News Briefs From Across The State
By Monica Land
Chief was directing school traffic
Authorities said a police chief in east
Mississippi was killed after being struck by a car while directing traffic Tuesday.
Clarke County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Barry White said Enterprise Police Chief Randy Boykin died while being flown to the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) in Jackson.
White said the Mississippi Highway Patrol is investigating.
White called Boykin a good man who dedicated his life to public service and worked hard at two jobs to provide for his family.
Enterprise is about 20 miles southwest of Meridian.
Labor Dept. gives $2M grant for storm recovery
The U.S. Department of Labor said it’s giving a $2 million grant to assist Mississippi with cleanup and recovery efforts from recent storms, tornadoes and flooding.
Acting Secretary of Labor Seth D. Harris made the announcement in a news release earlier this month.
The funds are being awarded to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security to create temporary jobs that support storm recovery efforts.
In the aftermath of storms that hit Mississippi in February, the Federal Emergency Management Agency declared several counties eligible for FEMA’s Public Assistance Program.
The state plans to target Forrest and Lamar counties for assistance under this grant.
Former youth center worker settles with Forrest
A former juvenile detention center employee in Forrest County has accepted a settlement offer of $250,000 in her lawsuit against the county and sheriff’s office employees.
The Hattiesburg American reported that U.S. District Court Judge Keith Starrett entered the judgment last week after Tawana Bolton accepted the offer made by the defendants.
In the lawsuit, Bolton claimed she was fired because she reported a corrections officer to his supervisors for allegedly abusing a juvenile in the facility. Bolton’s lawsuit also alleges she was fired on the basis of her gender.
Jim Dukes Jr., who represented the defendants in the lawsuit, said the settlement came at the instruction of the county’s insurance carrier, and that the sheriff’s office does not acknowledge liability.
Third bald eagle shot in Miss., dies from injuries
A third bald eagle has been shot in Mississippi, authorities said.
State and federal wildlife officials said the bald eagle was shot in Union County in January. A $7,500 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Because of its injuries, officials said in a news release that the eagle could not have flown far from where it was shot. The eagle had multiple shot shell pellet wounds to its wings, leg and eye and was euthanized.
Another eagle was shot in Neshoba County in early December 2012. That eagle had to be euthanized. It was found in the Nanih Waiya Wildlife Management Area.
A bald eagle was shot in Stone County near Wiggins in mid-January. The eagle survived.
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