Pickens County receives escort returning home

REFORM, Ala. –– Friday afternoon was one time Russ Wallace didn’t mind seeing a police officer turn on his blue squad lights.

The Pickens County High School boys basketball coach and his team received a police escort home after winning the Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 2A state championship Thursday night.

Pickens County won its first state championship in school history when it beat Houston County 88-86 in triple overtime at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center in Birmingham, Ala.

Betty Stone: People to admire

Recently, Pearl Holt died. I did not know her well, only in passing.

Shannon Bardwell: Forty days, no cookies

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David Creek: Lipstick has come a long way, baby!

Did you know the history of “lipstick” began with Cleopatra VII, ancient Egypt’s last pharaoh, who reigned between 51 and 30 B.C. and is perhaps most famous for her romances with Roman hotties Julius Caesar and Mark Antony?

Pickens County boys will try to make history

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Pickens County High School boys basketball team can make school history tonight when it takes the court at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center.

Pickens County, of Reform, Ala., will attempt to win its first state championship when it plays Houston County at 8 p.m. in the Class 2A championship game of the Alabama High School Athletic Association Final 48 State Tournament.

A rally for the ages

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Russ Wallace believes in miracles.

The Pickens County High School boys basketball coach is a believer after watching his team earn an improbable victory on the state’s biggest stage.

Pickens County boys one step away from title

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Deion Curry wasn’t going to let anything keep him from helping the Pickens County High School boys basketball team make it to its first state championship game in 39 years.

The junior guard overcame being involved in a collision Tuesday to help Pickens County beat Sand Rock 59-54 in the Class 2A semifinals of the Alabama High School Athletic Association Final 48 State Tournament at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center.

Concerned about health care reform gridlock

I want to express my concern that progress on health care reform has stalled. If we let Washington gridlock take over, millions of Americans will still be denied affordable care by insurance companies because of their age or their medical history.

Pickens County boys set for semifinal showdown

At the beginning of the season, Pickens County High School boys basketball coach Russ Wallace didn’t envision his team being ranked No. 1 and making it to the Final Four.

But that’s the case as Pickens County will play Sand Rock at 8:30 tonight in the Class 2A semifinals of the Alabama High School Athletic Association Final 48 State Basketball Tournament at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center in Birmingham, Ala.

Gray, EMCC women will try to knock off Copiah-Lincoln

The East Mississippi Community College women’s basketball team can accomplish a feat tonight that no other team has realized this season when it takes the court in the MACJC state tournament.

The Lady Lions can be the first team to beat Copiah-Lincoln Community College when the teams tip off against each other at 7:30 tonight in Scooba.

Shannon Bardwell: Leaping lizards

Sometimes you can’t go to the river to fish. It’s too high or too muddy or too cold; it’s too late or too something. That’s when Sam and I started fishing in the prairie pond. I had to learn a different kind of fishing because there’s no crappie in the prairie pond.

David Creel: The little black dress

Think Audrey Hepburn in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” as the minx becomes the young lover. Think Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, especially the pre-Onassis period. Think Jane Wyman descending the stairs of Falcon Crest as the grand dame of 1980s television or your own mother preparing for a country club luncheon with the girls.

Roses and thorns 2-21-10

Mississippi State Bulldog fans; Columbus Municipal School District Teacher of the Year Cindy Ming; Lowndes County Board of Supervisors; and Caledonia teacher Terry Wiygul

Jay Lacklen: Aurora borealis

Flying in a military jet across far northern Canada one night, I encountered as brilliant a display of northern lights, or the aurora borealis, as I had ever seen that provoked both scientific and spiritual thoughts.

Changes at MUW

Is this the beginning of the end for The W? As much as we might hope otherwise, it would appear so. The state College Board on Thursday charged Mississippi State University and Mississippi University for Women to explore consolidating operations.

West Point high school student arrested for shooting into store

A West Point High School student was arrested at the school Wednesday after he allegedly shot a gun into the door of a local business earlier in the morning.

Encouraged by dialogue spawned by uniform debate

I am saddened to read some of the online posts in response to the article in the Dispatch today about the open forum in Starkville.

West Point High student arrested after allegedly shooting into store

A West Point High School student was arrested at the school today after he allegedly shot a gun into the door of a local business earlier in the morning.

West Point lands $751.5 million contract for mine-resistant vehicles

In a huge economic shot in the arm for struggling West Point and Clay County, the city’s Navistar plant has been awarded a $751.5 million contract to build more than 1,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles for the U.S. Marine Corps.

Ex-Reserve officer’s rape trial continued

The trial of a former Columbus Police Department reserve officer has been continued until May, according to a Lowndes County Circuit Court spokesman.