Established 1879 | Columbus, Mississippi

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Monday | July 27, 2020

MONDAY PROFILE
Suspect
Fit for service charged with
Martin parlays fitness, weight-lifting prowess into murder in
realizing childhood dream of becoming firefighter fatal weekend
shooting
32-year-old Columbus
man shot in home on
Springdale Drive
DISPATCH STAFF REPORT

A suspect has been charged

with murder in the late Saturday
evening shooting death of a Colum-
bus man.
Israel Buckhalter, 39, was arrest-
ed for killing Desi Shepherd, 32.
Shepherd died at Baptist Memori-
al Hospital-Golden Triangle early
Sunday morning, Lowndes County
Coroner Greg Merchant said.
The shooting occurred in a
home on Springdale Drive, accord-
ing to a Columbus Police Depart-
ment press release. The suspect
and victim, who Police Chief Fred
Shelton said knew each other, got
in an argument which “escalated
quickly to violence,” Shelton said in
the release.
Buckhalter is being held at the
Claire Hassler/Dispatch Staff Lowndes County Adult Detention
Justin Martin puts on his helmet on Friday during training outside Fire Station 3 in Columbus. Martin has been a Center and will make his initial
firefighter for three years.
court appearance later Monday, Co-
lumbus Public Information Officer
BY ISABELLE ALTMAN Joe Dillon said.
ialtman@cdispatch.com

J
ustin Martin can remember
being 4 or 5 years old and
watching Columbus firefighters
slide down the pole at Fire Station 1
on College Street while preparing to
answer a call.
“I was like, ‘Man, I’ve got to do
that when I get older,’” he said. “…
I remember them getting in the
firetruck. It was loud, the sirens
going. … That stuck with me.”
Martin’s mother, Brenda Martin,
worked as a dispatcher when 911
was part of the city fire department
in the late 1980s, so Justin spent a
lot of time as a child in the station
with the firefighters.
“He loved it because they would
let him sit in the firetruck, show him
the pole — he was too little to slide
down the pole — (and) pet the dog,”
Brenda remembered. “... I loved the
fire department, and he did too.”
See MARTIN, 6A
1 Monroe Co. deputy
dies, 1 injured, after
hit by vehicle
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAMILTON — A sheriff’s dep-
uty has died in northeast Mississip-
pi and a second one is hospitalized
after they were hit by a vehicle Sat-
urday night at a safety checkpoint.
Monroe County Deputy Dylan
Pickle, 24, died from head trauma
during surgery at North Mississip-
Claire Hassler/Dispatch Staff pi Medical Center in Tupelo just af-
From left, Capt. Richard McBride and Engineer James Hays train fire- ter midnight Sunday, according to
fighter Justin Martin in operating the truck, from turning on the water to
county Coroner Alan Gurley.
raising and lowering the ladder, on Friday outside Fire Station 3. Martin is
training to operate the truck on his own. Monroe County Sheriff Kevin
Crook says Pickle and Deputy Zach
Wilbanks were hit by a vehicle at a
See MONROE, 3A

Starkville-Oktibbeha libraries request

more funding for staffing, programming
Local leaders say financial
strain due to pandemic makes
funding increase unlikely
BY TESS VRBIN
tvrbin@cdispatch.com
Loraine Walker has held a livestreamed
storytime for children “every day at 10
a.m. without fail” on Facebook since the
COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic halted
most activity in March.
Walker is the children’s librarian in the
Starkville-Oktibbeha Public Library Sys-
tem, and she said she “cannot tell you how
fired up” she is with ideas for children’s ac-
tivities and programming once normal op-
erations can resume.
But in order to broaden the library’s
programming and collection, the system
needs extra funding from both the city of
Starkville and Oktibbeha County, director
Phillip Carter said. He approached the Ok-
tibbeha County Board of Supervisors July
Antranik Tavitian/Dispatch Staff
From Left, Nicole Thornton, Rachel Watson, and Kara Roberts, go about their
6 with the funding request and plans to ap- work day on July 9 at the Starkville Public Library. The Starkville-Oktibbeha
proach Starkville aldermen Aug. 4. libraries have about four less full-time equivalent employees than they need
He told The Dispatch he has drawn up to adequately serve a population of about 50,000, director Phillip Carter
See LIBRARIES, 3A said, so he is asking both the city and the county for a funding boost.

WEATHER FIVE QUESTIONS LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC

1 What fitness practice uses the Electric MEETINGS
Chair, Spine Corrector and Ladder Barrel? Aug. 3: Lowndes County
2 Designed by General James Oglethor- Board of Supervisors
pe, what was the first planned city in the meeting, 9 a.m., Lowndes
U.S.? County Courthouse, face-
3 Name two of the three original mem-
bers of the Josie and the Pussycats band book.com/LowndesCoun-
Alexa Welch on “Riverdale”? tyMississippi/
4 What name describes the time of rela- Aug. 4: Columbus City
Kindergarten, Annunciation
tive peace and development that lasted Council, 5 p.m., Municipal

90 Low 72
for more than 200 year in ancient Rome?
Complex
High 5 What symbol takes its name from the
Greek for “little star”? Aug. 16: Lowndes Coun-
Chance p.m. t-storm
Answers, 6B ty Board of Supervisors
Full forecast on
meeting, 9 a.m., Lowndes
page 3A.
County Courthouse, face-
book.com/LowndesCoun-
tyMississippi/
INSIDE Aug. 18: Columbus City
Classifieds 6B Dear Abby 3B Mary Boyd, of Starkville, lives on a “mini Council, 5 p.m., Municipal
Comics 3B Obituaries 4B farm” where she grows vegetables like Complex, facebook.com/
141st Year, No. 117 Crossword 6B Opinions 4A tomatoes, okras, squashes and potatoes. CityofColumbusMS/

DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471

2A MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

AP-NORC poll: US course at White House, Senate GOP try

again on $1 trillion virus aid
record low, Trump sinks on virus BY LISA MASCARO AND DARLENE SUPERVILLE
The Associated Press

Poll also finds just 38 percent say the national
economy is good, down from 67 percent in January
BY JULIE PACE
AND HANNAH FINGERHUT
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — With the
November election 100 days away,
more Americans say the country
is heading in the wrong direction
than at any previous point in Don-
ald Trump’s presidency, putting the
incumbent in a perilous position as
his reelection bid against Democrat
Joe Biden enters a pivotal stretch.
A new poll from The Associated
Press-NORC Center for Public Af-
fairs Research also finds Trump’s
approval for his handling of the
COVID-19 pandemic falling to a
new low, with just 32 percent of
Americans supportive of his ap-
proach. Even Trump’s standing on
the economy, long the high water
mark for the president, has fall-
en over the past few months after
seeming ascendant earlier this
year.
Those political headwinds have
sparked a sudden summer shift in
the White House and the Trump
campaign. After spending months
playing down the pandemic and
largely ignoring the virus’ resur-
gence in several states, Trump
warned this past week that the sit-
uation is likely to get worse before
it gets better. After repeatedly min-
imizing the importance of wearing
masks to limit the spread of the
virus, Trump urged Americans to
do exactly that. And after insisting
he would press forward with a large
campaign convention in August,
the president announced that he
was scrapping those plans.
Trump’s abrupt about-face un-
derscores the reality of the situa-
tion he faces just over three months
from Election Day. Even as he tries
to refocus his contest with Biden
on divisive cultural issues and an
ominous “law and order” message,
Trump’s reelection prospects are
likely to be inextricably linked to
his handling of the pandemic and
whether voters believe the country
will head back in the right direction
under his leadership.
WASHINGTON — Suggesting a narrower
pandemic relief package may be all that’s pos-
The AP-NORC poll makes clear
the challenge ahead for Trump on
sible, the White House still pushed ahead with
Monday’s planned rollout of the Senate Republi-
that front: 8 in 10 Americans say
cans’ $1 trillion effort as House Speaker Nancy
the country is heading in the wrong
Pelosi assailed the GOP “disarray” as time-wast-
direction. That’s more than at any
ing during the crisis.
point since Trump took office. The
The administration’s chief negotiators —
poll also finds just 38 percent of
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and
Americans say the national econo-
my is good, down from 67 percent Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — spent the
weekend on Capitol Hill to put what Meadows de-
in January, before the pandemic
upended most aspects of everyday scribed as “final touches” on the relief bill Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to
life.
bring forward Monday afternoon.
Biden’s campaign is eager to
“We’re done,” Mnuchin said as he and Mead-
keep the final months of the cam-
ows left Capitol Hill on Sunday after meeting with
paign focused squarely on Trump,
GOP staff.
confident that the former vice pres-
ident can emerge victorious if the But looming deadlines may force them to
contest is a referendum on whether consider other options. By Friday, millions of
the current commander in chief has out-of-work Americans will lose an $600 federal
succeeded during his four years in unemployment benefit that is expiring and feder-
office. al eviction protections for many renters are also
“People are sick and tired of a coming to an end. President Donald Trump’s
government that is divided and bro- standing is at one of the lowest points of his term,
ken and unable to get things done,” according to a new AP-NORC poll.
said Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s “They’re in disarray and that delay is causing
deputy campaign manager. “What suffering for America’s families,” Pelosi said.
people feel like they’re getting from
Trump right now is a hodgepodge
mess of self-interested political
talk.”

Trump, GOP ally vow Confederate base names won’t change

Defense policy bills approved by both Thursday about the base
names, adding: “We’re
the Senate Armed Ser-
vices panel said Trump
the House and Senate would change going to see to it that pro-
vision doesn’t survive the
was “on the wrong side of
history” in trying to de-
the names of 10 Army posts that bill. I’m not going to say
how at this point.”
fend traitors who “fought
to preserve slavery.’’
honor Confederate leaders Defense policy bills ap- “Nobody wants to
proved by both the House erase history,’’ said Sen.
BY MAT THEW DALY be changing the names and Senate would change Jack Reed, D-R.I. “We
The Associated Press of our great Military Bas- the names of 10 Army want to be truthful and
es and Forts, places from posts that honor Confed- honest about it and build
WASHINGTON — which we won two World erate leaders. The two a brighter, more inclusive
President Donald Trump Wars (and more!).” versions must be recon- future that lives up to our
and a top Senate Republi- Like him, Inhofe “is ciled, but both bills were nation’s promise and core
can are pushing Congress not a believer in ‘Cancel approved by veto-proof values.”
to preserve the names of Culture,’” Trump said. margins this week. There are 10 Army
military bases that hon- Inhofe, a staunch White House press sec- posts named for Confed-
or Confederate generals, conservative and close retary Kayleigh McEnany erate military leaders,
even though the House Trump ally, also opposes said Friday the White including Fort Hood in
and Senate have over- the name change, even House would “leave that Texas, Fort Benning
whelmingly approved though he led Senate ap- to Senator Inhofe as to in Georgia, Fort Bragg
bills that rename them. proval of the defense bill how that works legisla- in North Carolina and
Trump said in a tweet that would mandate name tively speaking,’’ but said Forts Robert E. Lee and
Friday that he had spo- changes at Fort Bragg, Trump “was assured by A.P. Hill in Virginia. The
ken to Oklahoma Sen. Jim Fort Benning and other Sen. Inhofe that that (pro- House bill would require
Inhofe, the Republican Army posts named for vision) would be chang- the base names to be
chairman of the Senate Confederate generals. ing and that Republicans changed within a year,
Armed Services Commit- Inhofe told The Okla- stood with the president while the Senate would
tee, “who has informed homan newspaper that on this.’’ give the military three
me that he WILL NOT he spoke with Trump on The top Democrat on years to rename them.

Wealthy donors pour millions into fight over mail-in voting

BY BRIAN SLODYSKO
AND THOMAS BEAUMONT
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON —
Deep-pocketed and often
anonymous donors are
pouring over $100 mil-
lion into an intensifying
dispute about whether it
should be easier to vote
by mail, a fight that could
determine President Don-
ald Trump’s fate in the No-
vember election.
In the battleground of
Wisconsin, cash-strapped
cities have received $6.3
million from an organi-
zation with ties to left-
wing philanthropy to
help expand vote by mail.
Meanwhile, a well-funded
conservative group best
known for its focus on
judicial appointments is
spending heavily to fight
cases related to mail-in
balloting procedures in
court.
And that’s just a small
slice of the overall spend-
ing, which is likely to
swell far higher as the
election nears.
The massive effort by
political parties, super
PACs and other organiza-
tions to fight over wheth-
er Americans can vote by
mail is remarkable con-
sidering the practice has
long been noncontrover-
sial. But the coronavirus
is forcing changes to the
way states conduct elec-
tions and prompting ac-
tivists across the political
spectrum to seek an ad-
vantage, recognizing the
contest between Trump
and Democrat Joe Biden
could hinge on whether
voters have an alternative
to standing in lines at poll-
ing places during a public
health crisis.
Some groups are even
raising money to prepare
for election-related vio-
lence.
“The pandemic has
created a state of emer-
gency,” said Laleh Ispa-
hani, the U.S. managing
director for Open Society,
a network of nonprofits
founded by billionaire
progressive donor George
Soros. “Donors who ha-
ven’t typically taken on
these issues now have an
interest.”
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 3A

Choctaw chief chosen to help design new Mississippi flag

Commission is collecting flag proposals from
the general public until early August and will
set a design by early September
BY EMILY WAGSTER PET TUS
The Associated Press
JACKSON — The chief of
the Mississippi Band of Choc-
taw Indians will help design a
new Mississippi state flag that
does not include the Confeder-
ate battle emblem.
Republican Gov. Tate Reeves
announced Friday that he is ap-
pointing Chief Cyrus Ben and
two other people to a nine-mem-
ber flag commission.
Mississippi legislators vot-
ed in late June to retire the
last state flag in the U.S. with
the rebel emblem that’s widely
condemned racist. The change
came after national protests
over racial injustice sparked
new debates about the public
display of Confederate sym-
bols.
The commission must de-
sign a new Mississippi flag that
cannot include the Confeder-
ate emblem and must have the
phrase, “In God We Trust.”
Commissioners were sup-
posed to be appointed by July
15, but Reeves said he missed
the deadline because he has
been busy with response to
the coronavirus pandemic. In
addition to Ben, the appointees
Reeves announced Friday are
Betsey Hamilton of New Alba-
ny and Frank Bordeaux of Gulf-
port.
Hamilton is a retired public
school teacher, real estate bro-
ker and appraiser. She is on the
Union County Heritage Muse-
um board of directors and was
a founding board member for
the Union County Historical
Society.
Bordeaux is an insurance
company vice president. On the
day Reeves signed the bill to re-
tire the flag, Bordeaux posted a
photo of the signing ceremony
and wrote: “Proud of Governor
Reeves!” In response, some
people commented that chang-
ing the flag was for “traitors” or
“dictatorships.”
Mississippi’s population is
about 59 percent white and 38
percent African American. The
commission has six members
who are white, two who are
Black and one who is Native
American.
Six commissioners appoint-
ed by the House speaker and
the lieutenant governor held
their first meeting Wednesday.
They are collecting flag propos-
als from the general public until
early August and will set a de-
sign by early September.
The lone design will go on
the Nov. 3 ballot. If a majority of
voters say yes, that design will
become the new flag. If voters
reject it, the commission will
draw a new design and that will
go on the ballot later.
Legislators filed bills for
years to change the flag, but
those died because leaders said
they couldn’t get consensus for
change. Momentum changed
dramatically in June. Young
activists and older leaders from
business, religion, education
and sports urged legislators to
ditch a symbol that many said
portrayed Mississippi as back-
ward.

Libraries Caledonia man dies

Continued from Page 1A
a five-year plan for grad-
ual funding increases “so
we can start to get our
b u d g e t
meetings,
and we’re
after motorcycle
services, programming
and staffing up to a more
appropriate level for the
community we serve.”
having to
dig
selves out
our-

The library system
also needs more staff, a
new air conditioning unit
and more technology,
Carter said.
City and county lead-
ers told The Dispatch
they recognize the val-
ue of local libraries to a
community and want to
support them, but the
pandemic has made it im-
perative for local govern-
ments to be careful with
their spending.
“Libraries are critical
to our city
and to our
community,
but now is
not a time
when I think
we are in a
position to
be able to in- Spruill
crease their
funding,” Starkville May-
or Lynn Spruill said.
Underfunded and
understaffed
The library system re-
ceived nearly $396,000 in
Fiscal Year 2018 from lo-
cal government sources,
with about $200,000 from
the county and $196,000
from the city. That is an
investment of $7.94 per
capita, according to data
Carter provided The Dis-
patch.
For comparison, the
Columbus-Lowndes li-
brary system received
nearly $641,000 — $10.83
per capita — with a pop-
ulation of about 10,000
more than Oktibbeha
County.
The Starkville library
is currently open for curb-
side from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday through Friday
and open for access to
technology Tuesdays and
Thursdays from 9 a.m. to
1 p.m.
Carter’s most imme-
diate ask is for both the
city and county to fund
the replacement of the
library’s aging air condi-
tioning unit, since state
law prevents library sys-
tems from using their
own money for building
maintenance.
“We’ve been advertis-
ing (for a new AC system)
since 2011, and it’s been
pushed aside and pushed
aside since then, but it’s
reaching a critical mass,”
Aisles are blocked off to the public on July 9 at the
Starkville Public Library. The Starkville-Oktibbeha
libraries have been operating with limited hours due to
the COVID-19 pandemic, and director Phillip Carter said
he hopes the city and county can provide additional
funding for the libraries to expand their collections and
programming and hire more staff.
Carter told the board of
supervisors July 6.
The libraries are also
understaffed at the mo-
ment, Carter said. Ac-
cording to the Mississip-
pi Library Commission,
each library system
should have half a full-
time equivalent employee
for every 2,000 people the
system serves, and Oktib-
beha County has rough-
ly 50,000 people. That’s
more than 12 full-time
equivalent employees,
and the library system
has eight and a half — one
in Maben, two in Sturgis
and five full-time and two
part-time in Starkville,
Carter said.
“In these limited envi-
ronments, with the two
days a week we’re open to
the public right now, it ac-
tually requires more staff
than we had before in
some ways,” he said. “We
have to socially distance
staff, but we also have to
have enough staff to serve
anybody coming in.”
Carter also said the
library could use extra
money to teach both chil-
dren and adults how to
use all kinds of technol-
ogy, like computer cod-
ing and 3-D printers, “all
those tech fields that are
obviously a part of our
daily lives, that are part of
education now that need
to be supported a little
more.”
The first thing Walk-
er wants to do with extra
funding is create mak-
erspaces for children,
and she said there is a
misconception that all
makerspaces are full of
technology and that chil-
dren’s use of them is “just
creative play.”
“It’s bridging the gap
between what they’re
learning in school and
Antranik Tavitian/Dispatch Staff
what they’re learning
here at the library,” Walk-
er said. “The library is
such a critical learning re-
source. It’s not just some-
thing to be used when
there’s a class project.”
She also wants to di-
versify the collection of
children’s books so all
children can see both
their own cultures and
a variety of others in the
books they read, and she
said she started an early
literacy program soon be-
fore the pandemic started
and hopes to devote more
resources to it when the
pandemic is over.
“There’s not a kid alive
that doesn’t love to read,”
Walker said. “They (just)
haven’t found the right
book, and I always find
the right book. I’ll do any-
thing to get a kid to read.”
City and county
budget concerns
Local officials agree
that local libraries are an
asset to their communi-
ties and deserve support,
and Spruill said the city
will definitely not reduce
its funding allocation to
the library.
“I’ll advocate for main-
taining their funding,
and we’re going to assist
them with their air con-
ditioning repair, but I am
certainly not in favor of
increasing their funding
beyond its current level,”
Spruill said.
Ward 2 Alderman
Sandra Sistrunk, the
board’s budget chairper-
son, agreed that the city
should help the library
system with repairs and
maintenance but will
most likely be unable to
fund changes in opera-
tions or hiring.
“We’ve started our
of a pretty
collides with car
DISPATCH STAFF REPORT
big hole
thanks to Sistrunk A Caledonia man died after his motorcycle col-
the pandemic and what lided with a passenger car in front of the Colum-
we think it’s going to do bus Walmart on Highway 45 North on Saturday
to our sales tax (reve- afternoon.
nue), so holding steady Michael Williams, 37, was taken to Baptist Me-
is a win this year, for the morial Hospital-Golden Triangle for his injuries,
library or anything else,” where he was pronounced dead on arrival, Lown-
Sistrunk said. des County Coroner Greg Merchant said.
Oktibbeha County Columbus Police Department did not release
does not reap the benefits further details of the accident by press time.
of local sales tax revenue
like the city does, but Dis-
trict 2 Supervisor Orlan-
do Trainer said increas-
ing the library’s funding
would be “a wise invest-
ment.”
Mississippi reports
District 3 Supervisor
Marvell Howard said he
1,207 more confirmed
is less certain that the
county could give the li-
COVID-19 cases
brary system the aid it THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
requests.
“It’s a great resource, JACKSON — Mississippi’s health department
but at the reported 1,207 new confirmed cases of COVID-19
present mo- on Sunday, and 15 more deaths related to the dis-
ment, given ease caused by the new coronavirus.
COVID, I The Health Department said that brought the
don’t know state’s total number of confirmed cases to 51,639,
with at least 1,458 deaths.
how practi-
cal it would There have been 184 outbreaks at Mississippi’s
long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes,
be to of-
with at least 3,317 cases of the virus confirmed in
fer more Howard
those facilities and 682 virus-related deaths, the
funding,
department’s figures show.
not knowing how long
The true number of virus infections is thought
we won’t be operating at
to be far higher because many people have not
full capacity,” Howard
been tested, and studies suggest people can be
said. “I’m certainly open
infected without feeling sick. While most people
to looking to increase
who contract the coronavirus recover after suf-
the funding when we get
fering only mild to moderate symptoms, it can
back on some sort of level
be deadly for older patients and those with other
footing.”
health problems.
Carter and Walker
both emphasized the city
and county have support-
ed the library system and
that they will appreciate
any additional support. Send in your church event!
“Anything anyone’s Email editorialassistant@cdispatch.com
willing to give me, I’ll Subject: Religious brief
make it stretch and I’ll
make it work,” Walker
said.

Monroe
Continued from Page 1A
checkpoint in Hamilton, apparently un-
intentionally. Two other deputies were
present, Crook said.
“As far as the accident itself, the high-
way patrol is conducting the investiga-
but it appears to be an accident,” Crook
tells the Northeast Mississippi Daily
Journal.
Wilbanks underwent surgery Sunday
SOLUNAR TABLE
for a broken leg at the Tupelo hospital The solunar period indicates
peak-feeding times for fish and game.

tion, and it’s still under investigation, and also has head injuries. Major
Mon.
6:53a
Tue.
7:19p
Minor 2:01p 3:10p
Major 6:53a 7:46a
Minor 12:49a 1:29a
Courtesy of Mississippi Department
of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks

CORRECTION
■ In Sunday’s edition, The Dispatch incorrectly reported the range of funds
Zachary’s Restaurant received from the Paycheck Protection Program. The restau-
The Dispatch
The Commercial Dispatch (USPS 142-320)
Published daily except Saturday. Answers to common questions:
rant received between $150,000 and $350,000. Entered at the post office at Columbus, Mississippi.
Periodicals postage paid at Columbus, MS Phone: 662-328-2424
POSTMASTER, Send address changes to:
The Commercial Dispatch strives to report the news accurately. When we print an The Commercial Dispatch, P.O. Box 511, Columbus, MS 39703 Website: cdispatch.com/help
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email news@cdispatch.com.
Opinion
4A MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020
PETER BIRNEY IMES Editor/Publisher
BIRNEY IMES III Editor/Publisher 1998-2018
BIRNEY IMES JR. Editor/Publisher 1947-2003

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

ZACK PLAIR, Managing Editor

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

STATE OF THE WORLD

Stress test of a straining superpower
How great a
burden can even an
unrivaled super-
power carry before
it buckles and
breaks? We may be
about to find out.
Rome was the
superpower of its
time, ruling for
centuries almost
the entirety of what
was then called the Patrick J. Buchanan the USSR.
civilized world.
Great Britain was a super-
power of its day, but she bled,
bankrupted and broke herself
in the Thirty Years War of the
West from 1914-1945.
By Winston Churchill’s
death in 1965, the empire had
vanished, and Britain was
being invaded by a stream
of migrants from its former
colonies.
America was the real su-
perpower of the 20th century
and became sole claimant to
that title with the collapse of
the Soviet Union between 1989
and 1991, an event Vladimir
Putin called “the greatest
geopolitical tragedy of the 20th this kind of hold on us.
century.”
Has America’s turn come?
Is America breaking under the
burdens it has lately assumed
and is attempting to carry?
Today, at the presidential
library of Richard
Nixon, who ushered
Mao’s China onto
the world stage,
Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo is
laying out a strategy
of containment and
confrontation of a
China that is far
more the equal of
the USA than was
Writes Hudson’s
Institute’s Arthur Herman:
“In the 1960s, manufactur-
ing made up 25% of U.S. gross
domestic product. It’s barely
11% today. More than five mil-
lion American manufacturing
jobs have been lost since 2000.”
China controls the produc-
tion of 97% of the antibiotics
upon which the lives of millions
of Americans depend. She
provides critical components in
the production chains of U.S.
weapons systems.
Beijing commands more
warships than the U.S. Navy
and holds a trillion dollars in
U.S. debt. Moscow never had
Writes Herman: “Since
2000, America’s defense indus-
try has shed more than 20,000
U.S.-based manufacturing com-
panies. As the work those com-
panies once did domestically
has shifted overseas, much of
it has gone to China. From ra-
re-earth metals and permanent
magnets to high-end electronic
components and printed circuit
boards, the Pentagon has
slowly become dependent on
Chinese industrial output. Asia
produces 90% of the world’s cir-
cuit boards -- more than half of
them in China. The U.S. share
of global circuit-board produc-
tion has fallen to 5%.”
Decoupling from China and
re-industrializing America
would be an immense under-
taking. But unless and until we
do it, we remain vulnerable.
Another decades-long strug-
gle, this time with China, like
the Cold War that consumed
so much of our attention and
wealth from the 1940s to 1991,
is not the only challenge Amer-
ica faces.
Through NATO, the U.S. is
still the principal protector of
almost 30 European nations.
And despite Donald Trump’s
promise to end our forever
wars, 8,500 U.S. troops remain
in Afghanistan, 5,000 in Iraq,
hundreds in Syria, thousands
more in Kuwait and Bahrain.
There are other huge new
claims on America’s time,
attention and resources. Some
145,000 Americans have
perished in five months of the
coronavirus pandemic, more
U.S. dead than all the Amer-
icans soldiers lost in Korea,
Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
A thousand Americans are
dying every day, a higher daily
death toll than in World War II
and the Civil War combined.
The U.S. economy has
been thrust into something
approaching a second Depres-
sion. The 2020 deficit runs into
the trillions of dollars. Our
national debt is now far larger
than our GDP and soaring.
Tens of millions are unem-
ployed. And the shutdowns are
beginning anew.
From the protests, riots,
rampages and statue-smash-
ing of the last two months, it
is apparent that millions of
Americans detest our history
and heroes. Though nowhere
in recorded time have 42 mil-
lion people of African descent
achieved the measures of free-
dom and prosperity they have
in the USA, we are daily ad-
monished that ours is a rotten
and sick society whose every
institution is shot through with
“systemic racism.”
The racial divisions are al-
most as ugly as during the riots
of the 1960s in Harlem, Watts,
Newark and 100 cities that ex-
ploded after the assassination
of Dr. Martin Luther King.
In the numbers of citizens
now shot and killed every
week, great American cities
such as Baltimore, St. Louis,
Detroit and Chicago are look-
ing more like Baghdad.
The Democratic Party is
promising to take up the issue
of racial reparations for our
original sin of slavery. The
first order of business, we are
told, is ending inequality -- of
income, wealth, educational
attainment and health care.
The racial disparity in police
arrests, prosecutions, incarcer-
ations and school expulsions,
must end.
But if the trillions we have
spent to address these inequal-
ities since the Great Society
days have failed to make
greater progress, why should
we believe that we even know
how to succeed, absent the
imposition of a rigid socialist
egalitarianism of results?
The Old Republic is facing
a stress test unlike any it has
known since the Union was
threatened with dissolution in
the Civil War.
Patrick J. Buchanan, a
nationally syndicated columnist,
was a senior advisor to presi-
dents Richard Nixon, Gerald
Ford and Ronald Reagan. His
website is http://buchanan.org/
blog.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Voice of the people
Encourages readers to take COVID seriously
Stop ignoring and downplaying COVID-19.
Carrying a mask in your pocket is as dan-
gerous as starving and you have a refrigerator,
pantry and freezer full of food.
Some of you don’t love God’s creation.
Some human beings are still walking in pub-
lic places with their nose and mouth uncovered,
sometimes coughing and sneezing and some-
times not into your elbow.
Supposedly you are you brother’s/sister’s
keeper. Prayerfully, socially, emotionally and
physically, we need to obey the law of the land.
We are on Earth, not in heaven or in the ground
yet.
Let’s respect one another. Blacks and hispan-
ics must shop at the same supermarkets, attend
the same churches and go the same places as
non mask users.
Shame on you. Where is the love of God,
family, friends and your pets?
You kiss pets and they kiss you. Some people
are infected and unaware. That’s abuse if pets
get sick. Veterinarians treat COVID-19 animals.
Seek professional help. Pay attention. You claim
you love animals more than you love human
beings, some of you. Animals can’t talk. Google STATE OF THE NATION
their symptoms.

Donald Trump knows how to put on a show

Wash your hands, use sanitizers and gloves.
Remind grandmas and grandpas to do the
same. Check on loved ones that are mature
in age. Throw gloves in trash bins, not on the
ground.
It’s our responsibility to not become litter
bugs during this season we’re in.
Keep yourself, family and others in your
prayers. Obey God! He never sleeps nor slum-
bers; He sees us! We have a responsibility and
command: Love one another.
Pat Fisher Douglas
Columbus
A letter to the editor is an excellent way to
participate in your community. We request the
tone of your letters be constructive and respectful
and the length be limited to 450 words. We reserve
the right to edit letters for clarity, grammar and
length. While commentary on national issues is
always welcome, we limit candidate endorsements
to one per letter-writer. We welcome all letters
emailed to voice@cdispatch.com or mailed to The
Dispatch, Attn: Letters to the Editor, PO Box 511,
Columbus, MS 39703-0511.
TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Monday, July 27, the 209th day of
2020. There are 157 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On July 27, 1974, the House Judiciary Com-
mittee voted 27-11 to adopt the first of three
articles of impeachment against President Rich-
ard Nixon, charging he had personally engaged
in a course of conduct designed to obstruct
justice in the Watergate case.
On this date:
In 1794, French revolutionary leader Max-
imilien Robespierre was overthrown and placed
under arrest; he was executed the following day.
We are watching a who — it bears repeat- tractions.
show. It’s important to ing — are accused of In fairness, this march toward
keep that in mind. no crime, well, Acting fascist dystopia didn’t begin in
It has its villains — Homeland Security Portland. For years, we saw black
Mayor Lori Lightfoot Secretary Chad Wolf and Hispanic men stopped and
of Chicago, Mayor Ted tells Fox “News” that frisked in New York City without
Wheeler of Portland sometimes you have probable cause. We’ve seen cops
and other supporters of to “proactively arrest” empowered to take your money
the “liberal, radical left” people. It’s a nicely dys- and border agents empowered to
idea that people have topian term that might seize and search your laptops and
the right peaceably to have come out of “The smartphones, also without probable
assemble and to petition Minority Report,” the cause. In 2015, we saw a woman
the government for a Leonard Pitts 1956 novella by Philip named Charnesia Corley subjected
redress of grievances. K. Dick (also a 2002 film to a police search of her vagina on
It has its victims, people in towns starring Tom Cruise), which posits the pavement at a gas station.
where they don’t have or need sym- a world where “precogs” divine the What we haven’t seen so much is
phony orchestras and art museums future, enabling police to prevent public outrage.
and the very idea of street protests crime instead of just solving it. Dick So Trump’s innovation is not
fills them with existential horror. provides other terms Wolf might stomping the Constitution, but
And the show has its hero, too, find useful: “precrime,” “potential making the stomping a show. If it
Donald John Trump, getting tough criminals,” “prophylactic pre-detec- doesn’t seem like much of one to
with those lawless cities, standing tion.” you, well, you’re not the intended
between the victims and their fears If it occurs to you there’s no such audience. For them, this is Dirty
and not bothering overmuch about thing as “precogs,” if this all seems Harry and Rambo all rolled into
constitutional niceties while he
does.
to you like a civil liberties night-
mare, well, you’re missing the point.
one. For the rest of us, this show
isn’t about a tough guy. Rather, it’s
That’s how you end up with the Again, this is a show. about a second-rate magician whose
recent spectacle of at least one And give him his due. Trump act has seen better days, whose top
person reportedly snatched off the may have failed as a businessman, hat is worn, whose cards are frayed,
streets of Portland by federal agents an educator, an airline mogul, a ca- whose every move reeks of flop-
bearing no badges or identifying in- sino operator, a steak salesman and sweat desperation, the terror that
signia and stuffed into an unmarked a human being, but he knows how he might be seen as he really is.
van on no probable cause, or even to put on a show. He also knows Which makes this magician dan-
an allegation of crime. At this every moment we spend talking gerous in the same way a cornered
writing, Trump is sending federal about American fascism is a mo- animal is. And if we aren’t careful,
agents — using, presumably, the ment not spent talking about Russia he may pull off one last trick.
same tactics — to Chicago, which, putting a price on American heads, He may make freedom disappear.
in his telling, teeters on the edge of which in turn keeps us from talking Leonard Pitts Jr., winner of the
criminal anarchy, and he, alone, can about the 143,000 who’ve died of a 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary,
save it. virus Trump said would magically is a columnist for the Miami Herald.
If it smacks of despotism, this disappear. Email him at lpitts@miamiherald.
idea of government seizing those Even his distractions have dis- com.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 5A

Some US police resist enforcing

coronavirus mask mandates
‘All I’m saying is if you want to wear a mask, you
have the freedom to choose that. It should not
be dictated by the nanny state.’
Marshall, Arkansas, Police Chief Lang Holland
BY ANDREW DEMILLO
The Associated Press
LIT TLE ROCK, Ark. — Lang
Holland, the chief of police in tiny
Marshall, Arkansas, said he thinks
the threat of the coronavirus has
been overstated and only wears a
face mask if he’s inside a business
that requires them. He doesn’t
make his officers wear them either.
So the day after Republican Gov.
Asa Hutchinson signed an order
requiring masks to be worn in pub-
lic throughout Arkansas, Holland
made it clear his department wasn’t
going to enforce the mandate in the
Ozarks town of about 1,300, calling
it an unconstitutional overreach.
“All I’m saying is if you want to
wear a mask, you have the freedom
to choose that,” said Holland, who
said he supports President Donald
Trump. “It should not be dictated
by the nanny state.”
Holland is among a number of
police chiefs and sheriffs in Ar-
kansas and elsewhere who say
they won’t enforce statewide mask
requirements, even within their
departments. Some say they don’t
have the manpower to respond to
every mask complaint, treating vi-
olations of the requirement as they
would oft-ignored minor offenses
such as jaywalking. Others, includ-
ing Holland, reject the legal validity
of mask requirements.
The pushback is concerning to
health officials, who say a lack of
enforcement could undermine what
they say is a much-needed and sim-
ple step that can be taken to slow
the spread of the coronavirus.
“If people undermine that man-
date, they undermine the public
health benefits of masking in the
setting of this pandemic, and that
just doesn’t make any sense to me,”
said Dr. Cam Patterson, the chan-
cellor of the University of Arkan-
sas for Medical Sciences, who had
called for a statewide requirement.
More than half the states have is-
sued orders to wear masks in most
public settings, with virus cases
and hospitalizations on the rise.
Polling shows overwhelming pub-
lic support for such requirements,
and even Trump, who had long
been dismissive of wearing masks,
last week said it was patriotic to
wear one.
The most vocal police pushback
to mask requirements is coming
from Republican-led states that
aggressively reopened businesses
or previously opposed stricter mea-
sures such as mask requirements.
Hutchinson, who was among a
handful of governors who didn’t
issue a stay-at-home order, long
resisted issuing a mask mandate
in Arkansas, but he relented in the
face of the state’s worsening num-
bers.
Arkansas’ active virus cases,
meaning those excluding people
who have died or recovered from
COVID-19, have nearly quadrupled
since Memorial Day. The number
of people hospitalized with the dis-
ease in the state is almost five times
higher than it was that day.
“This is a way to enlist the sup-
port of everyone in this fight,”
Hutchinson said before signing the
order, which took effect Monday.
Several police chiefs and sher-
iffs immediately said they wouldn’t
enforce Hutchinson’s order, which
prohibits people from being jailed
for violations and only imposes
fines for repeat offenders. The
Texarkana Police Department said
it wouldn’t enforce the order, say-
ing its primary responsibility was
“fighting crime and providing po-
lice services.”
John Staley, the sheriff of Lo-
noke County in central Arkansas,
said he agrees with the need for
masks and his deputies wear them
when in contact with the public. But
he said his department doesn’t have
the manpower to respond to com-
plaints about them.
“I support the governor’s posi-
tion and his decision, but we’re not
going to be out writing tickets for
masks,” Staley said.

Police and protesters clash in violent weekend across the US

Unrest stemmed from the weeks of
protests over racial injustice and the
police treatment of people of color
BY JEFF MARTIN
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — Protests
took a violent turn in sev-
eral U.S. cities over the
weekend with demonstra-
tors squaring off against
federal agents outside a
courthouse in Portland,
Oregon, forcing police in
Seattle to retreat into a
station house and setting
fire to vehicles in Califor-
nia and Virginia.
A protest against police
violence in Austin, Texas,
turned deadly when po-
lice said a protester was
shot and killed by a per-
son who drove through a
crowd of marchers. And
someone was shot and
wounded in Aurora, Col-
orado, after a car drove
through a protest there,
authorities said.
The unrest Satur-
day and early Sunday
stemmed from the weeks
of protests over racial
injustice and the police
treatment of people of col-
or that flared up after the
May 25 death of George
Floyd in Minneapolis.
Floyd, who was Black
and handcuffed, died af-
ter a white police officer
used his knee to pin down
Floyd’s neck for nearly
eight minutes while Floyd
begged for air.
In Seattle, police of-
ficers retreated into a
precinct station early
Sunday, hours after large
demonstrations in the
city’s Capitol Hill neigh-
borhood. Some demon-
strators lingered after
officers filed into the de-
partment’s East Precinct
around 1 a.m., but most
cleared out a short time
later, according to video
posted online.
At a late-night news
conference, Seattle police
Chief Carmen Best called
for peace. Rocks, bot-
tles, fireworks and mor-
tars were fired at police
local police could be seen
attempting to clear the
during the weekend un-
rest, and police said they
area and deploying tear
gas, however protesters
arrested at least 45 people remained past 2:30 a.m.,
for assaults on officers, forming lines across in-
obstruction and failure to tersections and holding
disperse. Twenty-one offi- makeshift shields as po-
cers were hurt, with most
lice patrolled and closed
of their injuries consid-
blocks abutting the area.
ered minor, police said.
In Portland, thousands
of people gathered Sat-
urday evening for anoth-
er night of protests over
George Floyd’s killing
and the presence of fed-
eral agents recently sent
to the city by President
Donald Trump. Protest-
ers breached a fence sur-
rounding the city’s fed-
eral courthouse building
where the agents have
been stationed.
Police declared the
situation to be a riot and
at around 1:20 a.m., they
began ordering people to
leave the area surround-
ing the courthouse or risk
arrest, saying on Twitter
that the violence had cre-
ated “a grave risk” to the
public. About 20 minutes
later, federal officers and

Uncertainty pushes gold price to record, over $1,930 per oz

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Precious metals, along Forecasters watch their
with bonds, often are seen prices as an indicator of
BEIJING — The price as stores of value when fi- how investors see the eco-
of gold surged to a record nancial markets decline. nomic future.
above $1,934 per ounce
on Monday as investors
moved money into an
asset seen as a safe ha-
ven amid jitters about
U.S.-Chinese tension and
the recovery from the
coronavirus pandemic.
It added 2 percent af-
ter breaking its 2011 re-
cord high price on Friday,
when it closed at $1,897.50
on the New York Mercan-
tile Exchange.
As of 8:35 GMT
on Monday, it was at
$1,934.60 per ounce and
had traded as high as
$1,938 per ounce.
Prices of gold and sil-
ver have jumped as rising
infection numbers and
job losses in the United
States and some other
economies fuel concern
the recovery from the vi-
rus and the worst global
downturn since the 1930s
might be faltering.

cdispatch.com
6A MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020
Martin
Continued from Page 1A
In fact, when dispatchers
became part of Lowndes
County E911, the firefighters
— who Brenda said were “like
family” — told her she should
become a firefighter.
Instead, roughly 30 years
later, Justin has taken on that
mantle.
“I just had it in my heart to
... figure out a career where I
could help people and just be
part of my community,” said
Justin, who has been with
Columbus Fire and Rescue for
three years. “I wanted to have
purpose in the career I chose.”
From fitness to firefighting
Firefighting is an extremely
physical job, Justin said. Not
only does spending hours at a
scene putting out a fire require
physical endurance, but most
of the calls they respond to are
medical. That can involve lift-
ing patients and occasionally
carrying them, sometimes in
small, tight spaces where it’s
hard to move.
“(Fitness is) a huge com-
ponent of firefighting because
firefighting is very physically
demanding on your body and
very stressful,” Justin said.
“Fitness helps kind of balance
that … and it definitely helps
you to be more helpful on any
kind of scene.”
Before joining CFR, Justin
was no stranger to physical
fitness. After graduating from
Mississippi State, he worked
at Core Fitness where he was a
personal trainer.
“My favorite thing there is
meeting people and watching
them meet their goals,” he
said.
He remembers one client
who lost 50 or 60 pounds, got
off her blood pressure and
diabetes medications and now
runs races.
“It was a year process,” he
said. “It definitely wasn’t over-
night, no magic pill thing. But
she stayed consistent, that was
the key thing.
“In fitness, you’re going
to have ups and downs,” he
added. “It’s not straight to the
top.”
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
Claire Hassler/Dispatch Staff
Justin Martin climbs the ladder on Friday during training outside Fire Station 3 in Columbus. Martin
will go to the Mississippi Fire Academy in Jackson to take a test to become a truck operator, but he
isn’t sure when due to COVID-19.
in his weight class, he said.
“At the state level I won, but
the national level, I think I was
top 15,” he remembered. “…
That was in 2016, so I was like
29 (or) 30.”
It wasn’t long after that
when Martin decided to pur-
sue that old childhood dream
of becoming a firefighter.
Despite Justin’s experience
with physically demanding
jobs, he found firefighting
completely different from the
jobs and competitions he’d
done when immersed com-
pletely in the fitness industry.
“I wasn’t used to dealing
Claire Hassler/Dispatch Staff
with emergency situations,”
Justin Martin guides his kids, from left, Samauria, 6, Bryson and
he said. “That was definitely
Landon, both 3, as they ride their bikes on Saturday at the Soccer
different, dealing with the
Complex in Columbus. The family often rides bikes together at the
soccer complex or in the parking lot of Core Fitness, where Martin adrenaline rush of … going
works. to fire calls, having medical
emergencies, having to do life-
Justin also competed in nized by weight class. The saving CPR. That was definite-
powerlifting competitions couple of times he made it to ly something to get used to.”
around the state. Powerlifting the national competition — In one call during “those
involves squats, bench-press- when he was in his 20s, before early months” after he joined
ing and deadlifts. Like wres- joining CFR — he competed the force, he and the other
tling, competitors are orga- against 40 or 50 other people firefighters spent a long time
battling a house fire in South
Columbus.
“I just remember how hot
it was, and the heat,” he said.
“And just remember thinking,
‘Man, I’ve got to get more phys-
ically in shape for it.’”
‘Men of honor’
Brenda said it sometimes
scares her to think of him
going into dangerous situations
on the job.
“I was dispatching people
out to the fires and everything,
but it’s kind of scary when it’s
your son,” she said.
Still, she’s proud of him.
“Them guys are just some
of the best guys, the firefight-
ers,” she said.
“They’re funny
too. ... But they’re
men of honor.
They love their
families. They
love God. ... They
don’t make a lot
of money, but B. Martin
they risk their
lives every day going in burn-
ing buildings. So to me they’re
heroes. I’m always praying
that God will watch out for him
when he’s going to a fire.”
Justin’s favorite part about
the job is the camaraderie
between firefighters, who
spend long hours together on
shifts, often on holidays and
weekends. He said he’s learned
a lot from his fellow firefight-
ers, from cooking to how to use
tools.
“You become lifelong
friends,” he said.
When he’s not working —
either at the fire station or at
Core Fitness, where he still
works part-time — he’s spend-
ing time with his wife, Kasen-
da, and his three kids, a 6-year-
old daughter and 3-year-old
twin boys. Having a supportive
family — he particularly
credited Kasenda with keeping
en eye on their kids while he’s
away at work — is critical for
firefighters, he said.
“Now my kids get to come
up here and be around firemen
and play on the firetruck,” he
said. “It’s a nice full circle.”
Sports
SWANSON TIES CAREER HIGH WITH
5 RBIS, BRAVES ROUT METS
Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson (7) hits an RBI double against the New York Mets during the third inning Sunday at Citi Field.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Dans-
by Swanson tied his ca-
reer high with five RBIs
and the Atlanta Braves
chased an erratic Rick
Porcello during the third
inning of his New York
Mets debut in a 14-1 blow-
out Sunday night.
Atlanta had 17 hits, 11
for extra bases, and took
two of three in the sea-
son-opening series after
losing 1-0 on Friday and
coming within a strike
of defeat Saturday before
rallying.
Porcello allowed seven
runs and got just six outs.
Swanson, Marcell
Ozuna and Austin Riley
all went deep against
Corey Oswalt, who has
allowed 18 home runs in
20 big league appearanc-
es. Riley’s drive went off
the facade of the left-field
upper deck and would
have traveled 458 feet
unimpeded, according to
Statcast.
Ozzie Albies had three
hits and three RBIs, in-
cluding a two-run homer
off Paul Sewald.
Swanson blooped an
RBI single to center for
the second run of the first
inning, hit a two-run dou-
ble that chased Porcello
in a five-run third and had
a two-run, opposite-field
Former MSU standouts big factor in MLB’s opening weekend
BY GARRICK HODGE
ghodge@cdispatch.com
After taking months
off due to the COVID-19
pandemic, Major
League Baseball saw
its highly-anticipated
opening weekend come
and go last week. Sev-
eral Mississippi State
baseball alumni played
prominent roles for var-
ious teams throughout
the sport over the week-
end.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
homer to right-center in
the fourth for a 9-1 lead.
The shortstop also had
five RBIs on July 4 last
year against Philadel-
phia, which had been the
last time he homered.
Porcello lasted 15 bat-
ters, allowing seven runs
— six earned — seven
hits and three walks in
two-plus innings. His
fastball was around 92
mph but he was repeat-
edly up in the strike zone
and over the center of the
plate.
Winner of the 2016 AL
Cy Young Award, Porcel-
lo joined the Mets with
a $10 million, one-year
contract after going 14-12
last year for Boston with a
5.52 ERA, highest among
61 qualified starters.
He was hurt by Jeff
McNeil, who shifted
from third base to the
grass in short right field
and allowed Albies’ lead-
off grounder in the third
to bounce out of his glove
for an error.
Given an eight-run
lead, Sean Newcomb was
removed after 3 1/3 in-
nings and failed to get the
win. He struggled with
command, starting seven
of his first nine batters
with balls, throwing 42
of 82 pitches for strikes,
hitting two batters and
throwing a wild pitch.
Milwaukee Brewers
ace Brandon Woodruff
earned an
opening
day start
and held
the Chica-
go Cubs to
two runs
over five
i n n i n g s Woodruff
of work
while al-
lowing four hits. Wood-
ruff also struck out five
batters. The Brewers
He was replaced by
Jhouyls Chacín (1-0) af-
ter allowing a double to
the No. 8 hitter, backup
catcher Tomás Nido, for
New York’s third hit. Re-
leased by Minnesota in
mid-July, Chacín allowed
one hit over 3 2/3 score-
less innings in his first
Braves appearance since
2016.
Matt Adams, who opt-
ed out of a minor league
deal with the Mets to
sign with the Braves, put
Atlanta ahead in the two-
run first when he lined an
RBI single through the
shortstop hole vacated by
the defensive shift.
DROPPED DOWN
New York 2B Robin-
son Canó was dropped
to seventh in the batting
order in a regular-season
game for the first time
since the last day of the
2009 season. He went 0
for 3, dropping to 1 for 9
with no RBIs in the se-
ries.
FOOT WORK
Mets first baseman
Pete Alonso, the NL
Rookie of the Year, de-
buted rakish bright blue
spikes with a white pat-
tern that resembled an
ice sheet. His nickname
is Polar Bear.
couldn’t provide Wood-
ruff with any run sup-
port, though, falling 3-0
to Chicago on Friday.
Mitch Moreland only
had one hit this week-
end for the Boston Red
Sox, but it was a big
one. The powerful first
baseman cranked a solo
home run against the
Baltimore Orioles Sat-
urday, albeit in a 7-2 los-
ing effort.
Tampa Bay Rays sec-
ond baseman Nathaniel
SPORTS LINE
662-241-5000 B
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020
SECTION
BEN’S BURNING QUESTIONS
Making sense
of the CFB
scheduling
mess
BY BEN PORTNOY
bportnoy@cdispatch.com
STARKVILLE — And
so another week of post-
ponements, new schedul-
ing models and, ultimate-
ly, few decisions actually
being made has come to
pass.
Given the times we’re
living in coupled with
a 24-hour news cycle,
there’s seemingly a new
subplot or storyline being
added by the hour. De-
spite that,
Mississip -
pi State’s
2020 foot-
ball sched-
ule has
rema ined
largely in-
tact, save Portnoy
for its Nov.
21 game against Alabama
A&M (I’ll get to this in a
minute).
And while no sweep-
ing decisions have been
made publicly on fall
sports, general start
dates and potential bowl
ramifications, expect the
wheels to start turning
dramatically this week.
LSU Athletic Director
Scott Woodward noted
last week that Southeast-
ern Conference presi-
dents and chancellors
will be meeting this com-
ing week to discuss foot-
Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports ball season in depth.
As MSU Athletic Di-
rector John Cohen told
The Dispatch last week,
ROAD WARRIORS stay with,” he said. “The
we’re reaching crunch
New York headed af- DH, I can definitely see
time.
that hanging around.”
ter the game to Boston
for its first trip, on six
charter buses rather than TRAINER’S ROOM With the SWAC now
a private plane. Braves: LHP Will officially moving it’s
Reliever Justin Wilson Smith, recovered from season to the fall,
will miss team dinners on COVID-19, played catch what happens to
the road, among the casu- at Truist Park and will MSU’s scheduled game
alties of the protocols. pitch off a mound in the
“That stuff’s fun, but next few days. ... Snitker
against Alabama A&M?
The first domino to fall
we understand the ben- on Cs Tyler Flowers and
on MSU’s schedule came
efits of still practicing Travis d’Arnaud, who
last Monday as the South-
social distancing and not went on the injured list
western Athletic Confer-
losing guys,” he said. Friday with symptoms
ence — home to Nov. 21
Michael Conforto an- of possible coronarvius.
opponent Alabama A&M
ticipated Call of Duty “They’re still not feeling
— officially announced it
competition and lauded great. They’re still kind
would be moving football
Brandon Nimmo. of under the weather, so
to the spring.
“A lot of guys are to speak. The tests are
New Mexico Gov. Mi-
bringing their Xbox, coming back negative so chelle Lujan Grisham
PlayStation,” he said.
far. ... They haven’t turned also sent a letter to lead-
“Nimmo didn’t really
the corner yet in just how ership at UNM and New
play a whole lot of video
they feel.” Mexico State asking the
games, but he’s strategic,
Mets: Eduardo Núñez schools to suspend con-
calling out the plan. He’s
injured a leg when he fell tact sports, including
just super smart.”
while crossing first base football, this fall accord-
in the eighth after beating ing to a report from Geoff
INNOVATION out an infield hit. Grammer of the Albu-
Braves manager Brian querque Journal. MSU is
Snitker thinks some of slated to play New Mexi-
the temporary rules for UP NEXT co in its season opener on
this year “might hold on. Braves: RHP Mike
Sept. 5.
We may see that it’s not Foltynewicz (8-6 last I wrote about this a
as drastic or not what we year) starts Monday at couple weeks back as a
thought going into it.” Tampa Bay against RHP hypothetical, but admin-
Even starting each ex- Tyler Glasnow (6-1) istrators in Starkville will
tra inning with a runner Mets: RHP Michael now have to deal with the
on second base. Wacha (6-7 for St. Louis ramifications of other
“If it decreases wear last year) makes his New conference’s canceled or
and tear on your bullpens York debut in Monday’s delayed seasons.
and things like that, it opener of a two-game se- The simplest solution
may be something that we ries at Boston. is to lose the game, or
games should New Mex-
ico delay its season, and
go on with the other 10-
11 games currently still
on the schedule. How-
ever, as Ross Dellenger
and Pat Forde of Sports
Lowe collected five hits for the New York Yan- Illustrated reported on
over the weekend, in- kees while striking out July 15, the SEC is hell-
cluding a 3-for-5 effort a batter. bent on maintaining its
Sunday. Lowe drove in Sunday, St. Louis nonconference games —
three runs while help- Cardinals starter Dako- particularly the 13 con-
ing the Rays win two of ta Hudson pitched 4 1/3 tests against Power Five
three games against the innings and allowed four competition.
Toronto Blue Jays. runs on seven hits while With that in mind,
Pittsburgh Pirates striking out four batters the most likely scenario
infielder Adam Frazier in a losing effort against of all of this is MSU and
went 2-for-11 and drew the Pirates. Pirates re- the rest of the conference
a walk in a three-game lief pitcher and Bulldog drop to an eight-plus-one
set with the Cardinals. alumnus Chris Strat- format in which teams
On Saturday, Jona- ton threw 1 1/3 innings would play their confer-
than Holder pitched 1 for Pittsburgh in relief, ence schedules and one
and 1/3 innings of relief striking out a batter. See PORTNOY, 2B
2B MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Baseball fans in South
Korea back in stands
amid COVID-19
SEOUL, South Korea
(AP) — Masked fans
hopped, sang and shout-
ed cheers in baseball sta-
diums in South Korea on
Sunday as authorities be-
gan allowing spectators
to return to professional
sports amid the coronavi-
rus pandemic.
After a weeks-long de-
lay, South Korea’s 2020
baseball season began
in early May without
fans in the stands amid
a then-slowing virus out-
break in the country.
Seats in baseball stadi-
ums had since been filled
with cheering banners,
dolls or pictures of fans.
On Sunday, the Korean
Baseball Organization al-
lowed a limited number of
fans - 10% of the stadium
capacity - to watch games
live. They entered stadi-
ums after their tempera-
tures and smartphone
QR codes were checked.
During the games, they
were required to wear
masks and sit at least a
seat apart while being
banned from eating food
and drinking any alcohol-
ic beverages in line with
the KBO guidelines.
During a game be-
tween Doosan Bears
and LG Twins at Seoul’s
Jamsil baseball stadium,
fans wearing the teams’
jerseys still shouted their
favorite players’ names,
raised banners and sang
fight songs. Some Bears
fans jumped from their
seats when Choi Joo-
hwan hit a two-run home
run at the bottom the sec-
ond inning.

Forget the asterisk, NHL playoffs present grueling test

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sorry, Drew Dough-
ty.
It’s difficult to find
anyone — from Hock-
ey Hall of Fame goalie
Ken Dryden to French-
born Avalanche forward
Pierre Edouard Bel-
lemare— supporting
Doughty’s assertion
that these expanded
NHL playoffs won’t pro-
duce, as the Los Ange-
les Kings defenseman
put it in April, “a real”
Stanley Cup winner.
“I could not agree
less,” Bellemare said.
“The level of play might
take a day or two to get
to the competitiveness,
but this Stanley Cup
playoff is going to be the
toughest ever.”
Not only are teams,
such as the previous-
ly injury-depleted Av-
alanche, far healthier
than they were when
the season was paused
in March, everyone is
faced with the same
challenge of restarting
from a standstill.
“You don’t have any
team that played 82
games and feels unbe-
lievable because they
had a great season.
That was 12 weeks ago,
14 weeks ago. I mean,
this is gone,” Bellemare
said. “So, every team’s
going to have to from
Day 1 create its own mo-
mentum.”
Three months ago,
Doughty questioned
what the format would
resemble and how the
regular season ended
with 189 games remain-
ing.
“I’m just not a huge
fan of it, as much as
I want to play,” said
Doughty, whose Kings
didn’t qualify for the ex-
panded 24-team playoff.
In light of the con-
cerns, players earned
praise for demanding
the four traditional play-
off rounds be best-of-
seven series to preserve
the integrity of postsea-
son.
“It was already the
hardest trophy to win.
I think it just got a lit-
tle harder,” New York
Islanders forward Cal
Clutterbuck said.
More than four
months since a puck
was dropped in a com-
petitive setting, and
following two weeks
of training camp, the
NHL took its next step
toward resuming play:
All 24 remaining teams
were entering the “bub-
ble” in their respective
hub cities of Toronto
and Edmonton, Alberta.
Each will play one exhi-
bition game before the
playoffs open Aug. 1.
It will be a postsea-
son like no other since
the Stanley Cup was
first awarded to the
Montreal Hockey Club
in 1893. The field of
24 is the NHL’s largest
ever, while the crowds
will be the smallest —
with no fans allowed to
attend.
There will be a pre-
liminary round split in
two parts. The top four
teams in each confer-
ence will compete in a
round-robin series to
determine first-round
seeding, while the re-
maining 16 compete in
best-of-five elimination
series. What previous-
ly took 16 victories to
hoist the Cup, this year’s
champion could become
the NHL’s first 19-game
winner.
And should all go as
planned, the Cup will
be awarded for the first
time in either late Sep-
tember or early October.
Given the challenges,
including players being
separated from their
loved ones for an extend-
ed stretch, Nashville
defenseman Ryan Ellis
favors placing an aster-
isk next to this year’s
winner because of the
heightened degree of
difficulty.
“We’re all dealing
with something that’s a
lot different,” Ellis said.
“If there’s an asterisk,
it’s because it was a
harder, harder process
to win.”
Carolina coach Rod
Brind’Amour said this
playoff will compare
nothing to what it was
like in 2006, when he
was captain of the Cup
champion Hurricanes.
“Whoever wins this is
going to earn it. There’s
just no way around
it,” Brind’Amour said.
“You’ve got to grind it
out. And then on top of
it, to me, is the sacrifice
and just those added el-
ements here about be-
ing stuck in a hotel. ...
There’s just a lot going
on to pull this off.”
The 2006 Hurricanes
competed in 25 play-
off games, one short of
the record held by five
teams, including last
year’s champion St. Lou-
is Blues.
Dryden won six cham-
pionships in eight sea-
sons with Montreal in
the 1970s, and the most
games the Canadiens
played in one postseason
during that span was 20,
in 1971, his rookie sea-
son. By comparison, the
’76 Canadiens needed
only 13 games to win the
title, with Dryden fin-
ishing 12-1 and allowing
just 25 goals.
For Dryden, each
postseason presents
unique sets of challeng-
es, ranging from injuries
to team chemistry to on-
and off-ice distractions.
And this upcoming post-
season is no different.
“Those who don’t win
may say, `We were on our
way. We did everything
right during the regular
season. We were poised
for the playoffs and we
didn’t have a chance to
be that team that we cre-
ated,’” Dryden said.
“That isn’t the point.
The point is the Stanley
Cup playoffs are a test.
And they’re a test of each
player and of each team
finding an answer for
the circumstances pre-
sented,” he said. “That’s
what competition is.
That’s what competitors
are asked to respond to.
And those who do it best
win.”
Given the uncertain-
ties that come with the
coronavirus pandemic,
Dryden stressed the im-
portance of the league
and players being able
to halt play at any point
for health and safety rea-
sons.
“We’ve created these
expectations and hopes,
and maybe these kinds of
commitments so there’s
no turning back. That’s
wrong. There is always
turning back,” Dryden
said. “But if this does
start and if the compe-
tition runs its course to
the end, then who wins
is a worthy Stanley Cup
winner.”

Portnoy
Continued from Page 1B
nonconference game.
Other options could in-
clude adding another two
conference games and
cutting nonconference
competition entirely. Ev-
erything is on the table at
the moment.
Granted this is all con-
tingent on players actu-
ally being safe in their
participation under the
current COVID-19 pan-
demic, but with one game
already canceled and an-
other potentially ready to
fall in the coming days
and weeks, don’t expect
MSU to be filling it’s sud-
denly narrowing slate.
If the SEC goes confer-
ence only in 2020, what
are MSU’s prospects?
Now that we’ve ad-
dressed doomsday, let’s
say football is actual-
ly played this fall and
MSU goes into an eight-
plus-one format. In this
situation, the Bulldogs
maintain their eight con-
ference games and keep
the contest now sched-
uled for Sept. 12 against
North Carolina State on
the docket.
Granted it’s still late
July and first-year coach
Mike Leach has hardly
had a chance to get a cup
of coffee with his new
roster in person, let alone
make any major person-
nel decisions, but if MSU
does lose games against
Alabama A&M, New
Mexico and possibly Tu-
lane (though there’s no
indication this is happen-
ing at the moment) the
Bulldogs’ ceiling quickly
drops from eight or nine
wins to around five or six.
N.C. State was a dis-
mal 4-8 a season ago as
injuries decimated this
roster. But according to
The Athletic, the Wolf-
pack return at least 52
percent production in
pass yards, rush yards,
receiving yards, offensive
line starts, tackles, tack-
les for a loss, sacks and
interceptions — offering
optimism in Raleigh that
this year’s squad should
be improved.
Games against Arkan-
sas, Missouri and Ken-
tucky ultimately become
must-wins in this new for-
mat. So too does the Egg
Bowl — though given
the 2019 edition, nothing
short of divine interven-
tion would be surprising
when Ole Miss and MSU
meet this fall.
It’s fair to assume
MSU drops games to Al-
abama, LSU, Auburn and
— stop me if you’ve heard
this before — trendy- con-
ference champion pick
Texas A&M. Think this
is the year the Bulldogs
take down the Crimson
Tide in Tuscaloosa or the
Tigers in Baton Rouge?
May I alert you to Leach’s
1-7 record against Wash-
ington in the Apple Cup
coupled with the stark
transition from Joe Moor-
head’s RPO-based at-
tack to the air raid that it
would be nothing short of
stunning if MSU pulls off
any major upsets this fall.
If the Bulldogs win the
games they should, their
staring at an impressive
5-4 season under less
than ideal conditions.
That said, given the
aforementioned offensive
transition that would all
but assure growing pains
in a non-pandemic affect-
ed year, games against
Kentucky, Missouri and
Ole Miss are far from as-
sured victories.
Should the Bulldogs
stumble out of the gate
against N.C. State, it’s
likely they head into their
final three games against
Ole Miss, Missouri and
Kentucky with just a sin-
gle win and it could get
worse from there.
MSU was probably
slated for a 6-6 or 7-5
season under normal cir-
cumstances. Now, they
could fall anywhere from
1-8 to 6-3. Buckle up, this
year’s going to get wild.
Ben’s best:
Like most of you, I’ve
spent the majority of my
down time during this
pandemic binge watch-
ing movies and vary-
ing streaming entities.
Here’s a list of my favor-
ite flicks I’ve watched
since quarantine began
that I hadn’t previously
seen:
1. Casino Royale
2. Groundhog Day
3. Good Morning Viet-
nam
4. Me Before You
5. Swingers

Michael Thompson wins 3M Open by 2 strokes in Minnesota
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BLAINE, Minn. —
Without a gallery around
him on the 18th green,
Michael Thompson settled
for a subdued victory cel-
ebration at the 3M Open
with a FaceTime call home
to his wife and children in
Georgia.
The tears came from
him and his wife as soon as
they saw each other on the
screen.
Thompson birdied two
of the last three holes Sun-
day for a 4-under 67 and
a two-stroke victory, fin-
ishing off his second PGA
Tour win seven years after
his first.
“It is a little sad that there
wasn’t anybody out there to
cheer on some of the great
shots that I hit toward the
Comics & Puzzles
DILBERT
ZITS
GARFIELD
CANDORVILLE
BABY BLUES
BEETLE BAILEY
MALLARD FILLMORE
end, but I know everybody
who’s rooting for me at least
was watching and scream-
ing at their TV,” Thompson
said. “This is definitely a
win for everybody who sup-
ported me throughout the
years. It doesn’t diminish
the excitement.”
Adam Long took was
second after a 64. Richy
Werenski, who had the
18-hole lead and shared it
with Thompson after both
Friday and Saturday, shot a
70 for his worst round of the
tournament and settled for
a nine-way tie for third —-
three strokes back.
Tony Finau finished in
the third-place group, too,
after a 68. Finau was the
only one among the five
world top-30 players in the
field to reach the weekend,
far outperforming fellow
FAMILY CIRCUS
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
high-profile peers Dustin
Johnson, Brooks Koepka,
Tommy Fleetwood and
Paul Casey.
Thompson finished at
19-under 265 at the TPC
Twin Cities. He was more
nervous than he anticipat-
ed, even without specta-
tors.
“It means so much to
get a win, and it gets you
into so many different
tournaments and solidi-
fies your job for two more
years. That’s enough pres-
sure for anybody, let alone
having fans out there,”
said Thompson, who has a
3-year-old son and an infant
daughter he and his wife
adopted in March.
Nobody throughout the
windy and muggy week
in Minnesota was steadier
than Thompson, who en-
tered the week 151st in the
FedEx Cup standings and
rocketed up to 39th on the
way to Tennessee for the
World Golf Championships
event. He had three bogeys
in 72 holes.
He hit solidly out of
the sand to set up a birdie
on the 16th and take sole
possession of the lead. He
deftly steered around the
water danger on the 18th,
landing his approach on the
back of the green within 15
feet. With Long in the club-
house, having played five
groups ahead, Thompson
had two putts to win. He
needed only one, bending
backward and thrusting his
arms straight up in the air
after the ball dropped in the
cup.
Thompson’s best
previous finish in this
Dear Abby
D
EAR ABBY:
I became
pregnant
with my second
child in 2013.
When my extend-
ed family heard
the news, it was
not well-received,
particularly by
my grandmother
and aunt-in-law.
They said things
like, “We love
you, but we’re
embarrassed
and ashamed.”
My once loving
Dear Abby
grandmother said
some particularly cruel things.
I have to be honest — I
was angry. I swore at her after
she accused me of “using”
my partner of 10 YEARS to
get pregnant. The gossip and
hateful comments from my
family shocked me to my core.
I wasn’t asking for a blessing,
but unconditional love from
this God-fearing woman was
definitely expected.
Fast-forward to now: My
grandmother continues to hold
anger and resentment toward
me. She says it’s because
I’ve “sullied our family name.”
I apologized for my outburst,
but she won’t forgive me. Now
my uncle is blaming me for her
poor health! I have forgiven
her, but when I took my kids to
her house, she slammed the
door in our faces. I’m at a loss
about how to fix this. Should
Horoscopes
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (July
27). You set out to hone your
skills, amplify your assets, pick
up new experiences -- and then
you learn an entire volume that
you did not seek and were not
expecting. You’ll be embraced in
a different type of family. People
will lean on you and need you,
pay you and pedestal you. Your
big investment pays in March.
Scorpio and Capricorn adore
you. Your lucky numbers are: 8,
40, 2, 25 and 10.
ARIES (March 21-April 19).
When you stand where you
can see, you stand where you
can be seen. What should you
expose, and what should you
protect? This is the big decision
stopped-and-restarted 2020
season was a tie for eighth
at the Travelers Champi-
onship in Connecticut, and
he missed the cut in his
last start at the Workday
Charity Open in Ohio two
weeks ago. For this win,
he not only secured a spot
in the PGA Championship,
the U.S. Open and next
year’s Masters, but a prize
of $1,188,000. That’s nearly
12% of his career earnings
on the tour. The U.S. Open,
rescheduled for Sept. 17-20,
is at Winged Foot in New
York, which Thompson
called his favorite course
“in the entire world.”
In stroke play over the
last four seasons, Finau has
finished 35 rounds inside
the top three, by far the
most without a win on
tour over that stretch.
I say, “So long,
farewell”? What
can I do? —
GIANT MESS IN
PENNSYLVANIA
DEAR MESS:
The person
responsible for
your grand-
mother’s poor
health isn’t you
— it’s her. It’s
not unheard of
for people who
hang onto anger
and resentment
the way she
does to make
themselves sick.
That she would slam the door
in the faces of her great-grand-
children is reprehensible.
You haven’t sullied the fam-
ily name, and you cannot fix
this by yourself. The healthiest
thing you can do, for yourself
AND your children, is move
forward and don’t look back.
DEAR ABBY: My family and
I are planning a get-together.
It has been several months
since we have been together
because of the pandemic. Our
younger brother has a new
girlfriend who was introduced
to everyone at the last get-to-
gether.
That day, one sister men-
tioned a political proposition
that was up for a vote in her
state. The new girlfriend kept
repeating “No politics!” every
time my sister started talking
about it. My sisters and I think
of the day.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20).
You may be detached from the
place and time when a feeling
was born, but there are portals
that bring you back — symbols,
images, smells — and you can
feel it as sure as the first time.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21).
Hardships strengthen people.
Of course, it’s a concept that’s
much more palatable in hind-
sight. While in the thick of it, a
person may not feel strong at
all, but getting to the other side
is its own badge of endurance.
CANCER (June 22-July 22).
You will fill in for something or
someone who is absent. You
do not have to be as the other
MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 3B
Tommy Fleetwood (20)
has the second most.
“They don’t give out
second-place trophies,
third-place trophies,”
said Finau, who shot a
78 on the final round of
the Memorial last week
to finish eighth in Ohio
after sharing the 36-hole
lead there. “I’ve learned
that the hard way with
lot of them coming early
in my career, but I con-
tinue to just believe and
hope for the best for my
future.”
Finau and Werenski
were joined in third by
Robby Shelton, who shot
a 64 on Sunday, as well
as Charles Howell III,
Emiliano Grillo, Alex
Noren, Max Homa, Cam-
eron Tringale and Charl
Schwartzel.
it was very rude.
Now the new girlfriend
will be in my home, and I am
sure politics will be a topic of
conversation, considering the
current economic, political
and health crises going on. My
family likes discussing current
events, and I don’t feel we
should be silenced because
of a guest. How should this be
handled so as to not offend
and distance our brother’s
new girlfriend, but allow us to
continue having conversations
that are meaningful to us as
a family? — OUTSPOKEN IN
FLORIDA
DEAR OUTSPOKEN: Some-
one, preferably your brother,
should have a chat with this
woman before the next family
gathering and make clear that
your family enjoys talking
about current events — poli-
tics included — and she does
not have the right to dictate to
the rest of you what you can
or cannot talk about. If the
subject makes her uncomfort-
able, she should either move
to another room or skip the
event. This does not have to
be said unkindly, but the rest
of you should not be expected
to kowtow to her.
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.
would be. Do you in the space
and everyone, including you, will
learn something new.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22).
Resistance may or may not be
futile, but it’s certainly not the
best way to get leverage. Turn
into the force that comes at
you. Give way, or join it. Then
wait. You will sense your mo-
ment of power.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).
If you know exactly how much
you’re going to win or lose, it’s
not a risk; it’s a transaction.
Doing a thing so many times
that your prediction about the
result is almost always right
takes the risk factor plum out of
the equation.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).
Tackle the most difficult issues
first and the other ones will
either suddenly seem like nonis-
sues or actually be nonissues,
swept into the current of bigger
solutions.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov.
21). You’re in the process of a
rebuild. This is not going to be
what it was, but it’s also not an
entirely new creation. You’ll take
the best of what worked before
and bring it into the future.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec.
21). It’s silly to waste time on
the question of who deserves
what. Credit and blame are
seldom distributed according to
what people deserve. Focus on
doing the most with what you
have.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan.
19). There may be dozens
before you, but your eyes keep
returning to only one. It’s be-
cause what you exchanged has
become a tether secured firmly
to the core of your attention.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.
18). What affects one person
makes others feel vulnerable,
as they realize the tenuous
fragility that is life. This is why
you like to spread good news
wherever you find it. Today,
you’ll find it in plenty.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March
20). There are things that
belong inside of you and things
that would be better placed
outside of you. You’re the one
who gets to decide, though note
that, as a rule, burdens get
lighter when you share them.
Sleeping pill
SOLUTION:
4B MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

US agency vows steps to address COVID-19 inequalities

CDC officials: Social conditions, not
genetics, make people of color more likely to
be exposed to the virus and — if they catch it
— more likely to get seriously ill
BY MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer
NEW YORK — If Black, His-
panic and Native Americans are
hospitalized and killed by the
coronavirus at far higher rates
than others, shouldn’t the gov-
ernment count them as high
risk for serious illness?
That seemingly simple ques-
tion has been mulled by federal
health officials for months. And
so far the answer is no.
But federal public health
officials have released a new
strategy that vows to improve
data collection and take steps
to address stark inequalities
in how the disease is affecting
Americans.
Officials at the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
stress that the disproportion-
ately high impact on certain
minority groups is not driven
by genetics. Rather, it’s social
conditions that make people of
color more likely to be exposed
to the virus and — if they catch
it — more likely to get seriously
ill.
“To just name racial and eth-
nic groups without contextu-
alizing what contributes to the
risk has the potential to be stig-
matizing and victimizing,” said
the CDC’s Leandris Liburd,
who two months ago was named
chief health equity officer in the
agency’s coronavirus response.
Outside experts agreed that
there’s a lot of potential down-
side to labeling certain racial
and ethnic groups as high risk.
“You have to be very careful
that you don’t do it in such a
way that you’re defining a whole
class of people as ‘COVID car-
riers.’” said Dr. Georges Benja-
min, executive director of the
American Public Health Asso-
ciation.
COVID-19’s unequal impact
has been striking:
■ American Indians and Na-
tive Alaskans are hospitalized
at rates more than five times
that of white people. The hos-
pitalization rate for Black and
Hispanic Americans is more
than four times higher than for
whites, according to CDC data
through mid-July.
■ Detailed tracking through
mid-May suggested Black peo-
ple accounted for 25 percent
of U.S. deaths as of that time,
even though they are about 13
percent of the U.S. population.
About 24 percent of deaths were
Hispanics, who account for
about 18.5 percent of the pop-
ulation. And 35 percent were
white people, who are 60 per-
cent of the population.

Disabled Americans mark milestone as crisis deepens job woes

Americans With Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination
against people with disabilities in areas such as
employment, transportation and public accommodations
BY LINDSAY
WHITEHURST
The Associated Press
The Americans With
Disabilities Act was a
major turning point in
opening large parts of
U.S. society to disabled
people, but three decades
after its passage disabled
workers still face higher
unemployment than oth-
er adults — a problem
compounded by the coro-
navirus pandemic.
Sunday marked 30
years since the ADA was
signed into law by Presi-
dent George H.W. Bush
with wide bipartisan sup-
port. It prohibits discrim-
ination against people
with disabilities in areas
such as employment,
transportation and public
accommodations.
In practice, that’s
meant everything from
usable public bathrooms
shift in perspective that
a lot of the problems with
disability are more socie-
tal and environmental.”
That’s led to some-
thing simple but crucial:
to seats in movie the- visibility.
aters and access to public “It’s not uncommon to
schools. see people with wheel-
“The historically dom- chairs or blind people out
inant view was that it was doing what they need to
an individual problem do, or want to do, in cities
that each person or fam- or in restaurants,” said
ily had to cope with on his wife Lisa Schur, a po-
their own,” said Douglas litical scientist at Rutgers
Kruse, an economist at who studies disability
Rutgers University who and employment. “Before
began using a wheel- the ADA, it was unusual.
chair after a drunk driver People would be stared
crashed into him in 1990. at. Now it’s more accept-
“The ADA represented a ed.”
The law was a hard-
fought milestone that
came after years of work
from disabled people and
their supporters, said Pe-
ter Berns, CEO of The
Arc, which advocates for
people with intellectual
and developmental dis-
abilities.
Nevertheless, “the re-
ality still is, people with
disabilities are subject
to pervasive discrimina-
tion in employment and
many aspects of life, so
the work of the ADA is
not done.”
When it comes to em-
ployment, things were
looking up in the boom-
ing June 2019 economy
before the coronavirus
hit. Still, the unemploy-
ment rate was nearly 8
percent — double that
of other workers — even
though a large majority
said in surveys they can
and want to work, Kruse
said. Those who are em-
ployed often hold low-lev-
el jobs in industries
like food service, home
health care and janitorial
work.
“It really seems to be
last hired, first fired,”
Schur said. “Even 30
years after the ADA,
there’s still a lot of em-
ployer reluctance.”

Body of civil rights icon John Lewis crosses Selma bridge

BY KIM CHANDLER
The Associated Press
SELMA, Ala. — The
late U.S. Rep. John Lewis
crossed the Edmund Pet-
tus Bridge in Selma, Al-
abama, for the final time
Sunday as remembranc-
es continue for the civil
rights icon.
The bridge became a
landmark in the fight for
racial justice when Lew-
is and other civil rights
marchers were beaten
there 55 years ago on
“Bloody Sunday,” a key
event that helped galva-
nize support for the pas-
sage of the Voting Rights
Act. Lewis returned to
Selma each March in
commemoration.
Sunday found him
crossing alone — instead
of arm-in-arm with civil
rights and political lead-
ers — after his coffin was Lewis!” and “Good trou- pel tunes. in the summer heat so
loaded atop a horse-drawn ble!” the phrase Lewis Lewis died July 17 at family members could
wagon that retraced the used to describe his tan- 80, months after he was walk behind it. On the
route through Selma gles with white authori- diagnosed with advanced south side of the bridge,
from Brown Chapel Afri- ties during the civil rights pancreatic cancer. Lewis where Lewis was beaten
can Methodist Episcopal movement. served in the U.S. House
by Alabama state troop-
Church, where the 1965 Some crowd members of Representatives for
ers in 1965, family mem-
march began. sang the gospel song Georgia’s 5th congressio-
As the black wag- “Woke Up This Morning nal district from 1987 un- bers placed red roses that
on pulled by a team of With My Mind Stayed til his death. the carriage rolled over,
dark-colored horses ap- on Jesus.” Later, some The wagon rolled over marking the spot where
proached the bridge, onlookers sang the civil a carpet of rose petals, Lewis spilled his blood
members of the crowd rights anthem “We Shall pausing atop the bridge and suffered a head inju-
shouted “Thank you, John Overcome” and other gos- over the Alabama River ry.

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publication. For more informa-
tion, call 662-328-2471.
Larry Deloach
COLUMBUS — Lar-
ry C. Deloach, 60, died
July 25, 2020, at Bap-
tist Memorial Hospi-
tal-Golden Triangle.
Arrangements are
incomplete and will be
announced by Carter’s
Funeral Services of
Columbus.
Nellie Caldwell
COLUMBUS — Nel-
lie Jewell Caldwell, 89,
died July 26, 2020, at
her residence.
Services will be at
3 p.m. Tuesday, at Mt.
Vernon Baptist Church,
with the Rev. Jeff James
and Rev. Todd Stevens
officiating. Burial will
follow in the church
cemetery. Visitation
will be two hours prior
to services Tuesday, at
the church. Memorial
Gunter Peel Funeral
Home and Crematory
Second Avenue North
is in charge of arrange-
ments.
Michael Ray
WEST POINT — Mi-
chael “Mike” Ray, 58,
died July 25, 2020, at
North Mississippi Med-
ical Center of Tupelo.
A private graveside
funeral service will be
held Wednesday, in Me-
morial Gardens West
Point, with Terry Butler
officiating. Calvert
Funeral Home of West
Point is in charge of
arrangements.
Mr. Ray was born
July 6, 2020, in West
Point, to Betty Files
Ray and the late Vernon
Ray.
In addition to his
mother, he is survived
by his wife, Evelyn
Ray; children, Danielle
Whitaker and John
Tubbs; siblings, San-
dra White, Wayne Ray
and Tim Ray; and one
grandchild.
Jo Ann Peery
STARKVILLE — Jo
Ann Peery, 83, died July
23, 2020, in Sturgis.
Graveside services
will be at 11 a.m. Tues-
day, in Boyd Chapel
Cemetery of Sturgis,
with the Rev. Roos-
evelt Gage officiating.
Visitation is from 1-5
p.m. today, at Centu-
AREA OBITUARIES
ry Hairston Funeral In addition to her In addition to her the late Eldon and Ha-
Home. Century Hair- parents, she was parents, she was zel Innes Childress.
ston Funeral Home of preceded in death by preceded in death by In addition to her
Starkville is in charge her siblings, Bessie her husbands, W.B. parents, she was
of arrangements. Pearl Sims, Augusta Taylor and Irv Lee; and preceded in death by
Mrs. Peery was Williams, Arthur Blair siblings, C.L. Hankins, her husband, Fred; and
born March 5, 1937, Sr., Charles Blair, John Cecil Hankins, Her- daughter, Amelia.
in Sturgis, to the late Blair and Elange Pope. schel Hankins, Loyce She is survived by
Lewis Hickman and She is survived by Hankins, A.J. Hankins, her daughter, Lynn
Sarah Hickman. She her children, Zimilish James Earl Hankins, Fisher; and one grand-
was formerly employed Blair, Kenny Blair, Linnie Ray Hankins, child.
as a nurse and was a Eurie Bordenave, and Nell Thompson and Memorials may be
member of Boyd Chap- Niesha Blair Edinburg; Betty Pounders. made to Strong United
el United Methodist siblings, Eurie Henry She is survived by Methodist Church,
Church. and Mattie Blair Walk- her children, Rodney 10337 Strong Road,
She is survived by er; 17 grandchildren; Taylor and Tommy Aberdeen, Mississippi
her children, Cassandra and two great-grand- Taylor; eight grandchil- 39730.
Frazier, Teresa McRae, children. dren; 14 great-grand-
Karen Henderson, children; and two
Chris Peery; sister, Samuel Smith great-great-grandchil-
Nettie Mathis; and nine COLUMBUS — dren.
grandchildren. Samuel Alan Smith, 68,
died July 26, 2020, at Mary Gardner
Flora Brewer his residence. COLUMBUS —
COLUMBUS — Flo- Arrangements are Mary Gardner, 88, died
ra May Blair Brewer, incomplete and will be July 26, 2020, at Trinity
63, died announced by Memori- Healthcare.
July 22, al Gunter Peel Funeral Arrangements are
2020, at Home and Crematory incomplete and will be
her res- College Street location. announced by Memori-
idence. al Gunter Peel Funeral
Gravesides Dorothy Lee Home and Crematory Nellie Caldwell
College Street location.
services COLUMBUS — Dor- Visitation:
will be at Tuesday, July 28 • 1-3 PM
othy Taylor Lee, 89, Mt. Vernon Baptist Church
11 a.m. Brewer
died July 26, 2020, at Marilyn Coon Services:
Tuesday, in Windsor Place. ABERDEEN — Mar- Tuesday, July 28 • 3 PM
Mt. Vernon Baptist Church
Woodlawn Cemetery of Graveside services ilyn Coon died July 25, Burial
Caledonia, with David are at 10 a.m. today, in 2020. Mt. Vernon Baptist
Church Cemetery
Williams officiating. Forest Cemetery of Eth- Funeral services will 2nd Ave. North Location
Visitation is from 2-5 elsville, Alabama, with be at 10 a.m. Thursday,
p.m. today, at Carter’s Tommy Taylor officiat- at Krabel Funeral Home Mary Gardner
Funeral Services. ing. Lowndes Funeral Chapel in Oakland, Incomplete
Carter’s Funeral Home of Columbus is Illinois, with Lamar College St. Location
Services of Columbus in charge of arrange- Pruitt officiating. Burial
Alan Smith
is in charge of arrange- ments. will follow in Oakland
Incomplete
ments. Mrs. Lee was born Cemetery in Oakland, College St. Location
Mrs. Brewer was Dec. 30, 1930, in Illinois. Visitation
born March 8, 1957, in Caledonia, to the late will be from 5-7 p.m.
Caledonia, to the late Claude L. and Dovie Wednesday, at Krabel
Sam Blair and Mattie Lee Pearson Hankins. Funeral Home. Calvert
Henry Blair. She was She was formerly Funeral Home of West
formerly employed as employed with United Point is in charge of
memorialgunterpeel.com
a bus driver and was a Technologies and was arrangements.
member of Anderson a member of Antioch Mrs. Coon was born
Grove M.B. Church. Baptist Church. in Oakland, Illinois to
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 5B

UNDER THE CAPITOL DOME

Analysis: First months not what Reeves expected as governor

Reeves took office in January after money that Mississippi is
receiving from the federal
precautions during June.
The session included
during his first months
as governor, Reeves had a
ride a governor’s veto.
During a small cere-
eight years as lieutenant governor and government.
The Mississippi Con-
landmark votes by the
House and Senate to re-
consistent answer to flag
questions: If the design
mony at the Governor’s
Mansion on June 30,
eight before that as state treasurer stitution created a strong
legislative branch and a
tire the 126-year-old Mis-
sissippi flag that was the
were to be reconsidered,
it should be done in anoth-
Reeves did something he
probably did not envision
BY EMILY campaign, working 20 weak executive. When last state banner in the er statewide vote. at the beginning of 2020:
WAGSTER PET TUS hours a day, seven days a Reeves presided over the U.S. to include the Con- Momentum for change He signed the bill retiring
The Associated Press week, and I never thought Senate as lieutenant gov- federate battle emblem. grew quickly during June, the old flag. A commis-
I would long for those ernor, he wielded power Critics have long con- as widespread protests fo- sion will design a new one
JACK- over many decisions, in- demned the rebel flag as cused attention on racial without the rebel symbol
days. But I can assure you
SON — Re- cluding budget writing. racist. People who voted injustice. When it became and with the phrase, “In
that I long for those days
publican As governor, Reeves in a 2001 statewide elec- clear that legislators had a God We Trust.”
rather than dealing with
Tate Reeves argued that because he is tion chose to keep the two-thirds majority need- The lone design will be
this virus.”
has made the state’s chief executive, design. Legislative lead- ed to suspend normal on the Nov. 3 ballot. If vot-
clear that The new coronavirus
was first detected in Mis- he should make decisions ers — including Reeves, deadlines and file a bill to ers accept it, that will be-
his first six about the federal money. as lieutenant governor — change the flag, Reeves come the new flag. If they
months as sissippi in early March,
Reeves weeks after the first U.S. The House and Senate said for years that there conceded that he would reject it, the commission
Mississippi asserted control, making was no consensus in the sign a bill if they passed will draw a new design
governor didn’t shape up cases were reported.
the long-established case House and Senate to one. Not coincidentally, and that will be on the
the way he expected. Reeves closed schools
that setting budgets is a change the flag. two-thirds is the same ballot later — still without
Reeves took office in that month and set a state-
legislative responsibility. As a candidate and margin needed to over- the old flag as an option.
January after eight years wide stay-at-home order
The on-again, off-again
as lieutenant governor that remained in place a legislative session still
and eight before that as few weeks. He gradually isn’t over because bud-

Have you checked the

state treasurer. eased restrictions on hair gets for education and the
A pandemic wasn’t salons, restaurants and Department of Marine
expected when Reeves other types of businesses. Resources remain unre-

Classifieds?
campaigned last year, and He has set some new re- solved. It’s unclear when
responding to the new strictions lately, including legislators will return to
coronavirus has occupied a mask mandate in some Jackson because at least
most of his time as gover- counties. 31 of them — and possibly
nor. Several weeks ago, more — are still recover-
“In 2020, things aren’t Reeves lost a power strug- ing from a coronavirus
like they were in 2019,” gle with the Legislature outbreak that occurred
Reeves said Friday. “2019, over who controls $1.25 after people in the Capitol
I was running a political billion in pandemic relief widely disregarded safety

EmploymEnt
Mississippi author’s book gets
turned into an HBO series BUSInESS
REntalS
While Atkins wasn’t involved in the
‘The writer of the first production of Spenser Confidential, he
season has done an revealed that he would be for the Quinn
Colson series.

amazing job with adapting
the book. All your favorite
characters are there.’
Oxford author Ace Atkins
BY ANA MARTINEZ
The Oxford Eagle
OXFORD — The Quinn Colson series
by Oxford author Ace Atkins is being de-
veloped into a TV show on HBO.
The books are about Colson, who is a
former Army Ranger who has returned
to his home in Tibbehah County, located
in rural northeast Mississippi, has been
overrun with corruption, drugs, and
REal EStatE
“Unlike the recent Mark Wahlberg
film Spenser Confidential based on my
book Wonderland, I’ll be a consulting
producer on the project,” Atkins said.
GaRaGE SalES
“I’m thrilled and honored to be part of
the team.”
Atkins stated that he is excited not
only to be apart of the production of the
series but also to be partnering with
HBO.
“I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather be
associated with than HBO,” Atkins said.
“They’re the absolute best in the busi-
mERchandISE
VEhIclES
ness, with some of my all-time favorite
shows like Deadwood and The Wire. In
fact, Quinn Colson all began with the
idea of writing a series like Deadwood

violence. With his uncle, the longtime
sheriff dead by suicide, it’s up to Quinn
to discover the truth and to bring justice
to his home.
commUnIty
only set in north Mississippi and in mod-
ern times. It’s amazing to see the inspira-
tion come back home.”
While Atkins has an idea of who would
be an ideal candidate to play Colson in

Atkins has written 10 books in the fic-
tional series starting with The Ranger,
which is where the first season will take
place.
“The current first season will stay
SERVIcES
the HBO series, he reveals that casting of
the main character might be a little hard.
“That’s a tough one,” Atkins said. “Re-
ally the hardest question because cast-

true to the events in the first Quinn
Colson novel, The Ranger,” Atkins said.
“The writer of the first season has done
an amazing job with adapting the book.
All your favorite characters are there.”
In addition to writing the Quinn Col-
son series, Atkins also took over Robert
B. Parker’s Spenser character following
Parker’s death in 2010. He has since writ-
ten eight novels in the Spenser series
including Wonderland, which was adapt-
ed into the recent Mark Wahlberg film
Spenser Confidential.
lEGalS
ing is often the last piece of the puzzle.
Many of the actors I’d first considered
now might be too old to play Quinn, who
starts out in his last 20s and early 30s. I
would hope we could find a young Burt
Reynolds or Robert Mitchum.”
Before he was a writer, Atkins was a
reporter on the crime beat for The Tam-
pa Tribune. He believes his career as a re-
ads.cdispatch.com
porter is what helped him in his writing.
“Working on the crime beat was cru-
cial to being able to do what I do now,”
662-328-2424
Atkins said.
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column and each 3x3 the
is to place box
662−361−7711. 7 9 4 1 6 8 5 3 2
1 Pilates numbers
contains the1sameto 9 number
in
pets. 3BR/1.5BA. Asking
$760/ per month. Dep. the empty spaces so 1 8 7 9 3 6 2 5 4
only once. The difficulty
$760. 662−549−9298. LOWNDES COUNTY, MS:
36 ACRES ON GATLIN RD. Shop that each row, each
level increases from
9 4 3 2 5 1 8 6 7
Houses For Rent: West Excellent timber & building
sites. $72,000. For more Classifieds 2 Savannah, column and each
Monday
3x3 boxtocontains
Sunday.
5 2
Difficulty Level
6 8 4 7 1 9 3
7/25
1187 MOTLEY Rd.
2b/1ba. Nice quiet area. 8
info, call 205−799−9846 Georgia the same number only once. The difficulty level
−10 min from downtown.
or 205−695−2248. increases from Monday to Sunday.
References required. Call
662−497−4428 or 662−
361−1483.
Vehicles 3 Josie,
Mobile Homes for Rent
Ads starting at $12 Melody, Valerie
Sell idle items
Motorcycles & ATVs
with a quick action
4 Pax Romana
3BR/2BA Trailer, New
Hope school dist. $650/
mo & $650 dep. No pets, classified ad. 2005 HONDA 250 REBEL
no drugs, no partying. Call Black, red, and gray.
5 Asterisk
b/w 10a−9p. 662−386− 1,428 miles. $1500.
4292. NO TEXT MGS. 662−364−0120.
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General Services General Services Lawn Care / Landscaping Tree Services
WORK WANTED: Licensed JESSE & BEVERLY’S A & T TREE SERVICES
& Bonded. Carpentry, minor LAWN SERVICE Bucket truck & stump
electrical, minor plumbing, Mowing, cleanup, removal. Free est.
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