Friday Sept. 16,
2011
50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 115, No. 221
Partly Sunny Today
Tonight
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• Corinth, Mississippi • 24 pages • 2 sections
Supervisors give final approval on budget BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Alcorn County supervisors gave final approval Thursday morning to the county budget for fiscal 2012. The new budget year beginning Oct. 1 will bring no changes to the ad valorem tax rate. Millage for county operations totals 53, and millage for the Alcorn
School District is 52.76, for a total of 105.76 for those in the county school district. Millage for the general county fund is 25.85. Thursday’s meeting included a public hearing on the proposed budget, and there were no public comments. The board spent several previous sessions scouring the budget for pos-
sible cuts as they worked to bring expenses down to a level that would not require a tax increase. Agency allocations include: Airport - $110,000; health department $135,814, rising from $127,522; Red Cross $1,592; Humane Society - $25,000; Corinth Area Arts Council - $25,000; Our Resource Center -
$5,000; Region IV Mental Health - $51,111; Department of Human Services - $89,210, rising from $79,794; Human Resource Agency - $130,000; Northeast Mississippi Community Services $8,220; SAFE - $1,550, rising from $1,500; Northeast Regional Library - $139,050; Crossroads Arena - $112,500; Jacinto
Foundation - $25,080; Museum $10,000; Genealogical society $2,400; Soil conservation - $49,643, down from $50,072; Extension Service - $103,315; Northeast Mississippi Planning & Development - $20,000; Business incubator $15,000; TAP Alliance - $5,000; Rienzi Rescue Squad - $950; ambulance
service - $5,000. The Alliance and park continue at 1.6 mills. In other business: ■ The board authorized advertising for a county computer system upgrade. The county is looking at replacing a five-year-old server and other computers. A representative of Please see BUDGET | 3A
United Way begins drive BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Even in rough economic times, local people continue to give. The United Way of Corinth and Alcorn County is asking the community to again lend its support as the new fund drive begins. Pledges for the 2011 fund drive totaled $361,960. “More important, United Way of Corinth and Alcorn County collected 98 percent of those pledges,” said Reece Terry, United Way board president. “That is really an astounding number.” United Way kicked off the annual fund drive in a meeting with Corinth Rotary on Thursday. Terry called on the community to invest in making the area a better place to live. “When you invest in United Way of Corinth and Alcorn County,” he said, “an important thing to remember is that 99 percent of the dollars stay here in Corinth and Alcorn County helping nonprofit agencies and volunteers to provide everything from utilities to after-school care to disaster relief.” Organizations such as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Project Attention and the Corinth-Alcorn Literacy Council were among 17 agencies that relied on financial support from United Way to carry out their programs. In 2011, United Way also administered a Pierce Foundation grant targeting those affected by the economic downturn and organized an electric fan drive in response to the Please see HELP | 3A
Students get history lesson Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Alcorn Central seventh grader Andy Williams covers his ears while a cannon is fired during the Battle of Farmington School Day on Thursday. Alcorn County students will tour the battlefield again today as part of the re-enactment weekend in Farmington.
Battle of Farmington School Day starts off with a ‘bang’ BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
FARMINGTON — A blast could be heard where a battle once took place. The firing of a cannon was a shot of educating groups of Alcorn County students. Students toured the field where the Battle of Farmington took place 149 years ago, picking up bits of history from re-enactors on hand for School Day. “Over the years history has been twisted to be politically correct,” said member of Free-
man’s Battery Forrest’s Artillery David Carter. “Our goal is to teach true Southern history.” Carter was part of a quartet of re-enactors with the battery that demonstrated the firing of an original cannon used during the Civil War. “The cannon was originally used in northeast Mississippi and is a-oneof-a-kind piece,” added Carter. The group of re-enactors take part in memorials and living history events, like Thursday’s, to honor men and wom-
en who served the Confederate States of America. “Some facts about those times have been watered down,” said group member Tommy Moore. Moore and fellow group members Jeremiah Goodwin, Jordan Goodwin along with Carter are out to refute untruths about the South that have been passed down through the years. “We want people to get the true heritage about Please see BATTLE | 14A
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Freeman’s Battery Forrest’s Artillery re-enactor Jordan Goodwin loads a cannon to be fired during a living history demonstration.
Popular Broomcorn Festival set for Saturday at Selmer City Park BY JEFF YORK For the Daily Corinthian
SELMER, Tenn. — The 16th annual Broomcorn Festival will be held Saturday at the Selmer City Park. The popular festival
will feature demonstrating folk artisans and live music throughout the day. This year’s event will feature 32 artisans displaying their cultural
treasures for the people. The day begins at 10 a.m. and will end at 5 p.m. Admission is $3 and children through the 8th grade are free when accompanied by a parent.
Index Stocks....13A Classified......5B Comics......4B Crossroads ....3B
Weather......5A Obituaries......3A Opinion......4A Sports....10A
The Hockaday Broomcorn Festival is a celebration of traditional broom making and the other folklife activities of Southwest Tennessee. There will be a lye soap
maker, a leatherworker, textile artists, stained glass, Native American flint knapping techniques, quilting, pine needle baskets, hand carved gourds, wood carvers, crochet,
Native American beadwork, white oak baskets, chair caning, blacksmithing, ornamental metal, wood turner, bobbin lace Please see SELMER | 3A
On this day in history 150 years ago Soldiers and sailors from the U.S.S. Massachusetts make an amphibious landing on Ship Island, Mississippi. A barrier island between New Orleans and Mobile, it later provides a critical base for the growing Gulf Blockade Squadron.