In a federal spending package approved this week, the city of Natchez received $2 million to support the replacement of the Canal Street Bridge. The total cost of the project is estimated at $5.8 million. City officials say the new funding represents significant progress toward full project financing. Natchez and the Mississippi Department of Transportation have already invested about $950,000 in repairs that extended the bridge’s lifespan by five years. Those repairs require ongoing inspections, and 18‑wheelers remain prohibited from using the bridge. Officials maintain that a full replacement is ultimately necessary.
A groundbreaking ceremony is being held today in Ascension Parish for the new River Parishes Community College campus in Donaldsonville. The $30 million facility will serve as a training center for the incoming Hyundai steel mill, also planned for Donaldsonville. The mill is expected to employ approximately 1,300 workers, with most anticipated to come from the new training program. The campus is projected to open in late 2027.
The Mississippi Senate Elections Committee has advanced a proposal to partially restore a system allowing citizens to place issues on a statewide ballot. Senate Concurrent Resolution 518 would require initiative organizers to collect signatures from at least 10 percent of registered Mississippi voters before an issue could be placed before the electorate. Mississippi’s previous initiative process was invalidated by the state Supreme Court in 2021 due to technical issues, and lawmakers have not yet agreed on a replacement.
Louisiana begins another round of enhanced impaired‑driving enforcement today as Carnival season gets underway. The “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” initiative will run through February 17, providing federal funding for law enforcement overtime to identify impaired drivers. Over the past five years, 32 people have been killed in Louisiana during Carnival season in crashes involving drunk drivers, and another 400 crashes have caused serious injuries.
The Mississippi River at Natchez is at 18.55 feet and rising.
