Saturday Sept. 7,
2013
50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 117, No. 214
Sunny Today
Tonight
95
67
0% chance of rain
• Corinth, Mississippi • 16 pages • One section
Suspect faces murder charge BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
A Corinth man faces an attempted murder charge in the Aug. 19 shooting of a man on Wick Street. Demarkquez Williams, 18, of Wick Street, was already jailed on charges stemming from another shooting and robbery earlier in the same night. The Corinth Police Department
this week charged him with attempted murder and attempted armed robbery, according to Detective Capt. Ralph Dance. Bond was set at $75,000. Dance said statements from witnesses connected Williams to the crime. The gun used in this shooting and the earlier shooting has been recovered.
Two people accompanied Williams at the time of the shooting — one male and one female subject. A charge of accessory after the fact is expected on the male subject. Dance said the female subject told detectives she did not know that Williams intended to rob anyone, and she has not been
charged. The shooting happened around 1 a.m. Aug. 19 when the subjects approached a man in the Wick Street area. Williams demanded money from the subject, who responded that he didn’t have any. The man ran from the subjects Please see CHARGE | 2A
Williams
Sinkholes spread across Corinth area Woman
receives 10 years after robbery BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
see these sinkholes in places like Florida and assume that they are going to turn into some big swallowing sinkhole and most of the time that isn’t the case. It has been a bad year for seeing a large number of sinkholes. We have seen two or three a week here over the past few months. However, they are usually just smaller ones, like the size of a garbage can.” Sinkholes are defined as a natural depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer.
A judge recently sentenced a Corinth woman to 10 years in prison on an armed robbery charge. Among sentences handed down on guilty pleas in the August term of Alcorn County Circuit Court, Candice McCollum, 25, of North Parkway Street, was sentenced to 15 years in custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections with five years suspended, leaving 10 to serve with five years of probation to follow, according to court records. She was fined $1,000. On a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, she received a 10-year suspended sentence and a $1,000 fine. The sentence stems from an April robbery at an East Third Street residence where police said McCollum gained entry by knocking on the door and asking if she could use the bathroom. As she went inside, her brother appeared and entered the home, as well. The two asked for the man’s medication. They found a gun among his belongings and turned his own gun on him. They left with several bottles of prescription medication, the victim’s cell phone and his semiautomatic 9 mm handgun, according to the police report. In another case, Taylor Lane Talley, 21, was sentenced on burglary, grand larceny and drug charges. For burglary and larceny of a dwelling, the judge sentenced Talley to 25 years in custody
Please see SINKHOLES | 2A
Please see ROBBERY | 2A
Staff photo by Joseph Miller
James Young of 128 East Harris Circle in Corinth inspects a sinkhole in his front yard earlier this week.
Official encourages residents to report possible hole sightings JOSEPH MILLER jmiller@dailycorinthian.com
If a person has ever traveled to Florida and came across a sinkhole, then he would more than likely know what a sinkhole looked like if he ever saw one again. That is exactly what happened to James Young of 128 East Harris Circle in Corinth, who has traveled to Florida several times in his lifetime. James noticed a sinkhole in his front yard earlier this week right behind his mail box at his residence. He immediately knew what it was and he called the city street department.
“It has been a bad year for seeing a large number of sinkholes. We have seen two or three a week here over the past few months. However, they are usually just smaller ones, like the size of a garbage can.” Philip Verdung Corinth Street commissioner “I got up Monday morning to go get my Daily Corinthian newspaper and there was a hole in the ground . . . and I am not sure what happened,” explained Young. Young said he spoke with
the Corinth Street Commissioner Philip Verdung, who told him the city would come out to inspect the hole. “We have been getting a lot of these types of calls this year,” Verdung said. “People
BNI organization earns Alcorn Excel By 5 group celebrates 1st year “We would also like to reach out to the charter membership unlicensed in-home childcare providers. BY JOSEPH MILLER
jmiller@dailycorinthian.com
BY JOSEPH MILLER jmiller@dailycorinthian.com
Corinth’s Business Network International (BNI) organization recently received their official charter membership for their new chapter. Local organizer Steve Eaton said the BNI was first recommended to him by some of his colleagues in Tupelo and he decided it sounded like a good idea. “One of my friends was getting incredible results from his membership with the BNI chapter he was involved with, so I was like great, let’s do it,” said Eaton. “After attending one of their meetings, I decided I wanted to form a BNI chapter in
Corinth. I wanted to learn the strategies from BNI experts on how to build one’s business through networking and referrals and after 28 years of practice, I found out that they have the system down pat.” BNI has a system that teaches individuals how to form a structured networking team of business professionals who then learn how to effectively market their business by referral. “Professionals are experts on what they do,” explained Eaton. “However, they are not experts on how to market their business by referral. Please see MEMBERSHIP | 2A
Corinth and Alcorn County’s Excel By 5 coalition recently celebrated their first anniversary at Waukomis that was hosted by Refreshments, Inc. and Coca-Cola of Corinth. Excel By 5 is a communitybased certification program that focuses on the important roles communities play in educating their children during the most formative years of birth to age five. It is a standard by which communities that choose to can be formally recognized for their effort to support young children and their families. Part of the Excel By 5 certification process is to engage the licensed childcare centers and head start in dialog with the school systems. The purpose of this dialog is so the two parties can discuss how to better
Index Stocks......8A Classified....14A Comics...... 7A State......5A
Weather......9A Obituaries......6A Opinion......4A Sports....12A
I am trying to reach out to the Nurturing Homes government agency to find the inhome providers and give them support.” Susan O’Connell Certification manager, Excel By 5 prepare the children in their care for school. “We would also like to reach out to the unlicensed in-home childcare providers,” said Susan O’ Connell, Excel By 5 certification manager. “I am trying to reach out to the Nurturing Homes government agency to find the in-home providers and give them support. I hope we can work with them and invite them to work with us on this because we are a volunteer community effort based program with no gov-
ernment affiliation.” O’Connell said Excel By 5 would like to know who these in-home providers are so the program can reach out to them and invite them to childcare provider association meetings and other important events that will provide information to better prepare their children for school. New data has been released about the earlier a child’s education begins, the better Please see EXCEL | 2A
On this day in history 150 years ago There are small skirmishes near Jacinto, Glendale (Glen), and Holly Springs. Union troops occupy Battery Wagner and demand the surrender of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. The fort, reduced to a pile of rubble, remains defiant.