081817 daily corinthian e edition

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Prentiss Co. New fire chief named for Booneville

McNairy Co. Officials urge research on teens and insurance

Travel Daily Corinthian heads out west

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Friday Aug. 18,

2017

75 cents

Daily Corinthian Vol. 121, No. 197

Partly sunny Today

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• Corinth, Mississippi • 20 pages • 2 sections

No tax increase expected for county By Jebb Johnston jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com

After two years of increasing the millage rate for property taxes, county supervisors are moving toward holding the rate steady in the upcoming fiscal year. The members of the Board of Supervisors are aware that many people will, with this year’s property reappraisal, still pay more in taxes.

The county’s total assessed value is increasing in the range of 8 to 9 percent from the prior year. The budget numbers are preliminary. However, during a budget work session Thursday afternoon, the board had reached consensus on where the budget is heading for fiscal 2018. With a millage rate holding at 116.21 — 63.45 for the county

and 52.76 for the county school district — the county expects to see a better outlook in the new fiscal year. “We are making some progress toward not being in a deficit situation,” said Chancery Clerk Greg Younger. The county is projecting it will be able to end FY 2018 with a reserve of approximately $465,000 — a luxury it hasn’t had for some time.

“With that reserve, we’ve got to show a lot of restraint,” said Younger. “The reserve fund has got to be for emergencies.” Younger believes $1 million is a good goal for the county’s reserve. With the improvement, it is hoped the county will not again have a need for a tax anticipation loan. The solid waste department is projected to finish the year with

a small surplus. Board President Jimmy Tate Waldon said the justice center is also headed in the right direction. The budget projects total revenue of $18,964,953, compared to $17.89 million projected in the current budget. The millage rate increased by 5.21 mills in FY 2017 and 5.24 mills in FY 2016. A public hearing will be held on the budget before adoption.

Statewide student test results released County shows gain, city needs clarifying BY ZACK STEEN zsteen@dailycorinthian.com

Jo Walker-Meador (from left), Tammy Genovese (former CEO, CMA), renowned country music artist Barbara Mandrell, and Ed Benson (also a former CMA executive director) celebrate with Walker-Meador as she receives a star on Nashville’s Music Mile during the 2008 Music City Walk of Fame induction.

Arena manager remembers By L.A. Story lastory@dailycorinthian.com

It seems all of Nashville, Tenn., is mourning the death of Country Music Association pioneer Jo Walker-Meador as she profoundly impacted the Country Music industry, but one Crossroads area native remembers her too — in the role

of mentor and friend. “Truly country music would not be where it is today without her and I certainly owe her all the credit for my accomplishments at CMA and in Country Music,” said Crossroads Arena General Manager Tammy Genovese. The GM credits Walker-

Meador as having as profound an impact on her as she did on country music. Walker-Meador, 93, died Tuesday night, Aug. 15, 2017, following a stroke. She was the longest running CMA Executive Director. She held that

4-H day offers fun, food, information

Please see MUSIC | 5A

Alcorn County schools showed some improvement in state testing results released on Thursday, while Corinth city school results needed more clarification. The 2016-17 Mississippi Academic Assessment Program formerly known as the Mississippi Assessment Program shows student performance in English Language Arts and math in grades 3-8, English II and Algebra. Due to Corinth School District’s state District of Innovation status and their implementation of the Cambridge International curriculum, results for city schools don’t show true student performance said Superintendent Lee Childress. “The results reflect student performance on assessments matched to the Mississippi College and Career Readiness Standards. While we are not teaching these standards, our students are required to take these assessments,” said Childress. “In addition, these same students also took Cambridge

Please see TESTING | 2A

People of the Crossroads Taylor Coombs, Corinth

Taylor Coombs may not have any children she can call her own, but she claims 2,700 of them. That’s the number of kids in the Corinth School District, where she serves as marketing and public relations manager. “I love kids,” said the 27-year-old single 2008 Corinth High School graduate. “Be who you needed when you were younger” is her life motto. “I live my life trying to be that person to my youth group kids at the Youth House at First Presbyterian Church. I am extremely passionate about youth ministry.” Another passion is the Major League Eating circuit. She attends the Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest in New York City every year and plays hosts to MLE when it visits for the Slugburger Festival. The daughter of Mark and Jackie Coombs, she is a 2012 Ole Miss graduate.

By L.A. Story lastory@dailycorinthian.com

What goes well with food and fun? Information, of course, and that is the 4-H Club’s specialty. 4-H Promotion Day will take place from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. this Saturday, at the Mississippi State University Extension Service, located at 2200 Levee Road, in Corinth, (behind the Crossroads Arena). 4-H Agent Tammy Parker said that some of the 4-H Clubs will have displays with fun hands-on activities at each table

International Assessments in Grades 3-10 in the content areas of English Language Arts and Mathematics.” Childress said his district is currently seeking clarification in a couple of areas of MAAP testing results. “The English II results show we had 100% of our children scoring in the Level 1 category. We find this somewhat interesting as we have Cambridge results for this same group of children that show 95.8% of them passing the Cambridge English Literature Exam,” he said. “Out of this same group of students, we had 61 students challenge the Cambridge General Paper Exam and 93.4% of them passed that exam. These results show that our children are being successful in challenging Cambridge exams and can meet an expected international standard.” Childress said approximately 350 students also took the Algebra MAAP assessment, yet the district received no results for those students.

and 4-H volunteer leaders will be there to answer questions. The agent said there are 12 clubs in Alcorn County for evPlease see 4-H | 2A

Staff photo by Mark Boehler

25 years ago

10 years ago

Corinth’s Nancy Plesnarski is chosen to serve on the Governors Commission on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Northeast Mississippi Community College launches a new policy requiring all students, staff and faculty to wear their IDs for security reasons.

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