By Rita Howell
It seems 2013 was but ordinary for Panola, as the county hosted coon dogs, hundreds of runners, and followers of a famous Buddhist teacher. We welcomed recycling, contemplated a proposed Zoofari, and said goodbye to a trio of long-serving public officials.

In January, 1,000 pedigreed coonhounds and their owners and handlers converged on the Batesville Civic Center for the United Kennel Club’s Winter Classic show and hunt. The event was moved from a location in Georgia where it had been held for 25 years. Volunteer guides led two nights of hunts at locations all over North Mississippi. Hunters came from as far away as Canada. Officials attributed an 18 percent increase in the city’s tourism tax receipts in January to the Winter Classic. The event returns to Batesville January 23-25.

In February the South Mississippi Electric Power Association, which purchased the LS Power generation facility in Batesville in 2012, offered a one-time payment of $2 million to be split between Panola County and the South Panola School District. The county lost approximately $30 million in taxable  assets when the non-profit bought LS Power. The one-time consolation payment would send $500,000 to the county coffers and $1.5 million to South Panola Schools.
In March supervisors authorized a county ordinance prohibiting “saggy pants,” with a $50 fine to be imposed on anyone found guilty of wearing pants below the waist and exposing underwear.
Como’s Emily Jones Pointer Public Library hosted a tribute March 28 to native son and renowned author, teacher and theater critic Stark Young.

In April a county-operated recycling service got under way when large metal bins were installed onto a lot owned by the City of Batesville on Van Voris Street. Paper, plastic, cardboard and aluminum cans can be dropped off there 24/7. The contents are trucked to a recycling center in Oxford for processing. Late in the year the county added a recycling center for electronics at the Panola County Solid Waste Transfer Station on McNeely Road east of Courtland.

Panola’s Habitat for Humanity group dedicated a new home on Everette Street on April 18.

Tim Wilder, 47, was hired April 24 as the new superintendent for the South Panola School District, replacing Keith Shaffer who retired in 2012. Wilder came to South Panola from Grenada County where he had served as assistant superintendent.

Municipal elections
Municipal elections were held in May. New city leaders are: Batesville — Mayor Jerry Autrey, aldermen Terry Morrow, Bill Dugger, Ted Stewart, Stan Harrison and Eddie Nabors; Sardis–Mayor Billy Russell, aldermen Roy Scallorn, Jo Jo Still, Bonnie Smith, Tommy Rayburn and Clarence Jones;
Como — Mayor Everette Hill and aldermen Tonia Heard, Ruby Higgenbottom, Teresa Dishmon, John Walton and Rachel Powell.

Nibbler nabbed
Batesville police in mid-May solved a mystery and nabbed a culprit who had vandalized the front lawn of Court Street resident Sheila Pounders, cutting down and hauling off newly-planted trees. BPD animal control officer Benji Pearson trapped a large beaver as he returned to the scene of the crime. The animal was released on Pearson’s farm.

Country artist Josh Thompson was the headliner for Batesville’s SpringFest May 18.
The South Panola School Board hired Roy Ballentine as the new principal for South Panola High School on May 21. Ballentine had most recently served as interim principal in Lafayette County. He succeeds Tim Fowler who resigned following a three-year stint at SPHS to return to the West Point area.

Zoofari
The Panola County Land Planning Commission was approached in June by representatives of Zoofari, a proposed ride-through zoo to be located on 466 acres east of Como. The preserve would hold African hoof stock like gazelles and antelopes. The proposal was approved by the commission and the developers are now awaiting replacement of a bridge on a road leading to the property.

More than 1,000 job applicants took advantage of a Job Fair at the Batesville Civic Center June 20. Officials later said 247 job offers were made that day.

In early August Franklin, Tennessee-based Community Health Systems, Inc. announced intention to purchase Health Management Associates, Inc. (HMA) for $7.6 billion. Tri-Lakes Medical Center in Batesville is one of 10 HMA hospitals in Mississippi. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2014. In September Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Mississippi announced it had dropped HMA hospitals from its provider network. The action followed the filing of a complaint by HMA against BCBS, citing underpayment for services.  Tri-Lakes was reinstated into the network in October, and all HMA hospitals were reinstated by the end of the year.

Supervisors voted on August 12 to permit a gravel mining and asphalt plant in Como near I-55. The Panola County Land Planning Commission had earlier in the year rejected the plan, after hearing from residents who objected to the increase in traffic related to the plant.

The Southern Reporter newspaper in Sardis merged with The Panolian after publishing its final edition on September 26. It had been published for more than 150 years.

Southern Reporter publisher David Howell continues to publish the North Mississippi Herald in Water Valley.

State test scores for South Panola and North Panola school districts were announced in September, with South Panola receiving an overall ranking of C and North Panola, a D. The rankings were based on MCT2 tests administered to grades 3-8 and subject area tests for high school students administered in May.

Magnolia Grove Monastery in the Red Hill Community hosted about 1,000 visitors who came the weekend of September 28-29 to hear Zen Master Thich Nhat Hahn, one of the world’s foremost Buddhist teachers.

A third marker for Como along the Mississippi Blue Trail was dedicated October 12 to honor musician Napolian Strickland.

Batesville was among nine finalist cities in Mississippi in media provider C Spire’s “Get Fiber First” challenge. The finalists are competing to obtain Internet and digital connections 100 times faster than the national average. The challenge is currently continuing, with neighborhoods within Batesville being given the opportunity to pre-register for the service.

After five years under state conservatorship, the North Panola School District will be under the authority of an elected school board in 2014. The Mississippi State Board of Education had ruled in July that all deficiencies which triggered the state takeover had been corrected. A trustee election was held November 5. Elected were: Verna Lasha Hunter, Patricia Wright Lamar, Trosiki Pettis, R. Chris Fairlee and D. Armstrong Tucker. The new trustees will be sworn in January 21.
Batesville’s I-55 S interchange, first opened in December, 1963, was revamped this year, with looped exit lanes eliminated, new exit ramps constructed, and traffic signals activated in early November to improve traffic flow.

Notable passings
District 11 State Representative Joe Gardner died of a heart attack at his home February 4. He was 68.

Retired Panola County Chancery Clerk Sally Fisher, 71, died March 11. She had served four consecutive terms after serving 17 years as deputy clerk under the late Brooks Vance.
Crenshaw assistant fire chief Hubert Joyner died August 8 after suffering injuries in a building collapse in Crenshaw July 22.

Former State Senator Charles Ray Nix died December 21 at age 82. He had served in the senate from 1972-1988 and was later executive director of the South Panola Area Chamber of Commerce.

Notable people
Lataisha Jackson, 29, of Como was elected April 16 to serve Mississippi House District 11 in the seat vacated in the death of Joe Gardner. Jackson operates the nonprofit EDUCATE Center in Como, an after-school program for children.

Batesville runner C.D. Overton of Batesville participated in the Boston Marathon and was a few blocks away when the bomb blast occurred at the finish line April 14.

Nick Hudson of Batesville represented Mississippi in the National 4-H Shooting Sports Invitational in Nebraska in June.

Mr. Vegas, a King Charles Spaniel owned by Andy Yelton, was named “Cutest Pet in Panola” in a contest sponsored by The Panolian to raise funds for the Panola Humane Society.

After winning the Food Network’s Food Court Wars competition this summer, Panola Countians Steven McCain and Erika Lipe declined the prize, a year’s free rent on a food court space in Meridian, citing expenses above the rent that would be required to establish the business.
Billie Breedlove of Batesville was installed in June as Mississippi DAR regent, overseeing 79 chapters in the state.

Tony Womble was named Air Evac’s National Pilot of the Year. He works with the Batesville Air Evac team.

Alison Bentley was named the new librarian at the Batesville Public Library.
Quartet of races

Four local civic groups embraced the popularity of foot races, holding 5K’s and a 10-miler to raise funds for their charities.

In Sardis, the Heflin Heritage Association sponsored a 5K in conjunction with the town’s AprilFest on April 6.

The Panola County Humane Society continued its sponsorship of the Racing for Paws 5K, held in conjunction with SpringFest in Batesville May 18. There were 289 finishers.

The Batesville Rotary Club sponsored the Gateway to the Delta 10-miler on November 2 to raise funds for the Batesville Safe Shelter. More than 300 participated.

Getting into the Christmas spirit, the Junior Auxiliary of Batesville sponsored a family-friendly Jingle Bell Rock and Run 5K the night of November 30, with costumed runners trekking through neighborhoods lit up with holiday decorations.

Four murders
Among distressing year-end conclusions is the fact that Panola has seen four murders in 2013. The suspect in one killing is dead, and suspects in the other three murders have been arrested.
Tovell Lanier Henderson, 38, was found shot to death on Boyd Street in Batesville on May 3. Charged with his murder were: Christopher E. Thomas, 31, Ladaron Taylor and Quendravious Taylor, both 18.

Douglas Ellis, 35, was found dead of a gunshot would in the early morning hours of July 4 on Patton Lane. Desmond Robinson was charged with Ellis’ murder.

The same day, though unrelated, Calvin Jones apparently killed Tyronda Porter in Courtland, then fled the scene and later shot himself.

A Sardis teenager, Roderick Bobo, 15, died after a North Panola High School football game August 23, in what authorities believe was a gang-related shootout. Charged in the murder were Bobby Boyce, Jamarcus Teon Arnold, Darius Dontae McNeil and Quinterious Marshard Mabry.

In a tragedy in November that touched many in Panola, Lafayette County investigators arrested 25-year-old Regis Mister in connection with the death of his mother, former Batesville Middle School principal Carol Lavett Gary, 43, and her 12-year-old son, Patrick Earl Gary Jr., who were found dead in their home in Oxford November 8.