The Daily Press http://www.dailytimesleader.com http://www.dailytimesleader.com/apfeed.xml--1 Copyright The Daily Press 2012-02-05T06:34:25-05:00 urn:publicid:dailypress.com:26332012-02-05T06:34:25-05:002012-02-03T17:20:14-05:00Copyright 2010 Daily Times Leader For decades citizens of West Point have assembled together at the banquet to join in the honorary celebration of different community residents who have done extraordinary things, and this year several citizens will be honored, one of which remains a surprise until the night of the banquet, said Growth Alliance staff member Robin Perry. Set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Civic Center, the Growth Alliance will offer guests cocktails and a time for networking followed by dinner provided by Anthony's Good Food Market of West Point, presentation of awards and words for guest speaker Joe Max Higgins, director and chief executive officer of the Columbus Lowndes Development LINK. A graduate of Arkansas State University, Higgins has worked in the area of economic development for 16 years and helped to create close to 14,000 manufacturing job after completion of 120 major community and economic projects and worked to bring in nearly $5 billion in industrial investments. Perry said at the banquet Higgins will dive further into economical development plans for West Point and Clay County and further discuss the recent partnership between the Growth Alliance and the LINK. Two newly appointed state economic development representatives of Governor Phil Bryant, Tray Hairston and Josh Gregory, will also be in attendance Tuesday and will touch on the topic of economic development. The recognition and honor of West Point's two new Hall of Fame inductees are always a treat to attendants each year at the banquet, and this year former West Point Fire Chief Caradine Young and former West Point Public Works Director Ricky Wilson, Sr., who is deceased, have been chosen as the 2012 Hall of Fame honorees. Young's extensive military career includes his service in World War II after joining the United States Infantry, duty in the Korean Conflict and 12 years of service in the U.S. National Guard where he later attained the rank of Master Sergeant. Young served as fire chief in West Point for 20 years and oversaw the construction of Fire Station No. 1 on Brame Ave. Wilson's long employment history with the city of West Point spans back to the 1970s where he was first employed as a summer worker. A past active member of Third Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church in West Point, Wilson, who passed away last January, is remembered by past employers as working tirelessly and without hesitation in his regular duties as well as the clean up of natural disasters such as ice storms, floods and wind damaged areas. Wilson's Hall of Fame honor will be accepted by his family at the banquet. This year's Hall of Fame is sponsored by Renasant Bank of West Point whose president is Perry Green. The award for Citizen of the Year continues to be a thing of anticipation at the banquet, and Perry said he's hoping everyone will come out and see who this special award will be given to. “The citizen of the year is a very huge surprise,” Perry said. “I think everyone will be pleased with this one.” West Point Main Street Association awards will also be given out Tuesday night, Perry said. West Point, MSSheena BakerUpcoming Growth Alliance Banquet To Honor CitizensDaily Times Leaderurn:publicid:dailypress.com:2633Change0Usable2012-02-03T17:20:14-05:00 urn:publicid:dailypress.com:26312012-02-03T08:54:18-05:002012-02-02T15:54:48-05:00Copyright 2010 Daily Times Leader Former Clay County Chancery Clerk Robbie Robinson, who helped implement the obtainment of the land last year while still in office, said since 1984 the county has been leasing the land in five year increments, but the final lease installment will end in October of 2015. As the final lease date approaches, the board questioned what they would do about the land and began negotiations with the United States Army Corp of Engineers, which currently owns the property, and this led to the board working to purchase 20.28 acres for $203,000. “We thought that was a little expensive, but the Corp would not budge,” Robinson said. “So we agreed upon that amount and will move forward with the process of purchasing.” If the board does make the purchase the 20.28 acres will be leased to Tom Soya Grain, which currently operates the port, and Tom Soya Grain will continue operating the port under terms of the lease. The lease with Tom Soya Grain will cover the cost of the county purchasing the land, Robinson said. The county finally got approval to purchase the property after Corp of Engineers appraisers were sent in to assess and appraise the land. “The board felt it would be wise to purchase the property from the Corp or Engineer and made a conscious decision to do so for the future of industrial development,” Robinson said. “We just felt it would be prudent for the future of the county. It's been a sweet deal for the county to have a company like Tom Soya Grain to operate the Port and they just pay us an amount for tonnage.” Tom Soya Grain pays the county for all commodities that flow through the port at 15 cents per tonnage, which in turns provides a source of income for the county without the county having to operate the port themselves. On average, the income the county receives through the operation of the port is roughly $23,000 a year. Robinson said when the county first leased the land they made the determination not to be in the stevedore business, so the property has always been sublet to Tom Soya Grain to be used as a port so that agricultural grains, fertilizer and salts for industrial purpose can be shipped up and down the river. Much of the 20.28 acres of property in the purchasing process is undeveloped at this time at wetlands and flooded areas, and the county currently only uses the portion on the north end of the tract. West Point, MSSheena BakerCounty Could Soon Own Portion of Port of ClayDaily Times Leaderurn:publicid:dailypress.com:2631Change0Usable2012-02-02T15:54:48-05:00 urn:publicid:dailypress.com:26282012-02-05T06:34:25-05:002012-02-01T14:22:25-05:00Copyright 2010 Daily Times Leader Currently when the electricity goes out in areas of the city there is no power at the Water Treatment Plant, which restricts the ability to provide water to residents and emergency officials, said Electric Superintendent Dwight Prisock. The Water and Light Department has only one portable generator to run either a well or the main sewer lift station, and in the event of another big power outage like the city experienced after last April's tornadoes, this will give the city the capability to continue providing water to residents until the water is restored. “You don't realize how important it is until you don't have it,” Prisock said. “As long as we don't have a major fire or a major line break, which can happen, we'll be fine. You sometimes get fire with tornadoes, and that would limit the water available for fire protection. This would allow us to not run short.” The city's only other water treatment facility, the south water plant, does not have backup power either. This particular treatment plant is currently offline and has been since the closing of Artex because there's just not enough to man it, Prisock said. The south plant was ran two months last summer to make ensure that it's still in good working condition, and Prisock said everything in the plant is functional. “The north plant, with our current water demand, is more flexible than the south plant,” he said. Prisock said some other surrounding cities do make use of backup generators for water treatment plants, but these cities are not highly dependent upon them. “Backup generation is not something that's been done a lot in the past,” he said. “The electrical power, over 50 years that I can remember, has been extremely reliable so there's been no real effort to get generators on everything.” Prisock also discussed the city's sewer project, which he said the city is making progress on, and the Water and Light Department is also awaiting approval of a $89,840 grant for the main sewer pumping station on Lagoon Road. The installation of sewer lines in Section Road, Old Waverly Road and Lone Oak Road has been completed, and workers have started installing a sewer line on Churchill Road. Two lift stations will soon be installed, and workers have started on the line to connect the Lone Oak Lagoon to the sewer system on Churchill Road, which Prisock said is about three miles of piping. With the lift station in place on north Lone Oak Road the Lone Oak lagoon will be eliminated. The other lift station will be set on Hamblin Road, and two more lift stations will soon be installed on Joe Bryant Road and another section of Lone Oak Road. The Water and Light Department is also continuing to work through the detailed design of the Waste Water Treatment Plant to get it to a final plan stage so bids can be accepted on the project. Funding on this project is expected to be released mid-March, Prisock said.West Point, MSSheena BakerWater Dept. Awaits Grant For Backup PowerDaily Times Leaderurn:publicid:dailypress.com:2628Change0Usable2012-02-01T14:22:25-05:00 urn:publicid:dailypress.com:26262012-02-02T06:35:02-05:002012-01-31T19:18:54-05:00Copyright 2010 Daily Times LeaderWhen West Point firemen arrived at the residence, the entire home was not ablaze, but officials did have to remove several pieces of kitchen cabinets and other items that caught fire.It appears the fire began in the kitchen, but fire officials have not confirmed where the fire broke out at this time.West Point Electric Superintendent Dwight Prisock was also on scene, checking the home's electric meter to see if the fire was electrical.Officials believe no one was home during the time the fire started, and no one had to be transported to the hospital for injuries. West Point, MSSheena BakerFiremen Battle Blazes at Griffin Street ResidenceDaily Times Leaderurn:publicid:dailypress.com:2626Change0Usable2012-01-31T19:18:54-05:00 urn:publicid:dailypress.com:26252012-02-03T06:11:48-05:002012-01-31T19:04:10-05:00Copyright 2010 Daily Times Leader Officer Eddie Jennings with the West Point Police Department said 37-year-old Sinnearie Cannon of West Point was traveling east on Main Street in a 2001 white Chevrolet van when she ran a red light, causing the car accident involving a silver Mercedes, a blue Nissan Altima and a green Honda Accord. Jennings said Cannon was headed down Main Street “at extremely high rates of speed.” Names of victims who were transported to the emergency room are not being released at this time. The accident also caused major damage to the storefront of Gibson's Hair Salon where the windows were busted out. Corporal Stephen Young said Cannon, who has a previous charge of driving under the influence-second offense, was transported to the Clay County jail and is charged with running a red light, another DUI-second offense, implied consent, public profanity, driving with a suspended license, felony assault on a police officer and disorderly conduct. Young said other charges are also pending. West Point, MSSheena BakerOne Arrested After Four-Vehicle AccidentDaily Times Leaderurn:publicid:dailypress.com:2625Change0Usable2012-01-31T19:04:10-05:00 urn:publicid:dailypress.com:26242012-02-04T06:46:43-05:002012-01-31T14:05:27-05:00Copyright 2010 Daily Times Leader Bingham, who was terminated from his position as police chief back in 2009, claims the majority black West Point Board of Mayor and Selectmen fired him because he is white and is currently awaiting proof of such allegation by District Court, which is expected to take this case to trial in the coming months. In a Motion in Limine to exclude witnesses and evidence filed by the city of West Point Sunday, the city asserts that Bingham failed to provide evidence to support his claims, including the affidavits of former police officer Romelle Matthews and current police officer Jesse Anderson, during the discovery deadline of March 28, 2011. Instead Bingham waited until almost a month later before he entered this evidence in discovery, according to the motion. The city claims that Bingham intended to rely upon the testimonies of Matthews and Anderson, who both said they were called “Bingham boys” on several occasions by members of the city board because Matthews and Anderson, both black, allegedly did everything Bingham wanted them to do and refused to target whites for when making arrests, which Matthews and Anderson claimed some board members wanted them to do. West Point, MSSheena BakerKey Evidence in Bingham Case Could Be TossedDaily Times Leaderurn:publicid:dailypress.com:2624Change0Usable2012-01-31T14:05:27-05:00 urn:publicid:dailypress.com:26222012-02-03T06:11:48-05:002012-01-30T14:13:56-05:00Copyright 2010 Daily Times Leader For the first time in almost 100 years, Mississippi republicans have control of the state legislature, and because of this drastic shift it's taken several weeks for democrats and republican representatives to get organized onto the committees they will serve on and begin taking up bills that have been introduced, Gibbs said. Even though several bills have been introduced, no committees have met to take up the bills, he said. Though committees haven't met at this time, representatives have had several briefings, one of which came from the Personnel Board. Gibbs said the state's employers are steadily decreasing, and the rate of pay is perhaps one reason for the decrease. He said the average salary for state employee is $34,000 annually, and six percent of employees make less than that. Legislators have also been briefed by the state economist Dr. Darrin Webb, who noted how strongly Mississippi entered the year 2011 but expects the economy to slow down due to human capital challenge, the fact that small businesses that have developed are not high paying businesses and how much the state depends on federal funds, which the state receives more of than what the entire state budget is. Gibbs said Webb believes the state will be able to meet its budget requirements, and very few cuts will take place in the state budget that will be about the same as it was last year though some areas may get a little more money, he said. “I think the budget will be a thing that requires a lot of discussion,” Gibbs said. On another issue West Point resident Jimmy Davidson asked if the state could do anything that could specifically effect Clay County economically to which Gibbs replied that economic development is carried out through the executive branch of government not the legislative branch. However, he said, the state designates money to Mississippi Development Authority and legislators are working to get more money to fund the expansion of the Howlin' Wolf Museum into the McClure building, which was recently donated to the city of West Point to serve multiple arts purposes. Dwight Dyess, vice chair of the West Point/Clay County Growth Alliance, also addressed the economic development question posed by Davidson. “What we're looking at is trying to bring projects to Clay County, and when we do not only will MDA but the legislature support those projects,” Dyess said. “But we have to have those projects first. The legislature is not in the business of going out and searching for projects.” Gibbs also talked about the issue of teenage pregnancy not only across Clay County but across the state. According to the Mississippi Department of Health, Clay County's teenage pregnancy rate stands at 47.8 per 1,000 teens while the statewide rate stands at about 63 per 1,000 teens. Bumping the state down from where it sits on the teenage pregnancy list nationwide will take effort that begins at home, he said. “I think teenage pregnancy is going to be solved by the community themselves,” Gibbs said. “We have to raise the standards and to get a little more education amongst our young people so they can understand the consequences of teenage pregnancies. You have two roads. If we can get the parents to understand if their child goes this way he's going to prison; if he goes this way he's going to be successful. Now which way do you want him or her to go? So we have to deal with it from that point of view.” Another issue Gibbs address was raised by a citizen who works at West Point Livestock Auction whose family also raises cattle. He claims Mississippi State Extension Office is currently working to put the Livestock Auction, which does pay ad valorem taxes, out of business by telling farmers the best way to sell their cattle is to load them onto a truck and send it straight to the meat packer. “When you do that you cut the Livestock Auction out of business,” said the concerned citizen. “Is there anything we can do to cut funding to Extension Office to stop them from doing this?” Gibbs said he was unaware of this alleged occurrence but will notify the Agriculture Committee chair on the issue. He explained that most Extension funding comes through federal government rather than from state but will still work to see what can be done on state level. Dyess said the “Extension Service is charged with providing the best information and for them to do that it's right; for them to take tax money and compete, that's another thing. There are two issues there.” West Point, MSSheena BakerWhere We Stand: Gibbs Briefs Citizens On State LegislatureDaily Times Leaderurn:publicid:dailypress.com:2622Change0Usable2012-01-30T14:13:56-05:00 urn:publicid:dailypress.com:26212012-02-03T06:11:48-05:002012-01-30T14:06:15-05:00Copyright 2010 Daily Times Leader It just won't work, according to Tyrone Ellis, the first state representative to serve as majority leader for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who addressed citizens of West Point Monday during Issues and Eggs, hosted by the West Point/Clay County Growth Alliance. Ellis, who has served in the legislature since 1980, said for nearly 20 years educational reform has been one of his major concerns and remains a concern of his to this day. “At some point in time I hope we will be able to get to that point where we have educational reform and tax reform,” he said. “What I mean is we'll be able to come in with a comprehensible approach to dealing with our needs of education.” Ellis said in the early 80s many legislators had to fight hard just to get public kindergarten mandated, and now he's working to get preschoolers and kindergarten students learning a curriculum that will ready them for 21th century careers once they enter the workforce. “Mississippi has somehow missed the paradigm shift when the rest of the world shifted from a 'See Spot Run' (education)...to technology-based learning for two and three year olds,” Ellis said. “We're not there yet. We're still trying to deal with 'See Spot Run'. Two and three year old have computers in the classroom today, and we're still talking about 'See Spot Run'. It's something wrong with that picture. We talk about economic development and bringing in projects, but what's going to happen when the project developer gets here and says we need a labor force that's educable and trainable to supply our workforce. How are we going to deal with that when the majority is not even computer-literate enough? No one is operating on manual labor like they used to. You must be computer-literate, pretty much, to even be in maintenance now days.” Mississippi's labor force is on the downhill, Ellis said, and new industry leaders aren't quick to hire people out of work today because of the time and money it would require to train them so business leaders would rather opt to other areas where the labor force is ready to go, he said. The earlier children develop an education the more likely they are to stick it out until graduation which in turn reduces the state's dropout rate and raises the graduation rate from one of the lowest in the country, he said. “We wait until the dropout rate is so high and then try to attack it,” he said. “Once these sixth-graders, eighth-graders, ninth-graders, tenth-graders get to the point of discouragement and say, 'I'm just not going to do this anymore – I'm not passing so why should I continue to do this' they'll drop out. How does that affect us? In a great way because when the students drop out then you have law enforcement issues that you have to deal with. Prevention and education is what deters that incarceration and keeps you from having to incarcerate so many people because the students are educated and have been taught right from wrong. They know which path to take.” Ellis also talked about the consolidation of some of the school districts in the state that could save the state money with these certain schools under one administration. He noted how the Starkville School District refused to consolidate with Oktibbeha County Schools when he served on the Oktibbeha County School Board, saying it was a “power struggle”, and Starkville didn't want Oktibbeha County in control of the schools. Ellis said unfortunately students attending school in the county often times are not given the same resources that can advance their education, meaning students in some city school may have better opportunities. “Look at how over the years our children have lost opportunities to excel because of lack of curriculum and lack of exposure,” Ellis said. “Why should we mistreat students just because they live in the county? Why should we take the chance of losing an engineer or losing a doctor who might have a cure for cancer just because they live in the county because they don't have the labs or they don't have the proper curriculum necessary in order to be educated? At some point in time someone has to bite the bullet and say we're going to do this; we're going to make this right.” West Point resident Greg Banana asked about the consolidation of the West Point School District with the Clay County School District, a topic of concern to many in the community. To this issue, Ellis said it's a local matter, but the state can step in. West Point, MSSheena BakerRep. Ellis Pushing For Educational ReformDaily Times Leaderurn:publicid:dailypress.com:2621Change0Usable2012-01-30T14:06:15-05:00 urn:publicid:dailypress.com:26192012-02-01T06:23:01-05:002012-01-27T14:21:13-05:00Copyright 2010 Daily Times Leader Janet Turnman, director of Clay County Department of Human Services, updated the Clay County Board of Supervisors Thursday on where the DHS stands in its budget and on approximately how much is distributed in food assistance, income assistance and child support each month. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) caseload the Clay County DHS is currently handling remains where it has in recent years at 2,600. This pans out to approximately 6,000 adults and children in Clay County receiving benefits to purchase food, Turnman said. Each month, about $700,000 in SNAP benefits are distributed to these families, which in turn puts $8 million back into Clay County each year, she said. “We want you to understand that we do try to help the people. That's our job to help the people of Clay County,” Turnman said. “It's quite a bit of money that the Department of Human Services puts back into this county.” These funds do not include benefits through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which provides clients with economic assistance with child care payments, transportation and provides them with temporary income while clients search for work. Turman said TANF numbers are not as substantial as SNAP funds. With the large percentage of Clay County residents receiving some type of DHS benefits, mainly SNAP, and the number of individuals on the DHS's waiting list anticipating approval for services, the case workers often times find it difficult to keep up with the demand. “We have a lot of people who are in need; we really do,” Turman said. “The Food Pantry is a big help to us because if someone comes in and applies for food stamps, usually if they're not in dyer need and they have no income at that time then there's a waiting period...A lot of time the Food Pantry will help assist that family until they can actually get the stamps. Sometimes it can be short term, but it can be up to 30 days before they're approved for food stamps.” Close to $300,000 in child support payments are redistributed each month to Clay County families through DHS, she said. When it comes to the overall budget, Turman said she's keeping a close eye on it so that the department doesn't surmount the money it's been allocated. So far this year the department has spent about 13 percent of the approximate $40,640 budgeted for this year, which is the same the department received last year. The department spent about $57,670 last year but reimbursed the county $36,800, which left the DHS with a balance of about $19,800, she said. “We're trying to watch our money. We're trying to do well as far as our spending,” Turnman said. As far as growth at the DHS, Turman said with the recent hiring of two new social workers for the department's Family and Children Services there are now about 13 on staff to assist existing and new clients in Clay County. “That's one part of DHS that continues to grow because we have such a need there,” Turman said. West Point, MSSheena BakerLocal DHS Works To Meet Growing DemandDaily Times Leaderurn:publicid:dailypress.com:2619Change0Usable2012-01-27T14:21:13-05:00 urn:publicid:dailypress.com:26182012-02-01T06:23:01-05:002012-01-27T13:26:25-05:00Copyright 2010 Daily Times Leader That change comes by way of the Common Core State Standards, which will be implemented in all school districts in the nation by 2014, and the purpose of changing the curriculum to Common Core is to allow each student in each state an equal educational opportunity during their kindergarten through twelfth grade years. Parents in the WPSD gathered Thursday night at Church Hill Elementary School and gained valuable insight into the Common Core presented by WPSD Superintendent Burnell McDonald, Director of Federal Programs Reita Humphries and Kris Hollis, supervisor for the Office of Curriculum/Instruction. Humphries said the Common Core is aligned for students to meet college and workforce expectations and is designed to prepare students to compete with other students around the globe in obtaining new age careers. Unlike Mississippi's current frameworks curriculum, the Common Core will be more rigorous to prepare students for college and careers and will involve a lot more hands on activities, Humphries said. “It won't just be pencil, paper and textbook, but they will be producing things to show how they have mastered these skills,” Humphries said. Humphries and Hollis informed parents on some of the differences between the current curriculum and the Common Core curriculum for kindergarten through second grade, since the new standards are being taught to students in these particular grades right now. Instead of kindergartners counting forward to 20 and counting down from 10 they will have to count all the way to 100 by ones and tens beginning in 2014. Instead of describing a rule for sorting objects, kindergartners will have to represent addition and subtraction with objects, fingers, mental images, drawings, acting out situations or other representations. Whereas first graders now only have to recognize and write numbers through 100 they will be taught to add and subtract within the number 20 and will have to measure lengths indirectly and by iterating length units instead of just using objects such as paper clips and cubes to measure length. First graders will also have to tell and write time as opposed to only telling time to the hour and half hour with a digital and analog clock. When it comes to English Language Arts, kindergartens won't simply be asked who, what, when, where and how about a story but will be expected to give key details about a story. First graders will use illustrations and details to describe events in the story as opposed to composing visual images based on text, which they are currently doing. “What's coming down the Common Core is simplifying the number of standards that are actually there. One thing is the Common Core standards are actually comparable to some of the Mississippi Language Arts frameworks at the same grade level, however a lot of our current Mississippi objectives are not found in Common Core for English Language Arts,” Hollis said. McDonald addressed the concern of one parent who asked how does the new curriculum relate to standardized testing. “Whether we like it or whether we don't like it everything we do now is based on preparing kids to take tests,” McDonald said. “It's not something the West Point School District mandates; it's what the state of Mississippi mandates. The really hard thing is that teachers are having to prepare students for a test that's not going to happen until 2014 while at the same time preparing for test they have to take now.” In 2014, students will be expected to know standards one year earlier than they are expected to know now, so standards being taught in the first grade will be taught in kindergarten and so on. “Everything is being bumped down a notch,” Humphries said. Parents can contact Humphries or Hollis for more information on Common Core and how to prepare their kids for the new curriculum. West Point, MSSheena BakerParents Briefed On Upcoming Changes in CurriculumDaily Times Leaderurn:publicid:dailypress.com:2618Change0Usable2012-01-27T13:26:25-05:00