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CONGRATS, CLASS OF 2011! OUR ANNUAL GRADUATION SECTION IS IN TODAY’S EDITION. SEE C1.
COVINGTONLEADER.COM ▪ THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011 ▪ VO L . 1 2 6 , N O. 2 8 ▪ T H E VO I C E O F TIPTON COUNTY S I N C E 1 8 8 6 ▪
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COVINGTON
City to purchase downtown church By SHERRI ONORATI Special to The Leader During Tuesday’s bi-monthly meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Covington, the board was presented with a proposal to purchase the city property owned by the First Baptist Church. The property includes
church offices and sanctuary on Main St., a parking lot on Washington Ave., a single family home at 126 W. Washington Ave., and the rental home at 133 W. Pleasant Ave. The current appraisal of the property, conducted in 2008, lists the total market value of the suggested properties at approximately $1,627,800. The city would purchase the prop-
‘Coach King’ retires from Covington HS
erty for $750,000. Not all of Covington’s aldermen thought the proposal was a good move for the city of Covington. Aldermen Shelvie Rose, William Scruggs and William “Ed” Timberlake, voted against the purchase, with aldermen Tommy Black, John Edwards and Tommy Hatcher voting for the proposal.
Mayor David Gordon was required to cast the deciding vote, and choose to vote for the purchase of the property. “It makes good sense for the city,” said Gordon. “The property is almost three-quarters of a city block. It would allow us to expand our parking on the square by 40 spaces which is critical for downtown.” The purchase of the First
Buying this property would enable us to provide (an emergency) shelter. Covington Mayor David Gordon Baptist Church property would require the city to borrow the money with a repayment plan of 10-20 years. The estiSEE CHURCH, PAGE A3
CLASS OF 2011
By STEVE HOLT Special to The Leader Covington High track head coach and wellness instructor Joe King noted two milestones in a remarkable career this week. Along with the CHS Class of 2011 who graduated on May 23, King reminisced about his own high school graduation on the same date in 1953 from a private institution, Snow Hill Institute, in Snow Hill, Alabama. “One of my teachers was the grandmother of Joe King, who has the filmmaker Spike Lee,” said been teaching since 1956, retired King. “I played Thursday. football and basketball with Lee’s uncles growing up.” On May 25, he reached a second marker in his journey, retiring from Covington High to close a 55 year teaching and coaching career. From his birth home in Marion, Ala., King made his way to Nashville where he earned undergraduate and masters degrees from Tennessee State. Along the way he added on graduate work at Bethel University and the 30-plus graduate hours at the University of Alabama. Coach King landed his first teaching assignment at St. Vincent DePaul School in Nashville by way of a physics professor at TSU. “The professor had a son at St. Vincent who was playing basketball and they needed a basketball coach,“ King said. “He sent me out there and I was hired. The kid was named Ronnie Lawson. He went on to UCLA and played for Coach Wooden on the Gail Goodrich teams for a little while before he got into some kind of trouble.” King remained at St. Vincent until 1957 and then moved to Burrell-Slater High in Florence, AL until 1960. From there he went SEE RETIRES, PAGE A3
Reader’s Guide TODAY’S WEATHER Rain. High, 70. Low, 54. INSIDE Opinion Faith Obituaries Events Education
A4 B3 A6 A6 A7
Lifestyles Sports Classifieds Puzzles Legals
B2 A13 B5 B6 B7
CONGRATULATIONS, CLASS OF 2011! Don’t miss our special graduation section in today’s edition. See C1. HOW TO REACH US Call 901.476.7116 Email news@covingtonleader.com Visit us at 2001 Hwy. 51 South, Covington, TN 38019
CAP AND GOWN Hope Halsted is all smiles during Munford High School’s commencement ceremony on Friday, May 20. Brighton and Covington high
schools held their graduations on May 19 and May 24, respectively. Our annual publication celebrating this year’s graduating class is inside today’s edition. Photo by Echo Day
SCHOOLS
Police: Trio steals scrap to make bond By ECHO DAY eday@covingtonleader.com
CHA-CHA NOW,Y’ALL Junior Elizabeth Newman and Coach Sharman Coley, organizers of the prom
for exceptional students, take a break from the Cha-Cha Slide to pose for a picture at the inaugural event. This photo shows CHS faculty and staff participating. Photo courtesy Becky Todd
Student, coach organize prom event for exceptional students By TYLER LINDSEY tlindsey@covingtonleader.com As Lady Gaga’s words, “Just dance!” blared through the speakers, the exceptional students in Tipton County did just that at their prom Thursday night, May 12. At 6 p.m., students, teachers and administrators met at Covington High School for a firsttime-ever prom for exceptional students. “This is the first time this opportunity has been
exclusively offered to the exceptional children of Tipton County,” said supervisor of 6th-12th grade special education, Tom Barton. The idea came from CHS junior Elizabeth Newman who, in her own preparation for prom, thought it would be a good idea. After asking Coach Sharman Coley if she could help, they and CDC consulting teacher Becky Todd began contacting teachers at BHS and MHS to organize a
county-wide prom. “I thought it would be a great idea,” said Coley. “I realized that at CHS 21 students could attend. So, the we’re talking about a big group of students here.” All three Tipton County high schools cooperated in making this event possible. CHS teachers provided appetizers and decorations and MHS teacher Judy Davis and her students were responsible for catering as well.
Thisweek’s week’s Featured Church: This featured church: Covington • Barretville • Millington • Collierville South Tipton • South Covington Mortgage Offices: South Tipton • Millington • South Covington • Collierville
FRONT.indd 1
River of Life Church TurntotoPage Page A7 details Turn B4forfor details
SEE PROM, PAGE A3
A trio from Brighton was arrested earlier this month after police discovered they were scrapping stolen metal to help pay a bond. On Monday, May 9, Poplar Grove Utility District reported the theft of an estimated 30 boring rods. The rods were stolen from a work site at Old Memphis Road where crews were boring under roadways to install and repair gas lines, authorities said. During the investigation, detectives received a report the rods were at Hodges Scrapyard in Stanton. Tipton County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Chief Donna Turner said the department recovered 27 of the stolen rods. Turner said the suspects – identified as Paul Allen Grisham, 25, of 8618 Hwy. 51 in Brighton, Steven Duane Wallace, 27, of 728 Nelson Road in Brighton and Angela Rene Cox, 35, of 728 Nelson Road in Brighton – admitted to stealing the metal. The trio reportedly stole the rods to get money to make a bond for a pending theft charge against Wallace. The charge, which was theft of property over $1,000, stemmed from a case in which Wallace is suspected of stealing tractor weights and scrapping them for cash. SEE SCRAP, PAGE A3
5/28/11 7Area p.m.events Music on the Square with Scott Myatt & Steve Short, Court Square – Covington 5/31/11 12 p.m. Brown Bag Program - Getting Your Lawn Ready For Summer
5/25/11 5:45:14 PM