Columbus volunteer surprised with Book of Golden Deeds Award

Betty Clyde Sharp almost didn’t make it to the Columbus Exchange Club’s weekly meeting on Thursday.

She had an early morning doctor’s appointment in Birmingham. On her way back, she received a text saying Exchange Club President Jerry Fortenberry would be speaking at the meeting, which was at noon at Lion Hills Center.

Mental health issues up since beginning of pandemic, but so are cries for help

Back in April, Contact Helpline, the Columbus-based crisis line manned by volunteers who talk with people throughout the Golden Triangle struggling with suicidal urges and other mental health issues, began to receive a higher number of calls than usual.

Monday Profile: Summerville, ‘dedicated staff’ keep on top of school cleaning through storms and pandemics

When Susie Summerville first started as head of Columbus Municipal School District’s custodial services, she found a picture of herself in the hallway of what was then Lee Middle School.

Supreme court grants new trial for Lowndes man on death row

A Lowndes County man who has been on death row more than 20 years is entitled to a new trial, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled.

‘Designer drugs,’ opioids contributing to Golden Triangle drug trade

Since she began working for Baptist Behavioral Health Clinic in 2009, clinical coordinator Amanda Coleman says she’s seen a definite increase in the number of patients with drug addiction and the severity of their problems.

Columbus woman exonerated in son’s death seeks change to death certificate

A Columbus native convicted and later exonerated in the death of her infant son has filed a petition in Hinds County Chancery Court requesting a judge change the cause of death from “homicide” to “undetermined” on her son’s death certificate.

CMSD budget will not require tax increase

Columbus Municipal School District’s Board of Trustees approved a budget for Fiscal Year 2020-21 of just more than $48 million at a special-call meeting last week.

Airbus builds first of 16 helicopters for Customs and Border Protection

The first H125 helicopter assembled at Airbus’ Lowndes County facility for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has already been delivered to Detroit, Michigan, for CBP agents to use during operations.

Taylor touts Communiversity as ‘home for partnerships’

Courtney Taylor had been executive director for the Communiversity and workforce training at East Mississippi Community College for four months before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the college to send all its students home, leaving the brand new 143,000 square-foot advanced manufacturing training center on Highway 82 empty.

Starkville site studied for evidence of mass extinction 66 million years ago

In a trench behind an apartment complex off Highway 182 in west Starkville Thursday, a team of paleontologists were gathering handfuls of 66 million-year-old fossils.

MDE grants waiver allowing 170 school days for LCSD, SOCSD

Mississippi Department of Education has given a waiver to Lowndes County School District, Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District and other districts around the state, allowing them to scale back the school year to 170 days for students.

Water park sues Oktibbeha County for not maintaining lake dam

Starkville water park Wet N Wild has sued Oktibbeha County for breach of contact, alleging county officials’ failure to maintain the Oktibbeha Lake dam’s levee violated its lease with the park.

More than 2,600 students opt for traditional school, 1,700 for virtual at SOCSD

With less than two weeks until school starts back for students in Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District, questions about virtual versus in-person learning dominated discussion at Tuesday evening’s board of trustees meeting.

EPA to remove soil from 11 private lots as part of Kerr McGee clean-up

The Environmental Protection Agency has released proposed plans for removing contaminated soil from 11 private properties around the former Kerr-McGee plant on 14th Avenue North, as part of the ongoing cleanup process at the old industrial site.

Younger proud of hemp, flag bills passed through Legislature

One of the bills Sen. Chuck Younger is proud to have gotten through the Mississippi Legislature this year is the Hemp Cultivation Act, allowing for the legalization of hemp processing in the state.

Weekend search planned for Columbus man missing since July 14

More than two weeks since he was last confirmed seen, the search is still on for a missing Columbus man.

CPD chief pitches police athletic league to bridge gap between community, law enforcement

Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton said he can still remember the “watchdog” for his community when he was growing up.

Monday Profile: Martin parlays fitness, weight-lifting prowess into realizing childhood dream of becoming firefighter

Justin Martin can remember being 4 or 5 years old and watching Columbus firefighters slide down the pole at Fire Station 1 on College Street while preparing to answer a call.

“I was like, ‘Man, I’ve got to do that when I get older,'” he said. “… I remember them getting in the firetruck. It was loud, the sirens going. … That stuck with me.”

Lowndes supes to vote on mask mandate Monday

Lowndes County Board of Supervisors agreed it should issue some sort of mandate that citizens wear masks in public, particularly in businesses, at one of its rare work sessions on Friday.

‘Everybody knows somebody that has had coronavirus’

Ten percent of the deaths in the United States this year have been related to COVID-19 coronavirus.

That was just one of many numbers Dr. Lee Richardson, an emergency room doctor at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle, doled out when he spoke about the ongoing pandemic to the Columbus Exchange Club at their weekly meeting Thursday.