City orders business’ lights removed
Lights placed outside Downtown Dezigns on the Square will soon be coming down, after the Courthouse Square Preservation Commission denied the company’s lighting request. The owner originally installed them without obtaining correct permissions. Owner Na-Ann Watts said she was simply trying to add antique character and charm to her business. (June 8, 2010, Page 1)
Clockmaker gets more time
Lafayette County supervisors are giving Lloyd Larish, master clockmaker, a few more days to finish the work he started on the Lafayette County Courthouse before searching for someone else to complete the job. (June 8, 2010, Page 1)
We Shall Reap
Local columnist Jimmy Reed relates a story he received lately about a company CEO testing those who would be vying to run the company after he left. They were to raise plants from a seed he gave them and, as in life, they eventually “reaped what they sowed.” (June 8, 2010, Page 4)
Another positive sign?
One traditional sign the economy is rebounding is when builders see more business. More building means an increase in the demand for more wood materials for this construction. The employees at Roseburg Forest Products in Oxford are tickled to be taking more orders for their products. (June 7, 2010, Page 1A)
Poor doesn’t equal failure
Telling people Mississippi is poor and needs to improve its educational system is one thing, but Eric Weber, a professor at the University of Mississippi, hopes to show them. Working on a three-year research project that will result in a documentary, Weber intends to focus on the connection between poverty and failure in education which more often than not is due to self-fulfilling prophecy. (June 7, 2010, Page 1A)
Grisham hits home run with latest book
To borrow a prhase from one of bestselling author John Grisham’s favorite sports, he has hit a home run with his latest book, “Theodore Boone – Kid Lawyer.” Editor Don Whitten takes a look at the first in what appears to be a series aimed at a new audience for Grisham – readers in the 8 to 14 age group. (June 7, 2010, Page 4A)
The first Yankees on the Ole Miss Campus
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was making his first of three attempts to capture Vicksburg. This attempt would be over land from Tennessee after the Battle of Shiloh. He was following the railroad line that ran from Jackson, Tenn., to Holly Springs and then connected at Grenada with a line that ran from Memphis to Jackson. (June 4, 2010, Page 3B)
Summer camps for grownups
While there are no canoes, butterflies or swimming pools involved, the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council is offering adult summer “camps” that will help grownups learn more about their creative talents.
The classes include learning how to take photographs on black-and-white film and developing them in a dark room; how to convert your home movies to DVD; and an introduction to the basics of composition, light, sound and camera movement when filming with video. (June 4, 2010, Page 1A)
TV horror hearse or look-alike?
Is it the original creepy hearse used in a popular Memphis TV show in the 1960s and 1970s or just a nearly identical look-alike? That’s the question hearse owner Joe Willis hasn’t been able to answer about his piece of morbid memorabilia. Retirees Joe and Merrill Willis own and operate the Yoknapatawpha Heritage Museum on Highway 30 in Lafayette County and a hearse in their possession for the past 20 years, has recently come under question as to whether it may be the authentic item used in Sivad’s “Fantastic Features” and at the Memphis Malco Theaters. (June 4, 2010, Page 1A)
LMS registration set next week
After a low turnout for registration last month, Lafayette Middle School is trying again to have students register for the upcoming school year. Registration will be held in the LMS counseling center from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. (June 4, 2010, Page 10A)
