David Creel: A ‘new you’ for the ‘New Year?’

I am intrigued by the expression, “Happy New Year.” While putting away the last of our Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer collection, my best friend from childhood phoned to wish me “Happy New Year.”

David Creel: Hair color tips from kitchen sink to salon

My mama did it. Her mama did it. Home hair color is not a new concept, just newly improved. Believe me when I say that it’s not always “nice and easy” just because the brand says so! Here are some helpful tips.

Betty Stone: Got your number — maybe

During the recent holiday season something really grabbed my attention. We have now become a nation of numbers. That is not a particularly comfortable feeling for people like me, people who started their formal education in various schoolrooms throughout the country with an oppressive dread of being sent to the blackboard to work arithmetic problems.

Jay Lacklen: OK, what’s with the hats?

I must ask a question, why do men wear their baseball hats while dining in restaurants?

I admit I might be a bit of a prig on such things since, in the Air Force, I’d have been pounced upon and severely upbraided if, while in uniform, I didn’t take off my hat immediately when coming indoors, or immediately put it on when going outdoors.

Roses and Thorns 1-9-11

Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman; Leslie Frazier; Columbus police officers; current and prospective county office-holders.

Saul Vydas: Corporate welfare

A recent edition of the Dispatch had an article by Alan Sayre about competition among the Southern states to attract businesses.

Too few hats in this ring

“We’d all like to vote for the best man, but he’s never a candidate,” humorist Kin Hubbard said a century ago. His words still ring true today, perhaps nowhere more so than in Lowndes County.

Third circuit judge should help ensure speedy trials

Circuit judges are more used to watching people get sworn in than doing the swearing themselves, but judges’ hands were on Bibles across the state on Tuesday as they took the oath of office for new four-year terms.

Some more resolutions to consider

We’re several days into the new year, enough time for many of us to have already broken whatever resolution we settled on last week. But we’d like to suggest a few resolutions of our own, beyond the typical commitments.

Eulalie Davis: Notable omission

I was mortified when I read “The Year in Review–Notable Deaths” and did not see any reference to Chebie Bateman. I read the article three times thinking that I had surely missed something.

Rob Hardy: ‘Defiance of the Patriots’

Everyone knows about the current Tea Party and its influence on our politics. Whether it will still be in play 20 years from now will have to be seen, but far more certain is that the original Boston Tea Party of 1773 will continue to be influential.

Rob Hardy: ‘Sleights of Mind’

It is hard not to pay attention to optical illusions, and wonder how can it be that one line is not really longer than the other or one circle is not really darker than the other or all the other varieties that tell us our eyes lie to us.

Rob Hardy: ‘The Planet in a Pebble’

You pick up a rock and it’s just a rock. Jan Zalasiewicz picks up a rock and sees a history of the whole Earth. That’s because Zalasiewicz is a geologist, so rocks have more meaning to him than they do to most of us.

It’s official: Columbus’ Frazier is new Vikings head coach

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It’s official: Columbus’ Frazier is new Vikings head coach

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Report: Columbus’ Frazier first choice for Minnesota Vikings job

Columbus native Leslie Frazier, who has served as interim coach of the Minnesota Vikings the past six games, is the team’s first choice to take over as head coach, a Minnesota newspaper reported.

Carl A. Lee : Wants to see more African-Americans in leadership positions

In recent days, I have been thinking about our “Friendly City” and considering our progress and collective problems. Moreover, we have lately through the leadership of the Mayor and City Council made significant progress in clearing dilapidated houses throughout the city. However, while removing these eyesores is a positive, we have some significant problems festering.

Hold your fire

The beginning of a new year is cause for reflection and celebration. Some welcome the calendar change quietly, others will greet 2011 with all the noise they can muster. For a misguided few, this means the discharging of firearms.

Marty Wiseman: We have a brief truce?

Many will remember the almost unbelievable story of perhaps the most famous Christmas truce ever. It was during World War I on the battlefields of Flanders. In that winter of 1914 what has been described as one of the most unusual events in human history occurred.

Shannon Bardwell: Changing seasons

I was thinking about the new year and how inevitably there will be changes. Sam is reading “The Shack.” He shared the part where Mack goes to a broken-down dilapidated shack in wintertime; in 30 seconds the shack transforms into a nice cabin, and it’s springtime.