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Wednesday | December 2, 2020

Utilities aid customers in freezing temps

‘You don’t want to be caught in a position where service the wake of the
COVID-19 pan-

has been cut off, then the weather gets really cold’
BY SLIM SMITH
ssmith@cdispatch.com
When Brandon Presley was a
kid growing up in Nettleton, he
remembers days when he would
come home from school to find
the electricity shut off. There
were times when his single mom
just didn’t have the money to pay
the bill.
“It’s something that can hap-
pen to working families,” Presley
said. “I know that for a fact.”
As the Northern District pub-
lic service commissioner, Pres-
ley never forgot those days.
In 2009, Presley pushed
through a Public Service Com-
mission rule that prohibits Mis-
sissippi utility providers from
disconnecting service on any
day when a freeze warning is in
effect.
Since then, utility companies
serving the Golden Triangle
— including Columbus Light
and Water, Starkville Utilities
Department, 4-County Electric
Power Association and Atmos
Energy — all have policies that
expand on the 2009 PSC rule.
“Our policy is pretty simple,”
said Todd Gale, general manag-
er at Columbus Light and Water.
“We don’t cut off power during
severe weather conditions. We
don’t want to see any customers
put in that situation.”
State and federal authorities
suspended utility disconnec-
tions from March until June in
demic. Since
then, cut-offs
for nonpay-
ment of bills
have resumed.
CLW, SUD and
4-County offi-
cials say about 1 Presley Gale Morgan
percent (CLW, volition,” said Robert Morgan,
4-County) to 2.7 percent (SUD) vice president for public affairs at
of its customers are disconnect- Atmos, a company that supplies
ed each month. natural gas. “With all that’s going
The exception is Atmos. on with the way the pandemic
“Right now and throughout has affected the economy, we felt
the pandemic, we have suspend- it was just the right thing to do.”
ed disconnections of our own See UTILITIES, 6A

MATCH POINT City seeks funds

to address,
prevent flood
damage to
buildings
Columbus to soon
award bid for $6.5M
street paving project
BY YUE STELLA YU
syu@cdispatch.com

Columbus City
Council unanimously
voted Monday night
to begin the applica-
tion process for two
federal hazard miti-
gation grants to ad-
dress flooding dam-
ages. Dillon
Administered by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA), both grants are aimed
Tess Vrbin/Dispatch Staff
at reducing future damages from
William Downs, left, reaches to try to return a volley from Kacy Bui, right, at the McKee Park tennis courts Tuesday in flooding and improving the city’s
Starkville. Downs and Bui are both students at Mississippi State University and said they come to McKee Park if the MSU infrastructure, said Joe Dillon, the
tennis courts are full. Downs said he picked up tennis as a hobby this past semester after a friend invited him to play. city’s hazard mitigation manager.
The council’s vote Monday night
gives Dillon the green light to work
out a detailed plan — including the
project costs and estimated time-
line — which he will bring back to

Tupelo cigar lounge owner makes case the council for approval before sub-
mitting the applications, he said.
One of the grants is the Building

to locate in downtown Starkville Resilient Infrastructure and Com-

Spruill, several aldermen support
proposed change to smoking
ordinance to allow business to
open at former Mugshots building
BY TESS VRBIN
tvrbin@cdispatch.com
Mayor Lynn Spruill had not con-
sidered that Starkville could be
home to a cigar shop and lounge
until a business owner from Tupelo
approached the city with the idea
about a month ago.
“I think of those as much more
focused (on) urban areas like New Spruill
York or Chicago, and I didn’t real-
ize they had them in other places in Mississippi,”
See ALDERMEN, 6A
munities Grant (BRIC), which can
be used for the city’s building code
improvements, hazard mitigation
planning and other mitigation-relat-
ed expenses, according to FEMA’s
website. The grant comes with a
25-percent match from the city. If
approved, the city could receive up
to $600,000 from FEMA and match
it with up to $200,000, Dillon said.
Government entities need to
submit detailed plans for the grant
and compete against each other,
Dillon said. The application dead-
line is Jan. 29.
“It’s a very competitive process,”
Dillon said. “... We believe we’ve got
Tess Vrbin/Dispatch Staff a good chance at it. It can be up to
John Higgins, right, owner of the Tupelo-based Spring Street Cigars chain an $800,000 project.”
of cigar shops and lounges, explains to the Starkville Board of Aldermen Dillon also hopes to apply for the
Tuesday why he hopes to open a fifth location at the northwest corner
of Washington and Main streets, the former home of Mugshots Grill and federal Flood Mitigation Assistance
Bar. The city will have to add cigar lounges to the list of exceptions to its Grant, which can only be used to
anti-smoking ordinance in order for Higgins to set up shop, and the board purchase and demolish public and
will vote on the proposed change to the ordinance at the Dec. 15 meeting. See COUNCIL, 6A

WEATHER FIVE QUESTIONS CALENDAR LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC

Jack Matthews
First grade, Annunciation
1 What brand of Wrigley’s chewing gum was Today and Thursday MEETINGS
the first item ever to have its barcode scanned Dec. 7: Lown-
■ Holiday Bazaar: Shop for Christmas at
— Juicy Fruit, Doublemint or Big Red? des County
2 What word, meaning “marked by the intense the annual Holiday Bazaar held at the Mill;
irrational reality of a dream,” was Merri- more details to come. Follow on Instagram@ Board of Super-
am-Webster’s most looked-up in 2016? StarkvilleHolidayBazaar; 662-323-3322. visors meet-
3 What organization did a New Jersey ing, 9 a.m.,
fourth-grader apply to when angling for the po-
sition of Planetary Protection officer, in 2017? Thursday Lowndes County
4 What martial art uses bamboo swords for ■ Hospice Tree Lighting Ceremony: Bap- Courthouse,

53 Low 34
combat instruction? tist Hospice-Golden Triangle honors lives of
facebook.com/
High 5 What South American river shares its name those lost with this outdoor event at 5:30
with a company that purchased Whole Foods p.m. at 2309 Bluecutt Road, Suite B. Light LowndesCounty-
Mostly sunny
in 2017? refreshments served. 662-243-1173. Mississippi/
Full forecast on Answers, 8B
page 3A. Dec. 15:
Friday Columbus City
■ Grinch Fest: Don’t let the grinch steal Council, 5 p.m.,
INSIDE your Christmas; watch for plans. This event Municipal Com-
Classifieds 8B Food 5B from 5-8 p.m. features downtown shop-
plex, facebook.
Comics 6B Obituaries 5A ping, activities and getting your “passport”
Crossword 3B Opinions 4A stamped in Whoville. Main Street Columbus, Caledonia resident Brandon Chrest com/CityofCo-
141st Year, No. 226 Dear Abby 6B 662-328-6305. wants to be an Air Force pilot. lumbusMS/

DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471

2A WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Disputing Trump, Barr says

no widespread election fraud
Giuliani: ‘With all due respect to the Attorney
General, there hasn’t been any semblance’ of an
investigation into the president’s complaints
BY MICHAEL BALSAMO
The Associated Press
WA S H I N G T O N
— Disputing Presi-
dent Donald Trump’s
persistent, baseless
claims, Attorney Gen-
eral William Barr de-
clared the U.S. Justice
Department has un-
covered no evidence Barr
of widespread voter fraud that could
change the outcome of the 2020
election.
Barr’s comments, in an interview
Tuesday with the The Associated
Press, contradict the concerted ef-
fort by Trump, his boss, to subvert
the results of last month’s voting and
block President-elect Joe Biden from
taking his place in the White House.
Barr told the AP that U.S. at-
torneys and FBI agents have been
working to follow up specific com-
plaints and information they’ve
received, but “to date, we have not
seen fraud on a scale that could have
effected a different outcome in the
election.”
The comments, which drew im-
mediate criticism from Trump attor-
neys, were especially notable com-
ing from Barr, who has been one of
the president’s most ardent allies.
Before the election, he had repeat-
edly raised the notion that mail-in
voting could be especially vulnera-
ble to fraud during the coronavirus
pandemic as Americans feared go-
ing to polls and instead chose to vote
by mail.
More to Trump’s liking, Barr
revealed in the AP interview that
in October he had appointed U.S.
Attorney John Durham as a special
counsel, giving the prosecutor the
authority to continue to investigate
the origins of the Trump-Russia
probe after Biden takes over and
making it difficult to fire him. Biden
hasn’t said what he might do with
the investigation, and his transition
team didn’t comment Tuesday.
Trump has long railed against the
investigation into whether his 2016
campaign was coordinating with
Russia, but he and Republican allies
had hoped the results would be de-
livered before the 2020 election and
would help sway voters. So far, there
has been only one criminal case, a
guilty plea from a former FBI lawyer
to a single false statement charge.
Under federal regulations, a spe-
cial counsel can be fired only by the
attorney general and for specific
reasons such as misconduct, dere-
liction of duty or conflict of interest.
An attorney general must document
such reasons in writing.
Barr went to the White House
Tuesday for a previously scheduled
meeting that lasted about three
hours.
Trump didn’t directly comment
on the attorney general’s remarks
on the election. But his personal
attorney Rudy Giuliani and his po-
litical campaign issued a scathing
statement claiming that, “with all
due respect to the Attorney General,
there hasn’t been any semblance” of
an investigation into the president’s
complaints.
Other administration officials
who have come out forcefully against
Trump’s allegations of voter-fraud
evidence have been fired. But it’s not
clear whether Barr might suffer the
same fate. He maintains a lofty po-
sition with Trump, and despite their
differences the two see eye-to-eye
on quite a lot.
Still, Senate Democratic leader
Chuck Schumer quipped: “I guess
he’s the next one to be fired.”
Last month, Barr issued a di-
rective to U.S. attorneys across the
country allowing them to pursue
any “substantial allegations” of vot-
ing irregularities before the 2020
presidential election was certified,
despite no evidence at that time of
widespread fraud.

Trump files lawsuit challenging Wisconsin election results

BY SCOTT BAUER
The Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. —
President Donald Trump
filed a lawsuit Tuesday in
Wisconsin seeking to dis-
qualify more than 221,000
ballots in the state’s two
most Democratic coun-
ties, a longshot attempt to
overturn Joe Biden’s win
in a battleground state he
lost by nearly 20,700 votes.
Trump filed the day
after Democratic Gov.
Tony Evers and the chair-
woman of the Wisconsin
Elections Commission
certified Biden as the
winner of the state’s 10
Electoral College votes.
Trump asked the Wiscon-
sin Supreme Court to take
the case directly, rather
than have it start in a low-
er court, and order Evers
to withdraw the certifica-
tion.
The Wisconsin Su-
preme Court gave Evers
until 8:30 p.m. Tuesday to
respond to the lawsuit, an
unusually tight deadline
that speaks to how quickly
the court is likely to de-
cide the case.
The state’s highest
court, controlled 4-3 by
conservatives, also is con-
sidering whether to hear
two other lawsuits filed
by conservatives seeking
to invalidate ballots cast
during the presidential
election. Separately, two
Wisconsin Republicans
filed a new federal law-
suit Tuesday that mirrors
some of Trump’s claims
and asks a judge to de-
clare him the winner in
Wisconsin.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 3A

Reeves forgoes statewide mask mandate, adds 13 more counties

Governor’s decision to forgo a statewide mask mandate comes as 12
major hospitals had no intensive care unit beds available Tuesday
BY LEAH WILLINGHAM
Associated Press/Report for America
JACKSON — Gov. Tate
Reeves instituted mask man-
dates in 13 more Mississippi
counties Tuesday but chose not
to implement the measure state-
wide, a week after several prom-
inent health care leaders called
on him to do so.
During a press briefing, the
Republican governor said he
believes issuing mask require-
ments in counties with the high-
est number of new cases will
encourage people to take the
regulations more seriously than
a blanket approach would. A to-
tal of 54 out of the state’s 82 coun-
ties now have a mask mandate.
“I almost feel like there are
those out there who really, tru-
ly believe if I were to write an
executive order, a statewide
prohibition against hurricanes
in 2021, that we won’t have any
hurricanes,” Reeves said. “It just
doesn’t work that way.”
Reeves instituted a statewide
mask mandate in early August,
but revoked the measure at the
end of September when new
coronavirus cases were declin-
ing in Mississippi. As cases have
risen again in recent weeks, he
has begun implementing mask
mandates in individual counties.
Four health care leaders have
said it’s time for Reeves to go a
step further. They wrote a letter
to Reeves on Nov. 24 calling for
another statewide mask man-
date.
“The statewide mask man-
date, which was highly effective,
needs to be reinstituted,” said
a letter signed by Dr. LouAnn
Woodward of the University of
Mississippi Medical Center; Dr.
Anita Henderson, president-elect
of the Mississippi Chapter of the
American Academy of Pediat-
rics; Dr. Claude Brunson, exec-
utive director of the Mississippi
State Medical Association; and
Dr. James Griffin Jr., president
of the Mississippi Academy of
Family Physicians.
Reeves said Tuesday that he
would not comment on the let-
ter, but said he believes a coun-
ty-by-county approach is best for
Mississippi currently.
The 13 new counties under
mask mandate are Quitman,
Jefferson, Franklin, Noxubee,
Kemper, Amite, Coahoma, Sun-
flower, Scott, Adams, Oktibbe-
ha, Monroe and Washington
counties.
The state health department
reported a record number of
coronavirus hospitalizations
Tuesday, with 1,057 coronavirus
patients reported to be hospital-
ized in Mississippi as of Monday.
Reeves’ decision to forgo a
statewide mask mandate comes
as 12 major hospitals had no in-
tensive care unit beds available
Tuesday, State Health Officer
Dr. Thomas Dobbs said.
“We are getting to the point
now where we are getting noti-
fications about patients who can-
not get transferred to a higher
level of care when they need it,
and it’s because most of our hos-
pital systems have been saturat-
ed,” Dobbs said during a virtual
press briefing with the health
department Tuesday.
The state health department
said Tuesday that Mississip-
pi, with a population of about
3 million, has reported more
than 154,400 coronavirus cases
and at least 3,836 deaths from
COVID-19 as of Monday eve-
ning. That’s an increase of 1,141
cases and 29 deaths from the day
before. Twenty-five deaths that
occurred between Nov. 24 and
Nov. 30 were identified through
death certificates.

Mississippi schools receive computers for distance learning

State Department of Education has the bulk program, and
that is how the 325,000
State University’s Stennis
Institute of Government
in-person classes or a mix
of in-person and online.
they had to do was take it
out of the box, and it was
delivered about 325K computers to devices were bought. An-
other 65,000 devices were
and the Capitol press
corps.
State legislators allo-
cated part of the federal
ready to roll,” Wright said.
Wright said about 80
public schools in recent weeks purchased separately. Gov. Tate Reeves or- coronavirus relief money or 90 people are working
Wright said Monday dered Mississippi schools to expand internet access, on a professional devel-
BY EMILY The state Department that bulk purchasing “put to stop providing in-per- particularly in rural areas. opment team to provide
WAGSTER PET TUS of Education has deliv- us at the front of the line” son instruction during School districts were able training for teachers,
The Associated Press ered about 325,000 laptop as school districts across the spring as the corona- to decide how to spend school staff and parents
computers or tablets to the United States are try- virus began spreading their share of the money. about how to use laptops
JACK- public schools in recent ing to buy computers for in the state. As schools Some have offered wifi and tablets.
SON — weeks. The devices were students and teachers. moved to online lessons hotspots and others have “We heard loud and
Mississippi purchased with part of The high demand has for the final weeks of the wanted to put up towers clear from families,”
schools are the coronavirus relief caused long waiting times 2019-20 academic year, “it to improve cellphone ser- Wright said. “They were
closer to money that Mississippi in many places. became very evident very vice, Wright said. struggling. They didn’t
overcom - received from the federal “Nationally, there’s no quickly, children that had The laptops and tablets know how to access a
ing the dig- government. other state that procured connectivity and children that arrived through the Zoom meeting. They
ital divide Wright Mississippi school dis- what we procured, and that did not,” Wright said bulk purchasing program didn’t know what Google
that quick- tricts had the option to we did it because we were Monday. were loaded with all the Classroom meant.”
ly became evident at the buy laptops or tablets on able to do that in one fell Some Mississippi software they need, and a Wright said the state
outset of the coronavirus their own, or to be part swoop,” Wright said. schools have continued protective case was put on Department of Education
pandemic, state Superin- of a bulk purchasing pro- She was speaking online-only instruction each device. will also hire digital learn-
tendent of Education Car- gram through the state. during an online forum during the fall semester, “When the districts re- ing coaches to help teach-
ey Wright said Monday. Most opted to be part of hosted by Mississippi while many have offered ceived those devices, all ers and students.

30 named storms: Record hurricane season comes to a close

Five of the 12 storms that hit the U.S.
this year made landfall in Louisiana
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MONTGOMERY, Ala.
— A record-setting Atlan-
tic hurricane season that
saw the highest number
of named storms officially
came to a close Monday.
The National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Admin-
istration said the 2020
Atlantic hurricane sea-
son set multiple records
while producing a record
30 named storms. There
were so many that the list
of 21 conventional names
was exhausted and the
Greek alphabet was used
for only the second time.
The season also saw
the second-highest num-
ber of hurricanes on re-
cord after 13 of the storms
reached hurricane status.
There were six major hur-
ricanes with top winds
of 111 mph or greater.
NOAA said an average
season has 12 named
storms, six hurricanes
and three become major
hurricanes.
“We had more named
storms in the Atlantic ba-
sin than any other year on
record, breaking the old
record of 28 set in 2005,”
said Phil Klotzbach, a
research scientist with
the Department of Atmo-
spheric Science at Colora-
do State University.
This season also set a
record for the number of
storms that made land-
fall in the continental
U.S. with 12 such storms.
Klotzbach said of those 12
named storms, six made
landfall at hurricane
strength, tying the record
of six hurricane landfalls
also set in 1886 and 1985.
“The 2020 Atlantic
hurricane season ramped
up quickly and broke re-
cords across the board,”
said Neil Jacobs, acting
NOAA administrator, in a
news release.
Five of the 12 storms
that hit the United States
this year made landfall in
Louisiana.
“Louisiana was espe-
cially hard hit this year,
with five named storms
hitting the state. The
prior record for named
storms hitting Louisiana
in a single hurricane sea-
son is 4 set in 2002,” Klot-
zbach said.
“Today marks the end
of the 2020 hurricane sea-
son. It’s been a hard one,
but if we’ve learned any-
thing from the five storms
that came ashore this
year it’s that the people
of Louisiana are resilient
and by working together,
there’s no challenge too
great for us to overcome,”
Louisiana Gov. John Bel
Edwards wrote on Twit-
ter.
Jean Lafitte Mayor
Tim Kerner Jr. told The
T i m e s - P i c a y u n e/ T h e
New Orleans Advocate
that closing the book on
the 2020 season brings
welcome relief to his
south Louisiana commu-
nity.
“It was an incredibly
stressful time for the en-
tire community,” he said
of all the times his town
had to go on a storm foot-
ing. “Each time, you have
to prepare like the worst
is going to happen.”
Hurricane season
runs from June 1 through
November 30 although
storms can form before
and after those dates.
NOAA said this was Get promoted? Win an award?
the fifth consecutive year
with an above-normal At-
Send us your business brief.
lantic hurricane season, news@cdispatch.com
with 18 above-normal subject: Business brief
seasons out of the past 26.

Confederate president’s name

to disappear from Biloxi school
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BILOXI — A Missis-
sippi district is removing
Confederate President
Jefferson Davis’ name
from an elementary
school and has chosen a
new name that highlights
geography rather than
history.
Back Bay Elementary
will be the new name of
the school in Biloxi. The
local school board ap-
proved the change Nov.
17 after a committee
discussed dozens of pos-
ported. New signs will go
up on campus in January.
Davis was a U.S. sen-
ator from Mississippi be-
fore the Civil War. At the
end of his life, he lived in a
Biloxi home called Beau-
voir, which faces the Gulf
of Mexico. Davis died in
New Orleans in 1889, and
Beavoir has been a muse-
um for decades.
Amid the widespread
discussion of racial injus-
tice in the United States
in recent years, local gov-
ernments — particularly
reconsidering the public
display of Confederate
monuments and some
have renamed schools
and other buildings that
were previously named
for Confederate figures.
The Biloxi School
District announced in
September that it would
rename Jeff Davis Ele-
mentary, which was built
from 1960 to 1961.
Today, about 18 per-
cent of Jeff Davis students
are Black, according to
SOLUNAR TABLE
the Mississippi Depart- The solunar period indicates
peak-feeding times for fish and game.

sibilities, WLOX-TV re- in the South — have been ment of Education. Major
Wed.
2:21a
Thur.
3:15a
Minor — 8:17p
Major 2:48p 3:42p
Minor 10:17a 11:11a
Courtesy of Mississippi Department
of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks

CORRECTION
■ A photography cutline in Tuesday’s edition of The Dispatch incorrectly identi-
fied an individual in the photo. Sidney Runnels played Santa Claus during Monday
The Dispatch
The Commercial Dispatch (USPS 142-320)
Published daily except Saturday. Answers to common questions:
evening’s Christmas tree lighting in downtown Columbus. We regret the error. Entered at the post office at Columbus, Mississippi.
Periodicals postage paid at Columbus, MS Phone: 662-328-2424
POSTMASTER, Send address changes to:
The Commercial Dispatch strives to report the news accurately. When we print an The Commercial Dispatch, P.O. Box 511, Columbus, MS 39703 Website: cdispatch.com/help
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Opinion
4A WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020
PETER BIRNEY IMES Editor/Publisher
BIRNEY IMES III Editor/Publisher 1998-2018
BIRNEY IMES JR. Editor/Publisher 1947-2003

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

ZACK PLAIR, Managing Editor

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

THE MEDIA

It is time for us to break our addiction to Trump

D
ear Col- Like a patch of dential candidate benefits from legitimate and, in the process, out everything this side of
leagues: blue in a thunder- this; Hillary Clinton enjoyed made it so. By the time anyone fireworks and air horns as he
Well, that storm sky, nor- $3.24 billion in free coverage thought to subject him to the tries to maintain his place at
was . . . normal. malcy reappears. herself. But here is the distinc- kind of scrutiny a “real” presi- center stage under the world
President-elect Yet even as one tion: Trump received wildly dential candidate faces, it was spotlight.
Biden slips while basks in the feeble disparate media attention long too late. Do not allow him to do
playing with his sunshine of it, before he proved himself a Donald Trump is president it. The man is an attention
dog on Saturday one wonders how serious force in that campaign. in large part because we junkie, but as our coverage
and has to go to the long that patch of Indeed, the disparity was did not ignore him when we of the 2016 campaign proved,
hospital, where he blue can last. The likely crucial in making him could have and should have, we are all too happy to be his
is diagnosed with answer, of course, competitive in the first place. an option we lost on Election enablers. It is time to break
hairline fractures is not knowable. He drew media attention Day. What a president does this co-dependency. Yes, cover
in the bones of his Leonard Pitts What is knowable, not because anyone thought and says —no matter how him when something truly
foot, necessitating though, is that he could win but because, stupid —is the very definition newsworthy happens, but for
a few weeks in a however durable it against the likes of Jeb Bush, of news. the love of Cronkite, let’s lose
walking boot. The information ultimately proves will depend Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, What an ex-president does the habit of dutifully recording
is released in a businesslike and in large part on those of us he was entertainment, comic and says, however, is a dif- his every hiccup and twitch.
apparently transparent manner. who report and opine upon the relief. Reporters chased after ferent matter entirely. And The nation will be better for it.
No doctor even bothers to re- news for a living. Put simply: him the way a puppy chases therein lies an opportunity. Journalism will, too.
port that Biden was “a phenom- It is time for us to break our after a ball — and for the same Not that Trump will make After Jan. 20, we will regain
enal patient.” addiction to Trump. reason; it was fun. As the it easy. Unlike his modern the freedom we lost in 2016.
Indeed, so pervasive is the As has often been noted, his saying goes, Trump gave good predecessors, he will not go After Jan. 20, we can choose to
sense of adult competence that 2016 rise to power was fueled quote, was only too happy quietly into retirement. To the ignore Donald Trump.
it even seems to infect Donald in large part by what amount- to spout the outrageous, the contrary, it’s safe to assume Let’s.
Trump. “Get well soon!” he ed to some $5 billion in free insulting, the ignorant and the that, from Biden’s first day Leonard Pitts Jr., winner
tweets. And that’s all he says. advertising — i.e., interviews, offensive. Instead of treating as president, Trump will of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for
He doesn’t even call Biden coverage of his rallies, stories his candidacy as we once did seek to function as a Greek commentary, is a columnist for
“Sleepy Joe” or tie the injury to about his tweets — from news Dave Barry’s — i.e., as a stunt chorus of condemnation and the Miami Herald. Email him
some bizarre conspiracy theory. media. Mind you, every presi- — we treated it as if it was criticism. Expect him to whip at lpitts@miamiherald.com.

OTHER EDITORS
We need another national aid package
The pandemic has taken some of the
joy out of the upcoming holiday season.
It could be a real downer for some 12 mil-
lion Americans if Congress does not work
out its differences over another coronavi-
rus relief package.
That’s how many it is estimated will
lose their unemployment benefits when
two emergency programs created by
Congress earlier this year expire on Dec.
26.
The nation’s economy has bounced
back more than halfway from the deep
plunge it took in the spring, but hiring is
still far short of its pre-pandemic lev-
els. Some of those gains also could be
reversed this winter if the virus continues
to surge.
There is hope on the horizon from
vaccinations that are performing well in
studies and moving rapidly toward de-
ployment. In the meantime, though, the
government is going to have to provide a
bigger safety net than normal for those
who lose their livelihood through no fault
of their own.
Both political parties agree about that.
They need to work out a compromise to
make it happen. They need to find a point
of compromise.
Greenwood Commonwealth
I
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
Appreciates recent Slimantics
Egg Bowl column
That is sooooo funny, Slim.
How in the world did you think of that?
Supreme Court next?
James Hodges
Steens
Correction and praise
of Operation Warp Speed
I wanted to correct an error I made in
my December 1 letter that I didn’t notice
until after it had already been printed.
I stated that President-elect Biden won
the popular vote by a margin of 8 million
votes which is incorrect. The actual
margin was slightly under 7 million
votes. This margin seems unlikely
to change significantly since most,
perhaps all, states have either already
certified their results or are no longer
involved in recounts.
Secondly, though I never hesitate
to criticize President Trump and his
administration, I did want to applaud the
decision to go forward with Operation
Warp Speed. The decision to pursue the
manufacture of many different vaccine
candidates in advance of determining
how effective (or not) each candidate
would turn out to be was the right one
and has thus far succeeded spectac-
ularly. As we have seen recently, sev-
eral candidates have turned out to be
extremely effective; their manufacture
will help not only our country but others
to approach and reach herd immunity
much sooner than we would have other-
wise.
It was also wise of prior administra-
tions to support the continued funding
of basic coronavirus research by the US
National Institute of Health (NIH) — a
great example of the wisdom of continu-
ally funding basic research.
Paul Mack
Columbus
THE NATION
Has Bibi boxed Biden in on Iran?
f Israel, as is univer-
sally believed and has
not been denied, was
behind the assassination
of Iran’s leading nuclear
scientist, questions arise:
Why would the Israelis
kill him? And why would
they do it now?
The scientist, Mohsen
Fakhrizadeh, it is conced-
ed, was a leader in Iran’s
nuclear bomb program, Patrick Buchanan
but that program was
disbanded in 2003.
Under George W. Bush, in 2007, all
17 U.S. intelligence agencies declared
with “high confidence” that Iran no
longer had a bomb program.
Four years later, the same intel
agencies affirmed that finding.
Since 2015, Iran’s nuclear facilities,
under the Iran nuclear deal, have
been subject to U.N. surveillance and
inspections. And Iran has neither
produced plutonium nor enriched
uranium to the 90% level needed for a
bomb.
Israel claims Iran never stopped
working on a bomb, but U.S. intel
agencies and U.N. nuclear inspectors
have agreed that the military nuclear
program that Fakhrizadeh oversaw
was ended in 2003.
So, again, why would Prime Minis-
ter Bibi Netanyahu authorize Mossad
to send an assassination team to Iran
to kill the nuclear scientist? And why
now?
If Iran is actually running a secret
program to build a bomb in violation of of Iran’s top nuclear scientist seems
the nuclear deal, why not identify the
site of the violation, demand that U.N.
inspectors visit, expose Iranian duplic- put on the back burner. He is seen by
ity to the world, and kill the deal?
Why kill the scientist?
From Netanyahu’s standpoint,
there are, however, many motives to
make the call to kill Fakhrizadeh.
To humiliate the Iranian regime.
To demonstrate Mossad’s capacity to
kill Israel’s enemies with impunity. To
send a message to others
working in Iran’s nuclear
program that the regime’s
security forces cannot
protect them.
To Sunni and Gulf
Arabs who see Iran as a
sectarian and strategic ri-
val and adversary, Israel’s
ability to punish Iran and
its regional militias with
repeated, unanswered
strikes makes Israel a far
more desirable ally and
partner than ever before.
But with this strike, Bibi was also
sending a message to Joe Biden, who
is seven weeks away from assuming
the presidency.
What is Bibi’s message?
Mr. President-elect: This Mossad
operation should tell you how seriously
we view Iran’s determination to build
a nuclear bomb, and how existential
a threat that would be for us. And we
intend to deal with that threat sooner
rather than later.
And if, on taking office, you try to
rejoin the Iran nuclear deal and lift
U.S. sanctions in return for Iran’s full
compliance with the terms of that deal,
then we will not be restricted in the
actions we take to prevent that from
happening.
As President Trump put America
first, we put Israel first, and Iran tops
the list of threats we intend to face —
preferably with you, but if necessary,
alone.
From Bibi’s standpoint, the killing
to be a win-win-win proposition. Bibi’s
personal scandals are eclipsed and
Israelis as a man of action and deci-
sive protector of the nation against its
greatest threat.
Should Iran answer the assassina-
tion with a counterstrike, that could
lead to Israeli retaliation, escalation,
and war. This could turn Bibi into a
wartime prime minister like Winston
Churchill and fulfill his dream of
having America bring its full air, naval
and missile power to deliver a crush-
ing blow to the Iranian military and
the Ayatollah’s regime.
However, the assassination of
Fakhrizadeh and Iran’s resolve to
retaliate complicates — if it does not
close — Biden’s path toward rejoining
the nuclear deal and reconciling with
Iran.
If the killing ignites a war, Tehran
knows there is a real possibility that
America would align with Israel, as
Donald Trump detests the Iranian
regime as much as Netanyahu does.
And if the “moderates” in Tehran
fail to maintain the national honor by
retaliating against Israel, that could
result in a hardline regime winning in
this year’s elections.
A return of the hardliners could
mean a total collapse of the Iran nucle-
ar deal and a new cold war that could
eventually end in the hot war Middle
East hawks — in Iran, Israel and the
USA — have long desired.
As Trump showed with the assas-
sination of Gen. Qasem Soleimani in
his car coming out of Baghdad airport,
he does not recoil from direct action
against perceived enemies.
Last week, the U.S. flew two B-52s
out of Minot, North Dakota, to the
Middle East. The USS Nimitz carrier
group began moving out of the Indian
Ocean toward the Persian Gulf.
Four days before the hit on the
Iranian scientist, Netanyahu met se-
cretly in a Red Sea port city with Saudi
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Was Pompeo told what the Israelis
were about to do? Did the U.S. know
of, approve of, or not object to the
attack? Do Americans want this war
that seems closer today?
Patrick J. Buchanan, a nationally
syndicated columnist, was a senior advi-
sor to presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald
Ford and Ronald Reagan. His website is
http://buchanan.org/blog.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 5A

US panel: 1st vaccines to health care workers, nursing homes

Experts: Vaccine will probably not become
widely available in the U.S. until the spring
BY MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer
NEW YORK — Health care
workers and nursing home res-
idents should be at the front of
the line when the first coronavi-
rus vaccine shots become avail-
able, an influential government
advisory panel said Tuesday.
The panel voted 13-1 to
recommend those groups get
priority in the first days of any
coming vaccination program,
when doses are expected to be
very limited. The two groups
encompass about 24 million
people out of a U.S. population
of about 330 million.
Later this month, the Food
and Drug Administration will
consider authorizing emergen-
cy use of two vaccines made by
Pfizer and Moderna. Current
estimates project that no more
than 20 million doses of each
vaccine will be available by the
end of 2020. And each product
requires two doses. As a result,
the shots will be rationed in the
early stages.
The Advisory Committee
on Immunization Practices will
meet again at some point to
decide who should be next in
line. Among the possibilities:
teachers, police, firefighters
and workers in other essential
fields such as food production
and transportation; the elder-
ly; and people with underlying
medical conditions.
Tuesday’s action merely des-
ignated who should get shots
first if a safe and effective vac-
cine becomes available. The
panel did not endorse any par-
ticular vaccine. Panel members
are waiting to hear FDA’s eval-
uation and to see more safety
and efficacy data before endors-
ing any particular product.
Experts say the vaccine will
probably not become widely
available in the U.S. until the
spring.
The panel of outside scien-
tific experts, created in 1964,
makes recommendations to the
director of the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention,
who almost always approves
them. It normally has 15 voting
members, but one seat is va-
cant.
The recommendations are
not binding, but for decades
they have been widely heeded
by doctors, and they have deter-
mined the scope and funding of
U.S. vaccination programs.
It will be up to state authori-
ties whether to follow the guid-
ance. It will also be left to them
to make further, more detailed
decisions if necessary — for
example, whether to put emer-
gency room doctors and nurs-
es ahead of other health care
workers if vaccine supplies are
low.
The outbreak in the U.S.
has killed nearly 270,000 peo-
ple and caused more than 13.5
million confirmed infections,
with deaths, hospitalizations
and cases rocketing in recent
weeks.
As the virtual meeting got
underway, panel member Dr.
Beth Bell of the University of
Washington noted that on av-
erage, one person is dying of
COVID-19 per minute in the
U.S. right now, “so I guess we
are acting none too soon.”
About 3 million people are
living in nursing homes, long-
term chronic care hospitals,
and other U.S. long-term care
facilities. Those patients and
the staff members who care
for them have accounted for 6
percent of the nation’s corona-
virus cases and a staggering
39 percent of the deaths, CDC
officials say.

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AREA OBITUARIES
to Jimmy Brownlee
and Sue York. She was
formerly employed as a
homemaker and was a
member of Friendship
Baptist Church.
In addition to her
parents, she is survived
by her husband, Andy
Miller; children, Cory
James McDonald of
Guyton and Scotty
McDonald of Sturgis;
siblings, Carla Miller
of Columbus and Robin
Miller of Starkville; 17
grandchildren; and one
great-grandchild.
Memorials may be
made to Friendship
Baptist Church, 5491
Craig Springs Rd., Stur-
gis, MS 39769.
Arthur Everson Jr.
WEST POINT —
Arthur Everson Jr., 80,
died Nov. 23, 2020, at
10:30-11 a.m. prior to of Southaven, Joyce
service at the cemetery. Everson of West Point,
Carter’s Mortuary Darlene Walker of
Services of West Point Tupelo, Helen Mack of
is in charge of arrange- West Columbia, South
ments. Carolina, Cynthia
Mr. Everson was Thomas, Corine Jones,
born Dec. 16, 1939, Tabitha Robinson and
in West Point, to the
Regenia Robinson all
late Henry A. Everson
Sr. and Mary L. Mar- of West Point; siblings,
ble-Everson. He was a Willie Frank Everson,
veteran of the U.S. Air Henry C. Everson,
Force. Mary Ellen Rambus
He is survived by and Betty Jean Ed-
his wife, Mary Etta wards all of West Point;
Harris-Everson; chil- 23 grandchildren; and
dren, Timothy Webber 15 great-grandchildren.

finalized by 3 p.m. for inclusion
the next day Monday through
Thursday; and on Friday by 3
p.m. for Sunday and Monday
publication. For more informa-
tion, call 662-328-2471.
Jimmy Elkin
COLUMBUS —
Jimmy Elkin, 85, died
Dec. 2, 2020, at Baptist
Memorial Hospital of
Oxford.
Arrangements are
incomplete and will be
announced by Lown-
des Funeral Home of
Columbus.
Sherry Miller
STARKVILLE —
Sherry Miller, 60,
died Nov. 30, 2020, at
Margreet Allbritton
his residence.
Graveside services
will be at 11 a.m. Thurs-
day, in Pool’s Memorial Margreet Allbritton age 95
Garden, with the Rev. died Monday, November 30,
Judias Neal officiating. 2020, at her residence in Steens.
Visitation will be from Services will be held
Wednesday, December 02,
2020, at 11:00 AM at New
Covenant Baptist Church
with Rev. Ed Nix officiating,
burial will follow at Pleasant
Hill Baptist Church Cemetery.
Visitation will be held Wednesday one hour prior
to service at the church.
Mrs. Allbritton was born on Saturday, January
03, 1925, in Calhoun City, MS to the late William
Henry and Callie Griffin Easley. She was a charter
member of Steens Baptist Church and retired as
after 16 years as a merchandising assistant at J.C.
Penny.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded
Margreet Allbritton in death by her husband, Leroy Albritton, Sr.;

OCH Regional Medical
Center.
Funeral services
are at 2 p.m. today,
at Friendship Baptist
Church, with Wade
Steven and the Rev.
Shannon Edwards
officiating. Burial will
follow in McClelland
Cemetery. Visitation
is one hour prior to
services. Welch Funer-
al Home is in charge of
arrangements.
Mrs. Miller was born
Jane Rogowski
Visitation:
Wednesday, Dec. 2 • 10-11 AM
New Covenant Baptist Church
Services:
Wednesday, Dec. 2 • 11 AM
New Covenant Baptist Church- SSGT Jane Frances Cooper
Burial
Rogowski passed away at her
Pleasant Hill Baptist
Church Cemetery home after a lengthy battle with
2nd Ave. N. Location cancer.
Due to the Public Health
Emergency, a celebration of life
will be held at a later date.
Mrs. Rogowski was born
on May 12, 1948, to the late
memorialgunterpeel.com George and Frances Cooper.
She graduated from Grange High School in
Kinston, NC in 1966 and briefly attended East
Carolina University. She then enlisted in the
USAF in 1973 and served 20 years. During her
career, she served tours in Thailand, Kuwait, and
during the Gulf War. After her Air Force career
ended she then went to work for the U.S Post
Office for 10 years. She then retired from the post
office to pursue her education. She attended the
Mississippi University for Women and graduated
in 2008 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree. She
was active in local art clubs and was a substitute
teacher in Columbus. An active member of the
Main Street Presbyterian Church, she was
involved with Sunday School.
Mrs. Rogowski is survived by her husband
of 43 years, John V. Rogowski; daughter, Rachel
Britton; grandsons, Jonathan Desmidt and Jack
Avery Britton; son-in-law, Jacky Britton; and
stepson, Mathew Rogowski as well as several
nieces, nephews and brothers-in-law.
The family would like to especially thank her
caregivers, Dawn Pate, Chris Hoemak, Jessica
Anthony, Wanda Johns, Gayle Thomas and
Monique Saddler.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that
memorials may be made to St. Judes Children’s
Research Hospital 501 St. Jude Place Memphis,
TN 38105 or to American Cancer Society P.O.
Box 22718 Oklahoma City, OK 73123.
Compliments of
Lowndes Funeral Home
www.lowndesfuneralhome.net
her sons, Leroy Allbritton, Jr., Wayne Allbritton
and Charles Leroy Allbritton; and her brother,
William Kenneth Easley.
Survivors include, daughters, Betty Tartt
(Buddy) and Geraline Holliman (John); daughter-
in-law, Donna Allbritton; grandchildren,
Michael Reynolds, (Renee’), Darren Allbritton,
(Kristy) and Jenna Mordecai, (Todd); great-
grandchildren, Josh Reynolds, (Haley), Dakota
Conner, (Chase), Kenton Allbritton, Ava
Mordecai, Anna Mordecai, Kyler Allbritton and
Jeremy Mordecai; great-great-grandchildren,
Paisley Conner, Ivy Reynolds and Christian Luke
Conner.
Serving as pallbearers will be Lee Younger,
Layman Alexander, Wendale Malone, Randy
Junkin, Tommy Garrett and Warren Conner
Serving as honorary pallbearers will be Hilda
Alexander, Vallie Gallop, Judy Malone, Lee
Gallop, Carl Stewart, Brenda Hughes and Shelia
Malone.
The Allbritton family would like to thank
Denise Sanders her special caregiver and
Michelle McGill and Dawn Grace of Baptist
Hospice for all their compassion during this time.
Memorial may be made to Gideons
International, P.O. Box 2174, Columbus, MS
39704.
Social distancing guidelines will be in place
and masks will be required.
Sign the online guest book at
www.memorialgunterpeel.com
716 Second Avenue North • Columbus, MS
Send in your church event!
Email editorialassistant@cdispatch.com
Subject: Religious brief
6A WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

Aldermen
Continued from Page 1A
Spruill said after Tues-
day’s board of aldermen
meeting.
Now that Spring Street
Cigars owner John Hig-
gins of Tupelo has made
his case to both the public
and city leaders, Spruill
said she thinks the pros-
pect of a downtown cigar
lounge is “kind of cool,”
and members of the board
of aldermen agree.
“I think it sounds like
a nice addi-
tion to down-
town,” Ward
5 Alderman
Hamp Be-
atty said
during the
meeting.
The city Beatty
will have to
amend its anti-smoking
ordinance, which bans
indoor smoking at most
public places, in order for
Higgins to set up shop at
the northwest corner of
Main and Washington
streets, the vacant former
home of Mugshots Grill
and Bar.
The current ordinance
bans smoking of any kind
in most public places but
makes exceptions for
private clubs, designated
rooms in hotels or motels
and stores that sell tobac-
co or electronic cigarettes
and are “not adjoined or
physically connected to
The former Mugshots Grill and Bar location at the corner of Main and Washington
streets in Starkville might become the fifth location of Tupelo-based Spring Street
Cigars. The city will have to amend its anti-smoking ordinance, which bans indoor
smoking at most public places, in order for owner John Higgins to set up shop. City
leaders have expressed support for the proposed ordinance change.
another business or resi-
dence.”
The proposed ordi-
nance change would add
a smoking lounge —
“which, as its primary
business purpose, pro-
motes the sale and use
of tobacco-based cigars
and/or hookahs on its
premises” — to the list
of exceptions, according
to documents provided
with the meeting agen-
da. These lounges would
have to be located within
standalone commercial
buildings in the city’s lei-
sure and entertainment
district, which allows
open containers of alco-
hol throughout most of
downtown and the Cotton
District.
Tuesday was the first
of two required public
hearings on the ordi-
nance change. Aldermen
can vote on the measure
after the second sched-
uled hearing Dec. 15.
The board voted 3-3 in
July, with Spruill break-
ing the tie in Ward 3 Al-
derman David Little’s
absence, to create the
temporary leisure and en-
tertainment district in an
Tess Vrbin/Dispatch Staff
attempt to bolster busi-
nesses that have strug-
gled due to the COVID-19
pandemic limiting activ-
ity. The temporary dis-
trict has no set expiration
date, so the aldermen
must take it up for anoth-
er vote if they ever decide
to discontinue it.
Higgins is a Missis-
sippi State University
alumnus and said he has
always wanted to open a
Spring Street Cigars lo-
cation in Starkville. He
opened the original loca-
tion in Tupelo in 2014 and
now has locations in Ox-
ford and Booneville, as
well as one set to open in
Southaven in early 2021.
He told the board at the
first public hearing for
the proposed ordinance
change that all kinds
of cigarettes, including
electronic ones, are not
allowed in his stores and
lounges.
“If you’re going to
spend $15 for a cigar and
spend an hour smoking
it, you’re going to want a
very professional, clean
environment,” Higgins
said.
He also said he hopes
to “keep as much of the
old, historic, downtown
look of this building as we
possibly can.” Spruill said
she is not aware of anyone
else expressing interest
in occupying the former
Mugshots building in the
past few years.
Higgins was the only
member of the public who
spoke in favor of the pro-
posed change, and Ward
7 resident Alvin Turner
was the only one who
spoke against it. He said
he hopes the changes do
not make the ordinance
“redundant” or “cause
misunderstandings.”
In addition to Beatty,
Aldermen Henry Vaughn
of Ward 7, Ben Carver
of Ward 1 and Sandra
Sistrunk of Ward 2 said
they support the ordi-
nance change and look
forward to Spring Street
Cigars possibly coming
to Starkville.
“We’re trying very
hard to re-
spect the
concepts of
our original
non - s mok-
ing ordi-
nance, and
I think
we’ve hit Sistrunk
the sweet
spot,” Sistrunk said.
Ward 3’s David Little,
Ward 4’s Jason Walker
and Vice Mayor Roy A.
Perkins of Ward 6 offered
no comments during the
hearing.
Spruill said she ad-
vocated for the city’s
anti-smoking ordinance
when it was first enacted
in 2006 and was “very
proud” of it. However,
she said, she supports
the proposed change be-
cause it is “a very specific
and different kind of use
that is very tailored” and
will not interfere with
other forms of downtown
leisure such as restau-
rants.
“If all they’re doing (in-
side the lounge) is smok-
ing and drinking beer,
I’m not worried about it,”
Spruill said.

Utilities
Continued from Page 1A
While the other utili-
ty providers continue to
issue disconnect notices
and cut off service for
nonpayment, their man-
agers stress that cus-
tomers should not wait
until they receive notifi-
cations.
“The weather here can
change pretty fast, so
you don’t
want to be
caught in
a position
where ser-
vice has
been cut
off, then
the weath- Kemp
er gets
really cold,” SUD man-
ager Terry Kemp said.
“If a customer realizes
they are in a pinch, we
urge them to call us or
come by the office. Our
customer service people
are ready to work with
them to make sure they
don’t get any further in
the hole. We do have pro-
grams that offer help, in-
cluding federal grants to
cover utility bills.”
One of those programs
is the federally-backed
Low Income Home Ener-
gy Assistance Program.
“That program is ad-
ministered through com-
munity agencies in every
community,” Morgan
said. “Utility providers
have information on how
to apply for the funds, but
you can also call 2-1-1 to
get that information.”
Jon Turner, spokes-
man for 4-County, said
the co-op has its own
internal assistance pro-
gram.
“It’s a one-time pro-
gram that covers the bill
for a month,” Turner said.
“It’s ad- some customers are bust- work with the customers “I can be pretty hard
m inistered ed pipes that often occur to mitigate a bill that’s on utility companies,
through the during freezes. been affected by leaks.” and rightfully so, I be-
Columbus “You have someone Morgan said Atmos lieve,” he said. “They
Salvation who suddenly realizes customers looking for basically have a monop-
Army.” they have a $700 or $800 ways to manage energy oly to provide energy, so
Utility bill and they can’t pay it,” usage can visit atmosen- I think they have a great
c omp a n ies he said. “What we urge ergy.com/ways-to-save/ responsibility to their
stress that Turner customers to do is make manage-energy-home for customers. But in these
even though service
sure their pipes are insu- tips. situations, the vast ma-
won’t be interrupted
lated and pay attention to Presley said he has jority of utility companies
during extreme weather,
customers are expected things like if their toilet been pleased with how are working very hard to
to pay the bills over time. keeps running. They can utility companies have re- take care of their custom-
“We’ll work with cus- call us and we’ll come sponded during extreme ers. They’re doing a good
tomers to find a way they and check things out and weather. job.”
can bring their accounts
into balance,” Kemp said.
“That’s true when ser-
vice is cut off, too. We’ll
find a way to add those
reconnect fees to their
monthly bill so they don’t
have to pay everything up
front if they get into that
situation.”
Gale said one of the
biggest issues that affect

Council
Continued from Page 1A
private buildings locat-
ed in the flood zone that
are prone
to repetitive
damages
and covered
by the na-
tional flood
insurance
program,
said city en- Stafford
gineer Kev-
in Stafford.
According to the city’s
hazard mitigation plan,
which was last updated
in 2013, there were 60
buildings within city lim-
its located in the flood
zone that qualified for the
grant, Stafford told The
Dispatch. The national
flood insurance program
made a total of 184 pay-
ments for the repeated
damages those buildings
suffered, he said, which
adds up to $1.7 million.
The grant, Stafford
said, helps the federal
government reduce the
high insurance payouts.
“They are trying to
help themselves out,”
Stafford said of the feder-
al government. “Instead
of continuing to pay out
on these losses, they are
just saying, ‘hey, we may
participate in this proper-
ty … and get rid of it, off of
our concern list.’”
There’s no set amount
on how much the city
would receive, Stafford
said, but he will work with
Dillon and identify owners
of flood-prone buildings
who are willing to accept
the payout and sell their
buildings to estimate the
cost of the project.
Dillon will be paid
$92 per hour for time he
spends working on both
applications. On each ap-
plication, his salary will
not exceed $10,000 and
is reimbursable through
FEMA, he told The Dis-
patch.
The city also com-
pleted an application
for a FEMA grant in
the amount of $374,528,
which reimburses the city
for some of its COVID-19
related expenses on per-
sonal protective equip-
ment, cleaning supplies
and the loss of revenue
due to the closing of rent-
al programs at the Trot-
ter Convention Center
and other recreation pro-
grams, Dillon said.
Street paving project
Stafford also received
unanimous approval from
the council to award the
city’s $6.5 million street
paving project to the low-
est bidder. The city will
take bids at 2 p.m. Dec. 7
at City Hall, he said.
The city issued a $6.5
million general obligation
bond in July to cover the
costs of the street pav-
ing project, which aims
to repair more than 100
streets in poor conditions
throughout the city. The
city is expected to repay
the bonds over 15 years.
The estimated pav-
ing cost, Stafford said,
is roughly $5 million.
Neel-Schaffer, which is
contracted as the city’s
engineering company,
will also be paid 5 percent
of the construction cost.
Three contractors —
Columbus-based APAC,
Columbus-based Falcon
Contracting Company
and Tupelo-based Mur-
phree Paving LLC — will
be vying for the proj-
ect, Stafford said. If the
weather allows, whoever
is awarded the contract
may start construction by
the end of the year.
Conflict disclosure:
Managing Editor Zack
Plair took part in editing
this article. He is currently
involved in legal proceed-
ings with the city of Colum-
bus.

Cheap thrills.
Go for a walk.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 7A

Unveiling economic team, Biden

pledges, ‘Help is on the way’
Biden: Economy will be
reshaped to better stamp Senate Republican leader sticking
out economic inequality
BY ZEKE MILLER
with partisan COVID relief plan
AND WILL WEISSERT BY ANDREW TAYLOR
The Associated Press The Associated Press

WILMINGTON, Del. — Pres-
ident-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday
introduced top advisers he says will
help his administration rebuild an
economy hammered by the corona-
virus pandemic, declaring, “I know
times are tough, but I want you to
know that help is on the way.”
Biden said he’d chosen a “first-
rate team” that is “tested and ex-
perienced” to tackle the country’s
economic crisis. He picked liberal
advisers who have long prioritized
the nation’s workers and govern-
ment efforts to address economic
inequality.
Unemployment remains high as
the COVID-19 outbreak widens the
gulf between average people and
the wealthiest Americans. The vi-
rus, which has claimed more than
269,000 lives nationwide, is resur-
gent across the country amid holi-
day travel and colder weather send-
ing people indoors.
As he did frequently while cam-
paigning, Biden promised that the
U.S. would eventually emerge with
an economy that is dramatically re-
shaped to better stamp out econom-
ic inequality.
“From the most unequal eco-
nomic and job crisis in modern his-
tory, we can build a new American
economy that works for all Ameri-
cans, not just some,” Biden said as
he introduced his choices for some
of the government’s top economic
posts during a speech at a theater
in Wilmington, Delaware, where he
has led his transition to the presi-
dency.
Tuesday also marked the presi-
dent-elect’s first appearance since
breaking two small bones in his
right foot while playing with one of
his dogs over the weekend. He wore
a black walking boot and moved gin-
gerly but tried to keep things light.
WASHINGTON — Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell said
Tuesday he’s largely sticking with a partisan, scaled-back COVID-19
relief bill that has already failed twice this fall, even as Democratic lead-
ers and a bipartisan group of moderates offered concessions in hopes of
passing pandemic aid before Congress adjourns for the year.
The Kentucky Republican made the announcement after Presi-
dent-elect Joe Biden called upon lawmakers to pass a downpayment re-
lief bill now with more to come next year. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
resumed talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about a year-
end spending package that could include COVID relief provisions. Key
Senate moderates rallied behind a scaled-back framework.
It’s not clear whether the flurry of activity will lead to actual prog-
ress. Time is running out on Congress’ lame-duck session and Donald
Trump’s presidency, many Republicans won’t even acknowledge that
Trump has lost the election and good faith between the two parties re-
mains in short supply.
McConnell said his bill, which only modestly tweaks an earlier plan
blocked by Democrats, would be signed by Trump and that additional
legislation could pass next year. But his initiative fell flat with Demo-
crats and a key GOP moderate.
“If it’s identical to what (McConnell) brought forth this summer then
it’s going to be a partisan bill that is not going to become law,” said
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who joined moderates in unveiling a $908
billion bipartisan package only hours earlier. “And I want a bill that will
become law.”
As he emerged from his motorcade, him then.
Biden pointed to his boot and lifted Janet Yellen, Biden’s nominee for
his leg briefly to show it off. treasury secretary, served as chair
Asked about his foot by report- of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to
ers, Biden responded only, “Good, 2018, when she placed a greater em-
thanks for asking.” phasis than previous Fed chairs on
The injury, while not serious, maximizing employment and less
again intensifies scrutiny on Biden’s focus on price inflation. Biden also
age, given that he just turned 78 named Cecilia Rouse as chair of his
and is the oldest president ever to Council of Economic Advisers, and
be in his first term. Still, his team Heather Boushey and Jared Bern-
has tried to keep the focus on build- stein as members of the council.
ing out its government and upcom- Yellen called the economic hav-
ing policy challenges, chief among oc the pandemic has wrought “an
them the pandemic and the econo- American tragedy.”
my. “To the American people: We
Biden repeatedly evoked his will be an institution that wakes up
work as vice president when the every morning thinking about you,”
Obama administration oversaw the Yellen said of the Treasury Depart-
economic recovery following the ment, “Your jobs, your paychecks,
2008 financial crisis, noting that your struggles, your hopes, your
many of those on his newly formed dignity and your limitless poten-
economic team worked closely with tial.”

GOP objects to Biden nominees, a sign of what’s to come

‘The disagreement, disorientation and confusion among
Republicans will make them inclined to unite in opposition’
Ramesh Ponnuru, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
BY LISA MASCARO
AP Congressional Correspondent
WA SH I NG T ON
— President-elect Joe
Biden’s Cabinet picks are
quickly running into the
political reality of a nar-
rowly controlled Senate
that will leave the new
Democratic administra-
tion dependent on rival
Republicans to get any-
thing done.
Under leader Mitch
McConnell, the Repub-
lican senators will hold
great sway in confirming
Biden’s nominees regard-
less of which party holds
the majority after run-
off elections in January.
Biden will have little room
to maneuver and few votes
to spare.
As Biden rolled out his
economic team Tuesday
— after introducing his
national security team
last week — he asked the
Senate to give his nomi-
nees prompt review, say-
ing they “deserve and ex-
pect nothing less.”
But that seems unlike-
ly. Republicans are swiftly
signaling that they’re ea-
ger to set the terms of de-
bate and exact a price for
their votes. Biden’s choice
for budget chief, Neera
Tanden, was instantly re-
jected as “radioactive.”
His secretary of state
nominee, Antony Blinken,
quickly ran into resis-
tance from GOP senators
blasting his record amid
their own potential 2024
White House campaigns.
Even as most Republi-
can senators still refuse
to publicly acknowledge
President Donald Trump’s
defeat, they are launching
new battles for the Biden
era. The GOP is suspend-
ed between an outgoing
president it needs to keep
close — Trump can still
make or break careers
with a single tweet — and
the new one they are un-
sure how to approach.
Almost one month since
the Nov. 3 election, McCo-
nnell and Biden have not
yet spoken.
“The disagreement,
disorientation and confu-
sion among Republicans
will make them inclined
to unite in opposition,”
said Ramesh Ponnuru,
a visiting fellow at the
American Enterprise In-
stitute, during a Tuesday
briefing.
“They don’t necessar-
ily know what they’re for,
but they can all agree they
don’t like Neera Tanden.”
A new president often
runs into trouble with at
least a few Cabinet or ad-
ministrative nominees,
individuals who rub the
Senate the wrong way and
fail to win enough votes
for confirmation or are
forced to withdraw after
grueling public hearings.
Trump’s nominees
faced enormous resis-
tance from Senate Dem-
ocrats, who used their
minority-party status to
slow-walk confirmation
for even lower-level posi-
tions. It’s been an escala-
tion of the Senate’s proce-
dural battles for at least a
decade.
8A WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020
Nasdaq seeks mandatory board
diversity for listed companies
Proponents: Greater board diversity can improve financial
performance for companies — and ultimately their stock
prices — by bringing in varying opinions and voices
BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN
AND STAN CHOE
AP Business Writers
Nasdaq is pushing for
the more than 3,000 com-
panies listed on its U.S.
stock exchange to make
their boardrooms less
overwhelmingly male and
white by hiring directors
that better reflect the
country’s diverse popula-
tion.
The company filed a
proposal Tuesday with
the Securities and Ex-
change Commission
that, if approved, would
require all companies on
the exchange to disclose
the breakdowns of their
boards by race, gender
and sexual orientation.
Companies that do not
comply could be delist-
ed, or kicked off the ex-
change.
The proposal would
US probing potential bribery, lobbying scheme for pardon
BY ERIC TUCKER
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The
Justice Department is in-
vestigating whether there
was a secret scheme to
lobby White House offi-
cials for a pardon as well
as a related plot to offer a
hefty political contribution
in exchange for clemency,
according to a court docu-
ment unsealed Tuesday.
Most of the information
in the 18-page court or-
der is redacted, including
the identity of the people
whom prosecutors are in-
vestigating and whom the
proposed pardon might be
intended for.
But the document from
August does reveal that
certain individuals are
suspected of having acted
Salesforce buying work-chat service Slack for $27.7 billion
BY MICHAEL LIEDTKE
AND MAT T O’BRIEN
AP Technology Writers
SAN RAMON, Ca-
lif. — Business software
pioneer Salesforce.com
is buying work-chatting
service Slack for $27.7
billion in a deal aimed at
giving the two companies
a better shot at competing
against longtime industry
powerhouse Microsoft.
The acquisition an-
nounced Tuesday is by far
the largest in the 21-year
history of Salesforce. The
San Francisco company
If you don’t read The Dispatch, how are you gonna know?
also require most Nas-
daq-listed companies to
have at least two diverse
directors or, if they cannot
meet the mandate, to ex-
plain why not. That could
include one board mem-
ber who is female and one
who is either an underrep-
resented racial minority
or LGBTQ. Foreign com-
panies and smaller compa-
nies would have additional
flexibility in satisfying this
requirement with two fe-
male directors.
Nasdaq’s plan ups the
stakes in what was already
a widening push by share-
holders and governments
around the world for more
diversity on corporate
boards, which often are
composed of mostly white
men.
It’s not just a sense of
fairness. Proponents say
greater board diversity
to secretly lobby White
House officials to secure
a pardon or sentence com-
mutation and that, in a
related scheme, a substan-
tial political contribution
was floated in exchange
for a pardon or “reprieve of
sentence.”
A Justice Department
official said Tuesday night
that no government official
was or is a subject or target
of the investigation. The
official spoke on condition
of anonymity to discuss an
ongoing investigation.
President Donald
Trump tweeted Tuesday
night: “Pardon investiga-
tion is Fake News!”
The existence of the in-
vestigation, first reported
by CNN, was revealed in a
court order from U.S. Dis-
trict Judge Beryl Howell,
was one of the first to be-
gin selling software as a
subscription service that
could be used on any in-
ternet-connected device
instead of the more cum-
bersome process of in-
stalling the programs on
individual computers.
Salesforce’s flamboy-
ant founder and CEO
Marc Benioff hailed the
“cloud computing” con-
cept as the wave of the
future to much derision
initially.
But software as a
service has become an
industry standard that
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
companies in the Russell
3000, a broad index that
includes most of the U.S.
stock market. That’s up
from about 15 percent in
2016, according to execu-
can improve financial per- tive-data firm Equilar.
formance for companies Progress in improving
racial diversity on boards
— and ultimately their
stock prices — by bring- has been slower. One dif-
ficulty is that tracking
ing in varying opinions
racial and ethnic diversi-
and voices and fostering
ty has been tougher than
a better understanding of
measuring gender diver-
employee and customer
bases. sity, with companies often
not disclosing such data,
In its proposal, Nasdaq
cited a report from the something that Nasdaq
hopes its proposal can
Carlyle Group investment
company, which found help ameliorate.
“Corporate diversity, at
that companies it invested
in that have at least two all levels, opens up a clear
path to innovation and
diverse board members
have nearly 12 percent growth,” Nelson Griggs,
president of the Nasdaq
more earnings growth per
year than the average of Stock Exchange, said in a
prepared statement.
companies that lack diver-
sity.
Companies have heard
the criticism and made
some moves toward in-
creased diversity, but
progress has been slow.
Women hold just 23.1
percent of board seats at
the chief judge of Wash-
ington’s federal court. In
it, she granted investi-
gators access to certain
email communications
connected to the alleged
schemes that she said was
not protected by attor-
ney-client privilege. The
investigative team will be
able to use that material
to confront any subject or
target of the investigation,
the judge wrote.
The order was dated
Aug. 28, and prosecutors
had sought to keep it pri-
vate because they said
it identifies people not
charged by a grand jury.
But on Tuesday, Howell
unsealed select portions
of that document while
redacting from view any
personally identifiable in-
formation.
has turned into a gold
mine for longtime soft-
ware makers. Microsoft
for one has developed its
own thriving online suite
of services, known as Of-
fice 365, which includes
a Teams chatting service
that includes many of the
same features as Slack’s
6-year-old application.
Slack in July filed a
complaint in the Europe-
an Union accusing Micro-
soft of illegally bundling
Teams into Office 365 in a
way that blocks its remov-
al by customers who may
prefer Slack.
Sports
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
SPORTS LINE
662-241-5000
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020
B
SECTION

Ohio State still 4th in CFP rankings after cancellation

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ohio State held on
to the fourth spot in the
College Football Play-
off rankings on Tuesday
night after having its
previous game canceled,
landing behind No. 1 Ala-
bama, No. 2 Notre Dame
and No. 3 Clemson for a
second straight week.
The selection com-
mittee’s top seven teams
were unchanged from last
week’s rankings after the
playoff contenders either
won comfortably or didn’t
play because of COVID-19
issues.
Texas A&M (6-1) was
in fifth and Florida (7-1)
sixth.
Ohio State (4-0) had to
cancel its game at Illinois
last week because of a
spike in COVID-19 cases
in the program. It was the
second game of the sea-
son the Buckeyes have
missed out on. One more
cancellation would leave
them ineligible for the Big
Ten championship game
and unable to play more
than six regular-season
games.
No. 7 Cincinnati (8-0)
also had its last game can-
celed. The Bearcats are
next scheduled to play
Dec. 12 at Tulsa.
The College Football
Playoff has set no mini-
mum number of games
played to be eligible for
the playoff. It’s just going
to be up to the selection
committee to figure out
how many is too few.
“There is a discrepan-
cy sometimes between a
team that plays eight or
nine games and a team
that’s played three or four
games and frankly that’s
a problem (in ranking
teams),” said selection
committee chairman
Gary Barta, who is Iowa’s
athletic director.
Barta said the com-
mittee discussed rank-
ing Texas A&M ahead of
Ohio State, but for now
the Buckeyes and their
potent offense led by
quarterback Justin Fields
are holding down the final
playoff spot. “Is that fair?” the for-
“When those two
Herbstreit apology mer Ohio State quarter-
ESPN’s Kirk Herbst-
teams were put side-by- back said. “Michigan
reit caused a commotion
side this morning and last could opt out basically
with some of his analysis
night, there just wasn’t of that game and could
regarding Ohio State,
enough there to put Tex- Michigan and teams us- keep Ohio State out of six
as A&M ahead of Ohio ing COVID-19 as an ex- games to qualify for the
State,” Barta said. cuse to not play. Big Ten championship.
Texas A&M is coming Michigan did not hold That doesn’t make sense
off a 20-7 victory against in-person team activities to me.”
LSU that was played in a Monday and Tuesday af- Not long after the show
rainy and windy condi- ter returning at least one ended, Herbstreit posted
tions. positive test in the pro- a video on Twitter apolo-
Georgia was eighth gram. The Wolverines (2- gizing to Michigan.
and Iowa State and Mi- 4) are scheduled to host “I had no business at
ami rounded out the top Maryland this week and all saying that. I have no
10. Oklahoma was 11th, play at Ohio State on Dec. evidence of that,” Herbst-
followed by Indiana and 12. reit said. “It was complete-
BYU. “I still think Michigan ly unfair to the University
The Cougars, who waves the white flag, po- of Michigan, to Jim Har-
are hoping for a New tentially avoids playing baugh, to his players and
Year’s Six bowl, edged Ohio State next week,” coaches, and I just wanted
up one spot. Herbstreit said. to apologize.”

Watts scores ‘I THINK SHE’S ON HER WAY TO DOING SOMETHING SPECIAL’

20 as No.
8 Michigan
State beats
Inside Rickea Jackson’s inner circle and her
No. 6 Duke
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
drive toward college basketball superstardom
DURHAM, N.C. —
Rocket Watts scored 20
points and Julius Mar-
ble had a career-high 12
to help No. 8 Michigan
State beat No. 6 Duke
75-69 on Tuesday night
in the Champions Clas-
sic.
The Spartans (3-
0) closed the first half
with a 13-4 surge to
take a 37-33 lead at half-
time. They maintained
control in the second
half with a balanced
offense to go with their
aggressive defense and
rebounding.
“They are able to
play at a consistently
higher level than us
due to their depth right
now,” Duke coach Mike
Krzyzewski said.
The Blue Devils (1-1)
led 13-3 before strug-
gling to make shots or
get stops.

No. 7 Kansas
overcomes
offensive
woes, beats
No. 20 UK Mississippi State forward Rickea Jackson (5) takes a jump shot against Auburn on Jan. 30 at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville.
Jim Lytle/Dispatch file photo

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

INDIANAPOLIS —
Kansas forward Jalen
Wilson waited a whole
year for a night like Tues-
day.
His celebration came
in almost total silence.
Wilson scored 21 of
his career-high 23 points
in the second half, made
the first two 3-pointers
of his career during the
key stretch and posted
his first double-double
to help No. 7 Kansas get
past No. 20 Kentucky
65-62 in the Champions
Classic.
“My team needed me
to step up even though I
had a slow first half, and
the second half turned
out to be a really good
half,” the redshirt fresh-
man said. “I always prac-
tice those (3-point) shots.
See KANSAS, 4B
BY BEN PORTNOY
bportnoy@cdispatch.com
STARKVILLE — Caryn
Jackson calls it “The Circle.”
In short, the group is Missis-
sippi State sophomore forward
Rickea Jackson’s closest con-
fidants. It’s her eldest brother,
Rickey Jr., whom she spent her
youth looking up to. It’s her high
school coach, Monique Brown,
who spends long wintry nights
in the gym at Detroit Edison
Public School Academy coax-
ing her through extra shots.
Godparents Debra Walker and
Wilbert McCormick, both for-
mer players in their own rights,
are members, too. And, finally,
there’s her mother, Caryn.
Over the years, the group has
served as a support system for
the budding superstar. It’s those
who answer Jackson’s calls and
texts to head to the gym despite
mounds of freshly laid snow.
It’s the folks who send her ar-
ticles in which reporters have
criticized her game, hoping to
motivate her. It’s the collection
of souls who, when coaching
changes, global pandemics and
other varying obstacles prove
too much, are there for encour-
agement.
Put simply, The Circle is
what’s driven Jackson, now one
game into her second season at
MSU, to the precipice of wom-
en’s college basketball super-
stardom.
“It’s just helped shape me
into the person I am today,”
Rickea told The Dispatch of her
core contingent. “Everyone has
played a huge part in my devel-
opment and my mental health.
They’re just always there, and
I’m just very, very grateful.”
nnn
Rickea Jackson’s movement
across the floor at Humphrey
Coliseum is graceful yet force-
ful. She glides across the hard-
wood with purpose, dribbling
by defenders, skying toward the
rim, pouncing on loose balls and
splashing home step-back jump-
ers. But her ballerina-like swift-
ness and all-world scoring abili-
ty is a more recent revelation.
From birth, Rickea was told
she could succeed. Caryn em-
ployed encouraging words in
her parenting style. She consis-
tently told her only daughter she
was the smartest in the room,
the strongest in a given group,
the best at whatever she put her
mind to. But this wasn’t done to
be vain. Rather, Caryn saw the
potential in Rickea and wanted
to ensure she showed it to the
rest of the world.
“I’m sure you can ask Michael
Jordan’s mom, you can ask Kobe
Bryant’s mom, you can ask ev-
erybody who people look at as a
special person … ask (their par-
ents), ‘Did you feel something
special at birth? Is something
different?’” Caryn said. “And so
I felt that with Rickea.”
That basketball became
Rickea’s outlet was as much fate
as chance. Rickey Jr. played at
Adrian College, a Division III
school an hour and a half south-
west of the family’s home in the
Detroit area, while Walker and
McCormick played collegiately
at Cheyney State College (Penn-
sylvania) and Detroit Mercy, re-
spectively.
Caryn, too, was a standout
player in her youth, earning a
spot at Kansas before a drunk
driver slammed into her vehicle
and ejected her and her pas-
senger from the car during her
sophomore year.
After rehabbing for more
than a year from a surgery that
saw two pins installed into her
broken wrist, Caryn joined the
team at Lansing Community
College, guiding the Tigers to
the 1996 NJCAA championship.
See JACKSON, 4B
2B WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com

PREP BASKETBALL

Big first half leads New Hope boys over Caledonia

BY THEO DEROSA
tderosa@cdispatch.com
CALEDONIA — Pre-
sented with an opportuni-
ty, Caleb Parr drove down
the middle of the lane
and tried a dunk, only to
watch as the basketball
bounced hard off the back
of the rim.
But the New Hope ju-
nior didn’t have to rue the
moment long.
His rebound bounced
into the hands of team-
mate Eric Caldwell, who
leapt to corral it near the
free-throw line. Cald-
well’s jumper from there
glanced lightly off the rim
and dropped through the
net.
“Anytime you get those
hustle plays, as a coach,
you like stuff like that,”
New Hope coach Drew
McBrayer said.
The second-quarter
possession in Tuesday’s
road game at rival Cale-
donia wasn’t particularly
impactful — it simply ex-
tended New Hope’s lead
to 26 points — but it was
an excellent summation
of the contest: The Tro-
jans (2-0) gave plenty of
effort in a dominant 78-52
win over the Cavaliers (2-
3).
“We just feel like we
came out hard and came
out pushing ourselves,
making good passes and
everything,” sophomore
guard LJ Hackman said.
New Hope blazed its
way to a 48-25 halftime
lead before cooling a bit
in the second half, scor-
ing 30 points in the third
and fourth quarters. Five
3-pointers helped pace
the Trojans to the early
advantage, as did de-
fensive stops leading to
scores in transition.
“I thought we played
with great energy in the
first half — really got af-
ter them defensively, and
(that) led to some easy
baskets for us,” McBrayer
said.
New Hope’s strong out-
side shooting, a solid inte-
rior game and its stingy
defense posed problems
for a young Caledonia
team led by coach Tony
Seals, previously a Tro-
jans assistant.
“If you go out and de-
fend them, they go by; if
you don’t defend them,
they shoot 3s,” said Seals,
innately familiar with the
workings of his new ri-
val’s offense. “That’s what
they do. They’re good at
it.”
The Cavaliers, return-
ing just one starter —
point guard Jarvis Leigh
— couldn’t stop it, though
they matched the Tro-
jans in the third quarter
as each team scored 20
points in the period.
Leigh and Jeremy Em-
erson tied for the team
lead with 16 points apiece.
“We made a few strides
tonight,” Seals said. “We
had a little trouble keep-
ing them in front of us.
But I’ve seen them play —
everybody else does, too.”
The Trojans took ad-
vantage of a balanced
scoring effort to win
Tuesday. Hackman led
New Hope with 16 points,
while Jorden Edwards
had 15. Parr added 12, Ty
Crowell had 10, and Cald-
New Hope sophomore Tre Doughty (34) tries a 3-pointer against Caledonia senior Jarvis Leigh (5) during the
fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game at Caledonia. The Trojans beat the Cavaliers 78-52.
well had nine.
“It’s good knowing
that if one of us has a bad
night, we have other play-
ers on the floor who can
go score,” Parr said.
So far, New Hope —
even after losing nine
seniors, including RL
Mattix and Jaylen Smith
— hasn’t run into prob-
lems in its first two games.
But with three contests
on the schedule in each
of the next two weeks,
the Trojans will soon see
what they’re made of.
“We’re going to find
out real quick now what
it’s like to play in a bunch
of ballgames,” McBrayer
said.
Caledonia girls 53,
New Hope 46
When the New Hope
girls began to fight back
in Tuesday’s game at
Caledonia, Cavaliers se-
nior Allison Pennington
knew what her team had
to do.
“We just had to get in
their face more,” Pen-
nington said.
That meant closing out
on the Trojans’ 3-point
shooters and cutting
off drives before they
reached the basket to
keep New Hope at bay.
Caledonia held on for a
53-46 win to improve to
3-2 on the season.
“They have worked so
hard, and they are start-
ing to see it play out,” Cav-
aliers coach Ame Walker
said.
Walker, previously an
assistant with the New
Hope middle school girls
team, took over for Gary
Griffin at Caledonia this
season. So far, she’s see-
ing results, but Tuesday
was different: It came
against players she knew
well.
“It’s difficult to come
in and coach against kids
that you coached in junior
high,” Walker said. “It’s
never fun to see anybody
lose that you’d invested
in their life, but that’s the
way it falls sometimes.”
That’s certainly how it
fell Friday as Caledonia
earned a rare win over
New Hope.
“It felt good, because
I don’t think we’ve beat
them in the past,” Pen-
nington said. “We’ve
worked hard to get where
we are.”
New Hope fell to 1-1 on
the season with the loss.
The Trojans are still get-
ting used to things in the
opening stages of their
season, coach Nick Chris-
ty said.
“It is still early — it’s
only our second game —
but I definitely expected
us to come out and ex-
ecute at a higher level,”
Christy said. “That goes
on me. That goes on
them.”
After getting out to an
early 6-0 lead, New Hope’s
offense ran cold for nearly
a quarter while Caledonia
essentially scored at will.
The Cavs built up a 28-17
halftime lead, and it was
enough.
“They played hard, and
they made shots when
they needed to,” Chris-
ty said. “We didn’t. We
had plenty of open looks
with nobody near us and
couldn’t get them to go.”
Pennington, who fin-
ished with 20 points, took
advantage of New Hope’s
deficiencies rebounding
and defending. So did se-
nior Libby McMurphey,
who had 11 points on
three made 3-pointers.
One of the triples came
on a key second-quarter
possession after the Cavs
collected multiple offen-
sive rebounds to keep the
ball alive.
“She is our hot hand,
usually,” said Walker,
who noted that Caledonia
made an adjustment in
Tuesday’s practice to get
McMurphey more open
looks. “Libby is that kid
who’s going to always be
in the right place at the
right time.”
Other scores
Prep Girls Basket-
ball
Patriots with 13 points,
and Trey Naugher had 11.
Hebron Christian 43,
Starkville Christian 30
PHEBA — The He-
bron boys beat Starkville
Christian in Tuesday’s
game in Pheba.
Dash Turman had 18
points for the Eagles in
the win.
Hebron’s next game
is Thursday against Cal-
houn Academy at home.
Pickens Academy (Ala.)
60, Coosa Valley Academy
(Ala.) 24
CARROLLTON, Ala.
— The Pickens Academy
boys evened their record
with a 60-24 win over Co-
osa Valley in Tuesday’s
home game.
Rafe Brown led the Pi-
rates (1-1) with 14 points.
William Parker had 13,
and Drake Lowery had
10.
Pickens will face Tus-
caloosa Academy at home
Saturday.
Prep Girls Soccer
New Hope 2, Neshoba
Theo DeRosa/Dispatch Staff
Central 1
NEW HOPE — The
Tuscaloosa Academy bama) 53-18 in Tuesday’s New Hope girls soccer
(Ala.) 52, Heritage Acad- team beat Neshoba Cen-
home game.
tral 2-1 on Tuesday in New
emy 32 Kate Wilkins had 16
Hope.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. points for the Pirates. Lily
Reagan Presley and
— The Heritage Acade- Lowery and Audrey Fon-
Allie Grace Sanford each
my girls basketball team dren each had eight, and
scored for New Hope. All
lost Tuesday’s road game Baylee Jaynes and Elyse
three goals from both
at Tuscaloosa Academy Dean had six apiece.
teams came in the first
(Alabama), 52-32.
half.
Lucy Sharp had 12 Starkville Christian 39,
points for the Patriots in Hebron Christian 30
Prep Boys Soccer
the loss.
New Hope 3, Neshoba
Heritage Academy will Prep Boys Basket-
Central 2
host Oak Hill Academy on ball
NEW HOPE — Trey
Thursday in Columbus. Tuscaloosa Academy
Parnell had two goals as
(Ala.) 63, Heritage Acad-
the New Hope boys beat
Pickens Academy (Ala.) emy 40
Neshoba Central 3-2 in
53, Coosa Valley Academy TUSCALOOSA, Ala.
Tuesday’s home match.
(Ala.) 18
— The Heritage Academy Christian Juarez added
CARROLLTON, Ala. boys lost Tuesday’s road a score for the Trojans.
— The Pickens Academy game 63-40 to Tuscaloosa New Hope’s next
(Alabama) girls beat Co- Academy. match is Thursday at
osa Valley Academy (Ala- Mack Howard led the home against Columbus.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Reliever May agrees to deal with Mets

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — The
New York Mets reached
their first agreement with
a free agent since Steve
Cohen bought the team,
a deal with 31-year-old
right-hander Trevor May,
a person familiar with the
negotiations tells The As-
sociated Press.
The person spoke on
condition of anonymi-
ty Tuesday because the
agreement is subject to a
successful physical.
May had a 3.86 ERA
in 24 relief appearances
for the Minnesota Twins
last season, striking out
38 and walking seven in
23 1/3 innings while al-
lowing 20 hits with a ca-
reer-high fastball velocity
averaging 96.66 mph.
May had spent all six
big league seasons with
the Twins, going 23-21
with a 4.44 ERA in 26
starts and 189 relief ap-
pearances.
He made 16 starts in
2015, going 8-9 with a
4.00 ERA over 48 appear-
ances. May had Tommy
John surgery on March
22, 2017, and returned to
the major leagues on July
31, 2018.
May figures to join a
bullpen that includes Ed-
win Díaz, Jeurys Familia,
Chasen Shreve, Miguel
Castro, Dellin Betances
and Brad Brach, along
with fellow newcomers
Jacob Barnes and Nick
Tropeano.
Mets relievers tied for
18th in the majors with a
4.60 ERA last season and
the team had seven blown
saves in 18 chances.
 The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 3B

NBA

A cautious start to NBA season,

as camps open amid positives
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The first day of NBA
training camp is sup-
posed to be accompanied
by brimming optimism,
a time for players and
coaches all taking those
first steps toward what
they hope is a champion-
ship.
It was tempered this
year.
The first preseason
camps of the coronavirus
“Kind of proves that the
protocols and testing are
working. ... That’s all per
NBA protocols, which I’m
learning a lot about.”
Rivers, noting how the
virus is becoming a major
issue for college football
and the NFL in terms of
getting games played,
said the effect on an NBA
team losing a key player
or two for even a short
period could essentially
wreck a season.
additional testing.
“Right now, we’re hop-
ing that he can get healthy
enough to get back on the
floor,” Clifford said. “He’s
going to be able to do
some of the things early
in camp, but he’s going to
be limited. He’s had kind
of a tough stretch here in
terms of how much he’s
been able to do. We have
to be prudent and make
sure we’re moving along
with him in an intelligent
But here, a lot more of the
onus is on individuals and
teams.”
The NBA is working
with BioReference — a
company that also han-
dled testing in the bubble,
at the league’s expense of
about $140 per test — for
standardized league-wide
testing, and that company Sudoku YESTERDAY’S ANSWER
will likely have personnel
traveling with teams this Sudoku
Sudoku is a number-
placing puzzle based on
Yesterday’s answer
season to handle testing Sudoku 2 4 6 5 1 3 7 8 9
a 9x9 gridis witha several
num-
on the road. The league ber-placing
given numbers.puzzleThe object 7 5 8 6 9 4 3 1 2

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

era opened Tuesday, with “In football they play manner.” has said that its testing based onthe a 9x9 9 1 3 2 8 7 4 6 5
is to place numbers
teams limited for the first once a week and they Players and coaches program does not impact grid
1 to 9with
in theseveral
empty spaces 4 3 9 1 7 6 5 2 8
few days to individual ses- have 1,000 players, so are being tested daily BioReference’s nation- given
so that numbers.
each row, eachThe 5 8 7 9 3 2 1 4 6
sions with one coach and when you miss three or and that is likely to be the wide testing capabilities object
column and each 3x3 the
is to place box 1 6 2 4 5 8 9 7 3
one player at one basket, numbers
contains the1same to 9 number
in
four players, you can still plan for throughout the or use public health re-
all of this starting to hap- get away with it,” Rivers season. Protocols that the sources in a time where the empty spaces so 8 7 1 3 2 5 6 9 4
only once. The difficulty 3 2 4 7 6 9 8 5 1
pen as the pandemic con- said. “If we miss three league sent to teams late more and more Ameri- that each row, each
level increases from
tinues raging and more or four players, we’re in last week suggested that, cans are seeking testing. column and each 6 9 5 8 4 1 2 3 7
Monday
3x3 boxtocontains
Sunday.
and more Americans are trouble, especially with in many cases, it would “I’m pretty comfort- Difficulty Level 12/01

testing positive — includ-
ing at least three NBA
players in recent days.
“I’m very concerned if
we can pull this off,” Phil-
adelphia coach Doc Riv-
ers said.
He probably isn’t alone.
Golden State general
manager Bob Myers said
two Warriors have tested
positive, meaning that
club won’t start individual
workouts until Wednes-
day and won’t have a full-
scale practice until Mon-
day. Washington coach
Scott Brooks said the
Wizards have one player
who tested positive. And
Orlando coach Steve Clif-
ford said Magic center
Mo Bamba — who tested
positive several months
ago — is still “a ways
away” from being ready
to play again.
“I don’t think this is
unexpected,” Myers said.
the amount of games.
We’re playing three and
four games a week. So, if
one of our guys or two of
our key guys get the virus
and they miss 10 days, 14
days, that can be eight
games in a 72-game sea-
son. That can knock you
out in the playoffs.”
The Wizards didn’t
say what player tested
positive, though Brooks
said the player has yet
to be around the team in
Washington and that “ev-
erybody else is ready to
go.” The Warriors also
didn’t reveal who had pos-
itive tests, citing league
rules and privacy policies.
Bamba was diagnosed
with COVID-19 on June
11, played sparingly in Or-
lando’s first two games at
Walt Disney World during
the NBA’s restart there
this summer, then sat out
the rest of the season for
take at least 12 days for a
player to be able to return
to play after testing posi-
tive for the coronavirus.
The league had no pos-
itive tests once players en-
tered the restart bubble
over the summer. But now
back in the real world,
with travel and hotels and
airplanes back in the mix,
San Antonio coach Gregg
Popovich said the chal-
lenge will fall on individu-
als to do the right things.
“Here, people are com-
ing in and out, it’ll be
much more difficult and
the discipline will have
to be even greater,” Popo-
vich said. “But I think
the understanding is, to
make it work, we have
an even greater responsi-
bility than we had in Or-
lando. The league made
it easy for us in Orlando,
in my opinion, and as we
all know did a great job.
able with it,” Boston coach the same number only once. The difficulty level
Brad Stevens said. “As we increases from Monday to Sunday.
saw with the bubble, the
NBA crosses every ‘t’ and
dots every ‘i.’ They have
been great communicat-
ing with all of us ... and
I’m looking forward to
hopefully getting togeth-
er and starting practice
soon as a group.”
Some teams will be
able to start those group
practices — and 5-on-5
sessions — Friday. Most
other NBA clubs will be
able to start Sunday. Inju-
ries will be a worry, as will
conditioning, but the dai-
ly testing numbers seem
like they’ll overshadow
everything.
“As a coach, you want
to go in with your team
concerns being more bas-
ketball,” Rivers said. “And
I think every coaches’
concerns right now are
probably non-basketball.”

Mavs talk tough by adding protectors for young star Doncic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Luka Doncic’s first
experience with the play-
offs ended with questions
about whether Marcus
Morris of the Los Angeles
Clippers was intentionally
trying to hurt the young
Dallas sensation in a first-
round series won by LA.
The Mavericks might
have hinted at what they
thought through trades
and draft picks during
this abbreviated offsea-
son.
Dallas acquired James
Johnson and his black belt
in karate from Oklahoma
City in a three-team trade
after using the club’s first-
round draft choice at No.
18 overall on Josh Green,
who was a strong defend-
er in his only season at
Arizona.
The Mavericks also
sent their best 3-pointer
shooter in Seth Curry
to Philadelphia for Josh
Richardson, described by
coach Rick Carlisle as an
“edgy guy who is a terrific
defender.”
“I don’t really take
well to my brothers being
messed with, but I’m not
an instigator in situations
so I’m not going to be out
there just trying to get in
people’s faces and do a lot
of extra stuff,” Richardson
said on the opening day of
training camp Tuesday.
“I have no problem doing
what needs to be done if
people aren’t being treat-
ed right, and I feel like
there’s a few other guys
on this team that feel the
same way about that.”
Dallas made the play-
offs for the first time in
four years before losing to
the Clippers in six games
in the NBA bubble in Flor-
ida in August. The goals
will be higher in Doncic’s
third season, and the
21-year-old star’s second
with Kristaps Porzingis,
the European sidekick
who won’t play before Jan-
uary as he continues to re-
cover from knee surgery.
The competition is still
stiff in the Western Con-
ference, with the Los An-
geles Lakers defending
their title and the other
LA team seeking redemp-
tion after falling short of
an expected showdown in
the conference finals with
the Lakers.
Even with both LA
teams and other strong
contenders in the West,
the Mavericks will look to
earn a top-four seed in the
playoffs for the first time
since winning the fran-
chise’s only championship
in 2011. Dallas was seed-
ed seventh last season.
“It was my first play-
off experience against an
amazing team,” Doncic
said. “I learned a lot, not
just me, I think the whole
group learned a lot. We’re
just going to learn from
that and hopefully we can
use it again this year.”
For Carlisle, part of
the upgrade in toughness
comes from the return
of center Dwight Pow-
ell, whose season ended
in January — before the
coronavirus shutdown —
because of a torn Achilles
tendon.
Jalen Brunson, the “When you establish
backup to Doncic at point that you’re a galactical-
guard after getting draft- ly successful offensive
ed in the second round team but below average
the same year Doncic defensively, that’s not go-
went third overall, is ing to win you a champi-
back after a shoulder in- onship,” Carlisle said. “I
jury kept him out for the don’t believe there’s ever ACROSS
NBA’s restart. The two- been a team that’s won 1 Bridges
time NCA A champion a title in the NBA that 6 Julia of film
from Villanova brings an hasn’t been a good defen- 10 “Cats” poet
edge as well. sive team.” T.S.
“As a young, devel- And instead of go-
11 Reach
oping team that’s gone ing into training camp
12 Writer Eudora
through one stage of de- talking about how the
emphasis would be on 13 Caesar’s
velopment, of getting out
defense, Carlisle was language
of the lottery and into
the playoffs, but experi- talking about players he 14 Matching
enced a loss in the play- believes emphasize de- 15 Volcanic rock
offs, we’ve got to look at fense on their own. 16 Try out
this as a situation where “To be a great defen- 17 Diamond club
our collective toughness sive team or to aspire 18 Sedan or
will increase anyway re- and realistically have a SUV
gardless of who’s on the chance to be a better de- 19 Necklace
team,” Carlisle said. “You fensive team, you’ve got features
can never have enough to get better defensive 22 Recipe wares 21 Hotel amenity
toughness on an NBA players,” Carlisle said. “I instruction DOWN 24 Come apart
team, particularly in the think we’ve added some 23 Musical work 1 Finishes 25 Class mem-
Western Conference with really good elements 26 Small flags 2 Gratifies ber
the way things are shap- there through the draft, 29 Combat 3 Clinic concern 27 Pay stub line
ing up.” through trades.” 32 Tina of “30 4 Staff symbol 28 Fashion page
With Curry gone, Tim A little toughness, too. Rock” 5 Pig’s place topics
Hardaway Jr. takes the 33 Deep groove 6 Paper pack 29 Lowest
spotlight as the primary Notes 34 Spotted cat 7 Top story 30 Less than
shooting guard, although The Mavericks signed 36 Titled woman 8 City on the right
Trey Burke’s return gives veteran guard J.J. Bar- 37 Marco from Mohawk River 31 Explain away
Carlisle another scor- ea to another one-year Miami 9 Solitary sort 35 Script unit
ing option behind Don- contract Tuesday along 38 Work of 11 One of the 36 Collected
cic. Dallas didn’t re-sign with finalizing all the fiction deadly sins stories
Burke last offseason after other contracts needed
39 Publicity act 15 Scathing 38 Tiny taste
he was part of the trade to settle their training
40 Papas of “Z” review
with the New York Knicks camp roster, including
headlined by Porzingis, Burke. Green and sec-
41 Henri’s head 17 Unshod
but added the guard for ond-round pick Tyler Bey 42 Trappers’ 20 Brief drop
the restart when a roster signed Monday while
spot opened. Tyrell Terry, the other
Burke’s emergence second-rounder, signed
solidified the NBA’s most Tuesday. Center Willie
efficient offense, and gave Cauley-Stein re-signed
the Mavericks one more Tuesday, the same day
reason to put the focus on fellow free agent Wes
defense in the offseason. Iwundu joined Dallas.

Contacting the Sports Department

If you need to report game scores or statistics, you can call us at 662-327-2424 ext. 126. If you need to reach
sports editor Garrick Hodge, email him at ghodge@cdispatch.com. If you need to reach sports writer Ben
Portnoy, email him at bportnoy@cdispatch.com. If you need to reach sports writer Theo DeRosa, email him at
tderosa@cdispatch.com.

Game Coverage / Results

High school football coaches who don’t speak to a reporter from The Dispatch are asked to email information
to the sports department from their games. The Dispatch will include its prep football coverage in Sunday’s
edition, so we will contact coaches Friday night or Saturday to get details. Coaches, please let us know what is
the best time for us to contact you.
4B WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020
Jackson
Continued from Page 1B
“(The doctors) didn’t
think that I’d be able to
play again,” she said. “But
I was determined.”
Until about 12 years of
age, Rickea was apathetic
toward basketball, but a
quiet competitiveness fes-
tered beneath her skin. It
didn’t matter whether she
was racing to touch the
car, slipping on a pair of
socks, or making her bed
— she had to be first.
“None of us liked to
lose,” Rickey Jr. said of
him and his siblings.
“None. Of. Us.”
Jackson’s preeminent
brush with basketball
came in her pre-teen
years. Having indulged
her mother by tagging
along to her younger
brother Jordan’s game, the
pair came across Caryn’s
old high school coach, Vir-
ginia Lawrence.
“Did you teach my
mom how to play?” Rickea
posited.
“I did,” Lawrence re-
sponded.
“Well, can you teach
me?” Rickea asked.
Greeted with glee from
her mother and Lawrence,
Rickea began her basket-
ball career on the spot.
“Oh my goodness, that
was the best day of my
life,” Caryn said, pausing
briefly to provide a caveat.
“Next to her being born.”
nnn
Rickea was a sopho-
more in high school when
she saw her first live wom-
en’s college basketball
game. Debra Walker, who
coached Caryn’s Brick
Kansas
Continued from Page 1B
I have confidence in me, my team has confidence in me and it felt really good.”
And the Jayhawks (2-1) needed everything Wilson could muster in an ugly, dis-
jointed game.
Wilson was 8 of 16 from the field — the only player on either team with a shooting
percentage of 50% or better. He had a season-best 10 rebounds. Ochai Agbaji added
17 points for Kansas, and Christian Braun had eight points and 13 rebounds.
City Bombers’ AAU team
during her playing days,
offered to drive her god-
daughter to Ann Arbor to
watch Michigan take on
Rutgers.
Both women had skin
in the game. Michigan
had been among Rickea’s
first collegiate offers,
while Rutgers head coach
and Basketball Hall of
Famer C. Vivian String-
er coached Walker to the
first-ever NCAA Women’s
Final Four at Cheyney
State in 1982.
Looking on from the
hard plastic seat backs at
the Crisler Center, Rickea
was enamored with the
women racing up and
down the floor. But under-
neath her bewilderment
was a level of ambition.
She felt she could perform
at the same level as the
players on the court.
Rickea set back to
work. The fiery competi-
tiveness of her youth man-
ifested itself in late-night
shootarounds and a gym
rat mentality.
“Gym?” the text mes-
sage gracing Brown’s
phone would read at all
hours. Feeling an undying
bond with her “basketball
daughter,” the time of day,
temperature or circum-
stance never mattered.
She’d be at the gym to
work out Rickea.
“The benefit is I’m the
athletic director, so I have
24-hour access (to the
gym),” Brown said. “And I
told her I would never say
no because if she wanted
to get in, she could. So she
took that and ran with it
literally.”
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
Walker, too, received
similar phone messag-
es. Less than 24 hours
after her Detroit Edison
squad took home its third
straight Michigan state
championship, Rickea
texted her godmother for
a ride. Expecting a trip to
the mall to shop — one of
Rickea’s favorite off-court
activities — Rickea in-
stead asked Walker to pick
her up at 9 a.m. that Sun-
day to head to the gym.
“She just saw where
she could be,” Walker
said. “And then her mom
just instilled in her that
you can be good, you can
be the best, or you can be
great. And I think she’s
on her way to doing some-
thing special.”
nnn
Twenty-six minutes
into a phone call with a
Dispatch reporter, Caryn
reveals an anecdote from
the previous November.
Despite a 2-0 start to
the 2019 season, MSU
coach Vic Schaefer was
asked endlessly about
his star freshman’s play.
To that point, Rickea had
struggled. While the Bull-
dogs downed UT Martin
by 36 points in an early
November contest, she
mustered just 10 points
on 22.2 percent shooting.
The Dispatch’s headline
the next morning read in
bold, block letters, “MSU
women blow out UT Mar-
tin, but Rickea Jackson’s
struggles persist.”
Spying the story on
Twitter, Caryn sent it to
Rickea. The plan was not
to alert her to the negativ-
ity but to give her an un-
derstanding the world was
watching. It was on her to
write her own narrative.
“I said, ‘Really? You’re
going to settle for this?’”
Caryn recalled. “And she
was like, ‘I got you.’ And
the rest is history.”
Rickea took her moth-
er’s words to heart. She
finished the year aver-
aging 15.1 points and
5.1 rebounds per game
under intense scrutiny.
Outbursts of 23 and 29
points against LSU and
Kentucky in the South-
eastern Conference tour-
nament followed as MSU
reached the championship
game before falling to No.
1 South Carolina in the fi-
nal. National honors rolled
in, too. She was named
an WBCA All-America
Team honorable mention,
second team All-SEC and
SEC all-freshman team at
season’s end.
But as the COVID-19
pandemic began its rapid
ascent across the United
States, Rickea’s seem-
ingly rock-steady world
collapsed. The NCAA
tournament was called off.
Players were sent home
from campus with little
closure. And then on April
5, the final nail slammed
home as Schaefer and his
staff departed MSU for
Texas.
“100 percent it hurt,”
Caryn said. “It hurt be-
cause of the bond she was
building.”
Rickea’s future quickly
came into question. Calls
from players nationwide
flooded her phone. Mes-
Kentucky (1-2) was led by Brandon Boston Jr. and Davion Mintz, who each
scored 12. Mintz had a chance to tie it with five seconds to go but his 3-pointer was
off the mark and Kansas grabbed the rebound.
“They’ve got to go through this, it’s all part of the growth of this,” Kentucky
coach John Calipari said. “They punked us. We couldn’t even bring in the ball.”
sages from MSU fans and
other schools filled her
social media feeds. Would
she stay in Starkville?
Back home in Detroit
at the time, Rickea took
some time away from bas-
ketball. She needed the
space to clear her head.
With a fresh perspective,
she approached Caryn
in the days that followed
Schaefer’s departure.
“I chose Mississippi
State,” Rickea told her
mom. “I didn’t choose the
coaches.”
nnn
When news broke that
Nikki McCray-Penson
had been hired from Old
Dominion, there was a
level of comfort in the
Jackson household. A
former assistant at South
Carolina, McCray-Penson
was among the first major
college coaches to reach
out regarding Rickea
when she was just a sev-
enth-grader.
In the months since
McCray-Penson was
hired, she’s challenged
Rickea to take the next
steps in her progression.
She’s oft mentioned her
star sophomore must be
ready to shoot upon step-
ping off the bus while find-
ing sensibility in her shot
selection.
“I think the sky is the
limit for Rickea Jackson,”
McCray-Penson said
Tuesday. “For her, I don’t
want to put a lot of pres-
sure on her or added pres-
sure. She’s got to continue
to embrace practicing at
a high level every single
day, and the game will
become very easy for her,
and there won’t be pres-
sure.”
For a team that brings
back the bulk of its roster
from a 27-6 team a season
ago, Rickea is ready for a
prime role. So much so,
she was named a candi-
date for the Naismith and
Wade Trophies honoring
the National Player of the
Year in women’s college
basketball.
Caryn notes she always
challenged her daughter
to match her workload to
three years ahead of her
current standing. As a
freshman in high school,
Rickea was expected to
play like a senior. As a
sophomore at MSU, she’ll
be tasked with performing
like a senior or first-round
WNBA draft pick.
In public, Rickea is
subtle, quiet and caring.
She’s charismatic but
ever so slightly reserved.
With those in The Circle,
she’s open, persistent and
driven. There are expec-
tations among those that
know her best, sure, but
the group is also there for
support. In their mind,
Rickea Jackson will be the
best player Rickea Jack-
son wants her to be.
“The thing that stands
out with Rickea is that,
just like other great ath-
letes, a lot of people see
that maturation and the
end result,” McCormick
said. “But they don’t see
the countless hours of
work that person puts in
to get where they are.”
Food
Eat and drink
LIFESTYLES EDITOR
Jan Swoope: 328-2471
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 n 5B

smart to fend
off cold and Popping up
flu season festive holiday fun
FAMILY FEATURES

I
t’s no secret that a balanced
diet with plenty of fruits and
veggies can deliver important
vitamins and nutrients for better
health, but many of your favorite
foods can actually help support
your immune system, too.
In addition to precautions like
avoiding people who are sick
and washing your hands often,
you can influence your immune
system through what you eat and
drink.
Stay hydrated. Keeping well
hydrated can be difficult during
the winter months, especially
if you spend most of your time
indoors. A warm drink like this
flavorful Orange Spiced Tea
provides a strong dose of vitamin
C along with a delicious dose of
hydration.
Keep the produce going
strong. Fresh, seasonal fruits
and veggies often come to mind
during warmer months, but
produce like citrus, leafy greens
and root vegetables are plentiful
during cold and flu season, too.
“Consuming the whole fruit
is the best way to ensure you
gain the maximum nutritional
benefit,” Dr. Poonam Desai said.
“When speaking with patients,
I recommend seeking nutrients
like vitamin C from whole food
sources, rather than supplements,
especially with a vitamin C-rich
fruit like California oranges.”
Get a natural boost of vitamins.
Vitamins A and C, found in fresh
citrus, are two key nutrients that
support your body’s natural line
of defense, your immune system.
Just one orange offers 90 percent
of the daily recommended value
of vitamin C, and California Navel
oranges are in their peak season
- just in time for the height of cold
and flu season.
Get inspired with more ideas to
boost your immune system with
essential vitamins and nutrients
at californiacitrusgrowers.com.

5 ways to get more vitamin C

■ Pick heavy fruit. When shop-
ping for citrus, choose fruit that
smells fresh and feels heavy for
its size. The heavier the orange,
the juicer it’s likely to be.
■ Explore versatility. Fresh cit-
rus like California Navel oranges
make a nutritious addition to
Photos by familyfeatures.com
Get the whole family involved in making these fun popcorn treats. Clockwise from top: Chocolate Popcorn Rein-
deer, Coconut Popcorn Snowballs and Holiday Popcorn Snowmen. Read on for the recipes.
Nonstick cooking spray
FAMILY FEATURES For example, Coconut Pop-
3 quarts popped popcorn
corn Snowballs add fun and

D
sweet and savory dishes, beverag-
es, cocktails, sauces and more.
■ Use the whole fruit. Reduce
food waste by consuming the
flesh, juice, zest and peel. Try
squeezing juice and grating zest
into a smoothie, using orange
segments for a vibrant salad or
combining diced Navels with red
onion, cilantro and jalapenos for a
zesty salsa.
■ Retain vitamin C content.
Vitamin C is water soluble, so to
retain as much as possible, eat
citrus fresh, avoid overcooking
and use minimal amounts of
water.
■ Refrigerate for longer shelf
life. Keep your citrus fresh longer
by storing it in the refrigerator at
a temperature below 42 F. To get
the most juice out of the orange,
bring it to room temperature
before cooking.
See HEALTH, 6B
uring a holiday season that
may not quite feel the same
for many families, you can
add a magic touch to at-home festiv-
ities with activities and treats that
get everyone involved. Creating
decorative holiday sweets allows
little ones and grown-ups alike to
take part in the fun, and the end
result is delicious desserts for all to
enjoy.
Start with a main ingredient
like whole-grain, freshly popped
popcorn. At 30 calories a cup, it’s
naturally low in fat, non-GMO and
gluten-free for a nutritious alterna-
tive to traditional holiday indul-
gences. It’s a clever way to create
artsy representations of the season
at hand that celebrate festive
flavors like peppermint, coconut,
chocolate and other sweet eats.
flavor to wintertime with a coat
of sweetened coconut “snow” and
candy cane handle while easy-
to-construct Holiday Popcorn
Snowmen are sure to be a hit with
your children. Add to the holiday
spirit throughout your home with
wintery Jingle Balls that call for
colored sugars to create a magi-
cal sparkling effect then take the
creativity to the next level by en-
couraging kids to make their own
red-nosed, sleigh-pulling team of
Chocolate Popcorn Reindeer.
Discover more decorative des-
sert recipes at popcorn.org.
COCONUT POPCORN SNOWBALLS
Yield: 8 balls (4 inches)
2 cups shredded or flaked sweetened
coconut
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter or
margarine
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1 teaspoon coconut or vanilla extract
8 candy canes or candy cane sticks
(about 3-4 inches)
■ Place large sheet wax or parchment
paper over work surface. Spread coconut
on paper.
■ Spray large mixing bowl lightly with
nonstick cooking spray and place popcorn
inside.
■ In medium saucepan, melt butter
over low heat. Stir in marshmallows until
melted and mixture is smooth. Pour over
popcorn and mix well until coated.
■ Spray hands with cooking spray and
press mixture firmly to form into balls.
■ Place balls on coconut; roll and press
coconut to coat. While holding popcorn
balls, gently press candy cane into each
ball. Serve immediately or wrap individual-
ly in plastic wrap for storage.
See POPCORN, 6B

Caring for your nutrition when caregiving

FAMILY FEATURES time to shop and cook. Fast can help caregivers take steps these ideas for increasing your n Top your food with
food, snacks and comfort meals toward better nutrition without protein intake: chopped nuts like almonds

F
amily caregivers of people
with illnesses, injuries
or disabilities sometimes
spend more time thinking
about those they care for than
themselves. It’s important to
remember that self-care is
essential to providing good
care to others and must include
eating well.
Healthy eating can be
especially challenging for care-
givers who often have limited
are tempting but usually lack
healthy amounts of protein,
fiber, vitamins and minerals.
In addition to preventing low
energy, muscle loss, illnesses
and unplanned weight change,
a healthy diet may help reduce
the stress and fatigue that can
come with caring for a loved
one.
These tips from the Admin-
istration for Community Living
adding to already full to-do
lists:
n Drink healthy beverages
at each meal and two to three
times between meals. Water,
milk, juice (to replace miss-
ing fruits and vegetables) or
non-sweetened drinks are all
better-for-you options.
n Get enough protein, a
key nutrient that helps build
and repair tissues. Consider
n Eat a high-protein food
like fish, chicken or eggs at
every meal
n Try plant proteins like
nuts, peanut butter, beans and
tofu
n Eat your protein first at
meals
n Eat low- or non-fat dairy
products and use Greek yogurt
n Opt for cheese at snack
time
n Drink a liquid supple-
ment, like a meal replacement
or protein shake, if foods alone
do not supply all the nutrients
you need. A health care provid-
er can make specific dietary
suggestions based on your
unique health needs, diet and
conditions.
For more information and
ideas, talk to your doctor or
dietitian and visit eatright.org.
6B WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020
Popcorn
Continued from Page 5B
JINGLE BALLS
Yield: 12 cups
Nonstick cooking spray
12 cups popped popcorn
6 tablespoons butter or mar-
garine
3 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 teaspoon peppermint
extract
Assorted colored sugars
■ Spray large mixing bowl light-
ly with nonstick cooking spray.
Add popcorn.
■ Spread plastic wrap on
cookie sheet; set aside.
■ In medium saucepan, melt
butter and marshmallows; stir
until mixture is smooth. Stir
in peppermint extract. Pour
over popcorn, mixing until well
coated. Let cool 2 minutes.
■ Spray hands with nonstick
cooking spray and form pop-
corn mixture into 3-inch balls.
■ Gently press colored sugar
onto balls. Let sit on prepared
cookie sheet until cool and set.
Comics & Puzzles
DILBERT
ZITS
GARFIELD
CANDORVILLE
BABY BLUES
BEETLE BAILEY
MALLARD FILLMORE
CHOCOLATE
POPCORN REINDEER
Servings: 8
8 cups unsalted, unbuttered,
popped popcorn
2 1/2 cups mini marshmal-
lows
1/2 cup chopped dark choco-
late or dark chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter or light
olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 pretzel sticks
16 eyeball candies
8 red candy-coated
Chocolate candies
■ Place popcorn in large
mixing bowl.
■ In saucepan over medium
heat, heat marshmallows,
chocolate, butter and salt, stir-
ring often, until smooth. Toss
marshmallow mixture with pop-
corn until well combined.
■ Scoop 3/4 cup popcorn
mixture into ball. Repeat with
FAMILY CIRCUS
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com
Preparation for these Jingle Balls involves popcorn,
melted butter and marshmallows and colored sugar.
remaining mixture to make
eight balls. Place each ball in
paper muffin cup liner.
■ Insert one pretzel stick on
each side of ball to resemble
familyfeatures.com
antlers, attach two eyeball
candies for “eyes” and one red
chocolate candy for “nose.”
Repeat with remaining balls.
■ Let cool completely.
Dear Abby
D
EAR ABBY:
Marriage is
considered
to be imperative
in my religion
and culture. I’m
29 and still not
married. I have
commitment
and trust issues
with guys. I have
been in only three
relationships my
entire life.
Every time
things are going
well, I tend to Dear Abby
self-sabotage and
make excuses
to push the guy away. I start
arguments for no reason or
create problems or issues that
I fabricate out of thin air. I think
it has a lot to do with the fact
that my past relationships were
toxic and tumultuous. They were
cheaters and liars.
I have carried that baggage
into my relationship with my
new partner by not believing a
lot of the things he says. For
example, I doubt his feelings
for me. When things are going
smoothly between us, I always
take five or 10 steps back. It
isn’t fair that I put him through
the wringer, but I don’t know
any other way. How can I get
past this continuous issue?
— PROBLEM TRUSTING IN
Horoscopes
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Dec.
2). Your social grace is admi-
rable to many and a talent you
can rely on. You’ll intuit when to
step forward and when to step
back, and in doing so, you’ll
create a beautiful dance of
relationships. A much-needed
break from work will come with
once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
A decision in February increases
family closeness. Leo and
Aquarius adore you. Your lucky
numbers are: 32, 16, 3, 39
and 4.
ARIES (March 21-April 19).
New relationships have their
own special magic, a spark
that can largely be created by
our fantasies of who we want
people to be and who we want
ourselves to be.
HOLIDAY
POPCORN SNOWMEN
Yield: 5 snowmen
1 package (1 pound) large
marshmallows
1/4 up (1/2 stick) butter or
margarine, plus additional for
greasing hands
1 teaspoon vanilla
10 cups popped popcorn
sprinkles (optional)
licorice (optional)
gum drops (optional)
cinnamon candies (optional)
■ In large saucepan, melt
marshmallows and 1/4 cup
butter. Remove from heat
and stir in vanilla. Let stand 5
minutes.
■ Pour marshmallow mixture
over popcorn and stir. Butter
hands well and form into balls.
■ Decorate with sprinkles, lico-
rice, gum drops and cinnamon
candies, if desired.
CALIFORNIA
DEAR PROB-
LEM TRUSTING:
The most effec-
tive way to do
that would be to
talk about this de-
structive pattern
with a licensed
mental health
adviser. If you
do, it may help
you rid yourself
of the “baggage”
you are carry-
ing, understand
why you chose
the men you
did before, and
make it easier to evaluate any
new relationships that start to
develop.
DEAR ABBY: I have known
my friend “Matt” for more than
20 years. We’ve been close for
most of those years.
Matt is gay, and early in our
friendship, we had a mutual
friend, “Gary,” who used a gay
epithet often, even though he
knew Matt is gay. It hurt Matt,
but he wasn’t comfortable
speaking to Gary about it, so
I did. Gary not only apologized
to Matt but to this day (some
18 years later), I haven’t heard
Gary say that word in our
company.
Recently, Matt has started
using the N-word. I have told
TAURUS (April 20-May 20).
Of all the notable sounds you’ll
hear during the day, the two
you’ll enjoy most will be your
name on the lips of a delightful
someone and the low din of life
in the distance, uninterrupted
by anything that requires your
attention.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21).
Wanting a particular outcome
too badly makes you less aware
of the nuances of timing. Help
yourself play it cool by doing
what it takes to return to a state
of relaxed neutrality.
CANCER (June 22-July 22).
It seems like with sufficient ev-
idence to make your point, the
others would concede without
drama. It is not so, as everyone
has their own opinion about
Health
Continued from Page 5B
ORANGE SPICED TEA
6 cups water
1 clove cinnamon or 1/2
teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tea bags
1 cup California Navel orange
juice
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 slice California Navel
orange
■ Bring water and cinnamon
to boil; let cinnamon dissolve.
■ Remove from heat and
add tea bags; soak at least 5
minutes. Remove tea bags.
■ In separate pan, bring or-
ange juice, sugar and lemon
juice to boil. Stir until sugar
dissolves.
■ Pour juice mixture into
spiced tea.
Garnish with orange slice and
serve hot.
Source: California Citrus
Growers
him that not only is it disgusting
and offensive, but I compared it
to the situation with Gary. Matt
laughed it off and continues to
use the word with no regard for
me. I have started spending
less time with him because
of it because I don’t want him
to think I condone his racist
language. Is it time to sever ties
with Matt? — DISAPPOINTED IN
MARYLAND
DEAR DISAPPOINTED: I think
so. The next time Matt uses
the N-word, make clear to him
that if you ever hear it from him
again, your friendship will be
OVER. And then follow through.
DEAR ABBY: I feel horri-
ble about my “first time.” It
was with my boyfriend, and it
happened in the back seat of
his car. I had always dreamed
of my first time being special,
but after realizing we didn’t
have many options, we decided
the car was fine. Now I feel
ashamed and guilty. Can you
advise me? — NOT LIKE I IMAG-
INED IN TEXAS
DEAR NOT: I will try. When
did your first time happen? Last
weekend? Last month? Last
year? Whenever it was, it is in
the past. Experience teaches
us what works for us and what
doesn’t. Learn from it, but
don’t preoccupy yourself with
regret over something you can’t
change.
the evidence. The only way to
reduce drama is to drop out of
the fight.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22).
Items in your everyday life get
out of control, seeming to have
lives of their own or decaying
in some way before your eyes.
When the back of the closet and
the refrigerator are decluttered,
so will be your mind.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).
The easiest people to be around
today will be neither related to
you nor reminiscent of anyone
from your original family. You’ll
see another side of yourself
because they do.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).
The anchors of life are very
useful and can keep you from
drifting, emotionally or other-
wise, to parts unknown. But
you’re supposed to lower them
when the ship is at rest, not en
route.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov.
21). With the internet alive and
eager with information, you have
to be a little judicious about
what you ask. There are things
you really don’t want to know.
Once you learn, you cannot
unlearn, so go carefully.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec.
21). You like the look of the sit-
uation and now it’s time to do a
deeper dive. Is there substance
here to match? If there is, then
you’ll know within 10 questions.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan.
19). You cannot develop your-
self and ignore yourself at the
same time. You are a reliable
entity who must be listened to,
first by you. Put self-approval
before validation from others,
and then act on what you
approve of.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.
18). Certain individuals seem
crystalized against the truths
you hold so dear. On the bright
side, if it were not the case, you
wouldn’t have nearly the drive to
explore, practice and celebrate
this important part of who you
are.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March
20). You would rather do the
listening than the talking, but
what’s out there to listen to
today will either be too quiet to
hear or, quite frankly, not worth
listening to. Take this as an
invitation. The world needs your
contribution.
Stab in the back
SOLUTION:
The Dispatch • www.cdispatch.com WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 7B

Classifieds
LEGALS
CALL US: 662-328-2424
Legal Notices
The following vehicle has been izes judicial foreclosure of the
abandoned at Shelton's Tow-
ing, Inc., 1024 Gardner Blvd., in Mortgage Book 2008 at
Columbus, MS 39702.
2000 BMW 740
VIN: WBAGH83491DP23311
This vehicle will be put up for ure Sale. Said Amended Order
sale on the 28th day of Decem- appearing in the Chancery
ber, 2020 at 10am at
Shelton's Towing, Inc., 1024
Gardner Blvd., Columbus, MS
39702.
PUBLISH: 12/2, 12/9 &
12/16/2020
SPECIAL COMMISSIONER’S
NOTICE OF SALE
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
COUNTY OF Lowndes
WHEREAS, on the 29th day of
August, 2008, Wayne Vincent
Davis Sr. aka Wayne V. Davis,
Sr. and Sharon Ann Davis aka
Sharon Davis, his wife, ex-
ecuted and delivered a certain
Deed of Trust unto Real Estate
Closing Services, Trustee for
Mortgage Electronic Registra-
tion Systems, Inc. as nominee
for Realty Mortgage Corpora-
tion, Beneficiary, to secure an
indebtedness therein de-
scribed, which Deed of Trust is
recorded in the office of the
Chancery Clerk of Lowndes
County, Mississippi in Mort-
gage Book 2008 at Page
21932; and
WHEREAS, Wayne Vincent Dav-
is Sr. aka Wayne V. Davis, Sr.
and Sharon Ann Davis aka
Sharon Davis, his wife is also
known as Sharon A. Davis per
the land records of Lowndes
County, Mississippi; and
WHEREAS, on the 13th day of
September, 2018, Mortgage
Electronic Registration Sys-
tems, Inc. as nominee for Re-
alty Mortgage Corporation, as-
signed said Deed of Trust unto
PennyMac Loan Services, LLC,
by instrument recorded in the
office of the aforesaid Chan-
cery Clerk in MORT Book 2018
at Page 20137; and
WHEREAS by Amended Order
granting Default Judgment and
Final Judgment on the Plead-
ings, in the matter of
PennyMac Loan Services, LLC
vs. Wayne Davis, Sr. a/k/a
Wayne Vincent Davis, Sr., et al;
Cause No.: 2019-0530 DE in
the Chancery Court of Lowndes
County, Mississippi, rendered
on the 30th day of September
2020, which reforms the Deed
of Trust filed in the Chancery
Court of Lowndes County, Mis-
sissippi in Mortgage Book
2008 at Page 21932, grants a
declaratory judgment that the
Deed of Trust in Book 1246 at
Page 177 is satisfied and is
Medical / Dental
canceled of record, and recog-
nizes the reformed Deed of
Trust in Mortgage Book 2008
at Page 21932 to be a valid,
perfected, and enforceable first
priority lien on the subject prop-
erty. The Order further author-
izes judicial foreclosure of the
subject Deed of Trust recorded
in Mortgage Book 2008 at
Page 21932, and appoints
Dean Morris, LLC, Special
Commissioner, or its author-
ized agent, for purposes of con-
ducting the Judicial Foreclos-
ure Sale. Said Amended Order
appearing in the Chancery
Clerk of Lowndes County, Mis-
sissippi's land records in Deed
Book 2020 at Page 7539 on
October 21, 2020; and ; and
WHEREAS, default having been
made in the payments of the
indebtedness secured by the
said Deed of Trust, and the
holder of said Deed of Trust,
having requested the under-
signed so to do, on the 9th day
of December, 2020, I will dur-
ing the lawful hours of between
11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., at
public outcry, offer for sale and
will sell, at the south east front
door of Lowndes County Court-
house, 505 2nd Ave. North at
Columbus, Mississippi, for
cash to the highest bidder, the
following described land and
property situated in Lowndes
County, Mississippi, to-wit:
Commencing at the Northwest
corner of Section 30, Town-
ship 16 South, Range 17 West,
Lowndes County, Mississippi;
run thence South 38 degrees
16 minutes West 2130.2 feet
to a point; run thence South 00
degrees 04 minutes West
83.03 feet to the Point of Be-
ginning of the herein described
tract; run thence South 00 de-
grees 04 minutes West,
110.32 feet to a point; run
thence South 85 degrees 41
minutes West 336.05 feet to a
point; run thence North 04 de-
grees 19 minutes West 110.0
feet to a point; run thence
North 85 degrees 41 minutes
East 344.48 feet to a Point of
Beginning, containing 0.86
acres, more or less, and being
situated in the Northeast
Quarter (NE1/4) of Section 30,
Township 16 South, Range 17
West, Lowndes County, Missis-
sippi.
Together with and including
that certain easement for in-
gress and egress as recorded
in Deed Book 954 at Page 21
in the office of the Chancery
Clerk of Lowndes County, Mis-
sissippi.
Buy. Sell. Trade. Rent.
I will only convey such title as
is vested in me as Special
Commissioner.
WITNESS MY SIGNATURE, this
12th day of November, 2020.
Dean Morris, LLC, or its author-
ized agent
Special Commissioner
855 S Pear Orchard Rd, Ste.
404 Bldg 400
Ridgeland, MS 39157
(318) 330-9020
adp/F19-0389
PUBLISH: 11/18/2020,
11/25/2020, 12/2/2020
by instrument recorded in the
office of the aforesaid Chan-
cery Clerk in MORT Book 2018
at Page 20137; and
WHEREAS by Amended Order
granting Default Judgment and
Final Judgment on the Plead-
ings, in the matter of
PennyMac Loan Services, LLC
vs. Wayne Davis, Sr. a/k/a
Wayne Vincent Davis, Sr., et al;
Cause No.: 2019-0530 DE in
the Chancery Court of Lowndes
County, Mississippi, rendered
on the 30th day of September
2020, which reforms the Deed
of Trust filed in the Chancery
Court of Lowndes County, Mis-
sissippi in Mortgage Book
2008 at Page 21932, grants a
Legal Notices judgment that the
declaratory
Deed of Trust in Book 1246 at
Page 177 is satisfied and is
canceled of record, and recog-
nizes the reformed Deed of
Trust in Mortgage Book 2008
at Page 21932 to be a valid,
perfected, and enforceable first
priority lien on the subject prop-
erty. The Order further author-
subject Deed of Trust recorded
Page 21932, and appoints
Dean Morris, LLC, Special
Commissioner, or its author-
ized agent, for purposes of con-
ducting the Judicial Foreclos-
Clerk of Lowndes County, Mis-
sissippi's land records in Deed
Book 2020 at Page 7539 on
October 21, 2020; and ; and
WHEREAS, default having been
made in the payments of the
indebtedness secured by the
said Deed of Trust, and the
holder of said Deed of Trust,
having requested the under-
signed so to do, on the 9th day
of December, 2020, I will dur-
ing the lawful hours of between
11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., at
public outcry, offer for sale and
will sell, at the south east front
door of Lowndes County Court-
house, 505 2nd Ave. North at
Columbus, Mississippi, for
cash to the highest bidder, the
following described land and
property situated in Lowndes
County, Mississippi, to-wit:
Commencing at the Northwest
corner of Section 30, Town-
ship 16 South, Range 17 West,
Lowndes County, Mississippi;
run thence South 38 degrees
16 minutes West 2130.2 feet
to a point; run thence South 00
degrees 04 minutes West
83.03 feet to the Point of Be-
ginning of the herein described
tract; run thence South 00 de-
grees 04 minutes West,
110.32 feet to a point; run
thence South 85 degrees 41
minutes West 336.05 feet to a
point; run thence North 04 de-
grees 19 minutes West 110.0
feet to a point; run thence
North 85 degrees 41 minutes
East 344.48 feet to a Point of
Beginning, containing 0.86
acres, more or less, and being
situated in the Northeast
Quarter (NE1/4) of Section 30,
Township 16 South, Range 17
West, Lowndes County, Missis-
sippi.
Together with and including
that certain easement for in-
gress and egress as recorded
in Deed Book 954 at Page 21
in the office of the Chancery
Clerk of Lowndes County, Mis-
sissippi.
I will only convey such title as
is vested in me as Special
Commissioner.
WITNESS MY SIGNATURE, this
12th day of November, 2020.
Dean Morris, LLC, or its author-
ized agent
One call will bring you results.
Special Commissioner
855 S Pear Orchard Rd, 662-328-2424
Ste.
404 Bldg 400
Ridgeland, MS 39157
(318) 330-9020
adp/F19-0389
PUBLISH: 11/18/2020,
11/25/2020, 12/2/2020
Place your ad online today at ads.cdispatch.com
Beginning, containing 0.86
acres, more or less, and being
situated in the Northeast
Quarter (NE1/4) of Section 30,
Township 16 South, Range 17
West, Lowndes County, Missis-
sippi.
Together with and including
that certain easement for in-
gress and egress as recorded
in Deed Book 954 at Page 21
in the office of the Chancery
Clerk of Lowndes County, Mis-
sissippi.
I will only convey such title as
is vested in me as Special
Commissioner.
WITNESS MY SIGNATURE, this
Legal Notices
12th day of November, 2020.
Dean Morris, LLC, or its author-
ized agent
Special Commissioner
855 S Pear Orchard Rd, Ste.
404 Bldg 400
Ridgeland, MS 39157
(318) 330-9020
adp/F19-0389
PUBLISH: 11/18/2020,
11/25/2020, 12/2/2020
EMPLOYMENT
CALL US: 662-328-2424
General Help Wanted
MAINTENANCE AIDE
The Columbus Housing
Authority is recruiting for
the employment position of
Maintenance Aide. Individu-
als who are interested may
come by the main office at
914 4th St. So. to apply
and request a copy of the
job description. Any ques-
tions, please call 662-328-
4236 and speak to Mrs.
Taylor or Mr. Jones.
We are an equal
opportunity employer.
RENTALS
ADS STARTING AT $25
Apts For Rent: North
Large Upstairs Studio Apt,
Hwy 45 North location. No
smoking, no pets. Water,
sewer, and trash are
included. $450 deposit.
$450/mo. 205−243−3653
Apts For Rent: West
VIP
Rentals
Apartments & Houses
1 Bedrooms
2 Bedroooms
3 Bedrooms
Furnished & Unfurnished
1, 2, & 3 Baths
Lease, Deposit
& Credit Check
viceinvestments.com
327-8555
ADS APPEAR IN THE COMMERCIAL DISPATCH,
THE STARKVILLE DISPATCH AND ONLINE
To place ads starting at only $12,
call 662-328-2424 or visit ads.cdispatch.com
THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 n 8B
Apts For Rent: Other Houses For Rent: North Lawn & Garden
COLONIAL TOWNHOUSES. STIHL EQUIPMENT:
Place your ad online at ads.cdispatch.com today.
2 & 3 bedroom w/ 2−3 BG 55 Hand held blower
bath townhouses. $650 to $50.
$750. 662−549−9555. FS 55RC Grass Edger $50.
Ask for Glenn or text. HS 45 Hedge Trimmer $50.
662−368−6779.
Mobile Homes for Rent
Sporting Goods
3BR/2BA MH in New Hope.
ED SANDERS GUNSMITH
$650 dep + $650/mo. No
pets, quiet area. Leave full Open for season!
Tue−Fri: 9−5 & Sat: 9−12
name & message,
Over 50 years experience!
Need extra cash for holiday shopping?
205−712−6697.
Repairs, cleaning, refin−
ishing, scopes mounted &
zeroed, handmade knives.
REAL ESTATE Located: Hwy 45 Alt, North
of West Point, turn right on
Yokahama Blvd, 8mi & turn
ADS STARTING AT $25 left on Darracott Rd, will
see sign, 2.5mi ahead
Sell your unwanted items here.
shop on left.
662−494−6218.
Lots & Acreage
The Military Square
Apartments are now 1.75 ACRE LOTS Good/
VEHICLES
Bad Credit Options. Good
accepting applicants!
We have 1, 2, and 3 credit as low as 20% down,
bedroom units available. $499/mo. Eaton Land,
662−361−7711.
All apartments are newly
remodeled, and include:
ADS STARTING AT $12
New Washer/Dryer, New
LAMAR CO., AL−80 ACRES
Refrigerator, New A/C Unit! Trailers & Heavy Equipment
hunting land, north of
Millport. $585 per acre.
We also offer rent JD D110 42" Lawn Tractor
Call for more info,
discounts for: 205−695−2248 or $800.
−Active Military 205−799−9846.
−Veterans 6’ x 10’ Carry−On Trailer,
−Seniors Mobile Homes for Sale fully lighted, high sides
$1,000. 662−368−6779.
Call us at: 662−205−0005
2019 Clayton Mobile Home
COLEMAN Brand new, never lived in.
COMMUNITY
Fully furnished, perfect for
RENTALS an older couple or person.
TOWNHOUSES & APARTMENTS Attached front porch with
roof. May have to be
1 BEDROOM moved unless lease is ADS STARTING AT $12
2 BEDROOMS approved by land owner.
$40,000. 828−674−8659 Good Things To Eat
3 BEDROOMS
LEASE,
MERCHANDISE
© The Dispatch
DEPOSIT
AND
CREDIT CHECK ADS STARTING AT $12
662-329-2323 Firewood / Fuel
2411 HWY 45 N FIREWOOD FOR SALE.
Various lengths.
COLUMBUS, MS 662−295−2274.
Houses For Sale: Other
Let us help you. Advertise here!
Five Questions:
1 Juicy Fruit
2 Surreal
3 NASA
4 Kendo
5 Amazon
SERVICE DIRECTORY
PROMOTE YOUR SMALL BUSINESS STARTING AT ONLY $25
Carpet & Flooring General Services General Services Painting & Papering
A & T TREE SERVICES WORK WANTED: Licensed QUALITY PAINTING.
Bucket truck & stump & Bonded. Carpentry, minor Ext/Int Painting.
removal. Free est. electrical, minor plumbing, Sheet Rock Hang, Finish &
Serving Columbus insulation, painting, demo− Repair. Pressure Washing.
since 1987. Senior lition, gutters cleaned, Free Estimates. Ask for
citizen disc. Call Alvin @ pressure washing, land− specials! Larry Webber,
242−0324/241−4447 scaping, cleanup work. 662−242−4932.
"We’ll go out on a limb for 662−242−3608.
you!" SULLIVAN’S PAINT
Lawn Care / Landscaping
SERVICE
**HOLIDAY SPECIAL** Special Prices.
4 ROOMS − $100 JESSE & BEVERLY’S Interior & Exterior Painting.
1 Room − $50 LAWN SERVICE 662−435−6528
2 Room − $70 Mowing, cleanup, tree
3 Rooms − $90 cutting, landscaping,
Carpet−Rugs−Tile−Cars sodding & bush hogging.
662−356−6525
DAVID’S CARPET &
UPHOLSTERY
CLEANING TERRA CARE
Call for more info! LANDSCAPING L.L.C.
662−722−1758 Phone: 662−549−1878
Landscaping, Property
Clean Up, Plant Care,
Bush Hogging,
If you don’t advertise Herbicide Spraying
your business,
how are they gonna know?
Grow your business.
ads.cdispatch.com