Wednesday Dec. 10,
2014
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Taste
Home & Garden
Holiday entertaining? Start with crackers.
Apply layer of mulch during cold weather.
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Daily Corinthian Vol. 118, No. 288
Sunshine Today
Tonight
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0% chance of rain
• Corinth, Mississippi • 22 pages • 2 sections
State adjusts tax numbers BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Basket fund tops $3,000 The spirit of giving this Christmas season is alive and well in the Alcorn County area. Donations continue to arrive for the 19th Annual Corinth Rotary Club / Daily Corinthian Christmas Basket Fund. A $25,000 fund raising goal was set so 1,000 food baskets could be given to local families on Saturday, Dec. 6. Baskets were given away based upon faith the goal will be reached. So far, $3,197 has been raised. Recent donations include $100 anonymous gift in memory of Maggie Windom; $50 anonymous gift in honor of the “Ladies of the Roundtable”; $100 from Robert S. Vugrin; $100 from Roger and Pat Jacobs; $100 from Bernice Sandy in memory of Herb Sandy; and $250 from Mills Auto Sales. Contributions to the Christmas Basket Fund can be made “in honor of” or “in memory of” a special person or persons. The tribute will be published in the Daily Corinthian. Donations can be brought by the newspaper office 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday or mailed to: Daily Corinthian, Attn.:Christmas Basket Fund, P.O. Box 1800, Corinth, MS 38835.
The Mississippi Department of Revenue is revising several recent sales tax reports in favor of the city of Corinth. The city has been receiving the correct amount in its bank account, the Department of Revenue confirmed last week, but figures publicly released by the department did not include the city’s full sales tax diversion. City officials had noticed the discrepancy in the figures released by MDOR. Kathy Waterbury, communi-
state revolving fund loan payment deducted would have seen a discrepancy, as well. The adjusted number for the mid-November deposit made the difference between being slightly in the red or well into the black. The city received $490,530.07, an increase of 13 percent, or about $56,000, from the same month a year ago. The deposit reflects sales activity that occurred in local businesses during the month of September. Combined with the prior month’s 8 percent increase, the new fiscal year has
a total to date of $986,329.35, rising 10.5 percent from the same point a year earlier. Gross sales across all categories in Corinth during the latest reported month totaled $72.659 million, rising from $65.015 million a year earlier. With 12 consecutive monthly increases, the numbers are showing recovery from the recessionary lull that settled in during 2008 and slowed growth for several years. Municipalities receive 18.5 percent of the sales tax collected within their boundaries.
New truck signs go up BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
First Baptist Church members Ginny Cameron (left) and Melinda Bennett add decorations to the Singing Christmas Tree.
Singing tree ‘shines on’ BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
Toy Store seeks support
cations director at MDOR, said the department investigated and found that a reporting parameter had been changed resulting in net rather than gross sales tax being posted on the MDOR website. As a result, MDOR took down and is revising the last three months of reports. By posting the net rather than gross sales tax diversion, the report was excluding the city’s monthly loan payment of $64,679.13 that comes out of the city’s sales tax diversion. Any municipality that has a
First Baptist Church is letting its light shine. Close to 30,000 lights and the musical talents of 54 church members will be on display when FBC presents its annual Singing Christmas
Tree. “Shine On” is scheduled for 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday evening. A Monday night performance is slated for 7 p.m. “It’s a mix of old and new,” said music minister and director of the singing tree
Royce Wilder. According to Wilder, the annual event will see some of the favorites of years past as well as some new material performed during the three performances. Please see TREE | 2A
The city of Corinth is trying to keep big truck traffic headed in the right direction — away from residential streets. Some new signs directing truck traffic have begun to go up. “We are redoing all of the truck signage on Shiloh Road from Kendrick Road to Wenasoga Road,” said Street Commissioner Philip Verdung. “We are putting them in key places to hopefully get the trucks out of the area before they get into the residential area and definitely by the time they get to the low-clearance areas.” Trucks are frequently finding their way to the intersection of Shiloh and Taylor, where they can’t get through the railroad underpass and face a challenge in getting turned around. At Shiloh and Kendrick, signs will be placed on each side of the intersection to direct trucks to the appropriate route and inform drivers of any low clearances or other restrictions. The city is also looking to accommodate trucks turning from Proper to Pinecrest with the widening of Proper Street at the intersection. That would keep some of the truck traffic from heading to Harper Road.
BY BRANT SAPPINGTON bsappington@dailycorinthian.com
On Thursday the gym at the Lighthouse Foundation will be filled with families whose Christmases are now brighter thanks to the love of the community. With just one day left until shopping day for the annual Toy Store program, the foundation is continuing to seek donations for the project. More than 500 families representing over 1,500 children will receive help from the program this year. Executive Director Gary Caveness said fundraising is currently at approximately 55 percent of the budget needed. The program will continue this week on faith no matter where Please see SUPPORT | 2A
First responders, law enforcement profiled BY DAVID HUWE For the Daily Corinthian
(Editor’s Note: This is the third of a six-part series about the progress that has been made by the City of Corinth over the past four years.) Three departments operate under the heading of first responders and law enforcement: Corinth Fire Department; Corinth Police Department; and Corinth Municipal Court. The fire department and police department are the largest departments within
the city from an employment standpoint, primarily because they are required to be staffed around the clock, seven days a week, and fifty-two weeks each year. These departments work to provide the citizens with a safer place in which to work and play, thus contributing to our quality of life.
Fire department In order to respond to emergencies in a timely manner within the city’s 30-square
Index Stocks......8A Classified......4B Comics......2B State......5A
Weather....10A Obituaries......6A Opinion......4A Sports....12A
mile footprint, Corinth’s Fire Department has located its equipment strategically among four stations: Station No. 1 – Downtown at City Hall Station No. 2 – Hwy 2 across from Afton subdivision Station No. 3 – Norman Road just south of Hwy 72 Station No. 4 – Harper Road next to Oakland Baptist Church Each station has between 9 and 12 men split between three 24-hour shifts, and functioning under one of the following
job classifications: Captain, Lieutenant, Engineer, and Firefighter. Additionally, the Department has a Fire Chief, Deputy Chief, and Training Officer. The average budget for the department is $2.5 million, of which 93 percent goes into personnel salaries and benefits, leaving just 7 percent to cover training costs, utilities, fuel, equipment purchases and repairs. Since a city’s fire insurance rating is based on facPlease see RESPONDERS | 3A
On this day in history 150 years ago March to the Sea — Sherman’s army arrives on the outskirts of Savannah, Georgia. Outnumbered three to one, Confederates under Gen. William “Old Reliable” Hardee flood the surrounding rice fields. Sherman decides to lay siege to the city.
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