Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 12

2B THE CLARION-LEDGER TUESDAY, JUNE 2 1 2005 OARIONLEDGER.COM MetroState I ism El fed mm Is $33( Sewage system has new owners after Black Creek pollution By Natasha Smith not affected him or his business. Hattieaburg American WAVELAND Coast Guard rescues 3 stranded boaters A Coast Guard rescue helicopter on Monday located three stranded boaters southwest of Waveland. Lt. Olav Saboe identified Tim Parker and Lucille Martin, both adults, and 4-year-old Dakota Martin. The three left at about 5:30 a.m.

Sunday for a day trip out on the water, according to a news release from the Coast Guard in New Orleans. Family members notified authorities when the three didn't return. A Coast Guard rescue helicopter crew from Air Station New Orleans and a Mis-sissippi Department of Marine Resources boat began searching at about 10 p.m. Sunday for the missing boaters. About 3 a.m.

Monday, the helicopter crew located the boaters. MADISON COUNTY The penalty was due 30 days after the March 25 issue date. Furrh said he is working with the Mississippi Attorney General's Office to collect the money. He said he could not discuss how they planned to collect the money or if the penalty would be increased. "We're just trying to get the money he owed," Furrh said.

When contacted by phone on Friday about not paying the fines, Elliott first said he had, nothing to do with it anymore. However, when asked about the $336,000 penalty, he said, "They're crazy as and hung up the phone. Brandon Pearce, owner of Black Creek Canoe Rental, said the sewage issue has HATTIESBURG The 80-home Black Creek Retreat area now has clean water and sewage, but the man who caused the problems still has not paid his debt. Purvis resident Lawrence Elliot, who owns the development, was fined for allowing a sewerage system to pour raw waste into Black Creek starting in the early 1990s. Roy Furrh, attorney for the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, said Elliot did not pay his $336,000 penalty nor a $64,000 payment to DEQ to replenish funds it used to repair the system.

"Other than the homeowners, nobody thought it was a really big deal," Pearce said. Redding, who owns two homes and a waterfront property in the area, said it was a big deal. He said public knowledge of the conditions affected his business. "I felt sorry for the people who I rented to out there," he said. Now that ownership of the sewerage system has changed hands, Redding said he may purchase three or more properties in the area.

"I'm surprised action hasn't been taken by law enforcement," he said. Kurt Redding, who lives at Lake Serene, finally feels at ease to tell his tenants they can drink the water in the cabins he owns in Black Creek Retreat near Brooklyn The Black Creek Retreat wastewater system was sold to Florida company Bell Utilities in January. Before, Redding said he often found cracked, broken sewer lines and pollution standing in the street. "I had to encourage people to drink bottled water," he said. Black Creek is a popular spot for canoeing, camping, kayaking and other recreational activities.

The creek is designated as a state and national scenic creek. aw Citizens meeting tod A class by himself to discuss annexation CULFPORT Ga. man arrested in MO incident Driver, 61 pulled gun in Harrison County road-rage case Citizens Against Madison Annexation will hold a 7 p.m. meeting today at Parkway Pentecostal Church, 1620 Old Mannsdale Road. The city of Madison is proposing to annex 15 square miles to the north and west of its existing borders, including the subdivisions of Annandale, Countryside Plantation, Ingleside, Fairfield and Twelve Oaks.

Organizers will update residents on the upcoming hearing scheduled Sept. 26 in Madison County Chancery Court and give them an opportunity to ask questions. JACKSON Byram annexation case could be delayed again An agreement in the Jackson-Byram annexation case could be another week away, an attorney for the city said Monday. Jim Carroll, who is representing Jackson, said he plans to ask Hinds County The Associated Press 4 mm I fit I fegSSft Chancery Court Judge William Singletary today to delay the trial. That would give attorneys more time to hammer out an agreement, Carroll said.

At issue is Jackson's bid to annex 53 square miles Carroll south of the city. The land includes the unincorporated community of Byram, which has been trying to incorporate 44 square miles to block Jackson's annexation attempts. Special to The Clarion-Ledger Dr. Richard Holmes became the first African American to enroll native earned his undergraduate degree from MSU in 1 969, and at Mississippi State University on July 19, 1965. The Starkville in 2003 the campus health center hired him as a physician.

1st black at MSU back home try A Georgia man faces three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a reckless driving charge for allegedly threatening a family with a gun after forcing them to stop on 1-10 in Harrison County. Jimmy Hammond, 61, of Decatur, his wife, sister, and her boyfriend were headed west on 1-10 Sunday when Hammond allegedly got angry at the way another motorist was driving, said Mississippi Highway Patrol Master Sgt. Joe Gazzo. Hammond pulled his sports utility vehicle in front of the other vehicle, eventually forcing the car to stop behind his SUV, Gazzo said. Hammond then jumped out of his vehicle with a .357 magnum pistol and threatened to shoot the family and their car tires, the patrol spokesman said.

Patrick Stettner, his wife, Amy, and their 17-month-old son escaped without injury. The Stettner family was traveling back home to Metairie, when the incident took place about 5:30 p.m., authorities said. "These people were begging for their lives," Gazzo said. An FBI agent stopped at the scene and pulled out his gun, demanding that Hammond surrender. "He (Hammond) still has his gun out, even though he sees (the FBI agent) has his gun out," Gazzo said.

Hammond surrendered minutes later when a second off-duty officer from Grand Ferry, Texas, drove up and assisted in the arrest. Hammond was being held in Harrison County without bond. STARKVILLE who was 21 at the time. "It was quiet and serene. Nothing happened.

There was just curiosity and disbelief." Richard Holmes was 18 months old when he was taken by his mother to live in Mississippi. He and three older broth ers were left at the Starkville home of Eliza Hunter, a family friend Holmes would come to know Holmes left MSU in 1967 to teach school in Aliceville, Ala. He finally earned his MSU degree in 1969. After a two-year stint in the Army, he returned to MSU for a master's degree in microbiology and nutrition in 1973. Finishing medical school at Michigan State University in 1977, he carved out a successful 23-year career as an emergency room doctor in Birmingham, Ala.

In 1991, Mississippi State recognized Holmes by naming the university's cultural diversity center in his honor. Holmes and wife Judie later endowed a minority scholarship fund. The couple moved back to Mississippi in 2003, settling in Columbus. Dr. Robert Collins, director of MSU's Longest Student Health Center, hired him to fill a staff physician vacancy.

"The university gained from the courage and dignity he demonstrated in 1965," said MSU President Charles Lee. "Today's students are benefiting and learning from the professionalism and compassion that are evident in his practice as a campus Special to The Clarion-Ledger Richard Holmes sought no special favors when he became the first African American to enroll at Mississippi State University four decades ago. "I did not come here for fanfare or publicity," the self-effacing young black man from Starkville said in a brief written message he read to the media on July 19, 1965, the day of his admission to the historically white institution. "As a lifelong Mississippi-an, I am here to study and learn at a high-rated Mississippi university, which happens to be in my hometown," he wrote. That was three years after James Meredith's forced entry at the University of Mississippi, backed by federal troops, triggered deadly rioting in 1962.

It was only a year after the state's "long hot summer" of 1964, when three youngciv-il rights workers were murdered in Neshoba County. Yet, Holmes' peaceful admission for summer classes at Mississippi State caused little more than a blip on the state's racial radar screen. "There were no catcalls, no racial slurs," recalls Holmes, who became his godfather and a guiding influence of his life. "It was a godsend, a salvation," Holmes said. "He prodded me to stay in school and keep up my grades.

He treated me like a son." Holmes graduated in 1963 from Starkville's segregated Henderson High, where he excelled as a student and played linebacker-guard on the football team. He spent his first two years of undergraduate study at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, before transferring to MSU that summer of 1965. Living alone in a twin-bed room of MSU's Evans Hall, Holmes worked diligently toward a bachelor's degree in liberal arts. "They would yell things at me sometimes, but it would never be personal. I recognized where they were coming from.

This institution had been segregated for 87 years," he said. "But no one ever spit on me, no one hit me, no one pushed me, no one pulled a prank on me," he said. "Some befriended me and treated me with dignity and respect. Many just ignored me." Because money was tight, Holmes in 1 965 as "grandmother." "My grandmother was not educated, but she believed in education, hard work, honesty, and going to church," said Holmes. "She instilled those values in us boys and taught us not to make excuses, that being poor and black was no reason for failure." Before she died of breast cancer in 1956 at age 86, Eliza Hunter asked Dr.

Douglas Conner, a Starkville physician, community leader and civil rights activist, to "take care of my boys." In 1958, at age 14, Holmes moved into the family home of Conner, Attorneys for both sides Danks said last week they are close to an agreement that would allow Byram to incorporate as a city and Jackson to get other pieces of land. Dale Danks, who represents Byram, said he wouldn't recommend a delay. Ed board to address superintendent hiring The Mississippi Board of Education will meet at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday to discuss hiring a new Superintendent of Education. President Bush nominated Superintendent Henry Johnson on June 1 to be assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education in Washington, D.C.

Johnson has said he will stay in Mississippi through the end of the month. The special interim meeting will be in the fourth floor boardroom of Central High School, 359 N. West St. The board may discuss in a closed session the superintendent position, which is a personnel matter. $202M budget OK'd by school board Jackson School Board members Monday approved their $202 million budget for the new year that begins on July 1 The budget includes $71.8 million in local tax dollars, which is no additional money.

It also includes $109 millipn from the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. The amount is $6.7 million more than the district is receiving this year. Board members had discussed eliminating the school at the Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center, which includes five teachers, a coordinator and clerical staff, as well as the teacher at the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond. But with higher than expected state revenue, the district trimmed the program by two teachers but did not eliminate it. EDWARDS Boil-water alert issued after water line break A boil-water alert has been issued for residents in Edwards by the Mississippi Department of Health.

About 300 residents from Hodge Lane west to Bonner Campbell College are affected by a water line break in the area. Residents should boil water for one minute. The health department will notify customers when the water is safe to drink. To share tips and ideas, contact Metro Editor Grace Simmons Fisher at (601) 961-7250, fax to 961-7211 or e-mail gsimmonsclarionledger.com. Alex Dixon, 23, of Flora was found shot on Mill Street early Sunday morning.

An item in Monday's editions misidentified the location of the shooting, based on information from Jackson police. COLUMBUS SafeCity INITIA TISEI WANTED BY THE LAW Law enforcement agencies have warrants for the arrests of these people who are thought to be in the Jackson area. Lowndes man accused of slaying after bar fight The As80cieted Prees northeastern part of the county, and that Hudson struck Ray in the face 1 i JS I -1 tl txt 1 -m before leaving the bar and returning to Ray's house, where he was Shawn V. Jackson Angel F. Singleton LSiflhtingtl If you know the whereabouts of any of these people, do not approach or try to apprehend the person, or if you have information of any crime, call Crime Stoppers at 355-8477.

You could be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest. Your call will remain anonymous and you will not have to testify. Michael Gene Ray of Lowndes County faces murder charges following a weekend stabbing, authorities said Monday in Columbus. Sheriff Butch Howard said the charge against Ray, 49, was upgraded from aggravated assault to murder after the early Saturday death of Daniel Keith Hudson, 43. Police said Hudson and Ray fought Friday night at a bar in the Howard BridgettAnn Lott DOB: 4-23-78 Height: 5'8-Weight: 160 Eyes: Hazel Hair: Brawn Charge: Shoplifting Wanted by: Hinds County Sheriff's Office, Victoria Walker (AKA Patricia Horne) DOB: 7-6-70 Height: 5'5" Weight: 150 Eyes: Brown Hair: Black Charge: Forgery Wanted by: Hinds County Sheriff's Office, Karoll Allen (AKA Karol Wilson) DOB: 3-19-70 Height: 52" Weight: 152 Eyes: Brown Hair: Black Charge: Bad check Wanted by: Hinds County Sheriff's Office, DOB: 6-16-75 Height: 5'5" Weight: 120 Eyes: Brown Hair: Black Charge: Bad check Wanted by: Hinds County Sheriff's Office, Height: 5'6" Weight: 280 Eyes: Brown Hair: Black Charge: Forgery Wanted by: Hinds County Sheriffs Office, 355-8477 stabbed.

Hudson was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle, where he died. Ray surrendered to authorities. 4.