No year is ever one thing and not the other. The good comes with the bad as the pages on the calendar turn. There are moments of disappointment, anger and disbelief often intermingled with feelings of pride, reassurance and optimism. Tragedies and triumphs rub elbows. 2013 was that sort of year.
A look at the top stories of 2013 underscore what a roller-coaster ride it has been:
1. Done Deal! Yokohama to build plant in Clay County
Clay County had been a part of the Golden Triangle Development Link for more than a year, with no visible indicator that the move would bring desperately needed jobs to a county that was among the state’s leaders in unemployment. But the landscape changed with the sudden and dramatic news that the Link had secured a deal with Yokohama Tire Company to build a $1.2 billion facility just northeast of West Point in Clay County. The deal, a collaborative effort among the Link, the Mississippi Development Authority, the state legislature and Golden Triangle county and city leaders, included a $130-million incentive agreement that secured a facility that, when the last of its three phases is completed in 2023, will create 2,000 jobs.
Work started on the site in September, as officials proceed with Phase One, which is expected to be completed in 2015 and employ 500 workers.
“This is a red letter day in the history of West Point, perhaps unequaled in our history,” said then-mayor Scott Ross.
2. CMSD: School of hard knocks
In early March, Tommy Prude, the Columbus Municipal School District Board of Trustees president was removed from the board, ushering in a new era of accountability for a board that previously provided a rubber stamp for superintendents.
As the board began to assert its authority in district business, the conduct of superintendent Dr. Martha Liddell soon fell under scrutiny. When it was reported that Liddell had used district funds to host a private party at the Trotter Convention Center in December of 2012, further attention began to focus on Liddell’s frequent travel and her continuing work as a consultant, a violation of her contract. In June, the board voted 3-2 to terminate Liddell, with long-time school administrator Edna McGill taking over as interim superintendent. In the aftermath of the board’s investigation into Liddell’s use of district funds, the board discovered 68 occasions in which the district– through its food service provider Aramark — provided catering for non-school events. Some of the catered events were linked to Liddell and her predecessor, Dr. Del Phillips, along with board members Glenn Lautzenhiser and Currie Fisher — often at loss. The investigation to determine just how much money the district lost continued through the end of the year.
“At this time we don’t have any legal action,” board president Jason Spears said. “We’re still trying to investigate things.”
3. ‘Tom’-foolery
As pressure mounted on Liddell, the embattled superintendent had her staunch supporters, most notably Columbus Municipal Judge Nicole Clinkscales, who turned to her Facebook page to vent her frustrations with school board members and board member Aubra Turner, in particular, who had voted to terminate Liddell.
Clinkscales, Liddell and Turner are black. Clinkscales characterized Turner’s actions as ‘tom’-foolery, a veiled reference to the pejorative term “Uncle Tom,” used to describe blacks who did the bidding of the white establishment. The racial comments were not confined to that characterization. Repeatedly, Clinkscales made references to race, including references to lynchings and bondage and calling for “our people” to rise up.
The comments called into question the judge’s ability to perform her duties objectively and render judgments without regard to race, religion, ethnicity, as prescribed by state’s code of judicial conduct. She also endorsed political candidates on her Facebook page, which is also a violation of the state code.
Clinkscales, appointed to the city judge position in 2010, is currently under investigation by the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance.
4. Coleman’s ‘slap on the wrist’ sentence creates outcry
In February, circuit court judge Lee Coleman delivered a sentence that would create an uproar. When John Alan Redden pleaded guilty to beating his then-wife, he faced a 20-year prison sentence for felony assault. Instead, citing Redden’s status as a businessman and community volunteer, Coleman sentenced Redden to unsupervised probation. The verdict stunned not only the community but people within the judicial system as well.
As lenient as the sentence was, Redden proved incapable of meeting those requirements. In July, Redden was arrested for violation of probation in connection with a June 25 incident in which he admitted to shoving the teen-aged daughter of his girlfriend and smashing her cellphone.
During a probation revocation hearing on Aug. 29, Coleman wasted no time in announcing his decision to send Redden to prison, something he had been reluctant to do just months earlier. Redden began serving his five-year prison sentence immediately after the hearing.
5. Municipal missteps abound as new council takes over
A new Columbus City Council took over in July with one new face and a lot of old tricks. Shortly after the municipal elections, the board voted itself a $4,000 per year pay-raise, which came through a last-minute addition to the council agenda whispered by Ward 2 councilman Joseph Mickens to mayor Robert Smith as he went over the agenda for the meeting. Such 11th-hour additions to the agenda, a tactic employed to assure no public discussion, have been a staple of the council, but this time it backfired. Faced with withering criticism after the 3-2 vote to pass the pay raise, the council recanted, voting to strike down the pay raise in its next meeting.
Unfortunately, the same outcome did not occur after another late addition to the agenda again led to a vote without public discussion.
Perhaps emboldened by his landslide victory in his bid for a third term as mayor, Smith used the same tactic to create a new position in city government called “project manager,” which was then awarded to Jabari Edwards and his company J5/Broaddus without discussion or the solicitation of bids. Edwards served as Smith’s campaign manager. Under the terms of the contract approved by the council, J5/Broaddus will be paid $90,000 annually, plus 6 percent of the cost of any city project it oversees.
Meanwhile, the new arrival on the council, Marty Turner, made headlines that had nothing to do with his role in city government. After defeating incumbent Fred Steward in the Ward 4 election, news surfaced that Turner had numerous civil judgments levied against him, including claims for unpaid rent and claims by customers of his furniture store. In addition, Turner avoided arrest for unpaid fines relating to a second-offense DUI charge he faced in Hattiesburg.
Turner’s antics, along with the tactics employed in the pay raise and J5/Broaddus incidents, further undermined the council’s credibility heading into the new year.
6. Alas, we hardly knew ye…
If you were planning to take the city bus to apply for a job at Silicor and maybe stop by at the Cracker Barrel for lunch, well, never mind.
The plans for all three new arrivals ultimately fizzled in 2013.
Cracker Barrel officials met with city officials in April to inquire about the prospect for locating a franchise in Columbus, but by May, those plans had fallen apart. Tommy Tate, a local Realtor, who was brokering a deal to bring Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant to Columbus, confirmed negotiations had ended. The store was to be located on a 2.49 acre parcel on 18th Avenue North.
The proposed Silicor facility met a similar fate, although its demise came over an extended period. In early January, the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors voted to end its agreement with Silicor developer John Correnti after the company missed a Dec. 31, 2012 deadline to begin work on the project. The two-phase facility was projected to create 971 jobs, but in the end the county was left holding the bag on almost a quarter of a million dollars of money spent on the project plus some missed opportunities from other industries looking to locate in the county, according to Golden Triangle Development Link CEO Joe Max Higgins.
For more than a year, officials of Indiana-based Lawrence Transit Service had been in talks with the city to provide a bus service for city residents. After signing a one-year contract in September, however, the company missed repeated deadlines before the council canceled the contract in early December.
7. Two trials, same verdict for Holliman
In 2009, Brian Holliman of Caledonia was found guilty of the slaying of his wife, Laura Lee Godfrey Holliman, on Oct. 25, 2008, and sentenced to life in prison. But the case wouldn’t really be settled for another four years. On appeal, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled District Attorney Forrest Allgood violated the Golden Rule Act when he asked jurors on four separate occasions how they would feel with a gun pointed in their faces during the trial.
A new trial was held in Starkville in August.
After an emotional week-long trial, it took the jury seven hours to reach a verdict: Guilty of murder in the first degree. Holliman, 32, was again sentenced to a life sentence, marking an end to an ordeal that began with the death of his wife.
Or did it?
Asked to comment on the outcome of the trial, Holliman’s attorney, Steve Farese Sr., said, “It means that he’s been sentenced to life in prison. It means we start working on the appeal.”
8. Tragedy at Magby Creek
A family outing turned tragic in May when a father lost control of the ATV he was driving and two of his sons were swept away and drowned at Magby Creek. That afternoon, dozens of local residents had responded to the news of the accident, helping county officials scour the area in boats and ATVs in what was, at first, a rescue operation, but ultimately proved to be a recovery. The bodies of 9-year-old Justin Brown and his brother, 6-year-old Jason Brown were finally recovered from the Luxapalila River several days later. The investigation of the incident continues and Billy Brown, the boys’ father, faces a grand jury probe in January.
9. Columbus comes together
For all of the issues and incidents that threatened to divide the city, there was ample proof that, under the right conditions, citizens of Columbus can rally together. In August, when the family of one long-time former businesswoman who operated on the downtown block known as Catfish Alley asked the city council to name the block in her honor, a controversy erupted over the proper way to honor all of the people who played a role in making the area a hub of black enterprise in Columbus in the early 20th century. In what may have been his best moment of the year as mayor, Robert Smith diffused the situation by forming a committee of residents. The result: improvements that included a marker and mural that commemorated Catfish Alley’s role in the history of the city.
Likewise, in June, when railroad officials approached the city with a plan to permanently block off the railroad crossing at six Southside streets, a huge crowd turned out for a public hearing. In a rare showing that cut across all racial and socio-economic lines, residents both pro and con presented their thoughts to the council. It was easily the finest moment in city government. Ultimately, the council chose not to go through with the railroad’s plans.
The final show of a unified Columbus came on a chilly Saturday evening with the annual Columbus Christmas Parade. Moved from its traditional Monday to a Saturday to accommodate an appearance by the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales, the parade proved that nothing pulls all of the city together better than a celebration of the Christmas season.
10. Author, Author!
Columbus has long laid claim — if tenuous — to a pair of literary giants — Tennessee Williams and Eudora Welty. In 2013, we added another pair to the literary bragging list. Michael Farris Smith and Deborah Johnson produced novels, released by major publishers, to critical acclaim. Smith, who teaches creative writing at Mississippi University for Women, released his first full-length novel, “Rivers,” published by Simon & Schuster, to rave reviews in September. Johnson’s turn in the literary spotlight comes in January with her novel, “The Secret of Magic,” which will published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons. We “literally” couldn’t be any prouder of our most recent contributions to the world of literature.
The Top 20 online stories at cdispatch.com
■ Starkville district provides laptops to all teachers – Jan. 25
■ ATV outing at Magby Creek turns tragic, two children feared drowned – May 18
■ Coleman gives wife-beater a slap on the wrist – Feb. 18
■ Columbus school superintendent fired – June 17
■ Newborn found dead in closet of Columbus home – Dec. 23
■ Three arrested for Starkville car wash murder – July 13
■ Columbus firefighter charged with exploitation of a minor – April 26
■ Cracker Barrel coming to Columbus – April 30
■ Columbus woman held in stabbing death – Nov. 23
■ Cracker Barrel pulls plug on Columbus plans – May 14
■ Liddell used CMSD resources for private party – May 30
■ One child found dead, search continues for brother – May 20
■ Columbus teacher on leave after domestic violence arrest – Jan. 23
■ Three shot at gas station on New Year’s Day – Jan. 2
■ Hobby Lobby coming to Columbus – Dec. 18
■ Lowndes County drug sweep targets 17 suspects – Jan. 9
■ Body of second boy recovered – May 21
■ Two killed in Thursday night crash – April 19
■ Suspected shooter of postal worker captured – Mar. 22
■ Local couple arrested for baby smuggling – June 6
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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