Eminent Domain Action Begins for 12 Lots in Burns Bottom
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ESTABLISHED 1879 | COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI CDISPATCH.COM 75 ¢ NEWSSTAND | 40 ¢ HOME DELIVERY THURSDAY | JULY 18, 2019 Eminent domain action begins for 12 lots in Burns Bottom CRA president: ‘There’s been plenty of notice’ CRA Presi- property is not new to any of tempts to work with the proper- dent John Acker them. All of these people have ty owners have not been fruit- BY MARY POLLITZ domain action to obtain the said the eminent refused multiple offers.” ful. We are hoping it doesn’t [email protected] properties. domain-target- Acker said the 12 properties end up in the legal process but Eminent domain is the forc- ed properties include seven vacant lots, lots we’ve exhausted everything.” After four years of unsuc- ible sale of private property to all have been with three vacant houses and The CRA has been working cessful negotiations with prop- a public entity for an expressed appraised more two other with tenant-occupied to redevelop Burns Bottom — a erty owners, the Columbus than once al- houses. Though the process for five-block area between north public need. CRA will file the Acker Redevelopment Authority has case in county court and must ready, and CRA eminent domain has started, Third and Fourth streets, run- moved to begin eminent do- prove it is in the public’s best in- has offered owners various Acker said he hopes that the ning north-to-south from Sec- main action to mandate the terest for the owners to sell the prices for their lots — which property owners choose to sell ond to Seventh Avenue — in sale of 12 properties in the property. included administrative allow- rather than continuing with le- hopes of replacing vacant and Burns Bottom Redevelopment Through the court, the prop- ances on top of appraised value gal action. low-value homes with a high- District. erty owners and CRA will both — but to no avail. “Hopefully we are going to er-value housing project. Of During executive session appraise the property, and if “We’ve been negotiating not have to get to that point,” the 74 lots it has targeted, the Tuesday, Columbus City Coun- the judge rules in favor of the for 4 1/2 years,” Acker said. he said. “It was something that organization has successfully cil unanimously approved al- city, the property owner will be “There’s been plenty of notice. we kind of have exhausted all purchased or gained control of lowing CRA to begin eminent paid the fair appraised value. Our desire to purchase the of our (other avenues). Our at- See EMINENT DOMAIN, 3A Preliminary report released ‘Back to the old traditions’ on fatal plane EMCC adds barbering program at Mayhew campus crash Pilot approached runway with tailwind, attempted to climb before crashing BY Slim SmitH [email protected] The National Transportation Safe- ty Board released its preliminary investi- gative report on the plane crash that took the life of a Starkville student pilot in Ox- ford. Little Lake Little, 18, daughter of Starkville Ward 3 Alderman David Little, died after the single-engine Cessna she was piloting crashed at the Ole Miss Golf Course on the af- ternoon of July 6. The report, prepared by NTSB air safety investigator Ed Malinows- ki, can be found at ntsb.gov under Jennifer Mosbrucker/Dispatch Staff “aviation reports” on the “Investiga- East Mississippi Community College Associate Dean of Instruction Michael Busby, left, and David Long, head of tions” tab. the cosmetology and barbering programs at EMCC, sit in the soon-to-be barbering classroom on Tuesday at the During a July 8 press conference Golden Triangle campus in Mayhew. The room is in the process of being emptied so the floor can be waxed before in Oxford, Malinowski said the in- stations are set up for classes. vestigation would consider three major factors — pilot, aircraft and BY AMANDA LIEN weather. [email protected] The preliminary report provided DueTT bringing ‘cool information on all three factors, but When David Long owned his own salon, he was constantly did not reach a conclusion on the frustrated by the training — or lack thereof — of hairdressers clippers’ to market cause of the crash. That determina- he had working for him. tion will be a part of the final report, BY AMANDA LIEN “They would come in and they wouldn’t know the basics of [email protected] which Malinowski said typically how to color or cut,” said Long, who heads East Mississippi takes about a year. Community College’s cosmetology program. “So when I be- The business Tyler Anthony and In the report, two witness ac- came an instructor, I wanted to teach the kinds of students I Thomas White began as college stu- counts described what they saw would have liked to hire.” dents sprang from a problem White shortly before the crash: Beginning in August, Long will also head up EMCC’s new kept encountering in one of his hobbies. “A fixed-base operator at (the Ox- barbering program, which will prepare students to take the For about two years, White — then ford airport) reported that he heard Mississippi Board of Barber Examiners test to become li- an agricultural engineering major at the pilot on the common traffic ad- censed barbers. To achieve that, 20 students each year will Mississippi State University — was cut- visory frequency (CTAF), notifying receive 1,500 hours of training — 40 hours a week — through ting his friends’ and relatives’ hair, even the air traffic that she was in the a nine-month program focused on men’s hair-cutting tech- posting instructional videos from his area. The witness did not see the niques like clipper and scissor cuts, and hairstyles like taper, work on YouTube. airplane at that time. At about (3:15 fade and spike cuts. About two months into the program, “He was always telling me that his p.m.), he heard the pilot announce students will have the chance to open the program’s rough- clippers kept getting too hot and he kept on the CTAF, indicating that the ly $25,000 facility in Mayhew — which includes brand-new having to shut them down every 15 to 20 airplane was landing on runway 9. stations, chairs, sinks and other equipment — to provide hair- minutes,” Anthony recalled. “So after “The pilot’s voice sounded ‘pan- cuts, manicures, pedicures and facials to their friends and hearing about how that was a problem, I icked’ and she did not finish her family members brave enough to visit. wanted to do something about it.” sentences. The pilot did not re- “We want to give them that experience of not just work- Anthony, a senior computer engi- spond to the helicopter in the area See EMCC, 6A See DUETT TECHNOLOGY, 6A asking for her location,” it contin- ued. “The witness saw the airplane See REPORT, 3A WEATHER FIVE QUESTIONS CALENDAR LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC 1 What does a gelotologist study? MEETINGS Today July 22: Colum- 2 What salad originated at the Brown ■ Downtown at Sundown: The Flames entertain Derby restaurant in Hollywood, Califor- bus Municipal at this free concert from 7-9 p.m. at Starkville’s Fire nia, in 1937? School District Station Park. Bring lawn chairs or blankets (no cool- 3 How far is a klick, especially to a Board special-call ers); food vendors will be on site. 662-323-3322. soldier? meeting, 11:30 4 What clothing store chain was ■ MSU Send-Off Party: The Oktibbeha MSU a.m., Brandon named for a Paris bar visited by the Alumni Association Chapter invites new MSU fresh- Isaiah Clark Central Services CEO of the Gap? men, transfer students, parents, alumni, friends Fifth grade, Heritage 5 In what war did Joan of Arc lead the July 22: Lowndes to a free party at 5:30 p.m. at MSU’s Davis Wade French army? County School Stadium, North End State Level Ford Family Room. District budget High 92 Low 74 Answers, 6B RSVP 662-312-0301. Partly sunny and humid hearing meeting, Full forecast on 5:30 a.m., Cen- page 2A. Saturday tral Office ■ MSU Send-Off Party: The Lowndes MSU Alum- July 30: Colum- ni Association Chapter invites new MSU freshmen, Marvin Deonn Jones loves wak- bus Municipal INSIDE transfer students, parents, alumni, friends, to a ing up to his 7-month-old daughter School District Business 5B Dear Abby 4B lunch party, 11:30 a.m. at the MSU Extension each morning. He likes to paint Board, spe- Classifieds6B Obituaries 5A Office, 485 Tom Rose Road, Columbus. Free for houses and lay flooring, but loves cial-call meeting, Comics 4B Opinions 4A new students and two guests; others $10. RSVP God above all else. “He’s my best 6 p.m., Brandon 140TH YEAR, NO. 110 Crossword 6B 662-312-2611. friend,” Jones said. Central Services DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471 2A THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2019 THE DISPATCH • www.cdispatch.com DID YOU HEAR? US Air Force warns against joke event to ‘storm Area 51’ Thursday Prank event on Facebook suggests people attempt to run into the Trump slams congresswomen; mysterious site at 3 a.m. on Sept. 20 BY MICHELLE L. PRICE does not discuss its se- crowd roars, ‘Send her back!’ The Associated Press curity measures and that the test and training range “They never have LAS VEGAS — The provides “flexible, realis- U.S. Air Force has warned tic and multidimensional anything good to say. House blocks maverick Democrat’s people against participat- battlespace” for testing ing in an internet joke and “advanced training in That’s why I say, ‘Hey if Trump impeachment effort suggesting a large crowd support of U.S.