Our View: Though tempting, ARPA funds should remain devoted to infrastructure
When local governments across the country learned they would be getting millions of dollars under the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, it was a lot like winning the lottery.
Our View: Millions of reasons to look forward to college football season
In October 2014, the Mississippi State football team had reached the high-water mark in its long history: unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the college football standings.
Our View: An anxious start to the football season
One of the common errors in language is using one word when you mean another.
Our View: Private sponsorship of public projects is a vote of confidence
It is often said that small businesses are the life-blood of a community, not only for the jobs and tax revenue they provide, but in terms of building a community through supporting things residents value.
Our View: Themed festivals help establish a community’s identity
Festivals have been an important part of community life going back to the earliest known civilizations. The earliest festivals were mostly religious or tied to the seasons, but since then the scope of these events have grown beyond our ability to count them.
Our View: Quality board members are Columbus Redevelopment Authority’s biggest asset
Robert Rhett, the last of the five original members of the Columbus Redevelopment Authority, resigned from the position last month at a time when the CRA’s efforts to redevelop Burns Bottom were coming into focus.
Our View: Know of a great community story? Our new lifestyles editor wants to hear it.
It’s been three years since Jan Swoope, the much-loved and award-winning Lifestyles Editor of The Dispatch passed away after a determined fight with cancer. Her
Election day decision: Turn out or tune out?
Today is primary election day for county, district and state-wide offices in Mississippi. Contrary to what you often hear, 100% of eligible voters will participate in this election as well as the general election in November.
Our View: The pandemic’s impact on the state, in numbers
Early in 2020, as the first massive waves of COVID-19 illnesses and deaths were sweeping the globe, we were told that the pandemic would continue to impact lives well after the illnesses and deaths slowed to a trickle, if not disappeared altogether.
Our View: We’re all equipped to respond to violence constructively
Psychologists studying how a community responds to violence say that most reactions are expressed in one of four ways, and sometimes combinations of them: avoidance, apathy, anger and empathetic action.
Our View: State should have uniform standards for active shooter training
For the past five years, all Mississippi public schools have had active shooter drills. The drills were mandated by the School Safety Act of 2019, which dictates that the training is held within the first 60 days of the school year.
Our View: Heat death tragedy is reminder to check on neighbors, determine utility options
There has never been a heat wave such as the one we are seeing now, at least not since temperature records began being recorded in 1880.
Our View: When budgeting revenues, cities are wise to be conservative
Generally, we like the people we elect to manage our local governments to be optimists. A positive outlook promotes creativity, problem-solving and cooperation.
Our View: Voting carries an obligation
Voting is many things. It is, most of all, a right guaranteed by the Constitution, a right. That’s how we most often think about voting
Our View: Turnage’s position blocks citizens from participating in local government
The right to petition the government is a right enumerated in the U.S. Constitution, but its roots go much further back than that – to English law of the 17th century. Although Mississippi’s Supreme Court has callously denied that right at the state level since 2021, that right remains at the local level.
Our View: A good day for local government
This week, the week of Independence Day, several of our local governments held their regular meetings, all of them open to the public, naturally.
Our View: Mississippi’s third grade reading ‘miracle’ may need work to be sustained
In 2013, Mississippi passed the Literacy Based Promotion Act, which required all third graders read at grade-level to advance to the fourth grade.
Our View: ‘Done Right Day’ for MUW sports
Almost from the moment he arrived as president of Mississippi University for Women in 2011, Jim Borsig set his sights on returning intercollegiate sports to the university, which had disbanded its athletics programs in 2003.
Our View: Local government shouldn’t operate like an egg-timer
A three-year contract turns into a one-year commitment. A request for a 10-year tax abatement is approved for just two years.
Our View: More structure needed when granting tax abatements
The idea of offering tax abatements for new economic development projects is not a new idea. Local governments use tax abatements to encourage new development by freezing property taxes at pre-renovation levels for a set amount of time.