Roses to the Starkville Fire Department”s Combat Challenge team for qualifying for the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge World Championships this November in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
The fastest time in which the SFD team completed the course, which includes a high-risk pack carry, driving a 160-pound steal beam 5 feet, carrying a hose fully “charged” 75 feet, hitting a target with its water stream and dragging a 175-pound dummy to safety, was 1:28 — the fastest among Mississippi fire departments and fourth best overall.
The team consisted of Sgt. Andy Morgan and firefighters Kendall Pyant, Blake Daniels, Ty Davis and Todd Palmer. The group was competing together for the first time in Brandon.
Roses to the graduates of the Columbus Police Department”s 2010 Citizens” Police Academy, Class VIII.
Lt. Oscar Lewis leads the program, putting those enrolled through a series of courses on patrol, stealth operations, gangs, human remains detection, narcotics, weapons and more, all taught by those in the field every day.
The eight-week course is designed to familiarize participants with police work through an inside look.
This year”s class was comprised of Vicky Davis, Dorothy Washington, Corissa Gunter, Garthia Elena Burnett, Bill Downing, Inez Saum, Ralph Null, Jimmie Bean, Michael Gustine, John Frazier, Eileen Ackerman and Mary Hood.
Roses to organizers and attendees of recent crime prevention meetings in Columbus.
District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks hosted a public meeting at the Municipal Complex last week and hopes to raise money to bring Daniel Kellar, executive director of the American Crime Prevention Institute in Louisville, Ky., to Columbus for a seminar on crime prevention strategies.
WCBI anchor Siobahn Riley moderated the Stop the Violence Youth Summit, also last week, engaging middle schoolers and high schoolers to discuss violence in the community.
A violence prevention rally also is scheduled in Columbus, June 26, from 1-8 p.m., at Propst Park, hosted by the Columbus chapter of the National Action Network.
It takes a village to raise a child, and active community involvement is a step in the right direction.
Roses to the Afro-American Culture Organization for hosting the city”s 14th annual Juneteenth celebration this weekend. Lowndes County District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks started the Columbus celebration in 1996, and it has grown steadily since then.
Last year, there were around 13,000 people in attendance. The Dispatch will have the projected tally on this year”s event later in the week. Hundreds poured into Sim Scott Park on 20th Street North for food, fun and live music. And the celebration is about more than a good time. It commemorates when Southern towns, and so, slaves, were informed the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed.
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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