Our View: Communication is key in suicide prevention
September was designated as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in 2008 but is today probably more relevant than it was at its inception.
Our View: Potential K-Mart tenant is further cause for optimism
Six years ago, two major parcels along Highway 45 South in Columbus, the city’s major retail corridor, were becoming ghost towns.
Our View: Golden Triangle Theatre and The W: A great pairing
Some organizations take a “Field Of Dreams” approach to growth. (If you build it, they will come.) Others employ a “Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters’’ approach (We’ve built it, now we’ll go get them.)
Our View: Hell to pay over tone-deaf council pay raise
As Columbus homeowners are being hit with a 21% property tax increase, the mayor and city council Thursday will be discussing pay raises for themselves, perhaps as much as 14% over their current pay and a whopping 65% increase since September 2022.
Our View: Oktibbeha County unwise to use reserves for recurring expenses
The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors held a work session Tuesday devoted to setting its 2025 budget. Unless there is a significant change of heart on the part of the supervisors, the county is prepared to spend more than it takes in, which is never a good idea, especially at a time when the economy is thriving.
Our View: DA should continue to aggressively prosecute witness tampering cases
When a person is sent to prison, one of the first lessons to be learned is that the prison has its own society, with rules established not just by prison authorities but by the prisoners themselves.
Our View: Twilight Zone tax hike: Is the city acting more conservatively than the county?
Due to a state-mandated revaluing of real estate that hits Lowndes County this year, taxpayers throughout the county are facing substantial property tax bumps next fiscal year. To protect taxpayers from this increase, local governments have to take action to reduce their millage rate.
Our View: Book festival: great for Columbus, great for our literary legacy
When Books-A-Million abruptly closed in May of 2020, leaving Columbus without a bookstore, it wasn’t just the exodus of another Leigh Mall business.
Our View: Upset your property taxes are increasing? Point your finger at the county and CMSD, not just the city of Columbus
When this paper reported Columbus property owners were facing a 21% bump in property tax bills next year, readers were understandably outraged.
Our View: Boosting capital improvement fund is a good idea for Columbus
You don’t have to be a magician to make a large sum of money disappear, especially if you’re in charge of managing taxpayer money. All you have to do is put it in the general fund. Poof!
Our View: Redistricting approval should happen sooner rather than later
For most people, the voting process is viewed as a one-day event.
Our View: New positions should take a back seat to raising pay for existing city employees
For local governments, budgeting is never an exact science. There are just too many variables that have to be estimated, which is a strong inducement for governments to be conservative in their revenue projections and take more of a worst-case approach to expenses.
Our View: Clear workplace marijuana laws are needed
Among the charges that Ward 4 city councilman Pierre Beard pleaded guilty to on Tuesday in Gordo was possession of marijuana, which like the other charges is a misdemeanor.
Our View: Faster action on blight is good for neighborhoods
There are neighborhoods where the sound of a lawn mower cranking on a Saturday morning sets off a chain reaction up and down on the street, a kind of unspoken peer pressure dynamic that helps keep neighborhoods tidy, appealing, perhaps even safe.
Our View: The Riverwalk is safe, but there are other lessons to take from Saturday’s murder
In the almost-20 years the Columbus Riverwalk has been open to visitors, the 2.5-mile path along the Tombigbee River is rarely in the news for anything other than being a popular recreational spot for our community.
Our View: Burford commits to Columbus; council is right to support expansion
Over the years, we have grown accustomed to assuming economic development in Lowndes County is confined outside the city limits of Columbus, most of it at or near the county industrial park.
Our View: Oktibbeha County’s new lake project?
It has been observed that history doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.
Our View: Retaining MSMS graduates should be state-wide initiative
For 36 years, Mississippi School for Math and Science has been a fixture on the campus of Mississippi University for Women.
Our View: A kid like you in a place like this
By next week, all K-12 students in the Golden Triangle will be back in school. Public schools began the 2024-25 school year last week with area private schools beginning classes next week.
Our View: Plymouth Bluff is a treasure of history, recreation. Help celebrate it next week
The story is told of a small-town rube who was finally convinced to travel abroad, specifically a tour of Italy. When he arrived back home he was asked what he thought about the Roman Colosseum. “It’s pretty big,” he said. “But, man, have they let the place go.”