A little rain!

It has been thundering for over an hour and there have been clouds to the west of us. They finally moved our way and we are getting a little rain. It's not much but every little bit will help. The chances of rain get better tomorrow. Today is SIL's 44th birthday!

Can you say HOT!

The temperature has been really hot for about a week now. There is no morning relief either. As soon as you open the door the heat just blasts you in the face and we have 5 or 6 months of this to go. The grass, that stayed green all winter has to be watered so it doesn't turn brown now. Everything droops.

A neighbor was putting a swing set together for her son and the poles were too hot to touch. I don't think you will find kids walking around barefoot either.

We have a chance of rain every day, areas around us got a little rain yesterday but we didn't get any. Melting....

30th annual Mississippi Gulf Coast Blow out -Gulfport

GULFPORT, MS - Bikers and motorcycle enthusiast visited the Coast for the 30th annual Mississippi Gulf Coast Memorial Day Blowout at the Gulfport drag way.

The Asgard Motorcycle Club hosts the event each year. Organizers said they plan the event nine months in advance, and this year they expect 5,000-10,000 people to pass through the gates for the three day event.

The event features drag racing, A, B and C class, eight classes within the bike shows, daisy duke contest, slow races, barrel race, tattoo contest, bikini and wet t-shirt contest, weenie bite contest and ring toss.

During Saturday's racing time trials, bikers hit speeds of almost 150 miles per hour.

Asgard Motorcycle Club spokesperson Asgard Smokey Alfred Stepputat said, the races, bike show and the wet t-shirt and bikini contests are some of the most popular competitions.

The Asgard Motorcycle Club is a non-profit organization, which offers funding to the Boys and Girls Club, Gulf Coast Multiple Sclerosis, St. Jude, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Sheriff's boys and girls ranchers and other charities.

With about 50 vendors selling food, jewelry, clothing, leather goods, and more, Stepputat said, the blowout brings dollars to the Gulf Coast and gives bikers a positive image.

"Hollywood paints a picture of bikers. Making us look like we are all criminals. Bikers are people from all walks of life, everyday people who just enjoy riding motorcycles and the freedom of the open road. This event shows that we are doing great things for the community and local charities," Stepputat said.

Placed on 100 acres, the blowout provided plenty of room for attendees to camp out.

"A lot of people stay on the grounds. Bikers put up tents. They bring their campers. It's a quarter mile drag way, but the drag itself is actually a mile long. Because they have three quarters of a mile to slow down after they pass the finish line," Stepputat explained.

On Sunday organizers held a flag raising ceremony on the drag way with the assistance of the Air Force, Army and the Armed Forces Motorcycle Club.

Train Service

BILOXI, MS

The Biloxi City Council will consider a resolution to bring passenger train service back to the Mississippi Coast. The idea is to bring the old Sunset Limited route back to South Mississippi.

Right now on the coast, train service is exclusively the transportation of freight. The city of Biloxi points out that the Gulf Coast is isolated from the nation's passenger train system. Until 2005, Amtrak's Sunset Limited rolled from Florida to Los Angeles. Then everyone east of New Orleans was taken off the track.

"Since Hurricane Katrina, they've repaired the tracks. You see freight service every day along the Coast. Our question is why not go ahead and restore Amtrak service?" said City Spokesman Vincent Creel.

Biloxi's transportation complex serves as a hub for Coast Transit Authority buses and Greyhound. Creel said passenger service could be good for tourism, including the casino industry and offer Coast residents another transportation option.

"This would be super, not only for our coast people, but it would be great for people coming from Florida or from the west of us."

The mayor of Tallahassee, Florida contacted Biloxi on the matter. He points out that there are 13 stranded train stations along the Gulf Coast. This concept is in the preliminary stage, but it could pick up steam and restore the old Sunset Limited route along the Gulf Coast.

Prison Riot in Natchez, Mississippi

A prison guard was killed and several employees injured Sunday in a riot at the Adams County Correctional Facility in Natchez, Mississippi, officials said.

The 23-year-old guard appeared to suffer "blunt trauma to the head," said Adams County Coroner James Lee.

The riot, which began about 2:40 p.m., was still going on Sunday night, the facility's operator said in a statement. Local and state law enforcement officials as well as authorities from the Federal Bureau of Prisons were helping the facility quell the violence.

"The disturbance is contained within the secure perimeter of the facility, with no threat to public safety," the statement said.

Five employees and one inmate were taken to a hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries, while additional staff members were being treated at the prison.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.

Rusty Boyd, a spokesman with the Mississippi Highway Patrol, said Sunday evening that 45 to 55 units from that state agency are helping corrections officers deal with the situation.

The facility is a 2,567-bed prison that houses adult men who are in the United States illegally and charged with crimes. It is owned by the Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America.

Warden Vance Laughlin described the facility as quiet and with "few problems" in a March 2010 article in The Natchez Democrat, a few months after it opened to incarcerate illegal immigrants detained for mostly low-security crimes. At that point, it contained more than 2,000 inmates -- more than two-thirds of whom were of Mexican descent, although scores of nationalities were then represented.

Last day of School

It's the last day of school here in South Mississippi and it was only a half day. In 2014 the beginning and end of the school year will change. But I forget the exact dates since it won't affect us for awhile yet. It is partly cloudy, hot and humid with a warm breeze. The same weather we have had all week.

Rainbow

May 12th, 2012, we had a rainy day. Near sunset I went out back and saw a beautiful rainbow! I ran inside, grab my camera and ran out front. It was wonderful! A full rainbow and it was soo close!

It stayed for a long time, I took a lot of pictures none of which came out that great for some reason. The rainbow was in the eastern sky. At the same time the western sky was putting on a good show too!

A beautiful golden sunset.

Friday Morning

It is a nice morning, the sun is coming up to a morning in the 60s. But the day will warm up quickly and clouds will move in this afternoon along with rain and some storms.

The moon is also out so it got its picture taken too.

Hurricane Predictions

Hurricane season starts June 1st and ends Nov. 30th

Overall, the predictions are not dire for 2012. The season is being forecast to be relatively tame. Forecasters seem to agree mostly that there is a probability of 12 named storms and out of the 12 named storms, seven possibly will develop into hurricanes.

Out of the seven hurricanes, three of these are being predicted to be "major" hurricanes.

Most the landfall models are predicting fairly close or normal landfall of storms along the United States coastline. The Gulf of Mexico coastline and the coastline of Florida are being given an elevated chance of landfall over the East Coast in 2012.

Sunny days

We have had sunny weather since all the rain a few days ago. It has been high in the 80's and humid. There have been nice clouds in the sky during the day, so much better than plain old blue skies. Tonight the moon is going to be HUGE, I have to remember to check it out.

When it rains it pours

The rain started at 8am and it continued straight till 1pm. We have some wicked lightening too. We were going to go to Walmart but decided to just go the couple of blocks to the dollar store because of the weather. The drain ditches on either side of the road was full and very close to over flowing! I was very surprised our road did not flood with the amount of rain we had, but it didn't and what a happy surprise that is! The storms are going to continue the rest of the day and into the evening. There is only a 40% chance of rain tomorrow. We do need the rain. It has been hot, breezy and humid.

First Friday's

BILOXI, Mississippi -- Biloxi Main Street has begun a new event in downtown Biloxi called Finally Friday.

It will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. the first Friday of each month, featuring live music in changing downtown venues.

This Friday, May 4, will be Spectacular, Spectacular featuring Chuck Lofton and Johnnie Hosey at the Magnolia Hotel, across from Mary Mahoney’s.

Downtown businesses will expand their hours for these First Friday events. Event-goers will have an opportunity to win a $100 gift card for a downtown Biloxi restaurant. Entry cards will be available at the Magnolia Hotel or any participating location.