Answering the call of (Christmas) duty

Christmas will be a little brighter for some area families thanks to the efforts of 4-County employees.

West Point leaders get creative to cut deficit

West Point’s city board still has a ways to go after it began cutting into a $700,000 deficit Monday.

CPD officer suspended; another turns in badge

A longtime Columbus police officer who the department has turned to for interim leadership more than once, has been suspended. And another Columbus Police Department veteran has turned in his badge.

Circuit Court 12-16-09

The following sentences were handed down during the November term of Circuit Court at the Lowness County Courthouse. Judge James L. Kitchens Jr. and Judge Lee J. Howard presided.

Official: Accident victim wasn’t wearing seat belt

The Mississippi Highway Patrol continues investigating a one-vehicle accident that took place Monday morning, resulting in the death of a Millport, Ala. resident.

Arrest Report 12-16-09

The following people were arrested on felony charges, according to reports released from the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office:

Rob Hardy: Secret lives of buildings

We were touring a castle in England years ago, and came to the banqueting hall. “This hall has been remodeled many times,” the sign in the room said, “the last time in 1654.” It was a reminder of how old buildings in the Old World really are, and a cause for doubt: can it be that this room looked just the same as it did more than 300 years ago? I thought of that sign many times as I was reading “The Secret Lives of Buildings: From the Ruins of the Parthenon to the Vegas Strip in Thirteen Stories” (Metropolitan Books) by Edward Hollis.

Jay Lacklen: A house, a ship, a home

Recently I stood in the empty, torn-apart-for-renovation, “ship” my family sailed for over twenty years. I felt both melancholy and pride as I walked among the torn up carpet, barren, patched walls, and scattered debris from an incomplete move. This old girl was up in dry dock for repairs before her next family crew would launch on their life mission aboard her. She will soon be back at sea, but we will no longer be with her.

Commission OKs rezoning

The Columbus Planning Commission Monday unanimously approved a request from Parkwood Developers, LLC, to rezone property at 129 Wilkins-Wise Road from an A-1 general agricultural district to a C-3 highway commercial district.

Tornado sirens to be tested

The Columbus-Lowndes Emergency Management Agency will conduct a test of the tornado warning siren system, Wednesday, at 10 a.m.

Republicans offer plenty of criticism, few solutions

In reading the story about Angela McGlowan (Republican analyst: GOP must ‘stand ground,’ Dec. 9), she mentions how Americans are being exploited by the lies of the liberal agenda. That could go both ways.

City worker arrested for theft at landfill

A full-time Columbus Public Works Department laborer was arrested Saturday night for using a city truck to steal from a building at the city landfill, according to a Columbus Police Department press release.

A blue Christmas for state budget writers

Break out the guitar and the harmonica because Mississippi budget writers are singing the blues: Everybody loves you when the money’s flowing. But when cash disappears, your friends got to be going.

Or something like that.

Betty Stone: The day the weasel went berserk

(Occasionally, a reader will ask me when we will have something else by my grandson, who is in the Peace Corps in Peru. He obliged by sending the following. Nothing in the content represents the Peace Corps or the United States government. It is simply the observation of an individual.)

Shannon Bardwell: Down at the pokey

“Hey, you got a dollar for a hamburger?” It was about lunchtime, and I was exiting my car in front of the courthouse. I smiled and said, “Yeah,” and reached back into my car at the coin keeper and gathered a handful of change. I had a hunch and intended to follow it. Now that I had his undivided attention I asked, “I think you know my husband.” He looked puzzled. “Bardwell,” I called out.

Roses and thorns 12-13-09

parade winners; West Point High Green Wave football team; West Point selectmen; and Columbus and Starkville school districts

Columbus Arts Council receives $10,000 grant

The Columbus Arts Council has been awarded a $10,000 Challenge America Fast Track Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Company expands 3G service to Columbus

Cellular South announced this week the expansion of its 3G high-speed wireless mobile broadband services to customers in Lowndes County, specifically serving the residents of Columbus.

Harper addresses MSU graduates

Third District Rep. Gregg Harper told Mississippi State University graduates Friday night that careful planning and avoiding financial pitfalls are important steps to turning a successful education into a successful future.

Just expectations: Council correct in requiring responsible behavior from city workers attending conferences

The Columbus City Council’s decision in a special meeting Monday, to terminate the employment of a city firefighter who the city says violated its substance abuse policy, has raised questions of fairness in how the council metes out punishment of city workers.