Blazer Baseball Coach - Hall of Fame

Belhaven College's baseball coach, Hill Denson, will be inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

Belhaven to hold arts and music festival

Clarion Ledger: "Jackson’s historic Belhaven neighborhood will host an arts and music street festival this weekend. Bright Lights, Belhaven Nights begins at 6 p.m. Saturday and stretches along Carlisle Street from New Stage Theatre to McDade's Grocery parking lot. The festival will feature various musicians, artists, craftsmen, vendors and children’s attractions. Admission to the festival is $3 for those 13 and older; $1 for ages 12 and under."

Howard Bahr

Mississippi author Howard Bahr returns to his homestate to teach writing at Belhaven College. (Full Story Here)

Fortification Street Update

From today's Clarion Ledger:

Council members also approved a redesign of Fortification Street, one of the main thoroughfares in the downtown area. It could cost between $5 million and $8 million.

The council initiated the first step in the project, approving a $1.5 million contract with CiViLTech Inc. for engineering work. CiViLTech President Elmore Moody said his company will draft a plan for the street from I-55 to the bridge at Mill Street.

"It's four lanes now, and we're looking at changing it to three lanes (from the interstate to Jefferson Street). There is a tremendous amount of traffic and quite a bit of speeding. The neighborhood associations want to look at calming traffic," said Moody, a former head of the city's Public Works Department.

"We've done traffic studies, and three lanes will carry the necessary amount of traffic efficiently but not as fast."

The redesign also will include the addition of sidewalks and new water and sewer lines under the street. So far, CiViLTech has begun environmental studies required by the state and federal governments and preliminary designs. In November or December, public hearings will allow residents to give feedback on those designs, Moody said.

Greater Belhaven Neighborhood Foundation Executive Director Virgi Lindsay said the council's decision was a victory for the neighborhoods touched by Fortification. A Fortification Street Coalition formed in August 2001, pulling together representatives from Farish Street, Belhaven Heights, Belhaven, north Midtown and Baptist Hospital.

"We didn't want it to be a street that just got resurfaced. We wanted it to be redefined and thought of as a street that connects urban neighborhoods," Lindsay said. "Right now, it is in horrible condition. The street has been patched and patched and patched over the years."

Lefleur Lake(s)

Clarion Ledger: "Citing environmental and cost concerns, Rankin and Hinds county officials on Monday dramatically scaled down their plans for a flood-control project. The Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control Board voted to study a flood-control and economic-development plan that would be about half the size of the originally proposed LeFleur Lakes project. Board members say the new plan will cost about $400 million, less than a third of the estimated $1.4 billion needed for the LeFleur Lakes project."

Northside Sun: "TWO LAKES CONCEIVER John McGowan continues to push for his version of the flood control and economic development plan, even though the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District moves forward with its LeFleur Lakes plan. McGowan has been receiving the results of a survey he mailed to landowners and those who pay flood insurance in the Two Lakes footprint, asking about support for privately funding the project. The survey has gone well, McGowan said. Of the approximately 1000 flood insurance payers he was able to contact, 200 have responded, he said. Of those responses, about 90 percent are in favor of the Two Lakes plan, he said. Of the actual landowners, McGowan said he has spoken to about 25 of the 100 landowners, who collectively own about 96 percent of all the land in the Two Lakes footprint, and hasn’t yet heard anything negative about his plan."