Some of the top stories as discussed on this May 28th edition of "Gulf Coast Mornings with Kelly Bennett and Uncle Henry":
Moss Point residents will head to the polls today to vote on a possible 2% restaurant tax. Mayor King says that 2-cents on the dollar could bring up to $400-thousand for parks and recreation and tourism for the city. A vote of 60% is required for the measure to pass.
Jackson police say they'll continue to investigate the actions of an officer who committed suicide on the side of a highway after being accused of having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. Her family had accused James Hollins of sexually assaulting the girl in the back of his patrol car on several occasions over the last six months. The family's attorney says there's video that shows some of those sexual encounters which would be considered statutory rape because of the girl's age. Police say Hollins shot himself Monday in a car which was parked on the shoulder of I-220 in Jackson.
Mississippi almost got through the long Memorial Day weekend without a fatal crash on a state highway. But last night in Jackson County, a woman was killed when the car she was in ran a red light while making a turn on Highway 90 and was hit by another car. The Highway Patrol says 24-year-old Kayla Pittman of Ocean Springs was dead at the scene. The driver of that car, Robert Pittman, is hospitalized with serious injuries. The driver of the other car was not seriously hurt.
With temperatures across Mississippi hovering around 90-degrees all week, emergency officials are warning parents not to leave their kids inside parked cars. Emergency officials say a child's body heats up much faster than an adult's, so it doesn't take long for hot weather to turn fatal. A parked car can heat up nearly 50-degrees in just 30-minutes. Across the country, eight children have already died this year from being left in hot cars.
The road to Omaha - at least for this weekend - runs through Mississippi. Mississippi State and Ole Miss are preparing to host NCAA regionals and Southern Miss will travel to Baton Rouge to begin its quest for a trip to the College World Series. State will play Southern University Friday afternoon in the opening game of the Starkville regional which also features Miami and Central Michigan. The Rebels take on Jacksonville State Friday night. Clemson and Illinois are the other two teams in the Oxford regional. Southern Miss plays Arizona State Friday in the regional hosted by LSU. Stony Brook completes the field in the Baton Rouge regional.
A do or die situation for Pearl River Community College at the JUCO Division-2 World Series in Oklahoma. They play Pasco-Hernando today in an elimination game after losing last night to Northern Oklahoma-Enid 4-to-2.
Former basketball star Keith Carter has been named the interim athletic director at Ole Miss. He'll lead the department until the school makes a final decision on Ross Bjork's successor. Bjork announced last week that he was leaving Oxford to become athletic director at Texas A&M. Carter was an All American at Ole Miss in 1999. He's been serving as a deputy athletic director and chief revenue officer for the department.