Prentiss County Booneville police make felony arrests
McNairy County AiM to host production auditions
Pickwick State park hosting 3-mile hike
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Thursday Mar. 17,
2016
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Daily Corinthian Vol. 120, No. 66
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• Corinth, Mississippi • 16 pages • One section
Fortenberry named assistant police chief BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
A former Corinth police officer is returning as assistant chief. The Corinth Board of Aldermen on Tuesday gave approval
to hire Josh Fortenberry, who is expected to start May 1. Chuck Hinds, the current assistant chief, is retiring with a final work date of April 27. Fortenberry, a native of Clarksdale, is currently a nar-
cotics investigator for the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department. He was employed at the Corinth Police Department from 2005 to 2010, serving as a patrol officer and then as a detective.
“Josh brings a lot to the table,” said Police Chief Ralph Dance. “We are excited to see him come back.” He is the son of Tim Fortenberry, a former Booneville police chief. He worked as a jailer
in Prentiss County before coming to Corinth PD. Hinds is wrapping up 29 years in law enforcement, including two stints in Corinth. Please see POLICE | 6
Ground-penetrating radar called upon at historic house BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Servpro employees Dexter Huggins (from left), Alice Bray and Bernita Traylor clean items from a weekend fire at First United Methodist Church.
Church fire remains under investigation BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
The cause of a downtown Corinth church fire remains under investigation. First United Methodist Church suffered mostly smoke damage from an early fire which started in an upper landing of the fellowship hall Sunday. “A room off the side of a plateau leading up from the fellowship suffered the only fire damage,” said Corinth Fire Chief
Billy “Lucky” Briggs. “The rest of it was smoke damage.” A call to Alcorn County 911 came in at 1:57 a.m. Sunday. The entire four units of the Corinth Fire Department and 15 firefighters responded and remained at the scene until 5:14 a.m. The Mississippi Fire Marshal’s office is investigating the cause. Workers with Servpro were busy Monday cleaning the
church. Cleaning continued on Wednesday. “We will be here at least two more weeks,” said Servpro Project Manager Kalin Burcham. Around 15 employees with Servpro were cleaning books and other things from church offices. A lift was scheduled to be brought into the sanctuary today to begin cleaning of the building.
People of the Crossroads
Junior Auxiliary hosting 4-person golf scramble Players will hit the greens on April Fool’s Day as Junior Auxiliary of Corinth presents their Charity Ball FourPerson Scramble on Friday, April 1 at the Hillandale Golf Course. Registration for the scramble will begin at 4 p.m. with shotgun starting at 5 p.m. The cost to enter is $40 per person or $160 per team. Hole sponsorships are available for $150. The registration fee includes a light blue 2016 golf scramble T-shirt. Mulligans can be purchased for $5. Participants will dine on barbecue brisket and side items provided by Johnson Dozer Service as organizers
New Amsterdam $ 00 All Pints
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Please see FIRE | 5
A large underground tank is set to be removed from the grounds of the city-owned Verandah-Curlee House. It is part of a phase two environmental assessment of potential contamination through the $400,000 brownfields program grant the city received in 2014. A date for the removal has not been set. The contractor, EarthCon, recently used ground-penetrating radar to pinpoint the location and dimensions of the tank, which was used for the storage of home heating oil. Sitting underneath the ground on the side of the home facing City Hall, the tank was found to be 12 feet long, 6 feet wide and 3 feet deep. “It’s slightly underneath the sidewalk, so they’ll have to kind of maneuver it out,” said Dave Huwe, the city’s director of community development and planning. Once removed, the soil underneath can be examined for evidence of leakage. “DEQ’s philosophy is there’s only one way to see if there’s a leak underneath a tank, and that’s to get the tank out of there,” said Huwe. “It allows us to get the tank removed at
no cost.” If the National Park Service were to ever take on ownership of the landmark property, Huwe said removal of the tank would likely be one of the requirements. Phase two assessments are coming up for sites such as the former Kroger building and the old brick yard, where the city is looking to add buffer property for the inert landfill. Funds continue to be available to assist potential buyers or property owners with obtaining phase one and phase two assessments of potentially contaminated sites such as old gas stations. Half of the grant is designated for sites with possible petroleum contamination, and the other half is for sites that may have other hazardous materials, such as asbestos. The phase one assessment includes a study of records and maps and an interview with the owner. Phase two, if needed, involves taking samples and can include the removal of an underground tank so that the soil underneath it can be inspected. The process protects a potential buyer from liability issues for existing contaminants.
Tom Soltz, Corinth Corinth Theatre-Arts Treasurer Tom Soltz of the Box Chapel area has enjoyed being a resident of Corinth since 2004. A member of the CT-A board for three or four years now, Soltz credits wife Jan Soltz as the person who introduced him to the theater. A regular face on stage, in the audience and behind the scenes, Soltz expressed his appreciation for the community theater. “I am honored to be associated with a theater that is considered to be the longest continuously operated theater in the state of Mississippi,” said the actor. “I enjoy seeing all the young people who pass through it. It’s incredible to think that the vast majority of local residents have been a part of it at one time or another.” Now in his last year on the CT-A Board of Directors, Soltz continues to be one of the theater’s greatest volunteers. In addition to serving as CT-A treasurer, the South Florida native still serves clients as a professional CPA in his former state.
announce the cash prize winners during a special Awards Dinner Party held immediately following the scramble. The first to make a hole-inone shot on a particular hole Please see SCRAMBLE | 6
25 years ago
10 years ago
Reba Davis of Alcorn County is honored as teacher of the year at Northeast Mississippi Community College. Davis teaches math courses at the college.
More than three dozen boats are destroyed as fire strikes the Rivercliff marina at Pickwick Lake. Fire Chief Melvin Martin describes the scene as a total loss.
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