Weekend preview: Running, walking and flagging

A trio of outdoor events are planned in east Biloxi this weekend: The 32nd annual Mayor’s Cup 5K run at 9 a.m. at City Hall, the Walk to End Alzheimers at 9 a.m. on the Town Green, and the Second Annual West End Hose Co. No. 3 Fire Museum Flag Football Tournament at 9 a.m. at the Kroc Center’s Yankie Stadium.

Elsewhere, you’ll find the Roy Meyers Christmas City Gift Show at the Coast Coliseum, Sammy Hagar at The Circle at IP, college hockey and public ice skating at the Coast Coliseum, the Boogie Wonder Band at the Hard Rock and the Oak Ridge Boys at the Golden Nugget.
See the overall weekend lineup
See details on the flag football tournament
See Mayor’s Cup registration and route info
See info on Walk to End Alzheimer’s

 

Gilich calls special meeting for Tuesday

Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich has called a special meeting of the Biloxi City Council for Tuesday at 11 a.m. to discuss a number of long-range and big-ticket items.

The meeting, which will be held at City Hall, is open to the public.

Among the issues Gilich plans to discuss are strategic planning for capital improvement projects, policies and planning for tax abatements, municipal water rates, and a status report on the initiative to help deliver ultra-high speed Internet service to the area.

The City Council also will have its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
See agendas and supporting documents for both meetings

 

Permit issued for demolition work at Santa Maria

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director

This week in community development, the department issued the demolition permit for the former Santa Maria Del Mar Structure located on Beach Boulevard. The demolition will include removing everything except the superstructure frame. The sale of the property to Barrington Development LLC, was completed last week, and will allow the developers to proceed with plans to renovate the structure into a luxury hotel.

Also this week, a renovation permit was issued to Harrah’s Casino for $4 million dollars in guest room upgrades. Building permits were issued for 4 new single family houses, and the Certificate of Occupancy was issued for the New Life Parish Center at Saint Michael’s Catholic Church.

 

Police warn of scam involving power bill

Some Mississippi Power customers have reported receiving suspicious calls from persons representing themselves as power company collections employees, Biloxi Police say.

During the calls, customers were told they will encounter a service interruption unless payment was received immediately. In order to facilitate payment, customers were instructed to go to various points of sale and transfer or “load” payments to specified account numbers, police say. Verification of a provided account number suggested it was a Master Card number, likely associated with a pre-paid credit or debit card.

Biloxi Police Sgt. Louis Moran warns that scams of this type are common and although different company names may be used, they often share common elements claiming overdue bills, disconnect threats if payment isn’t received and attempts to elicit personal banking information.

In a September statement, Mississippi Power stressed company representatives will never call customers and ask them for personal or banking information. Mississippi Power will never ask a customer to make a payment by purchasing a prepaid credit/debit card.

Police advise consumers who believe they may have been the victim of a scam should contact their local law enforcement agency, the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office at 601-359-3680, and Mississippi Power at 800-532-1502.
See anti-scam tips from Mississippi Power

 

News and notes

City Desk: You’ll get a preview of upcoming events and learn about the Biloxi Police Explorers program in this week’s City Desk podcast. To listen to the program, click here.

Fofo on the issues: Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich speaks to the issues of east Biloxi roads, MGM Park and the ultra-high speed Internet initiative in an appearance on WLOX News This Week. See the program Sunday morning at 8:30 on WLOX ABC.