TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010 • 50¢
SpORTS
City raises will get a closer look, mayor says By Steve Sanoski ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com
HORNETS fALL San Antonio gets road win in New Orleans B1
WEATHER
Mayor Paul Winfield said following Monday’s board meeting, at which raises for three employees were denied, that closer scrutiny is coming on pay increases for the city’s 500 employees. “I don’t anticipate any raises anytime soon — for anybody,” Winfield said. “In light of the current economic
‘I don’t anticipate any raises anytime soon — for anybody.’ Mayor Paul Winfield conditions, I don’t think we should be signing off any
raises until we have taken a close look at where we’re heading financially.” While the board, minus South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman, approved raises for City Pool lifeguards in regular session Monday, it reconvened following executive session to vote to rescind those raises. The board also denied taking action in the closed session on recommended raises for
two employees in the street department and one in the right of way department. The freeze follows a Jan. 29 memo from the mayor’s office informing all department heads to cut out all unnecessary spending, put off all capital purchases and limit travel outside the city to training events only. The city is also breaking up annual contributions to local agencies into two payments
instead of a single check. “We have been more closely watching our purchases, and we’re watching for savings from every angle,” the mayor said. “Our collections have been down, and we’re trying to be proactive and cautious before we cut any checks.” The city’s spending plan for its fiscal year, which See City, Page A8.
‘GOD WAS WITH US ... EVERY DAY’
Tonight: Partly cloudy; low near 31 Wednesday: Partly cloudy; high near 52 Mississippi River:
31.2 feet Fell: 0.5 foot Flood stage: 43 feet
A7
DEATHS • Larry Laroy Bowman • Thelma J. Howard • Loveice Clyde Stevens
A7
TODAY IN HISTORY 1836: The Republic of Texas formally declares its independence from Mexico.
1899: Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state is established. 1939: Roman Catholic Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli is elected pope on his 63rd birthday; he took the Pope name Pius Pius XII the 12th. 1977: The U.S. House of Representatives adopts a strict code of ethics. 1990: More than 6,000 drivers go on strike against Greyhound Lines Inc. (the company, later declaring an impasse in negotiations, fired the strikers). 2005: The number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq reaches 1,500.
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ONLINE www.vicksburgpost.com VOLUME 128 NUMBER 61 2 SECTIONS
Paul barry•The Vicksburg PosT
At VTR Monday, Bill Archer takes a close look at a P-51, the type of airplane that escorted many bomber groups during World War II.
Flying Fortress flies in, brings history to life By Sean P. Murphy smurphy@vicksburgpost.com MOUND — The 25th mission Bill Archer flew as copilot of a B-17 “Flying Fortress” also became his last. Archer and members of the 447th Bombardier Group were en route to Mainz, Germany, in 1944. The airplane lost two of its four engines. Then a third went out. “It was hard enough to fly on two engines but one was impossible,” said Archer, whose daughter, Susan Chiarito, is a Vicksburg physician. “We had one engine left and 300 miles to go.” The plane lost altitude steadily. A pair of P-38s accompanied the injured craft to fend off any attackers. The normal flight level for such bombers was about
If you go The Wings of Freedom Tour at the Vicksburg Tallulah Regional Airport ends at noon Wednesday. Take I-20 West from Vicksburg, go north to the airport from the Mound exit.
Online See more photos, video/ www.vicksburgpost.com
From the gun door of a B-24 a B-17 sits on the tarmac at VTR Monday. 24,000 feet, but Archer’s plane was nearing 2,000 feet. At that level, there was barely enough time to jump
and allow a parachute to open. “We jumped out over Belgium and hoped we were in
friendly territory,” Archer said Monday, several hours before a completely restored B-17, the “Nine O Nine,”
Mississippian signed on after 9/11, dies in Afghanistan By Holbrook Mohr The Associated Press JACKSON — William “Seth” Ricketts wanted to be a soldier ever since he was a little boy, and when terrorists attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, he joined the Army the next day. Ricketts was on his fifth tour of duty and looking forward to getting home for the birth of his third child when he was killed Saturday in Afghanistan, his father said. The 27-year-old staff sergeant from the tiny town of Glen, near Corinth in north Mississippi, was fighting with the 82nd Airborne Division when he died in a battle with insurgents near Bala
Murghab, Afghanistan, the Department of Defense and his family said. “He wanted to be in the military since he was 9 years old and had been talking to a recruiter,” said his father, Bill Ricketts. “On Sept. 12 he signed up. He came home and said he was going to protect his country and to keep that kind of stuff from happening to his family. He would rather take the fight to their soil.” Ricketts is the father of two boys — 3-year-old Aiden and 10-month-old Cullen. His third child is due this summer, soon after Ricketts was scheduled to come See Soldier, Page A7.
landed at Vicksburg-Tallulah Regional Airport for the start of a three-day visit as part of a 27-city tour conducted annually as part of the “Wings of Freedom” program. The weather in Vicksburg See Planes, Page A8.
County OKs new flood ordinance By Danny Barrett Jr. dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com
The associaTed Press
William “Seth” Ricketts
A new draft of Warren County’s flood ordinance was approved Monday, beating a deadline set by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Supervisors said they aim to hold a hearing by April 5 to send whatever comments are offered to the state agency and its federal unit — regardless of their effect on future revisions. See County, Page A7.