Tishomingo County State park to reopen nature center
McNairy County County sets record for early voting
Prentiss County Search warrant leads to drug arrest
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Friday Feb. 26,
2016
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Daily Corinthian Vol. 120, No. 49
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• Corinth, Mississippi • 20 pages • Two sections
Company moves furniture jobs to Corinth plant BY BRANT SAPPINGTON bsappington@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Alcorn Central sophomores Amanda Smith (left) and Chloe Hatfield will be part of the school’s Pi Day celebration on March 11. Related photo on Page 5A.
Golden Bears to mark spring with ‘Pi Day’ BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
GLEN — Alcorn Central has crunched all the numbers. The school’s Math Club has solved the problem of what to do in celebration of Pi Day. Pi Day (3.14) is normally held on March 14. AC will celebrate the day three days early on March 11 with the ACHS Spring Fling. “A lot of schools do Pi Day celebrations,” said AC geometry teacher Teena Hatfield. “We are going to see how it goes with our first one this year.” Pi Day started as just a time for the high school to have its first color run. The formula quickly changed with the addition of numerous activities and games throughout the day. “This is a day for the kids to cut loose,” said Hatfield. “Parents and family are also invited to attend and be part of what we are doing at the school.” Quiz Bowl gets the multiple games of fun started at 8 a.m. Four students from each grade
will form a team and compete against another grade. Admission will be $1. A Spring Sports Pep Rally and Pi Games begin at 9:30 a.m. Cheerleaders will honor students who participate in spring sports. A Pi Eating Contest, Best Pi Contest and Who gets Pi’ed? games are also set to take place. Group games are slated for 10:30-11:30 a.m. Games such as volleyball, tug of war and Minute to Win It will be played during the hour. A break for lunch will give
students a chance to browse the craft fair set up in the parking lot. Alcorn Central’s Drama Club is hosting a talent show following lunch at 1 p.m. Any student or student group can enter the talent event. The Bears baseball squad will square off in a Purple versus Gold scrimmage at 2 p.m. Cost is $1. The color run will be held after school at 4 p.m. Registration is $25 and includes a T-shirt and color packet. Central’s run will be 3.14 miles. “The color run is being held after school so anyone in the community who wants to run can participate,” added Hatfield. Deadline to register for the color run is Feb. 29. Proceeds from the run will benefit the Math Club and Revive Project. (For more information about the Spring Fling call 662-2868720.)
Market getting ready for new season BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
It’s not too soon for thoughts of spring. Green Market at the depot is calling for vendors and sponsors as organizers prepare for the upcoming season. “Last year exceeded expectations, and we have made some changes that we think will keep the market growing in 2016,” said Crossroads Museum Director Brandy Steen. It will continue to coincide with other community events on sev-
eral dates. The season-opening April 2 market is joined by the Crossroads Chili Cook-off; the May 7 market is the same day as the Coca-Cola Classic 10K; and the Oct. 1 market is held with the Hog Wild Festival. Other dates are June 4, Sept. 3 and Nov. 19. Gone from the calendar this year is July, as organizers found the middle of summer wasn’t the best time for the market. August had already been dropped. “Last year, part of our vendors Please see MARKET | 5A
Corinthian Furniture will close its facility in Booneville as the company consolidates all operations at its Corinth locations. The company employs 164 people in Booneville and most of those will be offered positions in Corinth, said Prentiss County Development Association Executive Director Leon Hays. Employees were told Wednesday the plant would begin a shutdown in phases next week with it closing permanently on April 1. Hays said he and the company have already been in contact with the Mississippi Department of Employment Security’s Rapid Response Unit to provide assistance to the affected workers including help applying for benefits, assistance with resumes, job search help and numerous other forms of aid. MDES will be meeting with employees in the coming days. Hays said he was saddened
to see the plant close but appreciates the company working with them and the state to provide for their workers. “We were surprised when notified earlier this week of the closure, especially in a time when the furniture industry in north Mississippi seems to be seeing growth. I am grateful that the company will be working with MDES to provide assistance programs to the wonderful employees affected. Our thoughts are with the families affected and PCDA will be working to aggressively market the building so that hopefully we can locate a new employer to operate here,” said Hays. Hays said the company, PCDA and the city and county will be aggressively searching for a new industrial tenant to fill the buildings being vacated including the main plant and additional warehouse space it owns. The plant was built in 2002 and covers more than 300,000 square-feet on 40 acres.
Better fire ratings to cut homeowners insurance costs BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Residents of Alcorn County and its smaller municipalities will see insurance premium savings with new fire district ratings that just went into effect. “All of them are dropping at least one and some are dropping two protection classes,” said Director of Emergency Services Ricky Gibens. The county territories generally went from class 9 to class 8, while the rating inside the municipalities dropped to class 7. Southwest had some territory rated class 10 that decreased to class 8. Farmington dropped to class 7 both inside the city limits and in its county coverage area. Those lower numbers given by the Mississippi State Rating Bureau are the result of assessments of fire protection. Generally, homeowners can expect to save about 15 percent on insurance costs with the changes. “It varies due to the insurance company and the type of house,” said Gibens. “There
are a lot of different variables.” Several departments have some further evaluations coming between now and June — Jacinto, Kossuth, Rienzi and Wenasoga. Gibens said much hard work went into earning the improved ratings, including testing of the trucks, training and acquisition of equipment through grants and fundraisers. The ratings bureau will reassess the VFDs in five years unless they are requested to do an evaluation sooner. As the departments continue to work toward lower ratings, one of the obstacles is the need for additional water lines and hydrants in areas serviced by rural water associations, said Gibens. Corinth has a class 5 rating. Each insurance company licensed to write fire and allied lines insurance in the state is required to be a member of the rating bureau, which is supported through an annual assessment of its member companies based on the premiums written in the state.
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10 years ago
Cortelco of Corinth honors those serving in the military in the Middle East. The company hosts a day of activities. Employee Rodney Steen attends dressed as Uncle Sam.
Amy Woodhouse is among the Corinth High School Academic and Performing Arts students taking part in the school’s production of “Carousel”. Woodhouse plays Carrie Pipperidge in the show.
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