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Many will vote at new locations By JEFF IRELAND jireland@covingtonleader.com If you live in Tipton County and you're a registered voter, there's a pretty good chance you have received a new voter registration card in the mail the last few weeks. Because of the redistricting process that was completed last year, as many as 10,000 Tipton County voters could be heading to different polling places for the Aug. 2 county general and state primary election, as well as the Nov. 6 state and federal general election. According to Neil Bell, Tipton County administrator of elections, approximately 6,500 voters changed precincts and an additional 3,500 in District 1 will change polling places, but not districts. “Ultimately,” Bell said, “It's so your vote counts as much as the next guy's.
If you were shifted, it was because you were in a district that was going to have too many people. If you've got double the population as another district, your vote only counts half as much. It's an effort to fix that … It's all to make sure your vote, everybody's vote, roughly, counts the same. It's not perfection, but it's as close as you can get.” The redistricting process was completed late last year. The Aug. 2 election will be the first one conducted using the new lines. There are approximately 32,000 registered voters in Tipton County. Bell said about 20,000 cards were mailed out and by now everybody who is getting one should have one. Some of those who received new cards will not change precincts or polling places, but received new cards to SEE VOTE, PAGE A3
Beating the Heat
Hawkins will attend prestigious forum
By SHERRI ONORATI sonorati@covingtonleader.com
Covington siblings, from left, Taylor Carney, 7, Emmanuel Carney, 10, and Felicity Carney, 9, enjoy a sprinkler at the Cobb-Parr Park Project Play playground yesterday afternoon. Temperatures soared into the 90s this week. Photo by Jeff Ireland
Spring Fling wraps up for area athletes By JEFF IRELAND jireland@covingtonleader.com There's never a good time for the season to end. And while that old sports cliché is true and several Tipton County teams and athletes saw their seasons end shy of a state title at last week's BlueCross Spring Fling in Murfreesboro, there were plenty of success stories. Covington senior Kamesha VanPelt ended her high school career
on the highest of high notes, taking first place in the state Class A-AA 200 meters. The Munford softball team picked up its first state tournament in program history last week with a victory over Mt. Juliet, a team that routed the Lady Cougars in the 2011 state tournament. And the Covington baseball team, making its first state tournament appearance since winning it all in 2006, won its opener in the Class AA state tournament against Spring
Hill, a team that ultimately finished second, before dropping a couple of heartbreakers. The Tipton-Rosemark Academy baseball team made its first-ever trip to the state tournament and the Lady Rebels returned to Murfreesboro to defend their state title. Both teams came up short, but enjoyed solid seasons nonetheless. For more on all of the local teams and athletes that competed in the Spring Fling, see sports on page B1.
Covington shortstop T.A. Watson and a Spring Hill runner look to the umpire for a call during Spring Fling action last week in Smyrna.. The runner was safe on the play, and Covington lost the game 4-2, ending their pursuit of a state title.
While a lot of high school students will be hanging out at the mall or on the computer, Munford High rising senior Daniel Hawkins will be attending the prestigious National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine in Raleigh-Durham, N.C. this summer, June 1019. Daniel has dreamed of becoming a cardiovascular surgeon since he was 12-years-old and has tailored his high school career with that goal in mind, a goal spurred by a childhood incident involving his grandfather. “The first time I considered this path was when my grandfather was in the hospital suffering from renal cell carcinoma,” revealed Daniel. “He had been fighting this cancer for over a year and the doctor handling his case opted to try an experimental treatment in the hopes that it would work or at least buy some more time. A complication caused the back wall of my grandfather's heart to rupture. The consulting cardiovascular surgeon had drawn some diagrams on a board emphasizing the damage that had been done to the heart and was explaining what they intended to do to repair it. Even though I was only 12 at the time, I was intrigued and talked to the surgeon about it some. I did some research and later decided that was what I wanted to do with my life.” He is the son of Lisa and David Hawkins of Atoka. His parents said Daniel has had a passion for learning and an enthusiasm for medical science ever since they can remember. “Daniel has had a determination to become a doctor since he was approximately 11-12 years old and we, like most parents, were thrilled with his ambitions, yet unsure if he’d change his mind a dozen times like SEE HAWKINS, PAGE A2
Reader’s Guide TODAY’S WEATHER Mostly sunny. High 93, low 65
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Photo by Jeff Ireland GRADUATION SECTION
Celebrating the graduation classes of 2012 from Covington, Brighton, Munford and TRA HOW TO REACH US Call 901.476.7116 Fax 901.476.0373 Email news@covingtonleader.com Visit us at 2001 Hwy. 51 South, Covington, TN 38019 or online at covingtonleader.com
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Congratulations to our Brighton, Covington, Munford and Tipton Rosemark Academy graduates! “Downhome Banking the Way It Should Be”
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