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THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2011 TWO SECTIONS PHONE 834-1151 LEXINGTON, MISSISSIPPI 39095 VOLUME 53 - NUMBER 27
Lexington awarded
in two state ceremon'les
By Justin Purdy, Editor
It's all added up for Lexing-
ton this year.
The city claimed not one, but
two awards in separate ceremo-
nies over the last week, win-
ning both the Mississippi Main
Street Association's "Best Fa-
cade Rehabilitation (Over
$10,000) award, and the Plan-
ning and Economic Develop-
ment award from the Missis-
sippi Municipal Excellence
Awards.
The Main Street award was
given to Lexington for its re-
cent renovation of City Hall,
which brought the building
into American Disability Act
(ADA) compliance and added
four public restrooms to the
building.
The renovations were done
with American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
funds at no cost to the city of
Lexington.
"We originally started look-
ing at doing this rehabilitation
back in 2005," said Lexington
Mayor Robin McCrory. "We
got plans drawn up, spoke to
theUSDA, and learned that our
approved projects, and have
successfully completed both of
our program audits now with
zero findings. It was a lot of
work, but extremely worth it."
McCrory went on to explain
the many uses of the building
to the community, noting an-
ger management programs and
hunter safety classes as just a
few examples of off-hours uses
to what is intended to be a
building for the whole
community's use.
"This fagade rehabilitation
has been vital to the whole
community's use of the facil-
ity, especially our aging popu-
lation," McCrory said. "The
look of our City Hall is now in
step with all the efforts we have
made to beautify our down-
town court square."
Speaking of those beautifica-
tion efforts, they were just one
of several aspects that helped
Lexington win the Planning
and Economic Development
award, through the city's "It
All Adds Up" entry.
"Court Square beautification
was the first project involved,
census:determined income we did that through the MDOT
l:ev6i was just barely- tess than
a percentage point - too high
to get a grant with a match the
city fund could afford to ab-
sorb.
"The plans were forced to sit
there for years, until we spoke
with (Congressman) Thomp-
son in Greenwood about the
ARRA funds. He said that pri-
ority on those funds would be
given to shovel-ready projects,
and those projects facing pos-
sible pending litigation. We
weren't in ADA compliance,
and it was entirely possible that
we were going to get sued for
it soon. We were one of ten
fund,!-Satd Lexington Mayor
Pro Tern David Rule. "We
modeled it after Oxford, just
looking to beautify our down-
town square. We did a lot of
landscaping and repaving."
The Lexington library also
received heavy repair and im-
provement. The parking lot
was completely repaved, along
with a small, tree-shaded walk-
ing track. The roof was also
completely replaced.
"The existing fiat roof on the
library was non-repairable,"
said McCrory. "It,,leaked
worse after each attempted re-
pair. We now have a sloped
Jaekie Brown, with the city of Lexington, accepted the Missis-
sippi Main Street Association award for Best Facade Rehabili-
tation on behalf of the city. Pictured, from left, are: Craig
Bjorgum with Belinda Stewart Architects, Brown, and Randy
Burchfield, MMSA Board President.
Magician Dorian Lachance performed for children at the Lexington Public Library as part of the library's "One World, Many
Stories" Summer Reading Program. Events will continue at libraries throughout Holmes County for the rest of July.
roof on that building. Also mentioned in the award-
"A lot of people who travel winning entry were several new
through Lexington stop in for homes built for Lexington prop-
wireless internet access," said erty owners through the HOME
McCrory. "For some locals it project grant - of nine projects
is the only point of access to a appr0ved, five have already been
computer to research job open-
ings and make applications."
Another major aspect inthe
award entry focused on the
renovation and opening of the
Lexington Multipurpose Com-
plex. The building, which had
once been a national guard ar-
mory, had gone derelict and
was completely uninhabitable.
"This successful attempt was
actually our third try at open-
ing such a building," said Rule.
"We'd been talking about hav-
ing a place for years. It took a
lot of hard work, but we have
finally made it a reality."
I R00v,vA00s I
BETHLEHEM
Revival services for
Bethlehem M.B. Church in
Goodman will be held July 11-
15 at 7 nightly. The guest min-
ister will be Pastor E.C.
Pitehford of Union Grove and
Providence Baptist Church.
GUIDING LIGHT
Revival services for Guiding
Light Church of God in Christ
in Lexington will convene July
11-15 beginning with prayer at
7 p.m., and services at 7:30
nightly. The evangelists for the
week will be Pastor Willie
Hedges, along with Elder
Johnny Forrest, pastor of St.
Joseph Church of God in
Christ in West.
completed- continuing enhance-
mere work to the C.H. Bud Air-
port, and the city's now-tradi-
tional cleanup efforts such as
Riches in the Ditches.
"We had people complain
about eyesores in the town," said
Rule. "The cleanup helps a lot.
It makes you feel good for people
to talk about how clean the city
is. '
The city was in competition
with 56 other entries for the Mu-
nicipal League award. It is the
second that the city has won in
the past four years - the.l-wst be-
ing the City Spirit award in 2008
for the Riches in the Ditches pro-
gram.
Cassandra Laeey, 32, of Lex-
ingron was arrested June 28 on
a charge of driving with a sus-
pended license. A t'me was set
at $587.50.
Jamie Washington, 36, of
LEBANON
The Lebanon Church family
will hold their annual Revival
July 11-15 at 7 nightly. The
speaker for the week will be
Rev. Osizie Grays of Cedar
Grove M.B. Church of Sallis,
and Pleasant Hill M.B. Church
of Kosciusko.
Outgoing Lexington Rotary Club President Ann Presley (pic-
tured on left) was presented a plaque in honor of her service as
president by incoming president David Wynne during the instal-
lation of 2011-2012 club officers Tuesday, June 28.
Detroit, Mich., was arrested eater valued at $299; a" Cub-
June 30 on a charge of shop- Cadet Recom 48" riding lawn
lifting. Bond was set at meyer valued at $7,499.
$1,100. On June 27, 2011, someone
Jake D. Wilson, 22, of Lex- stole a 20-foot tandem axle
ington was arrested June 1' on trailer from Scott Petroleum at
a charge of failure to comply. 309 Depot Street in the city
Bond was set at $600.
CRIMFSI'OPPERS
.......
On June 5, 2011, someone
stole several items from 4230
Rathell Road in the city limits
of Lexington. The items taken
were: a 6xl 0 utility trailer val-
ued at. $919.13; a Stihl weed
limits of Lexington.
If anyone has information on
either burglary, they are en-
couraged to call the Lexington
Police Department at (662)
834-3508, the Holmes County
Sheriff's Office at (662) 834-
1511, or anonymously through
Holmes County Crimestoppers
at (662) 834-0099.
Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday
Isolated T-Storms Scattered T-Storms Scattered T-Storms Isolated T-Storms Partly Cloudy
91/71 88/71 92/71 94/72 95/72
Precip: Chance Precip Chance Precip. Chance Precip. Chance Precip. Chance
30% 30% 40% 30% 20% .
Tuesday Wednesday
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97/.72 92/72
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10% 60%
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