Mississippi
Good samaritans help first responders rescue children, teen from Mississippi River near Silver Street – Mississippi's Best Community Newspaper
Good samaritans help first responders rescue children, teen from Mississippi River near Silver Street
Published 7:17 pm Sunday, June 30, 2024
- Law enforcement vehicles line up near the Silver Street boat ramp where three juveniles were just rescued from the Mississippi River on Sunday afternoon. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)
NATCHEZ — Natchez police officer Kajlil Jenkins said whatever resources they could find, including civilian ones, came quickly to help rescue three juveniles from the Mississippi River at Silver Street on Sunday afternoon.
One of the victims, a 16-year-old attempting to rescue her younger brothers from drowning, was “in the water a good 20 or 25 minutes,” Jenkins said.
He saw people in the water before anyone had time to call 911 and called it in on his radio at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Seven-year-old Lakeithius “Eli” Brashears reportedly slipped on wet pavement and fell into the water and his brother Lakeivion Brashears, 8, and sister Jaila Tobias, 16, jumped in after him.
Doug Pruett from Montgomery, Alabama, said he and his wife Judy were eating at a nearby restaurant for their 25th anniversary and saw the commotion. He and another man whose name he didn’t know were able to get the two younger children out safely. Tobias, however, was caught in the current and carried beyond their reach about 250 yards out, authorities said.
Natchez Fire Chief Robert Arrington said while first responders were en route to the river, they spotted civilians Jackson Moody and Taylor Little at Fat Mama’s Tamales on Canal Street with a boat on a trailer and asked them to help.
Authorities also asked another civilian Jake Meriwether to stop with his boat and he did, but it wasn’t needed.
Civilians Jackson Moody and Taylor Little used a boat to rescue a teen who jumped into the Mississippi River trying to rescue her two younger siblings and got swept up by the current. Each of the three juveniles are safe and expected to recover. (Submitted)
Moody and Little “were able to get their boat into the water and get her out,” Arrington said, adding, “She is on her way to the (Merit Health) hospital. She was conscious but not feeling well at all. She drank a lot of river water but we expect her to be OK.”
Arrington said the young people were very fortunate that the civilians were there, some with boats, to get to them quickly.
“The teenager was too far out and I knew good and well I couldn’t swim that good,” added Pruett.
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – A probation officer was arrested on seven counts of embezzlement.
Lacosta Lee is accused of receiving court-ordered fines and fees from those on probation and using them for her personal use.
She is a contracted probation officer for Court Programs, Inc.
Lee was served with a $7,558.50 demand letter at the time of her arrest.
She faces up to $5,000 in fines and 20 years per count if convicted.
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The river parts of Riverfest near downtown La Crosse won’t be happening this year. Well, there’s just one part, really.
The River City Water Ski Team had to cancel its part of the show, because the Mississippi River is too high and will actually crest at 15 feet Wednesday, the opening day of Riverfest.
Past events on the river haven’t happened in a few years, including flyboarding — where water jets on your feet simulate floating — and pole vaulting off a barge in the Mississippi.
“We actually have trouble finding a barge that we can rent, basically that business has taken off exponentially,” Riverfest board member Brad Pitel said. “So, when the barges are being used, we don’t have that opportunity.”
Cancelling events hasn’t happened often, and sometimes they’re not even river related. In 2018, the July 4 fireworks had to happen on July 5.
“There was a massive storm that blew through with like 60-70 mph winds right through La Crosse,” Pitel said.
Riverfest opens at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Riverside Park and runs through Saturday night, with multiple big musical acts.
Josh Ross, Drake Milligan and Blue Collar 40 kick things off. The finale Saturday night is Country Line Drive. Check the full schedule of events here.
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WEAU) – La Crosse, Vernon, and Houston Counties are under warnings due to flooding along the Mississippi River.
Impacted areas around La Crosse include Riverside Park and Goose Island Campground. Campground owners say about 60 percent of the campsite is uncampable and they’ve had to deny multiple reservations.
National Weather Service Forecaster Mike Kurz says the recent weather has been a huge factor in the flooding.
“We’ve had a very active severe weather pattern and heavy rain pattern over the last couple months. All that accumulation of heavy rain in the river basins across the area have been gradually draining into the Mississippi River basin,” says Kurz.
The National Weather Service says the rivers will crest at nearly 15 feet.
“That will be kind of heading right into the 4th of July holiday. It’s continuing to increase right now it’s about 14.7 feet, so it’s slowly increasing. Because of all the water in the system right now, it’s expected to be a prolonged crest. It’ll take a long time for the water to gradually recede as we get out of the crest period later this week,” says Kurz.
National Weather Service forecasters add that these water levels are unusual this time of year.
“For La Crosse, this is the latest in the calendar year that we’ve had river levels this high approaching 14.9 feet. The most recent would have been 1993 in the end of June, where it crested just above 14 feet,” says Kurz.
The National Weather Service says they do not expect water levels to rise much higher than 15 feet, which means the area record of 17.9 feet will stay.
Copyright 2024 WEAU. All rights reserved.
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