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TODAY IN hISTOrY 1804: The French civil code, or the “Code Napoleon” as it was later called, is adopted. 1907: U.S. Marines arrives in Honduras to protect American lives and interests in the wake of political violence. 1960: About 70 people are killed in Sharpeville, South Africa, when police fire on black protesters; the shooting drew international condemnation. 1963: The Alcatraz federal prison island in San Francisco Bay is emptied of its last inmates at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. 1965: More than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. begin their Rev. Martin march from Luther King Jr. Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
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ONLINE www.vicksburgpost.com VOLUME 128 NUMBER 80 5 SECTIONS
Man killed in stabbing; girlfriend charged with manslaughter
merediTh spencer•The Vicksburg PosT
Michael Stewart, a retired Army Corps specialist, talks about the road in Lakemoore Subdivision.
Law allows homeowners to fund pavings By Danny Barrett Jr. dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com When soon-to-be residents of Lakemoore subdivision in north Warren County began buying lots that had been cleared for timber, they knew serenity in their new neighborhood would come with a price. What they didn’t know was that their attempts to pay for paving the 1.7 miles of the subdivision’s main roads, Rollingwood Drive and Hidden Oaks Lane, would take a decade. Last week, the Warren County Board of Supervisors paid off loans for those roads and began anew talks of using the same funding and paving program in other places where developers did not complete roads to county standards and left homeowners to deal with the consequences. “What we knew up front was that what we were getting was a dust cover,” said Michael Stewart, a retired Army Corps specialist who lives in Lakemoore. But for Stewart, who fished in the subdivision’s private lake as a youngster, the price was not enough to stop him and his wife from purchasing an acre of waterfront property in 1994 and becoming active in the homeowners association. In the end, the paving project cost property owners an average of $423.18 each year for 10 years, and nearly $100,000 all told. Supervisors utilized a sparingly used state law that allows residents to pay
See Stabbing, Page A11.
William Clark talks about the road conditions on Rocky Lane in south Warren County. for their own road improvements and bring the roads up to a standard that the county can and will accept — and then maintain them. Under the law, at least half the landowners in a developed neighborhood may petition a county to survey and estimate the costs of replacing gravel or dirt roads with asphalt, concrete or other durable material as long as the road is already maintained with tax dollars. The next step comes when at least 60 percent sign a second petition to pay for the work on their own, in a lump sum or through a special assessment
on property taxes that follows the property regardless of who moves in or out. Participation by Lakemoore’s 23 property owners the second time around was 100 percent, said Carol Watkins, treasurer of the homeowners association. The law allows counties to borrow money, including interest, in advance of collecting the taxes to cover it. Records show Warren County borrowed $97,331.53 to pay for the double bituminous surface treatment, a thinner driving surface than asphalt surSee Roads, Page A2.
Repaving of Clay, Wisconsin to begin this week By Steve Sanoski ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com Milling and overlaying on Clay Street and Wisconsin Avenue — paid for via federal stimulus funds — should begin this week and be completed by the end of next month, Vicksburg Public Works Director Bubba Rainer said. “They’ve been authorized to start, and it’s up to them to begin the work any time now,” said Rainer. “We’ve been told they’re planning on starting the milling on Clay Street Wednesday, and move on to Wisconsin Avenue once they’re done.” APAC Mississippi was awarded a $637,605.04 bid in December by the
Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen to repave Clay Street, from Cherry Street to Mission 66, and Wisconsin Avenue, from Interstate 20 to Bazinsky Road. The work is to be paid for with the $947,635 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funds allocated to the city a year ago. APAC has not started the work, but Rainer said the city authorized the project to start on March 1. APAC’s contract identifies an April 23 completion date, said Rainer. “The ball is in their court now and their contract is running. It would cost them $1,000 per day for every day they run over the completion date,” Rainer said. “But the work is going
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A 31-year-old Vicksburg man died early Saturday after being stabbed in the chest, and his live-in girlfriend was arrested and charged with manslaughter, officials said. Dennis Lewis, 209 Central Drive, was taken to River Region Medical Center at about 3:18 a.m. after a Chapiya fight with Richardson Chapiya Richardson, 28, Vicksburg police Lt. Bobby Stewart said. Lewis was pronounced dead at 4:20 a.m. from a single stab wound, Warren County Deputy Coroner Ronald Reagan said. The two “were involved in a domestic dispute when the injuries occurred, “ Stewart said. Bonnie Bufkin lives across the street from Lewis and Richardson and said she was
to go pretty fast once it’s underway, and I think they’ll have it done by the deadline.” No detours are expected to be caused by the projects on Clay Street or Wisconsin Avenue, he said. “They’ll probably have flag men and just move traffic around the work area,” he said. The entire Clay Street project will be milled and paved, while only minor milling will occur on Wisconsin Avenue before overlaying begins. A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bridge project has had Wisconsin Avenue closed from Bazinsky Road to Porters See Repaving, Page A2.
At the wire, health care work gets loud, ugly By The Associated Press WASHINGTON — House Democrats heard it all Saturday — words of inspiration from President Barack Obama and raucous chants of protests from demonstrators. And at times it was flat-out ugly, including some racial epithets aimed at black members of President Congress. Barack Obama Most of the day’s important work leading up to today’s historic vote on health care was being done behind closed doors. Democratic leaders cajoled, bargained and did what they could to nail down the votes they will need to finally push Obama’s health care overhaul bill through the House. But much else about the day was noisy, emotional and right out in the open. After more than a year debating the capstone of Obama’s domestic agenda and just hours to go before the showdown vote, there was little holding back. See Health care, Page A11.
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