Nucor dedicates men of steel

STARKVILLE — The Nucor steel plant in Starkville Friday morning dedicated the fruits of a project designed to keep its employees working.

Roses and thorns 10/25/09

Roses to Mississippi University for Women for bringing us another year of the Eudora Welty Writers’ Symposium, held at the college last week. Each October, the Department of Languages, Literature and Philosophy sponsors the Eudora Welty Writers’ Symposium to honor the Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

Name makes town look ignorant

If an institution is a private one, then its passionate supporters can call that institution whatever they want.

Time to speak out

I have been amused by the constant criticism that MUW’s enrollment issues are the result of poor marketing and inept admissions personnel.

Betty Stone: A memory from MSCW

The recent tribute to Disney artist Josh Meador reminds me of an occasion which I probably ought to recount for posterity, assuming posterity is remotely interested. Change is in the air with the possibility of a new name for Mississippi University for Women, so maybe it is time to tell this bit of history — or her story, as some would say. I am not totally proud of it, however.

Rob Hardy: Pat Tillman’s true story told

Everyone who has followed current events even slightly over the past five years knows that football hero and soldier Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan, and that the military had trouble telling the truth about his death from rifle fire by his own platoon. Tillman had a remarkable life for one who died at age 27, and in “Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman” (Doubleday), Jon Krakauer has provided the biography that Tillman deserves, vivid and compelling.

Rob Hardy: Inside the mind of a dog

Scientifically, we might know a lot more about rats than we do about dogs. There are some experimental labs that have dogs as subjects, but lab rats get a lot of scientific attention. Dogs get a lot of domestic attention, but scientific study of dogs, and the ways they get along with humans and with other dogs, has not been a high concern.

Arrest Report 10-23-09

The following felony arrests were reported by the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office:

Clay County Circuit Court 10-23-09

Clay County Circuit Court convened Oct. 5 with Judge Lee Howard presiding. Action taken by the court included:

Pumpkin Palooza tonight

Downtown businesses are gearing up for the Florida football weekend with a myriad of activities tonight.

Regions to close 121 branches; BancorpSouth reports earnings drop

Regions Financial Corp. has announced plans to close 121 branches in cost-saving move, but northeast Mississippi branches will be spared, a company spokesperson said.

Change the name and ‘let’s move on’

For the past year, I have been watching the MUW name change drama unfold from the comfort of my porch on College Street. I have heretofore kept my opinions to myself because I am a business owner in a small town, and the last thing we want to do is write letters and ruffle feathers. However, the last few articles in The Commercial Dispatch have spurred me to action.

Former W student and prof supports Reneau

I am writing this letter to say that I strongly support the proposed new name, Reneau University for MUW. I am a graduate of MSCW, now MUW, Class of 1945. I taught in the Art Department at MUW from 1949 to 1985.

Columbus High joins police in effort to stop underage drinking

A nationwide campaign aims to shock those who would buy alcohol for underage drinkers.

Community Striving to Prevent Underage Drinking is a local group participating in the nationwide Project Sticker Shock campaign, a “youth-led initiative to change adult attitudes about selling and providing alcohol to minors.”

Man dies in head-on collision

ABERDEEN — A Tennessee man is dead after the 18-wheeler he was driving collided head-on with a Ford sport utility vehicle, according to Monroe County Coroner Alan Gurley.

South Lamar’s Harper coaches against his mentor, Funk

Josh Harper credits Rusty Funk with helping him advance through the ranks to become a head football coach.

Harper was an assistant to Funk at Columbus High School and at South Lamar High School in Millport, Ala.

Harper will get a chance Friday to show his mentor what he learned when he coaches against Funk.

Harper, who replaced Funk as the coach at South Lamar, will coach against his mentor at 7 p.m. Friday when the Stallions travel to Marion County in Guin, Ala., for an Alabama High School Athletic Association Class A, Region 7 game.

Lamar County, Pickens County play for region championships

Region championships will be at stake Friday night when the Lamar County Bulldogs and Pickens County Tornadoes take the field.

Lamar County will claim the Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 2A, Region 7 championship and Pickens County will capture the Class 2A, Region 4 title with victories.

Both have the task of trying to win region championships on the road, with Lamar County playing at Winston County and Pickens County traveling to Fultondale.

Columbus native Armstrong named to Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame

Henry Armstrong, the Columbus native who is considered one of the all-time greats in professional boxing, is among the 2010 inductees to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

MUW: Stay the course on name change

As each day passes, the discussion surrounding the renaming of Mississippi University for Women more resembles the Abbott and Costello comedy skit, “Who’s on First?”

MUW writers’ symposium an invigorating event

I just wanted to remind readers that the MUW Writers’ Symposium is this Thursday (7:30 p.m.) and Friday (all day) on the MUW campus. I attended last year for the first time and was really knocked over by the entire event. I had incorrectly assumed that it was something just for very literary people and it is not.

It offers a personal glimpse of the authors’ creative processes and is often humorous, emotional, thought-provoking and just plain fun.