The top story reported by The Natchez Democrat in 2004, according to an informal poll made by the newspaper, was the election on June 8 of Natchez Mayor Phillip West, the first African-American elected to the highest city office since the Reconstruction era.

Elected by a narrow margin of only 100 votes over Republican candidate and alderwoman Sue Stedman, West, a former Adams County supervisor and state legislator, vowed to unite the community during his four-year term beginning July 1.

&uot;This says the citizens of Natchez are ready to move forward … to be more united and work toward a better future for all of us,&uot; West said after the election.

Many who kept a close eye on the results of the contest believed the two major candidates drew cross-over votes from districts made up of voters predominantly of the opposite race. One of those watching the race from a historical perspective was Ron Miller, executive director of the Historic Natchez Foundation.

&uot;This may be the first political race in Natchez in which race was not the deciding factor,&uot; Miller said. &uot;… We may be entering a time in Natchez when race, while still a factor, is not the deciding factor.&uot;

Stedman, gracious in defeat, asked for community unity. &uot;Now is the time for all citizens to join together, put aside differences and work together for a better future for us all,&uot; she said.

At a festive, standing-room-only inaugural ceremony at the Natchez Convention Center on July 1, West told the crowd, &uot;We have a golden opportunity to be a shining star for the rest of the state and indeed, the nation, and I believe we’re going to do it,&uot;

Other top stories in 2004 include the following:

4 Placed on alert in May, the members of the 155th Infantry waved goodbye to family, friends and Natchez in mid-August.

The soldiers have been training at Camp Shelby with nearly 4,000 other soldiers from 49 Mississippi communities for more than four months.

Holiday vacation was delayed for a short time when several military weapons were missing and the soldiers were kept on lockdown. Once the weapons were accounted for the soldiers came home for the holidays and will remain with family until Monday.

By Jan. 15, the 155th will be in Iraq.

No. 3

Three high profile trials occurred in Adams County this year, including the murder conviction of Greg Moffett for killing his girlfriend Tatanisha Thomas with a claw hammer.

The three-day trial in November concluded with the jury’s guilty verdict and Judge Forrest A. Johnson’s life in prison sentence.

Tense courtroom moments and the discovery of box cutters and knives in the bathroom led to heightened security and several scared jurors.

District Attorney Ronnie Harper showed multiple gruesome photos of Thomas’ body during the trial, including a video filmed by the coroner. During closing statements Harper used the bloody hammer to re-enact what he alleged Moffett did.

Moffett will serve his term in maximum-security prison without the eligibility for parole.

In September, Jimmy Newton Pruitt III was sentenced on manslaughter charges to 15 years, eight suspended, for the November 2003 killing of Christopher Bourdin.

In November, capital murder suspect Nathan M. Hogan pled to lesser charges of murder in the death of John Vasser, and was sentenced to life in prison. Hogan will be eligible for parole when he is 65.

4 &045;&045; Cathedral wins state title

Cathedral High School’s baseball team won the MHSAA Class 1A state championship in Pontotoc on May 18 after several weeks in a post-season playoff series that included only one loss. The Green Wave defeated Houlka 7-4 to take the championship at Pontotoc City Park.

The win marked the third baseball title in school history and the first under second-year head coach Craig Beesley, who played for a state title as a member of the Green Wave in 1988.

Senior Te Riley came on in the seventh inning to pick up his first save of the season a night after throwing 118 pitches in a 5-1 win at Chester Willis Field in Natchez. &uot;As hard as we have worked, we deserve this moment,&uot; Riley said.

5 &045;&045; Monterey soldier killed in Iraq

In Monterey, La., grieving family members and friends buried young Marine Pfc. Rick Morris on March 25. The 20-year-old died of mortar fire while on patrol in Iraq on March 18. He served with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force based in Twentynine Palms, Calif., and had been in Iraq for one month.

Love of country drew him to the Marines and to Iraq, his mother, Dana Morris, said. &uot;I never would have imagined that he would never come home,&uot; she said.

6 &045;&045; Gene Allen wins mayor’s race

Mayoral candidate Gene Allen ousted Ferriday incumbent Glen McGlothin by 71 votes in the town’s April elections.

Despite allegations about Allen’s residency and voter fraud, the numbers held and Allen was inaugurated in July.

&uot;We will be aggressive and move Ferriday forward,&uot; Allen told supporters after the runoff election. &uot;We’re going to be the same leaders for the ones that didn’t vote for us as the ones who did.&uot;

During the campaign Allen said he would work to seek grants for infrastructure and clean up the town. Other plans include working to bring industry, a convention center, recreation and a golf course.

7 &045;&045; Skeleton found on Palestine Road

A 10-year-old mystery came to a close in November when a Palestine Road passerby found the remains of 1993 murder victim Lisa Emery.

Authorities were called to the scene and, after comparing dental records, Coroner James Lee said he was almost certain the remains were Emery’s. About a week later reports from forensic orthodontist made a positive match.

Emery, 22, and her mother Linda Emery Stuart were reported missing in 1993. Natchez Police later found blood in the Stuart home, making husband Dale Stuart a suspect.

Several months later Dale Stuart committed suicide near New Orleans.

A teenage hunter found Linda Stuart’s body seven months after her disappearance near U.S. 84.

8 &045;&045; Development of heritage tourism

Two significant Natchez black history sites made news in 2004, the William Johnson House and the Forks of the Road.

The Johnson House, a brick residence built by the free black William Johnson in the 1840s and acquired by the Natchez National Historical Park in the early 1990s, opened to the public on Sept. 30 after years of planning, archaeological surveys and restoration by the National Park Service.

Johnson, a successful businessman, property owner and slave owner, kept a diary that provides today some of the best descriptions of daily life in Natchez in pre-Civil War times.

The Johnson House, located on State Street, contains exhibits relating to Johnson and to the Natchez society of his time. An upstairs room will be furnished as a bedroom would have been at that time.

The renovated McCallum House next door will contain an information center and Park Service offices.

At Forks of the Road, corner of Liberty Road and St. Catherine Street, a ceremony on Dec. 11 marked the opening of the first exhibit there.

The exhibit provides details of the history of Forks of the Road, the second largest slave market in the South in the early 19th century. During its busiest years, in the 1830s, the market held up to 500 slaves on any given day, many of them brought to Natchez from Maryland and Virginia to supply labor on plantations in the Deep South.

&uot;This is just the beginning. We all have lots of work to do to have the Forks story well told and completely told,&uot; said Ser Sesh Ab Heter-C.M. Boxley, who has worked for years to get an interpretive exhibit at the site.

9 &045;&045;

Federal courthouse renovation

Early in 2004, Wilmar Construction of Vidalia, La., began renovation work to convert historic Memorial Hall on South Pearl Street into a federal courthouse. The City of Natchez hired Wilmar for its portion of the project, which was complete by October.

The second phase of the construction will be under the supervision of the U.S. General Services Administration and will include outfitting the building for use as a courthouse.

Wilmar completed phase one of the project on time and on budget, the $856,000 bid approved by the city, well under the city’s estimate of $1.2 million for its portion.

&uot;(GSA) will actually build the courtroom, complete with seating and carpet,&uot; City Engineer David Gardner said. Wilmar completed the heavy construction, demolition and shoring up of the building along with some outside work.

Natchez officials began in 1999 to lobby for a federal courthouse in Natchez. In that year, Congress passed a bill allowing U.S. Judge David Bramlette to request federal funding.

Funds for the renovation include $1.8 million from the GSA, $1.44 million from the Administrative Office of the Courts, $1 million from the U.S. Marshals Service, $900,000 each from city and county bond issues and $400,000 from the state Department of Archives and History.

GSA has advertised for bids for their portion of the work, which should begin early in 2005.

10 &045;&045; Heavy rains plague area

For many, it seemed like there were more rainy days than not in 2004.

Heavy rainfall in February overtook the Robin’s Lake dam and cost $430,000 throughout Adams County.

In June 6.8 inches of rain led to erosion that caused a brick wall at the Eola Hotel parking lot to collapse and sinkholes to form around town.

In July Concordia Parish lowlands left canals flooded and some residents wading through waist-high waters.

The rains also damaged crops and accompanied several storms and high winds which downed multiple trees in Adams County.