Wednesday Sept. 26,
2012
50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 116, No. 232
Mostly sunny Today
Tonight
89
61
0% chance of rain
• Corinth, Mississippi • 20 pages • Two sections
Pit bulls attack horses, kill colt BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
An Alcorn County couple is hoping for the capture of a pit bull that killed one of their miniature ponies. Jerry “Bud” Mitchell and wife Bonnie returned home Sunday evening around 7:35 p.m. to find a pair of dogs had attacked one of the miniature colts the couple were keeping in their barn. “My husband went outside to feed the horses and then came back panting,” said Bonnie Mitchell. Bud Mitchell told his wife one of the horses had been killed and a pit bull was still in the stall. The dog was gone after Mitchell returned with a gun. “It was the saddest thing I have ever saw,” said Mrs. Mitchell. “The stall looked like something out of a horror show with blood all over the walls
“My concern is for the one (dog) still loose. I’m afraid to go in the backyard now” Bonnie Mitchell Horse owner
where the little horse struggled.” Two 4-month old stud colts were being kept in the barn after being weaned from their mothers. The other horse in the stall wasn’t harmed. Bonnie Mitchell, a retired nurse, said evidently the “pony kicked hard enough to kill one of the pit bulls.” “My concern is for the one (dog) still loose,” she said. “I’m afraid to go in the back yard now.” The Mitchells have been living on County Road 171, about a couple of miles off of Minor
Road, and raising miniature ponies for six years. The barn where the attack took place is 110 feet from the couple’s home. Mitchell said the pit bull that escaped was brown and had a white face. “I want the public to be aware there is a dog that killed and is now on the loose,” said Mitchell. “It could be a child next time … you never know what those kind of dogs will do.” Alcorn County supervisors adopted an ordinance for the control of dangerous animals in February of 2011. The ordi-
nance requires the complainant to present a sworn affidavit before law enforcement responds. It deals with vaccinations, rabies, injured, neglected or abandoned dogs and dangerous animals. The Mitchells called the Alcorn County Sheriff’s Department and Deputy Shane Crowe responded. In the offense report filed, the sheriff’s deputy managed to identify the owner of the dead pit bull. The owner of the pill bull on the loose wasn’t listed. Penalties included in the ordinance range from $25 for
Submitted photo
A miniature pony, owned by Jerry “Bud” Mitchell and wife Bonnie, was attacked and killed Sunday evening by a pit bull. The dog remains on the loose. the first offense to as much as $1,000 and six months in jail for later offenses.
Tourism tax tops $1 million for 2nd year BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Bobby J. Smith
Walnut’s Leisha Wilbanks gets some one-on-one time with GED instructor Brittany Barnes at the NEMCC Workforce and ABE Lab in Walnut.
Tourism tax collections soared past the $1 million mark for a second consecutive year. The mid-September deposit, which is the last of fiscal 2012, pushed the tax proceeds to $1,058,453.44 for the year, up about $51,000, or 5 percent, compared to fiscal 2011. That exceeded the prior year-toyear growth of 3 percent. The September deposit, which reflects sales activity that occurred in July, was $93,099.92, up 11 percent from the same month a year ago. The tax posted gains in nine of 12 months during the fiscal year. Collected on prepared food and lodging in Corinth, the 2
percent tax averaged $88,204 monthly, rising from $83,963 in the prior year. Corinth’s sales tax result for the month was $430,704.86, a drop of 3.6 percent from a year earlier, ending a string of eight consecutive monthly increases. For the year, however, the tax grew by about $137,000, or 2.6 percent, to $5,477,624.04. Last year, the tax grew by only about a quarter of 1 percent. Results were just about evenly split across the region with six of 11 municipalities posting gains. The Mississippi Department of Revenue returned $31.75 million to municipalities across the state,
NEMCC offers adult basic MHP investigates crash education options in Walnut involving police car BY BOBBY J. SMITH
bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
Walnut residents now have a place near to home to enroll in GED courses and other useful training. Walnut and Tippah County officials celebrated the opening of Northeast Mississippi Community College’s Workforce and ABE Lab with a ribboncutting ceremony on Tuesday. “I believe adult basic education is as important to the state of Mississippi as it has ever
been,” said NEMCC President Johnny Allen. “This community has invested in the future.” Allen said the project would not have come together without the cooperation of three key participants — Walnut Mayor Vicki Skinner and the Board of Aldermen, the Tippah County Board of Supervisors and local industry Thyssen Krupp. “Thyssen Krupp donated the property, the Northeast staff remodeled the building and
the site was developed by the City of Walnut and the Board of Supervisors,” Allen explained. “It’s been an exercise of community commitment and community cooperation.” GED classes under instructor Brittany Barnes have begun at the new facility, with 14 students already signed up. In the future, the facility will also offer industrial training, computer training, training for
Please see NEMCC | 3A
BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
The investigation of a Sunday night crash involving a Corinth Police Department vehicle is ongoing by the Mississippi Highway Patrol. According MHP Public Affairs Officer Ray Hall, Troopers were dispatched to U.S. Highway 72 near the Citgo - Flash Market around 11 p.m. The report states that Corinth
Please see TAX | 3A
Police Officer Ken Edmonds was responding to a call with blue lights and siren activated. Edmonds was attempting to pull onto U.S. Highway 72 and head west when his 2011 Ford Crown Vic collided with a 2012 Jeep Laredo driven by 66-year-old Roger A. Pettus of Lexington, Ala. Mary E. Pettus, the 65-yearold wife of the driver, was a pasPlease see ACCIDENT | 3A
Interpretive center seeks volunteer recruits BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
The Interpretive Center hopes to enlist some volunteers. The Corinth Battlefield Unit of Shiloh National Military Park is looking for those who can handle a hammer or shovel instead of a rifle during National Public Lands Day. Individuals are encouraged to spend only a few hours helping with landscape and gardening projects. “National Public Lands Day is the nation's largest handson volunteer effort to improve and enhance public lands,” said Ranger II Ashley Berry
with Shiloh National Military Park. “Volunteers are needed to assist with several projects.” Maintenance workers were busy putting up three silhouettes at the corner of Linden and Fulton Drive on Monday morning. Berry said plans are for a split-rail fence to be built around the outdoor exhibit during the day. Other projects for the 9 a.m. until noon day include tree pruning and other landscape chores. Volunteers should wear work appropriate work clothing and bring gloves and water. Please see CENTER | 5A
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Maintenance worker Glen Foster was one of three workers putting up three silhouettes at the Corinth Battlefield.
Index Stocks...... 7A Classified......5B Comics......3B Wisdom......2B
Weather......5A Obituaries......3A Opinion......4A Sports......8A
On this day in history 150 years ago Newly promoted to major general, Rosecrans sends a bitter letter to Washington, D.C. complaining of, “a feeling of shame and indignation,” because officers he considers inferior are promoted and ranked higher than him. He threatens to resign.