Jiben Roy: Love, not hatred
I am starting my writing with relevant lines from Indian poet and actor Sabyasachi Chowdhury:
Our View: CMSD should approach Chapman’s dress rehearsal in good faith
The Columbus Municipal School District Board of Trustees called off its superintendent search during a special-call meeting Monday. Apart from the $10,000 paid to the Mississippi School Board Association to conduct the search, halting the process was a reasonable move, especially when one of the two finalists selected from the MSBA’s pool of applicants left the field.
Anna La Mare: Ode to Columbus
All along this road, you pick up pieces of magic.
Between the Headlines Podcast: Politics gets personal as Karriem, Beard face off
If you haven’t listened to last week’s Between the Headlines podcast, do yourself a favor. The latest episode, dropped Thursday, is already one of the show’s most-streamed – and for good reason. Hosts Zack Plair and David Chism didn’t expect fireworks, but that’s exactly what incumbent Rep. Kabir Karriem and challenger Pierre Beard delivered.
Our View: Want to contact an elected official? Insight Magazine has you covered
It would be easy enough to assume that Insight Magazine is a newcomer’s guide to the Golden Triangle. This year’s edition of the magazine will be published in the weekend edition of The Dispatch and, as always, it provides information on a host of topics, everything from annual events in the Golden Triangle to restaurants, schools to medical facilities, libraries and parks. It’s also a quick reference guide to city and county services in Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Clay and Noxubee counties.
Note from the Publisher: Salter no longer to appear in Dispatch
On Wednesdays since 2021 we have published Sid Salter’s weekly column, which he syndicates to multiple papers statewide.
Letter: From Two-Buck to Ten-Buck Chuck, thanks to ICE
Mississippi lacks one of the great grocery chains in the United States because we have a very peculiar rule. Stores that sell beer cannot sell
Possumhaw: Birds of a feather
The morning would start with a cup of coffee, maybe two delivered if it wasn’t a fishing day. That day was fisherman’s day. Coffee was ready with the push of a button. Starting toward the breakfast nook I heard sounds of crying.
Roses and Thorns: 7-19-25
A rose to the “Takes a Village” group and founder Rickey Harris Jr., whose recent back-to-school drive supplied backpacks and school items to 528 children
Thom Caraccio: Where are the humans?
There’s a lot of chatter about AI (artificial intelligence) taking over our lives.
Ask Rufus: Columbus and the art of two impressionists
I enjoy art. I am not an artist but love paintings that capture the spirit and the feeling of places and people as viewed through another’s eyes.
Slimantics: Will we ever heed Eisenhower’s warning?
Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 presidential farewell speech to the nation is remembered almost exclusively for a phrase he coined, one that seemed to be contrary to his entire career.
Letter: Professor: Maintaining science funding is crucial
In Mississippi, everyone has likely lost someone to cancer. That’s because the state has the highest cancer mortality rate in the nation, with 6,500 people
Letter: SCOTUS to lower courts: Solve less, exempt more
The Supreme Court has ruled that lower court decisions can affect only the litigants in the case at issue. So, if an executive order is
Letter: Youth continue to find themselves in Scouting
I was not a model Boy Scout. From a merit badge perspective, I did just about the bare minimum required to achieve Eagle. I never
Our View: When are law enforcement chases worth the risk?
On July 9, four local law enforcement agencies joined in a high-speed chase that ended with the suspect crashing the vehicle he was driving.
Jiben Roy: Mob culture vs gun culture
Gun culture is a constitutional right in the U.S. The guns in the U.S. are supposed to be used for self-defense, hunting and recreational activities. However, in practice, they are many times used in killing humans. Every day there is a gun related murder in the U.S. Even sometimes a teenager uses gun to kill. In the past I have written many articles about this in The Dispatch.
Sid Salter: Texas stirs memories of flood dangers for Mississippians
Mississippians are generally a generous and empathetic people. We sincerely feel the pain of others struggling to deal with the suffering of natural disasters and communities that are ravaged by wind, water and unrelenting storms.
Letter: Local news with national reach
Just wanted to tell you a cool thing that happened. Ed McNees — songwriter Dan Penn’s unofficial manager – just called me to tell me
Our View: New CMSD superintendent will face multiple large challenges
Ten days before the start of the 2025-26 school year, the Columbus Municipal School District Board of Trustees met Monday to settle on a group of finalists for the district’s superintendent.
