Thursday July 5,
2012
50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 116, No. 161
P.M. t-storm Today
Tonight
96
74
• Corinth, Mississippi • 14 pages • 1 section
‘Like a family reunion’ City continues property cleanup BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photos by Steve Beavers
Ella Tucker keeps cool with the aid of a fan at the annual Jacinto Festival.
Ongoing property cleanup efforts topped a light agenda for the Corinth Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Tuesday. The board held public hearings on nine properties and scheduled hearings for another seven. Public hearings coinciding with the regular board meeting at 5 p.m. on Aug. 7 will give property owners and concerned residents an opportunity to address the board about the situation at those locations. Coming before the board on that date will be 1301 East Waldron Street, 1308 Waldron Street, 1409 East Fifth Street, 1521 Jackson Street, 1613 Jackson Street, a property at the corner of Lauren Drive and Forrest School Road, and a property at the corner of Ross Street and Hawkins Street. In this week’s public hearings: ■ W.R. Rhoades II property on U.S. Highway 72 — The board gave a three-month continuance on the ongoing cleanup. “He’s made good progress but has a lot of work ahead of him,” said Building Inspector
Philip Verdung. ■ 1103 Tate Street — Continued to July 17. A tree that fell on the house has been removed, but the city is requesting additional cleanup. ■ 926 South Fulton Drive — Continued to July 17. The owner has made arrangements for demolition. ■ 1712 Foote Street — Continued to July 17. Code Enforcement Officer Kim Ratliff reported that the owner has committed to dealing with yard issues in two weeks or less, and the building inspector will be discussing structural issues with the owner. ■ 107 Montgomery Street — Continued to July 17. Ratliff said the owner plans to have the grass cut by the weekend. ■ 411 Martin Luther King Drive — Yard work has been done, but the city is continuing the matter for 60 days in case additional action is needed. ■ 1805 Proper Street — Continued to July 17 for yard work. ■ Lots 6, 7 and 8 of block 679 of Anderson Addition — The board adjudicated these overgrown lots, which sit on two separate properties, for cleanup.
Man accused of assaults on grandmother, aunt BY JEFF YORK For the Daily Corinthian
Evan Norvell, above, a member of the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry, tries some of the ice cream from the gift shop. Marley Rain Knight, right, has some fun with the prizes she won from games at the festival.
Festival provides tradition of speeches, sales BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
JACINTO — Locals and visitors honored the traditions of Jacinto on Independence Day — shaking hands with elected leaders and hopefuls, buying trinkets, visiting the old courthouse and seeking shade. The “off” election year still proved to be a big draw for both casual visitors and those anxious to make a stump speech. Among those who made the longest trek to Jacinto was retired Methodist minister Albert N. Gore Jr. of Starkville, a candidate for U.S. Senate. It was his first visit to Jacinto, although he notes that he lived in Ripley for five years and discovered a family connection to one of the gift shop workers. He admits he’s heard more than a few comments about being named Al Gore. “But it’s in the family, so what difference does it make?”
he said. He was among the first to take the platform and speak following a performance by the Chucalissa Indians. While politics is a signature element of the annual festival, John Ross, who has attended all 33 installments of the Jacinto Festival, recalls the year they tried to skip the political speaking. “One year we decided not to have the public speaking because it was an off year, and it was the worst disaster we ever made,” he said. William Winter, who was mounting a run for Senate, showed up expecting to speak. Ross received word of the situation and made a frantic phone call. “John D. Mercier came down and saved us,” he recalled. Robert Stacy of Jacinto is among the volunteers who helps organize the festival activities each year. He enjoys the
atmosphere that the big event brings to the normally quiet grounds of the courthouse of old Tishomingo County. “Tomorrow, you won’t see hardly anybody here,” he said. “It’s a good day to see this many people in Jacinto. You meet people that you might not see once or twice a year. It’s kind of like a family reunion.” Visitors could see a few new items in the courthouse and check out the revamped gift shop and museum, where the artifacts have been given more emphasis. Friday is also a big day for Jacinto with the reopening of the park for the first time since the 2011 tornado. “We had some major damage,” said Beth Whitehurst, Jacinto Foundation executive director. “It will be the first time in over a year that it’s been opened. I’m excited. It looks better than it has looked in a long time.”
Index TV........ 6 Classified...... 12 Comics...... 11 Wisdom........ 7
Weather........5 Obituaries........ 3 Opinion........4 Sports........8
SELMER, Tenn. — A 33-yearold man is facing various charges after an assault of his grandmother and aunt on Monday, according to the Selmer Police Department. Christopher R. Scott, of Milledgeville, Tenn., was arrested in Collierville on Monday night. He had allegedly driven his grandmother’s car to Collierville. He was charged with especially aggravated burglary, aggravated assault and theft of property. Scott had stopped at a hospital in Collierville for medical attention when hospital officials alerted the Collierville Police
Department. He was detained there by the CPD until he was arrested by the Selmer Police Department at 9:30 p.m. The women were beaten inside the grandmother's house on State St. in Selmer. The victims in the incident were Earline Kirby, Scott’s grandmother, and Pamela Pitts. They were both carried to Regional Medical Center (The Med) in Memphis. Pitts was reported to be in serious condition and Kirby was listed in stable condition on Wednesday afternoon. Scott is set to return for a court hearing on July 19. He is now in the McNairy County Justice Center.
McNairy unemployment rises for first time in ‘12 BY JEFF YORK For the Daily Corinthian
SELMER, Tenn. — The streak of four straight months with a drop in unemployment ended for McNairy County when the latest unemployment figures were released. The county had an increase in their monthly jobless rate for the first time this year. McNairy County had an unemployment rate of 9.1 percent in May, an increase of 0.4 percent from their March rate of 8.7 percent. These numbers are released by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. There was a labor force in the county of 11,130 in May. The county had 10,120 residents with jobs and this left 1,010 po-
tential workers without a job. Tennessee had 87 counties show an increase in unemployment during May. The state had only three counties show a decrease in their monthly job totals and five counties had the same rate as last month. Williamson and Lincoln counties had the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 5.4 percent. Scott Co. had the highest unemployment rate at 15.9 percent and Obion Co. had the highest rate in West Tennessee at 13.2 percent. The state had 67 counties with a jobless rate between 5.0 percent and 10.0 percent. There were only 28 counties with an unemployment rate higher than
On this day in history 150 years ago A soldier writes of the fighting in Virginia. “While on the field I saw a heartrending sight. The wounded getting off of the battlefield, some hobbling alone, some with broken arms dangling by their sides, some with bloody heads, one [with] his whiskers and hair burnt in a crisp by the explosion of powder.”
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