THE LEADER THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2012 ▪ VO L . 1 2 8 , N O. 3 8 ▪ T H E VO I C E O F TIPTON COUNTY S I N C E 1 8 8 6 ▪
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Covington passes $22.8M budget By SHERRI ONORATI sonorati@covingtonleader.com During a public hearing that no one attended except for city department heads, the City of Covington passed its 2012-2013 $22.8 million budget during its third and final reading during Tuesday’s night Board of Mayor and Aldermen. The budget accounts for an approximate $1.6 million increase over FY 2011-2012. Partially funded by more
than $9.6 million in local taxes, fees and fines, the rest of the city’s available budget revenue comes from monies raised by the city’s various departments and grants, including a $700 expected collection from the city cemetery, R.H. Munford. Budget expenditures from the General Fund for the upcoming fiscal year will include $3.6 million for Board of Aldermen, $96,000 for the city attorney, $1.9 million for the Covington Police Department, $1.3
million for Covington Fire Department, $370,200 for maintenance of Covington Sportsplex and $187,000 for grounds maintenance. Additional expenditures will include $150,800 for the Tipton County Museum, Veterans Memorial and Nature Center, $14,300 for the annual BBQ festival, $86,000 for community development, $54,000 for the drug fund and $477,300 for the administration and maintenance of the city’s airport.
Ordinance 1629 also passed Tuesday night, detailing the adoption and continued practice of keeping the city’s tax rate at $1.19 per $100 of taxable property, real and personal. The rate has not been changed for several years. Also approved during the meeting was the list of 501 (c) (3) organizations, which will each receive a portion of $254,000 set aside by the city to assist non-profits. New to the list this year is the Boys &
Girls Club of the Hatchie River, which will receive $25,000. Other monetary changes for the city include an increase in court costs, rising from $75 to $105. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen meet the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at Covington City Hall. The public is invited and encouraged to attend. City Hall is located at the corner of Munford and Washington streets.
SOLVED
Fugitive confesses to armed robbery By ECHO DAY eday@covingtonleader.com
KICKOFF Munford sophomore Markeeis James returns the opening kickoff back for a touchdown during jamboree action Friday night in
Covington. Munford defeated Haywood 34-0 and Covington beat FACS 21-12. TRA fell to Lausanne, 14-12. Munford, Brighton and Covington all open the 2012 season Friday night. See more on page B1. Photo by Jeff Ireland
WHERE'S THE BEEF?
Chinese chefs experience Claybrook Farms By ECHO DAY eday@covingtonleader.com It seems a little strange, but earlier this week a dozen chefs flew halfway around the world to meet Dave Turner's heifers. Oh, and to pick discarded cobs out of one of his cornfields, too. "We appreciate anybody coming to our place to see what generations of American agriculture has produced," said Turner, a sixth generation farmer at Claybrook Farms. The group consisted of executive chefs who won a cooking contest in China sponsored by the Denverbased U.S. Meat Export Federation. The USMEF says it is a nonprofit trade association working to create new opportunities and develop existing international markets for U.S. beef, pork, lamb and veal. USMEF has offices in Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Mexico City, Monterrey and Brussels, as well as special market representatives covering China, the Middle East, Central and South America
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Michael Rice and Dave Turner (back row) pose for a photo with the group of Chinese executive chefs and their interpreter, Steve Mo (center, plaid shirt), a marketing manager with the U.S. Meat Export Federation in Guangzhou, China, Monday during their visit. The group came to Covington to learn more about farming in the U.S. Photo by Echo Day
and the Caribbean. "Our goal is to get more people to eat U.S. meat," said Steve Mo, a USMEF marketing manager from Guangzhou, China, who acted as the group's guide and interpreter. Mo said six months ago a cooking contest was conceived as a way to help promote U.S. pork. "We asked them to have a cooking contest and use a recipe as a promotion in
their restaurant," he said. The winners received a trip to the United States to learn more about farming and cattle production. They arrived in Memphis on Saturday and had dinner at Sweet Grass, one of the 15 restaurants Claybrook Farms supplies with premium angus beef, on Sunday. Before traveling to Covington Monday afternoon, the group had lunch at
Helen's BBQ in Brownsville. While touring Claybrook Farms' fields on Antioch Hwy., the chefs were excited to walk in a corn field in the middle of being harvested, picking up discarded cobs and eating kernels of corn. They posed for photos in the field, watched the combine make its way through rows upon rows of corn
SEE BEEF, PAGE A3
The Wings Over Halls Airshow will be August 18 and 19. Pick up your tickets at any Patriot Bank location or go to www.hallsairshow.com for more information. We hope to see you there!
A man on the run after allegedly committing two Texas murders confessed to committing an armed robbery at Covington's Rite Aid, police have released. And he has other ties to Tipton County. Donny Lee Greenhaw, whose name has also been reported as Greenhow, was apprehended in the woods in Ripley Friday morning, just hours after U.S. Marshals released Donny Lee Greenhaw, their belief that he 31, wanted for a Texas double murder, was in the area to was arrested in Ripley kill his father. “We can’t release on Friday. After his arrest, police say he the details, but confessed to the Aug. the U.S. Marshals 2 armed robbery of believe he came to Covington's Rite Aid. the area to kill his Source: Lauderdale father,” said Tipton County Sheriff's Office County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Donna Turner. His father and other family members live in Tipton County. Their names have been withheld by The Leader. It was after his arrest that police say Greenhaw confessed to the Aug. 2 armed robbery of Covington’s Rite Aid. “We’re 100 percent sure he is responsible for the robbery at Rite Aid,” said Lt. Larry McGarity with the Covington Police Department. “But I don’t think he’s responsible for (other crimes) in the city.” In last week’s edition of The Leader, several residents voiced concerns about the increase in crime over the past few weeks, of which the Rite Aid robbery was included. At that time, the robbery SEE SOLVED, PAGE A3
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