, Gray got his start playing in blues clubs in Alsen, LA. at age 16, and his experience playing these clubs enabled him to pursue a music career in full when he moved to Chicago after fighting in WWII in the Pacific front. Gray has had a prolific career playing alongside other legends such as Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and many others.

    Gray worked with so many artists during the height of Chicago Blues’ popularity, that his piano stylings can be heard in virtually every record coming out of the late ’40s to ’60s. Gray recorded for several record labels, including Chess Records in Chicago, APO, Telarc Blues, Bluebeat, Hightone, Wolf, Blind Pig, and Lucky Cat, which were the biggest labels of the height of the blues era.

    Gray’s later career saw him return to his Louisiana home, playing in virtually every blues festival in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge area, and his sound became synonymous with “swamp blues” that the area is known for. His work with Whispering Smith is widely regarded as some of the last great 45 RPM blues records to ever be produced.

    Gray also routinely brought his bayou boogie to Europe. “Everywhere I go over there, they love the blues,” Gray said. Gray’s last album, “92” was recorded in 2017 and was aptly named after Gray’s age at the time. Despite his age, Gray continued to play at blues clubs in New Orleans and Baton Rouge until his death. “I’m going to stay playing my piano,” Gray vowed. “I got to take care of my own business.”

  • Suspect on the run from October 2019 incident arrested

    Suspect on the run from October 2019 incident arrested

    NATCHEZ — A suspect in an October 2019 Concordia Parish incident was arrested in Adams County Monday on warrants of false imprisonment and attempted auto theft after telling law enforcement to “come and get me,” Adams County Sheriff’s officials said.

    Landon Paul Thompson had been on the run ever since October 2019 when he and another suspect allegedly ran his car into a woman’s vehicle in Concordia Parish, tried to open her car doors and began kicking and denting her vehicle, according to a witness, a Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office incident report states.

    Thompson and the other suspect fled the scene and warrants were later issued for their arrests.

    “(Thompson) was told that he had warrants on him and told to turn himself in,” said Travis Patten, Adams County sheriff. “He told the deputy that he was not going to turn himself in and that they would have to do their job and catch him.”

    On Monday, Patten said Adams County deputies received a tip that Thompson was at his grandmother’s house on Black Bear Road in Adams County.

    “They eased up there and did what they do and were able to apprehend him at 118 Black Bear Road,” Patten said. “He knew about this but he just refused to turn himself in and the tip that came in today happened to be a good one so now he is in custody. He told the deputies, ‘Y’all are going to have to catch me, and they did that today.’”

     ______________________________________________________________________________________________
    Story from: The Natchez Democrat
     https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2020/02/18/suspect-on-the-run-from-october-2019-incident-arrested/
  • Sunday shooting victim being treated at Merit Health Natchez

    Sunday shooting victim being treated at Merit Health Natchez

    NATCHEZ — Natchez police are investigating a shooting that injured a man after his nephew allegedly shot him Sunday afternoon near a pool hall on Minor Street, police officials said.

    Natchez Police Chief Walter Armstrong said Monday that an arrest warrant had been issued for Darius Benard, 27, for aggravated assault after he allegedly shot his uncle after 4 p.m. Sunday near a pool hall at 61 Minor Street.

    Armstrong said the victim had been treated at Merit Health Natchez and would be released from the hospital later today.

    Armstrong said Bernard and his uncle had gotten into a verbal dispute before the shooting and the investigation is ongoing.

    ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
    Story from: The Natchez Democrat
  • Trial Begins For Mississippi Man Charged In Killing Of 8 In Lincoln County

    Trial Begins For Mississippi Man Charged In Killing Of 8 In Lincoln County

    Suspect pleads not guilty to four counts of capital murder, four counts of murder, and four other charges.

    MAGNOLIA, Miss. (AP) — Opening arguments are set for Saturday in the death penalty trial of a man accused of killing eight people in Mississippi in May 2017.

    Willie Cory Godbolt, now 37, said “I’m sorry” while a reporter was recording him after the shootings in south Mississippi’s Lincoln County. The dead included a sheriff’s deputy and Godbolt’s mother-in-law.

    Godbolt has pleaded not guilty to four counts of capital murder, four counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of armed robbery. He has remained in custody since his arrest on May 28, 2017, hours after the shootings. One of his attorneys has said Godbolt is unlikely to use an insanity defense at trial.

    Investigators said Godbolt went to his in-laws’ home in Bogue Chitto and got into an argument with his estranged wife and her family over the couple’s two children. A deputy was called, and a witness said Godbolt fatally shot the deputy, Godbolt’s mother-in-law and two other people. After that, Godbolt shot and killed four other people at two other homes, police said.

    Because of pretrial publicity in south Mississippi, jury selection was done in north Mississippi’s DeSoto County, 285 miles (459 kilometers) north of Lincoln County. The 12 jurors and three alternates were selected Friday. They are hearing the case at the Pike County courthouse in Magnolia, which is near Lincoln County.

  • Natchez gets $150K camera grant

    Natchez gets $150K camera grant

    NATCHEZ — The Natchez Police Department has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the Department of Justice to purchase and install crime cameras throughout the city, officials announced Thursday.

    Natchez Police Chief Walter Armstrong said the grant was applied for around October or November last year and he’d just heard the news Thursday morning that it was approved.

    “We applied late last year and thought we’d hear something in December, and when we hadn’t heard anything we just didn’t know the outcome until today,” Armstrong said. “… This is a huge crime-fighting tool that we will have at our disposal that has already proven to be successful throughout the year 2019. We hope to arrange some group meetings with citizens and find out where they can be set up throughout the city.”

    Armstrong said the grant would cover the full cost of more than 65 cameras through Project NOLA — a New Orleans-based non-profit — as well as up to two years of monthly data storage fees.

    Armstrong said the department plans to purchase a combination of three camera types offered by Project NOLA as they are needed, the least expensive of which have a fixed lens facing only one direction.

    Other cameras could be controlled remotely, zoom in up to 1,000 yards, read license plates and detect gunshots, Armstrong said.

    Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell said city officials would still have approximately $16,000 allocated for purchasing more cameras that the Board of Aldermen approved last month and would ask residents who want to participate in Project NOLA to supply WiFi and a $20 a month fee for data storage.

    “We will continue to use that ($16,000) for the purpose of crime cameras,” Grennell said. “That will not change. The board approved that the $16,000 would be used for cameras and if there are any businesses, organizations or residents that wanted to participate with the camera in their area or near their home, they could pay for the cloud storage fee that is $20 a month. If there is some hardship out there the board said that they would take it case-by-case. For example, if there is an area that someone wanted a camera and didn’t have the $20 a month for storage, it would be brought before the board.”

    Grennell said the law officials would determine where to place new cameras with the grant funding once it is received.

    “If there are residents out there, organizations or businesses that are interested in that program, they need to contact the city,” Grennell said. “As far as the grant goes, that is going to be left up to the police department in terms of strategically placing cameras throughout the city.”

    Armstrong said those interested in participating in Project NOLA should contact the Natchez Police Department at 601-445-5565.

    Story from: The Natchez Democrat

    By Sabrina Robertson

  • Rodeo Legend Lecile Harris Passes away at 83

    Rodeo Legend Lecile Harris Passes away at 83

    Rodeo Hall of Fame legend Lecile Harris passed away last night after finishing the last night of the Dixie National Rodeo in Jackson, where Harris had been performing his rodeo clown routine for over 20 years.

    According to a statement on Harris’ Facebook page: “With immense and unbelievable sadness, I regret to inform everyone that Lecile Harris passed peacefully in his sleep last night after completing the Dixie Nationals Rodeo in Jackson, Mississippi.”

    Harris performed at more than 100 rodeos each year and was known around the world for his signature ending to his performance called “The Original Bulldancer” in which he would dance in the rodeo arena with a bull.

    Harris began his rodeo career bullfighting in the 50’s and 60’s. His unique and skillful performances transformed bullfighting from spectacle to art form as he dazzled crowds with his ability to entertain, and his ability to control the animals he worked with. He also worked on various TV shows, including a regular role on “HEE HAW” and movies like “The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James” and “W.W. and the Dixie Dance Kings” with Burt Reynolds.

  • Natchez Citizens may be in charge of Crime Camera monthly fees in near Future

    Natchez Citizens may be in charge of Crime Camera monthly fees in near Future

    Citizens will be asked to help pay for maintaining the crime-surveillance video cameras being installed by the city to add to those already in place.

    The public cameras are posted on or by private properties with WiFi connections for the Natchez Police Department to monitor and respond to crimes in real time or for follow-up investigations.

    The Board of Aldermen last month decided to purchase $16,000 worth of outdoor cameras to augment about 150 already perched throughout the city. The board on Tuesday agreed to get residents and businesses housing the cameras to pay for storing the video images for future use by police investigators. The cloud storage costs amount to $20 a month per camera, said Natchez Police Chief Walter Armstrong. For 32 cameras, he noted, this would amount to about $7,700 a year.

    The city will pay for buying and installing the new cameras. Armstrong has said a video camera can range from about $150 to $350 to buy. He noted their placement will take time as he decides where to locate them. Internet and electric connections are required for the monitoring system.

    Armstrong said he wants the cooperation and input of residents and businesses whose properties the cameras could be on. He has scheduled a Feb. 19 meeting to discuss this with downtown propertyowners.

    Mayor Darryl Grennell said he wants the crime-fighting cameras “strategically placed in this entire city.”

    The Board of Aldermen on Tuesday did approve getting WiFi connections for the city-owned, recently vandalized Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center to enable it to have surveillance cameras. Vandals or squatters recently wrecked its interior and yanked out copper or brass plumbing fixtures. The former school on Homochitto Street has been home of the Natchez Festival of Music for 21 years.

    Efforts are underway to repair the vandal-caused damage for the short term. For the long-term future, a campaign is being waged to get public and private funds to restore the historic Gothic Revival/Tudor-style structure built in 1927.

     

  • Natchez gets new state infrastructure money

    NATCHEZ, Miss. — The city recently received about $73,000 from the state as the first of eight payments to improve streets, bridges and other public structures in coming years.
    The money is from a program enacted by the state Legislature in 2018 to share internet sales tax revenues with Mississippi cities and counties. The new tax is imposed on online shopping.
    Natchez received its first check last month from the Mississippi Infrastructure Modernization Act. The city will get another payment in July – bringing a total this year of about $146,000, said city Community Development Director James Johnston.
    Six more payments of increasing amounts are forthcoming through 2023, he said.
    Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell noted Tuesday that the Board of Aldermen can use the money for improving city streets. Aldermen have a preliminary list of needy streets to review and finalize for funding later this year. In recent years, the board has resurfaced Natchez streets using money it gets from leasing city-owned land to Magnolia Bluffs Casino on the Mississippi River.
    The state Infrastructure Modernization Act money can be spent to repair or maintain existing roads, streets, bridges and water-sewage structures, according to a report presented to the aldermen Tuesday. The money can’t be used for building new structures.
    The state revenues are from the new sales tax the Legislature in 2018 imposed on internet-based businesses such as Amazon and their customers. The Infrastructure Modernization Act also allocates money from Mississippi’s new state lottery that began in 2019.
  • Hill collapses, roads flooded, dam eroded by Southern rains

    Hill collapses, roads flooded, dam eroded by Southern rains

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A Tennessee hillside collapsed, roads were flooded and rivers were rising across the Southeast on Tuesday after a day of heavy rains that once again threatened a Mississippi lake where a dam previously was in danger of failing.

    The National Weather Service said minor to moderate flooding was expected from central Mississippi to north Georgia following downpours. The Tennessee River was predicted to crest about 7 feet (2.1 meters) above flood level at Perryville, Tennessee, on Sunday.

    Near Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee, tons of rock and soil slid off a 70-foot-high hillside and blocked the northbound side of a U.S. 441 spur linking the tourist towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, the National Park Service said.

    At least 45 dump truck loads will be required to clear the road, officials estimated, but no injuires were reported.

    Multiple roads were covered with water or washed out because of rainfall that exceeded 5 inches (7.6 centimeters) in spots across central Alabama, and forecasters said totals could reach 6 inches (15.2 centimeters) by nightfall.

    Schools opened late or closed in parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana because of flash flooding. A flood watch stretched from eastern Texas to Mississippi, and parts of Alabama were under flood warnings.

    North of Birmingham in Cullman, the sheriff’s office said Deputy Adam Clark and his police dog were badly injured in a wreck that occurred during heavy rains overnight. The cause of the crash was under investigation.

    In eastern Mississippi, officials in Starkville said the water at Oktibbeha County Lake had once again reached a critical level just weeks after heavy rains caused a mudslide that put the earthen dam in danger of failing.

    Pumps had been used to lower the lake level by about 8 feet (2.4 meters) since mid-January, but officials said the water had risen to an even higher than before because of recent storms.

    “It has risen over 8.5 feet from our low elevation during pumping and continues to rise,” said a statement by Kristen Campanella, emergency management director in Oktibbeha County.

    Officials also were monitoring the site of a potential dam failure in Yazoo County, where the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said a 40-acre (16-hectare) lake in a subdivision was leaking around a culvert and washing away dirt, threatening four homes and a church. Five homes were evacuated after a levee breach in Leake.

    Elsewhere in Mississippi, 25 homes had been damaged and four people were hurt in wrecks caused by vehicles hydroplaning on wet roads, according to the state. The damage was worst in Yazoo, where a dozen people were displaced from homes.

    The Tennessee Valley region has received 550% of its normal rainfall during the past seven days, James Everett, senior manager of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s River Forecast Center, said in a briefing. Rainfall averaged around 6 inches (15 centimeters) across the valley, but some places got as much as 9 inches (23 centimeters).

    “We’re getting a brief break in rainfall today, but we expect it to pick up tomorrow through Thursday,” Everett said.

    To manage all of the water, the TVA will continue storing water in large mountain reservoirs to help reduce flooding downstream, Everett said. The agency plans to adjust its strategy for water storage and flows depending on how much more water falls on the already saturated ground, he said.

    Isolated tornadoes and winds in excess of 60 mph (96.56 kph) are possible in some areas of the South after nightfall Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.

    With the weather system moving eastward, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice instructed emergency officials to be ready for flooding in addition to high water that already had led to school closures in the state.

    ___

    Associated Press reporter Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this report.