Last chapter of general election plays out in DeSoto County
Election news — one just held and looking ahead to another in 2017 — is on the agenda this week, along with an announcement about a special visitor to DeSoto County Schools and an update (well, not much of one, but a bit of fresh news) on Interstate 269.
Let's start with everybody's favorite topic, having just survived Nov. 8 — elections.
The last chapter of the general election played out for DeSoto County voters and other North Mississippi voters last week, when Circuit Judge Bobby Chamberlin of Hernando won a seat on the Mississippi Supreme Court in a runoff for the court's District 3, Position 1 seat. Chamberlin defeated Columbus attorney John Brady, who finished second to Chamberlin in a four-way race on Nov. 8.
The importance of the home crowd can't be overstated in Chamberlin's win. He captured more than 93 percent of the vote in his home county, also bringing in 91 percent in neighboring Tate County. By contrast, Brady's best showing was in his home county of Lowndes. But even there, Brady managed only 79 percent.
With only an abysmal 5.44 percent turnout among DeSoto County's 99,592 registered voters, getting more than 90 percent didn't translate into that many votes. Still, with turnout equally low elsewhere (it usually is for runoffs), it was good enough to make Chamberlin only the second DeSoto County native to win a seat on the state's highest court.
And speaking of elections, there's another coming up for Mississippi voters in 2017. In fact, if you subscribe
to the view that local elections are more important in the day-to-day lives of most people than national elections, next year's balloting is more important than that presidential affair we just endured. Mississippi cities will hold municipal primary elections in May, followed by a June general election.
In Southaven, Mayor Darren Musselwhite fired the first shot in the municipal election cycle last week with his announcement that he'll seek a second term. It's a particularly significant election for Southaven, Mississippi's thirdlargest city, as Musselwhite seeks to build on the work he started in the aftermath of the messy Greg Davisera. Musselwhite, in his announcement, outlined several key areas of focus for a second fouryear term: public safety, economic growth and development, infrastructure improvement and revitalization of the city's original area along the state line.
Stay tuned to see who else enters the fray not only in Southaven, but in DeSoto County's other cities as politics begins to heat up all over again in the county after the first of the year. The filing period opens Jan. 2.
WE HAVE A VERY SPECIAL VISITOR, CLASS
The DeSoto school system fared well under Mississippi's revamped grading system for public schools, and the good work is paying off with a visit later this month from the state's education superintendent, Dr. Carey Wright.
Wright will visit Lewisburg Middle School Dec. 16, the last day before Christmas break, as part of a statewide tour of school districts that received an A ranking for the 2015-16 school year or that achieved the top score in each of the main components of the accountability model that measures school and district performance. DeSoto County Schools was one of 14 districts statewide — the only one locally — to receive an A ranking, and five of the district's eight high schools ranked among the top nine high schools in the state. Among middle schools, Lewisburg ranked first in the state and and DeSoto Central in Southaven ranked No. 2.
Wright's visit is termed a way to thank teachers and students for their efforts.
"Teachers and students have experienced a great deal of change in the last few years as we worked to improve public education in the state," Wright said in a statement announcing the tour, "and they have met and conquered any challenge. It's time to give them the recognition they deserve for what's been accomplished so far."
Wright will be at Lewisburg at 9 a.m. Her only other area stop as part of the tour will be in Tunica, where she will stop at Rosa Fort High School at 1 p.m. on the 16th. Rosa Fort had the highest growth in math scores among the lowest 25 percent of high school students, and Dundee Elementary in Tunica had the same distinction among elementary schools. I-269 BULLETIN Well, "bulletin" might be a bit strong. Let's just say the Mississippi Department of Transportation told us a little something about the status of the much-anticipated project as part of an update of North Mississippi projects.
I-269, the largest active MDOT construction project, eventually will form a horseshoe of nearly 60 miles from Hernando to Millington in Shelby County. It will be part of a bypass around Memphis as part of the planned Interstate 69 route from Canada to Mexico. In addition to easing travel for motorists, development officials and elected leaders throughout the areas touched by it are excited about the growth potential the project will bring.
For those reasons, many people latch on to any tidbit of fresh information about its status. Well, in the latest update, MDOT doesn't offer a lot but does reassure that I-269 is still expected to be open to traffic in North Mississippi in late fall of 2018.
Dirt and bridge work for the entire I-269 corridor is complete, MDOT says, and two paving projects are underway as part of the next phase. Work has begun on the first of the two paving projects, and the contract for the second paving project has been awarded. However, MDOT says it doesn't expect work on the second project to begin until sometime after the first of the year.
The first section of I-269, from Miss. 302 to the Tennessee line in Marshall County, opened to traffic Oct. 23, 2015. LAWSUIT RESPONSE Southaven finally filed its response to a lawsuit by Memphis physician Marcia Bowden and her husband, Ira Marche, who claim their civil right were violated during a traffic stop by Southaven police.
Not surprisingly, the response contends the officers acted properly and that there is no legal basis for awards, anyway, under protections covering public servants operating in their official capacity.
Nonetheless, the response is an interesting read because it offers a reminder of the different ways in which an incident is perceived. Both sides agree on the basics of what happened when two Southaven officers stopped Marche's Jaguar on Church Road for allegedly speeding. It's the details of what was said and how officers conducted themselves that make the difference. Bowden and Marche contend officers were rude, unwilling to listen and showed a lack of proper training in how they handled the situation. The officers deny doing anything beyond what they were trained to do and demand proof of anything different.
The $1 million each sought by Bowden and Marche seems unlikely, but that will, of course, be up to a judge and jury to decide if the case makes it that far. A telephone conference is scheduled for Jan. 5 to discuss the case. BRIEFLY Christmas Food Drive: The Mayor's Youth Council in Hernando is helping provide Christmas meals to more than 100 families in the Hernando and Nesbit areas. The council set up a table in front of Kroger Marketplace in Hernando Friday and Saturday to collect nonperishable food items and cash donations. The items will be distributed to selected families Dec.17 by members of the Interfaith Council and volunteers.
Drought assistance: The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing $500,000 in financial aid and technical assistance to Mississippi producers who suffered from drought conditions throughout the state. The funding is available through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. Producers, farmers and ranchers can apply and obtain more information through their local Natural Resources Conservation Service office.