By Chip Washington - bio | email

HERNANDO, MS (WMC-TV) - If DeSoto County Sheriff Bill Rasco has his way, the overcrowding problem in his jail may soon be a thing of the past.  Under a plan proposed by Rasco, certain inmates would be released from the jail and would be monitored at home by ankle bracelets.

Tuesday, Rasco said his solution would both reduce the inmate population in the DeSoto County Jail and save taxpayers money.

"We're not talking about anyone who commits a felony," he said. "We're talking about people who are going through a hard time. They have a job. We can put these ankle bracelets on them let them go to work and get caught up on their fines."

The jail currently houses 430 inmates, dozens more than its 395 inmate capacity.  According to Rasco, only non-violent offenders would be released under his plan.

Information from Project Care Troops

Henley Distributing Co., LLC and Project Care Troops will host a supply drive for the troops on September 11, 2010 starting at 9:00a.m. and ending at 2:00 p.m.

Volunteers will be on hand to collect the items outside Henley Distributing which is located at 3090 Broad Ave in Memphis. Organizers will also have available a small area set up so visitors can create cards or letters for the troops.  Those cards and letters will be placed into the care packages headed overseas. 

Items requested include:

By Chip Washington - bio | email

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - A Memphis man has been sentence to 30 years in jail for a shooting last year in Olive Branch.

Maurice Love will now have a lot of time to think about the crime he committed. Last September, according to investigators, Love stalked and gunned down another man in the parking lot outside John Daly's Bar and Grill Restaurant in Olive Branch.

"It was vigilante justice," said Smith Murphrey, the assistant D. A. in DeSoto County. "It was somebody who took the law into their own hands, tried to make sure somebody was punished by themselves and not by the court system."

Murphrey said it stemmed from an altercation between the victim, Malcolm McGaughy, and a friend of Love's.  The fight happened after a car accident in Memphis, three days before the shooting. Investigators said Love shot McGaughy three times, but he survived.