Tag Archive for: Marshall county

“Life is tough. It’s even tougher if you’re stupid.”

,
NEMiss.News Bogue and McCammon arrested

 

An odd-ball series of crimes in five or more north Mississippi counties required attention from several law enforcement agencies during the first two weeks of March.

Two individuals are in custody on a variety of felony charges. Apparently, the two individuals know one another, but it is unclear whether they were working together. One may simply have been a victim of the other. The known facts raise questions about whether the two miscreants were dim-witted, chemically impaired or just somehow lacked the skills required for a successful life in crime.

The twisted tale goes like this:

NEMiss.News Kenneth Bogue

Kenneth Bogue

Thursday, March 2, Marshall County

On Thursday, March 2, Kenneth Bogue, Jr. appeared before Third District Circuit Court Judge Kent Smith in Holly Springs, Marshall County. Bogue had been convicted in Judge Smith’s court at an earlier date, and the purpose of the March 2 hearing was for sentencing.

  • Judge Smith sentenced Bogue to 20 years in the Department of Corrections (DOC).
  • But, then Smith suspended the sentence, allowing Bogue a form of “house arrest” that gave Bogue limited freedom of movement while wearing an electronic tracking bracelet on his ankle.
  • The deal was that if Bogue got in trouble, the court would then go ahead and remand him to DOC for his 20 year sentence.
  • A DOC officer locked the tracking bracelet on Bogue’s leg and released him near the Love’s Truck Stop in Holly Springs that same afternoon.

A few hours later – 6:30 p.m, March 2, Union, Panola Counties

  • A 2012 Freightliner truck tractor was stolen from where its owner had parked it near the Walmart in Holly Springs.
  • Later still, on the same March 2, the same Freightliner truck tractor was seen at some storage units in Etta in Union County. Someone had broken into the storage units. Union County deputies, when they reviewed the security video at the Etta facility, spotted the Freightliner on the video.
  • Law enforcement officers had begun to suspect Bogue had stolen the truck, but did not know for sure at that point. Data from the tracking bracelet showed Bogue had gone to Batesville in Panola County.
  • It was later learned that Bogue had cut the tracking bracelet from his leg. It was found in a road ditch in Panola County.

It was, indeed, Bogue driving the Freightliner spotted in Etta, and:

  • A short distance from Etta, near Highway 349 and Highway 30, Bogue spotted an empty 48-foot 2019 Great Dane flatbed trailer sitting near the road.
  • He hooked the flatbed to the stolen Freightliner and stole the Great Dane trailer, too.

One might say Bogue was on a  pretty good roll for a small-time player in the tricky game of larceny.

Friday night, March 3, Benton County

The next night, Friday March 3, law officers spotted the Great Dane trailer parked at Christy’s Truck Stop in Hickory Flat in Benton County. They recovered the trailer.

Tuesday, March 7, Union County

Four days later, Tuesday March 7, someone spotted a Freightliner truck tractor on a side road near the Myrtle-Poolville Road. It was stuck in the mud and out of fuel.

NEMiss.News Tindall McCammon

Tindall McCammon

Wednesday March 8, Union County

The next day, Wednesday March 8, a Union County deputy spied a blue Toyota pickup with an expired license tag. The deputy made a traffic stop. The driver of the pickup was Tindall McCammon, age 51.

  • The deputy discovered McCammon was in possession of a quantity of methamphetamine, and may have been impaired.
  • He also had in his possession a handgun, and was a convicted felon.
  • McCammon was arrested and booked into the Union County jail.

A female passenger was with McCammon when he was stopped. The deputy determined that she was not impaired, so allowed her, with McCammon’s permission, to leave with the blue Toyota pickup. A warrant was secured for a search of McCammon’s home. A much larger amount of methamphetamine was found at the home, enough that McCammon faces charges of trafficking, as well as simple possession.

Thursday, March 9, Tippah County

The Union County Sheriff’s office got a call the next morning, Thursday, March 9, saying that Bogue was at McCammon’s residence at 1152 County Road 50. The report said Bogue was now driving McCammon’s blue Toyota pickup and that he was loading items, including an all-terrain vehicle, onto a trailer. This while McCammon himself was locked snugly away in the Union County Jail.

Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards NEMiss.News

Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards

A number of officers, including Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards, sped to the McCammon residence on County Road 50. Edwards spotted Bogue in McCammon’s pickup and gave pursuit. It was raining heavily, and Bogue drove at high speed through a construction site, trying to evade Edwards. When the sheriff slowed up to avoid the possibility of injuring a construction worker, he lost sight of the blue pickup. Edwards and other officers continued searching for Bogue on several roads in that part of the county.

Edwards spotted Bogue again on Highway 2 headed toward Blue Mountain in Tippah County. The sheriff pursued Bogue east on Highway 2 and met a westbound Mississippi Highway patrolman, who turned around and followed Edwards in the pursuit.  Tippah County sheriff’s officers also joined the pursuit.

Finally, Bogue abandoned the Toyota pickup near the Hell Creek Wildlife Management area and fled on foot. Officers of  the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks joined the search. Bogue was found cowering in the weeds a few hundred feet from the Toyota pickup and was arrested by Sheriff Edwards.

In the Jailhouse Now

As fortune would have it, Circuit Judge Kent Smith was holding court at the Union County Courthouse in New Albany that week. It was therefore convenient for the sheriff to march Bogue before Judge Smith in New Albany. Smith immediately remanded Bogue to the Mississippi Department of Corrections to begin serving the 20-years prison term to which Smith had sentenced him on March 2.

McCammon will face charges for drug trafficking and felon in possession of a firearm.

As for Bogue, he could face grand larceny charges for stealing the Freightliner, the flatbed trailer, McCammon’s Toyota pickup; that’s up to the District Attorney and a grand jury. First, of course, is that twenty years he owes Judge Smith.

Several thousand dollars worth of meth is off the streets, and two veterans of the criminal justice system have stumbled into jail yet again.

Sheriff Edwards, reflecting on the events involving Bogue and McCammon, recalled a favorite quote from John Wayne: “Life is tough. It’s even tougher if you’re stupid.”

/by

Cold, Hungry storm victims fed in Ashland

,
NEMiss.News Union Co. Emergency Management, Ashland bound.

 

More than half the population of Ashland, the county seat of Benton County, enjoyed a hot meal Friday, thanks to volunteers from Union County.

Benton County and Marshall County, both near-by neighbors of Union, were struck hard by the winter storm that passed through the area Tuesday. Union County, for the most part, was untouched by the destructive part of the storm.

NEMiss.News Mayor Carroll and Curt Clayton

Ashland Mayor Mitch Carroll (L) and EMS Director Curt Clayton
Photo UCEM

However, people in much of Benton and Marshall Counties have been without electricity for going on 100 hours.

People in Ashland were shivering, hungry in their dark homes.

Thursday evening, Ashland Mayor Mitch Carroll acted to get his people some help. Working with Benton County’s Emergency Management Director Jimmy Grisham he contacted the Mississippi Emergency Management (MSEM) office in Jackson.

NEMiss.News Curt Clayton cooking for over 300 folks

Curt Clayton cooking for over 300 folks. Photo UCEM

He needed hot meals for 325 hungry Ashland residents the next day – Friday. The MSEM people in Jackson knew exactly what help to send to Ashland. It was nearby, well equipped, well led, and willing. A few years ago, Union County Emergency Management (UCEM) Director Curt Clayton acquired, through state emergency management resources, a state of the art field kitchen. It is transportable to wherever needed, equipped to prepare meals for hundreds of people, and can be towed by a heavy-duty pickup truck. There was no direct cost to Union County taxpayers in acquiring the field kitchen.

Clayton contacted the “Soup for Souls” unit of the Union County Baptist Association and took the field kitchen to Ashland. Meals were served Friday to 360 Ashland residents, 35 more than Mayor Carrol requested. Ashland had a population in 2020 of 551. Curt Clayton expects to serve a similar number of hot meals during the day on Saturday. American Red Cross volunteers also assisted with the effort.

Electric service to Ashland is provided by the Holly Springs Utility Department, which has thus far been unable to restore power to Ashland and much of the rest of its service area.

Trees in Ashland, MS area loaded with ice. Photo UCEM
Curt Clayton with Red Cross volunteers, Christina Floan and Lynn. Photo UCEM
Volunteers helping in Ashland, MS Photo UCEM
Burgers, burgers and more burgers coming up! Photo UCEM
Ashville family getting a warm meal. Photo UCEM
/by

FINALLY: true high-speed internet service will be available in 2023 for folks in Union County, parts of surrounding counties

,
NEMiss.News PSC Commissioner Presley and NALGW manager Mattox

 

 

Residents of New Albany and all other customers of New Albany Lights, Gas, and Water (NALGW), will finally have true high-speed internet service available starting next year.

The result of several years of work by Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, NALGW General Manager Bill Mattox and others, installation of fiber optic cable for high-speed internet service is scheduled to start early in the coming year.

The service will make available 10 gigabit symmetrical broadband service throughout the NALGW service area, including New Albany and large parts of Union, Benton, Tippah and Marshall counties. This is approximately ten times the internet speeds that are now avail from internet service providers in the service area.

NEMiss.News NALGW manager Bill Mattox

NALGW General Manager Bill Mattox in his office in New Albany.

Bill Mattox told NEMiss.News Friday afternoon, September 23, that the broadband service will be available to every home and business throughout the NALGW service area – without an installation charge. Installation charges for rural customers in the four-county area may now run as high as $2,000, if furnished by the companies that now provide minimal internet service speeds.

High-speed broadband service for rural and small town Mississippians has been the intense focus for Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley for the last several years. Presley has worked continually with federal, state and local agencies and many thousands of rural families and business now have high speed internet as a result.

A joint announcement yesterday by NALGW and ACE Fiber of Corinth gave further details of the new service coming next year. Here is the full text of the announcement made Friday:

Two years ago, ACE Fiber had just begun deploying fiber broadband services to its membership in Alcorn County. Today, ACE Fiber and The City of New Albany Light Gas and Water (NALGW) are pleased to announce a partnership to bring network services to all NALGW electric customers in New Albany and parts of Union, Benton, Tippah and Marshall Counties.

The internet service provider, currently serving nearly 7,000 subscribers in Alcorn County, was one of the first service providers in America to offer 10 gigabit symmetrical broadband to 100% of its service territory.

After completing the mainline build to envelop the entirety of Alcorn County in less than two years, the for-profit, wholly owned subsidiary of Alcorn County Electric Power Association has its sights set on increasing the scale of its network operations by utilizing excess fiber that will be built by NALGW for the purposes of grid modernization.

“We are very fortunate to have an opportunity to scale our network by leveraging the infrastructure that will be built by New Albany Light, Gas and Water,” said ACE Fiber’s CEO, Eddie Howard. “The partnership we are creating will benefit both Alcorn and Union Counties, respectively.”

The sentiment is shared by NALGW, “This project offers a lot of promise for our electric system,” said Bill Mattox, NALGW’s General Manager. “In addition to constructing a network to facilitate our grid modernization efforts, all of our customers will now have access to world class broadband service at an affordable price. We are very appreciative to our Mayor and Board of Aldermen for having the vision to pursue this project.”

Alcorn County Electric Power Association is one of seventeen electric cooperatives in Mississippi that formed either a subsidiary or a division, with the purpose of providing broadband services to their electric membership.

As of the end of August, those cooperatives have invested over $650 million, running over 21,000 miles of fiber-optic cable, and serving over 80,000 homes and businesses.

“We have seen that the fiber infrastructure that is being built by the electric cooperatives has proven to be superior to what the incumbent providers have been offering for far too long,” said Sean McGrath, Chief Financial Officer with ACE Fiber. “New Albany and Corinth are very similar in a lot of ways. We feel like we had a good game plan for Corinth and that we can replicate that in New Albany by offering a world-class internet service, backed up by a customer service experience that is second to none.”

Both parties hope to begin the initial design and architecture of the network by the fall of 2022. It is believed that fiber services to New Albany and surrounding areas could begin as early as the third quarter of 2023.

“Working together with local leaders, we have searched and searched for a permanent solution to get high-speed internet service to every customer of New Albany Light, Gas and Water for several years,” said Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley. “Once again, we see how community partnerships solve problems. This partnership with ACE Fiber both closed the digital divide for NAGLW customers and makes good financial sense for everyone involved. I’m honored to have worked alongside these two good organizations. We can now say, without hesitation, that help is on the way.”

/by

Path cleared for natural gas service to some rural customers

Some rural residents of Union County and Marshall County may have natural gas service available in their homes during 2019.

New Albany Lights, Gas and Water (NALGW) had applied to the Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC) for authority to extend natural gas service to about 100 customers in western Union County and eastern Marshall County.

Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley conducted a public hearing on the application Wednesday evening, Aug. 29, at the Union County Courthouse. NALGW Manager Bill Mattox and Jackie Cruise, a civil engineer with Cook Coggin Engineers, testified during the hearing.

natural gas service

Interested citizens listen to proceedings at the Public Service Commission’s natural gas service hearing in New Albany.

Presley questioned Mattox and Cruise about when construction could begin. At the conclusion of the hearing Presley said he would enter an order Thursday, Aug. 30, authorizing the extension of NALGW gas service as requested.

Mattox said about 100 customers would initially receive natural gas service but that “many more” rural customers would eventually be served. Natural gas is much less expensive than “bottled gas” or LPG.

Mattox said construction of new gas lines would start as soon as weather permits after January 1st.

For more information on logistics and possible areas of service: http://nanewsweb.com/psc-natural-gas-hearing-new-albany/

/by

Christmas season tornado wreaks havoc in North MS; 7 dead, 1 missing

Nearly a full day after the Dec. 23 tornado damage in Mississippi, a coherent picture finally started  to emerge as to the human cost of the storm.

Seven deaths have been confirmed in north Mississippi with one person still unaccounted for in Benton County, as of mid-afternoon Christmas Eve.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency in Jackson confirmed that there had been four fatalities in Benton County, two in Marshall County and one in Tippah County during the long-lasting Wednesday evening tornado strike.

No reliable account was available late Thursday afternoon as to the number and severity of non-fatal injuries.

The worst damage occurred in Benton, Marshall and Tippah counties.

Scores of homes and other buildings were totally destroyed or severely damaged, a few hundred people had become suddenly homeless, and thousands were without electrical service as dark fell the night before Christmas

Preliminary reports from the National Weather Service (NWS) said that a single tornado, up to one mile wide, had remained on or near the ground in Mississippi for more than two hours and for a hundred miles or more. The NWS said it was rare for a single tornado to plough such a long path of damage. The tornado was believed to be at least of EF3 strength.

The single tornado first touched ground south of Clarksdale in Coahoma County, caused structural damage near Como in Panola County  and continued on a northeasterly path that eventually crossed into Tennessee from the Brownfield community at the far northern end of Tippah County.

Shelters are open at the Clarksdale Auditorium on East Second St. in Clarksdale, at the Marshall County Multi-Purpose Building on N. Memphis St. in Holly Springs and at Harmony Baptist Church at 28840 Highway 15 in Walnut.

To volunteer or donate to help those affected by Wednesday’s storms, go to www.msdisasterresponse.org. You can register to volunteer or even make monetary donations on the website.

For more information, see Sheriff’s Office helps out

/by