Leigh Mall up for auction after loan default

Leigh Mall is being put up for auction because its owner, Security National Properties, has defaulted on a multi-million dollar loan.

Burns Bottom survey reveals historically fragmented neighborhood

Findings from a survey of historical structures in the Burns Bottom area have Columbus Redevelopment Authority representatives hopeful the neighborhood could be removed from the National Register of Historic Places.

Learning to lead: Mayor’s Youth Council boasts record 54 members this year

Standing behind a podium in a near empty first-floor ballroom in Trotter Convention Center Thursday evening, Marian Turner sound-checked the microphone nearly a dozen times.

Columbus appoints five to joint city-county committee

Columbus City Council on Tuesday appointed five members to an intergovernmental relations committee of city and Lowndes County leaders.

Citizen-led change: Lowndes Community Foundation organizes task forces to combat key challenges locally

Building a better community, according to Matt Bogue, starts with supplying nails to the people with hammers.

City taps Tupelo firm for retail development

A Tupelo-based firm with Golden Triangle ties will lead retail development efforts in Columbus for at least the next year.

City to keep contract with Baptist Medical Group

When it came to whether the city of Columbus would continue to use Baptist primary care clinic services next fiscal year, better information and a better price made all the difference.

Five retail firms vying for city contract

Columbus City Council has now heard proposals from five retail development firms wanting to do business with the city.

Irreconcilable differences?: Funding issues, ‘Type A personalities’ at forefront of ongoing feud between Columbus and Lowndes County leadership

Harry Sanders drives down Military Road late Friday morning on the route he takes into Columbus most days from his home near Caledonia.

From the driver’s seat of his red pickup, he starts pointing out toward street-side gutters and rights-of-way grown up in grass — all of which are the city’s responsibility to maintain.

County threatens to reduce funding for library

Not one computer station sat open Wednesday afternoon in the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library on Seventh Street North.

Columbus pulls out of LINK

Columbus is pulling out of the Golden Triangle Development LINK.

City councilmen voted 3-2 during a budget work session Thursday afternoon not to contribute its normal $100,000 to the economic development organization in Fiscal Year 2019, which begins Oct. 1.

New exhaust system at fire station to reduce firefighter exposure to cancer

For firefighters, certain hazards of their jobs are apparent.

Home Base: Pecan Acres relocation is bad deal for residents

Loren “Bo” Bell stood before an audience of about 60 concerned citizens Thursday night at the Greensboro Center in Starkville and tried to paint a pretty picture.

Dispatch files complaint against CVB with Ethics Commission

The Dispatch has submitted a public records complaint to the Mississippi Ethics Commission against the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau alleging the CVB failed to provide requested payroll documents and excessively charged the newspaper for what was provided.

Man charged with aggravated assault for shooting in Cracker Barrel

A Columbus man is charged with aggravated assault for allegedly shooting an assistant manager Friday afternoon in the Cracker Barrel restaurant on 18th Avenue North.

CRA distances itself from Realtor’s ‘threatening’ letters to Burns Bottom property owners

A local Realtor representing the Columbus Redevelopment Authority sent letters to at least 11 property owners in the Burns Bottom neighborhood saying if they did not agree to sell their lots by Tuesday, the CRA would get a court order to forcibly purchase them for a lower price.

CLW eyes rate, customer surcharge hikes for electric

Columbus Light and Water will look to its electric customers to raise $1.4 million in new revenue next fiscal year.

City hires new assistant police chief, CID captain

Columbus City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved hires for two key positions in the police department, though city officials would not publicly announce the hires.

New CID supervisor has yet to serve 2015 suspension for mishandling evidence

The officer now leading Columbus Police Department’s criminal investigation division has a documented history of mishandling evidence.

Investigator piles 338 overtime hours in four months

A member of Columbus Police Department’s criminal investigation division has racked up more than 338 hours of overtime in the last four months, some of it as Mayor Robert Smith’s driver.