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Thursday | February 25, 2021

CLW forms search committee to find new director

Bernsen named interim executive director after Gale’s death Feb. 12
BY ISABELLE ALTMAN
ialtman@cdispatch.com
Columbus Light and Water
board of directors has formed a
committee to conduct a nation-
al search for a new executive
director following the death of
Todd Gale.
The committee will be made
up of board Vice Chair Mike
Tate, CLW Human Resources
Manager Joe Beall and human
resources consultant Camille
Young, Tate said after the
board’s meeting Wednesday.
He said the committee will
receive resumes and narrow it
down to the top handful of can-
didates to present to the board.
In addition to managing
CLW and its employees and fi-
nances, the executive director
is responsible for working with
outside entities like Tennessee
Valley Authority, Tate said.
“We as the board have to
do our due diligence,” he said.
“There is no replacing Todd
Gale. (He) was able to commu-
nicate not only with people here
in Mississippi or here in Co-
lumbus, but even on a national
level with TVA, so the person
we bring in is going to have to
have some of those same skills
that’s able to motivate and try to
get business or industry back to
Columbus.”
Tate Bernsen
Tate said he did not have an
exact deadline for when appli-
cations should be turned in or
when the committee will bring
final names before the board,
but he said the committee will
meet prior to the next board
meeting and hopefully come up
with a timeline then.
In the meantime, Chief Fi-
nancial Officer Mike Bernsen
will serve as interim executive
director, after the board called
a special virtual meeting on
Feb.12, the same day Gale died.
“I just told (the board) that I
can do it, I’d like to do, and we’ll
go from there,” Bernsen said
Wednesday.
See CLW, 3A

PLAYING AT THE PARK BUSINESS MOVES

WITH MARY

Glo prepares
to move into
Rex Theater
by Monday
PLUS: New sweet shop
coming to the Rex’s
former ticket office
BY MARY POLLITZ
biz@cdispatch.com

A
fter

nearly a
year of res-
torations,
the old
Rex
Theatre is
Deanna Robinson/Dispatch Staff
Steviiana McCoy, 2, sits with her brother, Jabari McCoy, 4, at Propst Park Monday afternoon. Their parents are Jacklyn McCoy starting to
and Steven Jennings. “Glo.”
By Mary Pollitz
Monday,
the class
project-turned-startup business
Glo will move its office into the

‘We have one main goal: helping out our neighbor’
Starkville Strong keeps building awareness,
members through volunteer service
BY TYLER B. JONES
tjones@cdispatch.com
With the majority of
Starkville residents confined
to their homes last week be-
cause of a winter storm, local
musician Tahj Mckey sacri-
ficed his safety by delivering
goods and supplies to those in
need.
Mckey became involved
with Starkville Strong Face-
book group at the beginning
of the COVID-19 pandemic
because he was trying to find
ways to give back to the com-
munity during the difficult
time. He said that he has con-
tinuously volunteered his time
to the organization because it
has made an impact not only
on the community but on him-
self.
“Being able to drive and
deliver things to people
made an impact because peo-
ple couldn’t get out of their
homes,” Mckey said. “People
that I was delivering to were
literally stuck in their homes,
and some didn’t even have
electricity. For this one order,
we had to bring gas to a fam-
ily, and their power went out,
and they were running off of a
generator. So, we went to the
gas station and pumped two
gallons of gas and took it all
the way to Macon so this fami-
ly could survive the rest of the
night.”
Inclement weather invaded
the Golden Triangle last week,
bringing freezing tempera-
tures, icy roads and extreme
winter precipitation. Many
community members offered
delivery services and rides
to those needing to get to ap-
pointments, work or other nec-
See VOLUNTEERS, 6A
newly renovated space at 101 W.
Main St.
Tuesday afternoon, Glo CEO
Hagan Walker walked through the
theater imagining the possibili-
ties this new area entails for his
company.
See BUSINESS, 6A
Absentee voting
available for city
primary races
Ballots available at city
Tyler Jones/Dispatch Staff
clerks’ offices
Taylor Reed, an L.A. Green employee, browses the jew- DISPATCH STAFF REPORT
elry selection at the boutique. L.A. Green is one of 14
downtown businesses partnered with Starkville Strong’s
“Shop Local. Help Local.” fundraising campaign this week. Absentee ballots for the April 6
Starkville Strong, a Facebook group that has brought in municipal primary elections in Co-
nearly 8,400 members, focuses on meeting immediate lumbus, Starkville and West Point
needs of community members, ranging from food insecuri-
ty to housing. During last week’s winter storm, volunteers are now available.
used the platform to coordinate deliveries and transporta- In Columbus, there are contest-
tion for people who couldn’t get out or were without power. See BALLOTS, 6A

INSIDE FIVE QUESTIONS CALENDAR LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC

Business 5B 1 What 2015 film tells the story
Today through MEETINGS
Classifieds 6B of the rap group N.W.A.? March 1: Lowndes
Comics 4B
Crossword 6B
2 What newspaper was Amazon
founder Jeff Bezos referring to
Saturday County Supervisors,
■ Virtual Magnolia 9 a.m., Courthouse
Dear Abby 4B when he said, “They’re kind of Independent Film
Obituaries 5A swashbuckling, but they’re pro- March 3: Columbus
Festival: The Mag in
Opinions 4A fessional swashbucklers”? Municipal School
3 The annual fundraising gala Starkville returns with Board recess
and fashion exhibit for what mu- independent films meeting 11:30 a.m.,
seum is the subject of the 2015 and shorts. Visit mag-
WEATHER documentary “The First Monday noliafilmfest.com.
virtual meeting
March 11: Co-
in May”?
High 68 Low 46
Mostly cloudy
4 What large arachnid is a pop-
ular snack in Cambodia, served
fried and seasoned with salt,
lumbus Municipal
School Board, 4
p.m., Brandon Cen-
Full forecast on sugar and garlic? tral Services
page 3A. 5 What U.K. cooking show March 12: Lowndes
starring Mary Berry and Paul County School Dis-
Hollywood began airing in the trict Board, 12:30
U.S. in 2014 on PBS?
p.m., District Office
Answers, 6B March 15: Lowndes
Wayne Blair, of Columbus, is a County Supervisors,
141st Year, No. 296 marshal arts instructor. 9 a.m., Courthouse

DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471

2A THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Republicans rally solidly against

Democrats’ virus relief package
‘This bill is too costly, too corrupt and too liberal’
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
BY ALAN FRAM
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Republicans
rallied solidly against Democrats’
proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 re-
lief bill as lawmakers awaited a de-
cision by the Senate’s parliamentar-
ian that could bolster or potentially
kill a pivotal provision hiking the
federal minimum wage.
Despite their paper-thin con-
gressional majorities, Democratic
leaders were poised to push the
sweeping package through the
House on Friday. They were hoping
the Senate, where changes seem
likely, would follow quickly enough
to have legislation on President Joe
Biden’s desk by mid-March.
By late Wednesday, not one Re-
publican in either chamber had
publicly said he or she would back
the legislation. GOP leaders were
honing attacks on the package as
a job killer that does too little to
reopen schools or businesses shut-
tered for the coronavirus pandemic
and that was not only wasteful but
also even unscrupulous.
“I haven’t seen a Republican yet
that’s found something in there
that they agree with,” said House
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy,
R-Calif. “I think all Republicans be-
lieve in three simple things: They
want a bill that puts us back to work,
back to school and back to health.
This bill is too costly, too corrupt
and too liberal.”
The hardening opposition sug-
gested that Biden’s first major leg-
islative initiative could encounter
unanimous GOP opposition. That
was a counterpoint to the new pres-
ident’s refrain during his campaign
about bringing the country togeth-
er and a replay of the Republican
wall that new President Barack
Obama encountered in 2009 and
most of his administration.
Democrats showed no signs of
backing down, citing the assistance
the measure would spread to peo-
ple, businesses and state and local
governments.
“If congressional Republicans
want to oppose all that, my response
is: Good luck,” Senate Majority
Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.,
said on the Senate floor.

Biden aims to distribute masks to millions in ‘equity’ push

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ald Trump’s administra-
tion considered sending
WASHINGTON — masks to all Americans,
President Joe Biden plans is instead adopting a more
to distribute millions of conservative approach,
face masks to Americans aiming to reach under-
in communities hard-hit served communities and
by the coronavirus begin- those bearing the brunt of
ning next month as part of the outbreak. Trump’s ad-
his efforts to ensure “eq- ministration shelved the
uity” in the government’s plans entirely.
response to the pandemic. Biden’s plan will dis-
Biden, who like Don- tribute masks not through
the mail, but instead
through Federally Qual-
ified Community Health
Centers and the nation’s
food bank and food pantry
systems, the White House
announced Wednesday.
The Departments of
Defense, Health and Hu-
man Services, and Agri-
culture will be involved in
the distribution of more
than 25 million Ameri-
can-made cloth masks in
both adult and kid sizes.
The White House esti-
mates they will reach 12
million to 15 million peo-
ple.
“Not all Americans
are wearing masks regu-
larly, not all have access,
and not all masks are
equal,” said White House
COVID-19 coordinator
Jeff Zients.

COMMERCIAL DISPATCH
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328-2471.
Micha Josey
CEDAR BLUFF —
Micha Shawn Josey, 40,
died Feb. 15, 2021, at
his residence.
Calvert Funeral
Home is in charge of
arrangements.
Mr. Josey was born
AREA OBITUARIES
March 15, 1980, in High School. He was are at 11 a.m. today, at
Starkville, to Anita Lau- formerly employed New Providence M.B.
rie Miller and William with Weyerhaeuser Church, with Willie
Michael Josey. He was Company and a mem- J. Ivy Sr. officiating.
a veteran of the United ber of Kennedy Baptist Burial will follow in
States Navy. Church. the church cemetery.
He was preceded in In addition to his Visitation was from
death by his son, Aden parents, he was pre- 2-5 p.m. Wednesday,
ceded in death by his
Josey. at Lee-Sykes Funeral
In addition to his par- siblings, Sarah Junkin, Home. Lee-Sykes Fu-
ents, he is survived by Ray, James and Rayford neral Home of Macon
his wife, Nicole Marie Foster. is in charge of arrange-
Josey; children, Ava He is survived by his ments.
Josey, Brendan Josey wife, Jo Ann (Robin- Mrs. Boykin was
both of Prosper, Texas son) Foster; children, born July, 14, 1940, in
and Brooklyn Josey of Wendy Foster Shaw and Noxubee, to the late
Cedar Bluff; and sister, Kevin Andrew Foster Robert Lee Boykin and
Kristina Lee of Pelham, both of Kennedy, Ala- Carrie Spiller. She was
Alabama. bama; siblings, Miriam a member of New Provi-
Nabors, Brenda Pitts, dence Baptist Church.
Harvey Foster Joan Myers, Bobby and In addition to her
MILLPORT, Ala. — Doug Foster; and seven parents, she was pre-
Harvey Andrew “Andy” grandchildren. ceded in death by her
Foster, 65, died Feb. 23, Pallbearers will be children, Jimmy Lee
2021, at his residence. Larson Shaw, Renley Boykin and Mims Cal-
Funeral services will Foster, Lathan Shaw, houn Jr.; and siblings,
be at 2 p.m. Friday, at David Foster, Ladd Alice B. Huston, Violet
Dowdle Funeral Home, Shaw, Ledger Shaw, Patterson and Robert
with Terry Robinson Langston Shaw and Boykin Jr.
officiating. Burial will Phillip Foster. She is survived by
follow at Kennedy Cem- her children, Willie
etery. Visitation will Mary Boykin James Boykin of St.
be one hour prior to NOXUBEE COUN- Louis, Missouri, Barba-
ra Jean Boykin, Mattie
services at the funeral TY —
home. Dowdle Funer- Mary Ann Pearl Rutherford and
al Home of Millport, Boykin, 80, Bernice Boykin all of
Alabama is in charge of died Feb. Macon.
arrangements. 18, 2021, Pallbearers will be
Mr. Foster was born at Baptist William Boykin, An-
March 10, 1955, to the Memorial thony Boykin, Fredrick
late Emmett Noah and Hospi- Boykin, Bennie C. Ivy,
Swan Marine (Wil- tal-Golden Boykin John Brown and Willie
son) Foster. He was a Triangle. James Boykin.
graduate of Kennedy Funeral services See OBITUARIES, 5A
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 3A

SPLC: At least 160 Confederate symbols taken down in 2020

Southern Poverty Law Center says there are 704 Confederate monuments still standing
BY AARON MORRISON
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — When rioters
tore through the U.S. Capitol
last month, some of them grip-
ping Confederate battle flags,
they didn’t encounter a statue of
the most famous rebel general,
Robert E. Lee.
The Lee statue, which rep-
resented the state of Virginia
as part of the National Statuary
Hall Collection in the Capitol for
111 years, had been removed
just weeks before — one of at
least 160 public Confederate
symbols taken down or moved
from public spaces in 2020,
according to a new count the
Southern Poverty Law Center
shared with The Associated
Press ahead of releasing it.
The Montgomery, Ala-
bama-based law center, which
keeps a raw count of nearly
2,100 statues, symbols, plac-
ards, buildings and public parks
dedicated to the Confederacy,
released the latest figures from
its “Whose Heritage?” database
on Tuesday. It has been tracking
a movement to take down the
monuments since 2015, when
a white supremacist entered
a South Carolina church and
killed several Black parishio-
ners.
“These racist symbols only
serve to uphold revisionist his-
tory and the belief that white
supremacy remains morally
acceptable,” SPLC chief of staff
Lecia Brooks said in a state-
ment. “This is why we believe
that all symbols of white su-
premacy should be removed
from public spaces.”
Sometime after visitors and
tourists are welcomed back to
the U.S. Capitol, there will be a
statue saluting Virginia’s Barba-
ra Johns, a 16-year-old Black girl
who staged a strike in 1951 over
unequal conditions at her segre-
gated high school in Farmville.
Her actions led to court-ordered
integration of public schools
across the U.S, via the landmark
Supreme Court decision, Brown
v. Board of Education.
Each state legislature can
choose up to two representa-
tives to honor in the Capitol’s
collection. In December, a state
commission recommended re-
placing Lee’s statue with a stat-
ue of Johns. Supporters told the
AP that Virginia’s legislature
has nearly finalized her eleva-
tion alongside George Washing-
ton.
Joan Johns Cobbs, Barbara
Johns’ younger sister, is ecstatic
about the coming honor. She’s
also happy it hadn’t happened
before Jan. 6, when the Capitol
was breached.
“You can’t imagine how sad I
was seeing what was happening
in the Capitol building,” Cobbs
said. “I was saying to myself,
‘Oh, my God. I’m kind of glad
her statue wasn’t there already.’
I wondered what would have
happened.”
Long seen as offensive to
Black Americans, Lee’s Capi-
tol statue wasn’t the only one
representing a figure from the
Lost Cause, a term referring to
a belief that fighting on the side
of slaveholders in the Civil War
was just and heroic. Jefferson
Davis, who served as president
of the Confederate States of
America after becoming a U.S.
senator from Mississippi, is one
of two figures representing that
state in the Capitol.
The SPLC says there are 704
Confederate monuments still
standing across the U.S.

Family of missing man offers $5,000

reward for information on his whereabouts
CPD chief: ‘We
have exhausted
all our leads’
DISPATCH STAFF REPORT
The family of a man
missing since July is of-
fering a $5,000 reward for
information on his where-
abouts.
James Ryan Taylor,
39, was last seen July 14,
2020, in the area of The
Island near the Columbus
Riverwalk. Columbus Po-
lice Department has been
investigating his disap-
pearance since then.
Police Chief Fred Shel-
ton said investigators
have spoken with Tay-
lor’s family and friends,
as well as everyone the
family identified as possi-
bly knowing where Taylor
went. As recently as Jan-
uary, investigators were
working with deputies at
the Pickens County Sher-
iff’s Office in Alabama
who thought they found
Taylor’s vehicle, although
that lead turned out to be
a dead end, Shelton said.
“We have exhausted all
our leads on that case,” he
said.
Courtesy photo
James Ryan Taylor
Taylor, who goes by
“Ryan,” is approximately
6-foot-3, 180 pounds and
has brown hair. He drives
a 2011 Ford Fiesta with
the tag LTE7723 and was
last seen wearing a white
polo, tennis shoes and
blue jeans.
Information sent by
Taylor’s family said tip-
sters will not receive the
reward unless Taylor is
found alive or dead.
Shelton said anyone
with information on Tay-
lor should call CPD at
662-244-3552 or Golden
Triangle Crime Stoppers
at 800-530-7151. Taylor’s
family members also said
to call 662-241-1911 or
662-251-9042.

The Mag film festival starts today with virtual purchasing options
24th annual event features 42 films,
will include drive-in showings March
6 at Horse Park
BY TYLER JONES
tjones@cdispatch.com
STARKVILLE — The
24th Magnolia Indepen-
dent Film Festival begins
today, at least virtually.
Also known as The
Mag, Mississippi’s lon-
gest-running film festival
is offering a slate of 42
films on its website that
viewers can purchase.
With a VIP experience,
festival director Bailey
Berry said, festival-goers
can also access exclusive
workshops and panels vir-
tually.
“You can watch it on
your own time, in your
home or with a group of
friends, ‘on-demand’ as
we’re calling it,” Berry
said. “You can watch it
whenever you feel like it.”
The festival will con-
clude March 6 with a
drive-in showing at Mis-
sissippi Horse Park. The
“main event”, Berry said,
will be at 6 p.m. showing
10 short films and one
feature film. The late-
night drive-in screening
at 10:45 p.m. will include
two short films and one
feature-length film.
While The Mag is typi-
cally held as a fully in-per-
son event at Hollywood
Premier Cinema, the hy-
brid virtual and drive-in
format will allow patrons
to enjoy the festival while
adhering to social-dis-
tancing restrictions due
to the COVID-19 pandem-
ic, Berry said.
“It was difficult at first
trying to navigate around
COVID, but once we de-
cided on having a drive-in
and virtual experience it
was pretty simple orga-
nizing it,”
Berry said.
can
Patrons
pur-
chase films
virtually
through
March 13.
Berry
B er r y
said The Mag board of di-
rectors chose from more
than 350 film submis-
sions for this year’s festi-
val from filmmakers all
over the world. Even after
whittling submissions to
the final 42, they include
genres ranging from com-
edy, horror/thriller, docu-
mentaries and more.
“These are 42 films
that are genuinely very
good films with good
quality,” Berry said. “Any-
one and everyone who
is interested in movies
will be able to find some-
thing they like. Some of
them have very important
messages. Some are just
humorous. In a time like
this, during the pandem-
ic, having that outlet of
creativity is important.”
“Five Minutes,” creat-
ed by a group of students
at Mississippi State Uni-
versity, is one of the short
films that will be shown at
the Horse Park. It centers
on a “gamer guy” getting
ready for a date.
Jon Taggert, one of the
directors, said that the
film started as a project
assigned by a film teach-
er and grew to gaining ac-
clamation from credible
film evaluators across the
state.
“We didn’t expect
‘Five Minutes’ to be this
well-received,” said Tag-
gert, a senior communi-
cation major from Her-
nando. “We are grateful
for the opportunity. We’re
just happy that we’re out
there.”
Tickets and films, as
well as the full schedule
for the drive-in showings,
are available at http://
magnoliafilmfest.com.

Mississippi prison officials investigate death of inmate

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSON — The head
of Mississippi’s prison sys-
tem says he has started an
internal investigation into
the death of an inmate.
Ronald Frederick Ap-
gar, 39, died Friday at Cen-
tral Mississippi Correc-
tional Facility. An autopsy
will be done.
“We have banned an
employee in question at
the front gate of CMCF
and started an internal
investigation into our re-
sponse time,” Corrections
Commissioner Burl Cain
said in a news release
Wednesday.
He said all findings of
the investigation, includ-
ing documents and video,
will be given to the Rankin
County district attorney.
The announcement of
the investigation came one
day after the prison sys-
tem first released informa-
tion that Apgar had died.
He was serving 12 years
for grand larceny and false
pretense after being sen-
tenced March 15, 2018, in
Harrison County.
At least 16 Mississip-
pi inmates have died this
year, according to the De-
partment of Corrections.
At least 106 Mississip-
pi inmates died from late
2019 until the end of 2020.
Several died during out-
bursts of violence in late
December 2019 and early
January 2020. The U.S.
Justice Department an-
nounced in February 2020
that it is investigating the
state’s prison system.

CLW
SOLUNAR TABLE
The solunar period indicates
peak-feeding times for fish and game.
Thurs. Fri.
Major — 12:23a
Minor 5:44p 6:50p
Continued from Page 1A Major 11:58a 12:50p
Minor 7:15a 7:45a
Gale, 52, died the day before a winter both offering condolences Courtesy of Mississippi Department
of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks
storm brought freezing temperatures for Gale’s death and for

and icy roads to Columbus and sur-
rounding areas. CLW crews were out in
17-degree weather removing tree limbs
from power lines and restoring resi-
dents’ power just days after losing their
executive director, Bernsen said.
CLW board chair Brandy Gardner
opened Wednesday’s meeting by ac-
knowledging Bernsen and CLW crews,
The Dispatch
their handling of the bad
weather.
“My hat and my heart
The Commercial Dispatch (USPS 142-320)
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Todd, and then also to step Gardner The Commercial Dispatch, P.O. Box 511, Columbus, MS 39703 Website: cdispatch.com/help
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thank you for that,” she said.
Opinion
4A THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021
PETER BIRNEY IMES Editor/Publisher
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Dispatch
The
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ZACK PLAIR, Managing Editor

BETH PROFFITT Advertising Director
MICHAEL FLOYD Circulation/Production Manager
MARY ANN HARDY Controller

SLIMANTICS
Kansas and Dumber
I
f the Mississippi Senate
signs off on HB1439, we
will be Kansas.
Only dumber.
On Tuesday, the Missis-
sippi House approved the
bill, which would phase out
the state income tax and
thus wipe out $2 billion in
revenue, about a third of the
state’s annual budget.
To compensate, the legis-
lation would increase sales Slim Smith
tax from 7 percent to 9.5
percent, which for all practical purpos-
es would be the highest sales tax in the
nation.
The legislation is House Speaker
Philip Gunn’s baby. It replaces a pro-
gressive tax — the more you make, the
more you pay — with a regressive tax,
which falls most heavily on those who
can least afford it.
Jacking up the sales tax is also the
last thing our businesses need as they
try to stay afloat during the pandemic.
This legislation is both fiscally
foolish and morally bankrupt, the kind
of thinking that has kept Mississippi’s
economy stagnant and its people poor
for ages.
But eliminating the state income
tax has become strangely
fashionable among Missis-
sippi Republicans. Gov. Tate
Reeves is a big fan, too. He
believes eliminating the
state income tax will lure
new business and industry
to our state.
“Look at Florida or
Tennessee or Texas!” they
say. “They don’t have state
income taxes and look how
great they’re doing!”
To suggest that the only
thing that’s keeping Mississippi from
being Texas is the argument of an idiot,
like suggesting the only difference
between a house painter and Picasso is
the quality of the paint brush used.
What you won’t hear Reeves and
other Republicans say is, “Look at Kan-
sas!” although in truth it’s a far better
comparison than any of those aforemen-
tioned states.
In 2012, the Kansas Legislature
slashed its state income tax to almost
zero and slashed taxes on businesses
(Mississippi has already done the latter,
passing the biggest corporate tax cut in
state history in 2016).
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback
claimed the tax cuts would be “a shot of
adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas
economy.”
It was a shot to the heart, all right,
almost a fatal one.
State revenue plunged by hundreds
of millions of dollars, causing deep cuts
to education, roads and bridges and oth-
er services. (Does this sound familiar,
Mississippians?)
By 2017, the Kansas Legislature had
had enough and rolled back the cuts,
overriding Brownback’s veto to do it.
Lesson learned. At least in Kansas.
Kansas is the kid who stuck his
tongue to the frozen flagpole. Mississip-
pi is the kid who watched what hap-
pened and said, “My turn!”
So yeah, we’re beyond Kansas dumb
with this bill.
Want more proof?
Not only does this bill eliminate a
substantial and consistent source of
revenue, it also jabs a finger into the
eye of every retailer, contractor or
service provider in the state, anyone
who collects sales tax. Remember, that
2.5 percent sales tax increase not only
applies to a cup of convenience store
coffee but every-day necessities and the
sales of automobiles, boats and a host of
other big-ticket items. That new tractor
$200,000 tractor a farmer needs? Tack
on another $5,000. A $1 million dollar
harvester? Sir, that will be an additional
25 grand.
Restaurants, which have struggled to
survive the pandemic will add another
2.5 percent in sales tax to their custom-
ers’ bills. In Columbus, the total sales
tax on a restaurant meal will be 11.5
percent. In Starkville, it’s going to be
12.5 percent.
Gunn had better get a food-tester if
he plans on dining out anytime soon.
It’s almost as if House Republicans
did something really stupid in a bill,
then tried to divert attention from the
mistake by doing something even more
stupid in the very same bill.
If Mississippi is serious about bring-
ing industry to the state, it should invest
in infrastructure, education and all the
other currently inadequate services
that appeal to companies.
That would require a real invest-
ment.
Instead we seem determined to do
just the opposite.
Coming soon to a theater near you:
Kansas Dumb and Mississippi Dumber
It’s a tragic comedy.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature
writer for The Dispatch. His email ad-
dress is ssmith@cdispatch.com.

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE CARTOONIST VIEW

Supports tax bill
I for one was glad to see the Mississippi House pass
a bill to eliminate the state income tax, and even more
surprised they want to actually make up the revenue
loss by raising the sales tax. Chuck Younger’s coarsely
worded opposition to this mostly just shows his lack of
basic math skills: Most people are going to save more
money by not paying income tax than they will spend
on the extra sales tax. And, sorry to say it, but poor
people don’t need to buy brand new cars or boats.
Nick Gerteis
Brooksville

Believes tax bill will hurt businesses

After reading the article concerning the elimination
of the state income tax, I question the use of an in-
crease in the general sales tax. Not only does this put
an additional burden on many businesses that will very
likely lose revenue due to lost sales, it can effectively
be an increased tax burden on many Mississippians on
fixed incomes. In my case the majority of my income
is currently derived from Social Security and my State
retirement, both of which are not taxed by the State
of Mississippi. By increasing the sales tax it would be
the same as taxing my income that is currently exempt
from state income tax. I don’t think the decrease in
the grocery tax would really be much of an offset to the
increase in the general sales tax. The legislature needs
to scrap this idea and go back to the drawing board.
Benny Cooper
Columbus

President Joe Biden’s assault on gun owners

F
or the duration
of his 2020
presidential
campaign — which
at first appeared to
be a long shot, espe-
cially given the far
left’s vocal disdain
for “old, white men”
— Joe Biden ran
on the promise that
he would unite the
country. He repeat- Armstrong Williams that call. We will
edly spoke about
the importance
of America’s institutions and
norms, and to the many who
ultimately voted for him, those
were the halcyon days of this
country that they longed for
and that Biden promised them.
Unfortunately, it seems that
more and more of his support-
ers are still patiently waiting
for him to make good on his
campaign promise.
It was, without a doubt, a no- on our streets. We owe it to all
ble promise. Even if you didn’t
agree with Biden or support
his policies, Americans of all
stripes would agree that a call
for national unity amid years of
division and political strife is
necessary at this point. Howev-
er, despite his lofty goals and
plans, Biden has, unsurprising-
ly, returned to Washington as
a creature of habit. As a result,
instead of uniting the country,
Biden is about to divide it even
further and in a deeply pro-
found, potentially irreparable
way.
In a recent statement from
the White House in which he
commemorated those who were did he attempt to identify or
killed at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas
High School in Park-
land, Florida, Biden
called for significant
gun legislation.
In his statement,
Biden declared that
“this Administra-
tion will not wait
for the next mass
shooting to heed
take action to end
our epidemic of gun
violence and make our schools
and communities safer. Today,
I am calling on Congress to
enact commonsense gun law
reforms, including requiring
background checks on all gun
sales, banning assault weapons
and high-capacity magazines,
and eliminating immunity
for gun manufacturers who
knowingly put weapons of war
those we’ve lost and to all those
left behind to grieve to make a
change. The time to act is now.”
With a step that will un-
doubtedly cause millions of
Americans to resist Biden and
his agenda even more aggres-
sively, the new president has
effectively put a nail in his own
coffin. He’s lost any remaining
benefit of the doubt that conser-
vatives and Republicans were
willing to give him based on
his repeated calls for national
unity.
Throughout his remarks,
Biden mentioned the word
violence five times, but not once
speculate on the root of the vi-
olence within America, nor did
he offer any tangible solutions.
Instead, he immediately pivoted
to banning certain magazines
and weapons while blatantly
ignoring the fact that millions
of Americans own AR-15s, the
semi-automatic weapon that
Biden is going after.
Keep in mind that most
of America’s gun owners are
decent and law-abiding citizens
who pose absolutely no threat
to their peers, regardless of
what type of weapon they own.
By moving down this path,
Biden is essentially asking us to
ignore the real root of the prob-
lems that result in mass shoot-
ings, all the while punishing
gun owners who don’t break
the law or commit crimes.
There is a small, disgusting
fraction of people who commit
heinous acts, and yet the mil-
lions of law-abiding citizens are
being targeted. Let’s also not
forget that thousands of young
men have been killed in urban
cities across the country using
pistols. Yet, we’re not talking
about a ban on pistols. Instead,
we argue that those young men
need better resources, edu-
cation, mentorship and other
pathways that will help elevate
them from poverty.
There are very serious is-
sues when anyone harms anoth-
er person for no reason other
than to cause mass destruction,
and there is not a single gun
owner who would support such
acts. In fact, many condemn
these acts because they give
the majority a bad rap. If Biden
really wanted to address the
issues he mentioned in his
White House statement, he
would focus on mental health,
particularly the mental health
of America’s youth. He would
focus on building stronger fami-
lies so that families know what
to look for if their child is going
through depression or other
mental illness. He would focus
on making sure urban cities
have better education and trade
centers; he would focus on
working with the private sector
to create job opportunities and
to improve access to transpor-
tation and housing in those
areas. These things would have
a profound impact on urban
communities and would help
end gun violence. On the other
hand, I can assure you that
banning AR-15s will not.
Biden’s priorities are
misplaced, and the steps he’s
preparing to take will only
cause further division in a
nation that’s already struggling
to hang on by a thread. He
should focus on the root of the
problems, because that is how
we can solve them. Banning
certain guns won’t make a
difference, because the under-
lying problems will persist.
These are problems that are so
pervasive that focusing on guns
instead of realistic solutions
is seemingly the only political
answer to complex problems.
Democrats such as Rep.
Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas
are proposing far-reaching
bills to make it more difficult to
purchase firearms. In addi-
tion to extending the waiting
period, Lee’s bill would create a
national registry of all firearm
owners and require various
new licenses specific to certain
types of weapons. It would also
ban certain types of ammuni-
tion. This is funny coming from
Lee because from what I hear,
she herself enjoys going to the
range; but we’ll save that for a
future column.
However, there are states
that are pushing back, such as
Indiana, which recently elimi-
nated the requirement to have
a license to carry a handgun —
certainly a victory for Second
Amendment supporters, but
also a sign that many states will
begin to take things into their
own hands in preparation for
what’s to come from the Biden
White House.
If Joe Biden is serious about
healing America and bring-
ing this nation together, this
isn’t the way to do it. Instead,
focusing on mental illness, the
importance of family structure,
education, trade schools, eco-
nomic opportunities and better
housing is what will help our
inner cities. When people are
mentally and spiritually sound
and are comfortable in life with
a good job, fair pay and a great
home, violence will inevitably
go down without infringing on
the rights of other American
citizens.
Armstrong Williams is an
American political commentator,
entrepreneur, author, and talk
show host.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 5A

Obituaries
Continued from Page 2A

Steve Jamison Sanderson’s Plumbing in charge of arrange- Home. West Memo-

COLUMBUS — Rev.
Steve Jamison, 67, died
Feb. 23, 2021, at North
Mississippi Medical
Center in Tupelo.
Arrangements are
incomplete and will be
announced by Carter’s
Funeral Services of
and was a member
of Springhill M.B.
Church.
She is survived by
her siblings, Sarah
Clark, Nellie Clark,
Curtis Clark, Eddie
Clark, Johnnie Mae
Clark, Mary Clark Her-
ments. rial Funeral Home of
She is survived by Starkville is in charge
her children, Harold of arrangements.
“Butch” Williams of He is survived by his
East Orange, New wife, Vanessa Outlaw;
Jersey, Peggy Wil- son, Isaiah Shields
liams-Jones, Vickey of Texas; step-chil-
L. Williams both of dren, Marcus Bush
Starkville and John Sr., Tiffanie Jefferson

Sammy Stotts, Jr.

Columbus.
Jessie Jefferson
WEST POINT —
Jessie “Cool J” Jeffer-
son, 64, died Feb. 16,
2021, at North Missis-
sippi Medical Center in
West Point.
Graveside services
will be at 11 a.m. Fri-
day, at Greenwood M.B.
Church Cemetery,
with the Rev. Joe Reel
officiating. Visitation
will be from 10:30-11
a.m. prior to services at
ring, Mamie Lee Clark
and Bettie Clark Blue
all of New York.
Angie Clark
MABEN — Angie
Ruth Clark, 73, died
Feb. 16, 2021.
Funeral services will
be at 2 p.m. Saturday,
at Peter’s Rock Temple
COGIC. Burial will
follow at Greensboro
Cemetery in Eupora.
Visitation will be from
3-6 p.m. Friday, at West
Memorial Funeral
Home. West Memo-
Wayne Williams of both of Starkville and
Chicago, Illinois; and 14 Jenirro Bush of Des
grandchildren. Moines, Iowa; siblings,
Sammy Everett Stotts, Jr., 59,
Geneva Gillispie, Ella
Leander Outlaw Rogers, Rosie Outlaw, of Columbus, MS passed away
Gwendolyn Jordan all Wednesday, February 17, 2021,
STARKVILLE — Le-
of Starkville, Linda at his residence.
ander Wade Outlaw, 58,
A graveside service will
died Feb. 15, 2021. Smith of Jackson, Elder
be Thursday, February 25,
Services will be at Samuel Outlaw, Sr. of
2021, at 3:00 P.M. at Egger
11 a.m. Saturday, at Lawrenceburg, Tennes- Cemetery, Caledonia, MS with
Sixteenth Section M.B. see, John Outlaw, Elder Bro. Kenny Gardner officiating
Church. Burial will fol- Terry Outlaw both of
and Lowndes Funeral Home
low in the church cem- Starkville and James directing.
etery. Visitation will be Outlaw of Columbus;
Mr. Stotts was born October 12, 1961, to Linda
from 1-6 p.m. Friday, at and nine grandchil- Williams Stotts and the late Sammy Stotts in
West Memorial Funeral dren.
Columbus, MS. Mr. Stotts served in the United
States Air Force as a Staff Sargeant and proudly

the cemetery. Carter’s
Mortuary Services of
West Point is in charge
of arrangements.
Mr. Jefferson was
born March 16, 1956,
to Erma Pargo and the
late Edward Jefferson
Jr. He was formerly
employed with Bry-
an Foods and Jordan
Transfer.
In addition to his
father, he was preceded
in death by his siblings,
Eddie Jefferson and
James Jefferson.
In addition to his
mother, he is survived
by his children, Derrick
Jefferson and Kanesha
Webber both of West
Point; siblings, Willie
Joe Jefferson. Joe Willi
Jefferson, Willie Pargo
all West Point, Micheal
Jefferson of Starkville,
Estella Robinson and
Dorothy Frazier both
of Chicago, Illinois; five
grandchildren; and one
great-grandchild.
Gevon Clark
MACON — Gevon
rial Funeral Home of
Starkville is in charge
of arrangements.
She is survived by
her children, Jerry
Gamble of Belleville,
Illinois, Roger B. Clark
of Houston, Angla Pope
of Columbus and Jenni-
fer Clark of Starkville;
and siblings, Jeremiah
Gamble and James
Clyde Gamble both of
Maben.
Lula Williams
STARKVILLE —
Lula Mae Williams, 98,
died Feb. 20, 2021, in
Eupora.
Funeral services will
be at 11 a.m. Sunday, at
West Memorial Funeral
Home. Burial will fol-
low at Sixteenth Ceme-
tery. Visitation will be
from 2-6 p.m. Saturday,
at the funeral home.
West Memorial Funeral
Home of Starkville is
Henry Vaughn
Henry Douglas Vaughn, a
native of Caledonia went to
be with his Lord and Savior
on February 19, 2021. The
child of the late Gunter and
Reba Vaughn, he was born
in Caledonia, Mississippi on
March 28, 1942.
As a youth and into his young
adult years, Henry attended
New Salem Baptist Church and diligently
worked on the family farm. He graduated from
Caledonia High School as class Salutatorian and
continued his pursuit of education at Mississippi
State University where he earned a degree in
accounting. While in college, he worked as an
accountant at West and Sons in Columbus.
Following his graduation from Mississippi
State in 1964, Henry married his beloved wife,
Kay Scofield of Columbus. Henry and Kay were
faithful members of First Baptist Church where
he played on the church softball team, served as
an usher for many years, and was a part of several
committees.
He worked as an accountant/controller with
Seminole Manufacturing in Columbus until
the mid-1970s. He then returned to the family
farm to work alongside his father and brother
(Tommy), so they could build upon and expand
what is known today as Vaughn Farms.
Henry’s love for our Lord and Savior was
clearly demonstrated in his everyday life. His
served for 8 years. He played sports with the Air
Force in Europe. He was employed as a supervisor
with Dupont Corp, Walmart as a sales associate,
and Gatorade as a sales representative. He was
a die-hard Ole Miss fan and enjoyed watching
college SEC sports. He was loved by his mother,
siblings, and children and loved spending time
with his nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-
nephews and grilling out and cooking. Mr. Stotts
especially enjoyed traveling and going to the
western United States to visit his cousin Shelia
Banks and her family. He cherished his many
friendships and his time with Benji Moody and
the Fox Run Apartment staff. Mr. Stotts never
met a stranger and enjoyed telling about his
military adventures.
In addition to his father, Mr. Stotts was
preceded in death by his sister, Dana Douglas.
Mr. Stotts is survived by his mother, Linda
Williams Stotts; sister, Kay Quinlan; brother, Bill
(Erica) Stotts; sons, Matthew Perez and Cody
Stotts; and his ex-wife, Ruby Weese.
A special thank you to the doctors and staff
that cared for him at Baptist Memorial Hospital
-Golden Triangle, Windsor Place, and the VA in
Birmingham, AL, and Tuscaloosa, AL.
Memorials may be made to Wounded Warrior
Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675, or
Columbus Lowndes Humane Society, P.O. Box
85, Columbus, MS 39703.
Compliments of
Lowndes Funeral Home
www.lowndesfuneralhome.net

Samuel Wilder, Jr.

Clark, 62, unquestionable love and devotion for family
died Feb. leaves a lasting legacy while his love for farming
16, 2021, at and the local community is indisputable. He
University enjoyed God’s creation spending time in the Dr. Samuel Jobe Wilder, Jr., 85, of Clinton,
Medical great outdoors hunting, fishing, and preparing Mississippi died on February 17 at home.
Center in the land for his family to enjoy the same. One of Jobe Wilder was born on August 18, 1935,
Jackson. his greatest joys was planning the next farming in Columbus, Mississippi, son of Samuel Jobe
Grave- season and harvesting the crops with his brother, Wilder, Sr. and Clara Louise (Fox). Dr. Wilder
side ser- Clark Tommy. Henry was well known for his quick was preceded in death by his wife, Margaret
vices will dry wit, sense of humor and excellent barbeque Louise “Peggy” Cail of Danvers, Massachusetts.
be at 11 a.m. Saturday, including his own special secret recipe barbeque Jobe graduated from Lee High School in
at Springhill Cemetery, Henry Vaughn sauce. Columbus, MS; then attended the University of
with Montrell Rucker Visitation: Henry served for many years on the Caledonia MS, where he attained a Bachelor of Arts degree,
officiating. Visitation Friday, Feb. 26 • 10-11 AM School Board and is a long-standing member double majoring in Chemistry and German and
First Baptist Church
will be Friday, at Lee- Services:
of the Lowndes County Farm Bureau Board graduating in 1957. Wilder was a member of
Sykes Funeral Home. Friday, Feb. 26 • 11 AM including a term as board president. Sigma Nu Fraternity and an honored member of
First Baptist Church Henry was preceded in death by his father and
Lee-Sykes Funeral Burial the Pride of the South Ole Miss Marching Band.
Home of Macon is in Woodlawn Cemetery mother. He is survived by his wife, Kay Scofield After completing his undergraduate work, he
charge of arrange-
2nd Ave. N. Location Vaughn, the love of his life for 56 years; children, entered the United States Navy as an officer.
ments. Amy Vaughn Knittig (Doug), Hank W. Vaughn In 1959 Jobe married Peggy and they moved to
Mrs. Clark was born (Ann) and Andy M. Vaughn (Betsy); siblings, Jackson, Mississippi where he began attending
Jan. 4, 1959, in Macon, Elaine Vaughn West, Tommy Vaughn (Kay) medical school at the University of Mississippi
to the late L.C. Clark and George Vaughn (Donna); grandchildren, Medical Center. Dr. Wilder completed his
and Dillie McCoy. Jessica Vaughn Hughes (P.J.), Lacey Vaughn residency in orthopedic medicine in Jacksonville,
She was a graduate of Bell (Jordan), Hunter Vaughn and Drew Knittig; Florida and subsequently returned to Jackson
memorialgunterpeel.com
Noxubee County High three great-grandchildren; several nieces and to begin private practice with Dr. Thomas W.
School. She was for- nephews; and his beloved Labrador Retriever, Talkington in southwest Jackson. Jobe was on
merly employed with Max. staff at Hinds General Hospital and practiced
Pallbearers are Mike Perkerson, Dr. Cecil medicine there for more than thirty years.

Melinda Matherne
Boswell, Carey Upton, Bud Egger, Jim Vaughn, This engaging conversationalist and
Jackie Anderson, Jordan Bell and P.J. Hughes. storyteller was an avid, some might say rabid,
Honorary Pallbearers are: Farrell Booker, Dr. Ben sports fan, especially when it came to Ole Miss
Melinda Kaye Matherne, 52, Ogletree, Dale Brown, Allen Jones, Steve Hall, Football, but would watch any and all sports.
of Columbus, MS, passed away Don Gilmer, John Gilmer, Perry Lucas, Charlie Recently he was caught watching girl’s fast pitch
Tuesday, February 23, 2021, Betts, Everett Pennington, Dwight Colson, softball. He was crazy about a good joke and his
at Baptist Memorial Hospital Wayne Colson, Bruce Erwin, Sterling Doolittle, anecdotes frequently left those around him in
– Golden Triangle, Columbus, Dannie Hughes, Mike Hawkin’s Sunday School stitches. Jobe enjoyed fishing, studying World
MS. Class, Lowndes County Farm Bureau Board, Dr. War II memorabilia and visiting those sites,
A visitation will be Saturday, Jerry Stennett, Dr. Charlie Rhea, Dr. Mike Berry singing in the church choir and listening to a
February 27, 2021, from 10:00 and Dr. Terry Westmoreland. plethora of all college football fight songs.
AM – 12:00 PM at Caledonia The funeral service to honor Henry will take Dr. Wilder is survived by his three children,
Baptist Church, Caledonia, MS, place on Friday, February 26, 2021, at First Baptist Elizabeth “Beth” Wilder Santoro (Paul), Beverly
with Lowndes Funeral Home in Church, Columbus, MS. Visitation will begin at Anne Wilder and Andrew Jobe Wilder (Pamela);
charge of arrangements. 10:00 A.M., followed by the service at 11:00 A.M. and three grandchildren, Joseph “Josh”
Mrs. Matherne was born September 17, 1968, Burial will follow at Woodlawn cemetery. Thibodeaux (Caitlin), Derek Ching and Sarah
in Scottsburg, IN, to Fred Bowling and Margaret Much appreciation for the care provided at Margaret Wilder; siblings, Elizabeth “Betty”
Henry. She was employed with Mississippi State BMH-GTR Emergency Room staff, 5PT nurses, Austin and Donald Wilder (Brenda); as well as
University, in the accounting department, for the and the ICU staff. a multitude of nieces and nephews and his dog
past 25 years. Mrs. Matherne enjoyed sewing, Memorial Gunter Peel Funeral Home and Lucy Lou.
embroidery, crafting, and playing bingo. She was Crematory, Second Avenue North location, has A celebration of the life of Dr. Wilder will be
a huge Mississippi State fan and loved spending been entrusted with the arrangements. held at the Episcopal Church of the Creator in
time with her family and friends. Memorial donations in memory of Henry may Clinton, MS on March 4, 2021 at 11:00 AM CST.
Mrs. Matherne was preceded in death by her be made to First Baptist Church Building Fund, This will be a private service for immediate
sister, Deanna Simmons. P.O. Box 829, Columbus, MS 39703, New Salem family only; however, the service will be available
Mrs. Matherne is survived by her husband, Baptist Church, 7086 Wolfe Road, Columbus, via Zoom. Please contact the family or church
Timothy Matherne; daughters, Leah Moore and MS 39705, Woodlawn Cemetery Association, office for the link.
Misty Matherne; grandchildren, Natalea Barks- 7712 Hwy 12 E, Steens, MS 39766 or Gideons In lieu of flowers, please feel free to make a
dale and Ava Barksdale; brother, Mike Bowling; International, P.O. Box 2174, Columbus, MS donation in Dr. Wilder’s name to the Episcopal
sister, Churee (Tim) Bowling; mother, Margaret 39704-2174. Church of the Creator or your favorite charity.
Henry Smith; and father, Fred (Joann) Bowling. In all discourse, Jobe’s parting words were
Memorials may be made to LeBonheur Chil- always: “Go to Hell LSU and State college too”.
dren’s Medical Center, P.O. Box 41817, Memphis, Paid Obituary - Wright & Ferguson Funeral Home
TN 38174-181.
Sign the online guest book at
Compliments of www.memorialgunterpeel.com
Lowndes Funeral Home 716 Second Avenue North • Columbus, MS cdispatch.com
www.lowndesfuneralhome.net
6A THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Volunteers
Continued from Page 1A
essary obligations.
“Several people posted on
our Starkville
Strong Facebook
page offering to
give rides to peo-
ple,” Starkville
Strong Executive
Director Brandi
Herrington said.
“It wasn’t neces- Herrington
sarily us. It’s just
that our platform was there for
people to communicate with
one another, for people to come
on and say what they can do to
help.”
Mckey said he along with
other Starkville Strong volun-
teers found ways to ensure their
community had items to endure
through the storm.
“There are a lot of people who
need a lot of things done,” Mckey
said. “It was very helpful for old-
er people who are on Facebook
and didn’t know who to ask for
help. They can just type a status
asking for help. It gives them a
direct answer to what they need.
It has definitely been an asset.”
Herrington said aside from
helping give rides, people from
Starkville Strong kept people
in need fed as they rode out the
winter storm.
“During the ice storm, every-
body started filling the food pan-
tries, and they (food pantries)
were emptying out within 15
minutes,” Herrington said. “So
people started walking to these
little food pantries in the snow
and filling them up.”
Starting a movement
Starkville Strong, founded
originally by musician Jimmy
Redd to assist with food insecu-
rity at the start of the pandemic,
is a social media group aimed at
meeting the immediate needs of
people in the community. After
the group’s rapid growth, which
now has about 8,400 members
on Facebook, Redd handed the
reins to Herrington, a former
middle school teacher from
Starkville.
Herrington said immediate
needs the group aims to meet
include transportation, food
insecurity, housing and many
others.
“Meeting these people in
the community, you learn that
they don’t know much about re-
sources,” Herrington said. “I’ve
compiled all of the resources
available here in town. Basically
Starkville Strong has become
the intake center. People refer
them to me, and then I tell them
all the places they can go for
business. We fill in the gaps.”
Lisa McReynolds, a modera-
tor for Starkville Strong’s Face-
book page, said the group has
drawn plenty of community par-
ticipation.
“It’s greatly impacted the
community because more and
more people are becoming
aware of the group,” McReyn-
olds said. “If
someone has a
problem, people
will message us
with whatever
problems are go-
ing on.”
Herrington
McReynolds
said Starkville
Strong has partnerships with
all of the nonprofits in the com-
munity. Many people will turn
to Starkville Strong for what-
ever aid they may need, and
Starkville Strong then refers
them to a nonprofit that can help
grant assistance.
“I’ve compiled all of the re-
sources available here in town,
and I’ve enjoyed getting to know
these nonprofits. They don’t get
as much recognition as they de-
serve,” Herrington said. “I think
acknowledging everybody’s
part is what will create long-
term success.”
This week, Starkville Strong
has joined forces with several
local businesses to not only pro-
mote shopping local but also to
raise money in support of those
in the community who need it
most, Herrington said.
“We wanted to find a way for
those businesses who might
not know how to get involved
with us to partner with us,” Her-
rington said. “We want to be
able to make it convenient for
local businesses to be a part and
help.”
Fourteen businesses in the
Starkville Main Street Associa-
tion are taking part in this “Shop
Local. Help Local.” campaign.
Participating businesses are
offering different promotions,
such as 10-to 15-percent off of
sales or 10-percent off with a do-
nation to Starkville Strong. This
campaign is happening today
through Saturday.
“As a group, we have one main
goal: helping out our neighbor,”
McReynolds said. “We just want
to lend that helping hand.”

Business
Continued from Page 1A
From its Main Street
door, you can see direct-
ly toward the former
stage of The Rex.
Although the ex-
pansive auditorium
will serve largely as
warehousing for Glo —
which produces and sells
light-up cubes activated
by water — you can still
see the remnants of the
1930s theater with the
stage still intact.
Walker said with tri-
ple the size as its former
building on Lampkin
Street, he’s excited to
see Glo continue to
expand.
“This is just quite a
bit bigger,” he said. “The
ceilings are 32 feet high,
so we can go really high
on pallet racking and
storage and that’s just a
huge bonus.”
Walker partnered
with Castle Properties
and the Masonic Lodge
to revitalize the former
theater. The $1.4 million
renovations are nearly
completed and even a
replica of the Rex The-
atre awning hangs over
to light up Main Street.
“It’s honestly amazing
to see where it was to
what it is now,” Walker
said.
Though excited to
move into The Rex and
get to business, Walker
and his business partner
Anna Barker are focused
on the April launch of
their partnership with
Sesame Street for Glo’s
toy’s division: Glo Pals.
Before Glo Pals
launched in 2018, neither
Walker nor Barker con-
sidered expanding the
novelty drink light to the
children’s toy market.
“Glo Pals started
because a mother with
an autistic child reached
out to us and found that
the Glo cubes worked
in liquid,” Walker said.
“She took one home to
her son and put in the
bathtub and it was the
first time in months he
had gotten in the tub
without crying. She …
told us that and that’s
what kind of created the
toy side of things, and
that kind of took off.”
Coming full-circle,
Glo announced its
partnership with Sesame
Street for Glo Pals last
year. Now, the company
will offer two Sesame
Street characters: Elmo
and Julia, a muppet with
autism.
“(Sesame Street is)
taking really high level
topics that are incredibly
difficult and incredibly
sensitive and they are
breaking it down to an
elementary level that
even kids can get them,”
Barker said. “Obviously,
(Julia) is wonderful as
far as representation for
kids with autism. But
she’s also wonderful
for kids who don’t have
autism. They are seeing
how she does things
differently and how char-
acters on Sesame Street
react.”
Sometimes the good
news just keeps coming.
Walker announced
there’s a literal sweet
spot coming to the
corner of the Rex. Proof
Bakery owners, Bonnie
and Robbie Coblentz,
plan to open a dessert
shop.
“It’s still in the works,
but we wanted to do
something here,” Walker
said. “We’re taking up
this big building and we
thought we needed to do
something cool for the
corner.”
Since plans are in the
early stages, everything
is to be determined, but
the Proof owner duo is
excited about bringing
something sweet to Main
Street.
“We’re excited about
the renovation of the
Rex,” Robbie said. “We
love that area of down-
town with the bakery
and we’re excited about are the foundation of any our clients achieve their all aspects of their life.”
what’s going to happen financial plan,” Joanna financial goals by cre- The firm will officially
next door. We’re excited Covington, operations ating a comprehensive open March 15 and with
about bringing another manager, said. “We help plan that encompasses hours of 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
culinary offering to Main
Street.”
In Starkville, we’re
rounding out Black
History Month with the
first Culture Festival this
weekend. Big Dawgs
Station 26, 804 Old West
Point Road, will host
area Black-owned busi-
nesses, food vendors,
music, food giveaways,
voter registration and
more.
Be sure to show your
appreciation and sup-
port for area businesses
Friday through Saturday
from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at
Big Dawgs.
Moving to Columbus,
a new financial firm
popped up downtown.
Covington Wealth
Management, 420 Main
St., plans to officially
open mid-March. Tyler
Covington, the firm’s
president, decided after
several years in financial
planning to open his own
firm.
“We stand firmly in
the belief that time test-
ed investment principles

Ballots
Continued from Page 1A
ed city council elections
in Wards 1, 4 and 6 that
will appear on the prima-
ry ballot. The absentee
ballots can be picked up
at the registrar’s office at
523 Main St. between 8
a.m. and 5 p.m.
In Starkville, there are
contested party primaries
for board of aldermen po-
sitions in Wards 2, 4, 5 and
6. The absentee ballots
can be picked up at City
Hall at 110 W. Main St.
between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
West Point will have
contested primaries for
board of selectmen in
Wards 1, 3 and 5. Absen-
tee ballots are available
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at
City Hall at 580 Com-
merce St.
All three offices will
be open from 8 a.m. until
7 p.m. on March 1-5 and
from 8 a.m. until noon on
March 6 for voter registra-
tion.
In-person absentee
voting ends on April 3
when offices will be open
from 8 a.m. until noon.
Voters can also call their
respective city clerk and
request absentee ballots
be mailed to them.

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Send us your business brief.
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subject: Business brief
Sports
MISSISSIPPI STATE 7, JACKSON STATE 3
SPORTS LINE
662-241-5000
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021
B
SECTION

Seven pitchers combine for two-hitter in MSU home opener

BY BEN PORTNOY
bportnoy@cdispatch.com
STARKVILLE — Mis-
sissippi State’s pitching
staff continued to toss
heat.
Inning after inning.
Zero after zero.
MSU’s flamethrowing
bullpen, one that head
coach Chris Lemonis
said boasts as many as 15
players who’ve touched 95
miles per hour this offsea-
son, flashed its stuff as it
combined for five perfect
innings and held Jackson
State to two hits in the
Bulldogs’ 7-3 home-open-
ing win over the Tigers.
After two innings of
hitless ball from starter
Brandon Smith followed
by a pair of perfect frames
from freshman Davis
Rokose, the Bulldogs car-
ried a collective no-hitter
into the seventh inning
before Jackson State final-
ly found a hole. With four
wild pitches and three
errors on the day, MSU
slogged through the lat-
ter stages of Wednesday
but turned in its first win
at Dudy Noble Field since
March 8 of last year.
“Mississippi State
baseball — it’s like Christ-
mas Day on opening day
in Starkville,” MSU head
coach Chris Lemonis
said. “You just don’t get
this in a lot of communi-
ties. Everybody was fired
up.”
MSU has made a liv-
ing on demolishing mid-
week competition since
Lemonis arrived as head
coach in 2019. The Bull-
dogs bludgeoned all 14 of
their midweek opponents
during his first season in
Starkville, before going
1-1 in such games during
the COVID-19-shortened
2020 campaign.
Wednesday added a
new layer to MSU’s recent
dominance in midweek
contests.
Rolling through his
first inning of work, Smith
struck out two of Jackson
State’s first three batters
while sitting in the low
90s with his fastball — a
welcome sight as he con-
tinues to work his veloci-
ty back to the 92-93 mph
range he found pre-injury.
Third baseman Landon
Jordan recorded the first
home web gem of MSU’s
young season to keep the
no-hitter intact in the sec-
ond inning. Sprawling to
his right, Jordan dove full-
stretch at a chopper off Je-
frey Rodriguez’s bat. Cor-
ralling the ball, Jordan
leapt to his feet and rifled
a one-bounce toss to first Mississippi State Athletics
baseman Josh Hatcher to Mikey Tepper received his first appearance of the young season in Mississippi
catch Rodriguez by mere State’s 7-3 win over Jackson State on Wednesday at Dudy Noble Field. Tepper was
one of seven MSU pitchers to hold the Tigers to just two hits in the game.
inches.
With Smith still work-
ing back from Tommy “It’s like Christmas Day on opening day in Starkville. You
John surgery that end-
just don’t get this in a lot of communities.”
See BASEBALL, 3B Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis

Columbus MISSISSIPPI STATE 69, SOUTH CAROLINA 48

girls punch
ticket to
quarterfinals Bulldogs complete sweep of Gamecocks
BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com

Makayla Rieves wasn’t

as SEC regular season winds down
even touched.
As a foul-line jump-
er from Columbus High
School teammate Chari-
ty Yeates rattled around
the rim and bounced out,
Rieves came flying in
from the right side of the
court. She seized the ball
before both nearby La-
fayette defenders — one
on each side of the rim
— and laid it off the glass
and in.
The play aptly
summed up the Falcons’
superior skill and effort
in Wednesday’ 42-29 win
over the Commodores
(11-12) in the second
round of the MHSAA
Class 5A playoffs. The
victory puts Columbus
(14-2), the defending
Class 5A champion,
among the final eight
teams in the state.
“It’s just a blessing for
us to be right here right
See PREPS, 3B

MSU softball
capitalizes
on miscues
against MVSU
BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com
The Mississippi State
softball team didn’t need
any help to beat visiting
Mississippi Valley State
on Wednesday at Nusz
Park.
The Bulldogs got it
anyway.
No. 24 MSU (6-1) took
advantage of a whopping
six errors by the Dev-
ilettes (0-4), scored a pair
of runs on wild pitches
and stole seven bases en
route to a 10-2 win on the
run rule in six innings
Wednesday.
Redshirt senior third
baseman Montana Da-
vidson continued her hot
streak to pace the Bull-
dogs, going 2 for 3 with a
triple and an RBI. She fol-
lowed up her third-inning
three-bagger to center
with her first-ever steal
of home plate.
“I’ve watched (fifth-
year senior outfielder
See SOFTBALL, 3B
Mississippi State guard D.J. Stewart (3) puts up a free throw during a men’s college basketball game Wednesday against South Carolina.
BY GARRICK HODGE
ghodge@cdispatch.com
STARKVILLE — In consec-
utive years, Mississippi State
coach Ben Howland has likened
facing Frank Martin’s South
Carolina teams to undergoing a
root canal.
If results of this season’s two-
game series are to be believed,
the Bulldogs aren’t going to
need dental work any time soon.
For the second time this
month, the Bulldogs dominated
the Gamecocks on the boards
and stifled their offensive at-
tack, winning a 69-48 contest
Wednesday at Humphrey Coli-
seum. Looking at the stat sheet,
Mississippi State coach Ben
Howland beamed with glee no-
ticing his team held South Car-
olina to 29 percent shooting and
4-of-21 beyond the arc.
“We passed the ball well and
played great defense,” Howland
said. “... We really built on our
momentum from (Saturday’s
win against Ole Miss).”
After getting destroyed 46-
30 on the glass on Feb. 6 in Co-
lumbia, the rebounding battle in
the rematch was even worse for
the Gamecocks. Maybe a 49-24
rebound disparity is courtesy of
an extremely dedicated MSU
frontcourt playing tenacious
defense in the post. Or perhaps
ill effects of South Carolina (5-
12, 3-10 SEC) now losing six
games in a row and seven out of
its last eight have sapped some
will from Gamecock players.
After all, Martin told his team
last week if he was any of the
players’ teammates, he’d be the
least-liked athlete in the locker
room.
Whatever the reason, the
Bulldogs (13-11, 7-8) have won
consecutive Southeastern Con-
ference games for only the
second time this season, and
they’re not going to apologize
for it.
“The reason for that is our
defense,” Howland said of the
rebounding disparity. “When
you play defense like that, you
have a lot of chances to grab
missed shots.”
It wasn’t quite as spectacu-
lar as his 29-point performance
in Columbia, but D.J. Stewart
had a game-high 15 points to
lead MSU. Stewart, primarily a
two guard, has been utilized at
the point more and more as the
season progresses and flashed
a 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio
Wednesday.
“Whatever I can do to help
the team,” Stewart said, who
added that he played a bit of
point guard in high school.
Abdul Ado was the only other
Bulldog in double figures with
11, but Tolu Smith came close
to a double-double with nine
points and 13 rebounds.
“We’re a young team, so go-
ing through adversity is great
for us overall to find out about
our team as a unit,” Smith said.
“Going through ups and downs
is good for us heading into big
games like Alabama heading
into the conference tourna-
ment.”
MSU elected to start Deivon
Smith at point guard instead
of incumbent starter Iverson
Molinar, because Molinar was
a few minutes late to a team
obligation this week. Howland
said Molinar rarely has been
late to any team function in his
two years with the team, but the
sixth-year head coach preached
the importance of “running
a tightly-run ship.” Molinar
scored nine points in 21 minutes
of action and will be reinserted
in the starting lineup Saturday,
Howland said. On the flip side,
Mississippi State athletics
two point guards on South Car-
olina’s roster didn’t even make
the trip to Starkville.
“That definitely was a factor,”
Howland said.
At halftime, Mississippi State
led South Carolina 38-23 thanks
to a 26-11 advantage on the
boards and holding the Game-
cocks to 26 percent shooting
from the floor. The Bulldogs led
the Gamecocks for almost 38
minutes of gametime Wednes-
day, never fearing the outcome
was in doubt.
MSU is back in action against
Alabama at 5 p.m. Saturday at
Humphrey Coliseum. Although
the Crimson Tide are at the
top of the SEC, the winner in
the last seven matchups of the
MSU-Alabama series has been
the home team.
Dawg notes
Earlier in the week, How-
land told reporters he hopes
the postponed road matchup
with Auburn will be made up
on March 6. The SEC built in
a free weekend before the SEC
tournament game for makeup
games if needed, and this was
MSU’s first postponement of
the season.
2B THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
No. 20 Arkansas’ big run flusters No. 6 Alabama
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
FAY E T T E V I L L E ,
Ark. — It had been nearly
a quarter-century since
Arkansas had played a
ranked team at home, let
alone beaten one there.
No. 20 Arkansas end-
ed both those droughts
Wednesday night, beat-
ing sixth-ranked Ala-
bama, 81-66.
The Razorbacks, once
staples atop the South-
eastern Conference
standings, hadn’t beaten
a ranked team in Fayette-
ville while they, too, had
been ranked since Nolan
Richardson was coaching
in the late 1990s. That
was five coaches and 23
years ago.
Coach Eric Mussel-
man, in his second year
with the Razorbacks
(18-5, 10-4 SEC), had to
change clothes after the
game. The celebration
was that wet after the
Crimson Tide had won
the teams’ first meeting
by 31 points in January.
Arkansas hasn’t lost an
SEC game since.
“We’ve run eight in a
row and we lost a home
game that we didn’t even
get to play and we play
well at home. I would say
this team is playing really
good basketball,” Mussel-
man said.
A 17-2 run in the sec-
ond half was the death
blow. Freshman Jaylin
Williams scored 10 of
his season high 13 points
during the stretch and Ar-
kansas (18-5, 10-4 SEC)
held Alabama (18-6, 13-
2) to the lone two points,
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Padres owner Seidler on Tatis deal: ‘There’s nothing we can’t do’
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN DIEGO — Padres
majority owner Peter Se-
idler couldn’t make it any
clearer.
He doesn’t think San
Diego is a small market,
but rather views it for
what it is, the eighth-larg-
est city in the United
States.
And he’s certain the
Padres can handle the
three nine-figure con-
tracts they’ve doled out in
the last four years.
Outsiders have ques-
tioned how the Padres
will be able to afford the
$340 million, 14-year con-
tract they gave electrify-
ing shortstop Fernando
Tatis Jr. on Monday, the
longest deal in baseball
history. That deal comes
on top of the $300 million,
10-year deal they handed
slugger Manny Machado
in 2019 and the $144 mil-
lion, eight-year contract
they gave first baseman
Eric Hosmer in 2018.
After a relatively bruis-
ing two decades in which
ownership wasn’t willing
or able to spend on big
deals, these Padres are
committed to competing.
“We love this city,” Se-
NBA
Hectic finish awaits all teams in second half of season
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The second half of the
NBA schedule will be
hectic, all the way to the
end.
The league on Wednes-
day released the list of
games that will be played
between March 10 and
May 16, with Memphis
and San Antonio — two of
the teams that dealt with
long unplanned shut-
downs because of coro-
navirus-related issues
— set to play 40 times
apiece, tied for the most
in the league during the
68-day sprint to the end
of the regular season.
And every team is
scheduled to play on the
final day of the regular
season, a rarity. The 15
games on May 16 will
Arkansas freshman Moses Moody (5) finished with a game-high 22 points, 16 of which came from the free-throw
line, in Wednesday’s win over Alabama. The 20th-ranked Razorbacks beat No. 6 Alabama 81-66 in Fayetteville.
a John Petty Jr. jumper,
over a stretch of almost
nine minutes, turning a
six-point deficit to a nine-
point lead with less than
10 minutes to play.
Williams grabbed an-
other eight rebounds and
finished plus-30 in his
22 minutes. Musselman
said he ran more plays
for Williams and fellow
freshman Moses Moody
on Wednesday than he
had in any other game all
year.
“(Williams) is a real-
ly confident freshman
who keeps getting better.
There’s not many teams
idler told The Associated
Press hours after the Pa-
dres announced the deal
for Tatis, who has become
one of the faces of base-
ball. “We want to honor
the support our extraordi-
nary fans give us.
“In 1984 and 1998, this
place went crazy. And
those were real teams
that went to the World
Series. I know we have
the city’s trust and the
city trusts us. We’re go-
ing to put good teams out
there. From a franchise
standpoint, we’re going
to get support and we’re
going to back it up with
our actions reflective of
the eighth-largest city in
America.”
Seidler is a grandson of
the late Walter O’Malley,
who moved the Dodgers
from Brooklyn to Los An-
geles in 1958, and a neph-
ew of Peter O’Malley, who
owned the Dodgers until
1998.
He and civic leader Ron
Fowler headed a group
that bought the Padres in
2012 from John Moores.
Moores’ ownership had
become tumultuous in
the years after his stew-
ardship resulted in San
Diego reaching the 1998
mark the first time that
every NBA team plays on
the same day since Nov.
25, 2016 — and the first
time all have done so on
the final day of the regu-
lar season since April 16,
2014.
The season reopens
following the All-Star
break on March 10 when
Washington visits Mem-
phis and San Antonio
goes to Dallas.
Most of the league re-
sumes on March 11, with
21 teams playing their
second-half openers that
night, and the remaining
five — Denver, Cleveland,
Utah, Indiana and the
Los Angeles Lakers —
get back to game action
on March 12.
That means the Cava-
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
that are relying on three
freshmen the way that
we are,” Musselman said.
“We’re not just relying on
them in the SEC, we’re
relying on them to win,
we’re relying on them to
score baskets.”
Moody finished with
a game-high 22 points,
16 of which came from
the free-throw line. Jus-
tin Smith (11), J.D. Notae
(12) and Jalen Tate (12)
joined them in double fig-
ures.
All of Tate’s points
came in the first half and
he didn’t get to finish
the second. Arkansas’
World Series and then
getting Petco Park built
downtown.
In November, Fowler
stepped down as execu-
tive chairman and Seidler
was approved by fellow
Major League Baseball
owners to take over con-
trol of the team as chair-
man. Fowler will remain
with the club in an advi-
sory role and will contin-
ue to sit on MLB’s Labor
Policy Committee.
Besides his involve-
ment in baseball, Seidler
is co-founder and manag-
ing partner of Seidler Eq-
uity Partners, whose net
worth has been estimated
to be $3 billion.
Seidler declined to
delve deep into finances.
“We don’t need to
talk about it, but we’ll let
actions speak for them-
selves,” he said. “We’re
very humble about what
we’re trying to do here be-
cause it’s hard and we’re
not the only team chasing
the trophy. But we’re in
the mix, we believe.”
Baseball is coming off
a pandemic-shortened
season in which Commis-
sioner Rob Manfred said
teams combined to lose
$2.7 billion to $3 billion
liers, Lakers and Jazz, all
of whom end their first-
half schedules on March
3, get the longest All-Star
breaks in the league at
nine days apiece. Wash-
ington, Memphis and San
Antonio get the shortest
breaks, all six days.
Teams will finish the
season averaging about
15 back-to-backs, about
three more per team
than was the case last
season but still well be-
low the norm before the
league made player rest
a scheduling priority
and changed its methods
three years ago.
There are only two in-
stances of teams having
four games in five days in
the season’s second half,
both toward the very end.
big run clearly flustered
Alabama, resulting in
Petty picking up a tech-
nical foul after arguing
a no-call with 6:55 left.
Tate and Alabama’s Javon
Quinerly picked up coinci-
dental technicals for what
appeared to be excessive
chatter a couple minutes
later and then Tate and
Petty were called for their
second each with 1:01 re-
maining, resulting in dual
ejections.
A lot of the frustration
came from Alabama’s hot
and cold nature through-
out the game. The Crim-
son Tide missed their
during the pandemic.
Seidler did say the
Padres have set up the
franchise “to be flexible
so we have the opportu-
nity to be opportunistic
when it does make sense.
We make decisions really
with 10 years in mind, not
year to year to year, al-
though we are cognizant
of the current year. I could
not be happier with where
we are in every way, busi-
ness-wise, baseball-wise,
and I’ll speak for the peo-
ple of San Diego. We’re
the eighth-largest city in
America. There’s nothing
we can’t do.”
Led by Tatis and Mach-
ado, the Padres ended a
13-year playoff drought
last year and beat the St.
Louis Cardinals in a wild-
card round before being
swept out of the NL Divi-
sion Series by the eventu-
al World Series champion
Dodgers.
Tatis is only 22.
“Significant to all of
us, is what a difference
it makes for our fans to
know they can go to Petco
anytime we’re playing for
14 years and know they
can see this remarkable
talent and great person
and a tough team for any
Memphis had one of
the dreaded four-in-fives
during the first half and
is in line for another be-
tween May 11 and May
15, at home against New
Orleans, Dallas and twice
against Sacramento. San
Antonio will end the sea-
son with a run of four
games in five days — the
first two at Brooklyn and
New York on May 12 and
13, followed by finales at
home against Phoenix on
May 15 and 16.
A few other things to
note on the schedule:
Big Monday
The NBA typical-
ly tries not to schedule
games on the night of the
NCAA men’s basketball
championship game, but
Pool photo
first nine 3-pointers but
would follow by making
eight of its next 10, includ-
ing the first basket of the
second half, giving them
their first lead since the
opening five minutes of
the game. Arkansas coun-
tered with its big stretch
to put the game away.
Jordan Bruner led Al-
abama with 14 points, 12
of which came in the first
half. Petty finished with
12.
“We stunk last game
(against Alabama),” Mus-
selman said. “You gotta
bounce back. I thought
we bounced back. You
other team in baseball to
play,” Seidler said.
The Padres recently
gave six-year extensions
to general manager A.J.
Preller and CEO Erik
Greupner.
“I generally believe
in business you do well
when you have stability
and excellence,” Seidler
said.
“I think this game is
only going to get better
and stronger year after
year after year, and the
pie’s going to grow,” Se-
idler said. “That’s how we
view things. We’re going
to continue to build this
franchise. I see great up-
side for us. Yes, I’m well
aware of the things imme-
diately in front of us with
the pandemic and other
things. We’re going to
find ways to work through
those and that’s some of
the thinking behind the
decisions we make here.”
The Padres have gone
to the playoffs only six
times in 52 seasons,
reaching the World Series
twice and losing it both
times.
They believe they are
built to go deep into Octo-
ber and know how formi-
dable the Dodgers are.
squeezing so many games
into a short window made
an unplanned night off
impossible this season.
There are seven games
on the schedule for April
5, the night that some col-
lege team is scheduled to
cut down nets in India-
napolis.
Loaded slate
May 16 could mark
the first time all 30 NBA
teams and all 30 Major
League Baseball teams
play on the same day.
There were 15 NBA
games and 15 MLB
games on April 16, 2014
— but included in that
MLB slate was a double-
header between the New
York Yankees and Chica-
go Cubs. The Minnesota
play the sixth-ranked
team in the country and
you beat them, it’s a heck
of a win for the program, I
can tell you that.”
It’s been a while
The game was the first
in Fayetteville between
Arkansas and a ranked
opponent since the 1997-
98 season. The Razor-
backs had spent parts of
five seasons since ranked,
but had not faced a fellow
Top-25 team at Bud Wal-
ton Arena a single time
since. Wednesday’s win
was also the first Arkan-
sas has had over a Top-10
team since 2016.
Big picture
Alabama still sits com-
fortably atop the SEC
standings with a two-
game lead over the next
closest team, Arkansas.
The Crimson Tide may be
troubled, however, as the
defeat drops them just 1-3
against ranked opponents
this year.
Arkansas is all but of-
ficially in for the NCAA
Tournament after a mid-
dling January. The Ra-
zorbacks haven’t lost in
SEC play since falling at
Alabama by 31 points on
Jan. 16.
Up next
Alabama travels to
Starkville to play Missis-
sippi State in the penulti-
mate game of the regular
season.
Arkansas hosts LSU
on Saturday. The Tigers
won the first meeting Jan.
13 in Baton Rouge.
“We’re not hyper-fo-
cused on any one team,”
Seidler said. “We respect
the heck out of what that
franchise has accom-
plished, winning the
World Series last year,
winning our division for
eight years in a row. Com-
petition makes everybody
better and I expect it will
make us better.”
Although he was
raised in a baseball dynas-
ty, Seidler said he no lon-
ger bleeds Dodger Blue.
He’s not even sure what
memorabilia he has from
those days.
“I’m not a keeper and
a saver, so I don’t know,
maybe somewhere in the
dungeons of my basement
there’s a ball signed by
Manny Mota that I would
treasure, because I love
that guy,” Seidler said,
referring to the famed
pinch-hitter.
Seidler is focused on
watching Tatis and his
teammates.
“I think it’s going to
play out better than some
of us optimists think.
We really believe in this
young man,” he said.
Twins and Toronto Blue
Jays had that day off.
Least and most
The Los Angeles
Clippers have the few-
est games in the second
half, scheduled to play
34 times. The Spurs and
Grizzlies are scheduled to
play 40 games, and every
other team is between 35
and 38 contests.
Reschedulings
The league has had
to reschedule 29 games
that were called off so far
for virus-related reasons,
plus others that had to
be postponed earlier this
month in response to the
ice storm that knocked
out power to much of Tex-
as.

Preps
Continued from Page 1B
now having an opportu-
nity,” Columbus coach
Yvonne Hairston said.
“We’re back in the quar-
terfinals. That’s a big
deal.”
The Falcons got there
with outstanding defense
Wednesday on a Lafay-
ette team that used ex-
cellent shooting to beat
Ridgeland in the first
round Monday. The Com-
modores’ Sha’brya Pet-
tis made four 3-pointers
against the Titans but
was bottled up all evening
Wednesday. Teammate
Karizma Norphlet only
fared a little better.
“It’s kind for you to
shoot over us,” Hairston
said. “If you’re a shooting
team, you’re going to have
to get that ball way up, be-
cause Slim (Rieves) and
them are coming.”
Rieves had four blocks
to go with her 12 points,
a scoring output second
to only senior point guard
DJ Jackson (15). She
missed just one shot in an
excellent offensive night.
“Making those points,
it feels good — helping
the team out and running
back down on defense,”
Rieves said.
She had to sit briefly
during the second half
after adding two fouls to
her first-half total and
coming one whistle away
from disqualification,
but Yeates and junior
Mashanti Saddler held
down the fort inside. All
night, Columbus kept
Lafayette away from the
rim: The Commodores
only managed 10 points
by halftime and trailed
the Falcons by eight.
“We contained them,”
Hairston said. “Especially
the first half, we didn’t al-
low them to get any looks
at the basket.”
Rieves said she expect-
ed Lafayette to bring its
best at Columbus after
Aniya Saddler’s last-sec-
ond floater beat the Com-
modores in last year’s
quarterfinals. Lafayette
did, but Columbus was
ready.
“They did come hard
Baseball
Continued from Page 1B
ed his 2020 season pre-
maturely, the Bulldogs
turned to Rokose in
the third inning. Red-
shirting last spring, the
second-year freshman
flashed impressive swing
and miss ability as he
rang up four Tiger batters
in his two frames of work.
“I thought I pitched
pretty well,” Rokose diag-
nosed postgame. “Defi-
nitely could’ve tweaked
some things, done a lit-
tle better, but it was just
great to get out there for
the first time and get my
Softball
Continued from Page 1B
Christian) Quinn do it in
practice all the time, and I
never got to do it,” David-
son, who leads the team
with a .522 batting aver-
age, said in a news release
from Mississippi State.
“Right when it happened
I was like, ‘What would
Quinn do?’ and it worked.
That was basically it.”
She and junior center
fielder Anna Kate Se-
gars each had two stolen
bases, while graduate
student first baseman Fa
Leilua, sophomore sec-
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Marquette hands North Carolina rare home nonconference loss
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Dawson Garcia had 24 points and 11 rebounds, D.J. Car-
ton added 17 points with five assists and Marquette beat North Carolina 83-70 on
Wednesday night in a game schedule just four days ago.
It was just North Carolina’s 18th nonconference defeat in the 35-year history of
the Dean E. Smith Center.
North Carolina scored first but did not lead the rest of the way as Marquette an-
swered with a 14-2 run. Garcia had 16 points in the first half and Greg Elliott added
13 as the Golden Eagles led 45-29.
Marquette struggled in the backcourt against North Carolina’s pressure defense
in the second half, having 10 turnovers to just nine made field goals with 5:22 re-
maining. But the Golden Eagles went on an 8-0 run, with six points from Carton, for
a 79-63 lead with 2:38 left to seal it.
Columbus High School junior Makayla Rieves (11) makes a layup during the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s MH-
SAA Class 5A second-round playoff game against Lafayette. Rieves had 12 points in the Falcons’ 42-29 win.
and aggressive, but we
just didn’t give up,” Rieves
said.
After Columbus took a
33-15 lead into the fourth
quarter, Lafayette scored
the first seven points to
cut its deficit to 11. But
Hairston called timeout
three times in quick suc-
cession, aiming to make
sure the Commodores
couldn’t gain the mo-
mentum necessary to go
on a run. The strategy
worked: Columbus’ lead
never dipped below 10,
and the Falcons finished
off a 13-point victory.
Hairston said she and
Lafayette coach Shayne
Linzy know each other
well; before Wednesday’s
game, they talked and
reflected on last year’s
thriller at Itawamba Com-
munity College. The two
schools have formed a bit
of a rivalry, Hairston said,
which made the Falcons’
win both critical and a bit
bittersweet.
feet wet.”
Mikey Tepper, like
Rokose, earned his first
outing of the young sea-
son, though he proved
more meandering than
his predecessors. After
a 1-2-3 fifth inning, Tep-
per surrendered the first
Jackson State base run-
ner of the day when he
fumbled a bouncing ball
just shy of the mound.
Two stolen bases, a walk
and an error by Hatcher
at first base gifted the Ti-
gers their first run of the
night.
ond baseman Paige Cook
and sophomore outfield-
er Brylie St. Clair all had
one.
“(Assistant) coach (Ty-
ler) Bratton does a great
job with our hitters and
really preaching the im-
portance of being smart
baserunners,” head coach
Samantha Ricketts said.
“Even if you’re not the
fastest on the team, you
can still take advantage
of opportunities. Just re-
ally being opportunistic,
reading down angles in
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
“It was a big win be-
cause I know how badly
they wanted to beat us,
and we wanted to beat
them, too,” she said. “You
hate to see them lose,
but you’re happy that we
won.”
Columbus now wel-
comes Holmes County
Central on Friday with a
similar revenge storyline
at play: The Falcons beat
the Jaguars 48-44 in Lex-
ington in last year’s sec-
ond round.
“It’s going to be a dog-
fight,” Hairston said. “I
know they don’t want to
lose, and we don’t either.”
Rieves said Holmes
will be the toughest test
yet for a Columbus team
that hasn’t lost since Dec.
8 at Noxubee County.
The Falcons, however,
feel prepared for what the
Jags will show them.
“They’re coming at
us,” Hairston said. “Like
the kids say, they’re going
to be at our heads.
After former East Mis-
sissippi Community Col-
lege hurler Chase Patrick
recorded the final two
outs of the sixth inning
in relief of Tepper, Jack-
son State first baseman
Chenar Brown walked,
advanced to third on a
pair of wild pitches from
second-year freshman
K.C. Hunt and scored on a
squeeze bunt by Marshal
Luiz the following frame.
With Brown plated,
Wesley Ruiz drilled a fast-
ball from Hunt into center
field for Jackson State’s
the dirt for any chance we
have to take an extra base
and getting good jumps,
and it’s something that
we put a lot of emphasis
on with our baserunning.”
Of course, Mississippi
Valley State’s defensive
lapses had just as big an
impact on Wednesday’s
game as the Bulldogs’
aggressiveness did. The
Devilettes had an error,
passed ball or wild pitch
in five of their six innings
in the field. On the game’s
final play, a dropped pop-
“We’ll be ready,
though,” she added.
“We’ll be ready.”
Other scores
Prep Girls Basket-
ball
Columbus Christian
Academy 41, Claiborne
Academy (La.) 28, MAIS
Class 2A tournament
quarterfinal
BENTON — The Co-
lumbus Christian Acade-
my girls won their MAIS
Class 2A tournament
quarterfinal against Clai-
borne Academy (Loui-
siana) on Wednesday at
Benton Academy, 41-28.
Audrey Foreman led
the Rams with 13 points.
Faith Yeates had 10, and
Taylor Tipton had six. CC
DeVos and Morgan Whit-
ten added five apiece.
The Rams move on to
play Greenville Christian
School at 3 p.m. Friday.
West Lowndes 73,
first hit of the contest to
break up the no-hitter.
Freshman Xavier
Lovett and fourth-year se-
nior Jaxen Forrester fol-
lowed Hunt to put the fin-
ishing touches on MSU’s
first home victory of the
season.
Second-year freshman
Kamren James paced the
MSU offense Wednesday
after an 0-for-13 start to
the year at last weekend’s
State Farm College Base-
ball Showdown. Finishing
a triple shy of the cycle,
it was James’ belted two-
up behind third base
scored Mia Davidson
from second to put Mis-
sissippi State at the eight-
run threshold for the mer-
cy rule.
Montana Davidson,
Segars, Leilua and St.
Clair all ended up with
two hits for Mississippi
State, which had 12 in the
game. Sophomore pitch-
ers Aspen Wesley and
Kenley Hawk each threw
three innings, with both
Valley runs and all three
hits coming on Hawk’s
Elliott scored 15 points with four steals and Theo John had 11 for Marquette (11-
12). The Golden Eagles, who are currently 10th in the 11 team Big East, entered
having lost six of their last eight — with two victories over Butler.
Garrison Brooks led North Carolina (14-8) with 18 points. R.J. Davis added
11 points, Walker Kessler scored 10, and Day’Ron Sharpe had nine points and 11
boards.
North Carolina is schedule to host No. 11 Florida State, looking for coach Roy
Williams’ 900th career victory. His 899 wins are third most all time.
The Tar Heels had postponed home games against Clemson (Jan. 9) and No. 16
Virginia Tech (Feb. 16), along with Tuesday’s road game at Boston College, amid
COVID-19 issues involving their opponents.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021
Theo DeRosa/Dispatch Staff
McEvans 43, MHSAA
Class 1A playoffs, second
round
The West Lowndes
girls beat McEvans 73-43
in Wednesday’s MHSAA
Class 1A second-round
playoff game in Colum-
bus.
Tydajasha Hood led the
Panthers with 18 points.
Averi Sanders had 16, and
Nenah Young had 14.
West Lowndes will
host Sacred Heart on Fri-
day in the state quarterfi-
nals.
Madison Central 43,
Starkville 41, MHSAA
Class 6A playoffs, second
round
MADISON — The
Starkville High School
girls lost 43-41 to Madi-
son Central in Wednes-
day’s MHSAA Class 6A
second-round game, end-
ing their season.
The Jaguars advance
to take on Olive Branch in
the state quarterfinals.
run homer into the Left
Field Lounge that sent
the Bulldog faithful into
a frenzy during Wednes-
day’s first inning.
“That homer definite-
ly felt good — first at-bat
back at The Dude.” James
said through a grin. “ We
didn’t get to play in front
of all the fans like we usu-
ally do, but rounding the
bases, I could hear the
crowd. It was still loud.”
With capacity at Dudy
Noble Field limited to 25
percent due to SEC and
state COVID-19 proto-
line. Wesley finished with
seven strikeouts to just
one walk in three score-
less innings, while Hawk
walked three and struck
out four.
“I thought Aspen did a
great job coming out and
starting strong, really
just dominating from the
beginning,” Ricketts said.
“It was good to get Kenley
Hawk in there for some in-
nings. She’s got to attack
the zone a bit more, but it
really brings a different
look for us going hard and
3B
Noxubee County 48,
North Panola 38, MHSAA
Class 3A playoffs, second
round
MACON — The Nox-
ubee County girls used
a big fourth quarter to
beat North Panola 48-38
on Wednesday in the sec-
ond round of the MHSAA
Class 3A playoffs in Ma-
con.
The Tigers trailed 32-
29 heading into the final
period and came out with
a double-digit win.
Na’Kaiyla “Tootie”
Lockett led Noxubee
County with 23 points,
adding six rebounds and
five steals.
Aaliyah Brandy had
nine points and eight re-
bounds, and Jakeia Walk-
er had eight points, four
rebounds and two steals.
Zacaree Rupert added six
points, four rebounds and
two steals.
Prep Boys Basket-
ball
Bowling Green School
(La.) 75, Oak Hill Acad-
emy 64, MAIS Class 3A
tournament quarterfinal
WEST POINT — The
Oak Hill Academy boys
lost to Bowling Green
School (Louisiana) 75-
64 in Wednesday’s MAIS
Class 3A tournament
quarterfinal in West
Point.
The Raiders’ season is
over with the loss.
Prep Baseball
Heritage Academy 6,
Washington School 0
Braden Davidson
struck out seven batters
over six shutout innings
as the Heritage Academy
baseball team blanked
Washington School 6-0
on Wednesday in Colum-
bus.
Carson Hollis led the
Patriots (3-1) with two
hits, and Aaron Downs
had a double and two
walks and scored three
runs.
Heritage Academy will
host Nettleton at 6 p.m.
Thursday.
cols, the stands sat more
empty than the usual
home opener as MSU’s
monument to college
baseball opened for busi-
ness. And while the famil-
iar hazy grill smoke from
the outfield boxes was
dimmer than years past,
Wednesday represented
the return of baseball to
one of the sport’s most
storied venues.
For the first time in
353 days, baseball was
back at The Dude.
down in the zone.”
The Bulldogs will have
a day off before heading
to Texas for the Lone
Star State Invitational
this weekend. Mississippi
State will play a double-
header with Texas State
at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Fri-
day in San Marcos before
traveling to Austin to face
No. 7 Texas at 10 a.m. and
Houston at 12:30 p.m. Sat-
urday. An 11 a.m. game
with Baylor on Sunday in
Waco rounds out the trip.
SOURCE: AP
4B THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021
LA sheriff calls Tiger Woods crash ‘purely an accident’
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES —
The Los Angeles County
sheriff on Wednesday
characterized the crash
that seriously injured Ti-
ger Woods as “purely an
accident” and appeared
to rule out any potential
criminal charges even as
authorities were still in-
vestigating.
Deputies saw no evi-
dence the golf star was
impaired by drugs or al-
cohol after Tuesday’s roll-
over wreck on a downhill
stretch of road known for
crashes, Sheriff Alex Vil-
lanueva said.
“He was not drunk,”
Villanueva said during a
livestreamed social media
event. “We can throw that
Comics & Puzzles
DILBERT
ZITS
GARFIELD
CANDORVILLE
BABY BLUES
BEETLE BAILEY
MALLARD FILLMORE
one out.”
Woods, who had
checked into a clinic in
2017 for help dealing with
prescription medication,
was driving alone through
coastal Los Angeles sub-
urbs when his SUV struck
a raised median, crossed
into oncoming lanes and
flipped several times.
The crash caused “signif-
icant” injuries to his right
leg that required surgery,
according to a post on the
golfer’s Twitter account.
Deputy Carlos Gonza-
lez, who was first to arrive
at the crash, patrols the
road and said he some-
times catches people top-
ping 80 mph (129 kph)
in the downhill, 45-mph
zone and that wrecks are
common.
FAMILY CIRCUS
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
Justin King, a personal
injury attorney in Cali-
fornia, said that if inves-
tigators prove the road is
unsafe and contributed to
Woods’ crash and others,
the municipality that con-
trols it could be held lia-
ble. The wreck happened
on the border between
the communities of Roll-
ing Hills Estates and Ran-
cho Palos Verdes, and the
county supervisor who
represents the area has
requested a safety review.
Meanwhile, Villanue-
va said investigators may
seek search warrants for
a blood sample to defini-
tively rule out drugs and
alcohol. Detectives also
could apply for search
warrants for Woods’ cell-
phone to see if he was
driving distracted, as well
as the vehicle’s event data
recorder, or “black box,”
which would give infor-
mation about how fast he
was going.
Joe Giacalone, a pro-
fessor at the John Jay Col-
lege of Criminal Justice
and a retired New York
police sergeant, said it
was “premature” for Vil-
lanueva to determine the
crash was an accident just
a day later.
“The blood test could
give us a whole other in-
sight,” Giacalone said,
noting that some drugs
are not necessarily de-
tectable by observa-
tion. “Because it’s Tiger
Woods, people are going
to demand answers. You
have to dot your I’s and
Dear Abby
D
EAR ABBY:
My grand-
daughter
just informed me
she has decided
she would be
happier living as a
boy, and she has
gone so far as to
legally change her
name. I want to
be supportive, but
I admit I’m having
a lot of trouble
accepting it, or
at least figuring
out how to deal
with it. Dear Abby
She’s my only
grandchild and
most likely the only one I’ll ever understanding between them-
have. I loved my granddaughter
with all my heart, and I don’t
know how to shift gears to a
grandson. I keep stumbling
when I try to use the new
name. I would welcome any
suggestions you could make,
including information about
support groups you might know
of. — GRANDMA IN PAIN
DEAR GRANDMA: Gender
reassignment is not something
that someone does on a lark.
There are many steps involved,
and the journey, while liberat-
ing, can be challenging both
physically and emotionally. I
am sure this is something your
grandchild has given much
thought to.
Horoscopes
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Feb.
25). In the same way you can
turn the mighty sun on and off
with a flick of your eyelids, you
can change the trajectory of a
relationship with tricks of the
mind. This you’ll do often and
well, finding ways to think of
things that give you power and
options, and then exercising
that potential to create one
magnificent outcome after
another. Virgo and Pisces adore
you. Your lucky numbers are:
12, 22, 4, 44 and 18.
ARIES (March 21-April 19).
You didn’t get all that you want-
ed. It’s better this way. Some
degree of hunger keeps things
exciting. Hunger causes action.
Overindulgence causes lethargy
and is generally unattractive.
TAURUS (April 20-May
cross your T’s.”
Crash investigations
typically include inter-
views of first responders
and bystanders as well
as inspections of the
road and the vehicle, in-
cluding photographing
and measuring the scene
and checking to see if
the vehicle had defects
or malfunctions, accord-
ing to William Peppard,
a retired Bergen County,
New Jersey, police detec-
tive who has served as a
crash investigator.
Peppard said in typical
cases with no immedi-
ate indications the driver
was impaired, detectives
might not seek blood
samples if the crash did
not injure anyone else or
damage property.
Yes, coming
to terms with it
can be as much
of a journey for
family as it is for
the transgender
person, and it
can take time
and understand-
ing on all sides.
A group called
PFLAG can help
you through
this. It has been
mentioned in
my column for
decades. It has
helped count-
less families to
build bridges of
selves and their lesbian, gay
and transgender loved ones.
Please don’t wait to contact
them. You will find PFLAG at
pflag.org, and their phone num-
ber is (202) 467-8180.
DEAR ABBY: I am a 50-year-
old man. My whole life, my
relationship with my father has
been strained. When I was in
my teens and 20s, when he
bought presents for my two
siblings and not for me, he
would say things to me like, “I
forgot I had you.”
In spite of this, I became
very successful in life. I had
a great career and am now
retired. My father recently
announced to me that he had
20). People pick up on your
signals whether or not you
are consciously aware of what
they are. Know yourself and
be empowered. Ten minutes
of honest reflection will do it.
Relationships transform as your
intention does.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21).
What good is your charm if you
are not using it to forward your
purposes? You didn’t exactly
wake up this morning knowing
what those purposes were, but
it’s OK. You can make up for
lost time by getting clear on it
now.
CANCER (June 22-July 22).
The reason you haven’t met the
goal yet is that you’re not totally
sure you’re ready. In the back
of your mind, there’s fear as to
the responsibilities that go with
“Take the celebrity
out of it — it’s a matter of
resources and time,” he
said.
In 2017, Woods was
arrested on a DUI charge
when Florida police found
him asleep behind the
wheel of his car parked
awkwardly on the side of
the road, with its engine
still running, two flat tires
and a blinker flashing.
Woods said he had
an unexpected reaction
to pain medication. He
eventually pleaded guilty
to a reduced charge of
reckless driving. Three
weeks after the arrest, he
entered a clinic for help
dealing with prescription
medication and a sleep
disorder.
made only two mistakes in his
life — marrying my mother,
who has put up with him for
more than 60 years, and hav-
ing children.
My dilemma is, he is now
90 with many health problems.
He is in the hospital now for a
heart problem. I know he won’t
last much longer. I feel nothing
for him, and I am not sad.
When he dies, I know I won’t
care. Is this normal? I feel
guilty for feeling this way. —
DON’T CARE IN TENNESSEE
DEAR DON’T CARE: Please
don’t feel guilty for feeling no
regret at the prospect of “los-
ing” a cruel and withholding
parent who made it his busi-
ness to make those around
him feel “less than.” Do not
be surprised if, rather than
feel a sense of loss, you feel
at peace, as though a weight
has been lifted from your
shoulders. You should not feel
guilty for that, either. Comfort
and emotionally support your
mother as best you can when
he dies, but don’t be shocked
if she, too, feels some relief.
Their union could not have
been the happiest.
Dear Abby is written by
Abigail Van Buren, also known
as Jeanne Phillips, and was
founded by her mother, Pauline
Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at
www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box
69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
the prize. Grab on anyway. Don’t
borrow tomorrow’s problems
today.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22).
These circumstances are not
inherently entertaining. This
fun you’re having, that’s all you.
Know it. Own it. Claim it. The
world is your playground and
people love being around you
because of your unique way of
being in it.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).
Good conversation leads to
even better things — a deal,
a friend, a meaningful and
possibly life-changing exchange.
Your communication skills are a
golden ticket.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).
To enjoy a thing fully, you must
empty your mind of fantasies,
assumptions, prejudices and ex-
pectations in all directions. Into
that void will flow experience in
which you can revel in.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21).
You’ve tended toward criticizing
and directing yourself lately,
and an amazing thing happens
when you stop that. Chaos
doesn’t ensue. Everything gets
done. The vibes simultaneously
elevate and relax.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-
Dec. 21). You do quite a lot in
a day and yet you find, when
your head hits the pillow, you
still want more. There is more,
right? The question sticks with
you even after you’ve closed
your eyes to sleep. Ambitions fill
your dreams.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan.
19). The words, “I love you,”
can only be interpreted inside
of context. Consistently loving
behavior reflects one meaning,
and if these words are unsup-
ported by such things they could
mean literally anything.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.
18). You’re dedicated to work.
You manage time well, and
you’re conscientious. It’s when
your high standards of perfor-
mance extend to those around
you that you realize how much
you need to team patience with
your other virtues.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March
20). Though you may turn to
other worlds as a fun escape,
you do not wish to have the
lives of others, only to make
your own more brightly reflect
your heart and ideas.
An inside job
SOLUTION:

Business
Never too late: Pandemic
propels older shoppers online
Americans 65 and up spent an average of nearly $187 per
month online last year, up 60 percent from a year earlier
BY ANNE D’INNOCENZIO
AP Retail Writer
NEW YORK — In
November, Paula Mont
did something new: The
86-year-old, who hasn’t
left her New Jersey senior
living community in near-
ly a year, went shopping
— online.
Mont used an iPad,
equipped with a stylus to
help her shaky hands, to
buy a toy grand piano for
her great-granddaughter.
She picked it out from
more than a dozen ver-
sions of the instrument on
Amazon.
“It is like a wow feeling.
I found it!” Mont said.
The internet has be-
come a crucial link to the
outside world during the
pandemic, one that mil-
lions of people still don’t
have access to. Among
older adults, the lack of in-
Amtrak: Passenger trains to return to Gulf Coast in 2022
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOBILE, Ala. — Am-
trak has told freight rail-
roads it intends to resume
service next year along
the northern Gulf Coast
between New Orleans
and Mobile for the first
time since Hurricane Ka-
trina, a spokesman said
Wednesday.
The plan, which was
first reported by al.com,
BUILDING BRIEFS
City of Columbus
Feb. 17-19, 2021
■ Calvary Evangelism Center;
311 Tuscaloosa Road; com-
plete church interior; Weathers
Construction Inc.
■ Truelove Rentals LLC; 427
Wilkins Wise Road; sign for
Bella Blu; Mitchell Signs
■ TGV Properties LLC; 322
5th Street South; remodel two
floors; Thomas Hatcher
■ Tinree LLC; 97 Luxapalila
Drive; electrical; Beavers
Electric
■ Donna Beatty; 2511 Mag-
nolia Circle; electrical; Weldon
Electric
■ Dennis Cox; 505 Sylvan
Road; electrical; Weldon
Electric
■ Barry Artz; 1200 12th
Street North; electrical; Wel-
don Electric
■ Bill Burge; 113 Forest Glen
Road; electrical; Weldon
Electric
■ Josh Conners; 1208 12th
Street North; electrical; Ad-
ternet has even impeded
their ability to get vacci-
nated.
But the pandemic has
also motivated many who
have been isolated at
home or unable to leave
their senior communities
to learn something they
may have resisted until
now: how to buy groceries
and more online.
Americans 65 and old-
er rang up an average of
nearly $187 per month
online last year, up 60
percent from a year ear-
lier, according to mar-
ket research firm NPD
Group’s Checkout Track-
ing. They still spend less
than the average $238 per
month by the total pop-
ulation, but they are the
fastest-growing group of
online shoppers by age
group.
The biggest online
would include two round
trips daily with stops in
four Mississippi cities:
Bay St. Louis, Gulfport,
Biloxi and Pascagou-
la, spokesman Marc
Magliari said.
Freight operators CSX
Corp. and Norfolk South-
ern Corp. said they hope
studies of the proposal
continue, and details in-
cluding schedules and
the exact location of some
vanced Electrics Inc.
■ Samuel Lowery; 2509 23rd
Avenue North; electrical; Vertis
Lee
■ Brian and Leslie May; 702
Gaywood Avenue South; elec-
trical; Beavers Electric
■ TL Phillips & Henry Weiss;
501 7th Street North, Suite 4;
plumbing
Lowndes County
Feb. 24, 2021
■ Joe Max and Tammy
Higgins; Taylor Thurston Road;
construct s/f residence; Don
White Construction
■ Spec; Old Wolfe Road;
construct s/f residence; Frye
Tile and Exterior
■ Danny Browning; 149
Cambridge; addition to s/f
residence; owner
■ Mike Unruh; Tranquil Trail;
set up mobile home; Collins
Electrical
■ Mike Unruh; Tranquil Trail;
move mobile home; Alan’s
Mobile Home
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 5B
Atria Senior Living where
Mont lives, says one of the
biggest challenges resi-
dents face with their de-
spenders were people vices is that they are used
ages 35 to 44 who spent to pushing, not tapping,
an average of $306 per as if they’re using a touch-
month online last year, up tone telephone. She has to
40 percent from the pre- repeat tips often.
vious year, according to “I would lie if I didn’t
NPD. say I was frustrated some-
Shopping is one of a times,” said Moran, who
slew of activities that old- sits with Mont — masked
er Americans now have to and gloved — in the facili-
do over the internet, like ty’s dining room for week-
doctor’s appointments ly shopping sessions.
and socializing via digi-
tal video like FaceTime.
Such behavior was forced
by necessity — older peo-
ple face the biggest risk of
infection, so it’s more dan-
gerous for them to go out.
The transition online
hasn’t always been easy,
and children and senior
living staff often have to
help, an experience that
can be both gratifying
and difficult.
Barbara Moran, direc-
tor of social programs for
train stops need to be
worked out. But money
is available and the route
has been studied enough,
Magliari said.
“We safely and suc-
cessfully operate togeth-
er elsewhere in United
States, with dependable
freight service coexisting
with reliable and relevant
Amtrak service. That’s
what the Gulf Coast de-
serves, too,” he said.
■ Shirley D. Jones; Hairston
Bend Road; set up mobile
home; owner
■ Shirley D. Jones; Hairston
Bend Road; move mobile
home; Mills Home Center
LOCAL GAS PRICES
Source: gasbuddy.com
COLUMBUS
2.25 TEXACO
65 Industrial Park Rd.
2.27 SPRINT
712 Fifth St. N.
2.29 SHELL1214 US 45 N
STARKVILLE
2.26 MURPHY USA
1012 MS-12
2.26 WALMART
75 Market St.
2.29 BREAK TIME
1045 Louisville St.
Classifieds
Ads appear in The Commercial Dispatch,
The Starkville Dispatch and Online
To place ads starting at only $12,
call 662-328-2424 or visit ads.cdispatch.com
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 n 6B

Mobile Homes for Rent Lots & Acreage

It’s a classified
Employment RENT A CAMPER!
CHEAPER THAN A MOTEL!
Restricted residential lot,
very nice, over 3 acres with
Community rule-of-thumb:
We tell readers
Utilities & cable included, some trees. Callaway
Call us: 662-328-2424 from $145/wk − $535/mo Estates off Taylor Thurston Ads starting at $12
Columbus & County School Road. $35,000. Call Long
General Help Wanted locations. 662−242−3803
or 601−940−1397.
& Long, 662−386−2023. Lost & Found Items what they need
LEGAL SECRETARY needed
for local firm. Must be able
Missing M&O RR Fireplace
Mantle. A $200 Ransom
to know to buy
to work dual screen
computer. Mail resume Real Estate will be paid for recovery of
Fireplace mantle pried from
what they need.
with references to: wall of Crawford’s M&O RR
Blind Box 679 c/o The Section House. No
Ads starting at $25
Commercial Dispatch
PO Box 511 Looking for a new home?
questions will be asked
and the "law" is NOT Five Questions:
Columbus MS 39703 Farms & Timberland Let us help, shop here. involved. 662−769−1889.

THE COMMERCIAL Pets 1 “Straight

Outta
203 ACRES
Merchandise
DISPATCH seeks a motiv- PRIME TIMBERLAND
ated, contracted carrier for Boxer/Lab Puppies
Compton”
$270,000

Sudoku
the Caledonia area. Excel- 2 males and 2 females
lent opportunity to earn
Exc deer, turkey hunting $400. 662−361−4081 YESTERDAY’S ANSWER
money for college. Must
Good Investment
(615)719−8329 Ads starting at $12
have good transportation,
valid driver's license & in- Burial Plots
REGISTERED DACHSHUND
puppies for sale. 2 The Sudoku
Sudoku is a number-
placing puzzle based on
Yesterday’s answer
surance. Delivers on Houses For Sale: New Hope 8 3 9 1 6 4 5 2 7
Washington
Sunday morning and Mon- 4 PLOTS @ FRIENDSHIP
Ready to go now! Sudoku
a 9x9 gridis witha several
num-
Call 205−596−3264.
Fri afternoons. Apply at The ber-placing
given numbers.puzzleThe object 6 7 2 5 8 3 9 4 1

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

Post
Storage House converted CEMETERY: Lot #78,
Commercial Dispatch, 516 into a small house. grave spaces 1, 2, 3 & 4. based onthe
is to place a 9x9
numbers 1 5 4 9 2 7 8 6 3
Main Street in Columbus. Plumbing and Electrical Will sell separately.
Did you grid
1 to 9with
in theseveral
empty spaces 2 4 1 8 7 9 3 5 6

?
No phone calls please. given
so thatnumbers. The
already installed. Call for more info,
know each row, each 3 6 5 4 1 2 7 8 9
3 Metropoli-
Small kitchenette and 870−265−1533.
object
column and each 3x3 the
is to place box
bathroom. $6,000.
numbers 9 8 7 6 3 5 4 1 2
contains the1same to 9 number
in
Rentals tan Museum
678−368−0631 Sporting Goods
the empty spaces so 5 9 6 7 4 1 2 3 8
Lots & Acreage only once. The difficulty
of Art
ED SANDERS GUNSMITH that each row, each 4 2 8 3 9 6 1 7 5
level increases from
Ads starting at $25 1.75 ACRE LOTS: Good/
Open for season!
column and each 7 1 3 2 5 8 6 9 4
Bad Credit Options. Good
Tue−Fri: 9−5 & Sat: 9−12 Monday
3x3 boxtocontains
Sunday. Difficulty Level 2/24

In 2014, The
Over 50 years experience!
the same number only once. The difficulty level
4 Tarantula
Apts For Rent: North credit as low as 20% down, Repairs, cleaning, refin−
$499/mo. Eaton Land, ishing, scopes mounted & Dispatch started increases from Monday to Sunday.
802 17TH ST. N. 662−361−7711. zeroed, handmade knives. Lowndes County
Located: Hwy 45 Alt, North
2 bed/ 1 bath, all electric, Imagination Library,
5 “The Great
ceramic tiled bath, carpet, of West Point, turn right on
a non-profit that
Read local.
appliances. $475/Mth. Yokahama Blvd, 8mi & turn
promotes early
British Baking
Credit check. Call Long & left on Darracott Rd, will
see sign, 2.5mi ahead
Long @ 662−328−0770.
cdispatch.com childhood literacy.
Show”
shop on left.
Apts For Rent: West 662−494−6218.

VIP
Rentals
Apartments & Houses
1 Bedrooms
2 Bedroooms
3 Bedrooms
Furnished & Unfurnished
1, 2, & 3 Baths
Lease, Deposit
& Credit Check
viceinvestments.com
327-8555
Apts For Rent: Other

ACROSS
1 Tea serving, to
Brits
6 Limbo residents
C OLEMAN 11 Underway
12 First odd
RENTALS

Service Directory
TOWNHOUSES & APARTMENTS prime
13 Carpentry
1 BEDROOM needs
2 BEDROOMS 14 “Tomorrow”
3 BEDROOMS show
15 “Get a move
LEASE, Promote your small business starting at only $25
© The Dispatch

on!”
DEPOSIT 17 Beatles
AND Building & Remodeling General Services General Services Painting & Papering descriptor
CREDIT CHECK 19 Had supper
HOME REPAIRS &
CONSTRUCTION. BANKRUPTCY & Bonded. Carpentry, minor WORK WANTED: Licensed QUALITY PAINTING
Ext/Int Painting 20 Obtained
662-329-2323 Repair damaged doors,
holes in doors, door sills,
CHAPTER 7
BANKRUPTCY
electrical, minor plumbing, Sheet Rock Hang, Finish & 23 “Seward’s
insulation, painting, demo− Repair. Pressure Washing. Folly”
43 Jury makeup 18 Unaccompa-
and door jambs. Repair $545 plus Filing Fee lition, gutters cleaned, Free Estimates. Ask for
2411 HWY 45 N holes in walls and ceilings. pressure washing, land− specials! Larry Webber, 25 Soda choice 44 Test for purity nied
COLUMBUS, MS Repair fascia boards and CHAPTER 13 scaping, cleanup work. 662−242−4932. 26 They may be DOWN 20 They have
soffit. Electrical, plumbing BANKRUPTCY 662−242−3608. served at the 1 Purr producer dimples
All Attorney Fees Through The Plan
Houses For Rent: North
& carpentry. Stairs & SULLIVAN’S PAINT beach 2 Sky sighting 21 Skateboarding
decks.
Call 662−549−7031.
Jim Arnold, Attorney Lawn Care / Landscaping SERVICE 28 Just 3 They may be in jump
Special Prices.
COLONIAL TOWNHOUSES. 662-324-1666 Interior & Exterior Painting. 29 Considered pockets 22 Critical asset
2 & 3 bedroom w/ 2−3 General Services
bath townhouses. $650 to
104 South Lafayette Street, Starkville JESSE & BEVERLY’S 662−435−6528 wise 4 Warsaw native 24 Crafty
LAWN SERVICE
$750. 662−549−9555. Please visit our website:
Fall Cleanup, Tree Cutting, 30 In medias — 5 Being risked 25 Crow call
A & T TREE SERVICES jimharnold.com
Ask for Glenn or text. Bucket truck & stump Landscaping, Sodding & Are you a painter? 31 Minivan 6 Play place 27 Munich setting
Saturday morning appointments
removal. Free est.
available for Starkville Office.
Bush Hogging
Advertise here! alternative 7 “Dear me!” 31 Narrow cuts
Mobile Homes for Rent Serving Columbus 662−356−6525 32 Flower visitor 8 Coffee dis- 33 Open a bit
since 1987. Senior
3BR/2BA MH in New Hope. citizen disc. Call Alvin @ LIST YOUR BUSINESS HERE! Ads starting at $25, ads.cdispatch.com 33 Llama’s penser 34 Takes in
$650 dep + $650/mo. 242−0324/241−4447 cousin 9 Island me- 35 Sixth sense,
No pets, quiet area. Leave "We’ll go out on a limb for Automotive Services 35 Text adorn- mento briefly
voicemail with full name & ment
message, 205−712−6697.
you!" 10 Take in 36 West of films
38 Bakery buys 16 Doesn’t go to 37 Exalted verse
GRAVEL, $360 PER LOAD.
4BR/2BA MH, on private 1 Local delivery, 14 yd truck. 41 Egypt’s Anwar bed 39 Pasture
acre setting with covered Backhoe & Dozer work. 42 Cove 17 Smile upon 40 Pig holder
back porch. Caledonia Mobile Home Pads &
school dist. Credit check Driveways. Concrete work.
required. Call 662−251− 662−497−1388
3205 & leave message.
HANDYMAN−CERTIFIED IN
MAINTENANCE
Electrical, woodwork,
plumbing, decks, roofing,
drywall, painting, concrete,
yard work, hauling, moving.
Have a rental property? All credit cards accepted.
List it here for fast results. Payment plans. Will trade
for almost anything.
ads.cdispatch.com 662−386−3658.

Buy. Sell. Discover.

In the Classifieds section.
On the web: ads.cdispatch.com • Or call: 662-328-2424