Roses and thorns for 9/26/21
A rose to the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District for using a grant to help students hear instructors more clearly through audio enhancement electronics, an innovative
Other Editors: Charter schools need high standards
Charter school advocates are grousing that the board that oversees the schools in Mississippi denied two more applications on Sept. 13.
Ask Rufus: Native flowers
Through spring and summer, we have been enjoying the vivid display of color of our common flowers, many of which are native to this area.
Jabe Nicholson: The ultimate statistic
Rex Stout said there are two sources for statistics—the ones you look up and the ones you make up. But there’s one statistic beyond question: One out of every one dies. Gulp!
Partial to Home: Riparian perils
An old friend, he of retirement age, has taken up kayaking. He has embraced the sport with the zeal a teenager might have for a cell phone or Facebook account.
Our View: Enjoy fall while it lasts
Fall has arrived in The Golden Triangle.
Ben Shapiro: When politicians call for ‘fairness,’ they’re usually lying
This week, President Joe Biden attempted to inject life into his ailing presidency by dragging out of the closet the hoariest of political cliches: “fairness” in taxation.
Our View: City is right to hold off on ARPA fund decisions
During its Tuesday meeting, the Columbus City Council earmarked $1.3 million of its $5.6 in American Recovery Plan Act allocation to provide one-time $5,000 stipends to city employees.
Leonard Pitts Jr.: You can starve an ideal only so long before you kill it altogether
Those pictures are traumatizing.
Our View: Starkville errs in putting too many ARPA eggs in one basket
Since President Biden signed the American Recovery Rescue Plan (ARPA) into law in March, a program that pumps millions of dollars directly to cities and counties throughout the country, local governments have been pondering how to use those funds most effectively.
Sid Salter: Redistricting remains intensely political, partisan
With Census data compiled, state legislatures across the country are engaged in the intensely political, intensely partisan exercise of legislative redistricting for both congressional districts and state legislative districts.
Local Voices: An open letter to stop and rethink American Rescue Plan allocation of funds
The allocation of funds provided to the City of Starkville by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was a central focus of tonight’s Board of Alderman meeting.
Slimantics: Tate Reeves: Mississippi’s “lagging indicator”
Sunday morning, I learned that Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves would be a guest on CNN’s “State of the Union’’ program, and I recognized an old familiar feeling. It was like being called to the principal’s office: You don’t know what’s going to happen, but you know it isn’t going to be good.
Other editors: While the nation sinks deeper into debt, the rich keep evading taxes
A new Treasury Department report finds that the United States is losing $163 billion per year because of tax evasion by the top 1% of earners. The story is mind-numbingly familiar: phenomenally rich people finding new and creative ways to boost their wealth even more by cheating the rest of the responsible, taxpaying public.
Steve Chapman: Once again, redistricting promises to throttle democracy
It’s a redistricting year in the blue state of Illinois, which means that Republicans are getting less consideration than a missionary on the Las Vegas Strip. Democrats have been winning in the Land of Lincoln for a long while, controlling the state House for all but two of the past 38 years. But they see no harm in running up the score.
Bobby Harrison: Mississippi politicians don’t believe what they keep being told about Medicaid expansion
Legendary baseball announcer Jack Buck once proclaimed, “I don’t believe what I just saw.”
Perhaps some Mississippi politicians opposed to Medicaid expansion should proclaim, “I don’t believe what I keep on hearing and reading from the experts.”
David McRae: The IRS has no business monitoring your bank account
Under the Biden administration, the federal government’s role in our lives has become increasingly obtrusive, increasingly socialist, and increasingly concerning. What’s more, with the House of Representatives under Nancy Pelosi’s control and Chuck Schumer running the Senate, the executive overreach has gone unchecked.
Mona Charen: The future is female: But is that entirely a good thing?
“Men are abandoning higher education in such numbers that they now trail female college students by record levels.” So declares the opening sentence of a Wall Street Journal piece that is creating quite the buzz.
Roses and thorns 9-19-21
A rose to our “Best of the Triangle” award winners, which are featured in a special section available in our print edition and our online
Possumhaw: Not your average Joe
He looked strangely out of place behind a desk in an office. He was friendly enough when asking, “What can I do for you?” On the wall behind him were framed diplomas but something didn’t add up. He was dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie.
