Wednesday Dec. 26,
2012
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Daily Corinthian Vol. 116, No. 311
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• Corinth, Mississippi • 20 pages • 2 sections
Retiring fire chief reflects on career “It actually came a little earlier in my career than I had envisioned it,” said Price. “But I saw that if I didn’t take it then, the opportunity may never come again.” With 281⁄2 years at the department, he feels the time is right for his retirement. But the avid runner is not yet planning on lots of free time to hit the pavement, because he is taking a job with ServPro. After putting out fires all these years, he’s now going to clean up after them. The toughest blaze he remembers battling was an industrial fire at ITT. Parts stacked on racks in an oven were burning, and the firemen struggled to put them out with dry chemical extinguishers. “It actually got so hot the oven collapsed,” said Price. “I’ve never been in one hotter, never been in one any more smoky. I was on the floor and had a flashlight on. ’Til I turned it and touched it to my face piece on my air pack, I couldn’t tell it was on.”
BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Brant Sappington
The front of Northeast Mississippi Community College’s new student services building will feature a large landscaped plaza including a fountain, benches and space for college events. The building is scheduled to open for business on Jan. 2.
Northeast’s new student services center to open with new semester BY BRANT SAPPINGTON bsappington@dailycorinthian.com
The start of the spring semester at Northeast Mississippi Community College will bring the official opening of one of the largest new building projects in the school’s history. The Jack. T. Ramsey Student Services Building will be open for business when the school
reopens on Jan. 2 following the Christmas break. NEMCC President Dr. Johnny Allen said the movement of offices into the new building is currently underway and all student services offices housed in the new building will be open for students on that date. A formal ribbon cutting for the building is scheduled for Feb. 5.
Allen said the opening marks a significant milestone for the college in creating a more accessible and user friendly experience for students. The building, located at the end of Cunningham Boulevard at the center of the campus, will bring all student services offices Please see BUILDING | 3A
Rob Price’s career path took him exactly where he wanted to go — hanging on to the back of a shiny firetruck, ready to help someone in need. “It was all I ever wanted to be when I was a little kid,” recalled Price, the fire chief who spent his last day at the Corinth Fire Department on Friday. His firefighting grandfather, who reared Price, was an influence on the Corinth native’s career path. Price became a Corinth firefighter at the age of 23 in 1984, when firemen still rode on the back of the truck and there were no ranks other than chief, driver and back-up driver. He served a couple of years as a dispatcher, taking calls to the department in the days before 911, and would later become a driver, then engineer and lieutenant. Nine years ago, upon the retirement of Gerald Horner, Price was tapped for the chief position.
Please see CHIEF | 3A
Year in review: Headlines from first six months of 2012 January
BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
(Editor’s Note: Following is a recap of notable Corinth area headlines from the first half of 2012. This is the first of a twopart series with the second half of the year to follow. Look for the annual local “Top 10 Stories of the Year” for 2012 on New Year’s Day.)
The Alcorn County Board of Supervisors begins the new term with a new board president (newcomer Lowell Hinton), new county engineer (Cook Coggin) and new board attorney (Bill Davis). Dale Bain is appointed to the county school board seat that
was held by his late mother, Peggy Bain. Longtime CHS coach Jimmy Mitchell announces his retirement. After generating some buzz darting around town in her 1974 model ice cream truck, Tonya Wren of Ramer is arrested for selling drugs out of the ice cream truck.
Nick Bain, Rita Potts Parks and Tracy Arnold join the Mississippi Legislature. After being reported missing, Michael Lamar Rogers is found deceased in his vehicle a couple of days later of apparently natural causes. The Corinth Board of Aldermen passes a resolution seeking legislative approval for a
city-only vote on the sale of liquor. City aldermen reappoint Jerry Finger to the city school board after hearing pleas to maintain minority representation. Winds cause a major collapse in the Corinth Machinery buildPlease see REVIEW | 5A
Corinth man designs, builds working 17-foot submarine BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
His name is Waterman and he cruises just below the lake’s surface in a vehicle of his own design and construction — a 17-foot-long yellow submarine that brings to mind psychedelic pop music and early James Bond movies at the same time. But Glen Waterman is not a Bond villain or a character from a Beatles song. The 49-yearold Corinth resident is a longtime body work mechanic and mostly a regular guy. But he is a regular guy with an adventurous spirit who recently made a dream come true when he launched the submarine he built with his own hands. The moment Waterman dropped his submarine into the waters of Big Hill Pond State Park in McNairy County, Tenn., was the culmination of a lifelong dream and a project that began roughly 15 years ago. “I’ve always loved submarines,” said Waterman. “My whole life I’ve been fascinated by subs and loved the old mov-
Waterman
ies like ‘Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea’.” Another reason? The challenge. “It’s such a technical challenge. I wanted to know I can do
it,” he said. Waterman’s sub is propelled by two 50-pound thrust motors — one on each side — and another motor in the rear, all powered by a series of three batteries. The rear motor has a 90-degree sweep and can provide extra power and control, but Waterman said he rarely uses it. The side motors alone will bring to sub up to 7 mph, fast enough for underwater travel in the lakes of Middle Tennessee. He has dived the sub 15 to 20 feet underwater at Big Hill Pond, but Waterman is conPlease see SUBMARINE | 11A
Before it dives, Glen Waterman’s sub rides with the cab just above the waterline. He goes for a ride at Travis McNatt Lake at Big Hill Pond State Park near Ramer, Tenn.
Index Taste......1B Classified......5B Comics......3B Wisdom......2B
Weather......5A Obituaries......3A Opinion......4A Sports......8A
On this day in history 150 years ago Van Dorn’s cavalry column is back in Mississippi after evading Union divisions. In the final engagement, a 115-man detachment of the 12th Michigan Infantry holds off 3,500 Confederates by fighting from a brick building in Middleburg, Tenn.
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