Thursday August 30, 2012 50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 116, No. 209
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• Corinth, Mississippi • 16 pages • One section
Plan shifts arena bond toward park improvements BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
Staff file photo by Steve Beavers
Search and Rescue K-9 Zinny gets a drink of water during a search for a missing motorist after a traffic accident on U.S 45 earlier this summer. Zinny has been missing since Saturday, and the owner is hoping for its safe return.
Rescue K-9 goes missing BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
FARMINGTON — A key player in Alcorn County’s rescue team is missing. The German shepherd named Zinny, a member of the Alcorn County Emergency Management Agency’s K-9 team with owner Tate Lancaster, disappeared from her County Road 107 home in the Farmington area on Saturday. The owner is seeking help from the community in bringing 3-year-old Zinny home. “She is not only a community service dog, she is a precious family member,” said Lancaster.
The family has been going door-to-door to find out if anyone has seen the dog, and they have received reports of sightings at the Five Points intersection and in the Kimberly-Clark area. The dog, which has been involved in searches for area law enforcement, rarely strays from home. On Saturday, Lancaster’s son saw Zinny in the morning while taking out trash, but she did not respond when the family called for her that afternoon and evening. They became concerned because the pooch never misses a meal. “I’m thinking someone may have her and not know what
they have,” he said. Since the dog went missing, Lancaster said others have told him they recently had dogs stolen. Farmington Police Chief Tony Holmes said he and the other Farmington officers are keeping an eye out for the dog. Lancaster is also raising another rescue dog, Schatzie, which is being trained in cadaver and arson detection. Schatzie was adopted from the animal shelter. Zinny can be returned with no questions asked at the CorinthAlcorn Animal Shelter. Contact the shelter at 284-5800 or Lancaster at 212-3452.
Festival organizers expect huge turnout BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
Event organizers expect thousands of visitors to Iuka this weekend for the 25th Annual Iuka Heritage Festival and 150th Battle of Iuka reenactment. “We’re trying to have the biggest days for Iuka in our lifetime,” said Event Coordinator Lee Ann Robertson. “I believe the number of visitors we’ll have will bump 20,000.”
Heritage Festival The Iuka Heritage Festival begins on Saturday at 8 a.m. in Jay Bird Park with the annual Wheels of Northeast Mississippi Car Club Heritage Day Car Show and an opening ceremony at 9 a.m. in Mineral Springs Park. From 10 a.m until noon, the
Cherokee of Mississippi will host a Native American Pow Wow. Musical entertainment will begin at 1 p.m. with Iuka native sons, Eddie & Frank Thomas, a duo of musical brothers who have shared Mississippi’s musical heritage — and their own polished songwriting skills — with music lovers from Iuka to the U.K. Following the Brothers Thomas will be The Unity 4 at 2 p.m., Lost Cause: A Confederate String Band at 3 p.m. and the Smokehouse band at 4 p.m. In addition to the entertainment, the festival will have party inflatables for the kids, over 100 arts and crafts vendors and a wide variety of food. The TriState Fly Wheelers’ annual tractor show will be on Fulton Street by the Tishomingo County Archives and History.
Parking will be available at the Iuka Middle School, the old Chevrolet dealership at the corner of Eastport Street and Constitution Drive, the National Guard Armory and the American Legion. The Rizpah Railroad Transport Train will travel the streets of Iuka, providing free transportation from the various parking areas to Mineral Springs Park and Jaybird Park. For more info visit www.iukaheritagefestival.com.
Battle of Iuka The three-day commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Iuka begins on Friday with a day of Education Sessions for kids. Over 500 students Please see HERITAGE | 2
Crossroads Regional Park could have a new look in the near future. The long-awaited improvements to city park could begin as early as spring if city and county governments approve the plan. Money would be used for the improvements by utilizing the Crossroads Arena bond agreement -- which can only be used for capital projects -for the park. “The bond attorney is putting a calendar together on what needs to be done,” said tourism board chairman Chris Porterfield. That means between $4.3 and $5 million dollars can be used for park expansion, according to Porterfield. “Most people in the county want this done,” added Porterfield, who has spearheaded efforts to improve the park since 2009. “The good thing is there is no tax on citizens.” Expansion plans call for the improvement to be done in phases. Phase 1 would see four to five new baseball and soft-
ball fields built where the cross country course is now. A resurfacing of the old tennis courts along with improvements on parking and existing lighting are also part of the phase. “Once the fields get going, I hope it would generate enough money to start the second phase,” said Porterfield. Plans call for a scaled-down version -- drawn by Cook Coggin Engineers -- of a plan put together by park director Todd Witt several years ago. “I haven’t heard anything negative about the park ideas,” added Porterfield. “From the different people I have talked with, they would like improved facilities to be able to play and host larger sports tournaments.” Porterfield also thinks tourism would benefit from the expansion plans. “People are going to other places and playing on the weekend,” he said. “They spend an average of $500$1,000 in restaurants and hotels … by improving the park that money would stay here as well as generate additional revenue.”
City trims new budget; pay raises part of plan BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
City officials have chipped away at the proposed fiscal 2013 budget to get revenues and expenses in line for no tax increase. At the conclusion of a budget work session on Wednesday, only another $4,100 remained to be cut out of the original $479,000 that needed to be trimmed. The public hearing on Corinth’s proposed $9.96 million budget is set for 5 p.m. Tuesday. The board will hold a special meeting at 1 p.m. on Sept. 11 to consider adopting the budget. The proposed numbers reviewed Wednesday include employee pay raises. Departments have made a number of cuts to help arrive at the needed numbers. Police Chief David Lancaster said he cut another $60,000 from his budget, and the administra-
tive department cut a software purchase from $100,000 to $75,000. That software will combine code enforcement, building permits and privilige licenses into one component. City Clerk Vickie Roach also took an optimistic approach on sales tax, projecting a $90,000 increase. The monthly sales tax deposit has increased for the last eight months. The city has a little more than $600,000 remaining in reserve funds, and the board is eyeing that money for some grant matches in FY 2013. But with proposed general fund capital projects requiring as much as $1.9 million in grant matching funds if they all come to fruition, the board might pursue a bond for one of the bigger ticket items. Because of some recent bond refinancing, “I think you can do a bond issue without Please see BUDGET | 2
Biggersville gets new multi-purpose truck BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
Biggersville Fire & Rescue recently purchased a new multipurpose truck that will help fight fires — and save money for the Biggersville fire department. Built new by Fouts Brothers Fire Equipment of Smyrna, Ga., the truck is a 2012 Ford F-550 Super Duty with four-wheeldrive and a six-person capacity. In addition to the 300-gallon tank that provides firefighting capabilities, the multi-purpose
truck holds emergency medical equipment, a defibrillator (AED) and extrication equipment. It is assigned to Biggersville Fire & Rescue’s South Station on County Road 513. It combines the functionality of a rescue truck, pumper truck and a brush truck into one. “This allows us in the future to reduce insurance, operating and maintenance costs by combining the functions of three trucks into one,” explained Biggersville Fire & Rescue Chief
Patrick Claunch. The new truck replaced an outdated “brush truck” that was on loan from the Mississippi Forestry Commission. The old truck had become unsafe and was a large maintenance cost. The new vehicle was purchased with funds from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program. The program provided for 300 vehicle awards nationwide. Money raised dur-
Index Stocks........7 Classified......14 Comics...... 12 Wisdom...... 11
THE IMPORTANCE OF SCREENING AND DETECTING CANCER EARLY
Weather........5 Obituaries........ 3 Opinion........4 Sports........8
Please see TRUCK | 2
Submitted photo
The new truck combines the functions of a rescue truck, pumper truck and a brush truck into one.
On this day in history 150 years ago The Battle of Richmond, Ky., is perhaps the most one-sided battle of the war. Confederate troops under Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith stampede the Federal force, inflicting 5,353 casualties while suffering only 600, mostly wounded, in return.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2012 CROSSROADS ARENA CONFERENCE CENTER 8 AM - NOON