Our View: Keeping city’s parking lot is the right call
For years, the city-owned parking lot located at the northeast corner of Sixth Street South and College Street next to the First Methodist church in Columbus has mostly been used by the church.
Our View: With AI, it’s time for old dogs to learn new tricks
Man has used technology since the first stone tools were invented, but today new technology seems to emerge constantly. Obviously, not everyone uses every technology
Our View: Government shutdown will hit Mississippians hard
There are few states more likely to be watching what happens now that the federal government has been shut down than Mississippi.
Our View: Grant and Lincoln presidential collections remind us of the importance of a united nation
When the Grant Foundation’s collection of the papers and mementos of Ulysses S. Grant was moved from Southern Illinois University to Mississippi State in 2008, it might have easily been considered a novelty that quickly faded from public attention.
Our View: Adaptation and community service carries the Y forward
On Oct. 30, 1929 – six days after the stock market crash that would plunge the nation into the Great Depression – the successful completion of the building fundraising campaign for the Columbus YMCA touched off a celebration the likes of which the city had never seen. Reports of the day noted that hundreds of people poured out into the streets. Church bells pealed. Fire alarms were set off, automobile horns blasted and train whistles blew.
Our View: Discipline – not district handouts – is needed for OCH money
Oktibbeha County is about to experience something most counties never do: a windfall of roughly $40 million from the sale of OCH Regional Medical Center. That is, by any measure, an extraordinary sum. What the supervisors choose to do with it could help shape the county for generations.
Our View: On Friday night, catch our kids doing something good
There is an old saying that the best bosses make a habit of catching their workers doing something good, then praising them for that behavior.
Our View: Parkview brings fresh optimism to Columbus’ Burns Bottom
It’s been an awfully long time since anyone accused Columbus of being over-confident, so the genuine enthusiasm that has accompanied the Parkview project at Burns Bottom is refreshing.
Our View: What’s to be gained from mayor’s planned antisemitism conference?
Most local governments open official business during their meetings with something called a consent agenda. The practice streamlines meetings by grouping routine business or other non-controversial items into a single motion that all board or council members approve without discussion. Generally, it is useful because it allows the officials to dispense with mundane tasks quickly so they can move on to more important matters.
Our View: Why The Dispatch still prints: You
At the turn of the century, if you were told that only one of these daily newspapers would still print in 25 years – The New Orleans Times-Picayune, The Mobile Press-Register, The Birmingham News, The Newark Star-Ledger, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Commercial Dispatch – which would you have picked?
Our View: Higgins’ stunning departure sets stage for new era for the LINK
The news that Joe Max Higgins has been fired as CEO of the Golden Triangle Development LINK came out of nowhere. Outside of the nine-member LINK Executive Committee, which made the decision, and a handful of others, the brewing ouster was kept very quiet.
Our View: Hospital deal is reason to celebrate, but supes should be cautious in how the money is used
There is an old country adage that says if you cut your own firewood, it will warm you twice: once when you cut it, the second time when you burn it.
Our View: Eeyore no more
The official motto of Columbus is “The Friendly City,” but for some time now, a better characterization of the city could be pulled from the Pogo comic strip: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Our View: Possumtown Book Fest confirms Columbus’ literary leadership
In the immediate aftermath of the first Possumtown Book Fest in 2024, one question was left unanswered: Would the book festival return for a second year?
Our View: The barn still stands. So does the effort to erase its story.
On Saturday, Wright Thompson will deliver the keynote address for the Possumtown Book Fest at the Rosenzweig Arts Center’s Omnova Theatre, and the timing could
Our View: Starkville Police increasingly keep public in the dark
When readers are asked to identify the type of news they value most, crime news is typically at the top of the list. It easily outranks topics such as sports, entertainment, government reporting and food/cooking.
Our View: Hoping for many more risings of the Blue Moon
When Chris Curtis’ dad opened a drive-in theater in Guin, Alabama, in 1996, he decided to name it the Blue Moon. The name foreshadowed what was to become the ultimate fate of a cultural icon of post-World War II America.
Our View: In defense of ‘allegedly’
In Wednesday’s edition, The Dispatch reported the arrest of a teenager, who allegedly threatened and hit another minor with a gun while recording a video that quickly went viral.
Our View: Automotive program needs instructor, and community can drive the solution
The year was 2018. The Lowndes County School District’s $11 million Career Tech Center was set to open when students returned to classes in August while work on East Mississippi Community College’s $38 million Communiversity was well on its way to completion.
Our View: Two stories, one crash: why independent investigations matter
Law enforcement is an inherently stressful job. Officers are sometimes thrust into high-pressure situations where critical decisions – sometimes the difference between life and death – must be made in an instant.
Reese and Valincius earn USA Baseball invites
June 15, 2025
By
