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Friday | January 15, 2021

CLRC replaces first house destroyed by tornado

Johnnie Harris, left,
and her granddaughter
Two other houses in progress in Northside neighborhood
Ashley Sanders walk BY TESS VRBIN bon-cutting ceremony.
through the new house tvrbin@cdispatch.com “It fills my heart with joy to see a
on Seventh Avenue
whole city come together to make today
North that Community Everything changed overnight for
Recovery of Lowndes happen,” said Rev. Anzette Thomas, the
Columbus native Greg Mixon, when the regional recovery manager for United
County built for Greg
Feb. 23, 2019, tornado hit his house on Methodist Committee on Relief (UM-
Mixon, Harris’ son and
Sanders’ father. Mix- Seventh Avenue North. COR).
on’s home in the same “One day you have a house, and the She was one of several speakers at
location was destroyed next day you don’t,” he said. the ceremony, including other CRLC
by the February 2019 Almost two years later, Mixon was the board members, some of whom are lo-
tornado in Columbus, first beneficiary of Community Recov- cal clergy, and Columbus Mayor Robert
and he moved into the ery of Lowndes County’s home-building Smith. Rev. Aislinn Kopp of First United
new house Thursday relief efforts. The COVID-19 pandemic Methodist Church is the Unmet Needs
after a dedication delayed the project’s completion, but Chair for CRLC, and she read a bless-
ceremony. Mixon received the keys to the new ing from chapter seven of the Gospel of
Tess Vrbin/Dispatch Staff house Thursday at a dedication and rib- See CRLC, 3A

Lowndes sees POWER OF SERVICE

more than 600
new COVID
cases in less
than two weeks
County still leads
Golden Triangle in case
numbers, deaths
BY ISABELLE ALTMAN
ialtman@cdispatch.com

Lowndes County
continues to lead the
four-county area in
number of COVID-19
cases and deaths, ac-
cording to data from
Mississippi State Department of
Health.
MSDH’s most recent data says
Lowndes County has had a total of
5,186 cases, an increase of 613 cas-
es since Jan. 2. There have been
106 deaths total, an increase of 13
since the same date.
Oktibbeha County saw an in-
crease of 320 cases and three Tess Vrbin/Dispatch Staff
deaths in that same time period, Lloyd Perrigin, left, a transmission for the Tennessee Valley Authority; Stephen Little, maintenance director for Columbus Mu-
making a total of 3,842 cases and nicipal School District; and Larry Tate, a TVA community representative observe the electrical systems at Franklin Academy
79 deaths since the pandemic be- on Thursday. Perrigin, Tate and TVA foreman Vince Britton are all CMSD graduates and are planning a day of service to make
gan. electrical repairs at Franklin Academy in time for the celebration of its 200th anniversary on Feb. 12. Franklin is Mississippi’s
first and oldest institution of public education. Perrigin said the school could use some updated lighting, from fluorescent to
Clay County saw an increase of
LEDs, which are more energy-efficient.
182 cases and two deaths, bringing
the county’s totals to 1,556 cases
and 32 deaths.
Noxubee County had an in-
crease of 117 cases and two deaths,

SOCSD preparing for hundreds of

bringing its total to 1,089 cases
and 22 deaths.
Starkville-Oktibbeha Consol-

students to return to in-person learning

idated School District reported
having 11 students cases and only
one staff case the week of Jan. 4-8,
students’ first week back after the
winter holidays. SOCSD updates
its case numbers weekly at www.
stark villesd.com/covid19/num-
bers/index.
Students at Lowndes County
School District did not return to
in-person classes until Tuesday, so
the district plans to release its up-
dated numbers a week from then,
on Jan. 19. Superintendent Sam
Allison previously said administra-
tors opted to have students attend
class virtually for the first week
after returning from the winter
break so that if any students con-
tracted the virus at family gather-
ings over break, they would have
See COVID, 3A
District has hired new teachers, moved some from of course balance that with safety, be-
ing at the top of our priorities, at the
virtual to in-person learning to accommodate influx same time,” Peasant said.
Peasant told The Dispatch after
BY ISABELLE ALTMAN Peasant told the school board at its the meeting that the district had filled
ialtman@cdispatch.com meeting Thursday that the majority of almost all of its eight teaching vacan-
the returning students attend Partner- cies for the coming semester. While
S t a rk v i l le - Ok t ibbe - ship Middle School and Armstrong Ju- students are required to wear masks,
ha Consolidated School nior High. To accommodate the influx, Peasant said the district’s goal is to
District is preparing for the district has brought back to campus keep three to six feet of space between
what Superintendent Ed- some teachers who were instructing their desks in the classrooms. He also
die Peasant estimated to virtually and hired new teachers to fill said the district will “make every effort”
be roughly 250 students longstanding vacancies. The district’s to keep students with teachers they had
returning to their school goal is to have no more than 22 students the first semester, though he added that
campuses when the Peasant per classroom in the secondary grades. wouldn’t be possible in all cases, since
spring semester begins “We’ve tried to weigh the numbers some of those teachers are still instruct-
Tuesday, after spending the first semes- against the need to try and get them ing virtually.
ter learning virtually. back in school and learning, but we … See SOCSD, 6A

INSIDE FIVE QUESTIONS LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC

Classifieds 7,8B 1 What is the Instagram name MEETINGS
Comics 4B of the grandmother who has Jan. 15: Lowndes
Crossword 8B become an Internet celebrity County Board of
Dear Abby 4B since 2015?
Obituaries 5A 2 What does German Chancellor Supervisors, 9
Opinions 4A Angela Merkel’s nickname “Mut- a.m., Courthouse,
Religion 5B ti” mean in English? facebook.com/
3 What fictional entertainment LowndesCountyMis-
company has been fought over sissippi/
by Lucious and Cookie Lyon
WEATHER since 2015? Jan. 19: Columbus
4 In 2015, who did Time mag- City Council, 5 p.m.,

High 51 Low 30
Mostly sunny
azine readers name “Person
of the Year” — Pope Francis,
Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth
Municipal Complex,
facebook.com/Cityof-
Full forecast on ColumbusMS/
Warren?
page 3A. 5 What singer’s yellow cape Feb. 1: Lowndes
at the 2015 Met Gala inspired County Board of
thousands of memes, including Supervisors, 9
pizza, omelets and Big Bird? a.m. Courthouse,
Answers, 8B facebook.com/
Susan Phillips enjoys spending time with LowndesCountyMis-
141st Year, No. 262 her Dachshunds and scrapbooking. sissippi/

DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471

2A FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Trump impeachment trial

to focus on his attacks on election
Trial could begin
shortly after Joe Biden
Unclear who presides at Trump
takes the oath of office trial if he’s out of office
BY MARK SHERMAN
next Wednesday The Associated Press

BY LISA MASCARO
AND MARY CLARE JALONICK
The Associated Press
WA S H I N G T O N
— President Donald
Trump’s historic sec-
ond impeachment
could go to trial as
soon as Inauguration
Day, with U.S. sena-
tors serving not only
as jurors but as shak- Trump
en personal witnesses and victims
of the deadly siege of the Capitol by
a mob of his supporters.
Trump is the only president to
be twice impeached, and the first
to be prosecuted as he leaves the
White House, an ever-more-ex-
traordinary end to the defeated
president’s tenure.
In pursuing conviction, House
impeachment managers said
Thursday they will be making the
case that Trump’s incendiary rhet-
oric hours before the bloody attack
on the Capitol was not isolated, but
rather part of an escalating cam-
paign to overturn the November
election results. It culminated, they
will argue, in the Republican presi-
dent’s rally cry to “fight like hell” as
Congress was tallying the Elector-
al College votes to confirm he’d lost
to Democrat Joe Biden.
The trial could begin shortly
after Biden takes the oath of office
next Wednesday, but some Demo-
crats are pushing for a later trial to
give him time to set up his admin-
istration and work on other priori-
ties. No date has been set. Already
National Guard troops flood the
city and protect the Capitol amid
WASHINGTON — The Constitution says the chief justice is to preside
at the impeachment trial of a president. But what about an ex-president?
Like so much else about the Constitution, the answer is subject to in-
terpretation.
If President Donald Trump’s trial begins after Jan. 20, it’s not clear
whether Chief Justice John Roberts would make his way to the Senate
chamber as he did last year for Trump’s first trial.
Impeachment scholars, law professors and political scientists offer
differing views.
The choices appear to be Roberts, Kamala Harris, who by then will
be vice president, or Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who will be the Senate’s
president pro tem once the Democrats gain control of the Senate.
The issue is “unsettled, completely without precedent, and unspecific
in existing Senate rules and precedents,” Princeton University political
scientist Keith Whittington wrote in an email.
One reason that the Constitution specifies the chief justice to run the
president’s trial is that the person who otherwise presides over the Sen-
ate is the vice president — the very person who would assume the presi-
dency if the chief executive is convicted. That’s a bit unseemly.
But if the stakes are changed and the sitting vice president no longer
stands to get the top job, why not have Harris, who by then will have tak-
en over for Mike Pence, preside?
Whittington said he thinks that could happen, “as with the impeach-
ment of any officer other than the president.” But he said he “can imagine
that the Senate might go the other way and treat a former president the
same as a sitting president.”
warnings of more violence ahead and the worst by home-grown in-
of the inaugural. It’s a far differ- truders.
ent picture, due to the COVID-19 “The only path to any reunifi-
pandemic as well as the threats of cation of this broken and divided
violence, from the traditional pomp country is by shining a light on the
and peaceful transfer of power. truth,” said Rep. Madeleine Dean,
Whenever it starts, the impeach- D-Pa., who will serve as an im-
ment trial will force a further reck- peachment manager.
oning for the Republican Party and “That’s what the trial in the Sen-
the senators who largely stood by ate will be about,” she told The As-
Trump throughout his presidency sociated Press on Thursday.
and allowed him to spread false Trump was impeached Wednes-
attacks against the 2020 election. day by the House on a single
Last week’s assault angered law- charge, incitement of insurrection,
makers, stunned the nation and in lightning-quick proceedings just
flashed unsettling imagery around a week after the siege. Ten Repub-
the globe, the most serious breach licans joined all Democrats in the
of the Capitol since the War of 1812, 232-197 vote to impeach.

Fate of Biden agenda rests with Schumer in 50-50 Senate

BY ANDREW TAYLOR
The Associated Press
WA S H -
INGTON
— Chuck
Schumer
is used to
drinking
from a fire-
hose. But
Schumer
the incom-
ing Senate majority leader
has never taken on such a
torrent of challenges, with
the opening days of both
the Biden administration
and Democratic control of
the Senate coming at the
very moment an impeach-
ment trial gets underway.
A 38-year veteran of
Congress who first came
to the Senate during Pres-
ident Bill Clinton’s im-
peachment, Schumer is a
70-year-old bundle of en-
ergy with one overriding
mandate: Help Joe Biden
become a successful pres-
ident. To do so, he’ll have
to leverage the narrowest
possible majority — a 50-
50 Senate with the incom-
ing vice president, Kamala
Harris, delivering the tie-
breaking vote.
It’s a tough assignment.
It’s far easier, though of-
ten unsatisfying, to be a
minority leader equipped
with the tools of obstruc-
tion than it is to be a ma-
jority leader armed mostly
with persuasion. But the
goodwill Schumer enjoys
with key members, and
his careful management of
the party’s constituencies,
could help ease the way.
“Chuck Schumer has
done a remarkable job as
our caucus leader the last
four years holding our
caucus together,” said Sen.
Chris Coons, D-Del., as he
entered the Senate cham-
ber during last Wednes-
day’s Electoral College
count, speaking just before
a mob of violent support-
ers of President Donald
Trump assaulted the Capi-
tol and the situation turned
dire.
Then Schumer ap-
peared. “What did I just
give a quote about? Our
capable majority leader!”
Coons said.
“Again!” a jubilant
Schumer exclaimed. “More
adjectives! More adjec-
tives!”
Less than an hour lat-
er, Schumer was in peril,
under the protection of a
Capitol Police officer with
a submachine gun stand-
ing between him and GOP
leader Mitch McConnell
as the mob breached the
building.
The ransacking of the
Capitol has brought im-
peachment to the Senate’s
door again and set Republi-
cans on their heels. And it’s
put a spotlight on whether
the polarized, diminished
chamber can process
Biden’s agenda.
Take the installation of
Biden’s Cabinet. The Sen-
ate has traditionally tried to
confirm a batch of the most
important nominees on
Inauguration Day, Jan. 20,
and the days thereafter. But
to do so requires the coop-
eration of the entire Senate.
Democrats slow-walked
many of Trump’s Cabinet
picks four years ago after
a crushing election loss,
but there’s a palpable sense
that Republicans may be
more cooperative now, at
least when confirming na-
tional security nominees
and picks like Janet Yellen
to run the Treasury Depart-
ment.
Schumer seeks — and
is used to operating in —
the spotlight, whether he’s
helping run the unwieldy,
increasingly divided Sen-
ate, micromanaging his be-
loved Democratic caucus
or crisscrossing New York.
Any of these is a full-
time job. And they don’t al-
ways point him in the same
direction. For instance,
Biden is preaching bipar-
tisanship, and Schumer
wants to help, but tensions
are inevitable with ardent
progressives such as Rep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
an ambitious Bronx Dem-
ocrat whom Schumer allies
are watching closely as he
runs for a fifth term in 2022.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021 3A

US surgeon general acknowledges Black skepticism of vaccines

‘We have to acknowledge and validate those scared to take a vaccine that
they think came about very
have gone to Black people, who
make up about 38 percent of the
in the state. The two closest to
Hinds County are in suburban
real historical reasons for concern, because quickly? Why are they scared population. Madison and Rankin counties.
to be first in line?’ While vaccine skepticism Dobbs said there were logis-
when you tell people they’re silly to have “We have to acknowledge could partially explain the num- tical problems with creating a
and validate those real his- bers, access is also an issue. site earlier in Hinds County. He
those concerns, they immediately shut down’ torical reasons for concern, “This is a huge challenge. said the Jackson-Hinds Com-
Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams because when you tell people We are working to address prehensive Health Center has
they’re silly to have those con- this,” Dobbs said. “We are go- been a “fantastic partner” for
BY EMILY WAGSTER PET TUS forum hosted by Jackson State cerns, they immediately shut ing to try to make sure we open the Health Department in giv-
The Associated Press University. He said people dis- down,” Adams said. “Step One more locations in areas where ing COVID-19 vaccinations.
trust medical systems because is acknowledgment. But, Step there is need.” “We’ve given them about a
JACKSON
of the government study that Two is addressing those con- He said a drive-thru vaccina- thousand doses and they used
— The U.S. sur-
left Black men untreated for cerns in a meaningful way.” tion site could be open by next every single one of them up
geon general on
Thursday urged syphilis for decades, starting in Adams said there are pro- week in Hinds County, which very quickly,” Dobbs said.
Black leaders in the 1930s. tections in place now “to make is home to the city of Jackson The state Health Depart-
Mississippi to get “Former surgeons general, sure Tuskegee can never hap- and has the largest population ment said Wednesday that it
COVID-19 vacci- people whose pictures are out pen again.” of any county in the state, with cannot take new appointments
nations and to ask in the hallway behind me right The Mississippi state health about 232,000 residents. About for COVID-19 vaccinations for a
others in their Adams now, oversaw the Tuskegee ex- officer, Dr. Thomas Dobbs, said 74 percent of people living in while because all available dos-
communities to do the same. periments,” Adams said from during the forum Thursday that Hinds County are Black. es are reserved for the appoint-
Dr. Jerome Adams, who is Washington. “So then we ask only 15 percent of COVID-19 The Health Department has ments that have already been
Black, spoke during an online ourselves: ‘Why are people vaccinations in the state, so far, 18 drive-thru vaccination sites made.

COVID
Continued from Page 1A
more time to quaran-
tine before returning to
school and coming back
into contact with their
classmates.
As of Tuesday, Noxu-
bee County School Dis-
trict reported two stu-
dent cases and three staff
cases. The district has
begun updating its num-
bers daily on its website
at www.ourncsd.org/.
Columbus Municipal
School District report-
ed to MSDH that for the
week ending Jan. 8, there
were between six and 30
cases among students to
MSDH, though no more
than five cases were re-
ported at one individual
school. There were also
between four and 20 cas-
es among staff. When
the number of cases in
a school is five or fewer,
MSDH reports the num-
ber as 1-5.
For that same week,
West Point Consolidated
School District reported
to MSDH between one
and five staff members
infected and between two
and 10 students infected.
Mississippi School for
Mathematics and Sci-
ence reported between
one and five positive cas-
es among staff members
and one and five cases
among students, accord-
ing to MSDH.
Annunciation Catho-
lic School in Columbus
also reported between
one and five cases among
staff members to MSDH,
while Oak Hill Academy
in Clay County reported
five or fewer cases each
among students and
staff. Starkville Christian
School and South Hav-
en Mennonite School in
Noxubee County each
reported no cases for
the week. No other area
private schools reported
case numbers to MSDH.
Mississippi State
University reported 77
active cases among stu-
dents and 14 active cases
among employees as of
Thursday. MSU updates
its numbers daily at www.
ms s t at e .e du /c ov id19/
campus-testing.
Mississippi Universi-
ty for Women reported
10 active cases among
students and one among
staff as of this morning.
The university updates
its numbers every Friday
at www.muw.edu/cen-
ters/healthcenter/cases.
The state has seen a
total of 245,847 cases and
5,356 deaths, according
to the most recent data
available from MSDH.

CRLC
Continued from Page 1A
Matthew, the parable of
the “wise man who built
his house on a rock.”
CRLC is a volunteer
organization under the
umbrella of United Way
and was formed after
the tornado specifically
to recruit volunteers to
aid those whose homes
were damaged or de-
stroyed during the storm
that ripped through
Northside. UMCOR and
Mennonite Disaster Ser-
vices (MDS) worked with
CRLC to rebuild Mixon’s
house.
“The thing that makes
this work so easy and
makes it so
enjoyable
is that it’s
faith-based
w o r k , ”
C R L C
Board Pres-
ident Nicole
Clinkscales Clinkscales
said. “Ev-
erybody that has put their
hands and hearts into this
work has believed that
except (for) God being
the wisdom and guiding
principles and all of those
things coming together,
we could not have done
any of this.”
CRLC has repaired or
is currently repairing 29
homes and has helped 54
families with rent, food,
clothing and utilities, UM-
COR Disaster Care Man-
ager Vanessa Walker said.
The organization is
working on rebuilding
two other houses on 18th
Tess Vrbin/Dispatch Staff
A house on 18th Street North is one of two on the
same street being rebuilt almost two years after a tor-
nado ripped through Northside in Columbus. Community
Recovery of Lowndes County, a volunteer organization
that formed in light of the tornado, completed its first
rebuilding project nearby on Seventh Avenue North and
held a dedication ceremony for the house on Thursday.
Don Fye, who works with room and kitchen as “one
Tess Vrbin/Dispatch Staff
both the youth group and big open space” instead of
Greg Mixon, right, chats with (from right) his mother, Johnnie Harris; his daughter,
the handyman ministry walls separating them.
Ashley Sanders; and Vanessa Walker, disaster care manager with United Method-
at Starkville First UMC. “It’s a whole lot differ-
ist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) on Thursday outside his house. Mixon lived with
Harris for almost two years after the February 2019 tornado hit Northside and The volunteers wore ent and I love it,” he said.
destroyed his house in the same location. UMCOR worked with Community Recovery masks and kept their dis- He lived with his moth-
of Lowndes County to rebuild Mixon’s house. tance from each other as er, Johnnie Harris, while
safety precautions. the house was under
Street North in Mixon’s Mixon’s house was close thank goodness that vol- “We’re grateful for the
neighborhood. Clink- to finished but stopped construction. Harris and
unteers from First Unit- opportunity, because at
scales told the audience at abruptly in March when ed Methodist Church in Ashley Sanders, Mixon’s
the time there weren’t a
the ceremony that CRLC the pandemic limited Starkville stepped up.” lot of opportunities to get daughter, both attended
needs at least $10,000 to social and business ac- About 12 youth group involved and feel like you the dedication ceremony
complete the houses. tivity, and work did not members and up to six could help out,” Fye told and walked through the
Mississippi Emergen- resume until June, when a adults worked on the The Dispatch. house afterward, taking
cy Management Agency group of volunteers from house, installing kitchen Mixon’s new house is it in.
awarded CRLC a $200,000 Starkville decided to help, cabinets, painting and laid out differently than “Thank you, Jesus,”
grant in July 2019 to help said Chris Adams, the vol- doing trim work, said the old one, with the living Harris said repeatedly.
rebuild and repair homes unteer coordinator for the
damaged by the tornado Mississippi conference
and subsequent flooding. of the United Methodist
The grant was original- Church.
ly going to be $250,000, “We weren’t able to
but MEMA redirected bring out-of-(area) volun-
$50,000 to other areas in teers because we couldn’t
need of disaster recovery safely house them,” Ad-
aid, Walker said. ams said. “We had to rely
The construction of on local volunteers, and

Three charged in conspiracy

to exploit vulnerable person
Indictments allege
defendants took money
from victim’s account to
use for themselves
DISPATCH STAFF REPORT M. Enfinger T. Enfinger J. Enfinger
SOLUNAR TABLE
nearly $20,000 from the victim’s account The solunar period indicates

A Lowndes County grand jury indict- for their personal use between July 11,
peak-feeding times for fish and game.
Fri. Sat.
Major 3:59a
ed a family accused of exploiting a vul- 3:11a
2018 and Oct. 31, 2019, according to the Minor 10:36 11:11a
nerable person by using thousands of Major 3:34p 4:21p
indictments. Michael Enfinger is ac- Minor 8:36p 9:37p
dollars of her money for their personal Courtesy of Mississippi Department

use. cused of using $3,113.35 for his personal of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks

Michael, 53, and Tanya Enfinger, 20,
of Caledonia, and Jennifer Enfinger, 46,
of Houston, have been charged with one
count each of exploitation of a vulnera-
ble person and conspiracy, according
to Lowndes County Circuit Court doc-
uments. The Attorney General’s Office
investigated the case.
The Enfingers are accused of taking
use; Tanya Enfinger is accused of us-
ing $3,078.29 for her personal use; and
Jennifer Enfinger is accused of using
$13,194.61 for her personal use.
A spokesperson from the AG’s Office
did not confirm how the three defen-
dants are related by press time today.
The defendants have been released
from custody on $10,000 bonds.
The Dispatch
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Opinion
4A FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021
LETTERS FROM DETROIT
Paquita Hughes
In an effort to contribute
to togetherness through
greater familiarity, Andrew
Colom is embarking on a
series of video interviews
of people from Columbus
who have moved to various
corners of the world. Each
piece is paired with a video
interview, which can be
found on cdispatch.com and
YouTube.
Andrew Colom
Paquita Hughes found
her dream of a purposeful ONLINE
life growing up and watch- n VIDEO INTERVIEW:
ing movies in Applewood Watch Colom’s interview
Apartments, an affordable with Paquita Hughes
housing development just online at cdispatch.com
off Yorkville Road.
I most remember from
our conversation the way she flexed her forearms,
showing muscles toned with military precision.
Having never served in the military myself, I
admire a certain dignity military veterans, and
active-duty members carry, and that dignified
strength radiates from Paquita. She has the
strength of a survivor; both abroad and at home.
Born in Puerto Rico and taught English in New
Jersey, she was accused of ‘talking white’ when she
first moved to her father’s hometown of Columbus
in 1st grade. She later came to understand she
discombobulated expectations, that they ‘did not
expect someone so black, to speak so properly’.
Those years sound hard. She mentions diffi-
culties at home and disruptions in her childhood.
She survived being uprooted from her home at one
point and moving to West Point with other family
members; friends in Columbus thinking she had
disappeared.
A third generation sailor in the US Navy and a
soldier in the army, Paquita joined after 9/11 and
served overseas in Italy, becoming the first sailor
in her family to serve on a war vessel. The ensuing
experiences left scars. She mentions learning she
had invisible wounds, but they never deterred her
from her dream. She positioned herself to be sta-
tioned in San Diego, where she eventually retired
from the Navy to attend film school.
I first became aware of her passion for filmmak-
ing from a 2009 Facebook announcement that she
was moving to Los Angeles to start a film company.
Paquita and I met at Hunt Middle School in
shared honor’s classes. There were tiers to the aca-
demic classes within our public school system back
then, different in quality and as segregated as the
system during de jure segregation. The entire stu-
dent body was overwhelmingly Black, the honor’s
classes majority white, such a clear remnant of the
legally enforced racial segregation caste system
that had only just officially ended.
During school, our paths continued to intersect
indirectly through clubs including working togeth-
er on student body council our senior year. Back in
2001, Columbus had selectively segregated awards
and honorariums. For example, there was a Black
homecoming queen and a White homecoming
queen, a White most likely to succeed and a Black
most likely to succeed. Our student body council
had an impassioned debate at our annual retreat
where Paquita spoke powerfully about ending it.
The majority voted to stop this practice but our ad-
visor overruled our vote and the practice remained.
The practice has since ended — something
Paquita learned when interviewing people for a
documentary she is producing about this uncom-
fortable part of our shared history. That’s right,
today, a little more than 10 years later, Paquita’s
career has flourished. She is the founder of Rock
Violet Motion, a production company that has
already made several successful short films,
including the award-winning film, JACKS. After
our interview, she started production on her latest
short film, JEREMY, which stars another native of
Columbus, who grew up with Paquita in the Apple-
wood apartments. She has also worked as a union
location scout on many successful Hollywood
productions, including the Emmy award-winning
television series, ‘Big Little Fires’.
But Paquita has even bigger plans. She wants to
use filmmaking to bring economic opportunity to
Mississippi. The same place she often dreamed of
escaping as a child calls for her return, to lift while
she climbs. She is already doing this, assisting
her childhood friend and producing partner, Chris
Burr, with his move to LA to work as a music tech-
nician on large film productions.
Towards the end of our conversation, I won-
der with awe where she got all this strength and
purpose that were so evidently on display. She
tells me part of it comes from facing motherhood
alone, requiring her, like so many women, to be a
multi-tasker, ultimately increasing her productiv-
ity. Her daughter, Penelope, makes a couple won-
derful appearances in the interview; yet Paquita
remains focused throughout the video, mothering
her daughter with patience, love, and clarity. As a
military veteran, executive producer, writer, and
builder of pathways, she represents the tenacity
our country needs to move forward together. Her
stories not only entertain but have messages that
inspire our better angels. Her determination has
created success for herself and opportunities for
others to pursue their aspirations not only through
her but with her.
Years after she transitioned away from that war
ship, it doesn’t seem like she’s anywhere close to
done with the heavy lifting.
Andrew Colom is a Columbus native now living in
Detroit, Michigan.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
All voices deserve to be heard
I read in this paper where a
doctor in Starkville was brought to
light about his tweets pertaining
to the Capitol riots. I am proud
to be an American but ashamed
of life as it is now in this United
States. Our days of what freedom
we have seems to be slowly taken
away from us. So now, it is wrong if
you don’t agree with the majority
or politically correct and just say
what you feel?
It is against the law to speak
up if you think the majority is
THE NATION
Is this the moment when the GOP
will stand up to Trump?
On Jan. 6, 2021, I
saw with my own eyes
the breakdown of our
society and our democ-
racy. It was sickening,
outrageous and 100%
unacceptable, illegal,
immoral and unpatri-
otic. And it will be the
moment that defines
the Trump presidency
and finally spurs the
Republican Party to Armstrong Williams pale. The rhetoric at
stand up to him.
The Capitol building is the
physical representation of our
republic. It was defaced, degraded
and disgraced by a mob of thugs
who used physical force to overrun said former New York City Mayor
law enforcement and attempted to
use political terrorism to thwart
the democratic process. This can-
not and must not stand.
As a result of this unprecedent-
ed moment, social media com-
panies such as Twitter and Face-
book, the latter of which includes
Instagram, have removed Pres-
ident Donald Trump from their
platforms, citing his language as
having incited the incident at the
Capitol.
Trump condemned the violence election. He has done it repeatedly
in a video on his now-suspended
Twitter account, but that hasn’t
stopped companies from ceasing
all business with him. The PGA
has stated they will no longer play
at any Trump golf courses, and it’s
possible more companies will soon try or denouncing the protesters
follow suit.
Trump has to stop making
false claims that the election was
“stolen” or “rigged.” No credible
evidence has been presented
showing widespread fraud, and
the fact that so many millions of
people have bought into that fanta- of the president matter the most
sy is astounding.
Many have supported the
president during his term and cele- wounded us as a nation and harm
brated his accomplishments. But
some concluded that his actions on
Jan. 6 were simply unacceptable,
as were many of his actions since
the election.
To put the onus on the vice
president was misguided. There
was absolutely no constitutional
basis for Vice President Mike
Pence to overturn the will of the
people and somehow reverse the
Dispatch
The
wrong? What about our rights as
legal American citizens? Is this
not some form of communism? I
respect other people’s views, but
I may not agree with them. I am
glad people stand up for our rights.
We all should. We should not let
the government — Republicans or
Democrats — tell us how to think,
feel or react. I expect millions will
disagree with me, but all opinions
matter. My voice should be heard
along with trillions of others. In
the end, God still has the final
say. But I am a legal citizen of this
United States and all voices should
election from the floor
of the Senate on Jan.
6. All 50 states have
certified the election.
It is finally over, and
President-elect Joe
Biden will be our next
commander in chief.
Threatening the vice
president in remarks
at the rally in Wash-
ington was beyond the
his event in the hours
leading up to the insurrection was
dangerous, and the events of Jan. 6
proved that.
“Let’s have trial by combat,”
Rudy Giuliani.
“These guys better fight for
Trump,” said Trump’s son Eric
from the podium. “If you are the
zero and not the hero, then we will
be coming for you,” he continued,
pledging to run primary oppo-
nents against Republicans not
willing to advocate for overturning
the election results.
That type of language threw
gasoline on a fire that President
Trump has been stoking since the
by denying the legitimacy of the
vote and by refusing to concede.
And, incredibly, in the moments
after violence erupted on Capitol
Hill, the president failed to make
any attempt at unifying the coun-
unequivocally. Instead, he chose to
repeat falsehoods and create an us
versus them dynamic by saying he
sympathized with the marauders
and that the election was stolen
and he won a “landslide” victory.
Words matter. And the words
of any person on the planet. But
the words of the president have
our image overseas.
The Republican Party has
been willing to give Trump a
wide berth, refusing to be openly
critical of him. Only a handful of
Republican elected officials have
been willing to break with him
publicly. Will Jan. 6 prove to be
the moment when the GOP drew
a clear line to separate itself from
the president?
PETER BIRNEY IMES Editor/Publisher
BIRNEY IMES III Editor/Publisher 1998-2018
BIRNEY IMES JR. Editor/Publisher 1947-2003
BIRNEY IMES SR. Editor/Publisher 1922-1947
ZACK PLAIR, Managing Editor
BETH PROFFITT Advertising Director
MICHAEL FLOYD Circulation/Production Manager
MARY ANN HARDY Controller
be heard. Is Hitler our leader now?
Annette Holland
Caledonia
A letter to the editor is an
excellent way to participate in your
community. We request the tone
of your letters be constructive and
respectful and the length be limited
to 450 words. We reserve the right
to edit letters for clarity, grammar
and length. We welcome all letters
emailed to voice@cdispatch.com
or mailed to The Dispatch, Attn:
Letters to the Editor, PO Box 511,
Columbus, MS 39703-0511.
Only time will tell. But my heart
breaks for this country. What I wit-
nessed on Jan. 6 was astonishing:
Capitol police officers fleeing from
angry mobs inside the Capitol.
Fire extinguishers being yanked
and used as weapons against
them. Other officers being over-
run by violent protesters inside the
Capitol as tear gas hung in the air
and blows were exchanged.
Guns being drawn inside the
Capitol and on the floor of the
House as protesters attempted
to enter the locked doors of the
chamber will define Jan. 6, 2021.
So will images of haughty invaders
standing at the speaker’s podium
and with their feet on the desks of
legislators forced to flee for their
lives and huddle in a secure area.
A woman was shot dead, a
Capitol Hill police officer died of
wounds from the protesters and
another officer committed suicide.
Blood was spilled in the capital of
our nation — inside the very build-
ings where we expect our elected
officials to debate with words and
not violence.
Trump should not be ex-
pressing his love for those who
besmirched our country. He is sup-
posed to be conducting himself as
the president of all Americans, not
just those who adore him. Finally,
after much urging, he condemned
the tragic events of Jan. 6.
Now is the time to put the inter-
ests of our nation and its citizens
first. An end to the divisive rheto-
ric is what is needed by Trump.
The Republican Party should
give a full-throated condemnation
of the unacceptable actions of Jan.
6, and it should call upon the pres-
ident to ensure a peaceful transfer
of power.
I pray that the events of Jan. 6
may be the first step in changing
the tone of debate in this country.
We are our brother’s keepers —
and not enemies. As President
Abraham Lincoln correctly said,
“A house divided against itself
cannot stand.”
And we as Americans must
stand together.
Armstrong Williams is an Ameri-
can political commentator, entrepre-
neur, author, and talk show host.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021 5A

Biden unveils $1.9T plan to stem COVID-19 and steady economy

‘The crisis of deep human suffering is in plain health effort seeks the upper
hand on the pandemic.
such as increasing the mini-
mum wage to $15 an hour, ex-
on issues that range from in-
creasing the minimum wage
sight, and there’s not time to waste. We have “We not only have an eco-
nomic imperative to act now — I
panding paid leave for workers,
and increasing tax credits for
to providing more money for
states, while demanding inclu-
to act and we have to act now.’ believe we have a moral obliga- families with children. The sion of their priorities, such as
tion,” Biden said in a nationwide last item would make it easier liability protection for business-
President-elect Joe Biden
address Thursday. At the same for women to go back to work, es.
BY RICARDO ALONSO- those struggling with the pan- time, he acknowledged that his which in turn would help the “Remember that a bipar-
ZALDIVAR AND BILL BARROW demic’s prolonged economic plan “does not come cheaply.” economy recover. tisan $900 billion #COVID19
The Associated Press
fallout. Biden proposed $1,400 The political outlook for the relief bill became law just 18
Called the “American Res- checks for most Americans, legislation remained unclear. days ago,” tweeted Sen. John
W ILMING - which on top of $600 provided In a joint statement, House Cornyn, R-Texas. But Biden
TON, Del. — cue Plan,” the legislative pro-
in the most recent COVID-19 Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen- says that was only a down pay-
P resident- ele c t posal would meet Biden’s goal
bill would bring the total to the ate Democratic leader Chuck ment, and he promised more
Joe Biden has of administering 100 million $2,000 that Biden has called Schumer praised Biden for in- major legislation next month,
unveiled a $1.9 vaccines by the 100th day of his for. It would also extend a tem- cluding liberal priorities, say- focused on rebuilding the econ-
trillion coronavi- administration, and advance porary boost in unemployment ing they would move quickly to omy.
rus plan to end his objective of reopening most benefits and a moratorium pass it after Biden takes office “The crisis of deep human
“a crisis of deep schools by the spring. On a on evictions and foreclosures next Wednesday. But Demo- suffering is in plain sight, and
Biden parallel track, it delivers an-
human suffering” through September. crats have narrow margins in there’s not time to waste,”
by speeding up vaccines and other round of aid to stabilize And it shoehorns in long- both chambers of Congress, Biden said. “We have to act and
pumping out financial help to the economy while the public term Democratic policy aims and Republicans will push back we have to act now.”

COMMERCIAL DISPATCH
OBITUARY POLICY
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may wish to include, are avail-
able for a fee. Obituaries must
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tion, call 662-328-2471.
Lashala Coleman
COLUMBUS —
Lashala Renay Cole-
man, 30,
died Jan. 8,
2021, at her
residence.
Funeral
services
will be
at 1 p.m.
Sunday, at Coleman
The World
Church International,
with the Rev. Bobby
L. Sanders officiating.
Burial will follow at
Zion Hill M.B. Church
Cemetery. Visitation
will be from 2-6 p.m.
Saturday, at Carter’s Fu-
neral Services. Carter’s
Funeral Services of
Columbus is in charge
of arrangements.
Mrs. Coleman was
born Aug. 11, 1990, in
Columbus, to Shelia
Jefferson Parr and the
late Oscar Jefferson.
She was a graduate of
New Hope High School
and a member of Zion
Hill M.B. Church.
In addition to her
mother, she is survived
by her husband, Tom-
mie Carnell Coleman
Jr.; daughter, Carlee
Kay Coleman of Colum-
bus; and siblings, La-
quona Lee, Shawuana
Smith both of Marina,
California, Kenyon
Tuggle and Davinda N.
Tuggle both of Colum-
bus.
Bobbie Douglas
COLUMBUS — Bob-
bie Jean Douglas, 75,
died Jan. 6,
2021, at her
residence.
Grave-
side ser-
vices will
be at 11
a.m. Satur-
day, at Zion Douglas
Hill M.B.
Church, Hwy 69 South,
with Bobby Lee Sand-
ers officiating. Burial
will follow in the church
cemetery. Visitation is
from 2-6 p.m. today, at
AREA OBITUARIES
Carter’s Funeral Ser- Brenda Banks-Rice
vices Chapel. Carter’s
COLUMBUS —
Funeral Services of Brenda Banks-Rice, 63,
Columbus is in charge died Jan. 5,
of arrangements. 2021, at her
Mrs. Douglas was residence.
born Dec. 11, 1945, in Grave-
Brooksville, to the late side ser-
Albert Porter and Annie vices will
Jane Porter. She was be at 2 p.m.
formerly employed as a Saturday,
greeter with Wal-Mart at Stallion Banks-Rice
and a member of Zion Cemetery
Hill M.B. Church. of Columbus, with the
In addition to her
Rev. Gilbert Anderson
parents, she was pre- officiating. Visitation is
ceded in death by her from 2-6 p.m. today, at
son, James Douglas Jr. Carter’s Funeral Ser-
She is survived by vices Chapel. Carter’s
her children, Rosie M. Funeral Services of
Porter, Tyrone A. Por- Columbus is in charge
ter, James D. Douglas of arrangements.
and Marcus D. Douglas Mrs. Banks-Rice was
all of Columbus; sib- born Oct. 24, 1957, in
lings, Hattie Tate, Doro- Columbus, to the late
thy Lyons, Jimmy Lyons John Banks and Lillie
all of Columbus, Janice Seal Neal. She was a
Sherrod of Bridgeport,
member of Providence
Connecticut, James M.B. Church.
Porter and Willie Porter In addition to her par-
both of Detroit, Michi- ents, she was preceded
gan; 22 grandchildren; in death by her hus-
and six great-grandchil- band, Eddie Rice; son,
dren. Tyrone Banks; brother,
Hunter Gregory; and
Annie Cunningham one grandchild.
HAMILTON — An- She is survived by
nie Queen Cunning- her children, Charles
ham, 83, Banks, Twanda Banks,
died Jan. 9, Sabrina Banks all of Co-
2021, at her lumbus, Matthew Banks
residence. and Melody Goins both
Grave- of Tupelo; siblings, Isola
side ser- Gregory of St. Louis,
vices will Missouri, Berenice
be at 1 p.m. Forte and Henry Neal
Sunday, at Cunningham both of Columbus; and
Memorial five grandchildren.
Gardens, with Will Da-
vid Hill Jr. officiating. Nan Nance
Visitation will be from COLUMBUS — Nan
noon-5 p.m. Saturday, Geneva Nance, 78,
at Carter’s Funeral Ser- died Jan.
vices. Carter’s Funeral 7, 2021,
Services of Columbus at Baptist
is in charge of arrange- Memorial
ments. Hospi-
Mrs. Cunningham tal-Golden
was born Sept. 14, 1937, Triangle.
in Lowndes County, to Grave-
the late Jessie Glenn side ser- Nance
and Oasie Will Glenn. vices will
She was a graduate of be at 11 a.m. Saturday,
R.E. Hunt High School at Brick M.B. Church
She was formerly em-
Cemetery, with the Rev.
ployed as a cook with Everette Little officiat-
New Hope School and ing. Visitation is from
was a member of Clai- 2-6 p.m. today, at Car-
borne C.M.E. Church. ter’s Funeral Services
In addition to her Chapel. Carter’s Funer-
parents, she was al Services of Columbus
preceded in death by is in charge of arrange-
her husband, Clayton ments.
James Cunningham; Mrs. Nance was born
and siblings, Frank J.
July 24, 1942, in Aber-
Glenn and Mary Ann deen, to the late Walter
Vaughn Hudgins. Dumas Sr. and Lucille
She is survived by Wilson Dumas. She was
her children, Lisa Dix- formerly employed as
on of Hamilton, Cynthia a cook with Tenn-Tom
Jordan, Rita Brown, Catfish House and was
Tonija Cunningham, a member of Brick M.B.
David Cunningham all Church.
of Columbus, Dennis In addition to her par-
Cunningham of Madi- ents, she was preceded
son and Jamarkus Kea- in death by her hus-
ton of Atlanta, Georgia; band, Willie Nance; son,
brother, Barma “Ricky” Willie Lee Thompson
Glenn of Columbus; Jr.; and siblings, Walter
nine grandchildren; and Dumas Jr., D.L. Dumas,
two great-grandchil- Curtis Dumas, Arlanda
dren. Dumas, Jimmy Lee
Pallbearers will be Dumas, Bernice Rice,
Danny Cunningham, and Leon Dumas.
Bernard Cunningham, She is survived by
Kevin Cunningham, her children, Lorenza
Billy Cunningham, Dukes, Ronald Dukes,
Shawn Jordan, Marlon Denise Deloach all of
Jordan, Oswalt Ste- Columbus, Angela Pugh
phenson and Chauncey of Tupelo and Bobby D.
Walton. Dukes of Wylie, Texas;
siblings, Lenora John-
son, Ozzie Rhone, Daisy
Thomas and Booker T.
Dumas all of Columbus;
14 grandchildren; and
15 great-grandchildren.
Otha Shurden
STARKVILLE —
Otha Lee “Buddy”
Shurden, 77, died Jan.
13, 2021, at North MS
Medical Center of
Tupelo.
Funeral services
will be at 10:30 a.m.
Saturday, at Life
Church GTR, with Jody
Andrews officiating.
Burial will follow at
Greenwood Cemetery
in West Point. Visitation
will be from 10-10:30
a.m. prior to services
Saturday, at the church.
Welch Funeral Home of
Starkville is in charge of
arrangements.
Mr. Shurden was
born Dec. 15, 1943, in
Starkville, to the late
Emory Otha and Homa
Lee Phillips Shurden.
He was a graduate of
West Point High School
and Mississippi State
University. He was a
veteran of the Missis-
sippi Army National
Guard. He was formerly
employed as a teacher
and coach with Shivers
Middle School and in
sales and construction.
In addition to his
parents, he was pre-
ceded in death by his
daughter, Kimberly
Carol Shurden; sib-
lings, Michael Shurden,
David Artz
Graveside Services:
Saturday, Jan. 16 • 11 AM
Friendship Cemetery
Burial
Friendship Cemetery
2nd Ave. N. Location
Ivan Delgado
Celebration of Life Service
Held At A Later Date
College St. Location
Bobby Garner
Graveside Services:
Saturday, Jan. 23 • 11 AM
Friendship Cemetery
Burial
Friendship Cemetery
2nd Ave. N. Location
Nina Southerland
Incomplete
2nd Ave. N. Location
Theron McGee
Visitation:
Friday, Jan. 15 • 4-6 PM
2nd Ave. N. Location
Services:
Saturday, Jan. 16 • 1 PM
Beersheba Cemetery
Burial
Beersheba Cemetery
2nd Ave. N. Location
Ann Allen
Incomplete
College St. Location
memorialgunterpeel.com
James Kelly Shurden died Jan. 7,
and Lou Savage. 2021.
He is survived by his Services
children, Andy Shurden will be
of Starkville, Chris at 1 p.m.
Shurden of Nashville, Sunday, at
Tennessee, Lynn Durr Lee-Sykes
of Starkville, Brandi Funeral Petty
Blessike of Eupora and Home
Brad Carson of Forest; Chapel. Visitation will
siblings, Sandra Savage be from noon-5 p.m.
of Southaven, Linda Saturday, at the funeral
Hammond of Baton home. Lee-Sykes Funer-
Rouge, Louisiana, Vicki al Home of Columbus
Hill of New Hope and is in charge of arrange-
Lisa Shurden of Mem- ments.
phis, Tennessee; 20 Mr. Petty was
grandchildren; and six born July 21, 1998, to
great-grandchildren. Shavonne Denise Petty
Pallbearers will be and Tony Hampton. He
Andy Shurden, Chris was formerly employed
Shurden, Brad Carson, as an assembly line
Ben Shurden, Hunt- worker with Kia Auto-
er Carson, Dale Hill, sport.
William Durr and Barry In addition to his
Blessike. parents, he is survived
Memorials may be by his siblings, Jada
made to The Cross of Hampton, Taylor Neil,
Christ For Starkville,
Demarvion Hampton
P.O. Box 2123,
all of Columbus, Tonii
Starkville, MS, 39760. Hampton, T’nila Hamp-
ton of St. Louis, Missou-
Byron Petty ri and Tony Hampton Jr.
COLUMBUS — By- of Columbus, Georgia.
ron De’Juan Petty, 22, See OBITUARIES, 7A
Theron McGee
Theron Allen McGee, age 84, of Columbus,
MS, passed away January 13, 2021, at Baptist
Memorial Hospital.
Graveside services will be Saturday, January
16, 2021, at 1:00 PM at Beersheba Cemetery with
Rev. Roy Hawkins officiating. Visitation will be
Friday, January 15, 2021, from 4:00 PM until 6:00
PM at Memorial Gunter Peel Funeral Home &
Crematory 716 2nd Ave. North location.
Mr. McGee was born December 20, 1936,
in Vernon, AL, to the late Allen and Ola Mae
McGee. He was a graduate of Lee High School
and worked as an electrician at MUW for 30
years. Mr. McGee attended Calvary Baptist
Church.
Survivors include his wife, Audie Price
McGee of Columbus, MS; son, Wesley McGee
of Columbus, MS; daughters, Kay McGee of
Columbus, MS and Audie McGee Dauber and
her husband Jordan of Columbus, MS; brother,
Myron McGee and his wife Pat of Columbus,
MS; and numerous grandchildren and great-
grandchildren.
Pallbearers will be family and friends.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made
to Calvary Baptist Church, 295 Dowdle Dr.,
Columbus, MS, 39702.
Sign the online guest book at
www.memorialgunterpeel.com
716 Second Avenue North • Columbus, MS
6A FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Calls to reopen classrooms grow as teachers get vaccinated

‘We will not be funding empty seats or allowing
schools to remain in a perpetual state of closure.
Children still need to learn, even in a pandemic.’
BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST, TERRY
TANG AND ALLEN G. BREED
The Associated Press
State leaders around the U.S.
are increasingly pushing for
schools to reopen this winter
— pressuring them, even — as
teachers begin to gain access to
the vaccine against the raging
pandemic.
Ohio’s governor offered to
give vaccinations to teachers at
the start of February, provided
their school districts agree to
resume at least some in-person
instruction by March 1. In Ar-
izona, where teachers began
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey
receiving shots this week, the
governor warned schools that
he expects students back in the
classroom despite objections
from top education officials and
the highest COVID-19 diagnosis
rate in the nation over the past
week.
“We will not be funding emp-
ty seats or allowing schools to
remain in a perpetual state of
closure,” said Republican Gov.
Doug Ducey. “Children still
need to learn, even in a pandem-
ic.”
Leaders of Arizona’s major
hospitals disagreed with the gov-
ernor’s position, noting at a news
conference Wednesday that the
state is teetering on the brink of
having to ration life-saving care.
“We understand that learn-
ing and bringing our children
together is very important,” said
Dr. Michael White of Valley-
wise Health. “But at this time
with uncontrolled spread of the
virus, we need to do things that
we know will reduce the chance
that the virus will spread and
that is not gathering with people
we don’t live with.”
The U.S. recorded an all-
time, one-day high of 4,327
deaths on Tuesday, according to
Johns Hopkins University. The
nation’s overall death toll from
COVID-19 has topped 380,000,
closing in fast on the number of
Americans killed in World War
II. Confirmed infections have
reached about 23 million.
President-elect Joe Biden
initially pledged to reopen a ma-
jority of the nation’s schools in
his first 100 days but recently
revised the goal to most of the
country’s K-8 schools. He has
said teachers should be eligible
for vaccinations as soon as pos-
sible after those who are at high-
est risk.
Some states aren’t waiting,
but the process can be scatter-
shot.
Meika Mark, a ninth-grade
English teacher in Orange
County, New York, got vaccinat-
ed Tuesday at a hospital, using a
link a friend texted her.
“It’s just word of mouth:
‘Here’s a link and hopefully you
get a slot,’” said Mark, who con-
tracted the virus in March and
spent the rest of the school year
teaching remotely. “I know of a
woman who had her husband sit
in front of a computer literally
all day and just click the refresh
button until an appointment
came up.”
Mark, 34, is now doing some
in-person teaching and is grate-
ful for the added layer of protec-
tion.
High school band director
Michael Crookston was among
the first teachers to get a vacci-
nation in Utah, which is among
the earliest states to give prior-
ity to educators. Crookston has
been in the classroom since the
new school year began, despite
having diabetes, which puts him
at greater risk from the corona-
virus.
“It’s been a thing I’ve been
looking forward to, a little bit
like Christmas,” said Crook-
ston, who teaches at Davis High
School, north of Salt Lake City.

SOCSD
Continued from Page 1A
Peasant also told board
members that the district ex-
pects to receive more Elemen-
tary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief (ESSER)
federal funds, which will be
distributed through the state,
“pretty soon.”
“They’re basically put in
place to address facility needs
and other academic needs that
will work toward getting our
students back in school, ba-
sically,” he said. “... Probably
the top thing on most school
districts’ list, unless they have
brand new buildings across
their district, will be looking at Isabelle Altman/Dispatch Staff
Isabelle Altman/Dispatch Staff
HVAC units and improving the Starkville High School teacher Janna Paes, third from left, who
Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District’s Employees of
air quality in schools. That’s the Year pose for a photo at the Greensboro Center after being was named Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District
probably one of the things on recognized at the school board meeting Thursday night. From left teacher of the year, stands with school board members for a photo
the top of our lists as far as to right: Sudduth Elementary Principal Morgan Abraham, admin- during her recognition at the board’s Thursday night meeting at
those funds.” istrator of the year; West Elementary School teacher Kathryn the Greensboro Center in Starkville. From left are board members
Wesley Gordon, Sumner Davis, Board President Debra Prince,
However, board president Knippers, new teacher of the year; Starkville High School teacher
Janna Paes, teacher of the year; SHS administrative assistant Jamila Taylor and John Brown.
Debra Prince
questioned using Kelly Smith, non-certified personnel of the year; and Starkville
High School Assistant Principal Darein Spann, certified personnel approved a terms and condi- tive procedures that will allow
those funds pri- tions agreement for the district employees to take an addition-
of the year. Also recognized were Curriculum Technology Special-
marily for HVAC ist Rebecca MeCaskey, certified personnel of the year, and Angie to receive $100,000 in grant al 10 days of paid time off due
and other facili- Forrester, parent of the year. funding from the Governor’s to COVID-19 quarantining
ty needs rather Emergency Education Relief through March 31. Only em-
than academic and-mortar facility needs, ing the facilities ready for all (GEER) Fund, which will pay ployees who did not take advan-
needs, since ES- right? students to return to in-person for audio enhanced classrooms. tage of the extended two weeks’
SER funds can Prince “Think about using money learning will be a major priority Peasant told The Dispatch in- paid time off under the CARES
also be used to address “learn- to address some of the learn- for the funds. stalling new audio equipment (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
ing loss,” according to the fed- ing loss of individual students, “We have some … HVAC in the classrooms will help stu- Economic Security) Act last
eral regulations. supplemental services to may- (and) communication facility dents learning virtually hear year will be eligible to take that
“There are a lot of things you be help recoup some of what’s issues that can be addressed their teachers better, even time, Assistant Superintendent
can do to address learning loss been lost,” she added. and improve our ability to get when the teachers are moving Anna Guntharp said.
going back to schools, right?” Peasant said while the dis- more of our students back in,” around the classroom. Finally, Peasant recognized
she said. “We’re not going to trict likely wouldn’t use all the he said. The board also approved an the district’s employees of the
take up all our money in brick- money on facility needs, mak- In other business, the board amendment to the administra- year at the meeting.

Mississippi Lottery leader:

Don’t fall victim to scams
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSON — The pres-
ident of the Mississippi
Lottery Corporation is
warning people not to fall
victim to scams.
Tom Shaheen said in a
news release Wednesday
that fake communications
about lottery winnings
are common.
“We were informed
today of a scam going
around where Mississip-
pians have received tele-
phone calls regarding a
second chance at winning
the Mega Millions jack-
pot,” Shaheen said. “If you
should receive such a call,
you should immediately
hang up. In addition, if
you receive this informa-
tion by email, text, social
media message or any
other method of commu-
nication, do not respond.
This is a scam.”
The news release said
that the Mississippi Lot-
tery does not contact
winners because the cor-
poration does not know
a winner’s identity until
that person claims a prize.
For Powerball and oth-
er online games, the lot-
tery knows the winning
numbers and where the
ticket was sold. The win-
ner must keep the ticket
and confirm the numbers
on it. If nobody comes for-
ward with winning num-
bers, no one claims the
prize.
The news release also
said a legitimate lottery
never asks winners to pay
taxes upfront. All federal
and state taxes are paid
before the lottery releases
money to a winner.

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of our customers
receive their paper on time.
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The Dispatch

Obituaries
Continued from Page 5A
Tammy White
WEST POINT —
Tammy Jo Ott White,
57, died Jan. 12, 2021, at
Baptist Memorial Hos-
pital-Golden Triangle.
A private, family
memorial service
will be held at a later
date. Calvert Funeral
Home of West Point is
in charge of arrange-
ments.
Mrs. White was born
April 15, 1963, in West
Point, to Gwendolyn
Golson and the late
Artie Dee Ott. She was
formerly employed as
head of housekeeping
with Mossy Oak Golf
Club.
In addition to her
mother, she is survived
by her children, Ashley
Rambo of Inverness and
Brooke White of West
Point; siblings, Terry
Ott of Fulton and Greg
Ott of Mooreville; and
three grandchildren.
Memorials may be
made to Cedar Bluff
Cumberland Presby-
terian Cemetery Anna
Sims, 703 Henryville
Road, Cedar Bluff, MS,
39741.
Abraham Shelton
LOWNDES COUN-
TY — Abraham Lincoln
Shelton,
78, passed
away.
Grave-
side ser-
vices will
be at 2 p.m.
Saturday, at
Sturdivant Shelton
Cemetery.
Visitation is from 2-5
p.m. today, at Lee-Sykes
Chapel. Lee-Sykes
Funeral Home of Co-
lumbus is in charge of
arrangements.
Mr. Shelton was born
May 25, 1942, in Lown-
des County, to the late
Frank and Willie Mae
Curry Shelton. He was
a member of All Nations
Ministries.
In addition to his par-
ents, he was preceded
in death by his siblings,
Willie L Shelton, Fred
Shelton, Marie Shel-
ton-Godfrey, Elnora
Johnson and Ann Shel-
ton-McKinley.
He is survived by
his wife Susie Shelton;
children, Tracy, An-
gela, Michael, Tina,
Lamorris, Stephen and
Christopher; and 11
grandchildren.
George Miller Jr.
STARKVILLE —
George Donald Miller
Jr., 64, died Jan. 8, 2021.
A celebration of life
will be held at a later
date. Welch Funeral
Home of Starkville is
in charge of arrange-
ments.
Mr. Miller was born
to the late George D.
Miller Sr. and Elizabeth
Fancher McKenzie. He
was formerly employed
What should I know about
COVID vaccines if I’m pregnant?
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
What should I know
about COVID-19 vaccines
if I’m pregnant?
Vaccination is likely
the best way to prevent
COVID-19 in pregnancy,
when risks for severe ill-
ness and death from the vi-
rus are higher than usual.
The American College
of Obstetricians and Gyne-
cologists says COVID-19
vaccinations should not be
withheld from pregnant
women, and that women
should discuss individu-
al risks and benefits with
their health care provid-
ers.
The U.S. government’s
emergency authorization
for the Pfizer and Moderna
as a research associate
in the Department of
Sustainable Bioprod-
ucts at Mississippi State
University.
In addition to his
parents, he was preced-
ed in death by his sister,
Grace Marie Miller.
Memorials may
be made to the MSU
Foundation, (Vet Med
Shelter Medicine), P.O.
Box 6100, Mississippi
State, MS 39762 or
the Oktibbeha County
Humane Society (spec-
ify for their cats), 510
Industrial Park Road,
Starkville, MS 39769.
Donnie Clark
MACON — Donnie
Lamont Clark, 56, died
Jan. 9,
2021.
Grave-
side
services
will be at
3 p.m. Sat-
urday, at
New Hope
Clark
Cemetery.
Visitation is from 1-5
p.m. today, at Lee-Sykes
Chapel. Lee-Sykes Fu-
neral Home of Macon
is in charge of arrange-
ments.
Mr. Clark was born
April 1, 1964, in Chica-
go, Illinois, to Joe and
Aldean Mason Clark.
He attended school
in Chicago and was
a member of Orleans
M.B. Church.
In addition to his par-
ents, he is survived by
his step-father, Mervin
McKinney; children,
Darnell Clark, Devon-
tae Clark and Demar-
cus Clark; step-daugh-
ter, Tenekia Smith; and
brother, Damon Clark;
and step-brothers,
Mervin McKinney Jr.
and Steven McKinney.
Henry Moore
MACON — Henry
M. “Jack” Moore, 73,
passed
away.
Grave-
side ser-
vices will
be at 11
a.m. Satur-
day, at Ivy
Moore
Grove Bap-
tist Church
of Shuqualak, with Con-
stan Scott officiating.
Visitation is from 1-5
p.m. today, at Lee-Sykes
Funeral Chapel. Lee-
Sykes Funeral Home of
Macon is in charge of
arrangements.
Mr. Moore was
born Jan. 19, 1947, in
Shuqualak, to the late
M.C. and Johnnie B.
Moore. He attended
Shuqualak High School
#2. He was formerly em-
ployed with Delta Boral
Brick, Chno Marina
McDonalds, and Ma-
rine Barge Company.
He was a member of Ivy
Grove M.B. Church.
In addition to his
vaccines being rolled out
for priority groups doesn’t
list pregnancy as a reason
to withhold the shots.
But the OB-GYN group
says women should con-
sult their doctors, since
COVID-19 vaccines have
not yet been tested in preg-
nant women. Evidence
about safety and effective-
ness is reassuring from
studies that inadvertently
included some women
who didn’t know they were
pregnant when they en-
rolled.
More answers are ex-
pected from upcoming re-
search, including a study
by Pfizer and German
partner BioNTech expect-
ed to start early this year
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
parents, he was pre-
ceded in death by his
wife, Jacqueline Elaine
Moore; and siblings,
John M. Moore, Grady
T. Moore Sr., Battie B.
Moore Michelson and
L.C. Moore.
He is survived by
his children, Kendrick
Mistia Yoka and Lu-
Jack Matthew Moore;
siblings, Arlene Allen of
Shuqualak, Betty Faye
Mickey of New Orleans,
Louisiana, Howard
Moore of Jackson, Free-
man Moore of Bryam
and Shirley Moore
Blankley of Shuqualak.
Derek Bland
BROOKSVILLE —
Derek Devett Bland,
40, passed
away.
Grave-
side ser-
vices will
be at 1 p.m.
Sunday,
at Toliver
Chapel Bland
Church
Cemetery, with James
Rupert officiating.
There will be a family
only visitation. Lee-
Sykes Funeral Home of
Macon is in charge of
arrangements.
Mr. Bland was born
Oct. 25, 1980,in Brooks-
ville, to the late Annie
Bland Longstreet and
Henry Clyde Jackson.
He attended Noxubee
County High School
and was formerly
employed with Sanders
Plumber and JD&M
Enterprise. He was
a member of Toliver
Chapel M.B. Church.
He is survived by
his sister, Marie Long-
street.
Douglas Adams
COLUMBUS —
Douglas Adams, 72,
died Jan. 13, 2021.
Arrangements are
incomplete and will be
announced by Lee-
Sykes Funeral Home of
Columbus.
Ann Allen
COLUMBUS — Ann
Elizabeth Allen, 82,
died Jan. 14, 2021, at
Baptist Memorial Hos-
pital-Golden Triangle.
Arrangements are
incomplete and will be
announced by Memori-
al Gunter Peel Funeral
Home and Crematory,
College Street location.
Bobby Garner
COLUMBUS — Rob-
ert John “Bobby” Gar-
ner III, 75, died Jan. 12,
2021, at his residence.
Graveside services
will be at 11 a.m. Satur-
day, at Friendship Cem-
etery, with Jason Shelby
officiating. Memorial
Gunter Peel Funeral
Home and Crematory,
Second Avenue North
location is in charge of
arrangements. Mr. Gar-
that will include pregnant
women.
Experts say there’s no
reason to think the two
authorized vaccines would
harm fetuses. They might
even protect them from
developing COVID-19,
although that hasn’t yet
been proven, said Dr. De-
nise Jamieson, chair of gy-
necology and obstetrics at
Emory University School
of Medicine.
That thinking comes
in part from experience
with vaccines for influen-
za and whooping cough,
which are approved for use
in pregnancy and protect
newborns and their moth-
ers from developing those
diseases.
ner was born June 5, ceded in death by her
1945, in West Point, to son, Andrew Souther-
the late Robert Ivy Gar- land; and brother, Wade
ner and Frances School- Alexander.
ey Garner. He was a She is survived by
graduate of Mississippi her husband, Tommy
State University and Southerland; children,
was formerly employed Paul Southerland,
as a sales representa- Lynda Reich and Ruthie
tive with Jackson-New- Moss; siblings, Pen-
ell Paper Company. ny Cochran, Sharon
He attended St. Paul’s Alexander Langley
Episcopal Church. and Robert Alexander;
In addition to his seven grandchildren;
parents, he was pre- and seven great-grand-
ceded in death by his children.
sister, Frances Eugenia Memorials may be
Garner Knight; and one made to First Baptist
grandchild. Church, P.O. Box 829,
He is survived by Columbus, MS 39703.
his wife, Marilyn
Miller Garner; step-
Kathy Barnett
son, Gregory Puck-
MABEN — Kathy
ett; brother, Sterling
Anne Rush Barnett, 41,
Garner-Martinez; three
died Dec. 28, 2020, in
grandchildren; and four
Tupelo.
great-grandchildren.
Memorials may be Graveside services
will be at 11 a.m. Sat-
made to Oktibbeha
County Humane Soci- urday, at Chapel Hill
Cemetery of Starkville.
ety, 510 Industrial Park
Road, Starkville, MS Visitation is from
noon-6 p.m. today, at
39759.
West Memorial Funeral
Home. West Memo-
Nina Southerland rial Funeral Home of
COLUMBUS — Nina Starkville is in charge
Jean Southerland, 80, of arrangements.
died Jan. 12, 2021, at
She is survived by
Baptist Memorial Hos-
her husband, Chad
pital-Golden Triangle.
Byrd of Kenner, Loui-
Services will be
siana; children, LaMil-
announced at a later
dred Rush of Starkville,
date. Memorial Gunter
Jasmine Barnett of
Peel Funeral Home
and Crematory, Second Aberdeen, Victor
Avenue North location Barnett Jr. and Richard
is in charge of arrange- Jackson both of Craw-
ments. ford; mother, Dorothy
J. Rush; siblings, Bobby
Mrs. Southerland
was born March 14, Shed, Frank Rush Jr.,
Cornelius Rush all of
1939, in Columbus, to
the late Amos H. and Starkville, Willie Rush
of Brooksville, Lasonja
Ruth Alexander. She
was formerly employed Rush and Dometris Pre-
witt both of Maben; and
with Franklin School,
Angel Playland, Chil- seven grandchildren.
dren’s Country and Kid-
die Korner. She was a Jaderrian Bush
member of First Baptist STARKVILLE
Church. — Jaderrian Malik
In addition to her “Lucky” Bush, 22, died
parents, she was pre- Dec. 27, 2020.
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021 7A
Graveside services
will be at 2 p.m. Sun-
day, at St. Matthew
Cemetery of Artesia.
Visitation will be from
1-6 p.m. Saturday, at
West Memorial Funeral
Home. West Memo-
rial Funeral Home of
Starkville is in charge
of arrangements.
He is survived by his
mother, Tequila Bush
Henderson; father,
Michael Hamilton;
and siblings, Shanteria
Hamilton, Latesha El-
liott both of Starkville,
Mikayla Hamilton,
Deanna Hamilton,
Aniya Hamilton and
Michael Hamilton Jr. all
of Fort Worth, Texas.
Robert Herd
MABEN — Robert
Lee Herd, 86, died Jan.
7, 2021, in Eupora.
Graveside services
will be at 2 p.m. Satur-
day, at Spring Valley
Cemetery of Mathiston.
Visitation is from 2-6
p.m. today, at West Me-
morial Funeral Home.
West Memorial Funeral
Home of Starkville is
in charge of arrange-
ments.
He is survived by
his wife, Ella Herd;
children, Robert Herd
of Maben, Darren Herd
of Batesville and Sonja
Chambers of Memphis,
Tennessee; siblings,
Catherine Cooper
of Saginaw, Michi-
gan, Helen Cooper of
Starkville, Ola Mae
Bowdry of Grenada,
Josephine Kincaide of
Maben, Willie James
Herd of Saginaw, Michi-
gan, Eddie Rufus Heard
of Rockford, Illinois,
John Heard of Maben;
Tommie Heard of Mur-
freesbroro, Tennessee
and Jimmie Heard of
Saginaw, Michigan; and
five grandchildren.
8A FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

A THOUSAND WORDS

Isabelle Altman/Dispatch Staff

Danielle Davis helps her daughter Skylar Davis, 1, slide down the slide at Lee Park in North Columbus. She said
she likes taking her children to the park.

Hot again: 2020 sets yet another

global temperature record
“It’s like the film the planet to warm up.
And that’s precisely what
tie for hottest year, with
2016 warmer by an insig-
dard Institute for Space
Studies that tracks tem-
‘Groundhog Day.’ we’re seeing.”
Scientists said all you
nificant fraction. Japan’s
weather agency put 2020
peratures. “We’re in a po-
sition where we’re push-
Another year, same had to do was look outside:
“We saw the heat waves.
as warmer than 2016, but
a separate calculation by
ing the climate system
out of the bounds that it’s
story — record We saw the fires. We saw Japanese scientists put been in for tens of thou-
the (melting) Arctic,” 2020 as a close third be- sands of years, if not mil-
global warmth.” said NASA top climate hind 2016 and 2019. The lions of years.”
Pennsylvania State scientist Gavin Schmidt. World Meteorological All the monitoring
University climate “We’re expecting it to get Organization, the Brit- agencies agree the six
scientist Michael Mann hotter and that’s exactly ish weather agency and warmest years on record
what happened.” Berkeley Earth’s monitor-
have been the six years
BY SETH BORENSTEIN NOAA said 2020 av- ing team had 2016 ahead.
since 2015.
AP Science Writer eraged 58.77 degrees, a First or second rank-
few hundredths of a de- ings really don’t matter,
Earth’s rising fever hit gree behind 2016. NASA “but the key thing to take
or neared record hot tem- saw 2020 as warmer than away is that the long-term
perature levels in 2020, 2016 but so close they are trends in temperature are
global weather groups re- essentially tied. The Eu- very very clearly up and
ported Thursday. ropean Copernicus group up and up,” said Schmidt,
While NASA and a also called it an essential who heads NASA’s God-
couple of other measure-
ment groups said 2020
passed or essentially tied
2016 as the hottest year
on record, more agencies,
including the National
Oceanic Atmospheric
Administration, said last
year came in a close sec-
ond or third. The differ-
ences in rankings mostly
turned on how scientists
accounted for data gaps in
the Arctic, which is warm-
ing faster than the rest of
the globe.
“It’s like the film
‘Groundhog Day.’ Anoth-
er year, same story —
record global warmth,”
said Pennsylvania State
University climate scien-
tist Michael Mann, who
wasn’t part of the mea-
surement teams. “As we
continue to generate car-
bon pollution, we expect
Sports
PREP SOCCER
SPORTS LINE
662-241-5000
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021
B
SECTION

Johnasia O’Neal nets seven goals as Columbus girls soccer routs West Point
BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com
WEST POINT —
Johnasia O’Neal wanted
one more goal.
The Columbus High
School girls soccer team
had just taken a 7-0 lead
into halftime of Thurs-
day’s district match at
West Point, so the soph-
omore forward and the
Falcons weren’t exactly
dying to score again.
Still, O’Neal — who al-
ready had a whopping
six goals in the first half
— hoped for one more
shot.
Just over 10 minutes
into the second half, she
got it.
O’Neal beat the (0 -5) — with one match
Green Wave goalkeeper remaining.
one final time to extend “It meant a great
her career night, end the deal,” Falcons coach Ka-
match via the eight-goal tie Brown said. “All sea-
mercy rule and reach an son, that’s been us on
additional aspiration: the other side of that, so
posting a scoring tally it’s a great morale boost
equal to the No. 7 on her for them, especially at
white road jersey. the end of the season, to
“I was just proud of get a good game in and
myself,” O’Neal said. some good passes.”
“I came out here, and I Nearly all those pass-
gave it my best — made es ended up on the deft
my team happy, made foot of O’Neal, who be-
myself proud.” came the first player to
She and the Falcons put seven on the score-
had plenty to write board at McCallister
home about in Thurs- Field since the Green
day’s 8-0 district win, Wave football team Theo DeRosa/Dispatch Staff
Columbus’ second victo- wrapped up its season Columbus High School sophomore Johnasia O’Neal (7) outstrips the West Point
ry of the season — both two months earlier. goalkeeper for her third goal of the first half Thursday in West Point. O’Neal finished
against the Green Wave See PREP, 3B with seven goals in the Falcons’ 8-0 win.

Urban Hire: Alabama 86, Mississippi State 78

Meyer returns
to sidelines
with NFL’s
No. 14 Mississippi State blows 12-point
Jaguars
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
first half lead in loss to Alabama
JACK SON V I L L E ,
Fla. — Urban Meyer
has won everywhere
he’s coached. Small
colleges. Big-time pro-
grams. He’s been a dif-
ference maker at each
stop during his storied
career.
He’s ready to try
something new: the
NFL.
Meyer agreed to be-
come head coach of the
Jacksonville Jaguars on
Thursday, leaving the
broadcast booth and
returning to the side-
lines after a two-year
absence that followed
another health scare.
The 56 -year-old
Meyer was team owner
Shad Khan’s top tar-
get for weeks, maybe
even months, and the
deal was signed shortly
after their third and final
meeting in seven days.
See MEYER, 3B

Jones among
4 Alabama Myah Taylor finished Thursday’s loss to Alabama with 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting in Mississippi State’s 86-78 loss Thursday.
Mississippi State athletics

underclassmen
declaring for
NFL draft
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Four stars from Ala-
bama’s national champi-
onship team, including
Heisman Trophy final-
ist quarterback Mac
Jones, are leaving early
to enter the NFL draft.
Jones, wide receiver
Jaylen Waddle, corner-
back Patrick Surtain
II and defensive line-
man Christian Bar-
more announced their
intentions to leave on
Thursday — all are con-
sidered potential first-
round picks.
Jones arrived as a
skinny recruit along
with much more her-
alded prospect Tua Ta-
govailoa, a No. 5 over-
all pick by the Miami
Dolphins last season.
Both played behind
young quarterback Ja-
len Hurts, now with the
Philadelphia Eagles.
“It’s just been a great
journey,” said Jones,
who finished third in
the Heisman voting.
There also are sev-
See ALABAMA, 3B
BY BEN PORTNOY
bportnoy@cdispatch.com
STARKVILLE — Just three
days removed from a snowy
sprinkling in Starkville, Missis-
sippi State went ice cold from the
field in Thursday’s second half
as the Bulldogs (8-3, 3-2 SEC)
dropped their second game in as
many years against Alabama (11-
1, 4-1 SEC) 86-78.
Nursing a 12-point sec-
ond-quarter lead, the Bulldogs’
offense fell deafeningly silent
despite a relatively raucous, al-
beit limited, crowd. Having been
torched by No. 12 Kentucky
from the 3-point line two weeks
ago, it was Alabama’s net-melt-
ing display from the outside that
sank MSU for its third loss of the
young season.
“It shouldn’t take losing to
get our attention,” junior guard
Myah Taylor said. “But we did
lose, so we have to go back and
see what we did wrong, what we
didn’t do and just grow from it.”
Having inherited a team that
ranked in the top 10 among
most major polls heading into
the 2020-21 season, Nikki Mc-
Cray-Penson suffered another
early setback in her opening cam-
paign in Starkville. Following a
coach in Vic Schaefer who took
the program to unprecedented
heights, expectations have re-
mained, fairly or unfairly, sky
high. With losses to Kentucky,
No. 16 South Florida and, now,
Alabama, critics have crawled
out of the woodwork to critique
the earliest days of MSU’s most
recent head coaching hire.
But for McCray-Penson, the
2020-21 remains a balancing act,
drawing on positives and taking
a team loaded with talent and
adjusting it to the ebbs and flows
of a new coaching staff and a sea-
son being played under unprece-
dented conditions.
Take Thursday’s start, for ex-
ample. Having slogged through
the early minutes game after
game this winter, the Bulldogs
played inspired basketball for
much of the first half and, more
specifically, the first quarter.
Shooting a combined 69.2 per-
cent from the floor over the
games opening 10 minutes,
MSU hit 8 of its first 10 shots on
the night courtesy of a new look
starting lineup in which guards
Aliyah Matharu and Madison
Hayes in place of Rickea Jackson
and JaMya Mingo-Young.
For Hayes, Thursday proved a
coming out party of sorts in her
budding Bulldog career. A gritty
defender and rugged rebound-
er through the early part of this
season, she flashed an ability to
beat defenders off the bounce
and fight through contact in and
around the rim as she notched
six first-half points in a balanced
Bulldogs scoring attack over the
first two quarters.
Jackson, too, looked momen-
tarily reinvigorated after she was
demoted to bench duty. Within
the first 45 seconds of the second
quarter, she beat her defender for
a slippery layup before banging
home a 3-pointer from the right
wing on the ensuing MSU pos-
session. Jackson knocked down
her first four shots of the night as
she notched nine points in just 13
first-half minutes played.
But as the game wore on and
the Bulldogs’ defense soured
against a dynamic Alabama at-
tack, Jackson’s offensive flow fal-
tered. She scored just six points
over the game’s final 20 minutes,
committed two turnovers and
finished the second half with a
-17 plus-minus rating.
“When Rickea has energy on
both ends of the floor, we’re a
different team,” McCray-Penson
said postgame. “But again, for 40
minutes, we didn’t lock into the
game plan, and it hurt us.”
For Alabama head coach
Kristy Curry, there’s a familiar-
ity with McCray-Penson’s posi-
tion. In 1999, Curry inherited a
Purdue team that Carolyn Peck
led to a national title the year be-
fore. Speaking with the media
following the Crimson Tide’s
victory, Curry was queried on
how she dealt with inheriting a
squad with absurd expectations
and what advice she might offer
McCray-Penson.
“I think you have to be you
and I have no doubt she’s doing
that,” she explained. “Obviously
they lost a couple of key figures
from a year ago, and I think
some of those kids are still try-
ing to fit into their roles. Nikki’s
going to do a great job, and she
just needs to be herself, and
that’s all she can control. Her
energy and effort is incredible,
and she’s poised to continue to
do great things.”
On a night in which MSU
donned warmup shirts with an
old photo of McCray-Penson
and legendary Tennessee head
coach Pat Summitt in honor of
the late hall of famer, the loss
was a reminder of the difficulties
of finding success and, perhaps,
a further indicator of how im-
pressive Summitt’s decades of
dominance were.
In reality, the Bulldogs have
dropped two games to ranked
opponents and a third to an Ala-
bama team that received votes in
last week’s Associated Press Top
25. But for McCray-Penson and
her squad, night’s like Thursday
are, in their view, unacceptable
under any circumstances. For
the Bulldogs, games like the Al-
abama loss can’t happen should
they hope to return to women’s
college basketball’s mountaintop.
“I think the biggest thing that
I told them is that we can’t lose
games like this,” McCray-Penson
said. “Not when the game’s in
control.”
2B FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021
Bucs, Browns, Bills out to follow footsteps of champ Chiefs
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Aside from winning
the final Super Bowl be-
fore the merger in 1970,
the Kansas City Chiefs’
biggest claim to fame for
over half a century was
team founder Lamar Hunt
coining the phrase Super
Bowl.
Patrick Mahomes
changed all of that a year
ago when he led a furious
fourth-quarter rally that
sent the Chiefs to a 31-20
win over San Francisco in
Super Bowl 54.
Now, there are Ma-
homes murals all over
town, the city’s famous
restaurants run specials
in his honor and he even
has a cereal named after
him.
The Chiefs (14-2)
are again a top seed and
they’re one win away
from becoming the first
team ever to host three
consecutive AFC cham-
pionships. The only NFC
team to do that was the
Philadelphia Eagles from
2002-04 when Andy Reid
was their coach.
Even after an excru-
ciatingly long wait, a
franchise’s fortunes can
change quickly.
Three long-downtrod-
den teams — the Browns,
Bills and Buccaneers —
have made it to the divi-
sional round this week-
Leonard Fournette grateful for second chance with Buccaneers
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TAMPA, Fla. — When
Leonard Fournette sud-
denly found himself out
of work, one of the first
people who reached out
to the former Jacksonville
Jaguars running back was
Tom Brady.
The six-time Super
Bowl-winning quarter-
back thought he’d be a
nice addition to a talent-
ed group of playmakers
being assembled around
him in Tampa Bay. So, he
encouraged the fourth-
year pro to consider join-
ing the Buccaneers.
“I knew I could come
in and help the team out,”
Fournette said, reflecting
on his surprise release
by the Jaguars in early
September and getting
an opportunity to restart
his career with a team
with championship aspi-
rations.
Four months later, he
has no regrets.
The Bucs (12-5) are
preparing for an NFC di-
visional playoff matchup
against the New Orleans
Saints, and the fourth
overall pick from the 2017
draft has embraced a
supporting role in Tampa
Bay’s offense after being
a featured back in Jack-
sonville.
“Tom hit me like,
‘Man, I would love for you
to come help us out.’ First
thing, who wouldn’t want
to play with Tom? Now
that I’m here, I’ve just
Niemann finishes with eagle and shares the lead at Sony Open
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONOLULU — Joa-
quin Niemann had no re-
grets about the 18th hole at
the Sony Open.
Four days after a pair
of pars on the final hole
at Kapalua led to a playoff
loss, Niemann holed a 50-
foot chip for eagle on the
18th hole Thursday for an
8-under 62 and a share of
the lead with Jason Kokrak
and Peter Malnati.
“It was a good way to fin-
ish,” Niemann said. “Spent
a few days thinking about
that last hole, but taking
all the positives from the
week and pull it out for this
week.”
They weren’t easy days
for Niemann. The 22-year-
old from Chile is still too
young to have experienced
the inevitable losses that
pile up in this sport. He
played Sunday at Kapalua
with Sergio Garcia, who
has experienced plenty of
end and are certain they
have as good a chance
as the Chiefs, Packers,
Saints, Ravens or Rams of
winning Super Bowl 55.
BRASH BROWNS
In Cleveland, a strange
season has turned surre-
al.
The Browns are play-
ing football in January —
not searching for a coach
or general manager or
trying to figure out what
to do with one of their
high draft picks.
After a nearly two-de-
cade crawl, the Browns
(12-5) are among the
NFL’s elite, one of eight
teams remaining with
a shot at winning it all.
That’s heady stuff for a
franchise that has never
made it to the Super Bowl.
Yet, under first-year
coach Kevin Stefanki’s
steady hand, the Browns
have steered around one
obstacle after the next
and have taken off on a
run few imagined.
They won 11 games to
make the playoffs for the
first time since the 2002
season. Then, with Ste-
fanski unable to make the
trip after he tested pos-
itive for COVID-19 and
missing two other key
players and four assistant
coaches, the Browns won
their first playoff game in
surrounded myself with
a great group of people,”
the 25-year-old running
back said.
“I could have gone an-
other route ... but I felt
like it was the perfect de-
cision for myself,” Four-
nette added. “It’s going
very well right now, to be
honest.”
A two-time 1,000-yard
rusher, Fournette was a
versatile every-down back
who gradually fell out of
favor in Jacksonville after
helping the Jaguars reach
the AFC championship
game as a rookie.
Despite rushing for
1,152 yards and catch-
ing 76 passes for anoth-
er 522 yards in 2019, the
Jaguars parted ways with
him last summer after at-
tempts to trade the 6-foot,
228-pound running back
failed.
The Bucs welcomed
his arrival, even though
they had already ad-
dressed the need for
depth behind starter
Ronald Jones by drafting
Ke’Shawn Vaughn in the
third round and signing
former Pro Bowl running
back LeSean McCoy in
August.
“Incredible talent. You
don’t see backs that big
be able to move that quick
and be able to get in and
out of breaks, to be able
to accelerate the way he
does,” Saints linebacker
Demario Davis said.
“They feel comfortable
being able to use him in
failure, and who told him to
think about what all went
right.
So much did on a breezy
afternoon at Waialae on a
course with dry fairways
and smooth greens and
low scoring. Niemann’s
only bogey was when he
fell asleep on a 25-foot bird-
ie putt above the hole at No.
12, ran it 10 feet by the hole
and three-putted. The fin-
ish was exquisite.
Kokrak played bo-
gey-free, and he was as
pleased with a 15-foot par
putt on No. 1 — his 10th
hole of the round — than
any of his nine birdies. He
had a 25-foot eagle putt for
61 on his closing hole that
narrowly missed.
Malnati was the only
one at 62 who played in the
morning, though condi-
tions were similar for much
of the day.
The group at 64 includ-
ed Daniel Berger, among
the 31 players in the Sentry
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
26 years last Sunday by
stunning the rival Pitts-
burgh Steelers at Heinz
Field, where so many
Cleveland seasons had
died previously.
They did it with Ste-
fanski in his basement
back home, and they fin-
ished off their first playoff
road win since 1969 with
a left guard who intro-
duced himself to quar-
terback Baker Mayfield
in the locker room before
kickoff.
Stefanski took part in
the postgame celebration
on FaceTime in a scene
that seems oddly perfect
in a pandemic season of
Zoom calls, protocols and
social distancing.
The Browns’ success
has provided a needed lift
for a football-crazed re-
gion that’s known mostly
losing during an expan-
sion era with few high-
lights.
Stefanski can sense
Cleveland’s passion.
“I have done a lot of
driving around town the
last few days just because
I have to get out of here,”
he said, speaking on a
conference call from his
basement. “Just to see all
of the Browns flags and
seeing everybody wear-
ing the Browns hats, I
definitely feel it. I think
our players understand
the run game and in the
pass game,” Davis added.
“He’s a complete back.
And so, they definitely got
a good one when they got
him.”
The move has paid off,
with the native of New Or-
leans who also starred at
LSU rushing for 367 yards
and six touchdowns and
finishing with 36 recep-
tions for 233 yards while
sharing playing time with
Jones during the regular
season.
And although it took
some time to adjust to
his limited role, Four-
nette concedes the lighter
workload kept him fresh
for the playoffs.
Filling in for Jones,
who sat out last week’s
wild-card victory over
Washington with a quad
injury, Fournette rushed
for 93 yards and a touch-
down. He also had four
receptions to 39 yards.
“I thought Leonard
played his best game,”
since joining the Bucs,
coach Bruce Arians said.
Another high-profile
addition getting a second
chance with Tampa Bay,
receiver Antonio Brown,
had two catches for 49
yards and a TD.
“It’s been an up and
down season for me. This
year tested my humble-
ness,” Fournette said.
“Coming from being the
whole offense to being a
minor piece, it’s been off
and on. But I just kept
faith, and they believed
Tournament of Champion
last week on Maui, and Jim
Herman, who should have
been there.
Herman made it to Ha-
waii a week later than he
had hoped and was happi-
er than ever. He recovered
from the coronavirus and
had his lowest score in
his 10th appearance at the
Sony Open to get his year
off to a good start.
He qualified for Kapa-
lua the Sentry Tournament
of Champions by winning
the Wyndham Champi-
onship, his third career
victory. But his COVID-19
test came back positive as
he prepared to go to Maui,
and self-isolation for 10
days left him no time to get
to Kapalua.
“I feel pretty good,” Her-
man said. “Obviously, the
low score today helps you
feel a little bit better. Didn’t
know what to expect com-
ing out this week.”
Herman said he had a
how big it is for this com-
munity, and we have to
keep it going.”
BULLISH BILLS
Behind Josh Allen and
Stefon Diggs, the Bills
(15-3) erased plenty of
franchise records estab-
lished by Jim Kelly & Co.
back when the Bills won
a record four consecutive
AFC titles in the 1990s.
“There has been so
much stuff that we have
said as former players,
’These guys got a damn
good football team,” Hall
of Fame running back
Thurman Thomas said.
“Their defense probably
won’t hold you to 3 points
or whatever, but their of-
fense? Their offense is a
problem.”
The Bills led the AFC
with a 30.3-point scor-
ing average during the
season, and they haven’t
lost since Nov. 15, when
DeAndre Hopkins hauled
in Kyle Murray’s 42-yard
Hail Mary as time ex-
pired, giving Arizona a
32-30 win.
Allen’s 69.2 completion
percentage represents an
NFL-record jump of 16.4%
since his rookie season in
2018.
“But you give him Ste-
fon Diggs and you see
what he’s made of and
how he’s gone about his
in me. I’m happy where
I’m at. I’m happy where I
stand. ”
Packers’ Adams finally
gets to face off with
LA’s Ramsey
Green Bay’s Davante
Adams has caught more
touchdown passes over
the last five seasons than
any other player. Jalen
Ramsey of the Los An-
geles Rams is one of the
NFL’s premier corner-
backs.
They finally will face
each other in a game that
matters Saturday when
the top-seeded Packers
(13-3) host the Rams (11-
6) in an NFC divisional
playoff game.
The only time they’ve
squared off in the regular
season was in 2016 when
the Packers beat the Jack-
sonville Jaguars in Ram-
sey’s first career NFL
game, though Adams was
quick to disagree with the
suggestion that was their
lone previous matchup.
“Not right, not right,”
Adams said as he shook
his head during a Zoom
session. “We had like five
reps in the Pro Bowl. That
was the other one. And we
know how competitive the
Pro Bowl is.”
Adams’ sarcastic ref-
erences to the Pro Bowl
aside, these two All-Pro
performers never have
matched up against each
other with so much at
stake.
miserable four days deal-
ing with the virus and still
doesn’t have his full taste
and smell back. The big-
gest concern was slight
inflammation of the lungs,
which pressed against his
back and made it difficult
to sit. He finally was able
hit some golf balls last
weekend and only played
one round of golf.
Scoring was ideal for
different reasons than
Kapalua on a very different
course. The wind off the
Pacific shores on the edge
of the course is normal. But
it’s been dry enough for
the ball to roll, helpful on
tee shots in the fairway, not
so much when it’s off line
and head into the rough.
There was one other
twist at Waialae — out-of-
bounds stakes for about
350 yards down the left
side of the 18th fairway.
The tour erected them this
year out of safety to those
coming down the 10th fair-
business,” Thomas said.
“And he has been tremen-
dous. I think Bills fans,
including myself, didn’t
think he was going to be
this good this good this
early. And he has proved
a lot of people wrong.”
No, there’s no com-
paring this Bills team to
those of his playing days,
Thomas said.
Not yet anyway, Thom-
as said, but those com-
parisons are undoubtedly
coming.
“Especially if they go
on to win the Super Bowl
this year, I mean, you’re
going to have to talk
about it,” Thomas said.
“I really think it’s going
to come down to the Bills
and Kansas City. ... These
guys believe they can win
anywhere. They don’t
care where they’re play-
ing.”
BOLD BUCCANEERS
The Buccaneers ended
the NFC’s longest playoff
drought with their first
playoff berth since 2007
thanks to the arrival of
six-time champion Tom
Brady in the offseason.
The Buccaneers im-
mediately went from a
franchise that spent more
than a decade trying to
transform themselves
into playoff contenders to
a club with expectations
Frankly, they rarely
have faced off with any-
thing on the line before.
Adams noted that in the
2016 game, he primarily
worked against Davon
House and Prince Amu-
kamara while Ramsey
spent much of his time in
the slot.
“We actually honestly
got together more in the
Pro Bowl than probably
we did in the 2016 game,”
Adams said.
It remains to be seen
how often they’ll face
each other Saturday.
Packers quarterback Aar-
on Rodgers noted that the
Rams’ coverage schemes
mean a receiver isn’t nec-
essarily lining up against
the same cornerback
throughout a game.
“They’ve been playing
a lot of two-shell, so it’s
different,” Rodgers said.
“Just like I feel the NBA
is different where it’s not
like MJ (Michael Jordan)
is coming to town and
somebody’s got him one-
on-one all game and he’s
going to try to drop 50 on
him. The Rams have a dy-
namic, dynamic player in
Jalen, but they have been
playing a lot more two-
shell, so I don’t know how
much mano a mano is go-
ing to be out there.”
Yet they figure to face
off at least some of the
time in a matchup be-
tween two stars having
arguably their greatest
seasons.
Adams had 18 touch-
way, and without the tents
and bleachers because
of no spectators, it might
have been tempting for
more players to take their
tee shot on 18 down the
10th.
That never crossed
Niemann’s mind. He hit a
high draw that still tum-
bled through the fairway
into the rough, came up
just short and finished on a
good note.
It sure was different
from last week. Niemann
missed a 6-foot birdie in
regulation (and shot 64),
and then in a playoff on
the par-5 18th, he pulled
it slightly and went down a
slope left of the green, leav-
ing a tough chip and a par.
Harris English won with a
birdie putt.
“It was the first time
that it really hurt me, like
finishing a golf tourna-
ment,” he said. “Probably
one or two days I just keep
thinking on how I couldn’t
of becoming the first
team to appear in a Super
Bowl in their home stadi-
um.
Brady was attracted to
a roster featuring a slew
of offensive playmakers,
including receivers Mike
Evans, Chris Godwin and
Scotty Miller, running
back Ronald Jones and
tight ends O.J. Howard
and Cameron Brate.
The Bucs then lured
Rob Gronkowski out of
retirement, upgraded the
offensive line by drafting
tackle Tristan Wirfs, and
signed veterans LeSean
McCoy, Leonard Four-
nette and Antonio Brown
to bolster the depth
around their 43-year-old
quarterback.
Coach Bruce Arians
acknowledged before the
start of the playoffs that
the Bucs won’t consider
it a successful season un-
less they win it all.
“Really, it’s not going to
be if we don’t put rings on
our fingers because once
you’re in the tournament,
that’s what you’re playing
for,” Arians said. “We did
enough to get here and it
will not be satisfying un-
less we finish it.”
How quickly expecta-
tions change.
And maybe fortunes,
too.
down catches during the
regular season to lead
the NFL and tie Sterling
Sharpe’s 26-year-old fran-
chise mark. He also had
a franchise-record 115
overall catches for 1,374
yards despite missing two
games with a hamstring
injury. He has helped
the Packers score an
NFL-leading 31.8 points
per game.
“We all know that Da-
vante Adams is one of the
top players in the league,”
Rams defensive coordina-
tor Brandon Staley said.
Ramsey has strength-
ened the Rams’ second-
ary since they acquired
him from Jacksonville
in October 2019 for two
first-round picks and a
fourth-round selection.
The Rams ended the reg-
ular season leading the
NFL in total defense and
scoring defense.
“I think he’s really
showing why he’s the
most complete DB in
this league,” Rams coach
Sean McVay said. “The
tape doesn’t lie.”
Both players earned
All-Pro honors this year.
It was the first time for
Adams and the second for
Ramsey, who also earned
that status with Jackson-
ville in 2017.
“I think there’s prob-
ably like three, three or
four super-elite, is what
I like to call them, cor-
ners,” Adams said. “And
he’s definitely one of
those guys.”
make birdie on 18 and get
it done. I was talking with
my coach, with my psy-
chologist. We talked for an
hour about the whole tour-
nament, not for that 18th
hole. It was a good way to
take all the positives from
that week.”
English, hopeful of be-
ing only the third player to
sweep the Hawaii swing,
had three bogeys in a four-
hole stretch on his second
nine and had to birdie two
of the last three holes for
an even-par 70.
Scoring was so low that
only 30 players from the
144-man field were over
par.
“They have it playing
fantastic,” said Webb Simp-
son, one of 22 players at
65 or better. “I think all us
golfers love it for the most
part when we see a good
drive and the ball bounce
10 feet in the air, it’s a
good feeling.”
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021 3B

Prep
Continued from Page 1B

“She’s probably one
of the hardest-working
people out there on our
team,” Brown said. “ …
The whole team looks
up to her, so she did a
great job.”
O’Neal said the Fal-
cons’ goal Thursday
was to score as many
goals as they could —
she mentioned 10 as a
possibility — and said
Columbus began to play
up to its potential.
“It’s a step up from
how we usually play,”
she said. “We came out
here, and we gave it our
all.”
Included in that was a
major fix Columbus had
to make after beating
West Point 5 -2 on senior
night on Jan. 5. All night
long, the Green Wave
caught Falcons players
offside to such effect
that Columbus dedicat-
ed an entire practice to
avoiding a repeat per-
formance.
“That was definitely
something that we took
from our first game
that we worked on, and
it definitely made a dif-
ference tonight,” Brown
said.
She also instructed
the Falcons to get on the
board as early as they
could Thursday, and
the plan worked: O’Neal
found space for an easy
goal in the third minute.
After O’Neal
achieved a hat trick
with her third goal of
the match in the 14th
minute, senior Diana
Maya found the net
off a short free kick in
the 19th. O’Neal got in
three more goals before
the match reached half-
time.
West Point coach
Ashley Dauzat said her
team didn’t play quite been waiting to utter for
as well as it did in prior most of the evening.
matches, including last “WEIGHT ROOM!”
week’s game in Colum- It’s what West Point
bus. She said she hoped players told them when-
to see more from the ever the Green Wave
Green Wave on offense, knocked down the un-
particularly with ball dersized Falcons during
control and communica- the match, insinuating
tion. Columbus needed to
“I’ve seen them play get in the weight room
better,” Dauzat said. to get strong enough to
“I feel like they just let compete.
the game and the pres-
sure of it being senior
But when the Fal-
cons finished off an
night and the pressure important 1-0 road win
of it being a home game, Thursday, they looked
they just let it get to to claim the phrase for
them.” themselves.
Although West Point “We won, so we
still has three matches wanted to say weight
to play, the Green Wave room, too,” Columbus
chose Thursday to hold eighth-grader Destin
their senior night. Be- Poindexter said.
tween the girls and boys By that point, the Fal-
games, West Point sent cons had earned back
off its five seniors — the bragging rights
Faith Coggins, Ashtynn they lost by suffering a
Cade, Zarcayla Murphy, 3-2 defeat to the Green
Takayla Wofford and
Wave on Jan. 5.
Anarri Morton. “Last week, they just
Dauzat, in her third
didn’t come out to play,”
year coaching the
Columbus coach Joseph
Green Wave, described Richardson said.
the maturation process He and Poindexter
she’s seen with the concurred in saying the
quintet of players and Falcons were overcon-
what the team will lose fident about a win, and
once their careers are when it didn’t happen,
done. they had to regroup.
“In that time, I have Throughout this week
seen disappointment at practice, Richardson
and failure but yet ex- said, the team had long
citement and growth conversations about
out of those seniors,” the loss and how they
Dauzat said. “I really planned to recover from
feel like we’re going to it.
lose a dominant senior “They felt like they
class out of those girls.”
needed to do what they
had to do,” the coach
Columbus boys 1, West said.
Point 0 On Thursday, the
Before the Columbus Falcons did it. They re-
boys began their long couped the communica-
walk to the bus waiting tion that went missing
just outside Hamblin last week, cleaned up
Stadium, they closed their passing and solid-
their post-match huddle ified their defense.
with two words they’d The last of those
changes, Richardson
said, was in part due to
moving senior Josh Jef-
ferson back to the back
line.
Jefferson led Co-
lumbus’ defense to the
clean sheet Thursday.
His bark also matched
his bite, screaming “you
can’t score on me” to a
West Point forward after
denying him a chance at
a second-half equalizer.
The Falcons senior
was true to his word
once West Point strik-
er Antonio Facella’s
last-second attempt
from near the baseline
was scooped up by Co-
lumbus’ goalkeeper,
who booted the ball
down the field as the
referee blew the final
whistle.
West Point coach An-
thony Watt said Facella
was playing with a twist-
ed ankle and that the
Green Wave performed
admirably on just one
day of rest after losing
to Grenada on Tuesday.
“Overall, I’m pretty
proud of the guys,” Watt
said. “... To hold a good
team like Columbus to
one goal, I’m proud of
them.”
That lone goal came
off Poindexter’s foot in
the 14th minute as he
slotted the ball to the
right of Green Wave
goalkeeper JaKobe
Pate. The eighth grad-
er extended his team
lead in goals, though
he makes his presence
known in other ways,
too.
“Vocal leader out on
the field, always talking,
always getting things
moving,” Richardson
said of Poindexter.
For West Point, Pate
provides a similar style
of leadership. The keep-
er, along with defensive
“general” Justin Jones,
was honored prior to
the match as part of the
Green Wave’s senior
night ceremony.
“JaKobe Pate is re-
ally the heart and soul
of this whole soccer
program here at West
Point,” Watt said.
Other scores
Prep Girls Soccer
MSMS 5,
Philadelphia 0
PHIL ADELPHIA —
Madison Johnson had a
hat trick as the Missis-
sippi School for Mathe-
matics and Science girls
beat Philadelphia High
School 5 -0 in a Class I,
Region 4 road matchup
Thursday.
MacKenzie Pitts had
a goal and an assist for
the Blue Waves (4-1,
1-0), and Lauren Ruth-
erford had a goal. Ash-
ley Mangus and Elena
Eaton had assists as
MSMS played for the
first time in nearly two
months.
“For our first match
since before Thanks-
giving, the girls did
splendidly,” head coach
Chuck Yarborough said
in a news release from
MSMS. “After a slow
start, our communica-
tion on the pitch con-
sistently improved, and
some beginner players
got great playing expe-
rience.
“It was wonderful
having Madison notch
her second hat trick
of this season, and Ca-
mille Newman’s five
saves to preserve the
clean sheet were out-
standing,” Yarbrough
added.
MSMS will play at St.
Andrew’s on Tuesday in
Ridgeland.
CSO adult soccer
league registration
open until Monday
Registration for Co-
lumbus Soccer Orga-
nization’s 2021 adult
soccer league will close
Monday. Matches will
begin in February at the
downtown soccer com-
plex.
The league is for any
player, male or female,
over 19 years of age at
the time of registration.
Players can register in-
dividually or indicate
during the registration
process that they are
registering with a team.
All teams are co-ed.
The registration fee
is $70, which includes
player registration, ref-
eree fees, team entry
to the Friendly City
Shootout in April and
field set-up fees. Players
and teams are responsi-
ble for purchasing and
designing their own jer-
seys.
CSO adult soccer is
played using small-sid-
ed rules. Matches are
held on a U-12 sized
field with seven players
per side. Other modi-
fications include open
substitution, forbid-
ding slide-tackling and
no offside, making the
game more accessible
to players of all ages and
playing levels.
For more informa-
tion, including a com-
plete list of rules, or to
register, visit https://
c o l u m b u s m s s o c c e r.
org/adu lt- le a g ue - s oc -
cer/

ON THE AIR Meyer

Friday
COLLEGE BASKETBALL (MEN’S)
4 p.m. — Marshall at Western Ken-
tucky, CBSSN
4 p.m. — Alabama (Birmingham) at
Charlotte, ESPNU
6 p.m. — Bowling Green at Buffalo,
CBSSN
6 p.m. — Duquesne at St. Bonaven-
ture, ESPN2
6 p.m. — Cleveland State at Wright
State, ESPNU
8 p.m. — Wisconsin at Rutgers, FS1
10 p.m. — Fresno State at Nevada
(Reno), FS1
COLLEGE BASKETBALL (WOMEN’S)
2:30 p.m. — Stanford at Utah, PAC-
12N
4:30 p.m. — California at Colorado,
PAC-12N
6:30 p.m. — Washington State at
Southern California, PAC-12N
GOLF
6 p.m. — PGA Tour: The Sony Open,
Second Round, Wai’alae Country Club,
Honolulu, GOLF
NBA BASKETBALL
6:45 p.m. — Dallas at Milwaukee,
ESPN
9:05 p.m. — New Orleans at LA Lak-
ers, ESPN
NHL HOCKEY
6 p.m. — Pittsburgh at Philadelphia,
NHLN
Saturday
COLLEGE BASKETBALL (MEN’S)
11 a.m. — Georgia at Ole Miss,
ESPN2
Noon — Missouri at Texas A&M, SECN
1 p.m. — Kentucky at Auburn, ESPN
2:30 p.m. — Arkansas at Alabama,
SECN
3 p.m. — Florida at Mississippi State,
ESPN2
5 p.m. — Vanderbilt at Tennessee,
SECN
7:30 p.m. — South Carolina at LSU,
SECN
PRO FOOTBALL
3:35 p.m. — Rams at Packers, FOX
7:15 p.m. — Ravens at Bills, NBC
Sunday
PRO FOOTBALL
2:05 p.m. — Browns at Chiefs, CBS
5:40 p.m. — Bucs at Saints, FOX
COLLEGE BASKETBALL (WOMEN’S)
Noon — MSU at Texas A&M, ESPN2
Continued from Page 1B
They met last Friday on Meyer went 187-32 the league with help billionaire businessman, fensive coordinator Eric
Khan’s yacht in Miami, — a staggering winning from former players and has shown a penchant for Bieniemy, Atlanta defen-
again Wednesday and percentage of 85.3 — in friends, started assem- patience and a willing- sive coordinator Raheem
once more at the facility stops at Bowling Green bling a potential staff ness to spend big. Morris, San Francisco
Thursday. (2001-02), Utah (2003- and learned how the Clemson quarterback defensive coordinator
Hiring the longtime 04), Florida (2005-10) front office works. Mey- Trevor Lawrence is a Robert Saleh and Ten-
college coach with three and Ohio State (2012- er and Khan have been lock to land in Jackson- nessee offensive coordi-
national championships 18). He ranks seventh all friends for years, build- ville with the top pick and nator Arthur Smith.
signifies a new direction time in collegiate win- ing a relationship while will be the centerpiece of The general belief
for a franchise that has ning percentage, trail- both were living in Big the team’s latest rebuild. was the job was Meyer’s
lost 105 of 144 games ing only Notre Dame Ten country. Meyer replaces Doug if he wanted it. He clearly
since Khan took over in legends Knute Rockne “I’ve analyzed this Marrone, who was fired did, with some stipula-
2012. and Frank Leahy among decision from every an- after losing the final 15
tions.
“This is a great day coaches at major pro- gle — the time is right games in 2020. Marrone
He will have the lee-
for Jacksonville and Jag- grams. in Jacksonville,” Meyer went 25-44 in four-plus
way to put his touch on
uars fans everywhere,” But some doubts said in a statement. “And seasons with the Jag-
every aspect of the orga-
Khan said in a state- remain about Meyer’s the time is right for me uars, including 2-1 in the
nization, the kind of over-
ment. “Urban Meyer is ability to make a smooth to return to coaching. 2017 postseason. Mar-
who we want and need, transition to the NFL, I’m excited about the fu- rone failed repeatedly to haul Jacksonville hasn’t
a leader, winner and where motivational tac- ture of this organization fill the team’s long-stand- seen in nearly three
champion who demands tics tend to be moot and and our long-term pros- ing hole at quarterback, decades of existence.
excellence and produces losing multiple games pect for success.” and Khan kept him and Khan is switching to a
results. every year is a given. Jacksonville was the general manager Dave coach-centric model that
“While Urban al- Meyer never lost more most attractive opening. Caldwell around a year could give Meyer final
ready enjoys a legacy in than five times in any The Jaguars have 11 longer than many ex- say in personnel. Mey-
the game of football that season as a college head picks in the 2021 draft, pected to make them er and the next general
manager will report to
few will ever match, his coach; he went 83-9 at including five in the top clean up a fractured lock-
passion for the opportu- Ohio State. 65, and are nearly $100 er room and a stressed Khan, who wants to be
nity in front of him here Still, Meyer has been million under the pro- salary cap. more involved in the
in Jacksonville is power- eyeing an NFL move for jected salary cap. Adding Khan also inter- most significant roster
ful and unmistakable.” months. He researched to the appeal: Khan, a viewed Kansas City of- decisions.
Alabama
Continued from Page 1B
eral Alabama seniors and things like that,” year. A shutdown cor- pass breakups and “To be honest, when
three forced fumbles.
considered first- Jones said. “And we nerback, he allowed they told me I was go-
round picks, including all want to play in the 25 receiving yards or “This was a very ing to have a chance to
Heisman Trophy-win- NFL.” fewer nine times en- difficult decision for play, I already had it in
ning wide receiv- Jones passed for tering the champion- me because I love my
my mind to play.
er DeVonta Smith, 41 touchdowns and ship game. brothers, the fans and
All-America tailback had just four intercep- “Since I was a kid, I love playing football “It was great to get
Najee Harris and Out- tions. Th quarterback, my lifelong dream was at Alabama,” he said. back out there with
land Trophy winner who has a master’s to play in the NFL,” Waddle returned the team and just do
left tackle Alex Leath- degree in sports hos- said Surtain, whose in a limited capacity it one more time and
erwood. pitality, had one of his father Patrick Surtain in the title game after go out the right way.
Jones put together best performances in Sr. is a former NFL missing much of the That was what it was
the most prolific sea- the national champi- player. season with an ankle all about.”
son of any Tide quar- onship game win over ”I leaned on him a injury that required Saban said the play-
terback in his only full Ohio State. lot,” Surtain said of surgery. But he had
ers who are leaving
season as starter. He He competed 36 his father. “He’s been been one of the Tide’s
was college football’s of 45 passes for 464 through this before. most dynamic players school without de-
most efficient passer yards and five touch- I asked him a lot of as a receiver and punt grees promised they
would complete the
and also led the nation downs in the 52-24 questions leading up returner.
with 4,500 passing win. Jones won both to this process. He’s Waddle had 28 remaining require-
yards and a 77.4% com- the Davey O’Brien guided me the right catches for 592 yards ments.
pletion rate. Award and the Johnny way.” and four touchdowns “I’m really proud
He said he is ready Unitas Golden Arm Barmore was the in six games. He
for the next step. Award. defensive MVP of the caught three passes
of each one of these
guys,” the coach said,
“Coach (Nick) Sa- Surtain was a unan- national title game, for 34 yards against
“and they’re always
ban’s been educat- imous All-American, where he had a sack Ohio State, despite
ing all of us since we Jim Thorpe Award and a pair of tackles clearly not being going to be part of the
stepped on campus so winner and South- for loss. Barmore led 100%. University of Alabama
we’re very aware of eastern Conference the team with eight “It was a great expe- and the program
how the draft works defensive player of the sacks and had three rience,” Waddle said. here.”
4B FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021
Analysis: Nets have pieces, now they need to fit together
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Having a Big Three is
great.
That is, if those players
want it to be great.
And that’s the chal-
lenge in Brooklyn now,
after agreeing to the trade
that landed three-time
reigning scoring cham-
pion James Harden from
Houston: Getting Harden,
Kevin Durant and Kyrie
Irving, all individually
great, to want to be great
together.
A lot of futures and a
lot of legacies depend on
what happens.
Durant found a way to
make it happen in Gold-
en State when he played
alongside Stephen Curry
and Klay Thompson on
Comics & Puzzles
DILBERT
ZITS
GARFIELD
CANDORVILLE
BABY BLUES
BEETLE BAILEY
MALLARD FILLMORE
the way to a pair of NBA
titles. It worked there be-
cause Curry and Thomp-
son, more than happily,
checked their egos at the
door and made it seem like
a seamless incorporation.
Harden never made the
NBA Finals in Houston
with big-time backcourt
partners like Chris Paul
and Russell Westbrook,
plus didn’t even give it a
chance this season along-
side John Wall. He wanted
a trade, stars who want
trades almost always get
their way, and after what
amounted to a resignation
speech on Tuesday night
after a loss to the reigning
champion Los Angeles
Lakers it was clear that he
was never wearing a Rock-
ets jersey again.
FAMILY CIRCUS
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
Irving won a title in
Cleveland with LeBron
James, but that relation-
ship never was what it
could have been — and
nobody knows where Ir-
ving’s mind is at after now
a week and counting of
personal leave away from
the Nets. He reportedly
left for family birthday
parties and a Zoom call
to help organize a candi-
date’s campaign for dis-
trict attorney in Manhat-
tan. Oh, and that Zoom
happened on a night that
the Nets were playing.
At this point, it’s un-
clear when — or if — Ir-
ving will return to the
Nets.
But give the Nets cred-
it. They went all-in with
this trade. They dealt
away a rising standout in
Caris LeVert and bet most
of their foreseeable draft
future — three first-round
picks, at minimum — on
the hope that Harden is
the last piece needed on
the way to a champion-
ship. He’s now reunited
with not just Durant, an-
other former teammate
in Oklahoma City when
they were starting out and
still found their way to
the 2012 NBA Finals, but
also former Rockets coach
Mike D’Antoni as well.
D’Antoni is a Brooklyn
assistant under first-year
coach Steve Nash and isn’t
shy about grabbing a clip-
board and offering opin-
ions in timeouts.
That said, turning a Big
Three into the big trophy
Dear Abby
D
EAR ABBY:
My husband
and I are
both enlisted
Army (he — 20
years, two Iraq
deployments; I
— 15 years, one
Iraq deployment).
We met in the
service and have
been married for
10 years.
Three years
after our wed-
ding, my husband
told me he was Dear Abby
no longer phys-
ically attracted
to me. It hurt. A lot. It has
been seven years since that
day, and we’re still together. I
don’t feel loved, appreciated
or valued. I’m a logic-driven
person. Emotions don’t come
easy for me. I have always
been open about my thoughts
and feelings, even the painful
ones.
Since that day, I resent
him, and I have told him such.
He doesn’t understand why
I can’t just “get over it” and
continue to live our lives. He
has refused therapy multiple
times. I don’t have a family
of my own, and we have no
children together. Must I
appreciate the friendship we
have, or is it time to push for a
Horoscopes
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Jan.
15). The secret to winning at
your game is refinement. In
matters important to you, you’ll
review your process, pour over
data, invent improvements to
try, reassess the data, double
down on what’s working, cut out
what’s not and endlessly strive
for mastery. Your relentless atti-
tude pays you in an abundance
of joy. Leo and Gemini adore
you. Your lucky numbers are: 8,
30, 1, 27 and 17.
ARIES (March 21-April
19). A feeling of progress is an
exhilarating high. The actual
length of the stride forward isn’t
the point. That it’s forward at all
— that’s a gift wrapped in the
shiny paper of hope.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20).
isn’t automatic.
And doing it during
a pandemic with limited
practices and seemingly
inevitable breaks, makes
it a stiff challenge.
James, Dwyane Wade
and Chris Bosh were the
trio that led Miami past
those Thunder in the 2012
finals, getting a ring in
their second year togeth-
er (and one the next year,
too). They lost the finals to
Dallas in 2011 and need-
ed to win two elimination
games against Boston just
to get out of the Eastern
Conference on the way to
that 2012 title.
While it took time for
Miami to jell, it worked
because Wade, the best
player the Heat had ever
known, stepped aside so
meet-in-the-mid-
dle resolution?
— UNAPPRECIAT-
ED IN PENNSYL-
VANIA
DEAR UN-
APPRECIATED:
That you would
feel resentment
after what your
husband told
you is normal.
It appears that
intimacy is either
unimportant to
him, or he is find-
ing it elsewhere.
Your self-es-
teem may be
below ground level, but you
have a right to be able to feel
loved, appreciated and valued.
Since you are receiving none
of those, there is no “meeting
in the middle.” Where you
need to meet is a lawyer’s
office so you can officially end
a marriage that died seven
years ago.
DEAR ABBY: My dad has
never been great at communi-
cating. I’m the only one who
seems to communicate with
him, even though I’m across
the country. Over the last few
years, until recently, his new
wife, “Dorie,” helped to bridge
the gap. I loved having Dad
around even if it was second
hand from her.
Before you tend to the typical
things, carve out time for those
unusual pursuits. They will hold
you in good stead, becoming
more interesting to you as
you delve deeper. You, in turn,
become more interesting to
others.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21).
The value of love is beyond
anything that can be quantified.
Those who are counting what
has been exchanged are ulti-
mately exchanging something
other than love. It’s fine, as long
as you recognize the difference.
CANCER (June 22-July
22). One myth is that people
who feel great and have lots of
energy get the best results. The
truth is that astounding and im-
portant things happen from all
James could be the first
option. It worked because
Bosh accepted playing
third fiddle behind a pair
of fellow future Hall of
Famers. If any of those
three balked at their re-
spective roles, the Heat
wouldn’t have those two
titles.
The only way Brooklyn
wins a title or two with this
group is if Durant, Harden
and Irving accept their
roles now.
On paper, the infusion
of talent could be astound-
ingly good.
There are nine men in
the history of the NBA
with three or more scor-
ing titles — and two of
them now play for the
Nets, with Durant’s four
and Harden’s three.
When my aunt, his sister,
died suddenly, somehow I was
appointed to write the obitu-
ary. Having never written one,
I inadvertently omitted Dorie’s
name in the article. She be-
came enraged and defensive. I
apologized, but I also showed
my teeth a bit because she
was so rude about an honest
mistake. Now communica-
tion with Dad is as strained
as it was before. I think she
screens and answers his
messages, so I’m unsure if
it’s him replying.
Dad was sick recently,
and she didn’t bother to tell
me. I learned about it through
Facebook. I’m a nice person,
but she really upset me. I
have already apologized and
explained it was a mistake.
I want a relationship with my
dad. Should I apologize again?
— FRUSTRATED DAUGHTER IN
THE WEST
DEAR DAUGHTER: Yes.
Apologize for reacting the way
you did (showing your teeth)
after the obituary “disaster.”
Dorie’s feelings were already
hurt because of your omis-
sion. If you can, smooth over
what happened. However, rec-
ognize that your relationship
with your father didn’t make
him a better communicator.
You were keeping tabs on him
through the efforts of his wife.
kinds of moods, so appreciate
whichever one you happen to
be in.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You
are afraid to require things of
people because you want it to
be easy for them to be around
you. What you’re not under-
standing is that people need to
be needed. Requiring something
of them is a gift.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).
What is said is important, but
who is saying it is even more
important. Some words must
come from you, and other sen-
timents will be better received
coming from a different voice.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).
You’re so concentrated on your
deliverables that you don’t even
consider what it’s going to feel
like to enjoy the fruits of your ef-
fort. Good. It will be a surprise.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21).
When people praise your vision
and follow-through, you can’t
fully bring yourself to accept
the credit. That’s because
you’re honest. You realize that
you got here, at least partly, by
accident.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec.
21). You can mostly, but not
totally, be your own coach. You
need someone to show-off to,
impress and be accountable to
and encouraged by. This, howev-
er, can be accomplished in the
briefest of interactions.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan.
19). When you work, you
work hard. This is why it’s so
important that you choose the
best things to work on. Hint:
It’s probably not the task being
tossed to you. Forget about the
others for a minute. What do
you want?
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.
18). You prefer that the people
around you be happy, and you’ll
make efforts to that end, all
the while realizing that no one
actually makes another person
happy, though it’s possible to
create environments more or
less conducive to joy.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March
20). It will be obvious — the
possession that no longer
serves a purpose, the baggage
that has both spiritual and actu-
al weight, the subscription you
don’t use or habit that you’ve
outgrown. This calls for ruthless
subtraction.
Horse sense
SOLUTION:
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021 5B

Mississippi State
School Ministry
Mississippi State School of
Ministry will be taking applications
for enrollment into their online
degree granting program. Earn your
Certification, Associates, Bachelor,
Master and Doctoral Degree in
Religious Studies. We are an accred-
itation School of Ministry authorized
through State of Mississippi and
Federal Government. Our degrees
are for ecclesiastical purposes only.
We accept transcripts and your life
experience also can also be used
for degree granting purposes. For
further information feel free to call
662-425-8443
Fellowship Dinner,
Youth Service
Pleasant Ridge Faith Center,
923 Ridge Road, hosts a fellowship
dinner and youth service every third
Sunday.
Gospel Book Club
Friendship M.B. Church, 1102
12th Ave. S., invites the public to
join its Community Gospel Book
Club from 6-7 p.m., on the fourth
Friday of each month, to study and
share views of the Holy Bible. Open
to all ages and ethnicities. For more
information, call Barbara Mattison or
Lillian Murray, 662-570-5595.
Grief Support Group
The Oil of Joy for Grief and
Mourning offers a grief support
group at 6 p.m. every second Thurs-
day of the month at United Christian
Baptist Church, 232 Yorkville Road
East. “Making your grieving journey
easier.” For more information, call
662-327-0604 or e-mail unitedchris-
tian@cableone.net.
Celebrate Recovery
Celebrate Recovery, the nation’s
largest Christian recovery program,
meets Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m. at
RELIGIOUS BRIEFS
Meadowview Church, 300 Linden Cir-
cle in Starkville. Millions have found
help, healing, and support for hurts,
habits, and hang-ups using our pop-
ular Biblical 12 step program.
Recovery Room
New Life Assembly, 4474 New
Hope Road (near Dollar General)
hosts Recovery Room, at 6:30 p.m.
each Sunday. Find help, healing,
and support for any hurt, habit, or
hang-up using our Christ-centered
12 steps.
Prayer for Youth
Every second and third Saturday,
Pleasant Ridge Faith Center hosts a
prayer for the youth from 2-3 p.m.
Prayer, Free Coffee
Mount Zion Missionary Baptist
Church, 2221 14th Ave. N., hosts
free coffee and a prayer community
outreach service from 8-9 a.m. every
fifth Saturday. For information, con-
tact Jesse Slater, 662-328-4979.
Radio Program
Apostles Patrick Perkins invites
the public to tune in to WTWG, radio
1050 AM for Perfecting the Saints
Broadcast, Wednesdays 8:30 a.m.
Women Prayer,
Worship Service
Church of the Eternal Word, 106
22nd St. S., holds a prayer and
worship service every Thursday from
5-6 p.m. Call Marie Nabors, 662-
549-4322 or 662-329-1234, for
prayer requests.
Prayer Ministry
New Beginning Everlasting Out-
reach Ministry invites the public to
call in with their prayer requests at
662-327-9843.
Prayer Service
Church of the Eternal Word, 106
22nd St. S., Columbus, holds prayer
service Thursday nights 5-6 p.m.
Contact Marie Nabors, 662-549-
4322. Church service times: Sunday
school 10 a.m.; Sunday worship
11:15 a.m.; Tuesday Bible study
7 p.m. For information, call Pastor
District Elder Lou Nabors, 662-329-
1234.
Fitness Transformations
The Transformational Church,
2301 Jess Lyons Road, hosts boxing
lessons Mondays and Wednesday
from 5-7 p.m., weight-loss boot
camp Tuesdays and Thursdays 5-7
p.m. and both on Saturdays 9-11
a.m.
Youth Fellowship
The Transformational Church,
2301 Jess Lyons Road, hosts Youth
Fellowship from 7-8:30 p.m. every
Tuesday. Games, prayer, service,
food, and more. Transportation
available. For information, call Iris
Roberson, 662-295-7456.

Years of white supremacy threats culminated in Capitol riots

‘Anyone who flies a Confederate flag, even if they claim it’s about heritage
and not hate, we need to understand that it is a symbol of white supremacy’
Aryeh Tuchman, associate director for the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism
BY CHRISTINE
FERNANDO
AND NOREEN NASIR
The Associated Press
CHICAGO — Amid
the American flags and
Trump 2020 posters at the
U.S. Capitol during last
week’s insurrection were
far more sinister symbols:
A man walking the halls
of Congress carrying a
Confederate flag. Ban-
ners proclaiming white
supremacy and anti-gov-
ernment extremism. A
makeshift noose and gal-
lows ominously erected
outside.
In many ways this
hate-filled display was
the culmination of many
others over the past few
years, including the dead-
ly 2017 “Unite the Right”
rally in Charlottesville,
Virginia, that gathered
extremist factions from
across the country under
a single banner.
“These displays of
white supremacy are not
new,” said Lecia Brooks,
chief of staff of the South-
ern Poverty Law Center.
“Now it’s just reached a
fever pitch.”
Extremist groups, in-
cluding the pro-Trump,
far-right, anti-govern-
ment Oath Keepers and
the Three Percenters, a
loose anti-government
network that’s part of the
militia movement, were
among those descending
on the halls of power on
Jan. 6.
The hateful imagery
included an anti-Semitic
“Camp Auschwitz” sweat-
shirt created years ago
by white supremacists,
who sold them on the
now-defunct website Ary-
anwear, said Aryeh Tuch-
man, associate director
for the Anti-Defamation
League’s Center on Ex-
tremism.
Also among the ri-
oters were members of
Groyper Army, a loose
network of white nation-
alists, the white suprema-
cist New Jersey European
Heritage Association, and
the far-right extremist
Proud Boys, along with
other known white su-
premacists, Tuchman
said. While not all the
anti-government groups
were explicitly white su-
premacist, Tuchman said
many support white su-
premacist beliefs.
“Anyone who flies a
Confederate flag, even if
they claim it’s about her-
itage and not hate, we
need to understand that
it is a symbol of white su-
premacy,” Tuchman said.
Brooks said it was also
important to note the
demographics of the ri-
otous crowd, which was
overwhelmingly white.
Within that context, even
more traditional symbols
of American patriotism,
like the American flag, or
political preference, like
Trump 2020 signs, served
to give the symbols of
hate a pass.
“You can wrap yourself
in the American flag and
call yourself a patriot and
say you’re acting on be-
half of the country, that
you’re serving to protect
the country. … But what
America were you stand-
ing up for?” she asked.
“One that continues
to support and advance
white supremacy? Or
one that welcomes and
embraces a multiracial,
inclusive democracy?
That’s the difference.”
The proliferation of
white supremacist sym-
bolism has a long histo-
ry, with two clear peaks
in the civil rights efforts
following Reconstruction
and during the civil rights
movement of the 1950s
and 1960s, Brooks said.
Now, as the U.S. reckons
with systemic racism
following the police kill-
ing of George Floyd, she
said Confederate symbols
have been displayed more
prominently, including at
smaller-scale white su-
premacist rallies and by
counterprotesters carry-
ing Confederate flags at
Black Lives Matter gath-
erings across the country.
“This is a response,
and it’s not a new re-
sponse,” Brooks said.
“Every time there is prog-
ress in asserting civil
rights, there’s a backlash.
Confederate iconography
is a means to reassert
white supremacy when
it is thought to be threat-
ened.”

Send in your church event!

Email editorialassistant@cdispatch.com
Subject: Religious brief
6B FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
 COUNTIES, MISSISSIPPI HODGES, DECEASED Letters Testamentary have

Classifieds
been granted and issued to
NOTICE TO CREDITORS DOCKET NO. 44-2021-D THOMAS S. HODGES, JR., AD- Clifton Boyd Bishop, Jr., Execut-

CAUSE NO.: 20-0140-JNS

PUBLIC NOTICE
Ads appear in The Commercial Dispatch,
MINISTRATOR

CAUSE NO.: 2020-0205-JNS

or of the Estate of Janell Colli-
er Bishop McChriston, de-
ceased, by the Chancery Court
THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
LOWNDES COUNTY TAKE NOTICE that Dallas Pro-
duction Company LLC ("Peti-
The Starkville Dispatch and Online
SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION
of Lowndes County, Missis-
sippi, on the 29th day of
December, 2020. This is to
Letters Testamentary have tioner") has filed a Petition with THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI give notice to all persons hav-
been granted and issued to the the Mississippi State Oil and
undersigned upon the estate of Gas Board under the above TO: All Unknown Heirs-at-Law of
To place ads starting at only $12, ing claims against the estate
to Probate and Register same
ALLEAN PETTY, deceased, by docket requesting an exten-
the Chancery Court of Lowndes sion of the inactive well classi-
call 662-328-2424 or visit ads.cdispatch.com
Dorothy Alice Hodges, de-
ceased, and Any Unknown Per-
with the Chancery Clerk of
Lowndes County, Mississippi,
County, Mississippi, on the fication under Statewide Rule sons In Interest within ninety (90) days from the
27th day of July, A.D., 2020. 28 for the following wells (“the date of first publication of this
This is to give notice to all per- Wells”) in the Corinne Field, Rebecca Roach THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n FRIDAY, JANUARY
Notice. 15,to2021
A failure n 7B
so Probate
sons having claims against Clay, Monroe and Lowndes 4122 Manor House Drive and Register the claim will
said estate to Probate and Re- Counties, Mississippi: Marietta, GA 30062 forever bar the same.
gister same with the Chancery
Clerk of Lowndes County, Mis- WELL NAME All Unknown Heirs-at-Law of THIS the 29th day of Decem-
Legal Notices Legal Notices
sissippi, LegalNO.
within ninety (90) days API Notices Legal Notices
Helen Atkins, deceased, and Legal Notices Legal2020.
ber, Notices

LEGALS
from this date. A failure to so Any Unknown Persons In In-
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI Probate and Register said Campbell 30-1 terest STATE OF MISSISSIPPI Estate of Janell Collier Bishop
COUNTY OF LOWNDES claim will forever bar the same. 2302520012 COUNTY OF LOWNDES McChriston
All Unknown Heirs-at-Law of By: Clifton Boyd Bishop, Jr., Ex-
Royce Ann Butler deceased,
Call us: 662-328-2424 NOTICE OF SALE This the 5th day of January,
2021.
Dabbs 4-2
2309520508 and Any Unknown Persons In
NOTICE OF SALE ecutor

Legal Notices
The following vehicle has been
abandoned at Atlas Recovery &
Towing, 4009 HWY 373,
Columbus, MS 39705:
2007 Ford Fusion VIN
3FAHP07Z47R265331
2005 Nissan Altima VIN
1N4AL11D05N409876
2006 Nissan Altima VIN
1N4AL11D36C212200
1995 Ford Mustang VIN
1FALP42TXSF157757
IF THESE VEHICLES ARE NOT
CLAIMED THEY WILL BE PUT
UP FOR SALE ON THE 30TH
DAY OF JANUARY, 2021 AT
6:00 A.M. AT ATLAS RECOV-
ERY & TOWING, 4009 HWY
373, COLUMBUS, MS 39705.
Witnessed under my hand on
this the 5th day of January,
2021.
/s/Frank Stump
PUBLISH: 1/8 & 1/15/2021
The following vehicle has been
abandoned at Roberts Auto
Shop, 4009 Hwy 373 Colum-
bus, MS 39705.
2008 FORD F350
VIN# 1FTWW33R68EE33969
IF THIS VEHICLE IS NOT
CLAIMED IT WILL BE PUT UP
FOR SALE ON THE 30TH DAY
OF JANUARY, 2021 AT 6:00
A.M. AT ROBERTS AUTO SHOP,
4009 HWY 373, COLUMBUS,
MS 39705.
PUBLISH: 1/8 & 1/15/2021
In the Chancery Court of
Lowndes County, Mississippi
In the Matter of the Estate of
Milton Lewis, Deceased
Cause No. 2020-0299-PDE
Summons
(Rule 81 Summons by Publica-
tion)
To: All Born, Known, Absent or Daphine Miller - E81
Unknown Heirs at Law of Milton
Stephanie Bryant - E493
Lewis, Deceased
You have been made a re-
spondent in the Petition to De-
termine Heirs-at-Law filed in
this cause by Castella Hender-
son, who is seeking a judicial
determination that Castella
Henderson and Shirley Cole-
man are the sole and only
heirs at law of the Decedent,
Milton Lewis.
You are summoned to appear
and respond to the Petition
files on this action at 9:30
a.m. on the 24th day of Febru-
ary, 2021 before Chancellor
Paula Drungole-Ellis in the
Chancery Courtroom at the
Lowndes County Courthouse
located at 505 2nd Avenue
North, Columbus, Mississippi;
and in case of your failure to
appear and respond, a Decree
will be entered for the things
requested in the Petition.
You are not required to file an
answer or other pleading, but
WHEREAS, the following ten-
ants entered into leases with /s/ SHELIA DEAR POWERS
FRIENDLY CITY MINI-WARE- SHELIA DEAR POWERS
HOUSES for storage space in
which to store personal prop- PUBLISH: 1/8, 1/15 &
erty and 1/22/2021
WHEREAS, default has been STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
made in the payment of rent COUNTY OF LOWNDES
and FRIENDLY CITY MINI-WARE-
HOUSES pursuant to said NOTICE OF SALE
Leases is authorized to sell the
personal property to satisfy the WHEREAS, the following ten-
past due and any other ants entered into leases with
charges owed to it by the fol- FRIENDLY CITY MINI-WARE-
lowing tenants. HOUSES for storage space in
which to store personal prop-
NOW THEREFORE, notice is erty and
hereby given that FRIENDLY
CITY MINI-WAREHOUSES will of- WHEREAS, default has been
fer for sale, and will sell at auc- made in the payment of rent
tion to the highest bidder for and FRIENDLY CITY MINI-WARE-
cash all personal property in HOUSES pursuant to said
storage units leased by the fol- Leases is authorized to sell the
lowing tenants at FRIENDLY personal property to satisfy the
CITY MINI-WAREHOUSES 903 past due and any other
Alabama St. Columbus, MS. charges owed to it by the fol-
Auctions will begin at 8:30 lowing tenants.
A.M. on the 5th day of Febru-
ary, A.D. 2021 at 308 Shoney NOW THEREFORE, notice is
Drive, Columbus, MS and will hereby given that FRIENDLY
continue to all FRIENDLY CITY CITY MINI-WAREHOUSES will of-
MINI-WAREHOUSE locations in fer for sale, and will sell at auc-
the following sequence: 903 tion to the highest bidder for
Alabama Street, Columbus, cash all personal property in
MS; 44 Beatty Road, Colum- storage units leased by the fol-
bus, MS; 4504 Highway 69 lowing tenants at FRIENDLY
South, Columbus, MS. All auc- CITY MINI-WAREHOUSES 44
tions are with reserve and Beatty Road, Columbus, MS.
therefore all units can be with- Auctions will begin at 8:30
drawn from the sale at any A.M. on the 5th day of Febru-
time by the auctioneer/man- ary, A.D. 2021 at 308 Shoney
ager. Drive, Columbus, MS and will
continue to all FRIENDLY CITY
Title to the personal property to MINI-WAREHOUSE locations in
be sold is believed to be good, the following sequence: 903
but at such sale, FRIENDLY Alabama Street, Columbus,
CITY MINI-WAREHOUSES will MS; 44 Beatty Road, Colum-
convey only such title as is ves- bus, MS; 4504 Highway 69
ted in it pursuant to its lease South, Columbus, MS. All auc-
with the following and its al- tions are with reserve and
lowed under Mississippi Code therefore all units can be with-
Annotated Section 85-7-121 et drawn from the sale at any
seq (Supp 1988). time by the auctioneer/man-
ager.
Cetericka Walker - E247
Title to the personal property to
Jennifer Overpeck - E226 be sold is believed to be good,
but at such sale, FRIENDLY
Alyssa Harris - E478 CITY MINI-WAREHOUSES will
convey only such title as is ves-
Oscar Taylor Jr. - E95 ted in it pursuant to its lease
with the following and its al-
Shameka Gandy - E465 lowed under Mississippi Code
Annotated Section 85-7-121 et
LaShana C. Scott - E58, E372 seq (Supp 1988).
Terry Brown - B40, B48
Robert Irwin - B62
Cedrick Clemmons - E1 Walter Smith Jr. - B46
Jerry Stockman - E246 WITNESS MY SIGNATURE on
this the 6th day of January,
Patricia Wilson - E360 A.D. 2021.
Carletta Edwards - E245 FRIENDLY CITY
MINI-WAREHOUSES
Alisha Coleman - E207 By: C.H.L.
Caroline Payne - E366 Publish: 1/8, 1/15 &
1/22/2021
Ellihue Blackwell - E471
WITNESS MY SIGNATURE on
BEFORE THE STATE OIL AND
this the 6th day of January,
GAS BOARD OF MISSISSIPPI
A.D. 2021. RE: PETITION OF DALLAS PRO-
DUCTION COMPANY LLC FOR
FRIENDLY CITY AN EXTENSION OF INACTIVE
MINI-WAREHOUSES
WELL STATUS UNDER
By: C.H.L. STATEWIDE RULE 28 FOR
WELLS LOCATED IN THE
Publish: 1/8, 1/15 &
1/22/2021
CORINNE FIELD IN CLAY, MON-
ROE, AND LOWNDES
COUNTIES, MISSISSIPPI
NOTICE TO CREDITORS DOCKET NO. 44-2021-D
Laws 23-1
2308720012
Martin 19-2
2302520007
RT Dabbs 2
2309520151
Self 12-2
2309520329
Self-Day 13-3
2309520217
TA Richardson 4
2309520137
TA Richardson 6
2309520154
Wilson 24-1
2302520009
Wilson 24-2
2302520044
The Petition in this matter is on son. all deceased. Other than
file in the records in the office you, the only
of the Mississippi State Oil and
Gas Board and may there be
examined.
The Petition will be heard by
said Board at 10:00 a.m. on
the 17th day of February,
2021, at 500 Greymont Aven-
ue, Suite E, Jackson, Missis-
sippi 39202, at which time and Chancellor of the 14th Chan-
place you may appear and con- cery District at 9:00 a.m. on
test said matter.
If you intend to contest the
Docket or request a continu-
ance you must notify the Board ure to appear your interest in
and the Petitioner's represent- this matter will not be con-
ative of your intention in writ- sidered.
ing not later than 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, February 9, 2021,
which is seven (7) days prior to answer or other pleading, but
the date stated above for the
hearing. Failure to so notify the
Board and the Petitioner's rep-
resentative shall be a waiver of seal of said Court, this the
your right to contest or request 28th day of December 2020.
a continuance.
You are advised the Board may CLERK
adopt an order concerning a
Petition which may differ from
the relief requested by the Peti-
tioner and the Board will enter (SEAL)
such order or orders as in its
judgment may be appropriate in
accordance with the evidence
presented.
DATED this the 12th day of
January, 2021.
MISSISSIPPI STATE OIL & GAS
BOARD
By: /s/ Jesse S. New
Jesse S. New
Executive Director
PETITIONER'S COUNSEL:
William F. Blair
BLAIR & BONDURANT, P.A.
Post Office Box 321423
Jackson, MS 39232
(601) 992-4477 - Telephone
bill@bbfirm.com
PUBLISH: 1/15/2021
IN THE CHANCERY COURT OF
LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-
SIPPI
IN THE MATTER OF THE ES-
TATE OF DOROTHY ALICE
HODGES, DECEASED
THOMAS S. HODGES, JR., AD-
MINISTRATOR
Interest
Tammy Bates
127 Myrtle Wood Drive
Pensacola, FL 32503
Vickie Stanley
105 Morgan Terrace
Marion, NC 28752
All Unknown Heirs-at-Law of El-
lena J. Hixson, deceased, and
Any Unknown Persons In In-
terest
Cindy Hixson Lapierre
7425 Gilbert Road
Panama City, FL 32404
You have been made a defend- CITY MINI-WAREHOUSES will of-
ant in the Petition to Determ-
ines Heirs-at-Law filed by the
Administrator, Thomas S.
Hodges, Jr., on December 11,
2020, seeking to determine
the heirs-at-law of Dorothy Alice CITY MINI-WAREHOUSES 4504
Hodges, Helen Atkins, Royce
Ann Butler and Ellena J. Hix-
other interested
parties in this action are James
Hodges, Sam Atkins, Dorothy
Sawaryn Threadgill, and
Thomas S. Hodges, Jr..
You are summoned to appear
and represent your interests
against said Petition before the South, Columbus, MS. All auc-
Honorable Joseph N. Studdard,
the 2nd day of March 2021, at time by the auctioneer/man-
the Oktibbeha County Court-
house, in Starkville, Missis-
sippi, and in case of your fail-
You are not required to file an
you may do so if you desire.
Issued under my hand and the seq (Supp 1988).
CINDY E. GOODE, CHANCERY
LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-
SIPPI
BY: Tina Fisher, D.C.
PUBLISH: 1/8, 1/15 &
1/22/2021
IN THE CHANCERY COURT OF
LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-
SIPPI
IN THE MATTER OF THE ES-
TATE OF DOROTHY G. RAY, DE- MINI-WAREHOUSES
CEASED
CAUSE NO. 2020-0236-F
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
COUNTY OF LOWNDES
Letters Testamentary have
been granted and issued to the IN THE MATTER OF THE ES-
undersigned upon the Estate of TATE OF JANELL COLLIER BISH-
Dorothy G. Ray, deceased, by
the Chancery Court of Lowndes
County, Mississippi, on the
28th day of December, 2020.
This is to give notice to all per-
sons having claims against
said estate to Probate and Re-
gister same with the Chancery NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Clerk of Lowndes County, Mis-
sissippi, within ninety (90) days Letters Testamentary have
from the first publication date
of this Notice to Creditors. A
WHEREAS, the following ten-
ants entered into leases with
FRIENDLY CITY MINI-WARE-
HOUSES for storage space in
which to store personal prop-
erty and
WHEREAS, default has been
made in the payment of rent
and FRIENDLY CITY MINI-WARE-
HOUSES pursuant to said
Leases is authorized to sell the
personal property to satisfy the
past due and any other
charges owed to it by the fol-
lowing tenants.
NOW THEREFORE, notice is
hereby given that FRIENDLY
fer for sale, and will sell at auc-
tion to the highest bidder for
cash all personal property in
storage units leased by the fol-
lowing tenants at FRIENDLY
Highway 69 South, Columbus,
MS. Auctions will begin at 8:30
A.M. on the 5th day February,
A.D. 2021 at 308 Shoney
Drive, Columbus, MS and will
continue to all FRIENDLY CITY
MINI-WAREHOUSE locations in
the following sequence: 903
Alabama Street, Columbus,
MS; 44 Beatty Road, Colum-
bus, MS; 4504 Highway 69
tions are with reserve and
therefore all units can be with-
drawn from the sale at any
ager.
Title to the personal property to
be sold is believed to be good,
but at such sale, FRIENDLY
CITY MINI-WAREHOUSES will
convey only such title as is ves-
ted in it pursuant to its lease
with the following and its al-
lowed under Mississippi Code
Annotated Section 85-7-121 et
Bessie Montgomery - H27
Charles Mateer - H14
Natasha Kyle - H48
Michael Hollins - Park 3
Brett Johnson - H46
Wendy Blunt - H60, H104
Jennie G. Johnson - H96
WITNESS MY SIGNATURE on
this the 6th day of January,
A.D. 2020.
FRIENDLY CITY
By: C.H.L.
Publish: 1/8, 1/15 &
1/22/2021
IN THE CHANCERY COURT OF
LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-
SIPPI
OP MCCHRISTON, DECEASED
CLIFTON BOYD BISHOP, JR.,
EXECUTOR
NO. 2020-0250-PDE
been granted and issued to
Clifton Boyd Bishop, Jr., Execut-
or of the Estate of Janell Colli-
OF COUNSEL:
John W. Crowell (MSB 7906)
Crowell Gillis & Cooper, PLLC
Post Office Box 1827
Columbus, MS 39703
PHONE: (662) 243-7308
jcrowell@cgclawpllc.com
PUBLISH: 1/15, 1/22 &
1/29/2021
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
COUNTY OF LOWNDES
NOTICE OF SALE
WHEREAS, the following ten-
ants entered into leases with
FRIENDLY CITY MINI-WARE-
HOUSES for storage space in
which to store personal prop-
erty and
WHEREAS, default has been
made in the payment of rent
and FRIENDLY CITY MINI-WARE-
HOUSES pursuant to said
Leases is authorized to sell the
personal property to satisfy the
past due and any other
charges owed to it by the fol-
lowing tenants.
NOW THEREFORE, notice is
hereby given that FRIENDLY
CITY MINI-WAREHOUSES will of-
fer for sale, and will sell at auc-
tion to the highest bidder for
cash all personal property in
storage units leased by the fol-
lowing tenants at FRIENDLY
CITY MINI-WAREHOUSES 308
Shoney Drive Columbus, MS,
at 8:30 am on the 5th day of
February, A.D. 2021 and will
continue to all FRIENDLY CITY
MINI-WAREHOUSE locations in
the following sequence: 903
Alabama Street, Columbus,
MS; 44 Beatty Road, Colum-
bus, MS; 4504 Highway 69
South, Columbus, MS. All auc-
tions are with reserve and
therefore all units can be with-
drawn from the sale at any
time by the auctioneer/man-
ager.
Title to the personal property to
be sold is believed to be good,
but at such sale, FRIENDLY
CITY MINI-WAREHOUSES will
convey only such title as is ves-
ted in it pursuant to its lease
with the following and its al-
lowed under Mississippi Code
Annotated Section 85-7-121 et
seq (Supp 1988).
Carnell Brown - N16
Sharon D. Little - N276
Tiesha Robinson - N125
Debbie Gardner - N22
Tammy Bailey - N227
WITNESS MY SIGNATURE on
this the 6th day of January,
A.D. 2021.
FRIENDLY CITY
MINI-WAREHOUSES
By: C.H.L.
Publish: 1/8, 1/15 &
1/22/2021
PLACE YOUR
AD ONLINE
ads@cdispatch.com

you may do so if you desire.
Issued under my hand and the
seal of said Court on this the
12th day of January, 2021.
s/ Cindy E. Goode
Chancery Clerk
Lowndes County, Mississippi
PUBLISH: 1/15, 1/22 &
1/29/2021
Read local.
cdispatch.com
CAUSE NO.: 20-0140-JNS
THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
LOWNDES COUNTY
Letters Testamentary have
been granted and issued to the
undersigned upon the estate of
ALLEAN PETTY, deceased, by
the Chancery Court of Lowndes
County, Mississippi, on the
27th day of July, A.D., 2020.
This is to give notice to all per-
sons having claims against
said estate to Probate and Re-
gister same with the Chancery
Clerk of Lowndes County, Mis-
sissippi, within ninety (90) days
from this date. A failure to so
Probate and Register said
PUBLIC NOTICE
TAKE NOTICE that Dallas Pro-
duction Company LLC ("Peti-
tioner") has filed a Petition with
the Mississippi State Oil and
Gas Board under the above
docket requesting an exten-
sion of the inactive well classi-
fication under Statewide Rule
28 for the following wells (“the
Wells”) in the Corinne Field,
Clay, Monroe and Lowndes
Counties, Mississippi:
WELL NAME
API NO.
Campbell 30-1
CAUSE NO.: 2020-0205-JNS
SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION
THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
TO: All Unknown Heirs-at-Law of
Dorothy Alice Hodges, de-
ceased, and Any Unknown Per- 1/22/2021
sons In Interest
Rebecca Roach
4122 Manor House Drive
Marietta, GA 30062
All Unknown Heirs-at-Law of
Helen Atkins, deceased, and
Any Unknown Persons In In-
terest
Employment
failure to so Probate and Re-
gister a claim will forever bar er Bishop McChriston, de-
that claim. ceased, by the Chancery Court
of Lowndes County, Missis-
This the 29th day of December, sippi, on the 29th day of
2020. December, 2020. This is to Call us: 662-328-2424
give notice to all persons hav-
/s/ DAVIS B. RAY, Executor ing claims against the estate
to Probate and Register same Customer Service
PUBLISH: 1/8, 1/15 & with the Chancery Clerk of
Lowndes County, Mississippi, LOCAL LAW FIRM is seek-
within ninety (90) days from the ing Receptionist/Secretary.
date of first publication of this Previous experience
Notice. A failure to so Probate helpful but not necessary.
All notices must be and Register the claim will Computer skills a must.
forever bar the same.
emailed to
classifieds@ THIS the 29th day of Decem-
Email resume to:
job116@cdispatch.com
cdispatch.com. ber, 2020. Please re-submit your re-
sume if sent before 12/31
Estate of Janell Collier Bishop

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claim will forever bar the same. 2302520012 McChriston
All Unknown Heirs-at-Law of By: Clifton Boyd Bishop, Jr., Ex-
This the 5th day of January, Dabbs 4-2 Royce Ann Butler deceased, ecutor
2021. 2309520508 and Any Unknown Persons In
Interest OF COUNSEL:
/s/ SHELIA DEAR POWERS Laws 23-1 John W. Crowell (MSB 7906)
SHELIA DEAR POWERS 2308720012 Tammy Bates Crowell Gillis & Cooper, PLLC
127 Myrtle Wood Drive Post Office Box 1827
PUBLISH: 1/8, 1/15 & Martin 19-2 Pensacola, FL 32503 Columbus, MS 39703
1/22/2021 2302520007 PHONE: (662) 243-7308
Vickie Stanley jcrowell@cgclawpllc.com
RT Dabbs 2 105 Morgan Terrace
2309520151 Marion, NC 28752 PUBLISH: 1/15, 1/22 &
1/29/2021
Self 12-2 All Unknown Heirs-at-Law of El-
2309520329 lena J. Hixson, deceased, and

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2309520154 ant in the Petition to Determ-
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2020, seeking to determine
Wilson 24-2 the heirs-at-law of Dorothy Alice
2302520044 Hodges, Helen Atkins, Royce
Ann Butler and Ellena J. Hix-
The Petition in this matter is on son. all deceased. Other than
file in the records in the office you, the only other interested
of the Mississippi State Oil and parties in this action are James
Gas Board and may there be Hodges, Sam Atkins, Dorothy
examined. Sawaryn Threadgill, and
Thomas S. Hodges, Jr..

CUSTOMIZE YOUR AD:

The Petition will be heard by
said Board at 10:00 a.m. on
the 17th day of February,
2021, at 500 Greymont Aven-
You are summoned to appear
and represent your interests
against said Petition before the
Honorable Joseph N. Studdard,

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ue, Suite E, Jackson, Missis-

test said matter. Sponsored ads $3

sippi 39202, at which time and Chancellor of the 14th Chan-
place you may appear and con- cery District at 9:00 a.m. on
the 2nd day of March 2021, at
the Oktibbeha County Court-
Premium placement
If you intend to contest the
Docket or request a continu-
house, in Starkville, Missis-
sippi, and in case of your fail-
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on classifieds home page.
ance you must notify the Board ure to appear your interest in
and the Petitioner's represent- this matter will not be con-
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ing not later than 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, February 9, 2021, You are not required to file an
which is seven (7) days prior to answer or other pleading, but
the date stated above for the you may do so if you desire.
Highlight your ad
hearing. Failure to so notify the
Board and the Petitioner's rep- Issued under my hand and the
Enhance your ad with
with a dash of color.
resentative shall be a waiver of seal of said Court, this the
your right to contest or request 28th day of December 2020. an attention getter.
a continuance.
CINDY E. GOODE, CHANCERY ADS STARTING AT

$12
You are advised the Board may CLERK
adopt an order concerning a LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-
Petition which may differ from SIPPI
the relief requested by the Peti-
tioner and the Board will enter (SEAL)
such order or orders as in its BY: Tina Fisher, D.C.
judgment may be appropriate in
accordance with the evidence PUBLISH: 1/8, 1/15 &
presented. 1/22/2021
8B FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
Medical / Dental Houses For Rent: North

3BR/1.5BA, clean, modern

appliances, dishwasher,
Merchandise ON THE WEB
central AC&heat; carport,
wash/dry hookup, fenced Ads starting at $12 Visit www.cdispatch.com
back yard, 3216 Military Rd
$800+dep. 574−8559 General Merchandise for a printable copy of
Houses For Rent: Caledonia Roper Dryer, standard size, these puzzles.
good condition, $200.
3BR/1.5BA, small house 662−312−6617.
for small family. NO DOGS.
NO HUD. Caledonia School
Dist. 8155 Hwy 12 near
Old Country Store. Sporting Goods
Available 1/5/21. $775/
mo + $775 dep. 662−245 ED SANDERS GUNSMITH
−1191 or 662−549−9298. Open for season!
Tue−Fri: 9−5 & Sat: 9−12
Mobile Homes for Rent Over 50 years experience!
Repairs, cleaning, refin−
3BR/2BA MH in New Hope. ishing, scopes mounted &
$650 dep + $650/mo. No zeroed, handmade knives.
pets, quiet area. Leave full Located: Hwy 45 Alt, North
name & message, of West Point, turn right on
205−712−6697. Yokahama Blvd, 8mi & turn
left on Darracott Rd, will
RENT A CAMPER! see sign, 2.5mi ahead
CHEAPER THAN A MOTEL! shop on left.
Utilities & cable included, 662−494−6218.
from $145/wk − $535/mo
Columbus & County School

Vehicles
locations. 662−242−3803
General Help Wanted Apts For Rent: West or 601−940−1397.

VIP
PROGRESSIVE HEATING & Mobile Home Spaces
Ads starting at $12
COOLING, INC. is seeking
Sudoku YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

Rentals
duct work installers. Applic- For Rent:
ant must have verifiable ex- Offices 4−Private + Campers & RVs
perience and good work ref-
erences. Apply at: 10155 Apartments & Houses
Reception Area with
5,700sqft warehouse, Sudoku
Sudoku is a number-
placing puzzle based on
Yesterday’s answer
Darracott Access Road, paved parking. Please text Sudoku
a 9x9 gridis witha several
num- 6 9 7 1 8 5 2 3 4
1 Bedrooms
Aberdeen, MS 39730 Your Name & Email for
ber-placing
given numbers.puzzleThe object 5 1 4 7 3 2 8 9 6

2021 Conceptis Puzzles, Dist. by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm more details. $1,800/mo
(662)369-3694 or 2 Bedroooms to rent. 720−635−5696. based onthe
is to place a 9x9
numbers 8 2 3 4 9 6 1 5 7
grid
1 to 9with
in theseveral
3 Bedrooms
(662)328-1080 empty spaces 3 8 2 6 4 1 9 7 5
given
so thatnumbers.
each row, each The 4 6 1 5 7 9 3 8 2
Government Furnished & Unfurnished Real Estate object
column and each 3x3 the
numbers
is to
contains the1same
place box
to 9 number
in 7 5 9 8 2 3 6 4 1
Town of Millport 1, 2, & 3 Baths 2003 Coachman 31ft 5th
the empty spaces so 9 3 5 2 1 7 4 6 8
Police Officer Lease, Deposit Ads starting at $25 Wheel RV. Great shape, only once. The difficulty 2 4 6 3 5 8 7 1 9
ready to hit the road or for that each row, each
level increases from
The Town of Millport has & Credit Check Farms & Timberland
tiny home life. Lots of column and each 1 7 8 9 6 4 5 2 3
an opening for a police room, 2 pullouts, awning Monday
3x3 boxtocontains
Sunday. Difficulty Level 1/14

viceinvestments.com for patio. Will consider all

officer. Applications and
job requirements may be
picked up at the office of
the Town Clerk located
within Millport Town Hall,
920 Black Street, Millport
AL 35576. All completed
applications must be
returned to Town Hall.
Applications are due no
later than January 22,
2021. Call 205-662-4228
if you have any questions.
the same number only once. The difficulty level
327-8555 203 ACRES
PRIME TIMBERLAND
serious offers, no financing
$10,000. 601−310−3528 increases from Monday to Sunday.
$270,000
Apts For Rent: Other Exc deer, turkey hunting
Good Investment
(615)719−8329
Too much
STUFF?
Houses For Sale: East
FSBO: 4BR/2BA. New roof,
new paint, fenced
backyard, driveway leads
behind house. $128,000.
662−889−1443.

Rentals Lots & Acreage

1.75 ACRE LOTS: Good/

Ads starting at $25
Apts For Rent: North
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
Bad Credit Options. Good
credit as low as 20% down,
$499/mo. Eaton Land,
662−361−7711.
LOTS FOR SALE. Over 3
acre lot in prestigious
Callaway Estates. Only 2
lots available. Restrictive
covenants apply. $35,000.
Call Long & Long Real Start your
COLEMAN Estate, 662−328−0770
for plat and restrictions. de-cluttering by
RENTALS
placing a garage
TOWNHOUSES & APARTMENTS

Garage Sales
SURVEILLANCE. Benji &
Ashleigh, 662−386−4446. 1 BEDROOM sale ad today!
2 BEDROOMS
3 BEDROOMS Two free signs
Ads starting at...
It’s a classified LEASE,
© The Dispatch

Auctions
rule-of-thumb: DEPOSIT 1 day $10
AND
We tell readers CREDIT CHECK 3 day $18
what they need
to know to buy
662-329-2323
2411 HWY 45 N
6 day $34
what they need. COLUMBUS, MS Price includes 4 lines of text;
$1/line after base cost.

Five Questions: ACROSS

1 From the area
6 Tool handles
1 Baddie 11 Jim Croce’s “I
Got —”
Winkle 12 Cove
13 Entice

Place an ad safely 2 Mom

14 Shore bird
15 Waiter’s
reward
from home with 16 Counting
number
3 Empire
the Classifieds.
18 Pole worker
(Entertainment) 19 “The Matrix”
hero
— from the TV 20 Brood watcher
21 Deliberate
series “Empire” 23 Easy gaits 45 Moved slowly abodes
25 Place to park 46 Usher’s spot 10 Boat back
27 Brynner of 17 Capture
4 Bernie “The King and I” DOWN 22 Court
You’ll find the best deals 28 Darkness 1 Coffee bar 24 Ump’s call
when you advertise Sanders 30 Final, for one orders 26 Came to
and shop here! 33 Old hand 2 “Ah, Wilder- 28 Highly rated
ads.cdispatch.com 34 Keg need ness!” author 29 Yoga need
ads.cdispatch.com
5 Rihanna 36 Some amount 3 Party hang- 31 Be whiny
of ers-on 32 Gibson of “2

Service Directory
37 Numbers to 4 Band blaster Fast 2 Furious”
crunch 5 Admit 33 Top-notch
39 WSW, for one 6 Study of the 35 Elbows on the
40 Exemplary past table
41 Colander’s kin 7 Writer Rice 38 Secluded spot
Promote your small business starting at only $25 43 Singer Hag- 8 Pilots in com- 42 Clock numeral
gard mand
Air Cond & Heating General Services General Services Lawn Care / Landscaping 44 Car quartet 9 Conical
RAPID TEMP A & T TREE SERVICES JESSE & BEVERLY’S
Heating & cooling. Bucket truck & stump LAWN SERVICE
Home & RV. removal. Free est. Fall Cleanup, Tree Cutting,
Service & install. Serving Columbus Landscaping, Sodding &
Free estimates. since 1987. Senior Bush Hogging
Call 602−736−4880. citizen disc. Call Alvin @ 662−356−6525
242−0324/241−4447
"We’ll go out on a limb for Painting & Papering
Carpet & Flooring you!"
SULLIVAN’S PAINT
GRAVEL, $360 PER LOAD. SERVICE
Local delivery, 14 yd truck. Special Prices.
Backhoe & Dozer work. Interior & Exterior Painting.
Mobile Home Pads & 662−435−6528
Driveways. Concrete work.
662−497−1388

WORK WANTED: Licensed

Clean in the New Year! & Bonded. Carpentry, minor
1 Room − $50 electrical, minor plumbing,
2 Room − $80 insulation, painting, demo−
3 Rooms − $110 lition, gutters cleaned, LIST YOUR
pressure washing, land−
Carpet − Rugs − Cars
DAVID’S CARPET & scaping, cleanup work. BUSINESS HERE!
UPHOLSTERY 662−242−3608. Ads starting at $25
CLEANING ads.cdispatch.com. Got leaky pipes?
Call for more info! Are you a painter? Find a plumber in the
662−722−1758 classifieds.
Advertise here!