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March 5, 2025
**The Mississippi House of Representatives’ $5,000 teacher pay raise bill has died in committee. The Mississippi Senate $3,000 teacher pay raise bill has also died in committee. As one Senator pointed out, “Nothing’s dead until the session is over” so there’s still an outside chance that the nation’s lowest paid teachers will get some kind of raise.
** Amazon Data Services is building a $750 million data center in Clinton. It’ll be on a 99-acre site formerly occupied by Milwaukee tool. Amazon is also investing $3 billion in a data center in Warren County and $11 billion to build 2 data centers in Madison county. To accommodate the substantial power needs of these facilities, Entergy Mississippi is developing a new $1.2 billion natural-gas power station at the location of the former Baxter Wilson plant in Vicksburg. The state of Mississippi has secured these investments through hundreds of millions in tax incentives, infrastructure enhancements, and workforce training programs.
** Vicksburg native Sade Robinson, who was killed on a first date in Milwaukee in 2024, is the subject of a “48 Hours” special. You can see it now on You Tube.
March 4, 2026
** Larry Bell of Vicksburg was 18 years old when he was arrested for the murder of 20-year-old Brendyn Carmen. Carmen’s bullet-riddled body was found in his car at First North and Clay Street in the middle of the night on July 30th, 2023. Bell, who suffered two leg wounds from a shootout, was charged with capital murder. Yesterday, Bell was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. He apologized to his victim’s family and told them he only shot to defend himself. Judge James Chaney sentenced Bell to 10 years to serve.
** A habitual offender who allegedly has at least 35 arrests on his record was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday by Judge James Chaney. Fabian Chapman caught the habitual offender charge after being arrested for shoplifting at the Vicksburg Walmart.
** A two-vehicle collision occurred in Yazoo City on Monday night, resulting in the deaths of two individuals. Two others sustained injuries. The fatalities, both in their twenties, were Jordan Patterson, one of the drivers, and his passenger Michael Cole was ejected from the vehicle as it rolled over multiple times.
** The Warren County Board of Supervisors is seeking an interim replacement for Justice Court Judge James Jefferson Jr., who passed away last Thursday. The appointed individual will serve at least until a special election on November 3rd.
March 3, 2026
**Two teenagers were killed in a one car accident in Jefferson County Saturday morning on Highway 552. Kamarion Hyder of Port Gibson and Dyamond Dee of Natchez, were both pronounced deceased at the scene after Hyder’s car ran off the road and struck a tree.
**The Mississippi Highway Patrol has investigated over 200 accidents on I-20 between Vicksburg and Edwards in the past year, including Sunday night’s crash near the Flowers exit, where two people were injured after a car hit a disabled 18-wheeler. Ongoing road construction has made this stretch hazardous, especially at night.
**Recent outdoor fires in various parts of Warren County spiraled out of control, resulting in the destruction of a house, two mobile homes, several storage sheds, and multiple wooded areas. County Fire Coordinator Jerry Briggs informed the Board of Supervisors that there were 30 emergency calls about wildfires from late last week through Sunday. In response, the Board of Supervisors has issued a burn ban effective now through March 16th.
March 2, 2026
** Residents of Vicksburg are getting sticker shock with their latest gas bills, which are about twice as high as usual. Mayor Willis Thompson says the problem traces back to 2019 when then-mayor Flaggs and the aldermen lowered rates because of a profit in the gas department. The profit didn’t last, but they kept the lower rates and ran up millions of dollars in deficits. The then-mayor and aldermen let it ride by paying the difference out of the General Fund. Mayor Thompson says, “These are documented findings that reflect years of irresponsible decisions and inaction before the current administration took office.” The new mayor and aldermen had to raise gas rates to get into compliance with the law again.
** A young man involved in a shooting death at AB Food Mart in 2024 has been sentenced. Jermaine “Bones” Johnson was in the car from which the shots were fired that killed Devonte Gray. Johnson pled guilty Friday to manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years plus 5 years for drive-by shooting. Calbo Cosby has been convicted of murder in that case but has not yet been sentenced.
