Saturday Jan. 5,
2013
50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 117, No. 5
Mostly cloudy Today
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48
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• Corinth, Mississippi • 16 pages • 1 section
Cemetery owner pleads guilty to misusing funds Hight sentenced to 4 years, must repay more than half million dollars BY BRANT SAPPINGTON bsappington@dailycorinthian.com
Cemetery owner Wayne Hight was ordered to serve four years in prison and pay more than a half million dollars in restitution Friday after pleading guilty to four counts of misappropriating pre-need buri-
al funds. Assistant District Attorney Richard Bowen said around 1,000 individuals could be affected by Hight’s misuse of the funds over the nearly 40 years he has owned Forrest Memorial Park in Alcorn County and Oaklawn Memorial Park in Prentiss
County. Bowen said Hight deliberately failed to retain the portions of funds paid for pre-need services in trusts required by state law. Hight, 74, pleaded guilty Friday in Alcorn County Circuit Court to two counts of misapplying or con-
verting pre-need funds at Oaklawn Memorial Park and two counts of the same charge at Forrest Memorial Park. He was sentenced to 10 years each with six years suspended and Please see PLEA | 2
Hight
City approves new tourism board members BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Allen Curry Walden was the first baby delivered at Magnolia Regional Health Center in 2013. The baby is the first child of Nancy and Bobby Walden Jr. He was born Jan. 2 and was delivered by Dr. Patrick Hsu.
Couple welcomes first baby of 2013 BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
Allen Curry Walden was the first of the new year. The initial child of Nancy and Bobby Walden, Jr. was also the first baby born at Magnolia Regional Health Center in 2013. “He was my birthday and Christmas gift wrapped in one,” said Bobby Walden, who celebrated his birthday on Dec. 20. Allen Curry was born at 10:40 p.m. on Jan. 2. The new-
born weighed 5 pounds and 11.8 ounces. Delivered by Dr. Patrick Hsu, the child was 18.5 inches long. “We are excited to have him,” said Nancy Walden. “We knew he was going to be a New Year’s baby, but we didn’t know he was going to be the first one.” With the exception of being tired, both new mom and dad are doing well, according to MRHC Unit Manager for Women’s Health Rita Holley.
“Everything has gone fine,” said Holley. The Waldens have been impressed with their stay at the hospital. “The folks are really nice, and Dr. Hsu is great,” said Nancy. According to the Waldens, Allen Curry won’t be the last of the clan. “We want him to have a brother or sister,” said mom. “There is nothing like growing up with one.”
The Corinth Board of Aldermen proposed a list of appointees for the Corinth Area Convention and Visitors Bureau’s new board of directors in a special meeting on Friday. The city’s appointee to the board is Laura Albright, wife of Corinth businessman Trey Albright. She will serve a three-year term. Joint city and county candidates for the board are: Billy Taylor, owner of Taylor’s Fish & Steak, for a one-year term; Danny Timmons, executive manager of Little’s Foods, for a two-year term; Russell’s Steak House owner Russell Smith for a three-year term; Pauline Sorrell (CB&S Bank) for a one-year term; and Generals’ Quarters Inn owner/ operator Luke Doehner for a two-year term. The county also has one indvidual appointee to the board. Supervisors have not yet acted on filling that position. Sorrell and Doehner were members of the the previous tourism board that was terminated on Wednesday. Because board members are elected for staggered terms of four years, the aldermen specified different term lengths for each new appointee to serve.
Sheriff’s investigators make theft arrests BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
The Alcorn County Sheriff’s Department recovered more than 30 stolen items following the arrest of two Corinth men Wednesday night. Amos Matthew Bradley, 38, of 241 County Road 713, Corinth, and Steven Wayne Mitchell, 37, of 148 County Road 715, Corinth were arrested and both remain jailed at the Alcorn Justice Center while the investigation continues. “We received a call about a vehicle coming on to private property,” said Darrell Hopkins with the Alcorn Narcotics Unit. “Investigators found a stolen vehicle on the property and while there they witnessed a subject pull up and attempt to load the vehicle.” Bradley was arrested while loading a 1986 Ford F-350 that had been stolen in Corinth. The trailer he was loading the truck on was also stolen. Officers also found the subject in possession of methamphetamine “The vehicle had damage where he was trying to have it crushed,” added Hopkins.
Bradley was charged with possession of controlled substance methamphetamine, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and grand larceny. His possession of a .270 rifle enhanced the drug charge. Further investigation led to the arrest of Mitchell. “He was found at the place of his employment with two bags of meth in his pocket,” said Alcorn County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Reggie Anderson. Mitchell is charged with possession of controlled substance methamphetamine. Around 36 items were later recovered in the Kossuth area. Other charges are expected as the investigation continues. Some of the items recovered include a riding lawn mower, leaf blower, truck tool box, trailer, pressure tanks and other tools. Cost of the items is believed to be around $25,000-$30,000. Anderson and Hopkins were assisted in the case by investigator Heath Thomas, narcotics officer Jason Willis, depuPlease see ARRESTS | 2
Please see BOARD | 2
Civil War tour includes Corinth BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Alcorn County Sheriff’s Department Investigators Heath Thomas and Reggie Anderson were part of an investigation that recovered more than 30 stolen items in the Kossuth area.
Index Stocks........7 Classified......14 Comics...... 13 Wisdom...... 12
“As the law dictates, each member is to fulfill staggered terms,” said Ward 1 Alderman Andrew Labas. “Terms are technically four years long, but I think in the spirit of the law going forward we need to do it in the way it was proscribed in the bill that’s established for us.” The joint city/county candidates will have to be approved by the county supervisors in a meeting on Monday. Before the meeting on Friday two aldermen met with two supervisors to discuss the city’s nominees. Labas said he believes the county will approve the board members proposed at the city meeting on Friday. “We feel like we’ve got a good board put together,” he said. The entire CACVB board was ousted on Wednesday by a 9-1 vote in a joint meeting of aldermen and supervisors. Labas made the motion for the board’s dismissal after saying he no longer had confidence in the board because it has not adhered to the tourism budget that was written by the city and the county after the two boards rejected the proposed tourism budget for fiscal 2013.
Weather........5 Obituaries........ 3 Opinion........4 Sports...... 10
A class from Maryville College will visit Corinth’s Civil War sites as part of a 12-day tour analyzing the causes and effects of the Civil War in Tennessee. College professor and author Dr. Aaron Astor’s class will visit Corinth on Jan. 19, near the end of the tour. “Corinth and its railroad crossroads was the real goal of the whole Union Shiloh campaign in late March and early April 1862,” explained Astor. “I thought it would be really important for our students to see how Civil War events in Tennessee were vitally connected to places and events immediately outside the state.” The tour will spend a day visiting the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center and Shiloh National Military Park. “The Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center is one of the most impressive visitors cen-
On this day in history 150 years ago President Jefferson Davis, recently returned from a trip around the country, speaks to a crowd in Richmond. He rails against the Northern army. “Every crime which could characterize the course of demons has marked the course of the invaders.”
Please see TOUR | 2