Wednesday August 8,
2012
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Daily Corinthian Vol. 116, No. 190
Mostly sunny Today
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• Corinth, Mississippi • 20 pages • Two sections
Officials eye possible disaster declaration BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Alcorn County is almost within reach of seeking a federal disaster declaration following the severe storms of the night of July 30, according to emergency management officials. Ricky Gibens, emergency management director, said reports are needed from any home or business owners who have not already reported storm-related damage from the storms that happened around
11 p.m. and 2 a.m. on the night of July 30 and early morning of July 31. “It looks like we had about eight or 10 homes that we classed as destroyed,” said Gibens. Ten to 12 had severe damage. Another 20 had moderate damage with a total of about 50 homes affected. No reports of business damage have been received. Representatives of the American Red Cross and EMA have done field surveys.
The numbers are not currently enough to seek a declaration, but officials believe there could be some unreported damage that would put the county within range. Anything related to the storm and the numerous downed trees and limbs can be reported. Shingles blown off, broken glass, chipped bricks and any other damage to a home would qualify. In one case following the storm, some workers cutting a tree limb caught the cor-
ner of a house with a trailer, resulting in damage. That type of situation also qualifies. The threshold is generally about 100 homes or $300,000 in total damage to qualify for a major disaster declaration. The threshold is lower for a declaration through the Small Business Administration. A federal disaster declaration could help the county and city recoup cleanup expenses. “We potentially could receive some help in the clearing
away of [debris] that people put out on the street,” said David Huwe, director of community development and planning for the city. Right now, the affected departments hope not to bust their budgets, he said. The city received 24 reports of downed trees in the night’s storms as the east side of the county took the hardest hit. Citizens can contact Gibens at 286-7737; leave a message if no answer for a return call.
Quick thinking Biggersville fireman honored in ceremony BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
A Biggersville fireman was recently honored for singlehandedly extinguishing a fire in a local business. Biggersville Fire & Rescue Capt. William Hutcheson was among several firefighters honored in a recent ceremony at the fire department’s North Station. Hutcheson received Biggersville Fire & Rescue’s Meritorious Conduct Award for actions during a call on Nov. 18, 2010. Hutcheson was shopping in a Biggersville convenience store when a grease fire ignited in the kitchen area. According to the official report on the in-
cident, “Capt. Hutcheson was quick to act by retrieving the only fire extinguisher in the store only to discover that it was not charged. Thinking quickly, Capt. Hutcheson went to the retail section of the store and retrieved multiple boxes of baking soda which he used to smother the fire.” Due to his quick actions and ability to act according to his training, Hutcheson was able to prevent heavy loss to the business and possible injury of its occupants. “We are very proud of our volunteers for what they do and Please see CEREMONY | 2A
Church uses baseball to share Jesus in Ukraine BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
School bound
8-year-old Lauren Talley along with the rest of Alcorn County students headed back to school for a new year Tuesday. Talley, the daughter of Todd and Lori Talley, is a third-grader at Kossuth Elementary.
Baseball was the tool which planted the seed. Seven members of Holly Baptist Church used “America's Pastime” to spread the Gospel in Feodosia, Ukraine, during a mission trip on June 29 through July 8. During four days, the local men worked with about 50 children from the city on the basics of the game. “The first day was an adventure on what to do,” said church member and Kossuth baseball head coach Daniel Threadgill. “Teaching the ba-
sic things like putting a glove on right and how to hold a bat were new to me.” The idea for taking the game to Feodosia — a port and resort city of about 40,000 on the Black Sea — was one of former Corinthian Gary Watkins. Watkins, whose International Equipping Ministries is located in Collierville, Tenn., spoke at the church about the possible mission trip. “I didn't know how it was going to work, but we were going,” said Holly pastor Bro. John Boler. “Baseball was goPlease see BASEBALL | 2A
Photographer Lowry Wilson looks for unique perspectives in work BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
In a bullet-smashed windshield on an abandoned vehicle, a lonely Confederate cemetery or a Ferris wheel shrouded in a dusky haze, Lowry Wilson seeks the essence of the South. The New Albany photographer’s work is the featured exhibit for August at the Corinth Artist Guild Gallery. An opening reception for the “Old South Images” exhibit is set for Thursday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. “Everything I do, I try to find unique perspectives of,” said Wilson, who was also featured at the gallery in 2009. “I try to look for things that are different; things that capture the eye.” Wilson ran a photo studio for about 10 years, shooting weddings and portraits. “For the last several years, I have been teaching studio lighting and wedding consultations for one of the largest photo labs in the world, along with leading several tours along Route 66 in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma.” A series of images from the
Mississippi Delta hangs on the gallery’s front wall. He plans to expand the series into a future gallery exhibit and book. He is also working on a series made with film-based toy cameras for a future exhibit. In addition to Mississippi landscapes populated with barns and aging vehicles, a sampling of other photos in the exhibit includes the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge against a pastel-hued sky, a colorful flag painted on the wall of Corinth’s old Railway Express Agency building, and a sea of old bathtubs and sinks captured in black and white. Non-color photos make up almost half of the exhibit. “I think the black-and-white photos are quite interesting with their shape and composition,” said Guild President Sonny Boatman. “Bullet,” which shows an old vehicle’s interior with a bulletcracked windshield, was captured on the camera of a cell phone. Wilson, who picked up firstplace wins in Tupelo’s Gumtree Festival the last two years, be-
An old pickup truck, idle in the Mississippi Delta, is typical of Lowry Wilson’s images of the South. He will be ata Corinth gallery for an opening reception Thursday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. came interested in photography at 14 when he purchased an inexpensive camera from a lo-
Index Stocks...... 7A Classified......5B Comics......3B Wisdom......2B
Weather......5A Obituaries......3A Opinion......4A Sports......8A
cal drug store. He said he aims to “bring to life the story in the everyday moments that pass us
by.” Please see EXHIBIT | 2A
On this day in history 150 years ago Despite public sentiment in England to recognize the Confederacy or intervene in the fighting, Prime Minister Lord Palmerston officially declared that Britain would continue to preserve “a strict and rigid neutrality.”