By Jack Gurner Reporter WATER VALLEY – The school district has been approved for a $25,000 dropout prevention grant aimed at lowering the dropout rate that hit 21 percent for the 2012-2013 school year. The funds are for “improving and supporting effective, sustainable and coordinated dropout prevention and re-entry programs in the school district,” Superintendent…

By David Howell Editor COFFEEVILLE – Twenty-one convicted felons with unpaid fines received an ultimatum last Thursday– pay up or go to jail. That ultimatum came during the first  round of show cause hearings in the First Judicial District in Coffeeville for the felons who had not paid the fines assessed alongside incarceration or probation…

Staff Report WATER VALLEY–A new watermelon queen will be crowned Saturday night during the 32nd Annual Watermelon Pageant.     The competition gets underway at 5 p.m. at the Water Valley Civic Center as boys compete in two age categories, ages 3 to 4 and 5 to 6; and girls compete in seven age categories spanning…

By Jack Gurner Reporter WATER VALLEY – City officials have to return $70,000 to the municipal fire protection fund after state officials discovered the money was used to match a $70,000 grant from the Rural Fire Truck Acquisition Program to purchase a new fire truck for the city. At a called meeting of the mayor…

By David Howell Editor OXFORD – A former law enforcement officer is scheduled to appear in Circuit Court in Lafayette County Monday for his arraignment after he was indicted last month for the November 8 murder of his mother and younger brother.     Regis Mister, 26, was indicted on two counts of murder after a…

Staff Report JACKSON – A House Bill that would create a $30 million bond issue to allow the North Central Mississippi Rail Authority to purchase 187 miles of track from Southaven to Canton awaits action in the State Senate.     An amendment to state bonding legislation by Representative Jason White (R-West) added the $30 million…

By Jack Gurner Reporter WATER VALLEY – After an exhaustive search, authorities located a Yalobusha County woman last Friday who had been missing since around noon the previous day. Betty Ruth Dorris was discovered around 1:30 p.m sitting in her vehicle in a wooded area off County Road 557 near Ford’s Well Horse Trail. Sheriff…

JACKSON—The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks will host three tournaments for students participating in its Archery in Mississippi Schools (AIMS) program.  Over 3,000 student archers representing over 200 schools will compete in North and South region tournaments and the overall AIMS State Archery Tournament in Jackson.     Archery is the fastest growing sport…

By Jack Gurner Reporter WATER VALLEY – “The B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery Cookbook” went into national release Tuesday bringing additional publicity to the town from media outlets nationwide. “Be the Change” is the store’s slogan and it certainly has been in the center of the revival that has seen more businesses open in the past five…

By Jack Gurner Reporter WATER VALLEY – Unemployment appeared to take a big jump for January as it does practically every year, but the Mississippi Department of Employment Security says the latest figures don’t tell the whole story. Annually work is performed at this time of year to revise labor force estimates from previous years,…