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Thursday | September 3, 2020

State flag: Magnolia could replace old rebel symbol

If voters accept the design on the November ballot, it will become the
new state flag; if they reject it, the design process will start anew
BY EMILY WAGSTER PET TUS sign that featured a shield with and Mississippi will remain a state
The Associated Press wavy lines representing water. without a flag for a while longer.
“We’ll send a message that we The commission decided
JACKSON — Mississippi vot- live in the future and not in the Wednesday that leading to the No-
ers will decide whether to accept past,” former Mississippi Supreme vember election, it will promote
a new state flag with a magnolia to Court Justice Reuben Anderson, the magnolia flag by calling it the
replace an old one legislators re- the flag commission chairman, “In God We Trust” flag.
tired under pressure because it in- said after the vote. “More than any other time in
cluded the Confederate battle em- The single design will go on our country, we need the mercy
blem that’s widely seen as racist. the November ballot. If voters ac- and grace of God,” said commis-
Courtesy image/Mississippi Department of Archives and History
A commission voted 8-1 cept the design, it will become the sion member TJ Taylor, who is an The State Flag Commission chose “The New Magnolia” de-
Wednesday to recommend the new state flag. If they reject it, the attorney and policy director for the sign on Wednesday as the candidate for a new flag. Voters will
magnolia over one other final de- design process will start anew — See STATE FLAG, 3A decide whether they approve the design on the Nov. 3 ballot.

BUSINESS MOVES
WITH MARY
CALEDONIA SENIOR CLASS PARADE
Friendly City
Books prepares
for opening
PLUS: The Ranch House
Diner has new owner
BY MARY POLLITZ
biz@cdispatch.com

F
riend-
ly
City
Books
hopes to
open in
Columbus
in Novem-
ber.
Emily
Liner, a
2004 Mis-
sissippi Mary Pollitz
Antranik Tavitian/Dispatch Staff
School for Members of the Caledonia High School senior class of 2021 drive through downtown Caledonia for a senior parade on Mon-
Mathematics and Science alumna, day. Lowndes County School District students started back this week.
lived in Washington, D.C., for more
than a decade before deciding to
move back to the Friendly City.
For a few years, Liner has re-

SMART serves as some residents’ sole

turned to the Mississippi Univer-
sity for Women campus to teach at
Governor’s School. While in town

means of transportation during pandemic

last year, she realized she wanted
to open an independent bookstore
in the Friendly City.
“Last year when I was here, I
realized that there wasn’t an inde- Bus system recently added two stops on Louisville ic, “we know those people
have no other transporta-
pendent bookstore, but I was look-
ing for a local store to support,” Street, considering one on Garrard Road tion options,” Dumas told
The Dispatch.
Liner said. “I started to talk to
BY TESS VRBIN The Mississippi State University SMART expanded
friends in the area, and when the tvrbin@cdispatch.com campus closed in March, but SMART from MSU’s on-campus
Books-A-Million did finally close
buses — which are free to ride — still transit system in 2014
in May it kind of felt like a sign.” The Starkville-MSU Area Rapid carried 14,500 riders between March and began offering buses
As of now, Liner is fine-tuning Transit bus system has seen more than 15 and Aug. 8, Jeremiah Dumas, MSU’s and routes in the city. The Dumas
location details for her brick-and- 4 million riders since it began in 2013, director of parking and transit services, program is funded primarily through a
mortar book shop and hopes to and the COVID-19 coronavirus pan- told Starkville aldermen at their Tues- Federal Transit Authority grant, and
open downtown near Fifth and
demic has highlighted how necessary day meeting. Starkville and Oktibbeha County con-
Main streets.
public transportation is for some area Since going out in public has been tribute $50,000 each.
For now, she is also building
residents, local leaders say. largely inadvisable due to the pandem- See TRANSPORTATION, 6A
her inventory to start an online
bookstore that will be running by
Oct. 1.
“For a lot of folks, when they
have a book specifically in mind,
they’ll go to Amazon and buy a
book,” Liner said. “What I would
like to do is recreate the experi-
Oktibbeha supes disqualify election commissioner candidate
tee ballot in November 2018
ence of discovering new books that Establishment of residency within two years left ‘gray area’ meant she would not meet
maybe you didn’t know about.”
For Liner, and many other avid BY TESS VRBIN trict 3 election commissioner ning to challenge Republican the requirement of living in
readers, there’s just something tvrbin@cdispatch.com after the incumbent ques- incumbent Myles Carpenter. Oktibbeha County for a full
about shopping locally for a book. tioned his opponent’s time as His Columbus-based attor- two years before the 2020
She said there’s a lot of creativity Oktibbeha supervisors a permanent resident of the ney, William Starks, told the election. Election day is Nov.
and artists in the Columbus area, voted 3-1 in a special-call county. board of supervisors that 3 this year, and in 2018 it was
and she hopes to bring an addi- meeting Wednesday to dis- Catherine Van Halsema, Van Halsema’s decision to Nov. 6.
See BUSINESS, 6A qualify a candidate for Dis- an independent, was run- vote in Indiana via an absen- See SUPES, 3A

WEATHER FIVE QUESTIONS LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC

1 Which substance was used as binder for MEETINGS
the mortar used in the Great Wall of China — Sept. 8: Oktibbeha
animal fat, beer, sticky rice or tree resin? County Board of
2 According to the proverb, what breeds Supervisors meeting,
contempt? Chancery Courthouse,
3 In 1971, astronaut Dave Scott left a small 9 a.m.
metal sculpture on the Moon that depicts
what — a Coke bottle, an astronaut or a Sept. 8: Starkville-Ok-
Abi McDow tibbeha Consolidated
globe?
Fourth grade, Heritage School District Board
4 What championship tournament is played

94 Low 72
by the November Nine and won at the final of Trustees meeting,
High table of the Main Event? 6 p.m., 401 Greens-
Clouds and sun
5 Firenze is the Italian name for which boro St.
Tuscan city? Sept. 11: Starkville
Full forecast on Answers, 6B
page 3A. Board of Aldermen
work session, 10
a.m., City Hall
INSIDE Sept. 14: Oktibbe-
Business 5B Dear Abby 4B ha County Board of
Classifieds 6B Obituaries 5A Kalev Robb, a junior at Mississippi Supervisors budget
Comics 4B Opinions 4A State, is studying mechanical hearing, 9 a.m., Chan-
Crossword 6B engineering and is from Meadville. cery Courthouse

DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471

2A THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Biden: Trump ignores pandemic,

stokes unrest, solves neither
‘We need emergency
support funding for our Biden raises over $360 million in August
BY BRIAN SLODYSKO
schools — and we need The Associated Press

it now. ... Not whipping
up fear and division —
not inciting violence
in our streets.’
BY BILL BARROW
AND WILL WEISSERT
The Associated Press
W I L M I NG T ON,
Del. — Joe Biden is
calling the struggle
to reopen U.S. schools
amid the coronavi-
rus a “national emer-
gency” and accusing
President Donald
Trump of turning his Biden
back to stoke passions instead about
unrest in America’s cities.
The Democratic presidential nom-
inee’s broadsides came a day ahead
of his own trip to Kenosha, Wiscon-
sin, where Biden said he wants to
help “heal” a city reeling from anoth-
er police shooting of a Black man.
The wounding of Jacob Blake and
subsequent demonstrations have
made the political battleground state
a focal point for debate over police
and protest violence, as well as the
actions of vigilante militias.
Biden assailed Trump for his vil-
ifying of protesters as well as his
handling of the pandemic that has
killed nearly 190,000 Americans
and crippled the national economy,
leaving millions out of work, schools
straining to deal with students in
classrooms or at home and parents
struggling to keep up. An Ameri-
can president, Trump’s challenger
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden
raised $364 million in August, a record sum that will give him ample
resources to compete in the final two months of the campaign against
President Donald Trump.
Biden struggled to raise money early in the primary. But since he
became the presumptive nominee in the spring, money has poured into
his campaign. In July, he all but closed the huge cash-on-hand advan-
tage enjoyed by Trump, who held $300 million in reserve.
Biden’s August total, which was announced on Wednesday, speaks to
the enthusiasm among Democrats to oust Trump from office.
The flood of new contributions came from grassroots supporters, as
well as deep-pocketed donors, and should alleviate any lingering con-
cern over whether Democrats will be able to inundate the airwaves in
key states.
“These numbers humble me,” Biden wrote in a message to support-
ers. “Even in a global recession, working families set aside some money
to power this campaign, and a little bit added up in a big way.”
declared, should be able to lead and lawless cities from taking Fed-
through multiple crises at the same eral dollars while they let anarchists
time. harm people, burn buildings, and
“Where is the president? Why ruin lives and businesses.” To that
isn’t he working on this?,” Biden end, he signed a memorandum di-
asked. “We need emergency sup- recting agencies to review federal
port funding for our schools — and funding sent to Seattle, New York
we need it now. Mr. President, that is City, Washington and Portland, Or-
your job. That’s what you should be egon.
focused on — getting our kids back The opposing Biden and Trump
to school. Not whipping up fear and events reflected the clear fault lines
division — not inciting violence in of the general election campaign.
our streets.” Each man casts the other as a threat
Trump answered almost imme- to Americans’ day-to-day security,
diately with his own event in North but Trump uses “law and order” as
Carolina, where he continued cast- his rallying cry while Biden pushes
ing the protests generally as “violent a broader referendum on Trump’s
mobs here at home” that must be met competence, temperament and val-
with a strong show of force. “These ues.
people know one thing: strength,” Biden said Wednesday that he’d
he said. If local leaders would ask for use existing federal disaster law
federal muscle, Trump said, “We’ll to direct funding to schools to help
have it done in one hour.” them reopen safely, and he urged
Trump later tweeted, “My Ad- Trump to “get off Twitter” and “nego-
ministration will do everything in tiate a deal” with Congress on more
its power to prevent weak mayors pandemic aid.

Budget deficit to hit record $3.3T due to virus, recession

The spike in the deficit means that more than triple the 2019
shortfall and more than
11 percent behind last
year. Corporate tax col-
federal debt will exceed annual gross double the levels experi-
enced after the market
lections are down 34 per-
cent.
domestic product next year meltdown and Great Re-
cession of 2008-09. Gov-
The economy shut
down in the spring so
BY ANDREW TAYLOR Budget Office said. ernment spending, fueled people could be in isola-
The Associated Press The spike in the deficit by four coronavirus re- tion, in a failed national
means that federal debt sponse measures, would attempt to defeat the pan-
WASHINGTON — will exceed annual gross register at $6.6 trillion, demic. That shutdown led
The federal budget deficit domestic product next $2 trillion-plus more than lawmakers and President
is projected to hit a record year — a milestone that 2019. Donald Trump to pump
$3.3 trillion as huge gov- would put the U.S. where The recession has money into business sub-
ernment expenditures to it was in the aftermath of caused a drop in tax reve- sidies, larger unemploy-
fight the coronavirus and World War II, when accu- nues, but the changes are ment benefits, $1,200 di-
to prop up the economy mulated debt exceeded not as dramatic as seen rect payments and other
have added more than $2 the size of the economy. on the spending side, stimulus steps that have
trillion to the federal led- The $3.3 trillion figure with individual income helped the economy in
ger, the Congressional released Wednesday is tax collections running the short term.

CDC tells states: Be ready to distribute vaccines on Nov. 1

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PROVIDENCE, R.I. —
The federal government
has told states to prepare
for a coronavirus vaccine
to be ready to distribute by
Nov. 1.
The timeline raised con-
cern among public health
experts about an “October
surprise” — a vaccine ap-
proval driven by political
considerations ahead of a
presidential election, rath-
er than science.
In a letter to governors
dated Aug. 27, Robert Red-
field, director of the U.S.
Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, said
states “in the near future”
will receive permit appli-
cations from McKesson
Corp., which has contract-
ed with CDC to distribute
vaccines to places includ-
ing state and local health
departments and hospi-
tals.
“CDC urgently re-
quests your assistance in
expediting applications for
these distribution facili-
ties and, if necessary, asks
that you consider waiving
requirements that would
prevent these facilities
from becoming fully op-
erational by November 1,
2020,” Redfield wrote.
He wrote that any waiv-
ers will not compromise
the safety or effectiveness
of the vaccine. The Asso-
ciated Press obtained the
letter, which was first re-
ported by McClatchy.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 3A

Supes Missing Clay County

Continued from Page 1A
The Oktibbeha County
Election Commission has
five members, one from
each district, that serve
four-year terms. The com-
mission is responsible for
“managing all aspects
of general and special
elections in the county,
maintaining an up-to-date
list of registered voters,
hiring and training poll
workers, and assisting in
the resolution of election
challenges,” according to
the county website.
Van Halsema’s attor-
ney, Sam Begley of Jack-
son, cited several 2018 so-
cial media posts as proof
of Van Halsema establish-
ing herself in Starkville
in the summer of 2018.
She had just finished the
spring semester at Indi-
ana University when she
moved into a house on
Critz Street with Jay Hur-
dle, then her fiance and
now her husband. Begley
also used bank and uni-
versity records to prove
Van Halsema had been
using the Critz Street ad-
dress as her permanent
address for more than two
years.
He cited state supreme
court cases that have
ruled residence as a per-
son’s “true fixed perma-
nent home and principal
establishment.”
“Living is domestici-
ty, it’s living in a house,
it’s going to the grocery
store,” Begley said. “It’s
getting your mail at a
house, opening the mail,
paying the bills... A living
arrangement is not some-
thing that goes on at a
precinct.”
Begley also said the
date of the 2018 election
was not the determining
factor in Van Halsema’s
residency in Oktibbeha
man’s body found in
Oktibbeha County
DISPATCH STAFF REPORT
A missing Clay County fisherman’s body was
found Tuesday in an Oktibbeha County pond,
Deputy Coroner Billy Miller confirmed to The
Dispatch this morning.
Jerome Blake, 69, went missing Monday
while fishing. His body was found on Branson
Lane off of Turkey Creek Road in southeastern
Oktibbeha County and has been sent to Jackson
for an autopsy to determine cause of death, Mill-
er said.
Tess Vrbin/Dispatch Staff
Jackson-based attorney Sam Begley, left, and District 3 resident Catherine Van Hal-
sema listen during the Oktibbeha County board of supervisors special-call meeting
Wednesday to determine whether Van Halsema met the two-year residency requirement
to run for election commissioner. The board voted 3-1 to disqualify her on the premise
that her decision to vote via absentee ballot in Indiana in November 2018 meant she
still considered herself an Indiana resident within two years of the 2020 election.
County because absen- qualify Van Halsema from Montgomery said the
tee ballots are mailed be- running for election com- date of the 2018 election
fore election day and she m is s ione r. was the determining fac-
would have mailed it from Supervisors tor.
Starkville. Marvell “She cast that absentee
Starks’ counter argu- Howard of ballot, so she still consid-
ment was that an absentee District 3 ered herself a resident
ballot proves the intent to and Joe Wil- (of Indiana) in my eyes,”
return to the other place. liams of Dis- Montgomery said.
“If she wanted to trict 5 voted Van Halsema told The
establish that she had yes with Montgomery Dispatch she was “not
abandoned it, then she Mont gom - satisfied” with the board’s
shouldn’t have made a ery. District 2 Supervisor decision and will discuss
representation that (she Orlando Trainer voted no, with Begley the option of
was) still a resident (of In- and District 4 Supervisor appealing it. She said her
diana),” Starks said. Bricklee Miller was ab- campaign had been cen-
Board Attorney Rob sent. tered on increasing voter
Roberson agreed the ar- Montgomery and engagement and educa-
gument was not whether Trainer both told The Dis- tion.
Van Halsema intended patch the “gray area” in “Whether or not my
to establish herself in Van Halsema’s casting of name is on the ballot in
Starkville but whether an absentee ballot was the November, I fully intend
she intended to abandon reason for their votes. to continue to register
her residency in Indiana. Trainer said he be- new voters in our district,
After a closed-door lieved the voters of Dis- educate them on how
discussion, District 1 Su- trict 3 should have had to vote and make sure
pervisor and Board Pres- the opportunity to decide they’re able to vote in No-
ident John Montgomery whether Van Halsema vember,” Van Halsema
suggested a vote to dis- should hold office, while said.

State flag
Continued from Page 1A
state House speaker.
After the meeting
Wednesday, the magno-
lia flag was raised on a
pole outside the Old Cap-
itol Museum in Jackson,
where it fluttered in a
brisk breeze.
Later in the day, Re-
publican Gov. Tate Reeves
praised the magnolia de-
sign.
“I think they did a good
job,” Reeves said. “It’s, I
think, a well-done flag.”
Legislators shelved
the Confederate-themed
flag two months ago
against the backdrop of
widespread protests over
racial injustice. The flag
had been divisive for de-
cades in a state with a 38
percent Black population.
The final push for change
came from business, ed-
ucation, religious and
sports groups — includ-
ing, notably, the Missis-
sippi Baptist Convention
and the Southeastern
Conference.
By law, the new flag
cannot include the Con-
federate battle flag, and it
must have the phrase, “In
God We Trust.” Requiring
the religious phrase on
the new flag helped per-
suade some conservative
legislators to retire the
old one.
The public submitted
nearly 3,000 designs. The
commission — with mem-
bers appointed by the
governor, lieutenant gov-
ernor and House speaker
— narrowed the choices
‘I think they did a good job. It’s, I think, a well-done flag.’
to the final two last week.
Creators of the final
designs said their work
reflects a love for Missis-
sippi and a desire for a
banner that a wide range
of people can fly with
pride.
The magnolia flag has
the state flower on a dark
blue background with
red bars on either end.
The flower is encircled by
stars representing Mis-
sissippi as the 20th state.
It also has a single star
made of diamond shapes
representing the Native
American people who
lived on the land before
others arrived.
The magnolia flag is a
combination of elements
submitted by six people.
Four live in Mississippi,
and the others live in San
Francisco and Massachu-
setts.
Graphic designer
Rocky Vaughan of Acker-
man, Mississippi, created
the overall design of the
magnolia flag, which was
altered with work from
others. He said Tuesday
that he started working
on designs years ago,
when Mississippi res-
idents were bickering
about the flag with the
Confederate image.
“What I wanted to do
was show every Missis-
sippian that there’s a com-
promise out there, and we
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves
are the magnolia state,” is one of the nine flag
said Vaughan, 43. “If it’s commissioners. Giles
appealing to the eyes, it tweaked the design to
will be accepted.” strengthen some ele-
The magnolia on that ments of it.
flag came from Sue Anna The other flag with the
Joe, a Greenwood native red-and-white shield on
living in San Francisco. a dark blue background
Her parents were born in also had the single star
China, and they moved made of diamond shapes.
to the United States in
The banner, nicknamed
the 1960s. Joe, 44, said
the “Great River Flag,” is
Tuesday that as a person
of Chinese background by graphic designer Mi-
growing up in Mississip- cah Whitson, who grew
pi, she felt “disassociat- up in Alabama, graduat-
ed” with the flag the state ed from the University
had used since 1894. She of Mississippi and now
heard white people say lives in Boston. The com-
the Confederate symbol mission Wednesday also
represented their ances- gave Whitson, 39, credit
tors and African Amer- for helping design the
icans say it represented magnolia flag.
slavery.
“I felt like I was part of
a broken family,” she said.
Joe said she watched
online as Mississippi leg-
islators voted to retire
the old flag. Because she
has worked in design, she
felt it was her civic duty
to submit a proposal. She
chose a magnolia because
she believes the flower
is an easily recognizable
symbol of Mississippi.
“I still very much love
my home state,” Joe said.
Kara Giles of Oxford
also worked on the mag-
nolia flag. She’s a graphic
designer and executive
assistant to Oxford May-
or Robyn Tannehill, who

AROUND THE STATE

Mississippi company plans site in Gulfport, the Mississippi Develop-
ment Authority said in a statement Tues- SOLUNAR TABLE
expansion to fulfill Navy contract day. The solunar period indicates
peak-feeding times for fish and game.

GULFPORT — A Mississippi company The company is set to build a Major

Thurs.
1:58a
Fri.
2:38a
will soon begin a $2.1 million expansion 16,000-square-foot addition onto its ex- Minor 8:36p 9:05p
Major 2:18p 2:58
project to fulfill a contract with the U.S. isting 160,000-square-foot facility to pro- Minor 8:23a 9:16a
Navy.
Courtesy of Mississippi Department
duce composite components for the Navy, of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks

Seemann Composites, which devel- according to Mississippi Development Au-

oped its own vacuum-infusion technology,
expects to create 35 jobs over the next
three years as construction begins at its
thority Interim Director John Rounsaville.
The authority said it is providing some
funding for the expansion.
The Dispatch
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Report a news tip: news@cdispatch.com
Opinion
4A THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020
SLIMANTICS
Magnolia Flag faces
an uphill climb
O
n Wednesday,
the state’s flag
commission
made its selection for
a new state flag. With
more than 3,000 flag
submissions, the eight
members narrowed the
list to two finalists — the
Great River Flag and
the Magnolia Flag, the
latter designed by Rocky
Slim Smith
Vaughn of Starkville.
Wednesday, the commis-
sion voted 8-1 for the Magnolia Flag.
Now all that remains is for voters to approve
the new flag at the polls on Nov. 3.
Easy-breezy, right?
No. it’s not. Nothing is ever really easy in Mis-
sissippi as long as there is an option for the state
to make an ass out of itself.
And here again, we see why the Magnolia Flag
is far from becoming the official state flag.
By the way, you won’t see the words “Mag-
nolia Flag” on the ballot. As part of its selection
process, the commission gave the flag a new
name: The “In God We Trust Flag.”
When the Legislature voted to replace the
state’s Jim Crow flag bearing the Confederate
flag in its canton, it also set up a commission to
come up with a replacement and mandated that
the new flag must incorporate the words “In God
We Trust” in its design.
I suggested that the phrase be written in Ara-
bic as a means of showing that our state believes
in freedom of religion, but Mississippi is not
ready to go that far just yet. My gut tells me that
the Legislature would ban all religions aside from
Christianity and, perhaps, Judaism, if it could get
away with it. They can’t, of course. So this is the
next best thing.
So even though the Magnolia Flag, like all the
flag submissions, features the Legislature-man-
dated words, on the ballot it will be the “In God
We Trust” flag.
This is the sort of thing we see all the time
when the state really, really wants to put its
thumb on the scale at the ballot box: Give it a
name that shames voters into supporting it.
The commission could just as easily have
named it the “Your Grandma’s Dying Wish Was
That You Choose This Flag.”
If this seems a bit desperate to you, there’s a
good reason.
No sooner had the Legislature voted to get
rid of the Jim Crow flag, a movement emerged to
save the flag by insisting that the decision be left
to the voters.
Led by state senator Chris McDaniel, (R, Cra-
zytown), an effort to put the old flag back on the
ballot has emerged. Already McDaniel’s group,
“Let Mississippi Vote,” has assembled 1,000 vol-
unteers to begin the petition process that could
put the old flag back before the voters next year.
Under their plan, the Jim Crow flag would be
one of four choices left to the voters. The other
flags on the ballot would be the Magnolia Flag,
the state’s bicentennial flag and the Stennis Flag,
which emerged as an early alternative to the Jim
Crow flag but was not submitted for consideration
to the flag commission.
All of that comes later, of course.
The matter now before voters is whether or
not to adopt the erstwhile Magnolia Flag as the
state’s official flag.
The guess here is that the flag will not be
approved by voters. There will be some who just
don’t like the design and others who preferred
one of the other flag submissions. The biggest
challenge, however, will come from all who
resent the Legislature’s decision to get rid of the
Jim Crow flag and are determined it be reinstat-
ed.
That’s a strong coalition to overcome.
So, in a state where good sense often does
not prevail at the ballot box, there’s a distinct
possibility that we haven’t seen the last of the Jim
Crow flag, proving yet again what we have always
known:
Doing the right thing is never, ever easy in
Mississippi.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer
for The Dispatch. His email address is ssmith@
cdispatch.com.
Our View: Local Editorials
Local editorials appearing in this space represent the
opinion of the newspaper’s editorial board: Peter Imes,
editor and publisher; Zack Plair, managing editor; Slim
Smith and senior newsroom staff. To inquire about a
meeting with the board, please contact Peter Imes at
662-328-2424, or e-mail voice@cdispatch.com.
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Dispatch
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
Letters to the editor
Editor’s note: The following four letters are in
response to a Wednesday letter in which the author
expressed fatigue in reading both anti-Trump and
left-leaning letters to the editor.
No Mr. McLaughlin, you are not the only one tired
of those endless streams of delusional hogwash being
perpetrated on Dispatch readers. I am in total agree-
ment with you. I have reached the point of just ignor-
ing them. They are so full of “Trump Derangement
Syndrome,” that they are blind to all the accomplish-
ments of his presidency. Typical liberal thinking in
my opinion. No positive ideas on how to make things
better…just bashing! Thanks for letting us know that
there are other Dispatch readers who feel the same.
Kudos also to Mr. Lautzenhiser. I have no doubt
most Mississippians like having the motto of “In God
We Trust,” on the state flag. I can’t see how anyone
can complain about that. I want God’s blessings on
Mississippi, and acknowledge it or not, non believers
benefit from his blessings. That phrase is on our
money, but I haven’t heard of anyone refusing to use
it because it’s there. None of us are going to be happy
with everything, and just because a few people want
something changed isn’t in my opinion a valid reason
for change. Case in point: One atheist sued to have
prayer removed from schools, and look at all the cha-
os that followed. Relax, take a deep breath and vote
for Trump. You will feel better.
Roger Wade
Columbus
I am heartily glad to read all the opinions of our
local writers, whether I agree or not. If everyone I
read agrees with the way I think, I would never know
that there are people out there who think differently.
It really is important to know that there ARE people
who think differently. Sometimes, they change my
opinion. Sometimes, I try to change theirs. Often, I
learn that some fact is being treated as an opinion.
This debate informs the rest of my social interactions,
such as they are in these times. For those of you who
may not know, “Trump derangement syndrome” is
used to discredit the thinking of people who disagree
with President Trump and his policies. This seems
repetitive, since there was also George W. Bush
derangement syndrome. I’m amused by this concep-
tion that someone who disagrees with a Republican
president must be ill.
Bonnie Oppenheimer
Columbus
In his September 2 letter to The Dispatch editor,
Mike McLaughlin wished that “certain self-appointed
left-wing political experts” discontinue voicing their
opinions in The Dispatch. I assume I am among those
to whom he refers.
Mr. McLaughlin, sir, I respect your right to voice
your opinion here, sarcastically or not, but I’d still like
to make a couple of my typically misguided points
first before honoring your request straight away.
First, a point of logic. If left-leaning writers are
“self-appointed” may I ask, please, who selected the
writers of letters with the conservative opinions you
desire? Did I miss something or were their letters
submitted at the request of some higher authority?
Please explain.
I, too, have grown tired of something – tired of
having fellow citizens tell me to shut the hell up when
I have not made the same request of them. Neither I
nor anyone else of my viewpoint in these pages ever
does so. How you and others doing the same see this
as consistent with the core values of our democracy
escapes me. But there it is. Still, I will never under-
stand it. Anyway, no, I don’t think I will shut up.
But I will take you and yours one further. Unlike
you, my deep love of this democratic republic does
not include a desire to stifle debate. I implore moti-
vated and patriotic conservatives to please continue
writing ­— always. It is not only precisely what you
should do — it is vital to our nation. You want censor-
ship? There is always Russia or North Korea. That’s
not what we’re about here in the United States.
PETER BIRNEY IMES Editor/Publisher
BIRNEY IMES III Editor/Publisher 1998-2018
BIRNEY IMES JR. Editor/Publisher 1947-2003
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
In any case, like all contributors here, including
those who you wish to silence, I am a citizen of this
city, of this state, and of this country. I also pay both
my taxes and my subscription to The Dispatch. As
Ronald Reagan once famously said, “I paid for this
microphone!”
Lastly, regarding your letter’s final sentence, “…
perhaps one day they will look back on these submis-
sions and ask themselves, ‘What was I thinking?’”
When hell freezes over, sir. Not that I have much
to worry about there. President Trump’s disastrous
50’s-era environmental policies have made it clear
that will never happen.
The real solution? My first thought: Mr. McLaugh-
lin should just avoid the Opinions page rather than
censoring liberal voices. But then I had a better idea –
why not retake high school American civics, instead?
Just a suggestion.
Paul Mack
Columbus
Trump today asked the FCC to look into the social
media networks because they have been deleting
Trump’s lies, lies, and more lies and conspiracy
tweets.
He wants them to relax their rules about false
information so he can continue with his.
And now, you want The Dispatch to stop printing
my letters because you don’t like them.
You do know Trump is a pathological liar, don’t
you?
Even Ted Cruz compared him to the fascist leader
Mussolini in the primary.
Rick Perry said, in the primary, that he was a can-
cer on the conservative party. Since he is president, I
say he is like a cancer on America.
All of the above gives me a lot to write about. I will
not be called a “sucker” for believing Trump’s lies.
I’m trying to save our democracy from Trump.
Trump calls a QAnon GOP primary winner a fu-
ture Republican star. Do you know that the FBI calls
them a terrorist group?
DHS withheld July intelligence bulletin calling out
Russian attack on Biden’s mental help.
And Trump is doing it now. See how Russia and
Trump are working together to defeat Biden.
No more intelligence meetings with congress if
our elections are being interfered with by foreign
countries.
You do know in the primary, Trump promised to
make America great again. Do you think he has? AP
fact check: Is Trump America great again or hells-
cape?
Four years ago, candidate Trump promised that if
he won, the crime and violence that today afflicts our
nation will soon come to an end.
Beginning on Jan. 20, 2017, safety will be restored.
Another failed promise, on top of many more.
Please, if you are tired of reading my letters to The
Dispatch, vote for Biden.
James Hodges
Steens
Point of information on voting twice
The President has fallen down the rabbit hole. He
suggested to the people at his North Carolina rally
that they should vote twice in the upcoming election,
ostensibly, to “test the voting system.” Voting twice in
an election in North Carolina is a Class One felony.
Bill Gillmore
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.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 5A

75th anniversary of end of WWII is mostly virtual amid virus

Commemoration initially was supposed
to be a blockbuster event with parades, movie
premieres, galas and thousands of people
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONOLULU — When Jap-
anese military leaders climbed
aboard the USS Missouri in
Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, the
battleship was packed with U.S.
sailors eager to see the end of
World War II.
On Wednesday, the 75th an-
niversary of the surrender, some
of those same men who served
the United States weren’t able
to return to the Missouri in Ha-
waii’s Pearl Harbor because of
the world’s new war against the
coronavirus.
The commemoration initially
was supposed to be a blockbust-
er event with parades, movie
premieres, galas and thousands
of people honoring the veterans
in their 90s or beyond, some who
may be marking the milestone
for the last time.
Because of the threat of the
virus, the ceremony was scaled
down to about 50 people, with
local veterans and government
officials gathering on the USS
Missouri in masks. The names
were read of surviving WWII
veterans, including 14 who were
on the ship the day the Japanese
surrendered.
Jerry Pedersen, 95, was one of
them, watching history unfold as
a young Marine. He and his com-
rades who live in the mainland
U.S. had to watch a livestream of
the ceremony from home instead
of on the decks of the battleship
as planned.
“Well, I was very disappoint-
ed, yes. I was hoping to maybe
see a friend or two,” he said. “I
just want to share with at least my
family and a couple of other folks
some of the feelings that I was go-
ing to express when I got there.”
Those feelings are complicat-
ed, said Pedersen, who dedicat-
ed his life to peace after the war
ended.
“War must not happen again,”
he said, recalling the words ut-
tered by Gen. Douglas MacAr-
thur on the day the Japanese
surrendered. But “we’re still os-
cillating on many of the things
that are necessary to bring us
peace.”
Pedersen wore a blue Marine
uniform recently sent to him for
the ceremony as he watched the
event from a laptop at his son’s
house in rural West Sacramento,
California.

COMMERCIAL DISPATCH
OBITUARY POLICY
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tion including visitation and
service times, are provided
free of charge. Extended obit-
uaries with a photograph, de-
tailed biographical information
and other details families may
wish to include, are available
for a fee. Obituaries must be
submitted through funeral
homes unless the deceased’s
body has been donated to
science. If the deceased’s
body was donated to science,
the family must provide official
proof of death. Please submit
all obituaries on the form
provided by The Commercial
Dispatch. Free notices must
be submitted to the newspa-
per no later than 3 p.m. the
day prior for publication Tues-
day through Friday; no later
than 4 p.m. Saturday for the
Sunday edition; and no later
than 7:30 a.m. for the Monday
edition. Incomplete notices
must be received no later than
7:30 a.m. for the Monday
through Friday editions. Paid
notices must be finalized by 3
born to the late Ernest
Roy Purcell and Nellie
Mae Rocko Purcell. Se
was formerly employed
as an operator with Bell
South.
In addition to her
parents, she was pre-
ceded in death by her
sister, Linda P. Hanson.
She is survived by
her siblings, Sharon
Richards, Teresa Ly-
man and Victor Purcell
off of Oregon.
Elbert Vaughn
STARKVILLE —
Elbert Garciea Vaughn,
57, died Aug. 15, 2020.
Graveside ser-
vices will be at 1 p.m.
Saturday, in Greater
Ebenezer Cemetery,
with the Rev. Joseph
L. Stone officiating.
Visitation will be from
3-6 p.m. Friday, at Cen-
AREA OBITUARIES
in Pickens County,
Alabama, to the late
Edward A. Turnipseed
and Clemence Gore
Turnipseed. He was
a veteran of the U.W.
Army National Guard.
he was formerly em-
ployed with McShan
Lumber Company and
as owner of E & M
Contractors.
In addition to his par-
ents, he was preceded
in death by his siblings,
Warren, Robert Floyd,
Eugene, James, Marvin
and Dan Turnipseed,
Laura May Bigford and
Cherry Mullenix.
He is survived by
his wife, Josie Duncan
Turnipseed; children,
Lisa Pate, Susan Cow-
art and Lori Baines; six
grandchildren; and one
great-grandchild.
Zorado Mize Christian
Swan. He attended
Harley School and was
previously employed
with Walker Manufac-
turing. He was a mem-
ber of Amory Church of
Christ.
In addition to his
parents, he was pre-
ceded in death by his
siblings, Azell Carden,
Luther, Herman and
J.W. Christian; and an
infant brother.
Pallbearers will
be Chris Christian,
Tyler Christian, Wayne
Christian, Brian Chris-
tian and John Comer.
Grathan Christian
WEST POINT —
Grathan Brigance
Christian, 88, died
Sept. 2, 2020, at
NMMC-West Point.
Services will be David Christian of
at 2 p.m. Saturday, Olive Branch, Mark
at Robinson Funeral Kendall Christian of
Home Chapel, with the Germantown, Tennes-
Rev. Darion Duckworth see and Robert Burris
officiating. Burial will Christian of Collier-
follow in Memorial ville, Tennessee; and
Gardens Cemetery. five grandchildren.
Visitation will be one
hour prior to services.
Robinson Funeral
Home is in charge of
arrangements.
Mrs. Christian was
born Feb. 17, 1932, to
the late Velma Williams
and Burris G. Brigance.
She was a member of
First United Methodist
Church.
In addition to her
parents, she was
preceded in death by
her husband, Chuck
Don Richardson
Christian. Visitation:
She is survived by Saturday, Sept. 5 • 12-1 PM
her children, William College St. Location
Services:
Saturday, Sept. 5 • 1 PM

p.m. for inclusion the next day
Monday through Thursday; and
on Friday by 3 p.m. for Sunday
and Monday publication. For
more information, call 662-
328-2471.
Yvonne Roland
USAF ACADEMY,
Colo. — Yvonne L.
Roland, 61, died Aug.
31, 2020.
A private home going
celebration will be held
at First Baptist Church
of Aliceville. Lavender’s
Funeral Service of
Aliceville is in charge
of arrangements.
Johnnie Lee
COLUMBUS —
Johnnie Lee, 73, died
Aug. 29, 2020.
Graveside services
will be at 1 p.m. Friday,
in Union Cemetery,
with the Rev. James
Greenlaw officiating.
Visitation is from noon-
5 p.m. today, at Cen-
tury Hairston Funeral
Home. Century Hair-
ston Funeral Home of
Columbus is in charge
of arrangements.
Mr. Lee was born
Dec. 5, 1946, in Co-
lumbus, to the late
Alex Lee and Ida Mae
Whitfield.
Renee Purcell
STARKVILLE —
Renee Purcell, 71, died
Sept. 1, 2020, at The
Beehive in Starkville.
Welch Funeral Home
is in charge of arrange-
ments.
Mrs. Purcell was
tury Hairston Funeral
Home. Century Hair-
ston Funeral Home of
Starkville is in charge
of arrangements.
Mr. Vaughn was
born Sept. 29, 1963, in
Starkville, to Winnie
Ruth Morris and the
late Elbert Vaughn. He
was a member of Sec-
ond Baptist Church.
In addition to his
mother, he is survived
by his children, Erik
Stevenson of Memphis,
Tennessee, Lindsey
Larry of Atlanta,
Georgia and Elbert
Garciea Vaughn II of
Roxie; siblings, Shelia
Morgan, Nathaniel
“Bobby” Morris both
of Starkville, James
Kennard Purnell of
Dyersburg, Tennessee
and Barron Morris of
Collierville, Tennessee;
and two grandchildren.
Joe Turnipseed
ETHELSVILLE,
Ala. — Joe Turnipseed,
77, died Sept. 1, 2020, at
his residence.
Funeral services will
be at 2 p.m. Friday, at
Skelton Funeral Home
Chapel, with the Rev.
Kevin Taylor officiat-
ing. Burial will follow in
Mt. Moriah Free Will
Baptist Church Ceme-
tery. Visitation is from
6-8 p.m. today, at the fu-
neral home. Skelton Fu-
neral Home of Reform,
Alabama is in charge of
arrangements.
Mr. Turnipseed was
born Dec. 24, 1942,
Latasha Hollingshed College St. Location
Burial
STARKVILLE — Mt. Vernon Cemetery
Latasha “Rose” Holling- College St. Location
shed, 45, died Aug. 27,
2020.
Graveside services
will be at 11 a.m.
Friday, in First Baptist
Longview Cemetery. memorialgunterpeel.com
Visitation is from 1-6
p.m. today, at West Me-
morial Funeral Home.
West Memorial Funeral
Home of Starkville is
in charge of arrange-
ments.
She is survived by
her daughter, Dorian
Janiyah Plair; mother,
Dolly Hollingshed;
and siblings, Cathy
Hollingshed of Tupelo,
Annie Lee of Nettleton,
Bertha Hollingshed
of Houston, Texas and
James Hollingshed Jr.
of Tuscaloosa, Ala-
bama.
T.F. Christian
AMORY — T.F.
Christian, 86, died
Sept. 1, 2020, at North
Mississippi Medical
Center-Gilmore.
Funeral services are
at 4 p.m. today, at Cleve-
land-Moffett funeral
Home, with Phillip
Hathcock officiating.
Burial will follow in
New Hope Cemetery.
Visitation is from 3-3:45
p.m. prior to services
at the funeral home.
Cleveland-Moffett of
Amory is in charge of
arrangements.
Mr. Christian was
born to the late Thomas
Fred Christian Sr. and

Can I get the coronavirus twice?

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Can I get the coronavi-
rus twice?
It seems possible,
though how often it hap-
pens isn’t known.
Researchers in Hong
Kong recently reported
evidence of a person who
got the coronavirus a sec-
ond time, months after an
initial infection.
The finding has not yet
been published in a jour-
nal. But scientists said
the 33-year-old man had
mild symptoms the first
time and none the second
time, suggesting his im-
mune system may have
provided some protection
against serious illness
even if it could not prevent
a reinfection. His more re-
cent infection was detect-
ed through screening and
testing at the Hong Kong
airport, and research-
ers said genetic tests re-
vealed different strains of
the virus.
Several other possible
cases have been reported,
including a U.S. man who
was sicker the second
time than the first.
Even if people can get
reinfected, the World
Health Organization says
it likely wouldn’t happen
regularly.
Health experts gener-
ally believe people who
had COVID-19 will have
some immunity against a
repeat infection. But they
don’t know how much
protection, or how long it
would last.
This is important be-
cause if immunity wears
off, it could pose a chal-
lenge for vaccines. Some
experts say booster shots
may be needed.
It’s also unclear wheth-
er reinfected people
would be able to spread
the virus to others. That’s
another reason scientists
say people should contin-
ue to wear masks, social
distance and practice
good hygiene.
6A THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Business
Continued from Page 1A
tional creative outlet for
those in town.
“I think that books
take you places,” Lin-
er said. “When I was
growing up, my family
didn’t have money to
travel. Books helped me
explore the world before
I ever had the chance
to travel abroad or visit
other places. … I think
that supporting that
creativity and exploration
and imagination is really
important, no matter
what your age is. It offers
another opportunity to
broaden your experi-
ence.”
Be sure to keep up to
date with Friendly City
Books with its website
and Facebook page.
Moving to East Colum-
bus, The Ranch House
Dinner, 807 Alabama St.,
will host its grand open-
ing on Saturday.
I know that might
sound funny since the
Columbus diner has been
open since the 1940s,
but this grand opening
welcomes a new owner.
Sammy Sullivan pur-
chased The Ranch House
from Tim and Bethany
Plowman a little more
than a month ago.
Sullivan, a former
education administrator,
said he always wanted
to retire and open a
small restaurant. Call it
divine intervention or the
perfect storm, but a few
years shy of retirement
and in the midst of a
pandemic, Sullivan saw
the perfect opportunity
to purchase The Ranch
House.
“I have been taking
culinary-cuisine style
classes for years now,”
Sullivan said. “… I was
looking for something
smaller. But with the
pandemic happening like
it did, it put The Ranch
House at a price range I
could afford. It allowed
me an opportunity to get
something like a land-
mark.”
The Ranch House is
open Sunday through
Friday from 5:30 a.m.-2
p.m. and Saturdays from
5:30-11 a.m.
After a little more than
a month as a new busi-
ness owner, Sullivan said
the restaurant is operat-
ing well and welcoming
regulars as well as some
new faces.
“I’ve seen a steady
growth in business and
steady growth in custom-
ers,” Sullivan said. “We’re
running pretty good,
we’re doing well. The
food is good, the ser-
vice is excellent and the
atmosphere is accommo-
dating.”
Though Sullivan said
he’s always wanted to
open a restaurant, he
wasn’t entirely sure what
to expect. To say in the
least, he’s been pleasant-
ly surprised thus far.
“We have actually
really enjoyed it and
found it to be much more
along the lines of what we
wanted it to be,” Sullivan
said. “… It’s better than
we actually anticipated. I
wake up every day excit-
ed to go to work.”
Be sure to head over
there Saturday night
from 3-7 p.m. to enjoy
hamburgers, cheeseburg-
ers and hotdogs for the
grand opening. Sulli-
van will also have folks
bringing in classic cars,
trucks and motorcycles,
so if you have a special
ride you want to show
off, bring it out to meet
the new owners Saturday
night.
In Starkville, there’s
been some rumors cir-
culating that two stores
are preparing for closure.
Those rumors have been
deemed false. According
to representatives from
Tuesday Morning and
Bargain Hunt, neither
company has any in-
tention of closing the
Starkville locations.
Over in downtown
Starkville, Magnolia Soap
& Bath Company, 222
E. Main St., is officially
open.
The soap store offers
more than 50 scents of
bath and skin products
that are 100-percent
plant-based.
Be sure to check out
the new store on the
block Monday through
Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Transportation
Continued from Page 1A
Dumas told the board two new stops on the agreed with Dumas that
in January that SMART west side of Louisville SMART is especially
saw a 20.5-percent in- Street south of Academy beneficial to the city at
crease in ridership in Road and another one this moment.
2019. The SMART sys- on Highway 182 at the “Particularly during
tem’s 11 routes with 71 Partnership School, the times when it’s extreme-
stops cover 62.2 miles, campus for grades 6-7 in ly difficult to afford to go
and 83 percent of that the Starkville-Oktibbeha places, it serves as an as-
mileage goes between Perkins Spruill
Consolidated School Dis- set to the community as a
the city and campus or is trict. ing Hills subdivision, in whole from an economic
solely in the city. The Louisville Street northern Starkville. development standpoint,”
When the pandemic stops came after a grant Ward 6 Alderman she said. “The expansion
began in March, SMART from the Mississippi De- and Vice Mayor Roy A. to reflect areas in town
ran one bus per route, partment of Transpor- Perkins, who represents that have added side-
allowed only half the tation funded new side- Rolling Hills, said the walks and bike lanes and
capacity of each bus walks there and created potential stop would be that sort of thing really
and required all riders a safe place for the buses “ideal” for the area and reflects the need for our
to wear protective face to stop, Dumas said. be widely used by resi- residents to enjoy and
coverings. SMART has The city and SMART dents. take advantage of the op-
resumed running all its are considering creating “I think it is very fore- portunity to get around
buses but still has the a stop at the intersection seeable that this bus stop
other two requirements in ways they might not
of Garrard Road and Ofo- will come to fruition,” otherwise be able to.”
in place, Dumas said. homa Street, one of the Perkins said.
Some riders have told two entrances to the Roll- Mayor Lynn Spruill
SMART drivers they
need the buses to get to
and from OCH Region-
al Medical Center to be
tested for COVID-19, and
two people later reported
that they had tested posi-
tive, Dumas said.
Paratransit, a door-
to-door transportation
option for citizens with
disabilities, saw its rid-
ership nearly double in
2019 — to 6,177 from
3,977 in 2018. SMART
used to run two or three
paratransit buses at a
time and now only has
one but has kept the ser-
vice going throughout
the pandemic, and its
primary use is for trips
to the hospital that do not
require an ambulance,
Dumas said.
“On our normal fixed-
route buses, we clean
them once a day and once
every night, but for the
Paratransit vehicle, we’ve
been cleaning it between
every trip,” he said.
MSU resumed classes
on Aug. 17, and the first
two days saw a 70-percent
reduction in students’
use of SMART compared
to previous years, since
many students did not re-
turn to campus in person
and some choose not to
use public transportation
at the moment, Dumas
said.
In the past few months,
SMART implemented

Send in your
church event!

Email
editorialassistant@
cdispatch.com

Subject:
Religious brief
Sports
ENTERING YEAR 2 OF REBUILD, COLUMBUS HIGH FOOTBALL’S
IMPROVEMENT WILL BE CHALLENGED RIGHT AWAY
BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com
When the Columbus
High School football
team was cleared to
practice in early July
and began preparing for
the 2020 season, the Fal-
cons were understand-
ably excited.
So excited, head
coach Joshua Pulphus
said, they would have
happily lined up against
just about any football
team in the area — re-
gardless of level.
“I think we could
have played Mississip-
pi State, and we would
have been happy to go
play,” Pulphus said.
So maybe it’s good
that Columbus opens up
the season Friday with a
road game at Louisville,
a perennial champion-
ship contender in MH-
SA A Class 4A who of-
fers one of the toughest
tests the Falcons could
hope to take. Pulphus
expects the Wildcats to
vie for another state title
this season and said the
experience will be bene-
ficial for his team right
off the bat this fall.
“Anytime you’re play-
ing championship-ped-
igree teams, I always
think it’s a good match-
up,” Pulphus said. “They
could beat us 100-0 or 1-0;
anytime you’re playing
against somebody that
has the same goal and
the same drive that you
have, I think it’s essen-
tial playing — win, lose
or draw.”
Even though the lat-
ter two options are more
likely — Louisville won
32-6 at Columbus last
Sept. 6 — Columbus
players voiced their con-
fidence two days ahead
of their long-awaited
first game.
How Jamar Chaney’s run as a high school coach prepared him to return to MSU
BY BEN PORTNOY
bportnoy@cdispatch.com
STARKVILLE — Ja-
mar Chaney is right at
home.
Following a five-year
NFL career that spanned
four teams, a three-year
run at his alma mater St.
Lucie West Centennial
High School in Port St.
Lucie, Florida, and a one
season spell under former
head coach Dan Mullen
at Florida, Chaney has
promptly carved a niche
on a staff long on experi-
ence, but short on MSU
ties.
Staying in contact
with MSU Senior Asso-
ciate Athletic Director of
Football Dave Emerick
throughout the offseason,
the pair traded messages
over potential positions
on first year head coach
Mike Leach’s staff. Set-
tling on a senior defensive
analyst role, Chaney was
officially hired on July 15.
“We wanted to get Ja-
mar back home,” Emerick
told The Dispatch. “He
played here, had a great
career here, played in the
NFL. (He’s a) young guy,
a lot of energy players re-
late to.”
Given his official title,
Chaney’s on-field respon-
Jaylan Stewart (26) and Steven Cattledge (9) take down a Louisville ball carrier in the first quarter during a high
school football game in September of 2019.
“We’re gonna win
that one,” senior outside
linebacker Steve Cat-
tledge said.
Pulphus said Cat-
tledge, who is 6 -foot-4
and 220 pounds, has
received scholarship of-
fers from several FBS
schools and recruiting
interest from Auburn
and Mississippi State.
Senior quarterback
Ethan Conner, a return-
ing starter, is in a similar
boat, but Pulphus said
Southeastern Confer-
ence schools like the Ti-
gers and Bulldogs have
waited to pull the trig-
ger on both players until
the colleges’ scouts can
watch them play.
sibilities are limited by
NCAA rules. Despite that,
he’s quickly developed an
acumen on the recruiting
trail rooted in his time as
a high school coach.
Taking over a St. Luc-
ie West Centennial team
that struggled to a 2-7
record in 2016 while he
served as the defensive
coordinator, Chaney be-
gan a cultural overhaul of
the program that sprung
forth his own career.
Players and coaches
would be treated like col-
lege athletes and staffers.
Practices were expected
to be up-tempo and pur-
poseful, with sporadic
full-pads work. Even the
players’ practice pants
were cut shorter to mimic
the tight cut donned daily
by college teams.
Off the field, Chaney
worked to drum up sup-
port from a previously
apathetic fan base. He
developed a booster club
to help fundraise and host
events in the community.
The school even shifted
its annual scrimmage
from its home stadium to
a local park, hired a DJ
and let fans in for free to
bolster awareness.
Calling a parents meet-
ing ahead of their inaugu-
ral season, Chaney and
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Plenty of scouts will
certainly be in atten-
dance Friday to watch
Louisville defensive end
Tyvoris Cooper, a three-
star prospect consid-
ered the No. 22 senior in
Mississippi, according
to the 247 Sports com-
posite rankings.
“Anytime you’re play-
ing a player of that cal-
iber — that level — it’s
scary,” Pulphus said.
“He showed some stuff
on film that a lot of high
school kids don’t need
to know how to do.”
Pulphus acknowl-
edged Cooper will be a
“handful” for Falcons
senior lineman Johna-
than Dickerson, who
MISSISSIPPI STATE FOOTBALL
his staff were anxious.
Only 10 people had shown
up to the meeting the year
before Chaney arrived.
Scanning the crowd,
there were now more than
50 patrons in attendance.
“ They
saw his
e ne r g y,”
then-defen-
sive backs
coach and
co - defen-
sive co-
ordinator
Codi Vick Chaney
told The
Dispatch. “They heard
through the phone, they
saw it through our Twitter
posts, they saw it through
everything we were do-
ing in the community
that this isn’t the same
Centennial that he played
for or the previous years.
It was a different type of
Centennial.”
With excitement envel-
oping Chaney’s revival,
players followed. Vick,
who worked as a quality
control coach at Florida
Atlantic prior to joining
the staff, estimates the
Eagles secured three or
four transfers in Chaney’s
first fall. At least five or
six more followed the
next season — including
current MSU freshman
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020
has received junior col-
lege recruiting interest
himself. Dickerson is
the only returning offen-
sive lineman for Colum-
bus and the only senior
on either side of the line.
“He’s taken great
leadership and owner-
ship of that level,” Pul-
phus said.
Juniors Dietric Mc-
Cray, Isaiah Harris and
Ormani Smith and soph-
omores Tyrese Erby and
Hemyar Nagi will staff a
young defensive line.
“We don’t have that
many bodies,” Pulphus
said. “We’re looking for-
ward to them growing
up and learning and be-
ing more mature.”
Jamari Stewart — and
another two were added
even after Chaney left
to become an assistant
coach at Florida.
Boasting a roster that
would send five players
to the Division I level
coupled with a culture of
toughness and discipline
that mimicked that of
Mullen’s program during
his time in Starkville,
Chaney guided Centen-
nial to a 5-5-1 record with
three losses by seven or
less points.
A breakthrough 7-3
season followed in 2018
— giving the Eagles their
first winning season since
2004 and first playoff ap-
pearance in seven years.
“It was nuts real-
ly,” said Aaron Gluff,
Chaney’s then-lineback-
ers and strength and con-
ditioning coach. “...This
area that we’re in is load-
ed with talent. It was just
a matter of time before
somebody came around
that took advantage of it,
used it and did it the right
way. I mean, obviously
he moved on to bigger
and better things, but it’s
one of those things that if
he would’ve stayed here
I think it would’ve kept
going higher in the right
direction.”
Dispatch file photo
Senior Chris Allen,
the Falcons’ other start-
er at outside linebacker,
pointed out Harris as a
budding star who has
helped lead Columbus’
improvement on de-
fense. The Falcons’ of-
fense, which struggled
greatly at the beginning
of last season, has im-
proved majorly, too.
But thanks to start-
ing offseason workouts
more than a month be-
hind schools like New
Hope and Caledonia,
Allen admitted he still
feels a little bit behind
in his ramp-up for the
season.
So did Pulphus, who
said the Falcons’ “backs
Following Chaney’s
two-year run as head
coach at Centennial,
Mullen hired him as the
assistant director of foot-
ball operations in Gaines-
ville. In his role, Chaney
kept high school coaches
informed on happenings
at Florida, recruited run-
ning backs, linebackers
and offensive linemen and
operated as the first line
of contact for the staff.
He also sat in on meet-
ings with defensive coor-
dinator Todd Grantham
and linebackers coach
Christian Robinson in
hopes of gaining added
experience.
“The information that
you get, it was new to me,”
Chaney conceded. “It re-
ally taught me a lot about
recruiting, the process of
evaluating guys, doing
your own homework, be-
cause a lot of schools will
offer guys because other
schools offer them. And
I think it’s there’s high
value in truly, truly eval-
uating guys, looking at
their film, trying to get
in contact with their high
school coaches to find out
about them...make sure
you’re getting not only the
talented players, but the
right character players in
your program.”
SPORTS LINE
662-241-5000
B
SECTION
are against the wall”
even though they’ve
handled the transition
admirably.
“We still feel pres-
sured and rushed be-
cause we are behind,”
Pulphus said. “We’re be-
hind, but it is what it is.”
The Falcons’ coach-
ing staff has been work-
ing extra hard to make
up for lost time, plan-
ning and scheming in
the field house as late as
8 or 9 p.m.
“We put in long
hours,” Pulphus said. “I
think I’ve got some great
coaches here.”
The Columbus staff
has had to make up the
major blow COVID-19
dealt to the school’s ju-
nior high program in
addition to putting the
Falcons’ spring and
summer workouts in
disarray, but Pulphus
said he’s pleased with
the school’s incoming
ninth graders and the
sophomores already on
its varsity roster. Tyrie
Payne and Cameron
Kidd are some of the
10th graders who will be
“cornerstones” of how
Pulphus wants to run his
program, the coach said.
It’s his second year
in Columbus since tak-
ing over a team without
a single win in 2018. Af-
ter a 4-7 season in 2019,
Pulphus’ goal for the Fal-
cons remains the same:
to make the playoffs,
though he said doing
merely that wouldn’t be
satisfying for the team.
Pulphus knows
meeting those high ex-
pectations starts with
Friday’s game, and no
matter how the Falcons
fare, he’s proud of how
his team has looked.
“I can say I think
we’ve got it going the
way I like it,” he said.
Now back in Starkville
for his first professional
spell with the Bulldogs,
Chaney has delivered a
vast impact on the recruit-
ing staff held over from
Joe Moorhead’s tenure
and those that have since
joined as part of Leach’s
contingent. His general
responsibilities include
recruiting the defensive
side of the ball, though he
notes he’s recruited most
every position on the
field. Chaney also boasts
added credibility on sell-
ing the program as one of
the few staffers in the re-
cruiting office that played
for MSU.
Most recently, his
name has appeared in
slews of tweets from pros-
pects receiving offers and
interest from the Bulldogs
as Sept. 1 marked the first
day coaches could con-
tact 2022 prospects under
NCAA rules.
“He brings that real-
ness that needs to be in
college football, especial-
ly now,” Vick said. “These
kids, they’re calling out
fakeness...So when you’ve
got a guy like Chaney that
is real with you at all times
and is honest with you
and he legit cares about
you, that does great for
kids who want to follow.”
2B THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Tour reaches end of season, embarks on plan toward diversity

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATL ANTA — What
started as the “Return
to Golf” has yielded to
“Crossing the Finish
Line.”
Twelve weeks after
the PGA Tour ended its
longest stoppage since
World War II because of
the COVID-19 pandem-
ic, it marked progress
with two slogans that
brought equal measures
of satisfaction and a
sigh of relief.
“I was confident that
we had the right plan,”
Commissioner Jay Mo-
nahan said Wednesday.
“But I was uncertain as
to whether or not, like
everybody else, you’d
be able to get to this
point.”
That point would be
the Tour Championship
for the top 30 players
who made it through
two FedEx Cup postsea-
son events to reach East
Lake and chase the $15
million bonus that goes
to the winner.
Monahan also
brought up another
monetary figure — a
projected $100 million
over the next 10 years
for tournaments to do-
nate to racial and social
injustice causes in their
markets.
“In essence, how do
we use the platform
that we’ve established
over the past 80 years to
make deeper and more
specific commitments
around social justice
efforts in our commu-
nities?” he said. “The
work may never be com-
plete, but as we close out
this season of change, I
felt it important to rein-
force our commitment.”
And what a season it
has been.
The week the PGA
Tour signed a new me-
dia rights deal said to
be worth more than $7
billion over nine years,
the coronavirus led to
golf shutting down for
three months. Tiger
Woods, who won his
record-tying 82nd tour-
nament last fall, played
only twice before the
shutdown, four times
after. He did not make
it to the Tour Champi-
onship.
A record five play-
ers already have taken
turns at No. 1 in the
world.
Dustin Johnson is
the No. 1 seed at East
Lake with two victories
since the return, along
with runner-up finishes
in the PGA Chamion-
ship and last week at
the BMW Champion-
ship. He starts with a
two-shot lead over Jon
Rahm, who made a 65 -
foot bending birdie putt
in a playoff to beat John-
son last week.
No one should be sur-
prised. They are Nos. 1
and 2 in the world rank-
ing. Rahm was more sur-
prised the tour reached
its season-ending event
without having to stop
because of the corona-
virus. Only seven play-
ers and three caddies
tested positive in the 13
tournaments held in 12
weeks in 11 states.
“I’m not going to lie,
when I saw ... pretty
much 20% of the tests
were positive country-
wide, almost worldwide,
and with how many
other sports were hav-
ing trouble ... nobody
should be surprised if
one week we show up
and there’d 30 posi-
tives,” Rahm said.
“We can congrat-
ulate each other and
everybody else for the
good job we’ve done,
because I am surprised
we’ve been able to go on
without any single prob-
lems.”
The Tour Champion-
ship is the end of the
season, but not the end
of the year, or the con-
cern.
Spectators still have
not been allowed to re-
turn, with no indication
when that would hap-
pen. Monahan said the
plan was for pro-ams
— a big part of a tour-
nament’s revenue — to
resume in the Domin-
ican Republic in three
weeks. Pro-ams already
are in place on the PGA
Tour Champions and
the Korn Ferry Tour.
Monahan thought
back to Friday the 13th
— in March — when
he announced the next
four tournaments had
been canceled, starting
with The Players Cham-
pionship.
“As gut-wrenching as
that day and the weeks
to follow were, as we
ultimately canceled or
postponed nearly 30% of
our season, the adapt-
ability, innovation, and
collaboration that has
brought us to this week
is incredibly gratify-
ing,” he said.
That includes the
charity component,
which has carried on
without spectators, pro-
ams or corporate hos-
pitality. Monahan said
supporting sponsors of
the Tour Championship
— Coca-Cola and the
Southern Company —
were enabling at least
a $3.5 million contribu-
tion to local charities
this week.
Monahan also said
local tournaments and
their charitable do-
nations would be the
backbone of the tour’s
pledge toward support-
ing diversity in a sum-
mer of intensified racial
and social unrest.
PGA Tour events
have raised more than
$3 billion for charity
since 1938, and that
money — $200 million
last year — goes mainly
to local organizations.
“All of our tourna-
ments are going to be
identifying racial and
social injustice causes
in their local markets
going forward,” Mona-
han said. “I think it’s a
big statement that with
the number of tourna-
ments we have they all
quickly have responded
and said that they are
excited for this oppor-
tunity, excited for this
challenge.”
He said the tour ex-
pects to raise at least
$10 million a year for
those causes for the
next decade, “and that’s
something that we’re
going to hold ourselves
accountable to.”
He also said the tour
would work toward at-
tracting more minori-
ties to golf through
The First Tee, which
currently has a great
emphasis on education
than the game, and
with support of the Ad-
vocates Pro Golf Asso-
ciation Tour, created a
decade ago to provide
playing opportunities to
minority players.
“It’s nice to see stuff
happening,” said Cam-
eron Champ, one of
four players of Black
heritage on the PGA
Tour and the only one
to reach the Tour Cham-
pionship. “Anyone can
talk about it, but action
is what’s need. And it’s
amazing to see that.
It’s definitely a huge
and amazing step in the
right direction.”

Tom Seaver, heart and mighty arm of Miracle Mets, dies at 75

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Tom
Seaver transformed a fran-
chise and captivated a city,
setting enduring stan-
dards as he whipped his
powerful right arm over-
head for the Miracle Mets
and dirtied his right knee
atop major league mounds
for two decades.
A consummate pro and
pitching icon, he finished
fulfilled after a career re-
membered with awe long
after his final strikeout.
“It is the last beautiful
flower in the perfect bou-
quet,” Seaver said on the
afternoon he was induct-
ed into baseball’s Hall of
Fame.
Seaver, the galvaniz-
ing force who steered the
New York Mets from the
National League cellar to
a stunning World Series
title in 1969, has died. He
was 75.
The Hall said Wednes-
day night that Seaver died
Monday from complica-
tions of Lewy body demen-
tia and COVID-19. Seaver
spent his final years in
Calistoga, California.
Seaver’s family an-
nounced in March 2019 he
had been diagnosed with
dementia and had retired
from public life. He con-
tinued working at Seaver
Vineyards, founded by
the three-time NL Cy
Young Award winner and
his wife, Nancy, in 2002
on 116 acres at Diamond
Mountain in the Calistoga
region of Northern Cali-
fornia.
Seaver was diagnosed
with Lyme disease in
1991, and it reoccurred in
2012 and led to Bell’s Pal-
sy and memory loss, the
Daily News of New York
reported in 2013.
“He will always be
the heart and soul of the
Mets, the standard which
all Mets aspire to,” Mike
Piazza, a former Mets
catcher and Hall of Fam-
er, tweeted when Seaver’s
dementia diagnosis was
announced.
Nicknamed Tom Ter-
rific and The Franchise,
Seaver was a five-time 20-
game winner and the 1967
NL Rookie of the Year. He
went 311-205 with a 2.86
ERA, 3,640 strikeouts and
61 shutouts during an il-
lustrious career that lasted
from 1967-86. He became
a constant on magazine
covers and a media pres-
ence, calling postseason
games on NBC and ABC
even while still an active
player.
“He was simply the
greatest Mets player of all-
time and among the best
to ever play the game,”
Mets owner Fred Wilpon
and son Jeff, the team’s
chief operating officer,
said in a statement.
Seaver was elected to
the Hall of Fame in 1992
when he appeared on 425
of 430 ballots for a then-re-
cord 98.84%. His mark was
surpassed in 2016 by Ken
Griffey Jr., again in 2019
when Mariano Rivera be-
came the first unanimous
selection by baseball writ-
ers, and in 2020 when Der-
ek Jeter fell one vote short
of a clean sweep.
“Tom was a gentleman
who represented the best
of our national pastime,”
Commissioner Rob Man-
fred said in a statement.
“He was synonymous with
the New York Mets and
their unforgettable 1969
season.”
“After their improba-
ble World Series cham-
pionship, Tom became a
household name to base-
ball fans — a responsi-
bility he carried out with
distinction throughout his
life,” he said.
Seaver’s plaque in Coo-
perstown lauds him as a
“power pitcher who helped
change the New York
Mets from lovable losers
into formidable foes.” He
changed not only their
place in the standings but
the team’s stature in peo-
ple’s minds.
“Tom Seaver hated to
lose,” said Jerry Grote,
his longtime catcher with
the Mets. “In May of 1969,
we had a celebration in
the locker room when we
reached .500 for the first
time. Tom said, ‘We want
more than .500, we want a
championship.’”
Seaver pitched for the
Mets from 1967-77, when
he was traded to Cincin-
nati after a public spat
with chairman M. Donald
Grant over Seaver’s desire
for a new contract. It was
a clash that inflamed base-
ball fans in New York.
“My biggest disap-
pointment? Leaving the
Mets the first time and
the difficulties I had with
the same people that led
up to it,” Seaver told The
Associated Press ahead of
his Hall induction in 1992.
“But I look back at it in a
positive way now. It gave
me the opportunity to
work in different areas of
the country.”
He threw his only
no-hitter for the Reds in
June 1978 against St. Lou-
is and was traded back to
New York after the 1982
season. But Mets gener-
al manager Frank Cash-
en blundered by leaving
Seaver off his list of 26 pro- team that it is,” said Ron ally the way handled his pitch to Piazza, and the
tected players, and in Jan- Swoboda, the right field- whole career,” said Miami two walked off together
uary 1984 he was claimed er whose sprawling catch manager Don Mattingly, a waving goodbye to fans.
by the Chicago White Sox helped Seaver pitch the former New York Yankees He is survived by Nan-
as free agent compensa- Mets to a 10-inning win in captain. “We just left New cy, daughters Sarah and
tion for losing pitcher Den- Game 4 of the ’69 Series York, and every time you Anne, and grandsons
nis Lamp to Toronto. against Baltimore. “He walk in a door there, it’s Thomas, William, Henry
While pitching for the gave them credibility.” like Tom Seaver Hall, with and Tobin.
White Sox, Seaver got his Seaver’s death was an- different pictures.” George Thomas Seaver
300th win at Yankee Stadi-
nounced, in fact, hours When the Mets closed was born in Fresno, Cal-
um and did it in style with
after the Mets beat the their previous home, Shea ifornia, on Nov. 17, 1944,
a six-hitter in a 4-1 victory.
He finished his career Orioles in an interleague Stadium, on the final day a son of Charles Seaver,
with the 1986 Boston Red game. of the 2008 regular sea- a top amateur golfer who
Sox team that lost to the “Just a class act. Just a son, Seaver put the finish- won both his matches for
Mets in the World Series. gentleman in the way he ing touches on the nostal- the U.S. over Britain at
“Tom Seaver was one handled himself, and re- gic ceremonies with a last the 1932 Walker Cup.
of the best and most inspi-
rational pitchers to play
the game,” Reds Chief
Executive Officer Bob
Castellini said in a state-
ment. “We are grateful
that Tom’s Hall of Fame
career included time with
the Reds. We are proud
to count his name among
the greats in the Reds
Hall of Fame. He will be
missed.”
Supremely confident
-- and not necessarily
modest about his extraor-
dinary acumen on the
mound -- Seaver was a
12-time All-Star who led
the major leagues with a
25-7 record in 1969 and a
1.76 ERA in 1971. A clas-
sic power pitcher with a
drop-and-drive delivery
that often dirtied the right
knee of his uniform pants,
he won Cy Young Awards
with New York in 1969,
1973 and 1975. The club
retired his No. 41 in 1988,
the first Mets player given
the honor.
“From a team stand-
point, winning the ’69
world championship is
something I’ll remem-
ber most,” Seaver said in
1992. “From an individual
standpoint, my 300th win
brought me the most joy.”
Seaver limited his pub-
lic appearances in recent
years. He did not attend
the Baseball Writers’
Association of America
dinner in 2019, where
members of the 1969 Mets
were honored on the 50th
anniversary of what still
ranks among baseball’s
most unexpected champi-
onships.
Five months later, as
part of a celebration of that
team, the Mets announced
plans for a statue of Seaver
outside Citi Field, and the
ballpark’s address was
officially changed to 41
Seaver Way in a nod to his
uniform number.
Seaver did not attend
those ceremonies, either,
but daughter Sarah Seaver
did and said her parents
were honored.
“This is so very appro-
priate because he made
the New York Mets the

College football embarks on uncertain season of COVID-19
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A most overused
coaching cliche has never
been so relevant as col-
lege football embarks on
a season of COVID-19:
Take it one day at a time.
With so much uncer-
tainty, trying to figure
how this will go is impos-
sible. But there will be
games, including a few
this weekend, though
the usual Labor Day
grand opening has been
scrapped.
The 2020 season will
be a story about what was
lost, what was salvaged
and what was gained in
reaction to all the disor-
der. This also could be
the first of two over the
next eight months.
It figures to be weird
and worrisome. What we
know and what’s still to
be determined:
Who is (and isn’t)
playing?
What is most common-
ly referred to as major
college football (NCAA
Division I Bowl Subdivi-
sion or FBS) is comprised
of 130 teams and 10 con-
ferences. Seventy-seven
of those teams are sched-
uled to play throughout
the fall, starting at vari-
ous times in September.
The other 53, including
Fans or not, NFL braces for new stadium feel, sudden changes
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A RLINGTON, Tex-
as — Jerry Jones won’t
put a number on the
attendance for the Dal-
las Cowboys’ home
opener until the crowd
is announced later this
month at AT&T Stadi-
um.
The owner of the
Cowboys also hopes
the 80,000 -seat venue
with standing room
space that pushes ca-
pacity past 90,000 will
be closer to full as the
pandemic-altered NFL
season goes on.
All of which is to say
the league’s clubs are
preparing for a rapidly
changing environment
while accepting the
bottom-line notion that
playing games with
limited numbers of fans
or none at all will affect
revenues in 2020.
“You think about the
lost revenue that these
teams have across the
board with no fans
in the building,” said
Bill Rhoda, president
of global planning for
Legends, a stadium op-
erations company co-
owned by the Cowboys
and New York Yankees.
“And it goes from
the entire Big Ten and
Pac-12, have postponed
their seasons and are
hoping to make them up
later. That means no No.
2 Ohio State, No. 7 Penn
State, No. 9 Oregon and
six other teams that were
ranked in the preseason
AP Top 25.
Among the three oth-
er so-called Power Five
Conferences, the South-
eastern Conference (10
games for each team,
starting Sept. 26), At-
lantic Coast Conference
(11 games, Sept. 12) and
Big 12 (10 games, Sept.
12) have schedules in
place. None will be play-
ing each other. The SEC
is playing no games out
of conference. ACC and
Big 12 teams will play one
nonconference game at
home.
All those compelling
early season nonconfer-
ence matchups and the
traditional late-season,
cross-conference rivalry
games won’t be played in
2020.
The American Athletic
Conference, Conference
USA and Sun Belt are
also playing, trying to
get as close to a normal
12-game season as they
can. Independents BYU
and Army have practical-
ly rebuilt their schedules
from scratch. Famously
independent Notre Dame
tickets to the conces-
sions, to the merchan-
dise to the game, to the
lack of private suites
being used, which then
has an impact on spon-
sorships. So there is
a trickle-down effect
that this virus has had
on the industry as a
whole.”
Specifics are hard
to get because clubs
don’t disclose or dis-
cuss them. According
to 2018 figures esti-
mated by Forbes mag-
azine, the Cowboys
pulled about two-thirds
of their $950 million in
revenue from the stadi-
um.
While America’s
Team figures to take
one of the biggest hits
in stadium revenue,
even with fans on hand
while other teams don’t
allow them, the Cow-
boys also are a symbol
of the NFL at large —
they should be fine in
the long term.
“The NFL is a jug-
gernaut,” said David
Steinberg, co-founder
of Zeta Global, a da-
ta-driven marketing
technology company.
“Other than maybe Eu-
ropean (soccer), there’s
no other league really
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
fixed its scheduling prob-
lem by joining the ACC
for football this season
only.
As for the players, a
few dozen have already
opted out, including some
big stars such as LSU
All-America receiver
Ja’Marr Chase, Pitt de-
fensive tackle Jaylen Twy-
man and Miami defensive
end Gregory Rousseau.
COVID-19 protocols
The ACC, Big 12 and
SEC have all mandated
coronavirus testing of
players three times per
week during the season
and the other confer-
ences are expected to do
the same.
Positive tests will send
players to isolation for at
least 10 days and players
deemed to be close con-
tacts to those who test
positive will be quaran-
tined for 14 days.
During games, there
will be masks worn on
sidelines.
Some schools, such
as North Carolina and
Pittsburgh, will have no
fans in attendance at their
games, at least when the
season starts. Many oth-
ers will have reduced
crowds, ranging from
20%-25% capacity, to start
the season.
The pageantry of col-
lege football — the bands,
globally like that. So I
think that they are go-
ing to not just survive
this. I think they will
thrive in it.”
The Green Bay
Packers offer the only
glimpse at NFL financ-
es as a publicly owned
team. Even with no
fans all season, CEO
Mark Murphy says the
Packers can cover play-
er costs with national
revenue highlighted
by media rights, which
is about two-thirds of
the club’s overall reve-
nue. Murphy also says
the Packers have about
$400 million in reserve.
Most of the the
league’s 32 teams will
start the season with-
out fans. Both Los An-
geles teams have an-
nounced plans to follow
the model started by
Korean baseball and ad-
opted by Major League
Baseball — fan cut-
outs in the seats when
the new SoFi Stadium
opens. Proceeds are go-
ing to charity.
The league is al-
lowing teams to sell
sponsorships on tarps
covering seats in the
lower bowl between the
30 -yard lines, capped at
16 spots. The end zone
cheerleaders and mascots
— will mostly be missing
this fall.
What happens when a
player (or coach) tests
positive?
Athletic directors, con-
ference commissioners
and even coaches have ac-
knowledged they expect
disruptions this season.
The reason why Pow-
er Five leagues altered
schedules was to provide
more flexibility for post-
ponements.
Positive tests leading
to players and staff being
isolated and quarantined
have already contributed
to three FBS games be-
ing postponed, including
North Carolina State at
Virginia Tech, which was
scheduled Sept. 12 but
has been pushed back to
Sept. 26.
How this works is dif-
ficult to predict. The Big
12 is trying to come up
with a minimum number
of players available that
would require a team to
play.
“As long as you have at
least 53 players certified
to play, and you’ve got at
least the minimum num-
ber and every one of those
positions comprising that
53, then you have to play,”
Iowa State athletic direc-
tor Jamie Pollard said.
tarps are reserved for
sponsors of both the
club and the league.
“Creative thinking
is going to win here,”
said Mark Reino, CEO
of Merit Mile, a Boca
Raton, Florida-based
advertising, PR and
sports marketing agen-
cy. “Maybe it’s a little
cheeky, sometimes
those cheeky ideas re-
ally win out in terms of
maintaining loyalty.”
While there is debate
over an on-field advan-
tage for teams that will
allow fans, Steinberg
thinks it could be an
advantage with spon-
sors as well. He consid-
ered it likely that clubs
would give sponsors
more access to tickets,
noting that in-stadium
sponsors that could be
impacted by fewer eye-
balls on signage were
often local advertisers.
“People don’t realize
how much of the local
advertising is driven by
bundling,” Steinberg
said. “You can buy your
ad package and then
they throw in the sky-
box.”
Rhoda said many
venues were already
creating as many
touchless interactions
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020
Even that might be
more of a guideline than
a rule. Other conferences
are taking a more case-
by-case approach.
In Major League Base-
ball, one positive test has
caused teams to postpone
games to allow for addi-
tional testing and contact
tracing. Will college foot-
ball teams be that aggres-
sive? How much practice
time can a team miss and
still play a game?
“That’s assuming a lot
of things go wrong and
if they do, my answer to
the question would be if
you lose two or three days
early in the week, you’re
hard pressed to get your
team ready,” Notre Dame
coach Brian Kelly said.
Championships and
trophies?
The College Football
Playoff is on for now. The
semifinals are scheduled
to be played Jan. 1 at the
Rose Bowl in Pasadena,
California, and the Sugar
Bowl in New Orleans. The
national championship
game is set for Jan. 11 in
Miami Gardens, Florida.
(Yes, the Rose Bowl
could be played on New
Year’s Day — even though
the Big Ten and Pac-12
might not start their sea-
sons until after that.)
Because schedules
as possible before the
pandemic, and one new
one at AT&T Stadium is
likely to be permanent:
cashless transactions
for concessions and
merchandise. The secu-
rity setup also could be
permanently altered.
While the league ap-
pears well-positioned to
get through a year with-
out fans, the people who
serve them will feel the
effects more profound-
ly, said sports consul-
tant Marc Ganis.
“Concessions and
merchandising, ushers,
janitorial, union and
non-union workers —
not high-income people
but people who need
this money,” said Gan-
is, co-founder of Chi-
cago-based consulting
group Sportscorp and a
confidant of many NFL
owners. “That’s who
will be really damaged.”
Texas Gov. Greg Ab-
bott is allowing sports
venues to fill 50% of ca-
pacity, and the design
of the Cowboys’ $1.2 bil-
lion stadium in Arling-
ton, halfway between
Dallas and Fort Worth,
makes a number hard
to determine. Jones will
say this much; The club
expects to have as many
3B
were adjusted and con-
ference championship
games could be played
later into December than
usual, the selection of the
playoff teams was also
pushed back to Dec. 20.
If anything resem-
bling a full season can be
played, rest assured the
powers that be in college
football will try to make a
playoff happen. Hundreds
of millions of dollars in
television revenue are on
the line.
With only three Power
Five conferences playing,
maybe a team from out-
side those powerhouse
leagues such as Central
Florida or Cincinnati can
finally break into foot-
ball’s final four. Or maybe
it just makes it easier for
the selection committee
to include two SEC teams.
As for the rest of the
bowls, if all 77 were per-
mitted to play in a post-
season game there would
still not be enough to fill
40 bowl slots. Some could
take a year off. Maybe
some will shift to the
spring.
As for the individu-
al awards such as the
Heisman Trophy, there
has been no indication
they won’t be handed out
after the fall season.
as 3,000 people working
when Atlanta visits on
Sept. 20. The Falcons
are among the teams
not allowing fans at
least through Septem-
ber.
“We certainly will fol-
low all of the guidelines
and we’re so fortunate
to have the room and
have the openness and
the airedness that we
have out there, and it
gives us a lot of flexibil-
ity,” Jones said. “We an-
ticipate a great crowd.”
Whether those
crowds will grow fits
with questions such as
what the league will do
if there is a COVID-19
outbreak within a team,
or if there is a larger
outbreak around the
country in the fall, as
experts have warned.
It’s hard to say.
“I think when you
reflect back to the last
couple of months, the
thing that has been be-
ing consistent across
the board is new things
pop up all the time,”
Rhoda said. “Where we
thought we were going
to be three weeks ago
is different than where
we’re at today.”
4B THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Duvall follows Ozuna with 3 HRs; Braves complete sweep

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON — Adam Duvall
hit three home runs a night af-
ter teammate Marcell Ozuna
become the first NL player ever
to hit three homers in Fenway
Park, and the East-leading At-
lanta Braves beat the stumbling
Boston Red Sox 7-5 Wednesday
night to complete a three-game
sweep.
Duvall hit a pair of two-run
shots over the Green Monster
and a solo blast to center for his
five RBIs. Ozuna added a long,
tiebreaking solo drive for the
Braves, who entered the three-
game set winless in their last
15 series (0-12-3) against the
Red Sox.
It was Atlanta’s first sweep in
Boston since capturing a three-
game set in 2002. Freddie Free-
man had two hits to extend his
hitting streak to 16 games.
Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a
solo homer and J.D. Martinez
had two hits and two RBIs
for the Red Sox, who fell a
season-high 13 games under
.500.
Fenway was built in 1912,
but the Red Sox are an AL club
and interleague play wasn’t in-
troduced in MLB until 1997.
Ozuna’s drive also cleared
the Monster, sailing over a
billboard and completely out
of Fenway against Andrew
Triggs (0 -2) in the seventh.
Duvall’s third homer hit off a
back wall near the bleachers
after his second homer had
tied it at 5 against Triggs an
inning earlier.
Tyler Matzek (3-2) got four
outs in relief for the victory.
Mark Melancon struck out
the side in the ninth for his
eighth save in nine chances.
The Braves tied it at 3 in
the second when Duvall hit
his first homer, and Ozuna
added an RBI single.
Bradley’s pushed the Red
Sox ahead 4-3 in the fourth.
Martinez’s RBI single made
it 5 -3.
Making just his fourth ca-
reer start, Braves lefty Rob-
bie Erlin was tagged for five
runs and six hits in four-plus
innings.
Who’s next?
RHP Robinson Leyer be-
came the 12th different pitch-
er to start for the Red Sox in
just their 37th game. He was
the “opener” and fanned two
in scoreless inning.
The 27-year-old Leyer
made 236 minor league ap-
pearances over four organiza-
tions before he made his MLB
debut Monday, allowing a run
with a strikeout.
Nice grab
Braves 2B Johan Camargo
made a nice over-the-shoul-
der, running catch on Marti-
nez’s pop well beyond the in-
field dirt.
Positive thoughts
Red Sox manager Ron Roe-
nicke was asked before the
game how he handles all the
losing this season.
“I think the easy way to do
this, is to focus to try and get
people better,” he said. “As
long as I’m able to focus on
that, the wins and losses don’t
get to me too much.”
Trainer’s room
Braves: OF Ronald Acuña
Jr. was out of the lineup for
the third straight game after
tightness in his right ham-
string forced him out of Sun-
day’s victory. “He’s good. He
had a good workout (Tues-
day),” manager Brian Snit-
ker said. “With the off day
tomorrow, we just decided to
get him the whole series.” …
Snitker said 2B Ozzie Albies
(right wrist inflammation)
could hit some live pitching at
the club’s alternate training
site “in a couple of days.”
Red Sox: DH/OF Martinez
returned to the lineup and
played left field. He missed
the last two games after get-
ting hit on the left hand by
a fastball. … Roenicke said
RHP Nathan Eovaldi (calf
tightness) played catch and
will throw a bullpen Thurs-
day, but probably not start
Saturday when he’s eligible to
come off the IL. “Maybe push
him back a day or so,” Roe-
nicke said.

Comics & Puzzles

DILBERT
Dear Abby
D
EAR ABBY:
I have been
lucky enough
to have fallen
madly in love
with the most won-
derful man in the
world. We have
been together
for two years and
living together for
almost a year. I’m
in my mid-30s;
ZITS he’s in his mid-
40s. We both
have had plenty of
experience in love
— enough to feel Dear Abby
sure that we’ve
found the person we want to
spend the rest of our lives with.
My best friend has been very your boyfriend’s virtues? Her
disparaging of our relationship
and makes rude comments
about it. If I tell her how happy
we are in spite of the pandemic,
she says it’s because we’re still
in the “honeymoon phase.” If I
GARFIELD describe something kind that
my boyfriend has done for me,
she adopts a condescending
tone and makes remarks about
“new love” and that I should
enjoy this now because it will
change.
She’s the same age I am
and has been with her fiance for
nine years. I have always been
very supportive of their relation-
ship, but she seems incapable
of offering me the same level of
support in my love life. When I
CANDORVILLE
Horoscopes
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Sept.
3). Whatever uncertainty you
feared, now you’ll embrace
it — crave it even — because
you recognize that the only way
to grow is to enter the realm of
unpredictable outcomes. The
unknown factors include (but
are not limited to) relationships
with exciting people, esoteric
knowledge and a novel invest-
ment. Gemini and Sagittarius
BABY BLUES adore you. Your lucky numbers
are: 16, 13, 2, 28 and 5.
ARIES (March 21-April 19).
There have been times when
it was hard for you to imagine
being free, self-reliant and in
control of your own financial
and emotional destiny. Today’s
developments are a dream
BEETLE BAILEY
MALLARD FILLMORE
FAMILY CIRCUS
try to talk to her
about something
she has said
or done that
bothers me, she
often becomes
aggressive, and
I don’t know how
to approach this
subject without
getting into an ar-
gument or losing
our friendship.
What should I
do? — PROUDLY
LUCKY IN LOVE
DEAR PROUD-
LY LUCKY: Could
your friend be
suffering from a touch of jealou-
sy because you constantly extoll
cynicism may have something
to do with the fact that she and
her fiance have been together
for nine years with no marriage
in sight.
If you can’t talk to her about
sensitive issues without her be-
coming aggressive or you being
afraid of losing the friendship,
it doesn’t take a crystal ball to
see the two of you are growing
increasingly distant with the
passage of time. I do think you
should ask your friend why she
reacts the way she does and
tell her how it makes you feel.
It may be the only way to save
your friendship.
DEAR ABBY: At what age is
it no longer appropriate for chil-
come true.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20).
Not all feelings are messages
from the depths. Some are
just momentary choices based
on comfort zones. A feeling
can also be a distraction from
another, less-appealing, more
uncertain feeling.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21).
You’re in the mood to take
yourself less seriously and, as
a result, your work improves.
Perhaps, it’s because there’s
more room to incorporate other
opinions when you’re not so
intent on proving yourself.
CANCER (June 22-July
22). “What is happiness? It’s
a moment before you need
more happiness,” quipped Don
dren to play naked while outside
in their yard?
We are a childless couple in
our 60s who live in a suburban
neighborhood in the Northeast.
A new couple moved here with
their children, a boy and a girl,
who appear to be about 5 and
8 years old. Both of them often
are naked while playing in their
yard. This happens in all kinds
of weather, not just when it’s
extremely hot.
We all have fairly large
yards, but none of the yards in
the neighborhood are private.
Neighbors on both sides of this
family and anyone walking up
or down the street can see the
children. We are not prudes, but
this happens frequently, and it
makes us uncomfortable. Is it
time for us to move? — AVERT-
ING MY EYES
DEAR AVERTING: Five- and
8-year-old minors are too old to
be naked in public. Pay a visit
to your new neighbors’ house
and introduce yourself. Ask
why the kids play outside with
no clothes on. Gauge what you
learn, and if you suspect ne-
glect or abuse, report it to Child
Protective Services.
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.
Draper, the central figure of the
television drama “Mad Men.”
To avoid the infinite loop here,
strive instead to be of service.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22).
The presence of another will
be keenly felt, and you will be
made aware of the potential for
trouble and delight ahead, as
it is obvious that in some ways
you mesh and in other ways you
collide.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).
You’re likely to pour over every
detail. The perfectionism that
has you moving incredibly slowly
now will also be the reason that
you’re so excellent at the task.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).
You are very aware of what you
don’t know and only get more
aware of it as you go. This is
proof that you are amassing a
great body of learning indeed,
as every new idea opens up 10
more questions.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov.
21). Consider making a vision
board. The surface verisimili-
tude of an image makes you
feel as though you are within
touching distance of your de-
sire. Your brain gets used to
this, bridges a gap, shortens
the leap to reality.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec.
21). It seems counterintuitive
that a lighter approach to a
relationship would intensify the
bond, and yet your jovial atti-
tude will produce an impressive
depth of connection.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan.
19). All of the little things
matter. All of the little things
don’t matter. Both statements
will be equally true today, and
the best results will come from
alternating between the two
extremes.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.
18). Today, there will be no
good reason to impress or
advise, entertain or manage.
You only need to be present.
Humility is the key that opens
wisdom’s gate.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March
20). When you find yourself
making great efforts to project
and protect a certain idea of
who you are, then it’s time for a
talk with yourself. Why does it
matter so much? Losing sight
of who you are might be just the
remedy.

Up one’s sleeve
SOLUTION:
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 5B

Business
BUSINESS BRIEF
Galloway Chandler McKinney leading professional organiza- and qualified based on its oper-
tion,” states Managing Member ational excellence. The selected
Insurance Receives Best Brandt Galloway. “This honor Best Practices agencies retain
Practices Status recognizes that at every level, their status during the three-year
COLUMBUS — Galloway Galloway Chandler McKinney cycle by submitting extensive
Chandler McKinney Insurance Insurance and its employees are financial and operational data for
retains its Best committed to providing the best review each year. This is the sec-
Practices status for possible service and products ond year of the current three-year
the eighth consecu- for our clients. The fact that study cycle.
tive year, once again we’ve received the Best Practices Of the more than 20,000
becoming a part of designation eight years in a row independent agencies across
an elite group of in- speaks to the consistency of that the country, only 262 qualified
dependent insurance commitment.” as Best Practices agencies. To
agencies around the Since 1993, IIABA and Reagan be chosen, the agency had to be
United States. This Galloway Consulting, an Atlanta-based among the 35-45 top-performers
status comes by management consulting firm, in one of six revenue categories.
participating in the Independent have joined forces to study the Galloway-Chandler-McKinney
Insurance Agents & Brokers of country’s leading agencies in six Insurance has served residents
America (IIABA) Best Practices revenue categories. The agencies in north Mississippi and west
Study group. comprising the study groups are Alabama for 29 years. The agency
The annual survey and study selected every third year through writes commercial and person-
of leading independent insurance a comprehensive nomination and al insurance and has offices in
agencies documents the business qualifying process and awarded Columbus, West Point, Starkville,
practices of the “best” agencies “Best Practices Agency” designa- Amory and Aberdeen. Additional
and urges others to adopt similar tions. Galloway Chandler McKin- information about the company
practices. “We’re pleased to be ney Insurance was nominated by can be found at www.gcminsur-
acknowledged by our industry’s multiple carriers and associations ance.com

BUILDING PERMITS
City of Columbus
Aug. 24-28, 2020
■ Mayurkumar and Dipika Pa-
tel; 2329 Martin Luther King
Jr. Drive; demolition of car
wash; Bostick Construction
■ Ryan and Katherine Mun-
son; 301 2nd Avenue North;
sign installation; same
■ Candace Adams; 118 Mill
Street; demolition of s/f resi-
dence; same
■ Ryan and Katherine Mun-
son; 301 31st Avenue North;
install exterior door; same
■ Fox Run Apartments of Co-
lumbus LLC; 636 31st Avenue
North; reroof office building; J
Miller Roofing
■ Mayurkumar and Dipika Pa-
tel; 2329 Martin Luther King
Jr. Drive; new store; Bostick
Construction
■ Michael and Robin Balthis;
1182 Island Road; electric,
same
■ Emad H. Mohamad; 75
Reeves Drive; electrical; Bea-
vers Electric
■ Michael and Robin Balthis;
1182 Island Road; electrical;
same
■ Magnolia Enterprises; 1934
Military Road; electrical; Wel-
don Electric
■ Anniett K Tate; 1906-B
Highway 45 North; electrical;
Beavers Electric
■ Columbus Housing Author-
ity; 807 24th Street South;
electrical; Tony Watson
Electric Inc
■ Firefly Enterprises LLC; 924
10th Avenue South, Apt A;
electrical; Jimmie Chism
■ Gayle Guynup; 201-M
Alabama Street; electrical;
Livingston and Sons
■ Columbus Housing Author-
ity; 807 24th Street South;
mechanical; Quality Heating
and Air Inc
■ Mack and Katherine Murray;
406 Winterset Drive; plumb-
ing; Ralph Shaw Plumbing LLC
■ Winnie Wilson; 2609 17th
Avenue North; plumbing;
Truesdale
Lowndes County
Sept. 2, 2020
■ Emmit Conner; Whispering
Pines Road; set up mobile
home; owner
■ Emmit Conner; Whispering
Pines Road; move mobile
home; Hard Core Services
■ Mitchell Thornton; 1375
Halbert Road; addition to s/f
residence; owner
■ Michael Stevens; 7369
Ridge Road; Set up mobile
home; Michael Nickoles
■ Michael Stevens; 7369
Ridge Road; move mobile
home; Mills Home Center
■ Christopher Carter; 145
Grady Hogan Road; construct
pool house; owner
■ Jim Bearden; 397 Barnett
Circle; remodel s/f residence;
owner
■ Mike Oglesby; 1310 Steens
Vernon Road; construct s/f
residence; owner
■ Martha Ellis; Hornets Nest
Cove; construct s/f residence;
owner
■ Karen Price; 9203 Nashville
Ferry Road; set up mobile
home; Andy Williamson
■ Karen; 9203 Nashville Ferry
Road; move mobile home;
Mills Home Center
■ Ricky Adkins; Hwy 69 S.;
set up mobile home; owner
■ Ricky Adkins; Hwy 69 S.;
move mobile home; Southern
Housing
Classifieds
Ads appear in The Commercial Dispatch,
The Starkville Dispatch and Online
To place ads starting at only $12,
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ber-placing
given numbers.puzzleThe object 2 1 8 5 9 7 3 4 6

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

FURNISHED, WEST POINT. Reeves Rd.
based onthe a 9x9 5 3 4 2 1 6 7 8 9
Rentals 1 Sticky rice
Includes appls, furn & util. is to place numbers
$350 or $500 per month. grid
1 to 9with
in theseveral
empty spaces 8 5 2 7 3 1 9 6 4
Ads starting at $12 given
so thatnumbers. The
No deposit.

Merchandise
662−295−4701. each row, each 6 4 9 8 5 2 1 7 3
Ads starting at $25 object
column and each 3x3 the
is to place box
2 Familiarity 3 7 1 4 6 9 8 2 5
Autos For Sale
numbers
contains the1same to 9 number
in
Apts For Rent: North the empty spaces so 9 8 7 6 2 5 4 3 1
Real Estate Ads starting at $12 only once. The difficulty
2012 RED Cadillac CTS
Coup, 3.5 engine, loaded, that each row, each 4 6 5 1 8 3 2 9 7
level increases from
3 Astronauts column and each 1 2 3 9 7 4 6 5 8
FOX RUN APARTMENTS 1 65k hwy mi only, new tires,
Bargain Column Mondayboxtocontains
Sunday.
& 2 BR near hospital. fully serviced & well−
$595−$645 monthly. Ads starting at $25 maintained. $32,000. 3x3 Difficulty Level 9/02

Military discount, pet area, ANTIQUE DUNCAN PHYFE 662−726−1649. the same number only once. The difficulty level
SOFA with original increases from Monday to Sunday.
4 World Series
pet friendly, and furnished Lots & Acreage
corporate apts. upholstery. Good shape. Motorcycles & ATVs
24−HOUR PROFESSIONAL $100.
of Poker
1.75 ACRE LOTS. Call 662−241−7148.
GYM. ON SITE SECURITY. Good/Bad Credit Options. 2005 HONDA 250 REBEL
ON SITE MAINTENANCE. Good credit as low as 20% MOTORCYCLE.
ON SITE MANAGEMENT. down, $499/mo. Eaton Black, red, and gray.
24−HOUR CAMERA Crochet baby blankets
5 Florence
Land, 662−361−7711. Hand made, $25−$39 1,428 miles. $1500.
SURVEILLANCE. Benji & 662−364−0120.
Ashleigh, 662−386−4446. each. 662−798−9811.

Need a
LOWNDES COUNTY, MS:
Apts For Rent: West 36 ACRES ON GATLIN RD. Infant to toddler rocker
new car?
Excellent timber & building $15. 662−798−9811

VIP
sites. $72,000. For more
info, call 205−799−9846

Rentals
or 205−695−2248. Ole miss helmet lamp $17.
662−798−9811
Mobile Homes for Sale
Apartments & Houses
1997 Fleetwood Riverview Samsung Tablet Samsung
1 Bedrooms 16x80, 3BR/2BA MH. Incl Galaxy Tab 4 16 GB
Excellent Condition $100
2 Bedroooms
HVAC & propane tank.
Good cond. Ethelsville, AL, Columbus 662−245−
3 Bedrooms $9,950 OBO, will need 3635
moved. 662−364−0552.
Furnished & Unfurnished Tom Tom GPS $20
1, 2, & 3 Baths
Excellent Condition 662−

Lease, Deposit
245−3635
Start in the classifieds section for
& Credit Check Burial Plots your buying and selling needs!
viceinvestments.com 4 BUIAL PLOTS
327-8555 Looking for a new home?
Let us help, shop here.
in Friendship Cemetery.
South West corner. $2000 Ads starting at $12 for one week!
Call 662−574−5420
Apts For Rent: Other

ACROSS
1 Expansive
5 Brooch part
10 Rap sheet
name
12 Led Zeppe-
lin’s “Whole —
COLEMAN Love”
13 Barista’s
RENTALS
TOWNHOUSES & APARTMENTS creation
14 Squirrel’s find
1 BEDROOM 15 Running bird
2 BEDROOMS 16 Bun
3 BEDROOMS 18 Tom Cruise
LEASE, movie
© The Dispatch

20 Mamie’s mate
DEPOSIT 21 Mimic
AND 23 Homer’s
CREDIT CHECK neighbor 44 Admit 17 Count start
24 Spanish cat 45 Edward V 19 Gangster’s
662-329-2323 26 Work units and Richard III
46 Confession
gun
22 Work on a
28 Atlantic catch
2411 HWY 45 N 29 Newborn’s list room
COLUMBUS, MS need DOWN 24 Boarded
31 Hagen of 1 Parking pro 25 Travel kit plug
Commercial Property For Rent acting 2 Texas land- 27 Workout unit
32 Fred Astaire mark 28 Coyly man-
8000 SQ ft. dock height
movie 3 Crunch kin nered
warehouse w/ office 4 Tit for — 30 Devoured

Service Directory
space. $2000/month. 36 Tourney
Call Bud Phillips favorite 5 Applaud 33 Half of His-
662−549−2302 39 Brewpub 6 Door feature paniola
product 7 Lent effort 34 Bold poker
Houses For Rent: East
40 ATM button 8 Coxswain’s bet
41 Banish count 35 Prom group
1607 SHEPHARD RD.
$750/month. Plus Promote your small business starting at only $25 43 Take the 9 Gasped for 37 Search out
deposit.3br/1ba. wheel breath 38 Blunders
No pets. No HUD. Carpet & Flooring General Services General Services Lawn Care / Landscaping 11 Attacked 42 Crosses out
Call 662−889−2031
A & T TREE SERVICES SAM’S LAWN SERVICE
Bucket truck & stump No lawn too large or too
Houses For Rent: Other removal. Free est. small. Mowing, trimming &
Serving Columbus weedeating.
IDEAL FOR 1 OR COUPLE! since 1987. Senior Call 662−243−1694
2BR/1BA w/ workshop. citizen disc. Call Alvin @
Caledonia school area. No 242−0324/241−4447 Painting & Papering
HUD. No pets. $675 dep + "We’ll go out on a limb for
$687 rent, incl trash. you!" QUALITY PAINTING.
662−386−5000. Ext/Int Painting.
DAVID’S CARPET & WORK WANTED: Licensed Sheet Rock Hang, Finish &
UPHOLSTERY & Bonded. Carpentry, minor Repair. Pressure Washing.
NEAR CAFB: 3BR/2BA @ CLEANING electrical, minor plumbing, Free Estimates. Ask for
525 Co−Op Rd, Columbus. FALL SPECIAL insulation, painting, demo− specials! Larry Webber,
1600sqft, quiet area, 4 Rooms − $99 lition, gutters cleaned, 662−242−4932.
Columbus City Schools. Carpet − Rugs − Cars pressure washing, land−
ALL appliances, washer/ Call for more info! scaping, cleanup work.
662−722−1758 SULLIVAN’S PAINT
dryer, pool table, & dining 662−242−3608. SERVICE
room furn incl. Large Lawn Care / Landscaping Special Prices.
private lot close to golf General Services Interior & Exterior Painting.
course. $850/mo + dep. 662−435−6528
662−574−1711. JESSE & BEVERLY’S
DUMP TRUCK HAULING. LAWN SERVICE
Slag − $400 Mowing, cleanup, Tree Services
Mobile Homes for Rent Clay Gravel − $250 landscaping, sodding,
Available for hauling any & tree cutting. J&A TREE REMOVAL
materials. Columbus. Call
RV/MOBILE HOME SITE
Walter, 662−251−8664. Got leaky pipes? 662−356−6525 Work from a bucket truck.
East or West Columbus or Find a plumber in the Insured/bonded.
near CAFB, Caledonia Are you a painter? Call Jimmy Prescott for free
schools. 601−940−1397. cdispatch.com classifieds. Advertise here! estimate, 662−386−6286.