Thursday March 21,
Daily Corinthian
Mostly cloudy
2013
50 cents
Vol. 117, No. 69
Today
Tonight
47
36
80% chance of sleet
• Corinth, Mississippi • 16 pages • One section
Vice chair Dalton resigns from arena board BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
Crossroads Arena Board Vice Chairman Alva Dalton has resigned from the seven-member board. Wednesday's meeting of the board was the first without the vice chairman who had been part of the group close to six years.
“I am going to miss him,” said board chairman Dr. Hardwick Kay. “Alva brought a lot of good experience and served the board well.” “Alva was a pillar of the board,” said board member Sam Tull. “He came up with a lot of good ideas and we will miss him.” Dalton, a city appointment to
the board, elected to not comment on his resignation when contacted Wednesday afternoon. Board members serve fiveyear terms. The City of Corinth and Alcorn County, which jointly own the Crossroads Arena, are each allowed three appointments to the board with one of the seven spots being jointly appointed.
Corinth Mayor Tommy Irwin said a new city appointment to the board should be in place within the next two weeks. “Alva did a great job and was good for the community,” said the mayor. The board has taken on a different look over the last year. Longtime board member Bill Strickland was replaced by Joe
Franks when his term expired in August. Franks' seat was filled by his wife, Sharon, when he passed away in December. The seven-person board now consists of city appointments Phyllis Keith-Young and Tull. The county representatives are Kay, Thom Rogers and Jane Clark Summers. Franks is the joint appointment.
Henry becoming Michie principal BY JEFF YORK For the Daily Corinthian
MICHIE, Tenn. — A longtime educator in the Crossroads area is coming home to become the new principal at Michie School for the next school year. Wayne Henry, 53, will complete the school year as the assistant superintendent of schools in Alcorn County before moving into his new job. He will take over as Michie’s principal on July 1. Henry is extremely excited about returning to the McNairy County School System after 28 years in Mississippi. He was a principal at Kossuth
High School for one year and a principal at Corinth High School for five years. He was once head football coach at his alma mater, Corinth High. Henry taught for Henry two years in Georgia and two years in McNairy County as well. “Wayne is a solid guy and will do a great job at Michie,” Please see HENRY | 2
Arena wants to add Firemen installing smoke detectors more dirt floor events Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Corinth Fireman Robert Lambert talks with Edna Grissom about the smoke detectors local firemen are installing free of charge.
BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
Edna Grissom can rest better at night. Corinth firemen with Station 1 provided Grissom's relief by installing a pair of smoke detectors at her Forrest School Road home. “This saves me a lot of worry and expense,” said Grissom. “I have been thinking about this for a while.”
The installation of the free smoke devices was made possible by a U.S. Fire Service grant, according to Alcorn County Emergency Services Coordinator Ricky Gibens. “Everyone gets two detectors unless they live in a two-story home and then they get three,” said the emergency coordinator. Devices are available to citizens in Corinth and Alcorn
County. One stipulation is the home can not be a rental home or governmental housing. “It has to be the primary living residence,” said Gibens. Individuals can call their local fire department, E-911 Office or Gibens to set up a time to have the detectors installed. Gibens said a fire inspection will also be done when
BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
The Crossroads Arena Board is looking to play in the dirt a little longer. Successful events such as the recent Motocross and Monster Truck shows have the board exploring the possibility of adding more events while the dirt is on the facility floor. “We are really pleased what we were able to do with the
Please see DETECTORS | 2
Motocross and Monster Truck events and are looking at three additional events on the dirt next year,” facility manager Tammy Genovese told the board during its regular meeting Wednesday. The dirt will remain in the arena until the conclusion of the Lonestar Rodeo set for April 12-13 at the Crossroads Arena. Please see ARENA | 2
Kossuth farmer learns ins and outs of genetic egg business BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
KOSSUTH — A local farmer is learning the ins and outs of the chicken business. For years Doug Mitchell’s Kossuth farm has raised row crops and cattle. Starting last year, Mitchell Farms has expanded into poultry. The last several months have been a learning experience, said Mitchell. “I was surprised by how fast a chicken does grow and how complicated the genetic egg business is,” he said. Mitchell has constructed two facilities on his farm near Kossuth on Highway 2. Both facilities have been up and running since mid December. The buildings are 50-by-465 feet and each house 10,000 hens and 1,000 roosters. They cost roughly $700,000 each. With their high level of automation, it only takes a couple of employees to keep the operation running smoothly. Mitchell’s facilities make up
the first chicken farm in Mississippi affiliated with Aviagen — a global market leader in poultry genetics. One of the most conspicuous aspects of Mitchell’s poultry operation is the high level of cleanliness the facilities operate under. “Cleanliness is one of the biggest things,” Mitchell pointed out. Anyone who enters the buildings must take a shower in the shower room at the entrance and change into a special disinfected suit of clothes. The operation is carried out in a way that minimizes the chances of bacteria or other harmful substances getting in with the growing chickens. “You’ve got to use hand sanitizers going in, and if you’re carrying a tool, it has to be disinfected,” said Mitchell. All is going well at the chicken farm, Mitchell said. In one house his birds are 14 weeks old. In the other they are at 18 weeks. At this stage — the first
Doug Mitchell’s two chicken buildings are 50-by-465 feet, and each houses 10,000 hens and 1,000 roosters. They cost roughly $700,000 each. 24 weeks — all they require is food and water to grow. From week 24 to 58, they will lay eggs. In the meantime, life goes on at Mitchell Farms. Last week was the time to vaccinate half of the birds in one of Mitchell’s barns. With over 5,000 birds to take care of, it was a big job. On Thursday a 12-man crew spent all day vaccinating chickens. Mitchell hopes more people in the area will see the potential
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of chicken farming and make it a bigger part of the area’s agriculture. Currently, the majority of the money generated by the two chicken-houses goes toward paying for the buildings. Even while paying off his expenses, Mitchell brings in $50,000 a year. But the real money will start rolling in seven years from now when the buildings are paid for. The local farmer’s experience
so far has encouraged another member of his family to get in the business. Mitchell’s daughter and son-in-law will soon start their own operation a couple of miles from his. He said he’s also talking to a few other farmers in the area about raising chickens. If Aviagen can build 10 facilities like Mitchell’s in MississipPlease see EGGS | 2
On this day in history 150 years ago Union Gen. William T. Sherman leads a relief expedition up Steele’s Bayou to rescue the gunboats of Adm. David D. Porter, who are in imminent danger of being sunk or captured by a large Confederate force.
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