Category: News

 

NATCHEZ — Mississippi State Troopers are investigating a fatal crash involving an 18-wheeler on U.S. 84 east near McNeal Road and the Natchez Trace overpass.

The accident occurred just before 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

The driver, 49-year-old Robert Berryhill III of Smithdale, left the roadway and collided with a creek embankment for causes that are still under investigation, said Corporal Craig James of Mississippi Highway Patrol.

Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten said deputies arrived on the scene and administered CPR until state troopers arrived but he was deceased.

This crash remains under investigation by the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

The post Wreck involving 18-wheeler leaving highway ends in fatality appeared first on Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper.

This article was written by The Natchez Democrat. To view the original article on the Natchez Democrat’s site, Click Here

 

NATCHEZ — The city’s planning commission will re-hear a request to operate 806 N. Union St. as a children’s home on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. at the Council Chambers, 115 S Pearl St., across from City Hall.

The reopening of the facility as a children’s home does not sit well with many residents who live near it. Natchez City Planner Frankie Legaux said her office has received more than 60 letters opposing granting a special exception to allow the facility to operate as a children’s home again.

The building operated as the Natchez Protestant Home, then the Natchez Children’s Home, from the time it was built in the 1950s until the Children’s Home closed in 2009.

Bishop Stanley Searcy of the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, which owns the property, requested the planning commission re-hear the request for a special exception to again operate the facility as a children’s home after a motion to deny that request ended in a 3-3 tie at the planning commission’s meeting on June 6.

New Hope Church purchased the building and, at one time, hoped to use the facility as a school.

In late 2022, Dr. Tina Bruce leased the building from New Hope and operated it as a crisis stabilization unit for troubled children until January 2023.

A number of incidents at the facility concerned neighbors, who questioned whether the unit was properly authorized to operate there. The facility closed shortly after it was discovered Bruce did not apply for nor was she granted the proper approval for operating that type of facility.

Most opposition is rooted in a number of incidents that occurred during the short time Bruce operated the facility for troubled teens.

Some opposing the re-opening of the facility as a children’s home have asked Searcy and his attorney whether Bruce will again lease and operate the facility. Neither have answered that question directly.

“The reopening of this site to a similar purpose without substantial improvements to security, staffing, and care of residents would be an egregious miscarriage of responsibilities of all involved,” wrote Elise Mophett in a letter objecting to the granting of the special exception.

Herbert Arnold of 804 N. Union and 804-½ N. Union St., wrote a letter of objection to another children’s home, writing that he would no longer feel safe in his home.

Arnold described in his letter a number of issues with some of the teens housed in Bruce’s facility while it operated.

“On Jan. 6, 2023, the church’s lessee had a teenage woman break a glass light fixture, glass front clock, and glass framed picture in the entryway of 806 N. Union building. This young woman was in a medical and mental crisis, and the two women supervising the inpatients that evening were not able to control or subdue the patient. Six Natchez patrol cars were called to the scene, and ambulances were to control the patient-resident,” Arnold wrote.

“The majority of the privately owned and occupied National Historic Register Homes in the area of 806 N. Union house senior citizens. We are an aging community ill-prepared for at-risk youth with violent mental health problems living in our neighborhood,” Arnold wrote.

Jennifer Latetia White of 815 N. Union St. wrote in her opposition letter about the project that her understanding is that it would again be used as a “residence for emotionally disruptive youth who cannot be placed in foster care due to their disruptive and often violent behavior.

“Several of these youths have on numerous occasions (documented in police records) banded together ‘escaping’ their residential facility, running through neighborhoods where they vandalize, and attempting to break into homes to steal whatever they need. This type of ‘crisis facility’ should never be located in a residential area!” White wrote.

The post Planning commission on Thursday will reconsider request to operate 806 N. Union as a children’s home appeared first on Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper.

This article was written by The Natchez Democrat. To view the original article on the Natchez Democrat’s site, Click Here

 

Stakeholders and anyone interested in learning about or being involved with the establishment of a Natchez chapter of Boys and Girls Club is invited to an informal meeting on the topic on Wednesday afternoon.

Greg West, who has championed efforts to reestablish a Natchez-based Boys and Girls Club to create education, workforce and character development opportunities for area youth said that the National Director of Development for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Chief Professional Officer of the Southwest MS Boys & Girls Club, Clyde McGuire will be in town Wednesday and will host the meeting for the prospective Natchez chapter from 4:15 to 5:15 p.m. at the Natchez Grand Hotel.

This meeting aims to “inform and direct the community on steps to take to bring a B&G Club back to Natchez-Adams County,” West said.

Also involved is Marcus Pittman, who heads the nearest chapter in McComb.

Local officials have voiced their support of the endeavor to bring back the Boys and Girls Club, which more than a decade ago serviced over 200 area youth at the former Margaret Martin School.

The former Robert Lewis Middle School is proposed to be the new location, which is subject to the Natchez Adams School District Board of Trustees agreeing to lease the building.

“I have long been a believer in what Boys and Girls Clubs can do to enrich the lives of our children,” Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson said. “I applaud the efforts of everyone working to make this a reality here in Natchez. I look forward to enthusiastically supporting this endeavor, and I encourage everyone who longs to see more opportunities and resources for our children to get behind them.”

West invited anyone locally who is interested in participating in this endeavor to attend the meeting Wednesday.

On the following Thursday and Friday, a few representatives from Natchez as well as other chapters in the region will be participating in a training at the Annual council meeting of Louisiana & Mississippi B&GC at the Grand Hotel.

The post Stakeholders, supporters of Natchez Boys and Girls Club chapter invited to meeting appeared first on Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper.

This article was written by The Natchez Democrat. To view the original article on the Natchez Democrat’s site, Click Here

 

NATCHEZ —At least five or six incidents of card fraud have been reported locally over the past two days that seem to be linked to skimming devices at some local grocery stores, Natchez Police Chief Cal Green said.

Skimming occurs when devices are illegally installed on or inside point-of-sale terminals, ATMs or fuel pumps to capture card data and record cardholders’ PIN entries.

Green cautioned locals to change their PIN codes or access codes and add two-point authentication to cards if applicable “to make them as safe as possible.”

“I know we’ve had two or three reports yesterday and at least two today,” she said, involving at least one debit card and three or four EBT cards. “These victims had anywhere from $200 or $400 stolen from them.”

Green said the investigation has been turned over to the state because Natchez was not the only community hit by these devices. She said these devices are usually held on by magnets and will fall off when shaken.

She advised locals to check their card balances and make a report of any suspicious activity.

The post CONSUMERS BEWARE: Locals report 4 or 5 incidents of card fraud by way of skimming at grocery stores appeared first on Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper.

This article was written by The Natchez Democrat. To view the original article on the Natchez Democrat’s site, Click Here

 

What do you know about what was happening in our world sixty years ago?

Some folks lived and breathed it. Some know very little. But these often little-understood local stories are vital American stories, and we all should know them.

From today’s perspective, the rigid social and economic system of racial segregation that existed in the South up through the 1960s is almost inconceivable – as is the violent retribution that often accompanied any perceived violation of those norms.

I was one such child of the 1960s, growing up white in Vicksburg, largely unaware of the Civil Rights Movement swirling around me.

A temporary exhibit entitled “1964” will help you put the pieces together. The exhibit is displayed in the South Slave Cabin at Melrose (#1 Melrose-Montebello Parkway) through September. It is open to the public free of charge between 8:30 am and 4:45 pm, seven days per week.

The exhibit is divided into portions that each demonstrate a particular set of actions that set 1964 aside as a pivotal year for Natchez, for Mississippi, and for the U.S.

It begins with a summary of the preceding decade when the murders of Emmett Till and Medgar Evers and the violence around James Meredith’s admission to Ole Miss placed Mississippi at the epicenter of the nation’s emerging civil rights activism.

It continues with a look at actions going on around Mississippi in 1964, and those happening right here.

Andrew Goodman, Mickey Schwerner, and James Cheney were workers with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) investigating a church burning in Philadelphia, Mississippi, when they were kidnapped and murdered. The statewide search for their bodies inadvertently turned up two missing men who had been killed in the Natchez area: Charles Moore and Hezekiah Dee.

Dorie Ladner was just one of the SNCC workers who came to Natchez to help register people to vote and conduct special educational sessions for children during “Freedom Summer” 1964.

On July 2, 1964 (Medgar Evers’ birthday), President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, in front of a crowd that included Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Former sharecropper Fannie Lou Hamer became the national face for the Mississippi voting rights movement when she testified on behalf of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

In 1964 Natchez lay at the center of a belt of intense violence carried out by the Ku Klux Klan that extended from Ferriday, Louisiana, to McComb and Brookhaven, Mississippi. The Klan marched brazenly down Natchez’s Main Street in full regalia with their faces exposed. Black mortician Archie Curtis, chairman of the Natchez Business & Civil League’s voter registration drive, was assaulted by Klan members.

The body of Joseph Edwards, who was killed shortly after the signing of the Civil Rights Act, was never found. This cold case will be the focus of a talk by Stanley Nelson at the Historic Natchez Foundation at 6:00 pm on Thursday, August 29.

The Natchez community responded to these events with boycotts and sit-ins, especially by Black high school students. The Deacons for Defense and Justice took up arms to protect civil rights workers. The following year would be even more significant for the Movement.

These events are memorialized at two additional national parks in Mississippi: The Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument in Jackson and the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Sumner, Mississippi, and Chicago, Illinois. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/natc,  www.nps.gov/memy, and www.nps.gov/till.

Kathleen Bond is the superintendent of Natchez National Historical Park.

The post What happened in 1964? And why does it matter? appeared first on Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper.

This article was written by The Natchez Democrat. To view the original article on the Natchez Democrat’s site, Click Here

 

NATCHEZ — The City of Natchez and the Adams County Board of Supervisors have finalized plans to fund and get started on the long-awaited Morgantown Road Drainage and Road Improvement, as well as come to a final agreement on E-911 dispatch service and fire protection services.

The joint meeting of the two boards was Thursday in the Natchez Council Chambers at 4 p.m.

Morgantown Road improvements, which have been in the planning stages for close to 25 years, will move forward quickly because Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson announced the city was postponing indefinitely its plan to raise Silver Street Under-the-Hill and would move eligible funds designated to that project to the Morgantown Road project.

“We have worked very hard the last four years on a number of projects. Two of those projects that have been in the forefront of what we have been doing area Morgantown Road and the raising of Silver Street. Both of these projects are very difficult and involve a lot of back and forth on budgets, meetings trying to get everyone in agreement,” Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson said. “As we have been doing this, the city has encountered some challenges. The main enemy we all have is inflation. … Obviously, the cost of Silver Street has increased beyond what we projected. The cost of Morgantown Road has increased more than we projected. We have tried to re-bid it several times. We have tried to re-design it. And we are now at a place when you hear this presentation, understand the city is about to make a major concession. We have to choose between raising Silver Street right now or repairing Morgantown Road. And we are going to be making the suggestion that we make Morgantown Road the priority,” Gibson said.

Also in the mix with making that decision is the city now must make the unbudgeted repair of the Canal Street Bridge, which is projected to cost in the neighborhood of $800,000.

The Morgantown Road Drainage Project, which must be completed before the road can be resurfaced, was originally expected to cost approximately $1.8 million. That cost now, including engineering fees and construction, is $3.344 million. The city has gotten permission from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality to move its grant funds designated for Silver Street to the Morgantown Road project, which will make up that shortfall.

Natchez Community Development Director James Johnston, who provided detailed transaction information to the aldermen and supervisors, said the move will allow for a pre-construction meeting with all involved parties to take place soon.

Gibson also told supervisors the city would agree to pay an increase of $199,000 over what it is currently paying for E-911 dispatch services.

“We have gotten the most current salary numbers and the cost for 10 dispatchers equates to an annual cost of $492,214.85,” Gibson said. “The city currently pays the county annually $292,404. Under this scenario, the city will have to increase its contribution to $199,810.85.”

Aldermen voted unanimously to accept that new agreement and increase for dispatch services, as did the county supervisors.

The new E-911 agreement is for four years. The city also agreed to pay its proportionate share of any pay increases the county gives to dispatchers going forward.

The new county fire services agreement with the city is based on the same criteria. The county will fund 16 of the city’s current 42 firefighters.

The new amount the county agreed to pay is $989,992.24 for fire services. It is currently paying $701,603 for fire services. That’s an increase to the county of $288,319.24.

During the discussion of the fire agreement, District 2 Supervisor Kevin Wilson asked if it was necessary for the city to send two trucks to all of the fires the city responds to in the county.

“I started getting those breakdowns for the calls, and if you look at the calls coming in from the county, half of them are trash fires or an automobile on the road on fire, which isn’t going to harm anybody. It’s just going to burn,” Wilson said.

He asked Natchez Fire Chief Robert Arrington if the Natchez department calls county volunteer firefighters to those calls. Arrington said county volunteer firefighters are dispatched.

“Any calls we get in the county, we page out the volunteer service. We go ahead and respond and wait on what we find out from the volunteers — if they are going to be able to come out and are they going to bring a truck or whatever,” Arrington said. “The participation of the volunteers over the past several years has decreased.”

District 3 Supervisor Angela Hutchins said the original agreement between the county and city was for the city to hire an additional 15 firefighters to its force to handle county firefighting.

“I’ve been here 37 years. You all were supposed to get 54 firefighters, and that never happened,” she said. “Now you are asking for us to pay for another firefighter?”

Gibson took exception to Wilson and Hutchins’ questions.

“If I could, we just committed major city funds to Morgantown Road. We have spent so much political capital for the last four years to raise millions of dollars for projects to benefit all of us. 100 percent of Adams is 100 percent of Adams County. 100 percent of the fires that occur are in Adams County. 100 percent of the streets that are repaired are in Adams County. 100 percent of the law enforcement calls are in Adams County. I’m tired of splitting these hairs,” Gibson said.

“We are one. We are only talking about one firefighter here. … I have to stand up on the taxpayers of Natchez who are paying double taxes. We are talking about one firefighter out of 42. We ask for your support. If you want to continue splitting hairs, I’m just going to take the whole thing off the table.”

County supervisors voted unanimously to approve the new fire agreement, as did the city’s aldermen.

The post City, county reach agreement on Morgantown Road, fire service, 911 dispatch appeared first on Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper.

This article was written by The Natchez Democrat. To view the original article on the Natchez Democrat’s site, Click Here

 

NATCHEZ — This Monday, the Natchez Adams School District schools are the first in the Miss-Lou to start bringing new and returning students on campuses for the 2024-2025 school year.

“This Back-to-School season is filled with anticipation and excitement,” NASD Superintendent Zandra McDonald stated in a letter. “As your superintendent, I am honored to lead this exceptional school system, and I am enthusiastic about the journey ahead under our theme: ‘Stronger Together,’ reflecting our belief that through collaboration and unity, we can achieve great things for our children.”

Starting this school year, the district has reorganized pre-kindergarten through 8th-grade schools into grade-level based schools, placing many students in schools they are unfamiliar with.

“While change can be challenging, it also brings fresh opportunities for growth and development,” McDonald said. “We are excited to welcome our children into their new learning environments and are confident that they will thrive with the support of our dedicated teachers and staff.”

Renovations with the remaining COVID-19 relief funds are underway at McLaurin and Morgantown elementary schools, McDonald said.

“Please be patient as we work to improve these schools for learning success. Ultimately, our goal is to create nurturing, inclusive, and stimulating environments where every student can succeed. … Our commitment to providing a high-quality education remains steadfast. We have been working diligently over the summer to ensure that all schools are ready to receive students and that the transition will be as smooth as possible.”

The first day of school for students in Concordia Parish is Aug. 1.

With the new school calendar approved by the Concordia Parish School Board, the school year starts off with a normal schedule and then will start having four days of school each week with no school on Mondays after Labor Day weekend, Sept. 2.

“We’re so excited to see our students back in the classrooms, ready to learn and grow,” Bachus said. “Thank you to all the parents and guardians who have reached out to me with your questions and concerns. I truly appreciate your communication and dedication to your children’s education. … We’re committed to making this school year a success! Thank you for your continued support and trust. Let’s make this year a fantastic one!”

Instant Impact Global Prep, Adams County Christian and Cathedral school students begin their school year on Aug. 7. Delta Charter School students return or start school on Aug. 8.

The post BACK TO SCHOOL: Students return starting this week in the Miss-Lou appeared first on Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper.

This article was written by The Natchez Democrat. To view the original article on the Natchez Democrat’s site, Click Here

 

NATCHEZ — Adams County Sheriff’s Office on Friday morning arrested two men — one with a litany of previous charges — during a drug bust at Holiday Apartments.

In the early hours of Friday morning, agents from the ACSO Special Operations Unit executed a search warrant at Holiday Apartments, 601 Old Washington Road, Apartment 24B.

Deputies seized approximately 20 ounces of marijuana, packaging material, scales, two bottles of suspected Promethazine, two loaded Glock pistols with extended magazines, and $2,856 in cash.

Jehron Davis, 25, was arrested and charged with possession of schedule 1 marijuana with intent to deliver with a firearms enhancement and a church zone enhancement. Bibleway Pentecostal Church is less than 1,500 feet from the apartment. Davis is also charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Davis was convicted in Louisiana on Jan. 19, 2022, for attempted assault by drive-by shooting. In addition, Davis is on probation in Mississippi for aggravated assault and on probation in Louisiana for felon in possession of a firearm.

Also, Davis has active warrants for his arrest in Arlington, Texas, for controlled substance violations and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Davis was arrested on May 6, 2020, for possession of a controlled substance and on May 15, 2019, for two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

On Nov. 2, 2018, Davis was arrested for possession of a stolen weapon, and on April 3, 2018, for shooting into a dwelling.

Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten said the dispositions of Davis’s arrests are unknown.

“Make no mistake. Davis has a long history of being involved with guns and violence in three states,” Patten said.

Also arrested at the Friday morning drug bust was Jalandon Green, 23, and charged with felon in possession of a firearm. Green is currently on probation in Louisiana for being convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and unauthorized entry into a residence on Sept. 9, 2022, in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, District Court.

Davis’s bond has been set at $250,000, and the states of Texas and Louisiana have also placed holds on him.

Green’s bond has been set at $150,000, and Louisiana has placed a hold on him.

Holds mean that if released, each would be transported to those other states to face charges awaiting them.

The post ACSO Special Operations agents discover drugs, guns, cash in bust; two charged appeared first on Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper.

This article was written by The Natchez Democrat. To view the original article on the Natchez Democrat’s site, Click Here

 

NATCHEZ — Adams County Sheriff’s Office and Natchez Police Department are seeking the public’s help while investigating a potential arson case at the residence of Vidalia Police Department’s patrol Captain, Craig Godbold on late Friday or early Saturday morning.

The house on Creek Bend Road went up in flames during the night around midnight hour.

The fire appears to have started under the carport of the home while Godbold’s family was inside the house. Everyone made it out safely.

Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten said Godbold contacted him Saturday morning in reference to the fire and “requested that ACSO investigate it because there is video evidence that the fire wasn’t just a fire; that it was possibly arson.”

“We agreed to do the investigation but we will be conducting the investigation with the assistance of Natchez Police Department and every other person that lives in this neighborhood,” Patten said.  “After reviewing the video … it is pretty clear that this was arson and the matter will be investigated as such with additional charges possible once we are able to determine a suspect in this case.”

As to how the fire started, Natchez Fire Chief Robert Arrington said at this point, “There is no way to know for certain. We do know for certain that the fire started near the cars but I can’t speak to the cause.”

Arrington said the state fire marshal will be arriving Monday to begin its investigation of the fire. As far as what the fire, police and sheriff’s department investigations yield, he said. “We’re pooling all of our resources together.”

Patten said he is seeking public assistance from anyone who lives in the Creek Bend Road area and might’ve captured footage of the incident on their phone, doorbell or security cameras.

He also asked the greater Miss-Lou community who may have any information related to this incident, be it as small as a social media post or something suspicious that a person saw or heard related to this incident, to contact the sheriff’s office at 601-442-2752 or Crime Stoppers if they want to remain anonymous at 888-442-5001.

“There were four adults and two children in that house when this individual did what he did,” Patten said. “This is not the type we want roaming our streets and we need everyone to speak up if they know something.

“This particular neighborhood has been instrumental in helping us to solve crimes in the past and has always been willing to participate and provide information and we’re asking the same in reference to this heinous act. No amount of information is too big or too small. We want them to flood the sheriff’s office with information so that we can get this individual off the streets. More information will be provided as the case further develops but right now we’re seeking the public’s help regarding any and all information they may have. Thank you, all and we look forward to your assistance.”

Click here for the initial story about this incident.

The post Fire at officer’s home being investigated as arson; Sheriff’s office seeking information from public appeared first on Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper.

This article was written by The Natchez Democrat. To view the original article on the Natchez Democrat’s site, Click Here