A rose to Columbus Light & Water, the city of Columbus and TVA, which have combined to help address one of the hidden costs that affect lower-income households. The city and CLW have been using a $1.6 million grant from TVA to participate in a program called “Extreme Energy Makeover” to make dozens of homes more energy efficient.
Through the grant, the program seeks to reduce electricity usage by addressing air leaks, poor weather sealing, insulation, heating and cooling, duct seals and other issues. The program targets a 25 percent energy savings in homes that are at least 20 years old and is aimed at homes in lower-income communities. Often, the least-energy-efficient homes are those whose owner can least afford to make these changes, which can be expensive on the front end. The program solves this problem by making the changes at no cost to the homeowner.
A rose to the Mississippi State football team, which parlayed a win over its rival in the Egg Bowl with its success in the classroom to reach its seventh straight bowl game despite a losing record in the regular season. MSU beat Ole Miss, 55-20, in its final regular season game to finish with a 5-7 record and earned a bowl bid thanks to having the best academic rating of those teams with the same record. The Bulldogs were selected because there were not enough teams with a 6-6 record or better to fill all of the slots in the bowls. State made good on that rare opportunity, too, defeating Miami of Ohio, 17-16, Monday with a blocked field goal in the game’s final seconds. State is now 5-2 in bowl games under eighth-year coach Dan Mullen. That is unprecedented success, both on and off the playing field.
A rose to our area law enforcement for whom the New Year’s holiday represents a particular challenge. While for most of us the weekend is a chance to ring in the new year, for law enforcement it’s a commitment to keeping us safe on what often is the most dangerous time of the year.
Officers spent the weekend on patrol, helping keep drunk drivers off the street and responding to calls where sometime celebrations spiraled out of control. It’s serious business with serious consequences. We applaud the diligence of our law enforcement in their efforts to keep our citizens safe as the new year arrives.
A rose to all of our readers. As it is with every year, 2016 brought with it both good news and bad. It had its share of controversies and triumphs and sorrows. It has been our job, our obligation and, often, our privilege to share them with you, the readers. We do not imagine all we have done has been met with universal approval. We have been subject to both compliments and criticisms as we pursue our mission: to inform, entertain and challenge the communities we serve.
Ultimately, we cannot succeed without the support of our readers and advertisers. We thank you for that support in 2016 and wish you all the very best in 2017.
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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