Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 1

mm Online Edition: cl ar ion ledger, co Miss issippi's News Source Tuesday, February 27, 2001 Jackson, Miss. 50c Tornadoes Slam Mississippi 9 FAMILY Peddling to assist families When McBee Barbour of Winona hits the road in a couple of weeks, he'll be cycling for a good cause. 1E METROSTATE City, volunteers complete project Monument at Freedom Corner keeps legacy of civil rights leaders alive. 1 Oid images yield newfound fame Captured souls are bringing 80-year-old photographer fame. 1B SPORTS Valley races past Grambling Delta Devils, No.

2 in SWAC, Bush readying budget address Proposals under fire from Democrats in Congress Gannett News Service WASHINGTON The only way President Bush can make room for his tax cut and spending proposals in the federal budget that he will outline to Congress and the American people Tuesday night is by raiding money intended for future Social Security and Medicare payments, the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee charged Monday. "He's treated this federal budget like a giant shell game. It's hide the money," Sen. Kent Conrad, told reporters. "And what he's doing is as clear as a bell to me to go to the trust fund to cover the fact that his plan does not add up." But White House officials said once Bush makes his 8 p.m.

CST nationally televised speech and sends a broad budget blueprint to Congress on Wednesday morning, the public will see that he has developed a sensible and balanced plan. Bush and his aides have insisted that his fiscal plan for 2002 which will decide how government will use most of the $5.6 trillion budget surplus expected to be available for the next decade addresses national priorities such as defense and education, pays down the federal debt, returns some of the federal surplus to taxpayers and strength North Mississippi faces aftermath of deadly weekend By Andy Kanengiser Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer President Bush as early as today could sign a request for millions of dollars in aid to six northeast Mississippi and Delta counties recovering from Saturday's killer storms, state emergency officials say. But before that aid arrives, more misery may be in store for residents struggling to recover from the devastation and death in Pontotoc, Lee, Prentiss, Tallahatchie, Leflore and Bolivar counties. Forecasters predict a strong chance of thunderstorms today with 1 to 2 inches of rain and possibly hail in some areas, including hard-hit Pontotoc, Prentiss and Leflore counties. "The thunderstorm effects would hinder cleanup and assessment efforts," said Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Amy BisselL Government agencies aren't the lone source of dis-See TORNADO, 6A feel unbeatable 4 i after whipping the Tigers 80- k63 for their sev enth straight win.

1U J.D. SchwalmThe Clarion-Ledger On Monday, Belinda Young tries to find photos and other that swept through Pontotoc on Saturday. The house on memories of her relatives who were killed in a tornado 10th Street was leveled. Bittersweet victory: Game won, gym lost USM fills posts from within Tyrone Nix is now defensive coordinator, and Randy Butler is assistant head coach. 1 NATIONWORLD Century later, he's a lawyer Japanese immigrant scholar to be admitted to bar posthumously.

3A BUSINESS Hiring outlook takes downturn State employers are less likely to expand work forces than they were a year ago. 1 FORECAST 3 ens Social Security and Medicare. The speech is the president's first major address to the nation since taking office Jan. 20, and it could be crucial to his campaign to have a Congress nearly evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans adopt his priorities. Especially vulnerable, largely because of its size, is Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut proposal the center-piece of Bush's first-year agenda.

Sirens' effectiveness limited in rural areas, 6A Baldwyn schools may reopen today, 6A Coping with a tornado, 6A Webb hit hard by storm, 7A Basketball tournament coverage, 4D Additional photos of storm damage, dationledger.com Baldwyn Lady Bearcats, town see history blown away By Rick Cleveland Clarion-Ledger Columnist Baldwyn High School's Lady Bearcats won a game in the Girls State Tournament on Monday, two nights after losing their beloved and historic basketball home and nearly a lot more. Baldwyn defeated Bay Springs 5 1-36 to advance to Monday's semifinals of the State 2A Tournament. The Lady Bearcats will practice at rival Wheeler's gymnasium six miles away in the meantime. A tornado that killed five people in nearby Pontotoc tore the roof off 54-year-old Baldwyn High Gymnasium. School officials said Monday the gym probably will have to be replaced.

"It's a shame, just a went their separate ways. Approximately 30 minutes later, 100 mph winds blew theroofoffthegym. 1 Cartwright had planned to keep the team in Belmont to watch the North State championship game, which followed Baldwyn's. But Belmont took a big first-half lead and storms threatened. "I just decided to leave at halftime, and I'm so glad we did leave," Cartwright said.

"Had we stayed, we'd have been at our gym when the storm hit." Mel Pippin, a senior guard on the team, dodged downed trees and power lines to go back to the gym after the storm passed. "I had heard it was bad, but still I couldn't believe it," she said. "The roof was just gone." The gym housed much nostalgia. Legendary Mississippi State University coach Babe McCarthy See TEAM, 6A Heavy rain and thunderstorms are possible today. High near 70; low near 50.

Weather details, 2A INDEX shame," Baldwyn coach Mike Cartwright said. "There's been a lot of great basketball in that place, a lot of history." But it could have been much worse. Baldwyn had defeated Bruce earlier Saturday night in the consolation game of the North State Tournament at Belmont. The Lady Bearcats bused back to Baldwyn, dropped their equipment at the gym and What: President Bush will lay out his budget plan before Congress. When: 8 p.m.

CST today. The speech is expected to last 40 to 50 minutes. Where: The U.S. Capitol in Washington. Coverage: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, C-SPAN Vickie D.

KingThe Clarion-Ledger While relaxing in the locker room before their game Monday, Baldwyn High basketball teammates Remor-dia Hastings (left) and Coco Price, both 17, search for the team's photograph in the state tournament program at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. Despite storms that ravaged northeast Mississippi, team spirit remains high. "We're excited to be here, although it's been a long, rough week," said Coach Mike Cartwright. Ann Landers 4E MetroState 1B Business 1C Movies 3E Calendar 3E Opinion MA Classified 1F People 2A Comics 4-5E Scoreboard 2D Crosswords 5E.3F Southern Style 1E Deaths 48 Sports 1D Jack Sunn 4E Spotlight 3A Jumble 5E TV listings 6E Grisham explores childhood in 'House' Freed-slave database offered by Mormons CORRECTIONS The Clarion-Ledger attempts to report news accurately. When we publish an error, we will correct it.

To report an error, call (60 1 96 1-7 1 0 1 Metro Edition Volume 1651 No. 11 Copyright 2001 C7 (i jr. v. -JU Many who know Grisham only as a best-selling novelist are stunned when they find out he grew up a poor Southern boy. "I was having lunch with a guy who grew up in New York City," Grisham said Monday while in Jackson for his annual signing at Lemuria Book Store, "and he was full of questions.

He wanted to know, "How in the world did you go to Grisham shook his head and laughed. "I told him we scratched and clawed and made it happen. I'm not sure he ever understood that a lot of people grew up just like I did." In literary circles, A Painted House is viewed as a See GRISHAM, 4A By Billy Watkins Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer John Grisham was curious about his childhood. He wondered when his rural Arkansas family got electricity, indoor plumbing, a TV set. Wondered what it was like to sweat a cotton crop every year, literally and figuratively.

His parents, Weez and Big John, filled him in. He jotted down stories that he remembered his father and grandfather telling over and over. "Many times with a different ending," Grisham said with a smile. Before he knew it, Grisham, 46, had the foundation for his new novel, A Painted House, which is No. Records can help blacks establish ancestry From Start and wire reports WASHINGTON The Mormon Church published records Monday from the post-Civil War Freedman's Bank for newly freed slaves, making ancestral records available for as many as 12 million black Americans.

The Freedman's Bank had offices in 17 states, including Mississippi with branches in Natchez, Columbus and Vicksburg. The records have been available for years through the National Archives but not in organized form. The church, formally the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spent 11 years, with help from volunteer Utah state inmates, extracting and linking the 480,000 names contained in the records. The result a searchable database on compact disk includes such information as family names, birth locations See RECORDS, 4A Make the most of Lenten meals Giving up meat for Lent? For the Rev. Andy Andrews, it's not a bland season it's a time to celebrate food for the soul.

ft Barbara Gauntt The Clarion-Ledger Mississippi author John Grisham (right) stops to talk with Jacob West, 4, of Brandon during the signing of A Painted House at Lemuria Book Store in northeast Jackson on Monday. raises cotton for a living and has a hard time making ends meet. 1 on most best-seller lists. It's the story of a family outside Black Oak, that 40 C8l 7 LSMPIKKSS Through Tomorrow, any open stock in the store will be sold at a special cost. Some at actual dealer cost, some even below our cost, some slightly above..