The Commercial Dispatch eEdition 10-8-13

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  • BY NATHAN [email protected]

    Lowndes County supervisors on Mon-day approved paving the Coretta Street entrance to the Columbus Soccer Com-plex over Moores Creek.

    Funding for the project will come from the Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authoritys budget and will not exceed $12,000. For a two-inch asphalt surface with slag and clay gravel, county road manager Ronnie Burns said the project can probably be completed for less than that amount by the end of this month,

    weather permitting. Road crews began work on the project this morning, he said.

    Tombigbee River Valley Water Management Dis-trict has completed install-ing culverts at the Coretta Street extension, county administrator Ralph Bill-ingsley said. The portion of the connec-tion from Highway 82 up to the creek is virtually complete, Burns said.

    If the entrance is completed on sched-ule, it will be re-opened in time for the

    Coaches Cup, which the complex is slat-ed to host in November.

    Supervisors also agreed to buy a $25,000, 5-acre piece of land near Renon Lane and Buck Egger Road that will be used to relocate that intersection.

    Citing safety issues due to the residen-tial road entrances location at the bottom of a hills crest, supervisors initially asked county engineer Bob Calvert to appraise the property and ask its owner to allow the county to purchase the right-of-way. That way, the road department could re-locate the entrance about 500 feet down from the crest. Board president Harry Sanders said hed heard complaints from Caledonia school bus drivers about the

    Weather

    134rd Year, No. 179

    Reid HuskisonSixth grade, Immanuel

    High 76 Low 56Mostly sunny

    Full forecast on page 2A.

    Five Questions1 What word do we get from the Bantu word nguba, meaning peanut?2 Who hires a barber in Judges 16:19?3 By the words original definition, who, specifically, would sing a barca-role?4 On what TV show did Thom McKee last a record 88 consecutive games in 1980?5 Whats the lowest card of each suit in a pinochle deck?

    Answers, 6B

    insideClassifieds 5BComics 4B

    Obituaries 5AOpinions 4A

    LocaL FoLks

    Carol Smith is a clerk at Black-creek Market in Columbus.

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    caLendar

    Tuesday, Oct. 8 Jazz at Renasant: The MSU Symphony Association presents a free jazz concert outdoors at Rena-sant Bank, 500 E. Lampkin St., in Starkville at 6 p.m.

    Wednesday, Oct. 9 Fun. in concert: The Grammy-win-ning alternative rock band Fun. play Mississippi States Humphrey Coliseum at 8 p.m. Tickets are $31-41. Doors open at 7 p.m. For tickets or information, visit msuconcerts.com or contact MSU Music Maker, 662-325-2930.

    Friday, Oct. 11 Chilifest: Vote for the best chili as

    Starkville restaurant teams compete from 5-7 p.m. to benefit programs of the Junior Auxiliary of Starkville at Mississippi States amphitheater. Chili tasting tickets are $10. Kids Village entry is $5 (includes meal). All Access passes are $20. For more information, visit starkvilleja.org.

    Saturday, Oct. 12 Book signing: Adele Elliott of Co-lumbus reads from her novel Friend-ship Cemetery at a book signing from 4-6 p.m. at the North Missis-sippi Holistic Center, 140 Brickerton Place, Columbus. Shell also sign books at the Columbus-Lowndes Pub-lic Library Oct. 28, 4:30-6:30 p.m. For more information, call 662-368-2211 or email [email protected].

    BY NATHAN [email protected]

    It is unlikely that Columbus councilmen will consider a pro-posal to close railroad crossings

    on Southside this year, but op-tions remain on the table and the situation may be re-addressed in 2014.

    Nearly two months ago, a group of residents spoke out

    against a proposal from Kansas City Southern Railway and Mississippi Department of Transportation of-ficials to fund safe-ty upgrades at six crossings while permanently barricading six

    others. KCS public safety direc-tor Allen Pepper told residents in August that he had project fund-ing this year that he had to spend for capital improvements. The proposal was for KCS to up-grade crossings at Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, 11th, 15th and 22nd streets for roughly $40,000 while MDOT installed safety arms and

    flashers at those same locations for about $200,000.

    The plan also involved Sec-ond, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, 10th and 17th streets being closed

    City officials: Railroad closures likely shelvedMatter of permanently closing six crossings could resurface in 2014

    Taylor

    See crossings, 6A

    MS Day of Service

    Micah Green/Dispatch StaffZach Thomas and Antwann Richardson, both branch managers with Regions Bank, work to clean up a home in east Columbus. Regions Bank volunteers teamed up with the Alabama Mississippi Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society to conduct service projects at two homes of people living with MS in the Golden Triangle.

    Columbus Air Force Base civilians back to workcommissary re-opensDispATcH sTAff REpORT

    Civilian workers at Columbus Air Force Base are back on the job.

    On Oct. 1, 230 of CAFBs 1,277 civilian workers were immedi-ately furloughed when the federal govern-ment shut down over a funding impasse.

    In accordance with a memo De-fense Secretary Chuck Hagel re-leased on Oct. 5, the Air Force re-called most of the nearly 104,000 Air Force civilian employees placed on emergency furlough.

    At Columbus Air Force Base, 230 Department of Defense civilian em-ployees returned to work Monday.

    All of our (Department of De-fense) civilian members came back to work, said Col. Jim Sears, 14th Fly-ing Training Wing commander. We have definitely felt the impact of the manning shortfall and we are happy to have our civilian members back. While this is good news, we cant for-get that we are still in a government shutdown. However, we will continue to conduct the 14th Flying Training Wing mission to produce pilots, ad-vance airman and feed the fight.

    Columbus AFBs Commissary, which also was affected by the gov-ernment shutdown, will reopen its doors today at 9 a.m. and will resume normal operating hours. However, be-cause of the closure, the commissary has not been able to reorder and the store might be low on certain items.

    Several Columbus AFB contract-ed functions are still affected by the government shutdown and are still pending full Department of Defense funding.

    Sears

    Coretta Street extension could open at end of Oct.Funding for paving over Moores creek to come from cLra

    Billingsley

    See coretta, 6A

    Micah Green/Dispatch Staff

    A lone figure walks by the Mississippi

    State Univer-sity stadium

    early Monday morning. Tem-

    peratures have begun their

    slow decline with the lows

    forecast to be in the mid-50s

    this week.

    BY WiLLiAM [email protected]

    The plan moving forward for the Lowndes County School Districts proposed vocational school is becoming clearer.

    During Mondays school board meeting it was revealed that the school which will be aimed at students whose career paths do not necessarily include seeking a four-year college de-gree could open its door in Aug. 2015.

    The school board met at Cale-donia High School.

    Earlier this year the board hired Joey Henderson, of John-

    Lowndes County moving along on vocational school

    InSIDe OUR VIEW: A no-decision was a wise decision. Page 4A.

    See school board, 6A

    under plan, county school could open in aug. 2015

  • THE AssOciATED pREss

    WA S H -I N G T O N The S u p r e m e Court wont hear an ap-peal from d isba r red Mississip -pi attor-ney Richard Dickie Scruggs.

    The high court on Monday decided not to hear from the architect of the multibillion dol-lar tobacco lawsuits of the 1990s. Scruggs was

    convicted of improperly influencing a Mississip-pi judge, saying that he would recommend him to Scruggs brother-in-law, then-Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott, for an appointment to the feder-al bench. The judge was presiding over a lawsuit between Scruggs and another lawyer who were fighting over money.

    Scruggs pleaded guilty in 2009 to honest services fraud, but ap-pealed his conviction af-ter the high court limited the scope of honest ser-

    vices laws in June 2010. But federal judges have refused to overturn his conviction, and the high court refused to reconsid-er their rulings.

    onLine suBscriPtionsFor less than $1 per month, print subscribers can get unlimited access to story comments, extra photos, newspaper archives and much more with an online subscription. Nonsubscribers can purchase online access for less than $8 per month. Go to www.cdispatch.com/subscribe

    Msu sPorts BLoGVisit The Dispatch MSU Sports Blog for breaking

    Bulldog news: www.cdispatch.com/msusports@Tuesday, OcTOber 8, 2013 3A

    Let the memories begin.Beautiful Beginnings Maternity Fair

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    In the caption that accompanied a photo of Domestic Violence Aware-ness Month in the Oct. 4 edition, Dorothy Giv-ens-Cunning was identi-fied a director of Safe Hav-en. Givens-Cunning is the domestic violence coordi-nator for Safe Haven.

    The Commercial Dis-patch strives to report the news accurately. When we print an error, we will cor-rect it. To report an error, call the newsroom at 662-328-2471, or email [email protected].

    correction

    area arrestsThe following arrests

    were reported by the Lowndes County Sher-iffs Department and the Columbus Police Depart-ment:

    Jerome Marquez Jr., 24, of 215 Eighth Ave. S., was arrested at the Jack-son Restitution Center by MDOC Oct. 4 and charged with violation of probation.

    Zerrick Lazar God-frey, 36, of 1516 MLK Drive, was arrested at Rail-road St. and 14th Ave., by CPD Oct. 5 and charged with burglary and con-tempt of court. His court date is scheduled for Oct. 30.

    Johnny Lee Good-man, 32, of 263 Kidd Road, was arrested at the Shelby County Jail in Memphis, Tenn., by MDOC Oct. 4 and charged with violation of probation.

    Tiffany Dawn McK-ay, 32, of 305 Cal-Kolola Road, was arrested at the Crossroads in Hamilton by LCSO Oct. 2 and charged with felony malicious mis-chief.

    Stephanie Ann Wilcher, 40, of Carthage, was arrested at her res-idence by LCSO Oct. 3 and charged with uttering forgery and felony false pretense.

    Quinn Martez Wiley, 22, of 824 Sixth Ave. S., was arrested at Seventh Ave N. and 20th St. N., by CPD and charged with pro-viding false information and violation of probation. His court date is scheduled for Oct. 23.

    Lynsey Marie Wil-son, 29, of 10938 Highway 45 N., was arrested at her residence by LCSO Oct. 2

    and charged with aggravat-ed assault manifesting ex-treme indifference to life.

    Timothy Ross Wil-son, 28, of 306 Forrest Blvd., was arrested at 22nd St. S. and Bell Ave. Oct. 3 and charged with posses-sion of marijuana, violation of probation and failure to obey a police officer. His court date is scheduled for Nov. 13.

    McKayGoodmanGodfreyMarquez Jr.

    T. WilsonL. WilsonWileyWilcher

    THE AssOciATED pREss

    JACKSON Mississippi tax collections for the first quarter of the states fiscal year July through August are 5.9 per-cent above the estimate and $124.3 million, or 12.1 percent,

    above what was collected during the same period a year ago.

    The estimate made by leg-islative leaders upon advice of the states financial experts is important because it represents the amount of money available for the Legislature to appropri-

    ate. If collections for the year fall below the estimate, the governor could be forced to make cuts or to dip into the states reserves.

    The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports Mississip-pi revenue collections were $19.6 million about 4.1 percent

    above the revenue estimate for September and $64.3 million above for the first quarter of the fiscal year.

    However, individual income tax collections are $27.7 million, or 14.4 percent, below the esti-mate during September. For the

    first quarter, individual income tax collections are $41.9 million, or 9.9 percent, below the esti-mate.

    Corporate tax collec-tions more than offset the less-than-anticipated individual income tax collections.

    State revenue collections start out strong

    LOWEST

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    SamS club465 Goodman Rd

    Southaven2.90

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    amory3.59

    SamS club10431 Old US-49

    gulfport2.91

    DeeS oil1011 N Lamar Blvd

    oxforD3.59

    murphy expreSS4103 Pemberton Square Blvd.

    vickSburg2.94

    local expreSS2480 US-51

    hernanDo3.59

    kangaroo3400 Halls Ferry Rd

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    rockeyS lion301 N 2nd St

    booneville3.49

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    state Gas PricesSource: gasbuddy.com

    Court wont hear Scruggs appeal

    Greenwood doc headed back to court

    THE AssOciATED pREss

    GREENWOOD A Greenwood doctor charged in a murder-for-hire case is scheduled to be in court in Greenwood on Tuesday for a hearing on the progress of his mental evaluation.

    The Greenwood Com-monwealth reports that

    Dr. Arnold Smith has been undergoing a court-or-dered mental evaluation at the Mississippi State Hos-pital since June.

    Smiths trial has been indefinitely postponed.

    Smith is charged with murder as the alleged in-stigator of a plot that end-ed with the death of gun-

    man Keaira Byrd and the serious wounding Derrick Lacy. Byrd allegedly was hired to kill attorney Lee Abraham, who represent-ed Smiths ex-wife in their divorce years ago. Abra-ham was not injured.

    Smith is also charged with two counts of conspir-ing to murder Abraham.

    He has been held with-out bail since his arrest in 2012.

    smith held without bail since 2012

    Scruggs

    BY JEff AMYThe Associated Press

    JACKSON Attorney General Jim Hood says hes trying to organize state at-torneys general to push Google to better protect intellectual property such as music, movies and soft-ware.

    Hood said Monday during a luncheon spon-sored by the Capitol press corps and Mississippi State Universitys Stennis Insti-tute of Government that hes circulating a letter to other states top lawyers,

    seeking a meeting with Google. He said he hopes to get signatures from more than 20 attorneys general.

    Maybe Google will come to the table, he said. Thats one I hope we can settle.

    Google, based in Moun-tain View, Calif., says it responds to requests from copyright owners to re-move illegally copied mate-rial. The company declined further comment Monday.

    After Hood and other at-torneys general raised con-cerns earlier this year that

    Google made it too easy to buy drugs online without a prescription, the online giant took some steps to make it harder. For exam-ple, the company disabled auto-complete functions that led people to illegal drug sites.

    Google paid $500 mil-lion to the federal gov-ernment in 2011 to settle claims over ads sold to pharmacies that were ille-gally shipping drugs into the United States. Hood said Monday he sent evi-dence to the U.S. Depart-ment of Justice that Google had breached the agree-ment, but federal officials have not acted.

    Attorney General Hood hits Google on guarding intellectual propertyaG seeking meeting with tech giant

  • The DispaTch www.cdispatch.com6A Tuesday, OcTOber 8, 2013

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    Crossingscontinued from Page 1a

    permanently on KCS dime. Pepper said that a decision needed to be made by September, and that work would need to begin before the end of this year, for the project to be eligible for funding.

    A majority of the loca-tions in question are in Ward 1 councilman Gene Taylors territory. On Mon-day, he said it would proba-bly be next year before the city and KCS could come back to the table and re-sume negotiations.

    I wouldnt say its dead in the water, Taylor said. As far as Im concerned, the negotiations will never be closed...I dont think it would be smart for the city to say were not going to negotiate anymore or that were closing the chapter of this book.

    Columbus chief oper-ations officer David Arm-strong agreed, saying the city was keeping its options open but mak-ing a decision was not something were working

    toward right now. Arm-strong does not expect the issue to surface again this year.

    In a study conducted in 2008 by engineering firm Neel-Schaffer, the largest increase in traffic if the closings occurred would have been about 5 percent on Seventh Street, city en-gineer Kevin Stafford said in August. Volume would have increased on the roads left open but would have decreased overall, Stafford said.

    Taylor said if there is an opportunity again next year to improve crossings through outside funding, he would want more sug-gestions from the public.

    (I would want to) get the community more in-volved in the activities of whats going on from day one, he said. Id try to get the county involved, Pac-car, Severstal, Eurocopter those that are really using that railway to ship products involved from a safety standpoint.

    Corettacontinued from Page 1a

    potential of a serious accident if a motorist came over the hill too fast to stop in time to avoid strik-ing a bus.

    The money will come from the countys road department budget, but there is already clay grav-el on site that could be used to build the new en-trances base. The only ad-ditional cost for the road department would be to purchase asphalt, Sand-ers said. That would likely

    happen early next sum-mer. The board approved an extra $500,000 for the road department in the 2013-14 fiscal year budget.

    Board approves in-kind services for Crawford

    A large-scale sewage overhaul in the town of Crawford will soon be closed out with in-kind assistance from Lowndes County road crews.

    After tabling a request last week to give Burns time to evaluate the proj-ect, supervisors agreed to clear a piece of property of rotting trees to create an

    access road into a pump station. The initial request was for about $13,000 in services, but Sanders said the county will only have to pay $1,000 for wash and clay gravel to create the access road, and the proj-ect can be done in house.

    Crawford Mayor Fred Tolon, who came before the board last week re-questing services, esti-mated the quality-of-life project at about $800,000.

    In other business, the board:

    Authorized Billings-ley to apply for a Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) grant for the Co-

    lumbus-Lowndes Airport. The 90/10 matching grant would fund mandatory flight checks from the Federal Aviation Adminis-tration on the already-in-stalled PAPIs so they can be used. The coun-ty and city of Columbus would each pay $254.35 of the $5,082.70 fee for the checks if the application is accepted;

    Requested Tennes-see River Valley Waste Management District to clear Unity Creek of de-bris on the behalf of the Caledonia Board of Alder-men.

    School boardcontinued from Page 1a

    son Bailey Henderson McNeel in Columbus, to conduct feasibility stud-ies on the construction of the school. At that time, there were four possible sites. That number has dropped to two both are just off Highway 82 near Lehmberg Road and negotiations on pur-chasing a piece of prop-

    erty continue.Henderson suggested

    to the board Monday that drawing up documents relating to the schools construction would take roughly six months. On that schedule, they would be ready by March 2014.

    At that point, bids would open and after a choice had been made on

    a contractor, construc-tion would last about 14 months, or through July 2015.

    The county does not have a vocational school. In the past, Superinten-dent Lynn Wright has ex-pressed a desire to build a central tech center that offers career-specific courses to students want-

    ing to immediately enter the workforce following graduation.

    Also involved in the districts master plan moving forward is work on the districts campus-es in New Hope, Caledo-nia and at West Lowndes. Henderson updated the board on those plans Monday, as well.

    Get promoted? Win an award? Send us your business [email protected] subject: Business brief

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