Wednesday March 6,
2013
50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 117, No. 56
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• Corinth, Mississippi • 24 pages • Two sections
Tourism board seeks new chairman BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
The Corinth Area Convention and Visitors Bureau board is looking for a new chairman. Luke Doehner stepped down from the position during a special called meeting Tuesday. “It was never intended for me to remain the chairman,” said Doehner. “I was asked by the aldermen and supervisors to step in since a whole new group was coming on board.” The tourism board member,
in his ninth year, said March 1 was his deadline to be the chairman. “My business is doing well and I don't have the time to devote to being the chairman,” he said. Doehner will continue to be part of the board. “It has been a smooth transition for this group,” he said. “They are all very talented people … I think things are going to work out well with everyone working to get on the same page
for the betterment of our city and county.” Interim director Anne Thompson said the board will elect a new chairman during a special called meeting prior to the next scheduled gathering. “The board decided to wait since two members were out,” said Thompson. Thompson agreed with Doehner in that the seven-person board is headed in the right direction. “This board is very cogni-
zant of the responsibilities they face,” she said. “They have worked really hard to do what is right … the board is going to meet its obligations very happily and sufficiently as it can.” The new board — made up of volunteers — has been on the job since being appointed by city and county officials on Jan. 4. In other tourism board business, the group approved a trio of funding requests from the Crossroads Arena.
In all the Crossroads Arena received $61,090 of funding. CACVB members granted $39,700 to be used for the Monsters Mud & Tuff Trucks event set for Friday and Saturday. A request was granted to send $5,890 to the arena for last weekend's Motocross while $15,500 was approved for the April 12-13 Lonestar Rodeo. Board members Pauline Sorrell and Danny Timmons were unable to attend the special called meeting Tuesday.
Curlee renovation gets delayed approval BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
After a lengthy delay in the planning stage, a revised contract for first-phase renovation of the Verandah-Curlee House should allow work to begin soon. The Board of Aldermen on Tuesday approved a change order to the construction contract that was awarded to Calenco LLC of Sheffield, Ala., last year. “The start of work was delayed because of the National Park Service review,” said Dave Huwe, director of community development and
planning. “Our architect is working very closely with the contractor to work out the final cost details on that.” Based on the NPS stipulations, the revised contract adds 30 days to the total contract time and allows the total cost to increase by no more than $31,000. Grant funds are in hand for the work, which includes repairing the deteriorated foundation, repairing the porch and painting the home. Grant funds that were to expire at the end of 2012 have been exPlease see CURLEE | 6A
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
School board rejects CAUSE brings attention to autism principal’s resignation Sabrina Trimble plays a game with Carson Russell during a meeting of the CAUSE support group at the Corinth Sportsplex.
BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
A group of parents is out to draw the community to its CAUSE. Corinth Autism Understanding Support & Education (CAUSE) began in May of 2012. Made up of only a few parents and grandparents, the group is attempting to bring more attention to the growing problem of autism in the area. “There are so many forms of autism that we want to bring more education to the community,” said group member Sabrina Trimble. “When your child is diagnosed with autism, you feel alone and that no one knows what you are
going through,” added CAUSE member Brenda Ford. “By starting this group, we can all be here for one another.” CAUSE meets the first Monday of each month at the Corinth Sportsplex. Thus far, CAUSE is comprised of no more than 10 members. “What we want to do is be the voice of autistic children,” said Stephanie Michael. “We can’t do that until all of us come together … all we are asking for is only one hour a month to give for children.” Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social impairments, cognitive impairments, communication
difficulties, and repetitive behaviors. It can range from very mild to very severe and occur in all ethnic, socioeconomic and age groups. Males are four times more likely to have autism than females. Some children with autism appear normal before age one or two and then suddenly regress and lose language or social skills they had previously gained. This is called the regressive type of autism. The rate of autism has steadily grown over the last 20 years. Autism now affects 1 in 88 children. About 40 percent of children with autism do not speak and 25-30 Please see CAUSE | 3A
BY STEVE BEAVERS sbeavers@dailycorinthian.com
The Alcorn School District Board rejected the resignation request of a former Alcorn Central Middle School principal during a special called meeting Tuesday night. Dan Burcham, who was terminated from his position on Feb. 13, will now have an executive session hearing before Johnny C. Ross, a former chancery court judge. The hearing was originally set for March 20, but a scheduling conflict with Burcham's legal representative, Thomas O. Cooley of Langston & Lott,
will now push the hearing to another time. School board member James Voyles made the motion to reject the resignation after the board went into executive session some 20 minutes prior to discussing the matter. Board member Mary Kathryn Coleman voiced the second to the motion. Burcham was placed on administrative leave with pay on Feb. 11 while allegations were being investigated, according to a letter sent to ACMS parents by superintendent Gina Please see PRINCIPAL | 6A
Eagle photos focus of symposium For the Daily Corinthian
SELMER, Tenn. — Arts in McNairy (AiM) will kick off its annual photography contest with a special symposium featuring the Shiloh bald eagle photographers on Saturday, April 6 from noon - 3 p.m. at the McNairy County Visitor’s and Cultural Center. This symposium will be open to any photographers who would like to share their work and photography methods at this come and go event. During the event, there also will be an opportunity to travel with a group of photographers to the Shiloh National Military Park to photograph the bald eagle pair and their nesting site. Directions will also be given to the the eagle site at the event. “In conjunction with the pho-
tography contest, AiM is inviting all area photographers to come to the special event centered on the Shiloh Eagle Photographers group and Shiloh Wildlife Photographers group. We are requesting any photographer who would like to share their images of local nature, especially from McNairy County and the Shiloh National Park area, to submit ‘full-quality’ images to be shown at via PowerPoint at the event by March 31 to info@artsinmcnairy.com.,” said Dr. Ron Bell, symposium coordinator. “AiM would like for presenting photographers to include a brief description of how the picture was taken including F-stop, speed, time of day, equipment used, date of image and any
other unique information about the image. Photographers are invited to the event to talk about their images to be shown on the Latta Theater’s large presentation screen. We are restricting the number of images to 10 per photographer. If you cannot attend the event, please send detailed presentation information,” added Bell. AiM will comply with all copyright restrictions. “The Visual Arts Committee and I are excited about having this event to bring area photographers together and develop a focus group to develop a future AiM photography club,” Bell said.
Index Stocks......8A Classified......5B Comics......2B State......5A
Weather....10A Obituaries......6A Opinion......4A Sports....12A
Please see PHOTO | 3A
Corinth photographer Bill Avery captured this image of a Shiloh bald eagle this year. He enjoys time following the mating pair, which keep returning to Shiloh National Military Park to lay and hatch eggs and raise their young.
On this day in history 150 years ago The Detroit Race Riot erupts in Michigan as a result of the unpopular Federal Draft Act. There are several race related beatings and two deaths in what is reported as “the bloodiest day that ever dawned upon Detroit.” As a result, a full-time police force is formed.
3/9/13.