Free Republic

Archaeologist says Clarke County site may be lost De Soto battleground Thursday, May 24, 2007By CONNIE BAGGETTStaff Reporter A Mobile archaeologist said this week that he believes he has found a site in southern Clarke County that could be the Indian stronghold Mauvilla, where Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto fought a bloody battle in the mid-1500s. If he is correct, he has solved a mystery that for decades left others with false leads and dashed hopes. Andrew Holmes, who works as a archaeological field technician for Barry Vittor and Associates conducting environmental assessments at construction projects, said he used a...

After slipping for the past couple of months, DeSoto County once again laid claim in June to the lowest unemployment rate among Mississippi's 82 counties, according to unadjusted figures released Monday. DeSoto, which typically has among the state's lowest figures, held steady between May and June at 4.6 percent. But other counties that had posted lower numbers in May inched up to move DeSoto back into the top spot. Statewide, the unemployment rate rose by six-tenths of a percentage point from May to 8 percent. "The seasonal influx of students into the summertime work force was largely responsible for the...

The state tennis tournament began and ended in exactly the same way for Dan Hoschouer and Andy Edwards -- Andrew Kahley and Isaac Chambers from Smokey Valley celebrated at the De Soto pair's expense. It was what happened in between that made the experience special, however. Hoschouer and Edwards (29-8) finished sixth in last weekend's 2006 state tennis tournament in Pratt. Losing only their first match on the first day and their final match on the second day, the pair used three consecutive wins through the middle of the tournament to earn their first state medals and propel the De...

Would ease curbs on shooting of trespassers; DeSoto senator cites nasty neighbors JACKSON, Miss. -- A bill passed Friday by the Mississippi House and companion legislation in the Senate would loosen the legal restrictions on when people may shoot trespassers in their homes, businesses or cars. House Bill 882, which passed by a resounding 104-12 vote after about an hour of debate, changes the language in state law so that a citizen who uses deadly force under specific circumstances is presumed to have acted reasonably. All of DeSoto County's representatives voted for the bill, which now moves to the Senate...

DeSoto County deputies seized boxes of videos and photographs of young girls posing nude from a farmhouse in western DeSoto County on Friday afternoon, including photos of a Hernando teen whose disappearance sparked an intensive search early this week. Charged late Friday were Stephen C. Cooper, 36, with dissemination of sexually oriented material of a minor and Danny Wayne Moore, 48, with sexual battery. Both lived in the home. They are being held at the DeSoto County Jail in Hernando on $100,000 bond each. Other charges are pending. Investigators acting on a warrant also found whips, chains and handcuffs during...

EVEN THE United Nations on occasion does something right. So it’s a shame the media and the public, understandably fixated at the time on Hurricane Katrina’s impact on the U.S. Gulf Coast, missed it. The “it” was the mid-September announcement that the United Nations was establishing a new commission that will focus on the legal hurdles people in the under-developed world face as they try to work their way out of poverty. Institutions like the United Nations typically create commissions as a substitute for actually doing something about a problem. Thanks to its leadership — former U.S. Secretary of State...

The Mystery of Capital Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else By Hernando de Soto Chapter 1 The Five Mysteries of Capital The key problem is to find out why that sector of society of the past, which I would not hesitate to call capitalist, should have lived as if in a bell jar, cut off from the rest; why was it not able to expand and conquer the whole of society? ... [Why was it that] a significant rate of capital formation was possible only in certain sectors and not in the whole market economy of...

Ex-DeSoto teacher sentenced to prison DALLAS (AP) — A former De Soto junior high school teach er has been sentenced to eight years in prison for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old student. Timothy Munday, a 30-year-old former English teacher at DeSoto East Junior High School, was convicted on Aug. 25 on a single first-degree felony charge involving one girl. But six other former students came forward in the punishment phase of his trial to accuse him of affairs or improper behavior. The girl in the case, who is now 16, said the 2002 attack occurred after Munday encouraged her to sneak...

<p>STONEWALL - Five North DeSoto Middle School students ages 11 and 12 got sick after allegedly ingesting a mixture of powdered cocaine and prescription pills while at school Friday morning, authorities said.</p> <p>Another five middle school students may have ingested the drugs but did not get sick or may have had knowledge the drugs were on campus. The 10 youths face mandatory expulsion from school and possible arrest, officials said.</p>

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Jeremy Strebeck of DeSoto was anxiously awaiting his homecoming from the Persian Gulf region when he found out he had no home left. A fire caused by a storm destroyed his DeSoto home May 3. His wife was at work when the blaze started. Nearly all their possessions were ruined, and their two cats and pet rabbit were killed. Their dog was not injured. Donations Donations for Marine Reserve Lance Cpl. Jeremy Strebeck and his wife, Mary, are being handled by VFW Post 8235, 5333 White Settlement Road, Fort Worth, TX 76114. Contact Roger Perry or...

<p>MANSFIELD - Four North DeSoto High School boys basketball players are expected to be suspended from school as DeSoto sheriff's investigators continue their probe into a complaint of sexual misconduct lodged by a girls basketball player.</p> <p>The 16-year-old girl alleges she was forced to perform oral sex on the males - two 17-year-olds, one 18-year-old and one 19-year-old - while returning on a school bus Friday night from basketball games in Springhill.</p>