Articles by Zack Plair
Home Base: On a public health matter, the South fails to rise … again
Mississippi claims the No. 1 ranking in a statistical category that might surprise you.
No, it’s not public education funding, vocational training skills or even the number of 4- or 5-star football recruits per capita.
Monday Profile: Gerald ‘Boo’ Matthews works, plays to help his Starkville community
The “Big Baller” bouncy house was finally fully inflated and ready to use for a youth group Super Bowl watch party in the Starkville First United Methodist Church gymnasium Sunday afternoon.
Home Base: Perhaps we’ve forgotten how to treat each other as human
One day when I was 15, I was sitting at my dining room table along with about five of my high school track teammates, all of us male. We were laughing about another boy from our school when my mom walked by and heard us.
City to pay consultant $100 per hour to act as temp CFO
The city plans to pay a former Columbus certified public accountant $100 per hour to handle chief financial officer duties while Milton Rawle serves a four-week suspension.
New 2-percent tax has support of local delegation
A pre-filed bill in the Mississippi Legislature to revive the 2-percent restaurant tax in Columbus includes a little something for everybody — and significantly less funding for one entity, in particular.
City asks for additional 1-percent tax to fund infrastructure, operate amphitheater
If Columbus officials have their way, the city’s restaurant sales tax will jump to 3 percent over the next 10 years.
Year in review: Top stories of 2018 in Columbus, Lowndes
Funding issues dominated headlines in Columbus and Lowndes County in 2018.
The city and county feuded over parks funding, while the Legislature allowed the more than 30-year-old 2-percent restaurant sales tax to expire, severely hampering operations for the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau.
City lifts carte blanche spending freeze
Columbus city councilmen lifted the city’s “spending freeze on everything” Thursday morning, replacing it with what they hope will be less drastic safeguards to rein in deficit spending.
City credit card usage largely followed policy
A Dispatch review of Columbus’ credit card expenditures revealed spending has stayed largely within the city’s expressed credit card usage policies so far this fiscal year.
Funding in-hand for first downtown roundabout
Columbus has been approved for the state funding necessary to build the first of several planned roundabouts downtown.
City freezes spending ‘on everything’
It started when Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones voted against the city’s claims docket because he had questions about some of the charges.
Council: Overtime costs still ‘out of control’
Concerned city council members peppered the city’s police and fire chiefs with questions Tuesday about overtime expenses they still believe to be “out of control.”
Council to discuss freeze on travel spending
The city of Columbus spent almost $158,000 on travel in Fiscal Year 2018.
Of that total, nearly 30 percent — $45,323.28 — was the combined tab for the mayor and city council, according to information the city provided The Dispatch in response to a Mississippi Public Records Act request.
City still accepting applications for planning commissioner
The city of Columbus is seeking applicants to fill a vacancy on its Planning Commission.
Earlier this month, the city council reappointed longtime member Annette Savors and appointed new member Melissa Smith to the commission, leaving it with one remaining open spot.
CPD will go longer without an assistant chief
Columbus Police Department will go a little longer without an assistant chief after the background check of the latest preferred candidate disqualified him from consideration.
Home Base: Mississippi Republicans lean on natural selection when it comes to educating its children
My three daughters are all in bed by 8:30 every night.
At least four nights a week, that’s when my wife breaks out the laptop and various paper-stuffed folders.
Retail Coach firm developing list of recruiting targets for Columbus
As of Wednesday, Will Kline was approaching the halfway mark of the first phase of his plan to rebuild Columbus’ reputation as the retail center for the Golden Triangle.
Columbus CFO suspended without pay in wake of budget deficit revelation
Columbus Chief Financial Officer Milton Rawle has been suspended for 16 working days, without pay, for failing to comply with job performance standards.
Columbus CFO suspended without pay
Columbus Chief Financial Officer Milton Rawle has been suspended for 16 working days without pay for failure to comply job performance standards.
Man dies in surgery after being shot in domestic dispute
A Macon man died Saturday morning after being shot in what authorities are calling a domestic dispute at Greentree Apartments in Lowndes County.