News – Page 471 – 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. […]

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. […]

MDEQ freezes D'Iberville's $3M grant

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The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has frozen a $3 million grant to see how D’Iberville is using the money.

MDEQ spokesman Robbie Wilbur said the order was issued Jan. 28. The grant was for work at the Ocean Expo Aquarium.

There may be concerns about a conflict of interest. […]

Woman gets a year in jail for exploiting 92-year-old

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A Tupelo woman has been ordered to serve a year in prison for exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

Attorney General Jim Hood says Lucy Judon, 55, of Tupelo pleaded guilty at a hearing on Friday.

Judon was accused of taking over $22,000 from a 92-year-old woman she worked for as a private-sitter. She is also accused of opening credit card accounts in the woman’s name and making nearly $3,000 in charges. […]

Debate on funding for private schools shapes up

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The state House could be roiled by multiple debates in coming days over spending public money to send Mississippi students to private schools.
But prospects for such legislation remain murky in the Senate, where leaders have made no clear show of support for the concept.

The House Education Committee has passed two bills that could pay to send students to private schools. The first, House Bill 906, is a measure called Opportunity Scholarships, proposed by Republican Gov. Phil Bryant. The second, House Bill 1004, would provide vouchers using public money for the state’s 60,000-plus special education students in public schools to attend private schools. […]

Mississippi’s Jones out for season with injury

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Mississippi forward Aaron Jones is out for the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a loss to Kentucky earlier this month.

The 6-foot-9 sophomore has been one of the 16th-ranked Rebels’ most important reserves this season, averaging 3.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He’s also second on the team with 32 blocks.
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