News Briefs From Across The State
By Monica Land
Son killed, dad injured
Authorities said one man is dead and his father and a third man are injured after a shooting in Lucedale.
WLOX-TV reports the shooting happened Sunday after an argument over a man “doing donuts” — or spinning his truck in circles — in a field.
WLOX cites the George County Sheriff’s Department as saying a homeowner argued with the driver of the pickup truck then went back in his house.
The truck’s driver allegedly knocked on the door and opened fire when the resident and his two adult sons came to the door. One son was killed and the father injured.
Authorities say the other son got a gun and shot and wounded the driver of the truck.
The identities of those involved were not released.
Company seeks tax exemption in Vicksburg
A company that proposes to redevelop the former LeTourneau Technologies site says it needs a tax exemption on up to $41 million in equipment and buildings.
A representative for Cameron International Corp., the Houston-based oil services company that bought the LeTourneau yard in 2011, told Warren County supervisors Monday the company plans to create about 167 jobs over a decade.
The Vicksburg Post reports Wes Bowen of Harvest Group LLC, a Tennessee tax incentive negotiation firm hired by Cameron, told supervisors the company needs new flattening presses, paint booths, cranes and an improved sprinkler system as part of an expansion.
The company is seeking assurances from supervisors that a property tax exemption will be approved. A formal request for the tax break will be filed in June 2013.
Miss. woman to plead guilty to SS fraud
Court records say a Mississippi woman has pleaded not guilty to lying about living with her husband and her husband’s income to collect more Social Security and Medicaid benefits than she was due.
Betty Aline Smith pleaded not guilty in November in U.S. District Court in Gulfport. A court filing Tuesday says she intends to change her plea.
The indictment in the case says she concealed the information from 2003 to 2008 in Pearl River County.
The court record says she received $22,814 more than she should have in Social Security payments. She allegedly received more than $9,600 in medical benefits than she wasn’t owed.
Population drop affects Adams Co. sheriff’s salary
Migrating residents will lower Adams County Sheriff Chuck Mayfield’s salary by $9,600.
The Natchez Democrat reports the lower population should have triggered an automatic reduction in the sheriff’s salary when he was sworn in to a new term of office.
When the 2010 Census data was released in 2011, the county’s population had fallen by more than 2,000 residents.
An accounting oversight appears to have kept the sheriff at the higher salary for the past 11 months.
The newspaper discovered the oversight Monday and brought it to the county’s attention.
Board of Supervisors President Darryl Grennell said since the census only comes around every 10 years, the matter simply went unnoticed.
Mayfield said he was happy with whatever is ultimately determined to be correct under the law.
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