MON DAY, MArch 1, 2010 • 50¢
Teacher stipends in jeopardy
ANOTHER DAY FOR DAVENPORT
600 potential jurors cram courthouse By Pamela Hitchins phitchins@vicksburgpost.com A swarm of potential jurors lined up through the halls of the Warren County Courthouse today for the retrial of a Vicksburg state trooper accused of molesting two teenage boys. Master Sgt. Richard Dane Davenport, 47, 407 Warren St., stands accused of four counts of sexual battery of a child younger than 14 and five counts of fondling a child younger than 16. About 600 jurors were summoned — two to three times the usual pool — from which a panel of 12 jurors and two alternates will be chosen. “Because of the notoriety of the parties involved, we thought it would probably be Dane better to have a larger Davenport number of people in order to get the jurors we need,” said Warren County Circuit Court Judge Isadore Patrick, who will preside over the trial. Davenport was first tried in September 2008, an eight-day effort that ended in a mistrial when jurors reported, after about six hours of deliberating, that they were split “2 to 10” on the verdict. Sources reported the split was in favor of acquittal, though it was unclear which of the nine criminal counts the vote reflected. In a separate but related proceeding, Davenport was found innocent in February 2009 in Oktibbeha County of one count of fondling a child under 16. The charge was made by one of the same teens accusing him in Warren County. That case was also a retrial after an October 2008 mistrial at the Circuit Court in Starkville. For today’s jury pool, the selection process could extend into the evening. At Davenport’s first trial, for which 350 potential jurors were summoned, the jury was not sworn in until 8:30 p.m. Court officials expected about half the 600 summoned to report — still a significant influx to the courthouse. Sheriff Martin Pace said he was not expecting to add to the normal number of deputies assigned to his court services division. “It will not affect our law-enforcement division,” he said. Those who do not report for jury duty usually fall into a number of categories, said Patrick. Some that can be excused prior to the trial date include those over 65 and under 21, Patrick said, and those who can show that they have served on a jury within the last two years. Others have moved or died since being
From staff and AP reports Mississippi’s budget situation could result in top teachers losing pay supplements. More than 200 Rankin County teachers and about 40 each in Warren and Hinds counties could lose their $6,000 annual National Board Certification stipend in the 2011 budget. The supplement is based on state ‘The funding, but way Mississippi’s it will revenue collections are read millions of dollars below is that projections. they Administrawill get whatever tors in those districts are the state gives us,.’ considering Dr. James an addenPrice dum to teachsuperinTendenT ers’ contracts that says the supplement won’t be paid if it’s not funded by lawmakers. “We certainly have excellent teachSee Schools, Page A7.
Obama targets school dropouts with $900 million By The Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama took aim this morning at the nation’s school dropout epidemic, proposing $900 million to states and education districts that agree to drastically change or even shutter their worst performing schools. Obama’s move comes as many schools continue to struggle to get children to graduation, a profound problem in a rich, powerful nation. Only about 70 percent of entering high school freshmen graduate. More than 1 million students don’t graduate each year. The problem affects blacks and Latinos at particularly high rates. Obama described the crisis as one that hurts individual kids and the
merediTh spencer•The Vicksburg posT
Potential jurors line up at the Warren County Courthouse this morning. placed on the “jury wheel,” a pool generated from the master voter registration lists every April by a three-member county jury commission, said Circuit Clerk Shelley Ashley-Palmertree. Some potential jurors are also excused after reporting, based on various hardship criteria, knowledge of the case or connections to witnesses or attorneys or other personal issues. The charges against Davenport in Warren County are based on incidents dating to October 1999 and involve two brothers. State law protects the idenSee Davenport, Page A7.
Drivers jockey for parking spots at the courthouse. See Obama, Page A7.
Toyota on hold, but N. Mississippi still hoping By Holbrook Mohr The Associated Press
rogelio solis•The associaTed press
Barry Emison, a tool and dye technology teacher at Itawamba Community College, says about 100 percent of the students in his program hoped to get a job with Toyota when it was to open at Blue Springs.
WEAThEr Tonight: Rain; low near 33 Tuesday: Rain; high near 33 Mississippi River:
31.7 feet Fell: 0.5 foot Flood stage: 43 feet
A7 VOLUME 128 NUMBER 60 2 SECTIONS
DEAThS • Mavis Marie Barnes • Florence Cameron Davis • James Harrison Sr.
A7
BLUE SPRINGS — Terry McShan isn’t thinking about car sales analyses or excess capacity when he drives by the idle Toyota plant in northeast Mississippi. He’s thinking about his little girl. Like most Mississippians, the 46-year-old father of one grown daughter and a 4-year-old girl was thrilled when Toyota announced plans in 2007 to build a plant in Blue Springs, a one-store town in the north Mississippi hills. McShan soon enrolled in a junior college’s automotive program in hopes of landing a job at the plant.
Those were better times, when the car market was strong, Mississippi officials gladly signed off on a $324 million incentive package and Toyota said Terry it would be buildMcShan ing cars in Blue Springs in 2010. Three years later, the economy has tanked, one of the most trusted brands in the business has recalled millions of cars and McShan will graduate with no immediate prospects for a Toyota job in Mississippi. Toyota says it’s holding off pro-
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rUN TIME
TODAY IN hISTOrY 1790: President George Washington signs a measure authorizing the first U.S. Census. 1872: President Ulysses S. Grant signs an act creating Yellowstone National Park. 1932: Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, is kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, N.J. (Remains identified as those of the child were found the following May.) 1961: President John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.
duction in Blue Springs, not because of the recall, but until the car market improves and the company sells off “excess capacity.” It’s anybody’s guess when that’ll be. Even when Toyota gives the green light, it could be 18 months to two years before the first car rolls off the assembly line. “When I heard Toyota was coming, I thought, ‘This is the (college) program that I need.’ I’ve been here ever since, waiting for Toyota to open,” McShan said recently while taking a break from classes at Itawamba Community College in Tupelo.
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Runners, walkers getting ready for 31st Run Thru History B1