Pickens County High welcomes new principal

REFORM, Ala. — Pickens County High School began a new era with a first day celebration, a new principal and featured guests.

This year, Fred Young takes the helm as principal at Pickens County High School in Reform, Ala. Young spent 30 years in Mississippi as an educator and principal, with the Columbus Municipal School District for 13 years and then with the Lowndes County School District for 17 years.

CAFB identifies wreck victim

A report released Wednesday by Columbus Air Force Base identified Airman 1st Class Mark M. Wheeler as the victim of Monday’s fatal motorcycle accident on Highway 45 North in Lowndes County.

Circuit Court 8/27/09

Two-wheeled reinforcements: With on-campus bike program a success, officials are bringing in new and improved model

Talk of a bike-sharing program began at Mississippi State University as part of a solution to Mississippi’s expanding obesity rate, but the final product is only one part of the evolving “master plan.”

CAFB: Airman killed in accident was security patrolman

A report released today by Columbus Air Force Base identified Airman 1st Class Mark M. Wheeler as the victim of Monday’s fatal motorcycle accident on Highway 45 North in Lowndes County.

Message in a bottle

The domino theory is being proven in northeast Mississippi. Within days of Starkville’s decision to allow Sunday beer sales and to petition the state to allow restaurants to sell wine and liquor on Sundays, other municipalities have looked to open the tap on their own alcohol intake.

In praise of Burns Bottom

To the Columbus Lowndes Parks and Recreation Board who voted unanimously for Burns Bottom as the site for the soccer complex, thank you. And to the ad-hoc committee who also supported the site – thank you as well.

Rob Hardy: Great inventions of evolution

It is one of the shibboleths of evolution that the blind forces which change genes and change creatures have no aim or direction. Our hands and the wings of bats may be wonderfully engineered biological machines, and may arise from the same basic limb design, but it is wrong to think that evolutionary forces set out to build up progressively so that hands and wings could emerge with their current efficient designs.

Rob Hardy: An epidemic proved deadly for Napoleon’s army

Competent military commanders have known for centuries that disease will take away more of their soldiers than cannonballs or bullets will. There was no truer case of this than that of Napoleon’s Grande Armée, a multinational force of more than half a million men issuing from various nations in Europe with the mission of conquering Russia in 1812. Sure, most people know that the vicious Russian cold froze away any chance Napoleon had for victory, but his losses to typhus had cut his forces drastically long before the winter set in, and typhus kept killing.

Anne Freeze: Food from the heart

This past weekend was another whirlwind back in Athens, Ga. Terry and I attended the Potlikker Film Festival sponsored by Southern Foodways Alliance. These showings of short films are held at various times in various towns to showcase the documentaries made in conjunction with SFA and to introduce the SFA to new people.

Circuit court sentencings handed down

The following sentencings were handed down during the current session of 16th Circuit Court in Lowndes County:

Details still pending in CAFB airman death

Authorities this morning still were reticent to release additional details in Monday’s fatal wreck on Highway 45 North in Columbus.

Lowndes E-911 could lose a dispatcher

Columbus-Lowndes E-911 could lose a dispatcher if the Columbus City Council goes forward with plans to cut funding to the service from $80,000 to $40,000.

NBA player makes $20K donation to local club

As Travis Outlaw Day approaches, the day Outlaw celebrates and gives back to his own community with a day of free entertainment and events, the NBA player already is giving to his hometown.

South Lamar plays rival Lamar County in Harper’s debut

Josh Harper has a lot on his mind.

The South Lamar High School football coach is about to embark on his first season as a head coach at his alma mater, and he’s faced with the task of preparing for the team’s archrival his first game.

The Harper era at South Lamar begins at 7 p.m. Friday when the Stallions kick off their season at Lamar County in Vernon, Ala.

Mass. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy dies at age 77

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the last surviving brother in a political dynasty and one of the most influential senators in history, died Tuesday night at his home on Cape Cod after a year-long struggle with brain cancer. He was 77.

CAFB airman dies in motorcycle wreck

Details regarding a fatal accident that killed a Columbus Air Force Base airman about 12:30 p.m. Monday will be released late this evening.

Holliman murder case continued

A Caledonia man charged with shooting and killing his wife last year will wait a few more months until his trial in the Lowndes County Circuit Court.

Mayor: Resort zone meant to lure “high quality” businesses

WEST POINT — The potentially muddy waters surrounding West Point’s plan to apply for resort status for its downtown district from the office of Alcoholic Beverage Control cleared considerably Monday.

Scaring Ourselves Silly: a poem about health care

Forty seven million without health care.

Millions more, to make a claim, don’t dare.

Their high-paid insurance they might lose

If they missed the small print of the Don’ts and Do’s.