New tanker will decrease response times

OKTIBBEHA COUNTY — Minutes can affect rescue and make a difference in property loss when fighting fires.

Local musicians beat down hunger with drums

As an orchestral drummer and recording artist, Marv Dahlgren knows the power of music.

Whether it was songs denouncing the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War during the 1960s and ’70s, or megastar collaborations to fight world hunger and poverty — particularly in Africa — in the ’80s, Dahlgren, 87, has seen it all.

It’s only natural: Students learn science hands-on through partnership, outdoor classes

STARKVILLE — These days, elementary school students are learning more about environmental science than going to the local dairy farm.

Through the Youth Environmental Science Learning Center at Henderson Ward Stewart School, fourth- and fifth-grade students have a weeklong block each school year to supplement what they get from their textbooks.

Schools scramble to avoid takeover

STARKVILLE — Two Oktibbeha County schools could lose their public school status if state test scores aren’t improved. One of the two could be taken over by the state as soon as September.

Board to revisit municipal complex at weekend retreat

Mayor Parker Wiseman is looking forward to a productive annual retreat when he and the Board of Aldermen meet for a pair of work sessions this weekend.

The board will meet Friday and Saturday in the Greater Starkville Development Partnership board room. The sessions are open to the public.

West Point police increase patrol after shooting deaths, burglaries

WEST POINT — The West Point Police Department is putting more officers in the streets after burglaries and two deaths.

Tuesday, the West Point Board of Selectmen hired three new police officers.

Welcome to the Legion: World War II veteran, Starkville resident to receive French honor

STARKVILLE — When a Starkville man graduated high school in the 1940s, there was little doubt what his next move would be.

The United States was in the heart of World War II, and any able-bodied man was bound for military service, either by choice or through the draft.

Starkville school board trims superintendent list, mum on names

STARKVILLE — An undisclosed number of the 22 candidates in the Starkville School District superintendent pool have been eliminated, though the board of trustees won’t release names until next week.

Doss officially charged with murder

STARKVILLE — A Starkville man has been charged with murder in connection with the Monday shooting death of his uncle. Kewon Doss, 18, was officially charged Tuesday.

18-year-old suspected of shooting uncle to death

An Oktibbeha County man is in custody in connection with a Starkville shooting after a seven-hour search that ended Monday when he turned himself in.

Accused student’s shooter fired into the darkness, he tells police

WEST POINT — The more details revealed in the New Year’s Day shooting death of Devin Mitchell, the more questions arise.

Friends remember Devin Mitchell as protector, caregiver

STARKVILLE — The cool kids and the cliques meant nothing to Devin Mitchell, though he was in everybody’s circle of friends.

Trailer fire displaces eight; Truck wrecks on way to scene

OKTIBBEHA COUNTY — A Friday morning trailer fire displaced eight people in the Sessums community in Oktibbeha County.

Injured officer’s neck won’t require surgery

STARKVILLE — A Starkville police officer remains in the intensive care unit at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo after wrecking his patrol car Thursday afternoon.

Transportation services fill need for carless

For years, Delinda Boler relied on friends and family members to drive her to and from her doctor appointments. Boler, who has rheumatoid arthritis, can’t drive. The pain is so unbearable, she struggles to walk in and out of the doctor’s office.

Starkville officer in hospital after cruiser crash (updated 1:31 p.m.)

STARKVILLE — A Starkville police officer remains in the intensive care unit at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo after wrecking his patrol car Thursday afternoon. His wife confirms his broken vertebrae won’t require surgery.

Sturgis rally board could disband if deal isn’t reached for 2012

STURGIS — The fate of the 2012 motorcycle rally should be obvious soon.

Whatever the name, Oktibbeha County’s annual summertime motorcycle rally is plagued by the same obstacle that led to the cancellation of the 2011 rally : lack of money.

Aldermen approve hearing for condo ordinance

To expedite condominium development in Starkville, Mayor Parker Wiseman proposed having a public hearing for a condominium ordinance during Tuesday’s Board of Aldermen meeting.

The hearing request was placed on the consent agenda and approved.

Downtown Starkville Christmas lights now permanent

STARKVILLE — Christmas lasts year-round in downtown Starkville. The LED, or light-emitting diode, lights that have lined the top of Main Street buildings since early December are now permanent fixtures, said Jennifer Gregory, vice president of tourism for the Greater Starkville Development Partnership.

Slain Starkville High student’s funeral Sunday

STARKVILLE — Funeral and memorial arrangements have been set for Devin Mitchell, who was a junior at Starkville High before his death on New Year’s Day.