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Published in Walthall County Since 1907

Volume 111 No. 42 • www.thetylertowntimes.org • One Section • Thursday, July 26, 2018 • 75¢

The Tylertown

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Index

Classifieds...............................5

Obits........................................8

Op-Ed.....................................11

Opinion.................................10

Public Notices.........................6

Sports......................................4

Boy, the Dixie Youthprogram’s come alive inthe last couple years.

Last year they madehistory when a WalthallDYB team won the statechampionship and trav-eled to the World Seriesin Alabama.

This year, Walthall’sDixie Youth Majors wonstate and head to play inthe World Series inNorth Carolina.

Great job, guys. Ya’llmake us proud!

DEATHSGary boydJoe LadnerRev. Jewell wood

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For a long time there’sbeen a sprinkler at theplayground at HolmesWater Park, a place forkids (and maybe evensome adults) to cool downas it sprays a mist ofwater from overhead.

At least, that’s whatit’s supposed to do.Trouble is, I can’tremember the last time itworked.

It would’ve been nice tohave it working at theDairy Festival this year.I’ll bet it would have beenone of the most popularspots at the park thatday!

Now that the park’sbeen turned over to thetown I hope they’ll gettheir heads together andget it operational. I don’tthink it’s worked in twoor three years and it’s ashame to have it stand-ing there and not beingput to use!

Kayak andcanoe racessuccessful...

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The area north of Hwy. 98 and west of Hwy. 27to the Fred’s Dollar Store property is targetedfor the addition of town infrastructure--waterand sewer--in order to enhance development

of the area along the bypass. The townalready has extended water and sewer serviceto the recently constructed new Dollar Generalstore on the east side of Hwy. 27. This new

project will supply the same services to the asyet undeveloped property from the 98-27intersection to the east side of TylertownPlaza.

The town is about to proceed on a second phaseof a multi-part project for commercial developmentby adding infrastructure along the Hwy. 98 bypass

Mayor Ed Hughes updated aldermen on theproject which began some time ago with approvalof adding sewer service to the area north of Hwy.98 and east of Hwy. 27 when Dollar Generalannounced the construction of a new store on the

bypass. At the time, plans were okayed but no fur-ther move was made to expand water and sewerservice to the area across Hwy. 27 from the newDollar General.

“We filed an application with the Corps ofEngineers then and just now received approval ofa 75-25 matching grant to provide service to thearea west of Hwy 27 to the existing Fred’s Dollar

Store,” he said. The project will require the acquisition of ease-

ments from property owners of that area, themayor noted.

“Hopefully that will open up that area for devel-opment,” the mayor said.

The cost to the town is $66,000--25% of the esti-mated project cost.

Grant to provide sewer, water west of Hwy. 27

Monday, Aug. 6, is the first day ofschool for students enrolled in theWalthall County School District. Forparents that means a trip to thestore to purchase clothing, especial-ly since growing youngsters havelikely outgrown last year’s clothes.

To give parents a break,Mississippi’s annual “Back to Schoolsales tax holiday” takes place thelast weekend of July, a week priorto the the first day of school. Fridayand Saturday, July 27-28, are thedays state sales tax is lifted for eli-gible back to school purchases.

The state’s sales tax holiday forback to school has been going onsince 2009. It’s a tax holiday thatallows the purchase of certain items

of clothing and footwear, free of thestate’s 7% sales tax, during the twoday period.

There are rules governing thepurchases. The sale price ofeach single article of cloth-ing or footwear (a pair ofshoes is considered a sin-gle item) must be lessthan $100 to qualify. Ifthe item carries a pricetag of $100 or more, it’snot eligible for the sales taxholiday and the purchaserwould be charged 7%--a total of$107 on a $100 single item pur-chase.

Local retailers have updated listsof specific items that are eligible

and can guide you toward purchasesof $99.99 or less for individual items

that are eligible.Sales tax-exempt items

include, but are not limitedto, baby clothes, gym suitsand school uniforms,hosiery, nightgowns andnightshirts, veils, workclothes and uniforms.

Items not eligible for salestax-free purchase are base-

ball cleats, graduation capsand gowns, hair accessories,

sports helmets and pads, wallets,watches and watch bands.

Your local retailer always has anupdated list of specifics if you havequestions.

Back to School sales tax holiday means a

break for parents on some clothing items

A disease fatal to white tail deeris an issue that should be of con-cern to all Mississippi residentswhether they hunt or fish or not.

Russ Walsh, an Amite Countynative wildlife biologist and execu-tive wildlife director of theDepartment of Wildlife, Fisheriesand Parks, told Tylertown RotaryClub members that one incident ofCWS--Chronic Wasting Disease--has been confirmed in the state.Other incidents of the disease havebeen found, primarily in the mid-West, and is moreprevalent there.

The disease ishard to detectand affects thedeer’s centralnervous system.Walsh says ananimal may havethe disease for acouple yearsbefore showingsymptoms.

There is nocure, no vaccineand it is alwaysfatal. Because thedisease weakensthe animals’immune system,the deer mayactually die of asecondary dis-ease.

Walsh says thereason everyone--not just hunters and fishermen--should be concerned about ChronicWasting Disease is because it is aconservation issue ultimately affect-ing the state’s natural resourcesand even hitting the state’s econo-my.

“Conservation is largely paid forby hunting and fishing licenses, thepurchases of guns and ammunition,not tax money,” Walsh said.

If people were to stop huntingbecause of the possibility of CWDinfected deer, less money goestoward conservation and the publicis affected by other conservationmatters MDWFP overseas, such as

management of rivers and streams.Also, the state’s outdoors is respon-sible for money spent by huntersand fishermen on guns, boats, trail-ers and other gear, usually at storesspecializing in sports fare. Anddon’t forget out-of-state sportsmenwho come into the state and spendtheir money.

There are some broad healthissues. No one knows if CWD cancross the human barrier.

“Flu hits and moves on. This isnot flu. Once it gets into the popu-

lation it’s here tostay,” Walsh said.

The one inci-dent of a deerwith CWD turnedup in IssaquenaCounty in early2018. While thedeer died ofpneumonia, itwas in a weak-ened statebrought about byits being infectedwith ChronicWasting Disease.

Previously,MDWFP hadtaken a pro-active stance onCWD and begansampling deer inOctober 2017.Statewide over1800 sampleshave been collect-

ed since that time.“We continue to monitor. Our tar-

get is at least 5000 deer,” Walshsaid.

The agency depends a great dealon the public for reports.

“If you see a deer exhibiting thesymptoms, it’s very important thatyou report it to us. You can call 24-hours,” Walsh said. “There are moreof you than of us. Call (601)408-3399 or (601)432-2400.”

Walsh says symptoms exhibitedby an infected deer would be under-weight, listlessness, lowering of thehead, blank facial expression andrepetitive walking in set patterns.

Excessive salivation, drooling andgrinding of the teeth are also signs.

After the incident in IssaquenaCounty, MDWFP set up a 25 mileCWD management zone encompass-ing parts of Claiborne, Hinds,Issaquena, Sharkey, Warren andYazoo counties. About 700 sampleshave been made inside that zone.

CWD is identified with a group ofdiseases known as transmissiblespongiform encephalopathies (TSE).

First detected among mule deerin Colorado in the late 1960s, it wasidentified as a TSE in the1970s.

Scrapie, a TSE associated withdomestic sheep, has been identifiedin the U.S. since 1947. While notproven, researchers think the deercame in contact with scrapie-infect-ed sheep.

It is thought to be transmittedfrom animal to animal and one ofthe greatest risk factors in spread-ing the disease into new animals isthe movement of live animals.

This is the reason MDWFP issampling white tail deer bothstatewide and keeping a close eyeon the management zone.

The white-tailed deer collected onJan. 25, 2018, in Issaquena Countyhas tested positive for ChronicWasting Disease (CWD). The deerwas a 4 1/2-year-old male that diedof natural causes and was reportedto the Mississippi Department ofWildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.

This is the first--and only--time,so far, an animal in Mississippi hastested positive for the disease,which is fatal to white-tailed deer.

The Centers for Disease Controland Prevention (CDC) says whilethere has never been a case of CWDin humans, some studies raise con-cerns that there may be a risk,especially if a person comes in con-tact with the brain or other organsof an infected deer. It is recom-mended that hunters harvestingdeer from areas with reported CWDshould consider having those ani-mals tested before eating theirmeat, and to avoid consumption ofthe meat from any animal thattests positive for the disease.

State wildlife officials monitoring

white tail deer for fatal disease

There’s no use denying it.When surveys of statescome out Mississippi is usu-ally at or near bottom. Butthere are a lot of factors toconsider when surveys areconducted--not the least ofwhich is what website isdoing the survey and rank-ing the states.

The folks atBankrate.com have issued anew report that takes intoaccount factors like cost ofliving, tax burden, weather,crime and health care...stuffthat folks who have theability to actually choosewhere they will live whenthey retire take intoaccount.

South Dakota comes outNo. 1 in the Bankrate.comsurvey.

But wait a second. Thoseof us in Mississippi don’thave to choose somewhereelse to live in retirementbecause we’re already there.

At No. 10 is Mississippi.The state’s in the Top 10best--get that--BEST placesto retire. It means there are40 other states that wouldlove to trade places with us.

So here are the ten:South Dakota in the topspot, at No. 2 is Utah;Idaho, No. 3; NewHampshire in the fourthspot; Florida--the state thatalways makes the retire-ment list--came in at No. 5.Montana and NorthCarolina tied at No. 6, put-ting Wyoming in eighthplace, Nebraska at No. 9;and Mississippi at 10.

The new ratings byBankrate.com prioritizedwarmer places over colderones, assuming retireeswant to eschew harsh win-ters. But some people liketo wear a jacket, and noteveryone wants endlesssunshine. Admittedly,“warm” in Mississippi is anunderstatement, but airconditioning takes care of alot of that problem and forthe most part winters aremild, especially in compari-son to plenty of other states.

At No. 10, the MagnoliaState outdistanced a coupleof neighbors touching ourwestern border--Arkansas,ranked at 46, and Louisianawith its 47 rank.

Bankrate's study pickedits best states consideringfactors like cost of living (20percent), taxes (20 percent),health care quality (15 per-cent), weather (15 percent),crime (10 percent), culturalvitality (10 percent) andwell-being (10 percent).

For those thinking of achange, the rankings can bea good place for people tostart planning their retire-ment.

Top spot

to retire