Thursday Sept. 22,
2011
50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 115, No. 226
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82
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• Corinth, Mississippi • 16 pages • 1 section
Corinth has 2nd pedestrian accident in week Driver struck by vehicle on Harper Road after checking on dog hit by car BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
A woman who hit a dog with her vehicle Tuesday night was struck by a car moments later while checking on the animal.
Anna Barron, 51, of Corinth, was taken to Magnolia Regional Health Center with injuries classified as moderate on the crash report completed by the
Corinth Police Department. She is the second pedestrian struck by a vehicle in the city in a one-week period. The police department responded to a call
of a pedestrian hit on South Harper just north of Droke Road near the overpass bridge at 7:59 p.m. According to the police report, “the pedestrian was in the middle of the southbound lane on her hands and knees checking on a dog she had just hit with her vehicle.�
The driver of an oncoming 2004 Pontiac Aztek told police she saw the pedestrian at the last moment after topping the hill and applied her brakes and swerved in an attempt to avoid hitting the woman. Deputy Chief Scotty Harville said the left front corner of the Pon-
tiac, driven by Ally Gray, 16, of Corinth, struck the woman. Officials weren’t sure about the fate of the dog. Animal control did not go to the scene. Last week, a car backing out of a parking space at Commerce National Bank on South Cass Street hit and injured a pedestrian.
Paving remains tough issue to chew Woman dies City board grants gravel lot variances for two restaurants BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
As the debate over parking lot paving requirements in Corinth continues, two restaurants have gained zoning variances that will permit them to continue operating without being forced to pave their graveled parking lots. On Tuesday, the Board of Aldermen voted 5-1 to grant a variance for Slugburger Cafe on U.S. Highway 72. Last week, the board voted 4-1 to grant a variance for Lloyd’s Harper Road Cafe on Harper Road. Both variances apply only to the current use of the property. Parking lot paving is an issue that has resurfaced before the board on a number of occasions in the last few years. The ordinance requires paved parking for all new construction and renovations to existing buildings which exceed 50 percent of the property value in commercial, industrial and multi-family residential zones. A committee was formed in April to consider whether the ordinance’s “one size fits all� approach is appropriate for the city, and the group is yet to make recommendations. When it moved to its new location last year, Slugburger Cafe was giv-
in car wreck BY JEFF YORK For the Daily Corinthian
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
Lloyd’s Cafe on Harper Road won’t have to pave its gravel parking lot. en a temporary certificate of occupancy contingent on paving the parking lot within four months. The parking has not been paved, and the business was recently given a notice to pave by Sept. 24 or cease operations. Mayor Tommy Irwin encouraged aldermen to give the business a reprieve because they cannot afford to pave. Co-owner Cindy Marsh, who leases the lot from Gerald Essary, said the Slugburger Cafe is being unfairly singled out, while Ward 1 Alderman Andrew Labas, who cast the lone “no� vote on granting the variance, argued the intent of the ordinance is beautification. “You have to start somewhere, whether that be with new businesses beginning, wheth-
er it be renovations,� said Labas. “In my opinion, if you’ve got any business or establishment with gravel parking lots, it’s not very attractive. When you have people come into town that you are trying to attract here for business or industry, it’s tough to attract those people here. I know there are plenty of other issues as well besides a gravel parking lot, but that’s one place where we can begin.� “Start with somebody that’s not selling a dollar hamburger,� Marsh replied. “We’re not a multi-million dollar corporation. We’re a mom and pop. That’s what we are doing to raise our kids and keep our kids at home in Corinth, Mississippi. I feel like we’ve been pinpointed
out. I agree it does need to be cleaned up, but are we the people that has to stand out and be pinpointed to clean up Corinth, Mississippi? Are we the ones that need to make Corinth beautiful?� Labas said his question remains: “Where do you start?� Alderman at Large Mike Hopkins, who is part of the committee reviewing the ordinance, said the committee is wrestling with that question. “We haven’t come up with a solution,� he said. Essary, who owns the property where Slugburger Cafe sits, said forcing the Marsh family to pave would “finish them up.� Labas also voted “no� Please see PAVE | 2
MICHIE, Tenn. — A 24-year-old Adamsville woman died early Tuesday morning in an onecar accident in Michie, according to a report by the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Kacy Faye Waller Gagyi was driving her 2007 Nissan Altima southbound on Michie-Pebble Hill Road in Michie when her car left the road when she failed to turn a curve. Trooper Sam Bryant said
the car slid off the highway and struck a tree. The wreck happened at 8:50 a.m. on Tuesday, according to investigating officer Trooper Bryant. A certified pharmacy technician at Michie Pharmacy, Gagyi was a 2005 graduate of Adamsville High School. She graduated from Jackson St. Community College school of nursing earlier this year. She is survived by her husband, Derek Gagyi and her parents, John and Ann Waller.
Tourism office eyes goals in Program of Work BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
As one fiscal year ends and another begins, the Corinth Area Convention and Visitors Bureau has released its annual Program of Work. The document outlines the tourism office’s accomplishments for the last year and goals for the next. “Basically it’s an outline of our different projects throughout the year and an outline of advertising and marketing plans,� said Kristy White, executive director of the
CACVB. “Some, like our special projects, change every year, but many of the others stay the same.� One of the tourism office’s biggest accomplishments for the 2011 fiscal year was obtaining the Cultural Heritage Grant which allowed for more advertising and projects for the Sesquicentennial — the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War — that runs from 2011 until 2015. The Sesquicentennial Please see GOALS | 2
Grand Illumination returns to Corinth on Nov. 12 BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
Event organizers have released details for the 2011 Grand Illumination. On Saturday, Nov. 12, hundreds of volunteers will honor the soldiers who fought the Siege and Battle of Corinth by lighting 12,000 luminaries — symbolizing the soldiers on both sides who lost their lives. “It’s beautiful. Each of those lights represents a life,� said tourism director Kristy White. “It’s beautiful all over town, but there’s nothing like standing on the rise by the Interpretive Center and looking toward downtown.� The luminaries will be placed at the site of Battery Robinett, at the
Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center, and will form a path into downtown. The route along the way will highlight Corinth’s antebellum homes, the historic business district, the Contraband Camp and the historic railroad crossings. The luminary event will run from 4:30 until 8:30 p.m. In its fourth year of existence, Corinth’s Grand Illumination has been named a Top 20 Event by the Southeast Tourism Society and will offer many special events throughout the day. Downtown merchants will host open houses and offer special discounts; complimentary carriage rides will be available from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on
a first-come, first-served basis; walking tours of Corinth with a costumed guide will be given throughout the day; and live entertainment will be featured at Trailhead Park from 3 until 7 p.m. “With the tours we’ve worked with the National Park Service — who are also doing tours — so they won’t overlap,� said White. A short drive away, the Corinth Contraband Camp will be the scene of storytelling, poetry, and music sponsored by the Corinth Poetry Project. At the Civil War Interpretive Center on Saturday and Sunday, living history enactors will be camping and giving demPlease see EVENT | 2
Index Stocks........7 Classified...... 13 Comics...... 12 Crossroads .... 11
Weather........5 Obituaries........ 3 Opinion........4 Sports........8
The 12,000 luminaries during Grand Illumination symbolize the Civil War soldiers on both sides who lost their lives during the Siege and Battle of Corinth.
On this day in history 150 years ago Kansas “jayhawkers� under Sen. James Lane attacked, looted and burned the town of Osceola, Mo. The bloody “border war� in Kansas and Missouri would witness many such depredations.
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