HOW TO VOTE IN PARKS CONTEST

Park boosters in Hernando bubbling over Coke grant contest

Seeking to score a recreational grant from Coca-Cola, the Hernando Parks and Recreation Department is asking park users to cast as many votes as possible for Conger Park.

The city is in the running for a $15,000 “wild card” prize for recreational use.

“We’ve moved up to 26th nationally, with 1,129 votes as of Tuesday morning,” Dolly Brechin, parks program coordinator, said of the online contest that began two weeks ago. “We’re really pleased with all the support from the people; they’re really stepping it up.”

Placing anywhere from 25th to fourth place by the end of voting July 15 would make Hernando eligible for the wild card prize in Coke’s “Take It To the Park” contest.

The contest seeks to promote restoration, rebuilding and enhancement of favorite local parks. The top votegetter gets $100,000; second place fetches $50,000; third place $25,000 and there’s the “wild card” drawing for $15,000, according to the Coke website, parks.livepositively. com.

Dewayne Williams, Hernando parks director, says Conger Park voters must register -- “but it’s short and simple,” he advised in an e-mail message to park supporters.

The public can use this online link to vote once every day: https://parks.livepositively. com/parks/index.html#/vote.

Boosters can get five votes in per day by checking in “at your park” with Foursquare, Williams said.

“If you don’t have Foursquare yet, you’ll need to download the app first,” he

“I’ll definitely vote for it,” said Bryan Riley, 26, of Southaven.

The youth pastor at River- said.

Also, people can get 10 votes in per day by logging 20 minutes of activity with MapMyFitness, he said.

“And if you aren’t already a MapMyFitness user, you’ll need to sign up,” Williams said.

Online sign-up information and app links are available at cityofhernando.org. Click on “City Departments” and go to “Parks and Recreation” link. The parks office is at the Gale Center at 2601 Elm Street west the square. The phone number is 662-429-2688. bend Baptist Church in Hernando was getting ready for

South.

A majority of justices said enough progress has been made in the 48 years since the Voting Rights Act was passed that the provision is no longer necessary. While many Mississippi and DeSoto County Republicans agreed with the decision, Democrats said the decision was the wrong move and showed the court was “out of touch” with the situation in many areas.

The voter ID requirement is touted by supporters as a way to cut down on voter fraud, but opponents say it could discourage voter participation by many older minority voters who remember requirements from the Jim Crow era that served as hurdles to voting.

Hosema n n sa id Wednesday he wants to make sure getting an ID isn’t a burden to any voter.

“Open dialogue is vital to ensuring every Mississippian who qualifies for a voter identification card receives one, free of charge without undue burden,” he said.

Hosemann said his office will begin moving forward with the process of ordering the photographic equipment needed for local Circuit Clerk’s offices to provide ID’s, and the office will prepare instruction manuals for election commissioners and clerks.