JONES......PG 9
Vol 19, No. 11 • April 2020
STAY SAFE. WASH HANDS
News You Can Use
Every day is a blessing and gift from God for Gaines Missionary Baptist Church in By Lucy Weber Tupelo were supportive and Melissa “Poochie” Gaines’s life encouraging. Friends and her changed because of a cancer diagnosis family, especially her parents last year. Norma Perry and Loyce Perry Or it might not have been a diagnoof Ripley, were very supportsis for breast cancer at all. To ive. this day, the Corinth Gaines said she was hesiresident is not sure. tant initially to tell her “I don’t know husband after the if I did or diddiagnosis because n’t,” she said. his mother “God is that Annette amazing. I Goodloe had keep praising received her Him for all He own diagnosis has done.” of pancreatic canHer roller coast cer, a few months health scare began earlier. Her husband around Mother’s Day Rodrick told her: “Dry last year when she was your eyes. We got this. I informed that tests can take care of you and showed she had breast mama at the same time. But I cancer. Two biopsies don’t believe you have canclarified that she did, and Melissa Gaines cer.” she went to see an oncoloAfter surgery was set, gist in Memphis who told Gaines said she told her boss and co-workher results indicated she had invasive caners at the Alcorn County Tax Collector’s cer in the milk ducts. Gaines was set up Office. On her last day of work before with a surgeon with a date for her operaheading to Memphis for the scheduled surtion and the possibility of follow-up gery, Gaines got a call from her doctor’s chemotherapy. office, saying “We’re going to put your Her surgery was set for June 26. surgery off. I can tell you this – we’re not “I told myself I can do this,” she said. Her pastor and his wife from White Hill seeing any cancer. This is a good thing.” “I got off the phone and Return Address: P.O. Box 1292 Corinth, MS 38835 started praising the Lord,” Gaines said. A few weeks went by and Gaines was still waiting for POSTAL PATRON the doctor to call with results of more tests. “I was as calm see GAINES pg 4
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College student coping with campus semester cut short By Lucy Weber Nineteen-year-old William Holland is making the best of the difficult time everyone is facing with the coronavirus. The 2019 graduate of Corinth High School, the alma mater of his father Timothy Holland, is back home from Northeast Community College, where his mother Jacqueline Jumper attended. Like other college students across the state, he continWilliam Holland
see HOLLAND pg 4
Alcorn County champ is a w-i-n-n-e-r By Lucy Weber How do you spell Alcorn County spelling champion?K-A-I-S-E-R ST-A-F-F-O-R-D The eighth-grader at Biggersville Jr. High School won first place at the county spelling bee held on Jan. 21 at Kossuth Middle School by spelling the word “salamanders.” That top prize qualified the 14-year-old for the Mississippi Spelling Bee held in March in Jackson at Mississippi Public Broadcasting headquarters. The bee first-timer made her school and county proud. Kaiser was the second speller in the line-up of 43 students from across the state, vying to represent
Kaiser Stafford
Mississippi in the Scripps National Spelling Bee that was scheduled for May 24. Currently, the national spellathon is suspended with the possibility of holding it
later this year. Kaiser successfully spelled the words infant, ravine and traverse before going out in Round 5 on see STAFFORD pg 4