Friday Feb. 6,
2015
50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 119, No. 32
Milder Today
Tonight
53
33
No chance of rain
• Corinth, Mississippi • 20 pages • Two sections
County customers on Presley’s radar BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
Brandon Presley is all about helping Mississippians save money when it comes to energy. The Public Service Commissioner was in Corinth Thursday talking with city officials about extending natural gas services to the western part of Alcorn County. “One of my goals is to get natural
gas services to as many people who want it,” said Presley. “This doesn’t force anyone to take it … we just want them to have the option.” According to Presley, 115 citizens in the Union Center community want services extended to include them. “Folks in rural Alcorn County should have the same services as those people in downtown Jackson,” said Presley. “The first dom-
ino has to fall and that is us being authorized to do it.” Presley hopes to have things in order for Union Center residents soon. “We don’t want to sit back and let this opportunity slip by,” he said. “We are working on a tight schedule and need to do it now.” Presley said District 2 Rep. Nick Bain and District 4 U.S. Sen. Rita
Potts Parks have been helpful in seeing the natural gas option afforded to those in the western portion of the county. “We are trying to be proactive,” said Presley. “Plans are to have a resolution from the city to the Legislature to pass it.” One major natural gas expansion Please see PRESLEY | 2A
Presley
Local woman helps her neighbor avoid ‘Grandparent Scam’ BY STEVE BEAVERS
“The scam and scam artists have become more sophisticated over time.”
sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Organizers of the Corinth Coca-Classic 10K have gone to all online registration for the annual race.
10K moves to online registration BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
It’s strictly online for those who want to be part of the run. Organizers of the Corinth Coca-Classic 10K have gone to all online registration for the annual 6.2-mile trek through downtown. The 34th running of the event is set for May 2 at 8:30 a.m. “Most races are going to online only registration,” said race co-coordinator Amy Smith. “It’s best to do it this way and it also
allows us to focus on more details to get ready for the race.” The chills of January hasn’t kept runners from already thinking about the May event. As of Thursday morning, 132 people had already registered. “That’s up 23 percent from this time last year,” said Smith. The last two years registration has been capped at 1,500. Co-sponsored by MRHC, the Classic 10K is called “one of the 100 great short races” by Run-
ning Times. More than $6,000 in cash prizes will be awarded. Prize money will be awarded to the top three places in eight different divisions and in age groups 25 and over. “The online registration is something we have tried to push the last couple of years,” said Smith. “A majority of the runners already register online.” (Sign up is available by going to coke10k@corinth.ms.)
It never ends. Area citizens are finding scam artists will stop at nothing to bilk unsuspecting people out of their hard-earned money. A Corinth woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, kept her elderly neighbor from falling prey to a scam this week. “I received a call from her and could tell she was upset,” said the woman. “I went to her house to find her very distraught.” The elderly neighbor had received a call from someone posing to be an attorney named James Miller. He told the elderly woman he was an attorney in the Dominican Republic and her grandson was in jail there awaiting someone to wire money for his release. “The man told my neighbor her grandson and a friend were on vacation and had been picked up after the friend was found to have drugs in his car,” said the Corinth woman. The caller went on to explain to the grandmother her grandson had been cleared and could home if she went to Western Union or Kmart and wired $1,200. A young man was even put on the phone – posing to be her grandson – to assure the grandmother everyone was okay. “She was so upset she didn’t realize the young man wasn’t her grandson,” said the woman. A phone number – 1-514290-9028 – was given to the grandmother along with the
FBI website name of Sandy Rojas Castillo to wire the money to in the city of Santiago. “My neighbor had the check made out and asked me to take care of the matter for her, when she remembered her grandson had been dropped off at college an hour earlier and there was no way he could be in the Dominican Republic,” said the anonymous woman. That didn’t stop the attorney from calling back from the telephone number of 760705-8888. He called back at 2 p.m. and inquired if the transaction had been taken care of yet. After the grandmother informed the man everything was in the process of being taken care of, he thanked her and relayed a message from another person claiming to be her grandson. “This man had very personal information on all the people involved,” said the neighbor. “He knew where they lived, attended school and the grandmother’s information … the public needs to be aware of this kind of scam before Please see SCAM | 2A
First apartment units complete at The Pinnacle Foundation offers
fellowship dinners
BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
There’s a new welcome mat rolling out on South Tate Street. Located on a nine-acre site next to the Alcorn Welcome Center, the first units of The Pinnacle, an upscale apartment development, are complete. Broker Doug Jumper of Jumper Realty & Associates is excited about the warm reception thus far. “We opened these the first week of December, and I got the tenants in about three
BY KIMBERLY SHELTON kshelton@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Jebb Johnston
Nourishing the body while promoting fellowship and community closeness, the Easom Outreach Foundation’s monthly fellowship dinners have become a beloved tradition in the Crossroads area. The dinners will continue from noon until 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 8, at the Easom Foundation, located at 700 Crater Street in Corinth. Diners will enjoy a home-cooked meal, prepared by resident Chef Ben Betts. Items on the February menu include: The chef’s famous dressing and buttered rolls, roast beef with gravy, southern-fried
Doug Jumper stands before one of the units nearing completion at The Pinnacle on Please see PINNACLE | 2A South Tate Street.
Please see DINNERS | 2A
Index Stocks......8A Classified......4B Comics......9A State......5A
RENTAL
Weather...... 7A Obituaries......6A Opinion......4A Sports....10A
On this day in history 150 years ago Jefferson Davis denounces Abraham Lincoln for refusing to accept Confederate independence and vows to fight on. Gen. Robert E. Lee is designated general in chief of all Confederate forces but the move comes too late to change the course of the war.
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