St. Pat’s festivities take over downtown Biloxi

Downtown Biloxi will be filled with runners, grillers and parade goers on Saturday as part of this weekend’s St. Patrick’s Day events.

The Gulf Coast Running Club will kick off the day of events when it hosts the annual Hibernia Marching Society’s St. Patrick’s Day 5K and 1-mile Health Run/Walk.  The 1-mile begins at 9 a.m. followed by the 5K at 9:30 a.m., both beginning on Lameuse Street.

Trophies will be given to overall male and female as well as to the first, second and third place age-group males and females.

Then, over at the Biloxi Town Green, Biloxi Main Street will hold its annual Grillin’ on the Green from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The affair includes free admission and will feature entertainment by Rhythm & Rain at 10 a.m., Blackwater Brass at Noon, and Chasing Scarlet at 3 p.m., shopping with 80 arts and craft vendors, and the centerpiece, of course, is the competition among 28 grilling teams. 

The Hibernia Marching Society St. Patrick’s Parade begins at 2 p.m. at the Dr. Frank Gruich Community Center, 591 Howard Avenue, travels west on Howard Avenue, south on Main Street, west on U.S. 90, north on Lameuse Street, west on MLK Boulevard, north on Caillavet Street and ends on Reynoir Street.  Reviewing stands are erected on Lameuse Street, across from City Hall, for parade goers. 

Grand marshal this year is Scott Delano, and colleen is Alexandra Waldrop.

Elsewhere this weekend: Kenny Loggins performs at the Beau Rivage, American rock band Kansas will entertain at the Hard Rock, Willie Nelson & Family and Anthony Cools will all  be at the IP Casino, and Diamond Rio will perform at the Golden Nugget.
See more about the 5K and 1 mile
See more about Grillin’ on the Green
See the parade route
See the entire weekend line-up

 

Today’s update from the bus-train tragedy

No trucks, no buses: Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich ordered city warning signs — No buses, No trucks — to be placed near the existing CSX “Low Ground Clearance” signs at rail crossing after a Biloxi fire truck this morning stopped a Greyhound bus from attempting to cross the tracks at Main Street, the site of this week’s rail tragedy.  Signs were designed and installed at Main Street this afternoon and others are expected to be in place next week. To see photos, click here.

Final NTSB video briefing: To see the final scheduled Biloxi briefing from the National Transportation Safety Board, delivered Thursday afternoon at the Hyatt Place Hotel in Biloxi, click here.

Candlelight vigil: A Candlelight vigil will take place Sunday evening at 6:30 at Doris C. Busch Park. The park is on Esters Boulevard, just east of the Main Street crossing. To read details on the event, click here.

After-incident review: Members of the Biloxi Police and Fire departments, along with other agencies that responded to the Tuesday tragedy, conducted an after-incident review this morning at the Gruich Community Center. To see photos from the gathering of first-responders, click here. You also can hear an after-incident review on the “City Desk” podcast recorded Thursday at Lopez-Quave Public Safety Center. To listen, click here.

Trains: CSX reports that, on average, 15 to 18 trains pass through Biloxi each day. 

 

News and notes

Popp’s Ferry bridge: The Popp’s Ferry bridge will be reduced to one lane at its span Saturday between 6:30 and 11 a.m. as workers repair or replace teeth in the steel grate of the span.

Cedar Lake Road: The section of Cedar Lake Road between Interstate 10 and the Cedar Lake bridge will be closed Monday for a week of paving. When the road re-opens on Friday, motorists will be driving on a freshly paved roadway.