News Briefs From Across The State
By Monica Land
27-year-old worked at two area schools
Authorities said a former assistant coach at two Rankin County schools has been charged with gratification of lust and sexual battery. They said the charges are related to allegedly inappropriate contact with a student.
Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey said that 27-year-old Matthew Wilder had worked at McLaurin Attendance Center and Florence Middle School.
Bailey said Wilder no longer works for the Rankin County School District.
Bailey said there's no evidence to suggest Wilder was involved in inappropriate contact with more than one student.
Hagan won't be prosecuted on exploitation charge
Ocean Springs alderman James Hagan will not be prosecuted on a charge of child exploitation.
The Jackson County District Attorney's Office filed a motion Friday saying it cannot prove Hagan “willfully possessed'' a sexually explicit video or knew that it was on his city-issued laptop.
The motion said a forensic examination showed the video file was created on the laptop on Dec. 3, 2009, at 10:28 p.m. and was last accessed just minutes later at 10:39 p.m.
The motion said forensic examiners were not able to determine the means by which the file was created on the laptop. The motion said the state cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hagan willfully created or viewed the video “especially in light that it was viewed only once.''
Miss. lawsuit: Twin Creeks tried to deceive state
Mississippi state government says Twin Creeks Technologies trumped up a single solar panel sale in August in an attempt to hold onto the $27.7 million in state aid the company received to build a solar plant in Senatobia.
The fraud allegation comes in a lawsuit Mississippi officials filed in an unsuccessful effort to block Twin Creeks, a San Jose, Calif. firm, from selling its patents to GT Advanced Technologies for $10 million. The suit was also unsuccessful in blocking creditor Silicon Valley Bank from reaping $7 million from the sale.
Twin Creeks, which is liquidating, offered before the suit to erase its debt by paying $1.25 million, plus giving the state rights to up to $8 million in future technology royalties, income the state described as “highly uncertain.''
Mound Bayou gets grant
Congressman Bennie Thompson said the United States Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $1,300,900 to the Delta Health Center, Inc located in Mound Bayou.
