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DEATHS • Patsy Collins Bradley • Bernard Brown • Florence Cameron Davis • Lee Arthur Hedrick • Thelma Jordan Howard • Ruby Price Hunt • Robert Sayles Jr. • Robert Earl Stewart Jr.
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TODAY IN HISTORY 1789: The Constitution of the United States goes into effect as the first Federal Congress meets in New York. (The lawmakers then adjourned for lack of a quorum.) 1858: Sen. James Henry Hammond of South Carolina declares, “Cotton is king” in a speech to the U.S. Senate. 1861: Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th president of the United States. Abraham Lincoln 1908: A fire at Lake View School in Collinwood, Ohio, claims the lives of 172 children and three adults. 1989: Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc. announce plans for a huge media merger. 2005: American troops in Iraq fire on a car carrying just-freed Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, killing Nicola Calipari, the intelligence officer who’d helped negotiate her release and injuring the reporter.
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ONLINE www.vicksburgpost.com VOLUME 128 NUMBER 63 2 SECTIONS
Cutting school days might help in state’s fiscal woes, Senate says
Lawmakers OK restoration of fifth of Barbour-cut funds
From staff and AP reports
JACKSON — The Mississippi Legislature on Wednesday approved a plan to restore about one-fifth of the money Gov. Haley Barbour has cut from the current state budget. Barbour is expected to sign it into law. The plan passed the Senate 47-0 and the House 115-2. It would restore $82 million of the $458.5 million Barbour has cut. The budget started
Senate Education Committee Chairman Videt Carmichael, R-Meridian, who co-authored the proposal to reduce the school year. Shortening the school year would not harm the overall educational outcomes of the state in the long run, but would save school districts money on operational costs, Carmichael said. Individual school boards would have the discretion
The Mississippi Senate has voted to give school districts the option of keeping children in class five fewer days for each of the next two academic years. That would take the academic year from 180 days to 175. “I’m trying to find a way to make school districts more financially viable,” said
to adopt the shortened academic calendar. Opponents felt the proposal sent the wrong message. The last thing the nation needs to hear is Mississippi is going to have less education for its children, said Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson. That the measure would See Schools, Page A9.
By The Associated Press
last July at nearly $6 billion. It would give more than $37 million to K-12 education, including $2 million for nationally certified teachers, $4 million to mental health, $1.7 million to public safety and $16 million to the Department of Corrections. Lawmakers say $4 million of federal stimulus money also will go to community and junior colleges. The fiscal year ends June 30.
‘SOMETHING AIN’T RIGHT’
Threat suspected in witness’ changing story Man arrested, later released in killing of Cole, retired policeman By Tish Butts tbutts@vicksburgpost.com Nearly four months ago, 87-year-old Willie Jordan stood at the front door of the Vicksburg Police Department and said an arrest in the killing of his nephew, retired law enforcement officer Walter Cole, meant he finally got a good night’s sleep. Now, the former suspect, Tyler Lee Smith, Walter is out of Cole jail after a Warren County grand jury declined to indict him, no new arrests have been made and none are expected. Smith was the only suspect in the case, Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong confirmed. No other people of interest have been identified, he said. In sum, that means no one will ever be prosecuted for robbing and shooting to death Cole, who was 75, on July 23, 2008. Jordan said a cold chill went over him when he found out Smith had been released, and once again, he cannot rest. “I feel bad. The other night, I didn’t sleep any. I didn’t go to bed until 2 o’clock, and I got back up at 4 because it’s worrying us about how this thing was handled,” said Jordan. “Something ain’t right in this thing. Something
KATIE CARTER•The Vicksburg PosT
Willie Jordan points from his porch on Brown Alley to where he found his nephew, Walter Cole, dead in his car. ain’t right.” More than a year passed between Cole’s death and the arrest of Smith last Nov. 6. Police said their suspect had been identified early in the investigation and accumulating evidence in the case had been gradual. Assistant Police Chief Jeffery Scott said the evidence presented to grand jurors was the best circumstantial case he had worked in about 11 years. “Everything lined up,” said Scott, but a witness declined to tell the panel what she
had told police. “We strongly feel the eyewitness was threatened, which led to her recanting,” Scott said. He said he could not substantiate his beliefs because the witness would not cooperate with officials. District Attorney Ricky Smith termed the testimony “crucial” and decisive because it would have put Tyler Smith in the same area as Cole near the time Cole died. Grand jurors, in choosing See Killing, Page A6.
Willie Jordan cries in November after being told an arrest has been made in the killing of his nephew, Walter Cole.
Eat right and Move It!, Mrs. Obama tells state
Mr. Obama bellies up to fried chicken feast
By Shelia Byrd The Associated Press
By The Associated Press
JACKSON — First lady Michelle Obama visited Jackson Wednesday and watched children play on swings and a jungle gym at a school whose programs have been lauded for fighting obesity by keeping kids active. It was the first of her two stops in Mississippi. The state ranks No. 1 in childhood and adult obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The first lady’s visit was part of her recently announced Let’s Move! campaign to promote healthy habits at schools. Maggie Benson White, who was putting up a poster outside Pecan Park Elementary School to welcome Obama, said she hoped the visit would inspire healthy eating habits in her community and at inner-city schools. “Our children are not eating properly. We have a lot of parents who don’t
First lady Michelle Obama talks with Gov. Haley and Marsha Barbour and children at See Obama, Page A9. a walking trail in Jackson.
BANNERS
SAVANNAH, Ga. — While his wife was promoting good eating habits in Mississippi, President Barack Obama was chowing down on a fried chicken lunch. The biggest concern for the president — who learned days ago that he has borderline high cholesterol — was his secret be kept. Above all, he indicated to accompanying reporters, don’t tell his wife. His lunch at Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room in Savannah, a popular restaurant and tourist attraction, was a plate piled high with fried chicken and bowls of beans, sweet potatoes, greens and macaroni and cheese. He also told reporters he did not want to hear any lectures. He was told about his cholesterol reading after his first physical examination as president.
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