BROWNING ON BUSINESS Inside, See page 4A ESTABLISHED 1879 | COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI C DISPATCH.COM 50 ¢ NEWSSTAND | 40 ¢ HOME DELIVERY THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 11, 2014 Columbus native at Pentagon on 9/11 recalls attack building. Lewis Still, Lewis suffered. there was a connection I had ‘To me, there are no words to describe it’ was approxi- with the base,” she said. ■■■ BY NATHAN GREGORY “Never forget” is the phrase mately 200 yards In July 2001, Technical Sgt. [email protected] used. But forgetting that day away from the Lewis was assigned to the is what Marie Hood Lewis has impact. The Caledonia High School Pentagon for the Directorate he anniversary of been trying to do for 13 years. She survived graduate is one of 15 children of Supply. Two months later, the Sept. 11 attacks The Columbus native and uninjured, as did born to Susie Hood, who still she arrived at her office on the T is observed by many 20-year Air Force veteran was her husband, Lewis lives in Columbus. Lewis joined fourth floor of the south side of Americans as a day of remem- in the Pentagon when terrorists Michael Lewis the Air Force in 1986, following the building. brance for those who died in the hijacked American Airlines Sr., who was also in the build- in the footsteps of four brothers “We were listening to the attacks, as well as an opportuni- Flight 77 and flew it into the ing, and her then-infant daugh- who also joined. radio and we heard this news ty to thank first responders and Pentagon, killing all 64 people ter, who was in the Pentagon “We stayed three miles from break come in about the plane heroes. aboard and 125 others in the daycare. Columbus Air Force Base, so See 9/11, 8A CMSD board Coolin’ off Columbus votes to hire annexation supe’s wife goes to court Board member says next week process led to ‘undue Some objections burden’ being placed withdrawn; hearing set on administrator for 9 a.m. Monday BY SARAH FOWLER BY NATHAN GREGORY [email protected] [email protected] The Columbus Columbus’ 2011 Municipal School annexation plan will Board, with a 3-2 go before a judge next vote, has hired week. the wife of the Judge Kenneth district’s superin- Burns will hear the tendent to be an case next week in elementary school Lowndes County Turnage teacher. Hickman Chancery Court be- During a board ginning Monday at 9 meeting Monday, the board a.m. According to court documents, hired Adilah Zalzala to be a spe- parties who had obtained legal rep- cial education teacher at Fair- resentation to contest the plan have view Elementary. Zalzala is the dropped their objections and with- wife of CMSD Superintendent drawn from the case. Philip Hickman, who was chosen Columbus City Council Attorney in July to lead the district. Jeff Turnage confirmed the with- Board members Currie Fisher, draws Wednesday but said there are Greg Lewis and board president still some unrepresented objectors Angela Verdell voted in favor of who have the option of coming for- hiring Zalzala. Board members ward. Jason Spears and Glenn Lautzen- Even if there were no remaining hiser were opposed. objectors, Turnage said the hearing Zalzala, who is replacing a must still take place because the city teacher who took an elementary has to provide a burden of proof that teaching job within the district, the annexation is needed. will earn $42,000 a year in the The annexation would add about job. Zalzala has more than a de- 1,462 residents, 638 homes and 44 cade’s worth of experience in businesses to the city, according to Luisa Porter/Dispatch Staff special education, according to Madison Dooley, 7, eats a shaved ice treat from the Snowie truck Tuesday after soc- Lowndes County tax assessor Greg Hickman. cer practice at the soccer field behind Joe Cook Elementary. Madison is the daughter Andrews. That’s about 615 parcels See CMSD, 8A of Vivian Dooley and Kashka Pruitt of Columbus. See ANNEXATION, 10A Investigation of gun buyback West Point selectmen fire program clears city Water & Light superintendent 2013 event took 64 guns off no evidence of wrongdoing when the city council voted City leaders decline to minate the employment of Dwight Columbus streets to set aside $10,000 in its gen- Prisock effective immediately. The eral fund for the program, discuss reason decision was a unanimous 4-0 vote BY NATHAN GREGORY which allowed city residents with Jimmy Clark, Linda Hannah [email protected] to trade in guns for cash. BY NATHAN GREGORY and William Binder all in support of The Columbus Police De- [email protected] fellow selectman Gary Dedeaux’s The Mississippi Office of the State Au- partment ultimately bought motion. Ward 5 selectman Keith ditor has determined that the gun buyback Smith 64 guns from residents and West Point selectmen fired the McBrayer did not vote, as he was program held by the city of Columbus last destroyed them. The com- city’s water and light department presiding over the meeting in the year was not illegal. plaint challenged the city’s authority to use superintendent Tuesday. absence of Mayor Robbie Robinson. Spokesperson Brett Kittredge con- taxpayer dollars for that purpose. After discussing the personnel After the decision, Prisock wrote firmed Wednesday that the office sent the Columbus Mayor Robert Smith, contact- matter in executive session, the on the wall of a Facebook group city a closure letter stating that it found See BUYBACK, 10A board voted unanimously to ter- See WEST POINT, 8A WEATHER FIVE QUESTIONS CALENDAR LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC MEETINGS 1 What agricultural crop is Cuba’s Friday, Sept. 12 September 11: main export? ■ Stella Shouting Contest: In this playful homage 2 Which veteran American astronaut Columbus City to Tennessee Williams’ characters Stella and Stanley made a trip into space at the age of Council, City Kowalski from “A Streetcar Named Desire” at 204 77? Hall, 5 p.m. Fifth St. S. in front of Hollyhocks, contestants mimic 3 What Dublin-born author won both September 12: a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award Stanley’s iconic yell of “Stella” up to the balcony, for Lowndes County during his lifetime? prizes and bragging rights. Register at 5:30 p.m.; con- Ethan Box School Board, 4 What do postmen and nurses wear test begins at 6 p.m. Free to participate. Sponsored Second grade, Caledonia that appears in the International Central Office, Radio Alphabet? by Hollyhocks, Tennessee Williams Tribute committee, 11 a.m. High 92 Low 72 5 What descriptive expression in Main Street Columbus, WCBI and Better Brands Dis- September downhill skiing means to aim straight tributing Co. Call 662-329-0025 for more information. 15: Lowndes Chance t-storms for the bottom? Full forecast on Answers, 10B County Board page 2A. Saturday, Sept. 13 of Supervisors, ■ Streetcar Run: This 5K run starting at 8:30 a.m. courthouse, 9 at the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center, 300 Main a.m. St., traces the route of bygone streetcar tracks in September 16: INSIDE Columbus. It is presented by the Tennessee Williams Columbus City Tribute committee and race volunteers. (Race day reg- Council, munic- Classifieds9B Obituaries 5A istration opens at 7 a.m.) Download the registration Jeremy Hathcock works at Gary’s ipal complex, 5 135TH YEAR, NO. 157 Comics 7B Opinions 6A form at muw.edu/tennesseewilliams Pawn and Gun in Columbus. p.m. DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471 2A THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2014 THE DISPATCH • www.cdispatch.com SAY WHAT? DID YOU HEAR? “I think it put a little chip on our shoulders this week. I have no doubt our guys will be ready.” Mississippi State defensive coordinator Geoff Col- Gillian Anderson onscreen lins, talking about Alabama-Birmingham’s success soon in ‘Streetcar’ Thursday throwing the ball Saturday. Story, 1B. BY MARK KENNEDY AP Drama Writer A THOUSAND WORDS NEW YORK — If you can’t get to London in time to catch Gillian Anderson spinning onstage in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” her orbit is about to get larger. Starting Tuesday, Fathom Events, National Theatre Live and BY Ex- perience will broadcast to movie theaters world- wide the fresh, critically cheered take on Tennes- AP Photo/Boneau/Bryan-Brown, see Williams’ classic tale Johan Persson from London’s Young Vic This undated image shows actress Gillian Anderson Theatre. during a London produc- The production, direct- tion of “A Streetcar Named ed by Benedict Andrews, Desire.” is set in present day New Orleans on a stage that re- who see it say the revolve volves constantly, offering disappears for them and, if viewers both the shifting they notice it, it’s to notice perspective of the charac- the benefits of it and the ters and their slow turns benefits of the perspective into madness. that it gives,” said Ander- Anderson, who plays son by phone from Lon- Williams’ legendary des- don. perate Southern belle Anderson, the 46-year- Blanche DuBois, is joined old former co-star of “The X-Files,” said that she has AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File by Ben Foster as Stanley, In this 2013 file photo, 1 World Trade Center, center, is viewed from the 62nd floor of Four World Trade Center her lower-class nemesis, long wanted to tackle the in New York. On the thirteenth anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, 1 World Trade Center will soon and Vanessa Kirby as his doomed Blanche onstage open to its first tenants and Four World Trade Center is open. suffering wife. The spin- and compares it to riding ning stage might sound a stallion every night that like a recipe for motion she cannot ever tame.