Storm claim hikes CMSD insurance by $35K

The total annual premium for Columbus Municipal School District’s property and casualty insurance rose about $35,000 due to the insurance claim the district filed after a Feb. 23 tornado severely damaged the former Hunt High School and caused minor damage at a few other buildings.

After Feb. storm, Hunt Museum to move to Union

Since 2012, the R.E. Hunt Museum and Cultural Center inside the old Hunt High School building has played host to hundreds of historical artifacts. Hanging on the walls and displayed around the room were documents, letters, photographs, an old washboard and sewing machine, and a typewriter that once belonged to Carlotta Walls LaNair, one of the Little Rock Nine who desegregated Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas in 1957.

SOCSD to consider financial incentive for math teachers

Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Superintendent Eddie Peasant will begin researching if the district can afford to pay secondary math teachers an annual stipend, something he says will help with low teacher retention in the subject.

LCSD to raise taxes this fiscal year

After 30 years without raising taxes, the Lowndes County School District board voted Monday to ask the board of supervisors to raise ad valorem taxes by 4 percent — the maximum allowed by state law without a referendum.

Becoming an American: Local legal residents look to naturalization process for citizenship

Today could be one of the last Fourth of July holidays Gon Carley spends as simply a legal U.S. resident. Soon, she hopes to be a citizen.

But when she first arrived in Columbus 14 years ago, she felt like she was on a different planet, rather than just in a different country.

Fireworks can harm property, people, pets: Officials urge residents to heed ordinances ahead of Fourth of July

One year around the Fourth of July, Columbus Fire and Rescue received 12 calls in one day due to fireworks incidents alone.

LCSD sets criteria for superintendent search

The Lowndes County School District board laid out their list of criteria for qualified superintendent candidates during a special-call meeting Monday night.

Flooding, sediment in Tenn-Tom has impeded industry

When speaking about the changes to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway as a result of this year’s extreme flooding, Mitch Mays showed a photograph of a colleague standing ankle-deep in water surrounded by damp sediment.

Columbus, Starkville participate in federal program to combat summer food insecurity

More than 1,000 children whose families struggle with food insecurity receive free breakfasts and lunches every week day in Columbus and Starkville.

SOCSD plans for grant-funded literacy program

Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District has solidified its plans for a nearly $148,000 Mississippi Department of Education Literacy Support Grant it was awarded earlier this month that was designed to help school districts with a large number of students with low literacy test scores.