Saturday March 17,
Daily Corinthian
2012
50 cents
Vol. 116, No. 66
P.M. shower Today
Tonight
82
59
• Corinth, Mississippi • 16 pages • 1 section
Police investigate five break-ins BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
Four individuals believed to have been involved with a rash of commercial burglaries in the city are in the custody of the Tupelo Police Department. The quartet is suspected of targeting five local businesses,
gaining entry into four of the establishments between 9 p.m. Wednesday through 7 a.m. Thursday. “We believe the suspects in these burglaries are the same as a string of burglaries that have occurred in several other cities in the past few weeks,”
said Corinth Police Chief David Lancaster. “Suspects appear to be traveling interstates to more populated areas, scoping out businesses located in small shopping centers as their victims.” The suspects have gained entry into each business through
the back door and cut an entry hole into the back of the businesses. “The motive in each burglary appears to be the same,” said Lancaster. “Only cash has been reported missing.” A hole was drilled in the side of a safe to remove cash at one
business while the whole safe was taken at another. Telephone lines were also cut to disable alarm systems, according to the chief. Each business targeted did not have video. The case remains ongoing, according to the chief.
Family credits dog as life saver Area legislators fight
highway defunding bill
BY ANGELA STOREY astorey@dailycorinthian.com
When Brenda Hammac adopted a dog at the Corinth Alcorn Animal Shelter, she never dreamed the dog would save her brother’s life. The Farmington area resident set out to adopt a dog because her nephew, Chase Briggs who visits frequently, wanted a lab. And, Hammac’s mother, Lura Clark, had recently died. “I needed something to love ... something to help me with the grief.” Hammac is a big animal lover who especially liked the idea of rescuing an animal from the local shelter. When she visited the Corinth Alcorn Animal Shelter, she found a chocolate lab she describes as “The most beautiful animal you ever laid eyes on. The minute I saw her I knew I had to have her. She fell at my feet like ‘You own me ... take me out of here’.” Someone else already had papers to adopt the female chocolate lab, but never came back for her. “I had to wait over the weekend. I was willing to call and beg to get this dog. I knew I had to have this dog,” she said. Hammac waited until late on a Monday afternoon to give the person plenty of time to get the dog. Since the person didn’t return, the three-year-old chocolate lab was adopted by Hammac who named her “Lady.” It was easy to see Lady was smart because she could obey basic commands, she said. “A prisoner who had been working with her at the animal shelter said he was so glad she was getting a good home. The prisoners do an outstanding job there. They really care about the animals,” she said. Hammac resides on CR 200 with her older brother, Waymon White, 50, who did work in construction and home remodeling before he became disabled. He is a severe diabetic and has kidney dialysis three times a week. He also loves animals. “When I brought Lady home that day, Waymon fell in love with her. She is a very friendly dog ... a social dog and is not aggressive toward animals or people.
BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Waymon White credits family dog “Lady” for saving his life. “Lady made herself right at home. She jumped on the couch like ‘I’m home!’” Lady also went over and got to know Waymon during her first night in her new home. “They played around and at 10 she
sacked out and settled in good.” But at Waymon’s bedtime around 11 p.m., Lady followed him to his bedroom and laid outside his door. Please see LADY | 2A
Legislators from the state’s northeastern corner are fighting to stop a House bill they say will stand in the way of economic development in their home districts. A bill approved by the House on Thursday would defund the four-laning of Mississippi Highway 9 north of the Blue Springs Toyota Manufacturing plant. The 2011 Legislature provided $40 million in the Economic Development Highway Act for the four-laning of Highway 9 north to Highway 348 in Prentiss County. The project was designed to provide an alternative route for Toyota suppliers located north of the plant. On Thursday the House voted 96-17 for a bill that makes the money available for highway construction, but not specifically the northeast Mississippi road. Rep. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, handled the bill on the House floor. Holland said the Highway 9 project north of Toyota is not needed because it would cost much more than $100 million to finish the project and it is opposed by landowners on Highway 348. Reps. Lester “Bubba” Carpenter, R-Burnsville, and Nick Bain, D-Corinth, offered amendments to try to essentially kill the legislation, arguing that the north corridor is needed to attract Toyota suppliers to Alcorn and Tishomingo counties. Both lost by narrow margins. “If this never happens, we’re land-locked from Toyota,” said Carpenter. “Holland making that amendment could ultimately damage Alcorn County and Tishomingo County, and that’s why we went to war to take it out. We just basically stood up for our constituents and said, ‘We’re not going to have this, we want it changed and some of the language taken out.’ And we’re not going to settle until this happens.” House Transportation Committee Chairman Robert Johnson offered to work out
a compromise with the delegation from Mississippi’s far northeastern corner. “We lost the battle, but in a sense we won the war,” said Bain. “We got a seat at the table to work out the project with the delegation to keep that money in North Mississippi.” Bain emphasized that the issue is not necessarily a loss. Legislation must go to the Senate and governor, and the delegation from the state’s northeast corner are working with those channels. Bain and Carpenter — and the other legislators from Tishomingo, Alcorn and Prentiss Counties — will attend a meeting with the chairman of transportation on Tuesday morning at the Capitol to talk about how to move the issue forward. The meeting will also be attended by The Alliance President Gary Chandler, associates from the TAP (Tishomingo, Alcorn and Prentiss) Alliance and other local officials. “The Alliance is against House Bill 791 or any bill with language that would decrease the likelihood of Highway 9 North being constructed,” Chandler said. “At the end of the day we want to see the road built. A connection from Highway 78 at Blue Springs to northern Lee County would cut drive times down from Alcorn County and enhance our ability to recruit automotive suppliers to Toyota.” Chandler said The Alliance sent letters Friday afternoon to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the Mississippi Development Authority, the Mississippi Department of Transportation and Alcorn County’s legislative delegation opposing HB 791 or any bill that will have a similar outcome for the area. “We are doing everything we can do from a Corinth and Alcorn County standpoint — and a TAP standpoint — to fight this bill or any bill that would decrease the likelihood of a road being built,” said Chandler. “This isn’t just an Alcorn County issue. It’s a regional issue. All the TAP Alliance counties are affected by this.”
Corinth Public Library features computer enhanced photograph exhibit BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
A new display from the Corinth Artist Guild Gallery opens today at the Corinth Public Library. “After our successful art exhibit for Black History Month at the library, they have been gracious enough to let us use that wonderful space in the auditorium to showcase works from the Corinth Artist Guild Gallery,” said Sonny Boatman, president of the Artist Guild Gallery. “I hope they’ll find a wider public audience, and I invite everyone to come see them.” The exhibit features computer-enhanced photographs printed on canvas Ray Tinsley, a photographer and artist from Counce, Tenn. The public can meet Tinsley during a reception at the library
from 1 until 3 p.m. today. Photos in the series include a “colorized” shot of Mount Rushmore; a Civil War horseman; a photo titled “Alaska Fauna”; and more. “Because these photographs are augmented by computer and printed on canvas, they really look like paintings,” said Boatman. Tinsley’s work has been exhibited at the Corinth Artist Guild Gallery and in the lobby of Corinth Theatre-Arts. The new exhibit also includes the landscape paintings of Corinth’s Florence Milam and Tony Spink, Dot Courson of Pontotoc, Bruce Biglow of Tupelo, and Judy Ferguson of Mantachie. All artwork is available for
Submitted photo
Please see TINSLEY | 2A
Ray Tinsley’s computer-enhanced photographs — including this shot of Mount Rushmore — will be on display from March 17-31 at Corinth Public Library. He will be on hand to meet the public today from 1-3 p.m.
Index Stocks........7 Classified......14 Comics...... 13 Wisdom...... 12
Weather........5 Obituaries........ 3 Opinion........4 Sports...... 10
On this day in history 150 years ago In a letter to Gen. Dan Ruggles, Gen. Braxton Bragg asks, “Can your quartermaster secure me some place to cover my head, as my tents are all behind?” Bragg subsequently moves into William Simonton’s “Verandah House” on Jackson Street in Corinth.