Articles by Peter Imes
Photos: Eighth of May
Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science student James Talamo, a junior from Vardaman, performs Monday night at Sandfield Cemetery as Cyrus Green, a Quaker from Indiana who moved to Columbus in 1866 to serve as a teacher at the Freedmen’s Bureau School, which would later become Union Academy.
Peter Imes: City’s hiring confusion is baffling
In the final 15 minutes of last night’s three hour city council meeting the council took up the most important decision it currently faces: hiring three key positions.
Peter Imes: A case against an audit (for now)
“What do they have to hide?”
“Why wouldn’t they want one?”
Peter Imes: Dispatch to implement vaccine mandate for staff
In Friday’s edition of The Dispatch, I shared an excerpt of a company memo I sent to my 35 employees on Thursday. In that memo, I explained that I was seriously considering a company-wide vaccine mandate, primarily due to how disruptive continued COVID-related absences are to our business.
Peter Imes: Considering a vaccine mandate
I am seriously considering implementing a vaccine requirement for all employees of The Dispatch. I know such a decision would not sit well with some of you, but you are going to see more and more organizations do it. The US Military, United Airlines, University of Mississippi Medical Center and others have implemented or are in the process of implementing vaccine requirements.
From the editor: Our loss
When I was around 13 years old, I took horseback riding lessons from Jan Swoope at her house in the Prairie. Each day, my mother would drop me in Jan’s driveway. I’d walk past the hollowed out tree trunk her son Dudley used as a playhouse — I was always envious of such a whimsical play place — and head straight to the barn, where I would brush the horses and clean their hooves as Jan had taught me.
A drop in the bucket: Despite surge in black-owned businesses, sales lag
Black ownership of businesses more than doubled throughout the Golden Triangle and the state during the Great Recession, but sales by those businesses remained disproportionately low when compared to earnings from businesses owned by whites.
The Dispatch takes 14 awards at annual press contest
The Commercial Dispatch staff took home 14 awards Saturday in the editorial division of the 2013 Mississippi Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest.
Peter Imes: Give flowers, show appreciation
About three years ago, I walked past Linda Massey’s desk and into my own office. My office has a window that looks into the front office of The Dispatch. I had noticed a man talking to Linda when I walked in, but didn’t realize it was Lloyd Vaughan until I sat at my desk and looked out that window.
Peter Imes: Non-mechanical teaching
Since my son was born a little more than six years ago, my wife and I have had countless angst-ridden discussions on what to do when he reached school age. Public, private, boarding, home — we’ve weighed every schooling option. He started kindergarten last month, and, though we are thrilled with his school, the dialogue continues.
On technology: Learn from your customers with Google Consumer Surveys
Earlier this year Google launched Consumer Surveys, a service allowing business owners and individuals to survey a targeted audience. This is an incredibly useful tool for businesses wanting to gauge customer satisfaction and preference.
Mystery is afoot in February Table Talks
Sherlock Holmes, Alex Cross, Adam Dalgliesh, Commissario Brunetti, Sam Spade, Perry Mason, Miss Marple, and Lisbeth Salander: February is “mystery month” at the Table Talks sponsored by Friends of the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library. The Friends launches its latest series on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at noon in the library meeting room, 314 7th St. N.
Peter Imes: Joining the conversation now much easier
The Dispatch’s website, cdispatch.com, has long encouraged online readers to leave comments at the bottom of each article. Though the paper still receives some letters to the editor by mail, most people now either email letters to us or simply post a comment at the end of a story.
Peter Imes: Joining the conversation now much easier
The Dispatch’s website, cdispatch.com, has long encouraged online readers to leave comments at the bottom of each article. Though the paper still receives some letters to the editor by mail, most people now either email letters to us or simply post a comment at the end of a story.
Peter Imes: The accuracy of Wikipedia
I’m teaching a class on social media for Mississippi University for Women’s Life Enrichment Program this semester. Our first class was Tuesday night, and we started by reviewing some staggering statistics: 48 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, more than 600 million people actively use Facebook, 1 billion tweets are sent per week.
Peter Imes: An explanation of phone hacking
The recent phone hacking scandal in the U.K. has so far resulted in multiple resignations, arrests and the closure of a 168-year-old newspaper.
Peter Imes: An explanation of phone hacking
The recent phone hacking scandal in the U.K. has so far resulted in multiple resignations, arrests and the closure of a 168-year-old newspaper.
Peter Imes: AT&T, T-Mobile merger has potential to bridge the digital divide in state
A couple of weeks ago AT&T Mississippi president, Mayo Flynt, passed through Columbus and spoke with me about the pending merger between wireless carriers AT&T and T-Mobile. The merger is currently being reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission.
Peter Imes: Smackers uses text messages to build business
For anyone new to the area, Smackers is a relatively new frozen yogurt shop, located near the intersection of Highway 45 North and Highway 82, just behind Chili’s. Since opening on Valentine’s Day this year, Smackers has done a tremendous job of branding themselves (The catchy name comes from a combination of the last names of the founders: Smith and Acker) and in using new technology for promotions.
