local golfers return from state championships, 1b
McNairy county quilt show 2011, 5A
Independent Appeal
Flowing Smoothly
District champs
Selmer Water Dept. discusses operations PAGE 3A
AHS beatdown of TCA Lions nets district title PAGE 1A
Making McNairy County headlines for more than 100 years
Volume 107, Number 20, Wednesday, October 5, 2011
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Election Commission votes Common Sense: to keep precincts open Social Security By Jeff Whitten
By Jeff Whitten
Head News Writer
Head News Writer
Last year was Social Security’s 75th anniversary, as it was signed into law on Aug. 14, 1935. It is ironic that it spent more than it took in last year for the first time since 1983. As explained in an earlier column, although this can be accounted for by the payroll tax cuts, the cuts expire next year and the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees projects that the deficits will continue for the next 75 years. Through 2022, these deficits will be made up by redeeming trust fund assets. These redemptions will be less than COMMON SENSE interest income and the trust fund will grow. By 2036, trust fund reserves will be exhausted. From then until 2085, tax income will only be sufficient to pay about threequarters of the scheduled benefits through 2085. The report attributes these deficits to the aging of the baby boom generation, which is retiring and being replaced in the workforce by younger generations that are smaller. More than 50 million Americans or about one-quarter of households receive these benefits. The trustees project that the 75-year deficit will be 2.2 percent of taxable payroll. In order to erase this deficit, either some combination of revenue increases or expenditure cuts in this amount will be necessary. They recommend that these long-run challenges be addressed soon because more options and more time will be available to phase in changes and those who are affected will have adequate time to prepare. It will also be easier to minimize the impact of changes on lower-income workers and those currently receiving benefits, the report says. The bipartisan deficit commission appointed by President Obama presented a plan last November to erase the Social Security deficit. One recommendation it made was to gradually increase the regular retirement age to 69 by 2075 and the early retirement age to 64 by that year. They also recommended creating a hardship exemption for those who cannot work past the age of 62, but do not qualify for disability. They also proposed making 90 percent of all wages subject to Social Security tax by raising the maximum amount of wages that can be taxed, from the present $168,000. This maximum would increase to $190,000 by 2020. Presently, only 86 percent of wages are subject to Social Security tax. They would also cut benefits for wealthier retirees. Under the plan those making between $38,000 and $64,000 in average lifetime wages would only get 10 percent of that in benefits, where they can now get 32 percent. Those making between $64,000 and $107,000 would be reduced from 15 percent of that figure to 5 percent in benefits. See next week’s Common Sense column on Medicare. FYI: You can read the latest report of the Social Security and Medicare Trustees at ssa.gov/ovact/trsum/index.html.
The McNairy County Election Commission voted to keep the five precincts open that they had tentatively voted to close earlier, according to Administrator of Elections Joanie Collins. The decision was made at a meeting of the commission last Saturday. The meeting was originally scheduled to consider having an open meeting for public comment on the issue. This request was made by County Commissioner Jeff Lipford, who represents the 2nd district, which includes Lawton as well as Adamsville. After the decision was reversed, the issue of the open meeting became moot. The decision was made with the stipulation that commissioners in the districts which were going to be closed provide the election commission with lists of possible poll workers. This was one of the reasons along with cost and low turnout in these precincts cited by the commission for its original decision. Precincts slated to be closed under the original plan were McNairy, Lawton, Purdy, Leapwood and Cypress. The commission took this action at its meeting on Sept. 6. Under the plan, McNairy would have been merged into Finger, Lawton would have been merged into Adamsville, Purdy and Leapwood would have been merged into Northeast Selmer and Cypress would have been merged into Ramer. Closing these precincts would have saved the county $2,500 to $3,000, according to a handout distributed by Election Commission Chairman Paul Estes. Some of the county commissioners were highly critical of the decision to close precincts. Lipford had argued the closings would lead to longer lines at the polls and that there had been no discussions on the county commission budget committee about excessive spending on elections, so the county could afford to keep the precincts open. County commissioner Steve Browder was also critical of the decision. He argued that the amount of money being saved by the closings was too small to justify the displacement of voters. Browder also represents the 2nd district. He and others were circulating petitions urging the commission to keep the precincts open.
Cars for Kids lawsuit appeal succeeds By Jeff Whitten Head News Writer
The Tennessee Court of Appeals in Jackson, Tenn. has reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit arising out of the 2007 Cars for Kids. The case was sent back to McNairy County Circuit Court for trial. The appeal was from an earlier dismissal of the case by Circuit Court Judge J. Weber McCraw. McCraw dismissed the case because it was his judgment that there were no genuine issues of material fact as to whether defendant Flowmaster had a duty of care to
the plaintiffs (those who brought the suit), whether it was a member of a joint venture, whether it engaged in an ultra-hazardous activity or participated in a drag race. The appeals court upheld McCraw on the issue of whether Flowmaster was a part of a joint venture. However, they held that Flowmaster had not proved it did not have a duty of care toward those who were injured and there were material issues of fact on whether Flowmaster had participated in an ultra-hazardous activity or in drag racing. If a jury found either of these last two things to be true, Flowmaster would be liable.
The suit arises out of an incident in June 2007, in which Troy Critchley, a professional driver, lost control of his vehicle during a burnout and crashed into a crowd, killing six people and injuring many others. Richard Small, Flowmaster’s senior vice president of marketing said in his deposition that he invited Critchley to the event but told him that a burnout was optional. Cars for Kids founder Larry Price said in his deposition that Flowmaster played no part in planning the 2007 event, that it had no input regarding the burnout loca-
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See Cars for kids, 3A
Legendary haunted mansion opens doors to public By Christen Coulon Editor
Last Friday, the Purdy Haunted Mansion once again opened its doors to thrill fans of the macabre for another season. The mansion, a nearly 160 year old wooden structure once owned by infamous Purdy resident Col. Fielding Hurst, is said to be the most haunted place in McNairy County. This year’s event features three attractions including the haunted house, ghost tour, and hay rides. All tours begin at the Purdy Community Center. The haunted house ($12 entrance fee) takes small groups through the mansion and surrounding property. The one-half mile long haunted house tour takes visitors on a tour of the mansion and property through various terrifying scenes designed to scare your socks off. The haunted house is not reccomended for children under the age 10. The ghost tour ($15 entrance fee) is by appointment only and gives visitors a more in-depth tour of the mansion and the haunted history of the surrounding community. The hay ride ($7 entrance fee) takes visitors on a tour of Purdy and its haunted cemetery. This year the mansion will have actors in the outside property tour, but will not have them inside the mansion. Organizers have claimed that due to excessive paranormal occurrences, they will not allow live actors in the mansion for 2011. They claim that in the past, actors have become trapped and locked in rooms for hours at a time. Also, they said that the cries of a small child were heard in the cellar and the doors upstairs would open without anyone being present. No explanation has been given for these strange events, and they have stated this information as a warning to prepare others who enter the Hurst Mansion...if they dare.
Col. Fielding Hurst In the days leading up to the Civil War, Hurst’s political leanings as a union sympathizer became evident to his neighbors in Purdy, and when the war began Hurst was shipped off to the penitentiary in Nashville. When Hurst returned to the area, he did so as a union colonel. With local support, Hurst then set up what is known as the Hurst
Nation, a union stronghold, stretching into surrounding counties. “When he came back, that is when all of the problems started,” Rick Miller, co-owner of the Purdy Haunted Mansion said. “(Hurst) was shot at when he was going up the stairs (a dent that is still visible in the wood on the stairs is said to be the bullet hole from this shooting) and they also hung his nephew behind the house and beat his mother almost to death.” Miller said that due to these attacks, Hurst became obsessed with gaining revenge. Legend states that after Hurst captured confederate soldiers, he decapitated them and placed their heads on every mile marker on the roads leading from Purdy to LaGrange and Guys. It is also claimed that Hurst, furious with the Confederate leaning residents of Purdy, laid waste to the town by ordering every structure save his cherished mansion burned to the ground. While Hurst’s legend seems to grow every year, Tennessee historian Kevin D. McCann, in an open response to an Independent Appeal article published in 2007, claims that Hurst’s true deeds may not live up to the hype.
Fact or fiction “There’s a lot of exaggerated and downright false information when it comes to Fielding Hurst and the Sixth Tennessee”, McCann said. “One must trudge through period and modern-day partisan or erroneous writings to discover what is actually true . Much of them can be attributed to former Confederate soldiers, but some are more contemporary and simply expound and exaggerate from a one-sided (i.e. Confederate) point of view.” McCann’s writing paints a picture of Hurst showing that while he was certainly not a model citizen, he was also not worthy of the boogyman persona to which he has been given. “Fielding Hurst has become the Boogeyman of McNairy County, Tennessee,” McCann said. “He is a ‘monster’ and a ‘demon’ and his insidious reputation grows more brutal and bloodier with the passage of time. His evil deeds are
See Purdy mansion, 2A
Staff Photo by Christen Coulon
The window in Col. Fielding Hurst’s bedroom where according to legend a ghostly face appears to be looking down on the visitors below.
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