Temperatures remained on the warm side, moving up from the upper 60s to the 70s and 80s in the middle of the week. Rain at the end of the week cooled things back to the upper 60s with temperatures expected to rise again into the 80s.

The Mississippi River was at 23.95 feet on March 29. The river level was down Friday at 22.60 feet. Flood stage is 43 feet.

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Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said employee pay raises and a new bond rating were possible by fiscal 2015, pending continued improvements in the city’s financial condition. Flaggs anticipated filing for a new bond rating in about three weeks. Raises would come in 2015. The pay raise plan involves increasing the minimum wage for city employees to $8 an hour, making across-the-board increases for city employees, and setting a base pay for police and firefighters.

The city also implemented a 90-day pilot program using its community service workers patrolling streets to report littering and illegal dumping on major streets, video surveillance to catch illegal dumpers and stricter enforcement of the litter and trash ordinance.

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Vicksburg officials and representatives from Jackson-based IMS Engineers said they would meet with residents along Fort Hill Drive to discuss the impact of the proposed auxiliary waterline for the city. The city plans to build a 30-inch auxiliary waterline to provide service if the main 36-inch waterline breaks. The final leg of the line will go down the center of Fort Hill Drive to connect with an existing waterline on Jackson Street. The project is estimated to cost $3.2 million.

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The Mississippi Legislature has approved an appropriations bill that includes $4 million for the South Frontage Road extension to connect the western and eastern sides of the road, creating a direct line to the Outlets at Vicksburg and other businesses on the east side of the Kansas City Southern Railroad tracks. The total cost of the extension project is $17 million, Central District Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall said.

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Vicksburg Video and Viacom Inc., which owns several television networks, announced an agreement that will keep the stations on Vicksburg Video’s basic cable lineup.

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The Warren Count Board of Supervisors denied a request from Texas-based Brownstone Inc. for tax abatement for the Aeolian Apartments at the corner of Cherry and Clay streets.

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Vicksburg Warren E-911 officials said a new computer-aided dispatch system could be operational by late August. Once installed, the system will continually update officers and deputies in the field as the emergency call evolves.

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Hinds and Warren County officials unveiled signs on U.S. 80 dedicating about a 1-mile section of the road from the Clear Creek bridge in Warren County to just past the Big Black in Hinds County to the memory of Andrew “Sugarman” Daniel, who risked his life in 1939 to help get cars out of Clear Creek after the bridge collapsed.

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Annie Chiles was honored during a ceremony awarding her the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Central Area Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions working for 40 years in the Vicksburg and Vicksburg Warren School districts.

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Vicksburg Warren School District Trustee Bryan Pratt was named president of the school board with Jim Stirgus Jr. elected vice president.

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Local deaths included William M. “BB” Childs III, Madora D. Harris, Nathaniel D. Perkins, Henry Spencer, Donald Churchill Moore, Harold Lee White, Ann Weber Butler, Willie Neal, Emma McGriggs Carson, Marie Antoinette Donnell Alexander, Riley Wayne Nelson, John Nelson Strange, Ellen C. Cotton and Ernest Cotton.