A rose to Harry Sanders, who said last week he will not seek a seventh term as Lowndes County District 1 supervisor. His tenure on the board was sporadically marked by controversy, but Sanders’ contributions to the county can not be overstated. Sanders was instrumental in structuring a method for the proceeds from the sale of the county hospital to be invested in a way that preserves the principal while using the gains on capital improvements throughout the county. The hospital trust fund stands as perhaps the most significant achievement in board history. He was also a key partner in attracting industry to the county. Those two contributions alone will benefit every citizen of Lowndes County for generations. An unintended benefit of his time on the board is the removal of a Confederate Statue from the grounds of the county courthouse. Ironically, it was reaction to incendiary comments by Sanders that finally served as the impetus for the removal of the monument to Friendship Cemetery. He served the county well, if not always perfectly.

A rose to the Golden Triangle Homeless Coalition and its supporters for introducing an innovative proposal that would allow it to serve more homeless citizens. During a forum Wednesday at City Hall in Columbus, GTRHC officials laid out plans to build a “Tiny Home Village,” on two acres of city-owned land in East Columbus. Sandra DePriest, who sits on the board of directors for GTRHC, said the village will allow people who are homeless to become progressively independent and get back on their feet. This would expand on the apartments the coalition operates in East Columbus.  Building costs for scaled-down homes are about $6,000 each and GTRHC is seeking groups, businesses or individuals to cover the cost of each home. The city council will have to approve the plan, which we certainly believe is worthy of consideration.

A rose to Zach Arnett, whose first win as a college head football coach could not have come under more difficult circumstances. Elevated to the head coaching job at Mississippi State after the stunning death of Mike Leach on Dec. 12, Arnett led the Bulldogs to a 19-10 win over Illinois in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa on Monday, three weeks to the day of Leach’s passing. Even as he led the preparations for his first game, Arnett faced the difficult challenges of holding together a recruiting class that was in limbo after Leach’s death while preventing a wholesale defection of players from the program during that uncertain time. Arnett met each of those challenges as well as could possibly be expected. The bowl win was the icing on the cake for MSU’s young head coach.

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.