Daily Corinthian E-edition 120412

Page 1

Tuesday Dec. 4,

2012

50 cents

Daily Corinthian Vol. 116, No. 292

2012 Christmas Basket Fund “A Community Tradition”

Food drive tops $3,500

BY BOBBY J. SMITH Excel by 5 wants all of Corinth and Alcorn County’s children to be ready to learn to read by the time they are five years old. To promote reading the work toward this mission, volunteers from the group will read Christmas stories to children during Saturday’s Winter Wonderland — an annual community event staged by Magnolia Regional Health Center at the Crossroads Arena. The Excel by 5 Elves will read to children near the center of the arena floor throughout the event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. “Our mission is to promote literacy and reading to children at a very early age,” said Susan O’Connell, certification manager for the Corinth/Alcorn County Excel by 5 Coalition. “It will help them be better prepared for school and better prepared for life.” The Excel by 5 Elves are members of the coalition and volunteers from community groups, including the Teacher Academy students from the Alcorn Career and Technology Center. The Excel by 5 program is a community-based certification designed to improve a child’s overall well-being by age five. Founded by a grant from Chevron, the Excel by 5 is currently in 27 Mississippi communities. The program sets forth a variety of standards involving parent training, community participation, child care and health to help communities focus on supporting Please see ELVES | 2

Tonight

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Supervisors conditionally accept bid BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com

Alcorn County supervisors on Monday conditionally accepted the low bid for a major fifth district bridge project. Prairie Construction of Tupelo was the low bidder for the County Road 600 project at $2,176,407.90. For the project to move forward, however, it will need approval of the state aid office to have a total project cost in excess of the engineering

estimate for the project, which is $2,136,400. The work will include the replacement of three dilapidated bridges, including a historic bridge, on the road. “I’m real excited about getting it done,” said 5th District Supervisor Jimmy Tate Waldon. “The bridges have been in bad shape for the last 20 years.” The project had seven other bids: WG Construction of Ripley — $2,401,744.77; Tan-

ner Construction of Ellisville — $2,410,251.57; Buddy Ayers Construction of Corinth — $2,417,462.87; TL Wallace Construction of Columbia — $2,498,487.55; Phillips Contracting of Columbus — $2,616,258.80; TLSL, Inc., of Walnut — $2,780,279.39; Hill Brothers Construction of Falkner — $3,445,202.57. In other business: ■ Residents concerned by rumors that County Road 182 in

eastern Alcorn County will not reopen addressed the board. Supervisor Dal Nelms said it is a temporary closure and a bridge is about to be installed on the road. He said the project was delayed because the plans changed from a culvert to a 19foot bridge span. In response to some other comments about the condition of County Road 200, he said Please see BID | 2

Defendants enter pleas during term BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com

Please see BASKET | 2

bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com

Today

• Corinth, Mississippi • 16 pages • One section

The spirit of giving is alive and well in the Crossroads area as donations continue to arrive daily for the 17th Annual Corinth Rotary Club/Daily Corinthian 2012 Christmas Basket Fund. The civic club and newspaper have set a $20,000 community fundraising goal this year so 1,000 food baskets can be given away to local families on Saturday, Dec. 15 at the Crossroads Arena. The total now stands at $3,580 meaning $16,420 still needs to be raised from the community as there will be no corporate match this year. Recent donations include $50 from Hopewell Baptist Church, and $100 from Lee

Excel Elves promote literacy

T-storms

Staff photo by Jebb Johnston

Christmas Sparkle

Karis (from left), Lucy and Brayden Lemonds share a festive moment on the Sparkle float before the Corinth Christmas parade on Saturday. From Hernando, the three are grandchildren of Cindy and Kevin Thomas of Corinth. With a temperature in the upper 60s, the balmy late afternoon drew a big crowd to the Corinth streets. See Page 2 and upcoming editions for more photos from the parade.

Numerous defendants recently entered guilty pleas during the November term of Alcorn County Circuit Court. Among the pleas and sentences are the following, according to court records: ■ Jessica Marie Moreno, 35, two indictments for sale of a controlled substance (marijuana) — Ten years in Mississippi Department of Corrections custody with eight years suspended and two to serve; five years of probation; $1,000 fine ■ Everett Wade McClure, possession of two or more precursors — Ten-year suspended sentence with five years of probation and a $1,000 fine ■ Joseph Windsor, 43, possession of two or more precursors — Ten-year sentence with credit for time Please see PLEAS | 2

Welcome center’s open house spreads holiday cheer BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com

The Corinth-Alcorn County Welcome Center rang in some Christmas cheer on Monday with its annual holiday Open House. Featuring entertainment by longtime “Mornin’ Show” host and Corinth native Kay Bain, door prizes and food from a range of Corinth’s most popular eateries, the Open House attracted a full house to the Welcome Center. “It’s a great crowd,” said Welcome Center supervisor Sherry Brown. “We’ve got so many people here that we ran out of parking space and had to park them in the truck parking area.” Dressed in Christmas colors and keeping up a lively exchange with her audience, Kay Bain sang a number of Christmas tunes, from classics like “Here Comes Santa Claus” and “White Christmas” to “Mississippi Christmas” — a localized Christmas carol written by

Staff photo by Bobby J. Smith

Please see CENTER | 2

The Welcome Center’s Sherry Brown and Debbie Ryan chip in to prepare the feast at the Open House on Monday.

Corinth/Alcorn County Excel by 5 Coalition plans next step BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian

The Corinth/Alcorn County Excel by 5 Coalition met Friday to review the process for the county’s community certification, elect officers and take care of other business. Excel by 5 was launched in Mississippi in the fall of 2004. It is an innovative process designed to encourage and assist communities to become actively involved in supporting

young children. The first of its kind, this certification program emphasizes the important roles parents and primary caregivers play during their most formative years – birth to age 5. “This is an outstanding program to better prepare our smallest citizens for kindergarten,” said Susan O’Connell, certification manager for the local Excel by 5 effort. “This is a very worthy program. We

Index Stocks........7 Classified......14 Comics...... 11 Wisdom...... 10

Weather........5 Obituaries........ 3 Opinion........4 Sports........8

may not see results tomorrow, but we will as the years go by.” One of the objectives during the certification process is to educate community about the purpose and function of Excel by 5. The program has four basic hallmarks:

Community involvement A key asset in the life of any child is his community. By forming a coalition of com-

munity leaders, business, health care, parents and other concerned citizens, Excel by 5 works to promote parenting and children’s services through health fairs, reading extravaganzas, workshops and other events. Excel by 5 community coalition members develop a resource list of organizations to be distributed to families so parents know

On this day in history 150 years ago Gen. Joseph E. Johnston arrives in Jackson to oversee the operations of Gen. Pemberton in Grenada and Gen. Bragg’s Army of Tennessee at Nashville. The new command system only complicates an already difficult arrangement between these three dysfunctional commanders.

Please see PLANS | 2


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