Wednesday Aug. 1,
2012
50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 116 No. 184
Thunderstorm Today
Tonight
102
71
• Corinth, Mississippi • 26 pages • 2 sections
City leaders discuss tax levy vote BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Drawing on his football days, Corinth Mayor Tommy Irwin asked citizens to endorse “the mother of all plays” as he made his pitch for Future Fare at Corinth High School Tuesday night. Irwin presented a look at city finances as well as the proposed Future Fare spending and argued that it is a pivotal time for Corinth to make infrastructure improvements. “If we do the right things, you’re going to see things that you didn’t dream would come to Corinth,” said Irwin. “I believe that. I’ve lived it. I’ve seen it all over the country. It will happen.” On Aug. 21, Corinth voters will go to the polls to decide the special election on an ad valorem tax increase of 12 mills for a five-year period. It would be Corinth’s first tax increase since 2001, when the city increased the ad valorem tax by 5.5 mills with 4 mills designated for a bond issue that financed street paving and a new fire station. A school district increase accounted for the rest. Ward 1 Alderman Andrew Labas said he has been asked
why the board decided on a property tax increase. “It’s the only mechanism that we as a city board really have in place to go after to increase taxes … We looked at the option of a gasoline tax,” he said. “We looked at sales tax. All of that is going to take a change in state law.” The board also decided not to look at bonds. “The issue with floating a bond right now is we don’t have the income to make those payments,” said Labas. “We’re on a shoestring budget as it is.” A few individuals said they support the proposed tax increase. One who does not is Harold Patrick, who said he is hearing concerns from a number of people in the business community. He said residential developers who have open lots will be hurt as well as business owners who cannot shoulder additional costs in their operations. “I feel like there’s other opportunities to get this revenue,” he said, citing the tourism tax as an example. City officials said that would require legislative action and is
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Please see LEVY | 11A
Kathi Irwin, the wife of Corinth Mayor Tommy Irwin, passes out Future Fare booklets prior to the meeting Tuesday night.
New Ole Miss AD charts future
Storm damage
BY BRANT SAPPINGTON bsappington@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Church members help clear a tree that fell on the home of 80-year-old Maxine Johnson at 301 Lilac Street.
Storm systems down trees, power lines; Cleanup crews work throughout night BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
A late-night storm kept city and county workers busy on Tuesday. High winds was responsible for a marority of the damage with several trees toppled in the first and second districts of Alcorn County. “It got pretty woolly,” said emergency management coordinator Ricky Gibens, who was driving home on County Road 218. The first front hit the area around 11 p.m. with a second dumping a torrential downpour, according to Gibens. “It was a light show all
through the night and morning,” said the emergency coordinator. “The wind was at least 70 mph plus and blowing my truck all over the road.” Alcorn County Board of Supervisors President Lowell Hinton said county workers were out from 10:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. cleaning up debris. “It seems the first and second districts were hit the worst with most of the damage being from Kendrick Road to Box Chapel Road,” said the 1st district supervisor. “There were multiple trees down on multiple roads.” Homeowner Charles Curtis was cleaning up debris in his yard at 122 County Road 226 in
Farmington early Tuesday. “It got pretty windy and came up all at once with quite bit of rain,” said Curtis. “I have seen damage that was worse than this, but was never involved.” Curtis said a tree that was already leaning fell into another tree and knocked down a power pole close to his driveway. “Everything was knocked out and it was over in about eight to nine minutes,” said the 30-year owner of the CR 226 home. According to 2nd district supervisor Dal Nelms, the cleanup process was a hectic one. “We got five calls at one time,”
Index Stocks...... 7A Classified......5B Comics......3B Wisdom......2B
Weather......5A Obituaries......3A Opinion......4A Sports......8A
Please see STORM | 11A
University of Mississippi Athletic Director Ross Bjork is focused on the future. “If we stay still, we fall behind,” Bjork told members of the Booneville Rotary Club Tuesday. The head of athletics at Ole Miss visited the club on his way to Tuesday night’s annual meeting of the Tri-State Rebel Club in Iuka. Bjork, who was appointed in March to take the post vacated by embattled longtime AD Pete Boone, said he realizes Ole Miss and its athletics department have been through some tough times in recent years and he believes the time has come to stop focusing on the past and chart a clear course toward success in the future. “The page has been turned,” he said. Bjork came to Ole Miss from a highly successful twoyear stint as director of athletics at Western Kentucky University, where helped reshape the program. He plans to do the same at Ole Miss and he’s calling on all those who love and support the school to come together to help them build on the successes of the past and forge a new and brighter future. He said he understands clearly how high the expectations are for him and for his department. “I know expectations are high and with that comes a responsibility to perform at the highest level,” he said. He said university athletics are operating with a $65 million budget, the highest in
Staff photo by Brant Sappington
Retired legendary Northeast Mississippi Community College Football Coach and Athletic Director Bill Ward (left) chats with University of Mississippi Athletic Director Ross Bjork following Bjork’s remarks Tuesday to the Booneville Rotary Club. the school’s history, but still lower than many rivals such as Alabama and LSU. Bjork has already begun his transformation of the program with the hiring of a new women’s basketball coach and a track and field coach. He has also restructured the athletic department with the creation of several new positions to make it more effective and responsive. Long-term goals include an ambitious building plan that includes improvements to the current training center, including a new full-service dining facility, a more attractive and awe-inspiring lobby and other renovations. A key piece of the vision is a new basketball arena to replace the venerable but aging Tad Smith Coliseum. “We cannot blow up Tad Smith arena quickly enough,” he said with a laugh. He said the old arena has Please see REBELS | 5A
On this day in history 150 years ago British authorities ignore American demands to seize the newly launched ship Enrica. The ship will later be renamed the CSS Alabama and will be responsible for the destruction of 60 Union merchant ships.
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