Shannon Bardwell: The silver case

During World War II my dad purchased a small silver case in India. One side has a crude etching of India-Bombay, Delhi and Calcutta, the Taj Mahal on the other side. Dad was well known for buying crafts from neighborhood children; they flocked to our door with their wares. Dad certainly would have purchased a small silver case from a street child. I wonder about that child.

Fisticuffs at City Hall: ‘It’s embarrassing; it’s humiliating’

When we first heard about it, we thought it was an April Fools’ joke. In one sense it was; in this case, the tricksters, happened to be Mayor Robert Smith and Ward 5 Councilman Kabir Karriem. The joke is on the people and the city of Columbus.

Roses and thorns 4-4-10

Relay for Life teams; George Irby, Sen. Terry Brown, city and county officials; and Robert Adams Ivy

Women needed in city hall

I think it was president Harry Truman who said “If you can’t stand the heat—get out of the kitchen.” It seems some of our elected officials continue to behave in an uncivilized manner and bring shame on our city. With the Internet being worldwide, I can just imagine how captains of industry are wondering about selecting our area for economic development about now.

Rob Hardy: “Culture of Plague”

The Black Death struck Europe in the 14th century, killing hundreds of millions of people.

MDOT’s reach goes beyond roads

In thanking the Mississippi Department of Transportation during a Wednesday press conference for recent road funding, Columbus Lowndes Development Link executive director Joe Higgins pointed out that rural Mississippi’s road needs were once “farm-to-market” roads — something good enough for farmers to take their goods to town to sell.

South Lamar will honor Orr’s memory at tournament

The South Lamar High School softball team will honor the memory of one of its former players when it plays host to the Lamar County Tournament.

South Lamar will remember Madison Orr, who was killed in an automobile accident March 30, 2009.

Orr was a seventh-grader who was killed on Highway 17 between Millport, Ala., and Reform, Ala., while returning home after school.

Farmer earns starting position at Mississippi Valley

While playing baseball at West Lowndes High School, D.Q. Farmer never got to trot around the bases as the result of hitting a home run.

But since getting to Mississippi Valley State University, Farmer has shown he has some pop in his bat.

Farmer, a freshman at Mississippi Valley, leads the Delta Devils with two home runs –– connecting in both games of a doubleheader against Alabama State on March 20.

Rob Hardy: “An Entirely Synthetic Fish”

I know little about fish or fishing, but I know fisherman like to go for rainbow trout, a good fish to have at the end of your line or to have in your frying pan.

MSU broadening its landscape

STARKVILLE — With Greg Byrne’s recent decision to resign his athletic director post at Mississippi State, the facilities upgrades and plans he initiated to push the program forward will be paramount in building the MSU brand. 

Byrne’s two-year reign at MSU saw the fan experience improve, Bulldog Club membership grow, and the ability of athletes to train at the highest level become a reality. 

The ideas Byrne brought to the table weren’t radical as the high-spending world of college athletics required MSU to find ways to boost the athletic department’s image and to enhance game-day atmosphere. 

Shannon Bardwell: Promise land

The garden has been tilled. We mixed in sand left over from a construction job to loosen up the prairie clay.

Rob Hardy: ‘The Poker Bride’

In “The Poker Bride: The First Chinese in the West” (Atlantic Monthly Press), Christopher Corbett has told the story, as much as it can be known, of one Chinese girl who came to California and was indeed won in a poker game.

Supports Nunnelee

The health care bill that President Obama just signed into law is a monstrosity that raises taxes, increases government spending at times when we are already deep in debt, and mandates unprecedented government intrusion into our lives. The new law is nothing short of a complete government takeover of our health care system, which comprises nearly one sixth of our economy.

Understanding hospice

I just want to address some of the misconceptions about hospice care.

Lummus producing in two spot for EMCC

To East Mississippi Community College baseball coach Tony Montgomery, a .350 batting average and .400 on-base percentage are ideal numbers for the second hitter in the batting order.

But Montgomery is getting much more production this season than that from sophomore right fielder Alex Lummus in the second slot.

Lummus, a 2008 graduate of Oak Hill Academy in West Point, is the Lions’ second-leading hitter with a .443 batting average and he leads the team with a .495 on-base percentage going into a doubleheader with Itawamba Community College today.

Byrne’s legacy still being written

It’s hard to hang on to the good ones.

Monday’s news of the departure of Mississippi State University Athletic Director Greg Byrne proved that axiom. Anyone who spent time with Byrne, or heard him speak, knew instantly that he is an up-and-comer destined for great things.

Alarmed and angry

The Democratic Congressional leadership and the president have just adopted legislation against the will of the majority of the American people that will increase an already hemorrhaging budget deficit and will amount to the beginning of socialized medicine in America. President Obama had repeatedly made campaign promises that he would change the political climate and that it would not be “politics as usual” in Washington. He has made good on his promises. His politics are much worse.

Rob Hardy: The big heist

The heist movie is a Hollywood standard, so when a real heist is made, it is necessary for those telling about the real heist to compare it to the movie versions. Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell have repeatedly done this in “Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History “(Union Square Press). They repeatedly refer to the 2001 remake “Ocean’s Eleven” when telling the story of the 2003 burglary of an office called the Diamond Center in the heart of the Diamond District in Antwerp.

Rob Hardy: Mimicry and camouflage

Some animals like to sport bright colors, as if they want to be seen. Others favor drab colors, as if they want to blend in and avoid recognition. There must be advantages to both strategies. Soldiers used to sport bright red clothing in the field, and now tend to go with grey and olive blotches, if they are in forest, and beige spotty patterns if they are on sand.

MSU athletic director Byrne leaving for Arizona AD job

After less than two full years, Mississippi State University Athletic Director Greg Byrne is leaving to become athletic director at the University of Arizona, Mississippi State officials said this morning.