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TODAY IN hISTOrY 1880: Wabash, Ind., becomes the first town in the world to be illuminated by electrical lighting. 1889: French engineer Gustave Eiffel unfurls the French tricolor from atop the Eiffel Tower, officially marking its completion. 1968: At the conclusion of a nationally broadcast address on Vietnam, President Lyndon B. Johnson stuns his audience by declaring, “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.” 1976: The New Jersey Supreme Court rules that Karen Ann Quinlan, who was in a persistent vegetative state, could be disconnected from her respirator. (Quinlan, who remained unconscious, died in 1985.) 1995: Mexican-American singer Selena QuintanillaPerez, 23, is shot to death in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the founder of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
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ONLINE www.vicksburgpost.com VOLUME 128 NUMBER 90 4 SECTIONS
Price stepping down as school superintendent Deputy Walls, two principals also leaving By Pamela Hitchins phitchins@vicksburgpost.com After seven years at the helm of Vicksburg Warren School District, Superintendent Dr. James Price will retire June 30, he said Tuesday. “I’ve enjoyed the challenge,” Price said. “There were challenges when I came, challenges while I was here and there will be challenges when I’m gone.” Price, 58, informed the 9,000-student district’s principals at an administrators meeting Tuesday, then phoned school board members. “It’s time for someone else to assume a leadership role,” he said. With Deputy Superintendent Dr. John Walls also retiring at the end of the school year, the district will lose its top two administrators. In addition, princi-
Jack Grogan
merediTh spencer•The Vicksburg PosT
Vicksburg Warren School District Superintendent Dr. James Price sits in his office. pals Jack Grogan at Beechwood Elementary School and Charles “Bubba” Hanks at Redwood Elementary will
retire June 30. “We’re sorry to see Dr. Price leave,” said Tommy Shelton, vice president of the
five-member trustee board elected from the county’s five supervisor districts. “He’s done a great job and served
Charles Hanks
the district well for a number of years. He’s a great financial manager, which we will miss in these tough Dr. John economic Walls times.” Zelmarine Murphy, elected president of the trustees this month, was not available. Trustees are scheduled to meet April 29, but a special meeting might be called sooner to begin the process of finding a new superintendent. Price began his career in the district as a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher in 1991 after serving as principal See Price, Page A6.
Laid-off workers finding help at job center State’s tax Unemployment still 12.4 percent in Warren County By Danny Barrett Jr. dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com Persistence paid off for James Lee, one of several regular visitors to the Vicksburg WIN Job Center in the past few months as the percentage of those unemployed in Warren County and statewide remained in double digits. Though Lee was hired for an apartment maintenance job, his resume is still on file at the Monroe Street office in case he needs the office’s resources again amid continued hardship for the local
merediTh spencer•The Vicksburg PosT
James Lee, seated, gets help from Linda Caldwell, senior aid clerk, as he updates his resume at the Vicksburg WIN Job Center Tuesday. job market. “You never know what can happen,” Lee said while using one of the nearly three dozen computers available
to job-seekers to maintain resumes and search for employment online through the state agency office at 1625 Monroe St.
JACKSON — Mississippi is on track to exceed its projected monthly tax collections for the first time in more than a year and a half. State Tax Commission spokeswoman Kathy Waterbury says that as of Tuesday, collections were about onequarter of 1 percent — or $1.2 million — ahead of where experts predicted they’d be in March. Waterbury said corporate and gaming tax revenues were up significantly,
See Jobs, Page A9.
See Taxes, Page A9.
Legal order stops work on collapsed buildings By Tish Butts tbutts@vicksburgpost.com Tension over a wall that a downtown building shared with structures that collapsed in 2006 have resulted in a restraining order and, Tuesday, the sight of the son of a property owner wearing a holstered weapon. Vicksburg officials said the dispute doesn’t involve any public property and they intend to remain out of the picture. Warren County Judge Johnny Price granted the court order to Lisa Ashcraft, who, with her husband, Randy, owns the two-story former First Federal Savings and Loan building at 1221 Washington St. On adjacent property,
merediTh spencer•The Vicksburg PosT
Lisa Ashcraft talks about her building on Washington Street Tuesday. workers for Antique Wood and Brick Company of Mississippi, owned by Bill
Greenwood, have been removing brick and other materials left when 140-year-
collections see increase
Johnny Walker said he is hoping that the same persistence can land him the kind of money he was making in the hospitality industry. Laid off for nearly four months, Walker said he hopes to at least pull down double-digit hourly wages, even if it means working in Jackson or farther from his home here. “I’m looking for something in the same pay range as before — but at the same time, I can’t be selfish,” he said. Tuesday, statistics released by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security showed unemployment remained steady but high locally and across the state
old structures at 707-713 Clay St. imploded during renovations on Jan. 25, 2006. The Ashcraft building is west of the collapsed structures. The collapse broke a hole in an upper-story wall of a building to the east. That hole was bricked up within weeks. Workers were not on site this morning or midafternoon on Tuesday after Lisa Ashcraft told Price the work resulted in a hole in the shared wall, damaging her property. Removing the brick and other materials from the wall “appears to threaten the structural integrity” and could result in “irreparable injury, damage or loss” to the AshSee Buildings, Page A9.
By The Associated Press
Entergy wins OK to up rates By Maria Burnham The Associated Press JACKSON — Entergy Mississippi has received approval to raise rates, but most customers shouldn’t see a noticeable change in their bills. The company received approval for the rate increase from the Mississippi Public Service Commission earlier this month. At the same time, it received approval to remove a winter-summer differential — a holdover from the Carter Administration, which automatically increased rates at the start of summer to discourage energy consumption. “They just about cancel See Rates, Page A9.