The McKenzie BannerP.O. Box 100, 3 Banner Row

McKenzie, TN 38201 Phone: 731.352.3323

Fax: 731.352.3322Contact Index Local - 2, 3Opinion - 4

General - 5School - 7

Obituaries - 8 Sports - 11

Records - 10Classifi eds - 18

Copyright © 2012 Tri-County Publishing, Inc. Go to www.mckenziebanner.com

SERVING CARROLL COUNTY SINCE 1870 HOME OF BETHEL UNIVERSITY

VOL. 142 • NO. 9 McKENZIE, TENNESSEE • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2012 www.mckenziebanner.com 75 CENTS

HUNTINGDON (February 27) — Come see local tal-ent portray the 1939 classic where little Dorothy Gale of Kansas, like so many girls her age, dreams of what lies over the rainbow. Join Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tinman, the Cowardly Lion and Toto, too, as they travel the universe of Dorothy’s imagination.

Four performances are scheduled:Friday, March 2 at 7:00 p.m.Saturday, March 3 at 2:00 p.m.Friday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m.Saturday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m.Cast members include: Dorothy — Meleah Gateley;

Aunt Em — Judi Murphy; Uncle Henry/Emerald City Guard — Lee Carter; Zeke/Cowardly Lion — Brad Haynes; Hickory/Tinman — Michael Keenan; Hunk/Scarecrow — Corey Odems; Miss Gulch/Wicked Witch of West — Clay Barger/Karen Voytek-Haynes; Pro-fessor Marvel/Wizard of Oz — Dan Webb; Glinda — Amy Gstely/Emily Knight; Munchkins — Chloe Himes, Claire Bledsoe, Haiden Glidwell, Eric Bledsoe, Devin Fields, Sam Sturgis, Lilly Daffron, Joseph Keenan, Grant Baumgardner; Braggart — Bobbie Traywick; May-or Campbell Cary; Bar-rister — Ashlyn Drewry; Teachers — Emily Coleman, Cianna Haney; Munchkin C h i l -dren — Heidi Hampton, Ella Baumgardner, Abbi-Kate Sumrok, Claire Cary, Ansley Griffith, Lydia Sumrok, Zoie Gonzales, Jimmie Fitgerald, Braden Douglas; Lullaby League — Kristen Mallard, Sierra Keenan, Carsyn Hopper; Lollipop Guild — Colten Gateley, Seth Gateley, Hunter Hamm; City Officials

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Money lent to a friend must be recovered from an enemy.

— German Proverb

Farmerican Idol Top Five, 2

Andy Holt Resigns Commissioner’s Seat, 2

Hot Bus, 2

Benefi t Nets $3,200 to Lowe Family, 2

Hollow Rock Town Board Addresses Property Clean-Up, 2

West Carroll Students Collect 1,000 Can Goods, 2

Theft Investigation Results in Four Weakley County Drug Arrests, 2

Habitat Gala Raises Funds For Local Mission, 3

Letter to the Editor, 4

Shopping with Sharon, 5

Carroll Arts Plans Old West BBQ, 6

The Rebel Yell, 7

Central Elementary Spelling Bee, 7

Police, Sheriff’s Reports, 3, 10, 15

Cub Scouts Host Pinewood Derby, 14

Bethel Basketball Bids Farewell to Dishman Gymnasium, 11

MFBC Upward Basketball Concludes Season, 11

Lake County Eliminates Hot-Shooting Huntingdon 66-55, 11

McKenzie Middle School Sports Banquet, 12

Lady Red Devils Nip Fillies 38-34, 13

Local Relay For Life Teams Earn Awards

GENERAL

SPORTS

OBITUARIES

QUOTE

Mary Louciel Brummit, 78Dorothy Lorene Harper, 83Jessie Dewell Hodo, 86Mary Alice Hoskins, 66Beth Manley, 86Sidney A. Ray Sr., 80Elizabeth Radford, 86Lyndel E. Smothers, 74Annie Louise Webb, 86Horace Weldon, 74David Witherspoon, 49

JACKSON (February 4) Relay For Life teams from Carroll County were honored at the annual awards pro-gram hosted by west Tennessee Amer-ican Cancer Society.

Carroll North and Carroll South units were honored as state, Mid-South, and national winners in per-capita fund raising.

Carroll was ranked second in the state of Tennessee for money raised per capita at $5.92. The county was ranked 18th in the Mid-South Division for money raised per capita and sev-enth nationwide per capita within a population bracket of 25,000 to 29,000.

David Lane, community representa-tive of the American Cancer Society, said that two county residents were honored as MVP members of their respective Relay events. Kim Moss of McKenzie and Sherry Crossett of Huntingdon were honored, said Lane. First Methodist Church of Hunting-don was honored with the second place Rookie Team of the Year.

Carroll South will hold its Relay event April 28 at Veterans Park in Huntingdon. The event is 10:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. Johnny Beth Nolen is the chairman of the event.

Carroll North will holds its Relay June 1 at McKenzie Rebel Stadium. Dawn Duke is chairman of the event.

OLD DOGnew tricks?

Who says you can’t teach an

OVER A CENTURY OLD & ON YOUR PHONE.

Est. 1870THE MCKENZIE BANNERwww.mckenziebanner.com

By Linda Boltonlinda@mckenziebanner.com

The U.S. Postal Service officials an-nounced Friday that Jackson’s mail processing center will move to Memphis sometime after May 16.

The Jackson processing center com-pletes the final sort of first class mail for area post offices. With the move, that task will be completed in Memphis.

McKenzie Postmaster Darren Riggs

said the move “won’t change anything the way we do it here.” He further stated he doesn’t expect local postal customers will see much of a change in mail delivery.

McKenzie is currently at 96 to 97 percent of getting overnight mail to its destination, he said. However, he noted the post office can’t do all of these consolidations and still make overnight commitments.

It now can take anywhere from one to

three days to deliver first-class mail, but the post office is looking at making it two to three days and taking overnight out of it, he said.

The move from Jackson to Memphis is part of the postal service’s effort to cut millions of dollars in expenses from its budget as the service struggles to end years of deep deficits caused by higher operating costs and lower first-class mail

See MAIL on Page 3

Little Change Expected from Mail Processing Relocation

Property taxes are due this week. The good news is the calendar is giving payees an extra day this year.

Municipal, school district, and county government taxes are due this week throughout Carroll County. In McKenzie, taxes account for approxi-mately 58 percent of the city’s revenues.

According to Pat Rich, Car roll County trustee, property taxes are due Wednesday, February 29 - one day later

than normal because of leap year.There won’t be any penalty for coun-

ty tax payments postmarked on Febru-ary 29, or found in the office’s drop box March 1.

Anyone serving overseas as a mem-ber of the National Guard or a U.S. military reserve in a hostile area will have even longer.

Rich said a state law now gives Guardsmen and reservists serving in

a hostile theater of operations up to 180 days from the day hostilities end, or they are transferred to another theater of operations, to pay property taxes with no penalty or interest.

The law does not apply to active-duty military.

Family members can bring in a copy of the soldier’s deployment papers to

Payments Without Penalty Due Wednesday

Property Tax Deadline

McKenzie Clerk Brenda Berryman accepts the payment of McKenzie resident Tommy Patterson for real estate taxes. All 2011 taxes are due Wednesday, February 29.

See TAX on Page 3

The Dixie Players, Dixie Youth Theatre Present

The Wizard of Oz MCKENZIE (February 23) McKenzie Municipal-Regional Planning Commis-sion reviewed provisions of the two sign ordinances during its February meeting. The two proposed ordinances were remanded back to the commission by the city council after a discussion about permissible times of display before and after an event.

City Council members were con-cerned the proposed time limits were not adequate for real estate and auc-tion companies or sports leagues, that placed signs to encourage player sign ups.

Planners, along with Vice Mayor Gene Hale, discussed the time limits. The provisions of possibly 30 days for auction and special real estate sales prior to the sale date and seven days after the event. Typical real estate “for sale” signs would not have a time limit. A discussion of 90 days for campaign signs prior to the election and seven days after the election were discussed with a $250 deposit for campaign signs that are placed on public property.

The matter was sent to Shelton Mer-rill, planner with the Southwest Devel-opment District, to make the needed changes in the ordinance for consid-eration by the McKenzie Mayor and Council. The Planning Commission serves as an advisory board on such matters as signage.

Steve Prosser of Bethel University presented an update on campus con-struction projects.

Prosser said the first event in the new Bethel gymnasium, inside the Vera Lowe Student Enrichment Center, is graduation on May 5. Also on May 5, university officials will break ground for a new 900-seat chapel at the Vera Lowe Center.

Engineering studies are complete for new parking area around the Vera Lowe center, said Prosser.

He said Cliff Wheelock, city codes enforcement officer, and representa-tives of Venture Construction Com-pany are working well together on on-going projects.

In other business, planners approved the inclusion of Bethel’s Chamber-lin House at 1035 N. Stonewall in the institutional district, along with the McKenzie Middle School. The office complex was inadvertently omitted from the zoning map during the last rezoning.

Planners Review Sign Ordinance

The Cowardly Lion (Brad Haynes), Tinman (Michael Keenan), Scarecrow (Corey Odems), and Dorothy (Meleah Gateley) as they head to the Emerald City.

(Photo by Joel Washburn)See OZ on Page 3

PERFORMANCES

Friday, March 2 at 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 3 at 2:00 p.m.

Friday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m.