Hattiesburg American from Hattiesburg, Mississippi • 3

TATE LOCAL Saturday, January 25, 1986 Hattiesburg AMERICAN 3A Post Office not changing address, officials declare ft: ffl'j Williamson to seek support for plan on Gordon's Creek By NATHAN JOHNSON AMERICAN Stall Writer Hattiesburg city officials, including Mayor G.D. Williamson, oppose a Corps of Engineers plan to widen and clear portions of Gordon's Creek, and Williamson will seek support for his side from Hattiesburg's congressional delegation. Williamson, in Washington at a national Conference of Mayors, said he spoke with U.S. Rep. Trent Lott about the city's wishes.

"He talked kind of encouraging about Gordon's Creek," Williamson said. The Corps plans to widen the creek, making bottom width from about 40 feet at Broad Street to 20 feet at 40th Avenue. At a depth of 20 feet, the creek would be 160 feet wide. Although the improvements would result in decreased flooding for most residents, those living between Broad and Forrest Streets would receive a one-foot increase in current water levels from small floods and less than a foot increase for larger floods. The city proposes that instead of major so-called "channelization" efforts upstream of Hardy Street, the Corps should purchase between 18 and 20 houses along the creek that flood frequently and in some instances should improve bridge approaches that hinder the flow of water, said Administrative Director Clarice Wansley.

She said the Corps plan, in some cases, would widen the creek to the point that residents would step out of their back doors "and be almost standing in the creek." She said the Corps opposes the city plan because the cost-to-benefit ratio is less than that proposed by the Corps, although the city plan does show a benefit greater than cost, making it legal for Corps consideration. Hattiesburg receives about $1.3 million in damages annually from flooding along Gordon's Creek. The Corps project would cost about $6.1 million. About 25 percent would come from local funds, and the rest from federal money. sold with an agreement that about 5,000 feet of the property be leased back to the U.S.

Postal Service for use as a full service post office. Those recommendations are expected to take about two weeks to be approved. Hattiesburg Postmaster Bobby Spiers said he met with Snyder Jan. 8 when he was in town looking for a location in downtown Hattiesburg to which he could move the downtown post office. Spiers said he told Snyder he would be unable to find another location.

Spiers said he sought bids when the downtown post office needed to expand several years ago but received only three and none offered a location with adequate parking. Spiers said he told Snyder that he, city officials and residents want the downtown post office to remain at its current location so Snyder agreed to that. "As far as I'm concerned, he accepted what I wanted and what I said," Spiers said. "I don't think there is a problem and I don't intend to pursue or be involved in disposing of this building." In addition, he said, city officials have "accommodated us" by providing additional parking spaces near the current building. By NATHAN JOHNSON and SUSANA BELLIDO AMERICAN Slafl Writers Speculation that Hattiesburg will lose its downtown post office because a new post office is being built on South 40th Avenue is false, according to city and postal officials.

"There will be a downtown post office," said Hattiesburg's assistant administrative director David Wilson. Wilson said he was barraged with telephone calls after a U.S. General Services Office memo was placed on a bulletin board in the federal courthouse and circulated through the downtown area. The memo said the federal government might sell the post office property. But U.S.

Postal Service officials said they will maintain a full service post office downtown and will probably remain in the same structure. Howard Snyder, a representative of the Federal Field Real Estate and Buildings office in Memphis, told Wilson recently that he couldn't find another suitable location for a post office in the downtown area, Wilson said. However, Wilson said Jim Farmer, a postal service representative in Jackson, said he will recommend to the regional office in Atlanta, that Hattiesburg's downtown office be AMERICAN photo by Robert Miller DEWELL PITTMAN of Bogalousa, right, thinks about his next play while John Anderson of Columbia waits Friday during the South Mississippi Sectional Bridge Tournament at the Hattiesburg Coca-Cola Complex. The tournament is sponsored by the Hub Bridge Association. Games will be held again at 1:30 p.m.

Saturday and at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. The association is also hosting the District 10 finals with competitors from Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas playing for a chance at the national games. Parents of missing man offer reward V' Foul play is a possibility, he said. March 20, 1980, was a "very normal day," Mrs.

Hegwood said. Jeffrey had gone to his classes, gotten a haircut, opened the lounge at 3 p.m. He was offering two drinks for the price of one that night, so the lounge was crowded with college students. He had arranged for someone to fill in for him and arranged a date with a girl. Apparently, he left the lounge at about 9:30 or 10 p.m.

to go home, where he was going to meet his date. His car was involved in a minor "hit and run accident, nothing serious," his mother said. Police have not determined whether Jeffrey was driving his 1974 Oldsmobile when the accident oc among Jeffrey and his father and mother, Alvin and Ruby Hegwood, or with his paternal grandparents, Alvin and Zelma Hegwood, all of Forest. They are also offering $25,000 to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for his disappearance. They hope the reward will bring about some kind of answer.

Any answer. "I think the worst kind of answer would be better than no answer," said his mother. "It's been a long six years." Jeffrey's case is still open at the Hattiesburg Police Department, but not much has been learned about it during the last six years, Police Det. David Brinkley said. was tall and weighed about 160 pounds when he disappeared.

He was wearing a V-neck brown sweater, tan pants, a gold watch and a turquoise ring. "There has absolutely been no trace of anything definite," Mrs. Hegwood said. She does not know what to expect. "Sometimes I feel he is But she cannot believe that he would not get in touch with his family during all these years.

And "it's terribly hard to believe" he had a reason to leave. "I don't knowMt's hard. It's very hard to know how I feel sometimes," she said. All leads given to the Hattiesburg Police Department in Jeffrey's case will be investigated and re- curred. "If he was driving his car, that was the last time we know he was seen," Mrs.

Hegwood said. His car was found abandoned in the eastern part of Hattiesburg, on Short Katie Avenue, the day after he disappeared. Mrs. Hegwood said police assured her they "found nothing unusual and no sign of anybody being in his car with him." Nothing was wrong with the car, nothing had been taken from it and the keys had been left inside, she said. No motive or evidence of foul play were initially linked to the case, police told the American immediately after Jeffrey disappeared.

He had brown hair, blue eyes, By SUSANA BELLIDO AMERICAN Statt Writer Her son disappeared about six years ago. He was a 23-year-old USM student, she said. A senior business major with above-average grades at school. An "ordinary good guy" who got along well with other people. The owner of the Townhouse Lounge in Hattiesburg.

The older brother of two girls. Someone who always brought animals home and enjoyed fishing and hunting. "Someone I was very proud of," she said. Jeffrey Keith Hegwood disappeared from Hattiesburg in 1980. His family has not heard anything about him since.

They are now offering $3,000 to anyone who arranges a reunion Jeffrey Keith Hegwood plies will be kept confidential, Brinkley said. Kathy Blackledge and Brinkley of the police department can be contacted at 544-7900. Cjtcrte Roundup House gives Corrections Board life complained that it did not allow for a worker representative. The Senate did not pass any bills at its Friday session. The House Appropriations Committee approved the Sprague bill Thursday after Rep.

Ed Buelow of Vicksburg advised that the state Supreme Court had upheld $140,289 in judgments against the old state Building Commission. Suits were filed after the firm that contracted to salvage the boat went broke. Other claims had not gone to court, Buelow said, and the other money would be there for settlements, which he called cheaper than lawsuits. The Sprague, once a powerful towboat that had worked the Mississippi River, had been used as a museum and showboat until it was heavily damaged by fire in 1974. The money would come from special funds already allocated for state park projects in the Vicksburg area.

thought it was a good idea to remove it." Before the Senate and House adjourned until 4 p.m. Monday, the House also passed bills to: Authorize $171,159 to cover claims from unsuccessful efforts to retrieve the sunken riverboat Sprague from the Yazoo River Diversion Canal at Vicksburg. Automatically revoke the parole of any convict convicted of a subsequent felony. This would abolish the need for any hearing procedure. Prohibit prison inmates from possessing money orders or other contraband, a move to help break up a state penitentiary scam involving the forger of larger amounts on money orders bought for small amounts.

And let the Board of Education hold meetings outside of Jackson when desired. The House also considered a bill to set up qualifications for future members of the personnel board, but by a 65-44 vote returned it to the Fees and Salaries Committee after critics JACKSON (AP) The Mississippi House Friday gave the Corrections Board a vote of confidence and a chance at becoming a permanent agency. The agency that runs state penal institutions won a 113-3 vote of confidence on a bill that still faces Senate action and that would give the nine-year-old board permanent status for the first time since it was created. Under present law it is scheduled to expire June 30. Lawmakers originally gave the board limited life to ensure themselves a chance to see whether it was working more effectively than some previous systems for governing the correctional system.

Rep. Ed Jackson of Cleveland, who guided the bill through the House, said after a review of the board every two or three years, it was time to give it stability. "There is no new language in this bill," he said. "The only change is that it doesn't have a repealer in it. This was the ninth year and we GCJC may cut salaries Wood fires up loan incident Additional cuts this vear in travel.

Parchman inmate found to have TB PARCHMAN (AP) Inmate admissions have been halted temporarily at the state penitentiary because medical personnel discovered a prisoner with tuberculosis, officials said. Dr. Dave Newton, the penitentiary's medical director, said the prisoner had transferred to Parchman from a county jail and had been assigned to several prison camps before his tuberculosis was confirmed. The inmate's name was not released. Newton said about 10 percent of the prison's 4,700 inmates and 1,400 employees got positive results in the institution-wide skin testing.

However, he said a positive test indicated only that a person had been exposed to the disease and did not show the actual presence of tuberculosis. Four indicted for murder for hire. BRANDON (AP) A Rankin County grand jury has indicted four men in connection with the slaying of a woman and the wounding of her husband in an alleged murder-for-hire plot. Facing capital murder charges are Joe Ponthieux, 50, of Raymond, the woman's ex-husband; John Nixon 57, of Utica; and John Nixon 40, of Scottville, Texas; and Henry Leon Nixon, 32, of Houston, Texas, both sons of John Nixon Sr. The four are charged in connection with the death of Virginia Tucker, 45, with Pontheiux accused of paying $3,000 for the slaying.

Three men forced their way into the Tuckers' Trickham Bridge home Jan. 22, 1985, shot Mrs. Tucker in the head with a handgun and wounded her husband, Thomas. Mrs. Tucker died at University of Mississippi Medical Center a day later.

Feds approve two loans in state WASHINGTON (AP) Federal agencies have approved two loans totaling more than $3.3 million for utility projects in Mississippi, the office of Rep. Trent Lott, said Friday. Lott said a loan of $3,255,000 was approved by the Rural Electrification Administration for the Franklin Telephone in Meadville. The money will permit construction to allow 388 additional subscribers in 16 counties to be connected to the service. The Farmers Home Administration approved a $1,072,000 loan for the D'Iberville Water and Sewer District on the coast, Lott said.

He said the funding would permit the construction of a central sewage collection system to serve 801 customers. Six arrested in drug rip-off JACKSON (AP) Six people were arrested early Friday and charged with conspiring to deliver 200 pounds of marijuana and with plotting to rip-off undercover agents who were to receive the drug, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics said. A spokeswoman said the arrests took place in Hinds and Rankin counties about 12:50 a.m. and resulted in the seizure of three vehicles, a shotgun and a police scanner. The arrests followed a month-long investigation by the bureau and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in which agents negotiated the purchase of 200 pounds of marijuana at a cost of $99,000, said spokeswoman Cassandra Hollingsworth.

She said that after the arrests, investigators determined that those involved allegedly planned a "ripoff deal" and that the robbery conspiracy charges were filed. Ms. Hollingsworth said those arrested, all from Jackson, were held at the Hinds County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bond each. inger said he may propose eliminating programs, cutting salaries across the board and abolishing jobs on all levels, including those of administrators. The president told the trustees he would bring his recommendations to them in February.

Some board members oppose tampering with salaries or raising tuition, a "last resort" tactic mentioned by Mellinger. The board in December agreed to curtail travel, reduce supplied budgets and place a freeze on hiring. By WINFRED MONCRIEF GCJC Public Relations PERKINSTON Gulf Coast Junior College President Barry L. Mellinger said Friday he and his executive council will begin "firming up" plans to further reduce a $23 million budget early next week. "We must remain financially responsible," Mellinger told trustees earlier.

The college has lost about $1.2 million due to state cuts and a decline in enrollment. In remarks Wednesday to the colleges' board of trustees, Mell official meetings and a continuation of the hiring freeze "were likely saving the college about $150,000, enough to make up for the nearly $70,000 lopped off by the state in its latest round of budget trimming," Mellinger said. But Mellinger said the college still has to make up the $180,000 it lost when enrollment for the spring semester dropped 6 percent. And a way must be found to deal with an anticipated $300,000 reduction in state money next fiscal year. Mayor: Others will suffer more HOLLY SPRINGS (AP) An alderman says he paid $500 and two loads of firewood to a loan officer with the Tennessee Valley Center for Minority Economic Development in an effort to obtain a loan.

The center president has said a loan officer has been dismissed, and the center's attorney is gathering information on the incident. Holly Springs Alderman Robert Collins said Thursday that a loan officer told him "he needed some money" before he could consider approving the loan. But Collins said he never received approval for the $120,000 he had originally requested to buy Pete's Barbecue restaurant here. Collins said he eventually received approval for a $60,000 loan after several weeks of contacting the center but that the loan was less than he expected and had too many stipulations for him to accept. He said he later received notification that the loan approval had been rescinded.

used it Williamson said Lott promised to work toward phasing out revenue sharing over a period of three or four years, rather than cutting it completely next year. Hattiesburg receives about $800,000 a year in federal revenue sharing, and Williamson said the 200 mayors attending the conference were encouraged to ask their congressional delegations to shield revenue sharing from federal budget cuts. Mayor G.D. Williamson, speaking from the national conference of mayors in Washington, said this week that Hattiesburg will suffer less from the loss of federal revenue sharing than many other cities. "I'm real proud of the city of Hattiesburg listening to these other mayors," Williamson said in a telephone conversation.

"They're talking about cutting services, laying off 150 to 200 policemen and firemen." The call was taped and played for Other cities have it worse See page 7A reporters Friday. Williamson said many cities use revenue sharing money to pay police and firefighters, but Hattiesburg has used the money for capital expenditures and other purposes. "We explained this to (U.S. Rep.) Trent (Lott, and he was real proud, you know, to hear we had.