Local/State
2 • Daily Corinthian
Saturday, July 8, 2017
MDE announces lottery for scholarship program JACKSON — The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) announced plans for a lottery on July 14 to award 58 Education Scholarship Accounts (ESA) for the 2017-18 school year. Established by the Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Act of 2015, the ESA program provides scholarships to parents of students with disabilities who want to
remove their child from a public school to seek educational services elsewhere. ESA recipients are eligible to be reimbursed up to $6,494in 2017-18 for the cost of private educational services. The law provides for 435 ESA accounts for the 2017-18 school year. As of June 30, 377 ESAs have been awarded to students returning from the 2016-17 school year. Therefore, 58 ad-
ditional ESAs are available for 2017-18. There are currently 257 applications on the waiting list for 2017-18. The law requires the MDE to hold a lottery to award ESAs when the demand exceeds the supply. All eligible applications received for the 2017-18 school year that have not yet been awarded will be included in the lottery. Only complete, eligible applications received by July 14
will qualify for the lottery. To participate in the ESA program: • the applicant must be a Mississippi resident; • the student must have had an active Individualized Education Program (IEP) within five years of the date of application; and • the parent must sign an agreement to adhere to the rules of participation.
Across the State
Some voter info already shared BY EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press
JACKSON — Mississippi’s top elections official says he is consistent by sharing some voter information with other states while also telling a national group to “jump in the Gulf of Mexico” as it requests similar data. Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann says Friday that Mississippi has participated since at least 2009 in the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program. Thirty states send voter information to a secure database
to see if people are registered in more than one state. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is on an election commission appointed by President Donald Trump. Kobach is asking states for voter information, including birthdates, and originally said he would publicly release the information. Hosemann refuses to publicly release voters’ birthdates. He says, though, that birthdates are secure on the interstate crosscheck system.
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eliminating the walking trail crossing an active traffic area. But Ward 4 Alderman J.C. Hill believes the decision was made with some haste. He said he has spoken with numerous emergency officials who are concerned that the closure could complicate the response to an emergency. Assistant Fire Chief James Bryant said the fire department’s view on access points is “the more the better.” “If we can get people in and out easier, it’s going to help us,” he said.
Ward 3 Alderman Chip Wood said residents he has talked to “are so thankful for it because it’s much safer. And I’ve talked to firemen, policemen and ambulance drivers, and they said no curb is going to stop them from going to get somebody to save them.” Wood said he believes the pedestrian safety “outweighs the once every five years that we have an accident there.” Ward 1 Alderman Andrew Labas said he is in favor of keeping it closed. Park Director Ray Holloway said the closure is designed to improve both safety and traffic
flow. “We want to make everything one-way so everybody can get into a habit of identifying oncoming traffic easier,” he said. There have been some near misses for pedestrians in the past, and he has heard much positive feedback about the change. “The walkers love it,” said Holloway. Also regarding the park, aldermen made an appointment to a city seat on the park commission. Attorney Jeremy Hudson replaces Anthony Marshall, whose term expired June 2.
Free Family Law Legal Clinic Child Custody, Child Support, Divorce, Emancipation, Guardianship (for School Attendance and Medical Insurance purposes), Name Change, Health Care Power of Attorney, Limited Power of Attorney and Simple Will
FREE legal assistance to qualified individuals. Date: July 25, 2017 Time: 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Location: Alcorn County Chancery Building 501 East Waldron Street Corinth, Mississippi 38834
Participants must be prescreened. To find out if you qualify, please call the Office of the Alcorn County Chancery Clerk at 662-286-7700.
Parents who are accepted into the program will be reimbursed quarterly after submission of a reimbursement request with proper documentation of expenses incurred. Funds can also be paid quarterly directly to an educational service provider if approved by the parent. For more information, visit www.mdek12.org/OSE/ESA or call the MDE Office of Special Education at 601-359-3498.
Associated Press
Inmate killed while working on truck LUCEDALE — A state inmate has been killed while working on a garbage truck in Lucedale. The Mississippi Department of Corrections says 42-year-old Robert Prine was one of two state inmates standing at the back of the stopped garbage truck when he was fatally injured by another vehicle. The other inmate was treated at a local hospi-
tal and released back to custody. The accident occurred at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
Nurse practitioner arrested for opioids JACKSON — A 59-yearold Pike County nurse practitioner has been arrested in a continuing crackdown on opioid abuse. The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics arrested Susan Duncan, of Summit, on a charge of possession of more
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than 2,500 dosages of Tramadol 50 mg tablets. MBN Director John Dowdy says the drug is an opiate used typically in the treatment of patients suffering from severe chronic pain. He said in a news release Thursday that agents seized 6,000 dosages of the substance from Duncan along with a hand gun. Duncan is being held at the Pike County Jail. Bond had not been set and it was unknown if she has an attorney.
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months), Tiny Miss Slugburger Festival (2-3 years), Little Miss Slugburger Festival (4-6 years), Petite Miss Slugburger Festival (7-9 years), Young Miss Slugburger Festival (10-13 years), Jr. Miss Slugburger Festival (14-16 years) and Miss Slugburger Festival (17-19 years). Wee Miss and Tiny Miss can wear Sunday or pageant attire. Little Miss and up are to wear pageant attire. Depending upon entries, Avent said they will crown a queen, first and second place in each category. Contestants are not required to live in Corinth or Alcorn County. Hair pieces, flippers and false accessories are not permitted. “All girls crowned queen will be asked to be in Main Street Corinth’s annual Christmas Parade in December,” added Avent. “We will also ask Miss Slugburger to return to help crown the following year.”
was found in the bed and Peters was found lying on the floor beside the bed. Peters was awakened and transported by ambulance to the Magnolia Regional Health Center in Corinth to see if he was injured, according to the report. The preliminary investigation indicates that Vicki Peters “did not die of natural causes” and the TCSO is treating it as a criminal matter. The body will be taken to the Mississippi Crime Laboratory for an autopsy, but Tishomingo County Coroner Mack Wilemon did say the deceased had “injuries consistent with blunt force trauma to the head” and more information would be made available when preliminary autopsy results were received. Peters was discharged from the hospital and brought to the Tishomingo County Jail. Investigators are working with the District Attorney’s Office to have him held without bond, due to Peters being out on a felony bond for arson.
(For more information or to request an application, contact Avent at 662665-1600 or corinthmainstreet@gmail. com.)
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We Are Corinth’s Edgeston said there are many who have a vision of what the playground means to the community — what E.S. Bishop Park could mean to the community’s children. She began by explaining We Are Corinth is a group of people who live in Corinth, both individuals and organizations coming together. “It’s people from Corinth, just saying ‘we are corinth and if things are going to happen, it’s because we are going to do it as a community. We will do it together.’ We just seek out things to do as a community that make a difference,” said Edgeston. She said We Are Corinth began after two young men were murdered last year. It was decided that everyone needed to start doing things as a community. “We started playing kickball in the summer. We played all last summer and we’re doing that this summer. We hung out here a lot at this park because it was basically
abandoned and it was not being used. “So, we hung out here and started having the dream of rebuilding and of this [park] becoming a source for life again like it used to be. It used to have softball games going on, and the playground was new at one point, and the basketball courts were being used and we started dreaming of things getting better. Then CARE got involved and said they wanted to help as well,” said Edgeston. Luster and Spence agreed. It was why they, representing Meigg Street Church of Christ, wanted to help. “We need to the community cleaned if we’re going to have a good church. The church is a part of our community. I know when I was growing up, people would always tell you to go to other places, but didn’t prepare an official place for you to go. We need to get the kids off the street in a safe place. I think this is something that needs to be done,” said Luster. “I appreciate the cleanup around here, which we need, especially for our youngsters to have a place to hang out and have a good time with all the stuff that’s going on,” said Spence. Edgeston quoted Orma Smith’s statement during the original meeting three weeks ago. “People should give to the project because, like Orma said, ‘It’s the right thing to do.’ To re-
build and give our kids something safe ... this is a neighborhood park and it’s convenient for kids to come here. They can walk here. It can give them a place to go — a safe haven for some positive recreation,” she said. Even after Smith left Thursday’s meeting at the park, people stood around and talked about the project and about hopes for the future. Representatives from other churches came by and contributed such as Daniel and Ginger Jones from Tate Baptist Church, Ray McClellan of Macedonia M.B. Church and representatives of St. Mark Baptist Church, which was the home church of late E.S. Bishop, the man for whom the park is named. There is hope the contributions will keep coming. There is hope that maybe they will even exceed their goal and plan further renovations. To date, now at Week 3 of the challenge, the community has shown an overwhelming response raising $24,300 of the $30,000. There is now one week left to raise the remaining $5,700. (Donations to the C.A.R.E. Playground Project at E.S. Bishop Park can be mailed to: Corinth-Alcorn Reaching for Excellence, P.O. Box 239, Corinth, MS 38835. Please make checks payable to C.A.R.E. Please see future editions of the Daily Corinthian for fundraising updates.)