Bay sweeps West Harrison, SSC tops Pass in basketball

Even though school is out for the holiday season, area basketball teams were hitting the hardwood. The Bay High Tigers swept a pair of games with the West Harrison Hurricanes on Monday, December 21st.

In the girls’ game, the Lady Tigers tallied a 78-19 win. Jeremi Raboteau scored 19 points to lead Bay High followed by Kristian Lyons with 14 and Shekinah Lewis 10. The win pushed the Lady Tigers’ record to 11-2.

In the boys’ game, the Tigers (12-1) defeated the Hurricanes 69-53. Devon Narcisse tallied 16 points to pace Bay High followed by Brennan Dunklin with 14, Devin Farrington 12 and Daron Bell 10.

SSC topped the Pass Christian Pirates 53-46 in a Division 8-4A clash. Johnny Zuppardo led the Rocks (14-2) with 18 points while Anthony Boswell chipped in 14 points. Stanley Magee and Derek Saucier each had 15 points in the loss.

The Bay High and Pass Christian boys are playing in the Admiral Hardwood Classic in Gulfport while St. Stanislaus is in the Jackie Laird Holiday Classic in Biloxi.

The Bay High Lady Tigers hosted the Bay High Christmas Tournament December 28-30 which included the Hancock Lady Hawks. Look for tournament coverage in Saturday’s edition.

Bermond, Gillihan lead Hancock squad selections in All-Region 4-6A

Hancock Hawks linebacker Chris Bermond and quarterback Keagon Gillihan were recently named to the All-Region 4-6A MVP team.

Bermond, the 2009 Sea Coast Echo Defensive Player of the Year, was named to the MVP team as a linebacker after recording 154 tackles on the season. He was also a second team Mississippi Association of Coaches All-State selection at linebacker.

Gillihan, the first Hancock quarterback to rush and pass for 1,000 yards in a season, was named to the MVP team as the quarterback. He is also a two-time first-team All-Sea Coast Echo selection.

Running back Adrian Whavers, linebacker Alex Jackson and wide receiver Brian Armenta were named to the All-Region 4-6A team. Whavers was an honorable mention All-Sea Coast Echo selection in 2009 while Jackson and Armenta were both first-team selections. Jackson is the lone junior in the list and returns to the gridiron in 2010.

SSC’s Favre named All-South quarterback

St. Stanislaus College All-American record-setting quarterback Dylan Favre is piling up the post season awards following the 2009 football season.

Recently, he was named to the Orlando Sentinel’s 91st annual All-South football team as a quarterback. The publication names the top players from Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Geogia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee.

He was joined on the first team by fellow Mississippians Oak Grove wide receiver Steve McNair Jr., South Panola running back Nick Parker, South Panola defensive lineman Devin Clark and West Point wide receiver Michael Carr. Ocean Springs’ linebacker Travis Dickson was an honorable mention selection. Favre was also recently named Mr. Football 2009 by the Clarion Ledger and selected to the publication’s All-Decade team as an athlete.

BWYC elects flag officers for 2010

Bay-Waveland Yacht Club is pleased to announce the election of its new Flag Officers for 2010. The elections took place at a special meeting of the BWYC Board of Governors which was held on Dec. 4.

The newly-elected flag officers are as follows: Christopher F. “Chris” Trapani, Commodore; John R. “Randy” Santa Cruz, Vice Commodore; Lucien M. “Beau” Gex III, Rear Commodore; Mrs. Yvonne Roth Gelpi, Secretary and former BWYC Commodore Mark A. Uram, Treasurer. BWYC Flag Officers are elected annually by the BWYC Board of Governors for one year terms in each position.

The 12 member BWYC Board of Governors includes the following individuals: former BWYC Commodore John R. Adams, David C. Blouin, Jr., Henry B. “Harry” Chapman II, Claude H. Dannemann, Jr., Pierre G. “Gus” Gelpi, Ames Kergosien, James E. “Jimmy” Marlowe, Mrs. Kathleen “Toppy” Stieffel Moran, John M. Rosetti III, Edgar W. Santa Cruz III, Leo W. Seal III and Cary A, Trapani. BWYC board members are elected by the BWYC Stockholders for 2 year staggered terms in which 6 members are elected each year to replace the members whose two-year terms expire.

The BWYC General Manager is George H. Constance, CCM, CCE and the BWYC Executive Cheff is Armond Jonte’
The out-going six board members who have concluded their two-year elected terms are: Mrs. Missy Breath Altese, former BWYC Commodore Michael D. “Mike” Chapoton, former BWYC Commodore Tucker E. “Ted” Dawson, Jr., Dr. Raymond K. “Kim” Doty, Lucien M. “Beau” Gex III, Charles G. “Charlie” Merrigan and the outgoing BWYC Commodore is Commodore Michael J. “Mike” Carron to whom great appreciation has been shown for the dedicated services they have provided to Bay-Waveland Yacht Club and the sport of Sailing. Former BWYC Commodore Walter G. Chamberlain is the out going BWYC Corporate Secretary and has recently been elected to a three-year term on the Board of Directors at the United States Sailing Association (US Sailing) which is headquartered at Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

Former BWYC Commodore and current GYA Commodore Judith J. “Judy” Reeves will conclude her productive year as commodore of the Gulf Yachting Association in January.

Bay-Waveland Yacht Club will be hosting two significant sailing championship events in 2010. The Flying Scot North American Championship and the Gulf Yachting Association’s Sir Thomas J. Lipton Cup Championship.

While it will be difficult to surpass the successes of 2008 and 2009, congratulations and best wishes go out to BWYC Commodore Chris Trapani, all BWYC Flag Officers, members of the BWYC Board of Governors, to the BWYC Staff and the BWYC Membership for a very successful 2010.

Child treated for burns after fire mishap

HANCOCK COUNTY

An 11-year-old girl was treated for facial burns after a holiday accident that occurred the night after Christmas in Bayside Park.

Firefighters responded to a dispatch call at 11:48 p.m. on Dec. 26, after an explosion occurred in an outdoor fire. Zeke Hall, assistant chief of the Bayside Fire Department, said the incident occurred outside a residence at 7102 Webster Street.

Hall said residents had been sitting around the small fire when 11-year-old Shyanne Bourgeois and a friend approached the blaze and tossed a flammable type of glue into the fire. The substance exploded and erupted.

“I was at the next street over and heard the explosion,” Hall said.

The girl was taken to Hancock Medical Center with first and second-degree facial burns.

Her hair also was burned, Hall said.

She was then taken to Gulfport Memorial Hospital before being released, he said.

State, feds eye permits for Bay marina

BAY ST. LOUIS

State and federal officials are expected to consider a permit request to build a marina in Bay St. Louis that will require exceptions to coastal wetlands regulations, and involves removing about 150,000 cubic yards of dredged material.

The marina, to be built mostly with federal funds and owned by the city, has been discussed for months. But the permit request filed recently by project engineers is the first official public delineation of the enormity of the project, which the city administration envisions as an economic catalyst that would attract scores of luxury yacht owners to the Bay.

Granting of the permit would allow construction of a marina with 208 slips accommodating boats 35 to 60 feet in length. According to DMR, the facility would include an 850-foot-wide basin and an entrance channel the better part of a mile long.

A representative of Brown & Mitchell, an engineering firm hired for the project, recently told the Bay St. Louis City Council the permit has been filed with the Mississippi Department of Marines Resources and the Army Corps of Engineers. Officials at the DMR are now accepting written comments on the plan from the public, and a public hearing on the issue is scheduled on Jan. 21 at the Bay St. Louis City Council chambers.

The Department of Marine Resources could not be reached Tuesday for comment or other information on the permitting process or how long it may take.

Extensive dredging will be required to build the marina. For a harbor basin, an area 1,200 feet long and 850 feet wide must be dredged to a depth of eight feet. Depths in the area currently range from zero to six feet, the DMR said.

An additional channel from the bay to the marina will be dredged as deep as eight feet for a length of 4,100 feet and 150 feet wide.

The city is requesting a variance to the Mississippi Coastal Program, which requires that marinas be built at least 1,000 feet away from shellfish harvesting areas, and not located in areas with submerged or regularly flooded vegetation. Both those conditions apparently now exist at the proposed site.

The city is also asking for an adjustment to the Coastal Wetlands Use Plan for marina construction. The change would allow construction of both the marina and the new navigation channel, which would access an existing federal navigation channel in the Bay of St. Louis.

The marina would stretch along the shore from DeMontluzin Street nearly to the CSX Railroad tracks. Aside from boat slips, plans call for construction of 3,550 feet of main piers that would be 10 feet wide, as well as 4,049 feet of finger piers measuring four feet in width.

There would also be more than 13,000 square feet of decking, 216 mooring pilings, 10 day markers, and five electrical platforms.

In addition to other breakwaters, a bulkhead, piers and walkways, the northern boundary of the marina would be a pier 1,200 feet long and 10 feet wide, including a pavilion, three fishing piers, a terminal, t-shaped pier, and shading to cover more than 67,000 square feet.

Complete legal ads detailing the project will be published in the Sea Coast Echo on Jan. 2 and Jan. 9. The public hearing on Jan. 21 will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Bay St. Louis City Council Chambers at Main Street and U.S. 90.

In a public notice, DMR said questions and answers will not be allowed at the hearing, but concerned people will be able to make comments on the proposal.

Other comments or objections to the plan must be filed in writing with the Department of Marine Resources, 1141 Bayview Ave., Biloxi, Miss., 39530, and the Office of Pollution Control, P.O. Box 2261, Jackson, Miss., 39225.

DUI Driver: Three wrecks in two states, five injured

HANCOCK COUNTY

 Slidell woman who was allegedly high on meth is accused of causing three accidents on Christmas Eve along a dimly-lit stretch of U.S. 90 in St. Tammany Parish and then into Hancock County, officials said Monday.

According to West Hancock Fire Chief Kim Jones, the West Hancock Fire Department worked all three accidents and a total of five people were taken to the hospital.

The driver who allegedly caused the accidents, Adorise Michelle Mayard, 47, was cited for hit-and-run, DUI, and possession of crystal meth, authorities said.

Jones said the first accident was reported about 7 p.m. on Dec. 24, near the U.S. 90 and 190 junction.

The vehicle being driven by Mayard apparently ran a truck off the road, Jones said. Nobody was injured in that crash, Jones said.

West Hancock has a mutual-aid agreement with St. Tammany and responded to the call, Jones said.

A short time later, Mayard’s 1997 Ford Ranger collided with a 2006 Nissan on the state-line bridge.

“She obliterated that car,” Jones said.

Sgt. Emery Tumulty of the Louisiana State Police said one person was taken to the hospital with minor injuries in the accident.

“After the accident, she fled into Mississippi,” Tumulty said.

Mayard then rear-ended a third vehicle about a half-mile down the road at the entrance to the Oak Harbor subdivision, Jones said.

Mayard’s vehicle landed in a ditch and law enforcement and fire personnel arrived a short time later, Jones said. Three people were taken to the hospital in that accident, Jones said.

Most of the injuries were minor, however, he said.
Mayard was arrested and taken to the Hancock County Jail for suspicion of DUI.

When she arrived at the jail, jail deputies discovered a syringe loaded with crystal meth in Mayard’s possession.

Mayard was charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance.

Her bond was set at $27,000. She was also cited for hit-and-run by Louisiana authorities.

Missing man’s body found on Bay beach

BAY ST. LOUIS

The body of Jerome Thomas, 27, was found washed up on the beach just south of the Bay-Waveland Yacht Club last Thursday, Bay St. Louis Police Chief Tom Burleson said.

“At 5 p.m. on December 24, Central Dispatch notified Bay police that a citizen had discovered a body on the beach,” Burleson said. “Chief of Detectives Lt. Paul Cox was notified and – in checking the victim – found no signs of life. Hancock Corner Norma Stiglet was then notified.”

Stiglet said Monday that an autopsy was performed on the victim and his death was caused by drowning – there were no injury marks on the body.

“Jerome Thomas was reported as missing by his brother Maurice Thomas at 12.23 a.m. on December 9,” Burleson said. “Maurice said he had seen his brother Jerome at 8 p.m. on December 7 when he went to bed. In the early hours of December 8, Maurice Thomas said he went to check on his brother and found a note stating, ‘I am going for a walk and will be back.’ By a little after midnight, he notified Bay police that his brother was missing.”

In a report on December 10, Burleson said, “Jerome Thomas matched the sketchy descriptions motorists called in (the previous) morning of a man who may have jumped off the bridge during a torrential down pour. Information was received from a bridge motorist who reportedly had seen a person at the highest point on the bridge (climb) on the rail and roll over. The area is in Harrison County. Our officers could find nothing on the bridge or see anything in the water. This was during a heavy rain storm.

“I remained at the site until around 8:15 a.m. and the Department of Marine Resources had begun a water search with two boats. Bay officers had interviewed several motorists layer who had traveled the bridge at the time the unidentified man had allegedly gone over the rail. With this information from his brother and the other information gathered, we felt Jerome Thomas may have jumped off the bridge.”

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter joined DMR in the search on the first day; and two Hancock County Sheriff’s Office boats joined the next. DMR continued the search for several days.

Train, truck collide

WAVELAND

A CSX train plowed into an 18-wheeler Monday morning at the Coleman Ave. intersection in Waveland causing dozens of steel beams to be spilled onto the ground and closing the crossing for about four hours.

Waveland Police Chief James Varnell said Monday that the accident occurred shortly after 8 a.m.

“The operator of the truck stated that he got stuck on the tracks and was out of his truck attempting to free it with on-board airbags to lift his trailer,” Varnell said. “While attempting to remove it, he noticed an east-bound CSX Freight train bearing down on his location.”

The driver was able to leave the area before the impact and the train engaged an emergency stop, but it was unable to stop before impact, Varnell said.

The impact spun the truck and spilled its cargo onto the ground.

About two-dozen steel I-beams were tossed from the trailer and the flat-bed portion of the rig was smashed.

The I-beams were headed for St. Clare Church, Varnell said.

The accident closed the intersection of Central and Coleman avenues for about four hours.

Moss Towing was called in to haul away the truck and help pick up the steel beams. The truck was registered to Goudeau Trucking of Willis, Tx.

The driver was not injured in the crash, Varnell said. The crash was the first train accident involving a vehicle in Waveland since Hurricane Katrina.