Thursday March 8,
2012
50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 116, No. 58
Rain Today
Tonight
71
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• Corinth, Mississippi • 16 pages • 1 section
Aldermen ponder pants policy proposal Minister seeks ordinance to stop the sag BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
An associate pastor told the Board of Aldermen that the city should require saggers to pull up their pants. John Patterson, associate minister of New Covenant Baptist Church, asked the board on Tuesday to consider adding a
provision dealing with sagging pants to the public indecency ordinance. “We’re trying to gain respect — let our young folks know they need to respect themselves more instead of going around in the grocery store and different public places with their clothes all off their butt,” he said. Patterson believes it would help the city and not be a hindrance to law enforcement. He said children as young as 7 and 8 years old are wearing sagging pants. Alderman Chip Wood said he
believes it would be difficult to enforce a sagging pants law. Patterson replied, “You’ve got the manpower to go in the neighborhood and sit on corners and just watch folks ... You can’t stop for a minute and say, ‘Pull your pants up?’” The board took no action on the request. Alderman J.C. Hill said the police chief requested time to review the proposal. The Tupelo City Council recently adopted such an ordinance. Patterson said he is also on the NAACP prison committee, which will be asking the Leg-
islature to consider a state law prohibiting sagging pants. In other business: ■ The board received updates on four properties that have been targeted for cleanup. Aldermen gave a continuance to April 3 at 310 Tate St., which has been purchased by Taylor Heating & Air with plans for demolition of the building. The board also gave a continuance to April 3 at 1106 Ross St., where cleanup is about one-third complete, and at 1811 Droke, where a contractor has been hired for demolition and cleanup but
has not been able to do the job because of wet conditions. The ongoing Rhoades property cleanup on U.S. 72 is continued until May 1. ■ The board authorized the mayor to sign documents for PPM to conduct a phase one environmental assessment and asbestos testing at the old Wurlitzer property for $5,500. ■ Aldermen adopted the final versions of the ordinance establishing the entertainment district and the ordinance establishing a property tax break for revitalization in certain areas.
Center needs help to turn dream into reality House
splits on liquor bills
Hope Center needs Money BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
The Hope Dream Center Mission of Corinth needs some help to turn its aspirations into reality. The Dream Center must come up with around $21,000 to meet the city building code requiring a sprinkler system for the 36,000 square-foot facility at 1223 Tate St. “It is a struggle right now,” said Center President Annie Saffore. “We know there are good people out there that want to help ... some just don’t know what we are doing.” What the Hope Dream Center Mission wants to do is provide a shelter for the homeless and troubled women along with their children in the old Tate Baptist Church building. U.S Sen. Roger Wicker and Corinth Mayor Tommy Irwin were part of the dedication ceremony in mid-January. “Our plans are to provide a place where the homeless and troubled women know they are cared about,” said Saffore. “You don’t have to be a bad person to be homeless. Unfortunate things can happen and put anyone in that situation.” Should it receive the variance request, the HDCCM is set to renovate the building into rooms that can house over 100 people. Plans call for the center to have 50 rooms available. Donations are also needed to help with bathrooms, furniture, beds, linens, along with clothing and shoes. Those eligible for the shelter must come in and fill out an application good for 28 days. If a longer stay is necessary, another
BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photos by Steve Beavers
Hope Dream Center Mission of Corinth President Annie Saffore says the center is in need of donations to make the shelter for the homeless and troubled women work. 28-day form must be filled out. Woman and children will receive meals, a warm bed and lodging with clean bathrooms. They will be counseled to determine their needs as well as how to avoid repeating their circumstances. “Clients will be trained to be
able to live on their on,” said Saffore. “If they need clothes, we will provide them and also have retired teachers come in to work with them if they need help getting a GED.” Clients will be required to help in the building’s upkeep. They will be expected to help with
the cooking in which they will be taught how to prepare balanced meals. “This will not be a place of leisure,” said the president of the center. “It will be a place for rebuilding lives.” Those interested in making Please see HOPE | 2
Disney trip effort reaches target BY STEVE BEAVERS
Police warn of email scams BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
The numerous fundraisers and donations have paid off for a group of special needs children. The youngsters are going to Disney World after organizers met the $25,000 goal for the trip scheduled for late May. “The Lord has blessed this trip,” said trip organizer Havis Hurley. Money will continue to be collected to help with other expenses during the trek. A fundraiser is set for 5-8 p.m. tonight at Pizza Inn. The special needs group will receive 15 percent of what is taken in along with all tips. Modern Woodmen of America will match what is collected up to $1,000 during the three hours. Two $50 cash prizes will be drawn at the end of the night. Winners need not be present to win. “The money raised will be used to get each kid five shirts for each day we are down there,” said
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
The efforts to send a special-needs group to Disney World continues tonight at Pizza Inn. Modern Woodmen of America is set to match up to $1,000 of what is raised tonight. On hand to promote the event were (from left) Havis Hurley, event organizer; Sandy Henson, Pizza Inn owner; Nathan Letson, Keisha Pruitt and Modern Woodmen financial representative Steven Eaton. Hurley. “By wearing a different colored shirt each day, that will help parents keep a better eye on them.”
Hurley says funds will also go to toward purchasing food
Index Stocks........7 Classified......14 Comics...... 12 Wisdom...... 11
Weather........5 Obituaries........ 3 Opinion........4 Sports........8
Please see DISNEY | 2
The Mississippi House of Representatives voted Tuesday on two liquor bills, narrowly defeating one and approving another that would allow Senatobia to have a vote on legalizing alcohol sales. House Bill 928, which would have allowed any municipality to vote to legalize alcohol sales, barely failed in a 60-59 vote. Local Reps. Nick Bain, Tracy Arnold and Bubba Carpenter all cast “no” votes on the bill, which was authored by District 59 Rep. Kevin McGee (R). The bill called for an election if 20 percent of qualified voters present a petition and would limit the availability of liquor to by-the-drink sales in restaurants and hotels. The Corinth Board of Aldermen recently passed a resolution seeking legislative approval for a cityonly vote on the sale of liquor, but the local legislative delegation has not supported the idea. Another city could be moving in that direction. Also on Tuesday, the House approved Bill 506, which seeks to allow Senatobia to vote on liquor sales, in a 76-43 vote. Attempts to return Alcorn County to a wet county have failed. Liquor was sold in Corinth for 21 years until 1989, when Alcorn County voters ended liquor sales and, in a city election, Corinth voters said “yes” to beer sales, resulting in a swap of liquor for beer. County referendums on the sale of liquor in 1993 and 2005 failed to pass.
The public should be mindful of ongoing telephone and internet scams — especially requests for money or personal information. One such recent fraudulent venture is an email that many local residents have received from someone claiming to be the Internal Revenue Service. In its subject line the email claims that the recipient’s tax return has been rejected. Under an official-looking IRS graphic, the email includes a link to site to “download the rejection file and resubmit your appeal.” Corinth Police Department Chief David Lancaster said it is not a general practice of the IRS to send out this kind of email. “The key to recognizing this is when someone asks you for something and you didn’t contact them first yourself,” Lancaster explained. “If they
ask for personal info — and you didn’t contact them first — you shouldn’t give it.” He said the Corinth Police have been dealing many telephone and internet scams lately. One of the most common techniques the scam-artists are using is to tell people they’ve won a large sum of money, but to receive it they must first send a smaller sum to cover shipping or other costs. “Any time you have to send money to receive money it’s a scam,” said Lancaster. In another variation, a person is told he has won a lottery or a sweepstakes which the person has never entered. “If you didn’t buy a lottery ticket or enter the sweepstakes, you didn’t win,” the police chief said. “We’ve got to keep in mind that very few things in life are free, and people are not going to send you money if you haven’t done anything for them.”
On this day in history 150 years ago March 8 — The Battle of Pea Ridge, also known as Elk Horn Tavern, began in northwest Arkansas. Van Dorn’s attack from the rear was discovered and countered and a series of charges failed to break the Union line.