A rose to the Columbus city council for considering a proposal to conduct the city’s first street assessment since 2000. City engineer Kevin Stafford brought the idea to the council at Thursday’s work session. For $80,000, a Texas company would use its automatic road analyzer to collect data on the city’s 300.7 miles of paved road. Until recently, paving has been a major headache for most Mississippi cities, including Columbus, because there was not a dedicated funding source. In most cases, cities issued bonds every 5 to 10 years to raise the money needed for street-paving projects. That problem was resolved in 2020 when the Mississippi Legislature approved providing cities with internet sales tax revenue to use for these projects. The second headache was determining which streets should be a priority, a debate that often became a turf war among council members to make sure their wards received a piece of the funding pie. A city-wide street assessment would provide a data-driven approach to identifying which streets should be a priority, regardless of ward. We assume this one-time expenditure could be funded from the city’s $2.4 million internet sales tax revenues, since this study is directly related to maintaining the city’s roads and streets. A dedicated funding source, combined with an objective means of prioritized paving projects, should make for better driving conditions throughout the city.

A rose to the judicial process for allowing people convicted of certain felonies a chance to truly wipe their record clean through a process called expungement. As a society, we believe that people deserve a second chance after they have paid their debt to society. This week, former Lowndes County supervisor Jim Terry had his felony fraud conviction from 2007 expunged. Terry was sentenced to 13 months in prison and ordered to pay the county $6,000 restitution after he was found to have used a county fuel card for personal use over a two-year period. Since then, he has been denied the right to vote, serve on a jury, hold public office, own a firearm and other rights felons lose upon conviction. Now, nearly 18 years later, his conviction will be expunged and all those rights restored. Expungement restores these rights while encouraging a sense of civic participation and belonging. Expungement can also relieve the stigma and anxiety a felon endures long after he has proven to be a lawful member of society.

A rose to the Main Street Columbus and downtown businesses for the return of a fun way to engage with visitors. “Let’s Flamingle Downtown” event returns for its fourth year. The event, taking place from 5-8 p.m. on Friday, invites participants to find plastic pink flamingos in 19 downtown stores. This engaging activity not only offers a chance to win a grand prize—including a Wyld Gear cooler and a Zachary’s gift certificate—but also encourages shopping at participating establishments, with extra drawing entries for every $25 spent. The success of “Let’s Flamingle Downtown” highlights the positive impact of innovative local initiatives on civic participation and economic growth.

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