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Wednesday | June 17, 2020

Local leaders slam Sanders for racist remarks

Supes president says public ‘blowing the record.” However, The Dis-
patch reporter, who recorded
this way out of proportion’ as calls the conversation, told Sanders
he was still on the record before
for his resignation increase he gave the quote. Board of su-
pervisors attorney Tim Hudson,
BY YUE STELLA YU against the relocation of a Con- who was present for the conver-
syu@cdispatch.com federate monument that sits at sation, also warned Sanders his
the courthouse lawn. statement would be on the re-
Local officials The longtime board president cord right before he made it.
and community
voted with the majority, saying
leaders are con-
demning Lown-
he thinks history is worth pre- Brooks to Sanders: ‘Have you
des County Board
serving and the “atrocity” needs lost your damn mind’
to be remembered. However, he Several local leaders, such
of Supervisors Garrick Hodge/Dispatch Staff
further claimed that he thinks Demonstrators gather outside Lowndes County Courthouse this as Lowndes County NAACP
President Harry
Sanders for com- the black community is the only morning before a press conference in response to Board of Super- President Lavonne Latham Har-
ments he made Sanders ethnic minority group that has visors President Harry Sanders’ published comments about Afri- ris, District 5 Supervisor Leroy
about African “problems” with the history of can Americans. He told a Dispatch reporter Monday that African Brooks, District Attorney Scott
Americans be- n AUDIO:
ONLINE slavery and have remained “de- Americans have remained “dependent” since slavery ended and Colom and Columbus Mayor
pendent” since then. had not “assimilated” to society as well as other ethnicities. Many
ing “dependent” Hear audio Robert Smith, took to social
“They didn’t have to go out are now calling for Sanders to resign.
since slavery end- of Dispatch media to air their anger toward
ed and not assim- reporter telling and earn any money, they didn’t icism. Multiple public officials to resign, and he will not com- Sanders’ comments. Many of
Sanders he have to do anything,” Sanders those leaders also plan to attend
ilating to Amer- is on the and community advocates ar- ment on his remarks or the pub-
ican society like record before told The Dispatch Monday. gued that Sanders’ racist com- lic condemnation of them. a press conference today at the
other ethnicities. he makes “Whoever owned them took care ments, especially made amid “Y’all are blowing this way courthouse calling for Sanders’
Some county inflammatory of them, fed them, clothed them, national unrest over racial injus- out of proportion,” he said. “All resignation.
and city officials comments worked them. They became de- tice, further divide the commu- this is (doing) is getting people “Harry Sanders I know you
are calling for his pendent, and that dependency is nity, hinder its healing process all riled up, and I don’t have any will read this. Have you lost your
resignation. still there.” and perpetuate stereotypes peo- desire to do that.” ‘Damn’ mind,” Brooks, who has
Sanders gave his comments His remarks, deemed “hurt- ple hold of Mississippi. Sanders told the Clarion Led- been on the board with Sanders
to The Dispatch after a 3-2 board ful” and “insensitive” by many Sanders told The Dispatch ger on Tuesday he stood by his for more than two decades, said
vote along racial lines Monday local leaders, drew sharp crit- this morning he has no intention statement but that he said it “off See SANDERS, 3A

City passes DAY AT THE PARK

resolution to call
for retirement
of state flag
CPD bans choke holds,
implements other
policy changes
BY YUE STELLA YU
syu@cdispatch.com

Columbus is calling for state leg-

islators to remove the Confederate
emblem on the flag of Mississippi,
following a 5-1 vote from the city
council Tuesday evening to pass a
resolution in support.
The flag, which Mississippi began
using in 1894 — almost 30 years af-
ter the Civil War ended — has long
been controversial for its Confeder-
ate emblem. Efforts to replace the
flag have failed in the state Legisla-
ture for years.
See COUNCIL, 3A

Chism retiring after

21 years in Legislature
BY SLIM SMITH
ssmith@cdispatch.com

Columbus Republi-
can Rep. Gary Chism,
the dean of the Gold-
en Triangle legislative
delegation, is resign-
ing, citing family med-
ical issues.
Chism, first elect- Chism
ed in 1999 and now in
his 21st session in the House of Rep- Claire Hassler/Dispatch Staff
resentatives, will officially retire on Colson Thompson, 15 months, smiles as his mom, Shaquela Thompson, pushes him on a swing on Tuesday at Propst Park in
See CHISM, 3A Columbus. This was Colson’s first time visiting a park and he tried out the swings and all the slides.

WEATHER FIVE QUESTIONS LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC

1 Who wrote “The Autobiography of Alice B. Tokias”? MEETINGS
2 What is the name of the neon glow emitted by an June 18:
organism beneath the ocean’s surface, similar to Lowndes County
that of a firefly?
3 Which three-letter acronym refers to video games School Board,
that have many thousands of people playing together noon, Central
in virtual online worlds? Office
Brayden Hamric 4 Which of the following cities is the furthest south
— New York City, London or Paris? June 25: Clay
Kindergarten, Annunciation
5 Which FX show takes place in a California town County Board of

85 Low 63
called Charming, which isn’t a fairytale setting for the Supervisors, 9
High bikers who live there?
a.m. Court-
Mostly sunny Answers, 8B house
Full forecast on
page 3A. June 30:
Lowndes County

INSIDE Board of Super-

visors meet-
Classifieds 7B Food 4,5B ing, 9 a.m.,
Comics 3B Obituaries 4A
Crossword 8B Opinions 6A Jenni Hebert lives in Columbus and Lowndes County
141st Year, No. 83 Dear Abby 3B worked at Three Sisters Pie Company. Courthouse

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2A WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020
Joel Martinez plays the guitar on Thursday at the River Walk Soccer Complex. Martinez had just finished running
when he decided to sit on a bench and practice the guitar. He said he comes to the park often to relax and play.
His favorite kind of music is Spanish love songs.
Columbus doctors offer update on pandemic,
give advice on living with COVID-19
Coexisting with virus
may take longer than
many expect
BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com
Asked during
Tuesday’s Rotary
Club of Columbus
meeting how like-
ly a second wave of
COVID-19 is to hit the
U.S., Dr. Robert Buck-
ley had a caveat for his
audience: The first on- Buckley
slaught of the coronavirus pandemic
isn’t over just yet.
“We may have blunted the curve,
but I’m not so sure that we have
stopped the wave yet,” said the pe-
diatrics specialist at Allegro Family
Clinic, one of six doctors who made
up a panel of Columbus physicians at
Tuesday’s Zoom meeting.
According to the Mississip-
pi State Department of Health,
COVID-19 case numbers topped
20,000 in the state as of Monday eve-
ning, and 915 Mississippians have
died from a pandemic that shows no
signs of slowing down.
It’s why Buckley and his fellow
doctors cautioned Rotary members
that coexisting with the virus will
likely take longer than they might
expect.
“I think we are going to have to
live with COVID, and I think we’re
going to have to learn how to miti-
gate it,” Buckley said.
Even a vaccine for the virus won’t
necessarily mean a definite end to
the pandemic, Buckley said. He ref-
erenced the flu vaccine, which while
effective does not put an end to flu
deaths totaling between 12,000 to
61,000 per year in the U.S., accord-
ing to the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention.
Dr. Richard Heard of Gastroen-
terology Associates said the con-
tinued high numbers of confirmed
cases is a result of the reopening of
Mississippi’s economy by Gov. Tate
Reeves and local governments state-
wide — a move he said was ultimate-
ly necessary.
“As we loosen up and have to go
back to our lives, we’re going to see
some upswing,” Heard said. “I hope
it doesn’t get as bad as it has gotten
in some other places.”
This week, Florida, Texas and Ar-
izona have announced new daily re-
cords for COVID-19 cases, and the
disease is on the rise in Oklahoma,
Louisiana and other states.
Age, underlying conditions
remain key factors
Buckley — who said a rise in case
numbers in Mississippi was inevita-
ble because of the reopening and the
nationwide protests against police
brutality, systemic racism and the
deaths of George Floyd, Breonna
Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery — said
school “will be an issue” this fall.
While children are less suscep-
tible to COVID-19 — no one under
18 has died from the virus in Mis-
sissippi, Buckley said — the risk of
unknowingly passing on the virus
to family members at higher risk is
significant.
“Now we know they need to be
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
A THOUSAND WORDS
tested because they are going to
bring it home and give it to their par-
ents or their grandparents,” Buckley
said.
Dr. James Woodard of Allegro
said age is a key de-
terminant of how se-
riously the virus will
affect someone.
“The older the
patient, the longer it
takes to become dis-
ease free,” Woodard
said. Woodard
“C omorbid it ies ”
— underlying health
conditions — that
leave people more
vulnerable to the ef-
fects of the virus in-
clude cardiovascular
disease, lung disease
and diabetes, nephrol- Dunn
ogist Jason Dunn said.
All 15 patients with COVID-19
at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Gold-
en Triangle’s critical care unit as of
Tuesday are of an advanced age and
have underlying conditions, though
all are in stable condition and ex-
pected to make a full recovery.
“COVID can be a very vicious,
deadly virus in a small subset of pa-
tients, and that’s typically patients
who are very old or patients who
have underlying comorbidities,”
Dunn said.
Cardiologist John King said pa-
tients experiencing heart problems
are still being too
careful to seek med-
ical help, refusing to
be seen for fear of be-
ing exposed to a virus
that could kill them.
“Heart attack num-
bers are down, and
that can only be be- King
cause they’re happen-
ing at home,” King said. “People are
not getting care in a timely manner.”
During Tuesday’s panel, King
implored patients to come in “as if
there were no pandemic” to receive
that critical care on time before
symptoms worsen.
Masks and the outdoors
Tuesday’s panel also offered ad-
vice on how to “live with” COVID-19,
as Buckley suggested must be done.
OB/GYN Mike Turner with Phy-
sicians and Surgeons in Columbus
and Amory recommended wearing
a face mask in public — but not just
any mask.
“If you’re gonna wear a mask,
make sure it’s a mask
that’s actually help-
ful,” Turner said.
N95 respirators,
surgical masks and
cloth masks outfitted
with a vacuum filter
fit that description,
Turner said. Turner
He also clarified
masks aren’t designed to protect
the wearer from contracting the dis-
ease. Rather, they are to keep the
wearer from spreading it.
King said that one way to do that
— in addition to wearing a mask —
is to avoid prolonged contact in an
enclosed space. It typically takes
more than one particle of the virus
to infect someone, he said, and the
longer the time frame and the clos-
er the contact, the higher the likeli-
Claire Hassler/Dispatch Staff
hood of infection.
King said the risk of transmission
is lower outdoors, where air currents
and the sun’s ultraviolet rays can
work to mitigate the virus. But he
didn’t rule out indoor gatherings al-
together.
“Do I think that an hourlong
church service in a church is a bad
idea? Probably not,” King said. “It’s
hard to say. There’s just so many un-
knowns.”
While those unknowns remain
plentiful, the time must come for
a decision about big gatherings —
including sporting events — set to
start in a few months. Dunn offered
a possible timeline for such a choice
to be made.
“As far as larger gatherings in the
fall, I think we’re still probably an-
other month or so away from seeing
eventually how that’s going to go,”
Dunn said.
Expansion in testing capability
Allegro Executive Director Amy
Bogue, who facilitated the panel, told
The Dispatch after the meeting that
things have begun to return to nor-
mal at her clinics.
Across the four locations, Allegro
has now run 551 tests for COVID-19.
Patients with mild to moderate cases
of the virus are treated there, while
those with severe symptoms are sent
to Baptist.
The increased testing capacity al-
lows Allegro to be able to test people
with less severe symptoms or even
those not showing symptoms at all.
“A lot of the younger people tend to
be asymptomatic and test positive,”
Bogue said. “The risk
is them bringing it to
those elderly patients
with comorbidities. I
think we need to test
anybody who needs
it.”
Allegro is also up to
84 tests for COVID-19 Bouge
antibodies, which can
show if someone has already been
infected with the virus despite not
knowing it.
The test can be an effective one,
though Heard cautioned that the
medical community is unsure if an-
tibodies confer immunity and, if so,
how long it lasts.
“Really, until we have some more
time to have more recovered patients
and see how they do, we won’t totally
know,” Heard said.
Still, it’s a good sign for Bogue
and Allegro, who have seen an uptick
in other aspects of operation as well.
Personal protective equipment
(PPE) hasn’t been as hard to come
by, as the clinic’s several vendors
have kept supplies flowing.
“It’s a lot easier to get now than it
was a month ago,” Bogue said. “It’s
not as difficult as it was.”
Additionally, more patients have
come in to refill their medications or
undergo lab work to adjust their pre-
scriptions.
“We’re not at 100 percent, but
people are getting more comfortable
coming in and taking care of their
needs,” Bogue said.
Overall, though the threat of the
pandemic has yet to subside, things
are getting better.
“We’re slowly getting back to the
normal numbers, and that’s a good
thing,” Bogue said.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020 3A

Sanders
Continued from Page 1A
in a Facebook post Tuesday af-
ternoon. “I’ve known for over 20
years your mindset. Now, every-
one else get to meet the real you.”
Colom, who on Twitter com-
pared Sanders’ remarks to lies
used by the Ku Klux Klan to
promote white supremacy, criti-
cized Sanders’ interpretation of
slavery.
“Supervisor Sanders, you
have it backwards,” Colom said
in a Facebook statement Tuesday
morning. “Slaveowners were de-
pendent on the free labor of slav-
ery. They weren’t doing slaves
a favor. They enforced slavery
through severe beating and
whippings, not food and clothing.
They raped women and enslaved
their own children. They ran-
domly separated parents from
children, husbands from wives
… forever.”
Sanders’ remarks, Colom
said, continue to “apply negative
stereotypes about the citizens
you are supposed to lead.”
“Your false claim that blacks
are currently dependent contin-
ues to rob us of our humanity
and dignity,” he said. “You made
Segregationist(s) proud today.”
Smith, in a statement Tuesday
evening, called Sanders’ com-
ments “despicable.”
“When I read Harry Sand-
ers’ comments, I was shocked,”
Smith said in the statement.
“That is a slap in the face to ev-
ery Black citizen in Columbus
and Lowndes County. His com-
ments were despicable; they
were insulting and a reflection
of his true nature, which is unbe-
lievably racist.”
In response to Sanders’ vote
for the monument to stay, Smith
said the city would support relo-
cating it to Friendship Cemetery,
which is within city limits. Both
Union and Confederate soldiers
are buried there.
“Not only would the city take
the statue, but we would also split
the cost to move it with the coun-
ty,” the statement read. “Friend-
ship Cemetery has a special sec-
tion for confederate soldiers and
that would be an ideal location
for the monument.”
City Council members Joseph
Mickens (Ward 2), Pierre Beard
(Ward 4) and Stephen Jones
(Ward 5), all of whom are black,
told The Dispatch they will be
present at today’s press confer-
ence for support.
Mickens said Sanders’ com-
ments do not match the power
he holds and are insensitive at
a time when racism is spurring
protests in all 50 states.
“What’s going on in the coun-
try today, ...the community is al-
ready torn up. For him to come
out at this time, at this time, and
make a statement, that really said
something,” he said. “We’ve got a
leader that’s thinking like this in
the 21st century that’s one of the
most powerful men in Columbus,
Mississippi. ... He needs to go.”
Ward 1 Councilwoman Ethel
Taylor Stewart and Ward 3 Coun-
cilman Charlie Box could not be
reached for comment by press
time. Ward 6 Councilman Bill
Gavin declined to comment.
Hairston calls for Sanders to
step down as board president
District 2 Supervisor Trip
Hairston, although reluctant
to condemn Sanders, told The
Dispatch Tuesday he disagrees
with Sanders’ remarks, which
he deems inappropriate and “di-
visive.”
“I think comments like that
are very hurtful, not helpful, as
we move forward,” he said. “I
would, especially now, be even
more sensitive about any divisive
comments. It’s not appropriate.”
In an email to The Dispatch
this morning, Hairston took his
positions a step further, support-
ing stripping Sanders of his title
as board president. He also said
he would reconsider his posi-
tions on changing the state flag
and relocating the Confederate
monument.
“I support immediate action to
remove Harry Sanders as Pres-
ident of the Lowndes County
Board of Supervisors,” the email
reads. “Mr. Sanders was elected
president by his fellow supervi-
sors. We cannot reach our goals
while being led by a president
with those views.
“(I support) Action to address
the Confederate statue on the
courthouse lawn,” he continues.
“I voted to take no action on Mon-
day. I am now ready to consider
the alternatives in a measured
way. (I support) a change in the
state flag. While this is not an
issue for only Lowndes County,
it is an issue that goes hand in
hand with our history. Our call
is to look at the present and the
future and not the past. Now is
the time.”
District 3 Supervisor John
Holliman, who was present when
Sanders made those comments,
said he stands by Sanders’ ac-
count of slavery, where Sanders
said slave owners kept slaves and
gave them food, clothing and
work. However, Holliman said he
does not think slaves were “de-
pendent” as Sanders claimed. He
said he thinks slaves “earned it”
through hard work.
“The slave owners didn’t just
give them everything. They
earned it. They worked hard,”
Holliman said. “Nowadays,
there’s no slavery.”
But Joe Max Higgins, CEO
of the Golden Triangle Develop-
ment LINK, was not hesitant to
criticize Sanders, who Higgins
said has worked with him for 18
years. Sanders’ comments, Hig-
gins said, are a “Go-directly-to-
jail card.”
“It’s not acceptable, it’s insen-
sitive,” Higgins said. “It makes
me sick.”
The remarks could also po-
tentially harm the effort to bring
businesses into the county and
could reinforce the “Mississippi
bias” in many people’s mind that
the state is racist. The LINK, he
said, is preparing a public state-
ment that the organization does
not condone Sanders’ remarks.
“It’s hard enough to sell Mis-
sissippi, it’s hard enough to sell
rural Mississippi,” Higgins said.
“We don’t need to make it harder
than it already is, because, s***,
it’s hard as it is.”

Council
Continued from Page 1A
However, changing the
flag is now gaining bipar-
tisan support from law-
makers as protests against
racism are taking place in
all 50 states. Republican
House Speaker Phillip
Gunn is championing the
effort as lawmakers began
drafting a resolution to re-
move the emblem.
While most city council
members agreed the reso-
lution is the right step for-
ward, Ward 6 Councilman
Bill Gavin, who cast his
lone dissenting vote on the
resolution, said Tuesday
evening he feels the law is
obsolete.
The city removed the
state flag from all city
properties in 2015, The
Dispatch reported. Gavin
said because of that, he is
unsure what change the
resolution would bring
about in the city.
“I think (the state flag)
needs to be changed, but
to me that is the state’s re-
sponsibility,” Gavin said.
“We stopped flying the
state flag, and I supported
it. To me, (the resolution)
is just a political statement
and we can call our repre-
sentatives to do this. I’d
rather call them personally
than as a city group.”
The city’s resolution
comes in contrast with the
county supervisors’ dis-
cussion Monday morning
surrounding Confederate
monuments and the state
flag. The board of super-
visors voted 3-2 against re-
locating the monument at
the courthouse to Friend-
ship Cemetery, which is
within city limits.
Board of Supervisors
President Harry Sanders
and District 3 Supervisor
John Holliman, both of
whom voted along with
District 2’s Trip Hairston
against the relocation,
were also lukewarm to
take down state flags
around the county or sup-
port changing the state
flag. Both have said they
would not vote to support
the change.
Holliman told The Dis-
patch the emblem came
from the biblical times and
should not be removed.
“It came from the Bi-
ble,” he said. “Personally, I
wouldn’t vote for that.”
Sanders said he will
not support the citizens’
efforts to change the flag
because “there are more
important issues out there
involving the county, the
state of Mississippi, than
what our flag is.”
CPD adopts new policies
In other business, the
city unanimously approved
changes to the city’s police
department use of force
policies.
The language specif-
ically forbids the use of added a Duty to Intervene would serve as a liaison
choke holds, a tactic white policy, which requires between the council, the
Minneapolis police officer officers who witness ex- department and the com-
Derek Chauvin used in cessive force to intervene munity. The proposal won
May on black man George regardless of their ranks, the council’s unanimous
Floyd for almost nine Shelton said Tuesday eve- approval.
minutes and killed him, ning. Within the next two
prompting nationwide To mend the relation- weeks, Shanklin said, each
protests against police ship between the commu- council member will pick
brutality. A use of force nity and the police depart- two candidates from their
continuum, which lays out ment, Jermaine Shanklin, individual ward to serve on
a procedure police officers who helped organize the board. The board will
have to follow when re- several protests after the meet to discuss commu-
sponding to an incident, is dismissal of the Ricky Ball nity needs and complaints
also included in the chang- case, proposed to form a and bring it to the city’s at-
es to CPD’s policies. youth advisory board that tention, he said.
Officers should first
identify themselves with
uniforms, badges and use
verbal direction. They
can then use empty-hand
control, intermediate
weapons, less lethal force
(such as pepper sprays
and tasers) and eventually
lethal force, which Shel-
ton previously told The
Dispatch should be a last
resort.
The department also

Chism
Continued from Page 1A
June 30, he said Tuesday.
He said he notified House
Speaker Philip Gunn and
Gov. Tate Reeves of his de-
cision on Monday.
“My wife has had some
health issues and I really
felt like I should be with
her,” said Chism, who left
the session on June 3 and
does not plan to attend any
more sessions before his
retirement.
He battled through
his own health issues in
2017 when he suffered
from a major stroke. Al-
though he ran successful-
ly for re-election last year,
he said he had already
planned for it to be his final
term.
“When I had my stroke,
I started thinking about
how I was going to wind
down,” said Chism, 69. “It
really wasn’t as fun being
in the Legislature as it was
before my stroke. It took a
long time to get my medi-
cine right after the stroke
and that made the work a
lot harder.”
Although he intended
to serve out his four-year
term, his wife’s medical
issues convinced him he
needed to step down.
“It wasn’t a hard deci-
sion,” he said.
Chism, who took pride
in his reputation as a
staunch conservative, got
a taste of what it’s like to be
in both the minority and
majority. He said he much
preferred the latter.
“Democrats were in
green light comes on when
you vote ‘yes.’ I just about
wore out that red light, but
there was plenty of green
left over.”
For the past nine years,
Chism and the Republi-
cans have been in the ma-
jority.
“Anybody would tell you
it’s better to be in the ma-
jority,” he said. “You really
feel like you can get things
done.”
He said his proudest
moment in the House
came early in his career
with the passage of the
2004 Tort Reform Act,
which created a $1 million
cap on non-economic dam-
ages in civil lawsuits and a
$500,000 cap on medical
malpractice cases.
“At the time, Mississip-
pi was called the Jackpot
Justice state,” he said. “We
might as well have had a
billboard on the highway
when you crossed the state
line. As someone in the
insurance business, I saw a special election to fill
what it was doing, so I was Chism’s unfinished term.
proud to be involved in fix- “I don’t know what he’ll
ing that situation.” do, of course, but there’s
Chism is the House In- a chance it could be part
surance Committee chair- of the November general
man and a member of six election,” Chism said.
other committees, includ- Chism said he will con-
ing Ways and Means. tinue to work part-time
Starkville Republican at his business, Colum-
Rep. Rob Roberson, who bus Insurance, as well as
was starting his first full spend time with his wife.
term in the House when “I don’t really have any
Chism arrived in the Legis- big plans,” he said.
lature in 2000 and returned
to the House in 2016, said
Chism was someone who,
though a fierce infighter
on the issues, was cordial
and well-liked.
“With Gary, when the
debate on a bill was over, it
was over,” Roberson said.
“He was friendly, respect-
ful to his colleagues. That
was one of his best quali-
ties, I think. He would fight
for what he believed in, but
it was never personal with
Gary.”
Gov. Reeves will call
SOLUNAR TABLE
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control of the House for

of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks

my first 12 years and we

Republicans just got run
over like it was a train,” he
said. “All we could do was
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4A WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

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OBITUARY POLICY
Obituaries with basic informa-
tion including visitation and
service times, are provided
free of charge. Extended
obituaries with a photograph,
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tion and other details families
may wish to include, are avail-
able for a fee. Obituaries must
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the family must provide official
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prior for publication Tuesday
through Friday; no later than 4
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edition; and no later than 7:30
a.m. for the Monday edition.
AREA OBITUARIES
of Columbus and Anto- Service Chapel. Car-
nio Gardner of Jasper; ter’s Mortuary Service
stepsons, Patrick Walk- of West Point was in
er and Chase Walker, charge of arrange-
both of Fayette; sisters, ments.
Tracey Hayden of Ken- Mrs. Shotwell was
ned, Tamekia Gardner born Aug. 28, 1951, in
of Winfield, and Tina West Point, to the late
Gardner of Ft. Worth, John Neely and Rebec-
Texas; stepsisters, ca Tallie Neely. She was
Robin Hollis of Hunts- formerly employed as a
ville, Shante Stowe of machine operator with
Hamilton, and Ashley Bryan Foods.
Kemp of Fayette; and She is survived by
six grandchildren. her brothers, Jimmy
Earl Neely, John Neely,
Pallbearers will be
Henry Neely, and David
Terrance Metcalfe,
Antonio Murray, Travis Neely; sisters, Vernell
Pickens, Patrick Walk- Wright and Geraldine
er, Chase Walker, and Neely; three grand-
Quinton Young. children; and three
great-grandchildren.
Eddie Reives
WEST POINT — Kimberly Quinn
Joseph James
STARKVILLE —
Joseph William “J.W.”
James, 93, died June
16, 2020.
A graveside service
will be held at 10 a.m.
today, at Memorial
Garden Park Ceme-
tery. Burial will follow.
Visitation is from
9-9:30 a.m. prior to ser-
vices, at Welch Funeral
Home. Welch Funeral
Home of Starkville is
in charge of arrange-
ments.
Mr. James was born
Feb. 9, 1927, in Greene
County, to the late
Joseph W. James Sr.
and Kate Byrd James.
He was a 1945 gradu-
ate of Leakesville High
Dobbins of Sulligent; ing. Burial will follow
brothers, Tony Led- at Millport City Cem-
low of Hodges, Jerry etery. Dowdle Funeral
Ledlow and John Home of Millport is
Ledlow, both of Guin; in charge of arrange-
sisters, Terri Cantrell ments.
and Gretta Cole, Mrs. Jordan was
both of Hodges; six born Feb. 26, 1948, to
grandchildren; and six the late William Clardy
great-grandchildren. and Clarice Ballard
Clardy Weathers.
Barbara Jordan In addition to her
MILLPORT, Ala. — parents, she was
Barbara Jean Clardy preceded in death by
Jordan, 72, died June her daughter, Jennifer
14, 2020, at Arbor Jordan; and brothers,
Woods Health and Re- Steve and Macky
hab Center, in Reform. Clardy.
A memorial service She is survived by
will be held at 2 p.m. her son, Brian Jordan;
Sunday, at Dowdle sister, Joan Fleming;
Funeral Home, with and brother, Doug
Eric Fleming officiat- Clardy.

Cheryl Ann Clark

Incomplete notices must be re-
ceived no later than 7:30 a.m.
for the Monday through Friday
editions. Paid notices must be
finalized by 3 p.m. for inclusion
the next day Monday through
Thursday; and on Friday by 3
p.m. for Sunday and Monday
publication. For more informa-
tion, call 662-328-2471.
Carron Wilder
ALICEVILLE, Ala.
— Carron Ann Wilder,
54, died June 13, 2020,
at her residence.
A graveside home
going celebration and
interment will be held
at 11 a.m. Thursday,
at Horton Cemetery,
in Eutaw, with the
Rev. Raymond Moore
officiating. No visitation
will be held. Lavender’s
Funeral Service of
Aliceville is in charge of
arrangements.
Evelyn Fitzgerald
COLUMBUS — Ev-
elyn Fitzgerald, 85,
died June 16, 2020, at
Collegeview Nursing
Home.
Arrangements are
incomplete and will be
announced by Lown-
des Funeral Home of
Columbus.
Terry Gardner
FAYET TE, Ala. —
Terry L. Gardner, 54,
died June 14, 2020, at
DCH, in Tuscaloosa.
Private family
services are at 11 a.m.
today, at Otts Funeral
Home Chapel, with Da-
vid Lesuer officiating.
Burial will follow at Hol-
ly Grove Cemetery, in
Millport. Visitation was
from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday,
at the funeral home.
Otts Funeral Home of
Sulligent is in charge of
arrangements.
Mr. Gardner was
born April 12, 1966,
in Millport, to Luther
Gardner and Betty
Eddie J. Reives, 77, died WEST POINT —
May 26, 2020, at North Kimberly Rochelle
Mississippi Medical Quinn, 45, died June 8,
2020, at North Missis-
Center, in Tupelo.
Graveside services sippi Medical Center, in
Tupelo.
were held at 11 a.m.
May 30, 2020, at West Graveside services
were held at 2:30 p.m.
Point Memorial Gar-
dens, with Dr. Willie B. Thursday, at Cedar
Bluff Cemetery, in Ce-
Lairy officiating. Burial
followed. A private fam- dar Bluff, with the Rev.
Mike Wilson officiating.
ily visitation was held
at Carter’s Mortuary Burial followed. No visi-
tation was held. Carter’s
Service Chapel. Car-
ter’s Mortuary Service Mortuary Service of
West Point is in charge
of West Point was in
charge of arrange- of arrangements.
ments. Ms. Quinn was born
Mr. Reives was born Dec. 20, 1974, in Clay
Aug. 18, 1942, in Clay County, to the late Jim-
County, to the late my Dale Henderson and
Willie Reives and Mary Vera Mae Quinn.
Frances Scott Reives. She is survived by
He was a member of her son, La Jeffery D.
the U.S. Army and was Quinn of West Point;
formerly employed as a daughters, Ty’ Nika T.
supervisor with B & W Quinn and Ti’ lesha L.
Steel Fabrications. Quinn, both of West
He is survived by Point; brothers, Darryl
his daughters, Dyann V. Quinn of West Point,
Jimmy Henderson Jr. of
McIntosh of Wild-
wood, Missouri, and Una, and Marco Heard
of Aberdeen; sisters,
Jacqueline Yolanda
Gunn of Aberdeen; son, Lisa M. Quinn and
Marbin D. Quinn, both
Eddie Demerel Reives
of Starkville; sisters, of West Point, Romona
Henderson-Pearson and
Louise R. Terry of West
Point; brother, Agen Temeka Lewis, both of
Una; and two grandchil-
Reives of Maben; and
five grandchildren. dren.
Joshua Finch Ruby Brantley
WEST POINT —
COLUMBUS —
Joshua Finch, 37, died Ruby Lee Blake Brant-
ley, 98, died June 3,
June 17, 2020, at his
residence. 2020, in West Point.
Graveside services
Arrangements are
incomplete and will be were held at 11 a.m.
June 9, 2020, at Green-
announced by Memori-
al Gunter Peel Funeral wood Cemetery, with
the Rev. Eddie A. Long-
Home and Crematory,
Second Avenue North street officiating. Burial
followed. A private
location.
family visitation was
held at Carter’s Mor-
Louella Reed tuary Service Chapel.
COLUMBUS — Carter’s Mortuary
Louella Reed, 88, Service of West Point
died June 16, 2020, at was in charge of ar-
Collegeview Nursing rangements.
Home. Mrs. Brantley was
Arrangements are born Aug. 13, 1921,
incomplete and will be in Clay County, to the
announced by Lown-
School, a graduate of
East Mississippi Junior
College and Mississip-
pi State University’s Cheryl Ann Clark, 62, of Columbus, MS,
School of Agriculture,
passed away at her home, the morning of June
and a 1963 graduate 8, 2020.
of the University of
Family and friends are invited to the Antioch
Wisconsin. He was Baptist Church, 6080 Hwy. 45 N., Columbus,
an U.S. Army veteran
MS, on June 20, 2020, to celebrate her life, with
and was a member of visitation from 2:00-3:00 PM, and a memorial
the U.S. Army ROTC
service to follow at 3:00 PM.
and Mississippi Army She was the firstborn to Burl and Ella Ruth
National Guard. He
Rhyne Wood, in Greenville, SC. She graduated
was formerly employed from New Hope High School and attended
with the Mississippi
Mississippi University for Women, before
Cooperative Extension marring Charlie Clark on March 17, 1977.
Service at Mississippi
She is preceded in death by her mother, Ella
State University.
Ruth Rhyne Wood.
In addition to his
She is survived by her husband, Charlie Clark;
parents, he was pre-
sons, Neal Clark and wife, Jess, and Robert
ceded in death by his
Clark; father, Burl Wood; sisters, Dione Scott and
daughter, Sheila James.
husband, Paul, Alison Bryan and husband, Karl,
He is survived by his
and Natalie Wood; mother-in-law, Ann Clark
wife, Nancy.
Barksdale; brother-in-law, Bill Clark and wife,
Kathy; and a host of nieces and nephews that she
Clarence Ledlow
loved dearly.
SULLIGENT, Ala.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to
— Clarence Stephen your favorite charity.
“Steve” Ledlow, 52,
died June 13, 2020, at
Paid Obituary - Serenity Funeral Home
his residence.
Services are at 3
p.m. today, at Otts
Funeral Home Chap-
el, with Jesph Collier
officiating. Burial
will follow at Guin
City Cemetery. Vis-
itation will be one
hour prior to services
at the funeral home.
Otts Funeral Home of
Sulligent is in charge
of arrangements.
Mr. Ledlow was
born Sept. 7, 1967,
in Guin, to Clarence
Eugene “Gene” Ledlow
and the late Wedder
Nix. He was a graduate
of Liberty Christian
Academy and was
formerly employed as a
roofer.
In addition to his
mother, he was pre-
ceded in death by one
grandchild.
In addition to his
father, he is survived
by his wife, Marjorie
Dobbins Ledlow of
Sulligent; sons, Race

Metcalfe. He was a
graduate of Millport
High School and a
member of the Alabama
National Guard. He was
formerly employed with
ARC in Fayette and was
a member of Roxanna
Church of God.
He was preceded in
death by his stepfather,
John Coleman; and
three grandchildren.
In addition to his
parents, he is survived
by his wife, Tercida
Gardener of Fayette;
sons, Terrence Gardner
Cheap drug is first shown
late Johnnie Blake and
des Funeral Home of Erma Lee Blake. She
Columbus. was formerly employed
as a school teacher.
Leola Shotwell She is survived by
WEST POINT — Mynyown Butler of
Leola Shotwell, 68, died Jackson and Ungen-
June 5, 2020, in West nette Brantley of West
Point. Point; son, Randal Elvin
Graveside services “Dog” Brantley of West
were held at 11 a.m. Fri- Point; sisters, Dorothy
day, at Fountain Head Goins of West Point,
Church Cemetery, with Annie Bell Turner of
the Rev. Donald Ander- Laurel, and Bobbie
son officiating. Burial Clayburn of Rapid City,
followed. A private fam- South Dakota; one
ily visitation was held grandchild; and one
at Carter’s Mortuary great-grandchild.
Ledlow of Buena Vista,
Georgia, and Richard
Dobbins of Sulligent;
daughter, Timberly
Faye McCool
Visitation:
Wednesday, June 17 • 10-11 AM
2nd Ave. North Location
Memorial Service:
Wednesday, June 17 • 11 AM
2nd Ave. North Location
Burial
Pleasant Hill Baptist Church
Faye McCool
Miss Robbie Faye McCool, age 70, of Caledo-
nia, MS, passed away June 15, 2020, at her resi-
dence.
Funeral services will be Wednesday, June
17, 2020, at 11:00 AM at Memorial Gunter Peel
Chapel, 716 2nd Ave. North location, with Rev.
Steve Blalock and Jason Pennington officiating.
The interment will immediately follow at Pleas-
ant Hill Baptist Church Cemetery. Visitation
will be one hour prior to the service. Memorial
Gunter Peel Funeral Home & Crematory, 2nd
Ave. North location, has been entrusted with the
arrangements.
Miss McCool was born September 26, 1949, in
Lowndes County, MS, to the late Elzie and Fan-
nie Smith McCool. She was a graduate of New
Hope High School and retired from McCoy Man-
ufacturing. Miss McCool enjoyed collecting an-
tique dolls.
Survivors include her brothers, Elzie Bruce
McCool and his wife, Beverly, of Caledonia, MS,

to improve COVID-19 survival

BY MARILYNN MARCHIONE
AP Chief Medical Writer
Researchers in England say they have
the first evidence that a drug can improve
COVID-19 survival: A cheap, widely avail-
able steroid reduced deaths by up to one
third in severely ill hospitalized patients.
The results were announced Tuesday
and the British government immediate-
ly authorized the drug’s use across the
United Kingdom for coronavirus patients
like those who did well in the study. Re-
searchers said they would publish results
soon in a medical journal, and several
independent experts said it’s important
to see details to know how much of a dif-
ference the drug, dexamethasone, might
make and for whom.
But “bottom line is, good news,” said
the United States’ top infectious disease
expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci. “This is a
significant improvement in the available
therapeutic options that we have.”
The coronavirus outbreak has killed
more than 438,000 people worldwide
since it began late last year in China.
The study, led by the University of
Oxford, was a large, strict test that ran-
domly assigned 2,104 patients to get the
drug and compared them with 4,321 pa-
tients getting only usual care.
Cemetery and Raymond McCool of Columbus, MS; sister,
Shirley Thomason of Caledonia, MS; nephews,
Olaf Burgess Sterling McCool and Michael McCool; and niec-
Memorial Service:
Private Family Service es, Stephanie Wallace and Cassie McCool.
2nd Ave. North Location Pallbearers will be Sterling McCool, Michael
McCool, Joe Thomason, James Wallace, and
Brad Lamar Mark Weathers.
Memorial Service
Sunday, June 28 • 2 PM Memorials may be made to the Columbus
2nd Ave. North Chapel Lowndes Humane Society, P.O. Box 85, Colum-
bus, MS 39703 or the American Cancer Society,
Joshua Morris Finch 1380 Livingston Lane, Jackson, MS 39213.
Incomplete
2nd Ave. North Location
Sign the online guest book at
memorialgunterpeel.com
www.memorialgunterpeel.com
716 Second Avenue North • Columbus, MS
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020 5A

Senate GOP to propose

policing changes in ‘Justice Act’
Package is set to be
introduced Wednesday
by Sen. Tim Scott
of South Carolina
BY LISA MASCARO
AND JIM MUSTIAN
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Senate Re-
publicans are proposing changes
to police procedures and account-
ability with an enhanced use-of-
force database, restrictions on
chokeholds and new commissions
to study law enforcement and race,
according to a draft obtained by
The Associated Press.
The JUSTICE Act — Just and
Unifying Solutions To Invigorate
Communities Everywhere Act of
2020 — is the most ambitious GOP
policing proposal in years, a direct
response to the massive public
protests over the death of George
Floyd and other black Americans.
The package is set to be intro-
duced Wednesday by Sen. Tim
Scott of South Carolina, the GOP’s
lone black Republican, and a task
force of GOP senators assembled
by Republican leadership.
The 106-page bill is not as
sweeping as a Democratic propos-
al, which is set for a House vote
next week, but it shows how swiftly
the national debate has been trans-
formed as Republicans embrace a
new priority in an election year.
The GOP legislation would beef
up requirements for law enforce-
ment to compile use of force reports
under a new George Floyd and Wal-
ter Scott Notification Act, named
for the Minnesota father whose
Trump signs order on police
reform, doesn’t mention racism
BY JILL COLVIN, LISA MASCARO AND ZEKE MILLER
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Following
weeks of national protests since the
‘Reducing crime and
death of George Floyd, President
Donald Trump has signed an execu-
raising standards are
tive order he said would encourage
better police practices. But he made
not opposite goals’
no mention of the roiling national President Donald Trump
debate over racism spawned by police killings of black people.
Trump met privately with the families of several black Americans
killed in interactions with police before his Rose Garden signing cere-
mony and said he grieved for the lives lost and families devastated. But
he quickly shifted his tone and devoted most of his public remarks to
a need to respect and support “the brave men and women in blue who
police our streets and keep us safe.”
He characterized the officers who’ve used excessive force as a “tiny”
number of outliers among “trustworthy” police ranks.
“Reducing crime and raising standards are not opposite goals,” he
said before signing the order Tuesday, flanked by police officials.
May 25 death sparked worldwide protocol to prevent excessive force.
protests over police violence, and As the contours of the package
Scott, the South Carolina man shot emerged in recent days, Demo-
by police after a traffic stop in 2015. crats panned it as insufficient, as
It would also establish the Bre- their own bill takes a more direct
onna Taylor Notification Act to approach to changing federal mis-
track “no-knock” warrants. Such conduct laws and holding individ-
warrants used to be rare, but the ual officers legally responsible for
26-year-old was killed after police
incidents.
in Kentucky used a no-knock war-
But the GOP effort seeks to
rant to enter her Louisville home.
To focus on ending chokeholds, reach across the aisle to Demo-
it encourages agencies to do away crats in several ways. It includes
with the practice or risk losing one long-sought bill to make lynch-
federal funds. Many big city de- ing a federal hate crime and anoth-
partments have long stopped their er to launch a study of the Social
use. It also provides funding for Status of Black Men and Boys that
training to “de-escalate” situations has been touted by House Speaker
and establish a “duty to intervene” Nancy Pelosi.

Value of police body cameras limited by lack of transparency

‘Body-worn cameras have their limitations and they’re
certainly not a panacea, but they do have valuable uses’
Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum
BY JAKE BLEIBERG
The Associated Press
In the fatal shooting of
a black man by police in
Atlanta last week, officers’
body cameras captured
about 40 minutes of foot-
age, but not the critical
moments that end with
one of them opening fire.
In Oklahoma City, it
took police more than a
year to release video from
the arrest of a man who
died in custody. It came
out months after the offi-
cers involved were cleared
of any wrongdoing, and
shows them struggling
with the man as he says “I
can’t breathe.” One officer
replies: “I don’t care.”
Nationwide, police de-
partments have rushed to
ramp up the use of body
cameras, which have been
hailed as a potential equal-
izer that would show the
unvarnished truth of an
encounter with officers.
But the cases in Geor-
gia and Oklahoma high-
light why the technology’s
benefit has come into
question amid protests
sparked by the killing of
George Floyd and calls
for sweeping changes to
American law enforce-
ment. With budget crises
looming and cries to “de-
fund the police,” some are
asking whether the tens of
millions of taxpayer dol-
lars spent to outfit officers
with cameras has provid-
ed the accountability and
transparency expected.
Advocates and officers
agree the technology’s
broad adoption has been
helpful, but its value is dic-
tated by the policies and
practices around its use:
Cameras improve trans-
parency when depart-
ments care about transpar-
ency.
“They were going to
be a panacea to all of the
problems we’re facing,”
said Chuck Wexler, exec-
utive director of the Police
Executive Research Fo-
rum. “Body-worn camer-
as have their limitations
and they’re certainly not a
panacea, but they do have
valuable uses.”
This month, four At-
lanta police officers were
fired and criminally
charged over an incident
in which officers pulled
two college students from
a car and hit them with
stun guns during protests
late last month. The police
chief, who resigned Sat-
urday, told her staff she
expected the footage to
reinforce that the officers
did the right thing, but it
did the opposite.
But that case was un-
usual. Cameras have
largely failed to deliver
swift accountability be-
cause the release of video
is frequently long delayed
or denied entirely, said
Harlan Yu, executive di-
rector at the civil rights
and technology nonprofit
Upturn. When footage of
a controversial incident is
released, Yu said, it’s often
only after intense public
outcry.
That was the case in
Oklahoma City last week,
when police put out video
of the deadly May 2019 ar-
rest of Derrick Elliot Scott.
Officers arrested Scott,
who was black, because he
matched the description of
an armed suspect, Capt.
Larry Withrow said. Scott
had a loaded gun in his
pocket, Withrow said.
The video shows an of-
ficer confronting Scott and
then tackling him after he
takes off running. As offi-
cers hold Scott down, he
can be heard saying he
can’t breathe. He appears
to go in and out of con-
sciousness and the offi-
cers eventually call for an
ambulance. He was later
pronounced dead; an au-
topsy showed the encoun-
ter with police was a factor.
A prosecutor cleared
the officers of any wrong-
doing last August. The vid-
eo was released after me-
dia requests and demands
from activists.
The Rev. T. Sheri Dick-
erson, executive director
of Black Lives Matter
OKC, said police held the
footage back because it
would have changed how
the case was handled. Had
it been public “there would
have been collective pow-
er in demanding justice,”
Dickerson said.

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Opinion
6A WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020
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VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

Response to Harry Sanders’ comments
I read with dismay the head-
line that Lowndes supervisors
voted along racial lines to leave
the Confederate statue at City
Hall in place.
“Along racial lines” certainly
gives the game away.
Later in the day I had time
to read the full article and was
heart-broken. I don’t know how
else to put it.
I grew up in Columbus,
graduated high school there,
and have touted my relative-
ly unique experience of an
education and upbringing with
children - black and white - to
anyone who’ll listen as I’ve
lived in different parts of this
state and country. I’ve been
proud to call Columbus my
hometown.
Mr. Sanders’s now well-pub-
licized, racist, and ahistorical
speech about “dependent”
black people who “didn’t have
to do anything” because their
masters provided their needs is
abhorrent. I can’t believe such
fatuousness and cruelty and
ignorance must be countered in
2020. Let alone that he wields
tremendous public influence.
Further, his understanding of
American history indicts the
very Lowndes County schools
he attended. Perhaps Mr.
Sanders, who has declared that
he will not resign, can shift
his focus from racial agita-
tion to better school funding.
I’m aware that’s outside the
purview of his office, but with
determination and with his
powerful position I am certain
he can make it happen.
Wade Overstreet
Cleveland, Miss.
Harry Sanders is whats still
wrong in our country today!
The Lowndes County Supervi-
sors (which includes Columbus,
MS) had a good plan to move
a confederate soldier statue to
Friendship Cemetery where
Confederate Soldiers are buried
and where community events
occur annually, celebrating
historic events (like the start
of Memorial Day). Instead of
moving it, the Caucasian county
supervisors voted against the
African-American supervisors
to leave it in place (3-2), and
then County Supervisor Harry
Sanders stepped outside the
meeting and made racially
divisive comments to the news-
paper reporter. I would say his
comments were in fact racist.
In light of our current situation,
when statues like this one are
being torn down and defaced
all around our great nation,
it boggles the mind to think
anyone would have the senti-
ments expressed by this elected
official.
It is easy to blame the crowd
when historical monuments
get destroyed. It’s easy to say
“why didn’t the offended parties
exercise their civil rights and
request the local government to
move the statue” ... well this is
why! The city of Columbus has
an African-American Mayor
(he’s been the Mayor since I
moved to Columbus in 2014);
the city council in Columbus is
mostly African-American with
only 1 or 2 Caucasian members.
Unfortunately, in the middle
of their downtown there is a
county courthouse with a con-
federate statue, and the county
supervisors are three-fifths
white and include Harry Sand-
ers. Everything was done right,
the BLM protests in Columbus
didn’t destroy the statue, a
county supervisor came up
with a plan to move the statue
to a location everyone would be
happy with, but Harry Sanders
stood in the way. He doesn’t
represent the constituents of
District 1, he represents his Jim
Crow upbringing even in the
midst of the turmoil and events
all Americans are disgusted by!
Remember this the next time
you hear about a statue being
torn down!
I will not be surprised if the
next BLM protest in Columbus
attracts people from all over
the country, and I will not be
surprised if the monument in
question is destroyed along
with many of our downtown
businesses. The responsibility
for that kind of outburst will rest
solely on Mr. Harry Sanders
and his backwards views. He
needs to resign immediately!
Signed, a military family!
Christina Hofler
Columbus
Harry Sanders doesn’t rep-
resent us. He should resign im-
mediately. His backwards views
prevent him from being able to
represent his constituents.
Mel Hofler
Columbus
Harry Sanders should resign
as Lowndes County Supervisor.
He should resign today.
I don’t know how old Harry
Sanders is but I’d guess his age
to be somewhere around mine. I
was not old enough to be aware
of Rosa Parks but certainly
aware of Bloody Sunday some
years later. This despite grow-
ing up in a town that had no
black citizens at the time.
So I cannot use my age as
some sort of excuse/explana-
tion of my views on race. I did
not grow up in the South but I
don’t think that factor is what
distinguishes my thinking on
race from that of Mr. Sanders.
I credit my parents, who never
uttered a racist word in their
lives, and that was the model set
in front of me as I grew up.
Such speculations on my part
are irrelevant, though. What
matters is that Mr. Sanders is
one of 5 people who represent
Lowndes County, including con-
stituents of all colors, religions,
and political beliefs. More
specifically, nearly 44% of the
residents of Lowndes County
are black according to the last
census. You know Mr. Sanders
represents some of them — just
not very well.
Ordinarily I would urge
voters to turn out at the next
supervisor election and demon-
strate whether or not he is their
best choice as representative –
but that election is over 3 years
off. To me, his racist remarks
demonstrate unequivocally
that he is unfit to represent his
district fairly and, therefore,
should step down immediately.
Mr. Sanders, you are on the
wrong side of history — by a
good measure. Time for some-
one younger and less influenced
by the wrongs of a checkered
past.
District 1 voters, I have no
illusions that a younger person
is necessarily more enlightened
than Sanders. We see racist
attitudes throughout the coun-
try and throughout the various
strata of society. Consider
your choices well at your next
opportunity — which I hope
will be at a special election this
November.
Paul Mack
Columbus

Appreciates response to letter
Thank you Peter Imes for your elo-
quent response to the letter to the editor
from Kathy Reed. Of course she and oth-
ers who believe people of color are some-
how to blame for all their issues such
as poverty and abuse by the police want
the issue of race to not be addressed.
That’s the way it has been for years with
many in the white community. In my own
family growing up I heard, “they should
stay in their place,” when people of color
clamored for the same rights others had.
Defunding the police is not what most
people think it is. Is redirecting some
monies for special training etc.
You are right: Dana as an elected of-
ficial should make her intentions known
as far as the vote on the flag issue is
concerned, and I have told her so myself.
I appreciate The Commercial Dis-
patch being on the correct side of history
with somewhat progressive ideas. There
is a reason Mississippi is losing young
people to other states whether Kathy
Reed wants to accept it or not!
Jerry Fortenberry
Columbus
Similarities between bailout of banks
and proposed bailout of states
Congressional Democrats have
proposed a $900 billion fund to help
our various States to meet their fiscal
obligations—paying law enforcement,
their state bureaucracies, their road-re-
pair crews, and their pensioners, among
many other things. This prodigious sum
is very similar to the amount of money
appropriated to bail out giant banks and
investment firms in the Emergency Eco-
nomic Stabilization Act of 2008.
That act created the Troubled Asset
Relief Program, which used $700 billion
to buy toxic assets from banks; assets
that those banks created for themselves.
But Senate Republicans refuse to support
the aid to the States. They claim that
because the States made decisions that
put them in this position, they should get
themselves out. The States, of course,
were doing fine until our pandemic shut
down most of their tax revenues, but no
matter.
I see no conceptual difference
between the decision of banks to invest
in real estate derivatives and States’ deci-
sions to use pensions as an enticement to
their workforce, in terms of fiscal risk.
Senator Lindsey Graham, the Sen-
ate majority leader, has put forth the
Republican solution. He insists that the
sovereign states be allowed to declare
bankruptcy. The States, being sovereign,
can default on fiscal obligations. They
can refuse to pay, say, bond holders,
or any other creditor, just as a sover-
eign nation can. What they cannot do,
being sovereign, is declare bankruptcy.
Senator Graham’s plan is to change the
bankruptcy laws so that the States can
declare bankruptcy. This would allow the
federal government to determine how to
assign State assets, and, as in corporate
bankruptcies, which creditors to deny.
The point of this is to eliminate the
States’ pension obligations. In Michigan,
the Republican Governor’s assigned city
managers did just that in Detroit and
Benton Harbor (cities are not sovereign,
and can declare bankruptcy).
So, if big banks get in trouble, send
them all the money they need. If the
States get in trouble, steal the retirement
money of all the people who spent their
lives keeping the States running.
The perfect Republican solution.
Bill Gillmore
Columbus

LOCAL VOICES
Down with the old, up with the New South
I
t was years ago when I
happily landed my first
gig through the CETA
federal summer jobs pro-
gram. But my enthusiasm
soon faded when one of our
first tasks had been to go to
the Lowndes County Court-
house and clear brush over-
growing the old monument
standing on the front lawn. I
will never forget the loathing
I felt when I looked upon Jim Terry
that stone relic of Southern
defiance. But I had to suck
it up and tolerate it, the way my forefa-
thers had to tolerate this and other such South, but she spits in my face ... the
indignities all their lives.
A local politico has asked the
question, “Why is this (confederate
monuments) still an issue? After all, we
haven’t had slavery in the United States
for 150 years.” He goes on to suggest
that something must be inherently
wrong with black folks because blacks
are, “the only ones that are having
problems.”
Yes, we are, by and large, the only
ones having problems, but not in the
way that Supervisor Harry
Sanders reckons. Whereas
every other race on earth
at one time or the other has
suffered at the hands of the
white man (soon tribes of
races have even gone ex-
tinct) no people has suffered
more grotesquely than the
black race. In America, the
worst hounds of hell have
been loosed upon black folk.
To say otherwise is simply
blind and willful ignorance.
Langston Hughes put it
thus: “I who am black would love the
South with blood on its mouth.”
And slaves didn’t have it as good as
Mr. Sanders might imagine. He even
says, “The slaves didn’t have to do any-
thing!” when under pain of floggings,
or worse, slaves toiling days and nights
had to fulfill quotas for a day’s work.
And what do you think they did to a
slave who didn’t meet his quota, or had
gotten too old to work, or too infirm?
What about the persistent passed-down
stories of rape and forced breeding
that went on at so many backwater
plantations, which is why more than
others the black race is so overcome of
mulattoes, quadroons, and octaroons of
every stripe. And how does one kidnap
a people from their mother country,
enslave them until they die and ask with
the expectations of receiving an honest
answer, “Ain’t you got it good?”
To say that this campaign of erection
of statues and the naming of streets,
roads, bridges, schools, and great
institutions after such as those who
would destroy their own nation through
treasonous armed rebellion suffers
no consequences is like saying that
advertising doesn’t work. Who can deny
the power of symbols, particularly these
symbols?
At every Southern courthouse stands
an unrepentant Confederate sentinel
forever frozen in stone, chest forward,
his back turned against the North, wary
for battle. There are so many streets,
counties, towns, and military bases
named for Confederates who fomented
then conducted the bloodiest war in the
history of the Western hemisphere, all
in the name of a “lost cause” that fondly
broods in the Southern heart to this
day. It is a cherished notion they are
not willing to let go. If they did so, what
would it say about their beloved Con-
federate ancestors and “The Cause”?
But then, what would it say of their own
civilities ... and what would it say about
black folk?
There is a terrible price to be paid
for those who convince themselves that
they can project reason where there
is entrenched recalcitrance borne of
romantic pinnings. They will never un-
derstand that these monuments are still
an issue because they have made them
still an issue by erecting them in the
first place and maintaining them in the
face of the whirlwinds of change. For
those, it is not the monuments but rath-
er the Negro who remains the problem.
I think of a powerful song from Andrew
Lloyd Webber’s dramatic Broadway hit,
Les Miserables:
Look down! Look down!
You’ll always be a slave!
Look down! Look down!
You’re standing in your grave!
Jim Terry, a former Lowndes County
supervisor, resides in Columbus.

THE STAFF OF THE DISPATCH

EDITOR/PUBLISHER Mary Jane Runnels Hunter Perrigin Tess Vrbin PRODUCTION
Peter Imes Luther Shields Deanna Robinson-Pugh Yue Stella Yu William Hudson
Jamie Morrison
PUBLISHER EMERITUS BUSINESS OFFICE NEWS MAILROOM Anne Murphy
Birney Imes Lindsey Beck Isabelle Altman Christina Boyd Tina Perry
Debbie Foster Theo Derosa Joseph Ellis Reuben Proffitt
Mary Ann Hardy Matt Garner Jeffrey Gore
ADVERTISING Eddie Johnson Claire Hassler Katrina Guyton
Claudi Arrington Courtney Laury Garrick Hodge Doris Hill
Amber Dumas Zack Plair Quaylon Jones
Kelly Ervin CIRCULATION Ben Portnoy Marvin Kyles
Melissa Johnson Christopher Dumas Slim Smith Marquisto Miller
Beth Proffitt Michael Floyd Jan Swoope Bobby Williams
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020 7A

High court decision spotlights

GOP divide over LGBT rights
‘This is something
suburban voters support
and that is a group that
Republicans are having
challenges with’
GOP pollster Glen Bolger
BY ALAN FR AM
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Democrats
flooded Twitter and email inboxes
this week with praise for the wa-
tershed Supreme Court decision
shielding gay, lesbian and trans-
gender people from job discrimina-
tion. Republicans — not so much.
The court’s 6-3 ruling came just
two days after an event that played
out in the opposite direction. Fresh-
man GOP Rep. Denver Riggleman,
who’d officiated at a same-sex wed-
ding, lost his party’s nomination in
a conservative Virginia district.
The two developments under-
scored an election-year challenge
facing the GOP: how to reconcile
broad national support for LGBT
protections, even among many Re-
publicans, with fervent opposition
from some of the party’s die-hard
conservative voters.
On Election Day, that question
will be easily overshadowed by
the moribund economy, the coro-
navirus pandemic, the interaction
between race and violent police
tactics and by Trump himself. Still,
the week’s events point to a cul-
ture-war schism in the GOP that
Democrats are happy to exploit,
even as Republicans struggle to
prevent moderate suburban voters
from deserting them.
“This is something suburban
voters support,” said GOP pollster
Glen Bolger. “And that is a group
that Republicans are having chal-
lenges with.”
Polling illustrates the GOP’s di-
lemma.
In a December survey by The
Associated Press-NORC Center
for Public Affairs Research, 62
percent of Americans overall said
they backed banning discrimina-
tion again gay, lesbian, bisexual or
transgender people in workplaces,
housing and schools.
That included around 3 in 4
Democrats and nearly half of Re-
publicans. That’s a turnaround
from more negative feelings people
had two decades ago.
“Wake up, my Republican
friends, the times, they are
a-changing,” Senate Minority
Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.,
said Tuesday.
Yet just 33 percent of white
evangelical Protestants said they
supported prohibiting broad LGBT
discrimination. In a September
2019 survey by the nonpartisan
Pew Research Center, 61 percent
of Americans said making same-
sex marriage legal was good for
society while 72 percent of white
evangelical Protestants said it was
bad.
Those voters are a crucial GOP
bloc, especially in rural districts,
and party leaders cross them at
their own peril. The Supreme
Court ruled in 2015 that the Consti-
tution ensures a right for same-sex
couples to marry.
“It’s decided law” but some
Republicans are using same-sex
marriage as a “divisive political
tool,” said Jerri Ann Henry, who
resigned last year as executive di-
rector of Log Cabin Republicans,
which represents LGBT members
of the party.
Henry, a GOP strategist, said
the battle over the issue is “the ex-
act thing that will further alienate
suburban and independent voters.”
Within hours of Monday’s Su-
preme Court ruling, Democratic
lawmakers unleashed a flood of
statements hailing it. GOP reaction
was harder to find, with top Repub-
licans like Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., mum.
Notably, praise came from two
moderate GOP senators, Alaska’s
Lisa Murkowski and Maine’s Su-
san Collins.
“All Americans deserve a fair
opportunity to pursue the Amer-
ican dream,” tweeted Collins, a
four-term senator in her toughest
reelection race. She called the de-
cision “a major advancement for
LGBTQ rights.”

Poll: Americans are the unhappiest they’ve been in 50 years

BY TAMAR A LUSH called themselves very the coronavirus outbreak February. Just when she
The Associated Press happy in that survey. — especially for black thought she’d get out and
Most of the new sur- Americans. socialize in an attempt to
ST. PETERSBURG, heal from her grief, the
vey’s interviews were Lexi Walker, a 47-year-
Fla. — It’s been a rough pandemic hit.
completed before the old professional fiduciary
year for the American “It’s been one thing af-
death of George Floyd who lives near Greenville,
psyche. Folks in the U.S.
touched off nationwide South Carolina, has felt ter another,” Walker said.
are more unhappy today
protests and a global con- anxious and depressed “This is very hard. The
than they’ve been in near-
versation about race and for long stretches of this worst thing about this
ly 50 years.
police brutality, adding to year. She moved back to for me, after so much, I
This bold — yet un-
the feelings of stress and South Carolina late in don’t know what’s going
surprising — conclusion
loneliness Americans 2019, then her cat died. to happen.”
comes from the COVID
Response Tracking were already facing from Her father passed away in
Study, conducted by
NORC at the University
of Chicago. It finds that
just 14 percent of Amer-
ican adults say they’re
very happy, down from
31 percent who said the
same in 2018. That year,
23 percent said they’d
often or sometimes felt
isolated in recent weeks.
Now, 50 percent say that.
The survey, conduct-
ed in late May, draws on
nearly a half-century of
research from the Gen-
eral Social Survey, which
has collected data on
American attitudes and
behaviors at least every
other year since 1972.
No less than 29 percent
of Americans have ever

US shoppers
returned with
vigor in May in
partial rebound
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BALTIMORE — Amer-
ican shoppers ramped up
their spending on store
purchases by a record 17.7
percent from April to May,
delivering a dose of energy
for retailers that have been
reeling since the corona-
virus shut down business-
es, flattened the economy
and paralyzed consumers
during the previous two
months.
The government’s re-
port Tuesday showed that
consumers’ retail purchas-
es have retraced some of
the record-setting month-
to-month plunges of March
(8.3 percent) and April
(14.7 percent) as busi-
nesses have increasingly
reopened. Still, the pan-
demic’s damage to retail-
ers remains severe, with
purchases still down 6.1
percent from a year ago.

cdispatch.com
8A WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020
New Starkville policy allows spontaneous
First Amendment expression
Aldermen will no longer
have to approve most
special events
BY TESS VRBIN
tvrbin@cdispatch.com
Aldermen voted unani-
mously Tuesday on a new
policy to allow freedom of
assembly, a right protect-
ed by the First Amend-
ment, to happen on short
notice without any proce-
dural roadblocks if it is “in
response to spontaneous Sistrunk
events,” according to the
policy provided with the
meeting agenda.
Local activists orga-
nized a racial justice pro-
test that saw thousands of
attendees on June 6 after
less than a week of plan-
ning. The march and rally Carver
were peaceful, but the or-
ganizers were could not obtain a special
event permit from the city on short no-
tice, largely because they could not se-
cure an insurance provider.
In response, Mayor Lynn Spruill and
other city officials researched ways to
allow spontaneous First Amendment
expression. The protest was one of thou-
sands in all 50 states as the Black Lives
Matter movement reignited in late May
and early June.
Spontaneous events are now allowed
as long as the city is notified at least 24
hours in advance so police and fire pro-
tection can be prepared to act if needed.
Applicants must provide the location,
start and end time, estimated number
of participants and the proposed route if
there is one.
“The First Amendment allows it any-
way, so this policy just gives some notice
and structure to it and allows us to or-
ganize the best we can,” City Attorney
Chris Latimer said.
First Amendment events planned
more than seven days in advance will re-
quire a city-approved assembly plan with
the additional application requirement of
the name and 24-hour contact informa-
tion for an on-site event manager.
The city can still “impose reasonable
time, place and manner restrictions” on
First Amendment events held on side-
walks, streets or in city parks, including
in situations where the Starkville Police
Department determines an “imminent
likelihood” of property damage or vio-
lence against people.
There will be no insurance require-
ment or any other cost for First Amend-
ment events to occur, since financial
burden can impede freedom of speech,
Latimer said. However, the city’s insur-
ance policy would not likely cover a riot
or any other violence, he said.
The policy passed after very little
discussion. Ward 2 Alderman Sandra
Sistrunk pointed out the aldermen “can
always weigh in” on an impending First
Amendment event at a special-call meet-
ing or a regular meeting, depending on
the timing, if they feel they have some-
thing important to say.
“I think this is a great opportunity to
allow us a little more flexibility than we
had before, and I think that’s going to be
very important,” Sistrunk said.
Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver said
the city was unprepared for the racial
justice protest, which he said Tuesday
“needed to happen.” He previously told
The Dispatch the protest should not
have happened “without going through
the proper channels.”
The new policy will adequately pre-
pare the city for similar events in the fu-
ture, he said.
“My question to the mayor and city
attorney was what would happen if a
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
peaceful protest turned into a worst-case
scenario, and I don’t think there was a
good answer to that, so policies needed
to be drafted to protect us and the city
from anything that might deface proper-
ty or something like that,” Carver said.
‘The nature of the event’
Special events that are regularly
scheduled and not spontaneous will still
require insurance because they take up
space in city parks and streets, and the
new policy does not remove all incen-
tives to go through the city’s regular
permit process, Spruill said.
“Pumpkinpalooza is not a protest,”
she said. “It’s about the nature of the
event.”
Starkville’s annual LGBTQ Pride
celebration includes a parade, which is
a First Amendment assembly, but it in-
cludes an event at Fire Station Park, so it
will still require insurance, Spruill said.
The board initially denied a permit for
the first Pride in 2018, despite organiz-
ers having insurance and completing the
permit process, but later allowed it after
organizers filed a federal lawsuit that
has since been settled.
Organizers of spontaneous events do
not need to notify the city at all if they
meet all the following requirements:
the event will be held in a public space
such as a sidewalk or park, the event will
not interfere with the public use of the
space, fewer than 50 people will attend
the event and the First Amendment ex-
pression is a response to a current public
event.
The policy also includes a list of pro-
hibited behaviors during a First Amend-
ment assembly, including inciting
violence against a person, publicly ob-
structing an individual’s movement and
resisting or obstructing police.
The board also voted unanimously to
make special event permits an adminis-
trative decision instead of a legislative
one in order to keep the new policy from
discriminating against events that are
not First Amendment assemblies. Issu-
ing permits will no longer be up to the
board, with exceptions under specific
circumstances.
The board will have to vote on a per-
mit if city administration denies an ap-
plication or if the cost of an event will
exceed $5,000 in city services.
The board has not unanimously ap-
proved a special event request since the
second Pride vote in 2018. Aldermen
Henry Vaughn Ward 7 and Vice Mayor
Roy A. Perkins of Ward 6 said they would
no longer vote in favor of any special
event requests.
Dolan chosen as new parks director
The board unanimously appointed
Craig Dolan as the city’s new Parks and
Recreation executive director. He was
chosen from a pool of 21 applicants, and
the board interviewed him and another
finalist at Friday’s work session.
Dolan will take his new position Aug. 1
and receive an annual salary of $80,000.
He has been the director of recreation
in Tarpon Springs, Florida since 2014.
He previously worked in the recreation
department in Largo, Florida and has
both a bachelor’s and master’s degrees
in sports management.
Gerry Logan, the previous parks di-
rector, left at the end of March to take a
position as Mississippi sales representa-
tive with MUSCO Sports Lighting. David
D’Aquilla, a member of the design team
for Cornerstone Park, has been serving
as part-time interim director.
The parks director position was one
of only two exemptions from an indefi-
nite hiring freeze the city implemented
in March to offset an expected sales tax
revenue shortfall due to the COVID-19
coronavirus pandemic.
Sports
How MSU recruits are balancing concurrent
college football and baseball aspirations
Madison-Ridgeland Academy running back and linebacker Stone Blanton (center)
is one of a number of players Mississippi State is recruiting for both football and
baseball between the 2021 and 2022 classes — including four-star quarterback
commit Sawyer Robertson.
COTTON STATES BASEBALL LEAGUE
Full of local talent, Generals led by pitching in season’s first two weeks
BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com
Trailing the North
Delta Dealers 1-0 head-
ing into the bottom of the
seventh and final inning,
the Hill Country Generals
loaded the bases with no-
body out, threatening to
tie the game.
They didn’t score.
For the Cotton States
Baseball League club,
which features 11 area
players, Sunday’s narrow
shutout loss was a frus-
trating reminder that one
aspect of the team hasn’t
fully developed yet.
“Our pitching’s way
ahead of our hitting,”
Generals coach Jeffrey
Cook said.
But Cook, the former
baseball coach at Colum-
bus High School, said that
those bats will come with
time. This spring’s high
school graduates are still
getting used to wood bats
rather than aluminum,
and they’re adjusting to
facing live pitching for the
Earnhardt Jr. headlines NASCAR’s 2021 Hall of Fame class
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
All Dale Earnhardt
Jr. needed was a chance
to prove he could win in
stock cars.
Turns out, he was a
natural — on and off the
track.
Now the longtime fan
favorite and two-time
Daytona 500 winner will
join his famous, late fa-
ther in NASCAR’s Hall
of Fame after being se-
lected as one of three
members of the 2021
class. The other induct-
ees are Red Farmer and
the late Mike Stefanik.
Ralph Seagraves was
chosen as the Landmark
Award winner.
Earnhardt Jr. re-
ceived 76% of the votes
first time in three months.
“We’ve got a good
team, a good group of
guys who are playing
hard,” Cook said. “It’s just
taking a while for some of
them to get back into the
swing.”
Through two week-
ends of play at BNA Park
in New Albany, only
three Generals are bat-
ting above .250: Robert
Akines Jr. of Memphis,
Miller Hancock of East
Webster and Ryan Burt of
New Hope. All three are
hitting over .400.
Consequently, it’s the
pitching that has helped
the Generals to a 3-3 re-
cord in the summer sea-
son’s first six games. Five
hurlers — including Burt,
Caledonia’s Tony Brooks
and Heritage Academy
teammates Blayze Berry
and Banks Hyde — have
yet to allow an earned run
in at least three innings of
work apiece.
“We’ll be very competi-
tive with the arms that we
in his first appearance
on the ballot.
“My wife was here,
my family, my sister,
so surrounded by a lot
of close folks,” he said
on NBCSN’s announce-
ment show. “It was great
to see my face pop up on
the screen.”
Being an Earnhardt
name certainly provides
some advantages.
His grandfather,
Ralph, was inducted into
the International Motor-
sports Hall of Fame in
1997 and was selected
as one of the 50 greatest
drivers in NASCAR his-
tory in 1998.
Junior’s father also
made that list. The
Intimidator reached
victory lane 76 times,
MISSISSIPPI STATE RECRUITING
Photo courtesy of Stone Blanton
have,” Cook said. “When
our bats catch up, we’ll be
pretty tough to beat.”
Cook said Burt, a Pearl
River Community College
signee, wasn’t sure wheth-
er he would get to pitch in
college as well as playing
first base. After seeing
the lefty’s solid stuff so
far — including a “plus”
change-up and breaking
pitch and a solid fastball
— Cook called Pearl Riv-
er coach Michael Avalon
to tell him how well Burt
had done and confirm
Burt would have a chance
to play both ways.
It wasn’t the only simi-
larity between the Cotton
States league and what its
players will face in colle-
giate competition.
After Cook plugged
Brooks — an East Missis-
sippi Community College
signee — into relief of
Burt in the fourth inning
of Sunday’s game, Brooks
got out of a two-on, none-
Heritage Academy graduate Blayze Berry stands in for the Hill Country Generals during a
out jam with a flyout and a game Saturday at BNA Park in New Albany. Berry, who has signed with Mississippi State,
See BASEBALL, 2B is one of 11 Generals players who hails from the Golden Triangle area.
winning a record-tying
seven Cup champion-
ships and hordes of fans
with his fearless style.
And when Dale Earn-
hardt was killed in a
crash on the final lap of
the 2001 Daytona 500,
many of his fans started
rooting for his engaging
son.
Earnhardt Jr. also
got his first big break
in 1998 when he raced
full-time in the Busch
Series — for his dad. He
took full advantage by
winning back-to-back
series titles in 1998 and
1999 before posting his
first two Cup wins as a
rookie in 2000.
But even without a
Cup title on his resume,
Junior carved out his
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020
BY BEN PORTNOY
bportnoy@cdispatch.com
STARKVILLE — Mad-
ison-Ridgeland Academy
linebacker Stone Blanton
raced through the tires
placed before him.
With a swift swing of
his left leg, Blanton sped
out his break and weaved
up and back through
the percolating rubber
circles. Upon reaching
the final tire, he be-
gan side-stepping back
through the hole in each
toward his starting po-
sition. One final length
down the tires involved
tapping them with each
individual step before
sprinting through the fin-
ish line.
Hours later and 47
miles down Interstate 20
from Vicksburg where
own niche in the series.
He won 26 races, in-
cluding the Daytona
500 in 2004 and 2014.
He won the Pepsi 400 in
July 2001, the first race
at Daytona following his
father’s fatal crash. He
also won four straight
races at Talladega from
2001-03.
And when he finally
walked away from full-
time Cup driving after
the 2017 season, he
earned his 15th consec-
utive most popular driv-
er award.
Junior also spoke his
mind and became a so-
cial media favorite and
now will be part of the
father-son driver tan-
dem enshrined in Char-
lotte, North Carolina.
he spent the morning at
the Elite Underclassmen
Camp, Blanton stared
down the third base line
at Trustmark Park in
Pearl — the home of the
Double-A Mississippi
Braves.
With a swift stroke and
a raucous ping off his bat,
he sent the ensuing pitch
left high in the zone over
the left field wall for a
home run.
“Even when he was
younger he was doing a
bunch of different activi-
ties,” Madison-Ridgeland
baseball coach Allan Pa-
vatte told The Dispatch.
“I mean he was doing
karate, playing football,
playing baseball, playing
basketball, running track
— just doing a multitude
of things — and he just
has the discipline and
Photo courtesy of Cotton States Baseball League
While Earnhardt will
be the feature attraction
at the induction ceremo-
ny, he will be honored
with some other former
stars.
Stefanik won sev-
en titles in NASCAR’s
modified series and
two more in the Busch
North series, giving
him nine total victories,
tied for second in series
history with Richie Ev-
ans. In 2003, Stefanik
was named the second
greatest driver in mod-
ified history and last
year he just missed the
cut last year.
The 61-year-old Ste-
fanik died from injuries
sustained in a plane
crash in Connecticut
last September and re-
SPORTS LINE
662-241-5000 B
SECTION
maturity to balance all of
those things out.”
Just a glimpse into
Blanton’s long standing
dual-sport endeavors —
an undertaking further
manifested by the du-
eling football and base-
ball action photos in his
Twitter profile picture
and header, respectively
— he’s one of a handful
of prospects between the
2021 and 2022 classes
that could be balancing
time between Davis Wade
Stadium and Dudy Noble
Field over the next two re-
cruiting cycles.
“We don’t do it nec-
essarily so they play
multiple sports here, but
we like high school ath-
letes that do play multi-
ple sports,” MSU Senior
See MSU, 2B
ceived 49 percent of the
65 votes.
Stefanik will be en-
shrined with Earnhardt
in the smallest Hall of
Fame class in NASCAR
history.
“Phenomenal when
you think about what
he did. Nine champi-
onships,” Kyle Petty
said during NBCSN’s
announcement show.
“Phenomenal record,
phenomenal amount of
wins.”
Ricky Rudd finished
third in balloting.
Farmer, one of the
three original “Ala-
bama Gang” members
with brother Bobby and
Donnie Allison, beat out
See NASCAR, 2B
2B WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020
Coaches, players make best of NFL’s 1st virtual offseason
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
— Turns out there’s only
so much that can be done
virtually.
Six teams decided
to end their offseason
programs even with the
NFL allowing two more
weeks to keep working:
the Bears, Titans, Rams,
Texans, Cardinals and
Redskins.
With coaches and play-
ers scattered and team
facilities shut by the NFL
because of the COVID-19
pandemic, video meetings
helped the league act as if
business was continuing
as usual. Some coaches
decided their teams had
done everything possible
until players are allowed
to join them inside team
headquarters and on the
practice fields.
That won’t happen
until July at the earliest
when training camps are
set to open, with coach-
ing staffs trying to make
up for lost time. Rookies
face the biggest challenge
having missed an estimat-
ed 400 repetitions on the
field during a normal off-
season.
“Walking through and
practicing is the best way
NASCAR
Continued from Page 1B
Hershel McGriff by earning 71% of the
vote on the pioneer ballot.
The news comes just days before the
series races at Talladega. The 87-year-
old Farmer has won an estimated 700 to
900 races in various series, though none
Baseball
Continued from Page 1B
ground-ball double play.
Being tasked with just
one inning, Brooks had
just gotten a taste of the
“relief mode” he will be
likely to see in Scooba,
Cook explained when he
pulled the player aside
afterward.
“This is exactly the
way it’s gonna be for you
in college,” Cook told
Brooks. “You’re gonna
come in for an inning,
and your job is done. ...
You’re facing guys you’re
gonna see next year.’”
Cook said one team
the Generals have faced
MSU
Continued from Page 1B
Associate Athletics
Director for Football
Dave Emerick told The
Dispatch of recruiting
multi-sport athletes. “So
much of today is special-
ization and only playing
one sport and then train-
ing in that sport all year-
round. It’s good to see
kids in their high school
careers playing multiple
sports just always com-
peting, striving to be
the best in the sport that
they’re playing.”
Striking a balance
Helping Madison-Rid-
geland to the Class 6A
Midsouth Association
of Independent Schools
state football title last
fall, Blanton spent as
much time juggling his
time at running back, re-
ceiver and linebacker as
he did maintaining his
baseball shape.
Throughout the fall
he spent the afternoons
with the football team be-
fore adding thrice-week-
ly batting practice ses-
sions to prepare for the
impending baseball sea-
son — one in which he’d
hit .257 with 10 RBIs
and a .312 on base per-
centage in just 32 plate
appearances before be-
ing canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Chasing a future on
the diamond, Blanton at-
tended recruiting camps
nationwide. For those
to teach,” Tampa Bay
coach Bruce Arians said.
“So those are valuable
reps missed. I don’t know
how we’ll make them up.
Hopefully we’ll get some
extra time in practice in
camp; a few extra days
would help.”
Players have been
working out — yes, in-
cluding that new guy in
Tampa, Tom Brady. With
so many states reopening,
quarterbacks are getting
teammates together for
workouts at a time they
might’ve been in a final
minicamp to cap the off-
season program.
This very different off-
season has allowed play-
ers to slow down a bit,
focus on communication,
and learn more than when
everyone is together in
person.
“It actually probably
has provided a better
opportunity to kind of
share your input of `this
is why I did this’ or ‘may-
be on this route, do this,’
or ‘this is what you’re
trying to make this look
like.’ Things like that,” Vi-
kings wide receiver Adam
Thielen said.
San Francisco corner-
back Richard Sherman
has seen a ton of growth
at the Cup level, and he still competes
routinely on the dirt track across from
Alabama’s super speedway.
He won four Late Model Sportsmen
series season titles, was named one of
NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers in 1998
consists of five NCA A
Division I players; anoth-
er has a D-I pitcher who
touches 91 mph.
“The league is real-
ly, really good this year,
and it’s exciting to play
in,” Cook said.
Of course, his team
brings its own talent to
the mix. The Generals
are fifth in the standings
for the 10-team league,
and they’re earning con-
tributions from up and
down the roster.
Caledonia gradu-
ate Cade Stacy, now at
EMCC, had a good first
who couldn’t see him in
person, he tagged coach-
es in the film he posted
on Twitter in hopes of
piquing their interest.
Rated the No. 7 player
in Mississippi by Prep
Baseball Report along
with fellow MSU foot-
ball/baseball prospect
and Canton Academy
standout Dakota Jordan
— the No. 2 baseball
player in the state who
also received football of-
fers from both Ole Miss
and MSU in late April
— Blanton committed to
the Bulldogs on Jan. 23.
But as the winter
turned to spring and
football season flipped to
baseball, his collegiate
looks on the gridiron
blossomed. Committing
to the MSU baseball
program on Jan. 23, he’s
earned nine Power Five
conference football of-
fers since the middle of
April.
“It’s a blessing for
sure,” Blanton told The
Dispatch. “I’m glad I’m
in this position. I feel
like I’ve worked really
hard and it’s good to see
hard work pay off.”
Like Blanton, 2021
quarterback commit
Sawyer Robertson has
spent the majority of
his high school career
balancing his dual-sport
future.
The son of former
Montreal Expos first
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
out of the 49ers.
“This time every-
body has to step back
in and slow it down and
take their time,” he said.
“Guys are learning more
and understanding more
than they ever have.”
The last time the NFL
had a disrupted offsea-
son was 2011 when clubs
locked out players during
labor negotiations. Play-
ers didn’t have access
to coaches or playbooks
then, though they could
work out together.
Now players have ac-
cess to coaches thanks to
technology. But workout
options are so limited for
some players that Bills
special teams coordinator
Heath Farwell said he was
disappointed when he
saw a video of what wide
receiver/returner Andre
Roberts lifted in place of
weights.
“What is he a 10-plus
year veteran and doesn’t
have workout equip-
ment?” Farwell said. “He’s
literally lifting a couch.
It’s crazy to me. But that’s
finding a way to do it.”
Five NFL teams have
had to be very creative
with new coaches. Imag-
ine having a new team
and nothing on tape with
outing, and New Hope
grad Stallone Shelton
looked solid on the
mound. Beau Bates, who
went from Caledonia to
Scooba with Stacy, is
figuring things out. New
Hope’s Rye McGlothin,
now teaming up with
Bates and Stacy in col-
lege, had a stellar first
weekend. And fellow
Trojan Presley Hall, who
is signed to Southwest
Mississippi Community
College, has made some
good plays, Cook said.
The coach promised
it’s only bound to im-
round pick Stan Robert-
son, baseball has long
been the younger Robert-
son’s purview. It wasn’t
until a transfer from All
Saints Episcopal School
to Irons Middle School
as an eighth-grader that
he was even allowed to
play football, much to
the behest of his mother
Angela.
Sticking at quarter-
back due to his back-
ground as a pitcher,
Robertson struggled to
throw a spiral through
his first fall under-cen-
ter. A freshman year in
which he completed just
14 passes followed.
Completing 313 of 483
throws for 3,564 yards
and 43 touchdowns to
just seven interceptions
in his third year of foot-
ball, Robertson’s recruit-
ing profile gained head-
way as a sophomore.
After throwing for an-
other 3,914 yards and 44
touchdowns as a junior,
he landed 16 reported
scholarship offers and
is rated as the No. 136
player in the 2021 class
according to 247Sports
Composite.
With football quick-
ly boosting his national
recruiting stock, Robert-
son maintained an itch
to play baseball at the
collegiate level. Settling
on a final list of MSU,
USC and Texas, he dis-
cussed the prospect of
their new players. Wash-
ington coach Ron Rivera
credits his assistants with
finding clips and cut-ups
of video showing their
style of play to help install
his own offensive and de-
fensive schemes.
Rivera had hoped to
be in the second or third
phase with players on the
field by June. It never hap-
pened.
“The hard part, too, is
we’re getting a little bit
repetitive, a little redun-
dant,” Rivera said. “It’s
been almost to a point
where we’re going to
over-saturate these guys.
We have to be careful
with that.”
Video chats don’t quite
replace being able to pull
a coach aside for an extra
15 minutes after a meet-
ing. To Redskins quarter-
back Dwayne Haskins,
that’s been the biggest
challenge while prepar-
ing for his second NFL
season, this one with a
new coach.
“I’ve been able to do
my own type of routine to
get ready for the season,”
Haskins said. “It’s not
always on the time that
we’re doing (together)
because, we do things as
a team and I need things
and was inducted into the International
Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2004.
“Red Farmer raced against my grand-
father,” Petty said. “He started in ‘53. He
raced against my father and he raced
against me. That just blows me away
prove as his players con-
tinue to get back into a
routine after their long
layoff. Mostly, Cook
said, they’re simply hap-
py to return to the field.
“They’re just excited
to be outside playing the
game they love,” Cook
said.
How other local play-
ers have fared
n Seth Harris, Heri-
tage Academy/EMCC,
Generals: .250 aver-
age/.455 on-base per-
centage/.250 slugging
playing both football and
baseball with all parties.
Ultimately, it was
phone calls from MSU
coach Chris Lemonis
and hitting coach Jake
Gautreau that sealed
both his football and
baseball fates.
“The fact that he got
phone calls from both of
the coaches — the head
coach, as well as the as-
sistant coach — there at
Mississippi State, that
probably had a lot more
to do with (his commit-
ment) than I think any-
body will probably give
it credit,” Stan Robert-
son told The Dispatch in
April.
An open line of
communication
While Robertson
is the lone commit of
MSU’s three major du-
al-sport targets in the
next two recruiting
cycles, the process in
which the Bulldogs cov-
et potential baseball/
football recruits remains
a mixed effort.
With college baseball
teams limited to just
11.7 full scholarships to
be divided between as
many as 27 players on a
35-man roster, prospects
like Robertson, Jordan
and Blanton are gener-
ally placed on football
scholarships to allow
more flexibility for the
baseball staff. Visits to
differently for myself, so,
this virtual offseason I
feel actually has helped
me tremendously.”
Bills offensive coordi-
nator Brian Daboll likes
FaceTime, which allows
him to see his players.
“You have to think
outside the box to initi-
ate conversation, to teach
new methods, to learn
new testing systems with
what we have,” Daboll
said. “And you know, we
have to do the best that
we can do with the tech-
nology that we have, and
we have. Again, how that
translates we’ll find out.
This is a unique situation
for all of us.”
Technology also has
let coaches test rookies
and free agent signees.
The Titans used a study
tool and flashcard app
called Quizlet.
“You go on there, you
press in their code and
then all of a sudden ev-
erybody is on there,” Vra-
bel said. “They’re going
against each other and
you get points for time
and getting it correct. We
do a great job of being cre-
ative and testing the play-
ers each week.”
Video also helps make
up for not meeting in per-
when I say it.”
Seagraves was rewarded for out-
standing contributions to the sport af-
ter helping attract sponsors refurbish
tracks in the series. He helped forge the
bond between Winston and the series.
percentage
n Kamryn Ran-
dolph, MUW, Dealers:
.111/.273/.111
n Brayland Skinner,
Mississippi State, Jets:
.333/.400/.500
n Brandon Jones, Her-
itage Academy/MUW,
Lookouts: .200/.429/.200
n Baker Watson,
West Point, Mudcats:
.273/.467/.273
n Luke Hob-
son, MUW, Rascals:
1.000/1.000/1.000
n Heath Ford, MUW,
Rascals: .176/.300/.176
n Tyler Murphy, New
campus also generally
include tours of both
teams’ facilities.
On a clerical front,
coaches in both sports
maintain a constant line
of communication across
the parking lot of the Leo
Seal Jr. Football Com-
plex and the baseball of-
fices at the foot of Dudy
Noble Field to ensure
players aren’t reached
more than allowed by the
NCA A and to maintain a
unified selling point on
the school.
“We want them to
succeed just as much
as they want us to suc-
ceed,” Emerick said. “So
we have a common goal
with the baseball team
here.”
Though there isn’t
a long line of baseball/
football players at MSU
in recent years, rising
sophomore Brad Cumb-
est is the preeminent
example of the process.
Splitting time as a tight
end and outfielder over
the past two seasons,
Cumbest was set to go
through 7-8 spring foot-
ball practices in the
midst of baseball season
through an arrangement
the respective staffs had
worked out.
“I think he’s shown
that you can do it and be
successful at it,” Emer-
ick said. “And I think it is
a blueprint for those guys
in the recruiting process
son. Those video meet-
ings are recorded, which
doesn’t happen in a nor-
mal offseason.
“Now, it is in a library,”
Browns offensive coordi-
nator Alex Van Pelt said.
“You can always go back
to install three. You can
pull up the recordings
again and refresh your-
self. There are some ben-
efits to it, but it has been
different and unique. I
think we are getting the
most out of it that we can.”
How all this worked
will be tested once teams
report for training camp.
Coaches hope for ex-
tra time, which must be
agreed upon by both the
NFL and the players as-
sociation. Currently, most
teams are allowed to re-
port 47 days before their
season opener.
“It’s crazy how I almost
feel like 2020 just started,
but we’re almost right to
that time where we’re a
month from camp,” 49ers
coach Kyle Shanahan
said. “It’s been weird just
being stuck in here, but
I know our guys are as
ready as they can ever
be mentally and we’ll see
how they are when they
show up at camp.”
Hope/Itawamba CC,
Thunder: .389/.421/.500
n Jonathan Whit-
tington, New Hope/
Itawamba CC, Thunder:
.333/.556/.333
n Thomas Tucker,
Caledonia/It awa mba
CC, Tribe: .250/.333/.250
n Logan Suggs, Cale-
donia/MUW, Xplorers:
.273/.500/.273
n Jonah Caskey, Oak
Hill Academy/EMCC/
Generals: 0-1, 9.00 ER A,
2K
that we can definitely
use.”
Next steps
Heading into the sum-
mer, Robertson contin-
ues to hear from USC and
Texas — though he’s re-
mained firm in his com-
mitment to MSU for both
baseball and football.
Blanton and Jordan are
also still Bulldog base-
ball commits for the time
being, but will explore
their football options.
“I imagine it’ll be sim-
ilar to what I do (now),”
Robertson prognosti-
cated of his future in
Starkville back in April.
“That means during
football season going in
and taking a few hacks,
taking some batting
practice, and then in
baseball season always
making sure that I con-
tinue to throw the foot-
ball because the release
is different, obviously.
It’s just kind of maintain-
ing the other sport while
I’m playing the other sea-
son.”
And while it remains
to be seen who out of
the multi-sport trio plays
under the lights at both
Dudy Noble Field and
Davis Wade Stadium, all
three will have the oppor-
tunity to do so — though
they won’t necessarily be
scoring touchdowns and
hitting home runs on the
same day.

Yankees president Levine calls for MLB talks to resume
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Yan-
kees President Randy
Levine called on the
players’ association to re-
sume negotiations with
Major League Baseball
to start the pandemic-de-
layed season.
Levine said the mon-
ey difference between
the feuding sides was
not the primary obstacle
but rather issues such
as health and safety pro-
tocols and determining
how to deal with a sec-
ond wave of the new coro-
navirus.
“So what I believe
needs to happen is that
the parties need to get to-
Comics & Puzzles
DILBERT
ZITS
GARFIELD
CANDORVILLE
BABY BLUES
BEETLE BAILEY
MALLARD FILLMORE
gether as soon as possible
to resolve those issues so
we can get the season
going,” he said Tuesday.
“All 30 clubs want to play.
The commissioner wants
to play. The players want
to play. So let’s get these
issues solved so we can
begin playing baseball.
The March agreement
said the players would
negotiate these issues.
The commissioner has
assured me he’s ready to
do so. The players should
get in a room and start
negotiating so we can get
going.
MLB has made three
proposals, the last for a
72-game season starting
FAMILY CIRCUS
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
July 14 that would guar-
antee about $1.23 billion
of salaries that originally
totaled roughly $4 billion
and would increase the
total to $1.45 billion if the
postseason is completed.
Players insist they get
the full prorated salaries
called for in the March
26 agreement with MLB.
That deal says the sea-
son doesn’t have to start
unless there are no rele-
vant travel restrictions in
the U.S. and Canada, and
that games can be played
before fans in all 30 regu-
lar-season ballparks.
The union made of-
fered two plans, the last
for an 89-game schedule
starting July 10 and sala-
ries of $2.25 billion.
The sides have ex-
changed proposals digi-
tally, with an occasional
video conference. They
have not met in person
since March 13-14 in Ar-
izona.
“Everyone here wants
to get down to business
as soon as possible and
play games. From what
I’ve discovered, the hold-
up is not about the num-
ber of games or money
at this time,” Levine
said. “The commission-
er has the right under
the March agreement to
schedule the games as
long as the players are
Dear Abby
D
EAR ABBY:
My husband
and I married
two years ago.
A year later we
welcomed our first
child. I never imag-
ined I would ever
want a divorce.
Well, I found out
early this year
that my husband
has a fetish/
fantasy about
bigger women. (He
actually said it.)
He is a “feeder.”
He has purchased Dear Abby
books related
to these things
and watches videos and reads
stories about it while sitting next have his fantasy but not involve
to me on the couch! It turns him
on. He has asked me to consider
gaining weight. I told him he
needs help.
I made an appointment for
him to see a therapist, and am
forcing him to go. I feel cheated
on and disrespected. I don’t
know how to handle this bomb
he dropped on me. I don’t know
how to be with someone who
has such a strong impulse. I hate
to feel at fault for walking away
and breaking up our family, but
I can’t go along with this and
risk my health. I also don’t know
how to live apart from him. Any
help is appreciated. — WIFE OF
A FEEDER
DEAR WIFE: Your husband
should have discussed this with
Horoscopes
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (June
17). This year, your crew gets
closer and your network gets
broader. Your days will reflect
how you cherish personal
relationships as they fill with
thoughtful interactions and the
fruition of joint plans. A per-
sonal development mission will
have you adding to the bucket
list, and you’ll check two items
off with a winter adventure.
Cancer and Scorpio adore you.
Your lucky numbers are: 44, 9,
30, 28 and 16.
ARIES (March 21-April 19).
There are better and worse
methods to the goal. In the end,
it’s the way you get it done that
defines you, not the result. If
you can’t figure out how to love
paid 100% prorated. The
holdup, as I understand
it, is about resolving the
other items in the March
26 agreement.”
“They include final
agreement on all of the
health and safety proto-
cols, deciding what hap-
pens if a season is inter-
rupted by a second wave
of the virus, which play-
ers can opt out and under
what circumstances can
they, and a host of issues
like that.”
Union head Tony
Clark said Saturday ad-
ditional talks would be
“futile.” Baseball Com-
missioner Rob Manfred
said Monday the season
you before you
married. Gaining
weight to feed
your husband’s
fetish would not
be healthy for you
physically or —
feeling as you do
— emotionally.
Because you
already have a
licensed mental
health profes-
sional in your da-
tabase, schedule
an appointment
for yourself to
help you rationally
decide what you
need to do. (Can
your husband be content to
you?) You may not want to “feel
at fault” for walking away, but
you aren’t going to change him,
and your first responsibility
must be to maintain your health
so you can parent your child to
adulthood.
DEAR ABBY: This has been
weighing on me for a long time. A
guy I’ve known for years receives
tons of food from a food pantry
his sister runs. It sickens me
because he’s financially set. He
brags to me about never ever
having to buy groceries again.
I think about the children and
families who are in need of food
during these terrible times. He
is the worst kind of cheapskate
and doesn’t like spending money
on anything.
the process, it’s not the right
process for you.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20).
Just as you mix new foods and
environments into your life, it’s
important to add new faces.
Different people bring out
other sides of you. With change
comes growth; with growth
comes change.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21).
Solving problems for others
feels like a calling. There does
come a point in each relation-
ship when doing too much
makes the other person help-
less. Watch for that.
CANCER (June 22-July 22).
It’s easy to look back and think,
“That was then. This is now.”
But the nature of history is
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020 3B
with in jeopardy.
Since Friday, MLB
Deputy Commissioner
Dan Halem and union
chief negotiator Bruce
Meyer have exchanged
letters that appeared to
be preparation for possi-
ble litigation.
“I’ve been talking to
the commissioner on a
daily basis. He has been
and continues to be ded-
icated to play a 2020 sea-
son,” said Levine, who
was MLB’s chief negotia-
tor from 1995-97. “We all
recognize that the play-
ers are the heart and soul
of the game. I’ve called
them patriots in the past
and I believe that today.”
Obviously, if his sister is
allowing this, she is doing the
same thing. I told him he should
be ashamed of himself for taking
advantage of this program. His
response was that he served our
country, so he’s entitled! (He was
dishonorably discharged after
seven months.) He truly feels
the food is owed to him. This has
been bothering me for a long
time and, to be honest, I wish he
had never told me. — DISGUSTED
IN CONNECTICUT
DEAR DISGUSTED: And your
question is? Those two appear
to have no conscience. Contact
the head of the organization
that sponsors the food bank
and tell the person what you
have written to me. I don’t think
I’m being too harsh to point out
that “Sissy” is guilty of theft by
funneling food to her brother and
preventing a needy family from
having it. Shameless.
DEAR ABBY: Is it possible to
be in love with someone who is
incarcerated? — ROMANTIC IN
TEXAS
DEAR ROMANTIC: Yes.
However, it depends upon the
length of the relationship and
whether you met the person
before he or she was incarcer-
ated. If you knew the person
before, it is possible. However,
if your relationship began while
he or she was serving time, it
is extremely important that you
verify ANYthing you are being
told and refrain from sending the
person money.
repetition. If it hasn’t done that
yet, it will. The question is: How
ready are you?
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22).
You’re like the kitten that, after
some sudden frenzy, finds itself
high up the tree without a clue
as to how to get down. Don’t
wait for the firefighter with a lad-
der. Try and do your last dozen
motions in reverse.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).
It’s not enough to get it done,
hit the marks, cover the bases...
you want to put your stamp on
it, too. This is not about approv-
al or applause, though. This is
about style, not attention.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).
The gossip doesn’t have to be
about you for you to feel hurt
by it. Backbiting offends your
sensibility. Go where people
have nice things to say about
each other.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov.
21). You’re well aware of the
ways you get off track. There’s
an art to redirection, a way to
lead yourself back to productiv-
ity. It will be easier to change
your environment than to
change your thoughts.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec.
21). You may feel like if you let
one thing go -- a token, a pos-
session, an idea, a relationship
— you’ll lose a part of yourself,
too. What’s yours is yours. Trust
your ability to keep what’s in
you.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan.
19). You’ve shared enough of
your inner world to know who
gets you, and who doesn’t and
may never. Luckily, you don’t
require people to understand
you in order to love and accept
them. Your circle just keeps
growing.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.
18). In-screen action is fasci-
nating to you, but it’s your re-
al-life action that is attractive to
others. You’ll enjoy the physical
and intellectual vigor of the day
as you cultivate your hobbies
outside of the digital world.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March
20). You are a talent to be
reckoned with. To doubt, affirm
or dwell on that fact will be a
waste of time. Just get working.
Everything comes to fruition
through work, not through think-
ing or talking about work.
The greatest show on Earth
SOLUTION:
Food
familyfeatures.com
Cheesecake cupcakes with oat and
walnut crust should please every-
one around the dinner table.
A delightful
family dessert
FAMILY FEATURES
M
ake family meals part of
your home by digging into
kid-friendly desserts like
these Cheesecake Cupcakes with
Oat and Walnut Crust, and join the
Family Meals Movement, which
encourages Americans to pledge to
share one more family breakfast,
lunch or dinner at home per week.
Optional toppings for the recipe
below include plain or vanilla
Greek yogurt; sliced strawberries,
raspberries, blueberries or al-
monds; fresh mint; toasted coconut
flakes; agave; or lemon zest.
Find tips, recipes and ways to
increase your family meal frequen-
cy at familymealsmovement.org.
CHEESECAKE CUPCAKES
WITH OAT AND WALNUT CRUST
Crust:
1/2 cup old-fashioned or quick oats
1/2 cup walnut halves or pieces
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch salt
Filling:
1 package (8 ounces) light cream
cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 lemon, zest only
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
n Preheat oven to 350 F.
n Line cupcake pan with eight paper
baking cups and set aside.
n To make crust: In bowl of food proces-
sor, pulse oats and walnuts until coarsely
ground. Add olive oil, butter, sugar,
cinnamon and salt; pulse until evenly
moistened and combined.
n Press 1 tablespoon of mixture firmly
onto bottoms of cups. Bake 7 minutes
until cooked.
n To make filling: In medium bowl, beat
cream cheese and sugar until smooth
and creamy. Add egg, cornstarch, lemon
zest and vanilla; continue beating until
well combined.
n Spoon mixture evenly into muffin
cups. Bake 20-22 minutes until cream
cheese mixture is set. Remove from
oven and cool in tins about 10 minutes.
Transfer to wire rack and cool completely.
Place in refrigerator and chill completely
before serving or decorating with yogurt,
strawberries, raspberries, blueberries,
mint, coconut flakes, agave, almonds and
lemon zest, if desired.
(Source: Courtesy of Liz Weiss on behalf
of the FMI Foundation)
Chive and orange blossom honey waffles and spicy garlic chicken can be a star at brunch.
Tasty dishes
from the garden
Esther Earnest shows fresh blackberries to Jesse Harris of Columbus at the Hitching Lot Farmers Market Monday
in Columbus. Earnest enjoys cooking with the vegetables and fruits grown at her family’s Prospect Produce Farm
in Houston and shares some favorite recipes today.
BY JAN SWOOPE
jswoope@cdispatch.com
A
modest but steady stream of
cars pulled up as the Hitch-
ing Lot Farmers Market
opened at 4 p.m. Monday in Colum-
bus. Monday is often a light day for
the market, but those with produce
to sell were kept fairly busy with
customers who lined up, socially
distanced, for early picks of the
fresh corn, squash, eggplant,
peppers, zucchini, cucumbers and
blackberries available.
“My wife makes pickles with
them,” said Jesse Harris of Co-
lumbus, purchasing a bag full of
cucumbers from Esther Earnest.
She’d brought a harvest of veggies
and fruit from Prospect Produce
Farm located in Houston. She
expects to soon add butter beans,
peas, okra and another crop of
peaches to the list — plus some-
thing else the public seems eager
for: tomatoes.
More than once, a car or truck
pulled nearby, the driver asking
vendors through the window, “Got
tomatoes yet?”
“Soon,” the answer comes.
“I’m hoping to bring some next
week,” said Earnest, “but we’ve
learned not to predict.” The retired
health science educator (and
MSCW — now The W — alumna)
Photo courtesy of Getty Images via familyfeatures.com
LIFESTYLES EDITOR
Jan Swoope: 328-2471
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020 n 4B
Jan Swoope/Dispatch Staff
Jan Swoope/Dispatch Staff
Farmers markets are a good source of just-picked vegetables, like the
squash Esther Earnest brought to the Hitching Lot Monday.
loves to cook with a lot of the veg- customer, there to purchase two
etables and fruits the family farm bulging bags of cucumbers.
grows and sells at a stall on the “Cucumbers have been heavy
property as well as at area farmers sellers this year,” said Earnest.
markets. She enjoys adding her All indications are home canners
own touch to recipes. One of her are ready to produce their own
favorites is baked okra. pickles, plus other pickled foods
“Lightly coat okra with olive that spice up family meals. (For
oil and sprinkle it with coarse do-it-yourselfers, one recom-
kosher salt,” Earnest said. “Toss mended source of research-based
information is “So Easy to Pre-
the okra to spread the salt. Stick
it in the oven in a single layer on a serve” — book and video demos
baking sheet at 400 degrees for 20 from the Cooperative Extension at
minutes.” the University of Georgia. Learn
She paused to help another See MARKET, 5B
A menu fit for family mornings
FAMILY FEATURES to your plate as a simple side.
Find more brunch recipes at
M
any celebrations call for Culinary.net.
fabulous food, specifically
dishes fit for brunch, even if
your “crowd” is simply your nearest
Great morning eats
Add flavor to your brunch with
loved ones gathered at the family the sweet taste of honey as part of
table. A wide variety of recipes may a remade rendition of a breakfast
fit the festivities, but a combination favorite: chicken and waffles.
of comforting bites with sweet and The recipe for Chive and Orange
savory flavors is perfect for appeas- Blossom Honey Waffles and Spicy
ing all appetites. Garlic Chicken combines sweet with
This menu of morning recipes savory to shine as the main course
includes Chive and Orange Blossom for your gathering. Find more recipe
Honey Waffles and Spicy Garlic ideas at honey.com.
Honey Chicken as a filling option to Whether it’s just part of a brunch
base the meal around with Breakfast spread or the focus of your meal, an
Casserole as a more traditional dish. egg-based casserole is a perfect way
For a sweet sendoff, this Brown Sug- to appease a morning crowd. The
ar Bundt Cake is best served warm version of Breakfast Casserole calls
as a midday dessert or can be added See MORNINGS, 5B
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020 5B

Evening eating: A late-night meal that can aid weight loss

DISPATCH STAFF REPORT He offers a diet he says acceler- Learn more at joelmarion. 1 tablespoon olive oil from heat.
ates fat-burning and allows com. 1 large onion, finely chopped n To make shrimp curry: In large

E
arlier this month, The
Dispatch shared recipes
from “Always Eat After
7 PM,” by Joel Marion, CIS-
SN, NSCA-CPT and five-time
best-selling e-book author.
While conventional wisdom
calls for avoiding carbs, having
an early dinner and avoiding
eating too close to bedtime,
Marion contends strategically
eating during the evening
hours can actually be an
effective weight loss strategy.
indulgence of most intense
cravings by eating the majority
of calories at night.
Consider this Coconut Cur-
ry Shrimp Rice Bowl recipe,
which is taken directly from
the book and combines a super
carbohydrate — rice — with
an ethnic flavor combination
of coconut, shrimp and curry,
which can keep you coming
back for more and satisfy
nighttime hunger without
restriction.
2 bell peppers (any color), seeded
and chopped
COCONUT CURRY SHRIMP 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
RICE BOWL 1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes 1 teaspoon curry
Servings: 8 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Coconut rice: 2 pounds uncooked large shrimp,
2 cups jasmine rice peeled and deveined
1 1/2 cups water
1 can (14 ounces) unsweetened n To make coconut rice: In pot over
coconut milk high heat, combine jasmine rice, wa-
1 teaspoon sea salt ter, coconut milk and sea salt; bring
to boil. Stir and cover, reducing heat
Shrimp curry: to low. Cook 15 minutes. Remove
skillet over medium-high heat, heat
olive oil. Add onion and bell peppers;
saute until tender, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
n Stir in tomato sauce, broth, cilan-
tro, curry, salt and pepper. Bring to
boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer
10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
n Stir in shrimp. Cook 5-7 minutes
until shrimp turns pink. Remove from
heat and serve over coconut rice.
Nutritional information per serving:
320 calories; 5 g fat; 44 g carbohy-
drates; 579 mg sodium: 4 g fiber; 26
g protein; 4 g sugar.
(Source: “Always Eat After 7 PM”)

Mornings
Continued from Page 4B
for potatoes, ham, eggs,
milk and cheese for a
simple dish that requires
little preparation before
popping in the oven. Visit
milkmeansmore.org for
more morning dishes.
The Brown Sugar
Bundt Cake can be the
simple, sweet side your
guests crave as a com-
plement to the savory
recipes on the table. Find
more sweet treat ideas at
chsugar.com.
CHIVE AND ORANGE
BLOSSOM HONEY
WAFFLES AND SPICY
GARLIC HONEY CHICKEN
Servings: 4
Chicken:
8 boneless, skinless chicken
thighs
2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons kosher salt,
divided
3/4 teaspoon ground black
pepper, divided
1/4 teaspoon rosemary,
chopped
2 tablespoons orange blos-
som honey
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon ancho chile
powder
Vegetable oil, as needed
Waffles:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons orange blossom
honey
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped
3/4 cup sharp cheddar
cheese, shredded
Honey
n To make chicken: Rinse
chicken thighs and pat dry
with paper towels; place in
large bowl.
n In separate bowl, combine
buttermilk, 1 tablespoon salt,
1/4 teaspoon black pepper,
rosemary and honey. Pour but-
termilk mixture over chicken;
cover and let marinate 8 hours
or overnight.
n In separate mixing bowl,
combine flour, remaining salt,
remaining pepper, cayenne,
garlic powder, onion powder,
paprika and ancho chile pow-
der; stir.
n Remove each piece of
chicken from buttermilk,
shake to remove excess liquid
and dredge in flour mixture.
Shake off excess.
n In deep fryer, heat oil to
375 F. Fry chicken until inter-
nal temperature reaches 175
F or juices run clear, approx-
imately 5 minutes per thigh.
Drain on paper towels.
n To make waffles: In large
mixing bowl, mix flour, honey,
orange zest, salt, baking
powder, milk, eggs, chives and
cheese until combined.
n Use waffle maker to cook
four waffles in batches. Place
chicken on waffles and drizzle
with honey.
(Source: Courtesy of chef
Jenny Dorsey on behalf of the
National Honey Board)
BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Servings: 6
1 pound red or white pota-
toes, scrubbed and cut into
1/2-inch pieces
Water
1/2 small onion, coarsely
chopped (about 1/2 cup)
Nonstick cooking spray
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup reduced-fat and
reduced-sodium, chopped,
cooked ham (about 4 ounces)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded
Swiss or cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1 tablespoon mustard
n Heat oven to 350 F.
n In large saucepan, cover
potato pieces with enough
water to just submerge.
Bring to boil. Reduce heat;
simmer, covered, 5 minutes.
Add onion. Return to simmer,
covered, about 5 minutes, or
until potatoes are just tender.
Drain well. Cool slightly.
n Coat 8-by-8-by-2-inch bak-
ing dish with nonstick cooking
spray. Place potato-onion mix-
ture in baking dish. Sprinkle
with 1/4 teaspoon salt and
pepper. Gently stir to combine.
Sprinkle ham and cheese on
top.
n In medium bowl, lightly beat
eggs. Whisk in milk, mustard
and remaining salt. Pour over
layers in baking dish. Bake,
uncovered, 40-45 minutes, or
until knife inserted near center
comes out clean. Let stand 5
minutes before serving.
(Source: Courtesy of Marcia
Stanley, MS, RDN, on behalf
of Milk Means More)
BROWN SUGAR
BUNDT CAKE
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Nonstick cooking spray
2 cups all-purpose flour,
spooned and leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
10 tablespoons unsalted but-
ter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups packed C&H Gold-
en Brown Sugar
1/4 cup C&H Granulated
Sugar
2 large eggs, at room tem-
perature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
C&H Confectioners’ Sugar, for
dusting
n Heat oven to 350 F.
n Grease 10-cup bundt pan
with nonstick cooking spray.
Set aside.
n In medium bowl, whisk
flour, baking powder, baking
soda and salt.
n In bowl of stand mixer
fitted with paddle attachment,
beat butter, brown sugar and
granulated sugar until light
and fluffy. Add eggs, one at
a time, mixing well after each
addition. Add vanilla and mix
on low speed.
n With mixer on low, add flour
mixture in three additions,
alternating with yogurt. Begin
and end with flour mixture. Mix
until just combined.
n Pour batter into prepared
bundt pan and use offset
spatula to level batter.
n Bake 50-55 minutes, or
until cake is golden brown and
toothpick inserted in center
of cake comes out clean. If
cake browns too quickly while
baking, cover with foil after 35
minutes.
n Remove from oven and cool
on baking rack 20 minutes. In-
vert pan onto baking rack and
gently tap bottom of pan to
release cake. Cool completely
before dusting with confection-
ers’ sugar.
(Source: Courtesy of
“Browned Butter Blondie” on
behalf of C&H)

Market
Continued from Page 4B
more at setp.uga.edu,
or Amazon. For recipes
ranging from hamburger
dill chips to peach jam,
check out Publication
P0220, “Pickles, Rel-
ishes, Jellies, Jams and
Preserves” at the Mis-
sissippi State University
Extension Service site,
extension.msstate.edu.)
Back at the Earnest
homestead, Sundays
nights are made for fami-
ly get-togethers.
“With eight adults
and four grands we have
a table full,” Earnest
said. “Our children and
spouses all cook, and we
love to try new, simple
recipes.” She shares sev-
eral favorites below.
The Hitching Lot
Farmers Market at Sec-
ond Avenue and Second
Street North, Columbus,
is open Mondays 4-6
p.m., and Thursdays and
Saturdays 7-10 a.m. Cur-
rent health guidelines
include masks, social dis-
tancing and no touching
of produce or products
by consumers. For the
present, produce, baked
goods (primarily on
Saturdays) and canned
items are available. Orga-
nizers look forward to
welcoming artisans back
as soon as guidelines
allow. For more informa-
tion, contact Main Street
Columbus, 662-328-6305.
STUFFED BELL PEPPERS
2 large yellow onions
1/2 pound ground chuck
hamburger
1/2 cup rice
1/2 can diced tomatoes,
drained (or fresh tomatoes)
1 1/2 tablespoons chili pow-
der (use less if desired)
4 large bell peppers
Salt and pepper, to taste
n Preheat oven to 375 F. Sau-
te sliced onions in 1 table-
spoon of oil until transluscent
and yellow.
n Add meat and cook until
crumbly.
n Mix rest of ingredients into
meat mixture. Stuff peppers
with mixture. Cover with foil
and cook 1 hour. Uncover for
last 15 minutes.
n Before serving, prick
bottom of peppers to allow
juice to drain.
(The original recipe for the
peppers was a casserole. My
kids suggested it would be
great in the bell peppers, and
it is!)
(Source: Esther Earnest)
CHEESY TOMATOES
Ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/2-1
inch thick
Olive oil
Chopped basil
Salt and pepper
Shredded mozzarella cheese
n Brush sliced tomatoes
(1/2-1 inch thick) with olive
oil and sprinkle with chopped
basil, salt and pepper (to
taste). If fresh herbs are not
available, Italian seasonings
can be substituted.
n Top with shredded mozza-
rella cheese and bake at 375- chopped n Wash hands and clean
400 F for 20 minutes, until 1 small avocado, peeled and cooking area. Chop all veg-
tomatoes are cooked. chopped
(Source: Esther Earnest) 1/4 cup red onion, minced etables as requested in the
2 tablespoons cilantro, ingredients list.
chopped n In a large bowl, combine
PEACH BREAD 1 Serrano pepper, seeded
and minced
all the ingredients. Add salt
Makes 2 loaves to taste. Refrigerate before
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice serving so flavors can meld.
3 cups all-purpose flour (Source: Texas A&M AgriLife
1 tablespoon baking powder 2 tablespoons water (option-
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon al) Extension/efnep.tamu.edu)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup peeled, chopped
fresh peaches, very juicy
(1/2-inch pieces)
1 cup toasted chopped
pecans
(Using juicy peaches makes
the bread very moist.)
n Mix wet ingredients; add in
dry ingredients. Fold in peach-
es last. Bake (in 2 loaf pans)
at 350 F for 1 hour.
(Source: Esther Earnest)
CUCUMBER SALSA
Prep time: 15 minutes
1 cucumber, peeled and

Send in your church event!

Email editorialassistant@cdispatch.com
Subject: Religious brief
6B WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Classifieds
LEGALS
Call us: 662-328-2424
Legal Notices
Request for Water & Waste Wa- CAUSE NO. 2020-00090-PDE
ter Management/Operations
Proposals NOTICE TO CREDITORS
The Lowndes County Industrial
Development Authority will re-
ceive proposals with price for
Management/Operations of its
water supply and waste water
systems for all located in or
near the Golden Triangle Indus-
trial Park in Lowndes County,
Mississippi.
All proposals and work to be
performed shall be in accord
with scope of services and sub- against the estate of GLORIA
mitted to the Lowndes County
Industrial Development Author- Probate and Register their
ity.
A copy of the project scope of
services can be emailed to pro- from the first publication date
spective operators from Meryl
Fisackerly, Administrative As-
sistant, Lowndes County Indus- a claim will forever bar that
trial Development Authority at
mfisackerly@gtrlink.org or
picked up. The proposals will
require personnel list, qualifica- 2020.
tions of personnel, equipment
list, and experience.
The proposals may be emailed
to Meryl Fisackerly or delivered PUBLISH: 6/3, 6/10 &
to the Lowndes County Industri- 6/17/2020
al Development Authority of-
fice, 1102 Main Street, Colum- ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS
bus, Mississippi 39701, no
later than 7:30 a.m. on July
16th, 2020. Additional Informa- COUNTY OF LOWNDES
tion may be obtained by con-
tacting Meryl Fisackerly, Admin- Sealed bids will be received by
istrative Assistant, Lowndes
County Industrial Development Lowndes County, Mississippi
Authority.
The Lowndes County Industrial the County Superintendent of
Development Authority re-
serves the right to reject any
and all proposals and further
reserves the right to accept
proposals on the basis of cri-
teria other than price.
Owner: Lowndes County Indus-
trial Development Authority
By: Thomas Lee
Title: President
Publish: June 17th , 2020
June 24th, 2020
NOTICE OF PUBLICATION
Bryan Jones, who was sen-
tenced for two counts of Sale
of Cocaine and one count of
Aggravated Assault in Lowndes
County, Mississippi, has ap-
plied for executive clemency.
Persons wishing to comment
should send information in writ-
ing to the above address with-
in fifteen (15) days after the
date of publication.
Bryan Jones was arrested in
2007, and subsequently con-
victed of two counts of Sale of
Cocaine and one count of Ag-
gravated Assault, following his
plea and sentenced to six (6)
years to serve in the custody of
Mississippi Department of Cor-
rections for each count of Sale
of Cocaine to run consecut-
ively to each other and one
count of Aggravated Assault to
serve ten (10) years in the cus-
tody of Mississippi Depart-
ment of Corrections to run con-
secutively to the two counts of
Sale of Cocaine.
Mr. Jones is by any measure
rehabilitated and ready have all MS, 38849.
rights restored based on my
encounters and correspond-
ence with him. In addition, as
evidenced by the character let- Model: Camry
ters from family and friends,
Mr. Jones has demonstrated
his willingness to work well
within the rules, policies and
expectations of society. Mr.
Jones presents no danger to
himself, and is not a threat to
others. The retributive in-
terests of justice have been
fairly and adequately served.
PUBLISH: 5/20, 5/27, 6/3,
6/10, 6/17 & 6/24/2020
All notices must be
emailed to
classifieds@
cdispatch.com.
Just a click away!
One call will bring you results.
Legal Notices
IN THE CHANCERY COURT OF
LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-
SIPPI
IN THE MATTER OF THE ES-
TATE OF GLORIA JANE BUTLER,
DECEASED
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
COUNTY OF LOWNDES
Letters of Administration have
been granted and issued to the
undersigned upon the Estate of
GLORIA JANE BUTLER, De-
ceased, by the Chancery Court
of LOWNDES County, Missis-
sippi, on the 26th day of May
2020. This is to give notice to
all persons having claims
JANE BUTLER, deceased, to
claims with the Chancery Clerk
of LOWNDES County, Missis-
sippi, within ninety (90) days
of this Notice to Creditors. A
failure to Probate and Register
claim.
This the 26th day of May
/s/ Anthony Butler
Anthony Butler
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
the Board of Education of
until 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, tions of said deed of trust and
June 17, 2020, at the office of
Education located at the
Lowndes County Central Office the terms of said deed of trust,
in the Columbus, Mississippi WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND
for the following bid items: SOCIETY, FSB, AS TRUSTEE OF
Bank Depository
Interested bidders may secure requested the undersigned
specifications from Sayonia
Garvin, School Business Ad-
ministrator, Lowndes County
School District, 1055 Hwy 45 terms of said deed of trust and
North, Columbus, MS 39701 or for the purpose of raising the
call (662) 244-5000.
PUBLISH:
June 10 and June 17, 2020
The following vehicles have
been abandoned at TVG Paint
& Body, 305 Evergreen Dr., Ab- July 8, 2020 offer for sale at
erdeen, MS 39730.
Year: 2015
Make: Nissan
Model: Altima
VIN# 1N4AL3AP9FC262072
Year: 2009
Make: BMW
Model: 528I
VIN# WBANU53509C118539
If these vehicles are not
claimed they will be put up for
sale on the 29th day of June
2020 at 7:00 a.m at TVG Body
Shop, 305 Evergreen Dr., Aber-
deen, MS 39730. Contact TVG
Body Shop at 662-346-9426.
PUBLISH: 6/10, 6/17 &
6/24/2020
The following vehicles have
been abandoned at Moore's
Garage Auto Repair, Guntown,
Year: 2009
Make: Toyota
VIN# 4T4BE46K19R088834
Year: 2009
Make: Chevy
Model: Tahoe
VIN# 1GNEC233X9R289984
IF THESE VEHICLES ARE NOT
CLAIMED THEY WILL BE PUT
UP FOR SALE ON THE 29TH
DAY OF JUNE, 2020 AT 7:00
A.M. MOORE'S GARAGE AUTO
REPAIR, 479 COUNTY ROAD
2578, GUNTOWN, MS 38849.
PUBLISH: 6/10, 6/17 &
6/24/2020
Read local.
cdispatch.com
The best place for personalized
advertising in your community.
Legal Notices
The following vehicle has been
abandoned at Pull'em Auto Re-
pair, 1811 Main Street, Colum-
bus, MS, 39701.
Year: 2009
Make: Nissan
Model: Maxima
VIN# 1N4AA5AP2AC8083706
IF THIS VEHICLE IS NOT
CLAIMED IT WILL BE PUT UP
FOR SALE ON THE 29TH DAY
OF JUNE, 2020 at 7:00 A.M.
PULL'EM AUTO REPAIR,
COLUMBUS, MS 39701.
PUBLISH: 6/10, 6/17 &
6/24/2020
SUBSTITUTED TRUSTEE'S NO-
TICE OF SALE
WHEREAS, on November 12,
2009, Jason B. Willingham, a
married man and wife, Amber
Willingham executed a certain
deed of trust to Title & Closing
Services, Trustee for the bene-
fit of Mortgage Electronic Re-
gistration Systems, Inc. as
nominee for JTS & Co., its suc-
cessors and assigns which
deed of trust is of record in the
office of the Chancery Clerk of
Lowndes County, State of Mis-
sissippi in Book 2009 at Page
26773; and
WHEREAS, WILMINGTON SAV-
INGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, AS
TRUSTEE OF QUERCUS MORT-
GAGE INVESTMENT TRUST has
heretofore substituted Shapiro
& Brown, LLC as Trustee by in-
strument dated February 14,
2020 and recorded in the
aforesaid Chancery Clerk's Of-
fice in Book 2016 at Page
4602; and
WHEREAS, default having been
made in the terms and condi-
the entire debt secured thereby
having been declared to be due
and payable in accordance with
QUERCUS MORTGAGE INVEST-
MENT TRUST, the legal holder
of said indebtedness, having
Substituted Trustee to execute
the trust and sell said land and
property in accordance with the
sums due thereunder, togeth-
er with attorney's fees,
trustee's fees and expense of
sale.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Shapiro & candidates will be invited
Brown, LLC, Substituted Trust- for an interview. For more
ee in said deed of trust, will on details, visit https://www.
public outcry and sell within
legal hours (being between the
hours of 11:00 a.m. and 4:00
p.m.), at the Southeast Door of
the County Courthouse of
Lowndes County, located at
505 2nd Avenue North, Colum-
bus, MS 39701, to the highest
and best bidder for cash or cer-
tified funds the following de-
scribed property situated in
Lowndes County, State of Mis-
sissippi, to-wit:
3.09 ACRES, MORE OR LESS,
lying in the Southwest Quarter
of the Southeast Quarter of
Section 32, Township 16
South, Range 17 West,
Lowndes County, Mississippi,
more particularly described as
follows:
Commencing at the Northwest
Corner of the Southeast
Quarter of said Section 32, run
thence South for 1534 feet;
thence South 89 degrees 23
minutes East for 353.0 feet to
POINT OF BEGINNING; thence
continue South 89 degrees 23
minutes East for 500.1 feet to
a point on the circumference of
a cul-de-sac at the end of a
public road known as Canon
Drive; thence Southeasterly
along said circumference and a
curve to the left (Delta = 13 de-
grees 33 minutes, Radius =
50.0 feet, Chord South 36 de-
grees 34 minutes East - 11.8
feet) for an arc distance of
11.8 feet to the northwest
corner of Lot 4 of an unrecor-
ded plat of the William W. Can-
on property; thence South 17
degrees 59 minutes West
along the west line of said Lot4
for 297.41 feet to an existing
fence corner and the southw-
est corner thereof; thence
North 88 degrees 46 minutes
West along a fence for 415.0
feet to a point that is 353.3
feet South 88 degrees 46
minutes East from a fence
corner at an existing 30-inch-
diameter gum tree; thence
North 00 degrees 05 minutes
West for 288.88 feet to the
point of beginning.
I WILL CONVEY only such title
as vested in me as Substi-
tuted Trustee.
WITNESS MY SIGNATURE on
this 28th day of May, 2020.
Shapiro & Brown, LLC
SUBSTITUTED TRUSTEE
Shapiro & Brown, LLC
1080 River Oaks Drive, Suite
B-202
Flowood, MS 39232
(601) 981-9299
ads.cdispatch.com
107 Canon Dr
Caledonia, MS 39740
20-025724
Publication Dates:
June 10, June 17, June 24 and
CUSTOMIZE YOUR AD:
July 1, 2020
Featured ads $5 Sponsored ads $3
Premium placement
on classifieds home page.
Highlight $3
Highlight your ad
with a dash of color.
a point on the circumference of
a cul-de-sac at the end of a
public road known as Canon
Ads appear in The Commercial Dispatch,
Drive; thence Southeasterly
along said circumference and a
curve to the left (Delta = 13 de-
grees 33 minutes, Radius =
The Starkville Dispatch and Online
50.0 feet, Chord South 36 de-
grees 34 minutes East - 11.8
feet) for an arc distance of
11.8 feet to the northwest
corner of Lot 4 of an unrecor-
To place ads starting at only $12,
ded plat of the William W. Can-
on property; thence South 17
call 662-328-2424 or visit ads.cdispatch.com
degrees 59 minutes West
along the west line of said Lot4
for 297.41 feet to an existing THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020 n 7B
fence corner and the southw-
est corner thereof; thence
North 88 degrees 46 minutes
West along a fence for 415.0
LegaltoNotices
feet a point that is 353.3 Medical / Dental
feet South 88 degrees 46
minutes East from a fence
corner at an existing 30-inch-
diameter gum tree; thence
North 00 degrees 05 minutes
West for 288.88 feet to the
point of beginning.
I WILL CONVEY only such title
as vested in me as Substi-
tuted Trustee.
WITNESS MY SIGNATURE on
this 28th day of May, 2020.
Shapiro & Brown, LLC
SUBSTITUTED TRUSTEE
Shapiro & Brown, LLC
1080 River Oaks Drive, Suite
B-202
Flowood, MS 39232
(601) 981-9299
107 Canon Dr
Caledonia, MS 39740
20-025724
Publication Dates:
June 10, June 17, June 24 and
July 1, 2020
Employment
Call us: 662-328-2424
Education
The Mississippi School for
Mathematics and Science
is seeking applicants for
the following positions:
COMPUTER SCIENCE
TEACHER for the 2020-21
academic year - Applicants
must have a Master's
Degree or above in com-
puter science or related
field & five years teaching
experience at the second-
ary or post-secondary level.
COORDINATOR FOR
TECHNOLOGY – Bachelor’s
degree in computer
technology or related area
preferred and 5 years re-
lated experience.
Application can be made by
submitting a resume and
cover letter to
amoore@themsms.org. All
applicants will be acknow-
ledged but only selected
themsms.org/employment
Service Directory
Promote your small business starting at only $25
Carpet & Flooring General Services General Services Lawn Care / Landscaping
CARPET INSTALLATION. A & T TREE SERVICES WORK WANTED: Jake’s Mowing
Re−Stretch & Repair also Bucket truck & stump Licensed & Bonded. Mowing, Weed−eating,
avail. I accept select jobs. removal. Free est. Carpentry, minor electrical, Blow off walks, Trim shrubs
Call Walt, 662−574−8134. Serving Columbus minor plumbing, insulation, Free quote. Great pricing.
since 1987. Senior painting, demolition, Call, text, leave message.
Childcare
citizen disc. Call Alvin @ gutters cleaned, pressure 662−570−8815
242−0324/241−4447 washing, landscaping,
Emmanuel’s Christian "We’ll go out on a limb for cleanup work, moving help. JESSE & BEVERLY’S
Academy−Child care you!" 662−242−3608.
LAWN SERVICE
AVAILABLE SOON For ages Mowing, cleanup,
6 weeks to 12 years old. PRESSURE WASHING landscaping, sodding,
emmanuelsca@yahoo.com Commercial & residential. & tree cutting.
or text 662−245−6998 Bricks, concrete & siding. 662−356−6525
Call for quote,
Electrical 662−295−6880.
Lawn Care
Mow, Trim, Edge and Blow.
CHAPTER 7 BANKRUPTCY Free Estimate.
$545 plus Filing Fee Call 662−574−1225.
CHAPTER 13 BANKRUPTCY If no answer please leave
All Attorney Fees Through The Plan message.
Garage Door Services
M&M Garage Door, LLC
Jim Arnold, Attorney Painting & Papering
Offering competitive prices
and quality service. 662-324-1666 • 601-656-6914
QUALITY PAINTING.
Available for all of your 104 South Lafayette Street, Starkville Ext/Int Painting.
garage door needs.
MOUNTING TV’S AND Sheet Rock Hang, Finish &
HIDING WIRES Call us today for your free SKILLED CRAFTSMAN. Any Repair. Pressure Washing.
consultation.
Mount TV: kind of work! We can build, Free Estimates. Ask for
$60/TV (mount not incl) 662−251−4904
paint, drywall, clean, specials! Larry Webber,
Mount TV & hide wires: pressure wash & cut grass. 662−242−4932.
$120/TV (mount not incl) HILL’S PRESSURE Reasonable rates. Safe &
Johnny Beamon WASHING. Commercial/ Reliable. 662−386−3658. SULLIVAN’S PAINT
662−251−8472 Residential. House,
concrete, sidewalks & Got leaky pipes?
SERVICE
Special Prices.
Are you a painter? mobile washing. Free est. Find a plumber in the Interior & Exterior Painting.
Advertise here! 662−386−8925. classifieds. 662−435−6528
ADS STARTING AT
$12
Preferred placement in search
results and highlighted online.
Graphic $10.50
Enhance your ad with
an attention getter.
662-328-2424
8B Wednesday, June 17, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
General Help Wanted Apts For Rent: West Houses For Rent: North

AREA BUSINESS
is seeking a mature,
motivated person who
enjoys interacting with
people, being outdoors
and multitasking. Skills
related to maintaining
equipment and/or farm
work are desired but not
required. Person needs to
be flexible enough to pitch
in where ever needed but
also keep their core
responsibilities in mind.
If you enjoy a different ex-
perience on the regular,
meeting new people and
believe in customer
satisfaction this job might
be for you.
Please submit resume to:
Blind Box 675 c/o The
Commercial Dispatch
PO Box 511
Columbus, MS 39703
CALEDONIA BUSINESS
needs General Laborer.
Experienced weed-eater,
$10-12/hour. Valid driver's
license, transportation &
experience helpful. Call
Jesse & Beverly's Lawn
Service at 662-356-6525.
Merchandise
VIP
HOUSE FOR RENT BY
OWNER. 220 Mclemore ON THE WEB
Rentals
Road, Columbus. 1750sqft
Brick house in quiet neigh− Ads starting at $12 Visit www.cdispatch.com
borhood. 3 bedrooms & 2
Apartments & Houses full baths. No HUD, Bargain Column for a printable copy of
Columbus City school
1 Bedrooms district. $1000/mo with 5−PIECE DINETTE SET these puzzles.
1 mo deposit. Serious
2 Bedroooms
Good condition. $90.
inquiries only please. Call 662−242−4563.
3 Bedrooms
662−574−3202 to see the
house or make application.
General Merchandise
Furnished & Unfurnished
2018 40FT Gooseneck
1, 2, & 3 Baths HOUSE FOR RENT Trailer w/ 5ft dovetail, 12
Lease, Deposit 2−3 Bedroom w/ 1.5 Bath
Fenced in yard. $675.
ton axles, 10−4inch straps
& Credit Check
& tarps. $7,000.
662−549−9555. 662−251−3001.
Ask for Glenn or text.
viceinvestments.com
327-8555 Mobile Homes for Rent 5X10 UTILITY TRAILER
Good condition, single axle.
RENT A CAMPER! $500. 662−425−2454.
Apts For Rent: Other CHEAPER THAN A MOTEL!
Utilities & cable included,
from $145/wk − $535/mo
Columbus & County School WHITE POSTER BOARD
locations. 662−242−7653 $0.50 each − 24"x23"
or 205−442−2011. Visit 516 Main Street
or call 662−328−2424
Real Estate Lawn & Garden
Ads starting at $25
HAYES DAYLILIES
Open mornings. M−S. Sudoku YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

Sudoku Yesterday’s answer

1069 New Hope Rd. Call Sudoku is a number-
THE COMMERCIAL 662−251−6665.
DISPATCH seeks a motiv-
Lots & Acreage placing puzzle based on
ated, contracted carrier for Sudoku
a 9x9 gridis witha several
num- 8 2 9 4 5 3 7 6 1
Wanted To Buy
the Brooksville & Macon
1.75 ACRE LOTS. ber-placing
given numbers.puzzleThe object 1 3 7 9 6 8 2 4 5

2020 Conceptis Puzzles, Dist. by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Good/Bad Credit Options.
area. Excellent opportunity Good credit as low as 10% USED COMPUTER. Must based onthe
is to place a 9x9
numbers 4 5 6 1 2 7 3 8 9
to earn money for college. grid
Must have good transporta-
down, $299/mo. Eaton work good. 803 Shiloh Dr. 1 to 9with
in theseveral
empty spaces 5 8 1 2 3 4 6 9 7
tion, valid driver's license
Land, 662−361−7711. 662−889−6619. given
so thatnumbers.
each row, each The 9 7 4 6 8 1 5 2 3
& insurance. Delivers on object
column and each 3x3 the
is to place box
numbers 3 6 2 7 9 5 4 1 8
contains the1same to 9 number
in
Sunday morning and Mon- Waterfront Property
Fri afternoons. Apply at The
Commercial Dispatch, 516
Main Street in Columbus.
NEWLY RENOVATED three
bedroom, two 1/2 bath
Vehicles the empty spaces so
only once. The difficulty
that each row, each
level increases from
6
2
4
9
8
3
3
5
7
1
9
6
1
8
5
7
2
4
column and each
No phone calls please.
COLEMAN home in private community
with community boat Ads starting at $12 Monday
3x3 boxtocontains
Sunday.
7 1
Difficulty Level
5 8 4 2 9 3 6
6/16

RENTALS landing. Property sits on the same number only once. The difficulty level
TOWNHOUSES & APARTMENTS Autos For Sale
Tibbee Creek and is
increases from Monday to Sunday.
Rentals 1 BEDROOM
2 BEDROOMS
conveniently located to
West Point, Columbus, and
Starkville. Home has a
2004 FORD T−BIRD. Two
tops, hard & soft. Little
screened in back patio with over 100k mi. Excellent
Ads starting at $25 3 BEDROOMS a deck that overlooks Condition. Call Holly at
Tibbee Creek. $198,800. Eaton Motor Company in
LEASE,
© The Dispatch

Apts For Rent: North 662−549−2768 Houston, 662−705−1143.

FOX RUN APARTMENTS
1 & 2 BR near hospital.
$595−$645 monthly.
Military discount, pet area,
pet friendly, and furnished
corporate apts.
24−HOUR PROFESSIONAL
GYM. ON SITE SECURITY.
ON SITE MAINTENANCE.
ON SITE MANAGEMENT.
24−HOUR CAMERA
SURVEILLANCE. Benji &
Ashleigh, 662−386−4446.
GO ONLINE:
ads.cdispatch.com
Houses For Sale: Other
DEPOSIT
AND
CREDIT CHECK
662-329-2323
2411 HWY 45 N
COLUMBUS, MS
Houses For Rent: North
Fri. 19th 9−5, Sat. 20th 9−
135 HORSESHOE LOOP,
COLUMBUS. 3BR/2BA,
fenced yard, quiet & retired
area. Storage building in
back yard. $700/mo +
dep. 901−314−3098.
shed. Thousands of items,
too much to list! Photos @
Garage Sales Community
Two free signs Ads starting at $12
Estate Sales Travel & Entertainment
HUGE ESTATE SALE
PUBLIC CATFISH POND
3431 Hwy.12 E.
Steens, MS 39766
@ 130 Hillcrest Drive.
Open Tues−Sat, 7a−5p
662−386−8591
5, Sun. 21th 1−5, Mon
Call for pricing.
22nd 9−5, selling the
estate of Eldon and
Frances Barham, selling
contents of home, shop,
outdoor buildings, tractor
www.estatesales.net
Stewart’s Antiques,
Appraisals & Estate Sales
662−251−1515

Garage Sales: New Hope

You’ll find the best deals
HUGE SALE! 37 Carney Dr. when you advertise
8am until. Baby/kid items
and much more!
and shop here!

ads.cdispatch.com

Five Questions:

1 Gertrude
Stein
ACROSS
1 Was furious
2 Biolumines- 6 Russian ruler
cence 10 Love, to Luigi
11 City on the
Nile
3 MMO 12 Movie-based
toy
13 Urge forward
14 Different
4 New 15 Skiing variety
York City 16 Flock father
17 In the style of
18 Prof’s help-
5 “Sons ers: Abbr.
19 Glossy bird
of Anarchy” 22 Writer Ferber
23 Shipbuilding DOWN 20 Hosp.
wood 1 Insurance workers
26 Becoming workers 21 Salon stuff
tangled 2 “Did you start 24 Radio carrier
29 Bowler, e.g. without me?” 25 Worked
32 In the past 3 Loses it dough
33 Old auto 4 Lake near 27 Historic time
34 Like some Buffalo 28 Dead ducks
mushrooms 5 Bear’s lair 29 Yard border
36 Graceful bird 6 Bivouac 30 Decorate
37 Like the 7 “Be quiet!” 31 Used a stop-
Capitol 8 Sports spot watch
38 Color 9 Parts 35 Plays the
39 Film legend 11 Leaves in the ponies
Garbo kitchen 36 Oxford, e.g.
40 Romantic sort 15 Boxing great 38 Camera type
41 Cuts off 17 “M*A*S*H”
42 Oboe parts star