A rose to the management and staff of the Mississippi Horse Park of Starkville, which will be honored on the opening day of the National Finals Rodeo (NFR)  in Las Vegas on Dec. 1. The NFR is the Super Bowl of rodeo, which brings the top-rated rodeo performers from across the county to crown world and national champions. In addition to the competition, the NFR also honors rodeos and venues that host Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Mississippi Horse Park will be honored after being selected as the best venue for footing (surface) in the region, which covers 70 rodeo events in nine Southeastern states. It’s quite an honor and well-deserved. Congratulations!

A rose to the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors, for its assistance in planned improvements at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport and the Lowndes County Airport. This week the board approved applying for a $1 million loan (at 1 percent interest)  from the Mississippi Development Authority on behalf of Golden Triangle Regional Airport and also approved going after Federal Aviation Administration funds for the Columbus-Lowndes County Airport. The loan will go toward covering soft costs associated with a  $12 million terminal expansion project, most of it funded by a federal grant. The city of Columbus and the Lowndes Supervisors also agreed to front the balance of a $542,000 taxiway repaving at the Lowndes County Airport. The airport needs about $100,000 and the city and county have agreed to cover that cost, money that will be returned to them when the approved funding from the Federal Aviation Authority. Providing this support should expedite the improvements at both airports and at no real cost to the taxpayer.

A rose to Columbus Light and Water and Starkville Utilities Department, both of which have received the last leg of funding they need to install new electric vehicle fast-charging stations.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality announced Wednesday it was giving both CLW and SUD both $48,060 for the installation of two charging stations in their respective downtowns. The addition will bring Columbus to three public-owned chargers and Starkville to six. The funding from MDEQ was made possible by the state’s Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Program. MDEQ is awarding $7,331,408 to 22 government and non-government entities, including 12 school districts, for eligible projects using funds allocated to Mississippi from the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust. Electric vehicles are the future of passenger transportation and these charging stations are a critical part of the infrastructure needed to provide electric car owners with convenient charging stations. We applaud both utility companies for moving quickly to meet this demand.

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