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Monday | March 1, 2021

Four injured MONDAY PROFILE

in Saturday 4-County lineman braves icy roads,
shooting works long hours during winter storm
Three victims still
in critical condition
as Columbus police
search for suspects
DISPATCH STAFF REPORT

Columbus
police are in-
vestigating a
shooting that
injured four
people in South
Columbus Sat-
urday after-
noon. Shelton
The victims
were all in a vehicle when
they were shot on the 1200
block of Seventh Street South
at 4:40 p.m., according to
a Columbus Police Depart-
ment press release. One vic-
tim was treated and released
from Baptist Memorial Hos-
pital-Golden Triangle. The
other three were flown via
helicopter to another hospi-
tal in the state.
Columbus Police Chief
Fred Shelton said as of this
morning the three of them
are still in critical condition.
Police recovered a gun at Zack Plair/Dispatch Staff
the scene, but have not ar- Fred Harris stands outside his work pickup in front of the 4-County Electric Power Association offices on Thursday
rested or publicly identified afternoon. As a journeyman lineman who has worked for the utility for 18 years, he was among the workers braving
any suspects, Shelton said. icy roads and freezing conditions to repair lines and restore power to customers during two winter storms that hit the
“We have several leads but week of Feb. 14.
are still asking the public to
offer information,” Shelton
said in the press release.
‘When you’re out there, your adrenaline gets Each storm sent crews along icy
roads in sub-20-degree tempera-
“The victims were all in the
same car when they were
going and you just work as a team’ tures to work 12- and 14-hour shifts
restoring power. Harris, who lives
struck, and we believe they BY ZACK PLAIR and his colleagues at the rural in Columbus and works primarily
knew the person or persons zplair@cdispatch.com utility. in Lowndes County, said his crew
that did the shooting. We be- found a rhythm and repaired the

F
lieve the incident may have
started with some altercation
in the 900 block of Seventh
Street South before moving
to the 1200 block.”
CPD has received aid from
Lowndes County Sheriff’s Of-
fice and the Columbus-Lown-
des Drug Task Force in the
investigation, Shelton added
in the release.
Anyone with information
on the shooting is asked to
call Golden Triangle Crime
Stoppers at 800 -530 -7151 or
leave a tip for investigators
through the P3 phone app.
red Harris’ job as a journey-
man lineman for 4-County
Electric Power Association is
pretty simple, to hear him tell it.
“Basically, it’s just maintaining
lines, setting poles, keeping the
lights on,” he said.
He might get five or so “trouble
calls” a day — anything from a fall-
en limb knocking down a powerline
to a squirrel or bird getting too
friendly with a transformer.
But none of the week of Valen-
tine’s Day was “normal” for Harris
Two winter storms hit the Golden
Triangle — the first on Feb. 14 and
the second three days later — both
bringing a mix of snow, sleet and
freezing rain that tore through
4-County’s infrastructure and left
thousands of its members without
power.
“Trees cannot take that ice,” said
Harris, who has worked for 4-Coun-
ty for 18 years. “It gets on those big
limbs, and they come down and take
a powerline with them. … We hadn’t
had an ice storm like that in a long
time.”
damage as quickly as possible.
“When you’re out there, your
adrenaline gets going and you just
work as a team,” he said. “When we
get to a spot, the first thing is mak-
ing sure the line is de-energized
so we can safely work on it. Then
somebody will grab a chainsaw to
start cutting up the (downed) tree
or limb, another man might start
carrying wire, another prepares to
climb the pole and somebody else
gets ready to go up with the wire.”
See HARRIS, 6A

Partnership reflects on unconventional year at virtual awards ceremony

Tagert: ‘It has been a challenge, but the organization and
the community have stepped up in various ways’
BY TYLER JONES
tjones@cdispatch.com
STARKVILLE — The
Greater Starkville De-
velopment Partnership,
Starkville’s community
development organiza-
tion, hosted its 20th-anni-
versary award ceremony
virtually Thursday morn-
ing.
Typically an in-person
banquet, the Partnership
held this pre-recorded
event due to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic in
order to keep the com-
munity safe, said Paige
Watson, Partnership spe-
cial events and projects
coordinator. The online
presentation featured a
celebratory video with
multiple hosts, interviews
and award announce-
ments.
“If you had said our
20th-anniversary cele-
bration would be virtual,
I wouldn’t have believed
that,” Watson said. “This
year, that’s what we had
to do to set a good exam-
ple and be as safe as pos-
sible for the community.”
Watson said she has
been planning the cer-
emony for months. She
said the Partnership
board did not know how
the public would react to
the awards being virtu-
al, but it has received a
great reception from the
Starkville community.
“We knew it was still
important to find a way to
honor these award win-
ners, so we figured out a
creative way to get that
done,” she said.
During the pandem-
ic, the board has had to
find new and innovative
ways to support its part-
ners, and it knows the
importance of sharing re-
Watson Tagert
sources with them, Wat-
son said. While the Part-
nership has been able to
have some of its events in
person, such as unWine
Downtown, most of them
have been virtual.
“We typically have a
lot of spring events, but
we’re really trying to fo-
cus right now on summer
and fall,” Watson said.
“We’re hopeful we’ll be
able to have some sort of
normalcy by then.”
The board also creat-
ed a monthly newsletter
called “Partnership Mat-
ters” to inform their part-
ners of COVID-19 related
resources they could use,
Watson said.
Partnership CEO Mike
Tagert said the organiza-
tion has shifted its focus
from in-person marketing
See PARTNERSHIP, 3A

INSIDE FIVE QUESTIONS CALENDAR LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC

Classifieds 6B 1 Hooli and Pied Piper are fic-
Today through Saturday MEETINGS
Comics 4B tional technology companies in March 3: Colum-
Crossword 3B what TV comedy series? ■ “Twisted Tales of Poe”:
bus Municipal
Dear Abby 4B 2 What is the name of the Mississippi State’s Shackouls
Obituaries 5A princess born to the Duke and School Board
Honors College presents
Opinions 4A Duchess of Cambridge (William recess meeting
this radio drama at honors.
and Kate) in 2015? 11:30 a.m., virtual
msstate.edu. Free.
3 The novel “The Goldfinch” cen- meeting
ters on a 17th-century what — March 11: Co-
WEATHER painting, sculpture or necklace?
4 What giant, venomous crea-
Tuesday, March 16 lumbus Municipal
■ 100+ Women Who Care: School Board, 4
tures floated around Japan’s wa-
High 61 Low 43
Clouds and rain
ters in a massive 2005 outbreak
that cost billions in damaged
nets and lost catch?
Members of 100+ Women
Who Care Columbus will
receive an invitation March
p.m., Brandon
Central Services
March 12: Lown-
Full forecast on 5 In 2007, what third baseman 16 to watch a video presenta- des County School
page 3A. became the youngest player to tion by three randomly-drawn District Board,
tally 500 home runs? Lowndes County nonprofits. 12:30 p.m., Dis-
Members will then vote their trict Office
Answers, 6B
choice for the combined March 15:
donation Impact Award. Visit Jennifer Williams, of Columbus, Lowndes County
100wwccolumbusms.org for likes warm weather, food and Supervisors, 9
141st Year, No. 299 details. MSU Bulldogs. a.m., Courthouse

DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471

2A MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Biden hails House passage

of $1.9T virus bill, now to Senate
‘This is what America
needs. Republicans, you
ought to be a part of
this. But if you’re not,
Biden team readies wider
economic package after virus relief
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

we’re going without you.’
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.
BY ALAN FRAM
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The House
approved a $1.9 trillion pandemic
relief bill that was championed by
President Joe Biden, the first step
in providing another dose of aid to
a weary nation as the measure now
moves to a tense Senate.
“We have no time to waste,”
Biden said at the White House after
the House passage early Saturday.
“We act now — decisively, quick-
ly and boldly — we can finally get
ahead of this virus. We can finally
get our economy moving again.
People in this country have suf-
fered far too much for too long.”
The new president’s vision for
infusing cash across a struggling
economy to individuals, business-
es, schools, states and cities bat-
tered by COVID-19 passed on a
near party-line 219-212 vote. That
ships the bill to the Senate, where
Democrats seem bent on resusci-
tating their minimum wage push
and fights could erupt over state aid
and other issues.
Democrats said that mass un-
employment and the half-million
American lives lost are causes to
act despite nearly $4 trillion in aid
already spent fighting the fallout
from the disease. GOP lawmakers,
they said, were out of step with a
public that polling finds largely
views the bill favorably.
“I am a happy camper tonight,”
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.,
said Friday. “This is what America
needs. Republicans, you ought to be
a part of this. But if you’re not, we’re
going without you.”
WASHINGTON — Looking beyond the $1.9 trillion COVID relief
bill, President Joe Biden and lawmakers are laying the groundwork for
another top legislative priority — a long-sought boost to the nation’s
roads, bridges and other infrastructure that could run into Republican
resistance to a hefty price tag.
Biden and his team have begun discussions on the possible outlines
of an infrastructure package with members of Congress, particularly
mindful that Texas’ recent struggles with power outages and water
shortages after a brutal winter storm present an opportunity for agree-
ment on sustained spending on infrastructure.
Republicans say if the White House approach on the COVID relief
bill — which passed the House Saturday on a near party-line vote and
now heads to the Senate — is a sign of things to come for Biden’s plan
on infrastructure and other initiatives, it could be a difficult road ahead
in Congress.
A White House proposal could come out in March.
“Now is the time to be aggressive,” said Transportation Secretary
Pete Buttigieg, a former South Bend, Indiana, mayor who knows pot-
holes.
At a conference with state and local highway officials Thursday, he
referred to the often-promised, never-achieved mega-initiative on roads,
bridges and the like from the Trump administration.
“I know you are among those who are working and waiting most pa-
tiently, or maybe impatiently, for the moment when Infrastructure Week
will no longer be a kind of Groundhog’s Day promise — but actually be
something that delivers generational investments,” he said.
Republicans said the bill was too increase tax credits for children
expensive and said too few educa- and federal subsidies for health in-
tion dollars would be spent quick- surance.
ly to immediately reopen schools. It also provides billions for
They said it was laden with gifts schools and colleges, state and lo-
to Democratic constituencies like cal governments, COVID-19 vac-
labor unions and funneled money cines and testing, renters, food pro-
to Democratic-run states they sug- ducers and struggling industries
gested didn’t need it because their like airlines, restaurants, bars and
budgets had bounced back. concert venues.
“To my colleagues who say this Moderate Democratic Reps.
bill is bold, I say it’s bloated,” said Jared Golden of Maine and Kurt
House Minority Leader Kevin Mc- Schrader of Oregon were the only
Carthy, R-Calif. “To those who say two lawmakers to cross party
it’s urgent, I say it’s unfocused. To lines. That sharp partisan divide
those who say it’s popular, I say it is is making the fight a showdown
entirely partisan.” over whom voters will reward for
The overall relief bill would pro- heaping more federal spending to
vide $1,400 payments to individu- combat the coronavirus and revive
als, extend emergency unemploy- the economy atop the $4 trillion ap-
ment benefits through August and proved last year.

Trump calls for GOP unity, repeats lies about election loss
CPAC speakers, including many
potential 2024 hopefuls, argued that
the party must embrace the former
president and his followers
BY JILL COLVIN
The Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. —
Taking the stage for the
first time since leaving
office, former President
Donald Trump called for
GOP unity, even as he ex-
acerbated intraparty divi-
sions by attacking fellow
Republicans and promot-
ing lies about the election
in a speech that made
clear he intends to remain
a dominant political force.
Speaking Sunday at
the Conservative Political
Action Conference, where
he was hailed as a return-
ing hero, Trump blasted
his successor, President
Joe Biden, and tried to lay
out a vision for the future
of the GOP that revolves
firmly around him, de-
spite his loss in Novem-
ber.
“Do you miss me yet?”
Trump said after taking
the stage to his old rally
soundtrack and cheers
from the supportive
crowd.
Trump, in his speech,
tried to downplay the civ-
il war gripping the party
over the extent to which
Republicans should em-
brace him, even as he
unfurled an enemies list,
calling out by name the
10 House Republicans
and seven GOP senators
who voted to impeach or
convict him for inciting
the U.S. Capitol riot. He
ended by singling out
Rep. Liz Cheney, the No.
3 House Republican, who
has faced tremendous
backlash in Wyoming
for saying Trump should
no longer play a role in
the party or headline the
event.
While he insisted the
division was merely a spat
“between a handful of
Washington, D.C., estab-
lishment political hacks
and everybody else, all
over the country,” Trump
had a message for the in-
cumbents who had dared
to cross him: “Get rid of
‘em all.”
The conference, held
this year in Orlando in-
stead of the Washing-
ton suburbs to evade
COVID-19 restrictions,
served as a tribute to
Trump and Trumpism,
complete with a golden
statue in his likeness on
display. Speakers, includ-
ing many potential 2024
hopefuls, argued that the
party must embrace the
former president and his
followers, even after the
deadly insurrection at the
Capitol on Jan. 6.
They also repeated in
panel after panel his un-
founded claims that he
lost reelection only be-
cause of mass voter fraud,
even though such claims
have been rejected by
judges, Republican state
officials and Trump’s own
administration.
Trump, too, continued
to repeat what Democrats
have dubbed the “big
lie,” calling the election
“rigged” and insisting
that he won in November,
even though he lost by
more than 7 million votes.

AP sources: Feds pinpoint suspect in Capitol officer’s riot death

Circumstances surrounding officer’s
death remain unclear, final cause
of death has not yet been determined
BY MICHAEL BALSAMO
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — hasn’t been directly tied
Federal investigators
probing the death of a
U.S. Capitol Police offi-
cer killed in the Jan. 6
riot have zeroed in on
a suspect seen on vid-
eo appearing to spray a
chemical substance on
the officer before he later
collapsed and died, two
people familiar with the
matter told The Associat-
ed Press.
The FBI has obtained
video that shows the per-
son spraying Brian Sick-
nick and other law en-
forcement officers during
the Jan. 6 riot, the people
said. But they cautioned
that federal agents hav-
en’t yet identified the sus-
pect by name and the act
to Sicknick’s death.
The idea that Sicknick
died after being sprayed
by a chemical irritant has
emerged in recent weeks
as a new theory in the
case.
Investigators initially
believed that Sicknick
was hit in the head with
a fire extinguisher, based
on statements collected
early in the investiga-
tion, according to one of
the people and another
law enforcement official
briefed on the case. But
as they’ve collected more
evidence, the theory of
the case has evolved and
investigators now believe
Sicknick may have ingest-
ed a chemical substance
— possibly bear spray —
during the riot that may
have contributed to his
death, the officials said.
The people could not
publicly discuss the de-
tails of an ongoing inves-
tigation and spoke to The
Associated Press on con-
dition of anonymity.
Sicknick died after
defending the Capitol
against the mob that
stormed the building as
Congress was voting to
certify Joe Biden’s elec-
toral win over Donald
Trump. It came after
Trump urged supporters
on the National Mall to
“fight like hell” to over-
turn his defeat.
The circumstances
surrounding Sicknick’s
death remain unclear and
a final cause of death has
not yet been determined.
Capitol Police have said
he died after he was in-
jured “while physically
engaging with protest-
ers” and this week, the
agency’s acting chief said
officials consider it a line-
of-duty death.
Sicknick collapsed lat-
er on, was hospitalized
and died. The Justice De-
partment opened a federal
murder investigation into
his death, but prosecutors
are still evaluating what
specific charges could be
brought in the case, the
people said.
In a statement late
Friday, Capitol Police
said the medical examin-
er’s report on Sicknick’s
death is not yet complete.
“We are awaiting toxicolo-
gy results and continue to
work with other govern-
ment agencies regarding
the death investigation,”
the statement said.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021 3A

Misery lingers for many without water in Mississippi capital

‘Our system has basically crashed like a
computer and now we’re trying to rebuilt it’
Jackson Public Works Director Charles Williams
BY JEFF MARTIN
The Associated Press
Water for flushing toilets was
being distributed at seven sites
in Mississippi’s capital city —
more than 10 days after winter
storms wreaked havoc on the
city’s water system.
The sites were open in Jack-
son on Sunday because the sys-
tem is still struggling to main-
tain consistent water pressure,
authorities said.
The system has not been
able to provide a sustainable
flow of water throughout the
city, city officials said.
“Our system has basically
crashed like a computer and
now we’re trying to rebuilt it,”
Jackson Public Works Director
Charles Williams said at a Sun-
day briefing.
One of many solutions has
been to open fire hydrants in
the city, which allows more wa-
ter to flow to south Jackson and
other parts of the city with the
lowest pressure, he said. Crews
are also trying to get water stor-
age tanks filled.
No specific timeline was giv-
en for when the problems would
be fixed. The city does not have
exact numbers of people still
without water, Mayor Chokwe
Antar Lumumba said at Sun-
day’s briefing.
Help is needed now in Jack-
son, but long-term support from
the federal government will
also be needed to upgrade the
system, the mayor said. Needs
with the city’s infrastructure
have gone unaddressed for de-
cades, he said.
“We more than likely have
more than a $2 billion issue with
our infrastructure,” he said.
The storms have become “a
financial nightmare” for some
Jackson families, Democratic
state Rep. Ronnie Crudup Jr.
said on social media.
“A lot of people didn’t work
for over a week because of wa-
ter and power issues,” he wrote.
“On top of that energy and gas
bills are going to be higher
because of the extreme cold
weather last week.”
“Most working families don’t
have savings, so people are in
survival mode right now,” Crud-
up added.
Most of the city of about
161,000 had no running water
after the storms struck, and
residents were advised to boil
any water that actually came
out of their taps.
The mayor said that the
city’s water mains are more
than 100 years old and not built
to handle the freezing weather
that hit the city.

Man sentenced in shooting that Historians oppose bill to

partially paralyzed Madison deputy
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS John Emfinger read the
charges aloud in a court-
CANTON — A Missis- room packed with Madi-
sippi judge has sentenced son County deputies and
a man to 210 years in pris- other officers. Emfinger
on for firing an automatic gave Egbert six consecu-
rifle at law enforcement of- tive 35-year sentences.
ficers in 2019 and leaving Court testimony re-
a sheriff’s deputy partially vealed Egbert, a former
paralyzed.
Marine, shot at deputies
Edgar Egbert ap-
in their vehicles, shatter-
peared Thursday in Mad- ing windshields and side
ison County Circuit Court windows.
and pleaded guilty to six Deputy Brad Sullivan
counts of attempted mur- remained in a coma al-
der of law enforcement most a month after he
agents. was shot. He was par-
The Clarion Ledger alyzed on his left side
reported Circuit Judge and cannot see from his
right eye. Sullivan told
the court he remembers
the immediate aftermath
of the shooting but little
else.
Sullivan uses a wheel-
chair and said he has
had to re-learn once sim-
ple tasks such as mak-
ing sandwiches for his
8-year-old son. As Egbert
sat shackled behind the
courtroom defense table,
Sullivan told him: “You
murdered me that day.”
Deputies first respond-
ed to a domestic distur-
bance call from Egbert’s
wife who said he was in
change Archives and History
a jealous rage when he
board nominations
kidnapped a man from THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
a parking lot in Jack-
son. According to police JACKSON — Historians are opposing a bill
reports, Egbert forced that they say could politicize the board that gov-
erns the Mississippi Department of Archives and
the man into a vehicle at
History.
gunpoint, took him to the
Since the nine-member board was established
Egberts’ Madison County
in 1902, its members have nominated their own
home and chained him to
successors and those nominees have been con-
a bed.
firmed by the state Senate.
Deputies engaged in a Senate Bill 2727 says the Archives and History
high-speed pursuit with board could recommend nominees, but the gov-
Egbert before disabling ernor or lieutenant governor could ignore those
his vehicle. Instead of recommendations and nominate any person they
surrendering, Egbert want. The nominees would still need to be con-
pulled out an automatic firmed by the Senate.
rifle and began shooting, Forty-six scholars who teach history at Mis-
witnesses said. sissippi colleges and universities signed a letter
praising the Department of Archives and His-
tory and saying the method of selecting board
members should not change. The letter was dis-
tributed to House members and news outlets on

Partnership
Continued from Page 1A
to finding supportive rev-
enues that small business
operators could use, such
as the Paycheck Protec-
tion Program, a federal
program that provides
loans to help business-
es during the pandemic.
He said the Partnership
members have adapted to
these changes.
“It has been a chal-
lenge, but the organiza-
tion and the community
have stepped up in var-
ious ways, and that was
evident in the awards
ceremony today,” Tagert
said. “You can see the
leadership, involvement
and commitment of our
community.”
Tagert stepped into his
current position in Jan-
uary, about two months
before the COVID-19 pan-
demic made it to Missis-
sippi. He said assuming
this role during such an
unconventional time has
been difficult, but with
the support of the Part-
nership board, he is em-
bracing the challenges
and is looking forward to a
future without COVID-19.
“I came on board, and
(two months) later we
experienced the shut-
down,” Tagert said. “I
never really had a base-
line to know what a bit of
normalcy looked like. I
do look forward to seeing
what the norm looks like
in our business communi-
ty when this pandemic is
over.”
Thursday.
“Whether conducting research in its vast ar-
chives, examining its artifacts spanning 13,000
years of Mississippi history, or participating in
one of the Department’s many public events, we
Greater Starkville Development Partnership have directly experienced the incredible asset of
a competent and well-run state history depart-
award winners ment,” wrote the historians, including Mississip-
■ The R. Clay Simmons Exemplary Enterprise Award went to pi Humanities Council director Stuart Rockoff.
Strange Brew Coffeehouse, distinguishing them as the busi- The bill has passed the Senate and awaits con-
ness of the year.
sideration in the House.
■ The top community service award, the T.E. Veitch Communi-
ty Service Award, went to Nellah Taylor.
■ The Starkville Main Street Association named the Starkville
Area Arts Council as the 2020 Partner of the Year and granted
the Steve Langston Downtown Revitalization Award to Mayor
Lynn Spruill.
■ The Starkville Convention and Visitors Bureau presented
the Crystal Pineapple Tourism Award to the late Dan Camp,
creator of the Cotton District.
■ The Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority
honored II-VI with the Industry of the Year Award.
■ The Partnership Ambassadors organization recognized four
members for 19 years of service since the organization’s
creation: Peggy Buckley, Melanie Mitchell, Pat Lane and Nina
Welch Wofford.
■ The Starkville-Oktibbeha Achieving Results (SOAR) honored
three teachers in the Starkville Oktibbeha school district:
Chelsi Brasher, Erin Landrum and Vijay Pacharne.

AROUND THE STATE

Mississippi company
gets $37M contract
for Army ammunition
OXFORD — A Missis-
sippi company has a $37
million contract for Army
ammunition.
Olin Winchester LLC
of Oxford was the only
bidder to respond to an
internet solicitation from
the U.S. Army Contract-
ing Command’s Rock Is-
land Arsenal in Illinois,
the Pentagon said Thurs-
day.
The company is to
make 5.56mm, 7.62mm
and .50 caliber ammuni-
tion. The contract’s esti-
mated completion date is
March 14, 2026.
It was on Thursday’s
list of military contracts
worth at least $7.5 million.
Man charged in wrong-
way crash that killed
woman, 2 children
BRANDON — A Mis-
sissippi man is charged
with three counts of DUI
manslaughter after a
crash that killed a woman
and two children.
Kyle Dixon, 54, of Jack-
son, was driving in the
wrong direction on Mis-
sissippi Highway 25 in
Rankin County when the
crash happened at about
11:30 p.m. Wednesday,
according to Highway Pa-
trol Sgt. Kervin Stewart.
WAPT-TV reported
five people were in the
vehicle that Dixon hit,
and all five were wearing
seatbelts. Two were hos-
pitalized.
Those killed were
32-year-old Tamaria Shu-
make, 8-year-old Ambro-
sia Isaac and 5-year-old
Zylan Shumake. All three
were from Carthage, and
they were members of the
Mississippi Band of Choc-
taw Indians.
Stewart said Dixon
was not wearing a seat-
belt and was taken to a
hospital for injuries that
were not life-threatening.
Dixon was later taken to
the Rankin County Jail,
and he remained there
Friday. An employee who
answered the phone at ment Technology at the
the jail said the docket did facility, a new curriculum
not show whether Dixon designed to prepare them
is represented by an at- for an array of jobs.
torney.
State-of-the-art
performing center
opens at coastal
college
GULFPORT — A new
performing arts center
that will host the Gulf
Coast Symphony and pre-
pare students for careers
in the arts has opened at
Mississippi Gulf Coast
Community College.
The ribbon-cutting
was held Thursday for
the 1,200-seat auditorium
called the Immersive Me-
dia Performing Arts Cen-
ter, WLOX reported.
The first concert by
the Gulf Coast Symphony
at the new auditorium is
set for March 13.
The 54,000-square
foot facility also features
a recording studio and
classrooms. Students at
the college will be able SOLUNAR TABLE
to study Live Entertain- The solunar period indicates
peak-feeding times for fish and game.
Mon. Tues.
Major 2:55a 3:45a
Minor 9:01p 10:08p
Major 3:19p 4:11p
Minor 3:38a 10:12a
Courtesy of Mississippi Department
of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks

CORRECTION
■ In a Sunday story about the restoration of a historic building in Crawford, we
mentioned a missing fireplace mantel, but we spelled it incorrectly. A mantle is a
The Dispatch
The Commercial Dispatch (USPS 142-320)
Published daily except Saturday. Answers to common questions:
sleeveless garment or a geologic layer. Entered at the post office at Columbus, Mississippi.
Periodicals postage paid at Columbus, MS Phone: 662-328-2424
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email news@cdispatch.com.
Opinion
4A MONDAY, MARCH 1, 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

POSSUMHAW
One transition to the next
“Times of transition are loaned a Kindle downloaded tried on and sorted to see what might to those just starting their careers. A
strenuous, but I love them. with multiple books. While I stay and what might go. Since this is a simple way to help someone in need.
They are opportunity to purge, swore, I’d never use a Kindle, regular practice, there In college I wore typical
rethink priorities, and be preferring a regular hard- wasn’t much to do or college clothes everybody
intentional about new habits. cover with pages to turn, I much to discard. Evaluat- wore. In the month of
We can make our new normal thoroughly enjoyed reading ing on a regular schedule May, my senior year, I
any way we want.” often staying up later than I helps to keep time and sent a resume to the one
— Kristin Arm- ought. energy devoted to declut- job I coveted. I was asked
strong-Three time Olympic Then the earth began tering minimal. Clothing to come interview the
Gold Medalist/road bicycle to thaw. Ice on the lakes and accessories can build following day. I had one
racer vanished and the ducks were up on you if you’re not classic knee length dress
swimming again rather than careful. The usual ques- and no time or money to

A
s fast as the winter ice Shannon Bardwell
storm arrived it left.
On a hilly gravel road
out here in the Prairie there had been
little or no traffic for a week. No mail,
nor garbage collection, recycle bags
multiplied, while newspapers deliveries
remained scarce. We might have felt
a bit like “Little House on the Prairie”
except for electricity running lights and
appliances as well as heat. Electric heat
was supplemented with a propane gas
fireplace. Waterlines never froze and the
cupboards were full. When I ran out of
hardback reading books, my neighbor
walking on top of the ice.
The goldfish were free to
swim and forage. The cats
spent more time frolicking in the fields.
From the kitchen window I saw two birds
splashing in the birdbath. Heavy coats,
gloves, and woolen hats were tucked
away. The thermometer registered
almost seventy degrees so Sam and a
buddy went fishing. All was well.
The formerly iced-over mailbox was
now full of spring catalogs touting the
promise of a new season to come. During
the ice storm week, I rummaged through
clothing for spring and summer. I was
tions to ask are: Does it
fit? Do you wear it? Is it in
good shape? Does it need
or is it worth repairing or
altering? Does it suit your
lifestyle? Is it your cur-
rent style? Do you love
it? If you don’t really love
it you probably won’t wear it and maybe
someone else could enjoy it. If you’ve
previously worn professional attire and
are now retired with no need of suits or
pencil skirts, there are several thrift and
consignment stores in the Golden Trian-
gle area offering professional clothing
find another. In the heat of
May driving an unaircondi-
tioned Volkswagen I wore
a winter sweater dress.
I had to drive to three
different interviews. If
nerves didn’t cause me to
sweat the dress did. That
day I transitioned from college student to
management team. Life’s full of transi-
tions. Go for it.
Columns by Shannon Bardwell of
Columbus appear in The Dispatch weekly.
Email reaches her at msdeltachild@msn.
com.

MISSISSIPPI VOICES
Positive news for Mississippi commodities
A
t 1.13 billion,
timber is
the third
biggest agricultural
crop in Mississippi,
behind poultry/eggs
at $2.16 billion and
soybeans at $1.21
billion.
There are
125,000 timber
landowners with
19.7 million acres. Wyatt Emmerich
That’s two-thirds of
the total acres in the
state.
So when lumber prices goes
through the roof, it’s big news
in Mississippi. This week lum-
ber prices hit $982 MBF (thou-
sands of board feet.) That’s 3.7
times higher than the 52-week
low. Lumber MBF prices have
hovered around $300 for the
last 15 years.
The lumber cost increase is
hurting homebuilders, adding
something like $17,000 to the
average new home.
Housing starts peaked at
2.2 million a year in 2007 then
dropped to .5 million after
the financial crisis of 2007,
which was caused by a collapse
in housing prices. In 2020,
housing starts were 1.5 million.
That’s equal to the
40-year average
from 1960 to 2000.
Studies estimate
the two million
houses a year need
to be built for the
next three decades
to replace dilapi-
dated ones. That
level would increase
demand for lumber
and pine trees.
Stumpage, the
price of standing
timber and the right to harvest
it, has increased as well, but
nothing compared to the lum-
ber price increase. That means
Mississippi Pineland owners
are not yet reaping the benefits
of the lumber price boom.
The problem is apparently
an excess supply of stumpage.
Twenty -five years ago, stump-
age prices were two to three
times higher than today, fueling
a boom in pine acreage. Adding
fuel to the fire, federal conser-
vation policies paid landowners
cash to convert farmland to
timberland. The result has been
a historic surplus of timber.
Another problem is appar-
ently shortage of sawmills in
the state. When lumber prices
declined, many sawmills shut
down. Consolidation in the
industry put many mills under
the ownership of big companies
such as the Koch Brothers
ownership of Georgia-Pacific
and Crown Zellerbach.
Georgia-Pacific owns a
cluster of nine mills in south
central Mississippi, giving it a
strong position to dictate prices
to landowners.
Sawmills can only process so
many trees per day. If there are
too many trees and not enough
mills, then Mississippi landown-
ers will continue to miss out on
the parade.
This has caused a lot of
wailing and gnashing by the
125,000 Mississippi landown-
ers, many of whom wish they
had sold their land and invested
in the booming stock market.
Fancy Wall Street stud-
ies suggest that, over time,
southern pineland will achieve
long-term annual returns equal
to stocks — about 8 percent
historically. Certainly this is
the concept promoted by Dick
Molpus’ Woodlands Group,
which stitches small patches of
land into large tracts to sell to
institutional investors. It stands
to reason that all basic asset
classes such as stocks, gold,
land etc. would converge to the
mean over time.
The best possible sign for
landowners would be announce-
ments of new sawmills being
built. That’s just what happened
this month in Winona.
Biewer Lumber, head-
quartered in St. Clair, Mich.,
recently announced its plan
to develop a state-of-the-art
sawmill in Winona. The mill
will be more than a $130 million
investment and will bring more
than 150 new jobs to Montgom-
ery County.
Biewer Lumber is a family
owned company that operates
five sawmills — two in Michi-
gan, two in Wisconsin, and one
in Newton, which was con-
structed two years ago.
In addition, for the first time
in nearly a century, Lumberton
will see the construction of a
new sawmill which is expected
to create at least 135 jobs in the
region.
Mission Forest Products,
a subsidiary of Timberland
Investment Resources, LLC, is
locating a sawmill in Corinth.
The project is a $160 million
corporate investment and 130
jobs.
This is the way free market
capitalism is supposed to work.
When a big mega company
monopolizes the market, it cre-
ates an opportunity for smaller
companies to profit by entering
the market.
Even more interesting is
mini-mill technology that will
allow landowners to process
their own timber.
Another positive develop-
ment is the rise of the wood pel-
let industry. British coal plants
have been converted from coal
to wood pellets to reduce CO2
emissions. Several of these
plants are creating a market
for pulpwood in rural Missis-
sippi. A planned $160 million
wood pellet plant in Lucedale
would be the largest in the U.
S. Plants in Amory and Gloster
have been producing pellets for
years.
Other commodities such as
corn, soybean, cotton, eggs and
poultry are all moving in pos-
itive directions, which bodes
well for our state.
Wyatt Emmerich is the editor
and publisher of The Northside
Sun, a weekly newspaper in
Jackson. He can be reached by
e-mail at wyatt@northsidesun.
com.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

Congressional freedom of speech

A
s the U.S. House
of Representatives
voted recently to strip
Marjorie Taylor Greene of
all her committee assign-
ments, I was reminded of two
sections of the Constitution.
The first is Article 1, Section
5, which reads, “Each House
may determine the Rules
of its Proceedings, punish
its Members for disorderly
Behavior, and, with the Con- James Finck
currence of two thirds, expel
a Member.” Clearly the Constitution
gives the House the power to punish its
own members for wrongdoing. Yet, at the
same time, I also cannot help thinking
of the First Amendment, which states,
“Congress shall make no law…abridging
the freedom of speech.”
Coming to terms with these two sec-
tions can be difficult. If members of one
party say something that members of the When passed, the Bill of Rights only
opposite party find extremely offensive,
should the opposite party be able to cen-
sure someone from the first party? What
rights to freedom of speech are given to
members of Congress and what have we
seen historically?
Anyone who has ever taken a class
from me has at least once heard me
rant against the misunderstanding of
freedom of speech. That clause of the
First Amendment does one thing and
one think only; it protects you from
government censorship and perhaps
prosecution. It does not protect you from is happening? Please understand that
the consequences of your words. For
politicians it could cost you an election,
but not your freedom. You can say that
Trump is a dictator or that Biden is
senile, and government officials will not
come kick down your door
and take you away.
However, if you are in your
workplace and rant about
how your bosses are tyrants
or senile, you may be fired.
The First Amendment does
not protect that speech. Not
even all political speech is
protected. If you wear a shirt
that says “Make America
Great Again” or “Black Lives
Matter” at a workplace that
has a policy against wearing
political slogans, you can be fired. This is
not a First Amendment Issue.
This is the most confused amendment
in the Bill of Rights. The Founders did
not intend to remove people’s responsi-
bility for their actions or speech. They
wanted to protect the people’s right to
say what they thought, even peacefully
protest the actions of their government.
applied to federal cases, not state ones,
so, before the 1920s, the Bill of Rights
actually had little effect on most people’s
lives. Yet today, “freedom of speech” is
thrown around like some sort of weapon
every time anyone is criticized for their
words.
Where I am torn is that it seems like
the one place where there truly should
be freedom of speech is in the Congress.
The amendment literally says, “Con-
gress shall make no law…abridging the
freedom of speech,” yet is that not what
I am no way supporting the comments
made by Rep. Green. What I am saying is
the Constitution does not give freedom of
speech only to statements we agree with
or only for intelligent comments. No, it’s
there for the exact opposite, for the out-
landish and controversial things. I said I
was torn. It does seem like there should
be a line that our elected representatives
do not cross. But the Constitution does
not say that either. The courts have
weighed in on this and have deemed
some speech is not protected, such as
incitement to lawless action or child
pornography, but conspiracy theories are
not on the list. Maybe, especially with
the House, it should be up to the voters
if they think she has gone too far in the
next election.
Having said that, there is precedence.
In 2019 Republicans removed one of
their own, Rep. Steve King of Iowa,
from committees after he questioned
why “white supremacy” was offensive.
Even bigger was the 1954 censure of the
junior Senator from Wisconsin Joseph
McCarthy. There is no room for many
details here, but McCarthy took advan-
tage of American’s fear of communism
to make himself powerful. He claimed
to have a list of communists who had
infiltrated high levels of government and
the entertainment industry. He set up a
committee to hold hearings to expose
anyone supporting the communist cause.
During the hearings he accused people
of being communists without evidence
to the point that it ruined their careers
and lives. After four years he finally fell
when he questioned the U.S. Army after
they refused to defer one of his staff from
the draft. With no evidence, he made
several accusations on TV that finally
showed him as the bully he was. With his
fall from grace, the Senate voted 67-22 to
condemn his actions and strip him of key
committee membership.
There is one key difference between
Steve King, Joe McCarthy, and Marjorie
Taylor Greene. In the cases of King and
McCarthy, Republicans punished their
own as is tradition. With the Greene
case, the Republicans condemned her
comments, yet the Democrats (now
the majority party), along with only 11
Republicans, did not feel the punishment
was strong enough and stripped her
of committee assignments. It is highly
irregular to interfere with committee as-
signments made by each party. Though
her comments were inappropriate and
have been disproven in the courts, it
might just be a slippery slope for the
opposing party to start the practice of
punishing their opponents for comments
made, especially ones they made earlier
in their lives. Some Republicans have
even talked about retribution if they take
over in 2022. They point to racist and
violent comments made by Democratic
legislators. Is this really how we want
Congress to spend their time?
Free democratic governments are
hard. There is a reason historically there
have not been that many successful ones.
Freedom of speech is one of the things
necessary for a free government. Yet
freedom of speech means people will say
things you despise. Rep. Green was elect-
ed by her state because of who she is. If
her constituents deem her unfit, they are
not bound by the First Amendment and
have the opportunity to make changes
next year.
Dr. James Finck is an Associate Profes-
sor of History at the University of Science
and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha. He is
Chair of the Oklahoma Civil War Sym-
posium. Follow Historically Speaking at
www.Historicallyspeaking.blog.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021 5A

Amid COVID-19 pandemic, flu has disappeared in the US

In recent years, the flu has been blamed for 600,000 to 800,000
annual hospitalizations and 50,000 to 60,000 deaths
BY MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer
NEW YORK — February is
usually the peak of flu season,
with doctors’ offices and hospi-
tals packed with suffering pa-
tients. But not this year.
Flu has virtually disappeared
from the U.S., with reports com-
ing in at far lower levels than
anything seen in decades.
Experts say that measures
put in place to fend off the coro-
navirus — mask wearing, social
distancing and virtual school-
ing — were a big factor in pre-
venting a “twindemic” of flu and
COVID-19. A push to get more
people vaccinated against flu
probably helped, too, as did few-
er people traveling, they say.
Another possible explana-
tion: The coronavirus has essen-
tially muscled aside flu and oth-
er bugs that are more common
in the fall and winter. Scientists
don’t fully understand the mech-
anism behind that, but it would
be consistent with patterns seen
when certain flu strains pre-
dominate over others, said Dr.
Arnold Monto, a flu expert at the
University of Michigan.
Nationally, “this is the lowest
flu season we’ve had on record,”
according to a surveillance sys-
tem that is about 25 years old,
said Lynnette Brammer of the
U.S. Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention.
Hospitals say the usual
steady stream of flu-stricken pa-
tients never materialized.
At Maine Medical Center
in Portland, the state’s largest
hospital, “I have seen zero doc-
umented flu cases this winter,”
said Dr. Nate Mick, the head of
the emergency department.
Ditto in Oregon’s capital city,
where the outpatient respirato-
ry clinics affiliated with Salem
Hospital have not seen any con-
firmed flu cases.
“It’s beautiful,” said the
health system’s Dr. Michelle
Rasmussen.
The numbers are astonishing
considering flu has long been
the nation’s biggest infectious
disease threat. In recent years, it
has been blamed for 600,000 to
800,000 annual hospitalizations
and 50,000 to 60,000 deaths.
Across the globe, flu activity
has been at very low levels in
China, Europe and elsewhere
in the Northern Hemisphere.
And that follows reports of lit-
tle flu in South Africa, Australia
and other countries during the
Southern Hemisphere’s winter
months of May through August.
The story of course has
been different with coronavi-
rus, which has killed more than
500,000 people in the United
States. COVID-19 cases and
deaths reached new heights in
December and January, before
beginning a recent decline.
Flu-related hospitalizations,
however, are a small fraction of
where they would stand during
even a very mild season, said
Brammer, who oversees the
CDC’s tracking of the virus.
Flu death data for the whole
U.S. population is hard to com-
pile quickly, but CDC officials
keep a running count of deaths
of children. One pediatric flu
death has been reported so far
this season, compared with 92
reported at the same point in
last year’s flu season.
“Many parents will tell you
that this year their kids have
been as healthy as they’ve ever
been, because they’re not swim-
ming in the germ pool at school
or day care the same way they
were in prior years,” Mick said.
Some doctors say they have
even stopped sending speci-
mens for testing, because they
don’t think flu is present. Nev-
ertheless, many labs are using a
CDC-developed “multiplex test”
that checks specimens for both
the coronavirus and flu, Bram-
mer said.
More than 190 million flu
vaccine doses were distributed
this season, but the number of
infections is so low that it’s dif-
ficult for CDC to do its annual
calculation of how well the vac-
cine is working, Brammer said.
There’s simply not enough data,
she said.
That also is challenging
the planning of next season’s
flu vaccine. Such work usually
starts with checking which flu
strains are circulating around
the world and predicting which
of them will likely predominate
in the year ahead.

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unless the deceased’s body has been
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body was donated to science, the fam-
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Please submit all obituaries on the Thursday; and on Friday by 3 p.m. for
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J&J’s 1-dose shot cleared, giving US 3rd COVID vaccine be held at a later date.
College St. Location

By the end of March, J&J has said it statement. “But I want to

expects to deliver 20 million doses to
the U.S., and 100 million by summer
BY LAURAN NEERGA ARD
AND MAT THEW PERRONE
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — single-dose vaccine. And
The U.S. is getting a
third vaccine to prevent
COVID-19, as the Food
and Drug Administration
on Saturday cleared a
Johnson & Johnson shot
that works with just one
dose instead of two.
Health experts are
anxiously awaiting a one-
and-done option to help
speed vaccinations, as
they race against a virus
that already has killed
more than 510,000 people
in the U.S. and is mutat-
ing in increasingly worri-
some ways.
The FDA said J&J’s
vaccine offers strong
protection against what
matters most: serious
illness, hospitalizations
and death. One dose
was 85 percent protec-
tive against the most se-
vere COVID-19 illness,
in a massive study that
spanned three conti-
nents — protection that
remained strong even in
countries such as South
Africa, where the vari-
ants of most concern are
spreading.
“This is really good
news,” Dr. Francis Collins,
director of the National In-
stitutes of Health, told The
Associated Press Satur-
day. “The most important
thing we can do right now
is to get as many shots in
as many arms as we can.”
J&J initially is provid-
ing a few million doses and
shipments to states could
begin as early as Monday.
By the end of March, J&J
has said it expects to deliv-
er 20 million doses to the
U.S., and 100 million by
summer.
J&J also is seeking au-
thorization for emergency
use of its vaccine in Eu-
rope and from the World
Health Organization. The
company aims to produce
about 1 billion doses glob-
ally by the end of the year.
On Thursday, the island
nation of Bahrain became
the first to clear its use.
“This is exciting news
for all Americans, and an
encouraging development
in our efforts to bring an
end to the crisis,” Presi-
dent Joe Biden said in a
be clear: this fight is far
ducted its studies, with
the Pfizer and Moderna
“What people I think
are mostly interested in
from over,” he added, en-
couraging people to stick
research finished before
concerning variants be-
is, is it going to keep me
from getting really sick?”
with masks and other pub- gan spreading. Collins said. “Will it keep
lic health measures. NIH’s Collins said the me from dying from this memorialgunterpeel.com
On Sunday, a U.S. ad- evidence shows no reason terrible disease? The good
visory committee will to favor one vaccine over news is all of these say yes
meet to recommend how another. to that.”
to prioritize use of the
one big challenge is what
the public wants to know:
Which kind is better?
“In this environment,
whatever you can get
— get,” said Dr. Arnold
Monto of the University of
Michigan, who chaired an
FDA advisory panel that
unanimously voted Friday
that the vaccine’s benefits
outweigh its risks.
Data is mixed on how
well all the vaccines be-
ing used around the world
work, prompting reports
in some countries of peo-
ple refusing one kind to
wait for another.
In the U.S., the two-
dose Pfizer and Moder-
na shots were 95 percent
protective against symp-
tomatic COVID-19. J&J’s
one-dose effectiveness of
85 percent against severe
COVID-19 dropped to 66
percent when moderate
cases were rolled in. But
there’s no apples-to-apples
comparison because of
differences in when and
where each company con-

Mississippi center receives grant

for work preserving Emmett Till legacy
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SUMNER — A Mississippi institution
is receiving a grant to advance its work
in teaching people about the legacy of
Emmett Till, a Black teenager from Chi-
cago whose lynching by white people
in Mississippi in 1955 spurred the civil
rights movement.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
recently announced that it is giving
grants to five projects across the Unit-
ed States. One of grants is $691,750 to
the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in
Sumner, Mississippi.
The foundation said in a news release
that the center will use the money “to
support racial healing efforts that in-
clude historic preservation, communi-
ty building activities in the Mississippi
Delta and a year-long strategic planning
process to coordinate the preservation of
the Mamie and Emmett Till story across
the Mississippi Delta and in Chicago.”
Till was visiting relatives in Mississip-
pi when white men abducted him from
his uncle’s home on Aug. 28, 1955, ac-
cusing the 14-year-old of flirting with a
white woman as she worked at a store in
the rural community of Money. His mu-
tilated body was pulled from the Talla-
hatchie River three days later.
His mother, Mamie Till Mobley, in-
sisted on an open casket at his funeral in
Chicago so the world could see how rac-
ism had led to her son’s death. Jet maga-
zine and The Chicago Defender newspa-
per published photos of his corpse, and
those photos motivated people to push
for civil rights.

A club for boys and girls

Boys and Girls Club of Columbus
662-244-7090
6A MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

UNDER THE CAPITOL DOME

Analysis: Mississippi leaders try big, quick tax changes

During Mississippi’s budget year that ended June 30, the state collected about $5.8 billion
BY EMILY WAGSTER PET TUS
The Associated Press
When then-Gov. William
Winter wanted to make sub-
stantial changes to Mississip-
pi’s education system in the ear-
ly 1980s, he and his staff spent
months building support for
their proposals.
They traveled the state, held
hearings and leveraged the
power of public opinion to per-
suade recalcitrant legislators
to adopt the Education Reform
Act of 1982. The law set com-
pulsory attendance rules, creat-
ed public kindergarten and set
quality standards.
That kind of effort to build
support outside the Capitol is
not happening now as Gov. Tate
Reeves and state House leaders
push separate proposals to sub-
stantially change Mississippi
tax laws.
Reeves wants to phase out
Mississippi’s personal income
tax. House Speaker Philip
Gunn and his top allies in the
Republican-controlled chamber
rolled out a complex plan last
week to increase some taxes
and decrease others.
Gunn has been in the House
since January 2004, and he said
the tax package
would be the
most historic
policy change
during his legis-
lative career.
“I think this
is a day that all
M i s s i s s ip p i a ns Gunn
can look to as
a red-letter day,” Gunn said
during a news conference Tues-
day at the Capitol.
The House leaders’ plan
would phase out the personal
income tax and cut the 7 per-
cent grocery tax in half over
several years. It would also
increase several other taxes,
including the state sales tax
on most items, which would go
from the current 7 percent to
9.5 percent. Tax rates would in-
crease on items including cars
and trucks, cigarettes, alcohol,
farm equipment and manufac-
turing equipment.
House leaders introduced
their tax overhaul proposal on
Feb. 22 as House Bill 1439 —
more than 300 pages that do not
lend themselves to speed read-
ing. They pushed it through the
Ways and Means Committee
the same day. And they pushed
it through the House on an 85-
34 vote the next day, with 72
votes needed to pass. It was
mostly a partisan split, but a
few Democrats voted for the bill
and one Republican opposed it.
The bill did not include a “fis-
cal note” to outline the impact
the proposed changes could
have on the state budget. A fis-
cal note is a basic expectation;
legislators in the past have
balked at voting on bills without
them.
Reeves mentioned his wish
to phase out the income tax in
November, when he released
his budget proposals for the
year that will begin July 1. He
touched on it again during his
State of the State address in
January.
The coronavirus pandem-
ic makes this a bad time for
Reeves to barnstorm the state
and push his tax proposal, be-
cause the governor himself has
limited the size of indoor gath-
erings to curb the spread of the
virus. Reeves, though, has not
been making other high-profile
efforts to generate public sup-
port for his proposal.
During Mississippi’s bud-
get year that ended June 30,
the state collected about $5.8
billion from all types of state
taxes, fees and other sources,
including lawsuit settlements,
according to the state Depart-
ment of Finance and Adminis-
tration. The biggest chunk of
money, about $2.2 billion, came
from sales taxes. The next-larg-
est source was about $1.8 billion
from individual income taxes.
Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert
Hosemann presides over the
52-member Senate. Speaking
to reporters in December, he
made clear that he was not on
board with the governor’s pro-
posal.
“We’re not going to go
through a process of eliminat-
ing the ability of people to get
educated, just for a talking
point,” Hosemann said.
Reeves last week criticized
the House proposal, saying:
“I certainly
wouldn’t want
to be a Republi-
can who votes to
significantly in-
crease taxes for
certain segments
of the general
public.” Reeves
Winter was a
Democrat dealing with a Dem-
ocratic-controlled Legislature.
He worked to build public sup-
port for the Education Reform
Act because the party was not
a monolith.
Reeves is a Republican
dealing with a Republican-con-
trolled Legislature. The GOP
holds more than the three-
fifths supermajority needed to
increase or decrease tax rates.
But the party is not a monolith,
and leaders could have trouble
uniting enough legislators be-
hind a tax overhaul unless they
take time to engage the public
and build widespread support.

Fraud overwhelms pandemic-related unemployment programs

The Labor Department inspector web and use it to flood
state unemployment sys-
the ranking Republican
on the House’s powerful
dreds of millions in more
populous states such as
Trying to catch so
many bogus claims delays
general’s office estimates that more tems with bogus claims.
The U.S. Justice De-
Ways and Means Com-
mittee. Brady said the $63
Massachusetts and Ohio.
The nationwide fraud
payouts to Ohioans who
are legitimately in need
than $63 billion has been paid out partment is investigating billion estimate “is larger has fed on twin vulnera- of help. In the Columbus
unemployment fraud by than the entire budget of bilities: a flood of jobless suburb of Upper Arling-
improperly through fraud or errors “transnational criminal the Department of Home- benefit applications since ton, Cynthia Sbertoli was
organizations, sophisti- land Security.” the pandemic began that receiving $228 a week
BY GEOFF MULVIHILL turning thousands of cated domestic actors, “These are frightening has overwhelmed state after she was laid off in
AND ANDREW WELSH- Americans into unwit- and individuals across levels of fraud,” he said. unemployment agencies March from her job with
HUGGINS ting identity theft victims. the United States,” said California has been the and antiquated benefit a nonprofit that runs high
The Associated Press Many states have failed Joshua Stueve, a spokes- biggest target, with an systems that are easy school student exchange
to adequately safeguard man for the department’s estimated $11 billion in prey for crafty and per- programs.
COLUMBUS, Ohio their systems, and a re- criminal division. fraudulent payments and sistent criminals. Her benefits were put
— With the floodgates view by The Associated The Labor Department an additional $19 billion In Ohio, weekly first- on hold in January after
set to open on another Press finds that some inspector general’s office in suspect accounts. Col- time unemployment she informed the state
round of unemployment will not even publicly ac- estimates that more than orado has paid out nearly claims have ranged from that someone had tried to
aid, states are being ham- knowledge the extent of $63 billion has been paid as much to scammers — 17,000 to more than use her identity in a scam
mered with a new wave of the problem. out improperly through an estimated $6.5 billion 40,000 during the pan- to claim benefits. She
fraud as they scramble to The massive sham fraud or errors — rough- — as it has to people who demic. But since late last thought the problem was
update security systems springs from prior identi- ly 10 percent of the total filed legitimate unem- month, those claims have resolved but has yet to
and block scammers who ty theft from banks, cred- amount paid under coro- ployment claims. topped more than 140,000 see a renewal of her bene-
already have siphoned it rating agencies, health navirus pandemic-related Other estimates, ac- some weeks, with many fit checks, which she and
billions of dollars from care systems and retail- unemployment programs cording to AP reporting of them believed to be her husband use to help
pandemic-related jobless ers. Fraud perpetrators, since March. across the states, range fraudulent. The state has pay for a son’s vision and
programs. sometimes in China, Ni- “We’re all learning from several hundred paid at least $330 million auditory therapy.
The fraud is fleecing geria or Russia, buy sto- that there is an epidemic thousand dollars in small- in fraudulent pandemic “It’s just not a good way
taxpayers, delaying le- len personal identifying of fraud,” said U.S. Rep. er states such as Alaska unemployment benefit to take care of people,”
gitimate payments and information on the dark Kevin Brady of Texas, and Wyoming to hun- claims. said Sbertoli, 49.

Harris
Continued from Page 1A
The storm that started because another tree, or hand, according to poles, and they’re on-call when he’s out on a major who went down to the
Wednesday night and another limb from the 4-County CEO Brian all the time. … But when job. Gulf Coast for 10 days
went into Thursday same tree, fell on a pow- Clark. a storm like (two weeks “When they were in 2005 after Hurricane
morning, which Harris erline,” Harris said. “Fred is a great man,” ago) hits, that’s their fin- younger, it was hard on Katrina had left its trail
said was the worse of the Harris is a Columbus Clark said. “He works est hour. The gears were them,” Harris said. “If of destruction.
two on 4-County, came High School graduate hard, he’s always got a oiled and the engine was they knew a storm was “Debris and power-
less than two days after and studied to be an smile on his face, and ready to go.” coming, they’d kind of lines were on the ground
the utility had restored electrical technician at he’s just the type of guy Harris said his wife cling to me because they as far as the eye could
power to all of its mem- East Mississippi Commu- you’re genuinely happy Veronica and their four knew I might have to go see,” he recalled. “That
bers from the first one. nity College. He said he to be around. children have gotten out.” was one of those mo-
Some areas had multiple always knew he wanted “His job is not an used to the occasionally No matter how bad ments you were working
outages throughout the to have an electrical average job,” he add- long and odd hours he the storms locally have and felt like, “Man we
rest of the week. career, and after stints in ed. “You have to be an works. His eldest two been, nothing compares ain’t getting anywhere.’
“We got a lot of construction and Bal- above-average person to children are grown, and to the worst damage The ones who went down
people’s power back on dor Electric, he finally be in this line of work. he has twin 14-year-old Harris has seen. there can always look at
Thursday, but then there got his “dream job” at These employees have daughters still at home. “Katrina,” he said. the damage we get here
were several spots we’d 4-County in 2003. to go out into the worst They all still will text Harris was among and say, ‘We’ve seen
have to respond to again He’s been a steady conditions and climb him to check up on him the 4-County workers worse.’”
Sports
‘I’M ALWAYS GOING TO GIVE BACK’
SPORTS LINE
662-241-5000
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021
B
SECTION

Former Noxubee County, MSU star Jeffery Simmons gives back in Macon
BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com
MACON — Jaron An-
drews isn’t used to ice.
So when winter
storms hit the Golden
Triangle the week of
Feb. 15, the 4-Country
Electric worker and
his fellow linemen had
to deal with hazards
they don’t typically see:
glazed tree limbs on
power lines and other
problems that caused
outages for area cus-
tomers. Andrews said
4-County was able to re-
store power to area cus-
tomers in a timely man-
ner, but it wasn’t easy.
“It was messy,” said
Andrews, a New Hope Macon Electric workers
resident who was one and local law enforce-
of 15 to 20 4-County ment who had helped
linemen working in the the area recover from
Noxubee County area the storm.
during the storm. “Ice “It’s good to see him
creates a whole ’nother give back to the commu-
condition that we’re not nity — not forget where
accustomed to here in he comes from,” An-
the South.” drews said of Simmons.
On Friday at the Nox- Selected by the Ti-
ubee Civic Center, a lo- tans in the first round of
cal legend gave back to the 2019 NFL draft after
Andrews and his fellow a standout career with
workers for their assis- the Bulldogs, Simmons
tance during the storms. said he was glad to come
Tennessee Titans de- back to his hometown
fensive lineman Jeffery and help out. Mayberry
Simmons, who starred Eatery in Macon volun-
Theo DeRosa/Dispatch Staff
for Noxubee County and teered to provide food
Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons talks with a 4-County Electric
went on to Mississippi — barbecue ribs and worker on Friday at the Noxubee Civic Center in Macon. The former star for the
State, provided meals leg quarters — and Sim- Tigers and Mississippi State gave out meals and handed out signed T-shirts to
for 4-County members, See SIMMONS, 2B 4-County workers, Macon Electric workers and local law enforcement.

Mississippi MISSISSIPPI STATE BASEBALL

State women
end regular
season with
Tanner Allen singles in ninth to give No. 5
blowout loss
to Missouri MSU second walk-off win, series victory
BY GARRICK HODGE
ghodge@cdispatch.com

STARK VILLE — Pri-

or to Sunday’s matchup
with Missouri, Mis-
sissippi State women’s
basketball built some
much-needed momen-
tum.
After a string of loss-
es, Nikki McCray-Pen-
son’s team pieced to-
gether two consecutive
victories, and hoped to
expand on that heading
into the postseason.
That all went out the
window Sunday.
The Bulldogs were
outplayed, outhustled
and, frankly, embar-
rassed by the Tigers
on their home court,
getting blown out 77-57.
It was the team’s sec-
ond blowout loss on its
home floor this season,
but instead of power-
house South Carolina,

See WBB, 3B

Recapping
Mississippi
State softball’s Mississippi State athletics
Mississippi State celebrates near the outfield grass at Dudy Noble Field after fourth-year junior Tanner Allen’s walk-off, two-run single
weekend at against Tulane Sunday in Starkville. The 5-4 win gave the Bulldogs a series victory over the visiting Green Wave.

Lone Star State
Invitational
BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com
Over the weekend
in Texas, the Missis-
sippi State softball
team faced perhaps the
toughest competition it
has seen since its 2019
Southeastern Confer-
ence slate.
The Bulldogs played
a doubleheader with a
solid small-conference
program in Texas State
and faced ranked teams
in Texas and Baylor, all
on the road. They also
faced Houston in a neu-
tral-site game Saturday
in Austin.
And all in all, Missis-
sippi State (8-4) turned
in an uneven perfor-
mance over the week-
end at the Lone Star
State Invitational. The
Bulldogs split with the
Bobcats in San Marcos,
beat the Cougars and
lost to the Longhorns
and Bears for a 2-3 per-
formance.
“Four of the five
games this weekend
See SOFTBALL, 3B
BY BEN PORTNOY
bportnoy@cdispatch.com
STARK VILLE — Perched
in the right field grass just
below a Ford advertisement
adorning on the wall at Dudy
Noble Field, Tanner Allen
peered down at the wording
on his glove.
“It don’t matter.”
Allen had the words embla-
zoned on his mitt as a friendly
reminder for days like Sunday.
It didn’t matter that he’d start-
ed the day 0 for 4. It didn’t
matter that Luis Aviles had
obliterated a mammoth home
run in the top of the ninth in-
ning to put Tulane ahead. It
didn’t matter that, on a week-
end filled with MSU-induced
blunders, the Bulldogs were
just a strike away from losing
their first home series since
March of 2019.
It did matter, though, that
Allen sat back on a hanging
fastball from Tulane reliever
Zach DeVito and laced the
pitch into center field for a a
two-out, two-run single that
gifted MSU (5-2) its second
walk-off win in as many days
and with it, a series victory
over the visiting Green Wave
(3-4).
“Everything that happened
before didn’t matter,” Allen
said, delivering a sermon of
sorts on a memorable Sunday
in Starkville. “It was all about
that moment right there. I was
able to lock in and get it done.”
That Allen came through
Sunday is to little surprise.
Head coach Chris Lemonis
called him one of the best
pure hitters in college base-
ball. Freshman outfielder
Drew McGowan described
him as a leader for the young-
er players to follow. In sum,
he’s an upperclassman who
continues to cement himself
into MSU lore amid a season
that, under normal circum-
stances, he wouldn’t be play-
ing in Starkville.
With the MLB draft short-
ened from 40 rounds to five,
Allen is part of the well-doc-
umented junior class along-
side Rowdey Jordan and Josh
Hatcher that returned to MSU
for one final season. Sunday,
Allen added the most prolific
contribution of the trio’s en-
deavors to date.
After a pair of walks were
issued to McGowan and Jack-
sonville transfer Scotty Du-
brule, a wild pitch from DeVi-
to moved the pair to second
and third. Following a loud
lineout from Jordan, Allen
stepped into the box and deliv-
ered another dramatic win for
a ball club that has seen two
of its five wins decided by one
run and another finalized by a
walk-off grand slam less than
24 hours prior.
“We got punched in the
mouth in the top of the ninth,”
McGowan said. “But you can’t
ever count the Dawgs out.
We’re going to punch back.”
Following an impressive
four-inning start from fresh-
man Jackson Fristoe, who
was slotted into the weekend
rotation after second-year
freshman Will Bednar was
scratched from his second
consecutive start due to sore-
ness in his shoulder, it was a
dazzling display from third-
year sophomore Brandon
Smith that silenced the ev-
er-barking Tulane bench for
the bulk of Sunday’s contest.
Taking over for Carlisle
Koestler in the sixth inning,
Smith allowed three singles
but worked his way to the end
of the sixth and through the
seventh inning.
As tensions ran high, nota-
bly when Tulane skipper Tra-
vis Jewett did everything but
get tossed in an eighth inning
outburst over a strike call,
Smith strutted off the bump
and screamed toward the Tu-
lane dugout after striking out
the side in the frame. Motion-
ing at the Green Wave bench
with his right arm and glove,
his display drew a warning for
both dugouts.
“It got really competitive,”
Lemonis said. “You’ve got re-
ally talented athletes fighting
at a really high level and com-
peting and it did, it was a little
chirpy today.”
With Smith’s pitch count
climbing to 32 after 2.1 in-
nings pitched, Lemonis sided
with sixth-year senior closer
Spencer Price in the ninth.
Retiring the first two batters
he faced, Price hung a fast-
ball that Aviles sent into the
deepest parts of the Left Field
Lounge for the third mam-
moth Green Wave home run
of the day.
As the boisterous Tulane
bench exploded from its dug-
out, a sudden hush fell over
the previously raucous Dudy
Noble crowd. That is until Al-
len took the plate.
Now in his fourth year with
the program, the Mobile, Al-
abama, native is no strang-
er to big moments. He’s the
same player that tagged out
a runner to send MSU to the
College World Series in 2018.
As a sophomore, he wept in
the locker room beneath TD
Ameritrade Park in Omaha,
See BASEBALL, 2B
2B MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Welcome back: Optimism abounds as MLB’s spring includes fans

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SCOT TSDALE, Ariz.
— Brian Delaney checked
his ticket, found his seats
and then sat down for a
minute in the sunshine. It
wasn’t a typical late Feb-
ruary day in Arizona — a
little cool, a little breezy
— but Delaney didn’t
complain a bit.
“You ever been
through a Colorado win-
ter?” the Colorado Rock-
ies fan said with a grin.
The good humor
and smiles were easy
to find as baseball fans
streamed into Sunday
afternoon’s spring train-
ing opener between the
Rockies and Arizona
Diamondbacks. A down-
ward trend in COVID-19
cases throughout most
of the country has meant
that a limited amount of
fans are allowed back in
spring training facilities
throughout Arizona and
Florida.
At Salt River Fields at
Talking Stick, the crowd
was capped at about 2,200
fans, which is 16% of the
usual capacity. Delaney
said he never hesitated to
get tickets for himself and
Debra Mierzwa once they
went on sale a few weeks
ago.
“Oh yeah,” Delaney
said. “We were never wor-
ried. This is great.”
The happy and half-
way-normal scene on
Sunday was a far cry from
353 days ago, when in-
credulous fans stood out-
side Salt River Fields and
digested the news that
baseball — and pretty
much the rest of the world
— was being shutdown
because of the spreading
coronavirus pandemic.
Nearly a year later,
things are very different.
“It seemed like forev-
er,” said Brandon Ram-
sey, who lives in the
Phoenix area and went
to the Reds-Indians game
in Goodyear on Sunday.
“Last year got cut a little
short. To come out here
for opening day is just fan-
tastic. They did a great
job in socially distancing.
They made sure we were
safe.”
Aside from the World
Series and NL Champi-
onship Series held last
October at a neutral-site
park in Arlington, Texas,
this marked the first time
fans were allowed at big
league baseball games
since March 12.
By now the safety pro-
tocols for sports events
have become familiar.
Fans in Scottsdale are
spread out in small pods
of two, four or six peo-
ple. Masks are worn ex-
cept when eating and
drinking. People sitting
on blankets in the grass
beyond the outfield wall
were given spray-painted
squares to stay separate.
Cleaning crews are ubiq-
uitous.
But spring baseball
appears to have consid-
erable safety advantage
over its NBA, NHL and
college basketball coun-
terparts: It’s played out-
doors where studies have
shown the virus is less ef-
fective at spreading.
“We feel really good
about our ability to host
spring training in the saf-
est possible way,” Cactus
League executive direc-
tor Bridget Binsbacher
said.
All 30 teams in Ma-
jor League Baseball are
allowing fans at their
spring training facilities
in Arizona and Florida,
though capacity will be
severely limited. The Chi-
cago Cubs are welcom-
ing the most fans (3,630
per game) while the San
Francisco Giants will
have the fewest (1,000
per game).
The Yankees and
Twins have the largest
percentage of seats avail-
able, with the potential to
reach 28% of capacity.
Fans certainly seem
excited about getting
back to the park. The
players have missed
them, too.
Oakland right-hander
Daulton Jefferies got a
thrill from facing the load-
ed Los Angeles Dodgers
lineup with fans in the
seats at last. The limited
crowd of 1,998 was a sell-
out at Hohokam Stadium
in Mesa, Arizona.
“Even though it’s
20-percent capacity it
didn’t feel like it,” Jeffe-
ries said. “Everyone was
very loud. It was just a lot
of fun. I think we truly un-
derestimated how much
we missed it.”
The outlook for spring
training has changed
drastically just in the past
month. Back in January,
the Cactus League sent
a letter to MLB suggest-
ing that the spring sched-
ule be delayed because
of high COVID-19 case
counts in Maricopa Coun-
ty, which is home to all 15
teams in Arizona.
But then cases plum-
meted in Arizona and the
plan to play games pushed
forward. Binsbacher and
others became much
more optimistic.
For some fans, the
progress came too late.
Don Witynski is a
58-year-old Milwaukee
Brewers fan from Wis-
consin who has traveled
to Arizona the past four
years for about a week
during spring training.
He said his family of four
would watch three or four
baseball games but the
trip also includes hiking
and other outdoor activi-
ties in the Arizona sun.
Not this year. He said
most of his friends are
staying in Wisconsin this
year, though a few will
make the trip to the des-
ert.
“We’re hunkering
down, staying home,” Wi-
tynski said. “I’ve got teen-
agers, 13-year-old twins.
Obviously until this vac-
cine rolls out more we’re
definitely staying home
this year unfortunately.”
Those are the kinds of
stories that have Arizona
and Florida bracing for
another year of lost reve-
nue. But limited fans are
better than no fans. The
appetite to watch base-
ball appears strong: The
Rockies and Diamond-
backs — who share the
Salt River Fields facili-
ty — both sold out their
entire spring ticket allot-
ments about 24 hours af-
ter they went public.
Delaney said he and
Mierzwa were coming to
Arizona regardless of the
baseball situation. They
enjoy trail running and
Arizona in February is a
fine time for that sport.
Businesses in Arizona
hope there more Del-
aneys and Mierzwas out
there to make 2021 a little
less painful.
“It’s all part of mov-
ing the right direction,”
Binsbacher said. “I can’t
stress enough – health
and safety was at the
forefront of everything
we did. But the financial
numbers are real. It defi-
nitely impacts our busi-
nesses and the numbers
speak for themselves. It’s
a tremendous impact.”
The COVID-19 hit to
central Arizona’s baseball
economy was stark: A
study from Arizona State
University found that the
Cactus League’s season
generated an estimat-
ed economic impact of
$363.6 million in 2020 be-
fore the shutdown in mid-
March, which was down
nearly $300 million from
the estimated $644.2 mil-
lion generated in 2018.
The study added that
2020 would have been “on
a par” with 2018 had it not
been for the coronavirus.
As for 2021, there is
cautious optimism that
the Cactus League sea-
son won’t be a complete
washout for the local
economy. But for hotels,
restaurants, bars, golf
courses and rental house
companies, there’s little
doubt that finances will
take a hit for a second
straight year.
Stephanie Pressler,
who is the director of
community affairs for Ex-
perience Scottsdale, said
businesses are balancing
realism with a little opti-
mism now that COVID-19
cases have gone down
and all teams are allow-
ing at least some fans.
“This is normally the
busiest time of year for
Scottsdale’s tourism in-
dustry, largely because
of Cactus League spring
training,” Pressler said
in an email. “Understand-
ably, our expectations
are muted this year given
the ongoing pandemic,
though Experience Scott-
sdale is excited that the
season is moving forward
in a way that will keep
teams, fans, employees
and residents safe.”

No. 3 A&M women beat No. 5 South Carolina 65-57 for SEC title
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLLEGE STATION, Tex-
as — The third-ranked Texas
A&M Aggies have insisted all
year that they should be con-
sidered one of the nation’s best
teams.
When given the chance to
shine against another top-5
team on Sunday, they proved it.
“We needed to win this
game to solidify who were
were and what we’ve earned,”
Texas A&M coach Gary Blair
said.
Aaliyah Wilson scored 17
points and N’dea Jones add-
ed 16 to lead Texas A&M to
a 65-57 win over fifth-ranked
South Carolina to give the Ag-
gies their first regular-season
Southeastern Conference title.
Jones said they had a team
meeting before the season to
set their goals and make sure
everyone knew how important
being vigilant about coronavi-
rus protocols would be to their
season.
“We knew that we could win
it,” she said. “We just needed to
follow protocols and stay with
it and we could be here.”
It’s the 10th straight victory
for the Aggies and their ninth
win over a ranked opponent
this season, which leads the
nation. Texas A&M (22-1, 13-1
SEC) snapped a seven-game
skid against South Carolina
and finished the season 13-0 at
home after playing in front of
a season-high 2,700 on Sunday.
“We’re the two best teams
in the SEC and we had to prove
it night in and night out,” Blair
said. “Now it’s up to both of us
to throw this season away and
start all over at the SEC tour-
nament and the NCA A tourna-
ment.”
The Gamecocks trailed by
as many as 14 in the fourth
quarter but cut the lead to 3 on
a 3-pointer by Aliyah Boston
with about three minutes to go.
Wilson pushed Texas
A&M’s lead to 62-57 on a bas-
ket with less than 90 seconds
remaining and Kayla Wells
added two free throws with 12
seconds left to secure the vic-
tory.
“It’s not always pretty but
we find a way... we just keep
having each other’s backs,”
Wilson said.
The Aggies outscored South
Carolina (19-4, 14-2) 19-8 in
the third quarter to take a
commanding lead before the
Gamecocks get back in it late.
Destanni Henderson and
Zia Cooke had 15 points each
for the Gamecocks, who won
both the SEC regular-season
and conference tournament ti-
tles last season.
“We’re expected to win
championships and this was
within our reach, but we just
ran out of gas,” coach Dawn
Staley said. “We just didn’t
have enough in the tank.”
Texas A&M led by 14 early
in the fourth before South Car-
olina used a 9-0 run, with the
first seven points from Cooke,
to get within 56-51 with about
5 ½ minutes remaining.
The Aggies added one free
throw before Henderson’s
3-pointer cut the lead to 57-54
with five minutes to go.
Texas A&M was up by 1 at
halftime and scored the first
10 points of the second half
to make it 45-34 with about
four minutes left in the third.
Jordan Nixon started that run
with a jump shot and capped it
with a 3-pointer.
The Gamecocks couldn’t do
anything right in that stretch,
missing seven shots and com-
mitting four turnovers. They
got their first point of a period
when Cooke made one of two
free throws with about three
minutes left in the quarter.
“When you miss a layup and
you give up an easy basket at
the other end — when that hap-
pens continuously it takes a toll
on you,” Staley said.
The Aggies added a basket
after that before South Caroli-
na got its first field goal of the
second half on a layup by Lele
Grissett a few seconds later.
A 5-0 run by Texas A&M,
with another 3 by Nixon, came
next to make it 52-37 and spur
South Carolina Staley to call a
timeout.
The Gamecocks finished
the quarter with a 5-2 spurt to
cut the lead to 52-42 entering
the fourth.
Rebounding record
Jones had 14 rebounds to
pass Anriel Howard (1,002)
for most career rebounds in
school history with 1,010.
Jones had 16 games with at
least 10 rebounds this season
and 62 in her career.
“I actually wrote that before
the game to be extraordinary...
I’m glad I was able to do that
for them,” Jones said.
Up next
Both teams will resume play
next week in the SEC tourna-
ment, which begins Wednes-
day.
Elite men’s programs stuck
on the NCAA Tournament
bubble
The NCA A Tournament
bubble is typically populated
with teams from small confer-
ences and middle-of-the-pack
big conference schools.
A pandemic that has
wreaked havoc on the college
basketball season is also re-
shaping the curve.
Perennial power Duke is
currently bubbling. So is North
Carolina. Kentucky is so far
down it can’t even see the bub-
ble.
“The season hasn’t gone
how we wanted it, but we just
try to keep our head down and
keep working,” Duke sopho-
more forward Matthew Hurt
said. “Every day, don’t take a
day off, not try to listen to the
outside, the social media, what
everyone else says but us.”
Duke entered the season
with loaded expectations, as
it always does. The Blue Dev-
ils had key holdovers from last
year’s team and coach Mike
Krzyzewski brought in another
stellar recruiting class.
Duke’s season has mostly
been a dud so far.
The Blue Devils are 8-8 and
6-6 in the ACC after beating
North Carolina State on Satur-
day, a win that ended a three-
game losing streak. Duke is No.
66 in the latest NET rankings —
up 11 from the previous rankings
— and needs a strong finish to
the season to avoid missing the
NCAA Tournament for the first
time since 1995.
“You’ve just got to stay with
it,” Krzyzewski said. “That’s
what our program’s done and see
what happens. Just see what hap-
pens if you do that.”
North Carolina fell flat with a
chance at a resume-building win
on Saturday, scoring 48 points in
a loss to No. 9 Virginia. The Tar
Heels failed to have a double-fig-
ure scorer for the first time since
1966, are 12-7 overall and No.
56 in the NET after going 1-6 in
Quadrant 1 games.
Kentucky, at 6-13 and No. 76
in the NET, will likely need to
win the SEC Tournament to join
the field of 68.
Once a blueblood appear-
ing to be in trouble, the Kansas
Jayhawks have reeled off three
straight wins. Kansas has some
big potential resume builders
after facing rival Kansas State,
with games against No. 7 Texas
Tech, No. 13 Texas and No. 2
Baylor to close out the regular
season.

Simmons
Continued from Page 1B
mons met each worker and handed
them a signed T-shirt.
“I’m just grateful to be in a position
to be able to show my appreciation to
these guys,” Simmons said.
While he has two aunts who still
live in the Macon area, Simmons said
their power remained on during the
storms. But, he stressed, that’s not
what matters.
“It’s not just about me and my fami-
ly; it’s about my community and how I
can help my community the best way
I can,” he said.
Andrews, who brought his 17-year-
old daughter Anna Beth to Friday’s
event, said his daughter fell in love
with the Bulldogs when Dak Prescott
was at quarterback. They watched
games together and became fans of
Simmons during his three years at
Mississippi State.
Andrews was happy to see Sim-
mons return to his small hometown
for a good cause.
“It’s good to see somebody come
in here and re-invest their time in the
community,” he said. “I like to see
that as a parent of children who are
growing up in the community.”
Simmons, who is currently train-
ing in Dallas during the offseason,
said he was surprised to see the ef-
fects of the winter storms across the
South: millions losing power in Tex-
as, rare snow in Nashville and sim-
ilar conditions in Noxubee County
and most of Mississippi. He credited
4-County linemen for “working their
tail off” to restore power, including
the 13- and 14-hour days they put in
to fight the storm.
“Their job’s as important as any-
body else’s job,” Simmons said. “I just
wanted these guys to see that and
feel that I really appreciate them and
care about them and the job they’re
doing.”
Simmons said it was an honor just
to be in Macon on Friday and return
the favor for those who helped out his
hometown in a time of need.
“I take pride in doing this; I take
pride in just being able to show peo-
ple that I don’t have a ‘hot head’ as
people say,” Simmons said. “I just
want to show people that no matter
how far in life I go, I’m always going
to remember Noxubee County. I’m al-
ways going to give back.”

Baseball
Continued from Page 1B
vowing to bring the Bulldogs back to the precipice of a national title.
Racing around the outfield after teammates ripped the jersey off his chis-
eled chest, Allen and the black-uniformed Bulldogs did all but dogpile Sun-
day to cap off a weekend that felt as close to a NCA A tournament series as
has been held in the 357 days since a home set last occurred at Dudy Noble
Field.
As the mob of jerseys in center field dissipated, the gaggle of players re-
maining turned to the visiting bench and sent a chorus of waves in Tulane’s
direction as the Green Wave exited the bench and headed toward a long bus
ride back to New Orleans.
It didn’t matter that Allen hadn’t recorded a hit until Sunday’s ninth in-
ning. It mattered plenty when his roped swing found a hole.
“I tell people, ‘Don’t give up on the Dawgs,’” Allen said. “Because we’re
going to be there right till the end.”
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021 3B

WBB
Continued from Page 1B
the drubbing came against a team
that finished below the Bulldogs
in the Southeastern Conference
standings.
“They came in here and just
whipped us,” McCray-Penson said.
“We were not the team that played
the last two games. We have to
go back to the drawing board and
that’s pretty much all I can say on
that end.”
From a big-picture perspective,
this contest was relatively mean-
ingless. Regardless of the outcome
of Sunday’s game, the Bulldogs
(10-8, 5-7 SEC) were locked into
the No. 8 vs. No. 9 SEC tournament
Sudoku YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

matchup against LSU. It’s likely

MSU will still hear its name called
Sudoku
Sudoku is a number-
placing puzzle based on
Sunday’s answer
on Selection Monday if it loses that Theo DeRosa/Dispatch Staff Sudoku
a 9x9 gridis witha several
num- 3 9 6 5 8 7 4 2 1
rematch. But the “peaking at the Aliyah Matharu drives to the basket Sunday in Mississippi State’s contest ber-placing
given numbers.puzzleThe object 4 2 8 6 1 3 5 9 7

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

right time” dream evaporated Sun- with Missouri. The Bulldogs lost 77-57. based onthe
is to place a 9x9
numbers 5 7 1 9 2 4 8 6 3
day. grid
1 to 9with
in theseveral
empty spaces 9 5 3 8 7 1 2 4 6
out that way with them. That’s the second half, with MSU never given
“You just have to regroup, re- about all I’m going to say on that.” trimming the deficit to less than so that numbers.
each row, eachThe 1 6 7 4 9 2 3 5 8
gardless of the next opponent,” object
column and each 3x3 the
is to place box
MSU has two seniors listed on 12. numbers 8 4 2 3 5 6 1 7 9
McCray-Penson said. its roster, Caterrion Thompson Missouri finished 12 of 30 from contains the1same to 9 number
in
2 1 4 7 6 8 9 3 5
Against the Tigers, McCray-Pen- the empty spaces so
and Yemiyah Morris, but redshirt only once. The difficulty 6 8 9 2 3 5 7 1 4
beyond the arc, while the Bulldogs that each row, each
son elected to hold out two key junior Sidney Cooks was also hon- level increases from
couldn’t buy a bucket, shooting an column and each 7 3 5 1 4 9 6 8 2
cogs in the rotation, JaMya Min- Monday
ored in the team’s senior day fes- abysmal 3 of 22 from long range 3x3 boxtocontains
Sunday. Difficulty Level 2/27

go-Young and Rickea Jackson, for tivities. In Saturday’s game, Cooks

the entire first half. Both checked
in only when the game was well out
of hand in the third quarter. When
asked the reason for their absence
for the majority of the contest, Mc-
Cray-Penson sidestepped the ques-
tion and instead wanted to discuss
MSU’s senior class.
“I just really want to focus on
our seniors,” McCray-Penson said.
“Obviously, we didn’t want to go
logged 25 minutes, Thompson was
on the court for 20 and Morris
played 9 minutes. Jackson scored
six points in 11 minutes and Min-
go-Young was held scoreless in her
8 minutes of action.
Missouri (9-10, 5-9) came out
of the game hot, making six of its
first nine 3-pointers en route to a
40-24 halftime lead. The Tigers
outscored the Bulldogs 37-33 in
and 40.7 percent from the floor. the same number only once. The difficulty level
Myah Taylor was the only increases from Monday to Sunday.
Bulldog player in double figures,
contributing 11 points on a 3-of-5
shooting effort. Shug Dickson had
a game-high 16 points for Missou-
ri.
MSU will face LSU at 10 a.m.
Thursday in the first round of the
SEC tournament in Greenville,
South Carolina.

Softball
Sunday’s Cryptoquote:

Continued from Page 1B

are true road games,”
Mississippi State coach
Samantha Ricketts
said in a news release.
“Playing four of five
true road games really
gets us ready to go into
a tough Southeastern
Conference schedule. …
They’re not always go-
ing to be shutout, one-
run ballgames. We’re
going to have to be able
to bounce back, score
some runs and hold the
opponent down. I real-
ly think it’s something
we can move forward
from if we’re learning
from the battle and the
lessons we’ve had early
on.”
On Friday in San Mar-
cos, the Bulldogs were
hurt by missed oppor-
tunities on offense. On
Saturday in Austin, they
nearly completed but
couldn’t quite finish a
considerable comeback.
On Sunday in Waco,
early pitching struggles
were too great an obsta-
cle to overcome.
Now with four losses
on the season, Missis-
sippi State has already
lost more games in 2021
than it did in 2020. The
Bulldogs went 25-3 in
their abbreviated sea-
son, though they played
just one ranked team:
No. 9 Oregon.
Mississippi State
won’t have any respite
with its next game, a
nonconference contest
against Southeastern
Conference foe Alabama
— the No. 3 team in the
country — on Wednes-
day in Tuscaloosa.
Here’s a look at how
the Bulldogs fared in
each of their games this
weekend.
No. 23 Baylor 10,
Mississippi State 6,
Sunday
Junior left-hander
Grace Fagan was tagged
for five runs in the first
inning, and the Bulldogs
never overcame that ear-
ly deficit in a 10 -6 loss.
Mississippi State
trailed 5-2 after the first
before Baylor added two
more runs against An-
nie Willis in the second.
The Bulldogs made it
a 7-5 game in the third
on back-to-back homers
by Mia Davidson and
Fa Leilua and got with-
in one run on a Chloe
Malau’ulu single in the
fourth.
But Baylor responded
with three RBI singles in
the bottom of the fourth
inning to push the lead
to four runs.
Mississippi State
didn’t score again de-
spite threatening with
a runner on in the fifth
and two in the sixth.
The Bulldogs stranded
all three runners and
went down 1-2-3 in the
seventh.
The Bears scored
their five first-inning
runs on a single, a hit-
by-pitch, a wild pitch
and a two-run double.
An error and a single
brought home Baylor’s
two runs in the second.
“That’s a team that
doesn’t strike out a lot,”
Ricketts said. “They put
the ball in play. We’ve got
to be able to make some
plays and find a way to
pitch to soft contact.
Credit to them, they do
a great job of forcing you
with the amount of balls
they put in play. Overall,
we just needed to do a
better job of limiting the
base hits and the big hit
to follow that.”
Mississippi State 3,
Houston 0, Saturday
The Bulldogs got
their best pitching per-
formance of the sea-
son so far on Saturday
against Houston.
Willis hurled a com-
plete-game shutout, al-
lowing just three hits
and striking out four
Cougars.
“I thought Annie did
a great job of attacking
the zone and settling in
from the first inning,”
Ricketts said. “She real-
ly looked like the Annie
that we expect to see,
mixing speeds and loca-
tion and getting ahead
early in the count often.”
Leilua’s three-run ho-
mer in the bottom of the
third provided all the of-
fense the Bulldogs need-
ed, scoring Malau’ulu
and Davidson to give the
Dawgs a 3-0 lead.
“Fa has done a great
job of working on hitting
different pitches hard,”
Ricketts said. “That was
a changeup she sat on to
be able to pick up some
runs early in the game
when we needed it. It
was big for our momen-
tum to get Annie some
support early.”
No. 7 Texas 8, Missis-
sippi State 7, Saturday
After falling behind
8-1 early against Texas,
the Bulldogs showed
they could hang around
with one of the best
teams in the nation.
But they couldn’t
muster quite enough
offense to beat the
Longhorns on Saturday.
Mississippi State scored
six unanswered runs to
make it an 8-7 game but
couldn’t scratch across
the tying score.
The Bulldogs’ ral-
ly began in the top of
the fourth when Carter
Spexarth plated two
runs with a single to left
field. Paige Cook, Chris-
tian Quinn and Chloe
Malau’ulu all had RBI
singles in the inning.
Mia Davidson scored
Cook with a double in
the sixth, but Leilua
struck out with two run-
ners aboard to end the
inning. The Bulldogs
had nothing doing in the
seventh as Texas closed
out the 8-7 victory.
Still, Ricketts praised
the team’s fight against
the Longhorns.
“That’s something
we take a lot of pride
in, being able to come
back, to not give in and
keep fighting back and
be scrappy,” she said.
“We’ve yet to really play
our complete game.
Have our pitchers keep
us in it a little bit longer
there, and I think we
definitely had the fight
back to compete at the
end.”
The Longhorns built
an 8-1 lead thanks to
a five-run third inning
capped by a three-run
homer. Back-to-back
homers in the first in-
ning accounted for Tex-
as’ first three runs.
Mississippi State 6,
Texas State 2, Friday
(Game 2)
A big fourth inning
provided all the offense
the Bulldogs needed to
finish Friday’s double-
header with a 6 -2 win.
Spexarth, Davidson
and Leilua all went deep
as Mississippi State
scored all six of its runs
in the frame. Spexarth
led off the inning with
a solo home run before
Davidson clubbed a
three-run shot and Lei-
lua went back to back
with a homer of her own.
Quinn doubled home
Cook before Davidson’s
blast to left center field
helped MSU open up the
game against the team it
couldn’t put away earlier
Friday.
“I really liked to see
the fight and how we
came together to string
together quite a few hits
there. It comes back
to the energy and mo-
mentum,” Ricketts said.
“That’s something we’ve
been preaching a lot, for
them to stay on it even
when it doesn’t go our
way the first or second
time through the lineup.
They just never doubted
that we were going to
find a way to score some
runs there. That goes
back to the maturity of
the group.”
The Dawgs’ first
three runs were the first
allowed this season by
Texas State starter Jes-
sica Mullins, who no-hit
Abilene Christian on
Monday.
Fagan earned the
win in the circle for
Mississippi State with
4.2 innings of one-run
ball. She struck out four
against one walk and
gave up five hits. Alys-
sa Loza finished out the
fifth inning and pitched
a clean sixth, and Aspen
Wesley gave up a run in
the seventh.
Sophomore short-
stop Madisyn Kennedy
returned from an ankle ACROSS
injury to start the game, 1 Rose part
making her first appear- 5 Spiny plants
ance of the season. 10 Deep sleep
11 Future oaks
Texas State 4, Missis- 13 Smell
sippi State 3, Friday 14 Change
(Game 1) genetically
Missed chances 15 Toothed
came back to hurt the wheel
Bulldogs in their second 17 Gun owner’s
loss of the season, a 4-3 org.
setback in Friday’s tour- 18 Apartment
nament opener in San door feature
Marcos. 19 Sonar user
Mississippi State 20 Print units
left a runner on base in 21 Method Sunday’s answer
five of seven innings, 22 Frighten DOWN 23 Tiara’s kin
and pinch runner Bry- 25 Not feral 1 Get a goal 24 Way back
lie St. Clair was caught 26 Fireplace 2 Right now when
stealing second for the
game’s penultimate out
stack 3 Ham it up 25 Young ones
as the Bulldogs fought
27 Road goo 4 Parade partic- 27 Past and
28 Angry state
to answer the Bobcats’
29 Texas senator
ipants
5 Caravan
present
29 Cover words
go-ahead run.
A double by Texas since 2013 animals 30 Spoke wildly
State’s ArieAnn Bell off 33 Twice uno 6 Keen 31 Tip over
Wesley brought home 34 Fit 7 Barracks bed 32 Full of flavor
Kylie George for that 35 Passes, as 8 Window over 36 Beret, for one
winning tally in the bot- a law a door
tom of the sixth. The 37 Nights before 9 Trespass
Bobcats tied the game 38 Entertain 12 Anchor place
an inning earlier on 39 Dispatched 16 Sharpen
Tara Oltmann’s two-run 40 Hits the 21 Italian noble-
home run. sauce man
Baylee Lemons got 41 Whirlpool 22 Fast pitch
things started for Tex-
as State with a solo shot
off Emily Williams in
the fourth, breaking the
shutout.
Mississippi State got
a run in the first when
Leilua hammered a ball
to right center for a dou-
ble to score Davidson.
The ball hit a flagpole
beyond the playing field
and ricocheted back
onto the turf, but it was
not ruled a home run,
and the Bulldogs had
to settle for just one run
rather than two.
They added a pair to
their lead on RBI sin-
gles by Cook and Quinn
in the fourth inning, but
Texas State scored the
game’s final four runs to
take the win.
4B MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021
Morikawa plays a steady hand to win Workday Championship
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BRADENTON, Fla.
— The plan was for PGA
champion Collin Mori-
kawa to wear a red shirt
with his black pants Sun-
day to show support for
Tiger Woods as he recov-
ers from career-threaten-
ing leg injuries from a car
crash.
The clothes shipped
to him never arrived, so
Morikawa did the next
best thing at the Workday
Championship.
He played like him.
Staked to a two-shot
lead, Morikawa shook
off an early mistake, re-
gained control around the
turn, delivered two clutch
putts and then played a
steady hand on a Con-
cession Golf Club course
Comics & Puzzles
DILBERT
ZITS
GARFIELD
CANDORVILLE
BABY BLUES
BEETLE BAILEY
MALLARD FILLMORE
known for calamity.
Just like Woods has
done so often, Morikawa
forced everyone to catch
him. No one did, and his
3-under 69 gave him a
three-shot victory for his
first World Golf Champi-
onship.
“With how good the
field was, how good my
game felt, to close it out
with such a stacked lea-
derboard coming after
me, it really means a lot,”
Morikawa said.
He became the 24th
player to win a major and a
World Golf Championship
title, and the 24-year-old
Californian joined Woods
as the only players to win
both before turning 25.
Woods was 23 when
he won the first of his 18
FAMILY CIRCUS
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
World Golf Champion- and Tony Finau took it an
ships. extra step by arriving at
Morikawa, who fin- Concession with his cap
ished at 18-under 270, won turned backward.
for the fourth time in his Woods suffered seri-
last 34 starts on the PGA ous injuries to his right
Tour. He finished three leg and foot when his
ahead of Brooks Koepka SUV crashed off a road
(70), Viktor Hovland (67) and tumbled down a hill
and Billy Horschel (70), in the Los Angeles sub-
who played with Morika- urbs on Tuesday. After a
wa in the final group and prolonged surgery to put
witnessed the supreme the shattered bones back
iron play that made him together, he is recovering
so hard to catch. and was said to be in good
As for that red shirt? spirits.
Morikawa thinks it got “Red and black, we
stuck in Tennessee be- know that’s what Tiger
cause of the weather. He does on Sundays, so just
even sent his caddie to to join in and just let Tiger
the distribution center to know we’re supporting
see if it arrived. him in the best way we
Several other players can,” Finau said. “We’re
wore the ensemble that still playing and we miss
Woods made famous, him out here, but it was
Dear Abby
D
EAR ABBY:
My mother
has become
very “spiritual”
over the last
eight years or
so. Recently,
it has become
all-consuming
and on the verge
of becoming
detrimental. She
often refers to
her “guides”
(she says they
are feelings,
but I think she’s Dear Abby
getting brain-
washed by human
“guides” online), who have
convinced her to withdraw
thousands of dollars from her
bank before the second wave
of COVID-19 hits.
I recently became engaged.
We don’t plan to be married
until 2022 so our guests can
have a fun, safe time at our
wedding. Mom wants to take
a “mediumship certification”
class, which will run for 18
months. The actual certifi-
cation is scheduled for the
month we told her we may
want to get married, so now
she’s trying to guilt me into
changing the date. She copied
me on the email she sent to
the teacher in which she said
she would try to “direct me to
Horoscopes
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (March
1). You embody the spirit of
play! Playmates challenge you to
new creative heights. As the en-
ergy gets lighter, the ideas flow
stronger. Love becomes leisure;
leisure becomes work; work
becomes a joy. Many improve-
ments come from subtracting
instead of adding. Just let your
emotional intelligence lead the
way. Gemini and Scorpio adore
you. Your lucky numbers are: 4,
30, 9, 5 and 17.
ARIES (March 21-April 19).
Most of the games do not follow
a zero-sum model. Today’s
situation will definitely have
far more nuance, with hidden
gems, trick doors, group wins,
ladders disguised as chutes and
chutes that pass for ladders.
cool just to be a part of
that.”
The inspiration came
from Woods. The instruc-
tion came from a pair of
major champions.
Morikawa was down
on his putting a few weeks
ago while at home in Las
Vegas when he decided
to try to the “saw” putting
grip that Mark O’Meara
perfected, He rotates his
right hand so that his first
two fingers extend down
the grip. O’Meara recent-
ly moved to Las Vegas,
and Morikawa sought
him out.
And then at Conces-
sion, he asked club mem-
ber Paul Azinger for help
with his chipping on the
Bermuda grass. Azinger
said it took about 10 min-
choose a differ-
ent date.” I let
her know she’s
not going to dic-
tate our wedding
day, but is there
something more
here that needs
to be addressed?
— CERTIFIABLY
ANNOYED
DEAR AN-
NOYED: I don’t
think so. Your
mother’s spiritual
life is her person-
al business, and
it would be a mis-
take to attempt
to make it yours. Unless you
are convinced her spirit guides
cheated her out of the money
she withdrew — in which case
you should contact the authori-
ties and report it — let her live
her life as you are pursuing
your own.
DEAR ABBY: My husband
and I have been married 22
years. They have been a rough
22 years, and I’m no longer
in love with him. I will not be
looking for another husband
should we get divorced.
We tried counseling as well
as a Retrouvaille weekend,
which was hard emotionally
as we learned a new way of
communicating. However, after
the weekend, I would always
TAURUS (April 20-May 20).
Those who play it too safe wind
up in familiar company and the
circumstances they know best...
which would be satisfying
enough if not for the nagging
feeling that what you’re sup-
posed to learn is somewhere
out there.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21).
Guitar strings cause blisters;
skiing will cost a few tumbles.
Getting good at a thing often
requires discomfort, and in the
case of love, pain is mandatory
and a given. Without a low,
there is no high.
CANCER (June 22-July
22). It is challenging to change
modalities when you really enjoy
and favor the role you’re playing.
But no one gets to be the same
utes, more about tech-
nique to get the bounce in
the wedge more involved.
Both worked beautiful-
ly all week.
Rock solid with his
game and his emotions,
Morikawa choked up ever
so slightly when it was
over talking about Woods
and what he has meant to
the game, and his pater-
nal grandfather, who died
last month.
“You don’t get to say
thank you enough,” Mori-
kawa said. “So , ‘Thank
you, guys.’”
Outside of a chunked
chip on the second hole
that made him scram-
ble for bogey, Morikawa
didn’t miss a fairway the
rest of the way and was
rarely out of position.
initiate the skills we learned,
but he would not.
He’s retired. I’m still work-
ing, yet nothing is getting done
around the house. I’m tired of
feeling stressed. I don’t like
cleaning up after him and our
daughters, and I’m thinking of
moving out.
I feel overwhelmed and
want to live by myself for a
period of time, but something
is stopping me from signing
a lease. Our daughters are in
college, and my door will be
open to them anytime. Should
I move out? — ON THE VERGE
IN TEXAS
DEAR ON THE VERGE:
Perhaps. However, before you
sign anything — including di-
vorce papers — please consid-
er discussing your feelings of
stress and being overwhelmed
with a licensed psychother-
apist. Some time away from
your stressors might be helpful
for you, and a therapist may
be able to help you determine
how long a period that should
be before making anything
permanent.
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.
person in every scenario. Today,
you’re flexible and you will
match your attitude as various
roles demand.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22).
Those who need a lot of control
can become frustrated with
anything that threatens their
sense of being in charge. You’ll
deal especially well with these
types today, phrasing your ideas
just right and earning trust.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).
You’re brave, but it’s not always
courage that causes you to
move in a nonconforming di-
rection. In fact, most times it’s
been a curiosity that wouldn’t
quit until it was satisfied. And
that phenomenon continues
now.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). It
could go a lot of ways, but right
now you’ll do your best work
when the stakes are low, not
high. A relaxed feeling, your lack
of defenses and a playful vibe
all contribute to this brilliance.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov.
21). When things change and
you don’t know why, it is only
natural to want to find out.
However, right now this will be
best accomplished with deft
observation instead of a direct
line of questioning.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec.
21). Maybe you didn’t con-
sciously set out to test yourself,
and yet here comes the pop
quiz, handed to you from life.
Don’t worry, you’ve been paying
attention. You’ll do well, maybe
miss a few... room to grow.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan.
19). You’ll benefit from being
ever aware of who you’re trying
to benefit, serve or influence.
With the end user in mind, you’ll
deliver a much different result
than you would if you only had
to please yourself.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.
18). You’ll love the speculation
that goes along with the events
of the day, which serve to bring
up a good point: Everything in
life is a good news/bad news
story, depending on where the
thing ends.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March
20). You don’t always get to
choose your teammates, but
when you do have a choice,
you’ll avoid people who require
you to work harder than you
should, especially emotionally.
Put two and two together
SOLUTION:
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021 5B

Classifieds
LEGALS
Call us: 662-328-2424
Legal Notices
Public Notice
Relative Risk Site Evaluation
COLUMBUS AFB, MISSISSIPPI
The Air Force completed the
Relative Risk Site Evaluation
(RRSE) for COLUMBUS AFB to
support sequencing of environ-
mental restoration work. The
RRSE process is used to evalu-
ate the relative risk posed by
an environmental restoration
site in relation to other sites.
Restoration sites in Compre-
hensive Environmental Re-
sponse, Compensation, and Li-
ability Act (CERCLA) phases pri-
or to remedy-in-place are evalu-
ated in the process. Due to dis-
covery of PFOS/PFOA, a RRSE
was completed for the sites.
Relative risk is not the sole
factor in determining the se-
quence of environmental res-
toration work, but it is an im- use modifications; and Altern-
portant consideration in the pri-ative 2 – to maintain the status
ority setting process.
At COLUMBUS AFB, six restora- no construction, demolition, or
tion sites were evaluated in the land use modification projects).
process. The Overall Site Cat-
egory scores were one site
“High”, one site “Medium”,
and four sites “Low”.
This Relative Risk Site Evalu-
ation is issued in accordance
with the DoD Defense Environ- projects should be directed to:
mental Restoration Program
and is available for public re- sources/EIAP Program Man-
view for 30 days as of this no- ager, 14 CES/CEIE, Environ-
tice. This RRSE can be found
at AFCEC CERCLA Administrat- Blvd; Columbus, MS 39710;
ive Record (AR): ar.afcec-
cloud.af.mil. Scroll to the bot- timothy.turner.24@us.af.mil.
tom of the page and click on
“Continue to site”, then select PUBLISH: 2/28 & 3/1/2021
“Active Duty”, scroll down the
Installation List and click on
Columbus AFB, MS”, then
enter 711.0 in the “Installa-
tion AR #” field. Then click
“Search” at the bottom of the
page. Click on the spy glass to
view the document.
For more information or to sub-
mit written comments, please
contact us at 334/953-1109,
Mr. James R. (Bob) Barnwell, or LEGAL SECRETARY needed
email at
james.barnwell.1@us.af.mil.
PUBLISH: 2/28, 3/1, 3/2, 3/3
& 3/4/2020 with references to:
EARLY PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION,
DEMOLITION, AND LAND USE
MODIFICATIONS OF MULTIPLE
PLANNED ACTIONS AT COLUM-
BUS AIR FORCE BASE, MISSIS-
SIPPI.
Interested parties are hereby
notified that the United States lent opportunity to earn
Air Force, Columbus Air Force
Base (AFB), Mississippi, is
seeking advanced public com-
ment on the proposed projects
to determine if there are any
public concerns regarding the
project’s potential impacts and Fri afternoons. Apply at The
solicit public input or com-
ments on potential project al- Main Street in Columbus.
ternatives.
The 14th Civil Engineer Squad-
ron (CES)/Civil Engineer Install-
ation Environmental Flight
(CEIE) has initiated the environ-
mental planning for the pro-
posed construction, demolition,
and land use modifications of
multiple planned actions at
Columbus AFB, Mississippi.
The proposed projects are the
replacement and construction
of the Physical Fitness Center,
replacement and construction
of the Water Storage Tank, and
permanent placement of fill
material into and onto the wa-
ter bottom of the Strategic Air
Command (SAC) Lake. The Re-
gion of Influence (ROI) of the
planned projects is the land
area within the boundaries of
the Columbus AFB. The pur-
pose of the Proposed Action is
to address deficiencies of func-
tion and capability in the facilit-
ies and land use associated
with multiple planned projects
at Columbus AFB that arise be-
cause of obsolescence, deteri-
oration, and evolving needs.
These deficiencies are
remedied through an ongoing
process of construction of new
facilities, the demolition of re-
dundant facilities, and land use
modifications.
Development of land north and
west of the base is con-
strained by the 100-year flood-
plain and the presence of wet-
lands that are associated with
the Buttahatchee River to the
north and the Tombigbee River
to the West. Many forested
areas at Columbus AFB con-
tain wetlands, which are pro-
tected by Section 404 of the
Clean Water Act and are loc-
ated within the 100-year flood-
plain. Surveys of the soils and
vegetation were conducted
around the fringes of SAC
Lake, as well as the area sur-
rounding SAC Lake. Hydrophyt-
ic vegetation was located along
the fringes of SAC Lake in lim-
ited quantities, with the area
surrounding the lake consist-
ing of upland vegetation. The
soils within the project area
mimicked the vegetation com-
position, limited hydric soils
near the lake fringe and non-hy-
dric soils in the surrounding
areas. Although SAC Lake lies
within the 100-floodplain, wet-
lands specialists found no con-
nection to SAC Lake from any
potential Waters of the U.S.
(WUS); therefore, it was de-
termined that SAC Lake was
Buy. Sell. Discover.
not jurisdictional nor a WUS.
Columbus AFB has sub-
sequently submitted
(11/30/20) a formal request
to the U.S. Army Corps of En-
gineers - Regulatory Division,
Mobile District - Birmingham
Field Office requesting a juris-
dictional determination for SAC
Lake.
Alternatives under considera-
tion by Columbus AFB are Al-
ternative 1 – to proceed with
conducting the proposed con-
struction, demolition, and land
use modifications; and Altern-
ative 2 – to maintain the status
quo of current base facilities
and land use designations (i.e.,
no construction, demolition, or
land use modification projects).
Columbus AFB will accept pub-
lic input or comments on po-
tential project alternatives from
February 26, 2021 until March
process of construction of new
facilities, the demolition of re-
dundant facilities, and land use
modifications.
Development of land north and
west of the base is con-
strained by the 100-year flood-
plain and the presence of wet-
lands that are associated with
the Buttahatchee River to the
north and the Tombigbee River
to the West. Many forested
areas at Columbus AFB con-
tain wetlands, which are pro-
tected by Section 404 of the
Clean Water Act and are loc-
ated within the 100-year flood-
plain. Surveys of the soils and
vegetation were conducted
around the fringes of SAC
Legal Notices
Lake, as well as the area sur-
rounding SAC Lake. Hydrophyt-
ic vegetation was located along
the fringes of SAC Lake in lim-
ited quantities, with the area
surrounding the lake consist-
ing of upland vegetation. The
soils within the project area
mimicked the vegetation com-
position, limited hydric soils
near the lake fringe and non-hy-
dric soils in the surrounding
areas. Although SAC Lake lies
within the 100-floodplain, wet-
lands specialists found no con-
nection to SAC Lake from any
potential Waters of the U.S.
(WUS); therefore, it was de-
termined that SAC Lake was
not jurisdictional nor a WUS.
Columbus AFB has sub-
sequently submitted
(11/30/20) a formal request
to the U.S. Army Corps of En-
gineers - Regulatory Division,
Mobile District - Birmingham
Field Office requesting a juris-
dictional determination for SAC
Lake.
Alternatives under considera-
tion by Columbus AFB are Al-
ternative 1 – to proceed with
conducting the proposed con-
struction, demolition, and land
quo of current base facilities
and land use designations (i.e.,
Columbus AFB will accept pub-
lic input or comments on po-
tential project alternatives from
February 26, 2021 until March
27, 2021. Comments and in-
quiries on the proposed
Timothy Turner, Natural Re-
mental Element, 555 Simler
662-434-2248,
Employment
Call us: 662-328-2424
General Help Wanted
for local firm. Must be able
to work dual screen
computer. Mail resume
Blind Box 679 c/o The
Commercial Dispatch
PO Box 511
Columbus MS 39703
THE COMMERCIAL
DISPATCH seeks a motiv-
ated, contracted carrier for
the Caledonia area. Excel-
money for college. Must
have good transportation,
valid driver's license & in-
surance. Delivers on
Sunday morning and Mon-
Commercial Dispatch, 516
No phone calls please.
Medical / Dental
The Golden Triangle Plan-
ning and Development Dis-
trict is accepting applica-
tions for part-time person-
al care attendants to work
in the Golden Triangle area.
Applicants must have a val-
id driver’s license, reliable
transportation and liability
insurance on vehicle. Male
and female applicants
needed. Contact Minnie
Lindsey at the Golden Tri-
angle Planning and Devel-
opment District, 106 Miley
Drive, P. O. Box 828, Stark-
ville, MS 39760. No tele-
phone calls please.
Rentals
Ads starting at $25
Apts For Rent: North
802 17TH ST. N.
2 bed/ 1 bath, all electric,
ceramic tiled bath, carpet,
appliances. $475/Mth.
Credit check. Call Long &
Long @ 662−328−0770.
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THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021 n 6B
Apts For Rent: West Lots & Acreage
Five Questions:
Merchandise Community
VIP
1.75 ACRE LOTS: Good/
Bad Credit Options. Good
Rentals
credit as low as 20% down,
Ads starting at $12 Ads starting at $12
1 “Silicon
$499/mo. Eaton Land,
662−361−7711.
Apartments & Houses
Valley”
Sporting Goods Lost & Found Items
Restricted residential lot,
1 Bedrooms very nice, over 3 acres with ED SANDERS GUNSMITH Missing M&O RR Fireplace
2 Bedroooms
some trees. Callaway Open for season! Mantle. A $200 Ransom
Tue−Fri: 9−5 & Sat: 9−12 will be paid for recovery of
Estates off Taylor Thurston
3 Bedrooms 2 Charlotte
Road. $35,000. Call Long Over 50 years experience! Fireplace mantle pried from
& Long, 662−386−2023. Repairs, cleaning, refin− wall of Crawford’s M&O RR
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1, 2, & 3 Baths Located: Hwy 45 Alt, North and the "law" is NOT
3 Painting
of West Point, turn right on involved. 662−769−1889.
Lease, Deposit Yokahama Blvd, 8mi & turn
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see sign, 2.5mi ahead
Pets
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4 Jellyfish
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Apts For Rent: Other
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5 Alex
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Rodriguez
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General Help Wanted
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© The Dispatch
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AND for details! 833-992-0228 (M-F 8am- Medical Supplies
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CHURCH FURNITURE: Does your
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voicemail with full name & church need pews, pulpit set, baptistery, DIRECTV - Every live football game,
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Building & Remodeling General Services General Services Painting & Papering
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All credit cards accepted. Please visit our website:
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A & T TREE SERVICES
Bucket truck & stump
Payment plans. Will trade
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662−386−3658. available for Starkville Office.
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In the Classifieds section.