Slimantics: Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Among the cards and letters that have arrived on my desk this Christmas season, I came across a curious correspondence I thought warranted a personal response. The subject matter is time sensitive, so I thought the most expedient way to answer would be through this column.

Slimantics: All the news that’s fit to watch?

Because I take my responsibility as an American citizen seriously, I recognize that it is essential that I keep abreast of the important news of the day. There is no substitute for an informed citizenry, after all.

That is why, in addition to reading newspapers, I am also careful to watch TV news, not only the network newscasts but the cable news networks, too.

Wassail Fest, parade set for weekend

Come rain or shine, the shows will go on this weekend.

Main Street Columbus director Barbara Bigelow said this morning that plans for the rescheduled Downtown Wassail Fest and the Columbus Christmas Parade will go on despite the weather.

Slimantics: Nunnelee’s zero is a number that shouldn’t be ignored

Officially, Alan Nunnelee represents Mississippi’s first Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Halfway through is second term in Congress, I am beginning to wonder who he really represents, though.

Slimantics: Mandela the prisoner

Today, free people and people throughout the world pay homage the memory and legacy of Nelson Mandela, whose courage, foresight and spirit transformed a nation.

Slimantics: It’s only a game … or is it?

In 1996, shortly after making the move from Mississippi to Northern California, I had the opportunity to attend the Stanford-Cal football game, known around the Bay Area as “The Big Game.”

Prescott engineers MSU’s comeback in Egg Bowl

In his postgame news conference, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen used words like “miraculous” and “divine intervention” after his team’s 17-10 overtime victory against Ole Miss on Thursday night in the Battle for the Golden Egg.

Dawgs’ win Egg Bowl with overtime dramatics

Rivals Mississippi State and Ole Miss met for the 110th time in football Thursday and while it’s difficult to say just where this, the first overtime game in the series’ history, will stack up in the annals of the Egg Bowl rivalry, suffice to say the results were bitter-sweet.

Slimantics: No shortage of home-grown turkeys

A couple of weeks ago, Butterball, one of the nation’s largest turkey suppliers, announced that it would have a shortage of large turkeys available for Thanksgiving.

Slimantics: A sobering response, then and now

Fifty years ago Friday, the President of the United States was shot and killed in Dallas and some of the schoolchildren in segregated schools throughout

Slimantics: A ‘right smart’ Thanksgiving mystery

Everyone talks about the start of the Christmas season, but nobody ever really mentions when Thanksgiving Season begins.

There is no Black Friday for Thanksgiving, where grocery stores open at midnight and you can get killer deals on turkeys and cranberries and potatoes, etc.

Slim Smith: How are we supposed to know it’s Christmas?

The older I get, the more of a Traditionalist I become and the world becomes an increasingly confusing place.

One by one, I have seen time-honored traditions gone to seed. It is a world without rules, without order. Chaos reigns.

Each day, it seems, another familiar guidepost crumbles.

State auditor crunches numbers at Rotary meeting

Stacey Pickering talks in terms of numbers, stats, percentages.

Of course, in his role as the state auditor — essentially he is Mississippi’s top accountant — Pickering’s affinity for reducing the world to data is understandable.

Slimantics: OK. That wasn’t so bad.

Last night, I stayed up late — 10 o’clock being my definition of late — to watch my national TV debut on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Slimantics: When ‘virtual’ is the only reality

Thursday’s edition of The Dispatch will include a story about a group of mostly older women who gather in Columbus once at week to compete in a bowling league.

Somewhere, there are 20-somethings shaking their heads in amusement: Don’t these women have a bowling app on their smartphones?

Early promise turns into disappointment in rout

Entering Saturday’s game against No. 10 LSU, Mississippi State’s defense was a source of optimism. The Bulldogs were ranked second in the Southeastern Conference in total defense and third in pass defense.

They can’t say that anymore.

Slim Smith: A matter of respect

In his book, “An Education of a Lifetime,” former University of Mississippi Chancellor Robert Khayat tells the story of his recollection of one of the most traumatic events in the university’s history — the riots on the Ole Miss campus associated with James Meridith’s enrollment at the school’s first black student in 1962.

Barbour makes pitch for Kemper Plant

Much like a fast runner giving his opponent a seemingly insurmountable head start, Haley Barbour flexed his rhetorical muscles Tuesday before a joint lunch meeting of the Lowndes County Republican Women and the Columbus Rotary Club.

Slimantics: History preserved, generations entertained through storytelling

This week, Possum Town Tales, also known as the second annual Storytellers Festival, is being held at the Rosenzweig Center, featuring a trio of renowned storytellers.

Slimantics: Local elected officials avail themselves of travel opportunities … and taxpayers pick up the tab

Early this year, when the qualifying period began for the mayor and council races began, I found it odd that more people didn’t choose to run. As you will recall, two council positions were uncontested and only one council race had as many as three candidates. In the mayor’s race, two challengers faced incumbent Robert Smith.

Given the general downward trajectory of the city, you might have thought more people would be inspired to jump into the fray. Hardly.