News Briefs From Across The State
Two argued over unpaid gas
A 16-year old initially charged with aggravated assault for shooting a store clerk in the head is now being held without bond for his murder. Bennie Lederrick Beal appeared in Jackson City Court on Sept. 7 after an incident two days earlier at a convenience store on Terry Road.
Reportedly, Beal was a passenger in a vehicle with at least two other people Monday when they pulled into the Ka Ka Food Mart/Shell station at 1141 Terry Road. Forty-nine year old Dilip Patel was employed there as a clerk. About 1:21 p.m., Beal and Patel reportedly argued over $3 worth of unpaid gas.
Witnesses said shots were fired and Patel was shot in the head. Patel was transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center and he died the next day of his injuries.
Beal is being held at the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond.
Runaway driver ditches 100 pounds of pot in pickup
Authorities said that during a traffic stop in north Mississippi, a driver jumped out of his pickup truck, ran into the woods and abandoned more than 100 pounds of marijuana.
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported the incident happened this past Saturday on the Natchez Trace Parkway near the Mississippi-Alabama state line.
The parkway’s chief ranger, Mike Foster, said on Sept. 3, the driver exited the two-lane road at Mississippi Highway 30 in Tishomingo County and ran from the maroon Chevrolet, leaving the marijuana in the truck.
Foster said that as of Wednesday, officers were still trying to identify a suspect.
Anderson elected as first female in Choctaw chief election
Phyliss J. Anderson has unseated incumbent Beasley Denson to win the race for Choctaw Tribal Chief. Incomplete, but unofficial returns from Tuesday’s election showed Anderson polled 2,011 votes, or 56 percent, to win over Denson, who had 1,523 votes, and Shirley Martin Berg who tallied 63 votes.
Anderson says financial stability will be her top goal when she takes office next month as the first woman chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. She’s scheduled to take the oath of office Oct. 11 for the $466,000-a-year job.
Anderson, 50, will take office at a time when the tribe’s most lucrative businesses have come under scrutiny, including an FBI raid on Pearl River Resort and Casino in July.
Tuesday’s election was the second one for chief in the past few months. Ten candidates challenged Denson on June 14, with Anderson and Denson advancing to a July 15 run-off. Anderson received 55 percent in the runoff and was declared the winner.
Days later, the Choctaw Tribal Council tossed out results of the June election amid complaints about voting irregularities; that also negated Anderson’s win in the July runoff. Denson, 61, broke a Tribal Council tie by voting to throw out the election results and start from scratch.
The tribe has about 10,000 members spread through eight communities in Mississippi and one in Tennessee.
Man arrested for robbing his friend and pawning the items
An Ocean Springs man has been charged with one count of grand larceny after authorities said he allegedly stole weights and fishing equipment from his friend’s back yard. Darrell Keith Ross, 38, was arrested on Aug. 31 after he reportedly stole the weight-lifting equipment and fishing rod and reels from a residence on Daisy Vestry Road.
Authorities said Ross was a long time friend of the victim, and he allegedly sold the weights to a local scrap yard. The fishing reels have also been recovered.
Ross was transported to the Jackson County Adult Detention Center where is awaiting an initial court appearance.
State Earns Top Ranking for Oil and Gas Investment
Gov. Haley Barbour’s energy policy recently received international recognition as Canadian researchers named Mississippi as the top site for oil and gas investment in the world.
The Global Petroleum Survey 2011 by the Fraser Institute gave Mississippi high marks for several features, including business and regulatory environments. The ranking also recognized the state’s success in developing new energy projects, including KiOR and Gulf LNG, as well as the improvement and expansion of facilities and pipelines, such as Denbury Resources Inc., and Chevron’s $1 billion investment.
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