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Sunday | February 16, 2020

Fear and resiliency

Chinese natives in Golden Triangle combat
coronavirus anxieties with hope, action

BY YUE STELLA YU
syu@cdispatch.com

O
n a late-January flight back from Shanghai to
Starkville, Ronghua Wu lost sleep.
The woman sitting next to him wouldn’t stop
coughing. All passengers were wearing masks, including
him. The mask straps were pressed tightly against his face,
he recalled, leaving marks on his cheeks and causing pain
that he found hard to endure.
“The atmosphere on board was depressing,” Wu said. “I
wore that mask for about 24 hours and my ears were hurting
so much ... but I never dared take it off.”
Wu, a visiting scholar in agriculture at Mississippi State
University, had just returned home to China to spend the
Lunar New Year with his family in Fuzhou, Jiangxi, amid the
coronavirus outbreak. The virus, which broke out in Wuhan,
Hubei in late December, has now claimed more than 1,500
lives and sickened tens of thousands in China.
Wuhan, the center of the epidemic, is now under lock-
down. Other local governments have shut down highways,
delayed schools and imposed certain restrictions on local
traffic.
When he landed in China, Wu rented a car to drive back
to his hometown. The highways were so empty, he said, that
he was often the only one he could see driving on them.
“It was the first time in my life that I’ve ever seen any-
See CORONAVIRUS, 8A

Plane collides with hangar, bursts into Independent auditor

flames at Columbus-Lowndes airport
Pilot priming engine at
propeller when plane
started unexpectedly,
rolled away
DISPATCH STAFF REPORT
COLUMBUS — A pilot suffered
minor injuries and a private plane
was destroyed when it struck
an aircraft hangar at the Colum-
bus-Lowndes County Airport and
caught fire Saturday morning.
The plane is a single-engine
experimental aircraft model RV-
8A, manufactured by “kit aircraft
manufacturer” Van’s Aircraft of
Oregon, according to a City of
Columbus press release. The pi-
lot was attempting to prime the
plane’s engine by manually mov-
ing the propeller when the engine
started unexpectedly. The pilot
was not in the plane when it col-
lided with the hangar. He refused
medical treatment.
“This was not an intention-
al start of the engine,” Airport
Manager Jared Rabren said in the
press release.
See CRASH, 3A
finds paperwork
deficiencies at LCSD
School board members debate
whether they were aware of $52K
buy-out to switch copier contract
BY ISABELLE ALTMAN
ialtman@cdispatch.com
COLUMBUS — The CPA handling
Lowndes County School District’s fi-
nancial audit declared the district’s
audit “clean” during the board’s reg-
ular meeting Friday, but not without
raising several examples of incorrect
filing procedures and information
missing from board meeting minutes
— the latter of which had board mem- Hughes
bers questioning Business Officer
Kenneth Hughes as to whether he had presented
certain expenses to them at all.
The CPA, Charles L. Shivers of Ridgeland, said
he and a team went through six months worth of the
district’s Fiscal Year 2019 financial statements, par-
tially to prepare for the State Auditor’s Office, which
has announced plans to audit every school district in
the state within the next four years.
Courtesy photo/City of Columbus Shivers noted a range of issues, from paperwork
A plane rolled away from its pilot Saturday morning and crashed into errors like forms not being filled out properly, or
a hangar at Columbus-Lowndes Airport. The pilot was priming the being filed too late, to information omitted from
engine at the propeller of the single engine aircraft when it started
unexpectedly. The pilot was not seriously injured and reports indicate financial statements and board meeting minutes.
the plane never left the ground. See LCSD, 6A

WEATHER FIVE QUESTIONS CALENDAR LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC

1 The United States observes Flag Day on Wednesday, Feb. 19 MEETINGS
which date — June 14, July 1 or July 4? ■ Table Talks: Friends of the Columbus-Lown- Feb. 17:
2 Self-portraits by which Mexican female Oktibbeha
des Public Library revives its Table Talk series at
artist sport a fierce unibrow and a slight County Board
mustache? 5 p.m. with author John Bateman of Starkville
discussing his book, “Who Killed Buster Spar- of Supervisors
3 What rather ornery “don’t care” animal
likes to snack on cobras and is the star of a kle?,” at the library at 314 Seventh St. N. Free. meeting, 5:30
YouTube video that went viral in 2011? Call 662-329-5300 for more information. p.m., Chancery
Shelby Norman
4 Which big retailer got rid of the star in its ■ Artist talk: Brent Funderburk of Starkville Courthouse
Fourth grade, Heritage
logo but added a giant starburst at the end presents an artist talk, “Stories from the Soul Feb. 18:

High 59 Low 47
A few showers
of its name in 2008?
5 In which state is Crater Lake, the deepest
in the U.S. at 1,943 feet?
House,” at 10 a.m. at the Oktibbeha County Her-
itage Museum, 206 Fellowship St., Starkville.
This Chit Chat Series program is free to the
Starkville Board
of Aldermen
meeting, 5:30
Full forecast on public. p.m., City Hall
Answers, 2D
page 3A. ■ The Orators: The Mississippi State Shack- Feb. 24: Public
ouls Honors College presents Denise James, hearing regarding
director of Women’s and Gender Studies at the Oktibbeha Coun-
INSIDE University of Dayton, with “The Poet Audre Lorde Clayton Creager will ty Lake, 5:30
Classifieds 1D Lifestyles 1C Goes to Mississippi: An Imperfect Person Called graduate from Mississippi p.m., Chancery
Comics 5D Obituaries 7B Hero” at 2 p.m. in the Griffis Hall Forum Room. A State University in May Courthouse
Crossword 2D Opinions 4A reception follows. For more information, contact with a degree in aerospace
Dear Abby 3C Scene & Seen 6C Donna Clevinger, 662-325-2522. engineering.

DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471

2A SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020
Floods and Old Bridges
T
his past
week
we have
seen another
Tombigbee
Flood and it
appears a loose
barge may
have serious-
ly damaged
Columbus’ 1928
River bridge.
The current
flood, though
Rufus Ward
bad, does not
compare with the catastrophic floods
of 1847, 1892, 1948 and 1973. And if
a barge did hit the 1928 bridge, that
would not be the first time a vessel
struck a Columbus bridge.
The first bridge at Columbus, a
wooden covered bridge, was built
by African-American bridge builder
Horace King in 1842. The Columbus
Democrat newspaper in the spring of
1846 referred to King as “a negro man
... who built our bridge here across the
Tombigbee and the new one across the
Luxapellilah. He is one of the best me-
chanics in his line in all the South.”
The bridge came off the bluff at
the end of Fourth Avenue South and
was said to provide a 65-foot clearance
above the river. Of course, at flood
stage, that was not true.
On Feb. 17, 1851, the side-wheel
steamboat Romeo attempted to pass un-
der the Columbus bridge at flood stage
and its pilothouse was knocked off by
the bridge. Smokestacks on steamboats
could often be lowered and there was
no mention that the steamer had lost
its stacks. Four days later, the steamer
Jenny Lind sailed around the west end
of the bridge, over what is now The
Island, to save 1,100 bales of cotton in a
warehouse threatened by flood waters
at West Port. Much of West Port had
itself been washed away by the flood of
1847. The bridge was removed by the
mid-1850s.
In 1871 construction of an iron swing
bridge began at Aberdeen. The specifi-
cations for that bridge were published
in February 1871 and stated the bridge
had to be constructed “in order that
steamboat navigation may not be inter-
rupted, the structure must be of that
kind known as the ‘swing bridge.’”
A new iron bridge at Columbus was
also planned in the mid 1870s. It too
was to be a swing bridge so as not to
obstruct river traffic. The bridge was
completed and officially accepted by
The 1877 bridge at the foot of Main Street during the 1892 Tombigbee flood which
crested at 42.6 feet on the old river gage.
If you don’t read The Dispatch, how are you gonna know?
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
ASK RUFUS
The 1928 Tombigbee River bridge at Columbus is an old swing bridge that could open
to allow boats to pass. It is presently closed as a walkway due to damage that may have
been caused by being struck by a barge.
Lowndes County on April 11, 1877.
By the early 1900s the Columbus
bridge was showing its age and need-
ed to be replaced by a larger, wider
bridge. The old bridges at Aberdeen
and Columbus had been designed to
be only wide enough for two wagons or
buggies to pass each other and were not
designed for motor vehicles.
In 1926 construction began on the
new highway bridge at Columbus. The
Tombigbee was still classified as a
navigable waterway and could not be
obstructed so the new bridge was built
as a swing bridge. After its completion
in 1928, the bridge was opened to test
it, but accounts that it opened a couple
of other times are unverified.
The worst floods on the Upper Tom-
bigbee were in 1847 and 1892. In the
flood known as “the Great Freshet of
1847” almost the entire town of Colbert
(just south of Barton Ferry in Clay
County), and much of the towns of West
Port (where the Tenn-Tom channel cuts
old Highway 82 to make the Island) and
Nashville (on the river south of Colum-
bus), were washed away.
The Columbus Democrat reported
on Dec. 18, 1847:
“Unparalleled Freshet — Great Loss
of Property &c — The immense quan-
tity of rain which we have had recently,
commencing on the night of Thursday
week last and ending the Sunday fol-
lowing, has caused our water courses to
Courtesy photo
Courtesy photo
rise to an unprecedented height. ... All
the low lands have been submerged to
a frightful extent. From the foot of the
hill on Main Street a sheet, or rather
miniature sea of water, is spread out
to the view, unbroken except by the
tall trees for miles to the west. ... The
steamer Putman was able Wednesday
morning to take a new route. The engi-
neer turned the bridge on the west side
and steering over the old field made a
shortcut across the bend, into the main
stream some distance above the bridge.
Where the Putman ploughed its way
through water ten feet was dry land the
week before. ... The Columbus Bridge
is shattered a little at the west end, but
the damage can be easily repaired. The
bridge east of the town over the Lux-
apalila has been swept off. We learn it
has floated down the stream and lodged
against Maj. Blewett’s bridge, which
has been in danger, if that too has not
been carried off.”
The benchmark flood on the Tom-
bigbee was in April 1892. Accounts tell
how after days of heavy rain, the Tom-
bigbee at Columbus began rising by
Wednesday, April 6, and then suddenly
rose 14 feet the next night. On April 14,
the San Diego Union reported that: “By
Friday morning it was seven feet higher
than was ever known. The Black and
Luxabilla creeks joined their waters
with the Tombigbee and Columbus was
literally an island with fully five miles
of water in every direction. ... The river
rose so rapidly that a great number of
people were aroused from their slum-
bers by the rush of water through their
homes.”
Railroads were cut off and the
Georgia Pacific had five miles of
track between Columbus and Waverly
washed away. Columbus’ mayor and
the president of the board of supervi-
sors telegraphed Sen. John Allen and
requested him to telegraph Washington
and appeal for aid. On April 13, Secre-
tary of War Stephen Elkins responded
by directing that 300 Army tents be
dispatched to the Tombigbee to shelter
the homeless.
As the flood waters rose, rescue
parties were sent out from Columbus
in every available boat. Col. Baldwin,
the city attorney, manned one boat with
William Johnson. They had rescued
seven people when swift current over-
turned their boat. Baldwin, Johnson and
four others were able to swim to trees
where they were rescued six hours later
at midnight but the other three persons
drowned. The flood waters were said
to have reached up to Second Street at
Main Street. It was estimated that in
Monroe and Lowndes counties more
than 3,000 homes were destroyed.
An article in the Aberdeen, South
Dakota, Daily News, datelined Aber-
deen, Miss, April 15th, reported that
the bodies of 150 Tombigbee flood
victims had been recovered and it was
estimated that at least another 100
people had died. As the flood waters re-
ceded they left “a black desolate waste.”
The account continued: “Thousands of
people are rendered homeless and the
suffering is intense. A relief party has
rescued a family of nine persons who
had been adrift on a raft for six days
without a mouthful of food. One of the
party, a kid of 14 years, had become a
gibbering idiot and devoured raw beef
like a wild beast.”
How bad was the 1892 flood? The
Tombigbee flood waters at Columbus in
1892 reached 13.6 feet above flood stage
on the old river gage. The current flood
crested at 5.35 feet above flood stage. A
photo taken in 1892 while the river was
still rising showed houses at the present
location of the Hitching Lot Farmers
Market flooded to their roofs and water
already across Third Street North at
Second Avenue North. It was bad.
Rufus Ward is a local historian.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 3A

AROUND THE STATE

Mississippi braces for flooding amid cresting river

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSON —
Mississippi Gov.
Tate Reeves de-
clared a state of
emergency Sat-
urday amid pre-
dictions that a
river running in
the area around Reeves
the state capi-
tal of Jackson could burst its
banks and spark widespread
flooding.
Forecasters believe the
Pearl River will crest at 38 feet
(11.6 meters) Sunday evening
to levels not seen in decades,
following days of torrential
rains across the Southeast.
Reeves said the state should
prepare for “the third worst
flood” in its history.
“This is a historic, unprece-
dented flood,” Reeves said via
Twitter.
‘This is a historic, unprecedented flood.’
Parts of Jackson and sub-
urban Ridgeland were under
evacuation orders, and some
people had already filled
trucks with furniture and other
belongings to get out. Reeves
said more than 2,400 homes
and other structures in and
near Jackson could either be in-
undated or isolated by the ris-
ing waters. That includes 1,925
structures in Hinds County,
461 in Rankin County and 31 in
Madison County.
“I cannot stress to you how
important the next 24 to 48
hours is for the people who are
going to be affected,” Reeves
said. He signed an emergency
declaration to speed up spend-
ing for flood response and
recovery. More than 96,000
sandbags had already been
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves
distributed by Saturday. The
National Guard, the Highway
Patrol and other high-water
rescue teams were on standby,
Reeves said.
“Have a plan to protect your-
self and a plan to protect your
loved ones,” Reeves said.
Although the sun was shin-
ing Saturday in central Mis-
sissippi, Reeves and Missis-
sippi Emergency Management
Agency director Greg Michel
said people in low-lying ar-
eas should not be complacent
about leaving because the river
was expected to crest at night
and remain high for days, with
rain in the forecast for Sunday
and Monday.
“Do not wait until water gets
into your house to evacuate,”
Michel urged.
Officials were bracing for
what could be the worst flood-
ing in Jackson since 1983.
Nicholas Fenner, a meteorolo-
gist with the National Weather
Service in Jackson, said the
Pearl River crested at 43.2 feet
on April 17, 1979 — its highest
level. The second-highest level
occurred May 5, 1983, when
the river got up to 39.58 feet.
He also said there was between
$500 million and $700 million
worth of damage in 1979, which
saw 15,000 people evacuated.
The area is currently under
blue skies, but Fenner warned
residents against complacency.
“Even though the weather
has improved, the water will
be rising soon. Don’t get lulled
into a false sense of security,”
he said.
Meanwhile, the Ross Bar-
nett Reservoir is approaching
capacity, which led officials to
announce that they would be-
gin slowly releasing water at
6 p.m. Saturday. WLBT-TV re-
ported the move is an attempt
to keep flooding to a minimum
downstream, and to allow ex-
tra time for residents to get to
higher ground.
John Sigman, manager of
the Pearl River Water Supply
District, had a phone confer-
ence with the National Weath-
er Service and the Army Corp
of Engineers on Friday. They
said that areas north of the
main lake have crested and
were beginning to fall and de-
scribed that as good news.
The crest at the reservoir is
now expected Sunday morn-
ing. Officials told the television
station they are holding their
outflow right now at 65,000
cubic feet per second and will
hold there for 48 hours, giving
people downstream time to get
out.

2 Tupelo legends honored during Black History Month Exhibit

The legacy of Frank Dowsing and Sam Bell
were recognized at the event on Feb. 6
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TUPELO — It was a full
house at the Oren Dunn City
Museum Thursday (Feb. 6)
evening as Tupelo leaders, res-
idents and family and friends
gathered to honor the legacy of
Frank Dowsing and Sam Bell.
Both honorees are credited
for being community leaders
and breaking racial barriers
through their service and ac-
complishment. Dowsing helped
integrate Tupelo High School
and, alongside Robert Bell, was
one of the first African Ameri-
can football players at Missis-
sippi State University.
Sam Bell also saw athletic
success as the quarterback of
the George Washington Carver
Blue Devils 1955 district cham-
pionship team, but also went on
to be involved with nonprofits
such as United Way, Big Broth-
ers Big Sisters and others. He
was a long-time treasurer for
Lane CME, and the first Afri-
can American to hold various
jobs and state positions.
Frank Dowsing’s sister, Vir-
ginia Frances Toliver, was in
attendance as the late Dows-
ing received the Tupelo Spirit
Award and thanked the city of
Tupelo for choosing to honor
her late brother. She said Tu-
pelo has been very good to her
brother and seeing many of
Dowsing’s classmates, team-
mates and friends from Pon-
totoc, Tupelo and Mississippi
State showed the impact he had
on others.
“Frank, without trying to be
a crusader or an activist, really
bridged a lot of racial barriers
both here and in Mississippi
State,” Toliver said.
While Toliver spoke of her
brother’s athletic accomplish-
ments, she noted that her
brother also accomplished oth-
er firsts and was invested in the
youth. There are two current
scholarships in his honor, both
of which she said would make
him proud because he was very
concerned with the future.
Dowsing served as a support
for her own daughter while she
attended a predominantly white
institution, telling her to “know
your own strength,” and how
that is how he accomplished
what he did.
“He experienced a lot of big-
otry and racial discrimination,
but that did not define him be-
cause he knew who he was, and
the important thing is to always
treat people right,” Toliver said.
“... (He) appreciated the dignity
and honor of all people regard-
less of race.”
Tupelo Mayor Jason Shel-
ton noted how Dowsing played
a transformative part at both
Tupelo and Mississippi State.
Rockey Felker, Mississippi
State University director of
Player Personnel and former
teammate of Dowsing’s, spoke
about looking up to Dowsing
not only for being a scholar ath-
lete, but also for his reputation
as a positive teammate who was
always respectful.
Former Daily Journal sports
editor Gene Phelps also spoke
about Dowsing’s legacy, hav-
ing done a lot of research about
Dowsing following his death
and being part of efforts along-
side former Tupelo mayor Jack
Reed and others to honor Dows-
ing’s athletic legacy.
City Council President Net-
tie Davis presented Bell with
the Medallion Award for his
outstanding work in leadership
and involvement with several
organizations. For Bell, the
honor is mostly a surprise be-
cause he never did any of his
work for recognition. He said
he mostly likes helping people.
“I’m a people person, and
what hurts me is when I run
into a situation where a per-
son needs help and I can’t help
them. It wears on me the most,
but as long as I can help some-
body, that’s OK. I love it,” Bell
said.
Bell said he was “speech-
less” to receive the award.
“It’s one of the greatest. I
didn’t think this would ever hap-
pen (and) hadn’t thought about
it happening to me,” Bell said.
“... For me being recognized, I
just can’t believe it. I’m flying
high right now. I’m hydroplan-
ing.”

6 arrested in shooting
of Mississippi store
owner
PONTOTOC — Six
people have been arrest-
ed in connection with a
December armed robbery
and shooting of a store
owner in Mississippi.
Pontotoc Police Chief
Randy Tutor announced
the arrests Friday at a
news conference.
Three masked robbers
entered the East Side
Quick Stop on Dec. 18 .
One of them shot Omar
Fadhel in the leg and
head, but he survived and
was able to call 911, police
said.
Four of the suspects —
Jacoby O’Neal, 19, of Bel-
don; Jartavis Penro, 30, of
Tupelo; Jaylon Ö’Neal, 19,
of Tupelo and Peyton Bo-
gan, 19, of Tupelo — face
charges of armed robbery
and attempted murder,
news outlets reported.
Bond for each was set at
$500,000.
Da’Von Davidson, 28,
of Pontotoc, was charged
with armed robbery. Her
bond was set at $250,000.
Jaron Roberson, 21, of
Pontotoc, faces a charge
of hindering prosecution
and rendering criminal
assistance. His bond was
set at $25,000.
It was unknown if any
of the suspects had an at-
torney who could speak
on their behalf.
Tutor said that Jaco-
by O’Neal was already
in custody on charges of
second-degree murder
in connection with the
Jan. 28 fatal shooting of
17-year-old Tupelo High
School senior Tiara Danc-
er. He also is awaiting tri-
al on 2019 charges in Pon-
totoc County of armed
robbery and aggravated
assault. Jaylon O’Neal is
also awaiting trial on the
same charges in the 2019
indictment.
Tutor said all of the
arrests were the culmina-
tion of 57 days of non-stop
investigation, evidence
collection and attention to
detail.
Another Mississippi
inmate dies; no foul
play suspected
An inmate in Mis-
sissippi died Saturday,
making him at least the
17th inmate in the state’s
troubled prison system to
have died in less than two
months.
No foul play is suspect-
ed in the death of Bob-
by Lewis Vance, 54, the
Mississippi Department
of Corrections said in a
news release.
Officials said Vance
died at a hospital in Jack-
son. He had been housed
at the Central Mississippi
Correctional Facility in call police.
Rankin County. The unnamed man
Vance had received a then fled in the woman’s
25-year sentence in 2004 car, with officers chasing
for two armed robberies. him until he wrecked. He
The cause and man- ran away, but was arrest-
ner of Vance’s death are ed when an officer pulled
pending an autopsy. No over a car that had re-
additional details were re- peatedly driven past the
leased. area and found him in-
At least 17 Mississippi side. Sherrill Taylor, who
inmates have died since works at the gas station
late December, most of where the man was final-
them in outbursts of vio- ly caught Friday morning,
lence. Most of the deaths told WREG-TV that about
occurred at the Missis- 15 officers were in the
sippi State Penitentiary store’s parking lot when
at Parchman. Prison offi- he was arrested.
cials have attributed some The kidnapping victim
of the violence to clashes identified the man and he
between gangs. was jailed. No charges After-school fun:
have been announced. Boys and Girls Club
244-7090
North Mississippi SOURCE: AP
woman kidnapped after
offering ride to man
BATESVILLE — A
man has been arrested
after authorities say he
kidnapped a north Missis-
sippi woman who offered
him a ride.
Panola County Sheriff
Shane Phelps tells local
news outlets the wom-
an was kidnapped late
Thursday after spotting a
man with a broken-down
car. The man forced the
woman to drive around
for about six hours before
they stopped at a Bates-
ville gas station. The
woman entered the store
and asked employees to

Crash
Continued from Page 1A
The plane’s registered
owner is Nicholas Ervin
Rescue Chief Martin An- City Public Information
drews said the parking Officer Joe Dillon said SOLUNAR TABLE
The solunar period indicates

of Valdosta, Georgia, ac- brake was set but didn’t officials will have a better peak-feeding times for fish and game.
Sun. Mon.
Major 7:26a 7:37p
cording to the FAA’s web- hold. idea of the cost of repairs Minor 2:27a 3:23a
site. “The plane moved for- later this week. Major — 8:05a
1:44p
Minor 1:21p
Officials have notified ward, turned to the right, “It could have been a Courtesy of Mississippi Department
of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks

the National Transporta- struck an electrical pan- lot worse,” Andrews said

tion Safety Board. The
airport remains open.
City officials did not
identify the pilot, other
than to say he is licensed
by the Federal Aviation
Administration and lives
in Columbus.
Columbus Fire and
el, then another airplane
hangar building and
caught fire,” he said. “Re-
ports are the plane never
left the ground.”
Firefighters contained
the blaze, but the hangar
suffered “major damage”
the press release said.
in the press release. “We
are glad the pilot and no
one else was seriously in-
jured during the accident.
The plane is destroyed,
and the building can be
repaired, but safety for
human lives is most im-
portant.”
The Dispatch
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Published daily except Saturday. Answers to common questions:
Entered at the post office at Columbus, Mississippi.
Periodicals postage paid at Columbus, MS Phone: 662-328-2424
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Report a news tip: news@cdispatch.com
Opinion
4A SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020
PETER BIRNEY IMES Editor/Publisher
BIRNEY IMES III Editor/Publisher 1998-2018
BIRNEY IMES JR. Editor/Publisher 1947-2003

Dispatch
The
BIRNEY IMES SR. Editor/Publisher 1922-1947

ZACK PLAIR, Managing Editor

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

PARTIAL TO HOME
Life lessons from Uncle Bunky
Y
ou put a message in a
bottle and toss it out
to sea hoping the right
beachcomber happens by.
Such was the case with
last week’s column about
singer-songwriter Paul
Thorn’s longing for an Uncle
Bunky crazy animal.
Paul, an avid collector of
ephemera that relates to his
childhood and music career,
has been a lifelong fan of Birney Imes
the late TV show host and
children’s advocate.
He said he especially liked how Uncle from the church would provide a morn-
Bunky drew a stool for the unfortunate
crazy creatures with legs of different
lengths, e.g. one with an elephant’s front children of the Coleman neighborhood
legs and porcupine rear legs.
Uncle Bunky (Williams), who died
in 2015 at age 83, hosted Fun Time, a
live, wildly popular kids show on WCBI
TV from 1958 until 1976. Paul’s love
for Bunky, beginning as a young child
glued to the TV continued into adult-
hood.
While Fun Time may be a vivid
memory for a generation of kids who
either appeared on or watched the
show, Bunky’s humanitarian work with
children after Fun Time may be more
profound.
After his TV career Williams,
through the Lowndes County Sheriff’s
Department, worked with abused and
neglected children where his non-judg-
mental love for children stood him in
good stead.
According to local historian Rufus
Ward, Fun Time was the first integrated responding to an abusive situation.
children’s TV show in the state. (A 1970
commission forbade the state’s public
television station from airing Sesame
Street at the show’s inception because
of its integrated cast.)
On the day the column ran, Dianne
Patterson in an email wrote
she had not one of Bunky’s
crazy animal drawings, but a
whole tablet of them.
“How Uncle Bunky drew
me so many is a touching
story,” she wrote. “I would be
happy to share one with Paul
Thorn.”
Dianne and her husband
Jim were for about 15 years
part of the Coleman Chil-
dren’s Ministry, an outreach
of First Baptist Church.
Once a month a group of volunteers
ing program of games, art projects,
playtime, a Bible story and lunch for the
in Sandfield.
Vibrant Church has continued that
ministry in multiple locations, says
Patterson.
Around 2012 church volunteers
Dean and Peggy Green suggested the
ministry invited Bunky to entertain and
speak to the children. Dean, who had
been an engineer at WCBI TV, was a
longtime friend of Bunky’s.
Patterson says she wondered how
Bunky, then almost 80 years old, would
be received by the children. He was
just beginning to show signs of illness
(cancer), she said.
She shouldn’t have worried. The work to another. draw crazy animals.
rapport was instant, she said. “He covered a lot of ground.” “He gave me a pad of drawings and
“He loved it, and the kids loved him.” Easily the highlight of the Bunky told me to ‘use them as needed,’” she
He warned the children about drugs visits, says Patterson, was the crazy said.
and alcohol; stressed the importance of animals. She’s given drawings from the pad to
school and talked about identifying and “Goodness yes, they just loved it,“ children who seemed to be having diffi-
she said. “They thought it was hilari- culties. And now one to Paul Thorn.
Not surprisingly, the children were ous.” “We all need to take a lesson of being
forthcoming with Bunky, much more Eventually, the progression of cancer generous,” said Patterson. “It doesn’t do
so than they have been with the church ended Bunky’s monthly visits. Yet, he any good to have something if you don’t
volunteers, Patterson said. continued to contribute. give it away.”
“He had this ease of conversation,” Occasionally he would pick up the Birney Imes (birney@cdispatch.com)
she said. “He could start on a topic and pad now in Patterson’s possession and is the former publisher of The Dispatch.

OUR VIEW
Roses and thorns
A rose to the
Starkville Parks
and Recreation
Department,
which has kicked
off a program to
make sure disabled kids aren’t
left out of the fun. The first
annual Challenger Basketball
Program games were held
at the Starkville Sportsplex,
designed to introduce the game
to children with physical or
developmental issues, a group
that had until then had few
opportunities to participate
in sports. Thirteen kids have
signed up for the program so
far and that number is likely to
grow as the word spreads. Spe-
cial accommodations, including
lower goals or even hoola-hoops
are used to help the kids enjoy
the game. But the benefits go
far beyond the activity itself,
providing kids an opportunity
to play and learn together and
giving parents an opportunity
to meet and develop friend-
ships with other parents, who
themselves can feel isolated. We
predict the program will grow
and flourish in meeting the
needs of this well-deserving yet
under-served population.
A rose to Joe
Nettles, trauma
coordinator at
Baptist Memorial
Hospital-Golden
Triangle, for his
efforts in helping citizens learn
life-saving skills through a
national program called “Stop
the Bleed.” Nettles is a certi-
fied trainer for the program,
which was founded by The
American College of Surgeons
in the aftermath of the San-
dy Hook Elementary School
shooting in 2012. Nettles made
a presentation this week at the
Columbus Rotary Club. While
the prospect of mass shootings
has certainly raised conscious-
ness about the need for regular
citizen to learn methods of stop-
ping blood loss, there are many
instances where those skills are
needed — including household
accident, automobile accidents
and on the job accidents. “Stop
the Bleed” holds free training
sessions for groups of 10 or
more to equip them with the
skills to help bleeding victims
until emergency personnel
arrives on the scene. Often, the
quick actions of citizens can
mean the difference between
life and death. We thank Nettles
for his work and encourage
other citizen groups to contact
Nettles to arrange training.
A rose to the
Boys of Sum-
mer, which in
this case is the
Boys of Late
Winter. On a
cool, but sunny day Friday,
Mississippi State opened its
2020 baseball season with a
9-6 win over Wright State at
Dudy Noble Field. The Bull-
dogs are coming off back-to-
back College World Series
appearances and with a No.
10 national ranking have a
legitimate chance to make it
three in a row. Obviously, the
Bulldogs’ success in attaining
so lofty a goal remains to be
determined over a season that
stretches through May. One
thing that is already certain,
however, is the phenomenal
support MSU enjoys. A crowd
of more than 9,500 turned
out for Friday’s 1 p.m. opener.
That would be a record crowd
for all but a handful of college
baseball programs. That MSU
could attract that sort of crowd
on a work-day afternoon tells
you all you need to know about
how Bulldog fans support their
baseball program.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Voice of the people

City announces projects
This past Thursday, the City
Council, Mayor, department heads,
and staff from the City of Columbus
spent a full day together in a city
planning session. The day was a
huge success, and I want to share
with you the details of the event.
The needs that are important to
our city were discussed in great de-
tail. These items ranged from litter
pickup to electrical codes to paving
and road repair. Five of our City
Council members, representatives
from Neel-Schaffer Engineers, J5
Project Management, all 16 depart-
ments, our City Attorney, and Public
Information Officer from our city all
participated in wide-ranging discus-
sions.
The sessions were filled with prac-
tical, real-life projects that included
projects for each department and
also how we can achieve those goals.
Each department prepared support
documents to outline details on the
steps needed for completion.
In all, there were over 140 pag-
es of material presented in this
meeting. Beginning today, Sunday,
February 16, I will post these doc-
uments on the city’s social media
Facebook page and also distribute
it to the press. I will share these
presentations two departments at a
time due to a large amount of ma-
terial. Anyone desiring a copy via
email can send a request to jdillon@
columbusms.org.
I encourage our citizens to read
these plans as we work together to
continue to make Columbus a great
place to live, work, and raise a fam-
ily.
Robert Smith, Sr.
Columbus Mayor
In praise of theater group
What a great story on your front
page about our young people and their
teacher, Chelsey Petty and their story
about grat theater in Columbus. These
young people from our high school and
their teacher have done so much to
further theater in our town. Thank you
to your writer for giving us a look at
them , and it is my hope that they will
raise enough money to go even further
in their theatrical pursuits. It was a
great to see the superintendent Cherie
Labat, voice her support of their effort
too. We are so proud of them!
Brenda Caradine
Columbus
First responders deserve
more appreciation
I have been traveling for business
the last couple of weeks, so I am a
little behind on the actions of local
government. It is always nice to travel
the roads in other cities and states
where they actually enforce litter laws.
To an outsider one would assume you
get fined in Columbus for not throwing
trash out of your automobile.
I understand our newly rewired
amphitheater has flooded again as it
will many times in the future at our
expense. I witnessed the electricians
putting in a new panel three weeks ago
when I saw the generic camera system
that was installed in the control room.
I saw where Supervisor Brooks
had an issue with the Volunteer Fire
Departments needing additional
radios. From what I have been able
to gather, Fire Chief Wayne Doyle
followed the chain of command by
going to his supervisor and then to
Ms. Lawrence. I’m not understanding
why Mr. Brooks felt like he needed to
call the chief overbearing and indig-
nant. Anyone who has followed Mr.
Brooks’ long and colorful tenure with
the board could possibly use those
very words to describe him. Chief
Doyle has always run a tight ship and
like his men he volunteers his time.
These are the men that want to help
the citizens by saving lives and prop-
erty. They don’t have to do this. These
firemen would save Mr. Brooks’ life
or property if called upon, despite his
attitude toward them. The radios are a
lifeline to keep these first responders
and citizens safe and should not be an
issue for Mr. Brooks. I’m sure if it was
a $15,000 taxpayer donation for his
“pet” festival he would have no issue
with it at all. We under pay our first
responders and the volunteers receive
no pay at all. It is time to start show-
ing them some respect and gratitude.
I’m grateful for our first respond-
ers.
Kerry Blalock
Columbus
Israel and NASCAR
With all the negativity printed in
the Dispatch lately about the presi-
dent, I’ve one positive statement to
make. Anyone that love the nation
of ISR AEL and NASCAR can’t be all
that bad. Let’s Keep America Great!
God Bless America!
Lee Roy Lollar
Columbus

CAMPAIGN 2020
Sanders’ bond with Latinos gets first test of many in Nevada
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS — When the
Bernie Sanders for President
campaign set up shop in Las Ve-
gas last July, its first move was to
open an office in the city’s east
side, the heart of the Latino com-
munity. Staffers decorated the
stark space with brightly colored
paper banners known as “papel
picado” and threw an office open-
ing party with a mariachi band
and appearance from Sanders
himself.
Three times a day canvassers
spill out of its doors to walk the
streets, knocking on doors, call-
ing out at neighbors in Spanish
and talking up Sanders — or as
he is known to some Latino sup-
porters, “Tio Bernie.”
A self-declared socialist from
Vermont, Sanders is sometimes
pigeon-holed as the hero to white
college students and lefty boom-
ers. But his campaign believes
his outreach to diverse voters,
especially Latinos in places like
east Las Vegas, will be the secret
to his success.
That focus was clear Saturday,
as early voting kicked off in Ne-
vada. Sanders’ campaign hired a
truck with an electronic billboard
on the back to drive around east
Las Vegas, encouraging Sanders
supporters to go cast early cau-
cus ballots.
Four years ago, Sanders’ fail-
ure to muster enough support
from minority voters was partly
to blame for his losing the Dem-
ocratic nomination. This time
around, he has transformed his
outreach to Hispanic voters, hir-
ing high-level Latino advisers,
beefing up Spanish-speaking
canvassing and digging deep
into Latino neighborhoods to
find voters open to his populist
message.
There are signs that Sanders’
work has begun to pay off. In
Iowa, Sanders won two-thirds of
the roughly 1,000 votes at cau-
cus locations in majority Latino
areas, according to a study by
professors at the University of
California-Los Angeles. While
reliable polling on Latinos is
scarce, a Fox News survey of Ne-
vada Democrats in early January
found Sanders had stronger sup-
port among Latinos than among
whites in the state, tying Biden
for the lead among the group.
But the first real test of the
strategy is Nevada’s caucus on
Feb. 22, the third contest on the
presidential nominating calendar
and the first with a sizable popu-
lation of Latino voters. Following
quickly are California and Texas,
states that are 40% Hispanic and
represent nearly half the dele-
gates up for grabs on so-called
Super Tuesday on March 3. Ari-
zona and Florida vote two weeks
later. Strength among Latino
voters could serve as a solid foun-
dation of support that helps Sand-
ers rack up delegates deep into
the nomination process.
Leslye Olivas and her fiance,
Miguel Jaramillo, stood holding
signs reading “Families Belong
Together” at a Sanders rally Sat-
urday in a high school gym as a
quartet of guitarists played mari-
achi music to warm up the crowd.
Olivas, 25, who works as an office
administrator at a casino, said
her support of Sanders comes
from “his consistency and he’s
persisted. He has a lot of track
record of wanting to help minori-
ties and help everyone.”
The affection has been some-
what surprising for some Latinos
activists who were frustrated
with Sanders after he helped kill
a 2007 immigration bill, warning
it would drive down wages. But
for many Latinos, like other vot-
ers, their knowledge of Sanders
starts with the 2016 run, when
he championed immigrant rights
and promised an economic revo-
lution.
“I just feel he’s very fair, what
he’s running for and how he’s
running,” said Eloisa Sandoval, a
college student in Las Vegas who
recently welcomed Sanders can-
vassers to her yard and signed a
card pledging to caucus for him.
She said Sanders’ proposal for
free college “would be fantastic.”
Sanders’ emphasis on good
jobs, single-payer health care and
free college comes up constantly
with voters, said Susana Cervant-
es, his Nevada field director.
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
Diversity test: 2020 Democrats seek their fortunes in Nevada
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS — As the
Democratic presidential race
hurtles toward Nevada, candi-
dates in the still-crowded field
are jumping into their first test
in a racially diverse state with
solid union muscle and shaky
plans for a presidential caucus.
Nevada has no obvious
front-runner, though Vermont
Sen. Bernie Sanders heads
into the contest on strong foot-
ing. The state has received
only a sliver of the attention
of the first two states on the
primary calendar, Iowa and
New Hampshire. Looking at
the jumbled field, the state’s
most powerful union decided
to take a pass on endorsing a
candidate, rather than make
a divisive choice or risk pick-
ing a loser. Most of the state’s
most prominent officials have
stayed neutral.
The open race has every
Democrat spending much of
the next week searching for
fortunes in the state’s work-
ing-class neighborhoods,
union halls, casino conven-
tion halls and stuccoed sub-
urbs. For Sanders and former
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor
Pete Buttigieg, it’s a chance
to prove their staying power
after strong finishes in Iowa
and New Hampshire. For for-
mer Vice President Joe Biden
and Massachusetts Sen. Eliza-
beth Warren, it could be a life
preserver to rescue their bids
after disappointing starts. For
“Almost every parent’s
dream, especially immigrants,
is for their children to access
higher education. It represents
social mobility, social econom-
ic mobility and it’s a part of the
American dream,” she said.
It wasn’t enough for Sanders
to win Nevada in 2016. In its
post-defeat autopsy, Sanders’
campaign found it had won the
votes of Latinos in almost every
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobu-
char, it’s a chance to prove
her third-place finish in New
Hampshire wasn’t a fluke.
Candidates are making a
get-out-the-vote push Satur-
day morning as early voting
starts, and they plan to attend
a Saturday night fundraising
gala for the Las Vegas-based
Clark County Democratic
Party. Several candidates are
making the hourlong flight
up to Reno, a city newly flush
with tech money and Califor-
nia transplants, and are due
back in Las Vegas on Wednes-
day for the ninth Democratic
debate.
This year, with the results
of Iowa’s caucuses muddled
by technology and reporting
problems, Nevada is under
pressure to pull off a prob-
lem-free caucus. The Nevada
State Democratic Party aban-
doned its original plans to use
an app like the one that caused
trouble in Iowa and has scram-
bled to come up with a new
system to tabulate results.
The state party said this
week that it will try to use sim-
pler technology and a backup
paper record, though election
experts have warned that de-
ploying new technology and
processes without sufficient
training can cause problems.
The party has been fortified
and professionalized over the
years by former Senate Major-
ity Leader Harry Reid. The or-
ganizing force of the party and
state it competed, albeit some-
times narrowly, said Chuck
Rocha, a senior Sanders strate-
gist. It decided to build on that
foundation.
In his 2020 announcement
speech, he stressed his impov-
erished parents’ immigrant
roots to draw a connection with
Latino voters only a generation
or two away from the immigrant
experience. The campaign re-
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 5A
its allies is still referred to as
the “Reid Machine,” and many
of his former staffers hold key
roles on the presidential cam-
paigns.
The 80-year-old former
senator, who retired in 2016
and has been battling cancer,
has repeatedly said he won’t
endorse before Nevada’s cau-
cuses. His decision not to back
a candidate in the still-volatile
field has been echoed by many
of Nevada’s top elected offi-
cials, including the governor,
two Democratic senators and
two of three Democratic mem-
bers of the House.
The state’s most powerful
union also decided not to en-
dorse. The 60,000-member ca-
sino workers’ Culinary Union
announced Thursday it would
work instead to get out the
vote and defeat President Don-
ald Trump in 2020. The deci-
sion was a particular blow to
Biden, who has long-standing
ties to the union and needed
an extra boost heading into
Nevada.
While no candidate has
earned its backing, the union
hasn’t been shy about discour-
aging support for Sanders and
Warren, whose “Medicare
For All” plans would move to
a government-run insurance
system. The union, which
prizes the health care plans its
members bargained hard for
over the years, said its insur-
ance would be doomed under
Medicare for All.
cruited high-profile surrogates
like New York Rep. Alexandra
Ocasio-Cortez — who held a
Spanish-language town hall
in Nevada late last year — and
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin
Cruz. It marshaled Latino sup-
porters from around the coun-
try to send text messages in
Spanish to Latinos in Iowa, New
Hampshire, Nevada and South
Carolina, the four early states.
6A SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020
IN POLITICS
Trump doesn’t heed Barr’s request to cool tweeting on DOJ
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Un-
bowed by a public rebuke from
his attorney general, President
Donald Trump says he has the
“legal right” to intervene in
criminal cases and sidestep the
Justice Department’s histor-
ic independence. At the same
time, it was revealed federal
prosecutors have been ordered
to review the criminal case of
his former national security ad-
viser.
A day after Attorney Gener-
al William Barr said the presi-
dent’s tweets were making it
“impossible for me to do my
job,” Trump declared he had
the right to ask the agency to
intervene in cases but so far has
“chosen not to.” It was a rare
public flare-up of tensions, sim-
mering for weeks at the upper
echelon of the Trump admin-
istration, as Barr marked one
year on the job Friday.
While Barr complained that
Trump’s tweets undermine the
department’s perception as
independent from political in-
terference, he has proven to be
eager to deliver on many of the
president’s investigative priori-
ties — often laid out by Trump
for all to see on Twitter.
The attorney general
stepped in this week to alter
the sentencing recommenda-
tion that Trump had denounced
as too harsh for his ally Roger
Stone. Also, Justice Department
prosecutors are reviewing the
handling of the federal investi-
gation into Trump’s former na-
tional security adviser Michael
Flynn, a person familiar with
the matter told The Associated
Press on Friday. And Barr has
appointed a U.S. attorney who
is conducting a criminal inves-
tigation into the origins of the
FBI’s probe of the 2016 election
that morphed into special coun-
sel Robert Mueller’s investiga-
tion of possible Trump-Russia
cooperation.
LCSD
Continued from Page 1A
He raised as an example that
donated food items from the
Department of Agriculture
weren’t on the books, and that
in one instance of the board
approving the purchase of ca-
reer-technical equipment, the
vendor’s name was missing
from the minutes.
Among the findings, Shivers
noted the district paid $52,000
for a contract buy-out for copi-
ers last year when it switched
from RJ Young to Novatech.
However, auditors found no
documented evidence the
school board ever approved the
buy-out.
“The school district paid
$52,000 and some change for
a contract buy-out for copy
machines and reproduction
services,” Shivers said. “There
was no formal documentation
that was provided to us from
the vendor and agreed to by
the school board with regard
to that buy-out. We did not see
any documentation in the min-
utes to support that particular
transaction as well.”
Flynn has pleaded guilty
to lying to the FBI during
its probe of ties between the
Trump campaign and Russia,
but his sentencing has been
postponed several times after
he complained he was misled
during his questioning. The
U.S. attorney in St. Louis, Jeff
Jensen, is working with Bran-
don Van Grack, a member of
Mueller’s team, to review the
Flynn case, a Justice Depart-
ment official said.
As president, Trump tech-
nically has the right to compel
the Justice Department, an ex-
ecutive branch agency, to open
investigations. But historical-
ly, when it comes to decisions
on criminal investigations and
prosecutions, Justice has func-
tioned independently, unmoved
and unbound by political sway.
And that reputation is import-
ant to Barr, as he made clear in
an interview Thursday on ABC
News.
“I’m happy to say that, in fact,
the president has never asked
me to do anything in a crimi-
nal case,” Barr said. “However,
to have public statements and
tweets made about the depart-
ment, about our people ... about
cases pending in the depart-
ment, and about judges before
whom we have cases, make it
impossible for me to do my job
and to assure the courts and the
prosecutors in the department
that we’re doing our work with
integrity.”
The attorney general has re-
peatedly shared the same sen-
timent in private conversations
with the president in recent
weeks, telling Trump he was
frustrated with the president’s
public comments and tweets
about Justice Department cas-
es, a person familiar with the
matter told the AP. The person
was granted anonymity to dis-
cuss the private conversations.
Barr was directly asked in
the ABC interview whether he
believed Trump had the author-
Board member Brian Clark
asked whether that expense
had come before the board at
all.
“The way I recall, the pre-
vious superintendent did push
for a new copier company, but
I was never informed of a con-
tract buy-out from a previous
copier company,” he said.
Hughes said the expense
was on the claims docket ap-
proved by the board, and point-
ed out the board had also ap-
proved switching companies.
But that was not enough for
board member Jacqueline Gray.
“Did you know prior to us
actually approving the new
vendor that we would have to
pay $52,000 to RJ Young?” she
asked, and when he said yes,
added, “Why did you not pres-
ent that to the board? Was it
presented somewhere else?
Was it presented to the super-
intendent?”
“I’m not an attorney,” Hughes
answered. “I did not know he
was going to ask to say, ‘Where
is this board approval to termi-
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
ity to direct him to open an in-
vestigation.
In many cases yes, such as
“terrorism or fraud by a bank or
something like that,” Barr said.
However, “If he were to say,
you know, go investigate some-
body because — and you sense
it’s because they’re a political
opponent, then an attorney gen-
eral shouldn’t carry that out,
wouldn’t carry that out.”
Still, Barr has proven to be a
largely reliable ally and defend-
er of presidential power. That
includes his preemptive fram-
ing of the results from special
counsel Mueller’s Trump-Rus-
sia investigation last year in
a manner favorable to Trump
when Mueller pointedly said
he couldn’t exonerate the pres-
ident of obstruction of justice.
Trump has publicly and
privately threatened payback
in the form of investigations
against his perceived enemies
including former FBI Direc-
tor James Comey and former
FBI Director Andrew McCabe,
whom prosecutors said Friday
they would not charge with
lying about leaking. He’s also
pressed for investigations into
political rival Joe Biden and his
son Hunter, especially follow-
ing Trump’s impeachment ac-
quittal over a phone call where
he asked Ukraine’s leaders to
investigate the Bidens.
And Flynn’s case has be-
come something of a cause for
Trump supporters, who have
seized on the former Trump
aide’s assertion that he was
somehow ambushed by the
FBI during an interview at the
White House.
As for Comey, Trump has
tweeted scores of times that
he should be charged with
crimes. Trump was particularly
incensed that no charges were
filed over the former FBI direc-
tor’s handling of memos about
his interactions with Trump, ac-
cording to a White House offi-
cial and Republican close to the
nate this contract?’”
Board members Wesley Bar-
rett and Jane Kilgore both said
they would have liked to know
about the cost to the district
when approving switching con-
tracts.
“If someone’s going to bring
something before the board
about an offer to go to a new
contract, it would be nice if we
were informed it was going to
cost the district this much,”
Barrett said. “... Just having all
the information about the impli-
cations of stopping the existing
thing and choosing the next
one. I’m just thinking that infor-
mation would have been good
to be provided, I think.”
In answer to a question from
Clark, Shivers said he would
work with the district’s busi-
ness office to correct errors.
“I think if you look at the re-
sponses that have been made,
you’re going to see that ei-
ther the controls have been or
they’re in the works to be put
in place to overcome these de-
ficiencies,” he said. “One of the
White House not authorized
to speak publicly about private
discussions.
The president angrily de-
nounced the decision not to
charge Comey to aides and
berated Barr over it, according
to the officials. Aides expected
the decision not to charge Mc-
Cabe could produce a similar
angry reaction.
Trump has also repeatedly
complained about FBI Direc-
tor Christopher Wray in recent
months, saying that Wray has
not done enough to rid the bu-
reau of people who are disloyal
to him.
An administration official
acknowledged there has been
some tension between Trump
and Barr in recent weeks, but
said Trump still has confidence
in his attorney general.
The official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity in order
to discuss private conversa-
tions, said Trump also knows it
would be risky to remove Barr
ahead of the 2020 election and
that it is highly unlikely he
could find a suitable replace-
ment before then.
Earlier this week, the Jus-
tice Department overruled its
own prosecutors — who had
recommended in a court filing
that Trump’s longtime ally and
confidant Stone be sentenced
to 7 to 9 years in prison — and
took the extraordinary step of
lowering the amount of prison
time it would seek. The entire
trial team of prosecutors quit
the case after the amended fil-
ing, and one quit the DOJ alto-
gether.
Barr faced intense criticism
over the decision, which fol-
lowed just hours after Trump
tweeted his displeasure about
the harsher recommendation.
Trump greeted the reversal
with another tweet congratu-
lating Barr for taking action,
which proved to be a tipping
point for the attorney general.
He opted for a public interview
CPA Charles Shivers gives the Lowndes County School District school
board a report on the district’s audit at the Central Office Friday.
Though the audit was clean, Shivers noted several examples of items
missing from financial statements or board minutes that needed to
be corrected.
responsibilities of the auditor
on future engagements is to fol-
low up on your response to see
that it has been implemented.”
Hughes told The Dispatch
after the meeting that the au-
to air his frustrations with the
president while word was sent
to the White House just a short
time before it aired.
On Friday, Trump quoted
one of Barr’s comments in the
interview: “The president has
never asked me to do anything
in a criminal case.” A.G. Barr
— and then Trump added in his
tweet — “This doesn’t mean
that I do not have, as President,
the legal right to do so, I do, but
I have so far chosen not to!”
Stone is to be sentenced by
a federal judge next week. His
lawyers filed a motion Friday
evening seeking a new trial,
though details of the motion re-
mained under seal.
House Democrats frustrat-
ed over the Senate’s acquittal
of Trump on impeachment
charges want answers from
Barr about what they see as his
efforts to politicize federal law
enforcement. House Judiciary
Committee Chairman Jerrold
Nadler said Barr will testify be-
fore the panel March 31.
The Justice Department in-
sisted the decision to undo the
sentencing recommendation
was made Monday night — be-
fore Trump blasted the recom-
mendation on Twitter as “very
horrible and unfair”— and
prosecutors had not spoken to
the White House about it.
Barr joined a roster of
high-level aides who have pub-
licly criticized Trump, though
the rest left their jobs first. For-
mer national security adviser
John Bolton is to publish a book
next month detailing his time
in the White House, including
criticism of Trump actions such
as his decision to withhold mil-
itary assistance while seeking
a political favor from Ukraine.
And former chief of staff John
Kelly, who has largely kept a
low profile since leaving the
White House, has grown more
open about his unflattering as-
sessments of the president.
Isabelle Altman/Dispatch Staff
dits — both by Shivers and by
the state — are designed to
“find something.”
“It’s nothing that we can’t
fix or haven’t fixed already,”
Hughes said.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 7A

IN THE NATION

Candy, cheese soar to space station to satisfy crew cravings

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CAPE CANAVERAL,
Fla. — A cargo ship rock-
eted toward the Interna-
tional Space Station on
Saturday, carrying candy
and cheese to satisfy the
astronauts’ cravings.
Northrop Grumman
launched its Cygnus cap-
sule from the Virginia
seashore. The nearly
4-ton shipment should
arrive at the orbiting lab
Tuesday. It took three
tries over the past week
to get the Antares rocket
off the pad, with it finally
taking flight at 3:21 p.m.
— an auspicious 3-2-1.
“Awesome launch,”
Joel Montalbano, NASA’s
deputy space station pro-
gram manager, said once
the capsule reached orbit.
Besides the usual ex-
periments and gear, the
capsule holds cheddar
and manchego cheeses,
fresh fruit and vegetables,
chocolate and three kinds
of gummy candy express-
ly requested by the three
station astronauts: Skit-
tles, Hot Tamales, and
Mike and Ike’s.
Periodic supply runs
by Russia, Japan and NA-
SA’s two private shippers,
Northrop Grumman and
SpaceX, usually provide
more than experiments,
equipment, clothes and
freeze-dried meals. The
capsules also bring fami-
ly care packages, as well
as fresh food to offset the
run-of-the-mill station
grub.
This latest delivery
should have arrived well
before Valentine’s Day.
But last-minute equip-
ment concerns at the
Wallops Island launch
pad halted last Sunday’s
countdown for the Antar-
es rocket, then bad weath-
er moved in. Dangerously
high wind scuttled Fri-
day’s attempt.
This was the compa-
ny’s 13th space station
delivery for NASA. The
Cygnus capsules get their
name from the Swan Con-
stellation.
This particular Cygnus
has been christened the
SS Robert H. Lawrence
in honor of America’s
first black astronaut. Law-
rence, an Air Force major,
was chosen in 1967 as an
astronaut for a classified
military space program
known as the Manned Or-
biting Laboratory. He was
killed five months later in
a plane crash and never
flew in space.
The space station is
now home for Americans
Jessica Meir and Andrew
Morgan and Russian Oleg
Skripochka. Morgan has
been up there since July
and the two others since
September; they’ll re-
main on board until April.
Three other astronauts
returned to Earth earlier
this month.
Until astronaut launch-
es resume from Florida —
possibly by SpaceX this
spring — the station crew
will be limited in size to
three. NASA astronauts
now launch on Russian
rockets from Kazakhstan.
Boeing, NASA’s other
commercial crew pro-
vider, is struggling with
software problems in its
astronaut capsule. A De-
cember test flight was
marred by coding errors.

14-year-old charged
with Barnard College
student death
NEW YORK — A
14-year-old has been ar-
rested in the fatal stab-
bing of a Barnard College
student in a park during
a robbery in December,
a crime that rattled New
York City residents, au-
thorities said Saturday.
Rashaun Weaver has
been indicted by a grand
jury and was taken into
custody Friday night
without incident, New
York City Police Commis-
sioner Dermot Shea said
at a news conference.
Weaver, charged with
second-degree murder
and robbery, is the second
teenager to be charged in
the attack on 18-year-old
Tessa Majors in a Man-
hattan park.
“We are confident that
we have the person in cus-
tody who stabbed her,”
Shea said. “And that per-
son will face justice in a
court of law.”
The Associated Press
is naming the juvenile
defendant because of the
seriousness of the crime
and because he has been
charged as an adult.
Weaver’s attorney, Elsie
Chandler, did not imme-
diately return a call to
Neighbor Defender Ser-
vice of Harlem seeking
comment.
“He’s a 14-year-old
child and he’s presumed
not guilty,” Chandler told
the New York Post after
Weaver’s bail hearing Sat-
urday, at which he was or-
dered held without bail at
a juvenile facility until his
arraignment Wednesday.
Majors was stabbed
as she walked through
Morningside Park early
the evening of Dec. 11.
She staggered up a flight
of stairs to street level and
collapsed in a crosswalk.
A criminal complaint
released Saturday de-
scribed Majors as strug-
gling on a landing with
three people and scream-
ing, “Help me! I’m being three-week trial in which
robbed!” prosecutors said Avenatti
Weaver said Majors threatened to use his me-
was “hanging onto her dia access to hurt Nike’s
phone” when he tried to reputation and stock price
take it, according to the unless the company paid
complaint. him up to $25 million.
Officials said they The convictions for
have evidence from vid- attempted extortion and
eotapes, witness identifi- honest services fraud
cation and DNA evidence carry a combined poten-
from Major’s fingernail tial penalty of 42 years in
clippings linking Weaver prison.
to the crime. Avenatti glared at the
The attack, two days jurors as the verdict was
before the start of final being announced but said
exams at the women’s nothing.
school, troubled city Afterward, he shook
residents because of its hands with his lawyers
proximity to campus and and told them “great job”
its apparent randomness. before he was led back
Barnard is part of the Ivy to the cell where he has
League’s Columbia Uni- been held since a judge
versity.
found he had violated his
“This arrest is a major
bail conditions.
milestone on the path to
His lawyer, Scott Sreb-
justice for Tessa Majors,”
nick, said he would appeal
said District Attorney Cy
the conviction. A judge
Vance.
set sentencing for June.
A 13-year-old who was
arrested Dec. 13 and SOURCE: AP
charged as a juvenile
with felony murder told
detectives he was at the
park with other youths
but wasn’t the one who
stabbed Majors.
Vance said his office
and the police are “in ac-
tive investigation in terms
of other suspects, and
that will continue.”
Majors, of Charlottes-
ville, Virginia, played in a
rock band and had told an
editor from a newspaper
internship in high school
that she planned to take
journalism classes in col-
lege.
Michael Avenatti is
convicted of trying to
extort Nike
NEW YORK — Mi-
chael Avenatti, the com-
bative lawyer who gained
fame by representing
porn star Stormy Daniels
in lawsuits involving Pres-
ident Donald Trump, was
convicted Friday of trying
to extort sportswear giant
Nike.
The verdict was re-
turned by a federal jury
in Manhattan following a

Shelter for the animals

To help, call 327-3107
8A SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020
Coronavirus
Continued from Page 1A
Ronghua Wu, a visiting scholar at MSU, just finished his two-week
self-quarantine after returning to the U.S. from China. Reflecting on
his experience back home with his family for the Lunar New Year, he
said he had to cancel plans to visit his own parents due to the threat
of the virus. “I think none of the Chinese really enjoyed the New Year
this time,” he said.
thing like this,” he said. “Some-
times drivers from Hubei are
not allowed to exit the high-
ways. … (I’ve heard that) some
truck drivers have wandered
on the highways for 20 days or
so. They couldn’t easily get off
the road, so they had to survive
on ramen packages.”
Restricted traffic wasn’t the
only problem. Those who live
in rural China are generally
less informed of the severity of
the virus, Wu said, and re-
sources are particularly scarce
in those areas. For his family,
he said, it was difficult to buy
masks.
“There are 12 people in my
family,” Wu said. “We had only
two masks ... for whoever went
out and bought groceries.”
A time of prayer and worry
The sense of urgency
followed Wu back to the U.S.
The virus has led international
governments to implement
travel bans and advise travelers
who recently visited China to
self-quarantine for 14 days. As
of Friday, 15 cases of coronavi-
rus have been confirmed in the
U.S., according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Pre-
vention.
No case has been con-
Yue Stella Yu/Dispatch Staff
firmed in Mississippi, but
Wu still stayed home for two
weeks as soon as he arrived
in Starkville. During the
self-quarantine, he said, he
video chatted with his family
every day. Jiangxi province is
among the provinces in China
most affected, he said, and
there was one case confirmed
in the town of Qingni where he
used to live.
“I think none of the Chinese
really enjoyed the New Year
this time,” Wu said.
Zhan “Samson” Sun, pastor
at the Starkville Chinese
Christian Church, said the
church has seen fewer people
gathering since the coronavi-
rus outbreak.
“We used to have 30 or 40
attendees each time,” Sun said.
“Now it’s around 20.”
The spread of the virus
made everyone wary of the
gatherings, Sun said.
“The first question we
normally ask any newcomer
is, ‘How long has it been since
you’ve returned to the U.S.
from China?’”
The church used to have an
annual celebration of the Lunar
New Year, which usually draws
a crowd between 300 and 400,
Sun said. As the virus contin-
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
ues to plague China, he said,
the church decided to cancel it.
“With everyone worried
about their family back home,”
Sun said, “I don’t think a joyful
celebration fits in that picture.
...We prayed for them and their
families instead.”
Amid the crisis, a sense of
unity and hope
Saijuan Chen, a visiting
scholar in poultry science at
MSU, worried for her family’s
safety when the virus first
broke out.
But, Chen said, she’s not that
anxious anymore.
Instead, she said she is
excited to be part of a volunteer
group made up of 176 Chinese
scholars and doctors both at
home and abroad. The group
has been buying supplies and
sending them back to China
where resources are needed the
most, she said.
A teacher at Hebei Agricul-
tural University, Chen said her
research focuses on animal
viruses. Most of the group
members attend the Excellent
Going Abroad Expert’s Train-
ing Program in Hebei Province
as she does, an initiative of the
Hebei government, she said.
Saijuan Chen (left) and Yibin Wang (right) chat with each other about the impact of the coronavirus in their
hometowns. Chen, a visiting scholar at MSU whose research focuses on animal viruses, said many in
China and from abroad have donated medical supplies to Hubei and other provinces at the center of the
epidemic to help people through the crisis.
“When someone in the
group chat suggested that we
donate resources to doctors in
China, we hit it off immediate-
ly,” Chen said. “Many of us had
the idea; we just didn’t know
how to realize it.”
More than half the group
members are doctors who
understand what is needed the
most on the frontline, Chen
said. Many have been assigned
or have volunteered to go to Hu-
bei to treat patients, she said.
“They tell us what they need
and we buy them from abroad,”
Chen said. “We’ve bought
hazmat suits and N95 masks,
because those are of the high-
est demand.
“(One of us) is bringing back
300 hazmat suits (from the
United Kingdom),” she added.
“She set aside her personal
belongings just to make room
for them.”
Yibin Wang, a PhD student
in industrial engineering at
MSU, said his friends in Boston
told him that the city is running
out of masks.
“I think people might have
bought all of them to mail back
home,” Wang said.
Meanwhile, faced with a
high demand for masks, some
of the car manufacturers back
home have altered their produc-
tion line to make masks instead,
Chen said.
‘You have to think about it
seriously’
As of now, Chen said, her
family in Jiangmen, Guang-
dong is doing just fine. It has
been more than a week since
there was any new case con-
firmed in her hometown, she
said.
“All eyes are on that number
right now,” she said. “And our
emotions fluctuate with that
number. (My family’s) state of
mind is very peaceful now.”
Fei Yu, associate professor
at MSU, said he is not too
worried about his sister and
his parents in Wuhan. Despite
having to stay at home most of
the time, the family has close
access to the several grocery
stores within walking distance,
he said.
Even with more than 1,000
deaths in Wuhan, he said, the
death rate is still rather low in
the city of roughly 10 million
people.
“I don’t think you have to
be scared of it too much,” Yu
said. “But of course you have to
think about it seriously.”
Yue Stella Yu/Dispatch Staff
Sports
BULLDOGS COME OUT SWINGING AGAINST WRIGHT STATE
Mississippi State’s Rowdey Jordan gets a base hit during the first inning Friday against Wright State at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville.
Friday: Mississippi State 9, Wright State 6 Saturday: Mississippi State 6, Wright State 2
BY BEN PORTNOY
bportnoy@cdispatch.com
STARKVILLE — As
familiar techno tones
rang across Dudy Noble
Field on Friday after-
noon, junior centerfield-
er Rowdey Jordan stood
perched upon first base.
Standing on the bag
following his sixth-in-
ning, game-tying, two-
run single, Jordan turned
to the crowd along the
first base line and waved
his arms skyward in cel-
ebration.
One batter later, class-
mate and four-hole hitter
Justin Foscue delivered
the finishing blow with a
slapped two-run double
to left field as Mississip-
pi State (1-0) outlasted
Wright State (0-1) 9-6 in
Friday’s season opener in
Starkville.
“I thought he was go-
ing to get it earlier in the
game, but he’s a gritty
player,” coach Chris Lem-
onis said of Jordan. “That
ball kind of got us going
MISSISSIPPI STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Ado saves the day for Bulldogs with last-second putback at Arkansas
BY GARRICK HODGE
ghodge@cdispatch.com
Abdul Ado hadn’t even
scored all day when the
final seconds of Missis-
sippi State’s crucial road
matchup with Arkansas
on Saturday ticked down.
The 6-foot-11 center
was inserted into the con-
test with a minute and 30
seconds remaining for de-
fensive purposes, yet his
biggest contribution of
the day came on the offen-
sive end.
With Mississippi State
trailing by one with six
seconds remaining, Tyson
Carter drove to the basket
and put up a contested
layup. The shot was off,
spinning around the rim,
with the Bulldogs’ NCAA
tournament hopes hang-
ing around the rim with it.
With two Arkansas
defenders focused on
Carter, the MSU center
had the space to clean up
Carter’s miss, converting
— we’d been waiting for
that ball all day long.”
After MSU’s offense
slogged through the
game’s first half, Lemo-
nis’ bunch earned a lead
it wouldn’t give up by way
of a six-run sixth inning.
Following a double
from junior Josh Hatch-
er, a single from fresh-
man Kamren James and
a walk by sophomore
Landon Jordan — one
of two he earned on the
day — Rowdey Jordan’s
single through the hole
between first and second
base drew the Bulldogs
and Raiders even.
“The report was that
he likes his fastball,
heavy fastball guy,” he
said of Wright State re-
liever Tristan Haught. “I
think it was a 1-1 count,
and I knew he was going
to come back with it, so I
was sitting on it.”
On the ensuing at-bat,
Foscue flashed the pa-
tience that earned him
30 walks to just 32 strike-
the putback with .6 sec-
onds remaining, stealing
a road win from Arkan-
sas. It was Ado’s only two
points of the game.
“I heard Coach say
to just make a play at
the basket,” Carter told
The Dispatch. “I knew if
I missed it, there was a
great chance it was going
to get tipped in, and that’s
what happened.”
MSU (16-9, 7-5 SEC)
picked up its second
Quadrant One victory of
the season and what could
eventually be remem-
bered as a season-saving
victory, taking down the
Razorbacks (16-9, 4-8) at
Bud Walton Arena, 78-77.
“It was an unbelievable
last play,” MSU coach Ben
Howland told The Dis-
patch. “Tyson did a great
job getting downhill and
to the basket, they had to
come help, and it allowed
Abdul to be all over the Mississippi State forward Reggie Perry celebrates with teammates after a score against Arkansas on Saturday at
See ADO, 6B Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
MISSISSIPPI STATE BASEBALL
outs a season ago as he
watched Haught deliver
three straight balls be-
fore he found the zone for
a strike.
Stepping into the next
pitch, the Huntsville, Al-
abama, product flipped
a ball over the shortstop
and into right field as
Jordan and sophomore
designated hitter Landon
Jordan rounded the bags
and crossed home.
Sophomore junior
college import Brandon
Pimentel capped off the
frame with a dribbler to-
ward shortstop. Corral-
ling the ball, Wright State
infielder Damon Dues
airmailed first base, giv-
ing junior Tanner Allen
and Foscue ample time to
reach the plate and grant
the Bulldogs a four-run
lead.
“We had some pretty
productive innings early,
and we didn’t really take
advantage of them, so to
get that going was huge,”
See OPENER, 6B
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020
BY BEN PORTNOY
bportnoy@cdispatch.com
STARKVILLE — Con-
cluding the fifth inning of
No. 10 Mississippi State’s
(2-0) 6-2 win over Wright
State (0-2) Saturday, red-
shirt freshman pitcher
Christian MacLeod casu-
ally strolled off the hill at
Dudy Noble Field.
Heading into the dug-
out following the fifth
inning, the 6-foot-4-inch
left-hander was silent as
he stared into the turf
inches in front of his feet,
before stepping over the
foul line and disappearing
into the dugout.
“Getting out there,
getting on the mound
you see everyone in the
backdrop and it’s some-
thing you’ve never seen
before,” MacLeod said
of the 11,006 fans in at-
tendance. “You’re kind of
like ‘Wow’ — it’s pretty
cool to experience, but
when the batter gets in
the box and everything it
(takes) a whole other level
of focus.”
Making his MSU de-
but following a bout with
an undisclosed illness
last season that forced
him to spend much of the
second semester at home
in Huntsville, Alabama,
MacLeod was quietly
and historically efficient
as he struck out 11 of the
17 batters he faced in five
innings of work — giving
him four more strike-
outs in his inaugural ap-
pearance than reigning
National Freshman of
the Year and teammate
JT Ginn’s seven in his
first career start against
Youngstown State Feb.
16, 2019.
Speaking with the me-
dia in late January, MSU
pitching coach Scott
Foxhall said MacLeod’s
three pitch mix of fast-
ball, changeup and curve-
ball was as good as any on
the 2020 squad. Saturday,
it looked the part. Setting
up Wright State’s lineup
with his fastball, Ma-
cLeod’s devastating cur-
Nelson Chenault/USA TODAY Sports
SPORTS LINE
662-241-5000
B
SECTION
Jim Lytle/Special to The Dispatch
veball from the same arm
slot fooled the Raiders
throughout the afternoon.
“I saw the same guy
that’s been showing up
really the last two years,”
Foxhall said Saturday.
“He had a tough break
and didn’t get to play last
year and that was really
hard. You always pull for
all your players but some
you pull for a little more
than others and, man,
he has battled through
some adversity last year.
For him to go out there in
his first start at Dudy No-
ble and have that perfor-
mance, it’s a chill bump
kind of moment.”
As impressive as Ma-
cLeod’s ability to keep
hitters guessing pitch-to-
pitch was the Huntsville,
Alabama native’s devas-
tating accuracy. Throw-
ing 77 pitches on the day,
he found the strike zone
with 51 of them — giving
him a strike on 66.2 per-
cent of his throws, while
he reached as high as 93
See MACLEOD, 6B
2B SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

BRIEFLY PREP BASKETBALL

Men’s College Basketball
Stevenson leads Southern Miss to victory
HATTIESBURG (AP) — Tyler Stevenson had 22
Peal, Teague star as CCA boys down Tunica Academy
points and 11 rebounds as Southern Miss beat Florida BY THEO DEROSA know where he is at all beat Tunica Academy shots to push their lead out the Rams’ strong
International 75-67 on Saturday. tderosa@cdispatch.com times.” 59-49 in its own home back into double digits. zone defense — his
Stevenson made 10 of 13 shots while the Golden
Eagles shot 28 of 51 from the field (54.9 percent) as Streaking toward the gym. Teague and fellow “They came back a team gave its best per-
STEENS — Jona-
a team. hoop, Peal delivered a senior Lawson Stud- little bit, and then we formance on that side
LaDavius Draine had 19 points for Southern Miss than Peal had an open
no-look dish to Teague dard scored 17 points, just stepped it up again,” of the ball this season,
(9-18, 5-9 Conference USA). Gabe Watson added 14 lane to the basket. Will
points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Artur Konontsuk as the senior cut toward and Peal added 12 as Teague said. “We have in his opinion. Tunica
had 10 points.
Teague had an even
the rim. Teague laid the Columbus Christian a mindset that we’re Academy scored just
Florida International totaled a season-low 24 first- clearer one.
half points and made just 23 of 58 field goal attempts ball in easily, extending opened up a big lead not gonna lose: We just seven points in the first
Peal, a junior at Co-
(39.7 percent).
lumbus Christian Acad- Columbus Christian’s early on and never gave have to win.” quarter and 18 in the
Devon Andrews had 24 points and seven rebounds lead to 23-10. it back. The Rams had al- first half as Columbus
for the Panthers (17-10, 8-6). Antonio Daye, Jr. scored a emy, eschewed looking
season-high 21 points. Trejon Jacob had 11 points. for his own shot early “He’ll see you when “It felt good, because ready clinched a spot Christian held a 37-18
in the second quarter of you’re open,” Teague then we had a little bit in the state tournament halftime lead.
Women’s College Basketball Friday’s MAIS Class 2A said of Peal. “It just of cushion, so we didn’t by reaching the north “They played with a
Southern Miss wins at Florida International north state semifinal flows out there. It’s have to worry about it state semifinal round, lot of defensive intensi-
The Southern Miss women’s basketball team won just natural since we’ve too much,” Teague said. but with a win over ty,” Williams said.
a Conference USA road game in Florida for the second
against Tunica Acade-
time in three days, taking down Florida International my. Instead, he trusted been playing so long to- The Blue Devils Rossville Christian on He also credited the
58-53 on Saturday in Miami. the senior teammate gether. It just happens, made a game of it in the Saturday, they can cap- work of assistant coach
The Golden Eagles (13-11, 5-8 C-USA) beat and we don’t really even fourth quarter, cutting ture the north state title KC Cunningham, who
Florida Atlantic on Thursday and followed it up with a he’d been playing with
solid victory Saturday. since seventh grade. think anything about the Rams’ lead to as lit- and the No. 1 seed. Williams said has been
Respect Leaphart led Southern Miss with 16 “Me and Will, we’ve it.” tle as nine points with a “We’re a really good an integral part of the
points, and Daishai Almond had 13.
“This game, I think it shows some growth for us,” got chemistry,” Peal The smooth play just few minutes to go. But team,” coach Jason Wil- Rams’ success.
head coach Joye Lee-McNelis said in a news release said. “I’m always look- another example of the Columbus Christian liams said. “I’m proud “He’s been with us
from Southern Miss. “With 4:57 to play, they have the ing for Will out of the duo in action Friday as still refused to worry, of them.” every step of the way,”
ball and we’re down six, and we have to get a defensive
stop and then things begin to happen for us. I’m so corner of my eye. I Columbus Christian sinking a pair of foul Williams pointed Williams said.
proud of them. It’s an unbelievable opportunity for us to
kind of gain some confidence, and that’s what we talked
about in the locker room after the game.”
Southern Miss will play at Louisiana Tech at 6:30
p.m. Thursday in Ruston, Louisiana.
PREP BASKETBALL ROUNDUP
College Baseball
Ole Miss splits first two with No. 1 Louisville
The Ole Miss baseball team is 1-1 on the season
Hughes hits game-winner as New Hope
boys beat Columbus for district title
after two games against No. 1 Louisville in Oxford.
The Rebels lost 7-2 in Friday’s season opener but
rebounded with an 8-6 win Saturday.
Junior Cael Baker went 4 for 4 with a double and
two home runs Saturday, driving in four runs for Ole
Miss. Braden Forsyth closed out the victory for the
Rebels after the tying run reached base against Austin New Hope 62, tian in Jackson. 3 tournament title on Friday in
Starkville.
The Rams and Eagles will
both play in the MAIS Class
Miller in the ninth.
On Friday, the Cardinals scored four runs in the Columbus 60 Heritage Academy boys 76, No statistics were available
for Starkville.
2A tournament next week at
Sylva-Bay Academy in Bay
sixth inning and three more in the ninth to blow past
the Rebels. BY THEO DEROSA
Bayou Academy 41, Friday The Yellow Jackets will re- Springs.
SENATOBIA — The Heri-
For Ole Miss, Anthony Servideo went 2 for 3 on tderosa@cdispatch.com ceive a first-round bye in the
Friday, and Justin Bench went 2 for 4. tage Academy boys beat Bay-
Ole Miss wraps up the series at noon today in
GRENADA — DJ Hughes ou Academy 76-41 on Friday in
Class 6A playoffs. Marvell Academy (Ark.)
Oxford.
hit the winning shot with 2.7 Senatobia to reach Saturday’s
Germantown girls 55, girls 49, Columbus Chris-
Southern Miss beats Murray State twice seconds left, and the New north state final.
No statistics were available Starkville 41, Friday tian Academy 42, Friday
Hope boys edged Columbus STEENS — The Columbus
The Southern Miss baseball team beat Murray for Heritage Academy. STARKVILLE — The
State on Friday and Saturday to clinch a series win in its 62-60 in Friday’s MHSAA Christian girls lost Friday’s
opening series of 2020. Class 5A, Region 2 tourna- Starkville girls lost to Ger- north state semifinal to Mar-
Gabe Shepard and Ryan Och combined to one-hit
the Racers as the Golden Eagles (2-0) posted a 6-0
ment final in Grenada. West Lowndes boys 53, mantown 55-41 in the Region
3 championship game Friday
vell Academy 49-42 in Steens.
shutout victory on Friday in Hattiesburg.
Caleb Parr led the Trojans Ethel 40, Friday in Starkville.
Morgan Whitten had 15
On Saturday, Walker Powell pitched seven with 16 points, Jaylen Smith MCADAMS — The West points to lead the Rams.
and LJ Hackman had 14, No statistics were available Emerson scored eight,
scoreless innings, Charlie Fischer went 3 for 4, and Lowndes boys team beat Eth-
Southern Miss squeezed out a 3-2 win. Murray State Hughes had 10, and RL Mattix for Starkville. Taylor Tipton had six, Cayden
el 57-37 on Friday to capture The Yellow Jackets will
closed the gap on a two-run homer by Ryan Perkins in had eight. Harding and DeVos each had
the ninth inning. the Class 1A, Region 5 tourna- host DeSoto Central in the
Southern Miss closes out the series at 1 p.m. today New Hope, the district’s ment title. five, and Lilly Barlow had
No. 1 seed, will receive a first- first round of the Class 6A three.
at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg. Albert Plair scored 18 playoffs Monday.
round bye in the Class 5A play- points to lead the Panthers.
EMCC drops doubleheader at Shelton State offs. Darrell Brooks scored 13, and
Leake Academy girls 52, Lee Academy (Ark.) girls 57,
Mattix was named the dis-
The East Mississippi Community College baseball
team was swept in Saturday’s season-opening trict’s most valuable player,
Jherquaveus Sanders had 10.
West Lowndes coach Donta Starkville Hebron Christian 40, Friday
doubleheader at Shelton State Community College in STEENS — The Hebron
and he, Smith, Parr and Hack-
Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
man were all named to the
Yates, who was the head coach Academy 49 Christian girls lost Friday’s
EMCC’s comeback from a six-run deficit in Game 1 at West Point from 2016 to SENATOBIA — The north state semifinal to Lee
fell short as the Lions lost 8-6. all-district team. Hughes was 2018, was named the district’s Starkville Academy girls Academy (Arkansas) 57-40 in
In the nightcap, Shelton State went up 8-1 after four named to the all-tournament coach of the year, and Brooks
innings and cruised to a 10-1 win. team lost 52-49 to Leake Steens.
team, and Smith was named was named best offensive play-
The Lions (0-2) will play Mississippi Gulf Coast Academy in the third-place Katelyn Hill had 12 points
tournament MVP. er.
Community College, Dyersburg State Community Col- game of the MAIS Class 4A to lead the Eagles.
lege and Bossier Parish Community College at noon, 3 New Hope coach Drew Mc- The Panthers had a player north state tournament at Parrish scored eight, Elisha
p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively, Feb. 21, in Decatur. Brayer was named coach of from each grade level named Magnolia Heights in Senato- Carter had seven, and Amber
the year. to the all-district team: Sand- bia on Saturday. Wedel had six.
College Softball Jaquarius Williams had 23 ers, a senior; junior Melvin Three players did all of the
points for the Falcons, and Crawford; sophomore Ja-
Ole Miss falls to California Baptist scoring for the Volunteers: Houston boys 79, Noxubee
The Ole Miss softball team dropped to 1-7 on the Gabe Williams had 14. taquist Brown; and Brooks, a Lillee Alpe had 19 points,
season with a 4-2 loss to California Baptist at the Puerto Blake Burnett, Tre Dis- freshman. Meri Laci Archer had 18, and County 77, Friday
Vallarta College Challenge in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. muke and Gabe Williams were HOUSTON — The Noxu-
West Lowndes will host Caroline Wood had 12.
Both teams scored all their runs in the second all named to the all-district
inning. Stringer in the first round of Alpe and Archer were bee County boys lost to Hous-
With a 4-2 lead, Cal Baptist set down Ole Miss’ final team, and Jaquarius Williams the Class 1A playoffs at 7:30 ton 79-77 in the Class 3A, Re-
named to the all-tournament
seven hitters to secure the victory. was named to the all-tourna- p.m. Tuesday. gion 4 tournament final Friday
team.
Ole Miss also won an exhibition with the Mexican ment team. in Houston.
National team 4-1 on Saturday and played Texas late The Vols will play in the
Columbus will host Provine
Saturday night.
in the first round at 7:30 p.m.
West Lowndes girls 57, MAIS Class 4A tournament No statistics were available
for Noxubee County.
Tuesday. Ethel 37, Friday next week at Hillcrest Chris-
tian in Jackson. The Tigers earned the No.
EMCC, MUW split doubleheader in Columbus MCADAMS — The West 2 seed in the district and will
The East Mississippi Community College and Lowndes girls beat Ethel 57-37
Mississippi University for Women softball teams split a New Hope girls 35, Colum- on Friday to remain undefeat- Pillow Academy girls 47, host a first-round playoff game
doubleheader on Friday in Columbus.
EMCC counted the results on its regular-season
bus 34, Friday ed and capture the Region 5 Starkville Academy 45,
against Byhalia on Tuesday.
schedule; the games were exhibition contests for MUW. GRENADA — The New title.
Madelyn Wilkes and Lily Ramsey each drove in Hope girls eked out a 35-34 Tydajasha Hood led the
Friday Noxubee County girls 61,
three runs for EMCC in the first game, an 11-5 win for win over Columbus in the Re- SENATOBIA — The Choctaw County 45, Friday
the Lions. A five-run seventh inning stretched EMCC’s
Panthers with nine points. Ca-
gion 2 final Friday in Grenada. Starkville Academy girls lost HOUSTON — The Noxu-
lead from one run to six. mara Brewer, Averi Sanders
DJ Jackson had 14 points for to Pillow Academy 47-45 in bee County girls beat Choctaw
In the second game, MUW scored in the second, and Roslyn Rice each scored
third, fourth and sixth innings for a 6-2 win. No stats Columbus. Friday’s north state semifinal County 61-45 in the consola-
eight.
were available from the Owls for the doubleheader. Seniors Aniya Saddler, Bri in Senatobia. tion game of the Region 4 tour-
West Lowndes coach Ta-
EMCC (2-2) will play Parkland College (Illinois) and Smith, Nitirah Barry and Ser- Archer led with 14 points, nament Friday in Houston.
Central Alabama Community College at 9 a.m. and 1 keea Bozeman was named
cora Tate were named to the Wood scored 13, Alpe had 12,
p.m., respectively, in Meridian on Feb. 21. coach of the year in the district No statistics were available
all-district team, and Saddler and Fallon Parker had six.
MUW will host Judson College (Alabama) for a for her team’s 22-0 record. for Noxubee County.
doubleheader at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday. was named the district’s play- Senior Marvaysha Seals Noxubee County earned
SOURCE: From Special Reports
er of the year. was named the district’s most Rossville Christian (Tenn.) the No. 3 seed in its district
Columbus coach Yvonne valuable player, and Sanders boys 95, Columbus Chris- and will be on the road at Inde-
Hairston was named coach of
CALENDAR the year.
was named best defensive
player.
tian Academy 72 pendence on Monday for the
first round of the playoffs.
For New Hope, Imoni Har- STEENS — The Colum-
Today ris and Juquala Sherrod were
Seals, Hood, Sanders and bus Christian Academy boys
Women’s College Basketball
named to the all-tournament
junior Nenah Young were all lost Saturday’s MAIS Class Oak Hill Academy boys 56,
named to the all-district team.
Mississippi State at Kentucky, 4 p.m. team. Harris and Reed Mc- West Lowndes will host
2A north state tournament Lee Academy (Miss.) 48
Arkansas at Ole Miss, 2 p.m. Glothin were named to the final to Rossville Christian LEXINGTON — The Oak
College Baseball Stringer in the first round at 6 Academy (Tennessee) 95-72
all-district team. Hill Academy boys team beat
Wright State at Mississippi State, 1 p.m. Tuesday. in Steens.
With the win, New Hope Lee Academy (Mississippi)
p.m. will receive a first-round bye Lawson Studdard had 37 56-48 in Saturday’s MAIS
Louisville at Ole Miss, Noon in the Class 5A playoffs. Pontotoc boys 67, Caledo- points, Will Teague had 15, Class 3A north state tourna-
Murray State at Southern Miss, 1 p.m. Columbus will host Provine nia 42, Friday and Jonathan Peal had 11. ment third-place game at Cen-
College Softball in the first round at 6 p.m. FULTON — The Caledonia The Rams will play in the tral Holmes Christian in Lex-
Mississippi State vs. Tennessee State Tuesday. boys team lost to Pontotoc 67- MAIS Class 2A tournament ington.
next week at Sylva-Bay Acad-
in Bulldog Kickoff Classic, 1:30 p.m. Magnolia Heights boys 56, 42 in the title game of the Class
4A, Region 2 tournament Fri- emy in Bay Springs.
Daniel Harrington scored
29 points for the Raiders in the
ON THE AIR Heritage Academy 50 day at Itawamba Community victory.
SENATOBIA — The Heri- College in Fulton. Columbus Christian The Raiders will play in the
Today tage Academy boys team lost
AUTO RACING to host Magnolia Heights 56-
Cooper McCleskey scored
20 points for the Confederates,
Academy girls 63, Hebron MAIS Class 3A tournament
next week at Canton Academy.
1:30 p.m. — NASCAR Cup Series: The 50 in Saturday’s final of the and Jarvis Leigh had 10.
Christian 35
MAIS Class 4A north state STEENS — The Columbus
Daytona 500, Daytona Beach, Fla., FOX
COLLEGE BASKETBALL (MEN’S) tournament.
Caledonia will host Leake
Christian girls beat Hebron Marshall Academy boys 57,
Central in the first round of
Noon — Indiana at Michigan, CBS Jared Long had 20 points to the Class 4A playoffs Tuesday.
Christian School 63-35 in Oak Hill Academy 49, Friday
COLLEGE BASKETBALL (WOMEN’S) lead the Patriots, who held a Saturday’s north state third- LEXINGTON — The Oak
32-30 halftime lead. place game in Steens. Hill boys lost Friday’s semi-
2 p.m. — Arkansas at Ole Miss, SECN
4 p.m. — Mississippi State at Ken- Long, Acker and Trey Starkville boys 80, Green- CC DeVos led the Rams final game against Marshall
tucky, ESPN2 Naugher were all named to the ville 43, Friday with 17 points. Kylie Emerson Academy in the MAIS Class
NBA BASKETBALL all-north state team. STARKVILLE — The scored 14, and Audrey Fore- 3A north state tournament in
7 p.m. — NBA All-Star Game, Chicago, The Patriots will play in the Starkville High School boys man had 10. Lexington, 57-49.
TBS/TNT MAIS Class 4A tournament team beat Greenville 80-43 to Mattie Parrish led Hebron No statistics were available
next week at Hillcrest Chris- capture the Class 6A, Region Christian with 10 points. for Oak Hill.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 3B

MISSISSIPPI STATE SOFTBALL

MSU suffers first loss of season, rebounds at Bulldog Kickoff Classic
BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com
The Mississippi State softball team
responded well to its first loss of the sea-
son.
After the Bulldogs struggled to score
in a 2-1 loss to Tulsa on Friday afternoon
in their first game in the Bulldog Kickoff
Classic at Nusz Park in Starkville, they
righted the ship for the rest of the week-
end.
Mississippi State (8-1) shut out North
Alabama 6-0 on Friday night, beat Ten-
nessee State 3-0 on Saturday and booked
a spot in Sunday’s championship game
with a 9-1, six-inning victory over North
Alabama on Saturday night.
Mississippi State will face Tennessee
State, which outlasted Tulsa 2-1 in 10 in-
nings in Saturday’s other semifinal, in
the final at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Here’s a look at the Bulldogs’ four
games so far this weekend.
Mississippi State 9,
North Alabama 1, six innings
Mississippi State’s bats got it go-
ing late to gain some breathing room
against North Alabama, and the Bull-
dogs beat the Lions for the second time
in two days.
Four runs in the bottom of the fifth
and two in the bottom of the sixth did
the trick for Mississippi State, which
scored three runs in the first inning but
was quiet for the next three frames.
In the first, senior catcher Mia David-
son doubled in a run, senior first base-
man Fa Leilua singled her home, and ju-
nior designated player Carter Spexarth
brought home Leilua on a single and an
error by the Lions.
Sophomore Grace Fagan pitched the
first four innings, and junior Emily Wil-
liams struck out six batters in two hit-
less innings. Williams loaded the bases
in the fifth on two walks and an error but
escaped.
Davidson hit a solo shot in the bot-
tom of the fifth, and freshman shortstop
Madisyn Kennedy followed with her sec-
ond three-run homer of the week inside
the left-field foul pole.
In the sixth, Davidson homered
again, clubbing a two-run shot to left to
end the game.
“It was good to see the offense show
up for game two,” head coach Saman-
tha Ricketts said in a news release from
Mississippi State. “We talked a little to-
wards the end of game one about being
more aggressive and attacking early in
the count. That’s more of our game plan
and what we like to do as hitters. I really
liked what I saw out of the pitching staff.
It’s nice to get everything rolling on all
cylinders.”
North Alabama got its run in the third
inning on a solo home run by Emma
Latham.
Mississippi State 3,
Tennessee State 0
Kenley Hawk pitched six scoreless
innings, and the Bulldogs’ offense came
through late to help Mississippi State
blank Tennessee State in Saturday’s
first game.
Hawk, a freshman from Palestine, Ar-
kansas, gave up two hits and two walks
and struck out five hitters during her
dominant performance.
In the bottom of the inning, fresh-
man Brylie St. Clair pinch ran for senior
second baseman Lindsey Williams and
stole second base. Senior Candace De-
nis, at designated player in the contest,
drove in St. Clair with a single to center
field to break the scoreless tie. After Da-
vidson flied out and Denis stole second,
Leilua crushed a two-run homer to left
to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.
Williams got the save with a 1-2-3
seventh inning, striking out the Tigers’
final hitter.
Mississippi State 6,
North Alabama 0, Friday
Troy transfer Annie Willis pitched a
complete game with 11 strikeouts as the
Bulldogs blanked North Alabama on Fri-
day.
The junior allowed six hits and a walk
for her team’s first complete game of the
season, and Mississippi State scored in
the first, third and sixth innings to re-
bound from a loss to Tulsa earlier in the
day.
“I was disappointed with the energy
that we came out with the first game,”
Ricketts said. “We challenged the girls
to come back in game two, and I thought
they did a much better job of coming out
and being locked in from pitch one. It
helps when Annie pitches the way that
she does. She is doing a really good job
of getting herself out of jams. That is the
first time we had the pitcher throw out
all seven, and that is something we are
going to need down the stretch.”
Offensive support helped the Bull-
dogs back Willis and beat the Lions.
Leilua doubled home Denis in the
first inning, and Denis smacked a two-
run homer to score senior center fielder
Christian Quinn in the third.
In the sixth, sophomore right fielder
Chloe Malau’ulu drove in Leilua with a
single, sophomore pinch-hitter Anna
Kate Segars scored Kennedy with a
base hit, and Quinn scored junior third
baseman Montana Davidson with an
RBI single.
Tulsa 2, Mississippi State 1, Friday
Tulsa plated runs on a sacrifice fly
and a wild pitch in the third inning, and
the Bulldogs could never muster a come-
back.
Mia Davidson’s fifth-inning solo shot
halved the deficit for Mississippi State,
but the Bulldogs missed a big chance in
the sixth inning and went down 1-2-3 in
the seventh.
Spexarth led off the sixth with a walk,
and Segars took a free pass with two out,
but Quinn smacked a hard liner directly
to the center fielder, ending the inning.
With the top of the order up in the
bottom of the seventh, Denis popped up,
Mia Davidson grounded out, and Leilua
was caught looking to end the game.
Fagan took the loss after pitching 4.1
innings and allowing two runs. Senior
Alyssa Loza followed with two scoreless
innings, and Emily Williams pitched a
scoreless seventh.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

No. 12 Kentucky edges Ole Miss for fourth straight win

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LEXINGTON, Kyv. —
Stringing baskets togeth-
er was only half the chal-
lenge for Kentucky, which
also had to counter-punch
its way past Ole Miss.
The lead traded hands
nine times in the final five
minutes before Nick Rich-
ards ultimately gave the
No. 12 Wildcats the need-
ed edge at the foul line.
Richards had 16 points,
including two go-ahead
free throws with 1:11
remaining, and Imman-
uel Quickley and Keion
Brooks Jr. each made two
more in the closing sec-
onds to help No. 12 Ken-
tucky escape against Ole
Miss 67-62 on Saturday.
The Wildcats (20-5,
10-2 Southeastern Confer-
ence) shot just 39 percent
overall but made 48 per-
cent in the second half to
erase a seven-point deficit
and create a back-and-
forth game for the final
eight minutes. Richards
followed two free throws
with 2:11 left with two
more a minute later to put
Kentucky up 63-62.
“It shows that we have
a winning mentality, a
will to win,” said Rich-
ards, who overcame a
slow start to finish 6 of 10
from the field with seven
rebounds. “I wasn’t my
best in the first half and
in the post. I wasn’t really
my best the entire game,
but we still came out and
found a way to win.”
Kentucky needed a
Ole Miss guard Blake Hinson passes the ball against Kentucky guard Ashton Hagans in the second half Saturday
at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.
gutsy dive and scramble
by EJ Montgomery for a
loose ball that he eventu-
ally fed to Tyrese Maxey
for a go-ahead layup. Free
throws certainly helped
the Wildcats, especially
with the Rebels answer-
ing with a clutch basket of
their own and poised for
one more.
And that’s where Ole
Miss fell short with its fi-
nal chances.
Breein Tyree missed
the first of a 1-and-1, but
Maxey’s turnover gave
the Rebels the ball with
29.8 seconds left. Devon-
tae Shuler dribbled time
off the clock but airballed
a 3-pointer out of bounds
with nine seconds left.
“It sure didn’t look
right,” Ole Miss coach
Kermit Davis said. “We
wanted to run a little
stack play and take some
time off the clock. I real-
ly didn’t care who took it
(the shot). There were 8
or 9 seconds left on the
clock. I would have liked
for them to have reset it.”
Quickley, who had 17
points, was fouled a few
seconds later and added
two from the line with 6.6
left before Brooks sealed
the win with two more.
“This was a rock fight
and a great win,” Ken-
tucky coach John Calipari
said.
Maxey had 14 points
while Montgomery had
eight rebounds as Ken-
tucky beat the Rebels 41-
33 on the glass.
Breein Tyree had 19
points, while Blake Hin-
son and KJ Buffen each
had 13 for Ole Miss (13-
12, 4-8), which had won
Mark Zerof/USA TODAY Sports
three in a row. The Rebels
dropped their 11th con-
secutive series game to
the Wildcats.
Hustling
Montgomery had four
fouls when he dove on
the floor in a scrum for
Maxey’s missed 3-point-
er. Somehow he came up
with the ball and found
Maxey for a critical layup
with 1:21 left.
“He works hard on the
offensive glass,” Max-
ey said of Montgomery.
“He’s very important to
this team and came up
with one of the biggest
(plays) of the game. He
got it out to me, and I just
tried to make a play.”
Big picture
Ole Miss: The Reb-
els shot just 37 percent
before halftime but were
lifted by several 3s from
Tyree, who had aver-
aged 33.7 points the past
three games. The Rebels
tried to dribble down for
the final shot, but Shuler
missed badly from deep
and late fouls put Ken-
tucky on the line. They
finished 6 of 17 from long
range. Davis also received
a technical foul early in
the second half.
Kentucky: Missed
shots hurt the Wildcats
in the first half as they
went 1 of 13 from deep
and 9 of 30 overall (30
percent). They made just
2 of 22 from long range
but worked the ball inside
the arc and especially to
the lane, drawing fouls
and converting 19 of 24.
Quickley’s second-half 3
was huge, helping Ken-
tucky’s 7-0 spurt that
eventually tied the game
at 47.
Up next
Ole Miss: Visits Mis-
souri in the first of two
meetings over 15 days.
The Rebels host the Ti-
gers on March 4.
Kentucky: Visits LSU
on Tuesday with a one-
game lead on the Tigers
for the SEC lead.

No. 1 Baylor tops No. 14 WVU, ties Big 12 mark

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WACO, Texas — Jared But-
ler said he wasn’t trying to
make up for the absence of
Baylor’s second-leading scorer
behind him as the top-ranked
Bears chased the Big 12 record
for consecutive wins.
Maybe it just seemed that
way when the junior guard con-
nected on a 3-pointer just 21
seconds in and hit three more
from long range before half-
time.
Butler scored 16 of his 21
points in the first half, and Bay-
lor never trailed while matching
Kansas for the longest winning
streak in the Big 12 at 22 games
with a 70-59 victory over No. 14
West Virginia on Saturday.
The Bears (23-1, 12-0 Big
12) cruised without MaCio
Teague, a junior whose streak
of 90 consecutive games ended
because of a right wrist injury.
Butler and Teague are the only
two Baylor players averaging in
double figures.
“I told myself that I can’t
change my game,” said Butler,
who was 8 of 11 overall and 5 of
7 from long range. “I can’t try
to force shots now that he’s not
playing. I didn’t try to change
my game, but luckily it just
worked out that way.”
Baylor led by 19 in the first
half and answered a scoreless
stretch of nearly four minutes
before halftime by starting the
second half on a 20-3 run for its
biggest lead at 53-25.
Taz Sherman scored a sea-
son-high 20 points for the
Mountaineers (18-7, 6-6), who
had 11 of their season high-ty-
ing 22 turnovers in the first 12
minutes and shot 35 percent in
a third consecutive loss.
“We have this incredible fas-
cination for dribbling the ball,”
coach Bob Huggins said. “I hav-
en’t seen a game yet where you
get points for that. You’re not
going to win turning it over 22
times.”
Matthew Mayer had a flying
dunk off a nifty spin move on
the baseline and finished with
13 points and eight rebounds
for the Bears, who matched
Kansas’ record run in the Big
12. The Jayhawks started 22-0
in 1996-97, the league’s first
season.
Davion Mitchell scored 13
points with a game-high nine
assists — two more than West
Virginia had as a team — as
Baylor extended the longest
winning streak in school histo-
ry. The Bears won their 12th
consecutive conference game,
topping the 1945-46 team’s
mark from the old Southwest
Conference.
“I think it’s a tribute to the
players, their belief,” coach
Scott Drew said. “And we’ve
been operating under joy ... fo-
cusing one game at a time and
we’ll keep doing that.”
The Mountaineers were
coming off a 58-49 loss to No.
3 Kansas when they led by sev-
en midway through the second
half. West Virginia, which got
11 points and 12 rebounds from
freshman Oscar Tshiebwe,
hadn’t lost consecutive games
this season before Saturday.
Big picture
West Virginia: An 8-0 run
to finish the first half gave the
Mountaineers a sliver of hope,
but they missed their first 11
shots after halftime to ruin any
chance of getting back in the
game. When they finally start-
ed making shots, the Mountain-
eers were down 28 points with
10 minutes to go.
Baylor: The Bears have a
nation-leading six wins without
a loss against Top 25 opponents.
Their four-week run atop the
poll is the longest for a Texas
school since Houston over the
final eight weeks in 1968. It’s
sure to reach five weeks after
a blowout of the team that beat
Baylor a day after it reached No.
1 for the first time in January
2017.
Countdown to Kansas
The Jayhawks won 87-70 at
Oklahoma, which should set
up a 1 vs. 3 showdown in Waco
next Saturday. Before then, the
Bears visit the Sooners while
Kansas is home against Iowa
State. No. 2 Gonzaga plays at
Pepperdine on Sunday in the
only other game that could
change the current rankings.
“First and foremost, we’ll
concentrate on our next game,”
Drew said. “But when the
weekend comes, I don’t know
if there’s a better honor out
there for a university than to
have College GameDay for foot-
ball and basketball in the same
year.”
4B SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020
Bryant casts shadow as NBA’s best meet
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO — Kobe
Bryant always seemed to
be in top form when he
stepped onto the court for
the NBA All-Star Game.
The league’s current best
will try to match his effort
when Team LeBron and
Team Giannis meet on
Sunday.
The All-Star festivities
returned to Chicago for
the first time since 1988
when Michael Jordan
beat Dominique Wilkins
in a slam dunk contest
that remains the stan-
dard and scored 40 points
to lead the East over the
West.
But Bryant is casting
a huge shadow over the
events this weekend, just
weeks after he and his
13-year-old daughter Gi-
anna were among nine
people killed when their
helicopter crashed into
the side of a mountain
near Los Angeles.
“We know that he’s
watching over us,” the
Lakers’ LeBron James
said. “It’s our responsi-
bility to just represent
the purple and gold not
only for him but for all the
greats, everybody that’s
ever come through the
Lake Show. I really don’t
want to sit up here and
talk about it too much.
It’s a very, very sensitive
subject, but he’s with us
every day.”
Bryant played on
five NBA championship
teams, won a league
MVP award and two scor-
ing titles in a career that
spanned 20 seasons and
has him poised to enter
the Hall of Fame after he
was announced Friday as
one of eight finalists.
He was the youngest
All-Star in league histo-
Jones outlasts Gordon to win NBA Slam Dunk Contest
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Miami Heat forward
Derrick Jones Jr. celebrat-
ed his 23rd birthday by
winning the All-Star Slam
Dunk Contest, edging
Orlando Magic forward
Aaron Gordon in a mem-
orable showdown that
required two tiebreaker
jams.
Jones and Gordon each
got a perfect 50 on both of
their dunks in the final.
Then they got two more
perfect scores on their
first jam in the dunk-off.
Jones then took off
from just inside the foul
line and threw down a
Silver: NBA, USA Basketball still may play in China in 2020
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO — The NBA
and USA Basketball are
still considering playing
in China later this year,
though the complexities
of both the political rift
caused by a tweet last fall
and the ongoing health
concerns in the world’s
most populous country are
making those plans seem
decidedly uncertain.
NBA Commissioner
Adam Silver said the dis-
cussions in both cases —
pre-Olympic games for
USA Basketball and the
preseason games for the
NBA — are ongoing, and
said the decisions are not
necessarily linked. It’s
possible the U.S. may play
there this summer and the
NBA does not send teams
this fall, Silver said.
“Those are issues that
haven’t been decided yet,”
Silver said Saturday night
at his annual All-Star
weekend news confer-
ence.
Things are not back
to normal for the league
when it comes to rela-
tions with China. The
strain started Oct. 4, when
Houston general manag-
er Daryl Morey tweeted
an image that read “Fight
for Freedom. Stand with
ry, ranks second with 18
selections and took game
MVP honors a record-ty-
ing four times, including
on his home court in 2011
when he dazzled with 37
points and 14 rebounds.
Bryant scored 20 or more
seven times.
“The whole thing of
paying respect to Kobe
is awesome, so I think
it’s going to be fun,” said
Toronto’s Kyle Lowry,
making his sixth straight
All-Star appearance. “I’m
hoping it’s really, really
intense. Hopefully, we’ll
give the fans one of the
best All-Star Games
ever.”
Here are some things
to know:
The matchup
James is looking to go
3-0 as an All-Star cap-
tain, after his team beat
the one picked by Gold-
en State’s Stephen Curry
in 2018 and topped the
one Milwaukee’s Giannis
Antetokounmpo selected
last year. James had the
No. 1 overall pick for the
starters round because
he received the most
votes from the fans and
took teammate Anthony
Davis.
Antetokounmpo used
his first pick on Philadel-
phia’s Joel Embiid.
The Clippers’ Kawhi
Leonard, Houston’s
James Harden and Rus-
sell Westbrook, and Dal-
las’ Luka Doncic were
among the players joining
Davis on James’ team.
Toronto’s Pascal
Siakam, Boston’s Kemba
Walker, Atlanta’s Trae
Young and Miami’s Jim-
my Butler helped round
out Team Giannis.
“I’m just competitive,
and I’m just going to try
to go out there and get a
windmill jam with his left
hand, drawing a 48 from
the panel of five judges.
After a short discus-
sion with Hall of Famer
Shaquille O’Neal, Gordon
brought out 7-foot-5 Bos-
ton Celtics rookie Tacko
Fall and positioned him
near the basket. He then
took the ball from Fall’s
hands on his way to a
thunderous dunk.
The United Center
gasped as the courtside
NBA stars celebrated.
But Gordon was awarded
a 47, giving the victory to
Jones.
Gordon also lost a
Hong Kong,” referencing
several months of pro-de-
mocracy demonstrations
in the semi-autonomous
Chinese territory.
The tweet wasn’t up for
long. The fallout was mas-
sive and continues. A pair
of preseason games be-
tween the Brooklyn Nets
and Los Angeles Lakers in
China were played days af-
ter Morey’s tweet, though
without the support of
several sponsors and
with both teams playing
in silence — none of the
customary pre- and post-
game media availabilities
were held. The Chinese
Basketball Association
suspended its relationship
with the Rockets, Chinese
media giant Tencent and
Chinese state television
pulled some NBA broad-
casts and Silver said the
NBA quickly began expe-
riencing significant finan-
cial losses.
Silver said it’s possible
the NBA could lose as
much as $400 million in
revenue this year because
of hits to the China mar-
ket.
“Our games have not
returned to CCTV, the
government broadcaster,”
Silver said. “My sense is
they will at some point
in the future. We are not
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND
win, get my first All-Star
(win),” Antetokounmpo
said. “I’m 0-3 so far. But
at the end of the day, I’ve
just got to keep a smile
on my face because we’ve
got to put on a show for
the people.”
New rules
The league announced
major changes to the All-
Star format last month,
turning quarters into
mini-games.
The scores will be
reset to 0-0 prior to the
second and third quar-
ters, then be reinstated
for the fourth. The All-
Star game winner will be
determined by a target
score, set by the com-
bined point total the team
in the lead had in the first
three quarters plus 24 —
a nod to Bryant, who wore
that number over the fi-
nal decade of his career.
That’s just one of multiple
tributes to him over the
weekend.
The teams are also
playing for Chicago-area
charities, with at least
$500,000 going to local
organizations.
Paying tribute
The support for Bry-
ant and his daughter is
uniform.
Team Giannis will
wear No. 24 on its jerseys
and Team LeBron No.
2 for Gianna, a promis-
ing player who wore that
number.
All participants in the
Rising Stars Challenge
on Friday and 3-point,
slam dunk and skills
competition on Saturday
wore patches showing
the numbers 24 and 2 and
nine stars to commemo-
rate the victims of the he-
licopter crash. The patch-
es worn Sunday will only
memorable dunk contest
to Zach LaVine in 2016.
Hield wins 3-point
contest
Sacramento Kings
guard Buddy Hield made
a late surge to win the
NBA 3-Point Contest.
Hield nailed a two-
point money ball from
the corner to finish with
27 points, edging Phoe-
nix Suns All-Star Devin
Booker by one in the final
round.
Hield is one of the few
bright spots for strug-
gling Sacramento, aver-
aging 20.4 points while
pressing them. It’s a deci-
sion that is outside of cer-
tainly our control and I’m
often not even sure where
that decision lies.”
The NBA and Chinese
officials have been talking,
or at least were talking un-
til much of the Chinese
resources were redirect-
ed toward dealing with
COVID-19, a disease stem-
ming from a new form of
coronavirus.
Basketball, understand-
ably, has been pushed
aside while the Chinese
deal with a massive crisis.
“This game of basket-
ball is a huge game, and
I’ve been blessed and for-
tunate enough to travel to
China a number of times,”
All-Star Chris Paul of the
Oklahoma City Thunder,
who also is president of
the National Basketball
Players Association, said
on Saturday. “A friend of
mine, Pooh Jeter, plays
over in China, and I actu-
ally wrote ‘Wuhan’ on my
shoes the other night in
a game in New Orleans.
(But) this isn’t just a Wu-
han problem. It’s an every-
one problem.”
Wuhan is the city at the
center of the outbreak.
China’s government sus-
pended most access to
Wuhan on Jan. 23. Restric-
have the nine stars since
players will be wearing
the numbers 24 and 2.
“He was the Michael
Jordan of our genera-
tion,” Antetokounmpo
said. “He was one of those
guys that gave back to
the game so much, gave
back to the players. A lot
of people when they’re so
great, they don’t do that.
There was a quote that
said that talent is worth-
less if you’re not willing
to share it, right? And
he was one of those guys
that was sharing his tal-
ent with us. He’s going to
be definitely missed.”
Homecoming
Davis, a Chicago prod-
uct, won’t be the only
player in familiar territo-
ry. Butler will be playing
where his career began.
Unheralded as a late
first-round pick, he
emerged as an All-Star
and one of the league’s
best two-way players in
his six seasons with the
Bulls before getting dealt
to Minnesota in a 2017
draft day trade.
“Man, this city’s done
a lot for me,” Butler said.
“To me, kids are so im-
portant, and I love this
city. So every time I come
back, I try to do as much
as I can with them.”
International flair
With eight non-Ameri-
cans suiting up, the game
will have an international
flair. Greece (Antetok-
ounmpo), Slovenia (Don-
cic), Serbia (Nikola Jok-
ic), Lithuania (Domantas
Sabonis), Australia (Ben
Simmons), Cameroon
(Joel Embiid, Pascal
Siakam) and France
(Rudy Gobert) will be
represented.
shooting about 39 percent
from 3-point range.
Washington’s Davis
Bertans opened the sec-
ond and final round with
a 22 before Booker elimi-
nated him.
Defending champion
Joe Harris of the Brook-
lyn Nets and Chicago’s
Zach LaVine were elimi-
nated after they failed to
crack the top three in the
first round.
Five racks with five
balls each were set up
around the perimeter —
two in the corner, two on
the wings and one up top.
Four of those racks had
tions have expanded to
cities with a total of 60 mil-
lion people in the broad-
est anti-disease measures
ever imposed. Restau-
rants, shops and other
businesses nationwide
were ordered to close.
Through Friday, China
reported a total of 66,492
cases of the virus, official-
ly saying it was respon-
sible for 1,523 deaths. Ja-
pan -- which will play host
to this summer’s Tokyo
Olympics -- reported about
259 cases through Friday,
with one death.
International competi-
tions in at least 14 different
sports have been affected
by the virus and the re-
sultant concerns. Tokyo
Olympic organizers and
the International Olympic
Committee have insisted
that there are no plans
to cancel or relocate the
games.
“It’s impossible to
predict which direction
this epidemic will take,”
said Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus, the direc-
tor-general of the World
Health Organization.
It also makes it impos-
sible to predict when mat-
ters between the NBA and
China return to normal.
In other matters Silver
addressed Saturday:
Bridges, Williamson
lead U.S. over World in
Rising Stars Challenge
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO — Miles
Bridges soared like his
boss in Chicago. Zion
Williamson delivered his
share of punishing dunks,
even damaging the rim.
It all added up to a
high-flying start to the
All-Star weekend.
Bridges scored 20
points and took MVP hon-
ors, Eric Paschall added
23 more and the U.S. beat
the World 151-131 in the
Rising Stars Challenge
on Friday night.
Bridges has been a
bright spot for Charlotte
in a difficult season. The
Hornets are 11th in the
Eastern Conference at 18-
36. But the second-year
pro put on a show in own-
er Michael Jordan’s old
home and was presented
the MVP trophy by Hall
of Famer and Chicago
product Isiah Thomas.
“We wanted to come
out and play hard in the
Rising Stars and show
what Charlotte is about —
me, Devonte’ (Graham)
and P.J. (Washington),”
Bridges said. “And that’s
what we did. I didn’t have
any extra motivation, re-
ally, I wouldn’t say that.
But MJ putting Chicago
on the map, it definitely
plays a big part, though.”
Cleveland’s Collin Sex-
ton had 21 points, Atlanta
All-Star Trae Young add-
ed 18 and Chicago prod-
uct Kendrick Young of
Miami chipped in with 16.
Williamson scored 14 and
had the baskets inside
the United Center shak-
ing whether he made or
missed.
four balls worth one point
each plus a multi-colored
two-point ball. The other
had nothing but money-
balls.
There were also two
green balls worth three
points set up six feet be-
hind the 3-point line.
Adebayo wins skills
challenge
Miami’s Bam Adebayo
has won the All-Star skills
challenge.
Adebayo narrowly de-
feated Indiana’s Doman-
tas Sabonis in the final
in a matchup of All-Star
big men. He shared a hug
Kobe Award
The NBA is imme-
diately renaming the
All-Star MVP trophy in
honor of Kobe Bryant,
the 18-time All-Star who
— along with his daugh-
ter Gianna and seven
others — died in a heli-
copter crash in Southern
California last month.
All-Star weekend has
taken on a somber tone
this year, largely because
of multiple tributes for
Bryant and NBA Com-
missioner Emeritus Da-
vid Stern, who died Jan.
1.
“I know it will be es-
pecially meaningful to
that player that wins the
first Kobe Bryant MVP,”
Silver said. “So I’m sure
there will be other hon-
ors as well, and as I
mentioned, there are
other things that we will
be discussing with our
board, the NBA board,
when they meet in April
to honor David. But this
one seems so appropri-
ate here at All-Star be-
cause nobody embodied
All-Star more than Kobe
Bryant.”
Schedule changes
Silver said he remains
optimistic that schedule
RJ Barrett of New
York led the World with
27 points, and Memphis’
Brandon Clarke scored
22.
The annual showcase
of the top rookies and sec-
ond-year players helped
kick off the first All-Star
weekend in the Windy
City since 1988, when
Jordan dazzled the home
crowd at the old Chica-
go Stadium. Back then,
His Airness edged Dom-
inique Wilkins in a slam
dunk contest that argu-
ably remains the stan-
dard and scored 40 points
to lead the East over the
West in the game.
Jamming
Williamson continued
to dazzle after his highly
anticipated debut for New
Orleans got pushed back
three months because of
right knee surgery. Av-
eraging 22.1 points in 10
games for the Pelicans,
the No. 1 pick was un-
aware he bent the rim. It
happened late in the first
half, on an alley-oop off
a between-the-legs feed
from Ja Morant.
“Went into halftime
and my teammates start-
ed telling me about it,” he
said. I don’t know which
dunk it was on, but I don’t
think it was me.”
As impressive were
two misses near the end
of the game.
Williamson attempted
a 360, only to have it go
flying off the rim. Given a
do-over as players on both
teams stood and watched,
he went between his legs
and off the glass only to
miss again.
with former Heat star
Dwyane Wade after ac-
cepting the trophy.
Adebayo eliminated
2018 champion Spencer
Dinwiddie and Raptors
star Pascal Siakam in the
first two rounds on the
obstacle course. Sabonis
advanced with victories
over defending champion
Jayson Tatum and Mil-
waukee’s Khris Middle-
ton.
The 22-year-old Ade-
bayo is in the middle of
a breakout season, aver-
aging 15.8 points, 10.4 re-
bounds and 4.9 assists in
54 games for the Heat.
changes he has wanted
— including an in-season
tournament — are viable
possibilities.
The NBA was targeting
adding such a tournament
in 2021-22, the league’s
75th anniversary year.
But plans for an April vote
on such a change were ta-
bled weeks ago, and the
timetable is uncertain.
“I may have been a lit-
tle naive in thinking that
for the 75th anniversary,
we could say let’s make
all these changes,” Silver
said. “We’ll sort of see
what happens in the 75th
anniversary, and we’ll go
from there.”
All-Stars polled by The
Associated Press earlier
Saturday about the poten-
tial of schedule changes
were largely supportive
of the notion, though the
majority also said they do
not know enough about
the plans to have a strong
opinion.
“I don’t know. I mean
our season is already
long,” said Portland
guard Damian Lillard,
who is missing the All-
Star Game with an injury.
“I think if we’re playing
for something that would
count, I can see it being
OK, but there’s a price for
everything.”
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 5B

Caledonia senior forward Bergstrom signs to play

soccer at Northwest Mississippi Community College
BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com
A former coach and an unlikely alli-
ance are bringing Caledonia forward
Garrett Bergstrom to Northwest Missis-
sippi Community College.
Bergstrom, a 6-foot-6 senior for the
Confederates boys soccer team, was un-
decided on his college choice until the
’Feds hosted rival New Hope on Dec. 14.
Bergstrom found out that Northwest,
which had been recruiting had since his
freshman year of high school, would
also be the collegiate destination of
New Hope senior midfielder Ellis Clark.
Bergstrom played with Clark on the Co-
lumbus United club team, and though
the two attend rival schools, they’ve
been friends for a long time.
“I like the way he plays, and I’ve
known him for a while,” Bergstrom
said of Clark. “I guess just the fact that
I know people who are going there and
I know how they play, I figured out I’d
enjoy it the most.”
Another point in the school’s favor
was the friendship between Northwest
coach Mark Hogan and former Cale-
donia coach Louis Alexander. It wasn’t
hard for Bergstrom to see the likeness
between the two coaches.
“His coaching style is a lot similar to
Coach A’s from last year, so I just feel
like it would be a good fit for me,” Berg-
strom said of Hogan.
Bergstrom wanted to join fellow Cale-
donia senior Wes Rollins at Itawamba
Community College, but it didn’t work
out. He received interest from Christian
Brothers University in Memphis, but go-
ing to a school where he wouldn’t know
anybody didn’t appeal to him.
Instead, Bergstrom will join Clark
and take his talents to Senatobia. One of
his goals is to have an undefeated season
during his with the Rangers, but he has
other plans, too.
“Hopefully I can just get better and
develop as a player and prepare myself
for the next level,” Bergstrom said.

AUTO

Trump’s Daytona: NASCAR fans revved for presidential visit

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Stroll
through the Daytona infield and fans
can grab a seat next to President Donald
Trump and get a sweet taste of impeach-
ment.
Debi Ringhaver is mixing cocktails
for curious NASCAR fans who stop in
their tracks at the sight of her lifesize
mannequin of Trump, chilling on a lawn
chair, holding a book titled “The Truth
Behind Trump” and wearing a red “Don-
ald Trump 2020” baseball cap.
Hundreds have stopped by her RV
this week for a selfie or a chat or a sip
of “The Impeachment,” a blend of peach
vodka, champagne and peach nectar.
The “Subpoena Colada” also is in the
blender, but Ringhaver concedes “it’s
just a pina colada with a better name.”
Ringhaver placed a book in Trump’s
grip because so many of her friends sat
on his lap when she kept him at her Flor-
ida home, they broke his hands.
“They get real enthusiastic,” she
said, laughing. “They get kind of excited
about having Donald at the ranch.”
NASCAR fans are ecstatic about the
real deal crashing the Daytona 500 this
weekend.
When Trump arrives Sunday at Day-
tona International Speedway to deliver
the command for drivers to start their
engines, the race’s grand marshal might
as well be at one of his campaign rallies.
High above banners flying for NASCAR
stars like Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson,
Trump flags wave atop row after row of
flashy RVs.
NASCAR, which has a complicated
relationship with politics and social is-
sues, doesn’t dare sell the kind of mer-
chandise the president’s loyalists wear
to the track. One guy standing in a food
line wore a T-shirt with Trump’s image
superimposed over a “Sons of Anarchy”
homage, tattooed arms folded and smil-
ing as part of the 2020 MAGA Chapter.
Two others in a golf cart stopped in front
of a makeshift bar in Trump/Pence
shirts, getting shoutouts from fellow
revelers.
Matt Mansfield, lounging in the
infield in nothing but a pair of athlet-
ic shorts and camouflage Crocs, was
pumped for the president.
“I don’t know if he’s a NASCAR fan,”
Mansfield said of Trump. “I think it’s
more for the voter base. Get some more
votes. ‘Oh yeah, Trump’s here, woo
hoo!’”
Fan after fan asked about Trump’s
presence were thrilled he was attending
the race. Kristi Bodnaruk, who has at-
tended every Daytona 500 since 2005,
was one of the few dissenters in the in-
field.
“I’m annoyed,” she said. “It’s Trump.
Eh. It’s all show. They’re Republicans.
They’re all from the Midwest. It makes
sense. But, eh.”
Trump is the second sitting presi-
dent to attend the Daytona 500, joining
George W. Bush in 2004.
Trump’s dip into sports has been
mixed. He has tangled with some of the
biggest names in sports over social jus-
tice protests during the national anthem,
racial issues and White House visits for
champions. He was booed at the World
Series in Washington, but cheered at the
Army-Navy game as well as the national
championship game between Clemson
and LSU.
Auto racing is a completely different
ballgame: Trump has hosted previous
NASCAR champions at the White House
and last October awarded the Presiden-
tial Medal of Freedom to motorsports
giant Roger Penske.
Former NASCAR Chairman Brian
France in 2015 tried to ban the flying
of Confederate flags at race tracks, a
proposal too broad to enforce and one
that angered stock car racing’s fan base
in the Deep South. Later that summer,
then-candidate Trump was critical of
Mexican immigrants and Marcus Lemo-
nis, the Lebanese CEO of the title spon-
sor of NASCAR’s Truck Series, lashed
out at the remarks. NASCAR canceled
its season-ending awards ceremony
scheduled for Trump’s Doral property in
South Florida.
Months later, France recruited sev-
eral drivers to attend a Georgia rally for
the candidate. France, Chase Elliott and
Hall of Famers Mark Martin and Bill El-
liott spoke from the stage in support of
Trump as they flanked the candidate.
France later that week penned an
email to the entire NASCAR organiza-
tion saying his endorsement was person-
al and he was not speaking on behalf of
NASCAR.
Two Cup Series champions, Martin
Truex Jr. and Joey Logano, have been
honored at the White House. Kyle Bus-
ch, the reigning series champion who
visited the White House and President
Barack Obama following his 2015 title,
said he would go again if invited by
Trump. Logano said it was “amazing”
Trump was attending “The Great Amer-
ican Race.”
“The leader of our country is coming
to the Daytona 500. How cool is that?”
Logano said. “That kind of solidifies
what our sport is. It’s a huge event. We’re
a big sport, and to be able to have the
president come here, that’s something
we all should be proud of. Whether you
support him or not, it doesn’t matter. It
shows the unity in our sport and how big
our sport really is.”
Had Trump toured the track this
weekend, he might have spotted one
driver in NASCAR’s second-tier series
in a Trump/Pence 2020 paint scheme:
Joe Nemechek’s Chevrolet was spon-
sored by The Patriots PAC of America.
The Daytona 500 is a sellout for the
fifth consecutive year, the booze, the fly-
overs, the celebrities, the flutter of the
flags all part of the pageantry for more
than 100,000 fans at the kickoff of NA-
SCAR’s season.
Daytona fans were more absorbed
with hitting the next party than debat-
ing politics as the race approached. The
tailgating feast at one stop was fit for a
president who served fast food at the
White House to college football cham-
pions: deep fried honey buns and deep
fried Oreos were on the dessert menu
— or maybe it was dinner? — and cheap
domestic beers easily slipped into NA-
SCAR koozies.
Trump’s supporters have hunkered
down at Daytona, comforted by the fact
that while their favorite drivers may be
different, their love for the president is a
deep tie that binds.
“We’re a different group of people,”
said Georgia native Scott Gregory, at-
tending his fifth straight Daytona 500.
“When you walk around and talk to all
these folks, we’re all pretty much of the
same mind of what we think of the U.S.,
leadership, our president, and we’re all
pretty much in line as far as that think-
ing. I don’t think it’s true of other sport-
ing events.”

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

War of words on Astros scandal Baker to MLB: Tell teams to

now involves a partial tattoo
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WEST PALM BEACH,
Fla. — The verbal spar-
ring between the Hous-
ton Astros and others
around the majors over
the team’s sign-stealing
scandal is reaching new
levels of absurdity —
from accusations of illit-
eracy to claims about a
player’s partial tattoo.
Yes, really.
And spring training is
only a few days old. Imag-
ine what things might be
like once the Astros start
playing games.
Houston shortstop
Carlos Correa took his
turn escalating the situ-
ation to something a pro-
fessional wrestling fan
might appreciate, going
after Los Angeles Dodg-
ers star Cody Bellinger
on Saturday for the reign-
ing NL MVP’s recrimina-
tions.
In an interview with
MLB Network, Correa
responded to Bellinger’s
barbs from a day earlier
by saying: “The problem
I have is when players go
out there and they don’t
know the facts, they’re
not informed on the situ-
ation and they just go out
there in front of cameras
and just talk. And with
me, that doesn’t sit right.
Doesn’t sit right at all.”
Correa went on: “He
either doesn’t know how
to read, is really bad at
reading comprehension
or is just not informed at
all.”
At Dodgers camp in
Glendale, Arizona, a few
players watched Correa’s
interview on televisions
in LA’s clubhouse.
Los Angeles closer
Kenley Jansen, for one,
is growing tired of hear-
ing about the whole thing
and would rather just
forget what happened in
2017.
He called what the
Astros did worse than
baseball’s steroids and
gambling scandals of the
past and offered up a sug-
gestion for a way Major
League Baseball could
have penalized Houston.
“Let them play the sea-
son,” Jansen said, “but
ban them for the postsea-
son this year.”
And round and round
it goes.
On Friday, Bellinger
said the Astros “were
cheating for three years”
and called out second
baseman José Altuve in
particular.
“I think what people
don’t realize is Altuve
stole an MVP from (Yan-
kees outfielder Aaron)
Judge in ‘17. Everyone
knows they stole the ring
from us,” Bellinger said.
Commissioner Rob
Manfred fined the As-
tros, took away draft
picks and suspended
manager AJ Hinch and
GM Jeff Luhnow, who
both were then fired by
Houston.
An MLB investigation
said Houston used a vid-
eo feed to view and de-
code opposing catchers’
signs, then banged on a
garbage can to signal to
batters what pitch was
coming, during the 2017
and 2018 seasons. In the
first of those years, Cor-
rea’s Astros beat Bell-
inger’s Dodgers in the
World Series.
“Cody didn’t have a
good World Series. So for
him to be talking about
us ‘stealing that champi-
onship,’ don’t talk about
it,” Correa said. “You
should not be talking
about it. You should have
done something about it.”
Last season, the As-
tros lost in the Fall Clas-
sic to the Washington
Nationals, whose gener-
al manager, Mike Rizzo,
said Friday he hadn’t
heard a proper apology
from Houston.
One of Correa’s points
Saturday was that Altuve
— along with teammates
Josh Reddick, Tony Kemp
— did not want help from
the noise made by hitting
a trash can.
Another point? That
Altuve didn’t want his
teammates to rip off his
jersey after a walk-off ho-
mer against the Yankees
in the 2019 ALCS for two
reasons: Altuve’s wife
didn’t like it when his
shirt got removed, and,
in Correa’s words, “He’s
got an unfinished tattoo
on his collarbone ... that
honestly looked terrible.
It was a bad tattoo, and he
didn’t want nobody to see
it. He didn’t want to show
it at all.”
Bellinger had sur-
mised that Altuve didn’t
want the shirt removed
because he was hiding a
buzzer to receive signals
about what pitch might
be coming.
“Nobody wore buzz-
ers” in 2019, Correa said.
‘stop the comments’ on Astros
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WEST PALM BEACH,
Fla. — Dusty Baker
wants action from Major
League Baseball: End the
criticism of the Astros
from across baseball over
sign stealing, and take
steps to ensure pitchers
don’t throw at his players.
“It’s not good for the
game, it’s not good for
kids to see it, so I think
both,” the new Houston
manager said Saturday.
“Stop the comments and
also stop something be-
fore it happens.”
Baker spoke in re-
sponse to a wave of harsh
comments during spring
training about the Astros’
use of video to steal signs
in 2017 and 2018. Los An-
geles Dodger first base-
man Cody Bellinger said
Friday the Astros “stole”
the 2017 World Series ti-
tle from them and adds
that Jose Altuve did like-
wise with the MVP, deny-
ing the Yankees’ Aaron
Judge.
Houston players,
management and owner-
ship spent the first day
of camp apologizing for
their actions and profess-
ing remorse. But many
players and front offices
around the league didn’t
feel they went far enough.
Washington general
manager Mike Rizzo said
he wanted to hear the As-
tros use the word “cheat-
ed” when addressing the
situation.
“I’m depending on the
league to try to put a stop
to the seemingly premed-
itated retaliation that I’m
hearing about,” Baker
said. “In most instances
in life you get kind of rep-
rimanded for when you
have premeditated any-
thing.”
Los Angeles pitcher
Ross Stripling indicated
he might intentionally
throw at Houston batters.
“We don’t start noth-
ing,” Baker said. “This is
kind of the slogan of my
team: We don’t start any-
thing — not intentionally.
Guys are going to be get-
ting hit intentionally and
unintentionally. If you
say you are going to drill
somebody and all of the
sudden you drill them,
you can’t say, ‘I wasn’t
trying to hit them,’ you
know what I mean?”
Houston ace Justin
Verlander expects the
commissioner’s office to
severely punish retalia-
tion.
“The game has
changed,” Verlander said.
“I think the commission-
er has made it very clear
in the past few seasons
that throwing a baseball
at somebody intentionally
isn’t an appropriate form
of retaliation in the game
any longer.”
Verlander also said it is
“wrong” to speculate that
the Astros, specifically
Altuve, used buzzers as
part of the sign stealing.
“We were successful
in the World Series last
year. All that stuff about
buzzers and all that stuff
is simply not true,” he
said. “People can specu-
late all they want. We dug
our grave. We’re in it. I
think emphatically every-
body made it very clear
that that wasn’t true.”
Outfielder George
Springer declined to
speak with the media be-
fore Saturday’s workout.
Altuve was not in the club-
house during the time
it was open to the media
but through a spokesman
also declined to comment
on Bellinger’s remarks.
Position players don’t
begin their first official
workouts until Monday.
Verlander is concerned
about the respect the As-
tros have lost around the
league. However, he ex-
pects more revelations
about sign stealing by
other teams to emerge.
“Yeah, it bothers me,”
he said. “But like I said,
(Bellinger’s) entitled and
everybody else is entitled
to their own opinion. I
think facts are still com-
ing out, information’s still
coming out, and I don’t
think this is going to be
something that’s done —
not even for us. There’s
going to be information
that’s going to continue
coming out for a long
time.”
Could the Dodgers be
one of those teams?
“I don’t want to insin-
uate about other organi-
zations,” Verlander said.
“The other day we apolo-
gized about what we did.”
Verlander also con-
firmed the Astros’ expla-
nation from Friday about
his reason for skipping a
scheduled bullpen ses-
sion.
“I threw an extensive
bullpen the day before
we started,” he said. “Just
wanted to give myself a
little time to recover after
that.”
6B SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Jim Lytle/Special to The Dispatch

On a pitch count of 60, Mississippi State sophomore and reigning National Freshman of the Year JT Ginn struggled Friday, allowing two earned runs in just three innings.

Opener
Continued from Page 1B
Lemonis said.
While the MSU bats
came alive late, it was a
middling performance
from the Bulldog pitch-
ing staff that required its
assistance.
Reigning National
Freshman of the Year JT
Ginn reminded onlook-
ers of his fiery nature
as he bounced off the
mound and shimmied
his shoulders in the sec-
ond inning after a wicked
breaking ball gave him
the second of his four
strikeouts on the day.
Despite flashes of bril-
liance, Ginn struggled,
as he allowed two earned
runs on three hits in just
three innings pitched as
he worked under a Le-
monis-induced 60-pitch
limit.
“You’ve got to tip your
hat to Wright State; they
grind their at-bats out —
very similar to us — and
they don’t chase a lot of
pitches, so he was out of
there pretty quick,” Lem-
onis said of Ginn. “But I
liked what I saw. He com-
peted.”
Southeast Louisi-
ana transfer Carlisle
Koestler and freshman
Landon Sims were sim-
ilarly sporadic, combin-
ing for four runs on five
hits and three walks
— though Koestler did
manage three strikeouts
to Sims’ zero.
“I don’t know if he’s
walked a guy the entire
preseason, and you go
out there, and it’s just
part of it,” Lemonis said.
“We’re going to run him
back out there — he’s
one of the better pitchers
in the country.”
Former East Missis-
sippi Community College
standout Jaxen Forrester
did offer some solace, as
he went 1-2-3 and struck
out one batter in as the
eighth inning, while for-
mer Alabama left-hander
Jared Shemper pitched
out of a bases-loaded
ninth-inning jam to close
the contest.
Dawg notes
Lemonis said post-
game sophomore catcher
Luke Hancock is dealing
with a lingering injury
that will limit him in the
early going this season.
Hancock caught three in-
nings, in part due to his
past history with Ginn,
but he was replaced in
the third inning by fresh-
man Logan Tanner.
MacLeod
Continued from Page 1B
miles per hour on the out-
field radar gun.
“After that first strike-
out I wanted to get in a
good rhythm,” MacLeod
said. “I like to work faster
so getting in that rhythm
today was huge.”
“That was one of the
better performances I’ve
caught, for sure,” Tanner
added. “His stuff is just as
good as anyone I’ve ever
caught and he’s going to
be a special pitcher.”
With MacLeod dealing
through the first five in-
nings, it was Tanner that
impressed at the plate.
Catching in place of
injured sophomore Luke
Hancock — who Lemonis
said Friday is battling a
lingering injury from the
preseason that will lim-
it him in the early going
this year — Tanner fin-
ished 3 of 4 at the plate
with a home run, a double
and two runs scored.
Flashing a smooth
right-handed stroke in
the batter’s box, his sec-
ond inning homer raced
out of the ballpark with
an exit velocity of 100
miles per hour at a launch
angle of just 19-degrees.
Unsure if his ball
would clear the wall, Tan-
ner joked he missed first
base as he raced down
the line with excitement.
“I just kind of blacked
out for a second,” he
quipped postgame.
Fellow freshman Kam-
ren James — the brother
of former MSU pitcher
Keegan James — was sim-
ilarly prolific at the plate,
finishing his day 2-for-3
with a double off the wall
and 2 RBIs. James also
flashed a strong arm and
flashy glove at third base
as he earned an assist and
a putout on the day.
Following MacLeod’s
prolific start, freshman
Will Bednar fanned four
Raider hitters in two
innings of relief work.
Flashing a power arm off
the rubber, Bednar’s fast-
ball peaked at 97 miles
per hour.
Senior right-hander
Riley Self also saw his
first game action of 2020,
setting down the Wright
State lineup in order with
a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
With MacLeod and
Ginn now finished with
their opening weekend
work, MSU will turn to
sophomore fireballer Eric
Cerantola at 1 p.m. Sun-
day as they seek a sweep
of Wright State.
“Hopefully he fol-
lows what Christian did
and runs out there and
pounds the zone and has
some fun,” Lemonis said
of Cerantola. “I mean,
he’s got electric stuff;
he’s just got to get out
there and compete.”

Ado
Continued from Page 1B
boards. Abdul made a huge
play.”
Saturday wasn’t for the faint
of heart. The Bulldogs blew a
17-point second-half lead, with
Arkansas going up three points
in the final two minutes, but key
plays by Carter and Ado down
the stretch ensured the victory.
“To have the 17-point lead
and then them coming back to
taking a 3-point lead, having the
toughness as a team to hang in
there and continue to have faith
and believe is such a great mo-
ment for our team,” Howland
said. “I’m so thankful.”
Considering the Bulldogs
lost by 25 points to in-state rival
Ole Miss on Tuesday, defeat-
ing Arkansas was necessary
for MSU’s NCA A tournament
resume. Elation took over the
MSU locker room as a result,
with Howland getting doused
with a water bath the moment
he entered the room. The fifth-
year coach soaked it all in, then
let out a celebratory scream
with his players.
“That was really special,”
Howland said. “It’s something
I’ll never forget. I’m just so
grateful to God and thankful
for our players and our staff.
It’s an unbelievable win for us.”
With the win, Mississippi
State has now won six straight
games against Arkansas, the
most times the Bulldogs have
beaten the Razorbacks in a row.
It was the first time MSU had
swept Arkansas in a regular
season series since the 2010-
2011 season.
The Bulldogs closed the first
half on a 8-0 run in the final
minute, capped off by Carter
drilling a 3-pointer at the buzz-
er to give MSU a 40-32 lead. It
was the only 3-point shot the
Bulldogs made in the half. MSU
shot an astounding 62.1 percent
from the floor in the period.
Carter finished with 26
points off the bench, convert-
ing 8 of 14 shots and 8 of 10 free
throws.
“I was pretty confident,”
Carter said. “I’ve had past
struggles, but I knew it wasn’t
always going to be like that. I
just wanted to fight through it
and get into the gym.”
The Bulldogs came out of
the locker room guns blazing,
opening a 56-39 advantage, but
Arkansas’ Mason Jones went to
work. Jones was a wrecking ball
offensively for the Razorbacks,
as he finished with a game-high
38 points and was instrumental
in his team’s comeback.
The Bulldogs shot 58.8 per-
cent from the floor and made 15
of 22 free throws on the after-
noon. After what he called “the
worst game of his life” against
Ole Miss on social media, Nick
Weatherspoon contributed 10
points and three assists in the
win. Reggie Perry, a former
Arkansas commit, poured in
17 points and grabbed eight
rebounds. D.J. Stewart was the
other MSU player in double fig-
ures with 10.
“We fought through a lot of
adversity and continued to fight
hard,” Perry said.
MSU is back in action
against South Carolina at 8 p.m.
Wednesday at Humphrey Coli-
seum.
“It meant a lot,” Carter said
of the win. “We have a lot of fun
out there. We just want to get
back on track and get to where
we want to be.”

GOLF

McIlroy, Scott, Kuchar share lead at Riviera; Woods falters

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Rory
McIlroy returned to No. 1 in the
world for the first time in more
than four years and is playing
like he wants to stay there for
a while.
McIlroy had a 3-under 68 on
Saturday at Riviera and shared
the 54-hole lead with Matt
Kuchar and Adam Scott going
into the final round at the Gene-
sis Invitational.
Riviera is a thorough test,
and the greens are difficult
enough that no one could run
away with it. Tiger Woods man-
aged to run the other direction
with a 76 that left him 15 shots
behind.
Kuchar had a two-shot lead
at the start of the gorgeous day
and kept there with three bird-
ies and no bogeys through 12
holes. But he started to miss
short putts, made three bogeys
in a four-hole stretch and had to
rally with a birdie on the 17th to
regain a share of the lead with
a 70.
Scott holed a 10-foot birdie
putt on the 18th for a 67 that
gives him a great chance to
start his new year off with a
win. Scott last played about two
months ago when he won the
Australian PGA Championship.
He has a trophy from Riviera
in 2005, even if the PGA Tour
doesn’t count it as an official
win because it was shortened
to 36 holes by rain.
They were at at 10-under-par
203, and the final round figured
to be wide open.
Sixteen players were sepa-
rated by four shots.
Harold Varner III birdied his
last two holes for a 69 and was
one shot behind, along with
Russell Henley (68). Dustin
Johnson, who won at Riviera
three years ago, had only two
pars over his final 12 holes.
That stretch also featured five
birdies and an eagle for a 67.
He was two shots behind, along
with Joel Dahmen (66).
Still in the mix was Hideki
Matsuyama, who bogeyed his
last hole Friday and was the
last player to make the cut.
Matsuyama played in the final
group off the back nine, away
from all the attention, and post-
ed a 64. He was four shots be-
hind and very much in the pic-
ture.
Woods will have to wait an-
other year to win at Riviera, an-
other week to seek his record
83rd victory on the PGA Tour.
In a spot where he couldn’t af-
ford to drop shots, he made
more mistakes than he had all
week, especially on the greens.
He four-putted from 18 feet
on No. 13, his second four-putt
in as many tournaments this
year and the first times since
1998 that Woods had multiple
tournaments with a four-putt.
He three-putted the 17th for
par. He finished with a three-
putt bogey from about 12 feet
on the 18th.
It added up to a 76, leaving
him at the bottom of the pack.
It was his highest score since
he opened with an 81 at Royal
Portrush in the British Open
last summer, and the first time
since the PGA Championship
in May that Woods had consec-
utive rounds over par.
“I hit the ball quite a few
times, especially on the greens,
and it was a long day,” Woods
said. “I didn’t have a feel for it,
I didn’t see my lines, I couldn’t
feel my pace and I was just off.
... Obviously, there wasn’t a
whole lot I did right today, and
figure it out tomorrow.”
Woods said he wasn’t ready
for the Mexico Championship
next week and was not sure
when he would play next. The
idea is to peak for the Masters,
still about two months away.
Woods wasn’t alone in his
struggles. Sung Kang missed
a 2-foot putt during a stretch
of three straight bogeys. Ryan
Palmer took six shots to get out
of a greenside bunker on No. 14
and made 9.

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Gary Farley
COLUMBUS —
Gary E. Farley, 83, died
Feb. 14, 2020, at DCH
in Tuscaloosa, Ala-
bama.
Arrangements are
incomplete and will be
announced by Lown-
des Funeral Home of
Columbus.
William Prestridge
SPLUNGE — Wil-
liam Grady “Bill”
Prestridge, 53, died
Feb. 13, 2020, at his
residence.
Services are at 2 p.m.
today at Cleveland-Mof-
fett Funeral Home, with
Church Moffett officiat-
ing. Burial will follow at
Wesley Chapel Ceme-
TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Sunday, Feb.
16, the 47th day of 2020.
There are 319 days left in
the year.
Today’s Highlight in
History:
On Feb. 16, 2001,
the United States and
Britain staged air strikes
against radar stations
and air defense command
centers in Iraq.
On this date:
In 1862, the Civil
War Battle of Fort Donel-
son in Tennessee ended
as some 12,000 Confeder-
ate soldiers surrendered;
Union Gen. Ulysses S.
Grant’s victory earned
him the moniker “Uncon-
ditional Surrender Grant.”
In 1868, the Benevo-
lent and Protective Order
of Elks was organized in
New York City.
In 1945, American
troops landed on the is-
land of Corregidor in the
Philippines during World
War II.
In 1959, Fidel Castro
became premier of Cuba a
month and a-half after the
overthrow of Fulgencio
Batista.
In 1961, the United
States launched the Ex-
plorer 9 satellite.
In 1968, the nation’s
first 911 emergency
telephone system was
inaugurated in Haleyville,
Alabama, as the speaker
of the Alabama House,
Rankin Fite, placed a call
from the mayor’s office in
City Hall to a red tele-
phone at the police station
(also located in City Hall)
that was answered by U.S.
Rep. Tom Bevill.
In 1988, seven
people were shot to death
during an office rampage
in Sunnyvale, California,
by a man obsessed with
a co-worker who was
wounded in the attack.
(The gunman is on death
row.)
In 1996, eleven peo-
ple were killed in a fiery
collision between an Am-
trak passenger train and a
Maryland commuter train
tery, near Detroit, Ala-
bama. Visitation is form
12:30-2 p.m. prior to
services at the funeral
home. Cleveland-Mof-
fett Funeral Home of
Amory is in charge of
arrangements.
Mr. Prestridge was
born April 26, 1966, to
Wendy Fant and the
late Gary L. “Buddy”
Prestridge. He was
formerly employed as a
truck driver.
In addition to his
father, he was pre-
ceded in death by his
daughter, Kayla N.
Prestridge.
In addition to his
mother, he is survived
by his sons, William
Andrew Prestridge of
Amory, Taylor Jones
of Aberdeen and Sean
Southard of Tupelo;
sisters, Dorothy Nell
Grant of Aberdeen,
Pam Sutton of Sulligent
and Michelle Pearson
of Corinth; brothers,
Jimmy Prestridge of
Middelton, Tennessee,
and Gary Prestridge
Jr. of Water Valley; and
one grandchild.
Toll Nolen
SULLIGENT, Ala.
— Toll Loyd Nolen, 91,
died Feb. 12, 2020, at
his residence.
Services will be at
3 p.m. Monday at Otts
Funeral Home Chapel,
with Thad Hawkins of-
ficiating. Burial will fol-
low at Crews Cemetery.
Visitation will be two
hours prior to services
at the funeral home.
Otts Funeral Home of
Sulligent is in charge of
arrangements.
Mr. Nolen was born
June 25, 1928, in Sulli-
gent, to the late Thom-
in Silver Spring, Md.
In 1998, a China Air-
lines Airbus A300 trying
to land in fog near Taipei,
Taiwan, crashed, killing
all 196 people on board,
plus seven on the ground.
In 2002, authorities
in Noble, Ga., arrested
Ray Brent Marsh, who’d
been operating a cremato-
ry where hundreds of de-
composing corpses were
found stacked in storage
sheds and scattered in the
woods behind it. (Marsh
later pleaded guilty and
was sentenced to 12 years
in prison.)
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
AREA OBITUARIES
as Nolen and Martha
“Mattie” Simpson. He
was formerly employed
with Hyster and as a
carpenter. He was a
member of Sulligent
Church of God.
In addition to his
parents, he was pre-
ceded in death by his
wife, Jerline Gammill
Nolen; brothers, Ernest
Nolen, Clyde Nolen,
Judge Nolen and Oliver
Nolen; and sisters, Net-
tie Gosa, Edna Taylor,
Jala Elliott and Minnie
Palmer.
He is survived by his
daughter, Paulette Bir-
mingham of Sulligent;
two grandchildren;
seven great-grand-
children; and two
great-great-grandchil-
dren.
Ruth Nichols
COLUMBUS —
Ruth Clark Nichols, 98,
died Feb. 15, 2020, at
her residence.
Arrangements are
incomplete and will be
announced by Lown-
des Funeral Home of
Columbus.
Charlie Holcomb
COLUMBUS ­—
Charlie McIlwain
Holcomb, 90, died Feb.
15, 2020, at Monroe
Regional Hospital of
Aberdeen.
Services will be at 2
p.m. Saturday, at First
Baptist Church, with
the Rev. Bobby Sander-
son officiating. Burial
will follow at Memorial
Gardens Cemetery
with military honors.
Visitation will be one
hour prior to services
at the church. Memori-
al Gunter Peel Funeral
In 2005, the NHL
canceled what was left of
its decimated schedule
after a round of last-gasp
negotiations failed to
resolve differences over a
salary cap — the flash-
point issue that had led to
a lockout.
In 2006, the U.S.
Army said goodbye to its
last Mobile Army Sur-
gical Hospital, handing
over equipment from the
MASH unit to doctors
and nurses in Pakistan,
the scene of an Oct. 2005
earthquake.
Ten years ago:
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 7B
Home & Crematory Judi Betts brook, Danny Sanford
Second Avenue North and Haze Allsup.
COLUMBUS —
Location is in charge of Judith “Judi” Pauline Memorials may be
arrangements. Curtis Betts, 73, died made to the National
Memorials may be Feb. 14, 2020, at her Kidney Foundation of
made to the Lottie residence. Mississippi, P.O. Box
Moon Foreign Mis- Services will be at 1 55802, Jackson, MS,
sions, First Baptist p.m. Monday, at Memo-
Church, P.O. Box 829, 39216.
rial Gunter Peel Chapel
Columbus, MS 39703. College Street Loca-
tion, with Matt Moeh-
Eloise Dowdy
Amanda Lee ring and Sonny McClel- COLUMBUS — Elo-
ABERDEEN — ise Virginia Dowdy, 91,
lan officiating. Burial
Amanda Schrock Lee, died Feb. 15, 2020, at
will follow at Lone Oak
88, died Feb. 14, 2020, her residence.
Church of Chris Cem-
at her residence. Arrangements are
etery in Steens. Visita-
Graveside services incomplete and will be
tion will be two hours
will be at 3 p.m. Mon-
prior to services at the announce by Lowndes
day, at Mennonite funeral home. Memori- Funeral Home of Co-
Christian Cemetery,
al Gunter Peel Chapel lumbus.
with Stephen Luker of- College Street Location
ficiating. Tisdale-Lann
is in charge of arrange-
Memorial Funeral ments.
Home of Aberdeen is
Mrs. Betts was born
in charge of arrange- September 12, 1946, in
ments.
Columbus, to the late
Mrs. Lee was born Howard and Ruth Bobo
June 26, 1931, in Bay
Minette, Alabama,
Curtis. She was a grad-
uate of Caledonia High
to the late Samuel School. She was for-
and Nancy Schrock.
merly employed at an
She was a member of administrative assistant
Mennonite Christian
Church.
at Baptist Memorial Charlie Holcomb
In addition to her
Hospital and a member Visitation:
of Lone Oak Church of Saturday, Feb. 22 • 12-2 PM
parents, she was First Baptist Church
Christ. Services:
preceded in death by
In addition to her Saturday, Feb. 22 • 2 PM
her husband, Noah First Baptist Church
parents, she was pre-
Lee; daughter, Rachel Burial
Luker; and brothers;
ceded in death by her Memorial Gardens
Second Ave. North Location
brother, Kenneth Cur-
Johnny, James, Samuel Judi Betts
tis, and sister, Shirley
and Abraham Schrock. Visitation:
She is survived by Curtis Westbrook.
Monday, Feb. 17 • 11-1 PM
her daughters, Ma- She is survived by College Street Location
her husband, Tommy Services:
linda Luker, Carolyn Monday, Feb. 17 • 1 PM
Luker, Sheila Luker Betts of Columbus; College Street Location
and Arleen Luker all of daughter, Amy Betts Burial
Lone Oak Church Cemetery
Aberdeen, Rebecca Hel- Williams of Columbus;
ton of Hamilton, Diane and one grandchild.
Phillips of Smithville; Pallbearers will be
Greg Wheat, Steve memorialgunterpeel.com
sons: Andrew Lee and
Levi Lee of Aberdeen; Westbrook, Keith West-
Jonah Lee of Virginia; brook, Wesley West-
eleven brothers and
sisters; sixty grandchil-
dren; 58 great-grand-
children and four great-
great grandchildren.
Officials reported the
capture of Mullah Abdul
Ghani Baradar (BEHR’-
uh-dahr), the Afghan
Taliban’s No. 2 command-
er, by a joint CIA and Ashton Hammett
Pakistani team. (Baradar
was set free by Pakistan Ashton Bryant Hammett had
his final #1 Victory Royale, as he
in Sept. 2013 in hopes
he could help jumpstart moved on from his life’s journey
and met with our Lord, on Feb-
Afghanistan’s peace pro-
cess.) President Barack ruary 12, 2020. He was a life-
Obama announced more long resident of Belle Chasse,
than $8 billion in new LA until 2017, when his family
federal loan guarantees to moved to Columbus, MS.
build two nuclear reactors He was a brave warrior, who
fought Transitional Hepatoblas-
in Georgia.
toma, a rare liver cancer, since
SOURCE: AP he was 9 years old. Ashton was wise and insight-
ful beyond his years. Regardless of his battle, his
selfless, generous heart and his comedic person-
ality remained steadfast. He was a creative art-
ist who loved sculpting and drawing. He loved
to dance and sing. He was passionate about his
gaming and truly loved his gaming buddies. His
love for others and spirit were just immeasurable.
To meet Ashton was to instantly know someone
who was special and everyone’s Best Friend. His
Light Burned too brightly for this world.
He is survived by his parents, Marissa
Menendez and Daniel Hammett; sister, Tristan
Renee Hammett; grandparents, Enith Menendez
and Donald and Cleo Hammett; aunts, Jackie
Hammett, Andrea Alexander, Linda Hammett,
Brenda Hammett and Glenda (Marion) Stevens;
uncles, Morris (Rae-Lyn) Hammett, Donald
(Amy) Hammett Jr. and Darrin Cotton; cousins,
Shelby Hammett, Jacie-Rae Hammett, Davin
Savoy, Jade Hammett, Brittany Alexander, Abby
Alexander, Zachary Alexander and Andrew
Whittikki; and many other beloved family and
friends.
He is preceded in his heavenly departure by
his grandfather, Michael Menendez; cousins,
Madison Branton and Jordan Beckham; and
many other family and friends.
We will have a “Sending Off A SuperHero
Celebration” next month. Specifics will be re-
leased soon. In the meantime get your Super
Hero or Comic Book Character Costumes ready,
and warm up on your Karaoke songs and dance
moves, because it will be a party Ashton style.
In lieu of flowers, please support No One
Fights Alone Nola @ www.noonefightsalonenola.
org, the B+Foundation @bepositive.org, Live Like
Bella @ livelikebella.org. These organizations
provide incredible support to cancer families.
Please also consider supporting The American
Transplant Foundation @ americantransplant-
foundation.org.Without this gift of love, we would
not have had the last 2 years with our angel. In
Ashton’s words, when you are helping others in
need, “It’s an act of God.”
Compliments of
Lowndes Funeral Home
www.lowndesfuneralhome.net
8B SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

AROUND THE WORLD

China reports fall in new virus cases for 3rd straight day
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING — China report-
ed Sunday a drop in new virus
cases for the third straight day,
as it became apparent that the
country’s leadership was aware
of the potential gravity of the
situation well before the alarm
was sounded.
There are 2,009 new cases
in mainland China, bringing
its total number of confirmed
cases to 68,500, according to
the country’s National Health
Commission.
The fatality rate remained
stable with 142 new deaths, the
commission said. The death
toll in mainland China from
COVID-19, a disease stemming
from a new form of coronavirus,
now stands at 1,665. In all, 9,419
people have recovered and
been discharged from hospital.
The outbreak began in De-
cember in Wuhan, capital of
the central Chinese province
of Hubei, which has the bulk of
infections.
It has since spread to more
than 24 countries and prompted
sweeping prevention measures
from the Chinese government,
including a lockdown of cities
with a combined population of
more than 60 million.
After Chinese President Xi
Jinping played a muted public
role in the early days of the ep-
idemic, state media published
Saturday evening a speech Xi
delivered Feb. 3 in which he
said he gave instructions on
fighting the virus as early as
Jan. 7.
The disclosure indicates top
leaders were aware of the out-
break’s potential severity well
before such dangers were made
known to the public. It was not
until late January that offi-
cials said the virus can spread
between humans and public
alarm began to rise.
In his speech, Xi also re-
vealed that he ordered a lock-
down of the virus epicenter:
“On Jan. 22, in light of the ep-
idemic’s rapid spread and the
challenges of prevention and
control, I made a clear request
that Hubei province implement
comprehensive and stringent
controls over the outflow of
people.”
On Jan. 23, Wuhan became
the first city to impose an un-
precedented halt on outbound
transportation.
Many countries have also
placed travel restrictions on re-
cent visitors to China.
In Japan, some 400 Ameri-
cans aboard the Diamond Prin-
cess, the quarantined cruise
ship docked at Yokohama,
were told to decide by Sunday
morning whether they will stay
or take chartered aircraft ar-
ranged by the U.S. government
to fly them back home.
The flights are expected
Sunday evening.
Passenger Matthew Smith
The Associated Press that he
had already decided he and his
wife are not taking the flights
and will stay on the ship. “We
are not going,” he said in a reply
on Twitter.
The 14-day quarantine for
the ship is set to end as early
as Wednesday and Smith said
he would rather wait for that.
Those taking the chartered
planes will be taken to Travis
Air Force Base in California,
with some continuing to Lack-
land Air Force Base in Texas,
where they will have to under-
go another 14-day quarantine.
So far, 285 people from the
ship have tested positive for the
virus after 67 new cases were
found Saturday. Those exhibit-
ing symptoms such as fever and
cough won’t be allowed to board
the evacuation flights, the U.S.
Embassy in Tokyo said.
China’s fall in new cases fol-
lows a spike of more than 15,000
on Thursday, when Hubei ad-
opted a new diagnostic method
that includes clinical diagnoses
in its official account. Over-
whelmed by suspected cases,
the province has not able to test
every person exhibiting symp-
toms. The clinical diagnosis is
based on doctors’ analysis and
lung imaging and is intended to
allow probable cases to be treat-
ed as confirmed ones without
the need to wait for a lab result.

UK faces another fierce means flooding was ex- mid-winter break.

pected over the weekend. Much of the concern
storm; 2 found dead in Another 40 had been is- about storm dangers fo-
rough seas sued in Scotland and 10 cused on northern En-
LONDON — Rescuers in Wales by their environ- gland, which suffered
pulled two male bodies mental agencies. during Storm Ciara. At
from rough seas off the The number of flood least eight people were
coast of southeast En- warnings have spiked killed across Europe
gland and military per- sharply over Saturday, a during that storm.
sonnel mobilized to help clear sign that the storm On Saturday, around
build flood barriers Sat- is deepening heading into 75 British army person-
urday as a second straight Sunday. The highest wind nel and 70 reservists were
weekend of stormy weath- gust, according to the helping out stretched
er wreaked havoc across Met Office, was 87 mph communities in the flood-
Britain. in Capel Curig in north hit Calder Valley region
The fourth named
Wales. in West Yorkshire, con-
storm of the season,
Hundreds of flights structing barriers and
dubbed Dennis by Brit-
were cancelled as a result repairing damaged flood
ain’s Met Office weather
of the high winds. Easy- defenses.
service, prompted wide-
spread travel disruptions jet, for example, cancelled “Our armed forces
and had the potential to around 230 flights in and are always ready to sup-
cause more damage than out of Britain as wind port local authorities and
last weekend’s Storm Ci- speeds were set to hit 70 communities whenever
ara given the already sat- mph (113 kph.). they need it,” Britain’s
urated ground in much of Train services were Defense Secretary Ben
the country. also significantly disrupt- Wallace said. “The rap-
The body of one man ed. The travel chaos af- id response of the Army
was pulled out of the sea fected tens of thousands today will help with pro-
by a lifeboat from the of passengers on what vision of flood relief to lo-
Royal National Lifeboat would typically be a busy cal communities in West
Institution and followed travel day for British fam- Yorkshire.”
a seven-hour search that ilies since most schools
involved a Royal Navy are closed next week for SOURCE: AP
vessel. The search com-
menced before dawn after
a distress call came from
the B Gas Margrethe, a
Maltese tanker that had
been anchored off the
coastal town of Margate.
Police said they were try-
ing to establish the man’s
identity.
In a separate incident,
the body of a second man
was pulled from the sea in
the afternoon. Authorities
said the death was not be-
ing treated as suspicious.
The Met Office had 68
flood warnings in place
around England, which

Visit us
on the web at
cdispatch.com
Lifestyles
Let us entertain you
e-Sm
Barbara McBrid
Storytelling festival sparks imagination,
laughter and maybe even a tear or two
BY JAN SWOOPE
jswoope@cdispatch.com
S
torytelling is about connections —
the human kind.
“At a time when there are so
many things that divide us, stories are
one place where we can say, here’s what
we have in common, here’s something
that reminds us of our humanity,” said
professional storyteller Dolores Hydock.
Those connections will be at the center
of the Columbus Arts Council’s eighth
annual Possum Town Tales Storytelling
Festival Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28-29.
Hydock, of Birmingham, Alabama, joins
Barbara McBride-Smith of Jonesborough,
Tennessee, for story concerts at the arts
council’s Rosenzweig Arts Center in
the heart of downtown Columbus. The
nationally-known tellers have both been
featured performers at the mecca — the
National Storytelling Festival in Jonesbor-
ough, which annually draws in excess of
10,000 fans who fill big top tents for three
days to have their imaginations captured.
“We’re so glad to have Dolores Hy-
dock back in Columbus and to welcome
Barbara McBride-Smith for the first
time,” said Columbus Arts
Council Executive Director
Jan Miller. “Theirs is such
a unique art form that so
many people in this area
don’t often get a chance to
enjoy. We’re happy to bring
it again to the Golden Trian-
gle. We hope everyone will Miller
come out to hear the power
of storytelling for themselves.”
What is it?
Mastering the art of developing and
sharing a story publicly requires creativ-
ity, vision and skill. Accomplished tellers
can enthrall, inspire and move an audi-
ence.
“It can seem so simple, yet it’s so dy-
namic — and sometimes life-changing,”
said Angie Basson of Columbus, who is
helping coordinate the arts
council festival. “Stories are
the seed of all entertain-
ment. Without the story,
there is no movie, there is
no song, there is no poem.”
Some modern audiences
have become dependent
on the trappings of lights, Basson
sound and explosions to be
entertained. And while those have their
place, “ ... If we will allow our imagina-
tions to fire up, we really just have to have
the story,” Basson said.
The festival’s two featured perform-
LIFESTYLES EDITOR
Jan Swoope: 328-2471 C
SECTION
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020
ith
Dolores Hydock
troymessenger.com
Barbara McBride-Smith delivers performances that range from linking the myths of
Mount Olympus to her own family stories, to “Hello Ricky Nelson, Goodbye Heart.”
ers, she noted, have different styles of
delivery.
McBride-Smith’s repertoire is flavored
by her Texas roots. She credits her teller
skills to her parents, who were “natural
down-home wordsmiths,” and to her two
deaf sisters, who “communicated with
their entire beings.”
She told The Dispatch, “What I’m
trying to do with my stories is help people
realize how certain moments in their lives
have been very important to them, even if
they didn’t realize it at the time.” A com-
ical tale of someone in McBride-Smith’s
world, she said, serves to spark a re-
sponse in the listener about someone in
their own lives. storypower.org
“What stories do so well is connect The Birmingham Weekly wrote of Dolores
people, so that’s my goal,” she remarked. Hydock, pictured, “Hydock talks with her
hands. And her elbows. And her shoul-
Debi Richan of the Timpanogos Story- ders. When she speaks, she’s literally
telling Institute wrote of McBride-Smith, irrepressible.”
“ ... Barbara strings words like pearls and
helps us see the world’s beauty — even a world of characters drawn from the
while showing the bumps, bruises and peculiarities of everyday life. As an ac-
batterings that come with making beauty tress, she has been featured in numerous
from ashes.” one-woman plays and other productions.
She has been a featured teller at the She has also been teller-in-residence at
national festival more a dozen times, been the International Storytelling Center and
teller-in-residence at the International won multiple awards for her 11 CDs of
Storytelling Center and is a recipient of original work.
both the John Henry Faulk Award for out- Mary Colurso of The Birmingham
standing contributions to storytelling and News wrote of her, “A stellar performer ...
the Circle of Excellence Award for stage
Dolores’ stories are smart but not cynical,
performance. heartwarming yet never corny, traditional
without being mundane ... a neat feat!”
Hydock and Norman Rockwell In addition to her upcoming story con-
Hydock, a Pennsylvania native, is certs in Columbus, Hydock will present a
making a return appearance on the arts free workshop at 10 a.m. Feb. 29, open to
council stage. She has several times in the public. It’s titled “Every Picture Tells
the past entertained area audiences with a Story: Norman Rockwell as Storyteller.”
humorous and poignant stories about See STORYTELLING, 5C
2C SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Columbus JA Charity Ball Ticket Night set for Thursday

Tickets sales and
seat selections will
be available 6-7 p.m.
BY JAN SWOOPE
jswoope@cdispatch.com
required for admission to the
Charity Ball.
Sponsor support
Corporate sponsors play a
significant role in the work of
Community involvement JA of Columbus.
“Up and Away with JA” is “It is through their gener-
the theme of the 2020 ball as osity that we are empowered
the Columbus chapter cele- to provide 10 projects to the
brates its mission of serving well-deserving children of

T
ickets to the 70th annual
Junior Auxiliary of
Columbus Charity Ball
will be available for purchase
Thursday evening, Feb. 20.
Patron Ticket Night sales will
be from 6-7 p.m. at the JA Hut
at 1000 Park Circle, next to Lee
Park.
The Charity Ball on Satur-
day, March 28 begins at 7 p.m.
at Trotter Convention Center
in downtown Columbus. The
evening will include presenta-
tion of this year’s Charity Ball
king and queen at 8 p.m., in-
troduction of the royal court, a
performance by West Lowndes
High School Marching Band
under the direction of Marcus
Wright, plus live entertain-
ment by The Party Jammers, a
10-piece show band from Mem-
phis, Tennessee. The tradition-
al royalty breakfast will begin
at 9:30 p.m.
According to JA Ticket
Chair Mary Tana Garner, ball-
room seat location selections
may be made during ticket
night at the JA Hut Thursday
evening.
Balcony and royalty break-
fast tickets will also be sold at
the Trotter Convention Center
ticket office from 6-8 p.m. on
March 25-27, and from 7-7:45
p.m. on March 28. Patron
ballroom tickets are $45. Bal-
cony tickets are $25; breakfast
tickets are $25. Tickets will be
the children of Lowndes
County. Founded in 1943, the
chapter strives year-round to
fulfill the national slogan of
Junior Auxiliaries — “Care
Today, Character Tomorrow.”
“Charity Ball is such
an important event for our
chapter because it, along with
Report to the Community
advertisement sales, is our
sole fundraiser for the year,”
said Charity Ball Chair Sally
Earwood. “With the support
of local businesses, sponsors
and patrons, we are able to
fully fund all of our community
projects. The night also gives
us an opportunity to celebrate
our organization’s rich heri-
tage and to highlight current
projects that serve the children
of our community.”
JA of Columbus President
Bethany Bustamante added,
“The success of our annual ball
depends largely on our com-
munity’s participation. Without
our community’s involvement,
we would not only be limited
in our resources to host an
event of this magnitude, but
also limited in our resources in
meeting the needs of the chil-
dren within the community.”
Bustamente said the yearly
ball encompasses an atmo-
sphere of people coming to-
gether to be part of something
larger than themselves, noting
that every sponsor ad and ev-
ery ticket purchased supports
Junior Auxiliary of Columbus Charity Ball Ticket Chair Mary Tana
Garner, left, and member Kathryn Carson distribute information
about the 2020 ball for mailing.
a service project that reaches
children.
“Indeed, (the ball) is a night
of celebration — celebrating
hope, opportunity and prog-
ress,” said Bustamente.
Tax-deductible donations to
the nonprofit organization may
Courtesy photo
be mailed to Junior Auxiliary
of Columbus, Attention: Trea-
surer, P.O. Box 11, Columbus
MS 39703.
For more information about
the ball or to purchase tickets,
contact Garner at 662-327-
6010.
Lowndes County ranging from
scholarship funds to meeting
the basic human needs of food
and clothing,” said Busta-
mente. ... From our chapter
and the children of Lowndes
County, we thank you!”
Sponsors for 2020 are:
Majestic Level: Columbus
Recycling
Gold Level: Westlake
Chemical; Golden Triangle
Radiology
Silver Level: Baptist
Memorial Hospital; Financial
Concepts; Quality Beverage
Packing Inc; The Sqwincher
Corporation; Steel Dynamics
Flat Roll Group, Columbus
Division
Bronze Level: Atmos Ener-
gy; BancorpSouth; BankFirst;
BankTEL Systems; Bennett
Opthalmology Group; Bill
Russell Ford Lincoln; The
Commercial Dispatch; Eat
With Us Group; Galloway,
Chandler, McKinney; The
Gene Imes Family; Interna-
tional Paper; Johnston-Tombig-
bee Furniture Manufacturing
Co.; Katherine Kerby, Esq.;
Mississippi Steel Processing;
Dr. Steve and Dona Porter;
R AM Entertainment and Spe-
cial Event Services; R J Young
Co.; Waters Truck and Track-
er Co./Waters International
Trucks Inc./Waters Wrecker
Services.

MSU Libraries to host 14th Templeton Ragtime

and Jazz Festival, Gatsby Gala
Performance from the
Event with tours, Scott Joplin Internation-
talks, concerts al Ragtime Festival, an
event for which he is
and more is director of symposiums.
n Jerron “Blind
Feb. 27-29 Boy” Paxton is a young
multi-instrumentalist
MSU OFFICE OF PUBLIC who, in 2016, performed
AFFAIRS to a sold-out audience at

M
ississippi State
University’s
Mitchell Memo-
rial Library is bringing
the late 19th and early
20th centuries to life
during the 14th annual
Charles H. Templeton
Ragtime and Jazz Festi-
val.
Taking place Feb.
27-29, the festival kicks
off on the 27th with the
seventh annual Gatsby
Gala in the library’s main
lobby. The 6 p.m. fash-
ion show features 1920s
apparel designed by MSU
School of Human Scienc-
es fashion design and
merchandising students
and modeled by MSU
Fashion Board members.
Internationally renowned
pianist and seven-year
festival artistic director
Jeff Barnhart of Mystic,
Connecticut, will provide
music.
Gala admission is free,
and attendees are encour-
aged to wear their best
1920s-inspired outfits.
The theme of this
year’s festival centers
around the 100th anniver-
sary of the 19th Amend-
ment’s passage, granting
women the right to vote.
Daytime museum
tours, informative talks,
silent films, “meet the
artists” segments and
educational seminars all
will commemorate this
theme and Black History
Month on Feb. 28 and 29
in the Charles H. Temple-
ton Sr. Music Museum
at Mitchell Memorial
Library, located at the
southeast corner of the
university’s historic Drill
Field.
“The history of U.S.
women” is among MSU
Assistant Professor
of History Courtney
Thompson’s research in-
Jeff Barnhart
Jerron Paxton
terests. She said women
fought hard for at least
70 years for their right to
vote, and they continued
to fight for true enfran-
chisement and political
representation after
the 19th Amendment’s
passage.
“The 19th Amendment
is one significant moment
in a much longer, ongo-
ing struggle for women’s
rights in America,” she
said. “It represents the
culmination of struggle
but not an end point, as
the struggle has con-
tinued through the past
100 years and into the
present day.”
World-renowned
musicians will perform
ragtime, jazz, blues,
folk and country music
during 7:30 p.m. con-
certs Feb. 28 and 29 in
the mainstage theater at
Bill Edwards
Stephanie Trick, Paolo Alderighi
McComas Hall.
During Friday’s con-
cert, MSU Libraries will
present
MSU ju-
nior music
education
major
Daniel A.
Rorabaugh
of Long
Beach with Rorabaugh
the sixth
annual Keyone Docher
Student Achievement
Award. The honor cele-
brates the passion and
talent of Docher, a Weir
native and former MSU
junior music education/
piano major who died in
2014 following a 13-year
battle with cancer.
How to go
Admission to all
festival events is free
for MSU students with
valid student I.D. General
admission tickets good
for all events are available
for $65 each. Patrons can
purchase a “Friday Only
Ticket” for $35, good for
all Friday events includ-
ing the evening concert.
A “Saturday Only Ticket”
option also is available
for Saturday’s events and
concert. Tickets just for
the Friday and Saturday
concerts can be pur-
chased for $15 each. Dis-
counted fees are available
for senior citizens and
retired MSU faculty and
staff members. Tickets
are available for advance
purchase online and also
will be sold at the door.
For additional informa-
tion and to register on-
line, visit festival.library.
msstate.edu.
Parking is available at
the Old Main Academic
Center parking garage
on Barr Avenue. Patrons
also can use MSU’s
S.M.A.R.T. shuttle sys-
tem for transportation to
and from the festival. For
more information about
parking, visit parkingser-
vices.msstate.edu.
Festival performers
In addition to Barn-
hart, festival performers
include:
n Bill Edwards,
a Southern California
native who started his
professional career in the
late 1970s. Now in north-
ern Virginia, he holds
the 1991 title from the
World Championship of
Old-Time Piano. In 2016,
he received the Lifetime
Achievement Award in
Ragtime Research and
the Lead Belly Tribute at
Carnegie Hall, alongside
Buddy Guy, Eric Burdon
and other stars. He head-
lined the 2017 Brooklyn
Folk Festival. Appearing
in the multi-award-win-
ning music documentary
“American Epic” pro-
duced by Robert Redford,
Jack White and T-Bone
Burnett, Paxton is known
for transforming tradi-
tional jazz, blues, folk
and country through his
humor and storytelling.
n Stephanie Trick
and Paolo Alderighi,
a husband-wife piano
jazz duo that has earned
widespread success
with its arrangements
of classics from the
stride piano, ragtime and
boogie woogie reper-
toires, as well as from
the swing era and the
Great American Song-
book, have performed
across the U.S., Europe
and Japan. In 2018, they
released “Broadway and
More,” their fifth album.
Along with multiple
stints at MSU’s festival,
the couple has performed
at venues including the
Kobe Jazz Street Festival
in Japan, the London Jazz
Festival and the Ascona
Jazz Festival in Switzer-
land, among others.
In addition to MSU
Libraries, the School of
Human Sciences and the
Holmes Cultural Diver-
sity Center, this year’s
sponsors include Maxx-
South Broadband, City
of Starkville, Mississippi
Arts Commission, and
National Endowment for
the Arts.
For more festival
information, visit festival.
library.msstate.edu, call
662-325-6634 or email
ragtimefestival@library.
msstate.edu.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 3C

CALENDAR
Wednesday, Feb. 19
Table Talks — Friends of the
Columbus-Lowndes Public Library
revives its Table Talk series at 5
p.m. with author John Bateman
of Starkville discussing his book,
“Who Killed Buster Sparkle?,” at
the library at 314 Seventh St. N.
Free. Call 662-329-5300 for more
information.
Artist talk — Brent Funderburk
of Starkville presents an artist talk,
“Stories from the Soul House,” at
10 a.m. at the Oktibbeha County
Heritage Museum, 206 Fellowship
St., Starkville. This Chit Chat Series
program is free to the public.
The Orators — The Mississippi
State Shackouls Honors College
presents Denise James, director of
Women’s and Gender Studies at the
University of Dayton, with “The Poet
Audre Lorde Goes to Mississippi:
An Imperfect Person Called Hero”
at 2 p.m. in the Griffis Hall Forum
Room. A reception follows. For
more information, contact Donna
Clevinger, 662-325-2522.
Wednesday through
Saturday, Feb. 19-23
“Mamma Mia!” — See details
at top of calendar.
Feb. 20-23 and 25-29
“Blame it on Beckett”
— Starkville Community Theatre
presents this witty play at 7:30
p.m. nightly (except 2 p.m. Sunday)
at the Playhouse on Main, 108 E.
Main St. in downtown Starkville.
Tickets are $15; $10 students. For
reservations, contact the box office,
662-323-6855. Limited seating.
Friday, Feb. 21
Spring recital — Mississippi
University for Women Department
of Music presents a spring recital
at 7:30 p.m. in Poindexter Hall on
campus. Free to the public.
Saturday, Feb. 22
Mardi Gras party — This
West Point Clay County Animal Shel-
ter fundraiser is 6 p.m.-midnight
at the Town Creek Farm Pavilion,
32476 Highway 50 E., West Point.
From 6-9 p.m. enjoy a wine, beer
and spirits tasting with heavy
appetizers. From 9 p.m.-midnight,
a cash bar and dancing to music by
Fast Scarlet. Tickets are $30 ($250
for a reserved table for eight). Get
them in West Point at the WPCC
Animal Shelter, The Smokestack or
Frank’s Package Store.
Sunday, Feb. 23
Bands concert — Mississippi
State Department of Music pres-
ents a concert by its community,
concert and symphonic bands at
2 p.m. in Lee Hall’s Bettersworth
Auditorium on campus.
Monday, Feb. 24
Starkville Community
Theatre — One night only: SCT
presents “A Public Reading of an
Unproduced Screenplay About the
Death of Walt Disney” at 7:30 p.m.
at McComas Hall at Mississippi
State. (Contains strong language.)
SCT won Best Production and other
awards with this at the Mississip-
pi Theatre Association Festival.
Tickets $10 at the door; donations
toward travel to regional competi-
tion are appreciated. Email cao@
sct-online.org.
Reflect & Rejoice — Mis-
sissippi State presents this Black
History Choral Concert at 7 p.m.
at Starkville’s First Baptist Church,
106 E. Lampkin St. Free to the
public.
Tuesday, Feb. 25
New Music at The W — This
Mississippi University for Women
choral concert featuring new music
begins at 7:30 p.m. in Poindexter
Hall on campus. Free to the public.
“Artrageous!” — Mississippi
State’s Lyceum Series brings this
troupe of artists, musicians, sing-
ers and dancers that pay tribute to
art forms and music genres, culmi-
nating in a gallery of finished paint-
ings. Show is 7 p.m. in Lee Hall’s
Bettersworth Auditorium. Tickets
are $30; $25 for seniors and MSU
employees. $10 for children 3-12
with school ID/uniform. Free for
MSU students with ID. For more
information, visit lyceum.msstate.
edu or call 662-325-2930.
Thursday through
Saturday, Feb. 27-29
Templeton Ragtime Jazz
Festival — Mississippi State
University Libraries present the
14th annual Charles H. Templeton
Ragtime & Jazz Festival, with the
Gatsby Gala, concerts, silent mov-
ies, seminars and more at Mitch-
ell Memorial Library on campus.
For information and tickets, visit
festival.library.msstate.edu, or call
662-325-6634.
Magnolia Independent
Film Festival — A variety of
independent films will be screened
Courtesy photo
at Hollywood Premier Cinemas in
Starkville. A workshop on making
a documentary film will be offered
Feb. 29. Learn more and purchase
tickets at magnoliafilmfest.com.
Friday, Feb. 28
MUW Concert — Mississippi
University for Women presents a
concert featuring the MUW Choral
Singers and MUW Chorale at 7:30
p.m. in Poindexter Hall on campus.
Free to the public
Friday and Saturday,
Feb. 28-29
Possum Town Tales Sto-
rytelling Festival — The
Columbus Arts Council presents
professional national storytellers
Barbara McBride-Smith and Dolores
Hydock at its eighth annual festival
at the Rosenzweig Arts Center, 501
Main St. Performances are 7 p.m.
nightly; Hydock also presents a free
workshop at 10 a.m. Feb. 29 titled
“Every Picture Tells a Story: Norman
Rockwell as Storyteller.” Weekend
passes are $25 for CAC members;
$30 non-members. Nightly tickets
are $15 members, $17 non-mem-
bers, at columbus-arts.org, or call
662-328-2787 (closed Mondays).
Saturday, Feb. 29
Caledonia cleanup — Vol-
Wednesday through
Sunday, Feb. 19-23
“Mamma Mia!” — Theatre
MSU presents this hit musical
featuring the songs of ABBA at
7:30 p.m. (except 2 p.m. Feb.
23) at McComas Theatre on
campus. Tickets are $15; $10
students. Get them at events.ms-
state.edu, or call 662-325-3320.
unteers are asked to meet at Ola
J. Pickett Park in Caledonia for a
community cleanup day from 8
a.m.-noon. Lunch will be provided.
For information, contact Mitch Wig-
gins, 662-549-2132, or Rick Hayes,
662-574-8964.
Monday, March 2
Guest artists recital —
Mississippi University for Women
Department of Music presents
mezzo-soprano Janet Hopkins and
pianist Armen Shaomian in recital
at 7:30 p.m. in Poindexter Hall.
Free to the public.
Wednesday, March 4
Book signing — Author
Michael Farris Smith attends a
reception and book signing for his
latest novel, “Blackwood,” at 5:30
p.m. at the Columbus Arts Council’s
Rosenzweig Arts Center, 501 Main
St.
Thursday, March 5
Taco Hop — Visit downtown
Starkville’s Main Street for this
event from 5-8 p.m. featuring craft
beer tastings, tacos by Starkville
restaurants ($2 each) and live
music. Tickets are $20 in advance,
$25 day of event. For more infor-
mation, go to visit.starkville.org,
662tix.com or call The Partnership,
662-323-3322.

The W’s MFA in Theatre Education has a long reach OUT THERE
BY ADAM MINICHINO from middle school teachers
MUW University Relations to high school teachers to Feb. 18 – The Chieftains,
The Irish Goodbye Tour,

E
ven though Alyssa
Algee, Suzanne Allmon,
Juniper Wallace, and
Chelsea Petty live in different
parts of the state the Missis-
sippi, curiosity about the arts
brought them together in The
W’s three-year, 60-hour ter-
minal-degree MFA program.
The love for learning
shared by Algee, Allmon,
Wallace, and Petty was on
display on Jan. 16-19 when
they participated in the Mis-
sissippi Theater Association
Festival and Conference at
the University of Mississippi
in Oxford.
Wallace, who works at
Northwest Rankin High
School in Flowood, won the
outstanding directing award
and the Dominic Cunetto
award for best production
for her work on “Badger,” a
play set in 1944 that focuses
on five women who take new
jobs at Badger Ordinance
Works, one of the largest mu-
nitions factories in the United
States.
Algee Allmon
Allmon, who is a teacher
at Oak Grove High in Hat-
tiesburg, won the ensemble
acting award for her work on
“Peter and the Starcatcher,” a
play based on the 2004 novel
“Peter and the Starcatchers”
by Dave Barry and Ridley
Pearson.
Northwest Rankin High
will be one of two high
schools that will represent
the state of Mississippi at the
Secondary School Theater
Festival that will be a part of
the 71st-annual Southeastern
Theater Conference on Feb.
26-28 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Petty, who is a theater
teacher at Columbus Middle
School, served as an adjudica-
tor for youth individual events
at the MTA Festival and
Wallace Petty
Conference. She judged Mu-
sical Female Solos in the first
round of the competition and
Female Acting Monologues in
the finals.
Algee, who is technical
director of fine arts at North-
west Mississippi Community
College in Senatobia, served
as chair and manager of
the adult individual events.
She also served as an adju-
dicator for the preliminary
Musical Theatre Duets, the
preliminary Musical Theatre
Groups, and the finals for the
Acting Duets for the youth
individual events, and was
responsible for running the
adult version of the individual
events.
“Our Theatre Education
MFA students, which range
college/university professors,
are incredible individuals,” Alys Stephens Center,
said Lee Crouse, associate
Birmingham. 205-975-2787,
professor of Theatre and
alysstephens.org.
Graduate Studies Director – Flamenco Vivo Carlota
of MFA, Theatre Education Santana presents Reflejos
at The W. “Not only do they Flamencos, Riley Center,
demonstrate artistic excel- Meridian. 601-696-2200,
lence to their students and msurileycenter.org.
communities, but are instill-
ing within their students that – Carmen / Romeo and
hard work and commitment Juliet, Russian National
are required to be successful, Ballet, Ford Center, Oxford.
no matter what their future 662-915-7411, fordcenter.
careers entail. But their org.
service to theater in Mis-
Feb. 21-23 – World of
sissippi does not stop there.
Customs Auto Show, Tupelo
The willingness of Chelsea Furniture Market (Buildings
to offer her time and talents 4, 5), Tupelo. 662-419-
to adjudicate for MTA events, 4909
Alyssa’s willingness to serve
on the board of directors and March 12 – Harry Connick
adjudicate MTA events make Jr., Thalia Mara Hall,
a difference in our state. I am Jackson. tickermaster.com.
proud to say Suzanne is a past
president for the MTA Board March 18-22 – Oxford Film
of Directors and Juniper is Festival, Oxford Commons
president of the MTA Board Malco. 877-560-3456,
of Directors. Our MFA stu- oxfordfilmfest.org.
dents lead by example in so
many ways.”

Dear Abby

D
EAR ABBY: My husband and
I are friendly with two other
couples whose children
are friends with ours. We live in
a fairly small community, and the
couples met and began socializing
because my husband and I intro-
duced them. It started out with
board game nights, progressed to
potlucks and holiday events, then
eventually a three-family summer
vacation. Everyone seemed to get
along fine.
Two years into the friendship, it
came to my attention that the two Dear Abby
other females were getting togeth-
er “for tea” about once a month, and had been
doing so for some time. I won’t pretend that it
didn’t sting. I was surprised that they were social- did on the sly because they knew you would
izing without including me, and even more so to
realize that they had been doing so “on the sly.”
It would have been easy to include
me, but they repeatedly chose not
to. Not only that, they actively hid
their tea dates from me.
I realize we are all adults and
free to do as we wish, but nothing
about their behavior screams
“adult” to me. At first, my husband
felt my feelings were unwarranted,
but the secrecy surrounding their
friendship has cast a pall on the
couples portion of the friendship.
I’m not sure of my place anymore.
What do you think, Abby? Am I off
base to have hurt feelings on this?
— HURT AND LEFT OUT
DEAR HURT: That you have hurt feelings is
understandable. But those women did what they
react exactly as you have. We talk about different
things with different people. You don’t own them.
They are free to meet if they choose, and it’s only
once a month.
Because the idea that they visit with each
other privately has made you unsure about your
status in the friendship, tell them you know and
ask why. It couldn’t be more damaging to your
relationship with them than the status quo, and it
might clear the air.
DEAR ABBY: My father, although a well-mean-
ing and caring man, often speaks before he
thinks. The way he phrases things can come
across as harsh, uncaring or rude. My husband
is a sensitive person who was badly bullied in his
youth, so he doesn’t feel comfortable around my
father and takes most things he says as insults.
I have tried talking to both of them without suc-
cess and even involved my stepmom.
My father and stepmom are coming for a visit,
and I can’t get it through my father’s or my hus-
band’s heads that the only way for them to get
on the same page is to talk. My husband can’t
understand why I see common ground between
him and my father, and my father is too oblivious
to realize the depth of the problem. The two most
important men in my life cannot communicate.
What can I do? — IN THE MIDDLE IN FLORIDA
DEAR IN THE MIDDLE: Continue to encourage
them to talk to each other, but if you’re not suc-
cessful, accept that your father is an insensitive
loose cannon who won’t change. Limit your
parents’ visits and keep them short. When you
know they’re scheduled to be in town, help your
husband plan to be out of the house as often as
possible. And, if that doesn’t work, arrange to vis-
it your parents alone rather than have them visit
you. As much as you might want the two men in
your life to get along, it just may not be possible.
P.S. If the bullying your husband experienced
as a child has affected his other relationships as
an adult, he should consider getting therapy. It
might change his life for the better.

Horoscopes
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Feb. 16).
You will cross into the territory you
have been dreaming about. Your
journey will be smooth. Shortcuts
will work out. It’s as though you were
meant for this experience, and you’ll
be welcomed and served accordingly.
Later, you’ll teach others and you’ll
care for them with all the grace and
warmth you were shown. Cancer and
Libra adore you. Your lucky numbers
are: 17, 30, 8, 10 and 4.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). Esti-
mation is an art. To overestimate your
ability to do a thing in a certain time
frame will bring pain. Give yourself
three times the amount you assume
you need, and you’ll be comfortable.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You’re
going to do a thing eventually. If you
don’t do it today or in three weeks,
don’t despair. Despair takes a lot of
energy in the wrong direction.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Being
comfortable is not the same as being
happy. Today, that difference will stand
out. You’ll be in a position of choice.
What happens next is all you.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). One
satisfaction does not fit all. There are
different kinds and levels. Soul satis-
faction often comes at the expense of
momentary satisfaction. Play the long
game.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). There
are those who recoil from facing
themselves on a page or in a mirror.
Contrastingly, you’ve no fear when
it comes to exploring your inner life.
That’s something to celebrate and
use.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Today’s
problem will not be universal. In fact,
it’s extremely specific to you. So there
are very few who will empathize, sym-
pathize or even help, but that will not
stop you from solving it, not at all.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). What’s
going on isn’t so bad, but you still
need a break from it. The important
part about this flight of fancy — or this
flight of vacation or even this flight of
escape — is that it includes a return
flight.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). When
people don’t treat you right, it’s usually
more about them than it is about you.
However, you can’t control the “them”
part. Do all you can about the “you”
part and life will be good.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21).
Attitude is an internal matter made
external and not the other way around.
Sure, many will paste on a smile
and try to make it seem OK, but the
intuitive ones like you sense what’s
really up.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19).
You don’t always love running into
people you know in places you weren’t
expecting to see them, but it’s a good
test of how close you’re being to the
person you’d like to be seen as.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18).
You’ll make new rules, first in your
heart and then with your mouth and fi-
nally with action. You’ll follow up on the
things you decide today, so make sure
they are things you want to happen.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). How
are you going to recharge? This is the
question, and you’ll answer it in inter-
esting ways as you get energy from
things you weren’t expecting would
revitalize you.
4C SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Orators series concludes with ‘Imperfect Person’

Wednesday lecture at MSU is free to the public the university and local communi-
ties in research, course work and
SPECIAL TO THE DISPATCH Person Called Hero” at 2 p.m. in public lectures. Since the Honors
Griffis Hall, Room 401, on the MSU College touches all colleges at MSU

T
he Shackouls Honors College
at Mississippi State Univer-
sity is pleased to continue
The Orators program on Wednes-
day, Feb. 19 with V. Denise James,
Ph.D. James, an associate professor
of Philosophy and director of the
Women’s and Gender Studies Pro-
gram at the University of Dayton,
will present “The Poet Audre Lorde
Goes to Mississippi: An Imperfect
through curriculum design, active V. Denise
campus. For additional information James will
research and special events, there
about James, visit the Shackouls present
is a specific theme for each year.
Honors College website at honors. The theme for this second year is “The Poet
msstate.edu Audre Lorde
“Unexpected Heroes: Creative Acts
The Orators program kicked Goes to
Colliding with Ordinary Days.” Mississippi:
off in September 2019 during the A reception to meet the speaker
An Imper-
Honors College’s annual Classical follows the lecture. For additional fect Person
Week. It is a year-long program information about the event, contact Called Hero”
which invites speakers, represent- Donna Clevinger at dclevinger@ at 2 p.m.
ing various academic disciplines honors.msstate.edu or 662-325- Wednesday.
and topics, to engage and enrich 2522. Admission is free. Courtesy photo

Melinda Myers LLC/Courtesy photo

Baby tears plant — Soleirolia — is safe for pets and
should be grown in brighter light conditions.

Keep houseplants healthy

while keeping pets safe
SPECIAL TO THE Water plants thorough- Courtesy photo
DISPATCH ly as needed. Tropical CANNON WORK: East Mississippi Community College welding technology student Douglas Glenn of
By Melinda Myers Columbus grinds rust last fall from a cannon carriage believed to have been built in 1901. The carriage
plants prefer slightly
is currently being used to display an antique cannon at Mississippi State University’s Ulysses S. Grant

Y
ou love them both
— your pets and
houseplants — but
it can be challenging to
safely raise them together
in the same house. Re-
duce the risk by selecting
pet-safe plants and safely
managing houseplant
pest problems.
Avoid problems by
selecting plants suited
to your home’s growing
conditions and gardening
style. Then narrow the
list further to plants that
are non-toxic specifically
to the type of pets you
own. Consult with your
veterinarian and visit the
American Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals (ASPCA) web-
site for a list of pet-safe
and toxic plants.
Create a list of all the
plants you are growing.
Include both common
and botanical names for
accurate identification.
Do a bit of research on
the care they need and
their toxicity to your pets.
If you suspect your pet
has ingested a toxic plant,
you’ll have the proper
plant name when contact-
ing your veterinarian.
Match the pet-friendly
plants you select to their
preferred light conditions.
An east- or west-facing
window provides enough
light for most indoor
plants. Keep those that
need brighter light within
two feet of the window.
Those that prefer lower
light can be grown near
a north-facing window or
up to six feet back or off
to the side of an east- or
west-facing window.
For low light situa-
tions, consider cast iron
plant, Lady palm and
parlor palm or add artifi-
cial lights when growing
other pet-friendly plants
in lower light situations.
Grow grape ivy, spider
plants, baby tears (Solei-
rolia), peperomias, prayer
plants, Boston ferns,
ponytail palm and hoyas
in brighter locations. Save
the brightest locations for
Norfolk Island Pine, lip-
stick plant and haworthia.
Add some color to your
indoor garden with pop-
ular flowering plants like
African violet, Christmas
cactus and moth orchid.
These are also listed as
non-toxic on the ASPCA
website.
moist soil, while cacti
Presidential Library.
and succulents like it
drier. Always pour off any
excess water that collects
in the saucer. Allowing Visit 662tix.com to purchase advance tickets to the events below:
plants to sit in water can
increase the risk of dis- Feb. 20
ease and lead to root rot. unWine Downtown in Starkville from 5:30-9:30 p.m. includes wine tastings, appetizer
Regularly groom and pairings and 20 percent discounts at participating shops. Advance ticket holders will
wipe dust off the leaves of receive the Spring 2020 limited edition wine glass. Check in is 5:30-6:30 p.m. at The Partnership Welcome Center,
200 E. Main. Tickets are $20.
your indoor plants to help
reduce the risk of insect March 5
damage. Remove spotted The Taco Hop from 5-8 p.m. on Starkville’s Main Street features a craft beer tasting, specialty tacos ($2 each) by
leaves when they appear area restaurants, plus live music. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 on the day of the event. Presented by the Great-
and adjust watering. This er Starkville Development Partnership.
is often enough to correct
fungal disease problems.
Pet-safe pest solutions
When pest problems
require control, always
select pet-friendly
options. Start with a
strong blast of water
to dislodge pests like
aphids and mites. Follow
with an application of a
lightweight horticulture
oil such as Summit Year-
Round Spray Oil (Sum-
mitResponsibleSolutions.
com). This organic spray
controls aphids, mites,
immature whiteflies and
all stages of scale and
mealybugs.
And if those tiny
fruit-fly-like gnats are
too annoying to tolerate,
consider treating the pot-
ting mix with a Bacillus
thruingiensis israelensis
product such as Summit
Mosquito Bits labeled for
controlling fungus gnat
larvae. Just sprinkle it
on the soil surface and
this naturally occurring
soil bacterium kills the
fungus gnat larvae in
the soil. It’s an organic
insecticide safe for peo-
ple, pets and plants. No
matter the product you
select — organic, natural
or synthetic — be sure
to read and follow label
directions.
Proper plant selection
and maintenance can
help keep your indoor
plants healthy and pets
safe from harm.
Melinda Myers has
written more than 20
gardening books, includ-
ing “Small Space Garden-
ing.” She hosts The Great
Courses “How to Grow
Anything” DVD series
and the nationally-syndi-
cated Melinda’s Garden
Moment TV and radio
program. Myers’s web site
is melindamyers.com.

IN THE GARDEN WITH FELDER
Don’t be afraid to keep things a little ‘wild’
A
re those little
clumps of
flowering
greenery in your
winter lawn weeds,
or wildflowers?
It’s possible to see
them as both and
garden accordingly.
My earliest lawn
care memories
predate my working
at garden centers Felder Rushing
helping customers
sort out liquid and
granular herbicides, and
later studying turfgrass
management at Missis-
sippi State University.
They involved fiddling
with a small gas mower
before cutting patterns
in the clover and stickers cratic approach of using
that my parents called
a lawn, and pushing a
reel mower through the
ground ivy in my hor-
ticulturist great-grand-
mother Pearl’s multi-
ple-room landscape.
Before I get any far-
ther, let me assure you
that, as a trained lawn
consultant, I appreciate
a perfectly manicured,
uniform lawn. I under-
stand the detail and
perseverance it requires
and applaud those who
manage to pull it off,
however fleetingly, out of bit, violets, onions and
devotion, which is a form garlic, and a plethora of
of love.
It is especially sweet
when those folks main-
tain just a small putting
green-like portion of the
overall lawn to such high forage in your yard.
Storytelling
Continued from Page 1C
Known for his more
than 320 iconic illustra-
tions that filled covers
of the Saturday Evening
Post, Rockwell captured
stories in art and wrote
about his craft in a book,
“Rockwell on Rockwell:
How I Make a Picture.”
“The title could have
been ‘How I Tell a Story,’
because it’s a beautiful
prescription for how to
tell a story — finding your
topics, finding your char-
acters, finding authentic
details,” Hydock said.
The casual workshop isn’t
only for storytellers, she
added.
“I think what he has
to say could be applied to
anyone trying to cre-
ate something artistic,
whether it’s painting,
crafts or other creative
outlets,” said the story-
teller.
In it together
Anyone who has ever
watched a TV series
Go behind the scenes and see what it takes
to put out a daily newspaper!
Call 662-328-2424 today to schedule a tour
for your group or organization.
stan-
dards
and al-
low the
larger
area be
more
relaxed.
It makes
sense fi-
nancial-
ly and
ecologi-
cally.
Not
so sure, though, about
folks who attempt to
chemically maintain
wall-to-wall monocrops
just to keep up ap-
pearances. Slowly that
two-century-old aristo-
the lawn as a badge of so-
cial standing is passing.
Anyway, this time of
year when most lawns
are supposed to be
brown and dormant, a
few low-growing hardy
meadow plants really
stand out. And despite
the herbicide sales-driv-
en barrage of warnings
about them being an
enemy to be fought, the
flowers aren’t entirely
bad news, as on every
sunny midwinter day the
clover, dandelions, hen-
tiny winter wildflowers,
are humming with bees
and alight with midwin-
ter butterflies, hungry
except for what they can
IF YOU GO:
■ WHO: Columbus Arts
Council
■ WHAT: Possum Town Tales
Storytelling Festival
■ WHEN: Friday and Saturday,
Feb. 28-29, 7 p.m. (plus free
10 a.m. workshop Feb. 29)
■ WHERE: Rosenzweig Arts
Center, 501 Main St., Colum-
bus
■ TICKETS: Two-night advance
package $25 CAC members;
$30 non-members. Or $15
nightly for members; $17
non-members, at colum-
bus-arts.org or 662-328-2787.
or film, or listened to a
podcast, is watching a
story. What a teller tries
to do, Hydock said, is tell
the story while listeners
create the pictures in
their own minds.
“Our goal is not to
tell you our stories but
to hold up a mirror that
let’s you see your story
and helps you remember
your own experience,”
she explained. Stories,
she continued, remind
us we’re all human, we
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
Starflower and other winter bulbs shine in a dormant lawn.
Back to Pearl, who
for many years was the
horticulture chair of the
Town and Country Gar-
den Club of Indianola,
which she helped found
in 1935. She was a prac-
tical hands-in-the-dirt
DIGr (determined inde-
pendent gardener) who
grew her own vegetables,
canned home-grown
fruit, had a large metal
Bird Sanctuary sign in
her front yard and cher-
ished wildflowers way
before they were cool.
She never embraced
all make mistakes, we all
do silly things, we all get
inspired.
“They remind us we’re
not alone in this,” said Hy-
dock. “There’s so much
nowadays we do alone:
we’re on our phones,
we’re watching Netflix,
we’re by ourselves. This
is an opportunity to be
with other human beings
in a live performance
where we matter, where
we’re going to laugh to-
gether and maybe tear up
together and just spend
time being connected —
that’s not an experience
we get to have all that
often.”
How to go
Tickets and more
information are available
at columbus-arts.org, or
by calling 662-328-2787
(closed Mondays). Night-
ly tickets to 7 p.m. perfor-
mances are $15 for arts
council members, $17 for
non-members ($17 for all
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 5C
pete a lot of really ion, which was also my
troublesome weeds like great-grandmother’s
stickers that thrive in favorite, is the blue star-
close-cut lawns. And wait flower (Ipheion).
until April to fertilize, These all peak in win-
lightly. ter and early spring, and
Then, to throw off when you start mowing
naysayers, deliberately for the summer they
plant a few violas and disappear as if they’d
other low-growing winter never been there at all.
flowers that really shine Meanwhile, mow paths,
just when neighbors start not wall-to-wall, leaving
fussing futilely over their a few clumps of wildflow-
weeds. ers here and there.
My favorite little They’ll be back next
winter bulbs include winter, hopefully show-
multiplying daffodils ing proof to all but the
including fragrant jon- most critical neighbors
quils and the small but that you are deliberate,
showy Tete a Tete, and and thoughtful about
purple grape hyacinth what’s important.
and Spanish bluebells. Felder Rushing is a
Pink oxalis and white Mississippi author, col-
clover are beautiful this umnist, and host of “The
time of year and loaded Gestalt Gardener” on
with starving pollinators. MPB Think Radio. Email
My fifth top five winter gardening questions to
Felder Rushing/Courtesy photo
meadow lawn compan- rushingfelder@yahoo.com.
the newly-developed
herbicides that made
more genteel cultivated
lawns possible; her only
tools were a clunky,
smoke-belching mower
and a trowel for planting
little bulbs.
Which leads me to my
main point, about how to
pull off having a mostly
mow-what-grows mead-
ow lawn like we all used
to have.
Start by raising your
mower a notch or two,
which helps thicken your
lawn so it can out-com-
on night of shows). A two-
night advance package is
$25 for members or $30
for non-members. Hy-
dock’s 10 a.m. workshop
Feb. 29 is free.
Scene&Seen THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020

Kalyn Jackson, Carly Jamison, Aja Hudson Gwen Latham, Kennetra Smith, Ariel Smith

PINK GOES RED

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. held a Pink goes Red Community Impact Day at Tenth Street Fairlawn Baptist Church in Columbus
Feb. 7 to raise awareness about heart disease in African-American women. Deanna Robinson/Dispatch Staff

Gregory Smith, Jessica Liddell

Jeanette Harrison, Nancy Lampley Amanda Barry Stanton, Zimiko Turner, George Evelyn Brooks, Martha Barry Whitfield

Candace Carter, Melissa Carter Lillie Cole, Tameko Brooks

Chelsi Forbes, Braden Cummings, Hannah Hubbard, Kellie Allen, Karen Forbes, Emi-
Bonita Baity, Emorie Eacholes, Taylor Harris ly Hubbard, Sienna Eaves, Torey Eaves

AT THE
RODEO
The Starkville
Rotary Club’s
Classic Rodeo
was held at the
Mississippi Horse
Park in Starkville
Feb. 7-8. Austin
Frayser/Special
to The Dispatch

James Melton, Cheyenne Rhodes, Montana Rhodes Donna Edwards, Natalie Nadorff, Danielle Nadorff, Michael Nadorff

Shannon Burchfield, Julian Perkins, Ann Burchfield Sandy and Burt Schrock
Classified & Comics D
LEGALS
Call us: 662-328-2424
Legal Notices
NOTICE TO BIDDERS
COUNTY OF LOWNDES
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT
SEALED BIDS WILL BE RE-
CEIVED BY THE LOWNDES
COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCA-
TION, IN THE OFFICE OF SU-
PERINTENDENT OF EDUCA-
TION, 1053 HIGHWAY 45
SOUTH, COLUMBUS, MS. UN-
TIL 10:00 AM ON WEDNESDAY,
FEBRUARY 26, 2020 FOR EN-
GAGED LEARNING INITIATIVE
FOR LAPTOP AND TABLETS,
MOBILE CARTS FOR LAPTOP
AND TABLETS, MOBILE DEVICE
MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE AND
CASES AND KEYBOARDS FOR
THE LOWNDES COUNTY
SCHOOL DISTRICT. ALL BIDS
PRICES SHALL BE FIRM AND
APPROVED BY LOWNDES
COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCA-
TION FOR THE DISTRICT.
INTERESTED BIDDERS MAY
PICK UP OR REQUEST BY
PHONE (662-244-5000) SPE-
CIFICATIONS FOR THE ABOVE
AT THE OFFICE OF SUPERIN-
TENDENT OF EDUCATION.
PLEASE DIRECT ALL INQUIRES
TO EITHER MRS. JEANISE AN-
DREWS, TECHNOLOGY CO-
ORDINATOR, BY PHONE (662-
244-5018) OR EMAIL
(JEANISE.ANDREWS@LOWNDE
S.K12.MS.US) OR MR. ROGER
GAUDET, NETWORK MANAGER,
BY PHONE (662-244-5006) OR
EMAIL
(ROGER.GAUDET@LOWNDES.K
12.MS.US)
THE LOWNDES COUNTY
BOARD OF EDUCATION RE-
SERVES THE RIGHT TO RE-
JECT ANY AND/OR ALL BIDS
AND TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE
LOWEST AND BEST BID/BID-
DER.
MR. SAM ALLISON, SUPERIN-
Medical / Dental
TENDENT
SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCA-
TION
LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-
SIPPI
PUBLISHED: FEBRUARY 9 AND
FEBRUARY 16, 2020
Just a click away!
AT THE OFFICE OF SUPERIN-
TENDENT OF EDUCATION.
PLEASE DIRECT ALL INQUIRES
TO EITHER MRS. JEANISE AN-
DREWS, TECHNOLOGY CO-
ORDINATOR, BY PHONE (662-
244-5018) OR EMAIL
(JEANISE.ANDREWS@LOWNDE
S.K12.MS.US) OR MR. ROGER
GAUDET, NETWORK MANAGER,
BY PHONE (662-244-5006) OR
EMAIL
(ROGER.GAUDET@LOWNDES.K
12.MS.US)
THE LOWNDES COUNTY
BOARD OF EDUCATION RE-
SERVES THE RIGHT TO RE-
JECT ANY AND/OR ALL BIDS
AND TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE
Legal Notices
LOWEST AND BEST BID/BID-
DER.
MR. SAM ALLISON, SUPERIN-
TENDENT
SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCA-
TION
LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-
SIPPI
PUBLISHED: FEBRUARY 9 AND
FEBRUARY 16, 2020
Employment
Call us: 662-328-2424
General Help Wanted
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSIST-
ANT: You’re an admin pro
who doesn’t want to be a
secretary. You have great
MS Office and computer
skills, awesome at filling
out forms, honest, people
person, who is great at
organizing paperwork and
projects. Exceptional at
follow through and details.
Looking for a good work
environment with some-
what flexible hours.
Send us a resume:
job107@cdispatch.com
THE COMMERCIAL
DISPATCH is seeking a
mechanically-minded indi-
vidual to work in its press- Alabama St location or to
room. Applicants must be
comfortable working around name and number to
heavy machinery, adhering sub2000inc@gmail.com
to tight deadlines and must
have an eye for detail &
quality. Flexible hours are a
must. Must pass drug test.
Email resume to
mfloyd@cdispatch.com
or drop resumes off at
516 Main Street
Columbus, MS 39701.
No phone calls please.
The best place for personalized
advertising in your community.
General Help Wanted
SUMMER CLEANING AS-
SISTANT - The Mississippi
School for Mathematics
and Science (MSMS) is of-
fering a summer employ-
ment opportunity for a
cleaning assistant. This in-
dividual will assist with
cleaning and disinfecting
rooms, bathrooms, and
common areas in the resid-
ence halls and academic
buildings. Additionally, this
individual will assist with
moving furniture in and out
of rooms in preparation for
cleaning and waxing floors.
Applicants must be 18
years of age or older. If in-
terested in the position and
want to learn more, please
contact Mr. Gene King, Co-
ordinator for Facilities, at
gking@themsms.org or
662-295-9073.
VETERINARY ASSISTANT/
KENNEL HAND needed.
Part time position. Animal
experience is necessary.
If interested, please call
662-524-4155.
Restaurant / Hotel
SUBWAY OF Columbus is
now taking applications for
opening shift at Walmart
location. Apply in person at
set an interview, send your
One call
will bring you
results.
662-328-2424
ads.cdispatch.com
CUSTOMIZE YOUR AD:
Featured ads $5 Sponsored ads $3
Premium placement
on classifieds home page.
Highlight $3
Highlight your ad
with a dash of color.
SECTION
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020
Apts For Rent: Other
Rentals
1ST MONTH − RENT FREE!
1−2 BR Apt: $350−435
1−2BR TwnHome:
Ads starting at $25 $625−650
Lease, Dep, Credit Check.
Apts For Rent: South Coleman Realty
662−329−2323
TWO 1BR/1BA APTS
located at 121 5th St. S.
$700/mo. 662−328−
8655.
Apts For Rent: West
VIP
Rentals
Apartments & Houses
Even if you
1 Bedrooms
don’t get out much
2 Bedroooms
these days, you can
3 Bedrooms
still “go shopping” in the
Furnished & Unfurnished
Classifieds. You can find exactly
1, 2, & 3 Baths
Lease, Deposit what you’ve been looking for.
& Credit Check
DOWNTOWN: 2BR/1BA
viceinvestments.com
Find someone to mow the lawn
327-8555
CH&A, 1 story, W/D,
•
historic district, 1 block
from downtown.
Find someone to clean the house
$575/mo. + $575 dep.
ads.cdispatch.com NO PETS. 662−574−8789.
Peaceful & Quiet area. •
Medical / Dental Find that special recliner
•
Buy a computer system
•
Buy a used car
•
Buy that rare coin for your collection
. . . and lots more
The CommerCial
DispaTCh
516 Main St.
Columbus, MS 39701
662-328-2424
www.cdispatch.com
Service Directory
Promote your small business starting at only $25
Automotive Services Carpet & Flooring General Services Lawn Care / Landscaping
Auto Sales WORK WANTED: JESSE & BEVERLY’S
New & Used Licensed & Bonded. LAWN SERVICE
Tires Carpentry, minor electrical, Mowing, cleanup,
Maintenance minor plumbing, insulation, landscaping, sodding,
Brakes painting, demolition, & tree cutting.
Insurance gutters cleaned, pressure 662−356−6525
662-605-5125 washing, landscaping,
cleanup work, moving help. Painting & Papering
7596 Hwy 45 Alt N • West Point 662−242−3608.
SULLIVAN’S PAINT
Carpet & Flooring SERVICE. Special Prices.
MONOGRAMMING
DAVID’S CARPET &
UPHOLSTERY Interior and Exterior
CARPET INSTALLATION.
Just for Ladies
CLEANING Painting. 662−435−6528
Re−Stretch & Repair also 1 Room − $50
avail. I accept select jobs. 2 Rooms − $70 Tree Services
Call Walt, 662−574−8134. 3+ Rooms − $30 EA
Rugs−Must Be Seen Mossy Oak Mall • West Point J&A TREE REMOVAL
Work from a bucket truck.
Car Upholstery 662-492-4221 • Mon.-Sat. Insured/bonded.
Cleaning Available CHILDREN’S & LADIES’ CONSIGNMENT Call Jimmy Prescott for free
662−722−1758
estimate, 662−386−6286.
General Services JEWELRY REPAIR
RKERS
A & T TREE SERVICES PA
ON
Bucket truck & stump
J.
removal. Free est.
Serving Columbus 100 Russell St.
E Starkville, MS
W ELER
J
since 1987. Senior
citizen disc. Call Alvin @ 662-268-8058
242−0324/241−4447
You’ll find the best deals
"We’ll go out on a limb for
you!" CHAPTER 7 BANKRUPTCY
$545 plus Filing Fee
when you advertise
Grow your business
CHAPTER 13 BANKRUPTCY
and shop here!
GRAVEL. $360 PER LOAD.
Local delivery, 14 yd truck. All Attorney Fees Through The Plan
Backhoe & Dozer work.
Mobile Home Pads &
Jim Arnold, Attorney with the classified
ads.cdispatch.com service directory.
Driveways. 662-324-1666
662−497−1388 104 South Lafayette Street, Starkville
ADS STARTING AT
$12
Preferred placement in search
results and highlighted online.
Graphic $10.50
Enhance your ad with
an attention getter.
2D Sunday, February 16, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
Apts For Rent: Other Lots & Acreage

COLEMAN
1.75 ACRE LOTS.
Good/Bad Credit Options.
Community ON THE WEB
RENTALS Good credit as low as 10%
TOWNHOUSES & APARTMENTS down, $299/mo. Eaton Ads starting at $12 Visit www.cdispatch.com
Land, 662−361−7711.
1 BEDROOM Instruction & School for a printable copy of
2 BEDROOMS these puzzles.
3 BEDROOMS Garage Sales
LEASE,
© The Dispatch

DEPOSIT Two free signs

AND Estate Sales
CREDIT CHECK
Joy Peters Estate Sale!
662-329-2323 372 Cedar Drive
Columbus, MS 39705 Christian Women’s Job
Corps Class Spring
Sat. Feb. 15, 8am−5pm
2411 HWY 45 N Sun. 16, 1pm−5pm 2020−FREE TRAINING
Evening classes in
COLUMBUS, MS Mon. 17, 9am−4pm
Selling Entire Contents of Computer Training,
Home and Garage, High Resume Writing &
Commercial Property For Rent Quality Furniture and Interview Skills for Job
Decorative items, Kitchen Seeking Women.
FOR RENT LOCATED NEAR Items, China, Crystal, Enrolling now for Tues &
DOWNTOWN. 3,000 sq. ft. Pottery, Tools, Antique Thurs starting February
truck terminal, 9,500 sq. French Bed, Women’s 4th at Christian
ft. shop & 3,200 sq. ft. Clothing, hundred of items. Women’s Job Corps.
office/shop. Buildings can Stewart’s Antiques, Min H.S. Diploma or
be rented together or Appraisals & Estate Sales Equivalent required. Call
separately. All w/ excellent Benny Shelton 662−722−3016 or visit
access & Hwy. 82 visibility. Columbus, MS 662−251− cwjcgtms.org
662−327−9559. 1515 www.estatesales.net
Pets
Houses For Rent: North
Sudoku YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

Merchandise
AKC GERMAN SHEPHERD

Sudoku
3BR/1BA, BRICK HOME, PUPPIES. Exc. ped. Blk/
central heat & window air, red. Vet checked, w/s, Sudoku is a number- Yesterday’s answer
fenced yard. Close to wormed. Ready to go! placing puzzle based on
shopping! $575/mo + Ads starting at $12 662−213−4609. Sudoku
a 9x9 gridis a several
with num- 1 6 5 8 3 9 4 2 7
$500 dep. 1120 6th Ave. ber-placing
given numbers.puzzle
The object 9 2 4 7 6 5 8 1 3

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

Pet Supplies / Accessories
N. 662−352−4776. Burial Plots based onthe
is to place a 9x9
numbers 7 8 3 4 1 2 9 5 6
Happy Jack® LiquiVict 2x: grid
1 to 9with
in theseveral
empty spaces 5 3 2 9 8 1 7 6 4
3BR/2BA BRICK Home,
ch/a, stove, dw, & fridge
Four Burial plots in Mem−
orial Gardens, Columbus.
recognized safe & effective given
so thatnumbers.
each row, eachThe 6 1 9 3 4 7 2 8 5
furn. Fenced backyard. Close to trees and the
by U.S. CVM against hook
& round worms in dogs. object
column is andtoeach
place
3x3 the
box 4 7 8 2 5 6 1 3 9
1204 6th St. N. $785/mo white statue. Vaults At Tractor Supply. numbers
contains the1sameto 9 number
in
+ dep. 662−352−4776. included. $900 each, sold (www.kennelvax.com) the empty spaces so 2 5 6 1 9 4 3 7 8
only once. The difficulty 3 4 1 6 7 8 5 9 2
together. 662−364−2106.
that each row, each
level increases from
column and each 8 9 7 5 2 3 6 4 1
Penny
COLONIAL TOWNHOUSES. General Merchandise
2 & 3 bedroom w/ 2−3 Monday
3x3 boxtocontains
Sunday. Difficulty Level 2/14
bath townhouses. $625 to MULTIPLEX DISPLAY the same number only once. The difficulty level
pincher?
$675. 662−549−9555. EXHIBIT or portable room
Ask for Glenn or text. dividers. 49in wide x increases from Monday to Sunday.
59.5in tall x 1in thick.
GREAT LOCATION! Dead Seven panels, double
end street. Very private and sided, finished, washable
country atmosphere with surface, medium brown in
city convenience. Updated color. $150 per panel. Call
and remodeled. $900.00 662−323−8614.
901−413−8121
WANTED FREON R12.
Houses For Rent: East We pay CA$H.
R12 R500 R11.
3 BR/1BA HOUSE Poplar Convenient.
St. 425/mo. 425/dep. No Certified professionals.
Hud. No Section 8. 205− 312−291−9169
442−2011 or 601−940− RefrigerantFinders.com/ad
1397.
Sporting Goods
Houses For Rent: South
ED SANDERS GUNSMITH
Use and read
FOR RENT: 408 11th Ave
S. 3BR/2BA, CH/A,
OPEN FOR SEASON!
9−5: Tues−Fri & classifieds and
9−12: Sat.
garage, fenced yard, quiet
neighborhood, recent Over 50 years experience!
Repairs, cleaning,
your dollars will
remodel. Call 662−752−
9010. refinishing, scopes
mounted & zeroed, go further.
Mobile Homes for Rent handmade knives.
Located: Hwy 45 Alt, North
of West Point, turn right on
RENT A CAMPER!
CHEAPER THAN A MOTEL!
Yokahama Blvd, 8mi & turn Five Questions:
left on Darracott Rd, see
Utilities & cable included, sign, 2.5mi ahead, shop on
1 June 14th
from $145/wk − $535/ left. 662−494−6218.
month. Columbus & County
School locations. 662−242
−7653 or 601−940−1397.

RV/MOBILE HOME SITE

near CAFB, Caledonia
Vehicles 2 Frida Kahlo
schools. Call 601−940−
1397.
Ads starting at $12 3 Honey badger
Campers & RVs
Office Spaces For Rent
2012 JAYCO EAGLE 5th 4 Walmart
OFFICE SPACE FOR WHEEL. 39ft, 4 slide−outs.
LEASE. 1112 Main St., 2BR, 48" TV & 27" TV.
Ste. 5. 3700 sq. ft.
Plenty of private parking.
$26,500. 662−386−9605. 5 Oregon
662−327−9559.

Need a
Real Estate new car? ACROSS
Ads starting at $25
1 Says further
5 Gets ready,
Houses For Sale: North briefly
FSBO: 3BR/2BA, 3304 5th 10 Mill input
St N. Fenced back yard w/ 12 Maximum
sm shop. Great neighbor− amount
hood. $110,000. 662−356
−4764 or 901−848−0051. 13 Cowboy
contest
Houses For Sale: Caledonia 14 Acid type
FSBO: 3BR/2BA ON 2.5
15 Complete
ACRES. 1600 sqft. 16 Attempt
Completely remodeled. 18 Catch some
$178,000. 662−386−
7113.
z’s
19 Pal of Pooh
Lots & Acreage Start in the classifieds section for 21 Plays the
Beautiful 1+ acre your buying and selling needs! ponies
construction ready lot 22 TV show type DOWN 25 Spirit session
Honeysuckle Drive, NH 24 Glowing coal 1 Be of one mind 26 Florid
School District, paved 25 TV show type 2 Talked on and 27 Muralist
frontage, $15,000. 662−
549−3764. $15,000.00 Ads starting at $12 for one week! 29 Swiss capital on Diego
662−549−3764 30 Low points 3 Beatnik’s bro 28 Comes up
32 Operated 4 “Sprechen — 29 Wilson of the
Houses For Sale: Other 33 “Sure thing!” Deutsch?” Beach Boys
34 Bigwig, briefly 5 Join the game 31 Wasn’t thrifty
35 Ridiculous 6 Crater part 33 Urges
37 The ones 7 “8 Mile” rapper 36 Approval
here 8 Party target 38 Yonder fellow
39 Take, as 9 Organ parts
advice 11 Bidding
40 Ambulance choice
sound 17 Singer Leon
41 Calls for 20 Indian, e.g.
42 Ship staff 21 Uncovered
23 Meals

Where the Spirit of the Lord is
“There is Liberty”
Ke nne th Mo ntg o m ery
Proudly serving our community
for over 30 years
2500 Military Road Suite 1
Columbus, MS
662-328-7500 WEST REALTY COMPANY
westrealtycompany.com
Don West, Broker/Owner
Northeast Exterminating
If it Jimmy Linley • Richard Linley
crawls, Columbus
call... 662-329-9992
BRISLIN, INC.
Sales • Service • Installation
Residential • Commercial • Industrial
Since 1956
www.brislininc.com
4051 Military Road • 662-328-5814
INDUSTRIAL SERVICES, INC
www.hydrovaconline.com
Jarrett’s Towing
Wrecker Service
5209 N. Hwy 182 E. • Columbus, MS 39702
329-2447
If no answer 251-2448 cars
R Free Estimates
LER OO
EE FIN Licensed
& Insured
W H INC. G FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH — 7th St. and 2nd. Ave.
COMMERCIAL
“A Family Business Since 1946”
RESIDENTIAL
662-328-3625 • 662-328-7612
Rae’s Jewelry
Authorized Dealer
Citizens and Pulsar Watches
Downtown Columbus 662-328-8824
When Caring Counts...
FUNERAL HOME & CREMATORY
1131 Lehmberg Rd., Columbus • 662-328-1808
Shelton Cleaners
3189 Hwy 45 N. • 328-5421
1702 6th St. N. • 328-5361
APAC-MISSISSIPPI, INC.
Michael Bogue & Employees
Lake Norris Rd. 328-6555
Telephone: 662-327-1467
P.O. Box 1278 • 1616 7th Ave. S., Columbus, MS 39703
This ad space can be yours
for only $10 per week.
Call today 328-2424
to schedule your ad.
Do you need to change your
church’s listing? Call 328-2424 or
email changes to tinap@cdispatch.com
subject: church page
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
Church Directory
These church directory pages are made possible by the sponsorship of the following businesses.
ASSEMBLIES OF GOD
NEW LIFE ASSEMBLY OF GOD — 4474 New Hope
Road. Worship 10:30 a.m., Children’s Church 10:30 a.m.,
662-664-0852
THE ASSEMBLY COLUMBUS — 2201 Military
Road. Christian Education 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m.,
Nursery Church (2-3 yrs.) Children’s Church 10:30 a.m.
Wednesday 6:30 p.m. (something for all ages). Nursery
provided for all services. Jody Gurley, Pastor. 662-328-
6374
BAPTIST
ANTIOCH BAPTIST CHURCH — Hwy. 45 N.
Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Discipleship
Training 5 p.m., Worship 6 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Mitch
McWilliams, Pastor. 662-328-4765
ARMSTRONG BAPTIST CHURCH — 1707
Yorkville Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m. Bible
Study Wednesday 7 p.m. Rev. William Vaughn, Pastor. 662-
328-0670
ARTESIA BAPTIST CHURCH — Sunday School 10
a.m., Worship 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., Wednesday 6 p.m. Pastor
Jeff Morgan.
BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH — 3232 Military Road.
Sunday School 10:00 a.m., Worship 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.,
Wednesday Bible Study 6 p.m. Walter Butler, Pastor.
BETHESDA BAPTIST CHURCH — 2096 Bethesda
Rd, Crawford. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m.,
Discipleship Training 6:00 p.m., Worship 7 p.m., Wednesday
7:00 p.m. Allan Dees, Pastor. 662-272-8734
BORDER SPRINGS BAPTIST CHURCH — 12771
Hwy. 12 E., Caledonia. Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship
10:30 a.m., Discipleship Training 5:15 p.m., Worship 6 p.m.,
Wednesday Bible Study – Adults, Children, and Youth
classes 6:30 p.m. Dan Louman, Pastor. 662-386-0541.
www. borderspringsbaptistchurch.com
BROOKSVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH — Main
Street, Brooksville. Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship
10:55 a.m. and 6 p.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m.
CALEDONIA BAPTIST CHURCH — 7840 Wolfe
LLC
Road, Caledonia. Sunday Men’s Prayer Service 9:30 a.m.,
Sunday School 10 a.m. Sunday, Worship 11 a.m. Sunday,
Bible Study 4 p.m., Worship 5 p.m., Wednesday Bible Study
6:30 p.m. Kelby R. Johnson, Pastor.
CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH — 295 Dowdle
Dr. Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m., Adult
Choir rehearsals and Discipleship Training 5 p.m., Worship
6 p.m., Wednesday 6:15 p.m. Rev. Ralph Windle, Interim
Pastor. 662-328-6741
CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH — 385 7th St. SW,
Vernon, Ala. Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 11 a.m. and
5 p.m. (6 p.m. - Daylight Savings Time), Wednesday 6:30
p.m. Wil Corbett, Pastor. 205-270-1845
CANAAN BAPTIST CHURCH — 1008 Lehmberg
Rd. Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m. and 5
p.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Paul Shaw, Pastor. 662-327-
3771
CANAAN MB CHURCH — 2425 Bell Ave. Sunday
School 8:15 a.m., Worship 9:30 a.m., Wednesday Bible
Study 6 p.m. Jimmy Pounds, Pastor. 662-327-1226
COMMUNITY BAPTIST CHURCH — 2490
Yorkville Rd. East Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:30
a.m., Wednesday Bible Study, Children & Youth Classes
6:30 p.m. Matt Moehring, Pastor. Edward Rhinewalt, Music
Director. 662-327-5306
CORNERSTONE BAPTIST CHURCH — 844
Old West Point Rd., Starkville. Sunday 10:30 a.m.
Greg Upperman, Pastor. 662-323-6351 or visit www.
cornerstonestarkville.com
EAST END BAPTIST CHURCH — 380 Hwy.
50 W. (Hwy. 50 and Holly Hills Rd.) Sunday School 9:15
a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m., Worship 5 p.m. followed by
Discipleship Training, Mission Friends and GAs 5 p.m.,
Sanctuary Choir 6:30 p.m., Wednesday Prayer Meeting,
Youth Worship, Preschool & Children’s Choirs 6:30 p.m.
Bryon Benson, Pastor. 662-328-5915
EASTVIEW BAPTIST CHURCH — 1316 Ben
Christopher Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m.,
We unlock Wednesday 7 p.m. Junior Eads, Pastor. 662-329-2245
FAIRVIEW BAPTIST CHURCH — 127 Airline Rd.
Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10:15 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.,
Wednesday 6 p.m. Dr. Breck Ladd, Pastor. 662-328-2924
FAITH CHRISTIAN BAPTIST CHURCH — 1621
Mike Parra Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m.
Rev. Michael Love, Pastor. 662-434-5252
N. Sunday Worship 8:45 a.m., Sunday School 10 a.m.
(Worship televised at 10 a.m. on WCBI-TV, Columbus
Cable Channel 7), Contemporary Worship 11 a.m.;
Sunday Evening Worship 5 p.m., Midweek Prayer Service
Wednesday 6 p.m. located downtown. Dr. Shawn Parker,
Pastor. 662-245-0540 columbusfbc.org
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF STEENS — 40
Odom Rd., Steens. Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 11
a.m. and 6 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m.
FRIENDSHIP BAPTIST — 125 Yorkville Rd. W.
Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.,
Wednesday 7 p.m. John Gainer, Pastor. 662-328-6024 or
662-328-3183
GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH — 708 Airline
Rd. Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10 a.m. & 6 p.m.,
Wednesday 6 p.m. Charles Whitney, Pastor.
GRACE COVENANT BAPTIST CHURCH — 912
11th Ave. S. Sunday 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Pastor Sammy
Burns. 662-328-1096
GREENWOOD SPRINGS BAPTIST CHURCH
— 278 East between Gattman & Amory. Sunday School 10
a.m., Worship 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., Wednesday 7:15 p.m.
Rev. John Walden, Pastor. 662-356-4445
IMMANUEL BAPTIST CHURCH — 6342 Military
Rd., Steens. Bible Study 10:30 a.m., Worship 9:15 a.m. and
6 p.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m. 662-328-1668
KOLOLA SPRINGS BAPTIST CHURCH —
Caledonia. Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m.,
AWANA 4:45-6 Ages 2-12th grade (Sept. - May), Worship
5 p.m., Choir Practice Wednesday 6 p.m., 252 Basics
Children’s Ministry an Cross Training Youth Wednesday
7 p.m., Wednesday Bible Study 7 p.m. Rev. Don Harding,
Pastor.
LONGVIEW BAPTIST CHURCH — 991 Buckner
Street, Longview. Sunday School 10:00 a.m., Worship
11:00 a.m., Discipleship Training 5:15 p.m., Evening
Worship 6:00 p.m.; Wednesday Prayer Meeting 6:30 p.m.
Interim Pastor Ron Linkins, or email ynyministry@yahoo.
com, 662-769-4774
MCBEE BAPTIST CHURCH — 2846 Hwy. 50 E.
Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m., Discipleship
Training 5 p.m., Worship 6 p.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Rev.
Jimmy Ray, Pastor. 662-328-7177
MIDWAY BAPTIST CHURCH — Holly Hills Rd.
Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday 6
p.m., Prayer Service every Saturday 6 p.m. Rev. Denver
Clark, Pastor.
MOUNT PISGAH BAPTIST CHURCH — 2628
East Tibbee Rd., West Point. Sunday Worship each week 8
a.m., 1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday Worship 11:30 a.m., Sunday
School 9:30 a.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Donald Wesley,
Pastor.
MOUNT ZION BAPTIST CHURCH — 1791 Lake
Lowndes Rd. Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10:15 a.m.
and 6 p.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Steve Lammons, Pastor.
662-328-2811
MT. VERNON CHURCH — 200 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Sunday Worship 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., Service Life Groups
for all ages 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., Connection Cafe 10 a.m.,
Discovery Zone. 662-328-3042 mtvchurch.com
MURRAH’S CHAPEL BAPTIST CHURCH —
9297 Hwy. 69 S. Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:30
a.m. and 6:30 p.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m.
NEW COVENANT BAPTIST CHURCH — Highway
50 E. Sunday School 9 a.m., Service 10 a.m., Wednesday
7 p.m. Ed Nix, Pastor.
NEW JOURNEY CHURCH — 3123 New Hope Rd.
Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m., Small Groups 5:30 p.m., Kevin
Edge, Pastor. 662-315-7753 or thenewjourneychurch.org
NEW SALEM BAPTIST CHURCH — 7086 Wolfe
Rd., 3 miles south of Caledonia. Sunday Worship 8:00
a.m. & 10:30 a.m., Sunday School 9:15 a.m., Sunday
Evening - AWANA 4 p.m., Discipleship Training, Youth
& Adult 5 p.m., Evening Worship 6 p.m., Wednesday -
Adults, Youth & Children 6:30 p.m. 662-356-4940 www.
newsalembaptistcaledonia.com Bro. Mel Howton, Pastor.
NORTHSIDE FREE WILL BAPTIST — 14th Ave.
and Waterworks. Sunday School 10 a.m., Sunday Worship
11 a.m. and 6 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Rev. Pat Creel,
Pastor.
OPEN DOOR MB CHURCH — Starkville Sportsplex,
405 Lynn Lane, Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m.
1st 2nd and 4th Sundays. Donnie Jones, Pastor. 662-263-
7102
PLEASANT GROVE MB CHURCH — 1914 Moor
High Road, Crawford. Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship
11 a.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Rev. Riley Forrest, Sr., Pastor.
662-272-8221
PLEASANT HILL BAPTIST — 1383 Pleasant Hill
Rd. Sunday Worship 10 a.m. & 6 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m.
Bill Hurt, Pastor. 662-329-3921
PLYMOUTH BAPTIST CHURCH — 187 Plymouth
Rd. Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Rev.
Randy Rigdon, Pastor. Neil Shepherd, Music.
SOVEREIGN FAITH BAPTIST CHURCH — 7852
Hwy. 12 E., Steens. Sunday Worship 10 a.m., Service 5
p.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Charles Young, Pastor.
SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH —
12859 Martin Road Spur, Northport, Ala. Worship 11
a.m., Sunday Bible Study noon. Todd Bryant, Pastor.
sovereigngrace.net
STATE LINE BAPTIST CHURCH — 7560 Hwy. 1282
E. Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m., Wednesday
Night small group 6:30 p.m. Robert Gillis, Pastor. 662-
329-2973
TEMPLE OF DELIVERANCE BAPTIST
CHURCH — 4307 Sand Rd., Steens. Maurice Williams,
Pastor. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.,
Wednesday 7 p.m. 662-327-2580
UNITED CHRISTIAN BAPTIST CHURCH — 2
blocks east of Hwy. 69 on Yorkville Rd. Sunday School 9
a.m., Worship 10:15 a.m. Steven James, Pastor.
UNIVERSITY BAPTIST CHURCH — 1104
Louisville St., Starkville (located in Fellowship Hall of St.
Luke Lutheran Church). Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship
11 a.m. Bert Montgomery, Pastor. www.ubcstarkville.org
VICTORY FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH —
Victory Loop off of Mill Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship
11 a.m. and 6 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Pastor, Al Hamm.
WOODLAND BAPTIST CHURCH — 3033 Ridge
Rd. Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m., Worship
6 p.m., AWANA Wednesday 6:30 p.m., Wednesday 6:30
p.m. Kevin Jenkins, Pastor. 662-327-6689. Brad Wright,
Youth Minister.
10TH STREET FAIRLAWN BAPTIST CHURCH
— 1118 7th St. S. Sunday School 8 a.m., Worship 9:30 a.m.,
Wednesday 7 p.m., Youth Ministry Wednesday 4:30 p.m.
Rev. Brian Hood, Pastor.
INDEPENDENT BAPTIST
BETHESDA CHURCH — 1800 Short Main. Sunday
School 9:45 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday 7 p.m.
Nathaniel Best, Pastor. E-mail: bethesdambchurch@
yahoo.com
BIBLE BAPTIST CHURCH — 5860 Hwy. 50 E., West
Point. Sunday School 10 a.m., Service 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.,
Wednesday 7 p.m.
FELLOWSHIP BAPTIST CHURCH — 1720 Hwy.
373. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.,
Wednesday 7 p.m. Martin “Buddy” Gardner, Pastor.
LIGHTHOUSE BAPTIST CHURCH — 5030 Hwy.
182 E. Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m. and 6
p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. 662-327-1130
SHINING LIGHT BAPTIST CHURCH — 957
Sunset Drive, Starkville in the Comfort Suites Conference
Room, Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m. and 6
p.m. Pastor John Harvey. slbcstarkville.org 662-648-0282
MISSIONARY BAPTIST
ANDERSON GROVE MB CHURCH — 1131
Woodlawn Rd., Steens. Sunday School 9:20 a.m., Worship
11:00 a.m., Bible Study Wednesday 6:20 p.m. Rev. William
Sparks, Pastor. 662-356-4968.
ANTIOCH MB CHURCH — 2304 Seventh Ave. N.
Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10 a.m., Wednesday 6 p.m.
Kenny Bridges, Pastor.
BETHLEHEM MB CHURCH — 293 Bethlehem Road,
Caledonia. Sunday School 1st and 4th Sundays 8 a.m., 2nd
& 3rd Sundays 9:30 a.m., Worship 1st & 4th Sundays 9:30
a.m., 2nd & 3rd Sundays 11 a.m., Wednesdays 6 p.m. Rev.
Willie James Gardner, Pastor. 662-356-4424
BLESSING MB CHURCH — Starkville Sportsplex,
Activity Center 405 Lynn Lane Road. Sunday Worship 2nd,
4th & 5th Sundays 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Pastor Martin. 662-
744-0561
BRICK MB CHURCH — Old Macon Rd. Sunday School
9:30 a.m. each Sunday, Worship 2nd and 4th Sundays only
11 a.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Rev. Everett Little, Pastor.
CALVARY FAITH CENTER — Hwy. 373 & Jess
Lyons Road. Sunday Worship 8:00 a.m., Sunday School 9
a.m., Worship 10 a.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Pastor Robert
Bowers, Pastor. 662-434-0144
CEDAR GROVE MB CHURCH — 286 Swartz Dr.
Worship Services 11:15 a.m., Sunday School 10 a.m.,
Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Johnnie Richardson, Pastor. 662-
434-6528
CHRISTIAN HILL MISSIONARY BAPTIST
CHURCH — 14096 MS Hwy. 388, Brooksville, MS 39739,
Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 11:00 a.m., Wednesday
6:30 p.m. Bobby Bowen, Pastor. 662-738-5837/549-6100
CHRIST MB CHURCH — 110 2nd Ave. S. Sunday
School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday 6 p.m., B.T.U.
Program every 1st & 3rd Sunday 6 p.m.
ELBETHEL MB CHURCH — 2205 Washington Ave.
Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday
7:00 p.m., Rev. Leroy Jones, Pastor.
FAITH HARVEST MB CHURCH — 4266 Sand
Road. Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10 a.m., Bible class
Tuesday 6 p.m. Hugh L. Dent, Pastor. 662-243-7076.
FOURTH STREET MB CHURCH — 610 4th St. N.
Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10:45 a.m., Wednesday
Bible Study 7 p.m. Rev. Jimmy L. Rice, Pastor. 662-328-1913
FRIENDSHIP MB CHURCH — 1102 12th Ave. S.
Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday
6 p.m. Dr. Stanley K. McCrary, Pastor. 662-327-7473 or
662-251-4185
GREATER MT. OLIVE M.B. CHURCH — 1856
Carson Rd. Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10:15 a.m.,
Wednesday 7 a.m. Donald Henry, Pastor.
HALBERT MISSION MB CHURCH — 2199 Halbert
Church Rd., Ethelsville, Ala. Sunday School 10 a.m.,
Worship 11 a.m. Ernest Prescott, Pastor.
HOPEWELL MB CHURCH — 4892 Ridge Rd.
Sunday School 8 a.m., Worship 9 a.m., Minister Terry
Johnson, Interim Pastor.
JERUSALEM MB CHURCH — 14129 Hwy 12 E.,
Caledonia. Sunday School 8:30 a.m., Worship 9:30 a.m.,
Wednesday Bible Study 6 p.m. Rev. Willie Petty, Sr., Pastor.
MAPLE STREET BAPTIST — 219 Maple St.
Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:45 a.m. and 6 p.m.,
Wednesday 6 p.m. Joseph Oyeleye, Pastor. 662-328-4629
MILLERS CHAPEL MB CHURCH — 425 East
North St. Macon. Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 11
a.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Ron Houston, Pastor.
MISSIONARY UNION BAPTIST CHURCH
— 1207 5th Ave. N. Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship
11 a.m., Baptist Training Union 5 p.m., Worship 6 p.m.,
Wednesday 6 p.m. Rev. Tony A. Montgomery, Pastor.
MOUNT ZION MB CHURCH — 2221 14th Ave. N.
Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10 a.m., Tuesday Bible
Study 7 p.m. Jesse J. Slater, Pastor. 662-328-4979
MT. ARY MB CHURCH — 291 S. Frontage Rd., Lot
#4. Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10 a.m., Wednesday 6
p.m. Rev. Erick Logan, Pastor.
MT. AVERY BAPTIST CHURCH — 12311 Nashville
Ferry Rd. E. Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10 a.m. every
Sunday except 5th Sunday. Rev. John Wells, Pastor.
MT. OLIVE MB CHURCH — 2020 Atkin Rd., Millport,
Ala. Sunday School 9 a.m. Worship Service 10 a.m. Pastor
Benny W. Henry. 205-662-3923
NEW HOPE MB CHURCH — 271 Church St., Artesia.
Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday 6
p.m. Thomas E. Rice is Pastor. 662-494-1580
NEW BAPTIST TEMPLE MB CHURCH — 5937
Nashville Ferry Rd. E. Sunday School 9 a.m. each week
except 5th Sunday, Worship 10 a.m. each week except 5th
Sunday, 5th Sundays: Ushers Board Fellowship. Rev. L.A.
Gardner, Pastor. 662-329-3321
NEW ZION PILGRIM MB CHURCH — 5253 New
Hope Rd. Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship Services
11 a.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Rev. Christopher Wriley,
Pastor.
NEW ZION STEENS MB CHURCH — 3301 Sand
Rd. Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10 a.m., Wednesday
6 p.m. Pastor Rev. Billy D. Hill. 662-329-5224
OAK GROVE MB CHURCH — 1090 Taylor
Thurston Rd. Sunday School 9:00 a.m., Worship 10 a.m.,
5th Sunday 8 a.m., Wednesday Bible Study 6:15 p.m.
Pastor Therman Cunningham Sr., 662-798-0179
OAKLAND MB CHURCH — 18 Fairport Road,
Crawford. Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 11 a.m.,
Wednesday Bible study 7 p.m., Mass Choir Rehearsal
- Wed. before 1st and 2nd Sun. 6 p.m., Male Chorus
Rehearsal - Wed. before 3rd Sun. 6 p.m., Junior Choir
Rehearsal - Wed. before 4th Sun. 6 p.m. Rev. Sammy
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 3D
L. White, Pastor.
PLEASANT GROVE ROBINSON MB CHURCH
— 9203 Hwy. 389 N., Starkville. Sunday School 10 a.m.,
Worship 11:15 a.m., Wednesday Prayer Service/Bible
Study 7 p.m. Pastor George A. Sanders. 456-0024
PLEASANT RIDGE MB CHURCH — Ridge Rd.
Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday 6
p.m. A. Edwards, Sr., Pastor.
PROVIDENCE MB CHURCH — Old Hwy. 69 S.
Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday
7 p.m. Rev. Gilbert Anderson, Pastor.
SAINT MATTHEWS MB CHURCH — 1213
Island Rd. Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 11 a.m.,
Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Curtis Clay, Sr., Pastor.
SALEM MB CHURCH — Hwy. 86, Carrollton, Ala.
Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday
6 p.m. Rev. David J. Johnson, Jr., Pastor.
SECOND JAMES CREEK MB CHURCH —
4898 Baldwin Rd., Brooksville. Sunday School 9:45 a.m.,
Worship 11 a.m. Pastor Michael Tate. 662-738-5855
SOUTHSIDE MB CHURCH — 100 Nashville Ferry
Rd. E. Sunday School 8:30 a.m., Worship 10 a.m.,
Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Rev. Rayfield Evins Jr., Pastor.
SIXTH AVENUE MB CHURCH — 1519 Sixth Ave.
N. Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m., Bible Study
Wednesday 7 p.m. Rev. W.C. Talley, Pastor. 662-329-
2344
SPRINGFIELD MB CHURCH — 6369 Hwy. 45 S.
(1st & 3rd Sunday) Sunday School 10:30 a.m., Worship
11:30 a.m., (1st & 3rd Wednesday) 7 p.m. Robert Gavin,
Pastor. 662-327-9843
STEPHEN CHAPEL MB CHURCH — 2008 7th
Ave. N. Sunday School 8:30 a.m., Worship 9:45 a.m.
Bible Study Wednesday 10:45 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.
ST. JAMES MB CHURCH — 6525 Hardy-Billups
Rd., Crawford. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m.
and 6:15 p.m. Rev. Chad Payton, Pastor.
ST. JOHN MB CHURCH — 3477 Motley Rd.,
Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday
Bible Study 7 p.m. Joe Brooks, Pastor. 327-7494.
ST. PAUL MB CHURCH — Robinson Rd. Sunday
School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday 6 p.m.
Rev. Willie Mays, Pastor.
ST. PAUL MB CHURCH — 1800 Short Main St.
Disciple Training/Sunday School 8 a.m., Worship 9:00
a.m. Rev. John F. Johnson, Pastor. 662-241-7111
STRONG HILL MISSIONARY BAPTIST
CHURCH — 325 Barton Ferry Rd., West Point. Sunday
School 9:30 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday Bible
Study 6 p.m.
UNION BAPTIST MB CHURCH — 101 Weaver
Rd. (Hwy. 69 S) Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 11
a.m., Wednesday 6 p.m. Pastor McSwain.
TABERNACLE MB CHURCH — Magnolia Drive,
Macon. Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 11 a.m.,
Wednesday 6 p.m.
UNION HOPEWELL MB CHURCH — 150
Spurlock Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m.,
Wednesday 6 p.m. Carlton Jones, Pastor.
WOODLAWN LANDMARK MB CHURCH —
8086 Hwy. 12. East, Steens. Sunday School 10 a.m.,
Worship 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. David
Retherford, Pastor.
THE WORD CHURCH INTERNATIONAL — 366
Carson Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11:15 a.m.,
Wednesday 7 p.m. John Sanders, Pastor.
ZION GATE MB CHURCH — 1202 5th St. S. Sunday
School 9:30 a.m., Worship 8 a.m. and 10:45., Children’s
Church 10:15 a.m., Worship 5 p.m., Wednesday 6 p.m.
Dr. James A. Boyd, Pastor.
PRIMITIVE BAPTIST
ABERDEEN PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CHURCH
— Washington St. & Columbus St., Aberdeen. Sunday
10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Herb Hatfield, Pastor. 662-369-
4937
HAMILTON PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CHURCH —
Flower Farm Rd., 2 miles South of Hamilton, just off Hwy.
45. Sunday 10:30 a.m. Jesse Phillips, Pastor. 662-429-
2305
MAYHEW PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CHURCH —
842 Hwy. 45 Alternate, Starkville. Sunday Service 10:30
a.m. Herb Hatfield,Pastor. 662-315-4937
SPRINGHILL P.B. CHURCH — 3996 Sandyland
Road, Macon, MS. Walter Lowery Jr., Pastor. Sunday
School 9:00 a.m., Worship 10:00 a.m., Tuesday Bible
Study 6 p.m. 662-738-5006.
SULPHUR SPRINGS PRIMITIVE BAPTIST
CHURCH — North of Caledonia on Wolf Rd, Hamilton.
Sunday 10:30 a.m. & 1st Sunday Night at 6:30 p.m. Elder
Joseph Mettles, Pastor. 662-369-2532
ANGLICAN CATHOLIC
SAINT DAVID’S AT MAYHEW — 549 Mayhew
Rd., Mayhew. Holy Eucharist - Sunday 10 a.m. 662-244-
5939 or anglicancatholic.org
CATHOLIC
ANNUNCIATION CATHOLIC CHURCH — 808
College St. Mass Schedules are as follows: Sunday 8
a.m. & 10:30 a.m., Monday, Wednesday & Friday 8 a.m.,
Tuesday 5:30 p.m., Thursday 8:30 a.m., and Annunciation
Catholic School (during the school year). Father Jeffrey
Waldrep, Priest.
CHRISTIAN
FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH — 811 N. McCrary.
Larry Ferguson, Interim Pastor. Sunday School 9:30
a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday, 7 p.m.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH — 720 4th Ave.
N. and 8th St. N. Sunday Service 10:30 a.m.
CHURCH OF CHRIST
CALEDONIA CHURCH OF CHRIST — Main
St., Caledonia. Sunday Bible Study 9 a.m., Worship
10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Wednesday 6 p.m.
CHURCH OF CHRIST — 4362 Hwy. 69 S.
Sunday Worship 9:30 a.m. , Wednesday 6 p.m. Loviah
Johnson 662-574-0426 or E-mail: jtychicus00@gmail.
com
CHURCH OF CHRIST — 437 Gregory Rd.
Sunday Bible class 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m. and 6
p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Richard Latham, Minister.
662-328- 4705
CHURCH OF CHRIST DIVINE — 1316 15th
St. S. Morning Worship (1st, 2nd, & 4th Sunday)
9:45 a.m., (3rd & 5th Sunday) 8:30 a.m., Wednesday
Prayer 6 p.m., Wednesday Bible Study 7 p.m. 662-
327-6060 Bishop Timothy Heard, Pastor.
COLUMBUS CHURCH OF CHRIST — 2401
7th St. N. Sunday Bible Class 9:30 a.m., Worship
10:30 a.m., Sunday Bible Study 5 p.m., Wednesday
6:30 p.m. Paul Bennett, Family Life Minister; Billy
Ferguson, Minister of Discipleship; Hunter Johnson,
Youth Minister.
EAST COLUMBUS CHURCH OF CHRIST —
Highway 182 E. at Gaylane. Sunday Worship 9 a.m.,
Bible Study 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday 7
p.m. http://eastcolumbuschurch.com
HW Y. 69 CHURCH OF CHRIST — 2407 Hwy.
69 S. Sunday Bible Study 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:15
a.m. and 6 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Minister Jay
Street. www.highway69coc.com
LONE OAK CHURCH OF CHRIST — 1903
Lone Oak Rd., Steens. Bible Study 9 a.m., Worship 10
a.m. and 6 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m.
MAGNOLIA CHURCH OF CHRIST — 161 Jess
Lyons Rd. Bible Study 9:15 a.m., Worship, 10 a.m. and
6 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Minister David May, Pastor.
662-769-5514.
NORTH HILLCREST CHURCH OF CHRIST
— 900 North Hillcrest, Aberdeen, MS 39730, Sunday
Worship 10:00 a.m., Wednesday Bible Study 6:00
p.m., Bro. Arthur Burnett, Minister, 662-304-6098.
Email: nhill crestcoc@gmail.com
STEENS CHURCH OF CHRIST — Steens
Vernon Rd. 9:15 a.m. Bible Study, Worship 10 a.m.
and 5 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Tim Gentle, Minister.
10TH AVE. N. CHURCH OF CHRIST — 1828
10th Ave. N. Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:30
a.m., Bible Class 5 p.m., Worship 6 p.m., Wednesday
7 p.m. Willie McCord, Minister.
WOODLAWN CHURCH OF CHRIST —
Woodlawn Community. Sunday 9 a.m., Worship 9:45
a.m., Worship 6 p.m., Wednesday 7:30 p.m. Willis
Logan, Minister.
CHURCH OF GOD
CHURCH OF GOD IN JESUS’ NAME — Hwy. 12.
Sunday 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., Tuesday 7 p.m. David Sipes,
Pastor.
CORNERSTONE WORSHIP CENTER — 7840
Wolfe Rd. Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.,
Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Tony Hunt, Pastor. 662-889-6570
4D SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020
Let us replenish the seed of faith through ...
Regular Church Attendance
LATTER RAIN CHURCH OF GOD — 721 7th Ave.
S. Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 11 a.m. Wednesday 6
p.m. Brenda Othell Sullivan, Pastor.
NORTH COLUMBUS CHURCH OF GOD — 2103
Jess Lyons Rd. Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 10:30
a.m. and 6 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Clarence Roberts,
Pastor.
YORKVILLE HEIGHTS CHURCH — 2274 Yorkville
Rd., Sunday Connect Groups 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:30
a.m., Wednesday Worship 7 p.m.; Nursery available for all
services (newborn-4). Scott Volland, Pastor. 662-328-1256
or www.yorkvilleheights.com
CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST
BIBLE WAY PROGRESSIVE CHURCH OF GOD
IN CHRIST — 426 Military Rd. Sunday School 8 a.m.,
Worship 9 a.m., Monday Prayer 6 p.m., Wednesday Bible
Study 6 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday Prayer Noon. Tommy
Williams, Pastor.
FIFTEENTH ST. CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST
— 917 15th St. N. Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m.
and 6 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Marion C. Bonner, Pastor.
GREATER PENTECOSTAL TEMPLE CHURCH
OF GOD IN CHRIST — 1601 Pickensville Rd., Sunday
School 9:30 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Monday 6 p.m., Tuesday
7 p.m., Friday 7 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. Ocie Salter, Pastor.
MIRACLE TEMPLE CHURCH OF GOD IN
CHRIST — 5429 Hwy. 45 N. Sunday Prayer 8 a.m.,
Sunday School 8:30 a.m., Worship 9:30 a.m., 4th Sunday
Fellowship Lunch, Youth Sunday 4th Sunday, Wednesday
Bible Study 6 p.m. Elder Robert L. Brown, Jr., Pastor. 662-
327-4221. Email: mr.endure@aol.com
NOW FAITH CENTER MINISTRIES — 425 Military
Road, Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11:30 a.m., Tuesday
Night Bible Study 7 p.m. Elder Samuel Wilson, Pastor.
OPEN DOOR CHURCH OF GOD — 711 S. Thayer
Ave., Aberdeen. Sunday School 10:30 a.m., Worship 11:30
a.m., Tuesday Bible School 10 a.m. & 6 p.m., 2nd & 4th
Thursday Evangelist Night 6 p.m. Johnnie Bradford, Pastor.
662-574-2847.
PETER’S ROCK TEMPLE CHURCH OF GOD IN
CHRIST — 223 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., Starkville.
Sunday Worship 7:45 a.m., 10 a.m., 6 p.m., Sunday School 9
a.m., Wednesday Bible Study 7 p.m.
VICTORY TEMPLE CHURCH OF GOD IN
CHRIST — Minnie Vaughn Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m.,
Worship 12 p.m., Tuesday 7 p.m. Donald Koonch, Pastor.
662-243-2064
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE
CAFB CHAPEL — Catholic - Sunday: Catholic
Reconciliation 4:00 p.m., Mass 5 p.m. Catholic Priest Father
Paul Stewart. Protestant - Sunday: Adult Sunday School
9 a.m., Worship 10:45 a.m. Wing Chaplain Lt. Col. Steven
Richardson. 662-434-2500
EPISCOPAL
GOOD SHEPHERD EPISCOPAL CHURCH —
321 Forrest Blvd. Sunday Bible Study 9 a.m., Worship 10
a.m., Wednesday Bible Study 6 p.m. Rev. Sandra DePriest.
662-574-1972
ST. PAUL’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH — 318 College
St. Sunday 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday School 9:15 a.m.
Rev. Jason Shelby. 662-328-6673 or stpaulscolumbus.com.
FULL GOSPEL
BREAD OF LIFE FELLOWSHIP — New Hope Road.
Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m., Wednesday 6
p.m. Jack Taylor, Pastor.
BEULAH GROVE FULL GOSPEL BAPTIST
CHURCH — 8490 Artesia Rd., Artesia, MS. Sunday
Service 8:30 a.m., Tuesday Bible Study 6:30 p.m. Timothy
Bourne, Senior Pastor.
CHARITY FULL GOSPEL BAPTIST CHURCH —
1524 6th Ave. S. Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 11 a.m.,
Wednesday 7 p.m., Saturday 6 p.m. Charles Fisher, Pastor.
CHARITY MISSION FULL GOSPEL BAPTIST
CHURCH — 807 Tarlton Rd., Crawford. Sunday School
9:40 a.m., Worship 11:15 a.m., Wednesday 7 p.m., Prayer
Hour Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m., Saturday 8 a.m., New Membership
Class 9:30 p.m., 5th Sunday Worship 6:30 p.m. 662-272-
5355
COVENANT LIFE MINISTRIES CHURCH — W.
Yorkville Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m.,
Evening 6:30 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m.
FAIRVIEW FULL GOSPEL BAPTIST CHURCH
— 1446 Wilson Pine Rd., Crawford. Sunday School 9:30
a.m., Worship 10 a.m., Tuesday 7 p.m. Bobby L. McCarter
662-328-2793
GREATER MOUNT ZION CHURCH — 5114 Hwy.
182 E. Sunday Corporate Prayer 8 a.m., Sunday School 9
a.m., Worship 10:15 a.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m., Bible Study
7 p.m. Doran V. Johnson, Pastor. 662-329-1905
GOD’S ANNOINTED PEOPLE MINISTRY FULL
GOSPEL FELLOWSHIP — 611 Jess Lyons Rd.
Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday 6:30
p.m. Jerome Gill, Pastor. 662-244-7088
HARVEST LIFE CHURCH — 425 Military Rd. Sunday
Service 10:30 a.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. F. Clark Richardson,
Pastor. 662-329-2820
NEW BEGINNING FULL GOSPEL BAPTIST
CHURCH — 318 Idlewild Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m.,
Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday 6 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. 662-
327-3962
NEW LIFE FULL GOSPEL BAPTIST CHURCH
— 426 Military Rd. Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship
10a.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Rev. Michael Love, Pastor.
PLUM GROVE FULL GOSPEL CHURCH — Old
Macon Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11:30 a.m.,
Tuesday 6:30 p.m., Thursday 7 p.m. Samuel B. Wilson,
Pastor.
SHILOH FULL GOSPEL BAPTIST CHURCH
— 120 19th St. S. Sunday School 8:30 a.m., Worship 10
a.m., Wednesday 7 p.m., Missionary Service every 2nd
Wednesday 7 p.m. Rev. Freddie Edwards, Pastor.
JEWISH
B’NAI ISRAEL — 717 2nd Ave. N. Services Semi-
monthly. Friday 7:30 p.m. 662-329-5038
UNIVERSALIST
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST — Meeting at Temple
B’nai Israel, 1301 Marshall, Tupelo, every 1st & 3rd Sunday.
662-620-7344 or uua.org
LUTHERAN
FAITH EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH
(WELS) — Hwy. 45 N. and 373. Sunday School/Bible
Class 3:45 p.m., Worship 5 p.m. 662-356-4647
OUR SAVIOR LUTHERAN CHURCH (L.C.M.S.)
— 1211 18th Ave. N. Sunday School 9 a.m.. Worship 10 a.m.
Stan Clark, Pastor. 662-327-7747 oursaviorlutheranms.org
MENNONITE
FAITH MENNONITE FELLOWSHIP — 2988 Tarlton
Rd., Crawford. Sunday Worship 10 a.m., Sunday School 11
a.m., 2nd & 4th Sunday Worship 6 p.m., Wednesday 7:30
p.m. Kevin Yoder, Senior Pastor.
METHODIST
ARTESIA UNITED METHODIST CHURCH — 50
Church Street, Artesia. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11
a.m. Gene Merkl, Pastor.
CALEDONIA UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
— 811 Main Street, Caledonia. Sunday School 10 a.m.,
Worship 11 a.m. John Longmire, Pastor.
CLAIBORNE CME CHURCH — 6049 Nashville
Ferry Rd. E. 2nd and 4th Sundays - Sunday School 10a.m.,
Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday 7 p.m., 1st and 3rd Sundays - 3
p.m., Geneva H. Thomas, Pastor.
CONCORD INDEPENDENT METHODIST
CHURCH — 1235 Concord Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m.,
Worship 11 a.m. Robert L. Hamilton, Sr., Pastor.
COVENANT UNITED METHODIST CHURCH —
618 31st Ave. N. Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 11 a.m.
Eugene Bramlett, Pastor.
CRAWFORD UNITED METHODIST CHURCH —
Main St., Crawford. Sunday School 9:30 a.m. and service 10
a.m. Kathy Brackett, Pastor. 662-364-8848
CROSSROAD CHAPEL CME CHURCH — Steens.
Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday 6
p.m. Rev. Carl Swanigan, Pastor.
FIRST INDEPENDENT METHODIST — 417
Lehmberg Rd. Sunday bible study at 10:15 and morning
worship at 11 a.m. Minister Gary Shelton.
FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH — 602
Main St. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 8:45 & 11 a.m.
Rev. Jimmy Criddle, Lead Pastor; Rev. Anne Russell
Bradley, Associate Pastor; Rev. Aislinn Kopp, Associate
Pastor. 328-5252
FLINT HILL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH —
80 Old Honnoll Mill Rd., Caledonia. Sunday Worship Service
9:30 a.m. Sunday School 10:30 a.m. John Longmire, Pastor.
GLENN’S CHAPEL CME CHURCH — 1109 4th St.
S. Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10 a.m. Rev. Raphael
Terry, Pastor. 662-328-1109
HEBRON CME. CHURCH — 1910 Steens Road,
Steens. Meets first, second and third Sundays, Bible class
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
each Wednesday at 7 p.m. Earnest Sanders, Pastor.
MILITARY CHAPEL UNITED METHODIST
CHURCH — Hwy. 12, Steens. Sunday School 9:45,
Service 11 a.m.. Meet on 2nd and 4th Sundays. Wednesday
Bible Study 6:00 p.m. Rev. Antra Geeter, Pastor. 662-327-
4263
NEW HOPE CME CHURCH — 1452 Yorkville Road
East, Columbus. Sunday School 10:00 a.m., Worship
service first, third and fourth Sunday (Youth Sunday) 11:00
a.m., Wednesday Bible Study 5:00 p.m. Rev. Cornelia
Naylor, Pastor. 662-328-5309
NEW HOPE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH —
2503 New Hope Road. Sunday Worship 8:45 a.m., Sunday
School 10 a.m., Tuesday Bible Study 5:30 p.m. Rev. Sarah
Windham, Pastor.
NEW ZION UNITED METHODIST CHURCH —
2169 S. Montgomery St., Starkville. Sunday School 9:30-
10:30 a.m., Young Adult Bible Study (ages 18-30) Thursday
6:30 p.m. Tyrone Stallings, Pastor. 662-324-0789
ORR’S CHAPEL CME CHURCH — Nicholson
Street, Brooksville. Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10 a.m.,
Saturday 9 a.m.
PINEY GROVE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
— 102 Fernbank Rd., Steens. Sunday Worship 9:30 a.m.,
Sunday School 10:45 a.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Andy
Tentoni, Pastor.
PLAIR UNITED METHODIST CHURCH — 1579
Sun Creek Rd., Starkville. Sunday School 8:45-9:45
a.m., Worship 10 a.m., Tuesday Bible Study 6-7 p.m. Rev.
Sylvester Miller III, Pastor. 662-324-0036
SANDERS CHAPEL CME CHURCH — 521 15th
St. N. Sunday School 8 a.m., Sunday 9 a.m., Tuesday 11:45
a.m. Rev. Dr. Luther Minor, Pastor.
SHAEFFERS CHAPEL UNITED METHODIST
CHURCH — 1007 Shaeffers Chapel Rd., Traditional
Worship Service 9 a.m., Rev. Curtis Bray, Pastor.
ST. JAMES UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
— 722 Military Rd. Breakfast 9:10 a.m., Sunday School
9:40 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Adult/Children Bible Study
Wednesday 6 p.m. Rev. Dwight Prowell, Pastor.
ST. PAUL INDEPENDENT METHODIST
CHURCH — Freeman Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m.,
Sunday Services 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Youth activities 5 p.m.
John Powell, Pastor.
ST. PAUL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH —
307 South Cedar Street, Macon, Sunday School 9:30
a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m. , Wednesday Bible Study 6 p.m.
Demetric Darden, Pastor.
ST. STEPHEN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
— 800 Tuscaloosa Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11
a.m. and 6 p.m., Thursday 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Andy Tentoni,
Pastor.
TABERNACLE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
— Rt. 2, 6015 Tabernacle Rd., Ethelsville, AL. Sunday
School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday 6:30
p.m. Carol Lambert, Pastor. 205-662-3443
TRINITY-MT. CARMEL CME CHURCH — 4610
Carson Rd. Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10 a.m., Pastor
Lizzie Harris. 662-329-3995
TURNER CHAPEL AME CHURCH — 1108 14th St.
S. Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday 5
p.m. Yvonne Fox, Pastor.
WESLEY UNITED METHODIST — 511 Airline Rd.
Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 10:55 a.m., Wednesday
5:15 p.m., Chancel Choir 7 p.m., Youth Monday 6:30 p.m.
Rev. Sarah Windham.
WRIGHT CHAPEL UNITED METHODIST
CHURCH — Hwy. 45 Alt. S., Crawford. Sunday School
9:30 a.m., Worship 10:15 a.m., Tuesday 6 p.m. Kori Bridges,
Pastor. 662-422-9013.
MORMON
CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY
SAINTS — 2808 Ridge Rd. Sacrament Meeting 9 a.m.,
Sunday School 10 a.m., Priesthood & Relief Society 11 a.m.,
Youth Activities Wednesday 6 p.m. Bishop Eric Smith. 662-
328-3179.
CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE
FIRST CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE — 2722
Ridge Rd. Sunday School 9:30 a.m.,Worship 10:40 a.m. and
6 p.m. Wednesday 7 p.m. Rev. Stephen Joiner, Pastor.
NON — DENOMINATIONAL
A PREPARED TABLE MINISTRY — 1201 College
St. Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10:10 a.m., Wednesday
6 p.m. Timothy J. Bailey, Pastor. 662-889-7778
ABUNDANT LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH — 611 S.
Frontage Road. Sunday 9:30 a.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Craig
Morris, Pastor.
ALL NATIONS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
CHURCH, INC. — 1560 Hwy. 69 S., Sunday 9 a.m.,
Wednesday 6:45 p.m., Friday Corporate Prayer 7 p.m.
Pastor James T. Verdell, Jr. crosswayradio.com 9 a.m., 11
a.m., & 7 p.m. on Fridays only.
CALEDONIA OPEN DOOR WORSHIP CENTER
— 3288 Cal-Vernon Rd. Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10
a.m. and 5 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Randy Holmes, Pastor.
662-855-5006
COLUMBUS CHRISTIAN CENTER — 146 S.
McCrary Rd. Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m., Kid’s Church
10:30 a.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m., Kenny Gardner, Pastor.
662-328-3328
CONGREGATIONAL WORSHIP CENTER — 109
Maxwell Lane. Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 11:15
a.m., Wednesday Prayer 6 p.m., Wednesday Bible Band 7
p.m. Grover C. Richards, Pastor. 662-328-8124
CORNERSTONE WORSHIP CENTER — 98
Harrison Rd., Steens. Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m., 1st
Sunday Evening 6 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Marion (Bubba)
Dees, Pastor. 662-327-4303
EMMANUEL CIRCLE OF LOVE OUTREACH —
1608 Gardner Blvd. Services every Friday, Saturday and
Sunday at 7 p.m. J. Brown, Pastor.
FAITH COVENANT CHURCH — 1133 Northdale Dr.
Sunday Worship 5:30 p.m. Lee Poque, Pastor. 662-889-
8132
FINDING YOUR WAY THROUGH CHRIST
MINISTRIES — 1472 Blocker Rd., Starkville. Sunday
School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., 2nd Sunday Morning
Worship 9 a.m. Pastor Kenyon Ashford.
FIRST CALVARY FAITH AND FELLOWSHIP
CHRISTIAN CENTER — 247 South Oliver St.,
Brooksville. Prayer Saturday 5:30 p.m., Bible Study 6 p.m.,
Sunday School 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m. Pastor David
T. Jones,III. 601-345-5740
FULL GOSPEL MINISTRY — 1504 19th St. N. Sunday
School 9:30 a.m., Worship 10 a.m., Tuesday 6:30 p.m. Rev.
Maxine Hall, Pastor.
GENESIS CHURCH — 1820 23rd St. N., Sunday
School 9 a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m.
Darren Leach, Pastor.
HOUSE OF LIFE FREEDOM MINISTRY — 1742
Old West Point Rd. Worship 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., Wednesday
6 p.m. Donnell Wicks, Pastor.
HOUSE OF RESTORATION — Hwy. 50. Sunday
School, 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.,
Wednesday 7 a.m., Pastors, Bill and Carolyn Hulen.
JESUS CHRIST POWERHOUSE OF THE
APOSTOLIC FAITH CHURCH — 622 23rd St. N.
Sunday School 10:30 a.m.; Service 11:45 a.m., Tuesday 7:30
p.m., Friday 7:30 p.m., Prayer Mon., Wed. and Fri. noon. For
more information call Bishop Ray Charles Jones 662-251-
1118, Patricia Young 662-327-3106 or 662-904-0290 or
Lynette Williams 662-327-9074.
KINGDOM VISION INTERNATIONAL CHURCH
— 3193 Hwy 69 S. Sunday 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., Sunday
School 10 a.m., Tuesday 7 p.m. Pastor R.J. Matthews. 662-
327-1960
LIFE CHURCH — 4888 N. Frontage Rd. Sunday
Worship 10 a.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. For more information,
call 662-570-4171
LOVE CITY FELLOWSHIP CHURCH — 305 Dr.
Martin Luther King Drive, Starkville. Sunday Worship 11
a.m., Pastor Apostle Lamorris Richardson. 601-616-0311
LIVING WATERS LIFE CHURCH
INTERNATIONAL — 113 Jefferson St., Macon.
Sunday Service 10 a.m., Wednesday Bible Study 6:30 p.m.
Johnny Birchfield Jr., Senior Pastor. 662-493-2456 E-mail:
livingwaterslifechurch@gmail.com
NEW BEGINNING EVERLASTING OUTREACH
MINISTRIES — Meets at Quality Inn, Hwy. 45 N. (Every
1st and 3rd Sunday) Sunday School 10 a.m., Bible Study
10:30 a.m., Worship 11 a.m. Pastor Robert Gavin, 662-327-
9843 or 662-497-3434.
NEW COVENANT ASSEMBLY — 875 Richardson.
Worship Service Sunday 10:30 a.m. Bruce Morgan, Pastor.
NEW HORIZONS GOSPEL ASSEMBLY — 441
18th St. S. Sunday 10 a.m. Dr. Joe L. Bowen, Pastor.
PLEASANT RIDGE HOUSE OF WORSHIP —
2651 Trinity Road. Sunday School 9:45 a.m., Worship 11
a.m., Every 2nd and 4th Sunday Intercessory Prayer 9 a.m.,
Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Pastor Donna Anthony. 662-241-0097
TABERNACLE OF MERCY (MINISTRY OF
JESUS CHRIST) — 4435 Hwy. 45 N., Sunday Service
9 a.m., Wednesday Prayer 6:30 p.m., Bible Study 7 p.m. 662-
241-6723 www.memorialgunterpeel.com
THE LORD’S HOUSE — 441 18th St. S. Thursday 7
p.m. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m. 716 Second Ave. N. • Columbus, MS • 662-328-4432
THE RIVER CHURCH — 822 North Lehmberg Rd., 903 College St. • Columbus, MS • 662-328-2354
Sunday Worship 10 a.m., Children’s Church 3&4 yr. old,
5-12 yr. old. Wednesday Worship 6:45 p.m. Pastor Chuck
Eubanks.
THE SHEPHERD’S CARE & SHARE MINISTRY
CHURCH — 4068 Jess Lyons Rd., Sunday Prayer
Time 9:50 a.m., Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m.,
Thursday Bible Study 6 p.m., Annie Hines-Goode, Planter
and Pastor. 662-630-5216
TRIBE JUDAH MINISTRIES — 730 Whitfield St.,
Starkville. Sunday Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday Bible
School 7 p.m. Rev. Greg and Rev. Michelle Mostella,
Pastors. 662-617-4088
TRUE GOSPEL EVANGELISTIC MINISTRY —
2119 7th. Ave. N., Sunday School 9 a.m., Worship 10:30
a.m., Tuesday Bible Study 6:30 p.m. Clyde and Annie
Edwards, Pastors.
TRUE LIFE CHURCH — 435 Cedarcrest Dr. (corner of
Yorkville and Cedarcrest), Sunday prayer 8:45 a.m., Worship
10 a.m., Wednesday prayer 6:30 p.m., Service 7:30 p.m.
662-798-0259
SHELTON’S TOWING, INC.
TRUE LIFE WORSHIP CENTER — 597 Main St., Since 1960
Caledonia. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m. and 5
p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Eugene O’Mary, Pastor.
24 Hour Towing
TRUEVINE CHRISTIAN LIFE CENTER 1024 Gardner Blvd.
MINISTRIES — 5450 Cal-Kolola Rd, Caledonia. Sunday
School 9:30 a.m., Worship 10:45 a.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m.
328-8277
Pastor Francisco Brock, Sr. 662-356-8252
UNITED FAITH INTER-DENOMINATIONAL
MINISTRIES — 1701 22nd Street North, Columbus.
Sunday Worship 8-9:30 a.m., 662-889-8711
VIBRANT CHURCH — 500 Holly Hills Rd. Sunday
8 a.m., 9:45 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. The Vibe Cafe 7 a.m.,
First Wednesday 7 p.m. Age 6 weeks through 5th grade,
Champions Club (special needs children). Jason Delgado,
Pastor. 662-329-2279
WORD IN ACTION MINISTRY CHRISTIAN
CENTER — 2648 Tom St., Sturgis. Sunday School 10
a.m., Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Curtis Davis,
Pastor. 662-230-3182 or mdavis43@hotmail.com
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
ST. CATHERINE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
CHURCH — 725 4th Ave. N. Visit www.
stcatherineorthodox.com for schedule of services and
updates on this Mission.
APOSTOLIC PENTECOSTAL
APOSTOLIC OUTREACH CHURCH — 204 North
McCrary Rd., Prayer/Inspiration Hour Monday 6 p.m. Danny
L. Obsorne, Pastor.
DIVINE DESTINY APOSTOLIC CHURCH — 2601
14th Ave. N. Sunday School 10:30 a.m., Worship 12 p.m.,
Tuesday Bible Class 7:30 p.m. Pastor Easter Robertson.
JESUS CHRIST POWERFUL MINISTRY OF
LOVE — 1210 17th St. S., behind the Dept. of Human
Resources. Sunday School 10:30 a.m., Friday 7:30 p.m.
Gloria Jones, Pastor.
SPIRIT OF PRAYER HOLINESS CHURCH — 267
Byrnes Circle. Sunday Worship 11 a.m., Wednesday 7 p.m.,
Saturday 11 a.m. Terry Outlaw, Pastor. 662-324-3539
THE ASSEMBLY IN JESUS CHRIST CHURCH
— 1504 19th St. N. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11:45
a.m. and 7 p.m., Wednesday and Friday 7 p.m.
THE CHURCH OF THE ETERNAL WORD — 106
22nd St. S. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11:30 a.m.,
Tuesday Bible Study 7 p.m., Thursday Prayer 5 p.m. District
Elder Lou J. Nabors Sr., Pastor. 662-329-1234
THE GLORIOUS CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST
— Billy Kidd Road, Caledonia. Sunday School 10 a.m.,
Worship 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.. Tuesday 7 p.m., Friday 7
p.m. Ernest Thomas, Pastor.
VICTORY APOSTOLIC FAITH CHURCH — 6 6
Boyd Rd., Starkville. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship Noon,
Tuesday Prayer 7 p.m., Wednesday Bible Study 7 p.m.
Mildred Spencer, Pastor. 662-341-5753
ONENESS PENTECOSTAL
NEW HOPE PENTECOSTAL CHURCH — 875
Richardson Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m.,
6 p.m., Tuesday 7 p.m. Jared Glover, Pastor. 662-251-3747
E-mail: nhpccolumbus@yahoo.com
PENTECOSTAL
FAITH AND DELIVERANCE OUT REACH
MINISTRIES — 118 S. McCrary Road, Suite 126. Sunday
10 a.m. and 11 a.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Christian Women
Meeting Friday 7 p.m.
LIVING FAITH TABERNACLE — Shelton St.
Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Youth
Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Rev. James O. Gardner, Pastor.
LIVING WATER MINISTRIES — 622 28th St. N. Elder
Robert L. Salter, Pastor. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship 11
a.m., Wednesday 7:30 p.m., Friday 7:30 p.m.
SPIRIT OF PRAYER HOLINESS CHURCH — 922
17th St. N. Sunday 11 a.m., Wednesday 7 p.m., Saturday 11
a.m. Terry Outlaw, Pastor,
VICTORY TABERNACLE P.C.G. — 5580 Ridge
Road. Sunday School 10 a.m., Praise & Worship 10:45 a.m.,
Wednesday Bible Study 6:30 p.m. G.E. Wiggins Sr., Pastor.
UNITED PENTECOSTAL 1721 Hwy 45 N
CALEDONIA UNITED PENTECOSTAL
CHURCH — 5850 Caledonia Kolola Rd., Caledonia.
® Columbus, MS
Sunday 10 a.m., 6 p.m., Wednesday 7 p.m. Grant Mitchell, 662.848.0919
Pastor. 662-356-0202
Monday-Saturday 10am-8pm
FIRST PENTECOSTAL CHURCH — 311 Tuscaloosa
In Style. In Reach. Sunday 1pm-5pm
Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m., Sunday Evangelistic 6p.m.,
TRINITY PLACE
Wednesday 7 p.m. Rev. Steve Blaylock, Pastor. 662-328-
1750
RETIREMENT COMMUNITY
PRESBYTERIAN
BEERSHEBA CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH — 1736 Beersheba Rd., New Hope Community. Offering independent living apartments, personal
Rev. Tim Lee, Pastor. Sunday Worship 10 a.m., Church care/assisted living suites, and a skilled nursing home
School 11:15 a.m., Wed. Mid Week 6 p.m. 662-327-9615 300 Airline Road • Columbus, MS • 327-6716
COVENANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (EPC)
— 515 Lehmberg Rd., East Columbus. Sunday School 9:30 “Our Bottom Line Is People”
a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m., Wednesday Prayer Meeting 4 Hunting • Fishing
p.m. John Richards, Pastor. Working Or Stepping Out — We Have A Complete
FIRST CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN Line Of Clothing For You And Your Family
CHURCH — 2698 Ridge Rd. Sunday School 9:15 a.m.,
Worship 10:30 a.m., Adult Choir 4 p.m. Youth Group 5 p.m.,
Oktibbeha County Co-Op
Bible Study 5 p.m.; Monthly Activities: CPW Circle #2 (2nd Check Out Our Boot & Cap Section
Tue. 4 p.m.), Ladies Aid (3rd Tue. 2 p.m.); Weekly Activities: 662-323-1742
Exercise Class Tuesday and Thursday 8 a.m. Rev. Luke 201 Pollard Rd., Starkville
Lawson, Pastor. 662-328-2692
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH — 3200 Bluecutt
Rd. Worship 10 a.m., Youth Group Sundays 11 a.m.,
Adult Choir Wednesdays 6 p.m., Fellowship Suppers-3rd
Wednesdays 6 p.m. B.J. Chain, Pastor.
MAIN STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
(PCA) — Main and 7th St. N. Sunday School 9:30 a.m.,
Worship 10:40 a.m. and 6 p.m., Wednesday Fellowship
Supper 5:30 p.m., Bible Study 6 p.m. Rev. Todd Matocha,
Pastor.
MT. ZION CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH — 3044 Wolfe Rd. Sunday School 10 a.m.,
Worship 11 a.m.
SALVATION ARMY CHURCH
THE SALVATION ARMY CHURCH — 2219 Hwy.
82 East. Sunday School 10 a.m., Worship Service 11 a.m.,
Wednesday Men’s Fellowship, Women’s Fellowship 5:30
p.m., Thursday Character Building Programs 5:30 p.m.,
Majors Alan and Sheryl Phillips, Commanding Officers.
SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST
COLUMBUS SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST
CHURCH — 301 Brooks Dr. Saturday Service 9 a.m.,
Sabbath School 10:30 a.m., Wednesday Prayer Meeting
6:30 p.m. Ray Elsberry, Pastor. 662-329-4311 The McBryde Family
SALEM SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST — 826 15th
St. N. Saturday Sabbath School 9:30 a.m., Divine Worship
1120 Gardner Blvd. • 328-5776
11 a.m., Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Roscoe Shields, Pastor. 662-
327-9729
APOSTOLIC CHURCH
TRUE FAITH DELIVERANCE MINISTRIES
APOSTOLIC CHURCH — 3632 Hwy. 182 E. Sunday
School 10:30 a.m., Sunday 11:30 a.m., Tuesday 7:30 p.m., • RECYCLING SINCE 1956 •
Wednesday Prayer Noon, Wednesday 7:30 p.m., Friday 7:30 Specializing in industrial accounts
p.m. 662-328-8176 973 Island Rd. 1-800-759-8570
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6D SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

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