The Associated Press
Here are some news and notes around Mississippi this morning:
In Prentiss, authorities say a child has been seriously injured in a pit bull attack in Jefferson Davis County.
Sheriff’s Detective John Tolar tells WLBT TV a four-year-old boy was attacked shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday.
Tolar says the pit bull caused severe injuries to the child’s face.
He says the child was taken to Forest General Hospital in Hattiesburg where he had surgery Sunday night.
Investigators said the dog was seized and is in quarantine.
The name of the young victim has not been released.
Officials said the investigation into this attack is ongoing.
In Bovina, volunteer firefighters in this community just east of Vicksburg made a gruesome discovery while battling a house fire.
Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said deputies were on patrol Sunday night when they noticed thick smoke several miles away. About the same time calls to 911 began coming in about a fire at a single family home.
Pace tells WLBT TV the body of an unidentified person was found in the bedroom of a home.
At this time it is not known if the person is male or female.
Culkin and Bovina Fire Departments responded to the blaze.
The fire remains under investigation.
In Southaven, Southaven Police Chief Tom Long says weeks of surveillance culminated in a drug bust at two apartment complexes with 22 arrests.
He tells the Memphis Commercial Appeal that more arrests were possible after Friday night’s roundup.
DeSoto County sheriff’s deputies, police from Horn Lake and Olive Branch and members of a newly formed joint gang task force participated.
In Columbus, the Environmental Protection Agency won’t fine Columbus Light and Water for sanitary sewage overflows.
The EPA conducted a compliance evaluation and inspection of the city’s sewer system and wastewater treatment plant in April.
The Commercial Dispatch reports that while the EPA won’t fine the utility, it will monitor the city’s progress in developing and implementing management, operations and maintenance procedures and rehabilitation of the sewer system over the next two years.
CL&W General Manager Todd Gale says EPA will provide the utility with written recommendations, which the utility will use to finalize its master plan regarding its sewer system going forward.
Gale says the utility self-reported 17 overflows from 2008 to September 2013. He said the overflows involved 9.2 million gallons of untreated sewage.
In Liberty, the attorney for Amite County’s school board says the district should raise test scores before trustees try to raise their pay.
The Legislature has repealed a law that cut the pay of board members in half at school districts with failing state grades. Those grades are based largely on student scores.
The repeal was expected to take effect July 1. However, Attorney General Jim Hood issued a non-binding legal opinion that endorsed the previous law, despite the repeal.
Board attorney Nate Armisted told the trustees that in addition to being the official who made the call on pay, the attorney general is the only state official who can remove school board members.
