Wednesday Feb. 1,
2012
50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 116, No. 37
Some showers Today
Tonight
65
46
• Corinth, Mississippi • 20 pages • 2 sections
Election update
Preparations begin for absentee voting BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Bobby J. Smith
A crew from Worsham Brothers Construction was hard at work Tuesday on the expansion to Corinth High School’s athletic facilities.
Construction begins on projects at CHS BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
Construction has begun on an expansion and reconfiguration project at Corinth High School as the district strives to provide for its growing athletic programs. Crews from Corinth’s Worsham Brothers Construction are working daily on expansions on both sides of the Corinth High School football field. “We need to do this because we’re having an increased number coming out for high school football and are seeing growth in our middle school program — which should translate into greater numbers at high school,” said Dr. Lee Childress, superintendent of the Corinth School District. On the home side of the field, the construction project will expand the current facility with
MRHC taps 11 employees for top honors BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@hotmail.com
The best in the state. Eleven Magnolia Regional Health Center employees are in line to be called just that come March 5 in Jackson. The Mississippi Nurses Association and Foundation will honor the state’s finest nurses and employers of nurses during the Mississippi Nightingale Awards Gala in early March. “We are very proud that the hard work of our dedicated staff and facility is being recognized by the Mississippi Nurses Association and the Mississippi Nurses Foundation,” said MRHC President and CEO Please see GALA | 2A
added dressing rooms, a new 4,000 square-foot weight room, additional restroom space for players in the existing field house and other facilities for the football team. The previous weight room will be converted into a dressing room for the home team. A new building behind the visitor’s side of the field will serve several purposes for the district. It will include a dressing room for the visiting football teams and facilities for the soccer, track and tennis teams. The visitor’s side building will also include male and female dressing rooms that can be used for those teams. The 2,800 square-foot new building will include a concessions area and storage space for all of the school’s athletic teams. During the recent rainy weather, construction crews made
progress working to reconfigure the interiors of the existing structures, but with the arrival of sunnier days, they have moved outside to begin the expansion. “During the recent bad weather they did work in the existing field house,” Childress said. “We moved along nicely with that project, but we need some pretty weather to really move this other project forward.” The estimated completion time for the whole project is early summer. The district contracted Worsham Brothers for the project at a base bid for $839,000. Childress said he believes the final cost will be “a little less.” The project is funded through the district’s capital improvement fund and qualified school construction bonds.
With a primary election six weeks away, preparations are being made for absentee voting, and a voter registration deadline is coming up in a couple of weeks. Circuit Clerk Joe Caldwell said his office expects to receive scannable absentee ballots for the March 13 congressional and presidential primary next week. Paper absentee ballots are available now for anyone who may be leaving for an extended time, but the clerk’s office prefers residents wait for the scannable ballots to arrive if possible. The ballots are still being finalized by the state. Requested ballots for military personnel have already been mailed. The clerk’s office requests others who want a ballot by mail to call the office next week. Caldwell emphasized that it is a party primary and people have to choose one of the two parties. With Mississippi’s primary falling the week after Super Tuesday, it is usually a lowturnout affair, and the presidential primary is often effectively over by that point. As with the Democratic presidential primary four years ago, the outcome could still be up for grabs on the Republican side this year. “We’ve got more contested
in the Republican primary and are probably going to have more people vote in the Republican primary,” said Caldwell. That would be a break from the normal pattern. Incumbent Rep. Alan Nunnelee has two Republican challengers for his party’s nomination — Henry Ross and Robert Estes, and incumbent Sen. Trent Lott also faces challengers on the Republican ticket — E. Allen Hathcock and Robert Maloney. With the presidential race, the Republican ticket has three contested races to only one on the Democratic side for Senate. People who are not registered voters need to register by Feb. 11 to be eligible to participate in the primary. The clerk’s office will have extended hours the week of Feb. 6-10, staying open until 7 p.m., and will open from 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday, Feb. 11. The clerk’s office will open on two Saturdays, March 3 and 10, until noon for absentee voting. Qualifying is currently open for the five election commissioner posts which will be on the ballot in November, with district 4 incumbent Keith Settlemires the only one on the list thus far. Caldwell noted that election commissioner qualifying is handled through the chancery clerk’s office, unlike most other elected offices.
MDWFP sets youth waterfowl hunt days BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks has designated Saturday and Sunday as youth waterfowl hunting weekend. During the weekend adult hunters are encouraged to participate by taking youth under the age of 16 on what could be their first hunting trip. “It’s extremely important to our agency for hunters to take the time to pass along the enjoyment that can be found in the outdoors,” said Houston Havens, MDWFP Migratory Game Bird Biologist. Wildlife Management Areas
with waterfowl hunting opportunity, including Alcorn County’s Tuscumbia Wildlife Management Area, will be open to youth hunting during the youth waterfowl hunting weekend. Located approximately 3 miles west and northwest of Corinth, Tuscumbia Wildlife Management Area contains roughly 2,600 acres of state owned land in northern Alcorn County. WMA Assistant Biologist Josh Nunley said the opportunities for waterfowl hunting at Tuscumbia have improved since last year. Please see WATERFOWL | 2A
Corinth museum spotlights Tuskegee Airman BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
The Black History Museum of Corinth will spotlight a photographer with the Tuskegee Airmen among its Black History Month activities. A day honoring Roy “Bo Peep” Robinson is set for Feb. 25 from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the museum on Meigg Street. The museum will also have an event in conjunction with the artist guild on a date to be announced later. Robinson served as a photographer with the 99th Pursuit Squadron, later known as the 332nd Fighter Squadron. “A lot of people in the community that knew him were not aware of his involvement to that extent,” said Freida Miller, museum volunteer. “He gave us his scrapbook and all of his letters that he received from President
Photo by Bill Avery
Please see AIRMAN | 3A
The Black History Museum of Corinth will host a day with Roy Robinson, who served as a photographer with the Tuskegee Airmen.
Index Stocks...... 7A Classified......5B Comics......3B Wisdom......2B
Weather......5A Obituaries......3A Opinion......4A Sports......8A
On this day in history 150 years ago Confederate forces under Gen. Henry H. Sibley depart El Paso, Texas, and enter the New Mexico Territory. Sibley’s ultimate plan was to capture the deepwater ports in California. By Tom Parsons, NPS Ranger