Issuu

Tuesday Aug. 7,

2012

50 cents

Daily Corinthian Vol. 116, No. 189

Partly sunny Today

Tonight

• Corinth, Mississippi • 16 pages • 1 section

Franks appointed to arena board BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com

In a split vote, the Alcorn County Board of Supervisors on Monday agreed with the Corinth Board of Aldermen’s appointment of Joe Franks to the Crossroads Arena Board of Directors. The action will result in the removal from the board of Bill Strickland, who, in the 1990s,

led the effort to secure a multipurpose facility and has served as board chairman. The seat up for consideration is jointly appointed by the two boards. The city board voted 5-0 to appoint Franks a couple of weeks ago and supervisors voted 3-1 to appoint Franks, with Dal Nelms voting “no” and Gary Ross abstaining.

“Bill Strickland has been a consistent pillar of support for the arena since its inception, and I believe he would continue his unwavering commitment to the facility and its board of directors,” said Nelms. “I’m sure Mr. Franks will do an excellent job, and I look forward to working with him.” Franks, who runs an office

supply business, said he is looking forward to working with the arena board and staff and hopes to help them build community interest in the facility. For about 12 years he worked on the entertainment lineups for the Slugburger and Hog Wild festivals as part of the Main Street Corinth board. The term on the arena board

is five years. Supervisors had one other appointment on the agenda for the Tombigbee River Valley Water Mangement District Board of Directors. The board appointed Joe Duncan to complete the term of Don Rinehart, who resigned. The term runs through July 2015. Duncan has served on the Hatchie River Drainage District.

‘America’s Teacher’ helps, Supervisors agree motivates local educators to raise tipping fees BY JEBB JOHNSTON

BY BOBBY J. SMITH

jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com

bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com

Distinguished educator, speaker and author Ron Clark danced, hopped and wildly gestured the way to a successful future for education at Crossroads Arena on Monday. The animated Clark discussed his journey to become “America’s Teacher,” from his first classroom in a hard-luck North Carolina school district to working with inner-city kids in Harlem to the founding of the Ron Clark Academy, where Clark and his award-winning faculty use innovative and creative methods of instruction to teach middle school kids from all walks of life. Clark spoke about the difficulties he encountered when trying to introduce more fun and creative methods of teaching during his time at the struggling school in North Carolina. To bring the lesson to life and capture the attention of his students, he proposed dressing up as a character from the reading Photo by Kim Jobe/Corinth School District

Please see CLARK | 2

Ron Clark talks teaching after taking the table.

County supervisors agreed Monday to increase tipping fees at the solid waste transfer station in an effort to stop losing money in the operation. The increase, effective Sept. 1, will affect haulers of waste such as the City of Corinth and Waste Management that bring truckloads to the transfer station. The tipping fee will rise from $38 per ton to $47 per ton for in-county loads and $50 per ton for those from out of the county. Supervisors said they are only trying to get the numbers at a break-even point. “We have been losing money for a number of years now, and this looks like the fairest way to do it,” said Board President Lowell Hinton. The move to raise fees came about as the board reviewed finances in preparation for completing a fiscal 2013 budget. In other business, Magnolia Regional Health Center CEO Rick Napper presented

a quarterly report with news that the emergency room is on track for a record year of about 35,000 visits compared to a normal year of about 30,000. Despite the emergency increase, the hospital has seen a decrease in adjusted patient days to 50,504. “That’s approximately down by 700 in-patient admissions,” said Napper. “We had an extremely low flu season for admission to the hospital — the flu was not as bad as it has been in the past years. That volume almost directly correlates to the number of flu cases.” For the seven months of the fiscal year through April, the hospital had income of $1.038 million. The hospital has recruited two physicians — a neurologist who begins work next month and a pulmonologist who begins work in July 2013. Current hospital construction is scheduled for completion in December, but Napper said it will likely be about a month longer.

Civil War Kids Day activities scheduled Saturday BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com

To mark the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year, the Corinth Battlefield Unit of Shiloh National Military Park will host a Civil War Kids Day on Saturday. “We are excited to host the Civil War Kids Day on Saturday morning,” said Supervisory Park Ranger Ashley Berry. “We

have several activities planned that are both educational and fun.” Kids will participate in several hands-on activities that will introduce them to various functions of a Civil War-era army and will have the opportunity to earn five of the park’s new Civil War to Civil Rights Trading Cards. “We’ll be doing activities

that correspond with the three branches of the army — infantry, cavalry and artillery — and we’ll have a demonstration to show how to load and fire a musket,” explained Park Ranger Rachel Winters. “It’s going to be fun and a good way to earn a Junior Ranger Badge. The activities will begin at 9 a.m. and end at noon. Children of ages five to 12 are invited to par-

ticipate in the Kids Day activities at the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center. Activities will be conducted inside and outside the building. Children should bring water, snacks and sunscreen, and wear comfortable clothing for outside activities. Winters said the Corinth Battlefield Unit hopes to present the Kids Day activities at least once every year, depending on

how successful it is. Parents are encouraged to register their children in advance by calling the Interpretive Center at 287-9273. Also on Saturday, the band Lost Cause: A Confederate String Band will play their authentic renditions of Civil Warera music at the Interpretive Center auditorium beginning at 2 p.m.

Chinese drywall turns dream home into nightmare BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com

(Editor’s Note: The following is being reprinted after some of the story was left out in Sunday’s edition.) It’s early on a rainy and dreary day. Emily, a 40-year-old mother of three, is sitting in her car, looking across the driveway at the four-year-old home she bought last April. She thought it would be her dream home, but her experience has been more like a nightmare. In the yard sits a large metal container. It looks like a shipping container that would be used on a boat. The container holds the recently stripped out interior of her home, the toxic Chinese drywall that cost Emily and her family so much — even their health. “I thought I bought my dream home,” said Emily. “I had pictures of the front of my house plastered everywhere, at work, on my fridge. It was my

first house as a single woman. I thought I did everything right. I brought in a home inspector, I asked all the right questions. How did this happen to me?” Emily bought the house from its previous owner in August of 2011. She works hard every day in the medical field, and after saving for a year and a half, she wanted to do everything right. So, she called in a home inspector. After spending over two hours in the house, the home inspector told Emily it was perfect. He couldn’t find anything wrong with it, he said. A second home inspection would also get the thumbs up. Soon the air conditioning went out. She called one of the big air conditioning companies in town and workers said her AC was low on freon. They had to refill her air conditioning system with Freon four times from August to the following March.

“Finally that company called me and said the EPA would not allow them to continue putting Freon in my unit without doing a leak test,” Emily remembered. “It was high dollar already. I had only been in the house six months — how can it already be a money pit?” Emily enlisted Jeff Crabb, of Crabb’s Heating & Air, to do the leak test. “He wasn’t in the house but a couple of minutes and he detected it,” Emily said. “It was Chinese drywall. The gases from it corroded the copper in my unit. That’s why the Freon was leaking out.” Chinese drywall is defective drywall imported from Chinese manufacturers beginning in the first years of the 21st century. Lab tests have identified emissions of several sulfurous gasses — carbon disulfide, carbonyl sulfide and hydrogen sulfide — coming from the drywall.

Index Stocks........7 Classified......14 Comics...... 11 Wisdom...... 10

Weather........5 Obituaries........ 3 Opinion........4 Sports........8

Submitted photo

The copper evaporator coil to Emily’s air conditioner is only two years old. It should look like copper. Instead it looks burnt, with a black, ashy substance covering the coils.

On this day in history 150 years ago At Blackburn, England, a public meeting called for the immediate recognition of the Confederate States of America because “it was impossible for the North to vanquish the South.”

Local/Region

2 • Daily Corinthian

Kossuth Elementary 4th nine-weeks honor roll

CLARK CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

assignment and acting out the story while it was being read by the class. This idea met with resistance from established teachers at the school, he said. “Some said we couldn’t do it because we wouldn’t finish on time,” he said. “Other teachers will get bitter and nasty because they don’t want you to make them look bad.” He cited one teacher who objected to Clark decorating the wall outside his classroom. Once Clark’s side of the hallway was so colorful, the other teachers were shamed into enlivening the appearance of their areas. Clark urged teachers to overcome their pettiness and egos and pull together for the sake of their students. “We’ve got all kinds of problems: Funding, crazy parents, test scores. The last problem we need is our teachers turning on each other,” said Clark. Speaking to the audience of faculty and staff from both Alcorn and Corinth schools, Clark said that somebody in the room at one time wanted to do something special in the classroom, but they didn’t do it because of what people would think. “That’s what’s killing our progress,” the decorated educator said. Another problem in schools nationwide, he said, is the lack of challenge for gifted students. Beside the problem of classes being too easy for these students, they are not taught how to have a strong work ethic. “Corporations say that a 24-year-olds right out of college have no work ethic,” Clark said. “One thing they do have is confidence — but they have no work ethic.” Clark said the solution was to push the gifted kids and teach them what it means to work hard by raising the standard for the entire class. “The more you expect from kids, the more you’re going to get — not

Photos by Kim Jobe/Corinth School District

Corinth Superintendent Lee Childress and Alcorn Superintendent Gina Rogers Smith share a light moment with speaker Ron Clark. by dumbing it down. The world won’t dumb it down,” said Clark. Another mistake is the belief that it is more important to build a student’s self-esteem than to motivate them to do better. According to Clark, American educators have unintentionally “ruined” their students by being overly-concerned with self-esteem. Thus the students are mollycoddled, their self-esteem thrives and their work ethic is nonexistent. Also important is to bring the right attitude into the classroom. A survey of 1,000 students revealed that the top quality desired in a teacher by students is happiness. Clark instructed the teachers in attendance to smile, create positive energy and contribute to a happy environment. While Clark’s highenergy delivery was anything but traditional, his message focused on some traditional values. He stressed the value of teaching a good work ethic and told how he strives to teach manners to his students. Part of the manners instruction is the proper way to negotiate a handshake. Clark enlisted a man from the audience to as-

Kossuth Elementary School second grade teacher Genia Mincey looks over the program. sist him in the handshake demonstration. In closing the renowned educator challenged the audience of teachers and school staff members to eliminate negativity, to bring confidence into their classrooms and to

set high standards for their students to live up to. “If you don’t love these kids, you’ve got no right to fuss at them,” Clark said. “These kids will be what you see in them. See more.”

City Board Agenda The Corinth Board of Mayor and Aldermen will convene for a regular meeting at 5 p.m. today. The agenda includes the following: ■ Outside agency budget requests from the airport, The Alliance, arena, Care Garden, Keep Corinth Beautiful, Main Street Corinth, Corinth School District, Corinth Library, parks and recreation, and tourism office ■ Reports of the department heads

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

■ Fire department — quote for copier (state contract) ■ Airport Multimodal Grant - Bill Odom ■ FAA 2012 grant — Bill Odom ■ Invoice from Cook Coggin Engineering ■ Quotes for sidewalk project at Corinth National Cemetery, north side ■ Municipal court — quote for copier (state contract) ■ Schedule property cleanup public hearings

for 714 Dale St. (Ferguson), 1005 Tenth St. (Hamm), 1005 Blasingame St. (Dengler), 402 Penn St. (Crump & Foster), 1605 Fifth St. (Griffin), Dale St. (Bostic), 100 Montgomery St. (Holloway), Victory Properties LLC on Highway 72 West, 815 Sixth Street (Warren) ■ Public hearings for property cleanup: Archambault property, 1301 E. Waldron St. (Moss), 1308 Waldron St. (Brown), 1409 East Fifth

St. (Thompson), Lauren Drive (Raper & Shipman), Forest School Road (Raper & Shipman), 1521 Jackson St. (Shea), 216 Penn St. (Burns) ■ Consider order to authorize reentry for property cleanup at 608 Wenasoga Road (Wilbanks) and Madison Street (Walker) ■ Continuing disclosure statement ■ Retain auditor for FY 2013 ■ Board of adjustment and planning commission matters: Consider variance for 1215 West Clover Lane and consider rezoning at intersection of Hwy. 45 and Hwy. 72 (Dalton family) ■ Previous minutes

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Lee County won’t oppose annexation Associated Press

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TUPELO — The Lee County Board of Supervisors decided against opposing the city of Tupelo’s annexation effort. The supervisors’ vote on Monday was unanimous. Their decision comes just a few days after the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in favor of the city’s effort to take in approximately 16 square miles from the county. Lee County had the option to ask the high court to reconsider its ruling.

3 • Daily Corinthian

Local/Region

MSU grant to spur job creation MSU University Relations

Mississippi State University will administer more than $1 million in federal grant monies as part of a national effort to bolster job creation in rural areas. The White House announced this week that Mississippi State will receive the maximum award of $1,065,000 as part of the multi-agency Rural Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge. Economic development partnerships and initiatives in 12 states are receiving awards from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Delta Regional Authority, and the Appalachian Regional Commission. “The focus is to create jobs in rural areas of the country, so there is a strong focus on support for entrepreneurs and growing existing small businesses,” said Clayton Walden, director of MSU’s Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems Extension Office based in Canton and the university’s principal leader for the grant. He noted that the project especially will focus on increasing entrepreneurship with minority and underrepresented groups. Walden explained that MSU’s project will focus on 61 counties that define the combined Delta and Appalachian regions of the Magnolia State. Along with the CAVS Extension

Office, the universitybased Southern Rural Development Center, the National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center, the Franklin Furniture Institute, the Office of Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer, as well as the Department of Agricultural Economics will support the initiative. Mississippi Development Authority is an additional partner. “This involves building communities, which is a very strong suit of the SRDC and nSPARC, and of course increasing entrepreneurial activities is a strength of several of our university entities,” Walden added. The program targets the creation and retention of more than 500 jobs, with an accompanying economic development impact of more than $30 million including private investment, and cost savings. “We have taken purposeful steps to make innovation, entrepreneurship and community engagement priorities on our campus. We have been building that culture with students, faculty and staff for a number of years,” said David Shaw, Mississippi State’s vice president for research and economic development. “We have an innovation ecosystem in place that is growing capacity and the economy by creating jobs, enhancing quality of life and providing new opportunities in communities around our state.”

To accomplish the goals, the program will focus on four thrusts: ■ Strengthening Communities: Activities will focus on strengthening communities’ strategic planning processes, enhancing leadership skills, and promoting a robust entrepreneurial environment. The program also will leverage an initiative to increase broadband penetration in rural areas. ■ Expanding Clusters: Strategies to target the growth of major clusters, such as automotive, furniture and agri-business industries, will propagate opportunities for smaller companies within their respective regional clusters. Workshops and networking events conducted in accordance with community development activities will enable existing businesses and startup companies to have a forum to explore business opportunities. Successful owners of minority and underrepresented, underserved businesses will coach participants regarding critical success factors. ■ Growing Companies: Technical assistance and professional development programs will be developed and conducted to fully exploit growth opportunities among the region’s critical cluster companies. Priority will be given to companies where growth and expansion have a high likelihood of expanding the local supply chain, to leverage broader business opportunities with the

inclusion of small businesses and start-up companies. Assistance with planning for and acquiring new technologies and innovations also will be a priority for this thrust. ■ Developing Entrepreneurs: Working directly with prospective entrepreneurs, as identified in the community development thrust, the program will accelerate the formation of new and innovative businesses, utilizing the internationally acclaimed Kaufmann Institute FastTrac program. A review team comprised of successful business people and key stakeholders from each subregion will be a resource for entrepreneurs who have completed training. Additional university resources will be among benefits, including marketing studies, funding to work with the university’s “start-up black belts,” and opportunities to make significant pitches to seed fund boards and Angel Investors. “We believe that this work is the perfect example of how major research universities can positively impact rural economic development in their states,” said Melvin Ray, associate vice president for economic development at Mississippi State. “We are working every day to enhance opportunities in the local community, our state and region-wide.” For more information about Mississippi State University, see www.msstate.edu.

Lawmaker wants fewer people in prison BY JEFF AMY Associated Press

JACKSON — A top state lawmaker wants Mississippi to lock up fewer people and cut prison spending in the process. House Corrections Chairman George Flaggs, a Vicksburg Democrat, said that many inmates would be better off confined at home and monitored electronically. He said inmates with drug problems could be treated at home. “I just think we’ve got too many people in our system

who just have a drug problem,” Flaggs said. “I think they’re better served at home getting some kind of treatment with just an electronic bracelet.” Flaggs spoke Monday at a luncheon sponsored by Mississippi State University’s Stennis Institute of Government and the Capitol press corps. He also called for guidelines to equalize sentencing among judges, and suggested that first-time felons should have a way to get their convictions

expunged, allowing them to find work more easily. “I’m leaning toward a comprehensive reform bill for prisons,” Flaggs said. “You’ve got to reduce costs to the taxpayer and keep them safe.” He said prison spending has more than doubled in the last 15 years, rising to $333 million in the budget year that just ended. Even at that, he said the Corrections Department would end the year with a $30 million deficit, which the Legislature will have

s dor f n e V o r 12er 1 Ro e v O nd U

to make up when it meets in 2013. Department spokeswoman Tara Booth confirmed the deficit, saying it stems from a growing prison population, which has risen to nearly 22,000. Mississippi trails only Louisiana in the rate at which it incarcerates people. Flaggs said he believed he could work with House Judiciary B Committee Chairman Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, to come up with changes to sentencing laws.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Deaths Elva Laura Smith

ARTHUR, Ill. — Graveside services for Elva Laura Smith, 91, formerly of Corinth, are set for 3 p.m. today at the Arthur Cemetery. Mrs. Smith, a homemaker, died Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center in Mattoon, Ill. She was born Dec. 26, 1920, in Hermitage Springs, Tenn., the daughter of Byrd C. and Hattie K. Capshaw Good. She married Basil W. Smith Sr. on Oct. 9, 1939, in Barto, Fla., and he preceded her in death in August 1970. She was a member of the First Apostolic Church of Arthur and a former member of Church of the Crossroads in Corinth. Survivors include her daughter, Kathy Franks (Rick) of Arthur; 2 sons, Basil W. Smith Jr. (Ava Loyce) and Samuel Smith (Teresa), both of Corinth; a brother, Leland Good of Birmingham, Ala.; seven grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; and 2 greatgreat-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by one son, Roger Dale Smith; a sister, Bonnie Eaton; and a granddaughter, Cherie Pedigo. No visitation is scheduled. The Rev. Gwain Bevis will officiate the service. Shrader Funeral Home of Arthur, Ill., is in charge of arrangements.

Richard Southward

Funeral services for Richard Southward, 58, are set for 11 a.m. today at Patterson Memorial Chapel with burial at Corinth National Cemetery. Mr. Southward died Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, at Magnolia Regional Health Center. Born Sept. 10, 1953, he graduated from Carter Branch High School and worked for the Corinth Fire Department. He served in the U.S. Navy. Survivors include his wife, Barbara Southward; three children, Richard Southward Jr., Rishea Southward and Gacoby Walker; two brothers, Jerry W. Hodgers and Andy Hodgers; six sisters, Lynda Rogers, Marilyn Barnes, Cynthia Garth, Judy Williams, Janette Bean and Loretta Saddle; and two grandchildren, Z’ion Genore and Dontrey Southward. He was preceded in death by his parents, Elmer Hodgers and Rebecca Southward, and one grandchild, Ramira Southward. Pastor Jessie Mae Mabry will officiate the service. Visitation was Monday evening.

Obituary Policy The Daily Corinthian include the following information in obituaries: The name, age, city of residence of the deceased; when, where and manner of death of the deceased; time and location of funeral service; name of officiant; time and location of visitation; time and location of memorial services; biographical information can include date of birth, education, place of employment/occupation, military service and church membership; survivors can include spouse, children, parents, grandparents, siblings (step included), and grandchildren, great-grandchildren can be listed by number only; preceded in death can include spouse, children, parents, grandparents, siblings (step included), grandchildren; great-grandchildren can be listed by number only. No other information will be included in the obituary. All obituaries (complete and incomplete) will be due no later than 4 p.m. on the day prior to its publication. Obituaries will only be accepted from funeral homes. All obituaries must contain a signature of the family member making the funeral arrangements.

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Opinion

Reece Terry, publisher

Mark Boehler, editor

4 • Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Corinth, Miss.

Supporters of Ted Cruz, Chick-fil-A break news BY MICHAEL BARONE Columnist

Americans keep behaving in ways that baffle the liberal mainstream media. Two examples figured prominently — or should have — in last week’s news. One is the runoff primary for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in Texas. Former state Solicitor General Ted Cruz thumped incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, 57 to 43 percent. Cruz won even though the Texas Republican establishment, from Gov. Rick Perry on down, endorsed Dewhurst. So did the Austin lobbying community, since Dewhurst as lieutenant governor has run the state Senate for the last 10 years. Dewhurst has had a generally conservative record and had no problem getting elected and re-elected statewide four times. And he spent liberally from the fortune he made in the private sector. To be fair, some MSM outlets did run stories on Cruz’s rise in the polls since he ran behind Dewhurst by a 45 to 34 percent margin in the May 29 primary. But there’s a pattern here that the big liberal press has been reluctant to recognize: Candidates from the GOP establishment are getting knocked off by challengers with less name recognition, far less money and the support of the tea party movement. The tea party was supposed to be dead and gone, you know. There were two such victories in May, when six-term Sen. Richard Lugar was upset by state Treasurer Richard Mourdock in Indiana and when state Sen. Deb Fischer beat two well-known contenders for the open seat nomination in Nebraska. Cruz, the odds-on favorite in November, has the credentials and policy positions to be a figure of national importance for many years. There’s a tradition of Texas senators taking the lead in public policy, from the days of Tom Connally and Lyndon Johnson and including John Tower, Lloyd Bentsen and Phil Gramm. Cruz has a fine legal pedigree. He was a law clerk for Chief Justice William Rehnquist and argued nine cases (and won five) in the U.S. Supreme Court representing Texas. The big media has assumed that tea partiers are potentially violent despite the lack of evidence of any violent behavior. That’s why ABC’s Brian Ross mentioned on-air an Aurora, Colo., tea partier with the same name as the movie theater murderer, although it’s a common name and Aurora has 325,000 people. In contrast, the MSM has been happy to celebrate the much smaller and often violent Occupy movement and characterize it as “mostly nonviolent.” Texas showed once again that many voters are eager to turn out and vote for tea partybacked candidates. Cruz won by about 2 to 1 in fast-growing exurban counties in the DallasFort Worth Metroplex and metro Houston. The MSM could hardly avoid reporting Cruz’s victory. But many news outlets ignored Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day. There were big crowds, long drive-up lines and record sales at the chain’s stores, in response to the declarations by the mayors of Chicago, Boston and Washington that they would keep the restaurant out because of its owners’ opposition to same-sex marriage. That’s not “Chicago values,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel, although there are many Chicagoans on both sides of this issue, just as many are on both sides, in varying proportions, throughout the country. But even many supporters of same-sex marriage like me were appalled at the spectacle of public officials barring businesses because of the religious or political beliefs of their owners. In Huntsville, Ala., YouTube celebrity Antoine Dodson, who is openly gay, dined at Chick-fil-A on Wednesday. “That’s what freedom is. We don’t all have to believe in the same things,” he told a Huntsville Times reporter. “We all have our different beliefs and can still come together and still be friends and be cool with each other,” he said. “So I’m here to be in support of the employees, and I’m also coming to get that spicy chicken sandwich.” Dodson presumably is not an expert on the Constitution like Ted Cruz. But he has something to teach the liberal mainstream media about the spirit of the Founders. (Daily Corinthian columnist Michael Barone, senior political analyst for The Washington Examiner (www.washingtonexaminer. com), is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Fox News Channel contributor and a co-author of The Almanac of American Politics.)

Prayer for today Dear heavenly Father, help us to know that whereever we are and whatever we do, you care more than we can care for ourselves. Amen.

A verse to share “You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” -- 1 Corinthians 12:27

Reece Terry publisher rterry@dailycorinthian.com

Higher fuel tax debate renewed BY JACK ELLIOTT JR. Capitol Dome

JACKSON — Want better roads? Then pay more at the pump. That’s been the mantra of Mississippi transportation officials for the past two decades. Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall, a Republican, is waging a Don Quixote-like campaign to persuade people that Mississippi needs more money to build and maintain roads. It’s been nearly two decades since Congress last increased the federal gasoline and diesel taxes that pay for highways. It’s been 25 years since Mississippi increased its motor fuel tax, and it may be longer before it happens again. Republican Gov. Phil Bryant says he opposes a gas tax increase because it could hurt small businesses during tough times. He told reporters this past week it would take “extraordinary circumstances” to change his mind. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall, said the prospects of lawmakers vot-

ing to increase the gas tax are “very slim to none.” “At a time when we are in a recession and gasoline prices are already astronomically high, I don’t see any appetite in the Legislature for a gasoline tax increase — or any type of tax increase,” Fillingane said. Hall acknowledges the opposition and believes it would take a grassroots effort to convince lawmakers to consider a motor fuel tax increase. That’s why Hall has been bringing the issue up lately. Hall said he was making no recommendation on how much the fuel tax should increase but “I know a nickel (a gallon) would be a great start.” The cost of road and bridge construction has gone up and the purchasing power of fuel taxes has declined by more than a third. Revenue is also down, in part, because cars are becoming more fuel-efficient. With motor fuel taxes tied to consumption, the revenue picture is not good. In Mississippi, drivers pay state and federal taxes of 37.2 cents per gallon of gaso-

line and 43.2 cents per gallon of diesel — the seventh and eighth lowest in the nation, respectively. Mississippi’s excise tax is 18.8 cents per gallon on gasoline and diesel, with 0.4 cents going to an environmental protection fee. In coastal Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties, there is an additional 3 cents per gallon seawall tax. The federal tax is 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel. The Mississippi Legislature in 1987 approved a fourlane highway construction program funded by higher motor fuel taxes. The Legislature initially promised to repeal the taxes as projects were completed. Instead, lawmakers in 1994 made the tax open-ended and added more miles to the construction program. Hall and other transportation officials warn that inflation is eating away at the dollars. “That 18 cents has the buying power of eight cents. That won’t buy much concrete and steel at today’s prices,” Hall said. “We have

a $3 billion system and we haven’t done anything to fund maintenance.” With Congress unwilling to contemplate an increase in the federal gas tax, states are looking for ways to shore up highway programs. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican, said he will push for a fuel tax increase next year. Iowa last increased its gasoline taxes in 1989. A citizen panel this year recommended increasing the tax by up to 10 cents a gallon to raise money for road and bridge work, but the proposal failed in the Legislature. In Michigan, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder says his state needs up to $1.5 billion for transportation infrastructure upgrades. He said the state has several options for new revenues, including vehicle registration fees and fuel taxes. An Arkansas constitutional amendment that lawmakers have placed on the November ballot will ask voters to approve a temporary, half-cent sales tax to fund highways. Legislators approved an increase in the diesel tax last year.

History of Harlem — then and now Books about the history of Harlem have long fascinated me — my favorite being “When Harlem Was in Vogue” by David Levering Lewis. However, a more recent book, titled simply “Harlem” by Jonathan Gill, presents a more comprehensive history — going all the way back to the time when the Dutch were the first settlers of New York, and named that area for the city of Harlem in the Netherlands. Most of us today think of Harlem as a black community, but it was not that for most of its 400-year history. John James Audubon, famed for his studies of birds, was among the many people who at various times organized efforts to keep blacks from moving into Harlem — efforts that, in the long run, met with what might be called very limited success. Among the many wellknown people who were not black who were born in Harlem were Groucho Marx, Milton Berle, Arthur Miller and Bennett Cerf. Like other communities, Harlem held many very different kinds of people at the same time, both before and after it became predominantly black. There was an Italian community in East Harlem, but it was not just an undifferentiated Italian community.

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People from Genoa lived clustered together, as did people from Naples, Sicily and Thomas other parts Sowell of Italy. Jews from GerColumnist many lived separately from Jews who originated in Eastern Europe, who in turn lived in separate enclaves of people from different parts of Eastern Europe. Harlem had the highest crime rate in New York before blacks moved there, and a photograph in this book, taken a hundred years ago, showed the worst housing conditions I have ever seen in Harlem. In some of the poorer Italian neighborhoods in East Harlem, people went barefoot in the summer and lived on one meal a day, consisting of thin soup. There were also more upscale areas of Harlem, and different classes of people sorted themselves out, both when Harlem was white and after it became black. During the early era of black Harlem, as author Jonathan Gill notes: “Observant subway riders could see the porters and domestics get off at West 125th Street, the clerks and secretaries depart at West 135th Street, and the doctors and lawyers

leave at West 145th Street.” By the time I was growing up on West 145th Street in the 1940s, its inhabitants were by no means limited to doctors and lawyers, or even clerks and secretaries. But the pattern of internal self-sorting continued. With the later breakdown of racial barriers in housing, many of the black middle class and those aspiring to be middle class moved completely out of ghettoes like Harlem. It became a much worse place, for that and other reasons. Complaints that the old neighborhood is going downhill have been made by people of all races. Even though that may be true, it can be misleading when the people who lived in those neighborhoods have moved up economically, and now have more upscale housing in more genteel neighborhoods. Meanwhile, the newcomers in their old neighborhoods may likewise be living in better housing than they had before. People moving up often means neighborhoods moving down. Nevertheless, it is painful for me to realize that youngsters growing up in the same places in Harlem where I grew up more than 60 years ago have far less chance of rising economically, educationally or otherwise.

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Harlem youngsters today undoubtedly have more material things than I had in my day. I was 23 years old, and living in Washington, before I had a television set, given to me by my sister when she bought a new television set for herself. But what I got growing up in Harlem was an education that equipped me to go on to leading colleges and universities, long before there was affirmative action. That is what youngsters growing up in Harlem today are very unlikely to get — and affirmative action in college admissions is no substitute, if you come in unequipped to make the opportunity pay off. People didn’t live in fear of drive-by shootings, in the Harlem of my day, if only because we had nothing to drive by in. Old photographs of Harlem show ample parking space on the streets. It was not an idyllic community, by any stretch of the imagination, but it had values that mattered in our daily lives, and common decency was in fact common. No material things can substitute for that. (A Daily Corinthian columnist, Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His website is www.tsowell.com.)

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Daily Corinthian • Tuesday, August 7, 2012 • 5A

Local Church apologizes for barring black marriage BY JEFF AMY Associated Press

JACKSON — A predominantly white Mississippi church has apologized for its refusal to allow a black couple to marry in its sanctuary, though the couple said Monday they knew nothing of the apology until a reporter called. The First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs posted the apology on its website Sunday, saying

it was seeking “forgiveness and reconciliation” with Charles Wilson and Te’Andrea Henderson Wilson, their families and friends and God. “This wrong decision resulted in hurt and sadness for everyone. Both the pastor and those involved in the wedding location being changed have expressed their regrets and sorrow for their actions,” reads part of the six-para-

graph statement. However, Charles Wilson said no one from the church had contacted him or his wife. “I can’t believe they think they’ve apologized,” Wilson said. He said only one or two people from the church have contacted him in recent weeks, and they did so personally and not as representatives of the church. “You put a thing in the

media and say you’ve apologized?” Wilson asked. “That is an insult.” Church officials did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking further comment Monday. The Wilsons had planned a marriage ceremony at the church July 21, but some members objected to the Rev. Stan Weatherford after the couple’s rehearsal. The Wilsons have said that

Weatherford, the pastor, told them he could be fired if the wedding was held in his church. The couple’s wedding was held in a predominantly black church, where Weatherford officiated. Some church members have said that most of the hundreds of congregants didn’t learn what had happened until well after the Wilsons’ wedding.

Crystal Springs, a town of about 5,000 people about 20 miles south of Jackson, is more than 60 percent black. The Wilsons live in Jackson but started attending church there because Weatherford has been a personal friend of Te’Andrea Wilson’s family. Some members of her family have continued to attend church at First Baptist, though the Wilsons have not.

Bite mark expert now says analysis not as reliable as DNA Associated Press

JACKSON — A Mississippi dentist who has testified dozens of times about bite marks linking suspects to crime victims now says investigations should rely on DNA instead. Since the 1980s, Hattiesburg dentist Michael West has testified in dozens of cases in which he said bite marks on victims matched certain suspects. He compared these bite marks to

fingerprints, describing their unique characteristics to jurors. Most suspects he testified against went off to prison. Now The Clarion-Ledger has obtained a 2011 deposition in which West rejects the science he relied on to help put so many behind bars. “I no longer believe in bite-mark analysis,” he said in the deposition. “I don’t think it should be used in

court. I think you should use DNA. Throw bite marks out.” Two of those convicted in a 2001 aggravated assault case in which West testified, Leigh Stubbs and Tami Vance, are now receiving a new trial. They are both out on bond and will be arraigned today in Brookhaven. Stubbs and Vance are charged with conspiring to steal drugs and cash

and assaulting a traveling companion, Janet Kimberly Williams, who reported wounds to her head, breasts, vagina and buttocks. Stubbs is glad to be free. “I have a lot of lost years to make up for,” she said. “I’m so happy to be back with my family and spending time with them. I’m looking forward to going back to school.” Vance’s lawyer, Merrida

Coxwell of Jackson, said he believes West’s testimony could affect any case in which the dentist has testified. “If I was a person in prison, I would demand a review,” Coxwell said. Asked about his testimony, West told The ClarionLedger his cases have been reviewed before, and he is happy to have them reviewed again. West has estimated he’s worked on 16,000 cases,

and he’s put the number of trials he’s testified at across the U.S. as an expert at 81. Over the decades, his testimony has proved effective. Of the 38 Mississippi criminal trials in which The Clarion-Ledger could find a record of West’s testimony, 31 ended in convictions. Reversals have followed in several of those cases, most notably with two Noxubee County men, Kennedy Brewer and Levon Brooks.

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