HARRISON COUNTY, Miss. (WAFB) – A Denham Springs woman was killed during a crash involving multiple motorcycles in Mississippi.

Authorities said the crash happened around 5 p.m. Sunday, May 26, on I-10 in Harrison County.

According to the Mississippi Highway Patrol, the victim who died is Amanda Holden, 43, of Denham Springs.

At the time of the crash, the husband of the victim, Roy Dale Holden Jr., 39, was traveling east on a motorcycle on the interstate with a 16-year-old passenger, authorities said. They added that the teen fell from the moving motorcycle.

Authorities said that Amanda Holden was also headed east on the interstate and swerved to avoid hitting the teen. Two other motorcycles also swerved out of the way.

Amanda Holden crashed and died at the scene as a result of her injuries, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

Two people were taken away from the scene in an ambulance, while two others were airlifted.

The crash remains under investigation.

Click here to report a typo.

Copyright 2024 WAFB. All rights reserved.

After two down years and a lot of frustrations, Mississippi State baseball is back in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. The Bulldogs put together a 38-21 season that included a 17-13 SEC record and fifth-place finish in league play. It was a big step back towards what’s expected in Starkville.

In fact, it was a strong enough season that many expected State would host a regional. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs were not announced as one of the 16 regional hosts yesterday evening. It was a controversial decision that Bulldog fans had plenty of opinions on.

The Diamond Dawgs will have to hit the road for regional play, and today, we learned where they’re headed.

MSU is off to ACC country. The Bulldogs are the 2-seed in the Charlottesville regional, hosted by #12 national seed Virginia. They’ll face 3-seed St. John’s on Friday for their opening game of regional play. Virginia will play 4-seed Penn.

St. John’s is 37-16-1 this season. They were strong in Big East play going 14-7 and winning the league tournament. The Red Storm opened the year with a win over Florida and earned solid series wins over Xavier and Creighton.

Virginia has lived up to their usual reputation. The Cavaliers are 41-15, going 18-12 in the ACC. They have a dangerous offense and picked up an impressive series win over North Carolina. Penn is in their second-straight regional after winning the Ivy League tournament. Last year they started 2-0 in the Auburn regional before dropping 2-straight to USM.

The Charlottesville regional is paired up with the Fayetteville regional. If State can advance through regionals, they’d most likely face a familiar foe in Arkansas for Super Regional play.

While there’s no guarantee State will face UVA, if they do, these programs have some history. The Bulldogs have fun memories in Charlottesville. In 2013, MSU played at UVA for Super Regionals. The Dawgs won the series 2-0 to advance to Omaha for the first time since 2007. That State team would be the first to advance to the National Championship Series.

In the 2021 College World Series, the Bulldogs faced the Cavs in the winner’s bracket. Down 4-0 and being no-hit through seven innings, State exploded for six runs in the top of 8th, highlighted by Tanner Allen’s unforgettable go-ahead 3-run homer, and went on to win 6-5. That State team, of course, would go on to win the first national title in school history.

While we’d love to see State playing in Starkville, this team has the makings of a dangerous 2-seed. If they can find some consistency at the plate, there’s no reason they can’t go on a run.

Industrial recruitment is a highly competitive sport.

Location and political atmosphere count. Workforce availability and training capacity count. And money counts, often more than double.

Mississippi County residents understand this well. They have seen the benefits of using public funds to lower the capital cost of new economic development projects and how that results in improved economic, education and quality-of-life opportunities.

You’ve undoubtedly seen many headlines in Arkansas Business related to Mississippi County attracting billions of dollars in investments.

To date, the people of Mississippi County, in partnership with local entities, have invested approximately $78 million of local economic development funds to win industrial projects. The state of Arkansas, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Entergy, the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas and four governors of Arkansas have been constant partners, along with local government leaders.

These investments have resulted in $8 billion of private capital investment in Mississippi County and the creation of approximately 8,000 jobs.

Faced with decades of population stagnation, the loss of 9,000 jobs and greater economic hardships in the 1990s — more than any decade since the Great Depression — the future did not look bright for our residents. Mississippi County residents are motivated for more.

They want opportunities. They want jobs. They want and have earned better.

In 2002, we presented a countywide sales tax designated to develop the state’s first county-level economic development foundation to recruit jobs and businesses to Mississippi County.

It worked so well that our residents renewed the 10-year tax in 2012 and again in 2022. It will now run until 2033, and I anticipate another renewal.

Three decades later, we are the largest steel-producing county in the United States.

We have advantages like the Mississippi River, the BNSF Railroad, large natural gas pipelines and lots of flat land. But what set us apart from the many communities along the banks of the Mighty Mississippi? I believe it was our people and our will to challenge a future we did not want — to challenge it with our tax dollars, public support for economic development, and, most importantly, the belief that our future belonged to us.

People seem to have less and less appetite for taxes these days. So how have we done it in Mississippi County? Well, it’s hard to beat a 10,156% return on investment. That’s the result of $78 million invested by the county and $8 billion invested by local companies.

Those companies — Nucor, Zekelman, Lexicon Inc., Big River Steel, Hybar and others — have invested in large buildings and efficiencies, in addition to our people. An average steel industry worker makes in excess of $140,000 annually.

Several of our major employers are returning the favor of our investment by helping ensure their workers live where they work. Including through the Work Here, Live Here program, which invests 10% toward the purchase price of qualifying homes. So far, approximately $3 million has been invested toward the construction of 55 new homes.

Companies are also investing in workforce training, giving residents an opportunity to gain the skills needed to join or remain in the industry as it becomes more efficient and tech-forward.

So what is the magic playbook for industrial recruitment? A region of people who are willing to invest in themselves and their future.

Clif Chitwood is CEO and president of the Great River Economic Development Foundation. He has been at the forefront of industry growth in Mississippi County that has led it to become the top steel-producing region in the U.S.  He can be reached at clif@cottontosteel.com.