Wednesday April 23,
2014
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Page 1B
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Daily Corinthian Vol. 118, No. 95
Lots of sun Today
Tonight
75
50
0% chance of rain
• Corinth, Mississippi • 18 pages • 2 sections
1 killed lying on tracks BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Kimberly Shelton
Firemen with the Jacinto Volunteer Fire Department conduct a controlled structure burn near Biggersville.
Controlled burn causes stir BY KIMBERLY SHELTON kshelton@dailycorinthian.com
Black smoke billowed high into the sky, drawing curious spectators like moths to lights at night. The leaping flames were coming from a house fire on CR 410 just off U.S. 45 south of Biggersville. Turns out, firefighters from the Jacinto Volunteer Fire
Department were conducting a controlled structure burn Monday evening. The house owned by Carolyn Bishop had seen better days and was vacant for some time. “It was scheduled. Someone contacted the fire department about an old house they wanted burned,” said Jacinto V.F.D Chief Jackie Pharr.
While the fire never raged out of control, it caused quite a stir with people who thought it was a real house fire. Several calls were made to surrounding fire departments from people reporting the smoke, which could be seen almost a mile away. Vehicles slowed or were pulled off the road altogether by those drawn to the scene.
The towering inferno was allconsuming and within minutes, the house was decimated to its foundation. “We knew about it ahead of time, but went out for a pacifier,” said Biggersville V.F.D Chief Jeff Allen. What was thought to be a devastating event turned out to be nothing more than a false alarm.
Police are investigating why a Corinth man was lying across railroad tracks Monday night, resulting in his death. Detective Capt. Ralph Dance of the Corinth Police Department said the man was James Michael Becht, 38, of Mathis Road. At 6:26 p.m., Corinth PD received a call that a pedestrian had been hit by a train. The man was on the tracks an estimated 60 yards off Johns Street. “Apparently the train came through at a very low speed and they spotted this white male victim laying across the tracks,” said Dance. “They were not able to stop before the train hit him.” Some witnesses had seen the man headed west down the tracks. Dance said Becht had some medical issues, but it is unclear if that might have been a factor. “We are still looking into the reason he was there,” he said. “Right now, we don’t believe there is any foul play involved.” An autopsy will be performed. The Norfolk-Southern train was moved about 9 p.m. Monday.
Alcorn schools build 4 snow days into schedule BY ZACK STEEN zsteen@dailycorinthian.com
The Alcorn School District Board of Education finalized the 2014-15 school calendar this week. During the lengthy discussion, board members fought to increase the district’s inclement weather days from three to five. “We need to work on building more snow days into the schedule,” said board member Russ Nash. “If we have bad weather next year, I don’t want us to get caught having to take Good Friday as a make-up day.” Programs Director Jennifer Wigginton, who presented the proposed school calendar, said it would be almost impossible to build five inclement weather days into the schedule because of the state’s requirement of at least 90 student days per semester. The board decided to move a staff development day from Jan. 5 to the end of the school year and allow students to return from winter break one day earlier then originally proposed. This would give the dis-
trict a total of four inclement weather days during the school year. “The only problem is if we don’t have the bad weather, then we will have to work those days off around already busy testing schedules and windows,” said Superintendent Gina Rogers Smith. The remaining school calendar is relatively the same as previous years. Students are set to return to classes on Thursday, Aug. 7, one day later than last year. “Thankfully, the school start date restriction law is not an issue any longer,” said Smith. “We were able to plan and set our calendar normally.” In 2012, the Mississippi Legislature passed a bill that would have required school start dates be no earlier than the third Monday in August beginning with the 2014-15 school year. However, the governor recently signed a bill that erases that requirement. “If the law had not changed, we would have likely seen Please see SCHOOLS | 3A
Staff photo by Brant Sappington
Gov. Phil Bryant announces the addition of 162 jobs at ACCO Brands Booneville facility on Tuesday.
Call comes in for 162 new ACCO jobs BY BRANT SAPPINGTON bsappington@dailycorinthian.com
BOONEVILLE — Care for the customers of ACCO Brands will now be centered in the City of Hospitality.
Index Stocks......8A Classified......4B Comics......2B State......5A
County facility. The center will serve as the company’s primary call center providing support to wholePlease see ACCO | 2A
On this day in history 150 years ago
Weather...... 7A Obituaries......6A Opinion......4A Sports....10A
Red River Campaign. Banks’s retreating army is stopped when the Confederates under Gen. Hamilton Bee seize a critical crossing of the Cane River. The Federals regain the crossing and Bee is censured for allowing the Federals to escape.
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