City Seeks Grant to Restore Blighted Lots
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ESTABLISHED 1879 | COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI CDISPATCH.COM 50 ¢ NEWSSTAND | 40 ¢ HOME DELIVERY WEDNESDAY | JULY 19, 2017 Wiggins wins Caledonia by one vote Affidavit counted Wednesday morning broke a tie BY SLIM SMITH [email protected] Caledonia election results Mayor Mitch Wiggins is the new mayor of Caledo- Mitch Wiggins 199 nia. Bill Lawrence (I) 198 A lone accepted affidavit ballot today put the former alderman over the top, by a 199-198 vit ballots this morning — two of margin, as he defeated incumbent Bill Law- the voters are not registered and Wiggins rence. two live outside the city limits. Deanna Robinson/Dispatch Staff “I have a deep gratitude to the citizens of Election workers Donna Egger, Betty Kirkland, Martha Hopkins and Vikki The race was tied after in-person and absen- Bruce count absentee ballots at the community center in Caledonia tee ballots were counted Tuesday night. Elec- Caledonia for entrusting me with the job of Tuesday evening. tion commissioners rejected four other affida- See CALEDONIA, 8A City seeks grant A house with a ‘story behind it’ to restore blighted lots Program would target properties with vacant, dilapidated houses BY ALEX HOLLOWAY [email protected] The city of Colum- bus is seeking grant funds to remove and replace homes on blighted properties. The city council unanimously ap- proved City Planner George Irby applying Irby for a $500,000 Mis- sissippi Home Corporation Blight Elimination Program grant, which could allow up to $15,000 per home for acquisition and demolition. The grant does not require a match from the city. Irby said blighted properties are those the city condemns, or declare unfit for human occupation. The targeted properties must be iden- See COUNCIL, 3A Second Baptist deacons to release offering to trustees, finance committee Luisa Porter/Dispatch Staff The Haven, on Second Avenue North, is one of the city’s oldest houses. It was the home of freed slaves Thomas and Isaac Judge does not hold Williams in the 1840s. It’s the only known house in Columbus commissioned by and for freedmen in pre-Civil War Columbus. pastor, head deacon in contempt of court House built by and for freed slaves for sale in Columbus BY ISABELLE ALTMAN BY ISABELLE ALTMAN INSIDE rooms that have a character and a [email protected] [email protected] ■ OUR VIEW: House offers an enigmatic story behind it,” Beard said. footnote to antebellum history. Page 6A And that story is unique, he said. A judge has restored the Second The Haven is the perfect place for Outdating many of the local Greek Baptist Church board of trustees’ someone who wants a house with a revival-style antebellum homes built and finance committee’s access to story behind it. ter and sitting on a hill which, 170 by white planters, The Haven was offering collections. So says John Beard, a Realtor and years ago when the home was new, commissioned — and possibly actu- Circuit Judge Jim Kitchens antiques collector who is working to would have overlooked downtown ally built by — brothers Thomas and ordered the church’s deacons to sell the cottage on Second Avenue antebellum Columbus. Isaac Williams, freedmen of color. turn over the offering funds to North, nestled in a shady lot just “It would do for someone who those bodies during a court hear- across from Trotter Convention Cen- loves old historical homes with See THE HAVEN, 4A ing Tuesday in Oktibbeha Coun- See CHURCH, 8A WEATHER FIVE QUESTIONS CALENDAR LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC 1 Measured by land mass, what is the MEETINGS Thursday Today: Colum- largest country in the world? ■ Sounds of Summer: Swing Shift entertains at final 2 In English music, what name was bus Lowndes given to short songs for 3 or 4 unac- free Sounds of Summer concert of 2017 from 7-9 p.m. at County Emer- companied voices and groups which the Columbus Riverwalk. Bring lawn chairs or blankets. gency Manage- performed them? Cold beverages and food available for purchase. No pets ment, 3 p.m., 3 Which field marshal commanded the or coolers. For more information, call 662-328-6305. CFR Education Farrell Wigul British forces in France during most of Center, 1601 World War I? First grade, Annunciation 4 According to the Bible, where was Friday Main St. the Tower of Babel? ■ Disney animator: Emmy-winning Disney animator and Aug. 1: Cale- High Low 5 To which family of fish does the bib Starkville native Andy Harkness signs copies of his book donia Board of 94 74 or pout belong? “Bug Zoo” at 10 a.m. the Starkville Public Library. Aldermen, 6 Chance of t-storms Answers, 8B p.m., Town Hall Full forecast on Sept. 5: Cale- page 2A. July 20-22 and 26-29 donia Board of ■ SCT: Unplugged 3: Starkville Community Theatre Aldermen, 6 INSIDE presents a showcase of music from the ’70s to today p.m., Town Hall Classifieds7B Obituaries 5A with a diverse group of area singers and musicians. Comics 4B Opinions 6A Performances are 7:30 p.m. each night at the Playhouse Crossword 8B NATS 7A on Main, 108 E. Main St., Starkville. Tickets are $25 Dear Abby 4B Scene & Seen 2A and support SCT. A dessert reception follows. Limited Elwanna Johnson likes to 138TH YEAR, NO. 110 Food 5B seating; make reservations at 662-323-6855. grow daylilies. DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471 2A WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017 THE DISPATCH • www.cdispatch.com DID YOU HEAR? Railroad to pay $3.9M for train death of film worker Wednesday Jury: CSX Transportation shares in the TOWNSEND BLUES FESTIVAL blame for freight train collision even The OSS (“Original Southside”) group celebrated the annual though film crew was trespassing Scene&Seen Townsend Blues Festival on the first weekend of July in Columbus. BY RUSS BYNUM vent this tragedy,” Jones’ The Associated Press parents, Richard and Eliz- abeth Jones of Columbia, SAVANNAH, Ga. — A South Carolina, said in a railroad owner plans to ap- written statement. peal a jury’s decision that A spokesman for the it must pay $3.9 million Jacksonville, Florida-based to the family of a movie company, Rob Doolittle, worker killed on a Georgia said CSX plans to appeal railroad trestle in 2014, a the jury’s decision. spokesman for the compa- “CSX is deeply sympa- ny said. thetic to the terrible loss The jury in Savannah suffered by the family of decided in a civil verdict Ms. Sarah Jones, but re- Monday that CSX Trans- spectfully disagrees with portation shared in the the conclusions reached blame for the deadly by the jury today,” Doolit- freight train collision even tle said. though the film crew was The film’s director, Ran- trespassing. dall Miller, served a year in The parents of Sarah jail after pleading guilty to Jones sued CSX in Cha- involuntary manslaughter tham County State Court, and criminal trespassing saying the railroad shared charges. Jones’ parents blame for their daughter’s said CSX also failed to take death. The 27-year-old precautions that could camera assistant died in have averted the crash on the crash Feb. 20, 2014, a trestle spanning the Alta- Pat Hubbard, Sylvia Payne, Mary Orr and Margarette Burks Fearington during the first day of maha River near Jesup in shooting “Midnight Rid- southeast Georgia. er,” an ill-fated movie Jones’ family also had about Gregg Allman of the sued Miller, his fellow Allman Brothers Band. production managers and “This trial disclosed a several other defendants. number of exceptionally All of them except for CSX poor judgments and ig- settled or otherwise re- nored opportunities by solved their cases out of CSX Transportation to pre- court. CONTACTING THE DISPATCH Office hours: Main line: n 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon-Fri n 662-328-2424 HOW DO I ... Email a letter to the editor? 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Entered at the post office at Columbus, Mississippi. Periodicals postage paid at Columbus, MS POSTMASTER, Send address changes to: The Commercial Dispatch, P.O. Box 511, Columbus, MS 39703 Published by Commercial Dispatch Publishing Company Inc., 516 Main St., Columbus, MS 39703 Craig Simmons, Sammie Lee and Ted Simmons FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE Saudi woman in miniskirt video TONIGHT THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY Clear and humid Mostly sunny and Mostly sunny and A t-storm in spots in the A couple of t-storms in humid humid afternoon the afternoon arrested after public outcry 73° 96° 75° 97° 75° 92° 74° 90° 73° Media: Woman detained for wearing ‘immodest clothes’ ALMANAC DATA Columbus Tuesday THE ASSOCIATED PRESS detained by police in the channel al-Ekhbariya.