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2 • Daily Corinthian
Thursday, May 21, 2015
The late Ben Shipman, above Friends and classmates of the late Ben Shipman help dedicate a tree in his honor, left.
SHIPMAN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
will stand for many years as a reminder of Ben’s dedication to his school and community.� “It’s so appropriate that the tree will be most vibrant during his birthday month of November,� She added. Ben’s tree was planted at the Alcorn School District Admin-
istrative office on Thursday, May 7th with family, friends, classmates, school officials and the KHS band in attendance. Speakers included Alcorn School District Superintendent Gina Rogers Smith, Mike Kimmons, Brandon Harvell and Bro. Randy Bostick. As the KHS band performed “Titanium�, a song arranged by
Ben for the band, his sister loving placed a memorial marker beneath his tree. “We are so thankful for the many ways Ben has been honored during the past year. We are overwhelmed by the love and support of our community,� said Trina Shipman as she reflected on all those who have consoled her family as
they continue to mourn the loss of their loved one. “The class of 2015 has done an amazing job keeping his memory alive and honoring him throughout their senior year.� Left to carry on his memory are his parents, Ritchie and Trina Shipman; his sister, Whitney Lane Shipman; and his grandparents, Jerry and Marie Ship-
Aruba officials chase another false Holloway tip Associated Press
ORANJESTAD, Aruba — Aruba prosecutors said Wednesday that yet another tip about the location of U.S. teen Natalee Holloway’s body turned out to be false. Authorities said they had received a tip from a man who previously claimed to be a witness to Holloway’s disappearance on May 30, 2005. The man, identified as Jurrien de Jong,
insisted that Holloway was buried under a staircase of the Marriott Hotel in Aruba, prosecutors said. They said his claims led chief prosecutor Eric Olthof to ask that Aruba police contact Marriott’s management office in Orlando, Florida, to determine when the hotel’s Spyglass Tower and its staircase was built. Marriott officials said neither the tower nor its
staircase had been built when Holloway disappeared, prosecutors said. “This means that Natalee Holloway could never have been hidden and/or buried there,� officials said in a statement. “This leads to the conclusion that the claims made by Mr. De Jong ... cannot be correct, and that his testimony ... does not add to the solving of this case.�
Holloway was on a high school graduation trip when she vanished. The 18-year-old from Alabama was last seen leaving a bar with Joran van der Sloot, a Dutchman raised in Aruba who is the chief suspect in her disappearance. Van der Sloot later pleaded guilty to the 2010 murder of a woman in Peru killed five years to the day after Holloway disappeared.
DEA wrapping up prescription drug crackdown Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Federal drug agents raided medical clinics, pharmacies and other locations across the South on Wednesday, wrapping up what a federal official called a long-running crackdown on prescription drug abuse. The early morning raids in Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi were the final stage of an operation
launched last summer by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s drug diversion unit, a senior DEA official said ahead of the raids, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to describe details of the investigation before a public announcement set for later in the day. Before Wednesday’s raids, 140 people had been arrested and agents
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expected to make 170 more arrests, the official said. Suspects in the DEA’s “Operation Pilluted� include doctors and pharmacists, the official said. The crackdown is focused on the illegal sale of painkillers, including the powerful opioids oxycodone and hydrocodone. DEA agents in Arkansas raided a medical clinic Wednesday morning within sight of its local office, detaining six, and also swept into a pharmacy a mile away. One worker at the Bowman Curve Pharmacy in Little Rock was handcuffed and taken away by a city policeman assisting in the raids, while DEA took in cardboard boxes in their search for evidence. The KJ Medical Clinic
was often protected by a security guard while another employee was often stationed outside to direct traffic when patients start showing up around 6:45 each morning. Six people were taken away by police — one uniformed guard and another man identified as security personnel, two nurses, a doctor and a man identified as the office manager. The doctor, asked if he was selling pills illegally, told reporters, “No.� In Mobile, Alabama, agents are targeting two doctors accused of running multiple pain clinics, the official said. The DEA official said 24 doctors, pharmacies and others have surrendered their DEA registration numbers as part of the ongoing crackdown.
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man and Yvonne Mauney. “Ben contributed his time and effort to make Kossuth and Alcorn County a better place,� said ASD Superintendent Gina Rogers Smith. “I want this small gesture, the tree dedication, to remind everyone of the love and compassion that Ben shared through his music and time that he gave for others.�
Mayor engaged to beauty queen medical student Associated Press
TUPELO — Tupelo’s mayor is engaged to a beauty queen and medical student. Mayor Jason Shelton’s romance with former Miss Mississippi Chelsea Rick began when he tweeted a message asking residents of Tupelo and North Mississippi to support her in the 2013 Miss Mississippi competition. Rick, a William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Hattiesburg, said she had followed the mayoral race. “I was pretty excited because here was the new, young Democratic mayor in Tupelo tweeting me,� she told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, laughing. “After I got crowned, I thought he would be a good person to go and meet with because I wanted to be proactive about a way to give back to Northeast Mississippi.� She said that since Shelton is a lawyer, she’d expected him to be pompous and arrogant. “But he was just the opposite,� she said. “He was so warm and so humble and really listened to some of the things I wanted to do in that area. He didn’t treat me like just another pageant girl.� Shelton was also im-
Senators questioning energy plans by TVA Associated Press
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pressed. “She’s obviously a beautiful girl and really just takes your breath away when she walks into a room, but I was really surprised with how easy she was to talk to and how passionate she was about giving back to the community,� Shelton said. “To me it was so impressive to see this medical student and Miss Mississippi being truly passionate about some of the causes she’s advocating for.� They kept in touch on a professional basis for about six months. Shelton says she knew before their first kiss that he was the man for her. He proposed May 9, in the City Hall rose garden that Rick describes as “possibly where our first kiss took place.� Rick said she wasn’t entirely surprised by the proposal, but didn’t expect it then and there. “I’m usually really good about picking up on stuff like that because despite Jason being a lawyer and a politician, he’s a terrible liar,� she said. “But I had been in exams all week and just didn’t pick up on any clues or hints.� Rick will move back to the area in the fall to begin her clinical rotations at North Mississippi Medical Center.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s Republican U.S. senators, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, are questioning why the Tennessee Valley Authority is placing greater emphasis on renewable energy as part of its longterm plans. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that the senators in a meeting with the public utility on Monday said renewable sources of energy add costs and
uncertainty. Alexander said TVA should focus on nuclear power generation instead of what he called the latest “fad.� The senators also questioned why the TVA is considering buying electricity generated by wind farms in the Midwest. “I think our ratepayers and our jobs are better served when TVA sticks to its mission of low-cost power instead of chasing the latest energy fad ...,� he said.