Established 1879 | Columbus, Mississippi
CDISPATCH.COM
W sees freshman bump during pandemic
National first-year enrollment down as freshmen stay closer to home
BY ISABELLE ALTMAN
ialtman@cdispatch.com
First-year admission to four-
year colleges all over the coun-
try is down this year in the wake
of the COVID-19 pandemic, but
in the Golden Triangle, Missis-
sippi University for Women is
an exception to the trend.
Traditionally, MUW’s al-
ready small student population
— just more than 2,700 under-
graduates and graduates this
semester — has had a notably
small freshman class, relying
instead on transfer students
into its nursing programs, Ad-
missions Director Iika McCar-
ter said. Last year’s freshman
class was about 170 students,
Lowndes sees
more than 500
new COVID
cases in a week
Area hospitals will receive
shipments of vaccine as
early as Monday
BY TESS VRBIN
tvrbin@cdispatch.com
Lowndes County continues to see
the largest area increases in positive
COVID-19 cases by the week, Mis-
sissippi Department of Health data
shows, with more than 500 new cases
between Dec. 9 and Wednesday.
Lowndes County has 3,507 positive
cases as of Wednesday, the most re-
cent update to the MSDH website, an
increase of 505 from last week. Oktib-
beha County saw an increase of less
than half that number with 235 new
cases, for a total of 2,985.
Clay County has seen 1,145 total
cases and Noxubee County has seen
843, with increases of 102 and 57 re-
spectively, data shows. All four coun-
ties have seen larger weekly increases
for the past two weeks.
The spikes come at a time when in-
See COVID, 6A
Homeless Coalition’s funds diminished during pandemic; need has not
Golden Triangle
Regional Home-
less Coalition
Vice President
Susan Garton
fields a question
from Exchange
Club member
Betty Clyde Sharp
after Thursday’s
luncheon. Garton
said nonprofit
GTRHC is in
desperate need
of donations as it
seeks to provide
emergency hous-
ing, food and
other necessities
for those in need.
WEATHER
Savanna Smith
Third grade, Annunciation
53 Low 32
High
Forecast
Full forecast on
page 3A.
FREE!
Friday | December 18, 2020
freshman class was, of course,
exciting for us. We worked re-
ally hard during the pandemic
and especially when COVID
first hit to make sure we were
in constant contact with our in-
coming students.”
A study from the National
Student Clearinghouse Re-
McCarter Dickerson search Center released earlier
this week reported a 3.9-per-
she said, short of the univer- cent decrease in undergradu-
sity’s goal of 190. This semes-
ate enrollment in both two- and
ter, 201 freshmen enrolled at four-year colleges nationwide
Isabelle Altman/Dispatch Staff
MUW. from fall 2019 to 2020, with a From left, freshman Honors students Karina Garcia, Kaitlyn
“Generally our transfers are 13.1-percent decrease in fresh- George, Caitlyn Craft and Ayesha Celestin chat in the gazebo on
Mississippi University for Women’s campus in this file photo. MUW
our bread and butter,” McCarter man enrollment.
saw an increase in its freshman class this year, from about 170
said. “That’s where our highest The trend held true at Mis- students in 2019 to 201 students this fall, despite the fact that
enrollment usually comes, but sissippi State University, said freshman enrollment is down overall throughout the country thanks
to have that turnaround for our See ENROLLMENT, 6A to the COVID-19 pandemic.
LOWNDES COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE TOY DRIVE
Isabelle Altman/Dispatch Staff
Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Rhonda Sanders and Sheriff Eddie Hawkins sort toys dropped off as part of the
department’s holiday toy and bike drive for families in need. Sanders said donors, including area churches State Line
Baptist Church and Charitable Gospel Women’s Ministry and Dollar Tree on Alabama Street, dropped off enough bikes
and toys for 97 families. People wishing to donate can still drop off toys at LCSO through this afternoon.
Organization partners with other groups to get those
in need immediate help, then longer-term solutions
BY SLIM SMITH Coalition (GTRHC) has focused on
ssmith@cdispatch.com providing the immediate need while
serving as a bridge to services that
When the subject of poverty and
can “teach a man to fish.”
homelessness comes up, a popular
During Thursday’s luncheon of
saying is never far from the lips: “Give
a man a fish and he will eat for a day. the Columbus Exchange Club at Lion
Teach a man how to fish and you feed Hills Center, GTRHC Vice President
him for a lifetime.” Susan Garton stressed the urgency of
For all its merits, the old Chinese the need among the homeless people
proverb diminishes the urgency of the organization serves and the chal-
lenges of meeting those needs, partic-
the immediate need. A hungry person
needs food now. ularly during the pandemic.
Since its founding in 2014, the “It’s been a challenge,” Garton
Slim Smith/Dispatch Staff Golden Triangle Regional Homeless See HOMELESS COALITION, 3A
FIVE QUESTIONS CALENDAR LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC
1 In what island nation was the Coachella-style Saturday and MEETINGS
Fyre Festival supposed to take place in the Dec. 21: Oktibbeha
spring of 2017? Sunday, Dec. 19-20 County Board of
2 The CEO of which entertainment company went ■ Christmas at the Supervisors meeting,
to Denny’s to have a steak, alone, to celebrate Blues Museum: More 5:30 p.m., Chancery
100 million subscribers? than 18 trees decorated Courthouse
3 In March 2017, what new outlet was interview- by businesses, churches Jan. 4: Oktibbeha
ing university professor Robert E. Kelly when
his kids and wife unexpectedly appeared on and schools are up at the County Board of
future Black Prairie Blues Supervisors meeting,
camera?
4 Auguste Rodin’s sculpture “The Thinker” was Museum in downtown
9 a.m., Chancery
conceived as a likeness of what famous author? West Point, open on days Courthouse
5 What was the name of the video-recording listed from 1-4 p.m., Jan. 5: Starkville
eyewear that Snapchat released in 2016? and upon request on Board of Aldermen
Answers, 5B weekdays. Take pictures meeting, 5:30 p.m.,
in the Santa Room and City Hall
enjoy hot chocolate and Jan. 12: Starkville-Ok-
INSIDE cookies. 662-494-5121 tibbeha Consolidated
Classifieds 5B Obituaries 2,5A or email lklutts@wesst- Kelsey Dobbs, who lives in School District Board
Comics 3B Opinions 4A pointms.org for details or Starkville, is a junior majoring of Trustees meeting,
Crossword 5B Religion 4B to request a special open- in business administration at 6 p.m., 401 Greens-
Dear Abby 3B ing. (Masks required.) Mississippi State University. boro St.
DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471
2A FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

With Trump silent, reprisals for hacks may fall to Biden

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — All
fingers are pointing to
Russia as the source of the
worst-ever hack of U.S.
government agencies. But
President Donald Trump,
long wary of blaming
Moscow for cyberattacks,
has been silent.
The lack of any state-
ment seeking to hold
Russia responsible casts
doubt on the likelihood
of a swift response and
suggests any retaliation
— whether through sanc-
tions, criminal charges or
cyber actions — will be
left in the hands of Presi-
dent-elect Joe Biden’s in-
coming administration.
“I would imagine that
the incoming administra-
tion wants a menu of what
the options are and then is
going to choose,” said Sar-
ah Mendelson, a Carnegie
Mellon University public
policy professor and for-
mer U.S. ambassador to
the U.N.’s Economic and
Social Council. “Is there
a graduated assault? Is
there an all-out assault?
How much out of the gate
do you want to do?”
To be sure, it’s not
uncommon for adminis-
trations to refrain from
leveling public accusa-
tions of blame for hacks
until they’ve accumulated
enough evidence. Here,
U.S. officials say they only
recently became aware
of devastating breaches
at multiple government
agencies in which foreign
intelligence agents rooted
around undetected for as
much as nine months. But
Trump’s response, or lack
thereof, is being close-
ly watched because of
his preoccupation with a
fruitless effort to overturn
the results of last month’s
election and because of
his refusal to publicly ac-
knowledge that Russian
hackers interfered in the
2016 presidential election
in his favor.
Exactly what action
Biden might take is un-
clear, or how his response
might be shaped by crit-
icism that the Obama
administration did not
act aggressively enough
to thwart interference in
2016. He offered clues in
a statement Thursday,
saying his administration
would be proactive in pre-
venting cyberattacks and
impose costs on any ad-
versaries behind them.
U.S. government state-
ments so far have not
mentioned Russia. Asked
about Russian involve-
ment in a radio interview
Monday, Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo ac-
knowledged that Russia
consistently tries to pen-
etrate American servers,
but quickly pivoted to
threats from China and
North Korea.
Democratic Sens.
Dick Durbin and Richard
Blumenthal, who were
briefed Tuesday on the
hacking campaign in a
classified Armed Services
Committee session, were
unequivocal in blaming
Russia.
There are other signs
within the administration
of a clear-eyed recogni-
tion of the severity of the
attack, which happened
after elite cyber spies in-
jected malicious code into
the software of a company
that provides network ser-
vices. The civilian cyber-
security agency warned in
an advisory Thursday that
the hack posed a “grave
risk” to government and
private networks.
A response could start
with a public declaration
that Russia is believed re-
sponsible, already a wide-
ly shared assessment in
the U.S. government and
cybersecurity communi-
ty. Such statements often
aren’t immediate. It took
weeks after the incidents
became public for the
Obama administration to
finger North Korea in the
Sony Pictures Entertain-
ment hack in 2014 and for
then-national intelligence
director James Clapper
to confirm China as the
“leading suspect” in hacks
of the Office of Personnel
Management.
Public nam-
ing-and-shaming is al-
ways part of the playbook.
Trump’s former homeland
security adviser Thomas
Bossert wrote this week
in a New York Times
opinion piece that “the
United States, and ideal-
ly its allies, must publicly
and formally attribute
responsibility for these
hacks.” Republican Sen.
Mitt Romney said in a Siri-
usXM radio interview that
it was “extraordinary” the
White House has not spo-
ken out.

COMMERCIAL DISPATCH
OBITUARY POLICY
Obituaries with basic informa-
tion including visitation and
service times, are provided
free of charge. Extended
obituaries with a photograph,
detailed biographical informa-
tion and other details families
may wish to include, are avail-
able for a fee. Obituaries must
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patch. Free notices must be
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the next day Monday through
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p.m. for Sunday and Monday
publication. For more informa-
tion, call 662-328-2471.
Porsha Burton
STARKVILLE —
Porsha Burton, 40,
died Dec. 11, 2020, in
Florence, Kentucky.
A graveside service
will be at 1 p.m. Sunday,
at New Prairie Grove
Cemetery. Burial will
follow. Visitation will be
from 1-5 p.m. Saturday,
at West Memorial Fu-
neral Home. West Me-
morial Funeral Home of
Starkville is in charge
of arrangements.
She is survived by
her father, Roger Lee
Burton of Starkville;
sisters, Jacqueline
Miles Tate of Starkville,
Gwendolyn Miles
Wages of Tupelo, and
Patrica Burton Foster
of Erlanger, Kentucky.
AREA OBITUARIES
born March 15, 1933,
in Lamar County, to
the late Dan and Rama
Crawford. He was a
U.S. Army veteran and
was formerly employed
as a machine operator
with Arvins. He was a
member of Oakes Chap-
el Baptist Church.
In addition to his
parents, he was preced-
ed in death by his wife,
Dorothy Smith Craw-
ford; daughter, Sheila
Ann; brother, Billy Joe
Crawford; and sisters,
Erma Neil Perkins,
Nema Gail Oaks, and
Barbara Ann Otts.
Timothy Corkren
VERNON, Ala. —
Timothy Corkren, 65,
died Dec. 12, 2020, at
DCH Regional Medical
Center, in Tuscaloosa.
A memorial service
will be held at 2 p.m.
Saturday, at Mt. Har-
mony free Will Baptist
Church, with George
Shaw officiating. Chan-
dler Funeral Home of
Vernon is in charge of
arrangements.
Mr. Corkren was
born March 29, 1955,
in Haleyville, to the
late Pete Corkren and
Faylene Rawls Corkren
Dempsey. He was
formerly employed as a
truck driver.
In addition to his
parents, he was preced-
ed in death by his step-
father, Paul Dempsey.
He is survived by
his wife, Barbara Ann
Corkren of Vernon;
daughters, Nicky
Denman and Allison
Corkren, both of Ver-
non; sons, Al Lewis and
Paul Corkren, both of
Vernon; sister, Debo-
rah Corkren Swanigan
Johnson; brother, Keith
Corkren; and four
grandchildren.
Elvin Vandevender
MACON — Elvin
Woodard Vandevender,
90, died Dec. 14, 2020,
at Baptist Memorial
Hospital-Golden Trian-
gle.
A graveside ser-
vice was held Thurs-
day, at Jackson Field
Cemetery, in Kemper
County, with Gerald
Butler and Jeff Shellnut
officiating. Cockrell Fu-
neral Home of Macon
is in charge of arrange-
ments.
Mr. Vandevender
was born March 9,
1930, in Winston Coun-
ty, to the late Ernest
and Onie Patterson.
He attended Winston
County schools and
was formerly employed
as a ripsaw operator
with D. L. Fair Lumber
Company, in Louisville,
and as a cutter with the
National Pants Factory.
In addition to his
parents, he was preced-
ed in death by his wife,
Vivian Burrage Vande-
vender; and siblings,
Pennsylvania Clark
and Elzie “Bob” Vande-
vender.
He is survived by
his sisters, Christine
Clark of Macon and
Ernestine Lee of Lou-
isville; and brothers,
Elvis Vandevender
and Elmer “Rufus”
Vandevender, both of
Louisville. Memorials
may be made to Blair
E. Batson Hospital for
Children, 2500 N. State
St., Jackson, MS 39216.
See OBITS, 5A

Bob Reynolds
COLUMBUS — Rob-
ert “Bob” Reynolds,
90, died Dec. 17, 2020,
at Monroe Regional
Hospital.
Arrangements are
incomplete and will be
announced by Memori-
al Gunter Peel Funeral
Home and Crematory,
Second Avenue North
location.

Bobby Crawford
VERNON, Ala. —
Bobby Gene Crawford,
87, died Dec. 15, 2020,
at Northwest Medical
Center, in Winfield.
Services will be
at 11 a.m. Saturday,
at Chandler Funeral
Home Chapel, with
James Godsey officiat-
ing. Burial will follow
at Fellowship Baptist
Cemetery. Visitation
will be one hour prior to
services, at the funeral
home. Chandler Funer-
al Home of Vernon is
in charge of arrange-
ments.
Mr. Crawford was
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2020 3A

Snags on COVID-19 relief may force weekend sessions
‘We must not slide into treating these talks
like routine negotiations to be conducted at
Congress’ routine pace.’
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — It’s a hur-
ry up and wait moment on Capi-
tol Hill as congressional negoti-
ators on a must-pass, almost $1
trillion COVID-19 economic re-
lief package struggled through
a handful of remaining snags.
The holdups mean a weekend
session now appears virtually
certain, and a top lawmaker
warned that a government shut-
down this weekend can’t be
ruled out.
All sides appeared hopeful
that the wrangling wouldn’t de-
rail the legislation, even as the
chances for announcing a deal
Thursday slipped away. After
being bogged down for much
of the day, negotiators report-
ed behind-the-scenes progress
Thursday night.
The central elements of a
hard-fought compromise ap-
peared in place: more than $300
billion in aid to businesses; a
$300-per-week bonus federal
jobless benefit and renewal of
soon-to-expire state benefits;
$600 direct payments to individ-
uals; vaccine distribution funds
and money for renters, schools,
the Postal Service and people
needing food aid.
But a temporary funding bill
runs out Friday at midnight, and
the Senate’s No. 2 Republican,
Sen. John Thune, said if there
isn’t a deal by then, some Repub-
licans might block a temporary
funding bill — causing a low-im-
pact partial weekend shutdown
— as a means to keep the pres-
sure on.
Lawmakers were told to ex-
pect to be in session and voting
this weekend.
“We must not slide into treat-
ing these talks like routine ne-
gotiations to be conducted at
Congress’ routine pace,” Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McCo-
nnell, R-Ky., said. “The Senate
is not going anywhere until we
have COVID relief out the door.”
The hangups involved an
effort by GOP conservatives to
curb emergency lending pro-
grams by the Treasury Depart-
ment and the Federal Reserve,
a Democratic demand to elimi-
nate local government matching
requirements for COVID-19-re-
lated disaster grants and myri-
ad smaller disagreements over
non-pandemic add-ons, lawmak-
ers and aides said.
The delays weren’t unusual
for legislation of this size and
importance, but lawmakers are
eager to leave Washington for
the holidays and are getting ant-
sy.
The pending bill is the first
significant legislative response
to the pandemic since the land-
mark CARES Act passed vir-
tually unanimously in March,
delivering $1.8 trillion in aid
and more generous $600 per
week bonus jobless benefits and
$1,200 direct payments to indi-
viduals.
The CARES legislation
passed at a moment of great
uncertainty and unprecedented
shutdowns in a failed attempt
to stymie the coronavirus, but
after that, many Republicans fo-
cused more on loosening social
and economic restrictions as the
key to recovery instead of more
taxpayer-funded aid.
Now, Republicans are mo-
tivated chiefly to extend busi-
ness subsidies and some jobless
benefits, and provide money for
schools and vaccines. Demo-
crats have focused on bigger eco-
nomic stimulus measures and
more help for those struggling
economically during the pan-
demic. The urgency was under-
scored Thursday by the weekly
unemployment numbers, which
revealed that 885,000 people
applied for jobless benefits last
week, the highest weekly total
since September.
The emerging package falls
well short of the $2 trillion-plus
Democrats were demanding
this fall before the election, but
President-elect Joe Biden is ea-
ger for an aid package to prop up
the economy and help the job-
less and hungry. While Biden
says more economic stimulus
will be needed early next year,
some Republicans say the cur-
rent package may be the last.
“If we address the critical
needs right now, and things im-
prove next year as the vaccine
gets out there and the econo-
my starts to pick up again, you
know, there may be less of a
need,” Thune said.
The details were still being
worked out, but the measure
includes a second round of “pay-
check protection” payments to
especially hard-hit businesses,
$25 billion to help struggling
renters with their payments,
$45 billion for airlines and tran-
sit systems, a temporary 15% or
so increase in food stamp ben-
efits, additional farm subsidies,
and a $10 billion bailout for the
Postal Service.
Some Democrats also
mourned the exclusion of a
$500 million aid package to help
states run their elections. The
money was seen as urgent this
summer to help states more
safely administer their elections
in the middle of the pandemic.
But with the election over, mo-
mentum for the money has gone
away.
The emerging package was
serving as a magnet for add-
ing on other items, and the two
sides continued to swap offers.
It was apparent that another
temporary spending bill would
be needed to prevent a govern-
ment shutdown. That was likely
to pass easily, though possibly
not until the last minute.
The emerging package
would combine the $900 billion
in COVID-19 relief with a $1.4
trillion government-wide fund-
ing bill. Then there are numer-
ous unrelated add-ons that are
catching a ride, known as “ash
and trash” in appropriations
panel shorthand.
One leading candidate is an
almost 400-page water resourc-
es bill that targets $10 billion
for 46 Army Corps of Engineers
flood control, environmental
and coastal protection proj-
ects. Another potential addition
would extend a batch of soon-to-
expire tax breaks, including one
for craft brewers, wineries and
distillers.
The end-of-session rush also
promises relief for victims of
shockingly steep surprise med-
ical bills, a phenomenon that
often occurs when providers
drop out of insurance company
networks.
“It’s been very thoroughly
vetted,” said retiring Sen. La-
mar Alexander, R-Tenn., of the
surprise medical billing mea-
sure. That measure, combined
with an assortment of other
health policy provisions, gener-
ates savings for federal funding
for community health centers.
A key breakthrough oc-
curred earlier this week when
Democrats agreed to drop their
much-sought $160 billion state
and local government aid pack-
age in exchange for McConnell
abandoning a key priority of
his own — a liability shield for
businesses and other institu-
tions like universities fearing
COVID-19 lawsuits.
The addition of the $600 di-
rect payments came after re-
cent endorsements from both
President Donald Trump and
progressives like Sen. Bernie
Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alex-
andra Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.,
along with ambitious GOP Sen.
Josh Hawley of Missouri. The
idea isn’t very popular in oth-
er corners since it’s extremely
costly and would give money
to millions of people who may
not need it, but it has enormous
political appeal and proved diffi-
cult to stop.

AROUND THE STATE

State Supreme Court sides with governor on partial veto

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSON — Missis-
sippi Gov. Tate Reeves
acted within his rights
when he partially vetoed
a budget bill last July,
the state Supreme Court
ruled Thursday. The de-
cision is a reversal of a
chancery court judge’s
ruling in October.
“Our Constitution and
case law are clear that the
power exercised by the
Governor was granted to
the Governor’s office by
the people of Mississip-
pi,” the Supreme Court’s
ruling reads.
In a statement Thurs-
day, Reeves’ spokesper-
son, Bailey Martin, said
he was pleased the state’s
high court “interpreted
the constitution the way it
who said Reeves was en-
croaching on legislators’
power to make budget de-
cisions. The lawmakers
pointed to partial vetoes
by Reeves on July 8 of leg-
islation to fund state gov-
ernment programs.
At issue was House
Bill 1782, which proposed
allocating a total of about
$130 million in federal
coronavirus relief money
to various agencies.
In a section allocating
$91.9 million to the Mis-
sissippi Department of
Health, Reeves vetoed a
part of the bill that ear-
marked $2 million of the
$91.9 million for North
Oaks Regional Medical
Center, a hospital that
is closed in Tate Coun-
ty. The governor said
because it was closed,
other stipulations of the
bill, such as that the Mis-
sissippi Department of
Health give $1.5 million
to federally qualified
health centers, $1 million
specifically to rural hos-
pitals and $80 million to
other hospitals.
Citing rulings from
the Mississippi Supreme
Court in 1995 and 2004,
Hinds County Chancery
Court Judge Tiffany
Grove wrote in her Octo-
ber decision that while a
governor has some rights
to veto parts of appropri-
ations bills, a governor
cannot approve an appro-
priation and then veto the
conditions of that appro-
priation.
In Grove’s decision,
she said that the two al-
locations were “not sep-
outside the purview of
his executive authority,”
Grove wrote.
However, the Mis-
sissippi Supreme Court
disagreed. It said that
although the money was
all funneling through the
Department of Health, it
can’t be considered one
appropriation as it was
being sent to many differ-
ent organizations.
“The monies were ap-
propriated to multiple,
distinct, and separate en-
tities, thus they were mul-
tiple separate appropri-
ations,” Supreme Court
Chief Justice Michael
Randolph wrote in Thurs-
day’s majority decision.
The ruling means that
the state will not have to
pay $2 million to North

was written.”
“This will be an im-
pactful decision — pro-
tecting taxpayer dollars
North Oaks had not pro-
vided care to COVID-19
patients.
Reeves also vetoed $6
Log on.
arate, distinct appropria-
Oaks Regional Medical
tions,” but conditions of
Center and $6 million to
the $91.9 million appro-
priation to the Mississip- the MAGnet Communi-

— for a long, long time,”
she said.
The Republican gov-
ernor was sued Aug. 5
by House Speaker Philip
Gunn and Speaker Pro
Tempore Jason White,
two fellow Republicans
million to the MAGnet
Community Health Dis-
parity Program. He wrote
that he was uncomfort-
able spending that money
because he was unfamil-
iar with the program.
Reeves did not veto
www.cdispatch.com
pi Department of Health, ty Health Disparity Pro-
which Reeves did not spe- gram. The case will not
cifically object to. be reheard.
“Despite his admira-
ble intentions, the Partial
Veto by Governor Reeves
constituted ‘creative leg-
islative power’ which is

Homeless Coalition
Continued from Page 1A
said. “Under the circum-
stances, it’s really amaz-
ing what we have been
able to do this year.”
Fundraising is down
due mainly to limitations
imposed by COVID-19
restrictions. Most recent-
ly, a fundraising event at
the Hitching Lot Farm-
ers Market that GTRHC
hoped would raise $3,000
netted just $600.
COVID-19 has also lim-
ited its options. A warm-
ing center operated by
GTRHC in conjunction
with the city’s Commu-
nity Action Center and
As of now, GTRHC’s
only option is to provide
hotel rooms for those in
need of emergency shel-
ter, and while GTRHC’s
resources are limited, the
need is not.
“When it’s below 36
degrees and someone
comes to you who needs a
place to stay, you have to
take them in,” said Gar-
ton, whose voice choked
with emotion. “It’s against
policy, but I have offered
my own home. How can
I have a mother out on
the street and not do any-
thing about it?”
Center, Loaves and Fish-
es, Housing and Urban
Development, Columbus
Air Force Base and area
thrift stores and restau-
rants — there are some
things only money can
buy.
“We expect by March
to have $30,000 in ex-
penses, which is more
than we have in our bank
account,” she said. “We
need all the financial sup-
port we can get because
we are determined to
meet these needs.”
SOLUNAR TABLE
To make a donation, The solunar period indicates
peak-feeding times for fish and game.

Loaves and Fishes cannot Although the organiza- people can visit the Major
Fri.
4:27a
Sat.
5:17a
open because of the risk of tion has access to grants group’s GoFundMe page Minor
Major
12:01p
4:53p
12:38p
5:41p
coronavirus transmission and the support of a wide (Golden Triangle Region- Minor 9:46p 10:27p
Courtesy of Mississippi Department
among its volunteers and variety of supporters — al Homeless Coalition) or of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks

those who seek shelter. the Community Action call (662) 328-8301.

The Dispatch
Help us help them. The Commercial Dispatch (USPS 142-320)
Published daily except Saturday. Answers to common questions:

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Opinion
4A FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 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

OUR VIEW
The power of people vs the power of politics
The United States is com-
monly referred to as a democ-
racy which — while true in the
broadest sense - is not entirely
accurate. We are, in fact, a
democratic republic, which
means citizens exercise their
right to vote (the democratic
part) to choose those who will
make the laws that govern our
nation (the republic part).
But what happens when
those chosen to govern
subvert the clear will of the
public?
In Mississippi, as it is in
most states, citizens have the
right to override the decisions
of their elected representa-
tives through ballot initiatives
that amend the state constitu-
tion.
That’s what happened in
November. After dozens of
bills that would establish a
medical marijuana program
in the state languished in the
Legislature, voters took the
matters to the polls and voted
by an almost 3-to-1 margin
to change the constitution to
establish a medical marijuana
law.
The amendment stipulated
that the program would be
administered by the state’s
health department and was
supposed to begin operations
in August, but there has been
no real effort to begin work on
the myriad details needed to
meet that deadline.
The delay has been created
by a challenge filed by the city
of Madison just days before
the Nov. 6 vote. Madison has
filed a suit with the state’s Su-
preme Court to block the pro-
gram, mainly on procedural
grounds. The basic argument
is that the petitions collected
to place medical marijuana
were not equally distributed
among the state’s five congres-
sional districts, even though
the petition effort collected
more than twice the number of
signatures required.
This seems to us a specious
argument. The make-up of
the petition was available
for almost a year prior to the
election. If the city of Madison
— or any other entity — want-
ed to challenge the petition on
those grounds, there was am-
ple time to do so well ahead of
the election. That the suit was
filed so close to the election
reveals the true motives of the
challenge: to deny the people
their constitutional right to
amend our constitution.
Since the filing a number
of groups have filed amic-
us briefs in support of the
Supreme Court challenge,
including — most alarmingly
— the state health depart-
ment, the very agency which
is supposed to administer
the program. This, in itself,
is beyond regrettable since it
raises serious questions about
the department’s commit-
ment to the program should it
withstand the Supreme Court
challenge. Nine months before
the program is set to begin
operations, the credibility of
the program is already dam-
aged by the perception that
the agency that will run the
program doesn’t support it.
Meanwhile, the Mississippi
Sheriff’s Association has filed
an amicus brief supporting
the suit that is nothing short
of embarrassing, conflating
medical marijuana with recre-
ational marijuana. Its brief is
a long-winded spiel about the
evils of marijuana and claims
that have been refuted repeat-
edly by data from other states
where medical marijuana
programs have been operating
for years.
What effect these briefs will
have on the Supreme Court
are difficult to predict. But
it should be noted that our
Supreme Court justices are
elected and, as a result, gener-
ally very conservative.
The case may be weak,
but the conservative politics
behind it are powerful.
The fundamental principle
that is at stake is larger than
politics: Do the people have
the right under the constitu-
tion to amend the constitution?
The answer should be a
resounding “yes.”

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Disagrees with police policy on giving rides
I hate to be writing a second letter about
our police department.
I was leaving my office at the “W” tonight,
after midnight, and I passed a woman (wear-
ing a mask) walking along Third Avenue. She
asked me for a ride to the Regal Motel. The
Homeless Coalition had gotten her a room
for two nights. I told her I had boxes of books
in the passenger seat and couldn’t take her
but that I would call the police and see if they
could help her. It was already below freezing.
Again, I was told by the 911 operator that
it was against police policy to give anyone a
ride. I asked the operator to have a police-
man phone me. This time, someone did. He
confirmed that it was against policy because of
Covid. He said the police chief asked the city
council and they approved the measure.
I reminded the officer of all the wonderful
videos you seen on the internet where police-
men go out of their way across America to help
people. You see policemen bringing bicycles
to children, bringing blankets to older people,
and doing all sorts of kind things that are not
in any “policy.”
Yet, in Columbus, they can arrest some-
one for not wearing a mask, put them in their
car and take them to jail but they can’t give a
woman, wearing a mask, a ride to a homeless
shelter.
Bob Raymond
Columbus
A letter to the editor is an excellent way to par-
ticipate in your community. We request the tone
of your letters be constructive and respectful and
the length be limited to 450 words. We reserve
the right to edit letters for clarity, grammar and
length. We welcome all letters emailed to voice@
cdispatch.com or mailed to The Dispatch, Attn:
Letters to the Editor, PO Box 511, Columbus, MS
39703-0511.
TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Friday, Dec. 18, the 353rd day of
2020. There are 13 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Dec. 18, 1865, the 13th Amendment to
the Constitution, abolishing slavery, was de-
clared in effect by Secretary of State William
H. Seward.
On this date:
In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson, whose
first wife, Ellen, had died the year before,
married Edith Bolling Galt, a widow, at her
Washington home.
In 1917, Congress passed the 18th Amend-
ment to the U.S. Constitution prohibiting
“the manufacture, sale, or transportation of
intoxicating liquors” and sent it to the states
for ratification.
In 1940, Adolf Hitler signed a secret direc-
tive ordering preparations for a Nazi invasion
of the Soviet Union. (Operation Barbarossa
was launched in June 1941.)
In 1944, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the
government’s wartime evacuation of people of
Japanese descent from the West Coast while at
the same time ruling that “concededly loyal”
Americans of Japanese ancestry could not
continue to be detained.
In 1956, Japan was admitted to the United
Nations.
In 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power
Station in Pennsylvania, the first nuclear facil-
ity to generate electricity in the United States,
went on line. (It was taken out of service in
1982.)
In 1987, Ivan F. Boesky was sentenced to
three years in prison for his role in a major
Wall Street insider-trading scandal. (Boesky
served about two years of his sentence).
THE NATION
After Lee, it’s Lincoln’s turn
First, they came for the
Confederates. And that
purge is far from over.
Jefferson Davis High-
way in Arlington, named
for the president of the
Confederacy, has been
re-christened Richmond
Highway.
An Arlington group is
calling for the removal
of Robert E. Lee’s name
from Lee Highway to be Patrick J. Buchanan to be a single common
replaced by “Mildred &
Richard Loving Avenue.” The Lov-
ings were an interracial couple who
challenged and helped overturn
Virginia’s anti-miscegenation law in Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Polk,
the Warren Court.
This month, the statue of Gen.
Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson was
removed from the campus of Virgin- civilizations. And these men lived
ia Military Institute, where Jackson
taught before leading Confederate
troops at the First Battle of Bull
Run.
Jackson would die of friendly fire equality between the races. As he
after his victory at Chancellorsville
in 1863. Had he been with Lee at
Gettysburg, two months later, that
most decisive battle of the Civil War
might have had a different outcome. a republic led by those men, who
But the cultural-Marxist revolu-
tion has moved far beyond Davis,
Lee and Jackson. Out west, it is
Abraham Lincoln’s turn.
A renaming committee of the
San Francisco school district wants
the Great Emancipator’s name
removed from Lincoln High School
for crimes against Native Ameri-
cans.
Our 16th president ordered
the Navajo tribe off their Arizona
lands into New Mexico, resulting
in a forced march of 450 miles. He
approved the hanging of 38 Dako-
ta Indians who had fought in the
Dakota War in Minnesota in 1862,
the largest mass execution in U.S.
history.
Lincoln’s Homestead and Pacific
Railway acts led to the loss of large
swaths of tribal lands.
Other names to be removed
from San Francisco schools include
those of George Washington, Her-
bert Hoover and Sen.
Dianne Feinstein. In
1984, Mayor Feinstein
allowed a Confederate
Battle Flag to be flown
at City Hall.
As one looks down
the list of greats whose
statues are to be pulled
down and names
removed from public
buildings, there seems
great sin for which
none can be forgiven.
The unpardonable heresy?
Columbus, Washington, Jefferson,
Lee, Teddy Roosevelt, Wilson and
Lincoln disbelieved in the equality
of all races, peoples, cultures and
and acted in conformity with this
disbelief.
Lincoln detested slavery but did
not believe in social and political
conceded to Stephen Douglas in
one of their 1858 debates, “We can-
not, then, make them equal.”
Still, between 1789 and 1960,
preached but did not practice
equality, built the greatest nation in
history.
Ever victorious in war, with the
mightiest manufacturing base and
the highest standard of living on
earth, America was by the day of
JFK the envy of mankind.
Yet, since Jamestown in 1607, we
had been governed by men who dis-
believed in equality and disregard-
ed the suggestion that, “All men are
created equal.”
That proposition first appeared
in a Declaration of Independence
written by a member of Virginia’s
landed aristocracy who owned
scores of slaves and described the
Indians against whom we fought as
“merciless savages” in that same
document signed on July 4, 1776.
For Lee, the dishonors do not
stop. A Virginia history commission
just voted to replace the general’s
statue in the U.S. Capitol with a
statue of Barbara Rose Johns, a
teenager who, in 1951, led a strike
at her high school to demand the
same benefits white kids were
receiving.
Was Lee really the racist and
traitor of his haters’ depiction, de-
serving of the gallows rather than
being honored for how he sought to
sever the Union? Perhaps the last
word should go to a president who
still revered Lee as late as 1960,
Dwight Eisenhower:
“General Robert E. Lee was...
one of the supremely gifted men
produced by our Nation. He be-
lieved unswervingly in the Consti-
tutional validity of his cause which
until 1865 was still an arguable
question in America; he was a
poised and inspiring leader, true
to the high trust reposed in him
by millions of his fellow citizens;
he was thoughtful yet demanding
of his officers and men, forbearing
with captured enemies but inge-
nious, unrelenting and personally
courageous in battle, and never
disheartened by a reverse or obsta-
cle. Through all his many trials, he
remained selfless almost to a fault
and unfailing in his faith in God.
Taken altogether, he was noble as a
leader and as a man, and unsullied
as I read the pages of our history.
“From deep conviction, I simply
say this: a nation of men of Lee’s
calibre would be unconquerable
in spirit and soul. Indeed, to the
degree that present-day American
youth will strive to emulate his
rare qualities, including his devo-
tion to this land as revealed in his
painstaking efforts to help heal the
Nation’s wounds once the bitter
struggle was over, we, in our own
time of danger in a divided world,
will be strengthened and our love of
freedom sustained.
“Such are the reasons that I
proudly display the picture of this
great American on my office wall.”
Patrick J. Buchanan, a nationally
syndicated columnist, was a senior
advisor to presidents Richard Nixon,
Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. His
website is http://buchanan.org/blog.

Obits
Continued from Page 2A
Ida Washington
COLUMBUS — Ida
Washington, 93, died
Dec. 13, 2020, at Bap-
tist Memorial Hospi-
tal-Golden Triangle.
Graveside services
will be at 11 a.m. Sun-
day, at New
Prospect
M.B.
Church
Cemetery,
with Rob-
ert Henley
officiating.
Washington
Burial will
follow.
Visitation will be from
noon-5 p.m. Saturday,
at Carter’s Funeral Ser-
vices. Carter’s Funeral
Services of Columbus
is in charge of arrange-
ments. Mrs. Washing-
ton was born June 11,
1927, in Crawford, to
the late Fayette Randle
and Muggie Jackson.
She was formerly
employed as a house-
keeper with the Holiday
Inn and was a member
of New Prospect M.B.
Church.
In addition to her
parents, she was
preceded in death by
her husband, Edmond
Washington; and sib-
lings, Solomon Randle,
James Randle, Spencer
Randle, Wallace Ran-
dle, Estella Randle,
Odvie Jackson, Sam
Jackson, David Jackson,
Robert Jackson, Earl
Jackson, Melissa Mc-
Gee, Charlotte Brewer,
Charlotte Sloan, and
Margie Lawrence.
She is survived by
her children, Bren-
dell Washington and
Mollie A. Harris, both
of Columbus, Mary
A. Kroma of Dallas,
Texas, and Jerry
Washington of Atlanta,
Georgia; sister, Betty
House of Starkville; 10
grandchildren; and 14
great-grandchildren.
James Leonard
MILLPORT, Ala. —
James Olen Leonard,
90, died Dec. 16, 2020,
at Baptist Memorial
Hospital-Golden Trian-
gle.
Private family ser-
vices will be held at 2
p.m. Sunday, at Dowdle
Funeral Home. Grave-
side services will follow
at Higdon Church of
God Cemetery, in Ken-
nedy. Dowdle Funeral
Home of Millport is
in charge of arrange-
ments.
Mr. Leonard was
born May 21, 1930, in
Kennedy, to the late
Thomas Burby and
Mary Elease Walden.
He was a member of
Higdon Church of God.
In addition to his par-
ents, he was preceded
Pence, wife Karen,
surgeon general get
COVID-19 vaccines
WASHINGTON — at-risk communities and
Vice President Mike
Pence was vaccinated for
COVID-19 on Friday in a
live-television event aimed
at reassuring Americans
the vaccine is safe.
In remarks after his
shot, Pence called the
speed with which the
vaccine was developed “a
medical miracle.”
“The American people
can be confident: we have
one and perhaps within
hours two” safe vaccines,”
Pence said, referring to
expected FDA approval
for Moderna’s vaccine.
Pfizer-BioNTech’s vac-
cine was the first to be
approved. “Building con-
fidence in the vaccine is
what brings us here this
morning,” he added.
Pence’s wife Karen
and Surgeon General Je-
rome Adams also received
shots during the televised
White House event in the
Eisenhower Executive Of-
in death by his daugh-
ter, Gloria House; son,
Tommy Leonard; and
siblings, Linda Kelly
and Vance Leonard.
He is survived by his
daughters, Deborah
McKay and Lawana
Holloway; brother,
Marvin Leonard;
14 grandchildren;
29 great-grandchil-
dren; and three
great-great-grandchil-
dren. Pallbearers will
be Chris House, Dylan
House, Aaron Boyd,
Adam Boyd, Kaden
Holloway, Rylan Hollo-
way, David Gray, and
Greg Robertson.
Mary Colvin
COLUMBUS —
Mary Lee Colvin, 92,
died Dec. 11, 2020, at
the Windsor Place.
Graveside
services
will be at
11 a.m. Sat-
urday, at
Sturdivant
Cemetery,
with Eddie
Joiner Colvin
officiating.
Burial will follow. Visi-
tation is from 2-6 p.m.
today, at Carter’s Fu-
neral Services. Carter’s
Funeral Services of
Columbus is in charge
of arrangements.
Mrs. Colvin was
born July 2, 1928, in
Carrollton, Alabama,
to the late Willie James
Coleman and Leola
Cungious Wallace.
She was formerly
employed as a manager
with Sandfield Pickup
Station and served as
manager of the Ever-
Ready and Holy Aires
Gospel groups. She
was a member of 15th
Street Church of God in
Christ.
In addition to her
parents, she was pre-
ceded in death by her
husband, Early Colvin;
son, Amos Jones; and
siblings, Addie Hodo,
Winston Summerville,
and Johnny Douglas.
She is survived by her
children, Hilda Hodges
Williams of Savannah,
Georgia, Judith Ross,
Danny Colvin, James
Colvin, and Darnell
Colvin, all of Colum-
bus; 18 grandchildren;
29 great-grand-
children; and five
great-great-grandchil-
dren.
Royal Mayfield
COLUMBUS — Roy-
al Roger Mayfield, 61,
died Dec. 10, 2020, at
Baptist Memorial Hos-
pital-Golden Triangle.
Graveside services
will be at 11 a.m. Satur-
day, at St. James M.B.
Church Cemetery,
fice Building. Adams, who
is Black, emphasized the
“the importance of repre-
sentation” in outreach to
encouraged Americans
to avoid disinformation
around the vaccines.
Pence, the highest pro-
file official yet to receive
the vaccine, has taken an
increasingly visible role
in selling the vaccine, as
President Donald Trump
has taken a step back.
Trump’s administra-
tion helped deliver vac-
cinations against the
coronavirus earlier than
even some in his admin-
istration thought possi-
ble, launching Operation
Warp Speed — the gov-
ernment campaign to
help swiftly develop and
distribute vaccines — this
spring with great fanfare
in the White House Rose
Garden.
Yet five days into the
largest vaccination cam-
paign in the nation’s his-
tory, Trump has held no
public events to trumpet
the rollout. He hasn’t been
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
in Craw-
ford, with
Demario
Jefferson
officiating.
Burial will
follow.
Visitation Mayfield
is from 2-6
p.m. today, at Carter’s
Funeral Services.
Carter’s Funeral
Services of Columbus
is in charge of arrange-
ments.
Mr. Mayfield was
born July 13, 1959, in
Crawford, to the late
Johnny Mayfield and
Nellan Sharp. He was a
1978 graduate of Mot-
ley High School and
was formerly employed
with Newell Paper
Company, Sanderson
Plumbing, and Colum-
bus Air Force Base. He
was a member of St.
James M.B. Church.
He is survived by
his children, Shaquita
Harris, Tasha Craw-
ford, and Torey Wil-
liams, all of Columbus,
and Raquel Mayfield
of Starkville; siblings,
Nellie Mayfield, Mary
Young, and Eliza
Jamison, all of Craw-
ford, Juanita Coleman
of Louisville, Louise
Mayfield and John-
ny Mayfield, both of
Cincinnati, Ohio, Della
James and Virgil May-
field, both of Columbus,
and Andrew Mayfield
of Chicago, Illinois; 11
grandchildren; and six
great-grandchildren.
Frances McClellan
WEST POINT —
Frances Katherine
White McClellan, 95,
died Dec. 16, 2020,
at Dugan Memorial
Home.
A graveside service
will be held at 10 a.m.
Saturday, at Greenwood
Cemetery, with the
Rev. Dale Funderburg
officiating. Burial will
follow. Robinson Funer-
al Home of West Point
is in charge of arrange-
ments.
Mrs. McClellan was
born Sept. 28, 1925,
in Woodland, to the
late Robert Lee White
and Leacy Loraine
Pate White. She was
a graduate of Clay
County Vocational High
School in Montpelier
and Vaughn’s Beauty
School in Jackson. She
also attended Mississip-
pi State University and
was formerly self-em-
ployed as a beautician.
She was preceded in
death by her husband,
Robert E. McClellan;
brothers, Robert Wayne
White, Thomas Evans
White, Gene Eldridge
White, and James Den-
nis White; and sister,
Peggy Ann White.
inoculated himself. He has
tweeted only twice about
the shot. Pence, mean-
while, has taken center
stage — touring a vaccine
production facility this
week and receiving a dose
himself on live television.
House Speaker Nancy Pe-
losi and Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell
both said Thursday that
they will get vaccinated in
the next few days.
Trump’s relative si-
lence comes as he contin-
ues to stew about his de-
feat in the Nov. 3 election
and embraces increasing-
ly extreme efforts to over-
turn the people’s will. He’s
pushed aside the plans of
aides who wanted him to
be the public face of the
vaccination campaign,
eschewing visits to labs
and production facilities
to thank workers, or host-
ing efforts to build public
confidence in the shot, ac-
cording to people familiar
with the conversations.
The sheepish approach
has been surprising, es-
pecially for a president
Memorials may be
made to First Baptist
Church, 560 E. Broad
St., West Point, MS
39773.
Ward Hull Jr.
COLUMBUS —
Ward Hull Jr., 74, died
Nov. 26, 2020.
Graveside services
will be at 11 a.m. Satur-
day, at Mt. Ary. Burial
will follow. Visitation
is from noon-5 p.m.
today, at Lee-Sykes
Funeral Home. Lee-
Sykes Funeral Home of
Columbus is in charge
of arrangements.
Mr. Hull
was born
April 16,
1946, in
Chicago,
Illinois,
to the late
Ward Hull
and Nina Hull
Hollins
Hull. He was a gradu-
ate of Inglewood High
School in Chicago and
attended Southern Illi-
nois University. He was
a U.S. Marine Recon
veteran and served in
the Vietnam War. He
was formerly employed
as a police officer with
the Chicago Police De-
partment and as a semi-
pro football player.
Jerry Cunningham
MILLPORT, Ala. —
Jerry Cunningham, 67,
died Dec. 16, 2020, at
DCH Regional Medical
Center.
Graveside services
will be at 11 a.m. Mon-
day, at Walnut Grove
Cemetery. Dowdle Fu-
neral Home of Millport
is in charge of arrange-
ments.
Mr. Cunningham
was born Oct. 19, 1953,
in Winfield, to the late
Arnold Banks and
Estelle Green Cunning-
ham. He was formerly
employed as a truck
driver and was a mem-
ber of Pleasant Grove
Baptist Church.
He is survived by
his son, Jeremy Chase
Cunningham; sister,
Judy Elmore; and broth-
ers, Dennis, Roger and
Randy Cunningham.
Willie Davis
WEST POINT —
Willie C. Davis, 69,
died Dec. 11, 2020, in
Starkville.
Graveside services
will be at 11 a.m. Mon-
day, at Trio Primitive
Cemetery, with the
Rev. Quincy Patter-
son. Burial will follow.
Visitation will be from
10:30-11 a.m. prior to
services, at the ceme-
tery. Carter’s Mortuary
Services of West Point
is in charge of arrange-
rarely shy to take credit,
said Lawrence Gostin, a
professor at Georgetown
Law who focuses on pub-
lic health.
Trump did appear at a
White House “summit”
ahead of the Food and
Drug Administration’s
approval of the Pfizer vac-
cine last week. That event
included an introductory
video highlighting the
past comments of those —
including top government
infectious-disease expert
Dr. Anthony Fauci — who
doubted a shot would be
ready this year.
But many Trump aides
are puzzled by his low pro-
file now that the vaccine
is actually being injected.
They see it as a missed
opportunity for the presi-
dent, who leaves office at
noon on Jan. 20, to claim
credit for helping oversee
the speedy development
and deployment of the
vaccine that is expected
to finally contain the virus
that has killed more than
310,000 Americans.
SOURCE: AP
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2020 5A
ments. Mr. Davis was Allen Lloyd Grays of
born Oct. 1, 1951, in Memphis, Tennessee;
Clay County, to the late sisters, Arcola Waters
Authur Sherrod and of Chicago, Illinois,
Maggie Davis. He was Neva Bell Lane of West
formerly employed as a Point, Melvin Archyne
machine operator and a Roberts of DeKalb, and
logger. Myrtle Grays of Wich-
In addition to his ita Falls, Texas; five
parents, he was pre- grandchildren; and one
ceded in death by his great-grandchild.
son, Marcus Davis; and
brothers, Eddie Joe Patricia Webb
Sherrod, Larry Word-
COLUMBUS — Pa-
law, Michael Shelton,
tricia Jule Webb, 60,
and Dillard Shelton III.
passed away.
He is survived by his
Ms. Webb was born
wife, Mary Edwards;
March 11, 1960, in Co-
sons, Courtney Davis
lumbus, to the late Joe
and Dominick Gill;
E. and Isabella Webb.
daughters, Katrina
She was a 1978 grad-
Kelley, Natalie Patter- uate of Motley High
son, Omega Collins,
and Macheta Johnson;
School and a graduate
of cosmetology school.
brothers, Joe Lee Shel-
She was formerly em-
ton and Wilie James
ployed in the childcare
Robinson; sisters, Linda
field and as a phone
Foard, Newassa Kelly,
operator with GTE,
Essie B. Moore, Terri
now Verizon. In addi-
Shelton, Brenda Boyd,
tion to her parents, she
and Maggie Shelton; 11
was preceded in death
grandchildren; and one
by her siblings, Bobby
great-grandchild.
“Bae” Webb, Josephine
“Joyce” Webb, Billy
Sarah Ross Webb, John R. Webb,
WEST POINT — and Francis Saffore.
Sarah Grays Ross, 97,
She is survived by her
died Dec. 10, 2020, in
child, Courtney B.
Lincoln Park, New Jer-
Parker; sisters, Della
sey. Graveside services
Thomas and Helen
will be at 11 a.m. Satur-
Webb; and brothers,
day, at Tibbee Commu-
Joe Webb and Ira
nity Cemetery, with the
Webb.
Rev. Donald R. Wesley
Sr. officiating. Burial
will follow. Visitation
is from 10:30-11 a.m.
prior to services, at
the cemetery. Carter’s
Mortuary Services of
West Point is in charge
of arrangements.
Mrs. Ross was born
Aug. 27, 1923, in West
Point, to the late John-
nie Grays and Augusta
Westbrooks Grays. She
was formerly employed
as a food service Margaret Ross
worker. In addition to Visitation:
her parents, she was Saturday, Dec. 19 • 1-2 PM
2nd Ave. N. Location
preceded in death by
Graveside Services:
her husband, George Saturday, Dec. 19 • 2:30 PM
Berry Ross Sr.; broth-
Friendship Cemetery
Burial
ers, John Henry Grays, Friendship Cemetery
Eddie Lee Grays, and 2nd Ave. N. Location
George Grays; and
Bob Reynolds
sisters, Agnes Grays, Incomplete
Estella Grays, Daisy
2nd Ave. N. Location
Ann Lenoir, and Inell
Hughes. Charlie Upton
She is survived by Incomplete
her sons, George Berry 2nd Ave. N. Location
Ross Jr. of Marietta,
Georgia and John
Edward Ross of West
Point; daughters, Judith
Gwenetta Ross of
Parsippany, New Jersey memorialgunterpeel.com
and Kimberly Camille
Miller of Schaum-
burg, Illinois; brother,
6A FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2020
Enrollment
Continued from Page 1A
Assistant Vice President
of Enrollment and the
Registrar John Dicker-
son, though the universi-
ty did see an increase in
overall enrollment for the
sixth straight year. MSU
has 3,323 freshmen this
year, down from 3,500
last year.
“I think the freshman
decrease had a lot to do
with the virus,” Dick-
erson said. “We had a
number of students who
indicated to us they were
going to stay closer to
home, at least for the fall
and maybe the spring and
kind of see how the vi-
rus went. (Some of them
planned) to maybe enroll
at their local community
college and then come to
us soon once ... the situa-
tion got a little more nor-
mal, if that makes sense.
... We certainly under-
stood that.”
Still, he said he ex-
pects many of those stu-
dents to attend MSU lat-
er after the pandemic is
over. With the schools’
overall enrollment trend-
ing upward — the grad-
uate programs in partic-
ular saw a 24.2-percent
increase in enrollment
COVID
Continued from Page 1A
tensive care unit capacity
in area hospitals is full or
nearly full. Baptist Me-
morial Hospital-Golden
Triangle in Columbus
had four beds available
in its ICU as of Wednes-
day afternoon, and OCH
Regional Medical Center
in Starkville had no ICU
beds left and has been
treating some intensive
care patients in the emer-
gency room.
Lowndes County
School District no longer
leads Golden Triangle
area school districts in
positive cases, accord-
ing to data reported on
district websites for the
week of Dec. 7-11.
Starkville- Oktibbeha
Consolidated School Dis-
trict had 17 student cases
and nine staff cases in the
week of Dec. 7-11 after
having 12 of each during
the week of Nov. 30 to
Dec. 4, according to data
on the SOCSD website.
LCSD had a total of
24 cases among students
and staff, two fewer than
SOCSD and 13 fewer than
the previous week, during
the week of Dec. 7-11, ac-
cording to the district’s
reporting at https://www.
lowndes.k12.ms.us/. The
number of cases in each
99.49%
The Dispatch
since 2019 — he said he
has no concerns the uni-
versity won’t continue to
grow next year.
”We look forward to
having those students
and a lot of others come
to us as soon as they feel
comfortable and ready to
do so,” Dickerson said.
Both McCarter and
Dickerson put the univer-
sities’ success at recruit-
ment to increased vir-
tual and hybrid options
for students in order to
keep them safe during
the pandemic. They also
switched recruitment ef-
forts to online, offering
virtual tours of campus
once high schools be-
gan shutting down in the
spring.
At MUW, McCarter
said, admissions staff
also worked closely with
potential students mak-
ing sure they understood
just how the pandemic
is affecting campus and
classes.
“We just kind of kept
that personal touch going
with increasing phone
calls and making sure
that any questions that
came up ... we answered
... and dispelled any
school held steady or
dropped, with the excep-
tions of Caledonia Ele-
mentary School and West
Lowndes High School,
which saw one new case
each.
Columbus Municipal
School District had 15
student cases and eight
staff cases last week, Su-
perintendent Cherie La-
bat told The Dispatch.
Under an Aug. 14 state
order, school districts
must report the num-
ber of COVID-19 cases
among staff and students
to MSDH on a weekly ba-
sis. When schools record
fewer than five positive
cases a week, MSDH lists
the number as between
one and five.
Eight students at the
south campus of West
Point High School test-
ed positive for the virus
during the week of Dec.
7-11, according to MSDH
data. South Side Elemen-
tary also saw between
one and five new cases
each for students and
staff. No other West Point
public schools reported
new cases.
Noxubee County
School District currently
has three positive cases,
all among staff, Superin-
receive their paper on time.
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If you are unhappy with your delivery
please let us know. Our goal is 100%
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myths about what our we normally would have
university was doing,” had a huge increase.”
she said. Like the freshmen
McCarter credited the at MSU, McCarter said
university’s success at she expects that trend to
drawing in freshmen to turn around once the pan-
both the ease with which demic is over, with more
instructors moved fresh- students enrolling in the
man general education nursing programs.
courses online and the She was less certain
fact the university draws about continuing to grow
many of its freshman stu- the trend of freshman
dents from the Golden enrollment, pointing
Triangle area, allowing out that as fewer high
those students to stay school students nation-
close to home during the wide choose to go to col-
pandemic. lege, the pool of potential
That’s a good thing
freshmen to draw from is
for the university for
getting smaller.
now, she said, because
“We know for sure
there was a significant
that fewer high school
decrease in the number
of students who joined students are going to col-
MUW’s Registered Nurs- lege, so it’s still going to
ing and Bachelor of Nurs- be a struggle,” she said.
ing programs while the “I do believe that, as
pandemic is going on. long as we continue ... to
“Front-liners were educate high school stu-
affected more than any- dents on the importance
one,” she said. “That in- of getting a college edu-
cluded mainly nurses and cation, that we can still
doctors and people that stay around that number
are taking care of sick and keep within our goal.
people. So as opposed I don’t know if it will stay
to continuing education, at an increase or if we
some of them decided to level out or what, but our
stay working or they had efforts will not change
to continue to work. That as it relates to recruiting
affected numbers where those students.”
tendent Rodriguez Broad- in a week before being
nax told The Dispatch. diagnosed.
Annunciation Catholic Mississippi has seen
School in Columbus, Oak a total of 187,904 pos-
Hill Academy in West itive COVID-19 cases
Point and Magnolia Chris- and 4,320 deaths since
tian School reported no March.
new cases last week, ac- Both Baptist and OCH
cording to MSDH data, are set to receive 500 dos-
and South Haven Menno- es and 100 doses, respec-
nite School in Macon re- tively, of the Moderna
ported between one and COVID-19 vaccine from
five new staff cases. No MSDH as soon as Mon-
other area private schools day. North Mississippi
were listed as reporting Medical Center in Tupe-
to MSDH last week. lo — which has a satellite
Mississippi School for location in West Point
Mathematics and Science — received its first ship-
also reported no new cas- ment of the Pfizer vaccine
es last week, according to Tuesday.
MSDH.
Mississippi State
University has 45 active
COVID cases — 31 stu-
dents and 14 employees
— as of Thursday, accord-
ing to data updated dai-
ly on its website. That’s
down from Dec. 10, when
MSU had 48 active cases,
including 31 students and
17 employees.
Mississippi University
for Women has seen 12
new cases since Dec. 11,
five students and seven
employees, according to
the daily case update on
its website. Five of the
COVID-positive employ-
ees were on campus with-
of our customers
customer satisfaction.
662-328-2424
Sports
PREP BASKETBALL
SPORTS LINE
662-241-5000
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2020
B
SECTION

Caledonia drops a pair of close contests to Smithville

BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com
CALEDONIA — Cale-
donia High School girls
coach Ame Walker hoped
to send her team into win-
ter break with a win to
build from.
But a choppy first half
kept the Cavaliers from
achieving that in Thurs-
day’s home game against
Smithville (6-6).
Caledonia (3-7) had
only 13 points at halftime,
faltered in a key stretch in
the fourth quarter and lost
to the Seminoles, 46-43.
“We just didn’t show up
in the first half,” Walker
said.
With the Cavs down 21-
13 at the break, she chal-
lenged her team, telling
them, “You’ve got to want
it a little bit more.”
“I feel like they did,”
Walker said. “They rose to
that challenge. They just
kind of fell short of it.”
Caledonia battled back
to take the lead on a layup
by junior Tenyzia Lathan,
who finished with 23
points to lead all scorers,
with a minute to go in the
third quarter. The Cavs
even pushed their lead to
38-31 as the Seminoles be-
gan to fall apart.
But all of a sudden,
Smithville regrouped, and
Caledonia reeled. The vis-
itors rattled off 12 straight
points to take a five-point
advantage before Lathan
tied the game on an and-
one with a minute and 39
seconds to go.
“She was huge tonight,”
Walker said. “... She was
perfect from the free-
throw line, and that’s really
something we’ve stressed
and worked on. When she
goes, the wheels turn.”
Walker also credited
the play of senior Domi-
nique Hodges, who didn’t
score Thursday but didn’t
need to in order to make
an impact.
“She does a lot of work
that doesn’t show up on
the scoreboard and in the
stats, but I really felt like
Theo DeRosa/Dispatch Staff
she’s a difference-maker Caledonia’s Amaiya Quinn (11) tries a layup during the second quarter of Thursday’s
See PREP, 2B home game against Smithville. The Cavaliers lost 46-43.

Foster Mississippi State Football

named
interim AD How Nathaniel ‘Bookie’ Watson has made
at MUW
Announcement the most of his recent opportunities
comes day after
Trufant moves
to ‘special
adviser’ role
BY BEN PORTNOY
bportnoy@cdispatch.com

Mississippi University
for Women has named
head softball coach Bud-
dy Foster the interim
athletic
d i r e c t o r,
according
to a Thurs-
day press
release.
F o s -
ter’s ap-
pointment
c o m e s Foster
less than
24 hours after multiple
sources alerted The Dis-
patch that now-former
MUW Athletic Director
Jason Trufant was reas-
signed from his post to
become a special adviser

See MUW, 2B

Mariota’s Austin Perryman/Mississippi State Athletics

Through nine games this season, Nathaniel “Bookie” Watson has had his number called more times than he thought he’d be relied on
magic can’t this season. So far, the sophomore linebacker has delivered

keep Raiders BY BEN PORTNOY

playoff hopes
alive
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Marcus Mariota pro-
vided a bit of magic in a
pinch to try to keep the
Las Vegas Raiders play-
offs hopes alive.
But he couldn’t
punch it in on the first
possession of overtime
and could only watch
as a leaky defense
gave up another score,
sending the Raiders to
their fourth loss in five
games, 30 -27 against
the Los Angeles Char-
gers.
After taking a 6 -3
record and legitimate
playoff aspirations into
a showdown last month
with Kansas City, the
Raiders (7-7) have once
again fallen apart in
what has become an
all-too-familiar pattern.
They blew a late lead
to the Chiefs and were
dealt lopsided losses to
Atlanta and Indianapo-
lis around a last-second
win over the winless
Jets and now appear
See RAIDERS, 3B
bportnoy@cdispatch.com
STARK VILLE — Missis-
sippi State sophomore line-
backer Nathaniel Watson
rarely answers to his first
name. Heck, even those clos-
est to him barely recognize it.
There’s no Nathaniel this, or
Nate that. To those that know
him best, it’s just “Bookie,”
emphasis on the double-o.
Watson gets the nickname
from his father, Nathaniel Sr.
In his youth, Nathaniel Sr. was
“Big Bookie,” or just “Bookie,”
while Nathaniel Jr. was “Little
Bookie.” But as Nathaniel Jr.
grew older, started playing
football, and eventually grew
into the 6 -foot-2, 250 pound
frame that’s seen him terror-
ize Southeastern Conference
offenses this fall, the younger
Watson laid claim to the fami-
ly’s prized moniker.
“Everybody saw how big
I was (and) they just start-
ed calling me ‘Bookie,’” he
quipped.
Through nine games this
season, Watson has seen his
number called more often
than anticipated. Slotted be-
hind roommate Aaron Brule
and senior captain Erroll
Thompson in the early going,
the path to playing time at
inside linebacker was large-
ly blocked. But as injuries,
COVID-19 positive tests and
contact tracing have left the
Bulldogs thin in the center
of its defense, Watson has be-
come a direct beneficiary.
“He’s played every single
linebacker position for us
throughout the course of the
season,” MSU defensive coor-
dinator Zach Arnett said. “To
have a guy like that...just him
alone makes you two-deep at
each position.”
nnn
Special teams coordinator/
outside linebackers coach
Matt Brock stood outside the
team hotel ahead of a visit to
Sanford Stadium in Athens,
Georgia and began barking
orders.
Entering the Nov. 21 game
against Georgia, MSU was left
to less than 45 scholarship
players due to COVID-19 pos-
itive tests and contact tracing.
But rather than postpone the
game as was allowed under
SEC guidelines regarding its
minimum scholarship player
threshold, the Bulldogs decid-
ed to hash it out.
Using his hands to teach
and speaking through his
deep drawl that dates back
to his childhood in Kansas,
Brock began teaching Wat-
son the ins and outs of playing
the SAM linebacker position
in the hotel parking lot. The
problem? Watson had never
played the position in full.
Oh yeah, and he was slat-
ed to start against the No.
13-ranked Bulldogs that next
day.
“It’s not easy,” Brock said
through a laugh. “I’ll put it
this way, I’ve never been in
that position to coach it. But to
his credit he handled it pret-
ty well. Most people would’ve
flinched in that situation and
Bookie just looked at it as an
opportunity and that’s what
you love about him.”
“I had repped half of it in
fall camp, so I basically knew
what to do half of the job,”
Watson said. “(Brock) just
gave me some more pointers
to prepare for Georgia.”
But before getting to Wat-
son’s night in Athens, more
context on Watson’s journey
can be found going back to his
days in Maplesville, Alabama.
It’s a town of just more than
700 people and whose college
football pipeline is more close-
ly associated with Auburn
than any other SEC school.
The Red Devils play 1A ball,
the kind of football reserved
for the smallest schools with
the most limited resources
around the state. But with
Watson in the fold, Maples-
ville built on what had been
a limited gridiron tradition at
the state level. Between 1984
and 2000, the school won
10 regional championships,
but just a single state title.
During that run, Watson’s un-
cle, Harold Morrow lined up
at fullback in the Red Devil
backfield before heading to
Auburn and later a nine-year
NFL career.
“When you come from a
small town you don’t really
think as big as going to Au-
burn or Alabama,” Morrow
told Auburn Undercover in
May. “It’s always a dream of
every kid growing up, but
coming from a town of 700
people you really have to open
some eyes.”
Watson, indeed, opened
some eyes.
The Red Devils took home
state championships in 2014,
2015 and 2016 during his time
in the prep ranks. He lined up
on both sides of the ball. From
safety and linebacker to wide
receiver and wildcat quarter-
back, Watson quite literally
played almost every position
on the field. He finished his
junior year with more than
1,000 receiving yards and 12
touchdowns. He added another
376 yards and four touchdowns
See MSU, 2B
2B FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

MSU
Continued from Page 1B

rushing. And then there’s the 70
tackles he notched defensively, just
for good measure.
“He’s like a Swiss Army knife,”
Brule said. “He can play every posi-
tion on the defense.”
Playing on both sides of the ball
took its toll, but it never stopped Wat-
son. Maplesville head coach James
Hubert recalled him breaking a
tooth when a hit caught him under
chinstrap.
He also suffered a boxer’s frac-
ture in his hand by punching the turf
after he caught a pass but failed to
tap his toes in bounds. Surgery fol-
lowed. He missed one game.
“He wasn’t a big hollering and
yelling type person,” Hubert told
The Dispatch. “But he was always
giving great effort and that carried
over into people following him and
doing those things that way.”
nnn
Fast forward to the weekend of
Nov. 21, to a parking lot, where Wat-
son, for the first time, was asked to
play meaningful snaps at a position
he’d never really attempted at the
college level against a team that
had come minutes from winning
a national championship just two
years prior.
Channelling the unique athlet-
ic ability that allowed him to fly
around the field at Maplesville, he
took to the challenge with ease.
Watson recorded four tackles, his
most in a game to that point in the
season, and 1.5 of which were tack-
les for a loss.
“I’ve never had experience with
it,” Arnett said of having to thrust
a player into a new position the day
before a game. “But fortunately for
us, Bookie is a greatly intelligent
football player. He can sit in line-
backer meetings as a MIKE or a
WILL and learn what the SAM is
doing.”
Described as goofy and fun-lov-
ing, Watson has enjoyed the recent
ride. He and Brule enjoy a healthy
friendship off the field while watch-
ing over Thor, the goldendoodle
Watson and his girlfriend adopt-
ed together. Hubert, who’s known
Watson as “Bookie” since kinder-
garten, also characterizes him as a
loose, entertaining guy.
Speaking with the media for
the first time all season, Watson
donned an ear-to-ear grin as he an-
swered varying questions regard-
ing his run to the top of the depth
chart of late.
“I just kept stacking up on plays,
preparing for the moment in case a
player went down,” Watson said in
reference to the spring. “But most-
ly I just had extra film work, so I’ve
got a better understanding of the
game.”
For MSU, the 2020 season has
had its ebbs and flows en route to
a 2-7 record entering Saturday’s
game against a surging Missou-
ri squad. But for what the season
has lacked in wins, those outside
the program are finally becom-
ing familiar with the one they call
“Bookie.”
Sports Briefs
Prep Girls Soccer
Winona 2, Columbus 1
WINONA — The Columbus
High School girls soccer team fell
2-1 in Thursday’s road match at Wi-
nona.
Alexus Gillian had the only goal
for the Falcons.
Columbus’ next match is Jan. 5
at Louisville.
Prep Boys Soccer
Columbus 2, Winona 0
WINONA — The Columbus
boys kept a clean sheet and notched
a 2-0 win on Thursday in Winona.
Destin Poindexter had both
goals for the Falcons.

MUW
Continued from Page 1B
to President Nora Miller.
The university confirmed
the reassignment in an of-
ficial statement released
Wednesday night.
“I am confident in
Foster’s leadership as we
enter the next phase of
athletics,” Miller said in
Thursday’s press release.
“We have reached some
major milestones in Owls
athletics, and we will con-
tinue to build on that mo-
mentum.”
Foster, who was hired
by the school in June,
arrived in Columbus af-
ter four years at Green-
ville University (Illinois),
where he served as the
head softball coach and
as the director of NCAA
Compliance. He also pre-
viously worked as the
athletic director at Morth-
land College (Illinois) and
has spent 26 years in col-
lege athletics.
He will remain softball
coach while serving as in-
terim athletic director.
“I am honored that
President Miller has se-
lected me to lead the
Athletic Department,” he
said in the press release.
“The foundation has been
set here for tremendous
growth in athletics. With
a renewed vision of cul-
ture, the sky is the limit.
I look forward to contrib-
uting to the growth and
enhancing the proud tra-
ditions of athletics here at
The W.”
Trufant’s reassignment
came just more than six
weeks after The Dispatch
concluded a five-month
investigation in which
one current university
employee, two former stu-
dent athletes and six for-
mer athletic department
employees described a
toxic culture cultivated by
Trufant within the Owls’
athletic department that
was largely ignored by
higher-ranking adminis-
tration. Trufant outright
denied those claims in a
sit-down interview with
The Dispatch on Nov. 2.
During his tenure as
athletic director that be-
gan in the spring of 2016,
the women’s basketball
team won the United
States Collegiate Athletic
Association national title
in 2019, while the base-
ball and softball teams
reached the USCAA
Small College World Se-
ries in 2018 and 2019.
Trufant also oversaw
the hiring of all MUW
coaches since sports were
restarted at the school
during the 2017-18 school
year. In that time, the
school has seen at least
nine head coaches among
its 15 athletic programs
leave for various reasons.

ON THE AIR Prep

Today
COLLEGE BASKETBALL (MEN’S)
4 p.m. — Brigham Young at San
Diego State, CBSSN
6 p.m. — Davidson at Rhode Island,
ESPNU
8 p.m. — Iowa State at West Virginia,
ESPNU
8 p.m. — Idaho at Utah, PAC-12N
COLLEGE BASKETBALL (WOMEN’S)
4 p.m. — Arizona State at Utah,
PAC-12N
7 p.m. — Southern at Mississippi
State, SECN+
6 p.m. — Arizona at Colorado, PAC-
12N
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
6 p.m. — Conference USA Cham-
pionship: Alabama (Birmingham) at
Marshall, CBSSN
6:30 p.m. — Nebraska at Rutgers,
BTN
6:30 p.m. — MAC Championship:
Ball State vs. Buffalo, Detroit, ESPN
Saturday
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
11 a.m. — Texas A&M at Tennessee,
ESPN
11 a.m. — Oklahoma at Iowa State,
ABC
11 a.m. — Ohio State at Northwest-
ern, FOX
12:30 p.m. — Washington State at
Utah, FS1
2:30 p.m. — Ole Miss at LSU, SECN
2:30 p.m. — Mizzou at Mississippi
State, SECN
3 p.m. — Clemson at Notre Dame,
ABC
3 p.m. — Minnesota at Wisconsin,
BTN
4:30 p.m. — Illinois at Penn State,
FS1
6 p.m. — Stanford at UCLA, ESPN
7 p.m. — Alabama at Florida, CBS
9:30 p.m. — Arizona State at Oregon
State, ESPN
Continued from Page 1B
to us,” Walker said.
But neither player could will Caledonia to a
win Thursday night. Smithville’s Tristin Price
was fouled on a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left,
and she made two free throws to break the
tie. The Cavs came up empty on their last two
possessions as the Seminoles added anoth-
er point at the line to make the final margin
three and deny Caledonia a chance at a mo-
mentum-building win.
“We’re going to get there,” Walker said.
“Rome was not built in a day. They’re working
hard.”
Still, the Cavs know they need to improve
their play at home for future contests.
“The people we have lost to, we’re expect-
ing to win against them when they come to
our house,” Lathan said.
Smithville boys 75, Caledonia 74
Tony Seals knows where he went wrong
Thursday against Smithville.
With several Cavaliers in foul trouble in
the second half, the Caledonia boys coach
switched to a zone defense. The Seminoles (7-
1) promptly stepped out and hit three 3-point-
ers in a dominant stretch that pushed their
lead to 68-54. Caledonia (3-7) made a late run
but never quite caught up in a 75-74 loss.
“I take that loss,” Seals said. “I should have
trusted my instincts and stayed man.”
The first-year Cavs coach was certainly
dealt a tough hand with senior point guard
Jarvis Leigh struggling with fouls and an op-
ponent with several standout scorers. Khirei
Standifer made five 3s and finished with 28
points for Smithville; Aden Casey added 22
points.
For Caledonia, junior Jeremy Emerson
scored 23 points, freshman Issac Grady had
22, and Leigh finished with 16.
Caledonia took a 33-31 lead into the half-
time break before Casey hit a layup in the
third quarter to flip the lead to the road team.
Shortly afterward, Standifer hit a 3, grabbed
a steal and sank a layup of his own to give
Smithville a crucial 58-50 advantage.
But after the Seminoles took their largest
lead of the night at 14 points, Caledonia went
on a quick 11-0 run to cut the margin to 68-
65 with just over three minutes to go. Down
three, though, a three-second violation on
Caledonia’s Trey Williams cost the Cavs a
chance to tie.
The home crowd did get one last moment
to cheer when Whitfield sank a deep 3-pointer
at the final buzzer to cut the final margin to a
point. For a Cavs team that lost 71-48 to the
Seminoles on the road just four weeks ago,
the improvement was noted, Seals said.
“After a while, we started figuring it out,”
Seals said. “I think we’re on that path now.”

Raiders
Continued from Page 1B
headed to miss the play-
offs for the 17th time in
the past 18 seasons.
“It sucks,” tight end
Darren Waller said.
“You want to win these
stretches to be able to
play your best football.
The results haven’t been
what we want them to be.
You have to live with it.”
The Raiders went
through the same kind
of late-season slump
a year ago when they
lost five of the final six
games following a 6-4
start and are still search-
ing for success in the
third season since coach
Jon Gruden returned.
Mariota looked like
he might provide the
spark to salvage the sea-
Comics & Puzzles
DILBERT
ZITS
GARFIELD
CANDORVILLE
BABY BLUES
BEETLE BAILEY
MALLARD FILLMORE
son when he made his
debut for the Raiders
after starter Derek Carr
injured his groin while
scrambling on a third-
down play near the goal
line on the second drive
of the game.
Mariota delivered in a
big way despite getting
almost no practice time
all season with his team,
showing why Gruden
gave him $7.5 million this
season to be a back up
quarterback.
He led a TD drive
on his first possession,
capped by a 35-yard
strike to Waller. He then
engineered two more TD
drives in the second half,
finishing off a 19-play one
with a leap into the end
FAMILY CIRCUS
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
zone for a 2-yard score yard total on the plays, to
that tied the game mid- set up a third down from
way through the fourth the 5. Mariota couldn’t
quarter. connect with covered
“It just shows the kind fullback Alec Ingold in
of player and the kind the flat and Gruden opted
of football character he for a field goal instead of
has,” Gruden said. “You his fifth fourth-down try
lose Derek and then we of the game.
change gears offensively. “If it was a little bit
Marcus came in and did closer, I would have con-
a great job. I’m really sidered going for it,”
proud of him. That just Gruden said. “I know I
puts an exclamation went for it a few times
point on why we signed earlier in the game. But
him. Just wish we could to take the lead with 3
have won the game for minutes left, I thought
him.” was the play to make at
They had their chanc- that time.”
es in overtime when they That proved costly
won the toss and drove when the Raiders defense
down to have a first-and- couldn’t stop the Chargers
goal from the 4. Josh Ja- in the first game since
cobs ran twice, losing 1 firing coordinator Paul
Dear Abby
D
EAR ABBY:
My hubby
and I come
from very differ-
ent backgrounds.
He grew up in a
community where
all the moms had
to work. I grew
up in one where
most of the
moms did not.
Our marriage was
perfect until we
had a baby.
After our
first child was Dear Abby
born, my hubby
made clear that
it was unacceptable for me to
leave my career or reduce my
working hours. I never realized
I would have the desire to be
a stay-at-home mom or work
part-time until I became a
mom.
For the last several years,
I have chosen to work swing
shifts so I can be available for
my children during the morn-
ings. But this has taken such
a toll on my health that I have
had to get antidepressant
prescriptions to cope with
juggling all of this.
Recently, I told my husband
I would like to work an earlier
shift so my health can im-
prove. Again he insists this is
unacceptable because of the
reduced pay I’d receive plus
the high cost of child care.
Horoscopes
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Dec.
18). You make decisions to
support long-term relation-
ships, finances and health.
The action required may not be
as convenient or fun as some
options, and yet your choice
will still be intensely satisfying.
This is a pleasurable journey
to a prosperous future. In May,
you’ll be paid-off and use the
money for a new venture. Virgo
and Scorpio adore you. Your
lucky numbers are: 1, 4, 7, 11
and 20.
ARIES (March 21-April 19).
You call yourself “easy-going”
because you’re pretty accept-
ing of situations and people.
Although, when it comes down
to it, you’re not so easily won.
Guenther and replacing
him with Rod Marinelli.
The fourth penalty of the
game on cornerback Tray-
von Mullen and a 53-yard
pass to Jalen Guyton set
up Justin Herbert’s 1-yard
sneak that won it for the
Chargers.
That spoiled the big de-
but for Mariota. He threw
for 226 yards and a TD and
ran for 88 yards and a TD.
He is the first player since
at least 1948 to come off
the bench and throw for at
least 200 yards and a score
and run for at least 50 and
a score.
It was the kind of per-
formance that made him
the No. 2 overall pick in
Tennessee but one he
didn’t show enough with
He’s a won-
derful father to
the children, and
aside from this
sole issue, we
have no other
problems. He
makes me feel
like a work mule,
though, always
trying to squeeze
every last dollar
out of me I can
earn. I don’t
want a divorce.
I do love him.
I’m considering
telling him my job
is requiring me to
switch shift times, which isn’t
true. Is it ever appropriate and
acceptable to be dishonest to
your spouse? — WORK MULE
MAMA
DEAR MAMA: Your hus-
band’s priorities appear to be
out of whack, but I don’t think
you should lie to him. Repeat
that the shift you are working
is taking a toll on your HEALTH
and that antidepressants
aren’t a cure for what’s ailing
you.
A husband is not supposed
to be a dictator. As long as
the two of you can make it
financially, you should be able
to set your own hours. Inform
your doctor about everything
you have told me and get off
the medication. As much as
you love your husband, you are
It takes a special combination
to light you up, which happens
today.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20).
If life’s a journey, then follow the
rules of a savvy traveler; don’t
overpack. If you bring half as
much as you want to, you’ll be
unencumbered. Rule two: Take
twice as much money as you
think you’ll need.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21).
If you have a choice, it’s better
to copy someone who is already
doing the work than to gather
up theoretical knowledge. You
could spend hours learning and
still not have the practical expe-
rience necessary to do the job.
CANCER (June 22-July 22).
You’ve the sense that you’re
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2020 3B
the Titans, leading him to
lose his starting job last
season to Ryan Tannehill
and eventually land with
the Raiders.
“It’s been a long jour-
ney,” he said. “I’ve been
through kind of every-
thing from injuries to sur-
geries to mental kind of
lapses and the confidence
thing. I just truly appreci-
ate the Raiders and the en-
tire organization for kind
of helping me through
that. I was trying to kind
of find my way again and
they gave me an opportu-
nity to kind of take some
time. They’re patient
with me. I just appre-
ciate the fact that they
were willing to do that.”
not a “mule.” If you continue
on the path you’re on, you will
weaken your immune system
and risk becoming seriously
ill. How will you parent your
children (or work) then?
DEAR ABBY: For the
past five years, I have been
dealing with my aunt, who is
convinced that the neighbors
are coming into her apart-
ment, hacking her phone, her
refrigerator, threatening her,
cooking in her kitchen and
constantly talking about her.
Everyone has tried reasoning
with her, but she insists she’s
OK and nothing is wrong with
her.
She has fixated on these
neighbors ever since she had
a run-in with them years ago.
They don’t even live there any-
more, but she says they do.
I’m trying to be kind, patient
and understanding with her,
but she is making me nuts.
Please help. — ALARMED IN
INDIANA
DEAR ALARMED: I’ll try.
Your aunt’s irrational behavior
should be reported to her
physician, if she has one, so
she can be evaluated. None
of what you have described
about her behavior is rational
or normal. She needs a physi-
cal and neurological examina-
tion by a medical professional
who can guide you in how to
handle this because it isn’t
going to get better on its own.
getting ready for something,
though you may not be sure
what. The vision is as faint as
a drive-in movie played in the
dead of noon. Don’t you worry.
Dusk comes soon enough.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). If the
best you can say of a connec-
tion is that it’s easy, then you’ve
said a lot. Sometimes the best
camaraderie is lighthearted,
breezy and even somewhat
insubstantial, as it gives you
a break from the burdensome
side of life.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).
You have the urge to share what
you know, and it’s important
that you do so. People will be
better for it. Just don’t expect a
response. This is new informa-
tion, will need to be repeated
and will take time to soak in
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).
Charm may be your go-to, but it
won’t be your bread and butter.
(Man does not live by bread
alone.) Give extra attention to
the tangible takeaway. What are
you really offering?
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21).
You successfully resist the urge
to react to frustrating circum-
stances. Cool people keep
their cool. Also, the calm allows
your mind to move easily into
problem-solving mode.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec.
21). Your attitude impresses
others and makes your life
a lot more pleasant. It boils
down to this: No matter what
you encounter, you turn it into
something good.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan.
19). No matter how spectacu-
larly enticing the deal is, it still
isn’t worth chasing after. If the
other people involved get that
your offering is valuable, they’ll
come after it.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.
18). Much of your success
hinges on sticking with the
focus and topics that inspire,
entertain, forward the action,
engender trust and feel all-
around wholesome and healthy.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March
20). Fear can topple you, or you
can topple fear. When you think
about all the things you do now
that you couldn’t do before, you
realize just how effective you
are when you face fear head-on.
Think things through
SOLUTION:
4B FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2020
RELIGIOUS BRIEFS
55th Anniversary
Zion Gate will celebrate the
55th Anniversary of Rev. Dr.
James A. Boyd and First Lady
Sis. Kathrene Boyd Dec. 20.
Live stream will be at 8 a.m.
with Rev. Dr. Vernon Swift,
pastor of Elizabeth Baptist
Church of Tuscaloosa, Ala-
bama bringing the message. A
drive-by parade will be held at
2:30 p.m.
Mississippi State
School Ministry
Mississippi State School
of Ministry will be taking ap-
plications for enrollment into
their online degree granting
program. Earn your Certifica-
tion, Associates, Bachelor,
Master and Doctoral Degree in
Religious Studies. We are an
accreditation School of Minis-
try authorized through State
of Mississippi and Federal
Government. Our degrees are
for ecclesiastical purposes
only. We accept transcripts
and your life experience also
can also be used for degree
granting purposes. For further
information feel free to call
662-425-8443
Fellowship Dinner,
Youth Service
Pleasant Ridge Faith Cen-
ter, 923 Ridge Road, hosts a
fellowship dinner and youth
service every third Sunday.
Gospel Book Club
Friendship M.B. Church,
1102 12th Ave. S., invites the
public to join its Community
Gospel Book Club from 6-7
p.m., on the fourth Friday of
each month, to study and
share views of the Holy Bible.
Open to all ages and ethnic-
ities. For more information,
call Barbara Mattison or Lillian
Murray, 662-570-5595.
Send in your church event!
Email editorialassistant@cdispatch.com
Subject: Religious brief
Grief Support Group
The Oil of Joy for Grief
and Mourning offers a grief
support group at 6 p.m. every
second Thursday of the month
at United Christian Baptist
Church, 232 Yorkville Road
East. “Making your grieving
journey easier.” For more in-
formation, call 662-327-0604
or e-mail unitedchristian@
cableone.net.
Celebrate Recovery
Celebrate Recovery, the
nation’s largest Christian
recovery program, meets Tues-
days at 6:00 p.m. at Mead-
owview Church, 300 Linden
Circle in Starkville. Millions
have found help, healing, and
support for hurts, habits, and
hang-ups using our popular
Biblical 12 step program.
Recovery Room
New Life Assembly, 4474
New Hope Road (near Dollar
General) hosts Recovery
Room, at 6:30 p.m. each Sun-
day. Find help, healing, and
support for any hurt, habit, or
hang-up using our Christ-cen-
tered 12 steps.
Prayer for Youth
Every second and third
Saturday, Pleasant Ridge Faith
Center hosts a prayer for the
youth from 2-3 p.m.
Prayer, Free Coffee
Mount Zion Missionary
Baptist Church, 2221 14th
Ave. N., hosts free coffee and
a prayer community outreach
service from 8-9 a.m. every
fifth Saturday. For information,
contact Jesse Slater, 662-
328-4979.
Radio Program
Apostles Patrick Perkins
invites the public to tune in to
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
WTWG, radio 1050 AM for Per-
fecting the Saints Broadcast,
Wednesdays 8:30 a.m.
Women Prayer, Worship
Service
Church of the Eternal
Word, 106 22nd St. S., holds
a prayer and worship service
every Thursday from 5-6 p.m.
Call Marie Nabors, 662-549-
4322 or 662-329-1234, for
prayer requests.
Prayer Ministry
New Beginning Everlasting
Outreach Ministry invites the
public to call in with their
prayer requests at 662-327-
9843.
Prayer Service
Church of the Eternal Word,
106 22nd St. S., Columbus,
holds prayer service Thurs-
day nights 5-6 p.m. Contact
Marie Nabors, 662-549-4322.
Church service times: Sunday
school 10 a.m.; Sunday
worship 11:15 a.m.; Tuesday
Bible study 7 p.m. For informa-
tion, call Pastor District Elder
Lou Nabors, 662-329-1234.
Fitness
Transformations
The Transformational
Church, 2301 Jess Lyons
Road, hosts boxing lessons
Mondays and Wednesday from
5-7 p.m., weight-loss boot
camp Tuesdays and Thursdays
5-7 p.m. and both on Satur-
days 9-11 a.m.
Youth Fellowship
The Transformational
Church, 2301 Jess Lyons
Road, hosts Youth Fellowship
from 7-8:30 p.m. every Tues-
day. Games, prayer, service,
food, and more. Transporta-
tion available. For information,
call Iris Roberson, 662-295-
7456.
Classifieds
Ads appear in The Commercial Dispatch,
The Starkville Dispatch and Online
To place ads starting at only $12,
call 662-328-2424 or visit ads.cdispatch.com
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2020 n 5B

Legal Notices Legal Notices Apts For Rent: Other

LEGALS IN THE CHANCERY COURT OF

LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-
NOTICE TO CREDITORS The Military Square
Apartments are now
Merchandise
SIPPI Letters Testamentary have accepting applicants!
Call us: 662-328-2424 IN THE MATTER OF THE ES-
been granted and issued to
Timothy Dewayne Barksdale, We have 1, 2, and 3 Ads starting at $12
TATE OF MARTHA J. HALBERT, Executor of the Estate of Peggy bedroom units available.
Legal Notices DECEASED W. Barksdale, deceased, by All apartments are newly Appliances
the Chancery Court of Lowndes remodeled, and include:
IN THE CHANCERY COURT OF CAUSE NO. 2020-0194-PDE County, Mississippi, on the New Washer/Dryer, New Appliances! Brand new In
LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS- 30th day of November, 2020. Refrigerator, New A/C Unit! box Electrolux front load
SIPPI NOTICE TO CREDITORS This is to give notice to all per-
sons having claims against washer. Kenmore gas
We also offer rent range/oven and front and
IN THE MATTER OF THE ES- STATE OF MISSISSIPPI said estate to Probate and Re-
discounts for: front load Electrolux washer
TATE OF JAMES MASON WOOD- COUNTY OF LOWNDES gister same with the Chancery
−Active Military
ARD, DECEASED Clerk of Lowndes County, Mis- both only 2 years old. Call
Letters Testamentary have sissippi, within ninety (90) days −Veterans for price or to come check
CAUSE NO.: 2020-0225-RPF been granted and issued to the after the first publication of this −Seniors out... 662−435−7232.
undersigned upon the Estate of Notice to Creditors. A failure to Call us at: 662−205−0005
NOTICE TO CREDITORS Martha J. Halbert, also known so Probate and Register said
as Martha Jane Halbert and claim will forever bar the same. Bargain Column
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI Martha Jane Egger Halbert, de-
COUNTY OF LOWNDES ceased, by the Chancery Court
of Lowndes County, Missis-
/s/ Timothy Dewayne Barks-
dale COLEMAN MICROWAVE, $25.
In West Point. Call anytime,
Sudoku
sippi, on the 5th day of Novem- Timothy Dewayne Barksdale, RENTALS
Letters of Administration have
been granted and issued to the ber 2020. This is to give no- Executor 662−275−7679. YESTERDAY’S ANSWER
TOWNHOUSES & APARTMENTS
undersigned upon the Estate of tice to all persons having

Sudoku
claims against said estate to OF COUNSEL:
1 BEDROOM Yesterday’s answer
James Mason Woodard, de- Sudoku is a number-
ceased, by the Chancery Court Probate and Register same Aubrey E. Nichols, MB # 3842 Firewood / Fuel
of Lowndes County, Missis- with the Chancery Clerk of The Nichols Firm, PLLC 2 BEDROOMS placing puzzle based on
sippi, on the 19th day of Lowndes County, Mississippi, Post Office Box 1081 FIREWOOD FOR SALE. Sudoku
a 9x9 gridis witha several
num- 6 2 8 3 5 7 4 1 9
November 2020. This is to give within ninety (90) days from the Columbus, MS 39703-1081 3 BEDROOMS
first publication date of this No- (662) 243-7312
Various lengths.
ber-placing
given numbers.puzzleThe object 7 1 5 9 6 4 8 3 2

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

notice to all persons having 662−295−2274.
tice to Creditors. A failure to so LEASE, based onthe a 9x9 9 3 4 8 1 2 5 6 7
© The Dispatch
claims against said estate to
Probate and Register said PUBLISH: 12/4, 12/11 &
is to place numbers
Probate and Register same
claim will forever bar the same. 12/18/2020 DEPOSIT grid
1 to 9with
in theseveral
empty spaces 2 4 7 1 9 5 3 8 6
with the Chancery Clerk of Furniture
Lowndes County, Mississippi, AND given
so thatnumbers.
each row, eachThe 3 8 1 4 7 6 2 9 5
within ninety (90) days from the This the 17th day of November object
column and each 3x3 the
is to place
first publication date of this No- 2020. CREDIT CHECK West Point:
numbers
box 5 9 6 2 3 8 1 7 4
contains the1same to 9 number
in
GE Washer, almost new,

Employment 662-329-2323
tice to Creditors. A failure to so
Probate and Register said /s/ Michael Eric Halbert, Ex- $450. the empty spaces so 1 6 3 5 2 9 7 4 8
claim will forever bar the same. ecutor Dryer, good cond, $125. only once. The difficulty 4 5 9 7 8 3 6 2 1
that each row, each
Call anytime, level increases from
This the 20th day of November PUBLISH: 12/4, 12/11 &
Call us: 662-328-2424 2411 HWY 45 N 662−275−7679. column and each 8 7 2 6 4 1 9 5 3
2020. 12/18/2020 Monday
3x3 boxtocontains
Sunday. Difficulty Level 12/17

/s/Kayleigh B. Woodard, Ad-

ministratrix
PUBLISH: 12/4, 12/11 &
12/18/2020
IN THE CHANCERY COURT OF
LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-
SIPPI
CHYNA MARCHBANKS
PLAINTIFF
VS.
CAMERON COLEMAN
DEFENDANT
CAUSE NO. 2020-0273
SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION
THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
TO: CAMERON COLEMAN who
is not to be found in the State
of Mississippi on diligent in-
quiry and whose post office ad-
dress is unknown.
You have been made a Defend-
ant in the suit filed in this
Court by Chyna Marchbanks
IN THE CHANCERY COURT OF
LOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-
SIPPI
IN THE MATTER OF THE ES-
TATE PEACH FLOWERS SMITH,
DECEASED
CAUSE NO. 20-072
RULE 81 SUMMONS BY PUB-
LICATION
TO: ALL UNKNOWN HEIRS AT
LAW OF PEACH FLOWERS
SMITH, DECEASED
You have been made Respond-
ents in the suit filed in this
Court by Tommie Flowers, Ad-
ministrator of the Estate of
Peach Flowers Smith, De-
ceased, seeking a Petition to
Determine Heirs at Law. You
are summoned to appear and
defend against the Petition
filed against you in this action newly renovated with bonus Columbus & County School
at 9:00 a.m. on the 27th day
of January 2021, before the
Honorable Rodney P. Faver,
Chancery Court Judge, in Judge
Faver’s courtroom at the
COLUMBUS, MS General Merchandise the same number only once. The difficulty level
General Help Wanted
increases from Monday to Sunday.
CARPENTER NEEDED w/ at Houses For Rent: North Roper Dryer, standard size,
least 4 yrs. of experience. good condition, $200.
Ideal candidate will have an COLONIAL TOWNHOUSES. 662−312−6617.
eye for detail, be depend- 2 & 3 bedroom w/ 2−3
able, have good communic- bath townhouses. $650 to
ation skills, reliable trans- $750. 662−549−9555.
portation & basic tools. We Ask for Glenn or text.
TABLE SAW & FURNITURE
specialize in home remod- Craftsman table saw. 10"
els & new construction.
Mobile Homes for Rent $100. Craftsman
Call 662-312-3130 for info. compound miter saw. 12"
3BR/2BA MH in New Hope. $100. "Tell City" 70" table
$650 dep + $650/mo. No w/ extensions rumford
pets, quiet area. Leave full finish. Six chairs. $600.
Rentals name & message,
205−712−6697.
"Ethan Allen" china cabinet
w/ hutch. 66" cherry finish.
$600. "Ethan Allen"
Ads starting at $25 highboy dresser. mahogany
RENT A CAMPER! 76" height. $400.
Apts For Rent: North CHEAPER THAN A MOTEL! Call 662−368−6779
Utilities & cable included,
2−3BR/1BA DUPLEX, from $145/wk − $535/mo Sporting Goods
room. HUD accepted. locations. 662−242−7653 ED SANDERS GUNSMITH
662−425−6954. or 601−940−1397. Open for season!
Tue−Fri: 9−5 & Sat: 9−12
Over 50 years experience!

seeking custody of the minor
child, C.C.
YOU ARE SUMMONED TO AP-
PEAR AND DEFEND AGAINST
THE PETITION FILED AGAINST
YOU IN THIS ACTION AT 9:30
O’CLOCK, A.M., ON THE 25TH
DAY OF JANUARY, 2021 IN THE
COURTROOM OF THE
LOWNDES COUNTY COURT-
HOUSE IN COLUMBUS, MISSIS-
SIPPI, AND IN CASE OF YOUR
FAILURE TO APPEAR AND DE-
Lowndes County Courthouse,
505 2nd Ave. N, in Columbus, FOX RUN APARTMENTS
MS and in case of your failure 1 & 2 BR near hospital.
to appear and defend a judg- $595−$645 monthly.
ment will be entered against
you for money or other things
Military discount, pet area,
pet friendly, and furnished
demanded in the Petition. You corporate apts.
are not required to file an An- 24−HOUR PROFESSIONAL
swer or other pleading, but you GYM. ON SITE SECURITY.
may do so if you desire.
ON SITE MAINTENANCE.
Issued under my hand and the ON SITE MANAGEMENT.
seal of the Court, this the 30th 24−HOUR CAMERA
day of November, 2020. SURVEILLANCE. Benji &
Real Estate
Repairs, cleaning, refin−
ishing, scopes mounted &
zeroed, handmade knives.
Located: Hwy 45 Alt, North
Ads starting at $25 of West Point, turn right on
Yokahama Blvd, 8mi & turn
left on Darracott Rd, will
Lots & Acreage see sign, 2.5mi ahead
shop on left.
1.75 ACRE LOTS: Good/ 662−494−6218.
Bad Credit Options. Good
credit as low as 20% down,
$499/mo. Eaton Land,

Community
FEND, A JUDGMENT WILL BE Ashleigh, 662−386−4446. 662−361−7711.
ENTERED AGAINST YOU FOR CHANCERY CLERK
THE RELIEF DEMANDED IN THE
COMPLAINT. BY: Shantrell W. Granderson Apts For Rent: West Mobile Homes for Sale
Ads starting at $12

VIP
You are not required to file an (SEAL) 2019 Clayton Mobile Home
answer or other pleading, but Brand new, never lived in.
you may do so if you desire. Gerald Gaggini, MSB 99905 Fully furnished, perfect for Good Things To Eat

Issued under my hand and the
seal of said Court, this 1st day
of December, A.D., 2020.
Rentals
2500 Hickory Wood Dr. an older couple or person.
Tupelo, MS 38801 Attached front porch with
Telephone: 601-212-3696
roof. May have to be
PUBLISH: 12/4, 12/11 &
Apartments & Houses moved unless lease is

1 Bedrooms
CINDY E. GOODE 12/18/2020 approved by land owner.
Chancery Clerk of Lowndes $40,000. 828−674−8659
County, Mississippi
(SEAL) 2 Bedroooms ACROSS
1 Court player
BY: Shantrell W. Granderson
Read local. 3 Bedrooms
PUBLISH: 12/4, 12/11 &
12/18/2020 cdispatch.com Furnished & Unfurnished Garage Sales 6 Wise ones
11 — acids
12 Use a press
Medical / Dental 1, 2, & 3 Baths Two free signs 13 Emotional
Lease, Deposit states
& Credit Check Auctions
14 Tequila
viceinvestments.com source
327-8555 15 Goof
16 Latvia neigh-
bor
Apts For Rent: Other
18 Fall back
19 Plopped
down
20 Homer’s
neighbor
21 Faux pas 46 Lock 26 Some swords
23 Sub shops DOWN 28 Prop for Bugs
25 Crew tool 1 Caravan 29 Paving stuff
27 Gun, as a critters 31 Diner drinks
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6B FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com