Mississippi

As Drought Drops Water Level in the Mississippi, Shipwrecks Surface and Worries Rise

Published

2 years ago

November 3, 2022

As Drought Drops Water Level in the Mississippi, Shipwrecks Surface and Worries Rise

Alongside the drought-stricken Mississippi River, a world normally hidden beneath the waves has been basking underneath the solar. In latest weeks, new islands have breached the floor, as have the hulls of sunken ships and an unlimited array of misplaced marine tools. The diminished waterway that continues to be has been clogged with barges, caught within the mud or ready their flip to press forward down a narrowed channel.

Many who stay alongside the river have ventured out, on foot and by boat, to marvel on the unsettling spectacle.

Mark Babb is considered one of them. He has all the time been drawn to the Mississippi; his father took him tenting alongside the banks when he was a boy, and later, he labored on towboats and as a kayak information. He was each awed and alarmed by what he noticed final month over seven days on his boat, beginning in Memphis, pushing his method down the river to New Orleans after which heading again.

“It’s simply the surroundings — it’s so totally different,” Mr. Babb, 61, mentioned.

The river has lengthy commanded a sober respect, if not concern, with its swift currents and capability to not solely maintain the communities which have sprouted beside it for hundreds of years, but in addition devastate them by swelling over its banks. However recently it has provoked a distinct kind of apprehension, as the results of the drought affecting a lot of the Midwest, Excessive Plains and South attain far past the surreal panorama.

On the Decrease Mississippi — the portion that flows south from Cairo, Sick. — the water degree in some locations has fallen under information set greater than 30 years in the past. The situations have hamstrung one of many nation’s busiest and most important waterways and jeopardized ingesting water methods. And specialists have cautioned that the substantial rainfall wanted to enhance the state of affairs may very well be weeks away, if not longer.

“We now have seen disasters relating to hurricanes, we now have seen disasters relating to tornadoes,” mentioned Errick D. Simmons, the mayor of Greenville, Miss., a port metropolis of roughly 28,000 folks within the Delta area. “However we haven’t seen a historic drought like we’re seeing on the Mississippi.”

The river is named mighty for a cause. Its important stem stretches some 2,350 miles from headwaters in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, touching 10 states after which branching out into an internet of tributaries. Its watershed covers 40 % of the continental United States.

“We’re the principle vein of the nation,” Joe Weiss, the overall supervisor of the Mud Island Marina in Memphis, mentioned as he sat on a dock that appeared prefer it had been plopped down in a muddy car parking zone. “That is by no means imagined to dry out.”

The river’s super attain — linking soybean farms, chemical crops and meals factories — has made it a vital transport lane for roughly 500 million tons of cargo annually, together with a big portion of the world’s meals provide. The dwindling water ranges haven’t solely choked barge visitors however compelled the vessels to considerably lighten their hundreds. The price of barge transport has surged.

“It’s a very powerful working river, commodity clever, on the planet,” mentioned Colin Wellenkamp, the chief director of the Mississippi River Cities and Cities Initiative, a collective of mayors from dozens of municipalities. “We’re going to really feel this globally.”The drought has prompted a selected crunch for farmers who look to the Mississippi as an environment friendly and normally dependable methodology for transporting their crops. However with the river bottlenecked, the agriculture trade is straining to seek out options, like rail and vehicles, which include their very own logistical challenges and might deal with solely a small fraction of what even a decreased barge load can carry. (It will take 16 rail automobiles or 62 semi vehicles to move the identical quantity as a single barge, trade officers mentioned.)

“We want our provide chain to be working at full throttle,” mentioned Mike Steenhoek, government director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, noting that soybean farms ship 80 % of their exports between September and February.

The Mississippi sometimes nears its lowest ranges within the fall, however the drop has been extra intense this 12 months after a very dry summer season within the Midwest, which didn’t replenish the tributaries feeding into the river. Its withered state has additionally allowed saltwater to push in from the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the ingesting water provide for Louisiana communities that draw from the river.

Final month, the U.S. Military Corps of Engineers put in a barrier manufactured from sediment that stretches throughout the riverbed and serves as a velocity bump of types, stalling the intrusion of saltwater that, underneath regular situations, could be impeded by the river’s downstream movement. The corps can also be dredging to stop extra barges from changing into caught. As well as, the authority that manages the Tennessee River system introduced that it will open two dams, though specialists mentioned it will present solely a modest inflow into the Mississippi.

The most important supply of reduction could be rain. But forecasters warned that climate situations within the coming weeks and months aren’t more likely to be favorable.

Scientists are predicting a robust chance of the climate phenomenon often known as La Niña, which might trigger a drier-than-average winter throughout a lot of the Mississippi watershed, holding water ranges low into the spring, mentioned Clint Willson, the director of the Heart for River Research at Louisiana State College.

The disquieting sight of the parched waterway has conjured comparisons with the Colorado River, which has been much more imperiled by drought. Its waters have receded to disclose the wreckage of ships and planes, in addition to human stays. Consultants mentioned that whereas the Mississippi was in much less dire straits, its low ranges, in addition to flash floods in Missouri and Kentucky this summer season,supply troubling indicators of how the river system may face extra turbulence as excessive climate occasions, together with warmth waves and huge storms, are anticipated to change into extra frequent due to local weather change. The situations have led to renewed requires making the river extra sustainable and adopting new drought insurance policies, together with opening up federal catastrophe reduction funds to drought response.

The fascination with all that the low water ranges have revealed will not be totally welcome. Rita Stanley, who owns a marina on McKellar Lake, which branches off the Mississippi close to Memphis, threatened to name the police as curious folks trespassed on her property final week and even clambered with kids onto a sunken outdated on line casino boat, now free of the water’s grip.

“We’ve been having one heck of a time,” she mentioned.

The ebbing lake left Ms. Stanley’s marina in a contorted place, with docks buckling in some locations and her workplace sitting at a tilt.

“I needed to take these dizzy drugs — actually and really, you need to,” Ms. Stanley, 73, mentioned, taking a break from work to eat fried fish and assess, with dread, all of the cleanup work nonetheless remaining. “It’s actually only a ache within the rump.”

The drought has unearthed an infinite assortment of treasures: field followers, home and automobile keys, iPhones of varied classic. On the Mud Island Marina, Mr. Weiss’s 13-year-old daughter has collected 5 pairs of Ray-Ban sun shades, and he paid her $5 for each barbecue grill she fished out of the muck.

The marina, which has slips for dozens of vessels, has floating docks hooked to towering steel poles that enable them to rise and fall together with the river ranges. For the time being, the docks had been lodged within the mud. A line of rust on the poles marked the place the water ranges sometimes sat. Far above it was a line of orange spray paint marking a excessive reached in 2011: 47.9 toes.

Mr. Babb ventured out on the river again then, too. The flooding made Downtown Memphis, which usually loomed on a bluff over the marina, accessible by kayak. “Now, that is the opposite excessive,” he mentioned from his boat, a reproduction he had constructed of the paddle-wheelers that populated the river within the 1800s.

“Most individuals are born and raised with a way of taboo — ‘Don’t go on the market,’” Mr. Babb mentioned of the river. “I used to be lucky to have simply the alternative.”

The mud had change into virtually like quicksand. When an area tv information crew got here to the marina, Mr. Weiss mentioned, he implored an intern the group introduced to not step off the dock to get the image she needed for Instagram. Greatest case state of affairs, he advised her: “You’re going to scent for 2 days.”

He hoped the water would return step by step, softening the mud so the boats may ease their method again up, sparing them the injury they may maintain if the river rose quicker and yanked them out of the dried floor. One sailboat, he famous, had a keel buried six toes within the muck.

It appeared just like the water wouldn’t be coming again in a rush. As he walked the dock on a latest morning, his eyes looked for any signal of change. He discovered puddles accumulating within the mud, and nothing extra.

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Mississippi

Vicksburg’s Raymond Elledge set to enter Mississippi Disc Golf Hall of Fame – The Vicksburg Post

Published

3 hours ago

September 3, 2024

Press Room

Vicksburg’s Raymond Elledge set to enter Mississippi Disc Golf Hall of Fame

Published 4:30 pm Tuesday, September 3, 2024

1 of 2

Vicksburg resident Raymond Elledge has been elected to the Mississippi Disc Golf Hall of Fame. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

During two decades of playing disc golf, Raymond Elledge has only won one big tournament.

“I don’t even remember what year it was,” he said.

Nonetheless, Elledge is a legend in the sport in Mississippi. He’s worked tirelessly to maintain courses, been a member of several local and state players associations, and taught people young and old the joys of it. That level of dedication led to Elledge’s recent election to the Mississippi Disc Golf Hall of Fame. He’ll officially be inducted Oct. 12 in Starkville.

“When he first told me last year I was nominated, I told him, ‘Man, you’re making my heart hurt.’ You don’t realize the emotions you can get. Stuff can just tear you up, and it did because I was just so excited,” the 62-year-old Vicksburg resident said. “You go years and years, and you’re out here busting your butt trying to maintain the course and showing everybody what you can.”

Disc golf is played the same as traditional golf, except with plastic discs that resemble frisbees. Players take aim at a steel basket several hundred yards away, with the goal of getting it in there in as few throws as possible.

Elledge first played disc golf in 2002, on a private course built in the backyard of Vicksburg resident Herman Cochran. One of the people playing with Elledge made a hole-in-one, and the excitement over the feat hooked him instantly.

“I seen this little old fella, he was 21 or 22 but he looked like he was 12, and he made an ace. I was hooked. I’ve got to do it,” Elledge said. “I don’t go anywhere on vacation without taking my disc golf bag. I just love the game.”

Elledge added that the simplicity of the sport is something he enjoys. A starter kit of three discs — a driver, mid-range disc and putter, all of which have different densities and flight characteristics — can be purchased for about $25.

The courses are easily found at many parks in Mississippi. There is an 18-hole course at Halls Ferry Park. Players of all ages and shapes can play it as long as they can walk the course. Elledge had quadruple bypass heart surgery eight years ago and playing disc golf helps him stay in shape.

“It’s something anybody can do,” he said. “I’ve trained kids from 5 to 50, and the oldest one I’ve helped train to play this game is 71 years old now. He still comes out and plays. This is a sport that any age can play.“

With his passion for disc golf comes a sense of responsibility. He’s helped clear brush around parts of the Halls Ferry Park course to keep it playable, and done the same while working with associations like the Vicksburg Disc Golf Association and Jackson Union of Disc Golf Enthusiasts.

He’s also eager to teach the game to newcomers.

“I’ve never quit teaching how to play the game,” he said. “They used to have something called the World’s Biggest Disc Golf Weekend and I won it three years in a row. What it is, is whoever takes the most players out to a certain disc golf course gets the T-shirt and a disc.”

His service to the sport led to a nomination for the Mississippi Disc Golf Hall of Fame in 2023, but he didn’t make the final cut. This year he did, and he said it was better than winning any tournament.

“You play a lot of tournaments. You do a whole lot for the sport itself, such as numerous work days working on the course to maintain it. Teaching the kids and when we have tournaments helping move baskets around to new spots,” Elledge said. “Then somebody will nominate you and there’s a lot of votes from the clubs. If you get enough votes from everybody you’re in. You find out how much you’re appreciated by everybody for all that you’ve done.”

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post’s sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post’s sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper’s 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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Mississippi

Arizona State vs Mississippi State picks, odds: Who wins Week 2 college football game?

Published

8 hours ago

September 3, 2024

Press Room

Arizona State vs Mississippi State picks, odds: Who wins Week 2 college football game?

The Arizona State Sun Devils host the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a Week 2 non-conference college football game on Saturday, Sept. 7 at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.

Which team will win the game?

Check out these picks and predictions for the game, which is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. MST and can be seen on ESPN (stream with this free trial from FUBO).

Arizona State is coming off a 48-7 win against Wyoming. Mississippi State beat Eastern Kentucky in its season opener, 56-7.

ASU football is a 6.5-point favorite over Mississippi State in the game, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

The Sun Devils are -250 on the moneyline. The Bulldogs are +200.

The over/under for the game is set at 56.5 points.

This is the first meeting between the two college football programs.

Dimers.com: Arizona State 30, Mississippi State 24

It writes: “According to our analysis, Arizona State is more likely to beat Mississippi State in CFB action at Mountain America Stadium on Saturday.”

Sports Chat Place: Bet ASU football to cover vs Mississippi State

It writes: “I’m going with Arizona State. This should be a fun matchup though, and you could make a case either way. The Sun Devils posted 499 total yards (241 rushing), 7.0 yards per play, 27 first downs and no turnovers in their blowout win Saturday. Defensively they were great as well with 118 yards allowed (78 passing), eight first downs, three turnovers and a 3-of-13 rate on third downs.”

Arizona State football predictions: Game-by-game picks for Sun Devils in 2024 season

Picks and Parlays: Arizona State 35, Mississippi State 21

Cameron Ross writes: “Both teams come in a week two undefeated as each will look to continue to roll. Arizona State will have the edge however as they are on their home field and have a top tier defense. Look for the Sun Devils to keep it rolling as they pick up a win and cover at home against the SEC opponent.”

Clarion Ledger: Arizona State 27, Mississippi State 26

Sam Sklar writes: “This game kicks off at 9:30 p.m. CT against an Arizona State team that should be improved under second-year coach Kenny Dillingham. The Sun Devils offense averaged just 17.7 points per game in part due to injuries at quarterback and offensive line. Redshirt freshman transfer Sam Leavitt is ASU’s new quarterback.”

ASU football schedule: Dates, times, TV channels for Sun Devils’ 2024 season

ESPN: Sun Devils have a 56.5% chance to defeat Bulldogs in Week 2

The site’s matchup predictor gives Mississippi State a 43.5% chance to beat Arizona State at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe on Saturday.

STREAM THE GAME: Watch ASU football vs Mississippi State live with FUBO (free trial)

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Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.

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Mississippi deer season 2024-25: Here’s what hunters need to know

Published

13 hours ago

September 3, 2024

Press Room

Mississippi deer season 2024-25: Here’s what hunters need to know

Up-to-date information on deer season 2024-25 in Mississippi including CWD, season dates, bag limits, antler restrictions and more.

Deer season is almost here and will kick off this month with the early, buck-only archery season followed by the traditional archery season in October then the early primitive weapon season and gun season in November. For thousands in Mississippi, it’s the most exciting time of the year.

But, as has been the case in many years, there have been some changes. Here’s what hunters need to know about chronic wasting disease, bag limits, harvest reporting and season dates for the 2024-25 deer season.

Deer hunting season dates

North Central, Delta and Hills deer management units

Archery: Sept. 13-15, One legal buck. Special permit, mandatory reporting and CWD sampling required. Private land and authorized state and federal lands.
Archery: Oct. 1-Nov. 22, Either sex on private land, open public land, and Holly Springs National Forest.
Youth: Nov. 9-22, Either sex on private lands and authorized state and federal lands.
Youth: Nov. 23-Jan. 31, Either sex on private lands. On open public lands, youth must follow below legal deer criteria.
Antlerless primitive weapon: Nov. 11-22, Antlerless deer only on private lands.
Gun with dogs: Nov. 23-Dec. 1, Either sex on private land and Holly Springs National Forest. Legal bucks only on open public land.
Primitive weapon: Dec. 2-15, Either sex on private land, open public land, and Holly Springs National Forest. Weapons of choice may be used on private land with the appropriate license.
Gun without dogs: Dec. 16-23, Either sex on private land and Holly Springs National Forest. Legal bucks only on open public land.
Gun with dogs: Dec. 24-Jan.22, Either sex on private land and Holly Spring National Forest. Legal bucks only on open public land.
Archery, primitive weapon: Jan. 23-31, Either sex on private land and Holly Springs National Forest. Legal bucks only on open public land. Weapons of choice may be used on private land with appropriate license.

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Southeast Deer Management Unit

Archery: Sept. 13-15, One legal buck. Special permit, mandatory reporting and CWD sampling required. Private land and authorized state and federal lands.
Archery: Oct. 15-Nov. 22, Either sex on private or open public land.
Youth: 15 years and under, Nov. 9-22, Either sex on private land and authorized state and federal land.
Youth: 15 years and under, Nov. 23-Feb. 15, Either sex on private land. On open public land, youth must follow legal deer criteria.
Gun with dogs: Nov. 23-Dec. 1, Either sex on private land. Legal bucks only on open public land.
Primitive weapon: Dec. 2-15, Either sex on private or open public land. Weapons of choice may be used on private land with appropriate license.
Gun without dogs: Dec. 16-23, Either sex on private land. Legal bucks only on open public land.
Gun with dogs: Dec. 24-Jan. 22, Either sex on private land. Legal bucks only on open public land.
Archery, primitive weapon: Jan. 23-31, Either sex on private land. Legal bucks only on open public land. Weapon of choice may be used on private land with the appropriate license.
Archery, primitive weapon: Feb. 1-15, Legal bucks only on private and open public land. Weapon of choice may be used on private land with the appropriate license.

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Deer bag limits

Delta DMU: The bag limit for antlered deer is one per day, three per annual season. The antlerless bag limit is five.
Hills DMU: The bag limit for antlered deer is one per day, three per annual season. The antlerless bag limit is five.
North Central DMU: The bag limit for antlered deer is one per day, four per annual season. The limit for antlerless deer is 10 on private lands.
Southeast DMU: The bag limit for antlered deer is one per day, three per annual season. The bag limit for antlerless deer is one per day, three per annual season.
U.S. Forest Service National Forests: The bag limit for antlered deer is one per day, three per annual season. The bag limit for antlerless deer is one per day, five per annual season except in the Southeast DMU where the antlerless limit is one per day, three per annual season.

Antler requirements

Delta DMU: 12-inch inside spread or 15-inch main beam
Hills DMU: 10-inch inside spread or 13-inch main beam
North Central DMU: No antler restrictions apply to this zone. Hunters may harvest bucks with any hardened antler.
Southeast DMU: 10-inch inside spread or 13-inch main beam
Youth hunters: For youth hunters 15 years of age and younger, hunting on private land and authorized state and federal lands, all of the buck bag limit may be any antlered deer.
Buck of choice: In the Delta, Hills and Southeast DMUs, hunters may harvest one buck that does not meet antler requirements on private land and Holly Springs National Forest.
Public lands: Antler requirements vary among public lands. Hunters should check regulations for the specific public land they plan to hunt before hunting.

Blaze orange

Hunters have traditionally been required to wear 500 square inches of unbroken blaze orange while deer hunting as a safety measure, but this year they have an alternative. A bill passed in the 2024 Legislative session allows hunters to choose between blaze orange or pink.

CWD testing

Testing deer for CWD, a disease that is considered always fatal for deer, is not mandatory other than during the early archery season, but the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks urges hunters to provide tissue samples of harvested deer for testing.

According to the department, knowing where the disease exists and how prevalent it is helps in managing and slowing the spread of the disease.

Although there has been no known case of it spreading to humans, the CDC warns against consuming infected deer. So hunters should know if their deer is infected as well.

Since the disease was first detected in Mississippi in 2018, there have been 318 cases found in the state as of September 2024.

For convenience, MDWFP has provided freezers at locations across the state where hunters can leave deer heads with six inches of neck attached for testing. The agency has also partnered with a number of taxidermy businesses that will have deer tested at the customer’s request.

CWD management zones

Counties in CWD management zones have changed with some added and a zone added this year. Within these zones, special regulations are in place to slow the spread of the disease such as a supplemental feeding ban and carcass transportation restrictions.

North CWD Management Zone

The North CWD Management Zone includes all portions of the following counties:

Alcorn County
Benton County
Desoto County
Lafayette County
Marshall County
Panola County
Prentiss County
Tate County
Tippah County
Tishomingo County
Union County

Portions of Coahoma, Quitman, and Tunica counties are also included and are defined as:

Areas south of MS 4
Areas east of Old Highway 61 to the intersection of US 49
Areas east of US 49 to the intersection of US 278
Areas north of US 278
Areas west of MS 3

Issaquena CWD Management Zone

Claiborne County
Sharkey County, east of the Mississippi River and south of MS 14
Warren County

Harrison CWD Management Zone

Portions of Hancock and Harrison counties are included and defined as:

All portions of Harrison County west of US 49
All portions of Hancock County east of MS 53, MS 603 and MS 43
All portions of Hancock County east of Nicholson Avenue

What is banned in a CWD management zone?

Salt licks
Mineral licks
Supplemental feeding
Transportation of deer carcasses outside the zone

What parts of a deer can be taken out of a CWD zone?

Cut/wrapped meat
Deboned meat
Hides with no head attached
Bone-in leg quarters
Finished taxidermy
Antlers with no tissue attached
Cleaned skulls or skull plates with no brain tissue
Hunters may transport deer heads to permitted taxidermists participating in the CWD collection program. A CWD sample number must be obtained from a participating taxidermist prior to transporting a deer head outside of the CWD management zone.

Do you have a story idea? Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.

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