State acts to name highway after slain trooper

Governor Haley Barbour has signed HB 251 that included an amendment by Dist. 76 Rep. Gregory Holloway of Hazlehurst to honor a state trooper that was killed while on duty in 1984.
Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper Steven K. Gardner was 30 when he died in a gun battle on Hwy. 51 on the south side of Hazlehurst on March 23, 1984.  During the gunfire, he was able to fire off one round from his service weapon.  The round struck his assailant in the head, killing him instantly.  Officer Gardner died later that night at Hardy Wilson Memorial Hospital.
Joe Buck Coates, publisher of the Copiah County Courier and past-president of the Hazlehurst Chamber of Commerce, worked with Rep. Holloway to obtain legislative action to honor Officer Gardner.

Read more about it in this week’s print and e-edition!