SLIDING IN
BILOXI, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center could have a hotel operating on its Biloxi beachfront property as early as the fall of 2021.
Mississippi news outlets report that the Harrison County Board of Supervisors on Monday approved a 99-year lease between the Coliseum Commission and a developer. The 150-room hotel would be under the Marriott flag.
Coast Coliseum officials have for years been talking about the need to build a hotel on the property to make the facility more competitive in attracting meetings.
BILOXI, Miss. (AP) — A Louisiana deputy has been killed in a head-on collision driving home from his bachelor party trip.
News outlets report St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office Cpl. Jonathan Panks died Sunday in Mississippi after a Toyota crossed the median, striking Panks' Chevrolet truck head-on.
The Toyota driver died at the scene. Mississippi's Harrison County Deputy Coroner Brian Switzer identified him as 36-year-old Ross Labrosse.
A Facebook post says Panks was celebrating his bachelor party in Florida and was driving home to Louisiana with three other people. Panks died at the hospital. The condition of the other occupants is unclear.
The sheriff's office posted that Panks was a 13-year veteran and has worked in corrections, criminal patrol, street crimes and the marine division. Panks was planning to get married in November.
Beachfront mansion fire on the Mississippi coast
PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (AP) — A fire that began early Monday at a 25,000 squarefoot mansion kept firefighters from several Mississippi Gulf Coast communities for much of the day.
News outlets on the coast report that the home in Pass Christian is commonly known as the Monroe House. The fire was reported at around 4 a.m. Monday and was still burning at midday.
Firefighters from a halfdozen communities, including Long Beach, Gulfport and Bay St. Louis, joined the fight to save the beachfront landmark.
Officials said battling the blaze was a complex operation and that the fire had spread to the attic and in between the walls.
No injuries were reported. In 2015, the home was listed for $12.5 million, according to Sun Herald archives.
The mansion is on an 8-acre lot and has 15 bedrooms and 19 bathrooms. A neighbor speculated that lightning from an early morning storm may have sparked the fire. One official said firefighters were expected to be on the scene into Monday evening.
Owners Charles and Nancy Ramsey bought the home in 1993 and added to modern wings onto it. The home was not damaged in Hurricane Katrina.
The mansion was built in 1963 by J. Edgar Monroe as a second home for himself and his wife.
Respected engineer killed in weekend bike accident
CLINTON, Miss. (AP) — A bicyclist was killed in a weekend accident in Mississippi.
It happened Saturday morning near Itta Bena.
The Greenwood Commonwealth reports that the cyclist apparently failed to hear the warnings of state troopers, who were directing traffic at the scene during a cycling event.
Fifty-year-old Jim O'daniel of Clinton was one of about 1,000 cyclists participating in the 12th annual Bikes, Blues & Bayous bike ride.
Staff Sgt. Ronald Shive, a spokesman for the Mississippi Highway Patrol, said O'daniel died after being hit by a pickup truck.
The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center issued a press release saying O'daniel was "a beloved and highly respected research structural engineer." He worked at the center's Geotechnical and Structures lab in Vicksburg.