Corinth New Albany
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Smithville Biggersville
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Saturday Sept. 20,
2014
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Biggersville’s Dalton Carrington
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Kossuth Nettleton
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Daily Corinthian Vol. 118, No. 218
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• Corinth, Mississippi • 18 pages • 1 section
Traffic stop leads to meth arrest Staff reports
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
An Alcorn County man was arrested on drug charges following a traffic stop this week. Michael Lynn Smith was charged with felony possession of methamphetamine on Tuesday after a deputy stopped a truck that was driving erratically on County Road 513 in the Biggersville area, said Narcotics Officer Darrell Hopkins. The deputy observed suspicious behavior among the occupants, and a search of the vehicle uncovered drug paraphernalia and methamphetamine. Deputy Shane Crowe trans-
p o r t e d Smith to the Alcorn C o u n t y Detention Center and contacted narcotics officers, who charged Smith Smith with the felony drug charge. He is currently on probation with the Mississippi Department of Corrections stemming from a prior case. Bond was set at $5,000.
FFA National Secretary Mitch Baker greets Kossuth High School FFA students as they enter class.
National FFA officer teaches leadership BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
KOSSUTH — FFA isn’t just about cows and plows anymore. Kossuth High School FFA instructor Brad Gilmore uses the phrase often. “FFA is a leadership course,” said Gilmore. “A lot of kids don’t join because they think they have to be a farmer. We use agriculture to develop leadership.” A visit by a national officer in the organization hammered home Gilmore’s belief on Wednesday. “FFA isn’t just for those who come from a farm,” said FFA National Secretary Mitch Baker. “It’s for all of us.” Baker, a University of of Tennessee student, is taking
a year off from college to tour the country as a national officer. His tour of duty consists of spending 300 days on the road and visiting chapters in around 30-35 states before relinquishing his office. National officers commit to a year of service to the National FFA Organization. Each travels more than 100,000 national and international miles to interact with business and industry leaders, thousands of FFA members and teachers, corporate sponsors, government and education officials, state FFA leaders, the general public and more. The team will lead personal growth and leadership training seminars for FFA members throughout the country and
help set policies that will guide the future of FFA and promote agricultural literacy. Each chapter in Alcorn County has been well represented when it comes to state officers. Over the last five years each chapter has had an officer. “That speaks to the strength of our chapters in the county,” said Gilmore. On Wednesday, the Cookeville, Tenn., native was making a three-day chapter visit in Mississippi. Tony Buchanan, Mississippi State FFA president, Hailey Clark, Mississippi State FFA secretary, and Shelbie Dalton, Mississippi State FFA sentinel, were also part of the visit to KHS. Please see OFFICER | 2
Sales tax collections show major growth BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
An upward trend in sales tax collections helped make fiscal 2014 the best for the city in six years. Nine consecutive monthly increases propelled the year to a total of $5.809 million, rising about $272,000, or 4.9 percent, from the prior fiscal year. It is the highest total since FY 2008 hit $5.595 million. The mid-September deposit was $471,986.45, an increase of about $22,000, or 4.8 percent, from a year earlier. While the Mississippi Department of Revenue reported a statewide total of $32.23 million for the month, a drop of 4 percent from a year ago, seven of 11 area municipalities posted positive growth. The 2 percent tourism tax
on prepared food and lodging edged above $100,000 for a third consecutive month with $102,078.25, an increase of about $8,000, or 8.6 percent, from a year ago. The tourism tax ends the fiscal year at $1.135 million, rising about $26,000, or 2.4 percent, from FY 2013. Other sales tax results from the region (percentages rounded): ■ Booneville - $148,881.98 (+4%) ■ Burnsville - $9,923.58 (-11%) ■ Glen - $2,117.68 (+20%) ■ Iuka - $66,050.21 (-3%) ■ Kossuth - $3,408.17 (less than half of 1 percent increase) ■ Rienzi - $4,227.71 (+16%) ■ Ripley - $97,938.23 (+1%) ■ Tupelo - $1,334,164.68 (-7%) ■ Walnut - $16,475.84 (+1%)
Festival highlights fun-filled day of events BY KIMBERLY SHELTON kshelton@dailycorinthian.com
Today is a big day for the Crossroads area as multiple events are set to kick off at once. Corinth Elementary School will hold its annual CES PTO Fall Festival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., enticing all to enjoy a funfilled day of food, laughter and carnival games. For over two decades, the Warriors have held the fall fes-
tival as a means of raising funds for their school’s parent teacher organization. “It is our main fundraiser for the year,” said Fall Fest Chair Buffy Gibson. “Parents feel like they can bring their children to a safe environment and not have to worry about anything accept having a good time.” An enjoyable event for the whole family, the festival is open to all.
“You need not be a student to attend,” said Gibson. “We hope that everyone will come out and support us in our efforts.” The fundraising festival will feature carnival-style games, bouncers, a toy store and a candy store. Games tickets are 25 cents each. A raffle will also be held and the winner announced at the end of the night. For just a
quarter per entry, attendees will have the opportunity to win one of over 14 different items donated by local businesses and individuals. A hot dog lunch will be offered for $3. The price includes a hot dog, drink, bag of chips and a dessert. The Warrior Wagon will be rolling in to sale merchandise. A percentage of all purchases for the day will be donated to
the CES PTO. A new T-shirt is also available for purchase at a cost of $15. In addition to the Fall Fest, other events for today include: ■ Fillmore Street Block Party — Marking the beginning of a Please see FESTIVAL | 2
Annual Sportsman’s Banquet to benefit area ministry BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
SELMER, Tenn. — Volunteers with a local ministry want to see it expand. The next step begins today at McNairy Central High School and McNairy County Fairgrounds. The 2014 Sportsman’s Banquet gets underway at 10 a.m. Proceeds from the annual event are benefiting Lauren King Ministries and Ronald McDonald House in Memphis.
Anita and the late Larron King founded Lauren King Ministries in 2000 to help the RMH. Lauren died in 1997 at the age of 1 year and 8 days. She was born on Mother’s Day May 12, 1996, and was taken to St. Jude six hours after she was delivered, suffering with AML Leukemia. “Their prayers were answered when a room came available,” said banquet organizer Chris Whitten. “At the house, they were offered a safe place to stay,
food to eat and most importantly it gave them an opportunity to be a family with Lauren and their son Wes.” Friends of the Kings are determined to keep the ministry going after Larron died from injuries suffered in a car accident in May of 2012. During last year’s event over 1,100 attended the day of activities with 147 decisions of salvation or rededication made. For over a decade, the family and their friends have provided
Index Stocks........8 Classified...... 15 Comics......14 State........ 5
Weather........9 Obituaries........ 6 Opinion......44 Sports...... 12
a meal to families at Ronald McDonald House along with a children’s activity and worship service once a month. In 2013, RMH housed 804 families for 12,163 room nights. Since its opening in 1991, the house has been home for 8,214 families. “The motto of ‘the house that love built’ never rang so true for Larron and Anita,” said Whitten. The family fun begins at 10 a.m. with a dunking booth on
the grounds of McNairy Central. A skeet shooting contest is slated for 11 a.m. at the fairgrounds. Tickets can still be purchased today. Cost is $10 with children six and under admitted free. A sample of some of the things slated throughout the day include a motorcycle run, duck and turkey call contest, paint party, rock climbing wall and much more. Please see BANQUET | 2
On this day in history 150 years ago President Davis sets out on a trip to bolster the morale of the army. When visiting Gen. John Bell Hood at Palmetto, Georgia, he approves Hood’s plan to take the army north into Tennessee to strike at Sherman’s supply lines.