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Tuesday | March 31, 2020

Convenience store falsely claims

employees at rival store have COVID-19
Police had employ-
ees at the Shell Sta-
Police deal with false, sometimes racist, virus accusations;
tion at the intersec-
tion of Ninth Street
fine a barbershop for violating emergency ordinance
South and Main BY ISABELLE ALTMAN tion of Main Street and Ninth Street
Street take down a ialtman@cdispatch.com
sign they had hung posted a sign on the front door claiming
accusing employees employees at another gas station down
Within the past week,
of a rival gas station the street had contracted the virus.
Columbus police have
down the street of Apparently the feud began when cus-
dealt with multiple calls
having COVID-19. tomers would go into the rival gas sta-
involving accusations
Police Chief Fred tion to buy lottery tickets, leave and go
Shelton said offi- that employees at busi-
nesses have contracted into the Shell station to check whether
cers have heard of they had won anything, Shelton said. An
multiple cases when COVID-19 coronavirus, as
someone falsely fear of the virus spreads employee or employees at the Shell sta-
accused employees throughout the communi- Shelton tion, in turn, put up the sign.
of a business of con- ty, Police Chief Fred Shelton said. Police ordered the employees to take
tracting the virus. In one case, Shelton said, employees the sign down, but Shelton said no one is
Isabelle Altman/Dispatch Staff at the Shell gas station at the intersec- See CONVENIENCE STORE, 6A

CURBSIDE SERVICE Cohen ‘very

hopeful’ college
football season
will happen
MSU athletic director
discusses financial
impact of a COVID
canceled 2020 schedule
BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com

When they held

the athletic director
position at Mississip-
pi State, Larry Tem-
pleton, Scott Strick-
lin and Greg Byrne
never hesitated to
salt away money for a
“rainy day” when the Cohen
athletic department might sorely
need it.
Now, as the storm clouds have
Courtesy photo
begun to darken the horizon, John
Annabelle Brislin, 8, and Charles Glenn, 8, practice social distancing as they sell “pet worms” they dug from the garden to Cohen is thankful for the wisdom of
Durham and Kristen Jordan and their daughters Lucy Anne, 4, and Ella Ruth, 18 months, in Columbus Wednesday. Anna- his predecessors.
belle’s mother, Amber Brislin, watches from the front porch steps. Annabelle is also the daughter of Quinn Brislin. Charles is In the midst of the COVID-19
the son of Frances and Robby Glenn. coronavirus pandemic, Cohen and
the Bulldogs’ athletic department
have had to face the fact that the fall
college football season may suffer
serious delays — or may not hap-
pen at all.
Supplies scarce, fear ‘palpable’ for respiratory compromised residents “Quite frankly, if we don’t have
football, it will very much be a
‘rainy day’ situation that we will
Businesses like OxyCare Plus finding it Leigh Walker, sales
representative for have to figure out,” Cohen said
Monday afternoon in an address
hard to get gloves, masks, ventilators OxyCarePlus in
Columbus, waits to the Starkville Rotary Club, de-
on customers be- livered via the Zoom video confer-
BY SLIM SMITH doors for customers.
ssmith@cdispatch hind locked doors encing app in the interest of social
OxyCare Plus provides as a precaution distancing.
oxygen, sleep therapy against COVID-19. Make no mistake: Cohen is
Leigh Walker’s work-
and medical equipment to The virus has “very hopeful” the football season
space moved a few weeks
those with respiratory ill- overwhelmed will continue as planned. But he
ago.
Then, she worked main- nesses. suppliers of respi- knows the consequences his school
For Walker and her ratory equipment, will face if Davis Wade Stadium sits
ly out of an office in the especially those
back of the OxyCare Plus customers, the threat of empty this fall.
COVID-19 is never far from in search of home
building on Wilkins Wise ventilators for “Football is related to every-
Road. Now she spends their minds. For those with thing you do athletically, especially
customers with
most of her time in the compromised respiratory COPD or respirato- in the Southeastern Conference,”
front lobby of the building, systems, the virus is no ab- ry failure. Cohen said.
watching through locked See SUPPLIES, 6A Slim Smith/Dispatch Staff See COHEN, 3A

WEATHER FIVE QUESTIONS A NOTE LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC

1 In Australia, a 3,500-mile-long barrier was ON NEWS MEETINGS
erected to keep what largest land predator ■ Many April 3: Starkville
on the continent away from sheep? COVID-19 corona- Board of Aldermen
2 Which weather-themed Beatles song was virus related sto- work session, 10
downloaded the most in the U.S. the first day ries are changing a.m., City Hall
iTunes began selling their music? extremely quick- April 6: Oktibbeha
3 Which magazine debunked the 2012
Mayan calendar doomsday myth when it dis- ly, sometimes County Board of Su-
Jackson Browning as soon as we pervisors meeting,
covered a Guatemalan mural with timelines
Fifth grade, Annunciation publish a print Chancery Court-
stretching 7,000 years into the future?

63 Low 42
4 What Seattle-based Fortune 500 company edition of the house, 9 a.m.
High was named for a character in the classic paper. We want April 7: Starkville
Cloudy
novel “Moby Dick”? to assure our Board of Aldermen
5 What is another name for someone who is readers that we meeting, 5:30 p.m.,
Full forecast on a somnambulist?
page 3A. Answers, 6B are making every City Hall
attempt to print April 14:
accurate, timely Starkville-Oktibbeha
news. Online sto- Consolidated School
INSIDE ries are updated Corey Patton is the head chef at District Board of
Classifieds 6B Dear Abby 3B throughout the 929 Coffee Bar in Starkville, which Trustees meeting, 6
Comics 3B Obituaries 4B day at cdispatch. is “just trying to stay afloat in these p.m., 401 Greens-
Crossword 5B Opinions 4A com. crazy times,” he said. boro St.

DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471

2A TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

How dire projections, grim images

dashed Trump’s Easter plan
‘We showed him the data. He looked at the data.
He got it right away. It was a pretty clear picture’
BY JONATHAN LEMIRE, JILL
COLVIN AND ZEKE MILLER
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The two doc-
tors spread out their charts on the
Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
The projections were grim: Even
if the U.S. were to continue to do
what it was doing, keeping the econ-
omy closed and most Americans in
their homes, the coronavirus could
leave 100,000 to 200,000 people
dead and millions infected. And the
totals would be far worse if the na-
tion reopened.
Those stark predictions grew
even more tangible and harrowing
when paired with televised images
of body bags lined up at a New York
City hospital not far from where
President Donald Trump grew up
in Queens.
The confluence of dire warnings
and tragic images served to move
the Republican president off his
hopes for an Easter rebirth for the
nation’s economy.
Dr. Anthony Fauci
But while Trump sided with the
White House doctors over its econ-
omists, at least for now, the decision
shed light on a West Wing beset
with divisions and a commander
in chief torn between an instinct
to embrace the image of a wartime
president fighting an invisible ene-
my and the desire to protect the na-
tion’s bottom line as he barrels into
a bruising reelection fight.
The abrupt change in Trump’s
tone was startling: Easter was no
longer going to be the sunrise after
blackest night. Instead, it could be
the darkest moment before dawn.
“We’re thinking that around
Easter that’s going to be your spike.
That’s going to be the highest point
we think, and then it’s going to start
coming down from there,” Trump
said Monday on “Fox & Friends.”
“The worst that can happen is you
do it too early and all of a sudden
it comes back. That makes it more
difficult.”
The bleak forecasts were carried
into the Oval Office by Dr. Anthony
Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, who
displayed to Trump projections
that, on the low end, could yield
100,000 American deaths from
COVID-19. One model showed that
deaths could have soared past 2 mil-
lion had there been no mitigation
measures.
“We showed him the data. He
looked at the data. He got it right
away. It was a pretty clear picture,”
Fauci told CNN on Monday. “Dr.
Debbie Birx and I went into the
Oval Office and leaned over the
desk and said, ‘Here are the data,
take a look.’ He just shook his head
and said, ‘I guess we got to do it.’”
But as is often the case with
Trump, it also took the power of im-
ages to prompt him to act.
Over the weekend, the death
count in New York City skyrocket-
ed, the silence of the city’s empty
streets shattered only by ambu-
lance sirens. Makeshift medical
tents were hastily erected in Cen-
tral Park. And hospitals, includ-
ing Elmhurst Medical Center in
Queens, not far from Trump’s child-
hood home, were so overwhelmed
that patients were lying in hallways
and corpses stowed in refrigerated
trucks.

Trump administration rules gun shops ‘essential’ amid virus

Homeland Security: Ruling not a but merely guidance for
cities, towns and states as
toms, such as fever and
cough, that clear up in two
mandate but merely guidance for they weigh how to prevent
the spread of the coronavi-
to three weeks. For some,
especially older adults
cities, towns and states as they weigh rus. and people with existing
Still, gun control groups health problems, it can
how to prevent the spread of virus called it a move to put prof- cause more severe illness,
its over public health. The including pneumonia, and
BY LISA MARIE PANE Shooting Sports Founda- Brady group on Monday death.
The Associated Press tion and other gun groups, filed a Freedom of Infor- “The gun lobby is not
the Department of Home- mation request with DHS willing to stand for a few
The Trump adminis-
land Security this past seeking emails and doc- days or a few weeks of less
tration has ruled that gun
weekend issued an adviso- uments that explain how profit in order to protect
shops are considered “es-
sential” businesses that ry declaring that firearms the agency reached its public health, and it’s out-
should remain open as oth- dealers should be consid- decision to issue the advi- rageous and definitely not
er businesses are closed ered essential services — sory and to determine if it required by the Second
to try to stop the spread just like grocery stores, consulted with any public Amendment,” said Jona-
of coronavirus. Gun con- pharmacies and hospitals health experts. than Lowy, chief counsel
trol groups are balking, — and allowed to remain For most people, the for Brady.
calling it a policy that puts open. The agency said its new coronavirus causes
profits over public health ruling was not a mandate mild or moderate symp-
after intense lobbying by
the firearms industry.
In the past several
weeks, various states
and municipalities have
offered different interpre-
tations of whether gun
stores should be allowed
to remain open as Ameri-
cans stay at home to avoid
spreading the virus. In
Los Angeles, for example,
County Sheriff Alex Vil-
lanueva has twice ordered
gun shops in his territory
to close, leading to le-
gal challenges from gun
rights advocates.
After days of lobbying
by the National Rifle As-
sociation, the National

Pastor arrested
for violating rules
during coronavirus
outbreak
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TAMPA, Fla. — Florida

officials have arrested the
pastor of a megachurch af-
ter detectives say he held
two Sunday services with
hundreds of people and
violated a safer-at-home
order in place to limit the
spread of the coronavirus.
According to jail re-
cords, Pastor Rodney
Howard-Browne turned
himself in to authorities
Monday afternoon in Her-
nando County, where he
lives. He was charged with
unlawful assembly and vi-
olation of a public health
emergency order. Bail was
set at $500, according to
the jail’s website, and he
was released after posting
bond.
Hillsborough Sheriff
Chad Chronister said in a
news conference Monday
that he negotiated with the
attorney of Pastor Rodney
Howard-Browne to turn
himself in to authorities
in Hernando County. His
church is located in Tam-
pa.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020 3A

The following arrests

were made by Lowndes
County Sheriff’s Office:
n Jaylan Wilson, 22,
was charged with statuto-
ry rape and enticement of
a child to meet for sexual
purposes.
n McKenzie Shaw, 31,
was charged with identity
theft.
n Allie Mandolini, 33,
was charged with pos-
session of methamphet-
amine.
n Kevon Brown, 19,
was charged with two
counts possession of sto-
len property.
n Anthony Kinard,
38, was charged with har-
boring a fugitive and five
counts failure to appear.
n Charles Jordan, 45,
was charged with aggra-
vated assault.
n Lonzell Harris, 29,
was charged with aggra-
vated assault with a weap-
on or other means to pro-
duce death.
n Martino Gates, 28,
was charged with pos-
session of a controlled
substance, possession of
AREA ARRESTS
Wilson Shaw
Harris Gates
marijuana and contempt
of court.
n Jamod Deloach, 20,
was charged with bur-
glary and larceny of a
dwelling, burglary-break-
ing inner door of a dwell-
ing, probation violation
and three counts posses-
sion, ale, transfer of a sto-
len firearm.
n Terrance Barker, 39,
was charged with posses-
sion of cocaine, carry con-
cealed weapon and pos-
session of marijuana.
n Tommy Barham, 47,
Mandolini Brown
Deloach Barker
was charged with harbor-
ing a fugitive, possession
of a controlled substance
and suspended drivers li-
cense.
The following arrests
were made by the Oktib-
beha County Sheriff’s Of-
fice:
n Shundray Johnson,
25, was charges with ho-
micide-self defense.
n William Dempsey,
31, was charges with pos-
session of a controlled
substance, failure to
Huck’s employee, off-duty
Lowndes deputy involved
in alleged ‘simple
Kinard Jordan
assault’ downtown
DISPATCH STAFF REPORT
Columbus police are investigating an alterca-
tion with injuries between an employee of Huck’s
Restaurant and an off-duty Lowndes County Sher-
iff’s Office deputy.
A Columbus Police Department press release
described the incident as a “simple assault with
Barham Johnson injuries case” that occurred outside the downtown
restaurant Thursday evening. The two became in-
volved in an argument that turned violent.
An ambulance responded and treated both in-
dividuals at the scene, but neither was taken to the
hospital.
CPD Chief Fred Shelton said there have been
no charges filed in the case, but that may change.
“We are still working on the case and charges
Dempsey Mobley
could come at a later time, depending on what we
maintain lane, no driver’s find,” he said.
license, possession of par- The press release did not identify the deputy
aphernalia and DUI 1st involved in the altercation. Lowndes County Sher-
offense. iff Eddie Hawkins said the deputy has been put on
n Michael Mobley, 65, administrative leave, but declined to identify him.
was charged with DUI 4th A source with knowledge of the situation iden-
offense. tified the deputy as Max Branch.
“We’ve been advised of it and are looking into
the matter and are going to take the appropriate
action,” Hawkins said.

Trump nominates Mississippi judge for 5th US appeals court

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSON — A judge on the
Mississippi Court of Appeals is be-
ing nominated to serve on a federal
appeals court that handles cases for
Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas,
the White House announced Mon-
day.
Cory Wilson joined the 10-mem-
ber state court in February 2019
after being appointed by then-Gov.
Phil Bryant, a Republican. Before
that, Wilson was a first-term Re-
publican member of the Mississippi
House.
President Donald Trump an-
nounced in August that he was nom-
inating Wilson to become a federal
district judge in southern Mississip-
pi. The state’s two Republican U.S.
senators, Roger Wicker and Cindy
Hyde-Smith, introduced Wilson to
the Senate Judiciary Committee in
January, but the committee had not
yet acted on the nomination.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap-
peals is considered one of the most
conservative appeals courts in the
nation.
“Judge Wilson’s performance in
front of the Senate Judiciary Com-
mittee earlier this year confirmed
what we already knew — he is a
smart, thoughtful, conservative ju-
rist who will follow the rule of law,”
Wicker said in a statement Monday.
“Given his academic and profes-
sional achievements, I am sure that
Judge Wilson would serve the court
well.”
Hyde-Smith said she has known
Wilson many years and considers
him well qualified.
“The elevation of Judge Cory
Wilson’s nomination to the Circuit
Court of Appeals reflects President
Trump’s confidence in Cory’s con-
servative judicial philosophy, legal
knowledge, academic and public
service,” Hyde-Smith said in a
statement.

Cohen
Continued from Page 1A
That includes a than originally sched-
planned renovation of
Humphrey Coliseum —
home to the Bulldogs’
men’s and women’s bas-
ketball teams — slated to
begin next year. Cohen
estimated the price tag
for the improvements at
$40-50 million.
“We’re so excited about
that opportunity,” Cohen
said. “Of course, we real-
ly need a football season
next fall in order for us to
engage in this project.”
The average price of
an MSU football ticket in
2019 was $34, according
to SeatGeek, and the Bull-
dogs’ home games drew
an average of 56,190 fans
last season. With seven
home contests on the
2020 schedule, Missis-
sippi State would be pro-
jected to rake in roughly
$13.4 million in ticket
sales alone — and that’s
without factoring in an
attendance increase with
the hiring of Mike Leach
as the Bulldogs’ new head
coach.
On Monday, Cohen
praised the innovative
“Air Raid” offense devel-
oped by the former Wash-
ington State and Texas
Tech head coach, who
has made 16 bowl games
in 18 years at the helm.
With Stanford transfer
KJ Costello expected to
start at quarterback and
a top-25 recruiting class
coming into Starkville,
Cohen has high hopes for
the Bulldogs — once they
get on the field, anyway.
“We’re looking for-
ward to those guys actual-
ly having an opportunity,
and hopefully it’ll come
sooner than later,” Cohen
said.
Cohen said the Bull-
dogs’ first chance to show
uled, telling Rotary Club
members to “stay tuned”
for an announcement that
Mississippi State’s season
opener against New Mex-
ico in Starkville will be
moved up to Sept. 3 from
Sept. 5.
The move, which Co-
hen said the school is “not
100 percent ready” to con-
firm, will guarantee MSU
a night game starting at
either 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.
on Sept. 3, a Thursday.
If things go according
to plan, the Bulldogs’ con-
test with the Lobos will
lead off a schedule high-
lighted by back-to-back
road games with Alabama
on Oct. 17 and defending
national champion LSU
on Oct. 24.
Despite the many un-
knowns of the pandemic,
Cohen remains optimistic
the 2020 season will take
place as long as players
can take the practice field
by July 1 to adequately
prepare themselves.
“I want to state to all of
you that I’m a ‘glass half
full’ guy,” Cohen said. “I
think we are gonna have
football next fall, and
hopefully that’s gonna be
the case.”
Transfers, other NCAA
rule impacts
Roughly four hours
after Cohen expressed
in his speech similar
hopes that the NCAA
would grant student-ath-
letes in spring sports
an extra year of eligibil-
ity to compete in order
to compensate for their
shortened seasons, the
organization’s Division I
Council did just that. The
organization announced
Monday evening it had
Conference Commission- lation has started college
er Greg Sankey would be athletics on a “dangerous
supporting at Monday af- path.” He cited concerns
ternoon’s meeting: a waiv- that student-athletes will
er for extra eligibility for flock to the schools that
all spring-sport athletes, can offer them the ability
not just seniors. to make the most money.
With the ruling, Mis- “I am a huge fan of our
sissippi State could have
student-athletes being
more student-athletes
able to express them-
competing next spring
than it ever has before, selves and being able to
leading Cohen to broach open businesses and be-
the subject of NCAA’s ing able to creatively earn
transfer rules. Current- a living,” Cohen said. “...
ly, athletes in all but five My fear with name, im-
sports — football, men’s age and likeness is that it
and women’s basketball, becomes a recruiting tool
baseball and men’s ice for institutions around the
hockey — can play imme- country, and that’s a real
diately after transferring concern to myself and to
rather than having to sit many other athletic direc-
out a season, but Cohen tors around the country.”
said his aim is to apply a
rule uniformly among all
sports.
“The idea is, do you
give immediate-eligibili-
ty transfer status to kids
who are affected in spring
sports with higher num-
bers?” Cohen said Mon-
day.
He said the issue has
two possible solutions:
allowing student-athletes
in all sports to play im-
mediately after transfer-
ring or ensuring that all
student-athletes must sit
out a season regardless of
sport.
Cohen also raised one
other prevalent issue in
college athletics: legisla-
tion introduced in several
states aiming to compen-
sate student-athletes for
the use of their name, im-
age and likeness.
Laws like the Fair Pay
to Play Act, which Califor-
nia enacted in September,
will allow student-ath-
SOLUNAR TABLE
The solunar period indicates
peak-feeding times for fish and game.
letes to earn money for Major
Tues.
6:31a
Wed.
7:28a
endorsements and spon- Minor 12:05p 1:02p
Major 6:59p 7:28a
sorships without compro- Minor 1:54a 2:52a
mising their collegiate Courtesy of Mississippi Department
of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks

themselves is likely to sanctioned just what Co- eligibility. 

come two days earlier hen said Southeastern
Tell your child a bedtime story.
To Cohen, similar legis-
The Dispatch
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Opinion
4A TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 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

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR CARTOONIST VIEW

Voice of
the people
Celebrating Tennessee
Williams’ birthday
Imagine my surprise to see the
huge picture of Tennessee William’s
home in Sunday’s paper since it was
his birthday! Gloria Herriott and all
those who celebrate the Tennessee
Williams Tribute each year in Septem-
ber are glad to see Columbus observe
our favorite son on his special day. He
would have been 109! Happy birthday
Tennessee Williams!
Brenda Caradine
Columbus

In response to Our View:

A Failure of Leadership
And I call this a failure of leadership
also.
In the midst of the coronavirus
pandemic, Republican state attorneys
general, President Trump, and Missis-
sippi Governor Tate Reeves are pushing
forward to dismantle the Affordable
Care Act.
Proof that Hood would have been
the better man. Instead of dismantling
it, Hood would have accepted it for the
poorest people in our state.
For almost four years, Trump has
been saying that the Republican party
will be known as the healthcare party.
Reeves says he has spent several
sleepless nights praying about how
to handle the COVID-19 crisis. This STATE OF THE NATION
It was a quiet death
is meant to encourage Reeves to help
the poor, not to degrade him. He who
oppresses the poor shows contempt for

A
their Maker, but whoever is kind to the
needy honors him. few words on the The obvious biblical miss out on a party? Are you the
James Hodges quiet death of an maxim leaps to mind: soldier who throws himself on the
Steens Italian priest. John 15:13, “Greater love grenade? Or are you the one who
His name was Father has no one than this: to knocks down his buddies trying to
Giuseppe Berardelli, and lay down one’s life for get away?
Appreciates law he served in Casnigo, a one’s friends.” There’s a temptation to give the
enforcement’s sacrifices small village not far from But if the priest’s easy answer, the one that flatters
I was listening to this well known Milan. He was 72 and death honors the pre- self-image. The truth is, this mo-
guy on YouTube. I was really into his died in a hospital of the cepts of ment is testing us,
message about physical and spiritual
health, but when he made the state-
novel coronavirus.
This was on March 15,
Jesus,
it also
There’s a temptation and many are com-
ing up short, all too
ment that more people have been killed though reports are just implicitly to give the easy ready to abandon
by crooked cops than cancer he totally now filtering out. Again, Leonard Pitts shames the “we” and em-
lost my interest and it disgusted me. I it was a quiet death. As much answer, the one that brace the “me.” And
have been wanting to write something such, it was easily lost in of what yet, facing a crisis
for the longest in support of our brave the cacophony of our times. Particu- we have seen here flatters self-image. far greater than lack
law enforcement. I know like in every larly here. in response to this of Charmin, Father
profession on the globe there are How would we have heard about pandemic. Where The truth is, this Berardelli made a
some not so good ones, but I do know this death over the sound of one he modeled self- different call.
without a doubt that the good greatly Brady Sluder, shirtless, hat to the lessness, many of moment is testing us, You’ll find no
out measure the bad. I am so tired of back, maybe 20 years of age, telling us have modeled its grand, summariz-
this negative campaign against law en- a Reuters reporter on video that he polar opposite. Not and many are coming ing moral here.
forcement. They are human, they have
families and bleed too. I do not know
wasn’t going to let a little pandem-
ic keep him from enjoying spring
just putative leaders
like Paul and Trump.
up short, all too ready Instead, let’s close
by simply noting
the count but many do not make it back
home to their families. They make the
break in South Florida. “If I get
corona, I get corona. At the end of
Not just the Central
Casting beach bro,
to abandon the ‘we’ that there was no fu-
neral for the priest
ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. My
Lord if there wasn’t law enforcement
the day, I’m not gonna let it stop me
from partying.”
Brady Sluder.
No, that also goes
and embrace the ‘me.’ — they’re not doing
funerals in Italy
officers our nation this world would be Nor would we have heard of the for people hawking Purell at $600 these days. But it is said that when
in extreme chaos. They respond to all priest’s death over the howls of in- a bottle. And the ones in the ware- his casket rolled through the village,
types of calls. The national news does dignation after Sen. Rand Paul, who house stores brawling over toilet people applauded from their win-
them no justice either; they run every is also Dr. Rand Paul, golfed, worked paper. dows and balconies. It was a quiet
negative story they can dig up or is out at the gym, met with reporters, You always wonder who you’ll be acknowledgment of a quiet death.
given. Our law enforcement deserves lunched with his fellow Republicans in the moment of crisis, how you’ll And of a hard test met with grace.
better than this. They deserve higher and otherwise kept to his normal acquit yourself when stuff gets Leonard Pitts Jr., winner of the
wages and more benefits. How about routine, all while waiting to learn if real. Will you do the right thing? 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary,
running some of the many great things his test for the coronavirus would Even if it’s hard? Even if it demands is a columnist for the Miami Herald.
they do for us all. I ask whoever is read- come back positive. Which it did. sacrifice? Even if it means your poll Email him at lpitts@miamiherald.
ing this to thank and honor them, buy And surely we would not have numbers drop or, God forbid, you com.
them a coffee or just let them know that heard of this quiet death over the
they are appreciated. God bless them braying of Donald Trump, insisting
all, and God bless you. against the judgment of medical pro-
Andre D. Roberts fessionals, that chloroquine, a drug
Columbus used to combat malaria, could be a
“game changer” in the fight against
this coronavirus. An Arizona woman
and her husband took him at his

“
A MOMENT OF CALM
“Everything that is
tearing us down today
will become a memory,
and this memory will be
shared as an anecdote or a story or
a poem or a play or a warning. It will
be shared with another human being,
who will then understand that he is
not alone in his sadness. This is why
we show up for others and tell our
tales and listen to others. The great
congregation meets daily, and you are
someone’s angel today.”
Tennessee Williams
word, ingesting a fish tank additive
containing the same active ingredi-
ent. She almost died. He did.
Against the blare and bleat of all
that, it is no surprise this obscure
death made little impression. But it’s
worth noting just the same. You see,
Father Berardelli died after he gave
away his respirator. The life-saving
device had been bought for him by
his parishioners. But he insisted it
go instead to a younger patient who
was struggling to breathe, a person
the priest did not know.

Social distancing
THE STAFF OF THE DISPATCH
is affecting us all
EDITOR/PUBLISHER Mary Jane Runnels Hunter Perrigin Tess Vrbin
in different ways.
Luther Shields Deanna Yue Stella Yu PRODUCTION
We want to hear Peter Imes William Hudson
Robinson-Pugh
how you’re doing. The Dispatch has set up Jamie Morrison
a voicemail so our readers can share their PUBLISHER EMERITUS BUSINESS OFFICE MAILROOM Anne Murphy
thoughts and feelings during this unique time. Birney Imes Lindsey Beck NEWS Christina Boyd Tina Perry
If you want to share, please call 662-328- Debbie Foster Isabelle Altman Joseph Ellis Sydney White
2424 and dial extension 101. You can leave a Mary Ann Hardy Theo Derosa Jeffrey Gore
ADVERTISING Eddie Johnson Matt Garner Katrina Guyton
message 24 hours a day. Certain messages Claudi Arrington Courtney Laury Garrick Hodge Doris Hill
will be selected to print in the paper. Even if Amber Dumas Zack Plair Quaylon Jones
we don’t select yours, know that someone is Kelly Ervin CIRCULATION Ben Portnoy Marquisto Miller
out there listening and you’re not alone. We’re Melissa Johnson Bobby Williams
Christopher Dumas Slim Smith
all in this together. Beth Proffitt Timothy Wilson
Michael Floyd Jan Swoope
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020 5A

Coronavirus response highlights deepening partisan divide

‘I do worry that making this a partisan issue
will kill more people in redder states. There
is no way to keep this out of your city.’
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti
BY STEVE PEOPLES
AP National Political Writer
NEW YORK — In Los An-
geles, Mayor Eric Garcetti has
instituted a shutdown on a city
of nearly 4 million people and
threatened uncooperative busi-
ness owners with power shut-
offs and arrest.
In Mississippi, home to near-
ly 3 million people, Gov. Tate
Reeves has allowed most busi-
nesses to stay open — even
restaurants, so long as they
serve no more than 10 people at
a time.
The divergent approaches
are evidence that not even a
global pandemic can bridge the
gaping political divisions of the
Trump era. The fierce tribalism
that has characterized debates
over immigration, taxes and
health care is now coloring poli-
cy-making during a coronavirus
outbreak that threatens count-
less lives and local economies
across nation.
There are exceptions, but
Republican leaders have been
far more likely to resist the
most aggressive social distanc-
ing measures, emboldened by
President Donald Trump’s ini-
tial rosy outlook and a smaller
early caseload in their more
rural communities across mid-
dle America. But in the more
crowded population centers on
the East and West coasts where
the disease first appeared, the
Democrats in charge have been
more willing to embrace strict
steps such as curfews, sweep-
ing business closures and law
enforcement assistance.
“This epidemic has been a
window into our politics,” said
Larry Levitt, who leads health
policy for the Kaiser Family
Foundation, which has been
tracking responses. “Particular-
ly over the past couple of weeks,
a political divide has emerged.”
It is an election year divide
that could have deadly conse-
quences.
As his campaign struggles
for attention, leading Democrat-
ic presidential contender Joe
Biden has called for a nation-
wide lockdown to replace the
patchwork of local responses,
which have varied even among
neighboring communities in
the same states. Trump, mean-
while, is largely allowing local
officials to choose their own
course and has encouraged
them to compete for scant fed-
eral resources.
Politically, the strategy may
be working for the first-term
Republican president. With the
election seven months away,
Trump’s favorable ratings are
ticking up, even if his numbers
have fallen short of past presi-
dents during times of crisis. Yet
the GOP’s loyalty will almost
certainly be tested in the weeks
ahead as the virus spreads from
the blue-state coastal communi-
ties deeper into red-state mid-
dle America.
Democrats like Garcetti fear
the politics that are shaping
conflicting pandemic respons-
es will have real-world conse-
quences far more important
than the next election.
“I do worry that making this
a partisan issue will kill more
people in redder states,” the Los
Angeles mayor said in an inter-
view. “There is no way to keep
this out of your city.”
In Mississippi, Reeves has
adopted many social distanc-
ing measures such as limiting
groups to 10 people, even if he’s
resisted some of the most ag-
gressive steps. In an interview
late last week, the Republican
governor reiterated his oppo-
sition to a stay-at-home order,
adding that he’s heeding the
guidance of state health offi-
cials and Vice President Mike
Pence himself, who told him
directly during a recent conver-
sation that the Trump adminis-
tration is not recommending a
blanket shutdown.
Reeves dismissed those who
think he’s not doing enough as
enemies of Trump who “don’t
like the fact that I’m a conserva-
tive and I’m willing to pray.”
He warned that extended
social distancing orders could
cause a more dangerous fallout
than the pandemic by destroy-
ing the nation’s economy.
“I don’t think there’s any
doubt that if the United States
found themselves in a severe de-
pression with 20 percent to 30
percent unemployment that the
abject poverty that could create
could lead to more health prob-
lems than this particular virus
is causing,” Reeves said.

Gas is cheap, but for many motorists there’s nowhere to go

Price-tracking services put the
national average Monday around
$2 a gallon; some stations spotted
charging under a dollar
BY DAVID KOENIG
AP Business Writer
DALLAS — U.S. gaso-
line prices have dropped to
their lowest levels in four
years, and they are almost
sure to go lower as oil pric-
es plunge.
Price-tracking services
put the national average
Monday around $2 a gal-
lon. Some stations were
spotted charging under a
dollar.
But don’t expect a stam-
pede to the pumps. De-
mand is weak because so
many Americans are un-
der shelter-in-place rules
and businesses have been
shuttered because of the
coronavirus outbreak.
“For most Americans
who are home practicing
social distancing and not
driving to work or taking
their children to school,
you are only filling up
maybe once a week, may-
be every couple of weeks,”
said Jeanette Casselano, a
spokeswoman for the AAA
auto club. “You are not
reaping the benefits.”
Prices have plenty of
room to keep falling —
maybe below $1.50, ac-
cording to analysts.
Patrick DeHaan, an an-
alyst for price tracker Gas-
Buddy, said that eventual-
ly retail prices will reflect
the even faster decline in
wholesale prices
“Retailers are taking
their time lowering pric-
es because they have a
lot of uncertainty around
the corner,” DeHaan said,
adding that the practice
boosts service station prof-
it margins. “We’ve never
seen gasoline retailers
doing as well as they are
now.”
Investors expect weak
demand to continuing
pushing gasoline prices
lower. Contracts in New
York for gasoline futures
plunged to well under $1 a
gallon on Monday.
Oil accounts for about
half the price of gasoline,
and the drop at the pump
is shadowing the steep
slide in crude, which
briefly on Monday hit the
lowest levels since 2002.
Benchmark prices for U.S.
and international crude
have both fallen by more
than half in the past five
weeks, as more Americans
and Europeans have come
under lockdown, cutting
into demand for oil, and
Saudi Arabia and Russia
engaged in a price war.
Falling prices is likely
to lead to less production
in the Permian Basin of
west Texas and New Mexi-
co and other U.S. oilfields.
Chevron is cutting back
spending in the Perm-
ian, where shale drilling
turned the U.S. into the
world’s biggest oil produc-
er.
AAA put Monday’s na-
tional average for gasoline
at $2.01 a gallon, down
from $2.69 a year ago. Gas-
Buddy said it was $1.99.
Both were within 20 cents
of price lows set in early
2016 and late 2008, accord-
ing to government figures.
The cheapest prices are
in a swath of the country
from Texas to Wisconsin
and Michigan, with most
states in that band averag-
ing under $1.77 a gallon. At
the other end were Califor-
nia, at $3.06, and Hawaii,
$3.36 on average.
6A TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Health
HEALTH TIP
n You don’t necessarily need to count calories:
Obesity is a matter of excess stored energy, or calories,
accumulating in the form of body fat. You can do many
things to lose weight — without ever having to count a
single calorie. Eating more protein has been shown to lead
to automatic calorie restriction and significant weight loss.
Source: healthline.com

Health tips from Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen

Your checklist of smart ways to
deal with the coronavirus threat
“Contagion,” the 2011 thriller
about a dangerous virus spread-
ing quickly around the globe, is
suddenly in big demand on iTunes
(ranking No. 8 recently) and it’s
now the second-most popular film
in the Warner Bros. catalog, up
from No. 270 last year.
The coronavirus has many un-
predictable effects besides making
old movies popular again, and folks
are looking for ways to make sense
of what’s being reported. So “The
Dr. Oz Show” developed a straight-
forward set of protocols to help
you avoid the novel coronavirus,
COVID-19, and reduce the risk of
transmission.
Here’s our list:
■ Wash your hands frequently
for at least 20 seconds with soap
and warm water.
■ Avoid handshakes, which
transfer 10 times as many germs as
a fist bump. You can also just say
hello!
■ Avoid touching your face.
■ Clean all surfaces you touch
frequently with a disinfectant spray
instead of wipes.
■ Use hand sanitizer with at
least 60 percent alcohol.
■ Invest in a HEPA-filter air
purifier and humidifier (viruses
don’t like humidity).
■ Upgrade your lifestyle habits:
Sleep at least seven hours each
night; exercise for 30 minutes, at
least every other day; and med-
itate to reduce
immune-dinging
stress.
■ Increase your
fruit and vegetable
intake, take vita-
min D3 (1,200 IU
daily) and get your
flu shot. If you’re
sick, take zinc (80
mg daily), vitamin
C (250 mg twice a
Drs. Oz and Roizen
day), beta-glucan
(250 mg daily) and
elderberry syrup
or lozenges four times daily for five should have in a day. Juices with la-
days.
■ And stock up on meds you
need in case you’re quarantined or
they become in short supply.
Sweet-talking sugar lies
Yogi Berra, Yankees ol’ number
21, was the funniest, most fero-
ciously talented Hall of Famer, and
possibly kindest catcher ever. He
once declared: “Always go to other
people’s funerals; otherwise they
won’t go to yours.” And “Love is
the most important thing in the
world, but baseball is pretty good,
too.”
Genuine sweetness makes the
world a better place for everyone.
Unfortunately, if you’re coming in
contact with sweetened foods and
drinks, there’s nothing genuine
about some of their labeling claims Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleve-
— and that doesn’t make the world
a better, or healthier, place.
A study in the Journal of the
Academy of Nutri-
tion and Dietetics
found many labels
that declare “a
touch of sweet-
ness,” or “healthy”
are downright
deceptive. There
are some 20-ounce
flavored waters
that pack in 27 or
more grams of add-
ed sugar — that’s
about 27 more
grams than you
bels declaring they’re “low sugar”
often contain MORE sugar than
juices with no such label claims.
Packaged goods are also guilty
of sweet-talkin’ you. Last October,
Kellogg’s settled a suit alleging the
company falsely advertises some
cereals as healthy and nutritious
when they’re also loaded with sug-
ar; it cost the company $20 million.
If you’re an average American,
you consume around 71 grams of
added sugar daily; a huge risk for
obesity, diabetes, depression and
heart disease. So, start eliminating
added sugars from your diet. Step
one: Read the nutrition label on
the back of products, not just the
pretty label on the front.
Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The
Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen,
M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and
land Clinic. To live your healthiest,
tune into “The Dr. Oz Show” or visit
www.sharecare.com.

Supplies
Continued from Page 1A
straction: It’s an existen-
tial threat.
The fear, Walker ad-
mits, is palpable.
“I’m a lot more scared
now,” said Walker, a sales
representative for the
company. “Three weeks
ago, we would have a lot
of people coming in to the
office. Now, the doors are
locked. We’re doing curb-
side service for people
coming in for their CPAP
supplies. It’s serious.”
Against the fear of con-
tracting the virus, Walk-
er sees another ominous
reality taking place: Sup-
plies are hard to find.
“We can’t find hand
sanitizers,” she said.
“We’re short on masks.
That’s been a big issue.
It’s the same with gloves.
There’s nowhere to find
them.”
Many of her customers
are on CPAP or BiPAP
machines, devices used
to supplement a person’s
oxygen when they are
unable to breathe suffi-
ciently.
For those more seri-
ously compromised, the
company also provides
home ventilators, which
are used when a person’s
oxygen level falls below
88 percent and they are
no longer able to breathe
on their own. The non-in-
vasive ventilators, which
do not require a tracheot-
omy, allow people to stay
in their home.
With COVID-19 on the
rise across the country, a
condition which often re-
quires ventilators to treat
severe cases, that equip-
ment also is getting much
harder to find.
OxyCare Plus has of-
fices in Columbus, Tupelo
and Northport, Alabama.
“We currently have 12
patients on home ventila-
tors in Columbus,” Walk-
er said. “We can’t get our
hands on (ventilators)
anymore. It used to be,
we could call our supplier
and have three sent to us
overnight. Now, there are
none to be had.
“I feel helpless when
a hospital calls and says,
‘We’ve got a coronavirus
patient here and have no
way to help them,’” she
added. “Well, I have no
way to help them, either.
It’s scary. It’s heart-break-
ing.”
Dr. James Woodard,
who works at the east
Columbus Allegro Clinic, get through this worst
said that while the virus part of it, because we ha-
has not reached a crisis ven’t seen the worst of it,
point locally, he shudders I’m here to tell you.”
to think of the conse-
quences of a large, sud-
den outbreak.
“That’s what’s happen-
ing in some other states,”
Woodard said. “There are
places where the whole
health care system is
staggering. Maybe you
have 20 ventilators, but 50
patients who need them.
Who gets them? That’s a
terrible situation.”
For Walker and her pa-
tients, it’s much like walk-
ing on the razor’s edge.
She wishes more people
would understand the
dangers of the virus the
way her customers do.
“What I’m taking
about is people just riding
around, going here and
there, just because they
don’t want to be at home,”
Walker said. “Well, you
may not want to be home,
but I don’t want to be sick.
Our patients don’t want to
be sick.
“It’s just a very simple
and thoughtful thing,”
she added. “You could at
least think of other peo-
ple long enough until we

Convenience store
Continued from Page 1A
facing any charges.
In another case, he said, a woman
accused Asian-American employees of
another business of having COVID-19
and said that was why the business was
closed. However, Shelton said, the opera-
tion was among a group of various nones-
sential businesses ordered closed in an
emergency ordinance passed by the Co-
lumbus City Council earlier this month.
“That was being racist,” Shelton said.
“... We checked it out and there wasn’t
(anything) to it.”
While no one was charged in either
case, police have cited America’s Fin-
est Haircuts, a barbershop in north Co-
lumbus, for violating the new ordinance
Friday. Barbershops are among the
businesses closed in the emergency or-
dinance.
“The barbershop had people in there
shooting pool,” Shelton said. “They said
they hadn’t been cutting hair, but the ev-
idence was in there that they had.”
The business faces a $1,000 fine for
violating the emergency ordinance.
America’s Finest Haircuts is the sec-
ond business to receive a citation, after
Church’s Chicken did last week. Under
the emergency ordinance, restaurants
can only serve customers via takeout,
drive-through or delivery and must have
10 or fewer people in the building. How-
ever, Church’s had people entering in
the main lobby, Shelton previously said.
Police have cited one person for vi-
olating a newly enacted 10 p.m.-6 a.m.
curfew, Shelton said. The fine for violat-
ing curfew — which does not affect peo-
ple going to or from work, a restaurant, a
pharmacy or a grocery store — has been
lowered from $1,000 to $300. On Mon-
day, Mayor Robert Smith extended the
curfew by five more days.
The City of Starkville also enacted an
emergency ordinance earlier this month
limiting restaurants to takeout, drive-
through or delivery, though the board
of aldermen did not enact a curfew or
close any businesses. Starkville Police
Department Public Information Officer
Brandon Lovelady told The Dispatch
no restaurants or other businesses have
been cited for violating the ordinance.

cdispatch.com
Sports
Howland addresses Perry’s departure, Woodard II’s status
Mississippi State men’s basketball coach Ben Howland spoke with reporters Monday in a conference call where he addressed the status of Reggie Perry and Robert Woodard II.
BY GARRICK HODGE
ghodge@cdispatch.com
STARKVILLE –– Sun-
day, one big domino fell
for the Mississippi State
men’s basketball team.
Associated Press Co-
SEC Player of the Year
Reggie Perry declared for
the NBA draft, leaving a
gaping hole in the Bull-
dogs’ frontcourt.
“Reggie had a great
season and two years
with us,” MSU coach Ben
NCAA announces extra eligibility for spring athletes
BY BEN PORTNOY
bportnoy@cdispatch.com
STARKVILLE — nity to do that.”
Spring sport athletes at
Mississippi State and be-
yond can breathe a sigh of
relief.
The NCAA announced
Monday night that all
spring athletes will be
offered an extra year of
eligibility and an exten-
sion of their eligibility
period after their seasons
were canceled due to
the worldwide outbreak
of COVID-19 following
a vote by the Division I
Council.
“The Council’s de-
cision gives individual
schools the flexibility to
make decisions at a cam-
pus level,” said Council
chair and University of
Pennsylvania Athletic Di-
rector M. Grace Calhoun
said in a news release.
“The Board of Governors
encouraged conferences
and schools to take ac-
tion in the best interest of
MISSISSIPPI STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Howland told reporters in
a Monday conference call.
“Obviously, he was an
outstanding player ... He
got about every honor he
could get and ultimately,
he is going to be an NBA
player and I have no doubt
about it. He has the skill
package to go with his
great understanding of
the game.”
Now, all eyes turn to
sophomore forward Rob-
ert Woodard II, as the
student-athletes and their
communities, and now
schools have the opportu-
Of note, schools will
not be required to match
the aid returning seniors
were offered during the
2020 season in an attempt
to combat the financial
uncertainty universities
are facing in the wake of
the COVID-19 pandem-
ic. This stipulation and
flexibility only applies to
athletes whose eligibility
would have been exhaust-
ed during the 2019-20 sea-
son.
Winter sport athletes
were not included in the
decision as the NCAA
decided to focus on ath-
letes who had most or all
of their regular seasons
canceled.
According to the re-
lease, the roster limit for
Division I baseball teams
have also been increased
to include athletes impact- NCAA President Mark
ed by the COVID-19 out- a vote by the Division I Council Monday, the NCAA
break. extended the eligibility period for all spring athletes.
Columbus native has yet
to decide if he’ll enter the
NBA Draft or return to
school for his junior year.
Woodard II averaged 11.4
points and 6.5 rebounds
per game last season
while shooting 49.5 per-
cent from the field and
44.7 percent beyond the
arc.
Woodard II has begun
seeking evaluation from
the under-graduate advi-
sory committee, where
Emmert
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n TUESDAY, MARCH 31 , 2020
NBA teams will weigh
in if they see the athletic
forward as a lottery pick,
middle or late first-round
pick, second-round pick
or as an undrafted player.
Most NBA Mock Drafts
have the 6-foot-7 for-
ward going in the second
round.
“The thing I try to
stress with Robert and
his family is the impor-
tance of doing everything
you can to be a first-
NCAA.com
is pictured. Following
SPORTS LINE
662-241-5000
B
SECTION
Jim Lytle/Dispatch file photo
round pick,” Howland there is a lot to consider
said. “When you look at and again, it is early on.”
the data over the last 20 Woodard II’s decision
gets even more compli-
years, the whole key to
being an NBA player is cated considering the
longevity, being in the impact of the COVID-19
league for 10-plus years. coronavirus. After his
That’s how you make freshman season, Per-
it a career, that’s how ry attended the NBA
you make it a livelihood. scouting combine and
When you look at the got extra feedback from
numbers, first-rounders professional scouts, and
last so much longer and was able to work out for
get paid so much more certain teams. Having the
than a second-rounder. So See HOWLAND, 2B
Virus upending
college recruiting
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS else across sports be-
cause of the coronavi-
After Michigan lost to rus. That includes the
Ohio State in the semifi- crucial recruiting period
nals of the women’s Big for college coaches who
Ten Tournament, coach were putting the finish-
Kim Barnes Arico and ing touches on the 2020
her staff immediately hit class and laying the
the road. They intended all-important ground-
to take advantage of a work for next year.
full week off before the The NCAA has
NCAA Tournament by barred in-person re-
making visiting as many cruiting until at least
potential recruits as pos- April 15. The Collegiate
sible.
Commissioner’s Asso-
“That was our win-
ciation, which adminis-
dow. You get to go to
ters the letters of intent
someone’s home, that
used by Division I and II
helps you build relation-
athletes, followed with a
ships. Helps build so
suspension on all letters
many things,” Barnes
Arico said. “We had all through the same date.
these things scheduled The result? No col-
until we went to see high lege coaches packed into
school championships.” suffocating high school
Those champion- gyms. No coaches mill-
ships were canceled, ing around airport termi-
of course. So was the nals, waiting for the next
NCAA Tournament, and flight to some out-of-the-
just about everything See RECRUITING, 2B
2B TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020
In The Pits: iRacing is fun but won’t carry teams for long
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLOT TE, N.C.
— Virtual racing has
been the small saving
grace for motorsports
since the coronavirus
pandemic brought nearly
everything to a halt.
Timmy Hill’s iRacing
victory on national televi-
sion gave the journeyman
driver and his sponsors
exposure they would nev-
er receive during a nor-
mal NASCAR weekend.
“What I’ll gain from
this is recognition. It’s
hard to get that recogni-
tion because of the level
of competition that we are
in real life,” said Hill, who
at 27 has bounced around
NASCAR’s three national
series since 2011 before
making his first Daytona
500 this year.
“We just don’t have
the money, the dollars,
to compete at a high lev-
el. Every once in a while
we’ll get that big payday
and we can really reinvest
in our race team,” he said.
“This win will hopefully
gain some recognition
and attract more sponsors
for us, maybe in the real
world when we get back
racing. Hopefully it will
help me in the real world.”
The real world looks
AP Interview: 33 sports vote unanimously on Olympic dates
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROME — Despite
some early differences
of opinion, the 33 sports
that make up the Summer
Olympic program voted
unanimously on Monday
to delay the Tokyo Games
by a full year.
Moments later, local
organizers and the Inter-
national Olympic Com-
mittee made it official.
“We were the last to ex-
press our view. We’re the
ones who have problems
with the calendar to deal
with,” said Francesco Ric-
ci Bitti, president of the
Association of Summer
Olympic International
Federations (ASOIF).
“Two minutes after the
end of our call, the press
release was issued,” Ricci
Bitti told The Associated
Press in an interview.
IOC President Thomas
Bach held three confer-
ence calls before giving
the go-ahead to make of-
Recruiting
Continued from Page 1B
way place. No chance to
shake hands with mom
and dad and make a pitch
that ultimately hold the
fate of your career in their
hands.
“March was watching
high school games and
going into homes. April
and May had recruiting
weekends. Home visits
are all gone,” Barnes Ar-
ico said. “When the calen-
dar comes back, June isn’t
a home-visit month. What
will happen?”
It’s a similar story for
college football, base-
ball and a myriad other
sports. There is a perva-
sive sense of uncertainty
that has coaches on edge
as they try to navigate re-
cruiting amid a pandemic.
“I think recruiting is
more of an inexact science
right now than it ever has
been,” Kansas coach Bill
Self said. “Just knowing
your own numbers and
Howland
Continued from Page 1B
additional information led
to the 6-foot-10 forward
staying another year.
Woodard II may not have
that option because as of
now, it appears unlikely
the NBA will even have a
combine before the draft.
“There is so much up
in the air right now,” How-
land said.
Assuming Woodard II
grim right now: Racing
and revenue have come to
a halt and it is unknown
what the landscape will
even look like when the
crisis ends.
IndyCar suspended its
season 48 hours before it
was set to open, and last
week new series owner
Roger Penske made t he
unprecedented decision
to delay the Indianapolis
500 from Memorial Day
weekend for the first time
in its long and storied his-
tory.
Penske’s transporta-
tion business has been hit
and he informed Penske
Corp.’s 60,000 employees
over the weekend that
both he and the company
president would forego
their salaries while senior
leadership be paid less.
Roughly 50 employees
from IndyCar and India-
napolis Motor Speedway
were laid off.
NASCAR has so far
cut salaries for its ex-
ecutives by 25% — that
includes the presidents
of tracks owned by NA-
SCAR — and 20% for all
other employees. Behind
the scenes, NASCAR
has crafted a schedule to
accommodate the seven
races already postponed,
but series leaders have
ficial the July 23-Aug. 8
dates for 2021.
First, Bach consulted
with the local organizers
in Tokyo. Then he talk-
ed with the IOC’s exec-
utive board. The ASOIF
— which represents the
international track and
field, swimming and gym-
nastics federations as well
as every other Summer
Games sport — came last.
“We knew last night.
… Today the vote was
unanimous by the 33 fed-
erations,” Ricci Bitti said
by phone from Switzer-
land. “Everyone was con-
vinced that this was the
best solution.”
Including NBA, Major
League Baseball, golf and
tennis players was deci-
sive. So was keeping NBC
happy.
Last week, the IOC and
Japanese organizers post-
poned the Olympics until
2021 because of the coro-
navirus pandemic. That’s
when Ricci Bitti became
how to attack that — how
can you commit to some-
thing now that you don’t
know what will exist, and
the rules behind that exis-
tence? I think there’s a lot
of programs up in the air.”
The Jayhawks are one
of them. Like most pro-
grams, they are largely
done with their 2020 re-
cruiting class. But they’re
also awaiting the decision
of leading scorer Devon
Dotson, who is expected
to skip his final two sea-
sons for the NBA, and
that could potentially
open up a late scholarship
for Self and his staff to fill.
“What you do,” Self
said, “is you recruit like
you’re going to have more
scholarships when you
don’t end in the end.”
What does that recruit-
ing look like, though?
How do coaches that so
value in-person visits,
whether they happen on
stays, Perry’s departure,
along with five players
that saw minimal playing
time at most enter the
transfer portal, opens
three scholarships for
the 2020-2021 season af-
ter factoring incoming
freshmen Deivon Smith
and Cameron Matthews.
Howland hopes to fill
those spots both via the
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
been hesitant to release
details because every-
thing is so fluid. NASCAR
has officially suspended
the season until May 9 at
Martinsville Speedway in
Virginia — a state that on
Monday issued a stay-at-
home order until June 10
or it is rescinded by exec-
utive order.
Senior NASCAR exec-
utives have consistently
checked in with teams
and discussed future
scenarios, including the
development of the Next
Gen car that had been
scheduled for a 2021 de-
but. A car meant to revo-
lutionize the sport by im-
proving the racing while
cutting costs — a project
the entire industry is
deeply tied to — could be
pushed back a year.
Teams are caught in
financial limbo. Sponsors
unsure when their logos
will be seen at a race are
withholding money need-
ed to make payroll and
meet operating expenses.
Stay-at-home orders have
left little to no work for
race teams.
“Are we concerned
about teams broadly and
their financial health? Of
course we are,” NASCAR
President Steve Phelps
has said.
extremely busy, working
day and night to get all of
the sports involved on the
same page.
As a former president
of the International Ten-
nis Federation, where he
had to deal with some-
times conflicting forces
such as the ATP and WTA
tours, Ricci Bitti is expe-
rienced at getting various
factions to form a consen-
sus.
“When we started to
discuss it everyone had
their own ideas,” Ricci
Bitti said, referring to
opinions from the triath-
lon and equestrian feder-
ations, which would have
preferred holding the
games earlier in the year
due to concerns over hot
weather in Tokyo.
In the end, though,
the prospect of placing
the games earlier in the
year — when many pro-
fessional athletes would
be unavailable — became
untenable.
their own campus or in
the homes of a prospect,
build the same kind of
relationships when face-
to-face contact is impos-
sible?
After all, there is only
so much video that a
coach can watch. So many
text messages they can
send.
Just like many busi-
nesses these days, tech-
nology is helping to fill
the void. FaceTime and
Zoom video conferences
allow coaches to see ath-
letes as they talk, and kids
are increasingly posting
workouts on YouTube for
coaches to see.
Throw in the rapidly
expanding transfer por-
tal, where dozens of ex-
perienced college players
are searching for new
homes, and the recruiting
landscape is more chal-
lenging and confusing
than ever.
grand transfer market
and by recruiting high
school seniors.
“What we are doing
recruiting wise now is
over the phone,” Howland
said. There’s a lot of kids
in the transfer portal.”
The fifth-year MSU
coach added recruiting
has been unprecedented
this offseason because
There are very few
team owners like Penske
or Rick Hendrick, who
have other businesses
larger than their racing
hobby. The bulk of the
sport is composed of rac-
ers.
Chip Ganassi owns
race teams that supply the
bulk of his revenue, and
when his sports car pro-
gram ended last year he
moved those employees
to a third IndyCar team
to avoid layoffs. Now he
has five cars idled in two
series. It’s the same all
the way down the grid, for
owners such as Jay Robin-
son, Carl Long, Rick Ware
and The Gaunt Brothers,
all teams who rely on
racing as their primary
business. They need to be
back at the track.
All the uncertainty has
teams reluctant to speak
publicly. Most discus-
sions are at the ownership
level, with drivers and
team members waiting
and wondering what will
happen next.
Penske put IndyCar’s
team owners at ease by
ensuring the first three
payments from the se-
ries’ bonus program will
be paid. He acknowledg-
es revenue will be down
and was hopeful race
“The biggest reason is
participation. For other
dates, many sports — es-
pecially the professional
ones — wouldn’t have had
this (availability),” Ricci
Bitti said. “There are too
many things that coin-
cide.”
He added that “at least
six or seven professional
sports” wouldn’t guar-
antee that their athletes
would participate if the
games were held earlier.
Holding the games in
May or June would have
allowed track and field
and swimming world
championships to go
ahead as planned next
year in July and August —
but too many other major
sports would have been
affected negatively.
“During our opening
discussions when some
were pushing to have
the games earlier, I said
no. Because the Tour de
France and Wimbledon
are too important,” Ricci
“It puts a premium on
being really organized,”
Connecticut coach Dan-
ny Hurley said. “We’re
just going to have to be a
little creative in the way
that we’re able to present
information to potential
recruits, without the abil-
ity to get them on campus
and without the ability to
meet them for the fore-
seeable future. There’s no
blueprint for this one.”
For coaches who prefer
a decidedly old-school ap-
proach to recruiting, such
as Miami’s Jim Larrana-
ga, the loss of face-to-face
opportunities is a difficult
hurdle to overcome.
“I think social media
has too much misinfor-
mation,” Larranaga ex-
plained, “and I feel like
one-on-one is better. I
want to talk to a young
man. I want to have a con-
versation. I don’t want to
be posting, tweeting, Ins-
the coaches can’t leave
campus for recruiting
visits, nor can recruits
take official visits to Mis-
sissippi State. Howland
estimates that will likely
be the reality until at least
May, so phone conversa-
tions will have to suffice
for now.
Monday, the NCA A
ruled to allow all spring
teams might qualify for
assistance from the $2.2
trillion coronavirus relief
bill.
“We’re doing every-
thing we can do to help
(teams). They have no
cost right now other than
their people and whatever
assets they might have,”
Penske said. “But I don’t
think people should think
that just the people on the
top are going to be fine. I
mean, we all have ongo-
ing costs. And the larger
the team is, the more cost
you have. When the reve-
nue begins to slow, you’ve
got to make sure you
make your adjustments.”
Race promoters are
stuck with empty venues
and no idea when their
next event will be. Texas
Motor Speedway Presi-
dent Eddie Gossage was a
good sport Sunday during
the iRacing event that was
televised live on some Fox
affiliates and nationwide
on its cable channel. He
used social media to treat
the video game race as a
real one because that’s
as close to the real thing
anyone is going to get for
some time.
Hill was nervous for
Sunday’s event, the sec-
ond of six scheduled in a
virtual series designed to
Bitti said. “Because we
were talking about a few
weeks earlier. There were
a lot of options. There was
the spring option, a few
weeks earlier, and mid-
summer. In the end, the
summer was the only pos-
sible time.
“Everyone has their
own problems. We look
at it all generally,” he
said. “When FINA (the
International Swimming
Federation) and World
Athletics generously
proposed to move their
events, the problem was
mostly resolved.”
While FINA is consid-
ering moving its worlds in
Fukuoka, Japan, to anoth-
er period in 2021, World
Athletics is delaying its
showcase event until
2022.
“This gives our ath-
letes the time they need
to get back into training
and competition,” World
Athletics said. “Everyone
needs to be flexible and
tagramming.”
Eventually, the corona-
virus lock-downs will be
lifted, travel will resume
and life will return to
some semblance of nor-
mal. High school athletes
and college transfers will
be allowed to visit cam-
puses, coaches will be
back to having dinner
in their homes and the
seemingly year-round re-
cruiting grind will begin
anew.
Or will it? Kentucky
coach John Calipari isn’t
so sure. In fact, he hopes
the disruption caused by
the pandemic will help
to reshape the recruiting
calendar, leaving a lasting
change that could bene-
fit coaches and athletes
alike.
“I’ve been saying since
I was at UMass, ‘Elimi-
nate summer recruiting,’
and everyone thought I
was crazy,” Calipari said.
athletes an extra year of
eligibility, though all win-
ter athletes were denied
any additional seasons.
Considering the major-
ity of their season was
played, though, Howland
said he thinks most bas-
ketball seniors will accept
the decision.
“Like for (MSU guard)
Tyson Carter, he had a
keep fans engaged with
the sport and its drivers.
He practiced at least four
hours a day on his simu-
lator, which consists of
an obsolete $300 wheel
at a desk with a computer
(Denny Hamlin won the
first iRacing event in a
rig he said cost upward of
$40,000).
The racers have still
found a way to race —
IndyCar and IMSA have
similar racing series up
and running — and it’s all
they have for now.
“For me to actually
beat these guys on a level
playing field, it really feels
good for my driving tal-
ents,” Hill said. “It’s neat
to beat up on these guys
with these big, massive,
expensive setups. I think
for the viewers, it’s neat
for them because they
can understand that they
don’t have to spend that
huge dollar amount to get
into iRacing.
“And I tell you what ...
I knew a lot was on the
line, a lot of people watch-
ing. The rush of emotions
definitely feels just like a
real race.”
compromise.”
Another major factor
in choosing the dates:
The IOC gets 73% of its
$5.7 billion income in a
four-year Olympic cycle
from selling broadcast
rights. About half of that
TV income is from Amer-
ican network NBC.
“American TV was in
agreement,” Ricci Bitti
said. “Clearly they were
consulted. With the cur-
rent professional sports
calendar, really the only
time available is the sum-
mer. Otherwise there are
too many things going on
at the same time.
“The professional cal-
endar is no longer ath-
lete-oriented; it’s busi-
ness-oriented.”
For the ASOIF, the
concern now is what a
full-year delay means for
its federations’ bottom
lines — especially for
smaller sports like ar-
chery and modern pen-
tathlon.
“How about we spend
time on our campus with
our players? How about
this thought? The coach-
es right now, like, have
a normal life. We’re like,
bored — cleaning garag-
es. We’re reading books.
We’re in the backyard
breathing for the first
time. We’re sleeping good
at night. Why don’t we do
this in the summer so we
can have normal lives in
what we do?
“We’re not taking
three months off,” he con-
tinued, “it’s just you’re on
campus, you’ll have your
own team, you’ll be with
your own family. How
about this? This is a cra-
zy thought: Let’s take a
two-week vacation where
we can just go with your
family, leave your phone
at home. There’s things
that I’m hoping come out
of this.”
great experience this
year and was the (SEC’s)
Sixth Man of the Year,”
Howland said. “I think
Tyson is ready to move
on and start a profession-
al career. I think he will
have a long profession-
al career and be able to
play overseas and make
decent money for a long
time.”

As MLB ponders post-virus season, players worry about health
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
As Major League Base-
ball and the players’ union
contemplate various ways
to create a schedule for
whenever the coronavi-
rus pandemic subsides,
Cincinnati Reds catcher
Tucker Barnhart raised
a concern that is surely
shared by others around
the sport: Could trying to
cram in games, and maybe
extend the season into late
November or December,
lead to injuries?
“The player safety piece
is a big thing,” Barnhart, a
union representative, said
Monday on a conference
call with reporters.
That involves how many
off-days are salvaged in
2020, how many times
Comics & Puzzles
DILBERT
ZITS
GARFIELD
CANDORVILLE
BABY BLUES
BEETLE BAILEY
MALLARD FILLMORE
teams are told to play in
any given week and how
2021 could be affected if
there is a shorter-than-usu-
al offseason.
“Moving forward, I
don’t think you can do
things that are going to
compromise the integri-
ty of next season, as well.
What I mean by that is
forcing the issue of getting
so many games in that you
risk injury, and you risk
major injury to players, be-
cause you are trying to get
in as many games as you
can,” Barnhart said.
“This is all assumptions
and thoughts from me spe-
cifically -- it’s not from the
union -- but you’re going to
have to protect us as play-
ers,” he continued. “And if
you can’t do that, I think
FAMILY CIRCUS
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
that would be where I per-
sonally would kind of draw
the line.”
That’s also top of mind
for Pittsburgh Pirates
pitcher Jameson Taillon,
who already has been
ruled out for 2020 while
recovering from a second
reconstructive surgery
on his right elbow. He’s
brought up the idea of try-
ing to return if the season
goes into November, but
said that’s been “shut down
pretty quickly.”
Speaking more gen-
erally about the effect an
altered season could have
on guys around the ma-
jors, Taillon said: “This is
a unique situation. We’re
going to have to be careful
health-wise.”
No one knows when
baseball and other sus-
pended sports will resume,
because no one knows
when life might return to
normal in the aftermath of
the COVID-19 outbreak.
Three-quarters of a million
people around the world
have become infected and
over 35,000 have died, ac-
cording to a running count
kept by Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity, counts that include
more than 140,000 infec-
tions and more than 2,500
deaths in the U.S.
Spring training was
halted on March 12; open-
ing day was supposed to be
last week and won’t happen
any earlier than mid-May.
“At this point, it’s hard
to say what can or should
be done. MLB is exhaust-
ing all of their brainpower
Dear Abby
D
EAR ABBY:
This is
an open
letter to all those
women who write
to you knowing
their men cheated
on them and then
ask, “Should I
marry him?” In
their hearts they
already know the
answer; they just
want YOU to tell
them “NO!”
My mother
saw my fiance’s
car around town, Dear Abby
parked at various
churches and parking lots. He
parked there so I wouldn’t see
his car at “the other woman’s”
house. Well, I showed up unex-
pectedly at his place one night
and saw them both asleep in
his bed. In a way, I felt relieved.
I knew I had to do some-
thing. I immediately canceled
everything, but had the
wedding invitations printed
and gave them to his mom and
sister to send out “right away.”
When the big day arrived, I sat
across the street in Dad’s car
with my mom, watching as only
HIS side of the family showed
up at the vacant church. The
note on the door read: “Stay
with ‘Jazmine.’ You two deserve
each other! Now tell your family
what you did.”
I explained everything to my
parents an hour later over din-
Horoscopes
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (March
31). The cosmic magnets draw
you toward the ones you most
need to be near. A lucky turn in
your personal life adds excite-
ment and new people to the
mix. This may have to do with
a hobby you pursue or help you
give that hands you unforeseen
benefits. The biggest luck drops
in while you are furthering your
education. Leo and Libra adore
you. Your lucky numbers are:
16, 9, 30, 45 and 11.
ARIES (March 21-April 19).
With fondness, you’ll look back
on what you said goodbye to
long ago. The nostalgia may
have you thinking, if only for
a second, “Should I try that
and manpower, along with
the 30 clubs, to come up
with some ideas and what’s
the best way to play a reg-
ular season in as many
games as possible and
get to a playoff scenario,”
said Washington Nation-
als general manager Mike
Rizzo, whose team has
turned over the grounds of
its spring facility to public
testing for the coronavirus.
“As the commissioner
said, we’re going to need
to get creative,” Rizzo add-
ed. “But beyond that, we’re
just speculating on all of
these things.”
MLB and its players are
hoping to complete initial
discussions on scheduling
by April 10, and among the
proposals under consid-
eration: pushing back the
ner at the restau-
rant where we
were supposed
to have had our
reception. We
were all relieved
the wedding was
canceled. We
laughed so much,
and we reviewed
all the signs that
my mom tried to
show me that I
had ignored.
So don’t get
mad, ladies. Do
what I did -- dry
your tears and
get even. -- NEV-
ER LOOKED BACK
DEAR NEVER: Love is blind,
and you should have listened
to your mother. You’re lucky you
found out in time and didn’t
marry your faithless fiance.
While I don’t normally recom-
mend revenge, I think in this
case, the man had it coming.
DEAR ABBY: I am 52 years
old and have experienced
chronic fatigue (from Lyme
and Epstein-Barr) most of my
adult life. Four years ago, I
discovered a wonderful medical
practitioner and, by adhering
to her protocol, regained such
improved health that I began
volunteering with a local organi-
zation. Due to a recent setback,
however, fatigue has prevented
me from volunteering, and my
absence has been noticed.
Although I am usually a
again?” Probably not.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20).
If you can avoid interruption,
you’ll be twice as productive.
The two biggest contributing
factors to distraction will be
your location and internet use.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21).
Anyone who’s loved a television
character or been devastated by
the plotline of a book knows the
power of alternative realities.
Today, you’ll use this principle to
your advantage.
CANCER (June 22-July
22). The difference between a
genuine smile and a forced or
insincere one is registered, at
least on a subconscious level,
by most humans. Real smiles
TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020 3B
end of the season, even if it
involves using neutral sites
and domes to avoid colder
weather in many cities;
increasing doubleheaders
to get more games in per
week than usual; playing
games without spectators;
changing the postseason
format.
“We’ve been told,”
said Taillon, a union rep,
“there’s no such thing as a
bad idea right now. “
Texas Rangers short-
stop Elvis Andrus, also a
union rep, described a re-
cent call about scheduling
options with other players
this way: “We were ba-
sically talking about po-
tential scenarios and how
crazy this season will be,
how challenging it will
be.”
private person, I decided to
divulge my health issues to the
leader so he wouldn’t think I
was unhappy with my duties.
He then began asking if I had
tried various health products
and remedies to the point
where I felt I was on trial and
defending myself. In the past,
before I received an accurate
diagnosis, some family mem-
bers and physicians doubted
the validity of my illness, so I
am sensitive to being ques-
tioned.
Over the years, I have
sought treatment from
various sources, from local
health stores to nationally
recognized hospitals, and I
don’t appreciate advice from
healthy armchair experts. I also
don’t like being questioned or
doubted. Did I set myself up by
disclosing my health issues, or
should I have remained polite
but vague? -- SURVIVOR IN THE
EAST
DEAR SURVIVOR: In a
sense, yes, you did set yourself
up by disclosing the reason
for your absence. The medical
conditions from which you
suffer were poorly understood
years ago, and many people
-- medical personnel included --
were under the impression that
their patients’ problems were
all in their heads. Please try to
be less defensive where this
person is concerned. From my
perspective, he was only trying
to be helpful.
send real joy. This will be your
contribution to an improved
world today.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). To
do your best work, you must
concentrate. To concentrate,
you must be free of worry. To
be free of worry, you must get
resolution. You will do your best
work once you’ve resolved the
issue on your mind.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).
The child climbing the monkey
bars on the playground is not
thinking about tests of balance
or growing motor skills. It just
seems like a fun thing to do.
Similarly, whatever you think
might be fun now will also be a
chance for unexpected growth.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).
If you can whip up some joy for
yourself and live inside that,
you’ll have accomplished the
mission of your spirit. Just be
careful not to confuse joy with
pleasure, its brother from anoth-
er mother.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov.
21). Life is full of surprises and
today brings one of your favorite
kinds — the kind where you
surprise yourself. You’re deeper,
stronger, more talented and
more interesting than even you
knew.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec.
21). You’re not concerned with
getting ahead, staying ahead
or anything that has to do with
being out in front. You want to
enjoy your route, do justice to
your role and learn something
along the way.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan.
19). Though wanting something
to be finished will not make it
so, it’s the organizing thought
that causes you to make a list
of steps and start methodically
getting this thing on the rails.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.
18). As self-motivated as you
are, it is not always easy to
keep yourself accountable to
the things you say you want
to do. You need other people.
Need a game changer? Join a
group.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March
20). Is there such a thing as be-
ing too rational? Of course! And
it’s every bit as precarious as
being too irrational. When logic
dulls the senses, let poetry
bring them back.
Hold the fort
SOLUTION:
4B TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

How would overwhelmed hospitals decide who to treat first?

Hospitals are bracing for a looming surge in
patients suffering from COVID-19 who need
breathing machines and other resources
that could soon be in critically short supply
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — A nurse with
asthma, a grandfather with can-
cer and a homeless man with
no known family are wracked
with coronavirus-induced fevers.
They are struggling to breathe,
and a ventilator could save their
lives. But who gets one when
there aren’t enough to go around?
Health care workers are
dreading the prospect of such
dire scenarios as U.S. hospitals
brace for a looming surge in pa-
tients who need breathing ma-
chines and other resources that
could soon be in critically short
supply.
That has meant dusting off
playbooks they’ve never before
had to implement on how to fairly
ration limited resources during
an emergency.
“I pray for their good judg-
ment and their capacity as they
make very difficult choices,” said
Erik Curren, whose 77-year-old
father died this month from re-
spiratory complications related
to the virus after becoming in-
fected at an assisted living home
in Florida.
Harrowing scenarios al-
ready are unfolding in country
after country hard-hit by the
COVID-19 pandemic, including
Spain, where one nursing home
official said sick residents are dy-
ing after being unable to get into
overflowing hospitals.
Like much of the rest of the
world, ventilators that help peo-
ple breathe are in particular de-
mand across the U.S., given the
respiratory problems common
among people severely ill with
COVID-19.
As many as 900,000 corona-
virus patients in the U.S. could
need the machines during the
outbreak, according to the Soci-
ety for Critical Care Medicine.
Yet the group estimates the
country has only 200,000, many
of which already are being used
by other patients.
In New York, the U.S. epi-
center of the outbreak, one city
hospital has already logged 13
coronavirus deaths in a single
day and officials are setting up
hundreds of hospital beds in a
sprawling convention center as
cases climbed past 30,000 in the
city.
In preparation, health officials
across the country are reviewing
guidelines from sources includ-
ing state governments and med-
ical groups on how to ration limit-
ed resources in emergencies.
The general principle span-
ning those plans: Bring the most
benefit to the greatest number of
people and prioritize those with
the best chance of recovery. But
exactly how that’s determined is
fraught.
Automatically excluding
certain groups from receiving
ventilators, such as those with
severe lung disease, invokes
ethical issues, said Dr. Douglas
White at the University of Pitts-
burgh. Many hospitals seeking
guidance on COVID-19 in recent
weeks have adopted a policy he
devised without such exclusions,
he said.
Guidelines previously devel-
oped by New York state’s health
department exclude some seri-
ously ill people from receiving
limited ventilators in major emer-
gencies, but note that making
old age an automatic disqualifier
would be discriminatory. The
plans go on to add, however,
that given the “strong societal
preference for saving children,”
age could be considered in a
tie-breaker when a child’s life is
at stake.
Recommendations published
this week by German medi-
cal associations in response to
COVID-19 also say age alone
shouldn’t be a deciding factor.
Among the situations where they
said intensive care should not be
provided if availability is in short
supply: if the patient would need
permanent intensive care to sur-
vive.
The crushing emotional bur-
den of carrying out potentially
life-and-death decisions is why
the guidelines typically desig-
nate separate triage teams to
make the call, rather than leav-
ing it to the doctors and nurses
providing bedside care.
“This is a really terrifying de-
cision — you don’t want any doc-
tor or nurse to be alone with this
decision,” said Nancy Berlinger
of the Hastings Center, a bioeth-
ics research institute.
Having separate teams make
decisions also is intended to en-
sure patients get a fair shot at
care regardless of their race,
social status or other personal
factors.
Berlinger noted that underly-
ing social inequities can still per-
sist — for example, poorer peo-
ple tend to be sicker — but that
those are deeper injustices that
can’t be remedied in the throes
of a pandemic.
Another grim calculation
that experts say hospitals could
make is how long a patient might
need a hospital bed or ventilator
and how many more lives the
machine might otherwise save.
That would help forestall an even
more wrenching decision many
doctors in the U.S. likely have
never faced — whether to take a
patient off a machine to free it up
for others.

Hay fever or virus? For allergy sufferers, a season of worry

‘Everyone is sort of analyzing every
sneeze and cough right now’
Kathy Przywara, who manages
an online community of allergy sufferers
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAMBURG, Pa. — The
spring breezes of 2020 are
carrying more than just
tree pollen. There’s a whiff
of paranoia in the air.
For millions of seasonal
allergy sufferers, the annu-
al onset of watery eyes and
scratchy throats is bump-
ing up against the global
spread of a new virus that
produces its own constel-
lation of respiratory symp-
toms. Forecasters are
predicting a brutal spring
allergy season for swaths
of the U.S. at the same time
that COVID-19 cases are
rising dramatically.
That’s causing angst
for people who never have
had to particularly worry
about their hay fever, other
than to stock up on antihis-
tamines, decongestants
and tissues. Now they’re
asking: Are these my aller-
gies? Or something more
sinister?
“Everyone is sort of
analyzing every sneeze
and cough right now,”
said Kathy Przywara, who
manages an online com-
munity of allergy sufferers
for the Asthma and Allergy
Foundation of America.
Never mind the dif-
fering symptoms — that
sneezing and runny nose,
hallmarks of hay fever,
are not typically asso-
ciated with COVID-19,
which commonly produc-
es coughing, fever and
in more serious cases
shortness of breath. Never
mind that allergies don’t
cause fevers. Allergy suf-
ferers fret that there’s just
enough overlap to make
them nervous.
Allergy season is
already underway in
Oceanside, California,
where Ampie Convocar is
dealing with a runny nose,
sinus pain and headache,
and an urge to sneeze. Last
year, she would’ve consid-
ered her symptoms mere
annoyance. Now they
cause tremendous anxiety.
People with asthma, like
Convocar, are at higher
risk of severe illness from
COVID-19.
“I consider it as some-
thing that could kill me
because of COVID-19
floating around,” Convocar
said via email. With a fami-
ly member still traveling to
work every day, she said, “I
don’t know what he got out
there.”
Many garden-variety
hay fever sufferers, of
whom there are about 19
million adults in the U.S.,
are also on heightened
alert.
They’re taking their
temperatures each day,
just in case. They’re hiding
their sneezes and sniffles
from suspicious colleagues
and grossed-out grocery
shoppers. They’re com-
miserating with each other
and sharing memes on so-
cial media (“I don’t know if
I should buy Zyrtec or turn
myself in to the CDC”).
Pamela Smelser is re-
minded of allergy season
every time she looks out
the window of her home
office, where her cherry
tree is blooming. Spring
came early to Maryland,
she said, and lots of people
are coughing and sneezing
from the pollen.
“You do what you have
to do: You take your meds
for allergies and stay away
from people,” Smelser said.
“People get really hinky
about coughing right now.”
Though she’s had aller-
gies for years, Smelser, a
semi-retired social worker
and community college
teacher outside Baltimore,
admits to being a touch
paranoid. She takes her
temperature every day be-
cause she’s 66 and, well,
you can never be too care-
ful.

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AREA OBITUARIES
at the Care Center of
Aberdeen.
There will be no
services. Tisdale-Lann
Memorial Funeral
Home is in charge of
arrangements.
Mrs. Holmes was
born Jan. 16, 1936, in
olyn Holmes Weirs of
Grandbury, Texas; and
grand, great-grand and
great-great-grandchil-
dren.
Tyshawn Cunningham
ALICEVILLE, Ala.
A home-going ser-
vice will be held 1 p.m.
Saturday at New Salem
Baptist Church in
Aliceville. Burial will be
held at the church cem-
etery. The Rev. Patrick
DeGaffenreid will be

able for a fee. Obituaries must
be submitted through funeral
homes unless the deceased’s
body has been donated to
science. If the deceased’s
Laredo, Texas, to the
late Herbert Elders and
Vera Young Elders. She
was formerly employed
— Tyshawn Khalil
Cunningham, 18, died
Tuesday March 24,
2020, at his residence.
Dana Douglas
the eulogist. Visitation
is Friday from 3-6 p.m.
at Lavender’s Funeral
Services in Aliceville.
Dana Stotts Douglas, 59 of
Columbus, MS passed away

body was donated to science,
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proof of death. Please submit
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vided by The Commercial Dis-
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tion, call 662-328-2471.
Evelyn Homes
HAMILTON — Eve-
lyn Elders Holmes, 84,
died March 29, 2020,
as a truck driver.
In addition to her
parents, she was pre-
ceded in death by her
husband, William “Bill”
Holmes, brothers,
Thurman Elders and
Herbert “Herb” Elders;
and step-daughter, Be-
linda Holmes Caviness.
She is survived by
her children, Barry
Schafer of Hamilton,
Mike Williams of Port
of Arkansas, Texas,
Steve Williams, Brian
Schafer both of Per-
ryton, Texas and Pat
Williams Williamson
of Rising Star, Texas;
step-children, Donna
Holmes of Pampa,
texas, Mark Holmes,
Bobby Homes both of
Azle, Texas and Car-
Bobby Reeves
Bobby Ray Reeves, 58,
of Maben, MS passed away
Sunday, March 29, 2020,
at Starkville Manor Care
and Rehabilitation Center,
Starkville, MS.
A private family visitation
will be Wednesday, April 1,
2020, from 12:00 – 1:00 PM
at Lowndes Funeral Home,
Columbus, MS. A private funeral service will
be April 1, 2020, at 1:00 PM in the Lowndes
Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Kenny Gardner
officiating. Interment will be in Living Faith
Tabernacle Cemetery, Columbus, MS, with
Lowndes Funeral Home directing.
Mr. Reeves was born December 4, 1961, to the
late William Monroe and Barbara Ann Rye Blake
in Columbus, MS. He was a member of Living
Faith Tabernacle, Columbus, MS. Mr. Reeves
worked as a car salesman for many years.
In addition to his parents, Mr. Reeves was
preceded in death by his son, Christopher Earl
Saturday, March 28, 2020, at
Baptist Memorial Hospital –
Golden Triangle, Columbus,
MS.
Ms Douglas was born on
October 30, 1960, to Linda
Williams Stotts and the late
Sammy Stotts, Sr. in Columbus,
MS. She worked in aircraft maintenance at
Columbus Air Force Base and at Seminole where
she loved, and was loved by her co-workers.
Ms Douglas retired in 2016 from SDI as a crane
operator after 9 years. She was an avid gardener
and bird enthusiast. She loved camping at Lake
Lowndes and being with her grandchildren and
family.
In addition to her father, Ms Douglas was
preceded in death by her companion dog,
Ladybug.
Ms Douglas is survived by her mother, Linda
Williams Stotts, Columbus, MS; life partner,
Shane Andrews, Columbus, MS; sons, David
Tucker, Columbus, MS, and Robert (Hailey
Cole) Tucker, Columbus, MS; daughter, Jennifer
Tucker (B.D.) Dowdy, Columbus, MS; sister,

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Reeves, brother, Roger Dale Reeves and niece,
Rebecca Ann Phelps.
Mr. Reeves is survived by his children, Bobby
Sanders, Brandi Sanders, Bobby Ray Reeves, Jr.,
Barbara “Sissy” Reeves, Laura “Punken” Ann
Reeves, William Elmer Reeves, Reva Michelle
Reeves, and Christen “Peanut” Reeves; sisters,
Tina (Frank) Williamson, Rita (Jacky) Kellum
and Laurie Pauline Reeves; brothers, Will
(Christine) Reeves, Bill Reeves, Jody (Kim)
Reeves, Jamie Reeves, and Keith Reeves; a host
of grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and family.
Kay Quinlan, Caledonia, MS; brothers, Sammy
Stotts, Jr., Columbus, MS and Billy (Erica) Stotts,
Huntsville, AL; grandchildren, Rylee Jo Tucker,
Jeradd Dale Tucker and Swayzee Lu Tucker; and
a host of nieces and nephews.
We’d like to thank Kindred Home Health,
doctors and nurses of Baptist ICU and 3rd floor,
Dr. Jaime Castillo and nurses; Dale Tucker,
daughters and special caregivers, Jennifer (B.D.)
Tucker Dowdy and Stephanie Kizer (Matt)
Burns.
Memorials may be made to Columbus Lowndes
Humane Society, P.O. Box 85, Columbus, MS
39703.

The Dispatch
Compliments of Compliments of
Lowndes Funeral Home Lowndes Funeral Home
www.lowndesfuneralhome.net www.lowndesfuneralhome.net
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020 5B

Urgent question from small

businesses: When will aid arrive?
Millions of business
owners facing April
1 due dates for rent,
mortgage, credit card
Conditions for companies
that get virus aid: Room for abuse?
BY MARCY GORDON

and other payments AP Business Writer

BY JOYCE M. ROSENBERG
WASHINGTON — A $500 billion federal aid package for companies
AP Business Writer and governments hurt by the coronavirus includes rules aimed at en-

NEW YORK — When will the

suring that the taxpayer money is used in ways that would help sus-
tain the economy. But questions are being raised about whether those Sudoku YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

Sudoku
guardrails will prevent the kinds of abuses that have marked some cor-
money arrive?
porate bailouts of the past.
Sudoku is a number- Yesterday’s answer
That’s the urgent question for placing puzzle based on
small business owners who have In return for the emergency loans, which could be spun by the Fed- Sudoku
a 9x9 gridis a several
with num- 6 7 9 2 5 1 8 4 3
been devastated by the coronavirus eral Reserve into up to $4.5 trillion, companies will face temporary ber-placing puzzle
given numbers. The object 5 2 8 3 4 7 1 6 9

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

outbreak. They’re awaiting help limits on what they can pay executives. They’ll also need to keep their based onthe
is to place a 9x9
numbers 4 3 1 8 9 6 7 2 5
from the $2 trillion rescue package workforces stable or at least not lay off more than 10 percent for several grid with several
1 to 9 in the empty spaces 2 1 6 9 3 8 5 7 4
months. And they’ll face restrictions on stock buybacks and dividend given
signed into law Friday. But with so that numbers. The
each row, each 8 5 3 4 7 2 6 9 1
increases. object
bills fast coming due, no end to column isandtoeach
place
3x3 the
box 9 4 7 1 6 5 3 8 2
business closings and an economy Yet loopholes may lurk in the legislation. numbers
contains the1same
to 9 number
in
that’s all but shut down, owners are “On paper, it looks like we learned the lessons,’’ said James Angel, an the empty spaces so 3 6 4 5 8 9 2 1 7
only once. The difficulty 7 9 2 6 1 3 4 5 8
worried about survival. associate professor of finance at Georgetown University’s McDonough that each row, each
level increases from
Millions of owners face April 1 School of Business. “But the devil is in the details. ... There’s a lot of column and each 1 8 5 7 2 4 9 3 6
room around the edges.” Monday
3x3 boxtocontains
Sunday.
due dates for rent, mortgage, cred- Difficulty Level 3/30

it card and other payments. Some
have been granted leniency from
landlords and lenders. But even
then, there are other business and
personal bills that are owed. And
employees — at least those who ha-
ven’t been laid off — must be paid.
“How quick can we get these
funds?” says Adam Rammel,
co-owner of Brewfontaine, a bar
and restaurant in Bellefontaine,
Ohio, that’s now limited to takeout
and delivery service. His revenue is
down 60 percent. Yet he has eight
staffers, down from his usual 25,
whom he must pay.
“Relief can’t come soon enough
— we’re a cash business with small
margins,” says Rammel, who is
looking to Small Business Admin-
istration loans. He needs the mon-
ey despite receiving some conces-
The legislation establishes a system of oversight on how companies the same number only once. The difficulty level
use the rescue money. The oversight is widely thought to exceed the increases from Monday to Sunday.
standards for the bailouts of banks and automakers in the 2008-09 fi-
nancial crisis. Critics have long attacked those bailouts as an unwar-
ranted giveaway to corporations whose conduct contributed directly to
the crisis.
sions from his banker. am terrified that not only do I have
Freelancers and people whose no revenue coming in, I have also
gig work has vanished are also anx- been asked for thousands of dollars
ious about having to wait. in refunds.”
“I need to pay my electric bill At companies small and large,
and the mortgage,” says Krista from restaurants and retailers to
Kowalcyzk, whose Southwest Flori- sports and entertainment venues,
da photography business has come revenue has essentially dried up.
to a halt as weddings have been The same for the businesses that
canceled and customers have de- support those companies. Even em-
cided against having portraits shot. ployers that are still operating have
She feels somewhat reassured lost business as their customers
that she can receive unemployment have became too cautious to con-
benefits. But while she waits, “I tinue doing business.

Macy’s, Kohl’s, Gap to furlough majority of their workers

BY ANNE D’INNOCENZIO tribution centers. It will Gap’s spokesman San- including Banana Repub-
AP Retail Writer continue to ship products dy Goldberg said the lic and Old Navy.
and do curbside pickup furloughs affect nearly The furloughed work-
NEW YORK — Ma- from most stores with a 80,000 out of 129,000 em- ers will continue to collect
cy’s, Kohl’s and Gap Inc. limited number of staff. ployees across all brands, health benefits.
all said Monday they will
stop paying tens of thou-
sands of employees who
were thrown out of work
when the chains tempo-
rarily closed their stores
and sales collapsed as a
result of the pandemic.
Macy’s said the major-
ity of its 125,000 employ- ACROSS
ees will be furloughed 1 Snoozes
this week and that it is 5 Brief rest
transitioning to an “abso- 10 Figure of
lute minimum workforce” speech
needed to maintain basic 12 To the time
operations. Macy’s said that
it has lost the bulk of its 13 Place for a
sales due to the temporar- date, often
ily closing of more than 15 Historic time
600 stores starting March 16 “Well, that’s
18. obvious!”
Kohl’s, based in
17 Chest muscle,
Menomonee Falls, Wis-
for short
consin, said that the
furloughs will apply to
18 Keep
85,000 of its 120,000 em- 20 Decree
ployees at stores and dis- 21 Wild card, at
times 43 Golf pegs Anxiety” poet
22 Young fellows 20 Plant life
23 Dance music DOWN 24 Loving touch
25 Ripped 1 More pleasant 25 Goat snack,
28 Deck of 2 Found darling in cartoons
FBI reaches out fortunes
31 Persia, today
3 Buccaneer
4 Junior, to
26 Meadowlark’s
cousin
to Sen. Burr 32 Speech
maker
senior
5 Impel
27 Unruly crowd
29 “Becket”
over stock sales 34 Pen point
35 Low digit
6 Termite’s kin
7 Perfect place
actor
30 Off-campus

tied to virus 36 Need to pay

37 Old street
8 Singer O’Con-
nor
local
33 Oboe parts
piece 9 Votes in 35 Bullfight cries
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
40 Pitcher 11 Famed Flo- 38 Auction signal
WASHINGTON — The Reynolds rentine family 39 Young one
FBI has reached out to 41 Not flimsy 14 Divination tool
Sen. Richard Burr about 42 Must have 19 “The Age of
his sale of stocks before
the coronavirus caused
markets to plummet, a
person familiar with the
matter said Monday.
The outreach suggests
federal law enforcement
officials may be looking
to determine whether the
North Carolina Repub-
lican exploited advance
information when he
dumped as much as $1.7
million in stocks in the
days before the coronavi-
rus wreaked havoc on the
economy.
Burr has denied wrong-
doing but has also request-
ed an ethics review of the
stock sales.

cdispatch.com
Classifieds
LEGALS
CALL US: 662-328-2424
Legal Notices
LEGAL NOTICE
THE MISSISSIPPI DEPART-
MENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
DIVISION OF COMMUNITY SER-
VICES
The Mississippi Department of
Human Services-Division of
Community Services will con-
duct a public hearing on the
Low-Income Weatherization As-
sistance Program under Title IV
of the Energy Conservation Act,
as amended. The hearing for
program year 2020 is sched-
uled for Tuesday, April 14,
2020, at 10:00 a.m. in Room
802 at the Mississippi Depart-
ment of Human Services, 200
South Lamar Street, Jackson,
Mississippi.
The purpose of the hearing is
to discuss and receive public
input on the program year
2020 state plan for the Low-In-
come Weatherization Assist-
ance Program. In addition, a
discussion will be held on the
program’s service delivery sys-
tem as well as the new pro-
gram requirements and
changes. The Weatherization
Assistance Program is admin-
istered by the Mississippi De-
partment of Human Services-
Division of Community Ser-
vices and funded by the U. S.
Department of Energy. The mis-
sion of the program is to re-
duce heating and cooling costs
for low-income families, particu-
larly the elderly, disabled and
families with children by im-
proving the energy efficiency of
homes, ensure the health and
safety of these individuals and
provide a service delivery sys-
tem which encompasses all 82
counties within the state.
Copies of the plan are avail-
able to the public and may be
obtained from the Division of
Community Services by calling
(601)359-4768 or 1-800-421-
0762.
Written comments will be ac-
cepted through April 21, 2020.
The public is invited to attend.
NOTICE OF INTENTION TO DI-
VERT OR WITHDRAW FOR BE-
NEFICIAL USE THE PUBLIC
WTERS OF THE STATE OF MIS-
SISSIPPI
Notice is hereby given that on
the 4th day of February 2019,
Ronnie Jones Construction PO
Box 207, Caledonia, MS
39740, filed applications for
permits to continue to divert or
withdraw the public waters of
the State of Mississippi for be-
neficial use from the Coker
Aquifer, in the county of
Lowndes, for Commercial pur-
poses, subject to existing
rights, the following amounts of
water at the indicated loca-
tions:
PERMIT#
VOLUME
RATE
LOCATION
MS-GW-15486
0.09 MG/D
500 GPM
SW, SE, S25, T16S, R17W
MS-GW-15617
0.04 MG/D
250 GPM
SW, SE, S25, T16S, R17W
Any person, firm, association,
or corporation, deeming that
the granting of the above ap-
plications will be truly detri-
mental to their rights to utilize
the waters of said source, may
protest in writing to the Permit
Board of the State of Missis-
sippi, ATTN: Chris Hawkins, PO
Box 2309, Jackson, Missis-
sippi 39225, setting forth all
reasons why said applications
should not be approved. Let-
ters of protest must be re-
ceived within ten (10) days of
this publication. If not pro-
tested, permits will be issued
on or after ten (10) days follow-
ing publication date.
If protested, the applications
will be taken for consideration
by the Permit Board of the
State of Mississippi in its of-
fices at 515 East Amite Street,
Jackson, Mississippi, on or
after, Tuesday, the 12th day of
May 2020, at which time all in-
terested persons may appear
and be heard by the Permit
Board.
OFFICE OF LAND AND WATER
RESOURCES
Chris Hawkins, P.E.
Chief, Permitting, Certification,
and Compliance Division
PUBLISH: 3/31/2020
Read local.
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Legal Notices
ADVERTISEMENT
THE CITY OF COLUMBUS, MIS-
SISSIPPI
MAIN STREET AT 2ND STREET
INTERSECTION IMPROVE-
MENTS
LOWNDES COUNTY
FEDERAL – AID PROJECT NO.
STP-0068-00(017)
LPA/107968-70100
Sealed bids for the Main Street
at 2nd Street Intersection Im-
provements Project, Federal-Aid
Project No. STP-0068-00(017)
LPA/107968-70100, will be re-
ceived no later than 10:00
A.M. Local Prevailing Time,
Tuesday, April 21st, 2020, in
the offices of the City of Colum-
bus, Office of the Mayor, loc-
ated at 523 Main Street.
Columbus, MS 39701 or elec-
tronically via www.neel-schaffer-
plans.com. All bids received
will be publicly opened and
read aloud.
The work shall consist essen-
tially of building a mini-round-
about with new sidewalk, new
driveways, new curb and gutter,
additional pavement struc-
tures, updated striping, and up-
dated signing.
The above general outline of
features of the work does not
in any way limit the responsibil-
ity of the Contractor to perform
all work and furnish all plant,
labor, equipment and materi-
als required by the specifica-
tions and the drawings re-
ferred to therein.
The attention of bidders is dir-
ected to the Contract Provi-
sions governing selection and
employment of labor. Minim-
um wage rates for Federal – Aid
projects have been predeter-
mined by the Secretary of labor
and are subject to Public Law
87-581 Work hours Act of
1962, set forth in the Contract
Provisions.
The City of Columbus hereby
notifies all Bidders that it will
affirmatively insure that in any
contract entered into pursuant
to this advertisement, disad-
vantaged and women’s busi-
ness enterprises will be af-
forded the full opportunity to
submit bids in response to this
invitation and will not be dis-
criminated against the grounds
of race, color, or national ori-
gin in consideration for an
award. The DBE goal for this
project is 5 percent.
Bid documents are being made
available electronically and via
paper copy (if requested). Plan
holders are required to re-
gister for an account at
www.neel-schafferplans.com to
view and order Bid Documents.
All plan holders are required to
have a valid email address for
registration. Bid documents are
non-refundable and must be
purchased through the website.
For questions regarding web-
site registration and online or-
ders, please contact Plan
House Printing at (662) 407-
0193.
Each bid shall be accompan-
ied by a Certified Check on a
solvent bank or a Bidder’s
Bond issued by a surety Com-
pany licensed to operate in the
State of Mississippi, in the
amount of five percent (5%) of
the total bid price, payable to
the City of Columbus as bid se-
curity. Bidders shall also sub-
mit a current financial state-
ment, if requested by the Dis-
trict. The successful bidder will
be required to furnish a Per-
formance Bond and a Payment
Bond in the amount of one hun-
dred percent (100%) of the con-
tract amount.
No bidder may withdraw his bid
within (60) days after the date
of actual bid opening, without
Owner’s consent.
Work to be performed shall be
in accordance with the Missis-
sippi Road and Bridge Con-
struction (the 2017 edition) to-
gether with all amendments
and / or special provisions
and/or addenda to the stand-
ards duly approved and adop-
ted, unless otherwise noted in
these specifications. The 2017
Edition of the Mississippi
Standard Specifications for
Road and Bridge Construction,
adopted by the Mississippi De-
partment of Transportation, as
referred to herein, may be pur- been granted and issued to LE-
chased from the Mississippi
Department of Transportation.
Bidders are hereby notified that cery Court of Lowndes County,
award will not be made to any
bidder submitting a proposal in- March, 2020. This is to give
volving omissions irregularities notice to all persons having
outlined in Section 102 of the
2017 Edition of the Standard
Specifications for Road and
Bridge Construction, or accom- Lowndes County, Mississippi,
panied by letters qualifying any within ninety (90) days from
manner the conditions under
which the proposal is tendered. bate and Register said claim
No bid proposal will be sold
after 12 P.M. the day preced-
ing the Advertisement Date for 2020.
receipt of bids.
THE CITY OF COLUMBUS, MIS- LEON BANKHEAD, Executor
SISSIPPI
PUBLISH: 3/24 & 3/31/2020 4/14/2020
Looking for goods
or services?
Find it in the
classifieds!
Legal Notices
IN THE SPECIAL COURT OF EM-
INENT DOMAIN
LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-
SIPPI
COLUMBUS REDEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY PLAINTIFF
V.
FAVAN FARMS, L.L.C.,
LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-
SIPPI, CITY OF COLUMBUS,
MISSISSIPPI, AND THE UN-
KNOWN HEIRS-AT-LAW AND DE-
VISEES OF JOHN A. POE, DE-
CEASED, AND ALL PERSONS
OR ENTITIES HAVING OR
CLAIMING A LEGAL OR EQUIT-
ABLE INTEREST IN CERTAIN
REAL PROPERTY LOCATED IN
SECTION 16, TOWNSHIP 18
SOUTH, RANGE 18 WEST,
LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-
SIPPI, BEING TAX PARCEL NO.
61W080007700, LOCATED AT
621 4TH STREET NORTH
COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI DE-
FENDANTS
NO. 2020- 0004-ED2
SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION
TO: THE UNKNOWN HEIRS-AT-
LAW AND DEVISEES OF JOHN
A. POE, DECEASED, AND ALL
PERSONS OR ENTITIES HAV-
ING OR CLAIMING A LEGAL OR
EQUITABLE INTEREST IN CER-
TAIN REAL PROPERTY LOC-
ATED IN SECTION 16, TOWN-
SHIP 18 SOUTH, RANGE 18
WEST, LOWNDES COUNTY,
MISSISSIPPI, BEING TAX PAR-
CEL NO. 61W080007700,
LOCATED AT 621 4TH STREET
NORTH, COLUMBUS, MISSIS-
SIPPI
You have been made Defend-
ants in a lawsuit filed in this
Court by the Columbus Re-
development Authority to con-
demn by eminent domain cer-
tain real property located at
621 4th Street North, in Lot 6,
Square 34, North of Main, Fish-
erman’s Addition, Columbus,
Mississippi, and being
Lowndes tax parcel
61W080007700. The property
is necessary to renew and re-
development blighted condi-
tions in accordance with the
Urban Renewal Plan (Burns
Bottom) of the City of Colum-
bus, Mississippi.
You are summoned to appear
and defend against the com-
plaint or petition filed against
you in this action at 9:30
o’clock a. m. on the 28th day
of April, 2020, in the circuit
courtroom, second floor, of the
Lowndes County Courthouse in
Columbus, Mississippi, and in
case of your failure to appear
and defend, a judgment will be
entered against you for the
money or other things deman-
ded in the complaint or peti-
tion.
You are hereby further given
notice that not less than ten
(10) days prior to the date of
the trial, you are required to file
the Statement of Values pursu-
ant to Miss. Code Ann. §11-27-
7, which shall be treated as
pleadings in this action. The
date of the filing of the Com-
plaint herein is the 21st day of
January, 2020, and the name
and address of the attorney for
the Plaintiff is Martha Bost
Stegall, P. O. Box 7120, Tu-
pelo, Mississippi 38802. Oth-
er than the Statement of Val-
ues you are not required to file
an Answer or other pleading
but you may do so if you de-
sire.
Issued under my hand and the
seal of said Court, this 18th
day of March, 2020.
TERESA BARKSDALE, CLERK
SPECIAL COURT OF EMINENT
DOMAIN,
LOWNDES COUNTY, MS
BY: Ann Marie Langford, D.C.
Publish: 3/24, 3/31 &
4/7/2020
IN THE CHANCERY COURT OF
LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-
SIPPI
IN THE MATTER OF THE ES-
TATE OF MILDRED H. BANK-
HEAD, DECEASED
LEON BANKHEAD, EXECUTOR
CAUSE NO. 2020 – 0061-DE
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Letters Testamentary have
ON BANKHEAD, Executor of the
Estate of MILDRED H. BANK-
HEAD, deceased, by the Chan-
Mississippi, on the 23rd day of
claims against said estate to
Probate and Register same
with the Chancery Clerk of
this date. A failure to so Pro-
will forever bar the same.
THIS the 23rd day of March,
/s/ Leon Bankhead
PUBLISH: 3/31, 4/7, &
ADS APPEAR IN THE COMMERCIAL DISPATCH,
THE STARKVILLE DISPATCH AND ONLINE
Legal Notices
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGIN-
EERING SERVICES
The Mississippi Regional Hous-
ing Authority IV is soliciting pro-
posals for Architectural and En-
gineering Services for modern-
ization activities under the
2019 Capital Fund Program.
Work sites will generally in-
clude developments located in
Columbus, Crawford and Louis-
ville, Mississippi.
Request for Qualifications
(RFQs) packages, which con-
tain the information necessary
for submitting a proposal, can
be obtained from the headquar-
ters of the Mississippi Region-
al Housing Authority IV, 2845
South Frontage Road, P.O. Box
1051, Columbus, MS 39703-
1051, (662) 327-4121 ext.
8033 [or (662) 327-8114
(hearing and speech impaired)
or 7-1-1 or 1-800-582-2233 DOWNTOWN: 2BR/1BA
Mississippi Relay Service (hear- CH&A, 1 story, W/D,
ing and speech impaired)]. historic district, 1 block
Bound Proposals will be accep-
ted until 4:00 p.m. local time
on April 20, 2020 at the
headquarters of the Missis-
sippi Regional Housing Author-
ity IV, 2845 South Frontage
Road, Columbus, Mississippi.
The Housing Authority will use
the Qualifications-Based Selec-
tion (QBS) procedures to evalu-
ate all proposals properly re-
ceived and will select the most
qualified competitor by using
established selection factors,
subject to negotiating a fair
and reasonable fee.
The Mississippi Regional Hous-
ing Authority IV reserves the
right to reject any or all propos-
als received and to waive any
formalities and informalities.
Mississippi Regional Housing
Authority IV
BRIAN D. POWER
Executive Director
PUBLISH: 3/27/2020,
3/31/2020
EMPLOYMENT
CALL US: 662-328-2424
General Help Wanted
CARPENTER NEEDED w/ at
least 4 yrs. of experience.
Ideal candidate will have an
eye for detail, be depend-
able, have good communic-
ation skills, reliable trans-
portation & basic tools. We
specialize in home remod-
els & new construction.
Call 662-570-9464 for info.
RENTALS
ADS STARTING AT $25
Apts For Rent: West
VIP
Rentals
Apartments & Houses
1 Bedrooms
2 Bedroooms
3 Bedrooms
Furnished & Unfurnished
1, 2, & 3 Baths
Lease, Deposit
& Credit Check
viceinvestments.com
327-8555
Apts For Rent: Other
1ST MONTH − RENT FREE!
1−2 BR Apt: $350−435
1−2BR TwnHm: $625−650
Lease, Dep, Credit Check.
Coleman Realty
662−329−2323
SERVICE DIRECTORY
PROMOTE YOUR SMALL BUSINESS STARTING AT ONLY $25
Automotive Services
Auto Sales
LE S
WHO ALE New & Used
Tires
Maintenance
UT
O CENTE
Brakes
Insurance
A
662-605-5125
7596 Hwy 45 Alt N • West Point
Building & Remodeling
REMODELING, BRICK
work, painting, storm
damage or additions.
Free estimates.
40 years experience.
662−570−3430
Grow your
business in the
service directory.
call 662-328-2424 or visit ads.cdispatch.com
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020 n 6B
Apts For Rent: Other
from downtown. Lots & Acreage
$575/mo. + $575 dep.
NO PETS. 662−574−8789. 1.75 ACRE LOTS. Good/
Bad Credit Options. Good
Peaceful & Quiet area.
credit as low as 10% down,
$299/mo. Eaton Land,
COLEMAN
662−361−7711.
RENTALS
TOWNHOUSES & APARTMENTS
1 BEDROOM
2 BEDROOMS
3 BEDROOMS
LEASE,
DEPOSIT
AND
CREDIT CHECK
662-329-2323
2411 HWY 45 N
COLUMBUS, MS
Commercial Property For Rent
FOR RENT LOCATED NEAR
DOWNTOWN. 3,000 sq. ft.
truck terminal, 9,500 sq.
ft. shop & 3,200 sq. ft.
office/shop. Buildings can
be rented together or
separately. All w/ excellent
access & Hwy. 82 visibility.
662−327−9559.
Houses For Rent: North
HOUSE FOR RENT
2−3 Bedroom w/ 1.5 Bath
Fenced in yard. $675.
662−549−9555.
Ask for Glenn or text.
Mobile Homes for Rent
RENT A CAMPER!
CHEAPER THAN A MOTEL!
Utilities & cable included,
from $145/wk − $535/mo
Columbus & County School
locations. 662−242−7653
or 205−442−2011.
RV/MOBILE HOME SITE
East or West Columbus or
near CAFB, Caledonia
schools. 601−940−1397.
Office Spaces For Rent
OFFICE SPACE FOR
LEASE. 1112 Main St.,
Ste. 5. 3700 sq. ft.
Plenty of private parking.
662−327−9559.
REAL ESTATE
ADS STARTING AT $25
Houses For Sale: East
3BR/1BA @ 1521
Shepherd Rd.
Sold as is, needs work.
Serious inquiries only,
769−274−4110.
ads.cdispatch.com
Carpet & Flooring
DAVID’S CARPET &
UPHOLSTERY
CLEANING AND
DISINFECTING
1 Room − $50
2 Rooms − $70
3+ Rooms − $30 EA
Rugs−Must Be Seen
Car Upholstery
Cleaning Available
662−722−1758
Childcare
CHILDCARE SERVICES
Look No Further!!
Quality Childcare Services
Are Available For The
Golden Triangle Area!!
662.343.8386 or
662.813.3672. Serious
Inquiries Only, Please!!
Got leaky pipes?
Find a plumber
in the classifieds.
To place ads starting at only $12,
Houses For Sale: East Motorcycles & ATVs
2017 Harley Davidson CVO
Street Glide Special
Starfire Black. Beautiful
Bike with 2 luggage racks
and saddle bag inserts.
Excellent Condition.
$25,500.00
662−574−9663
BARGAIN: 2BR/2BA in
2015 Harley Davidson
Columbus. LR, DR/KIT &
step down den. Large lot. VROD Night Rod Edition.
Dark Red with 8,000 miles.
Needs work but is livable.
Price reduced. Must sell. Excellent Condition.
$9,500. 662−574−2617 $8,500.00
662−574−9663
Houses For Sale: New Hope
2014 Harley Davidson CVO
16 WIDNER IN NEW HOPE Limited. Silver and Sunset
Newly remodeled. 3BR/ Orange, approx. 20,000
2BA home. Approx. 1,500 miles, new front and rear
sq. ft. Has 25’x30’ wired tires and battery.
metal shop w/ roll−up front Excellent Condition.
& side door. $154,500. $15,500.00
662−549−9298. 662−574−9663
COMMUNITY
ADS STARTING AT $12
Travel & Entertainment
LOT FOR SALE @ 406
Cherry Street. $5,000.
PUBLIC CATFISH POND
Call 662−328−5063 or
662−436−6238, @ 130 Hillcrest Drive.
leave message. Open Wed, Thur & Sat.
7am−6pm
For rates call
662−386−8591
MERCHANDISE
© The Dispatch
ADS STARTING AT $12 Need a new
companion?
Farm Equipment & Supplies
JOHN DEERE MODEL M
TRACTOR. A set of one row
cultivators w/ hydraulic lift,
has been repainted, looks
good & runs good, $3500.
Call 662−436−2037.
Furniture
LIVING ROOM SET
Loveseat & chaise for sale.
NEW!! $300.
662−242−2884. Leave a
message.
General Merchandise
WANTED FREON R12. When looking
We pay CA$H.
R12 R500 R11.
Convenient. for a new pet,
Certified professionals.
adoption is
312−291−9169
RefrigerantFinders.com/ad
always a
WHITE POSTER
good option.
BOARDS.
24"x23"
$0.50 each
100 in stock
Visit 516 Main Street
or call 662−328−2424
Five Questions:
VEHICLES
ADS STARTING AT $12
1 Dingo
Campers & RVs
2 “Here
2012 JAYCO EAGLE 5th
WHEEL, 39ft, 4 slide−outs.
2BR, 48" TV & 27" TV.
$26,500. 662−386−9605. Comes the
Sun”
For Sale: 2004 Sierra
5th Wheel Camper. 34 ft.
One slide. $3000.
3 National
Call 662−242−2570.
Motorcycles & ATVs
1993 KAWASAKI
Geographic
VOYAGER XII Only 25,500
miles. Runs & looks good.
4 Starbucks
No problems. $3000 OBO.
Can be seen local.
501−545−7750.
5A
2 RACING GO KARTS,
extra tires & gears,
sleepwalker
$2,500. Call between
8a−7p, 662−328−0028.
General Services General Services
A & T TREE SERVICES CHAPTER 7 BANKRUPTCY
Bucket truck & stump $545 plus Filing Fee
removal. Free est.
Serving Columbus CHAPTER 13 BANKRUPTCY
All Attorney Fees Through The Plan
since 1987. Senior
citizen disc. Call Alvin @ Jim Arnold, Attorney
242−0324/241−4447
"We’ll go out on a limb for 662-324-1666 • 601-656-6914
you!" 104 South Lafayette Street, Starkville
Lawn Care / Landscaping
WORK WANTED: Licensed
& Bonded. Carpentry, minor FOR ALL YOUR SPRING &
electrical, minor plumbing, SUMMER NEEDS CALL
insulation, painting, ROBINSON LAWN
demolition, gutters SERVICES.
cleaned, pressure washing, We also specialize in
landscaping, cleanup work, landscaping services.
moving help. 662−242− 662−435−8746 or
3608. 662−272−8746.
Free estimates available.
JEWELRY REPAIR JESSE & BEVERLY’S
LAWN SERVICE
RKERS Mowing, cleanup,
PA landscaping, sodding,
ON
J.
& tree cutting.
100 Russell St. 662−356−6525
E Starkville, MS
W ELER
J
662-268-8058 SAM’S LAWN SERVICE
No lawn too large or too
small. Mowing, trimming &
MONOGRAMMING
weedeating.
Call 662−243−1694
Just for Ladies Painting & Papering
Mossy Oak Mall • West Point
662-492-4221 • Mon.-Sat.
CHILDREN’S & LADIES’ CONSIGNMENT
SULLIVAN’S PAINT
SERVICE. Special Prices.
Interior and Exterior
Painting. 662−435−6528