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2011
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Daily Corinthian Vol. 115, No. 266
of Nashville, Tenn.; and Jose P. Garcia-Guillen, 35, of Decatur, Ala. They were pronounced dead at the scene. Deputy Alcorn County Coroner Josh Hodum said the men were traveling westbound in a full-size pickup when the vehicle overtook an 18-wheeler from behind. A fourth person in the pickup, Raul Cabrera, 35, of Decatur, Ala., was flown to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, Tenn., with serious injuries. MHP said it appeared Ran-
Three men died early Monday morning when their pickup truck collided with the rear of an 18-wheeler in western Alcorn County. The crash happened about 5:15 a.m. at the intersection of U.S. Highway 72 and County Road 747 in western Alcorn County near the Tippah County line. The Mississippi Highway Patrol identified the fatalities as Arnoldo Moreno, 29, of Corinth; Juan A. Estrada, 35,
Tonight
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Ross to take oath as justice court judge
Pickup truck rear ends 18-wheeler; fourth victim airlifted BY JEBB JOHNSTON
Today
• Corinth, Mississippi • 18 pages • One Section
3 die in U.S. 72 crash jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Stormy
dle Walker, 31, of Decatur, Ala., turned from County Road 747 to go westbound on U.S. 72 in a 1998 Peterbilt when the 2006 GMC Sierra pickup driven by Moreno collided with the rear of the semi. The Union Center Volunteer Fire Department used extrication equipment to free the subjects from the pickup. MHP said the truck driver had minor injuries. Moreno and Estrada wore seat belts while Garcia-Gullen and Cabrera were unbuckled, MHP said.
BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
The Alcorn County Board of Supervisors has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday morning to swear in John C. Ross Jr. as a temporary justice court judge. He will serve as justice court judge post 2 in the absence of the current officeholder, Jimmy McGee. The board’s agenda on Monday included receipt of documentation of the Mississippi
Supreme Court’s mandate in the case of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance v. Jimmy McGee. The court imposed a suspension of 270 days without pay effective on the date of issuance of the court’s mandate in the complaint against the judge. Ross is currently municipal judge for the cities of Corinth and Farmington and a member of the board of directors of the Corinth Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Recent college grad opens law practice K-C road
gets 30-day extension
BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
(Editor’s Note: The following is the first in a series of stories on young entrepreneurs, recent college graduates working to build their lives and businesses in a time of widespread adversity and economic uncertainty.)
BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Joe Wallace is 25 years old. In September, the Biggersville High School graduate started his own law firm in Alcorn County, four months after finishing law school at Ole Miss and two months after passing bar exams in Mississippi and Tennessee. Now, in the midst of a tough economy felt by almost everyone, Wallace is juggling responsibilities, learning the day-today realities of his profession and following his own personal convictions while working to establish his law practice. “It’s different opening a law office. Before, I’ve worked for anyone else as a lawyer, but I feel like I’ve been prepared by other life experiences,” said Wallace, whose father was in law enforcement and mother worked as a court personnel administrator and once ran for justice court judge. “I’ve been around the law all my life, in one way or another.” During the summers while Wallace was in law school, he worked as a clerk for a prominent firm in the Magnolia State’s capital city. This experience gave him a glimpse of the pressures, commitments and rewards of working in a large law office, and he planned to take a job with the firm.
explained. “You’re not just giving them your personal freedom and your body. You might be giving them your soul.” Starting his practice In September, after working all summer to save money for overhead and startup expenses, he founded the Wallace Law Firm, located in a modest office just outside the Corinth city limits he rents from longtime friend (and veteran Corinth attorney) Danny Lowrey.
The contractor for the Kimberly-Clark industrial access road is getting an extension as the project nears completion. Eutaw Construction requested 90 working days, but the Alcorn County Board of Supervisors on Monday agreed to a contract extension of 30 working days. Johnny Crotts of Cook Coggin Engineers said the project is 88 percent complete, and the 300-working-day contract time expired in late October. The two primary reasons cited for needing more time are delays that occurred with getting a lake pumped out south of Farmington Road and the installation of geofabric in an area that did not meet the density requirement. Chuck Smith of Eutaw said he believes the project can still be substantially complete by Thanksgiving if weather is favorable. He said all of the curbs are complete, and 16 driveway aprons are still to be done along with the final round of paving, which will be completed by APAC. “We tried to get them to come this past week, but they were trying to get finished where they were at,” said Smith. “They want to move in this one time and finish it all. They’re scheduled the latter part of this week and all next week to pave.” The extension is also subject to approval by the state aid office. The new road is nearly 5 miles in length stretching from U.S. 72 to Kendrick Road. In another road matter, paving is ex-
Please see WALLACE | 2
Please see CONTRACT | 7
Staff photo by Bobby J. Smith
Corinth’s Joe Wallace is a 2011 college graduate beginning his career — in a troubled economy when many with degrees are struggling to find work — as an attorney at the helm of his own law practice. “It’s the standard story there. It’s a big firm, pays a lot, but they work you to the bone. They put all sorts of incentives in your face, like five-year partner track and you make a lot more money then, but the only thing is, you’re trading a lot of who you are and your individuality and individual freedom,” he said. After his second summer clerking, the Jackson firm ran into economic troubles and Wallace was not offered the job. “It ended up being a blessing they didn’t hire me,” Wallace
said. “I would have been doing it just for the money — and that’s not a good reason to do something unless you’re flat broke.” Working as an attorney for the large firm would also have been contrary to Wallace’s compassion for people on the lower end of the financial ladder. “I’ve always felt more comfortable if I was an advocate for the little guy. They did some work for what I would call the little guy, but most of their work was big defense, big asbestos defense and that sort of stuff,” he
Rotary, newspaper kick off annual basket giveaway BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
The Corinth Rotary Club and the Daily Corinthian have kicked off the fundraising drive for the annual Christmas Basket giveaway. The program collects money to purchase food items that will help feed financially disadvantaged families during the Christmas holidays. “We appreciate the community’s past partnership, and because of our current economic conditions, we anticipate a huge need,” said Reece Terry, publisher of the Daily Corinthian. “We think this is an excellent opportunity to help those in the community who are less fortunate.” Ronnie Sleeper, chairman of the 2011 Basket Committee, said organizers hope to be able to provide 1,000 baskets this year, which is the 16th year the Corinth Rotary Club and the local newspaper have partnered for this program. “We’re hoping to give away 200 more boxes this year,” said Sleep-
Staff photo by Bobby J. Smith
Long Wholesale owner Randy Long (right) shows Corinth Rotary Club/Daily Corinthian Christmas Basket Drive Chairman Ronnie Sleeper some of the food products that will be in the food baskets to be given away on Saturday, Dec. 10, at Crossroads Arena. er. “We’re depending on the community to make the effort — and
we have a lot of faith in the community.”
Index Stocks........7 Classified...... 16 Comics...... 12 Wisdom...... 11
Weather........5 Obituaries........ 3 Opinion........4 Sports........8
Applications for food basket recipients will be available at the
Daily Corinthian’s office at 1607 South Harper Road and on Page 3 of the newspaper until the deadline date. The deadline for applicants to sign up for baskets is 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18. The typical Christmas Basket contains about $35 wholesale worth of food staples, including canned goods, a whole canned chicken, loaves of bread, canned fruit, flour, sugar, meal and other food products from Long Wholesale. Sleeper praised the volunteer efforts made by local high schools to put together the boxes and distribute them and the fundraising contributions of local churches and other community-minded groups. “This is truly a community effort, and the need this year happens to be greater than it’s been in a long while,” he said. The Christmas Baskets will be assembled on Packing Night, Please see BASKET | 7
On this day in history 150 years ago The U.S.S. Jacinto boards the British mail packet Trent on the high seas and arrests Confederate agents James Mason and John Slidell. The seizure from a neutral ship sparks an international incident and nearly leads to war with England. By Tom Parson, NPS Ranger