McNairy County Moore wins election for property assessor
Prentiss County Local resident to lead highway patrol troop
Local Snapshot Saturday shares the fun
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Saturday Aug. 6,
2016
75 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 120, No. 189
Partly sunny Today
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50% chance of rain
• Corinth, Mississippi • 26 pages • Two sections
Defendants plead guilty in circuit court BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
A number of defendants entered guilty pleas in Alcorn County Circuit Court during the last few weeks. Sentences handed down on
guilty pleas include: • Summer Monroe, 30, burglary of a dwelling — Six years to serve in custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and five years of probation • Christy Gilmer, 36, pre-
scription fraud — Suspended five-year sentence and five years of probation • Benjamin Howard Puckett, 36, two indictments for grand larceny — Suspended five-year sentences with five years pro-
bation and must pay restitution to three parties totaling $2,828 • Christopher Stanley Fondren, possession of methamphetamine — Suspended threeyear sentence with two years of unsupervised probation
Please see UPGRADES | 5A
BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
BY JEBB JOHNSTON Hailing from a lumber family, Judy Duke found herself drafting floor plans for several years. “That was not what I wanted in my art,” said the Lexington, Tenn., resident, an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee in Parsons and Jackson State Community College. She ran in the opposite direction creatively, determined to get outside the drafting table’s rigid lines. She proudly claims the labels “experimental” and “abstract.” “I don’t start with anything in mind, whatsoever,” said Duke. “I do something, I step back, look at it, and it kind of tells me where to go from there.” The Corinth Artist Guild Gallery will host an exhibition of her work through Aug. 27 with an opening reception Sunday
Rotary member Sam Kemp. “It will provide up to 300 gallons of clean water per hour.” Kemp was a part of the team from Living Water Mis-
Northeast Mississippi Community College President Ricky Ford talked about the county’s contributions and the institution’s role in helping youth find their career path during a visit with Alcorn County supervisors. He sees a problem with students leaving high school with “zero skill in anything.” “That’s where we’re trying to work with the high schools now,” said Ford. “We just signed an agreement with Corinth High School that they’re going to have some classes such as culinary arts. If somebody wants to go to work in the hotel business, they can have a working knowledge of that when they graduate from high school.” While the county and college face a challenge of producing skilled laborers for industries who complain that they don’t have enough people to put to work, he said students need be looking at options as they come into high school. “We have so many kids that
Please see ROTARY | 5A
Please see CAREERS | 5A
Staff photo by Zack Steen
Corinth Rotary Club members Sam Kemp, Michael Tate and Beth Hudson show off the banner from the Living Water Missions clean water system install in Central America. Kemp was also a part of the install team on the project funded by the local civic club.
Corinth Rotary Club brings water, hope to Central America BY ZACK STEEN zsteen@dailycorinthian.com
Pure water and clean hands equal healthy life. The Corinth Rotary Club recently completed their first international service project
by funding the installation of a system to provide clean water to people in Central America. “The system was installed in Chiantla, Huehuetenango and Guatemala,” said local
People of the Crossroads
Artist colors outside the lines jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Please see PLEAS | 2A
Ford talks career readiness
School head awaits roof upgrades Upgrades might be coming at two Alcorn County schools. That’s the hope of Alcorn School District Superintendent of Education Larry B. Mitchell. “We have worked in $225,000 into the budget for the upcoming year about to start,” he recently told the Board of Education. “We’ve picked out several key projects that need to be completed if possible.” If the budget is approved by the board next week, Mitchell said he plans to kickstart two projects which will replace the current flat roofs at Alcorn Central and Kossuth with “more sloped roofs which will prevent the standing water we have now.” Mitchell added, “I believe these can easily be 20-year roofs and with approval we could start as early as September or October.” The upgrade projects might also include new windows at Kossuth said Mitchell. The board will vote on the budget on Monday. Mitchell also updated the board on several other projects, all of which are in the final
• Carlos Neal Gray, 33, three indictments for burglary of a vehicle — Three years to serve, five years probation and payment of restitution, consecutive
Chrissy Peters, Bethel Springs, Tenn.
from 2 to 4 p.m. Working with watercolor and acrylics, her experimental nature also extends to color, which is particularly bold in some that feature what she calls the stained-glass effect. She also produces more traditional images. In this exhibit, these include a Chicago street scene and a glimpse through a church window to a shadowy interior. Some of Duke’s ideas are found in scenery and art workshops in Florida, where she and her husband take six-week visits. A big fan of waterfalls, which feature in several of the exhibit’s paintings, she likes to keep her work varied, going from one series to another. She had no formal art education before heading to the Uni-
Staff photo by Zack Steen
In the process of helping her own son prepare for college, Christiana “Chrissy” Peters has attracted a following. “I’m helping all of his friends sign up for scholarships and research colleges – I’ve got an entire group of them who come over for help,” she said. Her son Bobby, a sophomore at McNairy Central High School, is her passion. As copresident of the McNairy Central Bobcat Band, she stays busy. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it,” she added. Originally from Florida, Peters and her husband Jason, moved to West Tennessee 11 years ago. Ten of those years, she’s worked for SMC Recycling in Selmer, Tenn., managing the company’s accounts payable and industrial accounts.
Please see EXHIBIT | 2A
25 years ago
10 years ago
Alcorn County gets an $80,000 grant for a new computer system in the tax assessor’s office as part of a pilot project.
Velicia Tyes of Rienzi completes an internship with the state senate where she served as head page.
• On Site Jewelry Repair • Custom Designs • Engraving • Jewelry for every occasion Located in Historic Downtown Corinth for over 65 years.
516 Waldron St., Corinth, MS • 662.286.5597