Tuesday Dec. 4, 2012 T-storms Today Tonight 50 cents 68 44 Daily Corinthian 80% chance rain Vol. 116, No. 292 • Corinth, Mississippi • 16 pages • One section 2012 Supervisors conditionally accept bid Christmas BY JEBB JOHNSTON estimate for the project, which ner Construction of Ellisville eastern Alcorn County will not [email protected] is $2,136,400. — $2,410,251.57; Buddy Ay- reopen addressed the board. Basket Alcorn County supervisors on The work will include the re- ers Construction of Corinth Supervisor Dal Nelms said it Monday conditionally accepted placement of three dilapidated — $2,417,462.87; TL Wal- is a temporary closure and a Fund the low bid for a major fi fth dis- bridges, including a historic lace Construction of Colum- bridge is about to be installed trict bridge project. bridge, on the road. bia — $2,498,487.55; Phil- on the road. He said the project “A Community Prairie Construction of Tu- “I’m real excited about getting lips Contracting of Columbus was delayed because the plans pelo was the low bidder for the it done,” said 5th District Super- — $2,616,258.80; TLSL, Inc., changed from a culvert to a 19- Tradition” County Road 600 project at visor Jimmy Tate Waldon. “The of Walnut — $2,780,279.39; foot bridge span. $2,176,407.90. For the project bridges have been in bad shape Hill Brothers Construction of In response to some other to move forward, however, it for the last 20 years.” Falkner — $3,445,202.57. comments about the condition will need approval of the state The project had seven other In other business: of County Road 200, he said aid offi ce to have a total project bids: WG Construction of Ri- ■ Residents concerned by ru- Food cost in excess of the engineering pley — $2,401,744.77; Tan- mors that County Road 182 in Please see BID | 2 drive tops Defendants $3,500 enter pleas The spirit of giving is alive and well in the Crossroads during term area as donations continue to arrive daily for the 17th Annual BY JEBB JOHNSTON Corinth Rotary Club/Daily Co- [email protected] rinthian 2012 Christmas Bas- Numerous defendants re- ket Fund. cently entered guilty pleas The civic club and newspa- during the November term per have set a $20,000 com- of Alcorn County Circuit munity fundraising goal this Court. year so 1,000 food baskets can Among the pleas and sen- be given away to local families tences are the following, ac- on Saturday, Dec. 15 at the cording to court records: Crossroads Arena. ■ Jessica Marie Moreno, The total now stands at 35, two indictments for sale $3,580 meaning $16,420 still of a controlled substance needs to be raised from the (marijuana) — Ten years in community as there will be no Mississippi Department of corporate match this year. Corrections custody with Recent donations include eight years suspended and $50 from Hopewell Baptist two to serve; fi ve years of Church, and $100 from Lee probation; $1,000 fi ne ■ Everett Wade McClure, Please see BASKET | 2 possession of two or more precursors — Ten-year sus- pended sentence with fi ve Staff photo by Jebb Johnston years of probation and a Excel Elves Christmas Sparkle $1,000 fi ne ■ Joseph Windsor, 43, Karis (from left), Lucy and Brayden Lemonds share a festive moment on the Sparkle float before possession of two or more the Corinth Christmas parade on Saturday. From Hernando, the three are grandchildren of Cindy precursors — Ten-year sen- promote and Kevin Thomas of Corinth. With a temperature in the upper 60s, the balmy late afternoon drew tence with credit for time a big crowd to the Corinth streets. See Page 2 and upcoming editions for more photos from the literacy parade. Please see PLEAS | 2 BY BOBBY J. SMITH [email protected] Excel by 5 wants all of Welcome center’s open house spreads holiday cheer Corinth and Alcorn County’s children to be ready to learn BY BOBBY J. SMITH to read by the time they are [email protected] fi ve years old. The Corinth-Alcorn County To promote reading the Welcome Center rang in some work toward this mission, Christmas cheer on Monday volunteers from the group with its annual holiday Open will read Christmas stories House. to children during Saturday’s Featuring entertainment by Winter Wonderland — an an- longtime “Mornin’ Show” host nual community event staged and Corinth native Kay Bain, by Magnolia Regional Health door prizes and food from a Center at the Crossroads Are- range of Corinth’s most popular na. eateries, the Open House at- The Excel by 5 Elves will tracted a full house to the Wel- read to children near the cen- come Center. ter of the arena fl oor through- “It’s a great crowd,” said Wel- out the event from 10 a.m. to come Center supervisor Sherry 2 p.m. on Saturday. Brown. “We’ve got so many “Our mission is to pro- people here that we ran out of mote literacy and reading to parking space and had to park children at a very early age,” them in the truck parking area.” said Susan O’Connell, cer- Dressed in Christmas col- tifi cation manager for the ors and keeping up a lively ex- Corinth/Alcorn County Excel change with her audience, Kay by 5 Coalition. “It will help Bain sang a number of Christ- them be better prepared for mas tunes, from classics like school and better prepared “Here Comes Santa Claus” and for life.” “White Christmas” to “Mis- The Excel by 5 Elves are sissippi Christmas” — a local- members of the coalition and ized Christmas carol written by Staff photo by Bobby J. Smith volunteers from community The Welcome Center’s Sherry Brown and Debbie Ryan chip in to prepare the feast at the Open groups, including the Teach- Please see CENTER | 2 House on Monday. er Academy students from the Alcorn Career and Tech- nology Center. The Excel by 5 program is Corinth/Alcorn County Excel by 5 Coalition plans next step a community-based certifi ca- tion designed to improve a BY BOBBY J. SMITH young children. may not see results tomorrow, munity leaders, business, child’s overall well-being by bjsmith@dailycorinthian The fi rst of its kind, this cer- but we will as the years go by.” health care, parents and other age fi ve. Founded by a grant The Corinth/Alcorn County tifi cation program emphasizes One of the objectives during concerned citizens, Excel by from Chevron, the Excel by 5 Excel by 5 Coalition met Fri- the important roles parents the certifi cation process is to 5 works to promote parent- is currently in 27 Mississippi day to review the process for and primary caregivers play educate community about the ing and children’s services communities. the county’s community certi- during their most formative purpose and function of Excel through health fairs, reading The program sets forth a fi cation, elect offi cers and take years – birth to age 5. by 5. The program has four ba- extravaganzas, workshops and variety of standards involv- care of other business. “This is an outstanding pro- sic hallmarks: other events. Excel by 5 com- ing parent training, commu- Excel by 5 was launched in gram to better prepare our munity coalition members nity participation, child care Mississippi in the fall of 2004. smallest citizens for kinder- Community involvement develop a resource list of or- and health to help commu- It is an innovative process de- garten,” said Susan O’Connell, ganizations to be distributed nities focus on supporting signed to encourage and assist certifi cation manager for the A key asset in the life of any to families so parents know communities to become ac- local Excel by 5 effort. “This child is his community. By Please see ELVES | 2 tively involved in supporting is a very worthy program. We forming a coalition of com- Please see PLANS | 2 Index On this day in history 150 years ago Stocks........7 Weather........5 Gen. Joseph E. Johnston arrives in Jackson to oversee the operations Classified......14 Obituaries........3 of Gen. Pemberton in Grenada and Gen. Bragg’s Army of Tennessee at Comics......11 Opinion........4 Nashville. The new command system only complicates an already dif- Wisdom......10 Sports........8 fi cult arrangement between these three dysfunctional commanders. 2 • Daily Corinthian Local/Region Tuesday, December 4, 2012 Staff photos by Jebb Johnston Parade entries of all sizes Walking alone, Pat Hollis (above left) was a unique entry in Saturday’s parade. Decked in Christmas colors and a gift box with Kermit the Frog, the 63-year-old Sa- vannah resident brought much enthusiasm to the event. “This is on my bucket list to be in the Christmas parade,” she said. Hollis is a former Corinth resident. First United Methodist Church (above right) had one of the float entries in Saturday’s parade. CENTER CONTINUED FROM 1 Tupelo years later. It took the holiday season.” Corinth Area Convention him a long time to fi nish The Open House fea- & Visitors Bureau and Bain’s late husband and it.” tured food, door prize the Crossroads Museum. co-host, Buddy Bain. The Northeast Regional donations and volun- “The Welcome Cen- song referenced many lo- Library Library Director teers from the Dinner ter is such an asset for cal areas, and told of how William McMullin was Bell, Taylor’s Restau- the community,” said a Mississippi Christmas one community member rant, Martha’s Menu, the CACVB Director Kristy “makes you feel so good.” present for the festivities.