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Daily Corinthian Vol. 116, No. 158
• Corinth, Mississippi •
Partly sunny Today
Tonight
105
74
20 pages • Two sections
Woman dies when truck rolls over her BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Mark Boehler
Power outage A construction company crew hauling heavy equipment into the former Liddon Lake area off U.S. 72 in Corinth struck utility lines and destroyed a power pole just before noon Saturday, causing a widespread power outage to the east side of town, including much of the business district along the highway. An Alcorn County Electric Power Association crew responded to the scene and had power restored to much of the area in about 40 minutes. With temperatures past 100 degrees, the ACE crew remained on the scene most of the afternoon clearing lines that fell on the heavy equipment and began making repairs to the pole.
A Corinth woman was killed at her home Saturday afternoon when a truck began to move and rolled over her. Coroner Jay Jones said the accident victim was Juanita Rogers, 81, of 502 Walnut Circle. It happened about 2:30 as Rogers and her sister were unloading potting soil from a truck. Jones said the truck was located on an incline and it began to move, rolling on top of the woman. Jones said the two women had spent the day together before the tragic accident. Memorial Funeral Home will have the arrangements for Rogers.
Easom supports review progress BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Mark Boehler
H. Lee Smith II, now age 42, credits much of his continued recovery from colon cancer to the dedicated support of his parents, Harold P. and Vonceil Smith.
Colon cancer at age 40? It could happen to you ... BY MARK BOEHLER editor@dailycorinthian.com
“You have a tumor and it’s cancerous.” A mother and father stood beside their hurting son in the emergency room at Magnolia Regional Health Center. Deadly colon cancer? Their son was still in his prime at 40 years old. There was shock and disbelief. The words came that September day in 2010 from Dr. Matt Johnson, a respected and highly regarded surgeon at Magnolia. The parents looked toward the surgeon, who said he was 98 percent certain their son had colon cancer. “I never did cry, but my knees got weak,” said the mother. “But I had faith everything was going to be OK.” She wished and then told Dr. Johnson she so hoped he was wrong. “How do you know?” the father asked. Dr. Johnson knew. And he was right. The patient was in so much pain, he said later, he didn’t
fully absorb the diagnosis. The patient was knocking on death’s door. He needed help. And he needed it quickly. ■■■
H. Lee Smith II grew up in Corinth, graduating from CHS in 1988. He always loved sports and always had a passion for keeping statistics. Wiffle ball participants in his own backyard from within a long home run shot at today’s high school campus always knew their batting averages and on base percentages. Young Lee used his parents’ old checkbook deposit tickets as scorebooks. He shared the love for sports with his parents, Vonceil and Harold P. Smith. Dad was an educator for 381⁄2 years before retirement in 1999. For many of those years, Harold P. was the principal at CHS. Vonceil grew up in a sports family. She also loves kids. For 27 years, Vonceil ran a day care in her home for teachers’ school-aged kids. Lee went on to Ole Miss, graduating in 1993 with a B.S. degree in business. But the business he most
enjoyed was sports. He began covering games for the Daily Corinthian in August, 1993. It wasn’t long before he was hired as sports editor at the local newspaper in June 1994, a position he holds today. The sports editor earned some accolades along the way from his peers in the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press Managing Editors Association, both professional newspaper organizations. He once wrote the obituary of Colonel Reb long before the iconic symbol really died at Ole Miss, then ruffled many feathers in the Rebel Nation when he stated Peyton Manning had no good reason to be in Oxford on game day, unless to play against the home team. The sports journalist has written hundreds of accounts of local high school sports games, from hapless teams trying to get a first victory to those playing for state championships. Give him a player’s name from any local team from the Please see CANCER | 2A
Index Stocks...... 7A Classified......6B Comics Inside Wisdom......4B
Weather......5A Obituaries......3A Opinion......4A Sports......8A
Easom School supporters met Saturday to review recent progress at the school campus. The Easom Outreach Foundation Board of Directors convened for its annual meeting Saturday morning along with interested community members. The group gave a round of applause to inmates who have provided labor for painting, floor replacement and other work to help get the campus’ initial community service programs going at a very low cost. “If I had to put a number to all of the stuff that we’ve done, including labor, I’d say $40,000,” said Samuel Crayton, board president. “And it has cost us $8,500.” One of the inmates did two wall paintings of the Easom yellow jacket, and another replaced floor tile, adding the lettering of “Easom.” Also, a mural is being painted in the gym. “These guys have done wonders,” said Crayton. “They enjoy coming here.” The former school building took on its first community service role June 4 when it opened as a site for the Summer Feeding Program of the Corinth School District and has seen av-
Staff photo by Jebb Johnston
The Yellowjacket mascot comes back to life at Eason School.
erage attendance of more than 30 youth daily. Evelyn Webb has been working with the volunteers who carry out the program on the school campus each day. “We have built a solid volunteer team,” she said. “We find as we are making calls throughout the community that everyone is very interested and has pride and hope in the fact that we are trying to take over the building, restore it, and have it for community use. And everybody has suggestions about things we could do.” Please see OUTREACH | 5A
Jacinto brings out the sweat BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Jacinto is ready to host another day of history, politics, Indian dances, food and crafts. Like many locals, Jacinto Foundation Executive Director Beth Whitehurst has been keeping an eye on the sultry weather forecast. It appears a slight cooling will greet Wednesday’s festival with a high temperature of about 97 under clear, sunny skies. But it wouldn’t be a proper Jacinto fest without a bit of sweat. “This is not new,” said
Whitehurst. “We’ll have a lot of vendors selling drinks, and people can bring coolers with them as long as it’s not alcoholic.” Festival-goers can get a break from the heat in the revamped museum and gift shop, where the museum has been given more prominence with exhibits of old farm tools, medical equipment and town life. “We’re trying to show the town life and farm life, because it was primarily a farming Please see FESTIVAL | 3A
On this day in history 150 years ago A force of 4,700 Confederate cavalry attacks the small Union cavalry brigade camped at Booneville. The 728 Federals are armed with Colt revolving rifles and, under the leadership of Col. Philip Sheridan, manage to defeat and drive away the enemy.