Monthly Local News(November)

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• 11/26/25  If your family is from Vicksburg and you have kinfolk named Robinson, Miller or Bell, authorities in Pima County, Arizona, may have found a long-lost relative of yours. They pulled his remains out of a pile of concrete rubble in 1988  and now modern genetic genealogy  has narrowed the search for his identity. They’ve discovered that he probably has relatives in Vicksburg, Yazoo City, Madison or Canton.  If you are related to these families in these areas investigators would appreciate hearing from you. Contact Kaycee at Moxxy Forensic Investigations –  [email protected] – or go to Vicksburgradio.com and click on the Moxxy Forensics link in the NEWS tab.
• 11/26/25  Modern technology is changing the way we do things but not everybody is up-to-date. Take the guy who stole a Vicksburg hunter’s trail camera from the woods near Warrenton Road, for example. He didn’t know how to turn it off, so it stayed on for days as the thief went about his daily routine which according to video on the camera included taking drugs and providing drugs to others.  The man and his drug-using friends were arrested on numerous charges by Jackson police.
• 11/25/25 Ergon Refining, which employees over 800 people in Warren County has announced that it’s going to award scholarships of $3,300 each to 6 Vicksburg Warren County School District students. Applications will be accepted starting January 6^th and must be made through school counselors.
• 11/25/25  53-year-old Ernest Stevenson of Vicksburg was killed in a hit-and-run in Rankin County Sunday morning. Stevenson was walking across Interstate 55 South when he was struck.
• 11/25/25  The man found deceased in his overturned car on I-20 just East of Vicksburg late Saturday night has been identified as Manus Dace, age 31, of Jackson.  Two passengers in his car were injured and taken to UMMC.
• 11/25/25  Vicksburg police say a bystander to an argument at a gas station near Washington and Mattingly was shot in the neck when the argument escalated to gunfire Sunday afternoon. The shot was fired by one of two people arguing at a nearby pump. The victim was taken to UMMC.  Police are still searching for the shooter.
• 11/24/25  There was another fatal accident on I-20 this past weekend just east of  the city limits of Vicksburg. First responders found one person deceased in an overturned vehicle in the westbound lane at 11:15 Saturday night. Two other people were injured and taken to UMMC.  This is the 4^th traffic fatality in the Vicksburg area in the past two weeks (the 5^th counting the one just across the Issaquena county line that killed a Vicksburg man November 13^th. The identity of Saturday night’s fatality has not been released,
• 11/24/25  Amazon is bringing more than just a 3 billion dollar data center  facility to Warren County. They’re establishing a Warren County Fund to support local needs like STEM education and other community initiatives. The Amazon project is expected to attract additional suppliers and technology companies, creating a “data center corridor” along Interstate 20 and helping to diversify the local economy.
• 11/24/25  The Miss Mississippi competition and all the entry-level contests leading up to it are platforms for young women to develop leadership skills, receive scholarships, and engage in community service. There were two of these preliminary contests in Vicksburg Saturday.  Skylar Harden was crowned Miss Vicksburg.  Rylee Hailey won the Miss Key to the South competition. Both Miss Vicksburg and Miss Key to the South will compete for Miss Mississippi here in Vicksburg June 6-13, 2026.

• 11/20/25 35-year-old Dederica Thomas and 31-year-old  Shequille Lewis were arrested yesterday after an armed robbery of a Loomis guard loading money into an ATM at Cadence Bank on Indiana Avenue in Vicksburg. The two led Warren County deputies and the State Patrol on a high-speed chase down I-20 into Hinds County and then on a foot chase before being caught and brought back to Vicksburg.
• 11/20/25  All three members of the Vicksburg board of mayor and aldermen held an unofficial unannounced meeting Tuesday with public works employees from the sewer, street, water, and gas departments. These workers noted that other city employees have received raises under the new administration; for example, the mayor received a $20,000 raise to match George Flaggs’ salary. A $20,000 raise—just the raise— is almost twice the annual income of some of these city workers. Some make $8.00 an hour—much less than county employees in similar roles, who earn $15.00 per hour. While these Vicksburg Public Works employees are making just over $1,000 a month, beginning policemen here, who just got a raise, make $1,000 a week.  The Public Works employees did not receive any assurances of raises from the mayor and aldermen.
• 11/20/25  The Miss Vicksburg, Riverbend and Key to the South Competitions will be held at Warren Central High School Saturday at 3 pm. All three are preliminaries for the Miss Mississippi Competition that will be held in Vicksburg on June 6-13. Tickets are $10 at the door.
• 11/19/25  When the Vicksburg Fire Department was running low on firefighters in 2024 they decided to teach their own fire academy rather than send applicants to train at the state fire academy in Jackson.. That 8-week training program was such a success, they did in-house training again this year, and last week Vicksburg Fire Chief Trey Martin welcomed 8 new graduates to the department. The graduates are Rondall Gerard Hawkins Jr. – Kyra Nicole Pritchard – Arthur Howard Jr. – Jacob Smith – Anthony Ware -Darren Williams Jr. – Hollin Whittington – Claude Wright III.
• 11/19/25  A very sizable building was on the list of neglected properties reviewed by the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen this week.  The old Harrah’s Casino was on that list. Part of the building passes over Levee Street and is adjacent to The Mulberry. City officials’ next move is to notify the owners of the abandoned building that it’s in violation of city ordinances and must be brought up to code or the city will do it for them and send them a bill. (In extreme cases, for a building that’s a hazard or nuisance, the City can take ownership.)
• 11/19/25  The Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) has announced that the Heritage Guild of Vicksburg Warren County, in partnership with Vicksburg Main Street, has been awarded a grant for Mississippi Public Art in Community. The Vicksburg organizations will receive just under $14,000 to fund a public art installation at Washington Street Park titled IN THE KEY OF FREEDOM. In addition, they will receive $20,000 annually to host 10 free outdoor concerts each year in 2026, 2027, and 2028.
• 11/19/25  The Mississippi Department of Education says that 77.3 percent of third grade students in Mississippi passed their reading assessment on the first try this year. That’s one percentage point better than the previous year. (A student must pass the third grade reading assessment to be promoted to the fourth grade.) Those who didn’t pass the first test got two more tries and that brought the statewide success rate up to 85%.

• 11/17/25  With the federal government shutdown over, Mississippi will resume issuing food stamps immediately for the people who get theirs between the 14th and 21ast of each month.  Those who normally get their benefits between the 4th and 13th will get partial benefits in the next few days and the remainder of their November benefits soon. 350,000 Mississippians are on food stamps.
• 11/17/25  62 year old Fred Stacy Lynn of Warren County  died November 6th. He had been on life support since being hit by a car June 21st while riding his bike on Grange Hall Road. It was a hit and run. The driver has not been caught. Fred Lynn’s funeral services were scheduled for today.
• 11/17/25  A Vicksburg man was shot 3 times Friday night at the Old Skool Club in Claiborne County.  Nicholas Sanders is expected to recover. The Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department arrested a suspect, Kenneth Townsend, shortly after the shooting.
• 11/17/25  42 year old Christopher Carter of Vicksburg has pled guilty to molesting a child. Judge Toni Terrett sentenced Carter to the maximum 15 years with no time off for good behavior.
• 11/14/25 One person was killed and three others injured when their van wrecked in Issaquena County just north of the Warren County line. It happened in the 3 o’clock hour yesterday morning on Highway 61.  
• 11/14/25  The people killed in the accident in the 6000 block of Fisher Ferry Road in Warren County Wednesday night have been identified as 37 year old John Hart and his 13-year-old nephew, Jeremiah Hart. Their car, traveling north, apparently crossed the center line and struck a southbound Jeep. The driver of the Jeep received minor injuries. The Harts’ car flipped over and they were both declared deceased by first responders.
• 11/14/25  Members of the Mississippi National Guard were sent to Washington D.C. in August.  200 of them are there now. Their mission has been extended through Thanksgiving and we don’t know yet if they’ll be home in December.
• 11/13/25  Two people were confirmed dead at the scene of an accident on Fisher Ferry Road near Hometown Road last night shortly before 9 pm. The fatalities were reported to be an adult and a juvenile from one car. The driver of the second vehicle was taken to the hospital.
• 11/13/25  An RV was destroyed by fire at Rivertown Campground on 61 South yesterday. No word yet on how it started. There were no injuries.
• 11/13/25  There are 3, 243 counties in the United States. Only three of them—including Warren County– are in a social experiment to help poor and marginalized families by giving them free money.  This experiment, led by a group called RISE, using donations from software mogul Jeff Atwood, will give 550 families in Vicksburg/Warren County $1,500 a month for 16 months. That’s $24,000 each. For more details or to apply, go to Vicksburgradio.com and click on the Rise banner ad.
• 11/13/25  State Representative Oscar Denton of Vicksburg praised the Clinton Board of Mayor and Aldermen for coming out against using public funds to pay for private schooling—the so-called “school choice” bill. Denton told a town hall recently that he hopes the Vicksburg Mayor and Aldermen and other officials will do the same.
• 11/11/25  A Tallulah man has been arrested for a Sunday homicide in Lake Providence.  19-year-old Zacorrion McCallum, was charged with second-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and  obstruction of justice.
• 11/11/25  What happens when fire breaks out in a garbage truck?  A quick-thinking Waste Management driver saw fire in the back of his truck yesterday and managed to dump the load on a cement pad on Manor Drive.  The Fire Department put out the blaze.
• 11/11/25  Alderman TJ Mayfield is conducting a canned-food drive before Thanksgiving. Donation boxes are at his City Hall office, the Mississippi State Extension office, and at Vicksburg and Warren Central High Schools.
• 11/11/25  Alderwoman Vickie Bailey says Supper on the ‘Sip was a big success last week, and so was the Tennis Tournament in Vicksburg.
• 11/11/25  Mayor Willis Thompson says he was pleased with city cleanup day. He says there needs to be more of the same.
• 11/10/25  The National Weather Service (NWS) is predicting freezing temperatures tonight into Tuesday morning.  They advise you to insulate pipes and allow faucets to drip slightly to avoid freezing.
• 11/10/25  The Trump Administration wants to take back up to 35% of the money some states put on EBT cards last week. Anything over 65% of November’s payments was not authorized, according to the US Department of Agriculture. A federal appeals court is expected to have the final say sometime this week.
• 11/10/25  Yazoo City Police say they have an unconfirmed report of a black panther prowling in the fairgrounds area. They notified state wildlife officials and urged residents to keep pets and children inside.
• 11/10/25  Later this week, a woman and her 7 children who’ve been paddling down the Mississippi River for weeks, are expected to put in at Vicksburg. Nikki Bettis and her children who call themselves the “world’s largest outdoor adventure family,”  previously hiked the 2000 mile Appalachian trail. They’re expected to reach Vicksburg Saturday.
• 11/07/25  New Police Commissioner and Mayor Willis Thompson is serious about getting the Vicksburg Police Department fully staffed. The long-understaffed department is now advertising for certified officers at $54,500 per year plus benefits;  and for non-certified officers at $52,500 per year plus bennies.

• 11/06/25  An explosion at the CF Industries’ ammonia plant on Highway 49 East in Yazoo City caused an evacuation of the surrounding area yesterday afternoon. Businesses had to shut down and homes were evacuated – overnight in some cases – but there were no injuries reported.
• 11/06/25  An accused cop killer was captured yesterday in Vicksburg. Officers from the Jackson Police Department, the Vicksburg Police Department and the U.S. Marshal Service converged on the Deluxe Inn on North Frontage Road and arrested 26-year-old La’Darian Tyrese Jones. Jones is accused of killing Hinds County Deputy Sgt. James Dotson, Jr., who worked at the Raymond Detention Center. Dotson was shot multiple times at a private residence in Jackson Sunday night. He was off-duty at the time.
• 11/06/25  The Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted this week to contribute $7,500 toward keeping parts of the Vicksburg National Military Park open for tourists during the government shutdown. They categorized it as matching funds for the nonprofit group Friends of the Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign which has been paying $2,000 a day to keep the park open since the first week in October.
• 11/05/25  Democratic members of the Mississippi legislature are expecting Republican members to use a hardball tactic to pass school vouchers in the next session. (The voucher program, in a nutshell, would use public school funds to pay tuition at private schools for every student who transfers from public schools to charter and religious schools.) Representative Oscar Denton of Vicksburg thinks cutting these funds from public schools would be a mistake. He says, “What they are doing with this school choice thing, this is from the national level, from the president, dictating to everybody down below (that) this is what he wants to do.” The fear shared by some legislators from both parties is that the legislature’s Republican leadership will combine the voucher vote with a teacher pay raise measure. Combining both issues into the same bill means that if a majority of legislators vote against the voucher, the teachers won’t get a pay raise.  If a majority votes FOR the teacher pay raise, the VOUCHER program will pass. Rep. Denton says every teacher knows that he wants to give them a raise, but he can’t vote for their raise if it’s tied to taking money away from public schools and giving it to private schools. Speaking at Alderman T.J. Mayfield’s Public-official forum at Springhill MB Church Monday night, Denton urged the public to let their voices be heard in the fight to keep this money from being subtracted from public schools. He urged the audience to call their legislators and tell them to vote “No” on the vouchers, regardless of any additional bill it’s attached to.
• 11/04/25  Vicksburg’s previous mayor George Flaggs often said police officers weren’t in it for the money; that they were in it because they loved their jobs. But there was a constant churn of officers hired in Vicksburg for $35,000 a year, trained here, then moving on to make $51,000 a year starting pay in Jackson. Before the most recent election season, the mayor and aldermen raised starting police pay here to $45,000 a year, but officers are still leaving, and the department has been about 30% understaffed for at least 12 years. New police chief Larry Burns is trying to stop that outflow. He raised pay for his entire department by rearranging his current budget. At no extra cost to taxpayers, everyone got a raise, and starting pay for Vicksburg officers is now $52,000 per year.
• 11/04/25  A Warren County man was arrested by the sheriff’s department and Postal Service inspectors for six counts of possession of a machine gun conversion device. He’s 20-year-old  Peyton Ne-shaun Jones of Blossom Lane.
• 11/03/25  Federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island have ordered the Trump administration to use emergency funds to continue SNAP payments. So far, however, benefits still can’t be accessed in Mississippi.
• 11/03/25  Former Belzoni Police Chief Mickey Foxworth is the new sheriff in Humphreys County. The Board of Supervisors appointed Foxworth interim sheriff following the arrest of Sheriff Bruce Williams’ after a federal corruption indictment related to a drug sting.
• 11/03/25  Five gunmen opened fire in Magee Friday afternoon at the Park Place Apartments injuring one man and shooting into several cars and one apartment. Four suspects have been arrested.
• 11/03/25  Chief Larry Burns has officially switched the Vicksburg Police Department away from encrypted two-way communications and back to public channels so those who are interested can hear what’s happening and where. That’s the way it always was till the last administration changed to encrypted communications three years ago at the height of public criticism about Vicksburg’s crime rate.