A rose to the Starkville-MSU Area Rapid Transit bus system, which has proven to be one of best examples of cooperation between the city and university. As the Starkville Board of Aldermen concluded work on its budget, which along with Oktibbeha County, provides $50,000 to support the bus system each year, the bus service director, Jeremiah Dumas, updated the board on usage since the university’s bus service was extended to city residents in 2013. The buses have served more than 4 million riders in those seven years, and stops exist throughout the city. For many citizens, the bus service is their only means of transportation. This is particularly true for disabled citizens, who have access through buses equipped with special equipment. For most cities the size of Starkville, public transportation of this nature would not be feasible. But through its partnership with the university, it has proven to be a great service.
A rose to all volunteer “picker uppers” in Starkville and Columbus, who spent part of their days making their cities a bit cleaner. In Starkville, The Partnership held its annual “Get Swept Up” event, which is normally scheduled for the Wednesday before the first MSU football game in September. MSU’s first home game this year isn’t until Oct. 3. In Columbus, the city held its “Clean Up Columbus” event, with volunteers from civic clubs, organizations and private citizens spreading out to all six wards of the city to pick up trash and debris. For their efforts, the volunteers were treated to a free lunch at the Municipal Complex after the event. We applaud these efforts to make our cities more attractive and healthier. Now, let’s all do our part to keep our neighborhoods clean!
A rose — or should we say magnolia bloom? — to Rocky Vaughn, whose state flag submission, chosen from among 3,000 entrants, will be submitted to voters as the official state flag. The Legislature set up a flag commission to select a new design after voting to remove the old flag, adopted in 1894, which bore a Confederate battle flag in its canton. By an 8-1 vote Wednesday, the commission chose Vaughn’s design over the other finalist. Vaughn, who is from Ackerman and works in Starkville, designed a flag whose main feature is a magnolia bloom. The magnolia is both the state’s official tree and flower, so it’s a fitting – and controversy-free – feature of our state flag. We urge voters to give the flag its support at the polls on Nov. 3.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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