LUY-Development

Category: Mississippi News

  • Duncan Park pickleball furor sparks public debate

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – Few issues have drawn such a large crowd to the Natchez Council Chambers like the pickleball-versus-tennis furor last week at a public hearing held by the mayor and city aldermen.

    The hearing was called by Mayor Dan Gibson after aldermen voted 4-2 last month against his endorsed plan to convert three Duncan Park tennis courts into 10 pickleball courts.

    The gathering displayed the differing, strongly held opinions about whether pickleball should supplant tennis courts at the city park.

    “It was a good meeting overall. I know it was frustrating for some. But a lot of good information was shared,” Gibson said.

    Some advocates said the Board of Aldermen’s 4-2 vote should be the final decision against the pickleball plan, but Gibson said he’ll continue to pursue a compromise.

    “I’m not giving up on a solution that satisfies both sports and further unites Natchez,” the mayor said.

    While a seemingly innocuous proposition, the plan sharply divided the aldermen in April along with the crowd that packed their meeting room for the May 18 hearing. It lasted more than 90 minutes and drew at least 18 public commentators.

    Alderman Valencia Hall has been the most outspoken board member against the pickleball proposition. She said splitting up three Duncan Park tennis courts into the smaller pickleball courts would be at the expense of a sport that tennis buffs say needs the existing 10 tennis courts for tournaments.

    However, Gibson has said the growing popularity of pickleball justifies the need to develop courts exclusively dedicated to this avocation at the city’s main recreational park. Pickleballers currently use Duncan Park tennis courts marked up and netted on a makeshift basis for their smaller playing space.

    The Board of Aldermen last month rejected a pickleball plan that also calls for resurfacing Duncan Park tennis courts at a total cost of about $31,000 – with half funded by private dollars. The mayor and board are scheduled to meet Tuesday, but it’s uncertain if the issue will resurface then.

  • Adams County Tornado Sirens Expected Back Online Next Week

    Adams County’s tornado-warning sirens are expected to all be working by next week after repairs are completed on several that have been silent in recent months, said Emergency Management Director Brad Bradford. 

    Seven of the county’s 18 towered sirens have been out of order, but Adams County “should be good on all sirens” next week, he said.

    However, an effective tornado-warning option for Adams County residents is a subscription to Hyper-Reach, which automatically phones them when bad weather approaches. Since this free service directly notifies people of any weather threats, it’s more reliable than the tornado sirens located throughout Natchez and Adams County. They’re mainly audible outdoors and not indoors.

      

    To subscribe to Hyper-Reach, visit https://luylink.com/hyperreach.

  • New Rules at Adams County Parks Include 10 P.M. Curfew and ATV Ban

    The Adams County Board of Supervisors has imposed time restrictions for being at county parks and also banned ATV vehicles from the recreational venues at the behest of Sheriff Travis Patten.

    Meeting Monday with county supervisors, Patten expressed concerns about late-night pleasure seekers racing their all-terrain vehicles at Providence Park and tearing up the grounds.

     

    The board voted to impose a 10 p.m.-to-sunrise curfew at county parks that include Providence, Lagrange and Kingston. Park hours could be extended for special events. ATVs will be prohibited at all times.

  • Cyberattack Leaves Adams County Residents Unable to Renew Vehicle Tags

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors closed the public out of discussions Monday about the ongoing investigation into the criminal cyberattack that crippled county government’s IT system last month.

    They can’t provide details to the public because of the sensitive nature of the ransom-motivated attack on the county’s information technology structure, said Scott Slover, the supervisors’ attorney.

    County administrators did say earlier this month that most of county government’s IT system is back online. However, the Adams County tax collector’s office still can’t process payments for vehicle taxes to renew car tags or issue license plates for newly purchased vehicles. The cyberattack disabled Adams County’s link to the Mississippi Department of Revenue, which processes the tax payments and registrations required for getting car tags, according to Adams County Tax Collector Terrence Bailey.

     

    County Supervisor Ricky Gray noted that he’s gotten many phone calls from constituents about this and wanted to discuss the IT crash during the Board of Supervisors’ open portion of Monday’s meeting. However, the board closed the public out of their discussions using a state law that allows government boards to meet in secret to confer about a wide array of issues — including investigations about “allegations of misconduct or violation of law.”

    It’s uncertain how long the county’s car-tag operations will be down. Slover did say county officials might consider ways to waive penalties or fines for delinquent vehicle owners with recently expired car tags or without license plates for newly purchased vehicles.

     
    Adams County supervisors earlier this month did agree to purchase insurance at a cost of $10,000 to cover the expenses of future cyberattacks. The most recent crash also came with a cost of more than $200,000 in county funds to buy new computer equipment and install security controls.

  • City officials advance plans for demolishing Natchez Fry building

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – City officials are seeking demolition contractors to tear down the Fry building as plans continue for making the downtown Natchez site a parking lot for the yet-to-be-renovated Eola hotel next door.
    Delays have bedeviled refurbishing the vacant hotel and razing the city-owned building – a project Mayor Dan Gibson noted has had “a lot of moving parts.”

    The Natchez Board of Aldermen on Tuesday agreed to solicit proposals from contractors on the costs of knocking down the Fry building. This is “very important for the Eola project,” Gibson said.

    The former office building – which has been ridden with asbestos – is being demolished with the help of more than $1 million in state and federal cleanup funds for transforming the site into a parking lot. Plans for tearing down the 1950s-era building have been ongoing since 2021, when it was donated to the city.

    Renovating the century-old Eola hotel – a Natchez landmark now an eyesore – is also tied to plans to accommodate riverboat passengers of American Cruise Lines. It’s building a $5.5 million dock to make Natchez a home port for passengers to board or unboard and stay here overnight.

    ACL’s long-planned wharf on the Mississippi River in the historic Natchez Under-the-Hill district has been approved by the Mississippi Department of Archives & History and Natchez Preservation Commission. The NPC reviewed plans Wednesday evening to ensure the riverside structure’s architectural design suits the historic Silver Street area.

    Construction of ACL’s Natchez dock could begin later this year, Gibson said, as the cruise company makes Natchez one of its three main mooring facilities on the lower Mississippi River along with New Orleans and Memphis. The Connecticut-based company is building another riverboat that’s expected to be christened here in 2028, according to the mayor.

    Using the city’s Silver Street boat ramp, ACL has been bringing riverboats with tourists to Natchez since 2012. Its fleet of Mississippi River ships include American Melody, American Serenade, American Symphony, American Splendor and American Heritage. The company pays Natchez a per-passenger fee each time it docks in the city.

    As the Eola hotel approaches its 100th anniversary being built in 1927, Gibson expressed hopes its private developers can restore and reopen it in time for the anticipated influx of ACL passengers staying overnight. While delayed by financial hurdles, plans have been made for the Eola to become a Marriot-affiliated hotel.

    The adjacent Fry building and land have been contaminated with hazardous asbestos and other pollutants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded Natchez a $1 million grant for clean-up costs, and the state Department of Environmental Quality has provided the city a $500,000 loan. Gibson said these state and federal funds are expected to cover the demolition costs.

  • After 80 Years, Passenger Trains May Return to Natchez

    After 80 Years, Passenger Trains May Return to Natchez

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – City aldermen agreed Tuesday to join two other neighboring towns to establish a Natchez-to-Brookhaven passenger train service that’s dependent on getting federal funds.

    Such a plan is still iffy as discussions for this have been ongoing for several years with much more work ahead to make it a reality, said Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson.

    “This won’t happen tomorrow. A lot depends on the (federal) grants that will be awarded later this year,” Gibson told the Natchez Board of Aldermen.

    The board agreed to join with Meadville and Brookhaven to advance plans for passenger train service. It’s in collaboration with Natchez Railway, the company that uses the 65-mile railroad track to haul freight to and from Brookhaven.

    Also involved is the Scenic Rivers Development Alliance, which has partnered with Hyatt to build a resort on Lake Okhissa about 40 miles from Natchez and near Meadville.

    Planning for the passenger rail service has been under the radar but extensive. “We have not talked about it, but we have worked hard on it,” said Gibson, who became Natchez mayor in 2020.

    He noted engineering work has been done for a site in Natchez where passengers could board the train.

    This comes as Natchez-Adams County prepares to have commercial passenger planes returning in July for the first time since the 1990s.

    Passenger trains stopped coming to Natchez in 1945, when Illinois Central ceased the service at the Broadway Street depot, according to historical accounts. Brookhaven, which is a stop for Amtrak, is the closest place to catch a passenger train.

    Gibson acknowledged passenger rail service’s return to Natchez is not a certainty.

    “It’s way premature to be celebrating anything right now…. We’re going to be leaning on federal grant dollars and Natchez Rail’s matching dollars for this project,” he said.

    Gibson noted Mississippi’s U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is striving to get federal funds for this. She did get congressional allocations last year for improving transportation access to Lake Okhissa, where Hyatt’s 200-room lodge and 1,000-person conference center is to be located. It’s scheduled to open in 2028, according to DLR Group, the design firm for the resort.

    The nearby Natchez-to-Brookhaven railroad in recent years has received millions of federal dollars for improvements. Natchez’ only rail line was threatened with abandonment because its substandard bridges could not accommodate heavy train cars. However, rehabilitation work was completed with   $10 million in federal funds received by Natchez in 2016 along with $3.3 million from Natchez Railway.

    Commodities hauled on the Natchez-to-Brookhaven railroad include forestry products, crude oil and empty train cars for a repair facility at Bude, according to Natchez Railway. Genesis Energy in Natchez has been a heavy user of the west-to-east rail line, which links to the larger north-to-south rail route going through Brookhaven.

  • Cyberattack Continues to Cripple Adams County Car Tag Process

    Cyberattack Continues to Cripple Adams County Car Tag Process

    Natchez, Miss. – Adams County automobile owners won’t be able to get their renewed car tags or register their newly bought vehicles while county officials continue to recover from a cyberattack that crashed the county’s IT system in April.

    Adams County Tax Collector Terrence Bailey said the cyberattack caused his office to be locked out of the Mississippi Department of Revenue’s Information Technology network required for processing automobile registrations and paying car taxes.

    Efforts are underway to fix the software glitch, Bailey said. He noted Hinds County had a similar problem that took about three months to overcome.

    Adams County car owners whose annual vehicle taxes and fees are due this month can pay online, but they currently won’t be able to get the license plate decals showing law officers proof they’ve paid, Bailey said. Meeting today with the Adams County Board of Supervisors, Bailey noted car owners who pay their taxes could print out a receipt to have if stopped by police.

    Those who just bought a car are completely frozen out. They won’t be able to register their vehicles, pay the owed taxes or get their new license plates until the Adams County tax collector gets back online with the state IT system. Buyers normally have 30 business days to register their vehicles and get their car tags before penalties apply.

    Aside from the inability to process car tags, most of Adams County’s IT system is back online after being crippled two weeks ago, said Adams County Administrator Mitzi Conn.

    The Board of Supervisors closed the public out of today’s meeting to discuss the ongoing investigation into the cyberattack, said board attorney Scott Slover. The high-tech assault has been described as a form of “ransomware” but without a demand by cybercrooks to pay up.

    Supervisors today did agree to purchase insurance at a cost of $10,000 to cover the expenses of future cyberattacks. The most recent crash came with a cost of more than $200,000 to buy new computer equipment and install security controls.

  • Mingo Tingle Leaves Natchez Post for Promotion at Mississippi Archives & History

    Mingo Tingle Leaves Natchez Post for Promotion at Mississippi Archives & History

    NATCHEZ, Miss. –

    The city’s planning and zoning director is resigning after just one year on the job to take a post at the Mississippi Department of Archives & History.
    Mingo Tingle will wind down his work next month while city officials seek a replacement. Tingle began his Natchez job May 2025 as the city’s chief administrator of zoning and architectural regulations. He’s leaving to become MDAH’s deputy director of the Historic Preservation Division.

    Tingle is returning to a state agency – where he previously worked for nearly 21 years – for a position Mayor Dan Gibson said is considered a promotion. Tingle’s earlier duties at MDAH included overseeing the upkeep of state historic sites and helping private property owners plan preservation projects. His wife, Lauren Miller, also recently took a job as curator at the state Capitol for the Mississippi Legislature.

    The city planner’s duties include making recommendations to the Natchez Preservation Commission, which regulates the design, restoration and construction of buildings and fixtures in Natchez’ historic district to ensure they’re architecturally appropriate. The job also entails advising the Natchez Planning Commission, which regulates private land uses and where businesses and residences can be located to ensure they’re properly situated.

    Tingle is leaving Natchez as he and other city officials salute the 75th anniversary of the town’s historic preservation ordinance. The 1951 initiative is one of the earliest such measures enacted by a city. It established the Natchez historic district with regulations for the design, restoration and construction of buildings and fixtures to ensure they’re architecturally acceptable.

    “This forward-thinking action ensured that changes within the historic district would respect the architectural integrity of individual properties while preserving the character of the district for generations to come,” Tingle wrote earlier this month.

    Tingle last year replaced former city planning director Rico Giani, who served on a part-time basis after Frankie Legaux resigned in December 2024. Legaux had served about five years with the city in two separate stints regulating the appearance and locations of structures in Natchez.

  • New Retailers Announced for Trace Town Shopping Center in Natchez

    New Retailers Announced for Trace Town Shopping Center in Natchez

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – Several new national retailers are coming to the Trace Town Shopping Center as part of an ongoing redevelopment project announced Tuesday by city leaders and developers.

    During the event, developer Jimmy Smith revealed that the center will include TJ Maxx, Ulta Beauty, Five Below, Shoe Department, and Bath & Bodyworks, along with additional smaller businesses including a restaurant, a national hair salon, and an ice cream and cookie shop called Flying Dollies.

    Smith said the project is already fully leased and construction is expected to begin soon, with an anticipated opening timeframe of early next year or spring 2027.

    The announcement follows the recent opening of Hobby Lobby at the site. Smith noted the store has already drawn customers from outside the area, saying customer traffic includes “about fifty percent from Adams County” with the remaining coming from surrounding areas, including Louisiana.

    Mayor Dan Gibson called the project a major milestone for the region.

    “This marks the beginning of what will be the largest retail development in Southwest Mississippi in over four decades,” Gibson said.

    Developers with Noon Real Estate said the project is the result of months of planning and partnership between local and state leaders.

    “This is the culmination of probably eighteen months of work to get to this stage,” said Kevin Jennings of Noon Real Estate.

    Officials say additional development is being explored for nearby property, including potential grocery and retail options.

  • Gulf Coast Teen Dancer Earns Spot at Prestigious Joffrey Ballet School in New York

    A 14-year-old Gulf Coast dancer is taking a major step toward a professional career, earning a spot at one of the most prestigious training programs in the country.

    Leila Pitcovich has been accepted into the Jazz and Contemporary Trainee Program at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, a highly regarded institution often compared to an “Ivy League” for aspiring dancers. She will begin the four-year program this fall.

    For Pitcovich, the opportunity represents the culmination of years of dedication.

    “It’s been a long journey, but it feels like it’s all been getting me ready to start living my life,” she said.

    Though this marks a significant milestone, Pitcovich is already familiar with Joffrey’s rigorous environment. She has attended several summer intensives at the school, experiences that helped prepare her for the next level of training and independence.

    The program will allow her to continue her academic studies while advancing her dance career. Pitcovich will complete her freshman year of high school online while living in New York, and by the end of the program, she will have earned two years of college credit.

    Her mother, Heather Pitcovich, admits the transition is bittersweet. While she is proud of her daughter’s accomplishments, the reality of being apart is difficult.

    “It’s nerve-wracking,” she said. “But seeing her so happy… when she comes back from those programs, you can see how much it’s changed her and how much joy it brings her.”

    Like many parents, Heather also worries about the experiences her daughter will miss.

    “You want your kids to have that normal life — the normal teenage years,” she said. “It’s going to be hard not being there for those moments.”

    Leila, however, is confident in her decision, even if it means sacrificing traditional high school milestones.

    She sees dance not just as a career path, but as a calling.

    “Anything that you put your mind to is possible,” she said. “And just doing what you love — it’s more than a job. It’s about being happy in what you’re doing.”

     

    Pitcovich will travel to New York City this week for orientation, officially beginning her journey in September as she takes the next step toward turning her passion into a profession.