Jackson, Miss. Mayor Frank Melton, 60, died early this morning with his wife , Ellen Melton, by his side, according to City Hall spokeswoman Goldia Revies.

After coming in third in his city’s mayoral primary election Tuesday, Melton was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. According to sources close to City Hall, Melton has had a series of health problems but officials have declined to give details.

Next week, Melton was due in court for trial following an incident that led to a federal indictment and did severe damage to his career. In 2006, fed up with drugs in his city, Melton attacked a local crackhouse in Jacksons Virden Addition neighborhood with a sledgehammer. A jury failed to reach a verdict in the case in February when he was tried. Critics slammed him for behaving erratically, without authority and breaking the law.

Meanwhile, Jackson’s City Council has tapped its president, Leslie Burl McLemore to be acting mayor.

“I am going to respect the mayor’s privacy even in death,” Revies told reporters.

Melton was born in Houston, Texas in 1949 and relocated to Jackson from Tyler, Texas before running for mayor.

Video: City Councilmember Remembers Mayor Melton

Leave comments or condolences  below.

Hurricane season could mean tough times for the Big Easy

It’s mere days from the third anniversary of the storm that virtually washed New Orleans from the map and the city is still not fully protected if another Katrina-like killer were to clobber the Gulf Coast, The Associated Press has concluded. There has been “a pattern of public misperception, political jockeying and legal fighting, along with economic and engineering miscalculations” since the 2005 disaster “that threaten to make New Orleans the scene of another devastating flood,” the news agency reports. AP says its glum analysis – that many people have not learned from the public policy missteps after 1965’s Hurricane Betsy, which set the stage for Katrina – was derived at after interviewing dozens of engineers, historians, policymakers and flood-zone residents. “People forget, but they cannot afford to forget,” Windell Curole, a Louisiana hurricane and levee expert, told AP. “If you believe you can’t flood, that’s when you increase the risk of flooding. In New Orleans, I don’t think they talk about the risk.” The news service cites a recent University of New Orleans survey, which found that levee safety was waning among residents’ top worries – bumped off the list by “crime, incompetent leadership and corruption,” AP reports. But the complacency could prove problematic, AP notes. “For the foreseeable future,” it reports, “New Orleans will be protected by levees unable to protect against another storm like Katrina.”

At 108, “Miss Dollie” is still going strong

“Miss Dollie,” as she’s known by family and friends, may be 108 years old, but she’s as sharp as a razor and has much of her physical strength. On Saturday, about 75 people gathered at Ebenezer Church in Atlanta to wish Dollie Wilson Parks a happy birthday, honoring the longtime Atlanta resident who has served as “an inspiration and adviser to generations,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. “Read more about Miss Dollie and the celebration at BET.com/News.