NEW CORPS OF ENGINEER INSPECTION BOAT STOPS HERE

The Corps of Engineers' newly-commissioned inspection vessel, Mississippi V, will make its first stop at Cape Girardeau Friday, during its maiden voyage and first high-water inspection trip down the Mississippi River.

The $22 million Mississippi V, so named because it is the fifth vessel in the history of the Corps to bear that name, is the flagship and inspection vessel of the Mississippi River Commission. The boat was commissioned April 8, during a ceremony along the Memphis waterfront.

The commission is charged by Congress with conducting two inspection trips each year along the Mississippi from Cape Girardeau to Head of Passes at the Gulf of Mexico and to host public meetings on board the boat with members of levee boards, flood-control districts, local governments and the general public.

Gwen Jones, spokesman for the Corps' Lower Mississippi River Division headquarters in Vicksburg, Miss., said, "We regret the Mississippi will not be open for public tours, but everyone is encouraged to come down and see our new boat while it's docked Friday and Saturday at Cape Girardeau."

Next Sunday, the Mississippi V will leave Cape Girardeau for a five-mile trip downstream to the Southeast Missouri Regional Port. The port authority's board of commissioners will host a private reception for members of the commission on board the boat following a tour of the port site and facilities.

Later that evening the Mississippi V will leave the port for a trip downstream to New Madrid, where the first of a series of public meetings will begin at 3 p.m. April 26.

Other public meetings are scheduled April 27 at Memphis, April 28 in Greenville, Miss., and April 30 in New Orleans.

Normally, the president of the commission would be on board for the inspection tour. But the president-designate of the commission, Brig. Gen. Eugene S. Witherspoon, was seriously injured April 3, when he was struck by a car while jogging near his home in Vicksburg.

Donna S. Willett, public affairs officer for the Lower Mississippi River Division, said Witherspoon is hospitalized in Vicksburg with a collapsed lung, rib injuries and multiple lacerations. "The general is stable and alert, and is expected to be moved out of intensive care next week," said Willett. "He is expected to make a full recovery from his injuries," Willett said.

When not in use by the commission, the 7,000-horsepower boat is part of the river fleet used by the Corps for bank stabilization and navigation work on the river from Cairo to New Orleans. It can push 16 loaded mat barges for bank stabilization projects. In the event of major flooding, the boat has an advanced array of communications gear and could serve as a mobile command post during flood fights.