Flaggs looking to extend Vicksburg’s mask mandate again

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. is looking to extend the mask mandate in Vicksburg beyond the current Nov. 2 expiration date.

“We had a spike of 30 cases on Oct. 16,” Flaggs said at Monday’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting. “We need to keep going for at least another month.”

The city’s current civil emergency order related to COVID-19 expires Monday, Nov. 2, and will most likely be extended by the mayor and alderman before then.

Flaggs said Vicksburg is doing what it needs to be doing to keep the COVID-19 numbers low. He also mentioned that there are zero active COVID-19 cases among city employees at this time.

The mayor has also gained support from local judges on his stance against crimes committed with firearms. Last week he sent a letter to all the judges asking them to place ankle monitors on individuals who commit firearm-related crimes and give them a 7 p.m. curfew as a condition of their bonds. The judges agreed to the tougher bond criteria, effective immediately.

“I believe we should stop having curfew for the good guys and start putting the bad guys on curfew,” Flaggs said.

The board also honored Sgt. Bobby Jones, who has been with the Vicksburg Police Department for 20 years.