Category: The Natchez Democrat

 

NATCHEZ — The remnants of the former Pizza Hut building at 106 U.S. 61 South are almost all collected in dumpsters and ready to be removed, making way for a more updated, modern Pizza Hut at that location.

JJB Brands, based in Flowood owns the location. JJB Brands is a Pizza Hut, Checker’s/Rally’s, and Moe’s Southwest Grill franchisee located in Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida. JJB Brands is a minority-owned business with more than 120 restaurants. The company has Natchez ties.

Owner Mike Quinn is married to Natchez native Tonya Howard Quinn.

“The new building will be smaller than the one we just tore down. That building had served its purpose,” Quinn said. “The new building will have a smaller dining room and no buffet, but will have the same great pizza and same great wings we’ve had forever.”

Quinn had hoped to construct a Rally’s on the same lot but decided the space was too small to hold both.

“We still hope to put a Rally’s in Natchez and are looking for space for that,” he said. “We hope to start that project in the first part of 2025.”

Michael Sapera of Axcess Construction Management Services said his company has built six or seven new Pizza Hut restaurants for franchisee JJB Brands.

“Most of our crews are in Lake Charles building another restaurant right now. As soon as it’s all cleared there and the utilities are squared away, we will begin construction on the new restaurant in Natchez. The people who did the demo are also in charge of any dirt work and asphalt work there,” Sapera said.

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NATCHEZ — A long-awaited Visitor Center and public restroom that has been long awaited by both tourists and local Natchezians alike has opened this week inside the historic train depot on Broadway Street.

As of Tuesday, the Visitor Center at the south end of the depot closest to Roth Hill is open Tuesday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10:30 to 3 p.m. and closed on Mondays. Restrooms inside of the facility will be open during those business hours.

The new Visitor Center still needs final touches, such as outside signage, furniture, and a screen and projector for showing a welcome video in what will be the theater room. But out of necessity, it is open to fill the primary need, welcoming tourists and answering their questions.

Better late than never is the response of downtown business owners, who’ve answered visitor questions throughout Memorial Day weekend while the Main Street Visit Natchez office was closed for the holiday.

“We don’t need just business open. We need the tourist center open where people can ask questions. This past holiday weekend was crazy,” said Natchez Coffee Company owner Sharon Brown who hosted the Downtown Merchants Group meeting on Wednesday.

“Nobody was open — nobody except we the same ones who are always open. We’ve got to do better. We had boats in and everything and people were just wandering around.”

During the passing of the keys to the depot from the City of Natchez to Visit Natchez employees, Lynsey Gilbert, Interim Director of Visit Natchez, said she was happy to see what was once a vacant building fill a big need in the community.

“The city really wanted another central location for visitors and we’re happy to provide that and to welcome them when they get here,” she said.

The depot renovation has been an ongoing project of the city for more than a year after past plans to lease the entire depot for a restaurant development fell through.

In January 2023, the depot rehabilitation project was awarded $143,750 in Community Heritage Preservation Grant from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to begin renovating the southern half of the building. The city’s local match of those funds is around $48,000, Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson said at the time.

“Very soon we will see the development of the north end,” Gibson said, adding that it will be an extension of the Natchez Convention Center offering the “Mississippi River Room” as an “unrivaled space for special events, helping us to attract even more conferences to our town,” Gibson said.

Further updates to the Convention Center are due to commence in August because of its busy schedule all summer. This week, the Convention Center hosts between 500 and 600 people attending the 87th Mississippi Firefighters and Fire Chiefs Conference.

Because of its partnership with the Downtown Natchez Alliance, the City of Natchez has also been awarded a $362,000 Mississippi Main Street Revitalization Grant to develop the plaza and the property behind the depot. The city’s match of the grant is $90,500.

New DNA Director Kevin Miers said the development aims to transform the space to “elevate the visitor experience” around the depot and on the Natchez bluff.

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VIDALIA, La. — As the Town of Vidalia works to rehabilitate the historic building that houses the Concordia Parish Council on Aging, the group is looking to relocate its administrative office from Ferriday to the old courthouse building in Vidalia.

The Council on Aging provides social activities and meals to senior citizens in the Ferriday and Vidalia areas.

A request to move there came up during Tuesday’s meeting of the Concordia Parish Police Jury, which owns the public building at 405 Carter St. that once functioned as the parish courthouse.

The building is being considered for renovation to house offices and a tourist welcome center.

The request to renovate it came from the Vidalia Beautification Committee, which in recent years has spruced up the outside plaza for festivals and functions around holidays.

“That courthouse has served us well and has a lot of potential for festivals, tours and a visitor’s center,” Vidalia Beautification Committee member Cassandra Lynch said. “We just need to treat her right and fix her up. I want to make sure people are aware that Vidalia has this historic building.”

In March, the police jury acted to form a subcommittee that would look for grants and avenues to fund its renovation.

In February, the Vidalia Board of Aldermen included $50,000 to renovate the Concordia Council on Aging and historic Masonic Lodge No. 305 building in roughly $3 million worth of allocations of the town’s excess revenue generated by royalty payments from the hydroelectric plant.

The building, located at Texas and North Oak streets, is in “bad shape,” Mayor Buz Craft said at the time. To date, no one has answered the town’s request for bids on the renovation work, he said.

Police Juror Kenny Simpson said Tuesday that the Council on Aging came to him to see if the police jury would consider letting the council move from its other location at 2nd Street in Ferriday to the old courthouse at some point in the future after renovating it.

“There are five women in that administrative office there and there would be enough room for five women (at the courthouse),” Simpson said. “For all that they do, we should consider it because they run both the one in Ferriday and Vidalia. I told her that I would get back in touch with her once we got through the ins and outs of the restoration work.”

The police jury took no action on the matter at Tuesday’s meeting.

In other matters, the board approved a new occupational license for Rockstar Rental Company in Vidalia.

The board also approved alcoholic beverage permits and renewals for Paul’s Grocery in Monterey, 84 One Stop I Ferriday, Sonny’s Food Mart in Wildsville, Illusions in Ferriday, Panola Woods Country Club in Ferriday, and JoJo’s Drive-Thru in Vidalia.

The board also approved hold harmless requests to assist the Concordia Parish School Board with spraying the track field at Ferriday Upper Elementary for weeds, cutting grass on the field adjacent to Vidalia Junior High School, and cleaning culverts at the Concordia Education Center on Kindergarten Road.

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

 

NATCHEZ — A Natchez man was arrested on May 14 after being found asleep in his vehicle in the middle of the road.

Richard “Dick” Thompson, 78, of 169 Homochitto St., was charged with disorderly conduct, failure to comply, and indecent exposure for urinating in public.

Natchez Police Chief Cal Green said her department received a call at 10:10 p.m. on May 13 reporting that a motorist needed assistance at the intersection of Homochitto Street and John R. Junkin Drive.

When the Natchez Police officer arrived, he found a 2017 Ford truck running in the roadway. The arrest report lists no license plate number for the truck, and the officer said the driver appeared to be asleep, Green said.

She said the officer was able to knock on the driver’s window and the driver woke up and rolled down his window. She said the officer asked the driver if he was OK.

“(Thompson) said he didn’t know if he was OK and asked the officer to tell him,” Green said. “The officer told him he was sitting at the intersection, asleep.”

She said the officer asked Thompson for his license and Thompson told the officer he was trying to find it. “He went through apps on his phone while trying to find the license,” Green said.

The officer reported that Thompson said he needed to urinate while they were talking.

“The officer went to his (vehicle) to give the supervisor a call to seek assistance. He looked up to see Mr. Thompson had gotten out of his vehicle and was basically standing in the roadway urinating,” Green said. She said Thompson was obstructing the flow of traffic.

“When the officer told him (Thompson) he was under arrest, he was trying to get back in his vehicle and told the officer he was not under arrest,” Green said.

The officer was able to get one handcuff on Thompson, “but he placed his other hand on his steering wheel and stood firm and continued to try to get back into his vehicle.”

The officer waited on assistance and when another officer arrived, they were able to take Thompson into custody. Thompson was transported to the Natchez Police Department and the 2017 Ford was towed.

She said Thompson was not given a sobriety test. He was released on his own recognizance. Thompson’s arraignment is set for 9 a.m. on Wednesday at Natchez Municipal Court at which he is expected to enter a plea.

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

 

NATCHEZ — City of Natchez Firefighters are heroes this afternoon after saving the life of a man in a burning house.

The Natchez Fire Department responded to a report of a house fire at 98 E. Franklin St. Upon arrival, firefighters discovered a person was trapped inside.

“Firefighters found that individual unconscious and brought him out and performed CPR. He is at the hospital talking to investigators right now,” said Natchez Fire Chief Robert Arrington.

He said the fire was not very large and was caused by clothes that were on fire. However, smoke was very heavy inside the home, Arrington said.

“That individual was asleep and we were dealing with smoke inhalation,” Arrington said.

Firefighters quickly got the blaze under control after rescuing the man inside.

 

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

 

NATCHEZ — The Natchez-Adams School District will have its summer feeding program starting June 10 through June 27.

Starting June 10, lunch will only be served Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and only at Natchez Middle School. Meals will not be served on Fridays because the school district will be closed.

Anyone from age one to 18 years old can receive a free lunch, regardless of income or the school district he or she attends.  All meals must be eaten on-site. Children under age one cannot eat due to their dietary needs.

For questions or complaints, contact the Natchez-Adams School District Office of Child Nutrition department at 601-445-2852.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

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

 

VIDALIA, La. — A four-day school week previously approved by the Concordia Parish School Board is expected to be in full swing next academic year without legislative interference.

Louisiana SB 66 introduced by Republican Senator Beth Mizell, which provided for a mandatory five-day school week for all Louisiana public schools, failed to pass in the senate with 22 nay votes and 17 yeas.

School Board President Lisette Forman kicked off Thursday’s school board meeting with a simple response to questions from the school district as to whether the plan to have a four-day school week was moving forward.

“We’re doing it. That’s it,” she said.

The school calendar approved by the school board does not begin a four-day week schedule until after Labor Day. Students would then resume five-day weeks in the month of April before state testing. Then the school year would end for students on May 23, 2025.

With this calendar, 15 minutes are added to each instructional day to maintain the same amount of instructional time as the traditional school year.

In other matters, the school board on Thursday also rescinded its previous approval to enter a six-month lease with the former Southern Design’s building in Vidalia to house its central office temporarily because installing the needed internet to the building would be too costly, Forman said.

“We’ve done some checking into it and the internet is going to be a very, very costly expense, which would make the Southern Designs building not a feasible way for us to go for the central office for at least six months,” she said.

Board member Fred Marsalis Sr. recommended, however, that “If negotiations come back on this, we contact the owner and see if they will take any of the responsibility (for the internet) because it would be a permanent fixture,” he said.

Superintendent Toyua Bachus also reviewed changes to Louisiana’s K-12 Accountability System.

Bachus said the new system equally weighs state test scores in social studies and science with math and English Language Arts, whereas before math and English scores were considered more. A score of Basic no longer earns the district points for proficiency because only scores of Mastery and above are considered proficient, she said.

The new system also raises the bar for ACT scores, which would need to be 21 or higher to earn the district points instead of 18 or higher.

The scoring of English Language Learners also plays a bigger role, Bachus said.

“As a district, I do not feel we are as prepared for this new system as we should be,” she said.

However, in a simulation with the new Accountability System using data from the last school year, Bachus said the district would be closer to a B rating than before.

“With the old model, we were nine points from a B. With the new model we’re only seven points away from a B because of the growth we’ve had consistently in history,” she said.

“I want this board to know that despite everything you hear about these changes — some good things about it and some bad — we as a district team are taking it extremely seriously.”

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

 

VIDALIA, La. – The Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office is asking the public’s help in locating a missing teenager.

The 15-year-old girl was last seen Thursday evening around 6:30 p.m. near Bryan’s Marine.

She is described as a 15-year-old white female, 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 120 pounds. She has brown hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing a camouflage hoodie and black pants.

Anyone with any information about the juvenile is asked to call 911 or the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office at 318-336-5231.

Update: According to the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office Facebook page the missing teen has been found. the post by CPSO can be found here

 

 

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