A rose to the Lowndes County Sports Hall of Fame, which has announced a date, venue and ticket prices for its inaugural induction ceremony. The event will be held on April 18 at the Trotter Center. Admission is $30 per person. The inaugural class will include 10 to 15 athletes chosen from among those nominated by the public. The organization is looking for corporate sponsors to help cover the cost of the banquet. The deadline for sponsorship is Oct. 31. We encourage local businesses to consider sponsoring the event and urge citizens to attend. The Hall of Fame isn’t just about recognizing the great athletes, coaches and teams from the community. It is also a source of civic pride that portrays our community in a positive light. Few things bring together a community in the way sports do. It gives us a chance to do a little bragging about ourselves. We applaud the Hall of Fame committee as it continues its work.
A thorn to the Columbus city council which, as of Wednesday has not committed to funding the Columbus-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce in next year’s budget. Until this year, the Chamber operated under the umbrella of the Golden Triangle Development LINK, which typically receives $100,000 in the city’s budget each year. But with the Chamber becoming an autonomous organization in October, it requested $25,000 each from the county and the city. The county has no reservations, with Board of Supervisors president Trip Hairston saying the county will honor that request. We are at a loss to explain why the city council does not understand the role the Chamber plays in our community. The Chamber organizes an Education Committee that supports local teachers from grade school up to the W. It also organizes the Pilot Partners program, perhaps the most visible link between the community and CAFB. And it obviously provides support of local businesses. The council may yet approve Chamber funding when it sets its budget on Monday. Surely it will decide to do so.
A rose to Mississippi State for adding degree programs that prepare students for emerging fields in the area of landscape architecture The two new degree concentrations – landscape ecosystem management and landscape business management concentrations – are designed to boost graduate competitiveness and potential earnings in the thriving landscape contracting and management industry. These are important fields as industry moves toward sustainable practices and habitat restoration. The new degree programs offer a robust curriculum in entrepreneurship, management, marketing, human resources and business regulations. In the past, universities have been slow to adapt to the changing landscape of employment, so adding new programs are opportunities in emerging fields is a sign that Mississippi State wants to be on the leading edge of preparing students for these careers.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
