A rose to the Columbus City Council for its selection of Brenda Lathan to serve on the Columbus Redevelopment Authority. Lathan replaces Robert Rhett, the last of the original members of the five-person CRA Board, who resigned in July. Lathan comes to the CRA after 20 years at the Golden Triangle Development Link (1999-2019), last serving there as senior vice president of economic development. She also served two separate terms as a member of the Mississippi Economic Council Board of Directors. When the CRA has all but completed its land acquisition and prep work at the five-block Burns Bottom project, Lathan arrives on the board at a critical point in time. Her years of experience, contacts in economic development and reputation in the field will be of invaluable help as the CRA enters this new phase.

A rose to Columbus resident George Hazard for his efforts to install a plaque at the Confederate Memorial, which was relocated to Friendship Cemetery in June 2022. The monument, which had been located on the grounds of the Lowndes County Courthouse since its erection in 1912, was a source of controversy in the wake of the 2020 George Floyd murder, an incident that led to the removal of Confederate memorials on public grounds across the country. The Board of Supervisors, with the consent of the City of Columbus, voted to relocate the monument to an area of the cemetery where Confederate soldiers are interred. While it is a more fitting location, Friendship Cemetery is one of the city’s biggest tourist attractions. The inscriptions on the monument reflect the times in which it was erected, a period when Jim Crow laws dominated the state. Hazard’s and other supporters’ goal is to install a plaque that provides proper context and reflects contemporary views of the statue’s era. It will be an important message for tourists visiting the monument to know. With private donations covering the cost of the plaque, supervisors unanimously approved Hazard’s proposal. We thank Hazard for this effort, which should serve as a reminder that private citizens can effect needed changes.

A rose to Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science history teacher Chuck Yarborough, who has been recognized as a recipient of the 2023 Yale Educator of the Year Award. The Yale Educator Recognition Program recognizes outstanding educators from around the world who support and inspire their students to perform at high levels and to achieve excellence. Of this year’s 385 nominees, who represent 43 states and 28 countries, 80 teachers and 32 counselors were selected to receive the award. A history teacher at MSMS since 1997, Yarborough is best-known in Columbus for organizing the annual Tales from the Crypt program, in which his history students dress up and perform as figures from the city’s past in Friendship Cemetery; and the 8th of May Emancipation Celebration, where students put on choral and dramatic performances in celebration of Emancipation Day in Sandfield Cemetery, programs that not only provide opportunities for students to apply what they learn to real-life projects but add much to our understanding of the history of our community. We congratulate Chuck on this well-deserved honor.

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