News

Barge carrying oil crashes on Mississippi River

A barge carrying 80,000 gallons of oil hit a railroad bridge in Vicksburg, on Sunday, spilling light crude into the Mississippi River and closing the waterway for eight miles in each direction, the Coast Guard said. A second barge was damaged.

Investigators did not know how much had spilled, but an oily sheen was reported as far as three miles downriver of Vicksburg after the 1:12 a.m. incident, said Lt. Ryan Gomez of the Coast Guard’s office in Memphis, Tenn. […]

Business

Gatorade to remove controversial ingredient

PepsiCo Inc. is removing a controversial ingredient from its Gatorade sports drink in response to customer complaints.

A spokeswoman for the company, Molly Carter, said that the change was in the works for the past year after the company began “hearing rumblings” from consumers about the ingredient. She said it wasn’t a response to a recent petition on Change.org by a Mississippi teenager. […]

News

Legislative Black Caucus founder Turnley dies

Funeral services were recently held for Richard Turnley Jr., the first black member elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives from Baton Rouge in modern times and a founder of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus.

Tamara Turnley Robinson said her father died Jan. 19 at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital after a long illness. He was 79. […]

News

Webster County govt. offices reopen after fire guts courthouse

Webster County government offices displaced by a fire earlier this month, reopened to the public with limited services Monday, Jan. 28, at 16 East Fox Avenue in Eupora.

Offices of the Webster County Chancery Clerk, Circuit Clerk, Tax Assessor-Collector, Forestry Commission and County Purchasing Clerk have temporarily moved from the Webster County Courthouse in Walthall  to 16 East Fox Avenue in Eupora.

On Jan. 17, Webster County residents watched in disbelief as fire ripped through their beloved and historic courthouse in Walthall. Fire officials said when they arrived on the scene around 2:30 a.m., flames were shooting from the southwest corner of the building. […]

Local Sports

Mississippi St falls to No. 8 Florida, 82-47

Florida has one of the most experienced, talented and deep teams in the country.

Mississippi State’s roster lacks any of those attributes. But that’s not why first-year Bulldogs’ coach Rick Ray is frustrated.

Instead, Ray bemoaned a long string of bad decisions and selfish basketball that led to No. 8 Florida’s easy 82-47 victory over the Bulldogs on Saturday night. […]

Education

Vicksburg named top place to travel in 2013

Vicksburg has been named by AAA Southern Traveler and AAA Midwest Traveler as one of the top 13 places to visit in 2013. Other destinations named include Christchurch, New Zealand, the Dominican Republic, Ireland, Mexico, Orlando, Panama, San Francisco, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Las Vegas.

This year brings lots of excitement to Vicksburg with Civil War sesquicentennial commemoration events. Events start in April with Tapestry: The Pilgrimage to Vicksburg and the Vicksburg Heritage Fair and continue until July 4, the anniversary of the Siege of Vicksburg’s surrender, the Delta Business Journal reported.
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News

Stamp honoring Rosa Parks to be released next month

Just in time for Black History Month, a stamp honoring the mother of civil rights, Rosa Parks, will be unveiled on what would have been her 100th birthday – Feb. 4 in Detroit.

Parks’ refusal to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a bus during the days of segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, spurred a city-wide boycott that lasted about 381 days. Parks stand also introduced a young newcomer, Martin Luther King, Jr., to the fight for civil rights.
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News

Price of postage stamps going up Sunday

The Postal Service said the price of a First-Class single-piece letter will increase by a penny starting Jan. 27 bringing the price a Forever stamp to 46 cents.

Postal officials also introduced a new First-Class Mail Global Forever Stamp. The new stamp will allow customers to mail letters anywhere in the world for one set price of $1.10, and is among new mailing and shipping services filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission. […]

Education

Surveyors want to look for oil in Scott County

A Laurel company has proposed conducting surveys on 16th Section school lands in Scott County for possible oil deposits.

The Scott County Times reports that Venture Oil and Gas Inc. has proposed testing one area north of Forest in the city school district as well as three areas in Scott County that are part of the county school district.

Presentations have been made to the city and county school boards. […]

News

Myrlie Evers-Williams makes history at Obama’s second inauguration

First woman, first layperson to deliver invocation

By Ayesha K. Mustafaa

Editor

Mississippi’s own Myrlie Evers-Williams, 79, widow of slain Mississippi civil rights leader Medgar Evers was the first woman and first layperson to give the invocation at a presidential inauguration. She did so on Monday, Jan. 21, 2013 at the request of President Obama’s inauguration planning committee….. […]