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The Fat Tuesday countdown is ticking as thousands of revelers across South Mississippi prepare to line downtown streets for the grand-finale parades of Mardi Gras 2007.
The region's second Carnival season since Hurricane Katrina wraps up today with parades that roll at 1 p.m. in Biloxi and Bay St. Louis and at 5:30 p.m. in Gulfport. Revelers can expect mild temperatures and only a chance of rain. And if hotel reservations hold true, crowds will include a large number of out-of-towners.
"We've been pleasantly surprised since Friday with an increase in hotel reservations," said Linda Hornsby, executive director of the Mississippi Hotel and Lodging Association.
"Knowing Pompeii means opening a fascinating window to the ancient world. Streets paved with enormous stones, the monumental forum, intricately designed houses, shops and workshops, astonishing paintings and mosaics narrate the innumerable facets of a city captured in its very last moments of life and delivered to eternity by the terrible eruption of Mount Vesuvius." (Taken from a book published by White Star Publishers with the collaboration of the archaeological superintendency of Pompeii and the superintendency for archaeological heritage of Naples and Caserta.)
WASHINGTON - Pointing to the continued frustration of Gulf Coast residents, House Democratic leaders vowed Thursday to help speed up recovery from the hurricanes that struck nearly 18 months ago.
"The people on the coast have had enough hearings," said Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La. "What they need now is action."
Calling it a first step, Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation that would allow Mississippi and Louisiana to receive federal disaster grants without paying a matching amount. The bill also would give the states the option of avoiding repayment of disaster loans. Both measures have been used in other national disasters, lawmakers said.
Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., said New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities haven't recovered their local tax bases, making it difficult to pay matching dollar amounts to receive federal aid.
100 Seabees deploy
NMCB 133 members spread over 16 nations
More than 100 service members of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 left Gulfport on Wednesday as the final phase of one of the largest Seabee deployment operations.
The surviving driver in Tuesday night's fatal crash on U.S. 49 in Saucier has been identified as a 34-year-old Indiana man.
Michael D. Agnew, of Vincennes, Ind., pulled in front of a southbound motorcycle at the West Wortham Road intersection around 7:25 p.m., said Master Sgt. Joe Gazzo of the state Highway Patrol.
Michael Haverkamp, 43, of Alto, Mich., died in the collision.
Agnew, driving a 1989 Buick Regal, was attempting to cross the southbound lanes and turn north when the 2004 Harley Davison driven by Haverkamp struck the left rear of his car, Gazzo said.
The crash remains under investigation.
