It”s great that Columbus is doing something to help its downtown area become vibrant again, and that”s all well and good. However, there are many small towns in the Golden Triangle and surrounding area that are dying, drying up, and disappearing from view. Crawford and Artesia are just two examples of small towns that were once bustling communities that are turning into ghost towns. Brooksville and Shuqualak are two examples from Noxubee County that are shriveling up. Mashulaville, Gholson, Paulette, and Bigbee Valley are now just names on the map. People are selling homes in towns and moving to the country or other cities and states where jobs are, taxes are lower and/or crime is less. Businesses are relocating where labor is cheaper. We need to reverse this trend in order to keep small town America from going the way of the dodo. I applaud the efforts to keep downtown Columbus alive, but I also wish the supervisors in every county would get proactive to save the smaller communities before they become extinct.

Cameron Triplett Sr

Brooksville

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.