Batesville and the south Panola area’s population is expected to drastically drop tonight as the South Panola Tigers attempt to win their third consecutive State 5A title in Jackson, this time against South-Half champion Meridian.

The game begins at 7 p.m. at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium.

South Panola will put its second consecutive championship and a 44-game winning streak on the line against former South Panola Coach Ed Stanley.

A part of the foundation of South Panola’s winning tradition, Stanley took the Tigers to the State 5A championship three consecutive years (1996-98), winning it all in 1998.

Stanley was also defensive coordinator in 1993 of South Panola’s first 5A state championship team. Head coach of that championship team was Willis Wright, who is presently defensive coordinator for South Panola.

South Panola’s head coach, Ricky Woods, is sporting a 58-1 record at South Panola. The only loss came in the state championship his first season with a team he respectfully inherited from Stanley.

Inside today’s edition is a special 16-page section, written and edited by The Panolian Sports Editor Myra Bean, that compiles the current season.

Sponsors of the tabloid include: Batesville Vision Clinic, Caldwell Insurance, Powell’s Country Store, Dale’s Smokehouse Cafe, Covenant Bank, BancorpSouth, Tri-Star Mechanical Contractors, First Security Bank, Hampton Inn, MMC Materials, Graves Oil Company, Tallahatchie Valley Electric Power Association, Reed’s Piggly Wiggly and The Panolian.

Tickets for tonight’s game are available at the South Panola High School office and the District Office on Booth Street until noon today for $10 or may be purchased at the stadium for $12.

Local station WBLE 101.5 FM will carry the radio broadcast. The game will not be televised locally live although WABG-TV, channel 6 in Greenwood/ Greenville, will air a delayed broadcast Sunday at 10:30 p.m., according to the WABG Web site.

(Please see C & D sections for additional sports information).
 

The long-planned strategy to improve traffic flow in Batesville will be unveiled in two weeks at a meeting conducted by the Miss. Department of Transportation (MDOT).

MDOT engineers will disclose their choice between three plans ? bypasses that swing south of the city limits or a widening of Hwy. 6 West ? at the Tuesday, December 20, meeting.
The event, which is open to the public, is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the MDOT lab building in Batesville.

A similar meeting is planned for December 19 in Marks.
The coming changes to Batesville, whatever they are, will unfold as part of a larger MDOT plan to widen the two-lane thoroughfare between Batesville and Clarksdale.

In addition to those changes, a much larger project will also unfold west of Panola County in the Delta counties: Interstate 69, which will stretch 1,600 miles from Canada to Mexico when completed.

The I-69 project is divided into 32 separate projects from Texas to Michigan. Four of those projects are taking place in Mississippi, and one of the four will put I-69 through Tunica, Bolivar and Coahoma counties.

The future presence of I-69 west of Panola County is expected to bring heavy traffic through the Batesville/Highway 6 corridor, especially commercial trucks, making traffic improvements to Panola County an essential part of the future I-69 plan.

(For more information about I-69 in Mississippi, visit ).

The MDOT announcement comes after more than 100 people viewed maps of the possible bypass routes and aired their opinions in an October, 2004, public meeting.

"We’ve gone through the whole process and now the public will be informed of the situation," Jesse Stewart, assistant district engineer for MDOT’s construction department, said of the coming announcement.

MDOT considered three alternatives for Batesville, two varying bypass routes and the widening of Highway 6 through Batesville.

The bypass routes are plans "B" and "C" while the route through the city is "alternate E."

If state officials choose the bypass, both alternate "B" and "C" would take the same route from Hwy. 6 East to Interstate 55, crossing Eureka Road at Will Road and continuing to a new interchange on I-55 between Eureka and Shiloh roads.

Traveling west from Shiloh, the bypass routes differ from there.

"B" would go west toward Hwy. 35 with the interchange near Shiloh, crossing northwest through Farrish Gravel Road and tying into Highway 6 west of North Delta School.

While also crossing I-55 near Shiloh, "C" would cross Hwy. 51 just south of the Pope-Courtland water tower and travel through an interchange located between existing highways 51 and 35.

From there it would cross existing Highway 35 near First Assembly of God Church, also crossing Farrish and back into Highway 6 near North Delta.

The "C" plan would also include a new, relocated Highway 35 route.

The railroad overpass at highways 6 and 35 will also be improved regardless of MDOT’s plans for Batesville traffic, MDOT engineers have said.

Regarding possible bypass locations through homes, yards and pastures, Stewart stressed that the current mapping is only an estimate of the thoroughfare’s expected path.

"This is where the route will travel in approximate terms," Stewart said, "not how many feet it will be from your front porch."

After MDOT discloses its plans in the coming weeks, the next step in the project is survey and design work, the engineer said.
 

Following a unanimous vote by City of Batesville officials Tuesday to allow a developer to hook into city water, sewer and gas, a brief statement by Mayor Jerry Autrey triggered a 15-minute discussion about fairness to developers outside the city limits.

During the meeting of the mayor and board of aldermen December 6, developer Ted Stewart and project engineer Byron Houston of Houston Engineering appeared before the board to request city services for coming low-income apartments.

The apartments will be located just outside the city limits on Haddorn Road.

"The city will not have to pay for anything," Stewart said. "All of the expenses for hooking onto the city’s utilities will be paid for out of a grant we have received."

After Stewart addressed the board, Autrey instructed Gas Department Superintendent William Wilson to keep a record of costs on the project for billing purposes.

Ward 2 Alderman Rufus Manley then asked why the city would issue a bill to Stewart for running the lines and not the developers of a subdivision on Ballentine Road.

"We are running that line out of the city limits at our expense," he said. "I don’t understand why you are going to send a bill to [Stewart]."

Autrey said the only reason the city planned to charge Stewart for the line was because they volunteered to pay all costs.

"These were not conditions that we set," Autrey said. "They told us this would be done at no cost to the city."

"We just need to make sure that we treat everyone (developers) the same no matter who they are," Manley said.