Wednesday August 29, 2012 50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 116, No. 208
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• Corinth, Mississippi • 20 pages • Two sections
Tourism chair thinks fund shift bad idea BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
The Corinth Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Board thinks there is a better alternative to help the Crossroads Arena. The tourism board learned last week that city and county leaders are considering moving $250,000 from the tourism budget to fund operations at the arena. “This is a bad business decision,” said tourism board chairman Chris Porterfield, who learned of the decision after meeting with Board of Supervisors President Lowell Hinton and supervisor Tim Mitchell. “If they would have come to the
board, we would have worked diligently for an alternative.” If the city and county approve the plan, the tourism budget would be cut from 44 percent of its proposed budget for the fiscal 2013. “It will cut 30 funding events,” said the board chairman. Some of those events that would lose tourism backing are Grand Illumination, Hog Wild Festival, Slugburger Festival, Crossroads Theatre-Arts, Corinth Sportsplex, Corinth Coca-Cola Classic 10K, along with Civil War and sports events. “We want to work on this together and would redo our budget in a heartbeat,” said Porterfield. “The board would
still have to cut some things, but it wouldn’t kill us like taking $250,000 away.” The truism board submitted a budget of $567,000 for 2013. Hinton told the Daily Corinthian last week there is a feeling some of the money could go to better use. Should the proposed budget pass, the tourism plan to hire a marketing person would also be shelved. Porterfield said Tourism Director Kristy White and the board had decided to hire a marketing position to work with the arena and city park to attract venues. “If we lose the money, there is no way we can hire the position,” added the board chair-
man. In the current budget, the city allocated $63,000 for the arena, and the county added $112,500 to the Crossroads Arena. Hinton believes tourism can overcome the cuts by tightening its budget. “I don’t think people know what we do at tourism,” said Porterfield. The Crossroads Arena receives funding from a Corinth tourism tax of 2 percent which is equally divided with the Corinth Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. The arena side of the funding cannot be used for operations. Money is used only to retire the debt on the building or for capital improve-
ments. City alderman Andrew “Bubba” Labas said last week the board attorneys have studied the law that established the tourism tax and found the two governments can make the change. Porterfield said he has heard some question the amount the tourism office spends on advertising. “Our advertising budget is high because we have to focus on state and national levels,” he said. The board chairman urged those concerned in the community to contact their supervisor or alderman. Staff Writer Jebb Johnston contributed to this story.
Schools study state test results BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Local school districts are making plans to fine-tune their classroom strategies based on the latest Mississippi Curriculum Test and Subject Area Testing Program results. The statewide testing information becomes public today, although it may still be a couple of weeks before it is accessible by the public through the Mississippi Department of Education website, according to Interim Director of Communications Jon Kalahar. The public release of accountability ratings for districts and individual schools follows in September. With Corinth High School’s participation in the Excellence for All pilot program, many students took the Cambridge International Exam required at the end of the Cambridge courses. The district recently received results of the Cambridge exams administered in May and June and has been analyzing student performance in the school’s first year of the program. “These exams were totally
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Three females were transported to Magnolia Regional Health Center following a wreck on Tuesday afternoon around 3:50 p.m.
2-vehicle head-on crash injures 3 people Staff Reports
Three females were transported to Magnolia Regional Health Center following a headon collision on Highway 72 East and Sara Lane. The accident happened around 3:50 p.m. near the Mapco Express and involved
a green Chevy Blazer and tan Buick Rendezvous CX. According to witnesses, a pair of young females in the Blazer -- possibly in their teens or early 20s -- were treated at the scene before being transported. The vehicle they were traveling had heavy damage to the front as it
came to a stop in Sara Lane. The Buick also suffered significant damage to the front and came to rest in the eastbound lane of Highway 72. All three individuals were transported via ambulance with no life-threatening injuries. More details from the acci-
dent will be printed in Thursday’s edition of the Daily Corinthian when the report becomes available. Corinth First Responders and three units from the Corinth Police Department responded. James Butler is the investigating police officer.
Please see SCORES | 3A
Corinth support unit deploys to coast for Isaac relief effort BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
As Isaac was upgraded to hurricane status, members of Company D of the 106th Brigade Support Battalion reported to the Corinth National Guard Armory to make preparations for their trip to the coast. “Approximately 50 soldiers from Delta Company are deploying for support during Hurricane Isaac,” said Staff Sgt. Justin Byrd, an Alcorn Central grad and the public information officer for the unit. “We’re prepared to support search and rescue, debris removal and commodity distribution.” The unit has valuable experience from serving in numerous overseas deployments, the 2011
Mississippi River flood and the Smithville tornado of Spring 2011. “We’re always ready and always there,” said Byrd, “with personnel and equipment to assist as our nation’s first military response.” Members of the 106th left Corinth on Tuesday afternoon. They will travel to Amory to meet up with other units before heading to the coast. Prentiss County native Sgt. Mark Kellum is a member of the 106th who reported to Corinth’s sister armory in Ripley on Tuesday. In the early afternoon Kellum was waiting for his unit to get together to move on to Jackson, where it will wait to find out if things get bad enough on the coast for it
Staff photo by Bobby J. Smith
PFC Michelle Allison of Dennis totes a pack getting ready to travel south. to be called in. “I don’t think it’s going to get
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bad enough. Probably end up staying in Jackson,” Kellum
said. He was at home when he got the call about 1 p.m. Tuesday to report to the armory. A deployment to the coast would mean a lot of extra work, but Kellum said he’s ready to go. “Now that we’re going to Jackson, I hope I get to go,” he said. “I’d rather go down there — that way I’ll be able to say I’ve been in a hurricane.” Another army in Corinth is helping out with Isaac’s impact — the Salvation Army. Salvation Army forces from around the country began marshaling in Hattiesburg on Tuesday in preparation for Hurricane Isaac. “”We’ve got a lot of people Please see ISAAC | 3A
On this day in history 150 years ago During the Second Battle of Bull Run/Manassas, Robert E. Lee decisively beats John Pope’s Army of Virginia. The battle, which last for two days, inflicts a staggering 16,054 Union casualties to 9,197 Confederates killed, wounded and captured.
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