Kermit – Page 41 – The Mississippi Link

Cleotha Staples of Staple Singers siblings dies

Cleotha Staples, whose smooth and velvety voice helped set apart the sound of the influential and best-selling gospel group The Staple Singers, died Thursday, Feb. 21, at age 78.

Staples, the eldest sister and member of the group her father Roebuck “Pops” Staples started in the 1940s, was at her Chicago home and had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for the past decade, said family friend and music publicist Bill Carpenter.

The group included sisters Pervis, Yvonne, Mavis and Cynthia, but Cleotha was the backbone, defining herself by being the “strong, silent type,” said Carpenter, author of “Uncloudy Day: The Gospel Music Encyclopedia.” […]

Woman convicted in child's death up for parole

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Lisa Ameen Crevitt, who admitted taking LSD and tossing her toddler into a river canal, is up for parole in March after 27 years in prison.

The child’s father is fighting to keep her behind bars.

“She doesn’t deserve freedom,” Jeff Crevitt said.

Lisa Crevitt was sentenced to life in prison in 1985 for the murder of her 21/2-year-old daughter, Nikki. She had claimed the girl was abducted May 16, 1985, from a store in what was then Battlefield Mall in Vicksburg. […]

Mississippi finally abolishes slavery

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Due to a procedural glitch the last time around, Mississippi – this month – formally ratified the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery within the state.

It comes a bit late though.

The United States abolished slavery with a constitutional amendment in 1865. But, there were several states that opposed the 13th amendment. And Mississippi didn’t get around to voting on it until 1995. […]

Woman arrested for filing fake insurance claims

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A Bay St. Louis woman has been arrested following indictment on two counts of insurance fraud, Attorney General Jim Hood said.

Dana Aikens, 37, was arrested on Feb. 1 and indicted by a Hancock County Grand Jury. The indictment alleges that Aikens executed “a scheme to defraud” Geico Insurance Company and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. On count one, Aikens is alleged to have filed a claim for damage from an automobile accident that had already been covered by another insurance company. On count two, the defendant filed a claim for damages in an accident that allegedly never happened. […]

Myrlie Evers-Williams keynote speaker at Alcorn alumni event in Atlanta

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Alcorn University’s Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, civil rights activist Myrlie Evers-Williams, will be speaking at an annual alumni event this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia.

Evers-Williams, 79, is the keynote speaker and her theme is: “Coming together, moving forward.”

More than 600 alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends of Alcorn State University will come together on Thursday, Feb. 21 through Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013 for the Alcorn State University National Alumni Association’s annual Mid-Winter Conference.

“A Past to Cherish…. A Future to Fulfill” is the theme, and the meeting will be held at the Marriott Marquis Atlanta. […]

Leflore County nurse sentenced to drug court

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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. […]