2013 – Page 53 – The Mississippi Link

Estimated $25M in damage to buildings, vehicles

The Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy in Pearl isn’t the most aesthetically appealing place to train officers these days, its director, Pat Cronin, concedes.

The March 18 hailstorms that struck metro Jackson destroyed 87 law enforcement and civilian vehicles parked at the academy when the storms hit, punched holes in roofing membrane above the gymnasium and smashed through more than 100 windows and skylights throughout the complex.

“We look bad,” Cronin muses. “We’ve got plastic holding tires down (on some roofing). We’ve been compromised in some areas, but we’re operational.” […]

Liddell makes no apologies for time away

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If you have tried to reach Columbus Schools Superintendent Martha Liddell at her office this school year, there’s a one-in-three chance you were told she was not in the office. In fact, there’s a one-in-three chance that Liddell wasn’t even in town.

So far during the 2012-13 school year Liddell has taken 21 trips that kept her out of the district for at least 60 of the 180 school days this year. Her contemporaries in Starkville, Lewis Holloway, and Lowndes County, Lynn Wright, have made 17 trips between them and have been away from their districts a combined 23 days.

And in a school year in which the superintendent put all “non-essential spending” on hold in January, Liddell’s extensive travels have cost the district $8,058, twice as much as Holloway has spent ($4,037 on 11 trips) and roughly four times as much as Wright has spent ($2,177 on six trips). […]

Historically black cemetery seeks upkeep help

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A Magnolia group has asked Pike County for help in maintaining a historically black cemetery.

The Enterprise-Journal reports the cemetery is on 2.71 acres and is separated from the main Magnolia Cemetery by a chain link fence. The 15-acre Magnolia Cemetery is maintained by its own association.

“People are buried out there from the 1800s,” Celia Gordon Pearson, president of United Cemetery Association, told supervisors this past week.

Pearson said there is a lot of history out there.

“I’m just going to have to get someone to go with me plot by plot and tell me who’s buried there,” she said. […]

Youth baseball facility seen as boost for economy

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Brandon Mayor Butch Lee is proposing a 2 percent additional tax on food and beverage sales at local restaurants to pay for a multi-field complex focused on baseball.

He says the goals are to allow the city’s Shiloh Park to convert more to soccer and girls fast-pitch softball.

He tells The Clarion-Ledger that a sportsplex would put his city in a position to host major regional youth sports tournaments.

Town Hall meetings are scheduled for June 4 and 6. […]

Miss. mayoral primaries narrow candidate fields

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Most Mississippi cities elect mayors this year, and party primaries Tuesday narrowed the fields of candidates.

Primary runoffs are May 21. The general election is June 4, with mayoral terms beginning July 1. A candidate must win 50 percent plus one to avoid a runoff, and otherwise the top two vote-getters advance.

In Vicksburg, The Vicksburg Post was reporting late Tuesday that Rep. George Flaggs, Jr., was easily leading five other Democratic candidates with all 11 precincts reporting. Unofficial results showed Flaggs had 2,590 votes, Linda Fondren had 1,515 and first-term Mayor Paul Winfield had 402. […]

4 incumbents out in south Mississippi

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Four incumbent south Mississippi mayors have lost their re-election bids.

WLOX reports that Gautier Mayor Tommy Fortenberry lost his Republican primary to Gordon Gollott. Gollott faces independent Edward Harding in the general election.

Mayor Jerry Alexander lost in Wiggins; Joel Miles won the GOP nomination there. […]

FBI agents arrest Canton alderman

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FBI spokesperson Deborah Madden confirmed Canton Alderman Louis Smith, who represents Ward 4, was arrested by agents at 2:30 Wednesday afternoon, WLBT reported.

Sheila Wilbanks of the U.S. Attorney’s Office wouldn’t confirm the specific charges against Smith but said a court hearing is scheduled for 1:30 Thursday afternoon. […]

List of Alcorn Commencement celebrities grows, Omarosa Manigault to attend

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The Reverend Omarosa Manigault, former star of the “Apprentice” and fiancée of the late Oscar-nominated star of “The Green Mile”, Michael Clarke Duncan will attend Alcorn’s 2013 Commencement Convocation.

Alcorn announced in March that Marc H. Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League – the nation’s largest civil rights organization, will deliver the 142nd Commencement Convocation remarks on Saturday, May 11 at 8:30 a.m. in the Davey L. Whitney HPER Complex. The Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees will be presented to Morial during the ceremony.

During the Commencement Convocation President M. Christopher Brown II will bestow five President’s Honorarii Alcornite Societatis Awards. The awards are given in recognition of an individual’s “distinguished service within their profession, discipline or other human endeavor.” Selection requires sufficient evidence of both “the knowledge and character emblematic of Alcornites, as well as a demonstrated interest and commitment to the University,” explained President Brown. […]

Manning granted stay of execution due to ‘flawed’ hair analysis

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A death row inmate convicted of killing two college students in December 1992 has been issued a stay of execution after his attorneys raised doubts as to what they call ‘new evidence.’

Willie Jerome “Fly” Manning had been scheduled to die by lethal injection on Tuesday, May 7 at 6 p.m. But just before 2 p.m., Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner (MDOC) Christopher Epps told a room of people waiting to witness the execution that Manning had been granted a stay by the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Manning was convicted for the brutal murders of Mississippi State University Students Tiffany Miller and Jon Steckler in Oktibbeha County. […]

Jackson mayor Harvey Johnson defeated in primary

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Local businessman Jonathan Lee will face city Councilman Chokwe Lumumba in a May 21 primary for the Democratic race for mayor.

Incumbent Mayor Harvey Johnson, who was facing 10 Democratic challengers on the ballot, conceded defeat Tuesday evening.

“I’m obviously disappointed in the results of the election, but this is the American way. We have to respect the Democratic process, we’ll do that and move forward,” Johnson said. “I’m looking at accomplishments. I’m looking at a legacy and I’m fairly sure whoever assumes the office of mayor in the next four years will build on that foundation we’ve built over the past 12 years.”

Businessman Jonathan Lee and Jackson Councilman Chokwe Lumumba advance to a mayoral runoff election on May 21. […]