050515 daily corinthian e edition

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Daily Corinthian

Tuesday May 5,

2015

75 cents

Vol. 119, No. 104

County opposes labor cuts BY JEBB JOHNSTON The Alcorn County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution Monday in opposition to a Mississippi Department of Corrections plan to close the Joint State County Work Program. Alcorn County is one of 30 in the program, which provides state inmates to perform labor such as working on garbage trucks and to work for organizations such as the animal shelter and park. The county typically has 60 to 70 inmates in the program. Their loss would be a financial hit of about $400,000 per year, according to Sheriff Charles Rinehart. In March, the county billed MDOC $32,960 for the housing of joint work program inmates. In a letter sent to sheriffs late last week and in a press release issued on Friday, new MDOC Commissioner Marshall Fisher said the inmates in the work program will shift to MDOC’s community work centers. He said the Joint State County Work Program “is simply not an efficient use of taxpayers’ money, with public safety being of utmost concern.” In Alcorn County, the community work center took on a different role about four years ago. “We were asked to build a work center so MDOC could change the CWC to all alcohol and drug,” said Rinehart. “They would put the workers down in our work center. Now, they’re wanting to pull them. It’s going to cost the county to hire employees to take their place, plus it’s going to leave the county with a debt for this building that we have built.” Those in the CWC alcohol and drug program are not available to be used for labor. It is not clear how the shift will affect the local CWC. Please see LABOR | 2

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• Corinth, Mississippi • 18 pages • One section

Some inmates get unauthorized leave The Associated Press

jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com

Mostly sunny

JACKSON — Some Mississippi sheriffs have given unauthorized passes to state inmates to temporarily leave custody for unacceptable reasons, the head of the state prison system says. Alcorn County was one of several counties cited. Corrections Commissioner Marshall Fisher told The Clarion-Ledger that a convicted sex offender, 33-year-old Jason Rush, got two rides home from Quitman County deputies in April. One was for an “anniversary party” where a deputy waited in the living room, and the other was for a “birthday

party.” Fisher said corrections investigators received a tip and caught Rush at his home. He says jail staffers told investigators Rush — who was convicted of one count of fondling a child and two counts of aggravated assault — was helping change a tire at the time. “This is a public safety issue,” Fisher said. “It’s disappointing that the staff told investigators the guy was changing a tire when he was at a ‘party.’ That’s wrong.” Quitman County Sheriff Oliver Parker would not comment Friday, and corrections officials said the incidents remain

under investigation. Temporary leave passes cannot be given to any inmate convicted of a crime of violence, but records show they have been given in some parts of the state. In October 2013, the sheriff’s office gave a pass to William “Danny” Whitaker, an inmate at the Alcorn County Regional Correctional Facility who had been convicted of robbery, burglary and aggravated assault. Whitaker died at his mother’s home of a drug overdose on Oct. 26, 2013. In a Nov. 7, 2013, letter, Please see LEAVE | 2

Staff photo by Steve Beavers

Keeping things cool

Eight-year-old Dakoda Troxell uses a water toy at one of the Kids Get Fit Initiative games of the 34th Annual Corinth Coca-Cola Classic 10K while waiting for runners to finish the event.

Wallace hired to veterans service BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com

The Alcorn County Board of Supervisors on Monday approved the hiring of Stephen N. Wallace as a veterans service officer. He will be the successor to Pat Ray, who is moving toward retirement. Following the closed session discussion, Board Attorney Bill Davis said Wallace needed to be hired now in order to go for training next week. He said the law allows the county to have more than one person employed as veterans service officer. Wallace has a background in local law enforcement. In other business: ■ The board approved in a 4-1 vote the Corinth-Alcorn Animal Shelter’s request to erect fencing on the shelter property for a dog run. The fencing is being donated from the old West Corinth Elementary School property. ■ Gary Ross again voted against approval of the claims docket, citing money owed by District 2 to District 4. “My question is do you have the funds to repay from the Second District to the Fourth District,” he said to Dal Nelms, the Second District supervisor. Nelms believes the issue was settled in a previous vote of the board. The debt was a loan made between the districts before he took office. ■ The board heard from former Burnsville resident Nowell “Barney” Cummings, longtime mayor of Hodgkins, Ill., about efforts to lure business and industry to his village.

Fair to encourage healthy habits BY KIMBERLY SHELTON kshelton@dailycorinthian.com

Encouraging healthy habits at an early age, the Alcorn Career and Technology Center’s Health Sciences Core and Healthcare and Clinical Services students will host their 5th Annual Kindergarten Health Fair from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6. The free event will be offered to all Kindergarten students in Alcorn County. “We will be checking students’ height and weight, doing a vision screening and teaching general health-related topics geared toward the kindergartners such as proper hand washing, dental health, safety, nutrition, exercise and anti-bullying,” said Instructor Tila Johnson. “A puppet show will also be presented by Nan Nethery’s Teacher Acad-

emy students.” “Some of our activities will include prizes for participation as well as answering questions correctly. Others will include ‘happies’ and treats,” she added. With activities and exhibits spread throughout the building, the health fair will take a hands-on approach when it comes to education. In addition to invaluable information, kindergartners will also receive a report card with their height, weight and vision screening results for their parents to see. “This is our opportunity to give back to the community and to reinforce the lessons these children may have been taught about their health and safety,”said Johnson, who is in her fifth year of teaching the class. “Education is very important, especially in the Health

care-related fields.” The HST instructor wished to thank her second-year students for devoting a tremendous amount of time and energy to this year’s event. “I also want to thank Nan Nethery’s class for their role this year and the staff at ACTC for letting us spread out, use their rooms or cleaning things up for us, all so we can play and teach the kindergärtners of Alcorn County,” she said. “We could not do this without everyone in the building.” Kindergarten classes will arrive as follows: ■ Alcorn Central, Rienzi and Biggersville – 9 a.m. ■ Glen – 11:30 a.m. ■ Kossuth – 12:30 p.m. (For more information, contact Tila Johnson, RN, HST I & II Instructor at 662-287-7727)

Health Sciences Core and Healthcare and Clinical Services students prepare for their upcoming Health Fair. See related photo on Page 2.

25 years ago

On this day in history 150 years ago

Corinth Theatre-Arts presents “Brighton Beach Memoirs”, directed by Murray Chase and starring Leland Hendrix, Chase, TJ Alshouse, Jan Pike, Lori Dellinger and Michelle Martin.

Thousands of Confederate soldiers are travelling after yesterday’s surrender at Citronelle, Alabama. Richard Taylor’s army has laid down their weapons and is allowed to use Northern steamboats to make their way home. EXECUTIVE RENTALS COR CORINT INTH, H,, MISSISSIPPI MISSIS MIS SISSIP SIPPI PI CORINTH,

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WELCOME TO THE PINNACLE an executive rental community located in Corinth, Mississippi. Contact Jumper Realty & Associates to schedule a tour or for more information, units available January 2015

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