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FIVE QUESTIONS1 What relative does a Russian call “babushka”?2 In the comedy film “Kingpin,” who plays Roy Munson, a former bowler who trains an Amish protége?3 What country split into two in the “Vel-vet Divorce”?4 Where does the Muffin Man live, ac-cording to the song?5 Which Canadian raised $30 million for the ASPCA by singing her song “Angel” in a gut-wrenching 2007 TV pitch featuring homeless cats and dogs?

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LOCAL FOLKS

Vyusti Yadav, a student at Starkville Academy, is from India. She loves painting murals and has one in Tupelo.

PUBLIC MEETINGSMay 4: Lowndes County Board of Supervisors, 9 a.m., County CourthouseMay 5: Columbus City Council, Municipal Com-plex, 5 p.m.May 11: Columbus Mu-nicipal School District, 6 p.m., Brandon Central Services CenterMay 15: Lowndes County Board of Super-visors, 9 a.m., County CourthouseMay 19: Columbus City Council, Municipal Com-plex, 5 p.m.June 1: Lowndes County Board of Supervisors, 9 a.m., County Courthouse

BY ISABELLE ALTMANialtman@cdispatch.com

Between 2017 and 2019, about 13 percent of area eighth graders who applied to the Golden Triangle Early College High School on East Mississip-pi Community College’s May-hew campus did not come from public schools.

Those students — who in-cluded 14 from private schools

and 15 from homeschool situa-tions in Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Clay or Noxubee counties — were accepted to the school at roughly the same rate as public school students, making up just over 12 percent of rejections from the program.

But the fact that private school students are accepted at all has caused superinten-dents in some school districts

to end their relationships with GTECHS, which allows high school students to take col-lege level courses and gradu-ate with an associate’s degree. Both Columbus Municipal and

Starkville-Oktibbeha Consoli-dated school districts’ boards voted earlier this month not to renew a memorandum of un-derstanding with GTECHS and EMCC to send students — and the accompanying Mississippi Department of Education fund-ing — to the early college high school.

Founded in 2015, GTECHS accepts between 50 and 70 students per year — mostly from CMSD, SOCSD, Lowndes County, West Point Consolidat-ed and Noxubee County school

districts — and particularly students who struggled socially or academically in their home schools. Though students and their families fill out applica-tions and go through an inter-view, the final selection is made by a random lottery through a program at the University of North Carolina.

The school has been funded over the last five years by Mis-sissippi Adequate Education Plan funds. MDE allocated funds to LCSD, which had been

Private, homeschool students make up 13 percent at GTECHS CMSD president argues students from private schools should not be accepted at all

Employees, customers required to wear masks as Starkville businesses reopenMask requirement, continued curfew both in place until May 11BY TESS VRBINtvrbin@cdispatch.com

Some Starkville businesses are al-lowed to reopen with restrictions under Gov. Tate Reeves’ new executive order that took effect Mon-day, but all employ-ees and customers over the age of 6 are required to wear protective face masks from 8 a.m. today until 8 a.m. May 11 to curb the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, the board of aldermen decided Monday with a 5-2 vote at a special-call meeting.

The resolution requires busi-nesses to “provide adequate super-vision, including door monitors” to make sure no one enters without a mask.

The city will also keep its 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in place until May 11, a measure that Starkville Police Chief Mark Ballard said is neces-sary.

Starkville police arrest two men for shelter in place violation, one for kidnappingBY TESS VRBINtvrbin@cdispatch.com

Two men have been charged with shelter in place violations and at least one has been charged with kidnapping a juvenile after they tried to run from Starkville police at a driver’s license checkpoint Friday night.

Larry Simon, 31, of Jackson, and Quincy Smedley, 32, of Laurel, were in a car that nearly hit a police offi-cer after failing to stop at the check-point at the intersection of Louis-

BY TESS VRBINtvrbin@cdispatch.com

The second week of March seems like it was a year ago, Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum told the Starkville Rotary Club at its virtual meeting Monday.

The COVID-19 coronavi-rus pandemic started to force the cancellations of school, sports and other gatherings on March 11, during MSU’s spring break. The university extended its break by a week but soon had to convert all classes to an online environ-

ment for the rest of the semes-ter.

“These past eight weeks or so, I can truly say, have proba-bly been the most trying time of my life,” Keenum said. “It’s like the days run into weeks, and a day feels almost like a week.”

C l a s s e s wrapped up We d n e s d a y, students are taking final ex-ams this week and MSU will hold a virtual graduation cer-emony on Friday at 2 p.m.,

Keenum: MSU will receive $17.8M from CARES Act

Slim Smith/Dispatch StaffAnn Younger, Sandra DePriest, Cindy Cranford and Clarissa Dodson spent Monday distributing sack lunches at Loaves and Fishes. Monday’s meals were a collaboration by three churches — Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, Seventh Day Adventist Church and Pleasant Grove Church. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Loaves and Fishes has been providing approximately 60 sack lunches a day.

Area organizations still helping hungry, homeless

SpearsSavely

Spruill

See ALDERMEN, 3A

BY SLIM SMITHssmith@cdispatch.com

The nightly news brings images of hundreds of cars waiting in line to pick up food items as COVID-19 continues to disrupt normal life across the country.

It is a scene that hasn’t been du-plicated in the Golden Triangle. The anticipated crush of demand at soup kitchens and food pantries caused by COVID-19 has yet to materialize.

“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” said Ann Sparkman, co-president of Loaves and Fishes,

which provides free lunches up to five days per week at its Columbus facility. “I’m hoping it’s just because people are staying home and may-be someone is providing meals for them. I hope that’s the case. What I do know is that we’re not serving as many people as we did before (the virus).”

Sparkman estimates Loaves and Fishes is providing about 60 bag lunches per day since clos-ing its kitchen and ending its hot meal service because of the city’s COVID-19 ordinance that went into effect a month ago — which tempo-

rarily limited operations at essential businesses and closed businesses deemed non-essential, and banned gatherings of more than 10 people, among other things.

Prior to that, the facility had fed 100 to 150 people daily.

Loaves and Fishes relies on a group of 30 local organizations, primarily churches, who assume responsibility for preparing and serving lunches at least one day per month.

“We have had a few churches

While meal volume is down in Columbus, costs for providing them have risen

Keenum

See GTECHS, 3A

MSU will offer a wider variety of summer courses for a lower cost

See KEENUM, 6A

See FOOD PANTRIES, 6A

See ARRESTS, 6A

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com2A TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2020

Health officials ready new guidelines as restrictions ease

BY BILL BARROW The Associated Press

ATLANTA — Demo-cratic presidential candi-date Joe Biden renewed his party unification ef-forts Monday with book-end endorsements from Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the leader of the House progressive caucus that

sometimes battles the speaker from the left.

The twin announce-ments from Pelosi and Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal highlight Biden’s effort to avoid a repeat of the 2016 presidential election, when tensions between establishment Democrats and the par-ty’s progressive flank

hobbled Hillary Clinton in her loss to President Donald Trump.

Pelosi, a longtime friend of Biden’s, is a face of the Democratic establishment and boasts perhaps the widest net-work across the party’s wealthiest donors. Jay-apal, who had previously backed Bernie Sanders

for president, is co-chair of the Congressional Pro-gressive Caucus, whose members want sweeping expansion of the feder-al government’s role in the economy, notably through a single-payer “Medicare for All” insur-ance plan that Biden and Pelosi do not favor.

Pelosi, top House progressive give Biden twin endorsements

BY JOYCE M. ROSENBERG AP Business Writer

NEW YORK — The second round of loan ap-plications for the govern-ment’s small business relief program has been slowed by computer is-sues at the Small Business Administration.

Lenders complained Monday that they couldn’t get their applications into the SBA system known as ETran that processes and

approves loans. The agen-cy said it notified lenders Sunday that it was limit-ing the number of appli-cations any lender could submit at once.

The SBA began accept-ing applications at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time for $310 billion in funding. The program’s initial $349 bil-lion was exhausted in less than two weeks after more than 1.7 million loans were approved. That first round was also slowed by com-

puter issues at the SBA, Banks had thousands

of applications ready to go Monday. Richard Hunt, president of the trade group Consumer Bank-ers Association, said the SBA’s announcement on application limits was too last-minute — bankers had already sent large batches of applications to the agency, not knowing that a new procedure was being planned.

“We learned at the

11th hour that SBA had changed its process. They could have told us well ahead of time,” Hunt said. He said the agency’s computers weren’t able to accept even the reduced number of applications per hour that it had planned.

The ETran system normally handles under 60,000 applications in a year and wasn’t built to handle the volume of ap-plications it has been re-ceiving this month.

Small business loan program restarts, runs into snags

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Businesses should close break rooms. Restau-rants should consider disposable menus and plates. Schools should have students eat lunch in their class-rooms.

These are some of the recommen-dations offered in new federal plans designed to help restaurants, schools, churches and businesses safely re-open as states look to gradually lift their coronavirus restrictions.

The draft guidance from the Cen-ters for Disease Control and Preven-tion has been sent to Washington but still could be revised before the Trump administration unveils it to the public. The recommendations were obtained from a federal official who was not authorized to release them publicly.

The CDC put together so-called “decision trees” for at least seven types of organizations: schools, camps, childcare centers, religious

facilities, mass transit systems, work-places, and bars/restaurants.

White House officials previously released a three-phase reopening plan for the nation that mentioned schools and other organizations that come back online at different points. But it hadn’t previously offered more specific how-to guidelines for each kind of entity.

The new guidance still amounts to little more than advice. State and local officials will be the ones to adopt and enforce them. Some state and local governments have already put rules in place for businesses that are operating.

CDC recommendations could still be revised before White House unveils plan to the public

HOSPITAL APPRECIATION PARKING LOT PARADE

Isabelle Altman/Dispatch StaffJessie Keyes, left, and Nikole Moffett wave to cars making up the Hospital Appreciation Parking Lot Parade out-side Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle Monday night. People from around the community held up home-made signs and thank you cards, honked horns and rang cowbells as they drove around the hospital to thank hospital workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Keyes works in Baptist’s occupational therapy department, and Moffett works in security.

SOLUNAR TABLEThe solunar period indicates peak-feeding times for fish and game.

Courtesy of Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks

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Entered at the post office at Columbus, Mississippi. Periodicals postage paid at Columbus, MSPOSTMASTER, Send address changes to:

The Commercial Dispatch, P.O. Box 511, Columbus, MS 39703Published by Commercial Dispatch Publishing Company Inc.,

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The DispaTch

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2020 3A

AldermenContinued from Page 1A

Violators of the curfew or the mask order face a fine of up to $1,000.

Reeves’ “shelter in place” order expired Mon-day morning after being in place since April 3. The new “safer at home” order still requires people to follow social distanc-ing guidelines but allows some businesses to open with a maximum of 50 percent of their capacity of customers at a time.

Spruill initially pro-posed that only employ-ees be required to wear masks and said she thought requiring cus-tomers to do the same was an overreach, but she supported the board’s decision to extend the re-quirement to customers.

Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver and Ward 3 Alder-man David Little were the two dissenting votes and said they opposed the mask requirement.

“We’re about seven to eight weeks into (the pan-demic) now, and we hav-en’t required the masks early on,” Little said. “To come in now, late in the game, and apply that is a little restrictive, and I think it comes down to personal choice.”

Carver agreed that wearing a mask is a mat-ter of “freedom of choice,” though he also said people who are elderly or have health problems should wear masks for their own safety. He said he would not be surprised to see a spike in confirmed cases

of COVID-19 as the state reopens but emphasized “personal responsibility” for keeping the virus con-tained.

“Personally I just don’t have a lot of fear of this pandemic right now,” Carver said. “I’m not a big mask-wearer.”

Ward 5 Alderman Hamp Beatty disputed Carver’s statements and said he would feel safer in a store if everyone was wearing a mask. He also reminded the board that some people might pick up the virus in a public place and never show symptoms but pass it on to someone at serious risk, such as an elderly relative.

“On the surface, may-be it is an impediment to our personal freedoms, what we want to do and how we want to do it, but these are extraordinary times,” Beatty said. “I’m all for personal freedoms and constitutional rights, but this is something we’ve got to get a handle on.”

Spruill told The Dis-patch she believed the resolution is appropriate to make everyone com-fortable going places if they must during the pandemic, even if it risks infringing on personal freedom of choice.

“I don’t think a two-week requirement for wearing masks is over-ly burdensome,” Spruill said. “It certainly has a definite end in sight, but

I think to keep our entire community safe, it’s an infringement that’s worth the risk.”

Ward 6 Alderman and Vice Mayor Roy A. Per-kins proposed requiring customers as well as em-ployees to wear masks.

“We need to do that be-cause we are trying to en-act every measure that is reasonably necessary and proper to curb the spread (of COVID-19),” Perkins said.

Spruill suggested re-quiring businesses to have extra masks on hand for customers who do not have one upon arrival, but Ward 2 Alderman San-dra Sistrunk said such a requirement would be “cumbersome” and the decision should be left up to the individual business owner.

The entire board sup-ported continuing the curfew that it first enact-ed at its April 7 meeting, with an exception for es-sential travel, and set to automatically extend and end with Reeves’ shelter-in-place order. Oktibbe-ha County has its own curfew with many of the same parameters that will last until May 6.

Ballard asked the board to “please stay the course” and keep the cur-few. He said “the streets are relatively quiet” now that the curfew deters residents of other cities and counties from com-ing to Starkville to avoid their own curfews.

“The average working person from 10 (p.m.) to 5 (a.m.) is not deeply af-fected by this curfew, but public safety and public health are impacted,” Ballard said.

GTECHSContinued from Page 1A

the school’s fiscal agent, based on the number of GTECHS students. That amount is different every year based on MAEP’s formula, said LCSD Su-perintendent Sam Allison, but last year it was about $5,100 per student.

Next year, fiscal man-agement is slated to switch from LCSD to EMCC. CMSD Super-intendent Cherie Labat said MDE would have al-located about $130,000 in CMSD’s MAEP funds just for GTECHS’ freshmen class from Columbus — an amount she called a “conservative estimate.” The cost is especially high given those public funds would have gone to pay for some students from pri-vate schools, she argued.

GTECHS Principal Jill Savely said the intent be-hind forming GTECHS was that it would be avail-able to all students.

“From the beginning we wanted to make sure that all students had ac-cess, whether they were coming from a public school or a private school or homeschool,” she said. “So from the beginning we have had students from homeschool and pri-vate school to apply.”

However, CMSD Board President Jason Spears said he has always un-derstood that GTECHS is supposed to recruit only public and some homes-chool students who need-ed extra help to graduate.

“The biggest thing was to help (the students) stay in school,” he said. “It was never anything to where we’re trying to create this incubator for children from all areas to come to school.”

The numbersBetween 2017 and

2019, 225 students applied to GTECHS. Of those, 196 — or about 87 percent of the applicant pool — were from public middle schools.

Of the 225, 33 students were not accepted, either because the lottery didn’t select them or they were eliminated before then. About 88 percent — 29 of those students — were from public schools.

A larger discrepancy existed between private and homeschool students.

While 15 homeschool stu-dents applied, only one did not make it through the lottery. Private school stu-dents, on the other hand, made up about 6 percent of the applicant pool but 9 percent of students who were not selected in the lottery.

Savely said it is not common for students to be eliminated before the lottery, because the appli-cation and interview pro-cesses are more to ensure potential students under-stand what GTECHS is than to find reasons to ac-cept or reject applicants. However, there have been times in the application process when it became clear GTECHS wasn’t for certain students.

“That would lead to a conversation with the family to see if it really was the best placement,” Savely said. “If kids are really connected to the schools that they’re in, then that may very well be the best placement for them or where they’ll be more successful.”

Some of the things that attract students to GTECHS — such as smaller class sizes and no formal extracurriculars, such as athletics — might appeal more to students who have been in small private schools or home-schools who want to try “something different” but don’t want to jump into a large public school, she said.

Savely said there would not be an instance when administrators would have to choose between a public school applicant and a private or homeschool applicant. If two such applicants both were a good fit for GTECHS, administrators could send both appli-cations to the lottery for random selection.

She said because there are so few private and homeschool applicants, it’s more likely for them to get in than for all the public school applicants to get in.

But Spears argued that any private school student accepted to the program is still taking a slot for a public school student.

“Under the MOU, it should have been 100 percent (of private school students) rejected because they shouldn’t have been eligible to ap-ply at all,” he said.

District reactionsSpears argued the

original MOU outlining the program does not allow for private school students to apply.

He said he’s received multiple calls from par-ents arguing that be-cause parents who send their children to private schools still pay taxes that fund public schools, their children should have the same opportu-nity as public school stu-

dents to attend GTECHS.But Spears said that’s

not what the MOU says and that the board can-not violate the MOU.

“(Parents say,) ‘Well, it ’s all tax money,’” Spears said. “But that’s not how it was supposed to be applied.”

The MOU does not specifically address pri-vate or homeschool stu-dents.

SOCSD Superinten-dent Eddie Peasant de-clined to comment when reached by The Dispatch. However, at the meeting where SOCSD’s board voted to end the part-nership with GTECHS, he raised concerns that GTECHS administrators were using public money to fund a “private-type setting.”

Not everyone agrees with Peasant and Spears. Rodriguez Broadnax, state transformation in-terim superintendent for NCSD, which is under state conservatorship, said he plans to continue working with GTECHS and that, at least in Nox-ubee County, he hasn’t seen a problem with pri-vate school students at-tending.

“I think EMCC is do-ing a wonderful job with GTECHS,” he said.

WPCSD Superinten-dent Burnell McDonald did not return calls from The Dispatch by press time.

Allison said he does

not know exactly how his district’s relation-ship with GTECHS will pan out, given CMSD and SOCSD’s departure from the agreement, and that the remaining su-perintendents will have to work out a new agree-ment with GTECHS and EMCC administrators.

“We all got to get to-gether again and figure out at least what the program’s going to look like,” he said.

Broadnax said in par-ticular that he hopes CMSD and SOCSD’s departure from the pro-grams does not increase the $130,000 costs for other districts.

Allison added “at the very least” he wants Lowndes County stu-dents currently attend-ing GTECHS to be able to finish their high school careers there —

an opinion Savely shares. Initially, the board

votes at CMSD and SOCSD indicated all their GTECHS students would return to their home districts but Labat said would be left up to Allison, since students at GTECHS become LCSD students once they reach 10th grade.

“I’m hoping we can work out a way for (Co-lumbus and Starkville) students who are already enrolled in the early college to stay because they have taken a risk to enroll in a school that was brand new and out of their comfort zone, and we want to make sure that we honor the prom-ises that we made to them when they enrolled with us,” Savely said.

Dispatch reporter Tess Vrbin contributed to this report.

GTECHS application numbers

Middle School

Number of applications

Number accepted

and chose to attend

Number accepted

and declined invitation to

attend

Number not accepted

Columbus 33 28 2 3

Caledonia 38 29 2 7

New Hope 17 12 5 0

West Lowndes 9 5 1 3

BF Liddell 38 26 0 12

Armstrong 23 22 1 0

Fifth Street/West Point 38 34 0 4

Annunciation 6 4 0 2

Columbus Christian 1 1 0 0

Starkville Christian 1 1 0 0

Central Academy 1 0 0 1

Hebron Christian 3 3 0 0

Oak Hill 1 1 0 0

Starkville Academy 1 1 0 0

Homeschool 15 13 1 1

Total 225 180 12 33

4A TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2020

OpinionPETER BIRNEY IMES Editor/PublisherBIRNEY IMES III Editor/Publisher 1998-2018BIRNEY IMES JR. Editor/Publisher 1947-2003BIRNEY IMES SR. Editor/Publisher 1922-1947

ZACK PLAIR, Managing EditorBETH PROFFITT Advertising DirectorMICHAEL FLOYD Circulation/Production ManagerMARY ANN HARDY ControllerDispatch

the

OUR VIEW

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Voice of the peopleFeels letter-writer’s perspectives are driven by race

The last few days I’ve patiently waited for Kerry Blalock’s letter to the editor criticizing the Lowndes County Board of Supervisor’s majority decision to hire Jay Fisher as county adminis-trator without advertising the position or considering other applicants. Surely, this would elicit one of his vicious tirades against local corruption and cronyism. As much as he accuses the Mayor and Jabari Edwards of having a corrupt relationship, he would obvious-ly have a lot to say about the friendship between Supervisor Trip Hairston and the new county administrator.

Personally, I, of course, don’t know

if Hairston and Fisher are friends. But that doesn’t matter to Kerry Blalock. He rarely has evidence for his accusations. It’s all conspiracy and conjecture, such as the city purchased LED lights just so the mayor could have the brightest one in front of his house or constantly implying that the mayor and J5 have a pay for play relationship.

He loves to mention what certain city leaders owe in taxes but I don’t recall him ever criticizing the President for refusing to release his taxes or the many times his businesses filed for bankruptcy. I wonder why not? May-be it’s because he sees the world as different racial groups. For example, in one of his letters he claimed District Attorney Scott Colom and State Repre-

sentative Kabir Karriem want to “bring their folks back home” because each supported addressing the prison crisis. In this remarkably racist statement, Mr. Blalock not only assumes all people in prison are black but accuses Mr. Colom and Mr. Karriem of wanting to help them simply because they are black. That tells us a lot more about how Mr. Blalock sees the world than it does Mr. Colom or Mr. Karriem.

But the rest of us (including The Dis-patch) should remember the dangers of Mr. Blalock’s thinking. Our country enslaved blacks for hundreds of years based on the belief Africans were in a different group as Americans. Fifty years ago, in the lifetime of this paper, racism lynched more blacks in Missis-

sippi than any other state. It’s prevented blacks from voting, from attending the same schools as white or from even drinking from the same faucet. This is why Mr. Blalock’s thinking must be called out. The NAACP has no objec-tion to scrutiny of our city leaders. But NAACP, the paper, and the community can’t ignore the obvious motives behind Mr. Blalock’s letters or the fact that he is not a journalist, yet he is given a plat-form to spew hatred at a certain sector or people. Those motives are danger-ous. They’ve done enough damage to us all. Let’s continue to rid ourselves of them.

Lavonne HarrisPresident, NAACP, Lowndes

County Branch

Restrictions are not unprecedented in times of crisisWhen the Starkville Board of Aldermen

announced a change in its COVD-19 reg-ulations to accommodate the opening of

most retail stores in the city during a special call meeting Monday, some citizens began howling in protest, a predictable, if unfortunate, response.

The primary condition attached to retail shop-ping stipulated that all customers and employees must wear protecting mouth and nose covering, a measure health experts say will help prevent spread of the virus.

Those who defy the ordinance will face a $1,000 fine.

For most citizens, the requirement is reason-able, despite relatively small, passionate protests have at state capitols around the country, includ-ing Mississippi, The protesters are loud. They are visible. Yet they represent only a small percentage of Americans.

Support for shelter-in-place and other precau-tions have support across political party lines. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s polling, 61 percent of Republicans agree that these measures are appropriate, Among Democrats, the support is 94 percent and among Independents, it’s 84 percent.

In our politically polarized nation, you’ll seldom find anything that has that kind of broad agree-ment.

For the small minority who protest this mea-sures, it means ignoring the real threat posed by the virus — almost a million cases and almost as many deaths (56,259) in two months as in the entirety of the 10-year Vietnam War.

That seems to mean little to the protesters, though. They see these restrictions as an attack on the individual liberties enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

That’s a fundamental misunderstanding of those rights. The truth is, our nation has suspend-ed certain rights during periods of national crisis almost from the start. The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently ruled that the state does have the right under the Constitution to suspend certain rights provided A, they do not target a specific group, B, they are temporary and C, they serve a compelling state interest.

The current restrictions check every box.Most people understand this and are willing

to forfeit certain rights for the common good in times of emergency.

It’s part of being a good citizen.In the case of Starkville’s new rules, it’s very

likely that the city will show great restraint in enforcement. The goal isn’t the slap people with a fine as much as it is to remind citizens of the rule.

At a recent “Open the Economy” protest in North Carolina, a photo of an SUV bore the mes-sage on its rear window: “Your health is not more important than my liberties.”

That is a summation of the attitude not only in North Carolina, but in parts of Starkville, too, apparently.

STATE OF THE NATION

Why people will leave — and stay — in the big citiesThe coronavirus

has rearranged American life.

Mask wearing and so-cial distancing is still required in the stores, gyms and restaurants now open, or set to be, across the nation.

But what about the big, crowded cities? New Orleans, Chica-go, San Francisco and, of course, New York have become the virus hotspots mainly because they put people in close quarters with other breath-ing people. That’s how infection spreads.

In hard-hit New York City, residents of means grabbed their kids and left for second homes or moved in with family outside town. Though stay-at-home orders have done a remarkable job of bringing down the city’s terrible numbers, real estate ex-perts think some of these urban refugees will not come back.

And they’re probably right. That’s because for many, the vi-rus was not the one thing pulling them away. It was the last straw.

The sky-high housing costs were already propelling many New Yorkers to consider the alternatives. The city had been losing population for the three years B.C. (before coronavirus). Now that New York has closed playgrounds and restaurants, families find themselves with no slides for the kids and no bars for

the adults.Meanwhile, grown-

ups working from their bedrooms have learned to appreciate the home comforts more. And with that they may want more of a home.

Why not live where there’s more space at less cost and restau-rants and basic cultur-al amenities are still

offered? That somewhere could be the suburbs or smaller cities away from the coasts, places like Columbus, Pittsburgh or Omaha.

But here’s the “on the other hand.” There are people who thrive on urban density. They love the electricity, being part of a civic culture high on drama. Throughout the coronavirus crisis, New Yorkers have joined together to broadcast love for the medical workers risking their lives in the intensive care units. Evenings at 7, they emerge on fire escapes and balconies, or lean out of windows, to cheer for the hospital staffs.

Many a New Yorker who lived through Sept. 11 was moved at the sight of firefighter heroes cheering on the medical heroes. When volunteers from other parts of the country started leav-ing the hospitals to head home, they were surrounded by lines of applauding locals. This is commu-nity at an intense level.

There’s also the question of

where you want to live in a world still stalked by COVID-19 and vi-ruses to come. If infected, would you rather be in a rural county without a single ICU bed — or in a place with war-hardened hospi-tals now expert in the nature of the beast? (And don’t think the virus isn’t everywhere.)

Frankly, if a million people were to leave New York, there’d be over 7 million left. That’s still a lot of people. Just saying.

There are no wrong answers here. Families who don’t have to be a subway ride from the opera and would like a backyard with a barbecue might make a sage decision in moving to a so-called “livable” city or town. Tulsa, Oklahoma, is offering $10,000 to remote workers who move there, and it’s apparently getting takers.

But those who don’t care to drive, have jobs requiring in-per-son collaboration and want high culture on a Wednesday night may choose to live in the big city. Everyone has a vote.

The thing to bear in mind is that daily life will not be the same for quite some time — and not just in the city. Whether in a crowded urban bodega or a hair salon on a strip outside town, we will be at risk for coronavirus infection if we don’t do what we should.

Froma Harrop, a syndicated columnist, writes for the Provi-dence (Rhode Island) Journal. Her e-mail address is fharrop@gmail.com.

Our View: Local EditorialsLocal editorials appearing in this space represent the opinion of the newspaper’s editorial board: Peter Imes, editor and publisher; Zack Plair, managing editor; Slim Smith and senior newsroom staff. To inquire about a meeting with the board, please contact Peter Imes at 662-328-2424, or e-mail voice@cdispatch.com.

Voice of the PeopleWe encourage you to share your opinion with readers of The Dispatch.Submit your letter to The Dispatch by:E-mail: voice@cdispatch.comMail: P.O. Box 511, Columbus, MS 39703In person: 516 Main St., Columbus, or 101 S. Lafayette St., No. 16, Starkville.All letters must be signed by the author and must in-clude town of residence and a telephone number for ver-ification purposes. Letters should be no more than 500 words, and guest columns should be 500-700 words. We reserve the right to edit submitted information.

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PRODUCTIONSteve BoganWilliam HudsonJamie MorrisonAnne MurphyTina PerrySydney White

THE STAFF OF THE DISPATCH

Froma Harrop

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2020 5A

Deborah WilliamsMemorial Service:Held At A Later DateCollege St. Location

memorialgunterpeel.com

AREA OBITUARIESCOMMERCIAL DISPATCH OBITUARY POLICYObituaries with basic informa-tion including visitation and service times, are provided free of charge. Extended obituaries with a photograph, detailed biographical informa-tion and other details families may wish to include, are avail-able for a fee. Obituaries must be submitted through funeral homes unless the deceased’s body has been donated to science. If the deceased’s body was donated to science, the family must provide official proof of death. Please submit all obituaries on the form pro-vided by The Commercial Dis-patch. Free notices must be submitted to the newspaper no later than 3 p.m. the day prior for publication Tuesday through Friday; no later than 4 p.m. Saturday for the Sunday edition; and no later than 7:30 a.m. for the Monday edition. Incomplete notices must be re-ceived no later than 7:30 a.m. for the Monday through Friday editions. Paid notices must be finalized by 3 p.m. for inclusion the next day Monday through Thursday; and on Friday by 3 p.m. for Sunday and Monday

publication. For more informa-tion, call 662-328-2471.

Waymon StokesREFORM, Ala. —

Waymon Edd Stokes, 75, died April 25, 2020, at his residence.

A private family graveside service will be held at 11 a.m., at Macedonia Cemetery, in Millport, with Scott Stokes officiating. Dowdle Funeral Home of Millport is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Stokes was born to the late William “Bill” Stokes and Dora Stokes. He was for-merly employed with Nature’s Earth Pellets.

In addition to his par-ents, he was preceded in death by his brother, Levert Stokes; and sister, Lavoy Smith.

He is survived by his wife, Mildred Stokes; daughter,

Melissa Thompson; sons, Chris Stokes, Patrick L. Stokes and Donnie Murphy; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Sallie WebbNOXUBEE — Sallie

Mae Webb, 81, died April 25, 2020.

Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Carter’s Funeral Services of Macon.

Jimmy RedABERDEEN — Jim-

my Ray Red, 79, died April 27, 2020, at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.

A graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. today at Friendship Cemetery, with Rick Burton officiating. Tisdale-Lann Memo-rial Funeral Home of Aberdeen is in charge

of arrangements.Mr. Red was born

Aug. 29, 1940, in Arkabutla, to the late Herbert Ray Red and Mary Louise Davis Red. He was formerly employed with St. Joe Paper Company, Cul-lum Brothers, and Uni-man. He was a member of Friendship Baptist Church in Aberdeen.

In addition to his parents, he was pre-ceded in death by his wife, Joan Little Red; sister, Loretta Red; brother, Aubrey Red; and one grandchild.

He is survived by his daughter, Ginger Berford of Milling-ton, Tennessee; sons,

Lonnie Red of Aber-deen and Roy Gentry of Wren; sister, Martha Sykes of Aberdeen; brothers, Gene Red of Aberdeen, Leon Red of Okolona, and Thomas Red of Hamilton; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchil-dren.

BY RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — As states gear up to reopen, a poll finds a potential ob-stacle to controlling the coronavirus: nearly 1 in 10 adults say cost would keep them from seeking help if they thought they were in-fected.

The Gallup-West Health Healthcare Costs Survey out Tuesday finds that 9 percent of those age 18 and over would avoid seek-ing treatment because of concerns about the cost of care, even if they thought they were infected with the coronavirus.

A significantly higher number, 14 percent, would avoid seeking treatment because of pocketbook worries if they had fever and a dry cough, two wide-ly publicized symptoms of COVID-19.

Although Congress and President Donald Trump have made coronavirus testing free to patients, and some insurers are waiving copays and deductibles for treatment within their net-works, the survey suggests

such messages may not be getting to the public.

The survey delivers “important and distress-ing information,” said John Auerbach, head of the non-partisan Trust for Amer-ica’s Health. “I hope that policy makers take note.”

With so many reluc-tant to seek care, “it could pose problems in testing people,” Auerbach added. “Without widespread test-ing, it will be problematic to lift the restrictions.” Au-erbach’s group works with government at all levels to strengthen public health, and was not involved with the poll.

Experts say that to succeed, the nation’s re-opening has to be based on three pillars: testing, tracing those who came in contact with infected peo-ple and treatment for those who become ill.

If people who may be sick are reluctant to come forward, that could create a blind spot for governors and public health officials trying to calibrate reopen-ing plans to quickly con-tain potential virus flare-ups.

The survey found that members of minority groups, younger people, those with less than a col-lege degree and people making less than $40,000 a year were more likely to say they would avoid treatment for economic reasons.

Fourteen percent of nonwhite poll respondents said they would avoid treatment even if they sus-

pected they had the coro-navirus, compared with 6 percent of whites citing costs.

Poll: Cost makes nearly 1 in 10 leery of seeking COVID care

Harry Lee Rodgers Jr.Columbus, MS — Mr. Harry Lee Rodgers

Jr., 74, passed away, on April 24, 2020, at his residence, in Columbus.

Harry was born on April 14, 1946, in West Point, the son of the late Harry Lee Sr. and Ivah Coburn Rodgers. He was a Veteran of the United States Navy, where he received the National Defense Service Medal. He was a proud graduate of Mississippi State University. He loved being outdoors and enjoyed, in his own words, all of God’s critters. He loved his family, extended family, and his church family, at East End Baptist Church, in Columbus. He was a loving husband and married his high school sweetheart, Martha Manning Rodgers, on July 19, 1966, in Columbus.

Due to current health concerns, a private family graveside service will be held on Tuesday, April 28, 2020, from Greenwood Cemetery, in West Point, with Reverend Byron Benson officiating. A Memorial Service to celebrate his life will be scheduled at a later date. Calvert Funeral Home of West Point is honored to be entrusted with the arrangements.

Survivors include his wife, Martha Manning Rodgers of Columbus: one brother, Jeffrey G. Rodgers of West Point; and two nieces, Whitney Thompson and Michelle Sesser.

Honorary Pallbearers will be his nephews, Riley Manning, Charles Manning, Drew Manning, Will Staggers and Michael Thompson.

Memorials may be made to East End Baptist Church, P.O. Box 8480, Columbus, MS 39705 or to Columbus Lowndes Humane Society, 50 Airline Road, Columbus, MS 39702.

Friends may leave an online condolence at www.calvertfuneralhome.com.

Paid Obituary - Calvert Funeral Home

Compliments ofLowndes Funeral Home

www.lowndesfuneralhome.net

Elizabeth Ann GreenElizabeth Ann Green, 86, of

Columbus, MS, passed away Friday, April 24, 2020, at The Arrington Assistive Living, Co-lumbus, MS.

A family graveside ser-vice was held Monday, April 27, 2020, at Rowan Cemetery, Steens, MS, with Bro. Phillip Morris officiating, and Lown-des Funeral Home directing. Friends may view service online at www.lown-desfuneralhome.net the next day.

Mrs. Green was born August 5, 1933, to the late Audley Emmett and Lorene Wilson Swanzy, in Lowndes County, MS. She retired in 1956 from South Central Bell as a phone operator. She was a member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Columbus, MS, loved playing bingo and caring for others.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Green was preceded in death by her husband, Chauncey Green; and sister, Mary Linn.

Mrs. Green is survived by her daughter, Lore Ann (Truman) Pearson, Sharpsburg, KY; son, Larry (Gale) Green, Kathaleen, GA; grandchil-dren, Nicole Reasner, Trevor Green, Chance Green, Shelby Pearson, Ryan Pearson, Ashley Watford, Shane Hawk and Adam Hawk; and 13 great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

‘Without widespread testing, it will be problematic to lift the restrictions’

John Auerbach, head of the nonpartisan Trust

for America’s Health

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com6A TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2020

Health tips from Dr. Oz and Dr. RoizenHealth HEALTH TIP

n Certain vegetable oils should be avoided: Sunflower, soybean, and corn oil contain large amounts of omega-6 fatty acids. Studies suggest that a high intake of omega-6 fatty acids — relative to omega-3 — increases low-grade inflammation in your body.

Source: www.healthline.com

Why solid food too soon is risky for your child’s health

Hooded seal mothers make 22 liters of breastmilk a day — and their thirsty pups are weaned in just four days, as they super-grow from 55 to 110 pounds. A black bear mom feeds her cubs for two years, but she sleeps through the first three months of breastfeeding.

These cases make human breast-feeding seem pretty middle-of-the-road: It’s recommended moms do it exclusively for six months; then add solid food while continuing to breastfeed for 12 months or longer.

Unfortunately, according to the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention, only 47 percent of babies are exclusively breastfeeding at 3 months, and about 25 percent are exclusively breastfeeding at 6 months.

That’s risky for your child’s health. Researchers at Johns Hop-kins Bloomberg School of Public Health have discovered that when babies are given solid foods at or before 3 months of age it changes the mix of bacteria in their gut bi-ome. That throws off metabolic and immune functions and increases the child’s risk of obesity, eczema, asth-ma and allergies to specific foods, pollen and more.

So, if possible, breastfeed exclu-sively for six months — or supple-

ment with formula — only introduc-ing solid food after that. Don’t use work as an excuse. Most employers MUST provide a safe, clean area for you to pump breastmilk, which can be placed in an insulated cooler with ice packs for up to 24 hours. It can be refrigerated at home for four days. Not going to use it in four days? Freeze it in 2- to 4-ounce sin-gle-serve containers. After thawing, don’t microwave or refreeze.

Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleve-land Clinic. To live your healthiest, tune into “The Dr. Oz Show” or visit www.sharecare.com.

KeenumContinued from Page 1A

“the most unique com-mencement exercise in the 142-year history of our university,” Keenum said. It will be livestreamed on the MSU website and broadcast live by WCBI.

The federal Corona-virus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) alloted more than $14 billion for higher education institu-tions, and MSU’s share is $17.8 million, Keenum said. The university has already received half, or $8.9 million, and it has to go directly to students, he said.

“We’re still working with the U.S. Department of Education, getting more specific guidelines on how we can award those grants to address student needs who have been impacted by this vi-rus as far as their finances (go),” Keenum said.

The other $8.9 million will be used to cover the university’s costs related to the pandemic, he said.

“Whatever they pro-vide us, it won’t be enough, but we’re going to be in as good of a position as any other college or university in the state financially to

meet this challenge,” he said.

MSU announced in March that all summer classes will be taught on-line. More courses will be offered than usual and the prices of those courses have been lowered in what Keenum called the “Sum-mer Advantage.”

“Many students have summer jobs or intern-ships or co-ops, but for many of our students, those opportunities are not going to be there,” Keenum said. “So take advantage of this Summer Advantage to continue your education and do it in an affordable manner, and take courses that you would normally not be able to take because we’re go-ing to have a much broad-er offering.”

MSU’s emergency op-erating guidelines are in place until May 11: all em-ployees must stay at home until they have coordinat-ed their return with their supervisor, and those who can work remotely should do so, according to a Mon-day press release from the MSU Office of Public Affairs. Employees who must work on campus are

limited to gatherings of 10 people or fewer and “are strongly encouraged to use personal protective equipment,” the release states.

Whether students can come back to campus in the fall is still to be deter-mined, but MSU has been able to contribute resourc-es to help frontline health care workers fight the pan-demic in the meantime, Keenum said.

A team with MSU’s Paul B. Jacob High Voltage Laboratory worked with Taylor Machine Works in Louisville to convert more than 550 battery-powered ventilators to automatic current power, meaning they can be plugged into a wall, and sent them to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson earlier this month.

Shortly afterward, the College of Veterinary Medicine provided two ventilators to OCH Re-gional Medical Center. Keenum said he does not know if OCH has used the ventilators but is “very proud” that MSU could provide them.

Faculty, staff and stu-dents have used 3-D print-

ers to make face masks for healthcare providers, primarily in Meridian and Lauderdale County, which “have been hit very hard” and asked MSU for re-sources, Keenum said.

He said he is confident that MSU will bounce back from the pandemic while continuing to help those in need however it can.

“Our state is going to get past this at some point, and I can promise you that Mississippi is going to need a strong, vibrant Mississippi State to help our state move forward,” Keenum said. “I’m com-mitted to doing every-thing in my ability to make sure that Mississippi State continues to be strong and vibrant and important, to meet our needs for our state’s future.”

Food pantriesContinued from Page 1A

who’ve had to drop out,” Sparkman said. “The volunteers they use are older peo-ple, and they were just too vulnerable to continue.”

To compensate, other churches had added additional days, Sparkman said.

“Most weeks, we serve at last three or four days per week and a lot of weeks we serve every day, Monday through Fri-day,” she said.

While the number of meals has gone down, the expense associated with the meals has not, she said.

“I know at St. Paul’s, which is the group I serve with, when we were serv-ing hot meals it cost us $100, maybe $200 to serve meals,” Sparkman said. “Now that we’ve gone to pre-packaged meals, I think the last time it was our turn, we spent more than $400.”

In Starkville, The United Way of North Central Mississippi has been sponsoring food drives to help supply the 15 food pantries it supports.

Joe Schmidt, director of the St. Jo-seph Catholic Church food pantry, said his group will hold its first distribution since February on Saturday.

“We didn’t distribute (in April) be-cause of the (state) shelter in place regu-lations,” Schmidt said. “Right now, we’re stocked pretty well, thanks to the work of the United Way. We’ll have 288 bags of

food ready to go on Saturday. We’ll give them out until people stop coming in or we run out of food.”

St. Joseph distributes food one Satur-day per month. Smith said a typical dis-tribution will provide food for 150 to 180 families.

“We’re prepared to do more than that since we missed last month,” he said.

The threat of COVID-19 has led to a change of strategy at Columbus Com-munity Outreach, which helps provide assistance for low-income and homeless people, said director Glenda Richardson.

“Before this, our approach with home-less people who came to us for help was focused on getting them a hotel room for a night or two until they could find more permanent residences,” Richard-son said. “Now, we’re working more with Rapid Rehousing, a national group, that finds long-term housing. This is not new: It’s something we’ve done before, but given the situation, it’s something we’re doing a lot more of now.

“The homeless are more vulnerable because they can’t shelter in place,” she added.

Richardson said her office has put six people through the program in April.

“Before this, we probably would do that many people in two or three months,” she said.

ArrestsContinued from Page 1A

ville Street and Industrial Park Road, according to a Starkville Police Depart-ment press release. The two men and a third indi-vidual, a 16-year-old, left the car and tried to flee on foot when they reached the Emerson Family School.

Police caught Simon and Smedley immediate-ly and caught the juvenile after searching the area. SPD Public Information Officer Brandon Lovelady

said she is from Jackson and that Simon is charged with kidnapping her.

In addition to the shel-ter in place violation and kidnapping charges, Si-

mon was charged with fel-ony fleeing because he did not stop when police sig-naled, and possession of a weapon by a felon, accord-ing to the press release.

Smedley was charged with simple assault of a police officer in addition to the shelter in place vio-lation.

Both are being held in the Oktibbeha County Jail, and bond has not been set as of press time.

Simon Smedley

BY THEO DEROSAtderosa@cdispatch.com

Stephanie Mock has plenty of tips for sit-ting on a wall for 4 m i n u t e s and 28 seconds , but one of them stands out above the rest.

“Just remember you’re doing this for a great cause,” Mississip-pi State’s head Olympic sports strength and con-ditioning coach said. “I think that’s extremely important. It will be dif-

ficult, but you can make it happen.”

It’s Friday, and Mock is telling me about the Mississippi State soft-ball team’s Wall Sit Challenge, created af-ter freshman Alex Wil-cox’s legendary 4-min-ute, 28-second wall sit right after treatment for ovarian cancer. Wilcox died in June 2018, and the Bulldogs created the challenge that fall to honor her memory and spread awareness of the disease. On Tues-day — April 28, or 4/28, it’s back: The team is challenging athletic pro-grams nationwide to film

SECTION

BSPORTS LINE662-241-5000Sports

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DeRosa

ANALYSIS

MISSISSIPPI STATE PRODUCES NFL TALENT, BUT IT HASN’T SHOWN IN RECORD BOOKS

Michael Clevenger/USA TODAY SportsFormer Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead talks to his players during the first quarter against Louisville in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. Moorhead produced plenty of NFL players in his tenure, but didn’t rack up enough wins.

BY BEN PORTNOYbportnoy@cdispatch.com

STARKVILLE — For a program that had just 16 players selected in the NFL Draft between 2000 and 2010, Mississippi State’s recent production of professional talent is profound.

Since Dan Mullen took over the program in 2009, 36 former Bulldogs have been selected to play at the next level — including 12 first and second round draftees.

But for all the NFL tal-ent MSU has churned out over the past few years, the Bulldogs haven’t reached the heights fans and administrators have hoped.

Over the past three years, 14 former Bulldogs

have been selected in the NFL Draft — includ-ing three first rounders in 2019. The program is also one of just six teams in the country in the past two drafts to have at least seven players selected in the first three rounds. De-spite that, MSU compiled a meager 23-16 record and a 1-2 mark in bowl games during that span.

By comparison, the other five schools to record seven or more players in the first three rounds over the past two years were Alabama, LSU, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma — a group that combined for an 119-13 record and each of the past two national champi-onships.

So why has MSU so

consistently struggled to piece together win-ning seasons with ample professional talent in its arsenal? The answer is complex.

For one, the coach-ing change from Mullen to the now-departed Joe Moorhead is a major com-ponent of the Bulldogs’ perpetual underachieving over the past three sea-sons.

After spending nine years in Starkville, Mul-len parlayed his extended stay at MSU into the head coaching job at Florida where he notched 10-win seasons in each of his first two years in Gainesville.

As for Moorhead, he came to MSU lecturing on ring sizes at his first Southeastern Conference

Media Days after spend-ing two years guiding a record-breaking Penn State offense. But instead of championships, his two years overseeing the Bulldogs were met with underperforming records and a decade’s worth of off the field controversy.

An academic miscon-duct scandal in which a tutor completed course-work for 10 football play-ers, among others, left those involved suspended for eight games last sea-son — including starting linebacker Willie Gay Jr. and defensive tackle Lee Autry. A reported fight between Gay and fresh-man quarterback Garrett Shrader also left the latter with a broken nose and unable to play in MSU’s

lowly effort against Lou-isville in the Music City Bowl, further muddying Moorhead’s future in Starkville.

“I coached long enough myself to know wins and losses matter -- Joe did win 14 games,” MSU Ath-letic Director John Cohen said of why he fired Moor-head back in January. “In this case, it goes a little bit beyond just wins and losses. Although, I want to state for sure that wins and losses matter. There were some other issues at stake here that we had to consider.”

And while coaching is a major component of MSU’s failure to rack up wins with its NFL tal-ent, strength of schedule helps to paint a broader

picture of where the Bull-dogs stack up against teams that churn out a similar number of profes-sional players.

Since 2019, both MSU and Oklahoma have had seven players selected in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft. Over that same span, OU’s strength of schedule has never dipped below 14, and av-eraged out to No. 11 na-tionally as the Sooners compiled a 24-4 record according to TeamRank-ings.com.

In MSU’s case, it aver-aged a strength of sched-ule of 14.5, aided massive-ly by its No. 6 ranking in 2019, while finishing a meager 14-12 in that time.

If not Oklahoma, take

Mississippi State softball honors Alex Wilcox with Wall Sit ChallengeBY THEO DEROSAtderosa@cdispatch.com

Alex Wilcox wasn’t coming off the wall.

As trainer Marissa Ro-bles and director of soft-ball operations Jessica Cooley approached the Mississippi State fresh-man, ready to pull her out of her wall sit exercise against the fence at Nusz Park.

“‘Why don’t you come off the wall?’” they asked Wilcox. “‘Why don’t you take a break?’”

Wilcox, just back from her chemotherapy treat-ment from ovarian can-cer, turned and gave her coaches a look that said, “‘Don’t you dare. I’m gon-na finish this.’”

She did just that, wrapping up a 4-min-

Courtesy of Mississippi State AthleticsA bulldog statue with Alex Wilcox’s No. 8 — in the shape of a teal ribbon — sits in Mississippi State’s weight room. “I wanted to make sure that she was remembered in a facility such as mine,” head Olympic sports strength and conditioning coach Stephanie Mock said of Wilcox.

DeRosa: I tried MSU’s Wall Sit Challenge in honor of Alex Wilcox. Here’s how it went.

COMMENTARY

See DEROSA, 2BSee WILCOX, 2B

See MSU, 2B

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com2B TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2020

themselves doing a wall sit for 4 minutes, 28 seconds in Wilcox’s honor and pub-lishing it with the hashtag #428WallSitChallenge.

Mock, who joined Mis-sissippi State in July 2018, says that’s easy — for her, anyway.

“I could go forever, let’s be honest,” she said.

How about for me?“It will be difficult,”

Mock told me. “I do prom-ise you that.”

That’s right, I’m going to try this challenge — though I am absolutely not going to film it — for the purposes of this column. To do that, I asked Mock for some tips to survive 268 seconds on the wall.

Getting startedFind a flat-surface wall

with nothing sticking out of it. Place your feet shoul-der-width apart and make sure they’re flat on the ground. Slide down to a 90-degree angle at the hip and at the knee, like you’re sitting in a chair. Make sure your head, shoulders and lower back are flat against the wall — the lat-ter allows you to keep your pelvis tilted forward and keep your core engaged, Mock said.

Just breatheOne key to surviving

the wall sit is deceptively simple.

“Make sure throughout this extremely long wall sit that you are breathing,” Mock said. “Do not hold your breath the whole time — you will pass out.”

That’s good enough for me.

Sing along?Four minutes and 28

seconds is a long time, so while you’re breathing, Mock recommends sing-ing a song to pass the time and distract yourself.

According to teammate

Carter Spexarth, Wilcox’s favorite songs included Mississippi Girl by Faith Hill, Meant to Be by Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Geor-gia Line and Neon by Chris Young. Pretty much any country music would do.

I’m thinking I’ll go with R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It.” I don’t expect to feel fine.

How to make it easierBy the end of the Bull-

dogs’ original Wall Sit Challenge video in Oc-tober 2018, now-head coach Samantha Ricketts couldn’t keep her body at the 90-degree angle Mock described as optimal — and she wasn’t the only one.

Mock acknowledged sliding up a bit on the wall, ending up a little above 90 degrees, will take pres-sure off your lower leg as the wall sit continues.

Additionally, Mock said, starting slow and building up to the full time will help if you’re out of shape — like I am.

But managing to make it through can be a mental thing as much as a physi-cal thing, Mock said, so prepare your mind as much as you can before-hand.

“I think there’s a big mental capacity that goes into it, too,” Mock told me. “You will start to feel a burn, so where are you at from a mental stand-point?”

Well, I’m about to find out. Here we go.

On the wall — a sec-ond-by-second account

0:01: Four minutes, 28 seconds? How hard could that be?

0:12: OK, yeah, this is hard.

0:28: For the first time, I remember to breathe.

0:50: I need to exer-cise more.

0:57: Still trying to breathe. Realizing this will be a lot harder than I think.

1:24: Had to straighten up a lot. A lot.

1:45: Afraid of inflict-ing long-term damage to my legs.

2:02: Straightened up again.

2:17: Almost fell down.2:38: Grabbed nearby

doorknob for help; really feeling the burn

3:05: Actually fell down.

3:44: Finding it hard to stand back up after nearly falling over.

4:15: How did Alex Wilcox and her teammates do this?

4:18: Stood up briefly for the last time

4:28: Freedom!5:28: Still breathing

a little hard; legs a little sore.

8:10: Wobbled into kitchen for water.

8:55: Thighs appear to be cramping. I didn’t know that could even happen.

11:34: We’re good … for now. I’m going to the Y as soon as it reopens.

RetrospectiveI’m pretty sure I cheat-

ed a couple times. But faced with a choice be-tween letting my legs give out and jettison me onto the floor or briefly stand up and take the pressure off, I took the easy way out.

Really, though, doing this — if I can truly say I did it — just gave me add-ed respect for Alex Wilcox and her teammates. This isn’t easy under normal circumstances, let alone right after chemotherapy. It takes some kind of men-tal and physical strength to do that — a strength I’m not ashamed to say I do not have.

DeRosaContinued from Page 1B

ute, 28-second wall sit through the pain of che-mo and the burn in her legs that spring day in 2018. And, according to current head coach Sa-mantha Ricketts, Wilcox didn’t think anything of it.

By the time the Bull-dogs faced Ole Miss in mid-April, Wilcox was back in the hospital. She died June 25, 2018, in her hometown of Brant-ley, Alabama.

That fall, her team-mates approached Rick-etts and former head coach Vann Stuedeman, never having forgotten

the resilience Wilcox showed as she stayed there on the wall.

“All the other girls on the team understood: If someone had the mental capacity and strength to get through a wall sit as they’re going through chemo, why can’t we?” said Stephanie Mock, head Olympic sports strength and condition-ing coach at Mississippi State. “I think she really pulled the team togeth-er in that sense — that everything can be over-come.”

On Oct. 2, 2018, the Wall Sit Challenge was

born: The Bulldogs taped themselves doing a wall sit in their indoor facility for 4 minutes and 28 seconds and sent it out on social media with the hashtag #428Wall-SitChallenge, hoping other softball programs around the country would follow suit to hon-or Wilcox’s memory and spread awareness of ovarian cancer.

“Everybody remem-bers her for her story and her overall fight and drive to be out on the field and with her team,” Ricketts said of Wilcox. “I think the Wall Sit

Challenge is a specific example of time and also shows just how strong she was, physically and mentally, to go through a moment like that.”

The challenge went viral beyond Ricketts’ expectations, making its way through 230 col-lege softball teams and 42 high school, club and professional teams. The Provo, Utah, fire and rescue department even got in on it.

Two years later, the challenge and Wil-cox’s legacy persist. On Tuesday — April 28, or 4/28 — the Bulldogs

are issuing the Wall Sit Challenge to softball programs across the na-tion, asking participants to film themselves per-forming the wall sit and tag three friends to join.

“‘OK, here’s an actual challenge that Alex went through that we can all participate in togeth-er,’” Ricketts explained. “I think it ’s just a really good way to unite a lot of people and feel may-be just a little bit of what one of her struggles was.”

Wilcox’s memory won’t be forgotten soon at Mississippi State,

where a Bulldog statue sits near the wall. Below it, her number 8 — in the shape of a teal ribbon — is featured prominently. Except for basketball and football, which have their own weight rooms, Bulldogs of every sport will always see the trib-ute.

“I wanted to make sure that she was re-membered in a facility such as mine,” Mock said of Wilcox. “Every time the student-ath-letes come in the weight room, they see it, so she’s never forgotten.”

WilcoxContinued from Page 1B

Four Mississippi State softball seniors will return for 2021 seasonBY THEO DEROSAtderosa@cdispatch.com

The Mississippi State softball team saw a promising 2020 season end early due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the Bull-dogs are poised to run it back next year with many of the same key contributors.

On Monday, four of the team’s five se-niors announced that they will be return-ing for the 2021 season, using the extra season of eligibility the NCAA is set to award them.

First baseman Fa Leilua, pitcher Alys-sa Loza, pitcher/outfielder Candace Denis and outfielder Christian Quinn will all be back in 2021.

“To have them back for another year is a tremendous feeling,” head coach Saman-tha Ricketts said in a release from Mis-sissippi State athletics Monday. “They’ve each been an integral part of our program. Who they are as women and as leaders

has been such a blessing for this coach-ing staff. They are the foundation of this team.”

Leilua, who along with junior catch-er Mia Davidson formed the SEC’s best home run-hitting duo with 48 long balls in 2019, will come back for a sixth year of college. Leilua, who was hitting .384 and had a team-leading nine home runs and a slugging percentage of .791 through 28 games in 2020, sat out the 2018 season after transferring from Arizona State, but she said there was never a doubt: She was coming back.

“I have the blessing of being offered another chance to restart,” Leilua said in a Twitter post Monday morning. “Without hesitation, I decided to take that chance and take one last ride with my Dawgs.”

Loza, who followed Leilua from Tempe to Starkville, will join her on the field again next year. On Monday, Loza announced her decision to return for 2021 as well.

“Given that this season was cut short, I feel the best thing I can do to support my teammates and to repay the faith that Mississippi State softball has had in me is to give it one more year of devotion,” Loza tweeted Monday. “Softball has been a driving force in my life, and this MSU Bulldog team has become my family.”

Loza had a 1.26 ERA in 16.2 innings pitched in 2020, striking out 14 batters.

Denis was the first Bulldog to announce she was staying, tweeting that “(i)t is with utmost joy to say that I get to wear maroon and white for another year and complete a lifelong journey the right way.”

She pitched to a 2.33 ERA in three in-nings this spring and hit .295 with eight doubles and two home runs as a starting outfielder for the Bulldogs.

Quinn tweeted that before the 2020 season she was sure it would be her last, but she soon found out that wouldn’t be the case.

“To say I am blessed is an understate-ment, and getting to represent this univer-sity for another year is a privilege,” Quinn said in a tweet Monday announcing her return. “ ... Here’s to another year!”

Quinn, who started 11 of Mississippi State’s 28 games, hit .207 but got on base at a .361 clip this season.

Senior second baseman Lindsey Wil-liams is the only member of the Bulldogs’ senior class not to return, saying Monday that 2020 was her final season. Williams, who started 21 games, hit .295 with two home runs, driving in 10 runs on the sea-son.

“As disappointed as I am that my se-nior season ended this way, I know there comes a time when you just have to move on,” she tweeted Monday. “ ... Everything I experienced at Mississippi State made me into the person I am today, and I will forev-er be grateful for this opportunity.”

Clemson. The Tigers have reached the nation-al championship in four of the last five years and have become a stalwart at the top of the polls un-der coach Dabo Swinney during his tenure. But for all the maligning the At-

lantic Coast Conference receives, Clemson still hasn’t had a strength of schedule worse than No. 4 nationally since 2018.

In the nearly four months since Moorhead’s firing, former Washing-ton State coach Mike

Leach has taken the helm in Starkville. Long known for his ability to win with less, Leach has perpetu-ally outkicked his cover-age in the wins column at both Washington St. and Texas Tech — a trait Cohen lauded in his intro-

ductory press conference.“We didn’t solely hire

Mike Leach because he’s a visionary and a pioneer in the modern game of col-lege football, but indeed he is,” Cohen said on Jan. 10. “We hired Mike Leach because he’s a discipli-

narian. We hired Mike Leach because he’s a bril-liant tactician. Most of all, we hired Mike Leach because he’s a proven winner. He’s won in some places, quite frankly, that are very difficult to win.”

To date, Leach’s tenure

has yet to really begin giv-en the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, but it will be his task to take the NFL tal-ent MSU has produced in recent years and prove that the program is more than just encouraging numbers on draft night.

MSUContinued from Page 1B

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2020 3B

Comics & PuzzlesDear AbbyDILBERT

ZITS

GARFIELD

CANDORVILLE

BABY BLUES

BEETLE BAILEY

MALLARD FILLMORE

HoroscopesTODAY’S BIRTHDAY (April

28). You brighten people’s lives and they let you know, reward-ing you with special position, invites and opportunities. Your plans come to fruition a little differently than anticipated, but they’re even more satisfying. There’s a material purchase that represents years of hard work. A reunion will make you wonder how you ever were apart. Aries and Gemini adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 4, 21, 6, 39 and 49.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Your close friends have earned their place. For someone new to become dear to you at this very busy time in your life, they will

need to fulfill a specific need or want.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Charming people, delicious food, jaw-dropping information — these are all on offer for you today, though not in the typical ways you would go about experi-encing such things.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You will influence others with integrity. The best part is, you won’t come off sounding pushy in the least, because you don’t have to push at all when you’re just right.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). It is said that you can never go back because even if you do, it’s just not the same. That’s

what makes today so incredible. You’ll get as close to “back” as possible.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You’re open-minded. You don’t require perfection or familiarity in order to give something a chance. For this reason, you’ll become an early adopter of a novel solution.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). The worse time to think of the best thing to do is when you’re already doing it. Good plans make for a good life. You can always choose to follow or not follow your plan, but you can only give yourself that option if you have a plan.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You think that you’re reasoning your way into a decision, but actually you decide based on a feeling before you are even aware that there is a decision to be made. Something has to feel right before it can make sense.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). There are things you can see yourself doing and things that are so far out of character for you that you can’t even picture them. Place your imagi-nation well because your life will follow it.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You’ll have an impact on your environment. You’ll apply yourself in such a way that things will get lighter, brighter, fresher and more fun when you’re around.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You will sing the unsung. Being able to see what’s unique and interesting about people is a talent that makes life more enjoyable for all. Everyone gets a lift.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Staying on the path of least resistance means that when you do meet resistance, you just go another direction. The shift can be made without alarm or emotion. Much can happen when things move easily.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You have many options, and it would be overwhelming indeed to have to account for them all. Narrow it down to three, and then pick the one that’s easiest for you right now.

SOLUTION:I’m in the mood for love

FAMILY CIRCUS

DEAR ABBY: I have a problem I

can’t fix. I have been married for 54 years. For the last 20 we have slept in different bedrooms. I get no affection from my wife, and every-thing has to be her way. We no longer have anything in common except our children and grandchildren who, for the most part, come to me only when they need something.

Over the years, we have drifted apart, and there is no longer anything we enjoy doing together. I have told her many times that for my mental health we should part ways. She laughs and shrugs it off. Basi-cally, to her I am a paycheck.

She thinks we don’t have a problem. Her parents lived pret-ty much the same way. I need someone who will sit with me when we go out to dinner, hold hands in public, have a couple of similar interests, share the same bed, etc.

I have met a woman online who seems to care and who wants to be with me. I haven’t followed through, but every time I’m verbally abused, it’s pushing me more and more toward her.

Help. — UNHAPPY IN PENNSYLVANIA

DEAR UNHAP-PY: Tell your wife you are making an appointment with a licensed marriage and family therapist to discuss your marital situation. It may be the wakeup call she needs to get her to quit laughing and pay attention to the fact that you are seriously unhappy. Ask

her to go with you, but if she refuses, follow through and go without her. It may help you emotionally as you disengage from this marriage.

If you do end the marriage, recognize there will have to be a fair distribution of any assets that accumulated and be pre-pared to discuss your options with more than one lawyer. A word of caution, however: Do NOT immediately rush into a romantic relationship with someone you know only through the internet. It is crucial that you take the necessary time to detoxify and regain your balance after you exit this marriage.

DEAR ABBY: My mom passed away a year and a few months ago. My parents were married for 38 years.

Dad started a whirlwind romance with a lady about nine months after Mom’s death. Their relationship lasted three months, and they were supposed to get married. She blindsided him by breaking the engagement a month before the wedding. The breakup was be-cause she still has feelings for an ex-husband and had nothing to do with my dad.

He keeps talking to her “as a friend,” but he is miserable because he’s in love with her. Ever since the breakup, she gets nasty and criticizes him about small things. She is not even a good friend.

I want my father to be happy and find someone who will love him. But he continues to call and text this woman, even though it makes him sink deeper into depression every day. He keeps thinking she’ll take him back, but I don’t see it happening. How can I convince Daddy to cut off all contact with her? — WHAT’S BEST FOR DAD IN GEORGIA

DEAR WHAT’S BEST: I’m not sure you are the person to do that. It might be better to enlist the aid of a male relative or close friend — someone who knows what has been going on. Your father might be more receptive to that message if he hears it from a contemporary. If not, he may have to learn his lesson the hard way

Dear Abby

Tech companies, like college athletes, eager to cash inTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Imagine a major-col-lege quarterback with a sizable social media fol-lowing who posts enter-taining and informative updates about his life on and off the field.

Now imagine a restau-rant hiring him as its pitchman and paying him $500 or $1,000 each time he posts content with its messaging.

That scenario could become reality as soon as 2021 as the NCAA figures out the details of how college athletes can be compensated for the use of their name, image or likeness.

Blake Lawrence crunched the numbers on

earning potential for that imaginary quarterback based on the QB having 40,000 followers on Twit-ter and 50,000 on Insta-gram. The co-founder and CEO of athlete market-ing platform Opendorse based his projection on a popular college athlete having a market value approximate to that of a retired, well-known pro athlete; active pros com-mand higher fees.

Lawrence said it would be reasonable to assume the quarterback would sign separate deals with 10 local businesses and post a total of 60 to 120 sponsored content mes-sages a year on one of his social media accounts.

“So quickly it’s $60,000

to $120,000 a year,” Law-rence said. “You can see how the math adds up pretty quick in terms of opportunities for high level student-athletes to earn a significant sum of money from activating their social and digital media presence on behalf of sponsors in the local community.”

While autograph sign-ing and public appearanc-es have been traditional ways for professional ath-letes to make extra mon-ey, most opportunities now are tied to social me-dia. The bridge between athlete and sponsor will likely be content delivery platforms — a cottage industry of sorts eager to link the two and cash

in. And having those plat-form relationships in place will almost surely be a re-cruiting tool for schools.

“There’s going to be a whole industry springing up around NIL,” or name, image and likeness, Law-rence said. “There is an ecosystem forming, and the incumbents are jos-tling and developing dif-ferent types of tools and technology, and it’s going to be wild.”

Opendorse and IN-FLCR (pronounced “In-fluencer”) will be major players to start, and an-other company, Greenfly, plans to establish more of a presence in the college market.

All three have con-tracts with pro teams and

leagues as well as college athletic departments. They store and manage content — game photos and videos, for exam-ple — that athletes can share on their personal social media accounts. The photos and videos are provided by the teams themselves and through agreements with media organizations.

Athletes can access the content and share it with their followers. The pros use it to promote brands and supplement their income; college ath-letes will be able to do the same once they get the green light.

“Will some athletes make less than $1,000 (per year)? Yes. Can some

athletes make more than $100,000? Yes,” INFLCR founder and CEO Jim Cavale said. “Are any millionaires going to be made off this? Very few, if any.”

Opendorse, based in Lincoln, Nebraska, has contracts with 75 colleges in addition to deals with the PGA Tour and players’ unions for the NFL and Major League Baseball, among other entities. IN-FLCR, based in Birming-ham, Alabama, has 100-plus colleges as clients as well as NBA and NFL play-ers, NASCAR drivers and other pro athletes. Green-fly, based in Santa Moni-ca, California, has worked mostly with professional sports, notably baseball.

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com4B TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2020

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2020 5B

If you’re 65 or older, you are at higher risk of getting very sick from the coronavirus. You must take extra care of yourself.

Stay home if you can.

Wash hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

Avoid touching your face.

Disinfect frequently touched objects.

Wash up after being in public spaces.

Stay about six feet away from others.

If you’re sick, stay home and away from others.

If you have symptoms of fever, dry cough and shortness of breath, call your health care provider before going to their office.

We are all at risk, and some more than others. In challenging times, the choices you make are critical. And their impact is significant. Help slow the spread of coronavirus.

Visit Coronavirus.gov for the latest tips and information from the CDC.

T O G E T H E R , W E C A N H E L P S L O W T H E S P R E A D .

65+ years young?You’re at higher risk.

Classifieds THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n TUESDAY, APRIL 28 , 2020 n 6B

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SudokuSudoku is a num-ber-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty spaces so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s answer

ACROSS1 Heaps5 Ship poles10 Billionaire George12 Capital of Ghana13 Office seat15 Green prefix16 Dissenter’s vote17 Fall behind18 Animal suet20 Flank21 Get smart22 Go by23 Secret supply25 Blanchett of “The Lord of the Rings”28 Mates of harts31 Singer Redding32 Go to34 Sister of Jo, Amy and Beth35 Spotted cube36 Scot’s denial37 Spot for a trim40 Korean or Thai41 Berry of “X-Men”42 Irritable

43 Blu-ray item

DOWN1 Useful skill2 Light, in a way3 Baltimore player4 “Mazel —!”5 Singer Gray6 German cry7 Justice Antonin8 Musical chords9 Privates’ bosses11 Lady of Spain14 Tailgating sight19 Oxford parts

20 Wasn’t thrifty24 Up-to-date, in a way25 Fighting26 Comfortable27 River of Iraq29 Alaskan peak30 Slow movers33 Baseball’s Jeter35 Turn down38 Flying mam-mal39 Owned

491635827

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582497316

369218475

714563298

645372981

937841652

128956734

2020

Con

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Difficulty Level 4/27

Sudoku YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty spaces so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level increases from Monday to Sunday.

Log cabinWHATZIT ANSWER

Five Questions:

1 Grandmother

2 Woody Harrison

3 Czecho-slovakia

4 Drury Lane

5 Sarah McLachlan

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legalS

Legal Notices

UNITED STATES DISTRICTCOURTSOUTHERN DISTRICT OFALABAMASOUTHERN DIVISION

IN THE MATTER OF COOPERMARINE & TIMBERLANDS COR-PORATION, AS OWNER PROHAC VICE AND OPERATOR, OFTHE BARGE BIG 505, OFFICIALNO. 110343, PRAYING FOR EX-ONERATION FROM OR LIMITA-TION OF LIABILITY

CIVIL ACTION NO. 20-170

NOTICE TO CLAIMANTS OF AC-TION BROUGHT FOR EXONERA-TION FROM OR LIMITATION OFLIABILITY.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN thatCooper Marine & TimberlandsCorporation (“CMT”) as ownerpro hac vice/operator of theBarge BIG 505 has filed aComplaint pursuant to the pro-visions of 46 U.S.C. §30511forexoneration from or limitationof liability of all claims for anyloss, destruction or damagearising out of the alleged break-ing away of the Barge BIG 505on or about February 7, 2020,as more fully described inCMT’s Complaint.

All persons having such claimsmust file their respectiveclaims, as provided in Rule F ofthe Supplemental Rules forCertain Admiralty and MaritimeClaims of the Federal Rules ofCivil Procedure, with the Clerkof the United States DistrictCourt, Southern District ofAlabama, 155 St. JosephStreet, Mobile, AL 36602, andmust serve a copy thereof oncounsel for CMT on or beforethe 5th day of June, 2020, orbe defaulted.

If any claimant desires to con-test either the right to exonera-tion from or the right to limita-tion of liability, he shall file andserve on counsel for CMT ananswer to the Complaint on orbefore the aforesaid date un-less his claim has included ananswer so designated or be de-faulted.

Mobile, Alabama, this 9th dayof April, 2020.

CHARLES R. DIARD, JR.,CLERK OF COURT.By: Tammy Thornton,Deputy Clerk(SEAL)

Attorneys for Complainant inLimitation, Cooper Marine &Timberlands Corporation:DONALD C. RADCLIFF,Brady Radcliff & Brown, LLP,61 Saint Joseph Street,Mobile, AL 36602,Telephone: 251-405-0077Email:dradcliff@brblawyers.com

PUBLISH: 4/14, 4/21, 4/28,& 5/5/2020

IN THE CHANCERY COURT OFLOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-SIPPI

IN RE: ESTATE OF RANONGBROWN, DECEASED

KIRSTYN O’CALLAGHAN, EXEC-UTRIX

CAUSE NO.: 2020-00071-RPF

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

STATE OF MISSISSIPPICOUNTY OF LOWNDES

Letters Testamentary havebeen granted and issued to theundersigned upon the Estate ofRANONG BROWN, Deceased,by the Chancery Court ofLowndes County, Mississippi,on the 16th day of April, A.D.,2020. This is to give notice toall persons having claimsagainst said estate to Probateand Register same with theChancery Clerk of LowndesCounty, Mississippi, withinninety (90) days from this date.A failure to so Probate and Re-gister said claim will foreverbar the same.

This the 17 day of April 2020.

/s/ Kirstyn O’CallaghanKIRSTYN O’CALLAGHAN

PUBLISH: 4/21, 4/28,5/5/2020

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