Inside today: Crossroads Magazine Homes Edition — Fall Saturday August 25, 2012 50 cents
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Griffith Place A stunning downtown Corinth getaway Tailgating Cuisine A dozen recipes to add zest to the party
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Daily Corinthian Vol. 116, No. 205
Partly sunny Today
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• Corinth, Mississippi • 16 pages • One section
City, county consider plan to shift funds to arena BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
City and county leaders are considering a significant shift in tourism tax proceeds from tourism to the Crossroads Arena, prompting concern from the Corinth Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. If the plan goes forward, the CVB budget would lose $250,000, which would go to operations at the jointly owned Crossroads Arena. “We’re just trying to put this money to the best purpose to serve the most people,” said Board of Supervisors President Lowell Hinton. With the shift in funding, property taxes would no longer be allocated from the city and county budgets to fund the arena operations. “We are trying to get the arena off the backs of the taxpayers as far as the ad valorem goes,” said Alderman Andrew Labas. “I hear complaints about that all the time. We think it should be through the tourism tax.” In the current budget, the city allocated $63,000 for the arena, and the county allocated $112,500. With the shift, Labas said it would be a goal to “over the next three to four years have the arena in a financially viable position to self-sustain.”
He said it will give the arena sufficient operating funds and help the venue to host bigger shows. The CVB submitted a budget of $567,000 for fiscal 2013, and Hinton said there is a feeling that some of that money could go to better uses. Tourism officials were alarmed this week as they received word of the plan, which has not been publicly discussed. A shift of $250,000 from tourism to the arena would cut 44 percent from the CVB’s proposed budget, and Tourism Director Kristy White said it would gut the office’s promotion efforts and possibly bring an end to some community events such as the Grand Illumination. “It would effectively end any local grants program,” said White. “The 28 groups that we have given money to in this fiscal year — that money would no longer be available next year.” She said the office would try to maintain the Crossroads Chili Cook-off and Green Market events, which are coordinated in-house. Labas said the board attorneys have studied the law that established the tourism tax and determined the two governments can make this change.
“The way we are proposing doing this is well within the law and a viable option if we wanted to pursue it,” he said. Tourism officials have often said the money can only be expended on advertising and promotion efforts. Hinton said it was always intended that part of the tourism dollars should go toward promotion of the events at Crossroads Arena but a “very small amount” of money has actually gone for that purpose. The tourism office’s budget is funded through the 2 percent tax on prepared food and lodging collected in Corinth. One percent of the tax goes toward the bond payment for the construction of Crossroads Arena, and the other 1 percent currently goes to the CVB board for advertising and promotion of Corinth and Alcorn County. The tourism tax topped $1 million in proceeds for the first time last year and will do the same in the current fiscal year. Hinton said he believes the tourism office can weather the cuts by tightening its budget. Labas said he understands the tourism office’s concerns about the cut, but believes it can still carry out its programs with the remaining funds. He noted the Please see ARENA | 2
Submitted photo
Authorities are looking for this man who robbed Renasant Bank in Iuka on Aug. 16. He was captured on this bank video on the right, as was the small child helping himself to some free candy on the left.
Officials release robber’s photo BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
Iuka and Tishomingo County law enforcement officers are hoping the public will recognize the man in a surveillance photo taken during the Aug. 16 robbery of an Iuka bank. According to investigators, the man walked into the Renasant Bank on Highway 25 around 4:20 p.m., handed a note to a teller and made his exit with an undisclosed amount of money. The man said he was armed,
according to police. No one was hurt in the robbery. The surveillance photo shows a tall white man (about 6 feet tall) with a medium to slight build wearing dark sunglasses, a camouflage baseball cap, khaki shorts, sneakers and a white T-shirt with a small Confederate flag over his heart. Sheriff Glenn Whitlock said the man may have fled in a white or beige Ford Explorer, but nobody saw which way he Please see PHOTO | 2
Workshop helps define social media use Officers BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
Everyone could use some tips about how best to use social media, whether one is using it for business or pleasure. That was the concept of the Corinth Young Professionals’ “Lunch & Learn” session on Thursday. The session was held to help people enhance their business networking and avoid some of the common pitfalls of communicating online, explained Andrea Rose, community development director for the Alliance. First, there are so many options for social media these days, many people don’t know which would be right for their needs. Rose explained the differences in the most popular social media sites, who they’re for, when to check them, and their respective bad reputations and new twists. Twitter is for news, information and connecting with industry leaders. It works especially good for content creators and people comfortable in public
forums. The downside? Many users send out inane tweets about what they had for dinner, etc. In a new twist, Twitter is what Gov. Phil Bryant reads over breakfast. Twitter users should check in two or three times a day. On the more professional side, LinkedIn is good for networking, job hunting and showcasing professional accomplishments. It’s geared to anyone who has or wants a career. While LinkedIn has a rep for being boring, it is a goldmine of industry insights and ideas. Users should check in weekly to LinkedIn, or more often if one is in the job market. Facebook is for everyone and is good for connecting, sharing advice and keeping up with friends and associates. While it can seem like all people use it for is to brag about their families, it’s a good way to network with one’s elementary school classmates’ contacts. Users should open their Facebook every day or two. One of the newer social me-
help save man’s life BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
Please see WORKSHOP | 2
Please see DRIVER | 2
Staff photo by Bobby J. Smith
Andrea Rose explains the safe way to navigate today’s social media. dia sites — that is especially popular with younger users — is Pinterest, which a place for visually oriented professionals, photographers, crafty people and people into marketing de-
Index Stocks........7 Classified......14 Comics...... 13 Wisdom...... 12
sign to share visual content and bookmark recipes, crafts and anything else. The bad rep? Some say it’s for competitive
On Thursday morning traffic came to a halt at the intersection of Cass Street and Highway 72. An unconscious elderly driver was locked inside in his 2007 Mercury Marquis. And the car was still moving. As the car slowly drifted, merging from the highway onto Cass Street, a group of motorists left their vehicles and ran to the front of the slowly out-of-control car. They teamed up and combined their strength to hold the Marquis out of the way of traffic until emergency personnel could arrive and take charge of the situation.
Weather........5 Obituaries........ 3 Opinion........4 Sports...... 10
On this day in history 150 years ago Gen. Frank Armstrong abandons his orders to ride around Corinth when he is told, incorrectly, that most of West Tennessee is free of Federals. His column is reinforced to 2,700 men and he sets out to raid Jackson, Tenn.
August is National CATARACT Awareness Month
Dr. John Shipp, M.D.
Cataracts are the leading cause of vision loss worldwide, affecting nearly 22 million Americans age 40 and older. By age 80, half of all Americans will have cataracts. Cataracts are a natural result of aging when the eye’s lens turns yellow and cloudy. Symptoms of cataracts may include blurred vision, difficulty seeing at night, glare or sensitivity to light, faded colors, need for brighter light for reading, and frequent changes in eyeglass prescription. --- If you are experiencing trouble with your vision that may be due to cataracts, call (662) 286-6068 to schedule your cataract evaluation.
Eye Care Specialists 3302 W. Linden St. Corinth, MS 38834 (662) 286-6068