Editors Note: The following are recaps from the top stories published in The Star-Herald throughout 2016.
JANUARY
Gina Rogers Smith has been named new Superintendent of the Kosciusko City Schools and began her duties in the district on Jan. 1.
Ivey Mechanical Company is in the middle of a move that will see its headquarters relocated to downtown Kosciusko. The Kosciusko-based company purchased the former Merchants & Farmers Bank headquarters on the downtown square in 2015 with the Ivey move to that location starting in December.
FEBRUARY
The former Kosciusko-Attala Development Corp. has changed its name to Kosciusko-Attala Partnership. KAP CEO Kel McDowell made the announcement of the name change during the annual community social event sponsored by the group, which was held at the Attala Center of Holmes Community College.
Residents of the Kosciusko area will soon have a new choice for health care at the opening of Baptist Medical Clinic of Kosciusko.
MARCH
Marvin “Pop” Lawrence, current member of the Kosciusko Board of Aldermen, died March 3 at the age of 75.
An Attala County jury found Grace McCarty guilty of the November 2014 death of her husband Joel McCarty. Prosecutors said she ran over her husband with a vehicle when backing out of her driveway on Hillcrest Dr. in Kosciusko.
APRIL
Holmes Community College announces its plans to relocate the Practical Nursing Program (PN) to the Attala Center in Kosciusko.
A proposed plan was presented to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen last week concerning the flow of traffic in the downtown area, to include one-way traffic on streets on and off the courthouse square and the addition of cycling lanes.
MAY
In one of the closest elections in recent memory, Taylor Casey narrowly defeated James Culpepper 109-100 for the Ward 1 Alderman position.
The Board of Trustees of the Kosciusko School District approved the addition of pre-kindergarten classes for children who must turn four by September 1, according to district superintendent Gina Smith.
JUNE
James Meredith, a Kosciusko native and Civil Rights leader, was the speaker at the NAACP Banquet to commemorate the 50th anniversary of “March Against Fear.”
JULY
Longtime educator and Kosciusko alderman John Douglas Sullivan, 79, died July 4 at the Martha Jo Leslie State Veterans Home.
For the second consecutive year Kosciusko kindergarten has ranked top in the state in the readiness assessment.
AUGUST
The Board of Supervisors gave the green light to hire a resource officer to cover the four county schools.
Mill Creek of Kosciusko, a special needs school for students six through 21 years of age, is expected to open Sept. 6, according to Principal Jonathan Carnes.
SEPTEMBER
A Kosciusko man suspected in the slaying of two Durant nuns is now behind bars. Rodney Earl Sanders, 46, has been charged with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Sister Margaret Held and Sister Paula Merrill, both 68.
Attala County will close the troubled, dilapidated county jail due to budget restraints and new policies from the Mississippi Department of Corrections, the AC Board of Supervisors said this week. The county expects to saved approximately $250,000 per year by shutting down the jail and transporting prisoners to Leake County.
OCTOBER
High school students at Ethel and McAdams received new iPads at the launch of the district technology initiative.
After new testing and a recalibrated grading system, the typical Mississippi public school and school district rates as a C under the state A-to-F rating system.
NOVEMBER
Kosciusko High School Big Red Band made history as it brought home the gold as champions of the 4A State Marching Band Competition.
Long-term Kosciusko School Board President Kenneth Quick held on to his seat last week, defeating challenger Ryan Lindsay with 60.25 percent of the vote. Christy Moody was re-elected to the Attala County School Board.
DECEMBER
Willie Doyle Goss Sr., Kosciusko businessman and former alderman for the City of Kosciusko Ward 2, died at his residence Nov. 26. He as 78.
Henry and Ann Jordan died Dec. 20 in a fire at their home on Highland Dr. in Kosciusko.
