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By Pamela Hitchins phitchins@vicksburgpost.com
if you go
The search for a new superintendent of schools to replace retiring Dr. James Price will get under way Thursday at 6 p.m. at a called meeting of the Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees. “It’s an initial meeting to begin moving the ball for-
Procedures for choosing a new superintendent to replace retiring Dr. James Price will be discussed at a called meeting of the Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees Thursday at 6 p.m. in the board meeting room, central offices, 1500 Mission 66.
See Schools, Page A7.
Barbour under fire for ‘ignoring’ slavery
WEATHEr Tonight: Clear; low near 52 Wednesday: Sunny; high near 82
By Emily Wagster Pettus The Associated Press
Mississippi River:
40.3 feet Fell: 0.2 foot Flood stage: 43 feet
A7
TODAY iN HiSTOrY 1742: Handel’s “Messiah” is first performed publicly, in Dublin, Ireland. 1743: The third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, is born in Shadwell, Va.
Effort begins to pick boss for schools
KATIE CARTER•The Vicksburg PosT
Traffic traveling east and west is backed up on Interstate 20 just west of the Flowers exit at 7:30 this morning, hours after a fiery wreck involving a passenger car and an 18-wheeler. Both drivers survived. Story/A2
JACKSON — Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour drew criticism for proclaiming April as Confederate Heritage Month without mentioning slavery, the second Gov. Haley governor Barbour this month to come under fire for the omission.
On A3 Governor comments during Southeastern United States Canadian Provinces Alliance conference in Biloxi. Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, who is black, said Monday that people need to learn about the “abhorrent, violent, depraved actions of slavery.” Virginia’s Republican govSee Barbour, Page A7.
Dogfighting local problem, humane society director says By Manivanh Chanprasith mchan@vicksburgpost.com
1958: American Van Cliburn, 23, wins the first International Tchaikovsky Competition for piano in Moscow; Russian Valery Klimov won the violin competition. 1992: The Great Chicago Flood takes place as the city’s century-old tunnel system and adjacent basements fill with water from the Chicago River.
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ONliNE www.vicksburgpost.com VOLUME 128 NUMBER 103 2 SECTIONS
Sunday’s seizure of two pit bulls that appear to have been fighting recently is representative of a local problem, said Georgia Lynn, president of the VicksburgWarren Humane Society. “Dogfighting is prevalent in Warren County and the city,” she said. “We get a lot of calls about dogfighting. Mostly, what we see are the dogs that have been discarded. A couple of months ago, we got a call about dogs being disposed of in a bayou in Marcus Bottom.” Lynn, who has been the humane society’s director for seven years, said she was asked by Vicksburg officials to assist in the assessment of the two dogs picked up at a home on Speed Street Sunday. She said she saw the dogs Monday, but declined to discuss her findings.
KATIE CARTER•The Vicksburg PosT
A fresh laceration shows through the fur over a male pit bull dog’s eye, left, and on the face of another, both at Vicksburg Animal Shelter Monday. The two pit bulls were taken from the 518 Speed St. home of Shawn Porter, 37, who was arrested along with Joseph Hall, 39, 2616 Pearl St., when both were charged with felony dogfighting. Both men were in the Warren County Jail this morning, each on a $2,500 bond.
Police Sgt. Sandra Williams said the arrests followed a tip. The dogs were taken to Vicksburg Animal Shelter, where they are to be held for at least 10 days of observation. The findings will determine what happens to the dogs, said Vicksburg Animal
Control Supervisor Eldridge Skinner. “We went to pick the dogs up because the police called us on this situation,” Skinner said. Unlike Lynn, Skinner — who has worked in animal control for 24 years — said he does not see a recurring
problem with dogfighting. “I’m not saying it’s not going on, but we just don’t see it,” he said. He said when the dogs were captured, they appeared to be “friendly to people,” however, “from the looks of them and the scars, they’ve been in fights.” The dogs, about 30 pounds each, have old scars and fresh cuts to their faces. One appeared to have a fresh laceration near its mouth, as well as old scars on his forehead. The other, a brindle-stripe dog, appeared to have a new cut above its right eye, as well as scars on its forehead. What’s not clear is whether the dogs had been used in organized or staged fights, which usually involves betting. Williams said the dogs were not fighting when officers arrived and they were See Dogfighting, Page A7.
Choose jail site by August, consultant urges supervisors By Danny Barrett Jr. dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com A 16-month study of what Warren County needs to build, staff and manage a new jail was handed to supervisors Monday, setting a schedule for choosing a site — a step already taking a back seat to cost. The final report says a committee should be assembled by June 1 to evaluate locations and pick one by midAugust. Voorhis/Robertson Justice Services says a site needs to be lined up by the end of October, whether purchased from a private owner or not.
‘We need to select a site before we go much further.’ DAvE vooRHIS consulTanT “We need to select a site before we go much further,” said Dave Voorhis during a brief presentation to supervisors and sheriff’s department officials. Unchanged from drafts is the suggestion of a 134,000-square-foot, 350-bed facility built on at least 20 acres. The 148-page final report presents architectural
and staffing needs separately. Ideally, a new jail must also be expandable to 650 beds and likely will need a 50-acre tract. Jail staff must be tripled from current numbers and concentrated in the housing and security functions. Several systemic changes to the way criminal cases are processed also are suggested in the final report, such as having a public defender’s office and following federal models to clas-
sify which inmates pose the greatest security risks and house them accordingly. Other criteria mentioned in the study tied to finding the most suitable site are access and cost for utilities, cost of developing a site, purchase price, avoiding locations beyond 15 miles from other government offices, highway access, compatible land use and avoiding schools and neighborhoods. Supervisors initiated the planning process due to the age and condition of the county’s jail at Cherry and Grove streets, which underwent a major expansion in 1979 and several smaller
expansions since. The jail, which remains at capacity, was termed in the study as poorly staffed and inadequate for future use. Analyses on what construction and operation costs will cost taxpayers up to 20 years was ongoing, supervisors said. Purchasing a site and preparing it are as close as the study comes to offering financing advice. Most cost estimates by Voorhis and local officials have settled between $20 million and $30 million, based on recently built jails in Mississippi. “Mr. Voorhis was so thorSee Jail, Page A7.