A rose to all of the people who work a behind the scenes and without renumeration to produce the kind of events held Saturday. From 7 a.m. until midnight, there were a dozen or more events in Columbus. In virtually every instance, those events could not have been staged were it not for people who donated their time, talents and, in some cases, money. The names of most of these people will never appear in any program or billboard. Their thankless efforts remind us that The Friendly City is more than just a bit of whimsical marketing.
A rose to our Columbus contingent in the state legislature, who helped push through legislation that will give Lowndes County an opportunity to better invest money the county received from the sale of the county hospital. Sen. Terry Brown and representatives Gary Chism and Jeff Smith’s efforts to help the county broaden its investment opportunities is worthy of applause. The legislation, which was this week signed into law by the governor, will allow the county to invest the $30 million received from the 2001 sale of the hospital in instruments other than money market accounts, whose yield has dwindled to .019 percent. Lowndes County Supervisor Harry Sanders, who first approached the legislators with the idea, is to be commended as well.
A rose to the Friends of the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library for their lively Table Talk program this month. In keeping with National Library Week (April 14-20), the library geared its month-long lunch-time program on the theme “Let’s Live the Books of My Childhood.” The focus of each lunch talk is own the importance of reading to children. In our view, developing reading skills through a love of reading is a foundational element in building a successful life. We applaud the Friends of the Library for putting together a wonderful series of talks that emphasize this important matter.
A rose to the anonymous citizen who spotted a suspected armed robber and called in the tip to CrimeStoppers. The tip led to the arrest of a Brooksville teen who police believe was responsible for the armed robbery of the M&M Convenience Store in Columbus on Tuesday. Police departments have many tools to fight crime, but one of the most effective tools is an alert and cooperative public.
A thorn to director Dan Moreland and the rest of the Starkville Parks Commission in the wake of last week’s audit that revealed some very disturbing lapses by the commission. While there was nothing to indicate the commission had done anything overtly illegal, the audit painted a portrait of a parks commission that is sloppy in its accounting, lax in its policies and imprudent in its spending practices. While Moreland, who is running for mayor, seemed to be directly connected to the commission’s shoddy manner of operations, the other members of the board seem to be so out of touch and ignorant of policies as to offer no response at all in the face of the auditor’s pointed criticisms. Moreland and the other members of the board should remember that the money at their disposal is taxpayer money and thus should be handled in a wise, transparent manner. There are lemonade stands that are run more professionally than the Starkville Parks, it appears.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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