Compiled by Leslie N. Dees
January
A Kosciusko man faces numerous charges after police discovered pornographic images of a 13-year-old local girl and him on his cell phone. Terrance Gillard, 19, was charged with possession of child pornography, burglary of a dwelling, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and resisting arrest after officers chased him down in woods near Redwing Avenue.
A new upscale apartment complex next to Collin’s Bait Shop on Highway 12 West is expected to to be completed by the end of 2007. Greer Construction, based in Rogersville, Ala., is in the process of building 48 apartments and townhouses. The complex will also have a swimming pool and clubhouse facilities. Apartment rates will range from $400 to $560 for one to three bedrooms.
The tax credit project is being funded through Region’s Bank in Kosciusko and the Mississippi Housing Corporation. All supplies for the project are being bought locally, in and around the Kosciusko area, said Lynn Greer, owner of the company. This is the first building project Greer Construction has ever done in Kosciusko.
Investigator Martin Roby turned in his resignation last Tuesday, just days after announcing that he would challenge his boss, Sheriff William Lee, in the sheriff’s race this year. But a few days later, when he tried to withdraw his resignation, Lee refused.
Roby said he would now concentrate on his business, Pro Security South, and the campaign. He will likely have to appear in Circuit Court in March and September to testify in cases he worked.
Marine Cpl. William T. Harrelson, injured in northern Iraq on Jan. 13 has a better understanding of “it’s a small world.”
The grandson of Kosciusko residents Mr. and Mrs. Billy Proctor and Mrs. Emily Morris learned after being brought to the Bethesda Naval Hospital that a crew member on the plane that transported him had a Kosciusko connection. He was Tech. Sgt. John L. Blakeney of Jackson, who is married to the former Allison Autry, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Autry of Kosciusko.
Cpl. Harrelson, 22-year-old son of Richard Harrelson of Jacksonville, Fla., and Beth Proctor Harrelson of Tampa, Fla., suffered an eye injury while serving with the 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Division in northern Iraq. Family members said the injury was the result of a malfunctioning flare and was not related to hostile activities.
February
Three community development organizations have agreed to merge to form the Kosciusko-Attala Development Corporation. Members of the Attala Industrial Development Corporation/Economic Development Authority of Attala County voted unanimously on Wednesday to join the Kosciusko-Attala Chamber of Commerce and Main Street in forming the new organization, which will become operational Oct. 1. The merger will not save money initially, said EDA/AIDC chairman Mark Jordan, but it is expected to improve efficiency and prevent overlap. Jordan said that Kosciusko has had sales tax growth of only about 2.2 percent over the last nine years, while neighboring communities like Carthage and Philadelphia have more than doubled that, with 5 percent.
A Sallis man is headed back to prison after being accused of holding his girlfriend captive for several days, Attala County Sheriff William Lee said. Ricky Boyles, 42, was found hiding in a closet in his mobile home Wednesday afternoon, said Lee, who made the arrest along with Investigator Zelie Shaw and Deputy Randy Blakely.
“His girlfriend said he kept her in the house and wouldn’t let her leave,” Lee said. “She said he was abusive ... he stomped on her hand and held a knife to her throat.” Lee said that Mary Brand, 39, was able to get away on Wednesday and notified the sheriff’s office, then filed an affidavit against Boyles. She said that he had held her against her will through the weekend, Lee said.
Attala County Superintendent of Education Curtis Burrell, who had announced his candidacy for a second term, has withdrawn from the race. He made his decision when he notified Circuit Clerk Wanda Fancher of his intentions on Monday morning, he said. He cited health reasons as the basis for his decision.
Montrell Jordan of Pickens was found guilty of the murder of a Holmes Community College football player and sentenced to life in prison in Holmes County Circuit Court today. The Holmes County jury deliberated for 1-1/2 hours before delivering the verdict this afternoon and Judge Jannie Lewis sentenced him to life in prison.
Jordan fired a .357 handgun into a crowd at an HCC dance after a fight broke out, and D.D. Davis of Franklin, La., was killed by the shot. Davis had not been involved in the fight, according to several witnesses who testified.
McAdams High School coach Willie Branch has been accused of breaking a student’s arm during a physical altercation at the school on Monday. Seventh-grader Micheal Phillips’ arm was broken during an incident in which Branch physically forced Phillips on the ground and kneed him in the arm, said Phillips’ mother, Eva Nash.
Nash says that Branch grabbed her son after an argument between the two erupted over why Phillips had jumped a fence at the ballfield without permission. The Attala County School Board met on Monday night behind closed doors to discuss what actions should be taken. “We went into executive session and decided to do nothing. No decision was made by the board,” said Superintendent Curtis Burrell, refusing further comment. Nash said that Branch admitted during Monday night’s meeting to placing his hands on Phillips. “They asked me if I would be happy if the coach just received a warning and had someone keep an eye on him,” said Branch. “I told them it wasn’t up to me.”
March
LuVel Dairy Products Inc. has been sold to Prairie Farms Dairy Inc. of Carlinville, Illinois. Terms of the sale have not been released.
LuVel President Jimmy Briscoe announced the sale of the 88-year-old, family-owned business on Wednesday. “This will be a good business deal for Kosciusko and the employees of LuVel,” Briscoe said in a statement. Briscoe and his brother, Richard, who is LuVel’s vice president, will remain in charge of the Kosciusko operation. Briscoe said the LuVel name will remain on products from the Kosciusko plant. LuVel currently has more than 225 employees and operates about 100 routes or distributors in five states. Prairie Farms Inc. began in 1938 as the Producers Creamery of Carlinville. The company owns more than 800 dairy farms throughout the Midwest.
Area residents will soon have a new shopping destination in Kosciusko. Construction has begun on a shopping center on Highway 35 with a scheduled completion date of October of this year. “The new development will have a Hibbett Sports and a Peebles department store,” said developer A.G. Helton. The 23,000-square-foot shopping center will employ approximately 20 people and generate $140,000 of sales tax revenue for the city, said Helton.
A former Kosciusko football star was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty to manslaughter. It was one of more than 20 plea agreements that were reached on the first day of Attala County Circuit Court. Victor Armon Quarles, 29, was charged with murder in the shooting death of his father, William Fleming, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge. Judge Joseph Loper sentenced him to the maximum penalty allowed for manslaughter.
According to court records, Quarles shot his stepfather twice in the back with a revolver on May 22, 2006 and was arrested a few hours later. He was first charged with aggravated assault, but the charge was upgraded to murder after Fleming died four days later.
Classes were set to resume at McAdams on Monday morning, 12 days after students at the mostly-black school were dismissed amid protests over the demotion of their popular white principal. But several students have said that if Principal Bryan Weaver isn’t reinstated, they will continue to protest after spring break.
Weaver left the school late Wednesday to await a hearing, and McAdams teacher Dietrich Harmon, who is black, was promoted to interim principal. School officials would not discuss the reason for Weaver’s demotion, but Attala County Superintendent of Education Curtis Burrell said it was for “just cause” and the school board voted 5-0 in favor of it. Still, the decision clearly stunned the faculty as well as the students.
Michael Stewart of Durant was arrested Sunday on a cruelty to animal charge after his horse had to be euthanized due to its poor physical condition. Stewart’s horse was located within the city limits of Durant on Thames Street, said Durant police officer Sidney Randle. In Defense of Animals, an animal rights organization located in Grenada, was alerted to the abuse and initiated an investigation last week. “This horse was in town and only five blocks from the police station,” said Doll Stanley, Director of Investigations with the animal rights group. “We received a complaint from a concerned neighbor, but the police did not want to get involved. The horse basically starved to death. He would have died within 24-48 hours if we didn’t put him down.” Dr. Walter Roberts, a Durant veterinarian, was called in an attempt to help the neglected animal, but he says the horse was beyond saving.
Rosalind Jordan is the first woman and Jim Hull is the first African American to serve as a public defender in Attala County, which recently adopted a two-attorney system. Judge Joseph Loper III made the appointments.
A Kosciusko woman was stabbed to death Sunday evening, and a Kosciusko teenager has been arrested and charged with her murder, according to a news release from the Kosciusko Police Department. Marketa Riley, 19, is in Attala County Jail, accused of stabbing 28-year-old Felicia Riley to death on Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. The victim was pronounced dead at Montfort Jones Memorial Hospital at 6:35 p.m. The suspect provided a statement and the weapon was recovered, according to the news release. The incident began at Northside Park earlier Sunday, then continued at MLK Dr. The reason for the altercation and the relationship of the two was not known. Marketa Riley had been arrested by Sgt. Herbert Dew on simple assault and trespassing warrants at 5:04 p.m. Sunday. The stabbing occurred a little more than hour later, at 6:30 p.m.
A Choctaw County man who was charged with sex crimes against his young children was found dead of an apparent suicide late Thursday morning, Sheriff Doug McHan said. Wayne Cox, 61, of Weir was found dead at about 10:30 in a wooded area behind the Weir-Stewart Road home he and his wife shared. Authorities found Cox with an empty bottle of Xanex, a Mountain Dew and a small caliber handgun, McHan said. It didn’t appear that the gun had been used, McHan said, adding that no suicide note had been found.
April
On Wednesday morning, Bryan Weaver resumed his duties as principal of McAdams High School, following action by the Attala County School Board Monday night. Following the board’s March 5 meeting, Dietrich Harmon was named interim principal and Weaver was offered another teaching position which he declined to accept.
Students protested Weaver’s demotion and school was dismissed two days before spring holidays were to begin following a walkout by students. The board reinstated Weaver Monday, three days before a public hearing the former principal had requested was set for. Superintendent Curtis Burrell said Weaver will be given a “letter of improvement” with his return to the principal’s position.
Following Burrell’s recommendation that he be reinstated, board members Linda Massey, Mike Johnson, Rusty Dees and Willie Perteet voted in favor of Weaver’s reinstatement, while Mack Willie Clark opposed.
Annie Allen was supposed to be celebrating the birth of a grandson this week. Instead, she will bury her daughter and the unborn infant. But she won’t be able to bury the memory of their tragic final seconds. Allen was on the phone with her daughter when she was killed in a crash early Sunday morning. Tikema T. Winters, 30, who was scheduled to deliver her baby on Tuesday, was pronounced dead at the scene and her husband, 30-year-old Cedric Winters, was charged with aggravated DUI on Monday afternoon. He is out on $25,000 bond. Allen said that her daughter and three granddaughters had stayed at her Sallis home Saturday night while Cedric Winters went out to a Sallis nightclub. He picked up his wife at about 1 a.m., Allen said, but their daughters stayed in Sallis.
A long-time Kosciusko business staple is closing its doors. The Attala Company, which has produced prepared feed and feed ingredients for animals for the past 79 years, has ceased manufacturing and the building is currently for sale, said Attala Company President John Wiggers. Wiggers said the company is closing due to changes in the market. The West Adams Street facility could be purchased by another company that produces feed or by a company that could use the facilities to make other pelleted products, said Wiggers. The company originally started as a dairy feed business in 1928 and later expanded into the production of animal feed as well as the manufacture of cornmeal and the packing of flour.
May
On Friday, Ethel had the official dedication of its new city hall, fire station and newest business Paw’s Place restaurant. For Mitchell, it has been a long process in getting this small town of 500 to this point. The city hall has been complete for more than a year now and Mitchell wanted to wait until the fire department was complete before she held a dedication ceremony. Even though the fire station is not completely finished, it’s close enough for Mitchell.
Friends and neighbors from throughout the county attended the event and toured both facilities.
Kosciusko Police Officer Stanley Rowe died Thursday morning at Central Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson after being hospitalized for several weeks, said Kosciusko Police Chief R.J. Adams in a press release. Rowe was hospitalized in March after suffering a stroke while driving. "Stan was well thought of by his fellow officers and by the citizens of Kosciusko … I found him to be an officer who would answer the call for help, no matter when or what the circumstances. He had the traits of a real man - truthful, faithful, dependable and he had more than his share of courage. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him," Adams said in the press release.
Fifty-two-year-old Danny Tavares, owner of Tavares Motors, was found dead in his Highway 12 East office building Friday at 7:30 p.m., said Kosciusko Police Investigator Curtis Pope. "(Tavares' death) is being investigated as a homicide," said Pope. The Miss. Crime Scene Unit and the Miss. Bureau of Investigations were both dispatched to the scene and are aiding the Kosciusko Police Department in the investigation, Pope added. The department is currently awaiting the autopsy results and Pope refused to comment any further until those results are received.
June
Boys will be boys. After being told by their father that no one was to swim in the family’s pool without adult supervision, Kurt and Luke Shaw of Kosciusko did just the opposite – they let three friends go swimming when their parents weren’t home last Wednesday. Later that same day when 16-year-old Ar-Riquez Kern was lying at the bottom of the pool near death, 11-year-old Kurt jumped in and pulled his drowning friend to the surface and saved his life.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development housing office in Kosciusko will close sometime before March 2008 as part of an agency-wide restructuring plan, but services will still be offered to area residents, said USDA Rural Development State Director John Rounsaville. “Our services won’t be impacted,” said Rounsaville. “We just won’t have a sign on the wall anymore. This is being done to reduce overhead and save money.” Rounsaville stressed that no jobs would be lost due to the restructuring plan. Attala County, which is currently serviced from the Kosciusko office, will be serviced from Starkville once the restructuring plan is implemented. The Kosciusko office currently provides services to Attala, Leake and Holmes counties.
Sixteen-year-old Luther F. “Trey” Bell of Kosciusko was arrested Monday for the murder of 23-year-old Adrian Riley, said Kosciusko Police Chief R.J. Adams in a news release. Riley was shot Friday evening at Northside Park and pronounced dead at Montfort Jones Memorial Hospital later that night, said Adams. The shooting occurred at approximately 7:35 p.m. as two summer-league baseball games were being played just 25 yards away, Adams said.
Adams confirmed there was an argument between Riley and Bell before the shooting occurred, but declined to comment on the reason for the argument.
For the third time in the past four weeks, a Kosciusko store was robbed at gunpoint. Adam's Grocery, formerly Amigo's, located on Highway 12 East was robbed at gunpoint Thursday night at 9:45, said the store's manager, who was present when the robbery occurred. The suspect took approximately $300 from the register and four phone cards, he added. Two individuals were involved in the robbery, said the manager. One remained by the door and served as a lookout while the other took the money, he said.
July
The Attala County Sheriff’s Department has made two arrests in the discovery of a moonshine distillery and drug paraphernalia found at a residence on Miss. 14 between Newport and Goodman. David Sanders, 35, was charged with manufacturing marijuana, possession of an illegal distillery in a dry county, possession of paraphernalia, possession of marijuana less than one ounce and possession of non-tax liquor(moonshine whiskey). Tammy Sanders, 35, David’s wife, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana less than one ounce.
David is out on a $6500 bond while Tammy is out on a $1000 bond. The Sanders’ two children are back in custody of Tammy Sanders. The sheriff’s department, which was assisted by an Alcoholic Beverage Control agent, also discovered a 55-gallon drum of corn mash, which was found on the property and disposed of. Five to six gallons of bottled moonshine was also confiscated. Three marijuana plants found in plastic buckets, the distillery itself, and a small collection of guns and rifles, were all confiscated from the property.
Old Dominion Christian School, located on Mississippi Hwy. 12, recently purchased the old East Holmes Academy facilities in West. Dr. William G. Suratt, school administrator, spoke to a small crowd Monday night in their new gym on the changes and improvements they plan to make. “I know a lot of folks over here grieved when East Holmes closed including us because these kids are our life and I hate that East Holmes closed” Suratt said. “We did a lot of praying about things and felt led to move Old Dominion over here.” With the larger facility, Suratt said the tuition they charge would not pay the bills. When East Holmes closed in May 2006, the contents of the school were sold and Suratt said Old Dominion has a lot of work to get ready for their Aug. 13 opening.
While in executive session July 3, the Kosciusko Mayor and Board of Aldermen have made plans to purchase the historic Strand building located on North Madison Street. The building appraised for $87,000. The city will pay $50,000 and the remainder will be a gift from owners Reid and Emma Ivester. Cockroft said once the purchase has been made, they have agreed to get an architect to come and see “what’s what.”
He said as they go through the architectural process, they want the community to be involved. Structurally, Cockroft said the Strand is in good condition and only has a few leaks.
A high-speed chase through Kosciusko led the Kosciusko Police Department to the arrest of Kim Holland, 49, of Odum Ga., after she sped away from a routine traffic stop. Running three red lights, having a suspended driver’s license, no insurance, fleeing/eluding a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault on a police officer and possession of a controlled substance, all were added to her list of charges that also included warrants on her from South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Holland was originally stopped on Highway 12 near Discount Paneling, but the National Crime Information Center returned Information that Holland had active warrants against her.
Holland sped away, dragging Officer Robert Land, according to Investigator Cutis Pope in a news release, traveling east to Highway 35 bypass to Highway 19 South. The driver stopped on Highway 19 South, about five miles outside Kosciusko.
Steve Patton, owner of NAPA Auto Parts on Highway 12, says he wasn’t looking to move his business to Highway 35 North but “the timing was right.” NAPA employees will start the relocation process to the old Rawson’s Body Shop the week of Aug. 13, and by Monday, Aug. 20, the move will be complete. Patton said both locations would have computers and phones during the moving process so that customers will be able to get what they need. Owning the new location is a big plus to Patton, he said they plan to be there for at least the next 35 years.
August
Culture immersion for 21 Mississippi State University students became more than they could handle in the third week of an international business trip to Costa Rica. After three students were robbed, in two separate incidents, MSU pulled the plug on the six-week study abroad program. Morgan Comfort, of Kosciusko, a 21-year-old senior international business major with an emphasis in Spanish, was one of the students who was with the study abroad program. “ I heard about it the morning after at school…the city is probably the size of New Orleans,” said Comfort, “ …they took her (the first victim) book bag, she was walking home…these (two) guys were on motorcycles.”
The Kosciusko City Schools district office has moved into its new facilities and held open house last Thursday afternoon offering a look at the building that once housed Fred’s, across the street from the Chancery Court building. Dr. David Sistrunk, Superintendent of the Kosciusko City Schools, and office personnel greeted guests and gave tours of the 12,000 sq. ft. building. Purchase price of the building from Fred’s was $190,000 with renovations and furnishings totaling $1,780,945 for the grand total of $1,970,945.
Sistrunk said the cost per square foot was $148.41 as compared to the cost of the Fine Arts Complex constructed in 1999 at a cost of $172.49 per square foot.
Soaring temperatures and even higher heat indexes have caused city and county schools to re-evaluate their plans for outdoor activities. According to Mike Edmonston, senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson, Kosciusko is in the top 10 percent of hot spots in the state. “We aren’t expecting relief until the weekend,” Edmonston said. During the weekend, highs are expected only to drop down into 90s.
Veteran educator Larry Stevens is ready to enter another phase of his profession following his recent election to the office of Attala County’s Superintendent of Education. With his 37 years of experience in Kosciusko and area schools, Stevens said lots of rules and laws apply in all school districts; however, he said he is ready to take on the challenges and responsibilities as the administrator of Attala’s four county schools. As he prepares to assume his duties in January 2008, Stevens said he plans to meet with Curtis Burrell, the current superintendent, attend meetings of the board of trustees, not only in Attala, but also in other districts of the state. One of the first things Stevens said he would like to see implemented is a resource officer in the schools and cameras placed in strategic places.
Samuel Jerome Patrick, 21, of Scott County, escaped through the exercise yard fence at the Attala County Jail Sunday morning. “He was small enough to get under it,” Attala County Sheriff William Lee said of the inmate that was serving time for possession of stolen property and suspended driver’s license. Lee said the sheriff’s department responded immediately and the chase led them up Highway 43 North and into the Shady Grove area. The county search continued on Old Business Highway 12 behind the Ethel United Methodist Church in Ethel. Lee said a 30-minute chase ensued before Patrick, who was not considered armed and dangerous, was captured in a hay field around 6:30 p.m., where he didn’t resist.
September
Local officials, members of the Kosciusko Fire Department and Attala County Fire Department, family and friends gathered Friday morning at the Kosciusko Fire Station to remember and recognize the life and work of Retired KFD Chief Wayne Rawson. After his flag-draped casket was brought into the fire station by KFD firefighters, the service for the 73-year-old, who died Aug. 29 after a lengthy illness, began with the last call alarm recognizing his 35-year career with the department over the 911 system. Rawson joined the department in 1955 as an unpaid volunteer and became a regular fireman in November 1956. Several years later, he became assistant chief and became chief in the ’60s succeeding Casey Pullen.
The "positive place for children" has a lot of things to celebrate in a year's time. The Oprah Winfrey Boys and Girls Club celebrated with an open house Tuesday night for their one-year anniversary in the Tipton Street new location.
Only one school in the Attala County School District and one school in the Kosciusko City School had a change in their level status from current testing results. While all other schools remained at their previous levels. Greenlee Elementary students dropped from a Level 3 to a Level 2 in a year’s time. Greenlee students did meet their Average Yearly Progress (AYP). Kosciusko High School went from a Level 5 school to a Level 4 according to current test results. Sistrunk said the high school barely missed Level 5 by a fraction. All city schools met their Average Yearly Progress (AYP) across the board. Kosciusko Upper Elementary, Middle Elementary and Junior High Schools all retained their Level 5 status. Ethel High School maintained their Level 3 rating. The eighth grade was above the state average in all tested areas and the seventh grade was above the state average in math. McAdams High School maintained their Level 3 rating for the second year in a row and Long Creek Elementary also kept their Level 3 status.
The Kosciusko Mayor and Board of Aldermen approved a letter, addressed to Attala County Collector/Assessor Kempe Hodges, stating that “the current rate at two percent of collected funds is fair to the citizens of Kosciusko and the Kosciusko School System and going to five percent is something we cannot accept at this time.”
Hodges was seeking to collect real property tax for five percent, which is the limit that the law allows, in hopes that some of the funds will furnish him and his employees with more adequate working space as well as possible raises for those working in the office. Hodges, who answered questions from the board of aldermen, said one year from Tuesday the city would begin collecting their taxes. Last year, Hodges’ office collected an estimated $73,000 in commission from the city and city schools. The commission funds go into a general fund in the county’s budget. The proposed increase would have been estimated $184,000 in commission from the city and city schools.
Larry Haynes, 18, of Ethel, was charged with sexual battery of his three-year-old female cousin Sunday afternoon at the Attala County Sheriff’s Department. On Wednesday, he was released from jail on $25,000 bond. Sheriff William Lee said the department was contacted by the Choctaw County Medical Center in Ackerman to report the mother had brought the toddler in for treatment.
Lee said Investigator Zelie Shaw was immediately dispatched to the family’s residence at Hannah Heights in Ethel in search of Haynes.
When deputies went to pick up Haynes for questioning, he fled on foot. Lee said Haynes was brought to the ACSD by his mother and turned himself into authorities.
Kosciusko attorney Jim Davis Hull, 60, was arrested in connection with a $12-million Medicaid/Medicare scheme by the FBI last week.
Hull was charged with 19 counts of health care fraud, including conspiracy charges, associated with his partial ownership and operation of Mississippi Care Partners, Inc., Oct. 2. Pamela Hull of Moss Point, Jacqualine Crawley of North Carolina and Cheniqua G. Ellis of Franklin, Tenn., were also charged in the indictment.
Mississippi Care Partners, Inc. claimed to provide medical services to Medicare and Medicaid patients in their Moss Point and Cleveland offices.
Like several other business owners, Rib Alley owner Sara Cummins said she will abide by the clean air ordinance set forth by the Kosciusko Mayor Jimmy Cockroft and Board of Aldermen last week after a public hearing that addressed both sides of the issue. Aldermen Martha Kate Lawrence, Henry Daniel, Tim Kyle and John Sullivan voted in favor of the ordinance with Robert Ellis voting against. Ellis said he voted no because he wanted to look into a voluntary clean air ordinance. In less than 30 days, the ordinance will take effect and ban smoking in public places.
A public place is defined as “an enclosed area to which the public is invited or in which the public is permitted, including but not limited to, banks, bars, educational facilities, gaming facilities, health care facilities, hotels and motels, laundromats, public transportation facilities, reception areas, restaurants, retail food production and marketing establishments such as service establishments, retail stores, shopping malls, sports arenas, theaters and waiting rooms.
Two women were arrested on Federal charges in Kosciusko Oct. 11 on Highway 12 at Tienda La Amistad according to FBI Media Coordinator Deborah Madden. Maria Soledad Gonzolez-Duarte, 39, and Alfonsina Tafolla, 38, were arrested and charged with producing counterfeit identification documents like Social Security cards and resident alien cards also known as “green cards.”? They made their initial appearance at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi last week and will have a preliminary hearing in the same court Thursday. Both women are currently out on bond.
Native Kentuckian Steve Zea says he is excited to be in Kosciusko and even more excited that he has a great group of people to work with. As the newly appointed president and CEO of the Kosciusko Attala Development Corporation, Zea comes to the area with 20-plus years in working with economic development, Main Street organization, tourism development and retirement opportunities.
As of Oct. 1, the Kosciusko-Attala Chamber of Commerce, Kosciusko Main Street and Attala Development Corporation along with several other organizational groups came under the Kosciusko Attala Development Corporation or KADC. The KADC structure has Zea in charge of a vice president of community development and a vice president of economic development along with an office manager.
November
State Superintendent of Education Dr. Hank Bounds outlined qualities necessary to create good schools during his address at the annual membership banquet of the Kosciusko Foundation for Excellence in Education (KFEE) last Thursday night. “Student achievement is what matters,” he said during his opening remarks at the event held in the commons area at Kosciusko High School.
He cited the current exodus of jobs to other countries and the reduction of available jobs as a detriment, which children will face upon graduation. He named leadership, good teachers, parental and community involvement as major ingredients in creating good schools. “I’m extremely pleased by Dr. Sistrunk, principals and the school board for what you’re doing,” he said.
Some 100 county residents gathered Monday night to support Weir Attendance Center in the aftermath of the school’s athletic program being featured in the December edition of Penthouse, a sexually explicit magazine, during the Choctaw County School Board meeting. The article titled “Country Strong – How did the tiny town of Weir, Mississippi win six high school football state championships and produce six NFL players, not to mention a Major League Baseball All-Star and a Miss America," is a positive article on the athletic achievements of Weir throughout the years. The placement of the article in the adult magazine came as a shock to those interviewed, who were told the article would be featured in Sports Illustrated. One in particular was Houston Astros Pit
