Wednesday Jan. 2,
2013
50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 117, No. 2
Partly sunny Today
Tonight
44
26
0% chance rain
• Corinth, Mississippi • 18 pages • Two sections
Investigators working Dollar General case BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
Investigators with the Alcorn County Sheriff's Department continue to look for leads in the break-in of a Kossuth store. Two male subjects broke into the Dollar General store early Christmas Eve, taking the safe which contained a significant amount of cash. The break-in was the third
in a three-week span involving Dollar General stores. Stores in the Thaxton community of Pontotoc County and Eastview, Tenn., have also been entered and money taken from the safe. Area law enforcement agencies in both Alcorn and Pontotoc counties believe their crimes could involve the same subjects. Both crimes saw a pair of while males enter the
front doors of the store and tie some sort of logging chain to the safe. The safe was then pulled through the doors by a white pickup, causing major damage to the the front of each store. The Kossuth Dollar General, located in the heart of downtown on Highway 2, was robbed at 3:05 a.m. on Dec. 24. The store was unable to reopen
until three days later. In Thaxton, the crime happened on Dec. 10 about 3:43 a.m. In both crimes, video shows two individuals robbing the safe. Individuals with information about the break-in can call the sheriff's office at 286-5521 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-773TIPS. “Any assistance the public
can give would be appreciated,” said Reggie Anderson, investigator with the Alcorn County Sheriff's Department. Dollar General stores have been hit numerous times in Tennessee. Over the last year, 10 stores have been robbed in Middle Tennessee. The latest happened on Dec. 23 in Columbia, Tenn., when two males robbed the store at gunpoint.
Non-jury trial set in flood lawsuit BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
The City of Corinth will get a non-jury trial in the upcoming lawsuit over flooding at the Fulton Crossing shopping center. A consent order recently entered in U.S. District Court says Corinth is entitled to a non-jury trial to be held simultaneously with the jury trial against all other defendants in February 2014 in Aberdeen. All parties have agreed to the order. Kmart sued numerous defendants over damage in the May 2010 flood. In addition to Corinth, the remaining defendants are The Kroger Co., E&A Southeast Limited Partnership, Fulton Improvements and Kansas City Southern Railway Company. Corinth’s counsel has asserted that the National Flood In-
Staff photo by Jebb Johnston
Jeremiah Briggs shows his multi-media artwork “The Seal Hunter.” The Corinth Artist Guild Gallery will host an opening reception with Briggs on Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m.
Guild features special exhibit BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Years later, like a lost masterpiece, one of Jeremiah Briggs’ earliest artistic works reached the light of day. “I remember drawing on the bottom of my mom’s dining room table,” recalled Briggs, a Selmer, Tenn., resident. “She found this years later when she got the table refinished. She turned the table over and here was this crayon drawing of a semi truck.” It was inspired by his father’s work as a trucker. The grown-up work of Briggs
is the featured January exhibit at the Corinth Artist Guild Gallery, which hosts an opening reception with the artist on Sunday from 2 until 4 p.m. The gallery is also hosting a collection of Jesse Ables’ snow scenes during the month. A special education teacher at North Side High School in Jackson, Tenn., Briggs’ featured work includes a number of fantasy and spiritually inspired pieces. “My love has always been for science fiction and fantasy type art,” said Briggs. “I grew up reading Edgar Rice Burroughs, Rob-
ert E. Howard and all of those guys, and I fell in love with the artwork that was on the cover. I always thought, ‘Man, if I could ever do something like that, that would really be fun.’” His drawings as a young boy growing up in Ohio led his father to enroll him in a Cincinnati art school at the age of 8. He went to class on Saturday mornings. “I remember I was so mad because I didn’t get to watch cartoons,” said Briggs. “I had to go to art class.” After Briggs served in the U.S. Please see BRIGGS | 2A
surance Act preempts the state law claims and that the city is immune pursuant to assorted provisions of the Mississippi Torts Claim Act. Kroger also sought to be dismissed from the suit. Kroger’s motion entered in September notes that the grocery store is a tenant in a building that it did not construct and was first occupied by Bruno’s/Foodworld. Kmart’s suit argues that the grocery store was built in a floodway and was a major cause of the flooding of the Kmart store. Kmart is seeking compensation for flood damage at the Fulton Crossing location, the store’s closure for about 10 months, and flood prevention efforts in April 2011, when the store was also threatened by flood waters.
CT-A searching for cabaret performers BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
Corinth Theatre-Arts will bring a new kind of production to the stage in 2013. Cabaret Sunday, a night of themed performances, is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 27, at the Crossroads Playhouse. “This is part of the new initiatives being introduced by Director Cristina Skinner,” said Technical Director David Maxedon. “Under the guidance of an almost brand new board of directors, innovations and change are the buzzwords as CT-A heads into 2013.” Cabaret Sunday will be an evening of performing arts with
actors, artists and patrons. The event will feature a combination a combination of musical revue, open mic poetry, stand-up comedy and more. Artistic director Skinner is looking for talent — be it CT-A regulars or newcomers — to be part of the evening. Performers need to prepare a performance beforehand that follows the theme of the first Cabaret Sunday event: “Titanic!” They should contact Skinner to discuss their material and how it relates to the theme. (For more information about Cabaret Sunday contact Skinner at cristina.a.skinner@ gmail.com.)
State legislators ponder complex future of health care BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
When the new legislative session begins Tuesday, state lawmakers will determine if thousands of more Mississippians will be added to the Medicaid rolls under the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as “Obamacare.” “The states have the option whether or not to enroll more people in Medicaid, and that’s something we’re going to have to consider, whether we choose to do that,” said 2nd District Rep. Nick Bain. “That’s going to be a
hot button topic.” District 1 Rep. Bubba Carpenter said the state simply cannot afford to pay for a huge expansion of Medicaid coverage. “As a state right now, one-third of our population is on Mississippi Medicaid. We’re looking at 250,000 to 300,000 more Mississippians being eligible for our Medicaid rolls,” said Carpenter. “Right now we struggle to balance our Medicaid budget.” In addition to increase in cost, another issue is the unknown factors of the Affordable Care Act.
“With this act, nobody knows what rules we’re going to be playing by,” Carpenter said. “As Mississippians, we’ll have to make a decision whether to accept the federal money or not. It’s like this scenario: I’m going to buy you a new truck. I’m going to make your payment for the first two years. Of course, the first two years it looks like a honeymoon. But then reality sets in.” Carpenter worries that after the two years of federal assistance are over, the state will be left with a skyrocketing health care bill and won’t be able to ad-
Index Taste......1B Classified......5B Comics......3B Wisdom......2B
Weather......5A Obituaries......3A Opinion......4A Sports...... 7A
equately fund its top three budget items — education, Medicaid and prisons. “It’s a big decision, but I look forward to examining all the pieces of legislation and making a good conservative vote that Mississippi can live with and our health-care industry can live with,” Carpenter said. “But I will definitely not support the expansion of Medicaid. We can’t afford it.” The problem of paying for the state’s expanded responsibilities under the Affordable Care Act will be also be discussed in the
state Senate. District 4 Sen. Rita Potts Parks said Obamacare will be one of the main issues faced by the state Senate in the upcoming session, along with charter schools, a bond bill and the $30 million deficit within the Mississippi Department of Corrections. “We will debate the pros and cons of the Affordable Care Act or ‘Obamacare’ to determine what benefits, if any, are provided to Mississippians,” said Parks. “Also, we will consider a pathway dedicated to support Medicaid.”
On this day in history 150 years ago The Battle of Stone’s River continues after a day of rest and repositioning. An early Confederate assault pushes back the Federals, but in the afternoon, the Union counterattacks and retakes the field. It is a narrow victory for Gen. Rosecrans and both sides suffer a total of 23,515 casualties.
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