Established 1879 | Columbus, Mississippi

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Monday | February 22, 2021

Food sales MONDAY PROFILE

requirement Power outage does not stop Tribble
dropped for from teaching children in China
brewpubs,
breweries in
limited area
Mayhew Junction
co-owner pans rule
change for leaving her
business out
BY ZACK PLAIR
zplair@cdispatch.com

Aldermen voted
unanimously Friday
afternoon to allow
brewpubs and small
craft breweries in the
city’s Leisure and En-
tertainment District
to sell beer, wine and
Latimer
light spirits on prem-
ises without having to also sell food.
As City Attorney Chris Latimer
put it, he and aldermen went “back
to the drawing board” after previ-
ous drafts of the ordinance change
couldn’t gain consensus, and they
“came full circle” to approve some-
thing that looked very much like
the first draft.
The ordinance, as passed, ex-
empts brewpubs and small craft Zack Plair/Dispatch Staff
breweries located in the designated Suzanne Tribble sits in a rocking chair on the front porch of her home on West Main Street in Starkville. Early Thurs-
district — which includes much of day morning, a tree fell across her street and knocked power out to much of the city, just 45 minutes before Tribble
was scheduled to start teaching English lessons to Chinese children halfway across the world. With the help of a
downtown, Russell Street and the
fully-charged iPad, a hotspot, candles and flashlights, she managed to teach all six of her scheduled sessions.
Cotton District — from a city re-
quirement that food must account
for 25 percent of gross sales at busi- Starkville woman spends retirement about it, it wouldn’t.
Tribble found her husband Mark’s fully-charged
nesses that sell alcohol for on-prem-
ises consumption. in virtual classrooms for immersive iPad, a cell phone to use for a hotspot and gathered can-
dles and flashlights to place around her work station so
See ALDERMEN, 3A
English, also teaches at EMCC her face would show well enough on the iPad camera.
At 4 a.m., just in time, Tribble looked into the iPad
BY ZACK PLAIR and said, “Hello, Bao Bao,” offering a familiar Chinese
zplair@cdispatch.com word akin to “Sweetie.” The child on the screen re-

A
turned, “Hello, Teacher.”
t 3:15 a.m. Thursday, Suzanne Tribble was Tribble spent much of the next three hours offering
Instructor pilot from halfway through her first cup of coffee when a
tree fell across West Main Street a few hundred
one-on-one tutoring sessions remotely to Chinese chil-
dren, something she’s done most every day for about
Indiana identified as feet east of her home, ripping through power lines and
providing a horrifying light show of sparks flying from
three years. Thursday’s circumstances, she said, were
a first.
one of deceased in buzzing transformers.
Then her electricity, along with much of the city’s,
“We used everything we could find in the house,”
Tribble said. “My phone wouldn’t do a hotspot so I had
CAFB plane crash was out and would be for the next several hours.
Halfway around the world, a child in China getting
to use Mark’s. … He (spent some of the time) outside
on the porch playing his guitar because he didn’t have
ready for his English lesson had no idea how this felled his phone.”
Identity of Japanese tree would affect him. If Tribble had anything to say See TRIBBLE, 6A

student pilot still

not released
DISPATCH STAFF REPORT
COLUMBUS — Columbus Air
Force Base has identified one of
the pilots who died Friday evening
in a T-38C plane crash in Mont-
gomery, Alabama.
A press release issued Sunday
named Scot Ames Jr., 24, of Pekin,
Indiana, as the instructor pilot who
perished. He was a member of the
50th Flying Training Squadron at
CAFB.
The crash also claimed the life
of a Japanese student pilot, one of
about 15 from the Japanese Air
Self Defense Force training with
the base. The press release said
the student pilot’s identity will be
See CAFB, 6A
UNDER THE CAPITOL DOME
Analysis: Mississippi finds wedge issue, even amid pandemic
Mississippi is one of a dozen states with lawmakers the state call me and believe that they
feel there’s a need for a policy in Missis-
proposing restrictions on athletics or gender-confirming sippi because they are beginning to have
some concerns of having to deal with
health care for transgender minors this year this,” said the bill’s sponsor, Republican
Sen. Angela Hill of Picayune.
BY EMILY WAGSTER PET TUS They were wrong. Mississippi is one of a dozen states
The Associated Press The state Senate voted Feb. 11 to ban with lawmakers proposing restrictions
transgender athletes from competing in on athletics or gender-confirming health
JACKSON — Some Mississippi leg- girls’ or women’s sports teams in Missis- care for transgender minors this year.
islators thought the 2021 session might sippi schools, community colleges and Democratic President Joe Biden signed
be tightly focused on responding to the universities. No senator asked wheth- an executive order Jan. 20 — the day he
coronavirus pandemic, and that might er any transgender athlete has tried to took office — that bans discrimination
dampen enthusiasm for delving into di- compete. based on gender identity in school sports
visive social issues. “I’ve had numerous coaches across See ANALYSIS, 6A

INSIDE FIVE QUESTIONS CALENDAR LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC

Classifieds 6B 1 The first evidence of gravita-
Thursday MEETINGS
Comics 4B tional waves was found in 2015, Feb. 26: Starkville
Crossword 2B
Dear Abby 4B
almost 100 years after who
predicted them?
through Saturday, Board of Aldermen
Obituaries 5A 2 In 2014, what basketball play- Feb. 25-27 work session, 10
Opinions 4A er helped renovate a home in his ■ Virtual Magnolia a.m., mayor’s con-
hometown of Akron, Ohio, for the Independent Film ference room
HGTV series “Rehab Addict”? Festival: The Mag in March 1: Oktibbe-
3 The city of Manaus, Brazil, is Starkville returns with ha County Board of
surrounded by what — Amazon
WEATHER River rainforest, Atlantic Ocean
independent films and
shorts. Visit magnoli-
Supervisors, 9:30
a.m., Chancery
beaches or Pampas grasslands?
High 62 Low 36
Clearing clouds
4 What 2014 film based on a
network TV series was the first
to be initially financed by money
afilmfest.com. Courthouse
March 2: Starkville
Board of Aldermen,
Full forecast on raised on Kickstarter? 5:30 p.m., City Hall
page 3A. 5 Alexander the Great was a stu- March 9:
dent of what Greek philosopher? Starkville-Oktibbe-
Answers, 6B ha Consolidated
School District
Board of Trust-
Bethany West enjoys spending ees, 6 p.m., 401
time with her family. Greensboro St.

DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471

2A MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Big factor in COVID votes: Would

Democrats sink first Biden goal?
The issue that’s provoked the deepest divisions is a
drive, largely by progressives, to boost the federal
minimum wage to $15 hourly over five years
BY ALAN FRAM
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Democratic
leaders have a potent dynamic on
their side as Congress preps for its
first votes on the party’s $1.9 tril-
lion COVID-19 relief bill: Would any
Democrat dare cast the vote that
scuttles new President Joe Biden’s
leadoff initiative?
Democrats’ wafer-thin 10-vote
House majority leaves little room
for defections in the face of solid Re-
publican opposition, and they have
none in a 50-50 Senate they control
only with Vice President Kamala
Harris’ tie-breaking vote. Internal
Democratic disputes remain over
issues like raising the minimum
wage, how much aid to funnel to
struggling state and local govern-
ments and whether to extend emer-
gency unemployment benefits for
an extra month.
Yet with the House Budget Com-
mittee planning to approve the 591-
page package Monday, Democrats
across the party’s spectrum show
little indication they’re willing to
embarrass Biden with a high-pro-
file defeat a month into his presi-
dency.
Such a setback would deal early
blows to both Biden and new Sen-
ate Majority Leader Chuck Schum-
er, D-N.Y. It could also wound con-
gressional Democrats overall by
risking repercussions in the 2022
elections if they fail to unite effec-
tively against clear enemies like the
pandemic and the frozen economy.
“You think very seriously before
casting a deciding vote against your
own party’s president’s legislative
agenda,” said Ian Russell, a long-
time Democratic consultant. But he
cautioned that lawmakers must de-
cide “for themselves how their vote
is going to play out” at home.
The issue that’s provoked the
deepest divisions is a drive, largely
by progressives, to boost the fed-
eral minimum wage to $15 hourly
over five years. The current $7.25
minimum took effect in 2009.
“It was the No. 1 priority for
progressives,” Rep. Pramila Jay-
apal, D-Wash., chairwoman of the
Congressional Progressive Cau-
cus, said in an interview last week.
“This is something we’ve run on
and something we’ve promised to
the American people.”
An overall relief bill, including
the minimum wage boost, is expect-
ed to clear the House, and likely the
Senate as well. But the minimum
wage boost’s fate is shakier in the
Senate, where Joe Manchin of West
Virginia, perhaps the chamber’s
most conservative Democrat, has
said the $15 target is too expensive.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.,
has suggested she might oppose it,
too. She said Democrats shouldn’t
whisk it to passage using special
rules that would let them avoid a
Republican filibuster, which would
require an unattainable 60 votes to
overcome.
Manchin’s office did not make
him available for an interview. Ear-
lier this month he told The Hill, a
political publication, that $11 hourly
would be “responsible and reason-
able.”
Even more ominously, the Sen-
ate parliamentarian is expected to
rule soon on whether the minimum
wage provision must be tossed from
the bill. Under expedited proce-
dures Democrats are using, items
can’t be included that aren’t prin-
cipally budget-related, and it’s un-
clear if Democrats would have the
votes to overturn such a decision.

US virus death toll approaches milestone of 500,000

First known deaths from the virus in
the U.S. happened in February 2020
BY JOHN RABY
The Associated Press
The U.S. stood Sunday
at the brink of a once-un-
thinkable tally: 500,000
people lost to the corona-
virus.
A year into the pan-
demic, the running total
of lives lost was about
498,000 — roughly the
population of Kansas City,
Missouri, and just shy of
the size of Atlanta. The
figure compiled by Johns
Hopkins University sur-
passes the number of peo-
ple who died in 2019 of
chronic lower respiratory
diseases, stroke, Alzhei-
mer’s, flu and pneumonia
combined.
“It’s nothing like we
have ever been through
in the last 102 years, since
the 1918 influenza pan-
demic,” the nation’s top
infectious disease expert,
Dr. Anthony Fauci, said
on CNN’s “State of the
Union.”
The U.S. virus death
toll reached 400,000 on
Jan. 19 in the waning
hours in office for Pres-
ident Donald Trump,
whose handling of the
crisis was judged by pub-
lic health experts to be a
singular failure.
The nation could pass
this next grim milestone
on Monday. President Joe
Biden will mark the U.S.
crossing 500,000 lives
lost from COVID-19 with
a moment of silence and
candle lighting ceremony
at the White House.
Biden will deliver re-
marks at sunset to hon-
or the dead, the White
House said. He’s expect-
ed to be joined by first
lady Jill Biden and Vice
President Kamala Harris
and her husband, Doug
Emhoff.
The first known deaths
from the virus in the U.S.
happened in early Febru-
ary 2020, both of them in
Santa Clara County, Cali-
fornia. It took four months
to reach the first 100,000
dead. The toll hit 200,000
deaths in September and
300,000 in December.
Then it took just over a
month to go from 300,000
to 400,000 and about two
months to climb from
400,000 to the brink of
500,000.

Snubbed as Obama high court pick,

Garland in line to be attorney general
Appeals court judge Merrick Garland’s
confirmation process begins today
BY MICHAEL BALSAMO
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — statement. “Unless I hear
The last time Merrick
Garland was nominated
by the White House for a
job, Republicans wouldn’t
even meet with him.
Now, the once-snubbed
Supreme Court pick will
finally come before the
Senate, this time as Pres-
ident Joe Biden’s choice
for attorney general. Gar-
land, an appeals court
judge, is widely expected
to sail through his con-
firmation process, which
begins Monday before the
Democrat ic - cont rolled
Senate Judiciary Commit-
tee, with bipartisan sup-
port.
“Judge Garland’s ex-
tensive legal experience
makes him well-suited to
lead the Department of
Justice, and I appreciated
his commitment to keep
politics out of the Justice
Department,” Sen. John
Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a
something new, I expect
to support his nomination
before the full Senate.”
Biden’s choice of Gar-
land reflects the presi-
dent’s goal of restoring
the department’s repu-
tation as an independent
body. During his four
years as president, Don-
ald Trump had insisted
that the attorney general
must be loyal to him per-
sonally, a position that
battered the department’s
reputation. Garland’s
high court nomination by
President Barack Obama
in 2016 died because the
R epubl ic a n - cont rol led
Senate refused to hold a
hearing.
Garland will inherit a
Justice Department that
endured a tumultuous
time under Trump — rife
with political drama and
controversial decisions
— and abundant criticism
from Democrats over
what they saw as the po-
liticizing of the nation’s
top law enforcement agen-
cies.
The department’s pri-
orities and messaging are
expected to shift drasti-
cally in the Biden admin-
istration, with a focus
more on civil rights issue,
criminal justice overhauls
and policing policies in
the wake of nationwide
protests over the death of
Black Americans at the
hands of law enforcement.
Garland plans to tell
senators the department
must ensure laws are “fair-
ly and faithfully enforced”
and the rights of all Amer-
icans are protected, while
reaffirming an adherence
to policies to protect its
political independence,
with the attorney general
acting as a lawyer for the
American people, not for
the president.

Boeing: 777s with engine that blew apart should be grounded

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Boeing has recom-
mended that airlines
ground all of its 777s with
the type of engine that suf-
fered a catastrophic failure
over Denver this weekend,
as U.S. regulators ordered
United Airlines to step up
inspections of those air-
craft.
United said Sunday it
is temporarily removing
the aircraft from service, a
day after one of its planes
made an emergency land-
ing at Denver Internation-
al Airport because its right
engine blew apart just after
takeoff. Pieces of the cas-
ing of the engine, a Pratt &
Whitney PW4000, rained
down on suburban neigh-
borhoods. None of the 231
passengers or 10 crew on
board was reported hurt,
and the plane landed safe-
ly, authorities said.
U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration Adminis-
trator Steve Dickson said
in a statement Sunday
that based on an initial
review of safety data, in-
spectors “concluded that
the inspection interval
should be stepped up for
the hollow fan blades that
are unique to this model
of engine, used solely on
Boeing 777 airplanes.”
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021 3A

Progress in restoring electricity, water challenges remain

Jackson’s 161,000 residents are still being advised to boil
water before drinking it as officials work to restore water
BY REBECCA SANTANA
The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS —
Progress is being made to
restore electricity across
parts of Louisiana and
Mississippi that have ex-
perienced outages this
week as a result of freez-
ing cold temperatures,
but challenges remain in
getting water services re-
stored.
According to Power-
Outage.us, 29,402 cus-
tomers were without
power in Mississippi as of
Sunday afternoon. That
was an improvement from
the 38,370 customers
without power at the start
of the day. By afternoon
Sunday 10,804 customers
were without power —
down from 14,840 earlier
in the day. Crews have
been out in force in recent
days to restore power af-
ter temperatures plum-
meted earlier in the week.
Rising temperatures
across the region are also
helping.
Entergy, which pro-
vides service to custom-
ers in roughly half of Mis-
sissippi’s counties, said
Friday that it expected
most of its customers to
regain service by the be-
ginning of next week, the
Clarion-Ledger reported
Sunday. In a news con-
ference Friday, President
and CEO of Entergy Mis-
sissippi, Haley Fisackerly,
also warned customers to
slowly ramp up their us-
age once their electricity
comes back so they don’t
overload their systems,
the newspaper said.
The state’s Depart-
ment of Health canceled
drive-thru coronavirus
vaccinations in three
counties Sunday — Ad-
ams, Lee and Washington
— as a result of weather,
the department reported
on its Twitter feed. They
said those appointments
are being rescheduled.
Communities in both
states are still working
to restore water services
after the freezing tem-
peratures iced equipment
and caused water lines
to burst. In a sign of how
far-reaching the problems
were, dozens of towns and
water associations had
reported to the state that
they had customers under
boil water advisories that
started when the harsh
weather kicked in.
In Jackson, the entire
city of about 161,000 resi-
dents is still being advised
to boil water before drink-
ing it as officials work to
restore water to city res-
idents. City officials Sat-
urday delivered water to
elderly and homebound
residents.
The city’s public works
director, Charles Wil-
liams, said Sunday that
there was still no defini-
tive timeline for when wa-
ter service would be fully
restored.
“We are working as
hard as we can to get this
resolved. We know the
patience is thin,” he said
in a telephone interview.
He said the weather was
so cold that it froze equip-
ment at the city’s two wa-
ter treatment facilities.
As temperatures start-
ed to rise and the equip-
ment thawed, they’re now
encountering problems
with sensors and other
types of equipment dam-
aged by the freeze and are
currently troubleshooting
those problems, he said.
There’s also concern that
as they start pushing
more water out from the
treatment plants through
the water lines they will
encounter more breaks
due to the weather.
He said residents who
live furthest from the
treatment plants have had
the biggest problems with
many of those people hav-
ing no water at all while
others who live closer
have seen low water pres-
sure.
In a statement posted on
the city’s Facebook page
Saturday, officials said
the pressure, measured as
pounds per square inch,
needed to reached 90 psi at
one location and 80 psi at
another but as of Saturday
evening was only at 55 psi.
As of Saturday evening,
there were 13 water main
breaks in the city, the
statement read.
Many Louisiana cities
have also been hammered
with water delivery prob-
lems as a result of the icy
temperatures.
In southwest Louisiana
where residents were still
recovering from hurri-
canes last year, many res-
idents last week were left
struggling with no water
after pipes burst around
the region.

Aldermen
Continued from Page 1A
By state law, a brewpub
allows the manufacture
and sale of beer (up to 8
percent alcohol by weight),
light wine (up to 5 percent
alcohol by weight) and
light spirits (up to 4 per-
cent alcohol by weight),
on-site, with a manufac-
turing limit of 75,000 gal-
lons per year. Small craft
breweries legally can pro-
duce considerably more
(60,000 barrels a year,
which is equal to about 1.8
million gallons).
Most immediately, the
ordinance change will al-
low John Higgins, owner
of Tupelo-based Spring
Street Cigars, to open a
cigar lounge and brew-
pub in the old Mugshots
Restaurant building at the
corner of Main Street and
Douglas L. Conner Drive.
Aldermen have already
granted cigar lounges in
the Leisure and Enter-
tainment District an ex-
emption to the city’s an-
ti-smoking ordinance, but
an establishment that al-
lows smoking still cannot
serve food, making a sep-
arate exemption for Hig-
gins’ brewpub necessary.
Originally, aldermen
only looked to consider the
food exemption for brew-
pubs and small craft brew-
eries in the Leisure and
Entertainment District,
but they later held a pub-
lic hearing on whether to
apply the exemption city-
wide. Ultimately, fearing
“unintended consequenc-
es” — such as businesses
that the spirit of the law
never intended to exempt
from food sales possibly
finding legal loopholes —
the board restricted the
exemption to its original
form.
“Nothing with alcohol
(law) in
Mississippi
is simple,”
Ward 2 Al-
der ma n
S a n d r a
Sistrunk
said. “... We
were trying Sistrunk
to look at
this from a public safety
and enforcement stand-
point.”
Brewery owner:
Ordinance as written
‘makes no sense’
In the public hearing
before the board’s vote
Friday, the co-owner of
Starkville’s only small
craft brewery implored al-
dermen to allow the food
exemption to also apply to
her business. It was to no
avail.
Jean Mohammahi-Ara-
gh, who co-owns May-
hew Junction on Eckford
Drive, which is outside
the Leisure and Enter-
tainment District, said
she understood restrict-
ing brewpubs to a certain
area, but she thought the
exemption for small craft
breweries should apply
citywide.
“We are against this or-
dinance as
it is written
because it
provides an
except ion
that doesn’t
apply to us,”
she told the
board. “... Mohammahi-
Restricting Aragh
this (exception) to brew-
eries in the Leisure and
Entertainment District
makes no sense to me.”
Mayhew Junction has
operated for about five
years on Eckford Drive,
Mohammahi-Aragh said,
manufacturing craft beer
that Clark Beverage dis-
tributes to restaurants
and other businesses with
a retail permit.
By state law, a small
craft brewery can reserve
10 percent of its product
for on-premise consump-
tion, which Mohamma-
hi-Aragh said would
amount to about 10 gal-
lons a month at Mayhew
Junction.
Under the current
business model, Mayhew
Junction sells intermit-
tent tours in which it of-
fers tastings of its beers
— capping it at six, six-
ounce samples per cus-
tomer per day.
The brewery does not
have a kitchen or any
intent to begin selling
food, she said, but apply-
ing the food exemption
citywide would allow
Mayhew Junction to be-
gin selling pints, some-
thing that could partic-
ularly help the business
bolster its bottom line
when the COVID-19 pan-
demic passes.
“It’s not like we’re go-
ing to become a huge bar
over there,” Mohamma-
hi-Aragh said, referring
to the 10-percent limit
for on-premises con-
sumption.
Moh a m m a h i - A r a g h
also noted small craft
breweries providing to
distributors will not like-
ly locate to the Leisure
and Entertainment Dis-
trict because it doesn’t
offer enough space for
18-wheelers to maneuver
when picking up prod-
uct.
“If we grow, we’d be
looking at going to the
industrial park,” she
said.

CAFB
Continued from Page 1A
provided “according to
Japan’s established pro-
cess.”
Authorities said the jet
crashed at about 5:30 p.m.
outside Dannelly Field,
an Air National Guard
base in Montgomery. An
investigation continues to
determine the cause.
CAFB Wing Com-
mander Col. Seth Gra-
ham said it is common for
pilots to fly cross-country
training missions and
night missions over the
weekend. The pilots, he
said, were on the first leg
of a “two-leg” overnight
journey, though he did
not have the final desti-
nation at a Saturday press
conference. He said fly-
ing activities have been
temporarily suspended
and will likely remain so
for the next few days.

DAR RECOGNIZES STARKVILLE STUDENTS

Dickerson Kelly Rahim

DAR GOOD CITIZENS: After a virtual meeting of the Hic-A-Sha-Ba-Ha Chapter of
the National Society DAR, five Starkville students were recognized for outstanding
achievements. Seniors honored as DAR Good Citizens included Kate Elizabeth Dick-
erson (Starkville High School), Jillian Davis Kelly (Starkville Academy) and Jayden
Shurnali Rahim (Starkville Christian School).

DAR ESSAY CONTEST:

Fifth-grader Sally Sharp
SOLUNAR TABLE
The solunar period indicates
peak-feeding times for fish and game.
Anthony of Starkville Mon. Tue.
9:44p
Major 8:51p
Academy was a winner of Minor 2:44p 3:40p
the Hic-A-Sha-Ba-Ha DAR Major 9:17a 10:11a
Minor 4:46a 5:40a
American History Essay Courtesy of Mississippi Department
of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks
Contest. Eighth-grade win-

The Dispatch
ner from Starkville Acade-
my was Ayden Burkhalter.

The Commercial Dispatch (USPS 142-320)

Published daily except Saturday. Answers to common questions:
Entered at the post office at Columbus, Mississippi.
Periodicals postage paid at Columbus, MS Phone: 662-328-2424
POSTMASTER, Send address changes to:
The Commercial Dispatch, P.O. Box 511, Columbus, MS 39703 Website: cdispatch.com/help
Published by Commercial Dispatch Publishing Company Inc.,
516 Main St., Columbus, MS 39703
Report a news tip: news@cdispatch.com
Anthony Burkhalter
Opinion
4A MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
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

THE NATION
‘I do not believe unity is possible’
Uh-oh. Joe Biden the husband who nomic collapse – the unem- to hear his defenders opine duality of mind when Biden
is talking unity beat her, you can- ployment rate near 25 percent, that it didn’t matter what kind insists, against all the evidence
again. not ask people of GDP down by 30 percent, one of man a president was, so of our eyes, our hearts and
It came last week color to seek it with in five banks failing – and long as he did the right thing our logic, on American unity.
at a CNN town bigotry or Muslims promised a revival. “The only politically. As Barbra Streisand On the one hand, you recall
hall in Milwaukee with Islamophobia thing we have to fear,” he famously snipped, “We elected the march through Charlot-
in response to a or LGBTQ Ameri- asserted, “is fear itself.” a president, not a pope.” tesville, the breaching of the
question about cans with homopho- And yes, the words are If the last four years Capitol, the spinelessness, the
how he will bring bia or undocument- stirring. But if you think accomplished nothing else, faithlessness, the litany of lies
Americans togeth- ed workers with about it, they are also patently they should have put per- and alibis that continues right
er. “I take issue xenophobia or fact- ridiculous. Americans, after manently to rest the notion up to the present moment,
with what every- based Americans all, had plenty to fear: jobless- that presidential character and the idea of unity with
body says about Leonard Pitts with utter hogwash. ness, homelessness, hunger, is unimportant. The kind of those people – yes, they have
the division,” he Yet bigotry, Islam- and the prospect of national person a president is has a lot become “those people” in my
replied. “The nation is not ophobia, homophobia, xeno- collapse topping the list. Yet to say about the kind of nation mind – seems delusional, far-
divided. You go out there and phobia and utter hogwash are, Roosevelt’s words rallied and we will be. It is his or her job fetched, a mirage of shadow
take a look and talk to people, increasingly, the only things inspired a dispirited nation. Al- to make entreaty to the best in and smoke. On the other hand,
you have fringes on both ends, the political right has to offer. most 90 years later, they offer us, the highest and most noble it feels undeniably ... right to
but it’s not nearly as divided as So from where I sit, Biden a useful challenge to skeptics in us, to speak into existence once again hear a president
we make it out to be.” speaks nonsense. But maybe like me, a reminder not to that which is unlikely – indeed, call us toward higher purpose.
Regular readers will be that’s not the worst thing in underestimate the power of that which may even be, or at So yes, a duality of mind. I
familiar with my take on unity, the world. presidential optimism. Or, least seem to be, patently ridic- do not believe unity is possible.
last offered in January when I’m remembering another indeed, the power of a presi- ulous. That’s how Lincoln won But I’m glad Joe Biden does.
Biden made a plea for it in his president who spoke nonsense. dent’s character. a civil war, Roosevelt overcame Leonard Pitts Jr., winner
inaugural address. I consider This was on March 4, 1933. When Bill Clinton was pil- a great depression and Kenne- of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for
it, at this stage, a pipe dream. Having just taken the oath loried for sexually exploiting a dy sent men to the moon. commentary, is a columnist for
As you would not ask a bat- of office, Franklin Roosevelt naive young woman and then The memory of all that the Miami Herald. Email him
tered wife to seek unity with faced a nation mired in eco- lying about it, it was common imposes upon me a certain at lpitts@miamiherald.com.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The importance of highlighting the good
around us
America is good but not perfect.
The noise of the naysayers and the volume of in-
formation with a game called blame and a laziness
in chaos creates a mist in the eyes hindering what
is before us. God is at work in America.
“Love where you live” coined by Andy Seti-
awan and The First Assembly Church is a prime
example of what is right in America. The uniter
of a nation is built on love. Good will is at work in
America.
Just to listen at the reports coming out of Texas
in the weather-related chaos is amazing. Sharing
food, water, wood and even taking into the homes
are a perfect example of the good in America.
Good people live in America.
With humility, I join with others saying, “I’m
proud to be an American.”
A shout out to Jan Swoope for writing in The
Dispatch what is “good in America.”
First Assembly Church keep up the “good” in
America.
God Bless America
Robert Gillis
Ethelsville, Alabama

Despite dire headlines, reader sees cause for

optimism
Half a million lives no more over a year.
As a result, the U.S. life expectancy drops a
year.
Dozens of lives are gone in the Arctic cold wave
and millions still suffering.
The Dispatch gave us the news of a trainer jet
crash from our air force base. Immediately I called
our neighbor CAFB instructor pilot. As a group CORONAVIRUS
Hope up and guard down as
leader my young friend didn’t fly that jet but has to
handle and take care of the situation at CAFB.
However, the light still shines. A United Airlines

pandemic starts to weaken?

flight with 241 people narrowly escaped and sur-
vived after a mayday call. NASA’s ‘Perseverance’
landed safely on the red planet and started sending
pictures.
Looks like vaccination and face masking is Are we at the begin-
working. Daily cases and deaths gradually down- ning of the end or the
wards in curve. Glad to see a new term, “Fau- end of the beginning?
ci-ing.” Let’s call it the middle.
At MUW, we have just successfully complet- The COVID-19
ed a virtual science bowl competition. I believe numbers are going
our new generation of scientists will usher a new decisively lower, both
pandemic-free world with much safer science and infections and deaths.
technology. Millions, meanwhile,
Jiben Roy are getting the vaccine
Columbus and becoming mostly
immune to the disease.
Still, the seven-day Froma Harrop
A letter to the editor is an excellent way to partic-
ipate in your community. We request the tone of your average of American
letters be constructive and respectful and the length deaths from this virus continues
be limited to 450 words. We reserve the right to edit in the thousands. And it would be
letters for clarity, grammar and length. Political much higher if more of us let our
endorsements are limited to one per writer. Letters guard down by ignoring calls to
may be emailed to voice@cdispatch.com or mailed to wear masks, socially distance and
The Dispatch, Attn: Letters to the Editor, PO Box 511, sanitize hands.
Columbus, MS 39703-0511. We each make our own policy
for how far to go. There are the
absolutists, who take no chances.
They see no friends and never
TODAY IN HISTORY enter a restaurant, much less step
on a plane.
Today is Monday, Feb. 22, the 53rd day of 2021. Then there are moderates, like
There are 312 days left in the year. yours truly, who always wear a
mask in public but do gather with
Today’s Highlight in History: their “pod” of careful friends. We
On Feb. 22, 1980, the “Miracle on Ice” took eat in establishments that take
place in Lake Placid, New York, as the United precautions.
States Olympic hockey team upset the Soviets, 4-3. Finally, there are those who
(The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.) don’t care at all and do nothing.
They risk their own life and the
lives of others.
On this date: As we move into a somewhat
In 1732 (New Style date), the first president of less scary phase of this disease,
the United States, George Washington, was born in we moderates probably have
Westmoreland County in the Virginia Colony. the most to think about. That’s
In 1889, President Grover Cleveland signed an because we were always open to
enabling act paving the way for the Dakotas, Mon- weighing more options.
tana and Washington to become states. Consideration No. 1:
mask-wearing. Of
course we’ll continue
wearing masks. But
two masks with one
of tight-fitting cloth,
as Dr. Anthony Fauci
advises? On public
transportation, OK. But
as the risks of infection
heads down, perhaps
we can lighten up and
wear just a lightweight
mask while on a walk.
Infectious-disease
experts now believe that outdoor
activities rarely cause the disease
to spread unless people are in
close conversation. They say that
with a few exceptions, we can safe-
ly jog or bike without a mask.
That said, hospitals are still ra-
tioning medical-grade N95 masks
even as their stockpiles grow,
according to the Associated Press.
Why? They remain traumatized
by the terrifying mask shortage
of a year ago and don’t want to be
caught short-handed again. They
also fear a future surge in cases.
(More on that later.)
We moderates continue to
frown on the maskless multitudes
who crowd at superspreader
events. A recent example would
be the bar parties following the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Super
Bowl win. Health officials in
Florida warn of a possible corona-
virus spike as a result. For people
like me, the difference now is we
take all that reckless behavior less
personally.
Consideration No. 2: traveling.
Early in the pandemic, I flew
across the country on a JetBlue
flight with few passengers and
distanced seating. I would not go
on a crowded jet. Now that I’ve had
my first shot, I worry less about
flying. When I get the second one,
I’ll hop right on.
Consideration No. 3: guilt. As
frontline workers, the elderly and
other vulnerable people get their
protective vaccinations, less stig-
ma is attached to easing up a bit on
the restrictions.
However, unsettling thoughts
remain. New coronavirus variants
are reportedly more infectious and
not as easily tamed by some of the
vaccines. Variants are reportedly
reinfecting people who survived
the early version of the disease.
And, undoubtedly, more variants
are coming at us.
To reach herd immunity, 60
to 90 percent of the population
must be vaccinated or protected
by prior infection, according to
medical experts. If the 15 percent
of Americans who say they’ll never
get the vaccine follow through on
that vow, that goal could be hard
to reach.
The hope in this country is
that the pandemic will end around
summer. As the scourge shows
more definite signs of weakening,
we who tried to do the right things
may be able to relax -- if just a
little. This will be a strange time.
Froma Harrop, a syndicated
columnist, writes for the Providence
(Rhode Island) Journal. Her e-mail
address is fharrop@gmail.com.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021 5A

Beyond 100M: Biden team aiming for bigger vaccine numbers

About 145 million doses are set for delivery in the next 5 1/2 weeks
BY ZEKE MILLER
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — It sound-
ed so ambitious at first blush:
100 million vaccination shots in
100 days.
Now, one month into his
presidency, Joe Biden is on a
glide path to attain that goal and
pitching well beyond it to the far
more ambitious and daunting
mission of vaccinating all eligi-
ble adults against the coronavi-
rus by the end of the summer.
Limited supply of the two
approved COVID-19 vaccines
has hampered the pace of vac-
cinations — and that was be-
fore extreme winter weather
delayed the delivery of about 6
million doses this past week.
But the United States is on the
verge of a supply breakthrough
as manufacturing ramps up and
with the expectation of a third
vaccine becoming available in
the coming weeks.
That means the act of deliv-
ering injections will soon be the
dominant constraint, and it’s
prompting the Biden adminis-
tration to push to dramatically
expand the universe of those
who will deliver injections and
where Americans will meet
them to get their shots.
“It’s one thing to have the
vaccine, and it’s very different
to get it in someone’s arms,”
Biden said Friday as he toured
Pfizer’s manufacturing plant in
Portage, Michigan. The com-
pany is set to double its pace of
vaccine deliveries in the com-
ing weeks.
Since their approval in De-
cember, more than 75 million
doses of the two-shot-regimen
Moderna and Pfizer vaccines
have been distributed, of which
63 million have been injected,
reaching 13 percent of Ameri-
cans. Nearly 45 million of those
doses have been administered
since Biden’s inauguration on
Jan. 20.
The pace of deliveries of
those vaccines is about to take
off. About 145 million doses are
set for delivery in the next 5 1/2
weeks, with an additional 200
million expected by the end of
May and a further 200 million
by the end of July.
That’s before the anticipat-
ed approval by the Food and
Drug Administration for emer-
gency use of a third vaccine,
from Johnson & Johnson. The
single-dose J&J vaccine is ex-
pected to help speed the path
to immunity and requires half
the vaccination resources of the
two-shot regimens. But there is
no massive stockpile of J&J dos-
es ready to roll out on Day One.
“We’re going to be starting
with only a few million in inven-
tory,” White House COVID-19
coordinator Jeff Zients said this
past week. Still, when combined
with the anticipated increases
in the other vaccines, the J&J
doses could prove the pivotal
advance in delivering enough
shots for nearly all American
adults by the end of June, at
least a month earlier than cur-
rently anticipated.
The daily inoculation av-
erage climbed to 1.7 million
shots per day last week, but as
many as double that number of
doses are soon expected to be
available on average each day.
The focus of Biden’s team is
now quickly shifting to ensur-
ing those doses can get used,
though the administration has
resisted the calls of some health
experts to publicly set a “moon-
shot” target for how many daily
doses it hopes to deliver.

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publication. For more informa-
tion, call 662-328-2471.
Ethelyne Strait
COLUMBUS —
Ethelyne W. Strait, 90,
died Feb. 19, 2021.
Graveside services
will be at 11 a.m. Tues-
day, at Memorial Gar-
dens, with Jim Ray and
Mike Dalton officiating.
Visitation will be one
hour prior to services
at Memorial Gunter
Peel Funeral Home and
Crematory. Memorial
Gunter Peel Funeral
Home and Crematory,
Second Avenue North
location is in charge of
arrangements.
Mrs. Strait was born
in Louisville, to the late
Walter and Ida White.
AREA OBITUARIES
She was formerly em- In addition to her Gelisa Hudgins charge of
ployed with several day parents, she was pre- arrange-
EMELLE, Ala.
care centers and was ceded in death by her — Gelisa Nicole “G” ments. He
a member of McBee husband, Guy Metcalfe Hudgins, 28, died Feb. is survived
Baptist Church. Sr.; children, Guy Met- 21, 2021, in Geiger, by his
In addition to her calfe Jr. and Houston Alabama. children,
parents, she was Metcalfe; and seven A home-going Trinea
preceded in death by siblings. celebration will be at Wash- Gibson
her husband, James She is survived by 11 a.m. Saturday, at ington of
A. Strait; and siblings, her children, Willie New Bethany Primi- Canton, Jennifer Gib-
Jim White, Walter Earl Guy Metcalfe, Albert son, Courtney Sherman Ethelyne Strait
tive Baptist Church in Visitation:
White, Dale Robertson, Lee Metcalfe, Jimmy Aliceville, Alabama, both of Starkville, Tim- Tuesday, Feb. 23 • 10-11 AM
Sally Puckett and Ear- Metcalfe, Dimple with the Rev. Kennedy othy Macon, Christo- 2nd Ave N Location
nestine Cockrell. Hackman all of Sulli- pher Gibson and Jarrad Graveside Services:
Kirkland and Rev. Mar- Tuesday, Feb. 23 • 11 AM
She is survived by gent; Barbara Smith cus McKinstry officiat- Gibson; father, Archie Memorial Gardens
her children Kathy of Columbus, Joann Gibson; siblings, Burial
ing. Burial will follow at Memorial Gardens
Hutchinson and Gary Hollis of Guin, Al- New Cemetery. Laven- Juliaphine Self, Wilma 2nd Ave N Location
Strait of Columbus; abama and Carnell der’s Funeral Services Madison, Elaine Coope-
three grandchildren; Warden of Jackson; 33 of Aliceville is in charge wood, Carlene Carter Elise Jackson
eight great-grand- grandchildren; several and Randy Gibson all Incomplete
of arrangements.
children; and three great-grandchildren; of Starkville; and 11 2nd Ave. N. Location
great-great-grandchil- and great-great-grand- grandchildren.
dren. children.
Otis Gibson Henry Vaughn
Pallbearers will be STARKVILLE — Incomplete
Tommy Ferguson, Rod- Otis Lee Gibson, 59, Bobby Giles 2nd Ave. N. Location
ney Cockrell, Richie Elise Jackson died Feb. 14, 2021. CALEDONIA —
White, Eric Bullard, COLUMBUS — Graveside services Bobby Giles, 84, died
Greg Duke and Kenny Elise Jackson, 85, will be at 2 p.m. Tues- Feb. 21, 2021, at his
White. died Feb. 21, 2021, at day, at Plair Church residence.
Sanctuary Hospice in Cemetery. Visitation is Arrangements are
Tupelo. from 1-6 p.m. today, at incomplete and will be
Laura Metcalfe Arrangements are West Memorial Chapel. announced by Lown- memorialgunterpeel.com
SULLIGENT, Ala. incomplete and will be
West Memorial Funeral des Funeral Home of
— Laura Metcalfe, 103, announced by Memori-
Home of Starkville is in Columbus.
died Feb. 15, 2021, at
al Gunter Peel Funeral
her residence.
Private family grave-
Home and Crematory,
Second Avenue North
side services were at
location.
12:30 p.m. Sunday, at
Fairview Cemetery,
with David LeSuerur Ma’Kenzley Colvin
officiating. Visitation EMELLE, Ala. —
was from 11 a.m.-noon Ma’Kenzley “Snuggles”
Sunday, at Otts Funeral Colvin, 4, passed away.
Home. Otts Funeral A home-going cel-
Home of Sulligent was ebration will be at 11
in charge of arrange- a.m. Saturday, at New
ments. Bethany Primitive Bap-
Mrs. Metcalfe was tist Church in Alicev-
born Feb 9, 1918, in Sul- ille, Alabama, with the
ligent, to the late Jim- Rev. Kennedy Kirkland
my Wallace and Mary and Rev. Marcus McK-
Thompson-Wallace. instry officiating. Buri-
She attended Lamar al will follow at New
County Training School Cemetery. Lavender’s
and was a member of Funeral Services of
Roxanna Independent Aliceville is in charge
Church of God. of arrangements.

How do we know the COVID-19 vaccines are safe?

BY LAURAN NEERGAARD
AP Medical Writer
How do we know the COVID-19 vac-
cines are safe?
Scientists look for safety issues during
the testing phase and continue their mon-
itoring as shots roll out around the world.
So far, the only serious warning to emerge
is a rare risk of severe allergic reactions.
Different types of COVID-19 vaccines
have been authorized and it’s possible
side effects will differ for each — al-
though there’s more public data on the
vaccines being rolled out in Western
countries than elsewhere. Countries
also vary in their vaccine standards, with
some allowing the use of shots before fi-
nal-stage testing involving large numbers
of volunteers.
But in the U.S., Britain and European
Union, regulators required any vaccine to
be tested in tens of thousands of people
before distribution. So far, the U.S. is us-
ing shots from Pfizer and Moderna, while
Britain and Europe have cleared those
plus the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Those companies’ large studies found
that common side effects were minor and
typical of the immune system revving up:
soreness in the arm, fever and flu-like
symptoms including fatigue, chills and
headache.
But since extremely rare problems
might not turn up even in large tests,
the vaccines still are being monitored.
The U.S. and British governments and
the European Medicines Agency track
reports filed by health workers and the
public about suspected side effects. Ex-
tra scrutiny in the U.S. includes tracking
insurance claims for red flags. And U.S.
vaccine recipients can sign up for a pro-
gram that sends text messages to see if
they’re feeling side effects.
Those checks are proving reassuring.
People are supposed to wait around for
a short time after vaccination in case they
have a severe allergic reaction, called ana-
phylaxis. Such incidents so far have been
rare, with between 2 and 5 anaphylaxis
reports for every million vaccine doses
in the first weeks of U.S. inoculations, ac-
cording to the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention.
Officials expected to receive reports of
health problems, even deaths, that occur
just by chance in the days or weeks after
vaccination, given the huge numbers of
people, including the frail elderly, getting
inoculated.
Deaths and other serious events are
investigated to see if the vaccine played
a role. Authorities consider the person’s
overall health and how often the report-
ed condition occurs without vaccination.
With more than 52 million vaccine doses
administered in the U.S. by mid-Febru-
ary, the CDC said it hasn’t detected any
patterns in deaths that signal a safety
problem.

If you don’t read The Dispatch, how are you gonna know?
6A MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Enrollment at US community colleges plummets amid pandemic

National Student Clearinghouse: Nationwide,
enrollment at community colleges dropped
10 percent from fall 2019 to fall 2020
BY ANITA SNOW
AND COLLIN BINKLEY
The Associated Press
PHOENIX — Peniella Ira-
koze is cold calling a list of
1,001 fellow students who didn’t
return to Phoenix College this
semester, checking on how
they’re managing during the
coronavirus pandemic.
The calls have become a reg-
ular part of her job at a commu-
nity college like others across
the U.S. that have experienced
significant enrollment declines
as students face challenges
with finances, family life and
virtual learning.
“I didn’t know that so many
people were struggling,” said
Irakoze, 20, who studies med-
ical laboratory science and
works part-time for the college.
“So many students aren’t com-
ing back.”
Nationwide, enrollment at
community colleges — which
offer two-year degrees and
vocational training and often
attract older students looking
to learn new skills — dropped
10 percent from fall 2019 to fall
2020, according to the National
Student Clearinghouse.
They were hit the hardest
amid all colleges and four-year
universities experienced only
slight declines, beating many
predictions that the outcome
would be worse.
While it was no surprise
that fewer freshmen enrolled
at four-year and community
colleges, delaying studies un-
til campuses fully reopen, the
pandemic took a much heavier
toll on older adult students who
frequently choose the commu-
nity college route. Many lost
jobs or have no time for their
own schooling as they super-
vise their children’s online
classes.
“The majority of them are
working, many of them in in-
dustries that have been deci-
mated by the pandemic,” said
Martha Parham, a senior vice
president for the American
Association of Community
Colleges. “Trying to navigate
that and take classes is a very
daunting challenge at this
time.”
Depression and anxiety
also disrupted the academic
careers of community college
students, including Stephanie
Cruz Vazquez.
She said her severe anxiety
was amplified so much by her
virus concerns that she decid-
ed last year to take a year off
from fashion design classes at
Mesa Community College near
Phoenix.
“The pandemic really
pushed me over the edge,” said
Cruz Vazquez, 20.
She ended up infected with
COVID-19 along with her par-
ents. They all recovered and
Cruz Vazquez now works for
a local city council race cam-
paign with plans to return to
college this year.
More Americans typically
turn to community college ed-
ucation amid economic down-
turns, seeking to learn new job
skills or change careers. But
the depth of the pandemic’s
downturn, which kept many
people homebound, seems to
have upended usual trends, ed-
ucation experts said.
That troubles advocates and
policy makers who cite com-
munity colleges as important
options for low-income Ameri-
cans. At a Senate hearing this
month, Miguel Cardona, Pres-
ident Joe Biden’s pick for edu-
cation secretary, called for fed-
eral financial support to help
hurting community colleges,
calling them “this nation’s
best-kept secret.”
Even in good economic
times, many community col-
lege students struggle to stay
in school while juggling the
demands of supporting fami-
lies, paying rent and covering
tuition.

Tribble
Continued from Page 1A
Tribble is one of
10,000 teachers in the
United States and Cana-
da working for VIPKid,
a Beijing-based company
with offices in San Fran-
cisco that pairs Chinese
children, ages 5-13, with
one-on-one remote tutors
for immersive English.
She said a cousin living
in Tampa, Florida, en-
couraged her to apply in
2018.
For the younger chil-
dren, these 25-minute
sessions start with iden-
tifying things using En-
glish words, but it evolves
to reading comprehen-
sion and cross-curricular
lessons in mathematics
and social studies, Trib-
ble said. When she starts
teaching at 4 a.m., it’s 6
p.m. in China, and her
students often are see-
ing her after completing
a full day of their regular
studies.
“In China, there’s a big
push for students to learn
English in their schools,”
Tribble said. “They have
to pass tests just to get
into high school, and if
they don’t pass, they have
to go to work. … Some
need the supplemental
help, so that’s why they
are doing (VIPKid).”
The “big deal” for the
program, Tribble said, is
to push students to speak
English in complete sen-
tences, rather than just
answer questions with
one word. The older
children usually become
more comfortable with
having entire conversa-
tions with her in English.
“Some are only chil-
dren,” she said. “So they
are happy to have a con-
versation with anybody.”
Tribble, who holds
a master’s degree in
technical education and
a PhD in community
college leadership, re-
tired from Mississippi
State University in 2017
where she helped devel-
op curriculum for voca-
tional-technical centers
all over the state. Her
“retirement” still looks a
whole lot like working.
Not only does Tribble
teach six sessions a day
in the winter — and eight
in the spring and summer
— for VIPKid, she also is
an adjunct instructor at
East Mississippi Com-
munity College, teaching
courses in human growth
development, child and
adolescent psychology.
But it’s all worth it,
Tribble said, even as her
3 a.m. alarm each day
sets her about preparing
her teaching workspace
in the corner of her din-
ing room, which now is
decorated for the Chi-
nese New Year her stu-
dents are celebrating, for
another day of lessons.
“You get to see a smil-
ing face on the other
end,” she said. “So it’s
kind of fun.”

Analysis
Continued from Page 1A
and elsewhere.
There was little dis-
cussion of Senate Bill
2536 before the Republi-
can-controlled Mississip-
pi Senate passed it 34-9
during a late-night ses-
sion on a deadline day.
Four senators voted “pres-
ent,” which does not count
for or against the mea-
sure. Five did not vote.
Rob Hill is state exec-
utive director of Human
Rights Campaign, an
LGBTQ advocacy group.
“By passing SB 2536,
the Mississippi Senate is
listening to national ex-
tremist organizations that
are using fear and hate
as a political wedge,” Hill
said in a statement. “All
this bill does is put trans-
gender youth at risk of
bullying, exclusion, and
increased danger while
discrimination and vio-
lence against transgen-
der people is at a record
high in this country. If
legislators would simply
listen to medical experts
and transgender athletes,
they might know that
transitioning for the sake
of a competitive advan-
tage is simply unrealistic.
So is the idea that trans-
gender athletes even gain
a supposed advantage in
the first place.”
A few hours before the
Senate vote, the Repub-
lican-controlled Missis-
sippi House approved a
different limit on trans-
gender athletes. Repre-
sentatives were consid-
ering House Bill 1030,
which would allow college
athletes to make money
off of their own name, im-
age or likeness.
A few states, including
Florida, have already vot-
ed to let college athletes
earn money that way.
Republican Rep. Scott
Bounds of Philadelphia
argued that Mississippi
universities would face a
disadvantage in recruit-
ing unless this state also
allows it.
Republican Rep. Becky
Currie of Brookhaven
offered an amendment
to exclude transgender
college athletes from
earning money on their
name, likeness or image
— again, without offering
evidence that any trans-
gender athletes are play-
ing on Mississippi sports
teams.
Currie said her amend-
ment was intended pro-
tect women from having
to compete against people
who were born male.
“You’re either for wom-
en and women’s sports
and let them be able to
train and do all the hard
work that you have to do
to become state champs
or winners and college
athletes, or you’re not,”
Currie said.
Currie’s amendment
said that if an athlete’s
sex is in dispute, he or she
may present a signed phy-
sician’s statement indicat-
ing the athlete’s “internal
and external reproductive
anatomy ... normal endog-
enously produced levels
of testosterone” and “ge-
netic makeup.”
As the House prepared
to vote on her amend-
ment, Currie added: “We
can see who’s for women
and who’s not.”
Democratic Rep.
Shanda Yates of Jackson
asked during the debate
on Currie’s amendment:
“Why are we addressing
problems that our state
isn’t facing when we have
plenty of our own prob-
lems that we do face on a
daily basis that we’re not
addressing?”
Democratic Rep. John
Hines of Greenville asked
Bounds during the de-
bate what would happen
if a person had been born
with both male and fe-
male reproductive organs
and that person decid-
ed to compete in sports.
Bounds did not have a
clear answer. His focus
was on keeping Mississip-
pi universities competi-
tive in recruiting athletes.
Currie’s amendment
passed on a voice vote,
which means there is no
record of which represen-
tatives voted yes and who
voted no. The bill then
passed 93-19.
The House bill now
moves to the Senate for
more debate, and the cdispatch.com
Senate bill moves to the
House.
Sports
NO. 10 TCU 3, NO. 7 MISSISSIPPI STATE 2
SPORTS LINE
662-241-5000
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
B
SECTION

Diamond Dawgs’ comeback falls just short against TCU

BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com
Scotty Dubrule
dropped the bat and
jogged to first base.
When the Mississippi
State freshman second
baseman walked on four
pitches to load the bas-
es with one out against
No. 10 TCU (1-1) in the
bottom of the ninth Sun-
day afternoon, the ma-
roon-and-white faithful
at Globe Life Field in Ar-
lington, Texas, reached a
fever pitch.
MSU had cut a 3-1 lead
in half on a Josh Hatcher
single and was suddenly
poised to tie the game if
not win outright. What
momentum the Horned
Frogs had held a few
minutes earlier, the sev-
enth-ranked Bulldogs had
seized.
But a few pitches lat-
er, it was gone. Drew
McGowan hit into a
game-ending double play,
and the Bulldogs’ frantic
comeback effort came up
just short in a 3-2 loss Sun-
day in the State Farm Col-
lege Baseball Showdown.
“Our guys fought to
the end,” Mississippi
State coach Chris Lem-
onis said. “We had some
really good at-bats there
in the ninth.”
The Bulldogs (1-1)
brought home their first
run of the inning after
Logan Tanner hit a one-
out double and Hatcher
poked the ball up the mid-
dle to score him. Hatcher
went first to third on a
Luke Hancock base hit,
and Dubrule took a free
pass from Garrett Wright.
But McGowan’s hard
ground ball to second on
a 1-1 count found the glove
of TCU second base-
man Gray Rodgers, who
flipped to shortstop Tom-
my Sacco. Sacco threw
on to first to complete a
critical 4-6-3 double play
that promptly erased Mis-
sissippi State’s comeback
chances.
“It had to be hard hit,
and it had to be right
there,” Lemonis said of
McGowan’s grounder,
noting the freshman’s
4.1-second time to first
base. “It was a really good
swing off a really good
Mississippi State Athletics
arm.” On Sunday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Mississippi State pitcher Brandon
The Bulldogs man- Smith made his first appearance since 2019 after Tommy John surgery. He got out
aged seven hits against of a big spot in the fourth inning and finished with one hit and one run on his line in
TCU lefty starter Russell 2.1 innings. “He’s still in that process right now to where he’s going to be a really
See BASEBALL, 3B big piece of our bullpen to help us extend the games,” coach Chris Lemonis said.

MSU softball ALABAMA 71, MISSISSIPPI STATE 63

has 17-game
win streak
snapped Bulldogs hit new low in demoralizing
BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com

STARKVILLE — The
Mississippi State softball
team typically has no
loss to Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa
problem turning on the
offense when it’s sorely
needed in the late in-
nings.
But a nagging inabili-
ty to bring that intensity
from the beginning of
every game finally cost
the Bulldogs on Sunday
at Nusz Park.
A late comeback
against Southern Illinois
in Mississippi State’s
second game at The
Snowman (Alex Wilcox
Memorial) Tournament
couldn’t save the Bull-
dogs from suffering their
first loss in 18 games and
365 days. No. 22 MSU (3-
1) lost 6-5 to SIU in eight
innings, the team’s first
loss since Feb. 22, 2020,
against Oregon.

See SOFTBALL, 3B

JSU gives
Sanders
shutout in Mississippi State head coach Nikki McCray-Penson said the Bulldogs’ struggles aren’t helped by a lot of postponed games because of
Photo by Robert Sutton

coaching COVID-19 and a recent winter storm. “We’re a team where we need games, we need to get in rhythm,” McCray-Penson said.

debut
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSON — Jalon
Jones threw for three
touchdowns and ran for
another as Jackson State
rolled past NAIA Edward
Waters 53-0 in Deion
Sanders’ coaching debut
on Sunday.
Kymani Clarke scored
two rushing touchdowns.
Warren Newman showed
some dazzling speed as a
wideout and kick return-
er and caught a 6-yard
pass from Jones for JSU’s
first score.
Jones completed 18 of
20 passes for 187 yards
and TD passes to New-
man, Daylen Baldwin
and Christian Allen. JSU
racked up 435 yards of
total offense to Edward
Waters’ 104.
After a week of rare
freezing weather had
many residents of Jack-
son waiting in long lines
for bottled drinking
water, the atmosphere
among 12,000 fans sprin-
kled within Mississippi
See SANDERS, 3B
BY BEN PORTNOY
bportnoy@cdispatch.com
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. —
There’s something eerie about
seeing a season hit rock bottom
in the center of an arena more
befitting of an airplane hangar.
For Mississippi State, the scat-
tered applause from an apathet-
ic Alabama fan base that hasn’t
seen its squad reach the NCAA
tournament since 1999 was a
harrowing reminder of how far
the program has fallen in a mat-
ter of four months.
There’s plenty of blame to go
around for Sunday’s 71-63 loss
to the Crimson Tide: a pandem-
ic, an unexpected 10-day layoff,
a new coaching staff. But what-
ever the root of MSU’s struggles
are this season, the second loss
to Alabama this year marked a
new low in a campaign that has
seemingly set new ones by the
week.
“We’re accustomed to win-
ning,” MSU head coach Nikki
McCray-Penson said postgame.
“When you’re not winning,
sometimes (effort) is ques-
tioned. I don’t question that.”
Having played just two South-
eastern Conference games over
the past 34 days due to varying
cancellations and postpone-
ments, the Bulldogs looked the
part of a team in free fall. MSU
was disjointed, discombobulat-
ed and downright dreadful in
guarding Alabama’s high-oc-
tane offense as the Crimson
Tide torched the Bulldogs for a
6-of-13 mark from 3-point range
and a 41.7 percent shooting
mark from the floor in Sunday’s
first half.
Offensively, the same prob-
lems that have plagued MSU
throughout the year persisted.
Junior forward Jessika Carter,
who earned second team all-
SEC honors a season ago, set-
tled for her step-back jumper
possession after possession.
She hit a few. She missed more.
Sophomore sensation Rickea
Jackson looked like a shell of her
former self for the umpteenth
time this winter in the early
stages of Sunday’s loss. Jack-
son, who felt poised to step into
the national player of the year
conversation after a standout
freshman campaign, was again
stifled throughout the first half
and recorded more turnovers
(3) than she did field goals (2).
“The shots that they’re get-
ting, they just have to make,”
McCray-Penson said of Carter
and Jackson, “especially the
ones at the rim.”
Out of the half, MSU tried to
play with more pace. Alabama
did it better.
Following its woeful shooting
display in the first two quarters,
MSU finished 24-of-63 from
the field as Alabama and first-
team all-SEC candidate Jas-
mine Walker — who recorded
a game-high 20 points — shot
a combined 47.6 percent on 63
field goal attempts, including a
9-of-22 mark from 3-point range.
Dejected and downtrod-
den, heads hung low along the
MSU sideline during the clos-
ing minutes of Sunday’s game.
Looking on from the sideline
as Jackson fouled Alabama
forward Ariyah Copeland on a
made fourth-quarter layup, Mc-
Cray-Penson placed her hands
on her head and shook it in dis-
belief.
“It’s February,” McCray-Pen-
son said. “I thought we would
be playing our best basketball
during this time. But we haven’t
played a whole lot. There’s some
things that we’re getting better
at. But it is the rhythm. We’re a
team where we need games, we
need to get in rhythm.”
ESPN bracketologist Char-
lie Creme had MSU slated as a
No. 7 seed in the NCAA tour-
nament in his Feb. 16 rankings.
Alabama will surely be a part of
that 64-team field. So too should
another six SEC teams. But
whether the Bulldogs receive an
invitation to that party is becom-
ing increasingly uncertain.
MSU currently sits just a
game above .500 overall and is
on its lengthiest losing streak
since the 2012-13 season —
Vic Schaefer’s first year in
Starkville. The Bulldogs’ win
over No. 22 Georgia continues
to get better with age. But that
victory aside, MSU has beaten
just one team inside the top 50
of the most recent NET rank-
ings.
McCray-Penson’s past stops
offer ample evidence she’s ca-
pable of lifting a program. She
was a crucial part of South Car-
olina’s rise to dominance un-
der Dawn Staley over the past
decade, and she engineered a
13-win improvement between
her first and second years as
the head coach at Old Dominion
before a 24-win final campaign.
But with three games re-
maining in an already forget-
ful debut season in Starkville,
McCray-Penson and MSU
are in the midst of a schneid
that felt like it finally cratered
Sunday 50 miles over the Ala-
bama state line and could end
with the Bulldogs missing the
tournament for the first time
in eight years.
2B MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

TENNIS

Cloud nine: Djokovic wins ninth

Australian Open, 18th Slam title
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MELBOURNE, Aus-
tralia — Maybe, just may-
be, the thinking went,
Novak Djokovic would be
just a tad more suscep-
tible to trouble this time
around at the Australian
Open.
After all, he tore an
athletic tape from his
stomach.
“I was quite worried,”
Djokovic said about the
injury. “I did not (think)
realistically that I could
actually play. I didn’t know
until two hours before the
fourth-round match.”
Dealing with what he
called “bearable” pain,
unique challenge.
“He’s really good (at)
reading an opponent’s
game,” Medvedev said,
“knowing what you will
do next, how to beat you.”
As things slipped away,
Medvedev bounced his
white racket off the blue
court, then absolutely de-
stroyed it with a full-on
3-all, then 5-all.
But that’s when
Djokovic stepped up, and
Medvedev stepped back.
Djokovic held at love, then
broke to claim the set
when Medvedev slapped
a forehand into the net
just after someone in the
crowd called out during
the point.
Sudoku YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

abdominal muscle in the

third round and wasn’t
Djokovic improved to a spike. He kept looking up Djokovic began the Sudoku
Sudoku is a number-
placing puzzle based on
Sunday’s answer
combined 18-0 in semi- at his coach with palms second set with a fault Sudoku 7 3 1 5 8 2 6 4 9
sure he could continue to a 9x9 gridis witha several
num-
finals and finals on Mel- up as if to ask, “What can into the net, then shook ber-placing
given numbers.puzzleThe object 8 9 6 1 4 3 5 7 2
compete. Entering Sun-

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

bourne’s hard courts. I possibly do here?” his left arm and flexed based onthe
is to place a 9x9
numbers 5 2 4 7 9 6 1 8 3
day, Djokovic ceded five “Probably, it’s not your It is a familiar senti- his shoulders. That point grid
1 to 9with
in theseveral
empty spaces 3 4 8 9 6 1 2 5 7
sets in the tournament, last one,” Medvedev said. ment in this stadium: Fed- ended with him missing given
so that numbers.
each row, eachThe 2 1 7 4 3 5 9 6 8
the most he ever dropped object
en route to a major final.
“I have no words to say.” erer, Nadal, Andy Murray, a backhand into the net, column and each 3x3 the
is to place box 9 6 5 2 7 8 4 3 1
Djokovic, a 33-year-old Stan Wawrinka, Dominic and he glared at his guest numbers
contains the1same to 9 number
in
And to top it all off, he was
from Serbia, has won six Thiem — all Grand Slam box. Another netted back- the empty spaces so 6 7 9 3 2 4 8 1 5
facing Daniil Medvedev, only once. The difficulty 1 8 2 6 5 7 3 9 4
of the last 10 majors and champions, all defeated hand gifted Medvedev a that each row, each
owner of a 20-match win- level increases from
will stay at No. 1 in the by Djokovic in semifinals break. column and each 4 5 3 8 1 9 7 2 6
ning streak. Monday
3x3 boxtocontains
Sunday. Difficulty Level 2/20

rankings at least through or finals in Melbourne. But the extreme expe-

Yeah, right. We’re
talking about Djokovic at
Melbourne Park, where
his dominance is most
certainly intact — nine fi-
nals, nine championships.
Plus, he’s still gaining on
Roger Federer and Rafael
Nadal in the Grand Slam
standings, now up to 18
overall, two shy of the
men’s record those rivals
share.
Djokovic used im-
proved serving, along
with his usual relentless
returning and baseline
excellence to grab 11 of 13
games in one stretch and
beat Medvedev 7-5, 6-2,
6-2 for a third consecutive
Australian Open trophy.
“Definitely, emotional-
ly, the most challenging
Grand Slam that I ever
had, with everything that
was happening — injury,
off-the-court stuff, quar-
antines,” Djokovic said.
“A roller-coaster ride.”
When the match ended
after less than two hours,
Djokovic went to the side-
line, lifted his white shirt
and peeled pieces of beige
March 8. That will give
him 311 weeks there,
breaking another mark
held by Federer.
His goals now are
squarely on Grand Slams,
even more than before.
Put Djokovic’s nine tri-
umphs in Australia along-
side five at Wimbledon,
three at the U.S. Open
and one at the French
Open. The math looks
good for him: He is about
a year younger than Nad-
al and 6 1/2 younger than
Federer.
“I do enjoy the success
every single time even
more,” Djokovic said, “be-
cause I know that the lon-
ger the time passes, the
more difficult it’s going to
become.”
The No. 4-seeded Med-
vedev was appearing in
his second Slam final; he
was the runner-up to Na-
dal at the 2019 U.S. Open.
The 25-year-old from
Russia had won 12 in a
row against Top 10 oppo-
nents, but trying to solve
Djokovic in Australia is a
On a cool, cloudy eve-
ning, an event delayed
three weeks because of
the coronavirus pandemic
closed with an announced
attendance of 7,426 in Rod
Laver Arena. Spectators
were barred for five days
earlier in the tournament
because of a COVID-19
lockdown, but they even-
tually were let back in at
50% capacity.
“There are a lot of
mixed feelings about what
has happened in the last
month or so with tennis
players coming to Austra-
lia,” Djokovic said. “But I
think when we draw a line
at the end, it was a suc-
cessful tournament for
the organizers.”
And for him.
Medvedev’s flat, wrap-
t he - racket- a round - his -
neck forehand was iffy at
first, missing wide, long
and into the net in the
initial 10 minutes. Djokov-
ic grabbed 13 of the
match’s initial 16 points
and a quick 3-0 lead. Soon
enough, though, it was
the same number only once. The difficulty level
rience gap showed there.
increases from Monday to Sunday.
Medvedev immediately
relinquished his next
two service games. In
all, Djokovic broke seven
times and made merely 17
unforced errors to Med-
vedev’s 30.
“Masterpiece,” said
Goran Ivanisevic, the
2001 Wimbledon champi-
on who is one of Djokov-
ic’s coaches. Sunday’s Cryptoquote:
Medvedev appeared
to have a tiny opening at
4-2 in the third, getting to
15-30 on Djokovic’s serve
with a forehand winner
and waving to the crowd
to make noise. As if view-
ing that as a personal af-
front, Djokovic took the
next three points and the
game, then pointed his
right index finger to his
temple and gritted his
teeth.
Soon it was over.
“Coming to Australia,
it always brings that extra
dose of confidence to me,”
Djokovic said, “because
of my record here and be-
cause of how I play.”

Contacting the Sports Department

If you need to report game scores or statistics, you can call us at 662-327-2424 ext. 126. If you need to reach
sports editor Garrick Hodge, email him at ghodge@cdispatch.com. If you need to reach sports writer Ben
Portnoy, email him at bportnoy@cdispatch.com. If you need to reach sports writer Theo DeRosa, email him at
tderosa@cdispatch.com. ACROSS
1 Fall flower
6 Sow’s mate
10 River boat
11 “The Tem-
pest” sprite
13 Wise saying
14 Act the waiter
15 Foot part
16 Bran bit
18 Dog doctor
19 Public ap-
proval
22 Battleship
letters
23 “Bus Stop”
playwright Sunday’s answer
24 Malice DOWN 24 Detective
27 Door sign 1 Let up 25 Violets’
28 Touch down 2 Invader of cousins
29 Boxer Laila England 26 Dante topic
30 Police job 3 Attempted 27 Tin or tita-
35 Employ 4 Sense of self nium
36 Money 5 Deep regret 29 Play division
machine 6 Moisten in the 31 Ham’s device
37 Spoil kitchen 32 Ham it up
38 Ready for 7 Mine rock 33 Consumerist
bed 8 Duct Ralph
40 Wear away 9 Vindictive 34 Lock of hair
42 Painter quest 39 Hosp. sec-
Matisse 12 Pi, phi or psi tions
43 Staff symbols 17 Cart puller 41 King of
44 Mediocre 20 Surpass France
45 Layers 21 Sixtieth of a
dram
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021 3B

PREP BOYS SOCCER

After weather delays, Starkville Academy begins playoffs

BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com
With a 3-1 loss to La-
mar School on Feb. 11,
the Starkville Academy
boys soccer team missed
out on a chance to win the
MAIS Class 4A, Division
II East title.
But that hasn’t stopped
the Volunteers from set-
ting their sights high as
they head into the post-
season.
“The district champi-
onship may not have been
in the cards for us, but I
think (the) state cham-
pionship’s still there for
us,” Starkville Academy
coach John Morgan said.
As the No. 2 seed in
their division, the Vols
earned a road date with
Division II West top seed
Pillow Academy in their
first-round playoff match.
The contest is finally set
to be played at 5 p.m. Mon-
day in Greenwood after
multiple delays because
of inclement weather.
The Vols did not prac-
tice this week with school
closed thanks to the snow,
ice and below-freezing
temperatures that sud-
denly descended on the
Golden Triangle. Morgan
said the team might have
to come out cold and play
the Mustangs on Monday
for their first action in sev-
eral days.
“We haven’t really had
a chance to do much of
anything, but I don’t think
anybody else is really
getting that opportuni-
ty, either,” Morgan said.
“Anytime you break your
routine, it’s always tough
to make sure you get the
boys back and get their
minds right.”
The layoff did give
a couple key Starkville
Academy players a for what they do on the
chance to recuperate,
though. Seventh-grader
Nathan Miller is still re-
covering from a cleats-up
foul earlier in the season,
and Morgan said Miller
should get his stitches out
prior to Monday’s match.
Senior Brody Pierce
will have a chance to
rest his sore hamstring,
too. Pierce had one of
the three Volunteers
goals in a shutout win
for Starkville Academy
against Pillow on Dec.
14 at Chazzy Moor Field
in Greenwood. In that
match, the Mustangs only
had one or two scoring
chances against the Vols’
stout defense.
Morgan said Pillow’s
“bread and butter” is its
4-3-3 formation, which
is typically strongest in
the midfield. He said the
Mustangs have a pattern
attack.
“They’ll usually fun-
nel the ball out wide and
then look to cross it in and
hope somebody’s doing
their job up top,” Morgan
said.
He noted that Pillow
made some changes over
the course of the season
to improve its scoring
odds. The Mustangs of-
ten pull an extremely fast
defender with little ball
skill up to the top of their
formation, hoping to con-
nect on a long pass. That
strategy, Morgan said,
may not work against the
Vols.
“(T)he problem is
you’ve got to be careful
because you move him
up, well, now your defen-
sive line is exposed to our
speed,” Morgan said.
He expressed concern
over the field conditions
for Monday’s match,
pointing out that a por-
tion of the pitch during
the teams’ December
match was so wet after
recent rain that passes
died instantly in the sog-
gy grass. After the snow,
sleet and ice of the past
week, things could be the
same.
“I’m hoping that the
field’s not saturated,”
Morgan said.
Although victory over
the Mustangs isn’t as-
sured, Starkville Acade-
my is feeling good about
a possible second-round
rematch with Lamar
should the Vols win and
the Raiders beat Wash-
ington School. Morgan
said his team possessed
the ball 72 percent of the
time in the two matches
between the two, includ-
ing a Starkville Academy
win on penalty kicks on
Feb. 5 in Meridian.
“We controlled the
game; they play a long
ball game and just want
to boot it, and we were on
the wrong end of some
bad touches, and they
took advantage of it,”
Morgan said. “If we make
it through and we have
Lamar, I feel confident
that we’re going to have
the right game plan to
make their life hectic.”
Before that, though,
the Vols must take down
Pillow on Monday. Ac-
cording to Morgan,
they’re ready.
“I think our guys are
very confident in what
we’re able to do,” Mor-
gan said. “The first thing
now is, ‘Let’s just get past
the first one, and then we
can worry about the next
one.’”

Softball
Continued from Page 1B

The Bulldogs beat Ste-
phen F. Austin 4-2 earlier
Sunday, but Mississippi
State coach Samantha
Ricketts said the issue
came into play in both
contests.
“I think it kind of
showed up a little bit to-
day — not bringing it
from the beginning in
both games,” Ricketts
said.
In the nightcap against
the Salukis, Mississippi
State scored all five of its
runs in a stunning sixth
inning featuring three
home runs as the Bull-
dogs’ bats came to life.
Chloe Malau’ulu led off
the frame with a homer
to left, Montana Davidson
tied the ballgame with a
two-run blast just inside
(and well over) the left-
field foul pole, and Jackie
McKenna put Mississippi
State ahead with a solo
blast to straightaway cen-
ter.
But the steadier of-
fense of the Salukis —
and some help by an un-
characteristically poor
Mississippi State defense
— gave SIU a big win in
Starkville. With two out
and two strikes in the top
of the seventh, Jenny Jan-
sen drove in her third run
of the night against Alys-
sa Loza to tie the game at
5-5.
The Salukis added a
run in the eighth when
Sidney Sikes dropped
down a bunt and Annie
Willis misfired on a throw
to first, the Bulldogs’
fourth error of the game.
Chloe Malau’ulu gunned
down a second runner at
the plate, but the damage
was done.
Ricketts said Missis-
sippi State’s miscues —
factoring in three more
errors against the Lady-
jacks on Sunday after-
noon — were somewhat
understandable. Catcher
Mia Davidson, who had
one error in each contest
— is playing shortstop
with the Bulldogs’ top two
options at the position
currently injured, and
Nusz Park was a sheet of
ice all week because of
nasty weather.
Still, Ricketts said,
Mississippi State needs to
make the plays it couldn’t
Sunday.
“We expect to make
those, especially the
catching and throwing
errors,” Ricketts said.
“Those are ones that
shouldn’t matter what po-
sition you’re at — some-
thing we should be able to
do at a high level here. I
think it just goes back to
the focus. I don’t think it’s
so much physical as mak-
ing sure that we’re locked
in.”
Fa Leilua was placed
on second base automat-
ically to start the bottom
of the eighth, but after
a one-out wild pitch, the
Bulldogs couldn’t bring
her home. Mississip-
pi State’s 17-game win
streak — a program re-
cord — was snapped.
“Give credit to South-
ern Illinois,” Ricketts
said. “They played a great
game. That’s a really good
team over there.”
The Salukis got two
runs in the first on a field-
er’s choice and a solo
home run from Jansen.
SIU scored in the second
on a sac fly by Sikes and
in the third when Jansen
delivered an RBI single.
Mississippi State,
meanwhile, struggled
to do much of anything
against SIU starter Sar-
ah Harness. She struck
out eight hitters in 5.2
innings before Davidson’s
two-out, two-strike home
run chased her from the
circle.
It was a familiar theme
after the Bulldogs were
stymied by Stephen F.
Austin starter Shaylon
Govan for five innings
Sunday. Govan allowed
just one run — on a Chris-
tian Quinn double in the
second inning — through
five before Fa Leilua
cleared her own name
and the entire left-field
scoreboard with a tie-
breaking leadoff homer in
the bottom of the sixth.
Govan walked the next
two batters before being
pulled, and Paige Cook
and Quinn each hit RBI
singles to push the Bull-
dogs’ lead to 4-1.
It was necessary in-
surance as the Ladyjacks
added a run on a ground-
out in the seventh before
Willis closed out the con-
test.
The opposite was true
in the Bulldogs’ second
game, as Loza came one
strike away from end-
ing things before Jansen
ripped a liner into right
to score Maddy Vermejan
from second.
But despite the loss,
Ricketts said MSU can’t
overlook the importance
of the fight the Bulldogs
showed in their late rally.
“There’s still a lot of
good from it to come back
and score five in the bot-
tom of the sixth,” Ricketts
said.
Now, the Bulldogs
have learned “the hard
way” that they need to
apply that resolve to the
rest of their contests.
Mississippi State will face
Missouri State at 2 p.m.
Monday and Mississippi
Valley State at 4:30 p.m.
Monday to close out the
tournament.
Dawg notes
Sophomore infielders
Madisyn Kennedy (ankle)
and Aquana Brownlee
(finger) remain day to day,
Ricketts said. Kennedy
injured her ankle in prac-
tice the week before the
Bulldogs’ season started,
and Brownlee was hurt
laying down a bunt single
in Mississippi State’s Feb.
13 season opener against
Miami (Ohio). Neither
was in uniform Sunday,
with Brownlee sporting
a splint on her injured fin-
ger. “We’re not trying to
rush them,” Ricketts said.
“I think it will be sooner
rather than later, but we
want to make sure they’re
not in position to reinjure
themselves before we
bring them back.”

Baseball
Continued from Page 1B
Smith and three relievers,
struggling to bring run-
ners home when they had
the chance.
“Smith was phenome-
nal,” Lemonis said of the
6-foot-9 southpaw, who
presented tough angles
for MSU hitters in his 5.1
innings on the mound.
“We were having a hard
time with it. I really tip my
hat to him more than get
on my guys.”
Marcelo Perez allowed
three hits in three innings
in relief of Smith, being
pulled for Augie Mihlbau-
er after Tanner’s double.
Mihlbauer was lifted for
Wright after giving up a
single to Hancock, and
Wright closed out the
game.
The Bulldogs scored
their first run in the sixth
on a solo home run by
Rowdey Jordan, his sec-
ond homer of the season
in as many games.
“I think I’m seeing it
pretty well,” Jordan said.
“You know, I’d like an-
other hit or two, but I’m
seeing it alright, putting
the ball in play. That’s the
biggest thing.”
Jordan’s swat an-
swered Austin Henry’s
RBI groundout for TCU
in the top of the sixth,
but the Horned Frogs
stretched their lead again
in the seventh when Sac-
co brought home Luke
Bowers on a sacrifice fly.
Mississippi State
showcased six pitchers
Sunday, starting with left-
hander Houston Harding.
Scheduled starter Will
Bednar woke up with a
knot in his neck, prompt-
ing Lemonis to go with
the Walls product who
had just warmed up in the
ninth inning of Saturday’s
win over No. 9 Texas.
“Really tough kid, and
to go out there in that en-
vironment and compete
without much prepara-
tion, I’m really proud of
him,” Lemonis said.
Harding departed
with two men in scoring
position and one out in
the fourth inning, giving
way to Brandon Smith,
who made his return from
Tommy John surgery in
a tight spot. Smith got
Zach Humphreys to pop
up foul near first base and
induced a groundout to
third from Conner Shep-
herd. He allowed just one
hit and one run over 2.2
innings, striking out two.
“I think what you’re go-
ing to see with Brandon
and these guys coming off
Tommy John is every time
they pitch, they’re a little
bit better,” Lemonis said.
“Their stuff grows. He’s
still in that process right
now to where he’s going
to be a really big piece of
our bullpen to help us ex-
tend the games.”
Jaxen Forrester al-
lowed a run in the seventh
for the Bulldogs. Kole Al-
ford and Chase Patrick
combined to pitch the
eighth, and Xavier Lovett
handled the ninth.
Lemonis said the team
would reassess Bednar’s
status Saturday night to
determine if he will be
ready to start Monday’s 11
a.m. series finale against
No. 3 Texas Tech. If not,
expect another bullpen
game for the Bulldogs,
Lemonis said.
“We just have to see
who is available for tomor-
row and how they match
up,” he said.

Sanders
Continued from Page 1B
Veterans Memorial Stadi-
um (44,215 capacity) was
festive.
National Guard sol-
diers shot a cannon and
did pushups after Jack-
son State scores, and
Sanders, an NFL Hall of
Famer, had a bucket of
ice dumped over his head
at the end of the game as
the people in the stands
cheered the win.
Jackson State dominat-
ed, scoring on its open-
ing drive and adding two
more touchdowns in 67
seconds, wrapped around
an Edward Waters fumble
on a kickoff, to end the
first half 31-0.
Jackson State had
elected to receive to
open the second half and
scored in just under three
minutes after a 50-yard
kickoff return set the Ti-
gers up at the Edward Wa-
ters 47.
It was Jackson State’s
first shutout since Sept.
6, 2014.
Cowboy reunion
Prior to kickoff, for-
mer Dallas Cowboys
quarterback Troy Aik-
man surprised Sanders
on the field with a hug
and conversation. Aik-
man and Sanders played
together on the Cowboys
from 1995-99 and won the
1995 Super Bowl. Aikman
received a COVID-19 test
before heading down to
the field.
Cold night/hot food
Jackson was hard hit
by the deep freeze and
icy roads last week with
nearly all of the 161,000
residents without run-
ning water, which created
a dilemma for Sanders
and his staff when they
all went out to find dinner.
Restaurant after restau-
rant was closed, he told
the Clarion Ledger. Until
... the lights of a McDon-
ald’s beckoned in the
darkness.
“We rolled up there, all
happy, ready to spit the or-
der out, and ain’t nobody
there. We were just sitting
there at the drive-thru but
it really wasn’t a drive-th-
ru, just a drive stop. So
now I have a problem. I’m
starving, man.”
Jackson Fire Depart-
ment’s Station 5 showed
up with a healthy heaping
of food for Sanders and
his staff. You can find his
video of the feast on Insta-
gram @deionsanders.
Up next
Jackson State con-
tinues its home stand
against Mississippi Val-
ley State on Saturday,
kicking off the South-
west Athletic Confer-
ence season.

Homa gets another
chance and wins home-
town event at Riviera
LOS ANGELES (AP)
— The dream of winning
at Riviera felt too good to
be true for Max Homa,
and it nearly was.
Needing a birdie on
the 18th hole Sunday to
win the Genesis Invita-
tional, he hit sand wedge
to a back pin that settled
3 feet away, setting up
the storybook finish for a
guy who grew up 30 miles
away and has been watch-
ing this tournament his
whole life.
And then he missed.
His ball next to the base
of a tree left of the 10th
green on the first playoff
hole, Homa hooded a gap
wedge with enough top
spin to scoot up the Ki-
kuyu grass and onto the
edge of the green, setting
up par. Tony Finau missed
a 7-footer, and Homa was
happy just to get to the
next hole.
Homa won on the
second extra hole when
Finau failed to save par
from a bunker, missing a
10-foot putt.
The message from
tournament host Tiger
Woods at he trophy pre-
sentation: Way to hang in
there.
Did he ever.
“I don’t know if I could
ever do anything cooler
in golf than this,” said
Homa, who closed with a
5-under 66 and played his
final 26 holes at Riviera
without a bogey. “Tiger
Woods is handing us a
trophy — that’s a pretty
crazy thought. We grew
up idolizing him, idoliz-
ing Riviera Country Club,
idolizing the golf tourna-
ment. To get it done, it’s
almost shocking.
“It feels like it just can’t
be topped for me.”
It was more heartache
for Finau, who now has 10
runner-up finishes world-
wide since winning the
Puerto Rico Open five
years ago. He closed with
a 7-under 64, the best
score of the final round.
He had a 7-foot birdie putt
on the first extra hole
for the win and left it on
the low side. He watched
someone celebrate again.
And he kept his chin up.
“It’s bittersweet to be
in this position again,” Fi-
nau said. “But I never get
tired of playing good golf,
and that’s what I tell my-
self every week.”
Homa, who joined Fi-
nau at 12-under 272, won
for the second time on the
PGA Tour. He cracked the
top 50 in the world for the
first time at No. 38. The
victory sends him back to
the Masters, along with
the next three World Golf
Championships.
All that felt secondary.
He was at Riviera, just like
he was as a kid eating soft
pretzels and watching the
best. Only this time, he
was holding the trophy.
“I think young me
would have had a hard
time dreaming this one,”
Homa said.
4B MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Dickinson’s 22 lifts No. 3 Michigan over No. 4 Ohio State
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBUS, Ohio —
In a virtually empty Value
City Arena, the matchup
between No. 3 Michigan
and No. 4 Ohio State in
February looked more
like an intense NCAA
Tournament game in
March: good shooting,
timely 3-pointers, fierce
play under the rim, few
mistakes and some late
drama.
After six ties in the sec-
ond half, Michigan pulled
away in the final minutes
and then held off Ohio
State 92-87 Sunday in a
meeting that showcased
two teams aiming for No.
1 seeds next month.
Comics & Puzzles
DILBERT
ZITS
GARFIELD
CANDORVILLE
BABY BLUES
BEETLE BAILEY
MALLARD FILLMORE
“It was like a boxing
match,” Michigan coach
Juwan Howard
“One team delivered a
said.
blow. The other team de-
livered another blow. It
went back and forth. Our
guys showed their mental
toughness through some
of those ups and downs.”
The win also high-
lighted the importance of
Michigan’s 7-foot-1 fresh-
man center Hunter Dick-
inson, who had several
inches and considerable
reach on Ohio State’s big
men. He led the Wolver-
ines with 22 points and
nine rebounds, hitting all
six of his foul shots.
“I thought his length
and size bothered us,”
FAMILY CIRCUS
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
Ohio State coach Chris
Holtmann acknowledged.
Michigan (16-1, 11-1
Big Ten) had pulled away
and led by nine with 23
seconds left. But a pair
of 3-pointers from Duane
Washington Jr. around
a layup by CJ Walker
got the Buckeyes within
three points with 3 sec-
onds to go.
Ohio State was forced
to foul, and Eli Brooks
hit both of his free
throws to seal Michi-
gan’s fifth straight win, a
run that came around a
three-week break due to
COVID-19 issues.
Brooks had 17 points,
Chaundee Brown Jr. came
off the bench to score 15
and Isaiah Livers added
12 for Michigan, which
snapped Ohio State’s sev-
en-game win streak.
Washington had a ca-
reer-high 30 points and
went 5 for 10 on 3s for the
Buckeyes (18-5, 12-5).
E.J. Liddell had 23 to go
along with 10 rebounds.
“It was a great game,
man,” Washington said.
“ Two top 5 teams, and I
thought we competed at
a really high level. We
were in a good position to
bring it home. Basketball
is a game of runs and they
had theirs toward the end
there, and we just got to
be a little better in the
closing stretch.”
Both teams shot 53%
Dear Abby
D
EAR ABBY:
My daughter
got married
in a friend’s back-
yard three months
ago. Her husband
built an arch for
the ceremony. He
spent $285 on
some very nice
walnut, and they
planned to keep it
forever.
With my
daughter’s
consent, my wife
loaned it to a Dear Abby
niece of hers. The
arch was broken
and thrown out. We found this
out only after weeks of request-
ing that we get it back. They
have offered to pay the $285,
but without even a “sorry.”
My daughter is extremely
angry at my wife and the niece
and her husband. I need words
to console my wife and daugh-
ter. This has caused a deep
emotional schism in our family.
— WEDDING MESS IN ARIZONA
DEAR MESS: It is time to
talk to your daughter about
priorities. Because of her deep
emotional attachment to the
arch her now-husband created
for their wedding, her anger and
hurt are justifiable.
That the niece and her
husband not only damaged it
but threw it away like a piece
of garbage was terrible. That
Horoscopes
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Feb.
22). You’re striving for a certain
accomplishment and will
not rest until it’s done. Your
determination is unmatched
and people will turn to you to
make things happen for them
too, which you should definitely
charge for. As for the more
mundane responsibilities, you
approach with art and whimsy
attracting premium playmates.
Leo and Libra adore you. Your
lucky numbers are: 3, 5, 28, 14
and 36.
ARIES (March 21-April
19). To merely fulfill the basic
requirements of a role is not
fun or interesting enough as
far as you’re concerned. You
act with the intention of feeling
from the floor.
Big picture
In an exceptional year
for the Big Ten, the two
teams are battling for
the conference crown
with No. 5 Illinois. Ohio
State and Michigan both
are projected to be No.
1 seeds in the NCAA
tournament. This tight
late-season game should
keep both high in the
polls and in the spotlight
as the tournament ap-
proaches.
More on Hunter
Howard said Dickin-
son has worked hard to
improve and it is showing.
they not only
didn’t apologize,
but also failed
to recognize
the sentimental
value of the arch
is shocking. (At
least they offered
to reimburse the
cost of the wood.)
However, for
your daughter to
blame your wife
for the niece’s
carelessness is
wrong.
It takes
strength of
character to
forgive. This does not mean
your daughter must forget what
happened and how poorly it
was handled. In the uncertain
times we are experiencing,
relationships and family unity
are primary. I hope that, with
time, your daughter and her
husband will realize this and
repair the rift while recognizing
the niece’s shortcomings in the
future. (“Neither a borrower nor
a lender be ...”)
DEAR ABBY: At the end of
last year, I sat down with my
parents hoping that maybe we
could approach the new year
with a fresh start. One short
month into the new year, my
mother is back at it again, ridi-
culing me and making me feel
like no matter what I do, it will
never be good enough for her.
something.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20).
A presence has you fortifying
your boundaries. The force that
threatens your territory may be
aggressive, assertive or very
soft and kind. The latter is the
most dangerous of the three.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21).
You are drawn to elegance
and repelled by extravagance.
Beauty and usefulness are
intertwined in your aesthetic
rules — rules you are not entire-
ly aware of even as you closely
stick within their guidelines.
CANCER (June 22-July
22). Do you want the work that
supports your life or the life that
supports your work? Much will
depend on how in love you are
The coach said they have
an “amazing relation-
ship.”
“In all the areas of
group work, one-on-one
of film session, team
workouts, big man work-
outs, he is growing before
our eyes,” Howard said.
“It takes a freshman a lit-
tle longer to figure it out.
Hunter has a high bas-
ketball IQ due to his pas-
sion for the game. Hunter
wants to be coached.”
Up next
Michigan: Hosts No.
11 Iowa on Thursday.
Ohio State: At Michi-
gan State on Thursday.
I have reached the end of
my rope. I’m tired of dealing
with the constant cycle of emo-
tional abuse. I have overcome
much in my life, and I’m proud
of myself for it. During times
when I struggle, I reflect on how
much. I keep pushing myself
forward, but at this point, I’m
just tired.
I have considered distanc-
ing myself, but the recent loss
of my grandfather hit me hard. I
have been leaning on my family
to keep myself going, so I’m in
a pickle. — HURT, STUNNED
AND TIRED IN NEW YORK
DEAR H.S.T: You may never
be able to have what you want
from your mother, not because
there is something wrong with
you, but because she has prov-
en herself incapable of being
supportive.
For understanding and the
emotional support you are
seeking, consider contacting
your clergyperson (if you have
one) or the officiant at your
grandfather’s funeral and ask-
ing about joining a grief support
group. If you do, you may find
the support you need while at
the same time keeping safely
at a distance from your mother.
Dear Abby is written by
Abigail Van Buren, also known
as Jeanne Phillips, and was
founded by her mother, Pauline
Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at
www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box
69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
with your work — or your life, for
that matter. This will be a point
of ponderance today.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22).
While it may not be ideal, it is
certainly possible to launch a
rocket without a launching pad.
If the ground is flat enough and
substantial enough to bear the
scorch marks of your extreme
heat, it will work.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).
Once upon a time, you knew
what you wanted and you went
all-in, with mostly successful
effect. Now, what you most
want is another person’s
success. It’s a tricky thing to go
all-in on. Offer support without
interference.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).
Faith is not solely the domain of
the religious, though rituals do
help to fortify and vitalize faith.
Create your own rituals to weave
your belief into your psyche and
daily life.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21).
If it’s appealing to you, then
it will appeal to others, too.
And right now, you’ve a gift for
initiating, so start something
interesting and include as many
people as possible.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec.
21). If you don’t feel complete-
ly understood, maybe that’s
because you’re not. Parts of you
will remain unfathomable. Can
you see this as a blessing? Your
mystery is one of your many
gifts to the world.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan.
19). People want to connect
with you, but you have to show
them how. How can you present
yourself so they learn quickly
who you are? It’s a work in
progress. You make tweaks with
every new person you meet.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.
18). There’s something you’re
working on — a feeling you want
to process or an artistic impulse
begging to be expressed. It’s
something worth making time
and spiritual space for.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March
20). Welcome inspiration but
not control. The more charis-
matic someone is, the more
susceptible you are to their
influence over your direction.
Don’t let that happen. Cling to
your vision.
With time to spare
SOLUTION:
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021 5B
Classifieds
Ads appear in The Commercial Dispatch,
The Starkville Dispatch and Online
To place ads starting at only $12,
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Classifieds

Service Directory
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