Daily Corinthian E-Edition 032613

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Tuesday March 26,

2013

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Daily Corinthian Vol. 117, No. 73

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Tonight

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• Corinth, Mississippi • 18 pages • 1 Section

Flags fly at half-staff; citizens honor Marine Officials say Wooley was shooting victim BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com

City of Corinth and Alcorn County officials joined together to honor a fallen United States Marine on Monday. Flags around the city and county were lowered to halfstaff in respect for Alcorn County native Jacob Wooley, who was killed in a shooting at a Virginia Marine training school on Thursday. “We need to embrace one of our own,” said alderman J.C. Hill who put the plan in motion to lower all flags Monday afternoon. “Everyone in the city and county who has been contacted agreed to do it … I think this is the honorable thing to do.” Alcorn Central High School, where Wooley attended up to his junior year, also lowered its flag Monday. “He was just a real courteous person who was an outstanding student,” said ACHS Principal Tim Littlejohn. “I want his family and friends to know our prayers are with them.” The school planned a moment of silence Tuesday morning. Two Marines were killed when a tactics instructor opened fire on his colleagues at a school that tests Marines who want to become officers. Sgt. Eusebio Lopez, 25,

■ Marine was likeable, churchgoing. See page 3 gunned down 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Sara Castromata and Cpl. Wooley, 23, Thursday night around 10:30 p.m. inWooley side barracks at the Marine Corps Base Quantico in northern Virginia before killing himself. No motive for the shooting had been released by military officials. “We want the family to know we feel what they feel,” said Hill. “He gave this country all he could give and we want to show our appreciation to him along with all the dedicated men and women who serve our country.” Wooley, reported as living in Guntown, was a field radio operator who joined the Marines in 2010. The 23-year-old graduated from a home school program before attending Northeast Mississippi Community College and later the Marines. Lopez was an instructor at the school, known for its grueling 10Please see HONOR |2

An image from the store’s surveillance video shows the suspect at the counter with a handgun.

City of Corinth and Alcorn County officials joined together to honor fallen local United States Marine Jacob Wooley on Monday by flying flags at half-staff.

Police searching for robbery suspect BY JEBB JOHNSTON

Appeals court rejects motion BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com

The Mississippi Court of Appeals has rejected a motion for rehearing by Timmy Dale Whitaker, who is serving time on aggravated assault and burglary charges out of Alcorn County. The court rejected the motion for rehearing last week. Last August, the court upheld

the convictions that occurred in Alcorn County Circuit Court in November 2010 before Judge Thomas Gardner III. According to court documents, on Aug. 5, 2008, Whitaker, 49, drove Samuel Patterson Jr. and William Danny Whitaker to the home of William Clark after they picked up a crowbar and a pipe from Patterson’s workplace. Whitaker

dropped off the two at Clark’s trailer, where they broke in and severely beat the man, taking his wallet with several hundred dollars and his telephone so that he could not call for help. Whitaker picked up the two a short time later. Clark was found the next morning by his daughter. He Please see COURT | 2

jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com

The Corinth Police Department is seeking leads on the identity of a man who robbed a convenience store at gunpoint Friday night. The BP at the corner of Shiloh Road and North Parkway was robbed about 11 p.m. when a man entered the store brandishing a smallcaliber handgun. Detective Capt. Ralph Dance said the man demanded that the clerk hand over the money in the register and also a money bag. Along with an unknown sum of cash, he also took the

Alcorn Industries provides opportunities BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com

In a metal building on Harper Road, not far from the railroad tracks, a group of Alcorn County’s most special citizens work to improve their lives and live as productive members of community. Alcorn Industries is a shelter workshop for local residents with intellectual development disabilities. At the facility, roughly 30 adult workers carry out a variety of jobs subcontracted from local industries like Caterpillar and the Coca Cola/Dr. Pepper plant. The Alcorn Industries staff also teaches the workers pre-vocational skills, basic writing, how to fill out job applications and social skills for the workplace. The facility recently held an open house that was attended by many community leaders, including Corinth Mayor Tommy Irwin, local education officials, representatives from area industries, local doctors and dentists and parents of special needs students in Alcorn County schools. “We want to let people know what we do,” said Alcorn Industries Director Therray Taylor. “Our clients work. They want opportunities like anyone else

clerk’s cell phone and a store phone from the counter and exited the building on foot. The robber left through the west door and appeared to head north on Parkway. Dance said the suspect is a black male standing about 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing about 160 pounds. He had light skin and a mustache and wore a blue hoodie. Dance said tips from the public are needed to help track down the suspect. Contact the detectives division at 286-3377 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-773-tips or crimestoppersms.com.

Lenten Luncheons will conclude this week BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com

The center director is committed to making sure the Alcorn Industry workers are paid fairly and treated with respect. “Just because they’re disabled doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be paid what they deserve,” Taylor

A tradition that began on Ash Wednesday will wrap up during Holy Week. The 33rd Annual Lenten Luncheons at First United Methodist Church is set to conclude another year on Wednesday. “We have had a great year with about 100-115 people each time,” said Brenda Childs. “It has been a great time of fun and fellowship for all of us.” Made possible by the United Methodist Women, the luncheons are held each Wednesday for seven weeks to kickoff the Easter tradition of spiritual renewal and fellowship. Lunch will be served at 11:45 a.m. and cost is $6. Rev. Ted Avant of Waldron Street Christian Church will be the guest speaker. Lunch will consist of chicken salad and

Please see OPPORTUNITY | 2

Please see LUNCHEON | 2

Staff photos by Bobby J. Smith

Daniel gets some help from an Alcorn Industries co-worker emptying old bottles and cans from the Corinth Coke plant. The bottles and cans are then recycled. to work and have fair wages.” Alcorn Industries opened in 1998. It is a division of North Mississippi Regional Center, a nonprofit organization based in Oxford. Workers at Alcorn Industries must first be evaluated at the main campus in Oxford before they become part of the

center. Some workers at Alcorn Industries live in local group homes, and others live at home. The staff is currently focused on the effort to find new contracts – new jobs for their clients. Taylor said the center’s workers would be ideal help for a new company starting up.

Index Stocks........9 Classified......14 Comics........ 8 State........ 5

Weather...... 10 Obituaries........ 6 Opinion........4 Sports...... 12

On this day in history 150 years ago President Lincoln writes to Tennessee’s military governor, Andrew Johnson, and urges him to raise a Military force of ex-slaves. “The colored population is the great available and yet unavailed of, force for restoring the Union. The bare sight of 50,000 armed and drilled black soldiers on the banks of the Mississippi would end the rebellion at once.”


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