Articles by Slim Smith
Schools navigate Omicron as case numbers keep rising
The new year has meant renewed challenges for schools as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 spreads through communities, straining resources and, in some cases, shutting down on-campus learning.
Slimantics: Senate takes up CRT (Can’t Resist Temptation) bill
In every session of the legislature, there are bills introduced and sometimes passed into law that exist primarily as an exercise in political grandstanding. They add nothing, subtract nothing, change nothing,
Longtime councilman Fred Stewart remembered for his humor, big heart
In his 15 years as a Columbus city councilman, Fred Stewart rarely claimed the spotlight. He was content to leave most of the debating to others, instead preferring a low-key approach.
Slimantics: A different sort of joint session
The Mississippi legislature is likely to pass a bill to create a medical marijuana program in the state, perhaps by the end of the week. When that happens, it will put the onus directly on Gov. Tate Reeves, the pseudo-moralist whose opposition to medical marijuana was softened, but not disappeared.
Some citizens, pharmacists have reservations about over-the-counter pseudoephedrine
If ever a law did exactly what it was intended to do, this was it, said Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins.
Slimantics: I swear!
The idea, surely an unpopular view in some quarters, has been rolling around in my head for some time now, so I am choosing today to share it so that I can start off the new year with an unfettered mind and a clean slate.
Year in Review: Columbus sees new mayor, celebrates bicentennials
It was a year of a new administration and old worries, a pandemic that seems to have no end, tragedy and triumphs.
Starkville’s Year in Review: MSU wins national baseball championship; city adds to territory, makes big changes at parks
It was a year of triumphs and tragedies, new possibilities and persistent problems, of expansion and change.
Slimantics: A time capsule do-over
Mayor Keith Gaskin announced during his Wednesday press conference that he will be burying a time capsule at city hall on New Year’s Eve.
Slimantics: Governor Scrooge
“A Christmas Carol,” has always been my favorite Christmas movie, and I’m a pushover for any retelling of Charles Dickens’ classic novella.
New Hope native brings diaper drive to Golden Triangle
People bring all sorts of things to Homecoming events.
But Chelesa Presley is probably the only one bringing diapers.
Fighting for Elyse: A mother continues fighting for her daughter’s benefits
Katie McDill Studdard isn’t exactly sure the time or circumstance, but as a teen she recalls her mom, in a moment of mild exasperation, turning to her and saying, “Everything has to be the hard way with you, doesn’t it?”
If mom had only known.
Monday Profile: Retired helicopter pilot embraces multiple roles at his children’s school
Most high school basketball teams have public address announcers whose job it is to announce starting lineups, substitutions, foul calls, etc.
Heritage Academy has Jason McElveen, who has expanded that traditional role of P.A. announcer, pumping up the crowd, often serenading fans, karaoke-style, with his own playlist.
Slimantics: Samuel stubbornly insists on barking up the wrong tree
For the past four years, representatives from the Greenfield Multistate Trust have held meetings in Columbus to provide information on the clean-up efforts at the old Kerr-McGee site in Columbus.
Slimantics: The future of Columbus is in the east
Over the next few years, communities everywhere will have an opportunity to shape their future on a scale not seen since Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, and I’m reminded of the words of George Bernard Shaw: “Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.”
Cleanup milestones reached at Kerr-McGee site
Greenfield Environmental Trust Group Director of Environmental Programs Lauri Gorton, along with other officials in charge of the clean-up at the Kerr-McGee property in the Memphistown area of Columbus reported Tuesday a major milestone has been reached.
Slimantics: I used to be a big Fox News viewer
I used to be a big Fox News viewer back in the late 90s when I was a conservative Republican who had never voted for a Democrat.
Paving, sidewalk work nears completion
In July, when Neel-Schaffer Engineering took over the management of a $6.5-million paving/concrete project in the city of Columbus that had already fallen hopelessly behind schedule, the firm’s Kevin Stafford told the city council he hoped the project would be complete by fall.
50 years ago, a Columbus teen faced a decision about whether to broadcast a nuclear emergency message
He built his first crude radio station as a teenager and by age 14 was working at a Columbus radio station, the beginning of a 52-year career as a technician at radio and TV stations, a utility company and the state of Tennessee, a job that included installing surveillance devices for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations.
‘Cold Justice’ episode on murdered Columbus teen to air Saturday
Salina McCoy would be 31-years-old now, and had she been given the opportunity to fulfill her teen-aged dream of becoming a cop, she might be investigating cold cases.
Holiday Handcrafts Bazaar accepting vendor applications
July 12, 2025
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