Our view: ‘Hear no evil’ is bad school policy
Tuesday evening, we learned what happened to Shawn Gregory, but the public may never know why it happened.
Remembering Joe Ray
Joe Ray Roberson, longtime Dispatch photographer, was one of those people so well known around town, the use of a surname was superfluous, if not confusing; he was simply “Joe Ray.” Roberson died early Sunday morning after a long illness.
Rather than piecemeal accountability, require annual audits of all state agencies
Legislation is moving through the state Senate that will “cut wasteful spending while ensuring taxpayers can see what their government is doing,” according to Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves.
Sounds in the night
Darkness came early; I beckoned Jack, the cat, to come inside but he stopped, uneasy, and stared into the woods. There was a sound unlike any I’d ever heard. Not at all like the snort of a deer warning its young, then the sound of deer running through the woods. This sound was different, and it didn’t run. There was thrashing, a scream, but no running.
Ask Rufus: Plymouth Bluff
I have previously written about John Pitchlynn and Fort Smith at Plymouth Bluff during the Creek Indian War of 1813-1814, but there is much more history surrounding the bluff than just that.
Hoffman and heroin
When my kids were little, an older and more experienced mother told me that one key to raising kids safely is to limit the number of “nos” to what really matters and insist firmly on those. Motorcycles and heroin, she said, which seems like a pretty good list.
For sale, the MLK legacy
Maybe we should take up an offering.
Obviously, the heirs of Martin Luther King Jr. are hard up for money. That must be why they keep selling off pieces of his legacy.
Cellophane hearts and soft centers
I was using the free White Pages website to try to find the ZIP code for a friend’s address. An advertisement popped up, something called Instant Checkmate, which is not free.
Roses and thorns: 2/9/14
A rose to East Mississippi Community College, which has been chosen as one of the nation’s Top 150 community colleges by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. The distinction will allow EMCC to compete for the 2014 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence and $1 million in prize funds.
Memories of the 2002 Winter Olympics
In a previous life, I was a sports journalist, an occupation that took me to many of the biggest sporting events in the United States. As a reporter and later, an editor, I attended the Masters Golf Tournament, the Kentucky Derby, the Super Bowl, three college football championship games, the NCAA Final Four, the World Series and innumerable professional and college sporting events that people typically pay good money to see.
Voice of the people: Danny Williams
So, let me get this straight. I’m observed driving down the road recklessly in front of Club Heidiho.
Lynn Spruill: It’s smart
I know they thought I was some crazy person. I drove slowly by a couple of times and waved so they wouldn’t think I was hostile and then turned in and sat observing them for a few minutes.
Kathleen Parker: Don’t blame Obama
Even I was willing to blame the president, or at least his namesake: Obamacare.
What other explanation was there for the fact that it was taking weeks to get a prescription filled, and I was suffering an acute flare-up of my rheumatoid arthritis?
Our view: Elected leaders do residents a disservice in choosing board members
Monday, the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors chose retired businessman Lester King to represent the county on the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Trustees.
Kathleen Parker: In Christie saga, keep calm and gossip on
We have officially reached the take-a-step-back moment in the unfolding — or unraveling — of the Chris Christie alleged bridge/political retribution/Sandy funds political scandal.
Froma Harrop: Obamacare bad-news report not so bad
Rarely has a bad-news story offered so little real bad news. We refer to the Congressional Budget Office report that the Affordable Care Act may reduce the number of hours worked by the equivalent of 2.5 million full-time jobs.
Charlie Mitchell: Dog’s attack on ‘Bert’ a case of professional jealousy?
It occurs to me that when a pit bull menaced Jackson TV newsman Bert Case back in 2010, it was because one watchdog recognized another — and didn’t want competition in the neighborhood.
Leonard Pitts: Change across the universe
It’s an odd thing.
Sometimes, when I speak before high school or college students, someone in the audience, knowing I began my professional life as a pop music critic, will ask what I think of music today.
Froma Harrop: The class war on drug users
Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death at the end of a heroin needle again spotlights the dangers of a poisonous drug. And so did the Vermont governor’s plea last month to confront the “full-blown heroin crisis” plaguing his rural state.
Frances Hairston: A sense of optimism growing in Crawford
Crawford Mayor Fred Tolon is optimistic about his little town and wants to see it flourish. On Jan. 25 he hosted a breakfast with ministers and other key people in the community to discuss his vision. I was happy to be among those invited.