Newspaper introduces online edition

GreeneCountyHerald
“DEVOTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF GREENE COUNTY”
Newspaper introduces online edition
VOLUME 110
LEAKESVILLE, MS
New GC Herald
website goes
live this week
From Staff Reports
In an effort to better serve its readers and provide a needed service to the Greene County
Community, the Greene County Herald will be
available in print and online beginning with this
week’s edition.
The website, greenecountyheraldonline.com,
will go live on Thursday morning, January 1,
2009. Visitors to the site will be able to see a
THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2009
sampling of news and events going on in the
county and will also have access to information
about the newspaper and the community as a
whole. Members will have full access to the full
online edition of the Herald, which will include
full length news stories and photos, as well as
every page of the paper as they appear in the
print edition.
“This is something we have been getting more
and more requests for, particularly in the past
year,” said Greene County Herald Editor Russell
Turner. “We are very excited about the new
product and looking forward to building it into a
true community website.”
“What readers will see this week is just the
beginning. There are plenty of opportunities for
expanding the site. There are numerous planned
features that will be added in the coming weeks
SINGLE COPY 50¢
and we are looking forward to getting feedback
and suggestions from our readers as to the direction they would like the website to go.”
For those who prefer the traditional printed
newspaper, Turner says not to worry. The website is meant to supplement and add to the print
edition, not replace it, he said.
“To me there is nothing that compares to actually holding the printed paper in your hand,”
Turner said. “So, there will not be any major
changes there.”
“However, having a presence on the Internet
will allow us to provide additional services to
our readers and advertisers that were not available previously.”
Among the features on the horizon will be a
photo gallery which will allow the news staff to
post photos from community events that are too
NUMBER THIRTY-FIVE
numerous for the print edition. Viewers will be
able to browse numerous photos they otherwise
would not have seen and even purchase copies of
photos if they desire. Readers will also be able to
submit photos to the newspaper for inclusion in
the paper or the online galleries.
There will also be online forms available for
readers to submit news and calendar items, as
well as wedding or birth announcements.
Website members and visitors will also be able
to order subscriptions or place display and classified ads online and pay for them with a secure
credit card or PayPal transaction.
Members will be able to go to the website for
updates and breaking news stories and out-of-
See ONLINE
Holiday campers Arrest of 85
year old for
bootlegging
leads jail
docket
Local youngsters and teens had plenty to
keep them busy recently as they awaited
the annual visit from St. Nick. Several
sports camps were held in the area in
recent days including a baseball showcase
at Greene County High School and a youth
basketball fun camp at the GCHS gym.
GCHS sophomore Tyler Summers (Top,
right) was among those getting instruction
and trying to catch the eye of several college coaches and professional scouts that
were on hand for the Holiday Showcase
held at the school on Saturday, December
20. Summer is shown working in the bullpen
See CAMPS
Page 5
Photos by Russell Turner
Pulpwood prices salvage 2008 timber crop value
By PATTI DRAPALA
MSU Ag Communications
The continuing decline in
housing construction was supposed to decrease the value of
Mississippi‘s timber harvest
for the third consecutive year,
but an increase in pulpwood
demand kept that from happening.
Although the final value of
the 2008 timber crop will not
be available until February
2009, a preliminary December
estimate indicated the crop was
worth $1.16 billion, a 5.7 percent increase from its $1.1 billion value in 2007. In 2006, the
crop’s value was $1.21 billion,
which was a post-Katrina drop
from 2005’s watermark value
of $1.45 billion.
“2008 was a tough year for
forestry because of the contraction in housing starts and
declining demand for lumber
and paneling,” said James
Henderson, forestry specialist
with the Mississippi State
University Extension Service.
“The price increases for pine
pulpwood caused by rising
demand apparently were sufficient to offset the sawtimber
harvesting and price declines.”
Declines in new construction
lower demand for sawtimber
and other wood-based building
materials. Harvest, milling and
finishing operations for those
products dwindle or cease as a
result of decreasing demand,
Henderson said.
Higher demand for pulpwood
occurred when wood chip supplies were reduced as manufacturers scaled back production
of solid wood products. A relatively strong pulp and paper
market earlier in 2008 also
raised demand and resulted in
higher prices for pulpwood.
Mississippi‘s timber crop harvest has been valued at more
than $1 billion annually over
the last 15 years. The state’s
forest industry, which includes
forestry and forest products,
contributes more than $17 billion to Mississippi‘s economy.
“Demand and production of
building materials, wood products and pulpwood and the
prices the industry will pay for
these supplies are the factors
that influence the rise and fall
of the crop’s annual value,”
Henderson said.
Forests cover more than 19.6
million acres in Mississippi,
which is 63 percent of the
state’s total land area. The forest industry owns 10 percent of
that acreage. Nonindustrial,
private ownership accounts for
78 percent, while 7 percent is
part of national forestland and
another 5 percent is on other
public land.
Workers in the forest industry
often lose jobs as production
stops, and many of the state’s
logging operations felt this
impact in 2008. Some firms
went out of business and others
left Mississippi.
“Since 1996, more than 50
percent of the logging companies in Mississippi have moved
away,” said John Auel, MSU
Page 7
Extension logging education
coordinator. “Others have
parked their equipment and are
working other jobs until the
economy picks up again.”
Full-time loggers deliver
more than 90 percent of raw
wood materials for manufacturing. Most of these businesses have invested more than $1
million in high-tech equipment, a highly skilled workforce, continuing education
and liability insurance.
Although most logging operations are mechanized, the occupation is considered one of the
most dangerous because of the
inherent hazards in felling trees
and the skill needed to maximize safety and efficiency
when harvesting, loading and
transporting.
“Loggers are keenly aware of
the environment in which they
operate,”
Auel said. “They maintain
this safety perspective through
participation in continuing education programs and certifica-
tion training.”
A bright spot for the forest
industry may be the potential
of making biofuel from forest
byproducts. Researchers are
investigating environmentally
friendly methods of biomass
breakdown that are effective,
efficient and affordable.
“Forestry is a cyclical industry of good times and hard
times,” said MSU forestry
research
associate
Marc
Measells. “Research into
wood-based biofuel may offer
a way to survive some of the
economic downturns that
inevitably occur.”
Some industries are using pellets made from compressed
wood fiber to produce heat and
energy.
“There are many natural
materials left over in the woods
after harvesting that cannot be
used by the mills,” Auel said.
“There is much undiscovered
potential in these materials that
research might bring to the
forefront.”
From Staff Reports
Charges of bootlegging illegal alcohol against an 85year-old county woman led
the arrest docket for the week
of Christmas. In all 13 people
were arrested during the holiday week (Tuesday, Dec. 23
through Friday, December
27), according to the Greene
County Jail Docket.
Rosietta Allen, of 597 KTown Road, State Line, was
taken into custody by Greene
County sheriff’s deputies
December 23 and charged
with bootlegging illegal alcohol in the county. It was the
second time in five months,
the elderly Knobtown woman
has been arrested on misdemeanor charges of operating
an alcohol bootlegging operation from her home. Her first
arrest came in early August.
Details about the alleged
operation were not available
due to the holiday schedule.
Also arrested during the
week were as follows:
Erick Walley, 34, of K-Town
Road, State Line, was arrested
and charged with possession
of alcohol.
Macarthur Hill, 38, of Hwy.
42 Battle Road, State Line,
was arrested and charged with
possession of alcohol.
Mable W. Smith, 47, of
MLK Drive, State Line, was
arrested and charged with
driving while license suspended, and improper equipment.
Tarryl Green, 33, of Twin
Creek Drive, Lucedale, was
arrested and charged with
possession of stolen property
(3 counts).
Wesley Gandy, 24, of
McLain Bay Road, Richton,
was arrested and charged with
conspiracy, and an assault on
an officer.
Casey Vickers, 30, of Ford
James Road, Lucedale, was
See ARRESTS
Page 2
GREENE COUNTY HERALD____‘Happy New Year’_____Thursday, January 1, 2009____PAGE 7
On-Line
area readers will be able to
read the weekly paper without
having to wait for mail delivery, which is often quite
untimely.
During the month of January,
the complete online version
will be available to everyone
logging onto the site. Effective
February 1, the complete website will be available to members only, while visitors will
still have access to many key
areas, but only restricted news
coverage. Membership to the
site is free to all subscribers.
“We’ve always had great
relationships with our local
Continued from Page 1
post offices,” Turner said.
“And, the service for our incounty readers is great. But,
that is not the case with many
of our out-of-area readers.
This website will give them a
better option for keeping up
with the news from Greene
County that interests them.”
The website will also provide
advertisers an inexpensive
way to establish a broader
marketing reach via the
Internet. All display ads that
run in the paper will be placed
online and readers viewing
those ads will have access to
links for contacting the busi-
ness, going straight to the
advertiser’s website (if one
exists) and even a link to a
map showing the business’s
location.
“We feel like this will be a
great way for local businesses
to have an Internet presence
and reach many more potential
customers,” said Turner.
“And, it is particularly going
to be a means by which people
from out of our area can find
services they need for their
interests in Greene County,
such as banking, insurance or
legal services.”
“Once again, we are excited
about the website and what it
can mean to our newspaper, to
our readers and advertisers,
and to our community as a
whole. And, we really are
looking forward to hearing
ideas and suggestions from the
community for making the site
better.”
If you are a subscriber, go
online now and register as a
member, but be sure your
address information matches
the mailing label on your
newspaper ‘exactly’. Not a
subscriber? Go online now
and subscribe, so you won’t
miss any local news.
or at numerous other industries. Community colleges
train industrial maintenance
workers for companies such as
Nissan and its suppliers in central Mississippi and the new
Toyota plant and its suppliers
in the northeast part of our
state.
We need industrial production workers trained in the latest technology such as
automation and robotics. All
these skills are taught by our
community colleges.
Our community colleges also
teach adult basic education
courses, GED test preparation,
and numerous other programs
that help our citizens who have
fallen behind the economic
mainstream. Did you know
that we have 400,000
Mississippians over the age of
25 who dropped out of high
school and do not have a
GED? A huge number of
those people are unemployed
and on welfare or in prison.
We teach GED classes to thousands of adults each year, who
can then transition into workforce training or credit classes
at one of our colleges. Our
community colleges give these
Mississippians a "second bite"
at the apple of the American
dream.
Altogether, approximately
274,000 Mississippians were
educated at one of our community colleges in the 2007-2008
school year. And what a value
we are! The average cost for
tuition and required fees for
credit courses for a school year
is only $1,766. To put this in
context, national figures reveal
that on average a community
college graduate makes $9,100
more per year than a high
school graduate, and that is for
the rest of your life. And
workforce training classes cost
students nothing at all!
So, if you are not satisfied
with where you are in today's
economy in terms of income
or job security, call your local
community college. We can
help make life better for you
and your family!
Dr. Eric Clark,
Executive Director for the
State Board for Community
and Junior Colleges
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394-5070
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Letters to the Editor...
LSL needs
helping hands
Dear Editor,
Do you like being outside in
the fresh air? Do you appreciate being a positive influence
in
young
lives?
WELL...Leakesville Summer
League is looking for dedicated men and women that are
willing to give of their time
and experience!
We need concerned, committed adults to help during summer league (April - June) as
umpires! The monetary pay
isn't much but the time spent is
invaluable to the players.
Please consider being an integral part of children's lives in
this worthy cause.
Please call for more information and to make your commitment: 601-394-3562 or 601394-2158.
LSL Officers
Community
Colleges are
State's best
weapon
Dear Editor,
The United States is in a
recession, and Mississippi is
not immune to the economic
downturn. That is the bad
news. The good news is that
Mississippi has a powerful
tool to help our state and its
citizens make a faster and
stronger economic recovery:
our 15 two-year community
colleges. Many people who
have lost jobs or who fear losing jobs will take the "lemons"
of the recession and turn them
into "lemonade" by obtaining
new job skills, more job security, and permanently higher
paychecks by attending classes
at their local community college.
One of the best kept secrets in
our state is how many
Mississippi lives are made better each year by our community colleges. In the 2007-2008
school year, approximately
94,000 people took classes for
credit at a community college.
Of those, nearly 73% took academic, university-track courses to prepare them for fouryear degrees.
More than 27% of credit students take career and technical
courses that lead directly into
good paying jobs in fields like
nursing, drafting and design,
and information technology.
Mississippi needs two thousand nurses. Our community
colleges can train a registered
nurse in two years, and that
person can start work making
$45,000 a year.
Besides those students taking
credit courses, approximately
153,000 Mississippians participated in short-term workforce
training provided by our community colleges last year.
They learned specific skills in
preparation for new or existing
jobs. Mississippi needs two
thousand welders right now,
whether at Northrup Grumman
Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, at
Severstal Steel in Columbus,
Letter-to-the-Editor Policy
We welcome your comments on editorial opinions and news
items in the Greene County Herald or on any other subjects
important to you. All letters to the editor should include the
name, address and day and evening phone numbers of the
writer. The name and hometown will be included along with
any letter published. The other information is for verification
purposes only. Letters to the editor of 250 words or fewer
have the best chance of being published. Letters can be:
- delivered to our office at 431 Main St., Leakesville;
- mailed to P.O. Box 220, Leakesville, MS 39451-0220;
- faxed to (601)394-4389; or
- emailed to [email protected].
The management of the Herald reserves the right to edit or
refuse to publish any letter deemed inappropriate.
We really mean it when we say
that we loved every minute of
serving you this past year.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
and sincere thanks to each
and every one of you.
We look forward to seeing you
again in the new year.
Closed New Year’s Day.
Member FDIC
2009 is near, and we’d like to be the
first to extend our best wishes for a
happy, healthy and prosperous year.
We really appreciate the kindness
you’ve shown us as friends,
neighbors & customers.
Your loyal support means a lot to us.
Happy New Year,
everyone,
from all of us at
Chavers
Farm Fresh
214 Winter Street
Lucedale, MS
White Oak
Restaurant
202 River St.
Leakesville, MS
(601) 394-2952
WE WILL BE CLOSED
THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2009.
May the coming year
bring lots of good fortune
to you and your family.
We consider ourselves
very lucky to have
customers like you.
700 Main Street • Leakesville, MS • 394-5511
433 Main Street • Leakesville
601-394-5102