Crime Halts Youth Baseball League
The youth baseball league in Gautier has moved its games from a city-owned park, saying it’s just too dangerous.
Steve Torres, a member of the Dixie Youth League Baseball board of directors, says a shooting in an apartment complex near Bacot Park was the last straw. He tells the Mississippi Press that vehicles have been broken into during games and people walk through the park with pit bulls.
Mayor Tommy Fortenberry says he supports moving the league to Buddy Davis Park, owned by Jackson County, until crime is under control around Bacot Park. He says police have had 103 calls in that area since January.
The county has offered to turn over its park to the city, but Fortenberry says he’s not sure the city can afford to run both.
