🌱 Hattiesburg PD Arrest Local For Auto Theft + HAPA Receives 2 Awards

Hello all. Sean Peek here with your Saturday edition of the Hattiesburg Patch newsletter, full of everything you need to know about what's happening locally.

But first, your local weather:

• Saturday: Humid with a t-storm in spots. High: 93 Low: 72.
• Sunday: Strong t-storms; some sun. High: 89 Low: 71.

Here are the top three stories in Hattiesburg today:

1. Hattiesburg police officers arrested 51-year-old Paul Boykins of Hattiesburg on Jun. 14 in connection to the auto burglary that occurred in the 500 block of 7th Avenue. Boykins was booked into the Forrest County Adult Detention Center and charged with auto burglary. (WDAM)
2. On Jun. 15, the Hattiesburg Alliance for Public Art (HAPA) won two prestigious statewide awards from the Mississippi Main Street Association! For its contributions to the Hattiesburg Public Art Trail, HAPA won the Outstanding Public Arts Project Award. And the executive director of Visit Hattiesburg, Marlo Dorsey, won the Main Street Revitalization Champion Award. (Hubcity Spokes)
3. Thomas M. Duff of Hattiesburg, an executive at Duff Capital Investors, and S. Joel Johnson, a Hattiesburg attorney, gave "True Conservatives Mississippi PAC" $25,000 and $1,500 respectively. Recently, the PAC has been running anti-McDaniel advertisements on television and social media to ensure Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel loses against incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann. (Subscription: Hattiesburg American)

Today and tomorrow in Hattiesburg:

Saturday, June 17

• FestivalSouth Youth Orchestra At Thomas Fine Arts Auditorium (12:30 PM)
• Saturday Night With Allen Mann At Hattiesburgers and Blues (1:00 PM)

Sunday, June 18

• Voices Of Freedom Featuring James Meredith At Eureka School (2:30 PM)

From my notebook:

• According to former State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs, Forrest County has the second-highest syphilis rate in Mississippi! The most recent figures, from 2021, show a rate of 109.1 per 100,000 people. (Subscription: Hattiesburg American)
• Lamar County is the second-fastest growing county in Mississippi, according to www.usafacts.org. In 2010, the population of Lamar County was 56,109. In 2021, the population was 65,353, which is a 16.5 percent increase. (Hubcity Spokes)
• Due to Wednesday's storm, 15 homes in Forrest County have reported damage. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is working with counties to assess the damage and encourages residents with damage to file an insurance claim, take photos of the damage, and report the damage to the county/MEMA using the self-report tool. (WDAM)

That's it for today. I'll see you soon!

— Sean Peek

About me: Sean Peek is a writer and entrepreneur with a degree in English Literature from Weber State University. Over the years, he has worked as a copywriter, editor, SEO specialist, and marketing director for various digital media companies. He currently co-owns and operates content creation agency Lightning Media Partners.