BROWNING ON BUSINESS Inside, See page 4A ESTABLISHED 1879 | COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI CDISPATCH.COM 50 ¢ NEWSSTAND | 40 ¢ HOME DELIVERY THURSDAY | JULY 30, 2015 14th Ave. project complete Coroner: Two Officials hold Wednesday morning ribbon-cutting weeks until BY ALEX HOLLOWAY [email protected] remains Columbus leaders and community organizers celebrated the completion of roughly 1,800 feet of new construc- tion for the 14th Avenue ditch im- provement project on Monday. identified Work began late last year and in- cluded a combination project of fill- Remains have been sent ing in the old ditch along 14th Avenue and widening the road to build a cen- to state Crime Lab ter turn lane. In all, the project cost a little more than $1.3 million, using funding from an Army Corps of Engi- Luisa Porter/Dispatch Staff BY ISABELLE ALTMAN [email protected] neers grant and the city of Columbus. Cutting a ribbon at the intersection of 14th Avenue and Martin Luther King Columbus Mayor Robert Smith Jr. Drive on Wednesday are, from left, Lauri Gordon, of Greenfield Multi-State Trust; Columbus Mayor Robert Smith; city councilman Marty Turner; Pastor It will be at least two said the ditch improvement has been Steve Jamison; Franklin Hill, with the Environmental Protection Agency; and weeks before human re- “a long time coming” and is the first Trey Hess, with the state Department of Environmental Quality. mains found in the yard phase of more extensive work along of a New Hope residence 14th Avenue, near site of the former the plant’s operation. Since then, EPA start of construction on this NPL site. last week are identified, Kerr-McGee plant. and the state Department of Environ- It also represents the initial start of authorities say. Kerr-McGee Chemical Corpora- mental Quality have worked to clean improvement in this community.” Lowndes County Cor- tion and its successor, Tronox Inc., the site to prevent further contamina- Hill said the Kerr-McGee plant oner Greg Merchant said operated a chemical manufacturing tion. primarily used creosote to treat rail- the burned human re- Merchant facility at the site near the intersec- “The National Priorities List has road cross ties, and EPA also found mains discovered outside tion of Martin Luther King Drive and some of the nation’s worst hazardous indication of pentachlorophenol use 155 Windchase Drive last week have 14th Ave. from 1928 to 2003. waste sites on it,” said Franklin Hill, been sent to the state Crime Lab. In 2011, EPA put the site on its Na- the director of EPA’s Region 4 Super- on the property. Both chemicals are hazardous. Investigators with the Lowndes Coun- tional Priorities List due to contami- fund Division. “This is one of them. ty Sheriff’s Office were looking into the nated water, sediment and soil from But what we see today is the initial See DITCH, 3A disappearance of the Manuel Vasquez when they discovered the remains in two different spots in the yard. Vasquez, 40, who was reportedly last seen June 24, is still missing. He lived at the Windchase ROBERT “TATE” MARSH 1947-2015 Drive home. His wife, Christina Martinez Vasquez, and mother-in-law, Lydia Martinez, were both charged with murder Monday for their roles in the case. They remain in custody on $500,000 bond each. Merchant said evidence suggests the person whose remains were found died inside the Windchase Drive home. DNA samples of Vasquez’s family members have also been sent to the Crime Lab so authorities can determine whether the remains are his, according to Merchant. CMSD budget creates possibility of tax break Schools to use nearly Courtesy photo four fewer mills Tate Marsh, pictured right, an assistant football coach at Heritage Academy the last several years, died earlier this month. He was 67. BY ANDREW HAZZARD [email protected] COLUMN The budget present- ed by the Columbus Mu- nicipal School District at Coach Marsh will be remembered Tuesday’s public budget hearing creates a potential for Columbus taxpayers to Heritage Academy football legend season with- ONLINE owe less this year. out one of ■ LETTER: Read the letter CMSD proposed a passed away July 9 at age 67 their assis- Charles Jones wrote to his old budget with revenues of Andrews tant coaches coach, Tate Marsh, at cdis- $44,690,689 and expendi- BY ADAM MINICHINO sociation of Independent and leaders, patch.com tures of $44,373,645 for fiscal year 2015- [email protected] Schools member schools Robert 2016. officially started football “Tate” impossible to highlight Local revenues make up $12,709,313 new set of warriors Marsh. practice for the 2015 Marsh all of Marsh’s accomplish- of the proposed budget. Approximately took to the fields season. Marsh ments in a playing career 98 percent of local revenues come from A today to find them- Some players in Co- died Thurs- that went from Greens- ad valorem taxes. selves. lumbus who did so had day, July 9, after a battle boro High School West in This year the district is requesting Between the shrill of one less leader to make an with cancer. Greensboro, Alabama, to $281,069 less in ad valorem taxes than whistles and the bellicose impression on their lives. He was 67. Marion Military Institute last year and will be using fewer mills to language spouted by At Heritage Academy, Born in Birmingham, in Marion, Alabama, cover operations and debt services. coaches, Mississippi As- the Patriots started their Alabama, in 1947, it’s See MARSH, 8A See CMSD, 3A WEATHER FIVE QUESTIONS CALENDAR LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC MEETINGS 1 What is the title of the Rolling August 3: Lowndes Supervi- Correction: sors, Courthouse, 9 a.m. Stones debut album in 1964? ■ Luncheon with Books: 2 What president is the only U.S. August 4: Columbus City The West Point Bryan Library’s president to serve two nonconsecu- Council, Municipal Complex, Luncheon with Books listed for tive terms? 5 p.m. Thursday on The Dispatch front 3 What famous young author hid in an August 10: Columbus Mu- page calendar July 29 is actual- attic from Nazis in Amsterdam during nicipal School District Board World War II until she and her family ly scheduled for Aug. 6 at noon. Anslea Woodard of Trustees, Brandon Central were found? We apologize for the error. Third grade, Caledonia 4 What river forms the border be- Offices, 6 p.m. tween Kentucky and Indiana? August 11: West Point High 97 Low 68 5 Joseph Foster founded what shoe Today through Saturday Board of Selectmen, West company? ■ “A Song Can Change Your Point City Hall, 5:30 p.m. Mostly sunny Full forecast on Answers, 8B Life”: The Starkville Com- August 14: Lowndes Super- page 2A. munity Theatre presents this visors, Courthouse, 9 a.m. summer musical revue at 7:30 August 14: Lowndes County p.m. at the Playhouse on Main, School District Board of 108 E. Main St., Starkville. Trustees, District Central INSIDE Tickets are $25. A reception Office, 11 a.m. follows. Limited seating. For August 18: Columbus City Classifieds 7B Obituaries 5A more information, call the box Josilynn McKinney lives in Amory Council, Municipal Complex, 136TH YEAR, NO. 120 Comics 6B Opinions 6A office, 662-323-6855. and enjoys playing. 5 p.m. DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471 2A THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2015 THE DISPATCH • www.cdispatch.com SAY WHAT? DID YOU HEAR? “It was crazy. I was just playing really hard just trying to get my name out (there).” 3 UVa graduates sue Rolling Starkville High School rising senior Tyson Carter, who has received 16 scholarship offers to play Stone over retracted rape story Thursday basketball in college. Story, 1B. BY ALAN SUDERMAN The Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. — Starkville locks in employee pay Three University of Virgin- ia graduates and members of a fraternity profiled in with raises for aldermen, mayor a debunked account of a gang rape in a retracted AP Photo/Steve Helber, File This 2014 file photo, shows have to be dealt with vote bloc that would later approve Rolling Stone magazine the Phi Kappa Psi house at Carver: ‘If I were a after minimum pay Vaughn’s original motion. story filed a lawsuit against the University of Virginia in increases take effect “I was appalled that this came the publication and the ar- Charlottesville, Va. betting man, I’d bet in 2017. back so soon. I think that the votes ticle’s author Wednesday, magazine’s publisher, Jann City staff is work- are in place. Often times when you court records show. (the board’s pay raise Wenner, said that “many ing on a separate get in here, you know how the votes The three men, George factors go into a decision plan to accommo- are, and everybody across this ta- Elias IV, Stephen Hadford is moved up) before like this,” according to the date wage increases ble already knows how the vote’s and Ross Fowler, filed suit Carver report. and workforce de- going to go out,” he said. “We all in U.S. District Court in this term is out.’ In the lawsuit, the three velopment, Mayor know (July 1, 2017) is a false date. New York. They are also 2013 graduates said the ar- BY CARL SMITH Parker Wiseman said Tuesday as As time has told us, six months or suing Rolling Stone’s pub- ticle “created a simple and [email protected] he asked aldermen to pump the a year will go by and it’ll be consid- lisher, Wenner Media. direct way to match the al- brakes and allow the study to pro- ered a pending pay raise and get A lawyer for the men Starkville’s lowest-paid employ- leged attackers” from the ceed.