#1 Lancaster runoff
Allan D. “Devo” Lancaster leads in Montgomery County in the race for Circuit District 5 Place 2 Circuit Court Judge.
Lancaster secured 1,304 votes during the Nov. 28 runoff, and Doug Evans got 159, according to unofficial results compiled by Montgomery County Circuit Clerk Lanelle Martin.
Deputy Circuit Clerk Lesa Goldman said votes cast for this election was 1,464 or 23.58 percent of voters in the county.
“It was very low,” said Goldman. “We know [the turnout would be low] because we didn’t do but 93 absentee ballots.”
Lancaster and Evans were the only two candidates on Tuesday’s ballot, which was vastly different from the Nov. 8 contest.
Lancaster won 2,042 votes from ballots cast in Montgomery County, and Evans picked up 427 picked up votes, according to the Nov. 8 official results compiled by Martin.
#2 State/County officials visit Biewer
Gov. Tate Reeves was in Winona on April 21 for a site visit to the recently opened Biewer Lumber.
Headquartered in St. Clair, Michigan, Biewer Lumber has two sawmills in that state, two in Wisconsin, one in Newton, Miss. and now, one in Winona, according to the company’s website.
During Reeve’s visit to the lumber company’s Winona location, he toured the facility with Montgomery County officials.
“Biewer Lumber’s expansion to Winona was tremendous news for our economy,” said Reeves. “This $130 million investment will create over 150 high-quality jobs. That’s over 150 Mississippians who can better support their families and their communities.”
Biewer Sawmill Winona Inc., the company’s second Mississippi location, broke ground in the spring of 2021, and operations began last month. The state-of-the-art facility will produce more than 250 MMBF annually, according to the website.
“I witnessed firsthand the impressive sawmill that’s been built and greatly look forward to seeing the continued impact of our partnership with Biewer Lumber on our state,” said Reeves.
Biewer Forest Management works with woodland owners to help them achieve their forest management goals, whether wildlife management, timber production or recreation, the website stated.
According to Blake Biewer, plant manager, the sawmill, which sits on 150 acres, is comprised of multiple buildings, serving a variety of purposes.
#3 Winona schools shut down after shooting
A Grenada man is in the Carroll Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility on murder and aggravated assault charges.
Daniel Cordell Jr., 21, is accused of shooting Derric Suddoth and Santonio Williams multiple times with a .45 caliber handgun inside Suddoth’s vehicle on McNutt Street in Winona on Friday, Sept. 9, according to Winona Police Chief Roshaun Daniels.
“Cordell supposedly stole a firearm from Derric Suddoth,” said Daniels, adding one of the victims and multiple witnesses identified Cordell as the suspect.
Both victims were taken to Jackson with life threatening injuries, and Williams died due to his injuries later that evening, Daniels said.
Cordell fled the scene of the shooting, iniating a manhunt involving officers from multiple agencies.
“He never really ran from the police. He fled before we got there. Witnesses stated he ran towards the cemetery off of Cemetery Street,” Daniels said.
The manhunt then led to the lockdown of local schools, including Winona Secondary, Winona Elementary, Winona Christian and several daycare schools.
#4 Carroll County man arrested on beastiality charges
A Carroll County man has been arrested on two counts of sexual battery and two counts of unnatural intercourse with a beast.
Mike Bobbitt, 59, of County Road 316 in Carroll County, was arrested Friday, Nov. 11 after a search warrant was executed on Bobbitt’s home. According to a statement released by the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department, deputies seized evidence from Bobbitt’s home, including computers.
The release states that Sharon Stone, an operations manager with In Defense of Animals, was called to take custody of several dogs from Bobbitt’s home and from the neighborhood.
Bobbitt has been booked into the Carroll-Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility, where he remains on $375,000 bond.
#5 Fifth District Circuit Court Judge George Mitchell dies
Circuit Court Judge George Mitchell, 77, of Eupora died Monday after suffering a heart attack during a surgery. Mitchell was appointed by Governor Phil Bryant in December 2015 to serve out the term of former Circuit Court Judge Clarence Morgan III.
Funeral arrangements for Mitchell are incomplete. Oliver Funeral Home in Eupora is handling arrangements. Interment is expected to be at North Mississippi Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Kilmichael.
Mitchell was considered a more laid back judge but had a no-nonsense style about him when he was on the bench. He recently finished the April term of Circuit Court in Montgomery County. Mitchell served six years on the bench. The Fifth District Circuit Court covers Montgomery, Carroll, Choctaw, Grenada, Attala and Winston counties.
Judge Mitchell was a Vietnam War veteran with 32 years of military service. He served as a Judge Advocate in the Mississippi Air National Guard and a Judge on the Mississippi Court of Military Appeals. His many military honors included the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, the Mississippi Magnolia Cross and the Air Force Legion of Merit.
#6 Winona unveils Fannie Lou Hamer marker
Visitors from across the United States joined local residents in celebrating the inaugural Fannie Lou Hamer Day event on June 9 in Winona.
The celebratory day of healing was extended to four days, beginning with a program of remembrance and remarks from Jacquelyn Hamer Flakes, Euvestor Simpson and others at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
Flakes descriptively gave an account of what her mother, Fannie Lou Hamer, had told her about being arrested for trying to integrate a segregated lunch counter at a bus station in Winona in June 1963.
Flakes told the congregation of Caucasian and African American listeners about the screams her mother heard from fellow protestors and the officers who beat them inside the jail that once stood at the intersection of Sterling Avenue and Oak Drive.
Flakes described how an officer beat her mother with a night stick until he was tired, and then another would beat her until he was tired. After which, they forced an inmate to beat her.
The audience listened in amazement as many tried to hold back tears.
Simpson also gave her personal account of being arrested at the bus station and later beaten at the jail.
#7 New publisher, graphic designer join Montgomery Publishing
The Winona Times and Carroll County Conservative staff are pleased to welcome a new publisher and a new designer to the team. Tish Butts will take over the helm as editor and publisher, succeeding Amanda Sexton Ferguson, and Erin Estrada joins the team as the part-time designer.
If Butts and Estrada's names sound familiar, it's because they're not strangers to Montgomery and Carroll counties, nor are they strangers to the Times and Conservative. The two Montgomery County natives worked under Sexton Ferguson earlier in their careers. Butts, who lives in Kilmichael, served as a staff writer for the papers from 2015 until 2017, and Estrada, who lives in Winona, worked as a designer in 2017.
Tish Butts
As a lover of history, it's fitting that Butts is making history herself. Butts is the first African-American woman to hold the position of editor and publisher for The Winona Times and The Carroll County Conservative.
"I am honored to be considered for the position," Butts said. "I'm happy to be home holding such a position. I want to be beneficial to the community, the staff, The Winona Times, Carroll Conservative, and Emmerich Publishing as a whole."
...
Erin Estrada
Estrada, whose maiden name is Winstead, was born and raised in Winona. She graduated from Winona High School and was accepted as a freshman to Mississippi State University in 2011. In 2013, Erin applied and was accepted into the graphic design program at MSU's College of Architecture, Art, and Design, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2015.
#8 Coburn joins Montgomery Publishing as staff writer
The folks at Montgomery Publishing welcome Anna Coburn to the team as a staff writer.
“We at Montgomery Publishing are happy Anna has joined our team, and we look forward to her working with us,” said Tish Butts, publisher and managing editor. “I am excited to assist this enthusiastic writer into becoming a dynamic journalist.”
Anna assumed her position as staff writer on Tuesday, but she brings experience to the team.
“I am so excited to be writing for the Winona Times and The Conservative, I’ve always wanted to go into journalism and use my skills as a writer to serve my community,” said Anna. “I am so glad to be near my family and be a part of their daily lives. They contribute so much to my happiness and my strength as a person.”
Before writing for The Winona Times and The Conservative newspapers, Anna served as a copywriter for Liquid Creative in Jackson, where she built relationships and conducted research and gathered information on clients to adequately serve them.
#9 Vaiden child’s body found in home
The body of a 6-year-old boy is at the Mississippi Crime Lab in Jackson, following his Saturday murder.
Orlando “King” Pittman’s body apparently had been hidden in a closet of a Vaiden apartment at Vaiden Rental Apartments, where he was discovered by Carroll County Sheriff’s deputies, according to a statement released by Sheriff Clint Walker.
At about 6:55 p.m. on Saturday, deputies were dispatched to the Court Street apartments for a fire that the Vaiden Volunteer firefighters extinguished, the released stated.
Pittman and his 19-year-old brother, Thomas Perry III, were reported to have been in the apartment but could not be found, according to the release.
“It was determined that the fire had been set intentionally, and efforts were begun to locate Perry and Pittman,” the release stated. “After some preliminary investigation and search efforts, the scene was determined to be safe for CCSO deputies to return and search the apartment for evidence. Orlando “King” Pittman was discovered hidden in a closet deceased apparently due to homicide prior to the fire. [Mississippi Bureau of Investigations] Crime Scene investigators were called in for assistance with the investigation and to process evidence,” stated Walker.
At around 7 that evening, Perry had been seen walking alone east on Vaiden Kilmichael Road while firemen and deputies responded to the call.
“At that time, no one was aware to be on the lookout for Perry,” the release stated.
Deputies found Perry in Vaiden at about 9:50 a.m. on Sunday and took him into custody for questioning and possible charges.
“The thoughts and prayers of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office are certainly with the family in regards to this horrific tragedy,” stated Walker.
#10 WMCSD band booster member embezzles thousands
A former Winona Montgomery Consolidated School District band booster member is recently out of jail on an embezzlement charge.
Carlotta Abbott is accused of taking money from the Winona Montgomery Consolidated School District’s (WMCSD) band booster club, according to Dr. Teresa Jackson, superintendent for WMCSD.
“She is accused of embezzling funds in excess of $30,000 during her time as the band booster club treasurer from 2019 through June of 2022,” stated Jackson in a press release.
The WMCSD Police Department led the investigation, she said.
According to WMCSD Police Chief Mac Burrell, Abbott made her initial appearance before Judge Larry Bamberg in Montgomery County Justice Court on Sept. 19, and she was released on her own recognizance.
