Most cities and towns have official seals or logos featuring images that tell a part of their stories, but only a few of them have mascots.

Although it’s not a city mascot, Columbus folks are being introduced to Lexi the Dinosaur, the mascot for the new fossil park on Luxipalila Creek.

Former mayor Keith Gaskin was fond of the idea of Columbus adopting a possum as a mascot because of the city’s nickname: Possum Town.

Some cities have adopted mascots as part of their branding efforts. Fort Worth, Texas, has Molly the Longhorn. Boston has Elliot the Seagull, Key West, Florida, has The Gypsy Chickens.

The quirky resort town of Talkeetna, Alaska, (population 1,017) has Stubbs the Cat, a real cat who won the purely symbolic mayor’s race for the unincorporated town as a write-in candidate in 1997.

Each mascot pays homage to something the city has come to be known for.

Starkville has never considered a mascot as far as we can determine.

If it did, Connie the Traffic Cone would be the obvious choice.

From the “here we slow again” department, on Monday, Starkville Utilities will begin a two-month process of replacing 17 wooden utility poles on Louisville Street, between Highway 12 and Greensboro Street. The southbound lane of Louisville Street will be temporarily closed during specific weeks of the project. Drivers are encouraged to plan ahead, seek alternative routes and exercise extra caution when driving through the area.

Starkville residents should be pros at finding alternate routes by now.

For the past 10 years, it seems something has been going on somewhere in town that creates traffic delays, beginning with the Highway 12 median project that started in late 2016 and carried through 2017, an $8 million installation of concrete medians and fiber-optic signal upgrades designed to better regulate turning lanes. While MDOT prioritized night-only construction to alleviate gridlock for the 25,000 daily motorists, traffic bottlenecking and restricted business entryways triggered no small amount of pushback from anxious business owners and motorists.

In 2023, capital improvement line upgrades heavily restricted traffic on Old West Point Road for more than a month.

The Highway 182 Revitalization Project began in 2024 and continues today.  In 2024, lane closures significantly affected the area, forcing the reconfiguration of the Henderson Ward Stewart carpool routes, shifting traffic exclusively to eastbound travel in specific segments.

In late December 2025, a multi-week closure of the Jackson Street-Highway 182 intersection went into effect to overhaul underground utility grids. Commuters were forced to rely heavily on North Montgomery Street detours. The broader corridor work is projected to continue through 2027.

Also in 2025, the Main Street Revitalization Project began its major above-ground construction phase. Prior to this streetscape  overhaul, the city completed underground work, including a comprehensive water and sewer system upgrade on Main and Lampkin streets. The broader multi-million dollar streetscape construction project – which progresses in blocks to minimize disruptions – is expected to be completed in 2027.

Throw in MSU projects on streets connecting the campus to the city and county projects on Blackjack Road and Longview Drive, and it seems like something has been slowing traffic everywhere you look.

We understand the necessity of these projects and agree they will eventually improve life in the city as it continues to grow. But in the meantime, the city should seriously consider Connie the Traffic Cone as its mascot.

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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