2013 – Page 72 – The Mississippi Link

Leflore County nurse sentenced to drug court

A Sidon woman, who worked as a nurse at a Leflore County nursing home, has been sentenced to drug court for taking controlled substances from the facility and using them herself.

Stephanie Ray Barton, 46, appeared before Judge W. Ashley Hines in Leflore County Circuit Court on Jan. 30 and entered an open plea of guilty to one count of obtaining a controlled substance by means of fraud or subterfuge.

Barton was a licensed practical nurse working at Golden Age Nursing Home in Greenwood. Barton was accused of stealing Lorcet, a prescription painkiller containing hydrocodone, by signing for the drug on patients’ records and then keeping the medication for her own use. […]

Prison escapees plead guilty to kidnapping

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Federal officials said Darian “Drake” Pierce, 35, of Bogalusa, Louisiana, and Ricky L. Wedgeworth, 38, of Memphis, Tennessee, have pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping.

Pierce and Wedgeworth entered their plea on Feb. 11 in federal court. They will both be sentenced on May 30, 2013.

Officials said on March 4, 2011, Pierce and Wedgeworth escaped from the Louisiana State Police Headquarters compound where they were both serving 25-year sentences. They traveled to the Fairfield Inn in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where, on March 7, they assaulted, carjacked, and kidnapped the victim, David Cupps, a businessman from Sunbury, Ohio. […]

Tupelo teen charged in parking lot assault

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An 18-year-old has been charged with aggravated assault after she allegedly cut another woman in the neck and throat in a Kroger parking lot earlier this month.

Virginia Flores was charged by Tupelo police for an incident that occurred on Feb. 9. Reportedly, an altercation between Flores and the female victim began as they were driving down the roadway in separate cars and escalated when they pulled into the parking lot of a Kroger grocery store on West Main Street. […]

Von Drehle Corp. locating to Adams County

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Officials from von Drehle Corporation said the company is locating manufacturing operations to Natchez. The company, which provides paper products to commercial and industrial consumers nationwide, will create at least 100 new jobs; make investments in additional converting equipment and subsequently install a paper machine.

Von Drehle has acquired the former Mississippi River Pulp facility, which closed its doors in November 2012. From its new Natchez location, von Drehle will manufacture paper products formerly produced by Mississippi River Pulp, as well as its own product lines. […]

'NCIS' renewed for next year as Mark Harmon re-ups

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Fans of “NCIS” can breathe easy. Mark Harmon will be sticking around, and his hit drama is returning next season.

CBS announced Harmon’s one-year contract extension along with the renewal of a show that just keeps getting bigger.

Now in its 10th season, “NCIS” for the first time ranks as TV’s most-watched program, CBS said, outpacing even NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.” `’NCIS” logs an average 21.5 million viewers each week, up 7 percent over last year. […]

Suspect arrested in fatal nightclub shooting

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Bond has been set at $200,000 for a 17-year-old Starkville teen charged with murder in a fatal shooting at a nightclub on Feb. 14.

The teenager made an initial court appearance Friday. He remains in the Lowndes County jail.

The shooting occurred just minutes after midnight at the Crossroads lounge on Mississippi Highway 182 at the Lowndes-Oktibbeha County line. Authorities said the incident occurred during a Valentine’s Day party. Other details were not released. […]

State and Toyota agree on $29 million settlement

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Attorney General Jim Hood joined 29 other states in announcing a $29 million settlement with Toyota Motor Corporation and its related North America entities over allegations Toyota concealed safety issues related to unintended acceleration.

Toyota agreed to pay $29 million to settle consumer protection claims and has agreed to provide additional restitution and incentives to vehicle owners to promote compliance with unintended acceleration safety recalls. As a result of the settlement, Mississippi will receive $561,288.60 and Toyota will be restricted from advertising the safety of vehicles without sound engineering data to back such safety claims.

The states are alleging that Toyota engaged in unfair and deceptive practices when it failed to timely disclose known safety defects with accelerator pedals. […]

Thompson opposed to 5-day mail delivery

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Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said he is disappointed by the United State’s Postal Service’s (USPS) decision to end a six-day mail delivery.

That change is slated to begin in August 2013.

Thompson said the decision made by the USPS will have an adverse impact on residents who live in rural areas throughout Mississippi – often a great distance from postal facilities. […]

Tornado damages closes black military museum in Hattiesburg

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The African American Military History Museum will be closed for at least one year because of damage it suffered from last Sunday’s tornado.

Rick Taylor, executive director of Hattiesburg’s Convention and Tourism commissions, which oversee the museum, tells The Hattiesburg American roof damage caused damage to the museum.

Museum manager Latoya Norman said rainwater soaked many of the items in the museum, both those that were on display and those that were in the archives. […]

Attorney asks for mediation in Bowling lawsuits

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Two alleged victims who filed separate civil lawsuits filed against former Mississippi and Alabama prep football coach Dwight Bowling have asked a federal judge to order case sent to mediation.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports that the men, now adults, claim Bowling molested them when they were Smithville, Miss., students. They also claim that Monroe County School District for which Bowling worked failed to act on complaints about Bowling and is responsible for damages inflicted upon them.

This month, their attorney, Donald Medley of Hattiesburg, filed a motion to compel mediation in the lawsuits filed in 2011. […]