Monday Profile: Paul ‘Catfish’ Clay spends decades teaching game of baseball to youth

Mention the word “baseball” and the name “Catfish” and folks around the country immediately think of Jim “Catfish” Hunter.

But anyone who played youth league baseball in Columbus in the 1970s and 1980s — around the time Hunter was crafting his Hall of Fame career — might also offer up Paul “Catfish” Clay.

City hosts second ‘Holiday Night of Hope’ for families in need

Every now and then, an idea proves so successful that it leaves people wondering why no one thought of it before.

For Glenda Richardson, “Holiday Night of Hope,” which provides Christmas gifts to children of the working poor in the community, was such an idea.

First Columbus councilwoman passes away at age 77

Edna Boone occupies a unique place in Columbus history: She was not only the first woman on the Columbus City Council, she was also responsible, at least in part, for the third.

Despite glitches, scratch-off sales see strong start

State Line Express, a convenience store/gas station on Highway 12 in north Lowndes County, is just a couple hundred feet from the Alabama state line.

Chris ‘Mountain Man’ Oswalt lived ‘his own way’

On Oct. 27, Mike Buehler, noting a chill in the air, turned to his wife, Allison, and asked: “When’s Mountain Man getting back from New Mexico? Isn’t it about time?”

Now, almost a month later, it’s a question that still haunts the friends of Chris “Mountain Man” Oswalt.

Stark Aerospace lays off 25 employees

Stark Aerospace has laid off 25 employees, sources confirmed to The Dispatch on Wednesday.

Redevelopment possibilities revealed for Kerr-McGee site

Tuesday and Wednesday, Greenfield Multistate Trust and Environmental Protection Agency officials invited residents to review concepts for the redevelopment of the former Kerr-McGee site in north Columbus.

Organizations helping homeless during cold snap

Candy Crecink keeps a box of tissues in her office at United Way of North Central Mississippi for those who arrive in desperate need with nowhere else to go.

Trotter’s Columbus legacy etched in stone

His life began in Birmingham, Alabama, and ended in Southaven, Mississippi, but it was in Columbus where James Trotter made a name for himself.

LINK: Workforce analysis affirms current strategy

For years, the Golden Triangle Development LINK held an annual luncheon to inform stakeholders about the current state of economic development.

Colom stepping down as Boys and Girls Club director

When Nadia Colom first accepted a job with the Columbus Boys and Girls Club, there were a lot of big reasons it was a perfect fit.

Now, there are two little reasons she is leaving.

City announces online tool for reporting issues around town

The City of Columbus announced a new interactive web-based reporting system to address calls for service and reports of issues from citizens.

County tax collections ‘well above normal’

Lowndes County tax collector Greg Andrews had some good news for supervisors at Monday’s board meeting: Property tax collections for 2018 came in at 98.5 percent and even more revenue could be on the way.

Slimantics: The life cycle of the Mississippi Cicada

If politicians were insects — and I’m not saying they aren’t — they would likely be cicadas.

Monday Profile: Hairston helps young men step up to better future

Benny Hairston routinely finds himself meeting people in the most difficult circumstances of their lives. Hairston, 51, is manager of Century Hairston Funeral Homes in Columbus and Starkville, a third-generation family business.

Non-profits question CVB director’s trademarking of event names

A group of state trademarks filed in October by Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Nancy Carpenter on behalf of the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation has been viewed as a power grab by critics.

FORGE Foundation exposes teens to construction jobs

Down the hall toward the back of East Mississippi Community College’s Communiversity, a group of young teens rushed toward a man holding a big bowl filled with small orange objects.

98 Halloweens and Miss Myrtle is still having fun

Only a few of the residents at Trinity Place Personal Care wore costumes at its Halloween party Thursday afternoon, but you better believe Myrtle Waldrop was one of them.

“I love Halloween,” she said softly. “I always have.”

Slimantics: If a tree falls in Biloxi

Tony Biffle died Tuesday, which probably doesn’t qualify as news in these parts, although his passing is worth noting anywhere the value of newspaper editorials is appreciated.

LCSD declines to hold public superintendent interviews

The Lowndes County School District Board of Trustees met for an hour in executive session Tuesday evening to discuss its search for a new superintendent of schools, but did not change the format for conducting interviews for the finalists.