WEATHER

141st Year, No. 31

J.T. PopeFirst grade; Annunciation

High 71 Low 46Sunny

Full forecast on page 3A.

FIVE QUESTIONS1 Which lemon-scented oil is derived from dried grasses and used as an insect repellent?2 What host of “Good Eats,” which ended in 2001, described his show as “a combination of Julia Child, Mr. Wizard and Monty Python”?3 What Egyptian structure built across the Nile River weighs 17 times as much as the Great Pyramid of Cheops?4 What British comedian and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” star did Katy Perry marry in 2010?5 What does POTUS stand for?

Answers, 6B

INSIDEBusiness 5B Classifieds 6BComics 3BCrossword 6B

Dear Abby 3BObituaries 2AOpinions 4A

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LOCAL FOLKS

Deborah Hood lives in Columbus and works at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle.

PUBLIC MEETINGSApril 17: Lowndes County School Board, 12:30 p.m., Central OfficeApril 21: Columbus City Council, 5 p.m., Municipal ComplexMay 4: Lowndes County Board of Supervisors, 9 a.m., County CourthouseMay 11: Colum-bus Municipal School District, 6 p.m., Brandon Central Services Center

A NOTE ON NEWS■ Many COVID-19 corona-virus related sto-ries are changing extremely quick-ly, sometimes as soon as we publish a print edition of the paper. We want to assure our readers that we are making every attempt to print accurate, timely news. Online sto-ries are updated throughout the day at cdispatch.com.

BUSINESS MOVES WITH MARY

Bud & Burgers virtual competition FridayPLUS: Strange Brew: Coffee, snacks and TP too; shopping safe in COVID-19BY MARY POLLITZbiz@cdispatch.com

When burg-ers and beer are in-volved, the show must always go on.

That’s what’s happening with Mitch-ell Distributing’s Bud & Burgers competition this year. Even though last year was Starkville’s first Bud & Burgers competition, Mitchell Distributing has hosted it for the past six years in various cities throughout the state.

Friday, from 5-8 p.m., the Bud & Burgers competition will go live on the competition’s Facebook page.

If you’ve got a knack for the grill and your photography skills are up to the test, get your six-pack, burg-er, buns and grills ready for the first Bud & Burgers virtual event. Though typically folks meet togeth-er and taste-test these mouth-wa-

BY YUE STELLA YUsyu@cdispatch.com

A majority of the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors voted to hire a replacement for Lowndes County Administra-tor Ralph Billingsley Wednes-day, but the decision sparked protests from two supervisors, one of whom walked out of the

meeting, after they questioned the nature of Billingsley’s re-tirement and the appointment process.

At Wednesday’s board meet-ing, three supervisors voted to hire Jay Fisher, former vice commander at Columbus Air Force Base, to succeed Billing-sley’s seat after he retires Sept. 30, which coincides with the

end of the coun-ty’s fiscal year. County admin-istrator is one of four county po-sitions directly appointed by the supervisors, said Board President Harry Sanders, who asserted supervisors are not obligated to advertise the position.

The vote was split along par-ty lines, with Republicans Sand-ers, District 2 Supervisor Trip

Hairston and District 3 Super-visor John Holliman voting to hire Fisher, while District 4 Su-pervisor Jeff Smith and District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks, both Democrats, dissented. Brooks walked out of the meet-ing before it was over.

But before Brooks left, he criticized Sanders for pressur-ing Billingsley — who was first hired in 2008 — to either retire or be fired. He previously told The Dispatch that supervisors had handpicked Fisher to take

the role before forcing out Bill-ingsley, and the county should instead advertise for the posi-tion.

“This will be the third ad-ministrator you have forced out,” Brooks said to Sanders. “The road is lined with carnage of people you’ve pushed.”

Fisher will be paid $50,000 as a trainee from May 1 through Sept. 30, supervisors said, so that he can participate in the budgeting process be-

Fisher hired to replace Billingsley as county administratorFormer CAFB vice commander to start training next month; Brooks walks out of meeting

Courtesy photo/Oktibbeha County Fire Services

The Captain D’s on Highway 12 in Starkville

caught fire Wednesday

morning, and the Starkville

Fire Department was still putting

out the last of the fire almost

two hours after responding. No one was injured

in the blaze, Fire Marshal Stein

McMullen said.

BY TESS VRBINtvrbin@cdispatch.com

The Captain D’s fast food location on Highway 12 in Starkville caught fire Wednesday morning, leaving the interior of the building caved in.

Authorities respond-ed at 8:25 a.m. and were

still extinguishing the blaze after 10 a.m. The fire started in the attic, according to a Starkville Fire Department Face-book post.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, and the cave-in might have made the building too unsta-

ble to enter and find the cause, SFD Fire Marshal Stein McMullen said.

No one was in the building when the fire started, so no one was in-jured, he said.

Starkville police closed off the entire block of eastbound Highway 12 and directed traffic else-where between Jackson

Attic fire guts Captain D’s in StarkvilleCause unknown; no one hurt in blaze

NO HUGS, NO HANDSHAKES, NO BIG VISITATIONS

Pandemic causes families, funeral homes to greatly alter normal memorial service plans

Mary Pollitz

See BUSINESS, 6A

BY SLIM SMITHssmith@cdispatch.com

Before his death, Boswell Kennard had already put together a detailed plan

for his funeral arrangements.He had plenty of time to

consider them, after all. Ken-nard, a retired dairy farmer who spent his whole life in the Oktoc community of Oktib-beha County, passed away on March 30, less than two

months before what would have been his 102nd birthday.

“He had everything planned,” said his son, Everett Kennard. “He wanted only a graveside funer-al. He didn’t want any flowers. He never put on a tie in his life, so he said we weren’t going to

bury him in a tie. He wanted the Presbyterian preacher to do the service. And he wanted the same (kind of) casket he bought for my mother when she passed away in 2009. I remember him pointing his finger at me and saying, ‘Don’t let Nina Welch (of Welch Fu-neral Home) sell you the more expensive one she tried to sell me when your mother passed.’”

See FISHER, 6A

See FIRE, 3A

See FUNERALS, 3A

Fisher

Kennard

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com2A THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020

AREA OBITUARIES

BY CANDICE CHOI AND JIM MUSTIAN The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Federal health officials are coming under in-creasing pressure to start publicly tracking coronavirus infections and deaths in nursing homes amid criticism they have not been trans-parent about the scope of outbreaks across the country that have al-ready claimed thousands of lives.

Experts say the lack of tracking and transparency has been a ma-jor blind spot, and that publicizing outbreaks as they happen could not only alert nearby communities and anguished relatives but also help

officials see where to focus testing and other safety measures.

“This is basic public health — you track this, you study it, and you learn from it,” said David Grabows-ki, who specializes in health care policy at Harvard Medical School. He said it’s difficult to have confi-dence in officials’ ability to contain the virus if they aren’t tracking where it has struck and why.

Such an action by the agencies that oversee the nation’s 15,000 nursing homes is seen as long over-due, coming more than a month af-ter a nursing home in Washington state became the first COVID-19 hot spot in the U.S. with an outbreak

that ultimately killed 43 people and a near-daily drumbeat of new cases that in some cases has forced entire homes to be evacuated.

Because the federal government has not been releasing a count, The Associated Press has been keeping its own running tally of nursing home outbreak deaths based on media reports and state health de-partments. The AP’s latest count of at least 4,817 deaths is up from about 450 just two weeks ago.

“We recognize there should be more reporting,” said Seema Ver-ma, head of the Centers for Medi-care & Medicaid Services, during a call with reporters on Wednesday.

Feds under pressure to publicly track nursing home outbreaks

COMMERCIAL 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 provided by The Commercial Dispatch. 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.

Guy StanfordSULLIGENT, Ala.

— Guy Redden Stan-ford, 83, died April 12, 2020, at Generations of Vernon.

A private family funeral service was at 11 a.m. Wednesday, at Otts Funeral Home Chapel, with B.J. Mills officiating. Burial fol-lowed in Sulligent City Cemetery. Otts Funeral Home of Sulligent was in charge of arrange-ments.

Mr. Stanford was born May 12, 1936, in Sulligent, Alabama, to the late Lecil Stanford and Stella Hawkins. He was formerly employed at McCoy’s Manufactur-ing and was a member of First Freewill Baptist Church.

In addition to his par-ents, he was preceded in death by his siblings, Willis J. Stanford and Flavious Stanford.

He is survived by his children, Keith Stanford of Sulligent and Deanna Downey of Vernon; sib-lings, Frances Cantrell of Beaverton and Willie Gray Nichols of Ham-ilton, Alabama; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Clara OrrCOLUMBUS —

Clara Mae Orr, 66, died April 5, 2020, at her residence.

A family only grave-side service will be at noon Friday, at Greater Mt. Olive M.B. Church of Crawford, with Greg Short officiating. Visitation is from 2-5 p.m. today, at Carter’s Funeral Service. Car-ter’s Funeral Service of Columbus is in charge of arrangements.

Ms. Orr was born April 12, 1953, in Ma-con, to the late Sim and Earlean Orr. She was a member of Pleasant Ridge M.B. Church.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her children, Andrea Orr and Claudine Orr; siblings, Nettie W. Ross and Juanita Orr; and one grandchild.

She is survived by her children, Ken and Senagar Orr both of Columbus; siblings, Earnestine Campbell, Sim Orr, Jimmy Orr all of Eat St. Louis, Illinois, Nowetta Short of Crawford, Annie M. Brooks, Carrie J. Brooks, Willidean Weatherspoon and Gus Orr all of Columbus; 13 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

Twana EdwardsCOLUMBUS — Twa-

na D. Edwards, 38, died April 9, 2020, at Bap-tist Memorial Hospi-tal-Golden Triangle.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday, at Carter’s Funeral Service Chapel, with the Rev. Christo-pher Wriley officiating. Burial will follow in

New Zion Pilgrim M.B. Church cemetery. Visitation is from 2-5 p.m. today, at Carter’s Funeral Service. Car-ter’s Funeral Service of Columbus is in charge of arrangements.

Ms. Edwards was born Aug. 3, 1981, in West Point, to Alonzo Edwards Sr. and Lula Stewart.

In addition to her parents she is survived by her children, Jus-tavious Edwards and J.R. Edward both of Columbus; and siblings, Alonzo Edwards Jr., Le-varis Williams both of Columbus and Charlie Williams of Jackson, Tennessee.

Audrey EavesSTARKVILLE —

Audrey Helen Tucker Eaves, 79, died April 14, 2020, at the Beehive in Starkville.

A private graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Friday, at Memorial Garden Park Cemetery. Welch Funeral Home of

Starkville is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Eaves was born to the late Carnet Clin-ton Tucker and Ruby Taylor Tucker. She was formerly employed as district coordinator for the Early Intervention Program for the State of Mississippi.

In addition to her parents, she was pre-ceded in death by her husband, James Doyle Eaves; step-mother, Mavis Tucker; son, Kevin Doyle Eaves; and brother, Terrel Tucker.

She is survived by her children, Clint Eaves of Starkville and Chad Lee Eaves of Meridian; siblings, Judy Crowson, Bobby Bow-man and Taylor Tucker; and 14 grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to I.O.M.(Interna-tional Outreach Min-istries, P.O. Box 921, Starkville, MS 39760.

See OBITUARIES, 5A

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

Courtesy of Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks

Thur. Fri.MajorMinorMajorMinor

8:10p3:46a8:35a2:27p

9:23a4:25a —3:24p

The Commercial Dispatch (USPS 142-320)Published daily except Saturday.

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.,

516 Main St., Columbus, MS 39703

Answers to common questions:Phone: 662-328-2424Website: cdispatch.com/helpReport a news tip: news@cdispatch.com

The DispaTch

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020 3A

BY EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS The Associated Press

JACKSON — Facing two free-dom-of-religion lawsuits and pushback from the U.S. attorney general, a Mississippi mayor said Wednesday that people may attend drive-in church services during the coronavirus pandemic but they must keep their windows up.

Greenville Mayor Errick D. Sim-

mons also said local churches may allow up to 10 people at a time in a building for worship services that are shown online or carried on TV or radio, as long as those inside the church follow public health guide-lines to maintain a safe distance from one another.

Greenville leaders enacted a lo-cal order April 7 that said all church-es in the city would be closed for in-person and drive-in services as

long as Gov. Tate Reeves’s state-wide stay-at-home order remains in place to combat the spread of the vi-rus. The governor’s order does not restrict types of worship.

The day after Greenville leaders set the local order, police issued $500 tickets to several people at-tending drive-in church services. Some who were ticketed said the city was violating their First Amendment right to worship.

Mayor: Drive-in church, with windows up, OK during pandemic

FireContinued from Page 1A

and Montgomery streets while the fire department put out the fire.

A Captain D’s corpo-rate spokesperson said in a prepared statement that the restaurant will be

closed until further notice “while a cause is deter-mined and we’re able to repair the damages to en-sure a safe environment for our employees and guests.”

The restaurant’s nor-mal opening time is 10:30 a.m., and the spokesper-son said members of the opening staff arrived while firefighters were at the scene.

Read to your child.

FuneralsContinued from Page 1A

Kennard was laid to rest at Oddfellows Cemetery in Starkville on April 1 with the graveside service he asked for, with just a few of his immediate family, including Everett and his two brothers, at-tending. It may have been the kind of understated, no-fuss arrangements he had insisted on. But for the family, his send-off was not what they imag-ined or hoped for.

Kennard was born in the year of one great pan-demic — The Spanish Flu of 1918. His passing came during another, one that altered the family’s hopes for the sort of send-off the family patriarch and much-loved community member was due.

“I don’t know how many people would have gone to his funeral,” Everett Kennard said. “A bunch. Everybody knew him. People loved him.”

For the better part of a month, the Kennard fam-ily’s story has been more or less the same story for everyone who has lost family members.

Many of the time-hon-ored rituals — memorial services packed with mourners, visitations where friends and family embrace and share in their sorrow, even graveside services open

to anyone wanting to pay their respects — have been sacrificed as funeral homes maintain social dis-tancing requirements en-acted by the state to slow the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus.

“It’s different in so many ways,” said Dawn Pounders, who with her husband, Tim, has oper-ated Lowndes Funeral Home in Columbus for 22 years. “There’s no shak-ing hands, no consoling, no loving on people. We live in Mississippi. That’s what we do. That’s so hard, but we don’t have any choice.”

Strict guidelinesUnder Mississippi’s

shelter in place guide-lines, businesses that remain open must limit gatherings to 10 or fewer and observe the social distance order (people are required to stay at least six feet apart).

Those two measures have meant, in many cases, funerals have been limited to graveside ser-vices with only immediate family.

“A lot of our funerals are at the cemetery now,” said Matthew Lee, who grew up in his father’s funeral home (Lee-Sykes Funeral Home) in Co-lumbus. “But even then,

you’re talking about very, very small gatherings. When you have a pastor and staff, you may be talking about a funeral with only seven, eight family members. That’s hard, but that’s the way it has to be.”

Lee said Lee-Sykes still provides visitations, but strictly monitors the flow of visitors. Memorial services are still held at its two chapels, but again, the 10-person limit is strictly enforced.

“What we do is allow only two people per row with an empty row in between,” he said.

Billy Miller, manager of Welch Funeral Home, said trying to ensure the 10-person limit has led to some unusual practices.

“We’ve started not sending out obituaries un-til after the burial,” Miller said. “That’s mainly to discourage people from coming. Really, at this point, our funerals have become immediate family only.”

All three funeral homes provide videos of services, which allows those unable to attend services to watch remote-ly.

“We are livestreaming the services on Face-book,” Lee said. “For those who don’t want it

on Facebook, who want a more private service, the video is on Funeral One, which can be accessed by a private link provided by the family and is pass-word protected.”

Another emerging is-sue for funeral homes are the safety of their staff.

Miller, whose funeral home handled services for the Golden Triangle’s only COVID-19 death to date, said that burial prompted a new policy.

“Anyone who has died from the coronavirus is limited to cremation and direct burial with no embalming,” Miller said. “It’s a safety precaution. We are having a shortage of PPEs (personal protec-tion equipment like masks and gloves). When we prepare a body, we have to wear protective suits, masks, gloves to guard against contagious dis-ease. With a coronavirus case, we have to wear that gear twice, once when we pick up the body and then when we prepare the body. That’s why we’ve put in a policy that says there are no embalming for those who have died from the coronavirus.”

‘It’s very sad’Representatives with

all three funeral homes say families have been

understanding about the new restrictions.

“We may have had one or two who objected,” Pounders said. “But the thing is, what we are do-ing is what every funeral home is doing. These aren’t our rules, but we have to comply with them. That’s true for every fu-neral home in the state.”

“Really, people have been understanding,” Lee said. “I think they understand we are doing what we have to do. It’s not really a choice.”

The necessity of the new rules doesn’t dimin-ish the disappointment, though.

For the Kennard fami-ly, the restrictions meant

losing the one part of Bo-swell Kennard’s funeral he had left to them.

“The one thing we wanted was to have a visi-tation, but we couldn’t do it,” Everett Kennard said. “I understand why. Still, that’s the thing that’s killing everybody. The support you get from the visitation is huge for the family. You can video the service, but that’s the one thing you can’t put on vid-eo — a handshake, a hug, just seeing somebody eye-to-eye and being able to express that support.

“That’s what’s happen-ing everywhere, not just with us,” he added. “It’s very sad.”

City of ColumbusApril 6-9, 2020■ Jerry Wrench; 1202 Shady Street; Demolish s/f res-idence; Columbus Fire & Rescue■ Columbus Redevelopment Authority; 314 5th Avenue North; Demolish s/f resi-dence; Columbus Public Works■ Little C Properties LLC; 51 Laurel Drive; New s/f resi-dence; Clardy Home Develop-ment■ Stevie Swanigan; 1907

14th Avenue North; Privacy fence; CS Construction ■ Zavier and Kawanda Jones; 616 Chestnut Street; Enclose garage; same■ Annie Latham; 1605 5th Street South; Electrical; Jim-mie Chism■ Jaleesa Hendricks; 617 15th Street North; Electrical; Beavers Electrical■ S&S Properties Unlimited; 1211 6th Street North; Electri-cal; Ables Electric■ Timothy Heard; 1302 15th

Street South; electrical; Bea-vers Electric

Lowndes CountyApril 15, 2020■ Tom and Linda Sumrall; 212 Lincoln Road; construct storage/shop; owner■ Cemetery Brick Missionary Baptist Church; 4572 Old Ma-con Road; addition to church; Dismuke Construction■ James Garner; Hildreth Road; set up mobile home; owner

■ James Garner; Hildreth Road; move mobile home; Regional Enterprise■ Lance Moore; 466 W. Bank Access Road; construct stor-age/shop; owner■ Gordon; Sterling Dr.; con-struct s/f residence; Clardy Home Development■ Ben and Amy Peal; Golden Horn Road; construct s/f residence; Owner■ George Hogancamp; 2889 N. Wolfe Road; construct s/f residence; owner

BUILDING PERMITS

4A THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 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

Legitimate concerns exist over GTECHS but students shouldn’t sufferWithin the past two weeks, Colum-

bus Municipal School District and Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated

School District voted to sever ties with Golden Triangle Early College High School (GTECHS). Lowndes County School District is expected to take the issue up tomorrow.

GTECHS, which opened in the 2015-16 school year, allows select area high school students to take college courses and graduate high school with associates degrees. It’s open to students from Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Clay and Noxubee counties.

CMSD’s and SOCSD’s concerns about their relationship with GTECHS are legitimate.

Those two districts each send more than 40 students to GTECHS at an estimated cost of $250,000 a year. Both now offer their own dual enrollment opportunities, which were not avail-able when GTECHS was created, and both say they can more efficiently serve students with those programs.

Additionally, SOCSD’s superintendent ex-pressed concern that GTECHS has been operat-ed essentially as a private school that uses public dollars. In fact, numbers seen by The Dispatch but which are not public, suggest 73 percent (11 students) of private and homeschool students from Columbus collectively have been accepted to GTECHS since its founding. Only 55 percent (64 students) of applicants from Columbus Mid-dle School have been accepted.

GTECHS supporters assert the school is for children who may not thrive in a traditional school setting, which is pretty broad criteria. But The Dispatch’s coverage of the creation of the school suggests the original intent of the school was to target a more narrow segment of students. A Mississippi State University research specialist who helped craft GTECHS said, “We are looking for students that, for whatever reason, might not be on track to continue their education beyond high school. These are students that might not take Advanced Placement courses in high school, but could excel with extra support.” The story also said, “School officials are especially interest-ed in students from low income, minority and/or first generation college students.”

Certainly, those students exist in private and homeschool settings, but one would assume this criteria would find more matches in public schools.

At some point between the planning of GTECHS and now, there seems to have been a bit of “mission creep.”

So, again, the districts’ concerns are legiti-mate, certainly.

Yet it appears both CMSD and SOCSD decided to pull the plug on the program with only mini-mal efforts to work out solutions to those prob-lems with administrators from GTECHS and East Mississippi Community College, which hosts the school.

If GTECHS and EMCC were afforded little op-portunity to engage with CMSD and SOCSD on this issue, current GTECHS students and parents were provided even less of one.

These decisions to withdraw from GTECHS directly affect nearly 100 students and their high school experiences. For them, this decision is not about the efficiency of dollars. For them, the ben-efit of GTECHS is not limited strictly to earning dual enrollment college credit.

Over the past week, this paper has run near-ly a dozen letters to the editor from GTECHS students and parents who describe an enriching educational environment.

While we still support the mission of GTECHS and the educational opportunities it provides, we share with area school districts serious concerns about how the program is administered.

But we also believe existing students should not be uprooted from GTECHS over these admin-istrative issues.

Public education in general needs help, and ultimately GTECHS represents an experiment in an alternate way to educate students with tax dollars. We think such experiments are healthy and lament the fact that this one is falling apart without a meaningful attempt to address the issues.

Let’s hope there is still a path that would allow those negotiations to happen.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Voice of the peopleGTECHS from the perspective of a CHS student

Recently, I’ve become intrigued from the respons-es to Dr. Labat and the CMSD Board of Trustees’ decision concerning a discontinued partnership between GTECHS and the Columbus Municipal School District. The decision itself is great due to the fact that individuals in authoritative positions are finally focusing on the needs of many students in our district. However, there seems to be many people in the community who do not agree with this decision or may even be confused as it relates to what is hap-pening at this moment. From my opinionated per-spective, I will not only explain why a great decision has been made but also help each and every person reading this understand the benefit that this decision has on many students.

First, to set the narrative, opportunities that were once not sufficient are prevalent today within CMSD. What you should understand is that the school board is working to better our district, and this marks a step in the right direction. From my understanding, the district is looking to cut ties with GTECHS simply because the amount of funding being used to help provide such a program to students who are “at risk” is unessential at this point in time due to the fact that the same opportunities are now provided to those within the school district. Many individuals fear this decision simply because they think the opportunities won’t be as sufficient to their children or that their kids won’t do well in an environment such as Colum-bus High School. Although, this wouldn’t be the case at all.

I, as well as others, had the opportunity to apply to GTECHS while transitioning from middle school to high school. However, I decided to attend Columbus High School instead because I wanted to have a tradi-tional high school experience. This included me par-ticipating in student government, sports, and other great things that are provided to the student body. I’m currently a dual enrolled Junior at CHS who has been given the opportunity to represent my school at pres-tigious conferences such as HOBY which is known as the Hugh O’Brian Young Leadership program. Aside from me attending a distinguished conference such as this, many of my peers have been able to as well. As a dual enrolled student, CHS has provided me the opportunity to potentially obtain my Associates De-gree by the end of my Senior year. Because of these opportunities, I’ve formed partnerships with many people who will be able to lead and guide me in the right direction towards furthering my education and beginning my career. Those on the outside looking in probably view our school in a pessimistic aspect, but I’m here to tell you that our school is great.

I understand that parents and students are afraid of not getting the same opportunities that they’ve been afforded at GTECHS. Though, students could essentially be granted those same opportunities if not better. Students would still be able to complete dual enrollment courses and be able to remain a member under certain organizations that they may already be a part of. Lastly, students would still have the oppor-tunity to build a family with CHS faculty, staff, and student body. People in the community have obvi-ously forgotten that this decision was made to better the students of CMSD. I honestly think it’s selfish to forget such a thing when bashing the authoritative figures for this decision that they’ve made. Why would you continue to put funding towards a school that serves only 44 students of CMSD when there is well over a 1,000 more that need to be served as well? We have needs that should be fulfilled just as they do.

The funds being used to put GTECHS students of Columbus through that particular program could further aid in supplemental funds for free dual en-rollment classes to many students who aren’t able to pay for them on their own. Though students, parents, and others of GTECHS may feel like this is a selfish decision at this time, what they don’t understand is that they would benefit from this as well. The sole purpose of GTECHS was to create a program for “at risk” students. Speaking for myself, I could be consid-ered as “at risk” because I come from a single-parent household. However, I have not let that define me in my academic achievements. Also, CHS has made sure of me and others being an inclusion rather than an exclusion.

Columbus High School is currently rated a “B” school according to the Mississippi Department of

Education from school year 2018-2019. Our school boasts many academic achievements and accomplish-ments from past and present students. Such acco-lades include the following: recipients of the Gates Millennial Scholarship, scholar athletes who are poised to enter the NBA and NFL, those who have gained recognition in the music industry, multiple students who’ve garnered full scholarships to major colleges and universities, students who have repre-sented CHS from platforms in Washington, D.C. and prestigious summer camps at Mississippi State Uni-versity, participants of Mississippi Governor’s School, and multiple students who’ve collectively obtained a high school diploma and Associates Degree. Finally, to the students and parents who are apprehensive about joining the CHS family, we would love for you to be a part of this excellence!

Respectfully, Avani Poindexter

Columbus High School Junior

GTECHS has been good experienceMy daughter started there this year and it has

been the best school experience she has ever had. I think it’s horrible that Columbus and Starkville are ending their partnership. My daughter and her friends are under a lot of stress from this and not being able to be with each other the rest of the school year. I was hoping for my son to start GTECHS this year. He put in his application and was very excited about it. These adults need to think of the children and how this is going to impact their future plans.

Lenore WilsonCaledonia

Thinks districts have lost sightI am sorely disappointed and angry at SOCSD and

CMSD for their hasty withdrawals from the GTECHS program at EMCC. Both districts’ superintendents stated that they were paying for children to attend GTECHS that had never attended their school. I hate to be the bearer of bad news to both Eddie Peasant and Cherie Labat, but it IS their responsibility to educate every single child in their school district. Home-schooled children and private school children that live in their district are still entitled, legally, to educational programs offered within the school dis-trict they reside. These children’s parents pay school taxes for these districts to educate their child (free money for these schools if the children don’t attend). Maybe if SOCSD and CMSD had better school envi-ronments and better state grades, all of the children in their district would want to attend their schools. That is not the case, however, and these superinten-dents have the audacity to complain about having to educate these children that they have been receiving tax dollars on all these years.

Peasant and Labat also complained that they didn’t feel that GTECHS was serving the type of students “it was supposed to.” Have either of them stepped into a classroom at GTECHS? Have either of them bothered to get to know the students from their districts that were attending GTECHS? Here is a novel idea: how about before superintendents go making decisions that affect students, they go roam the halls with their students and have conversations with the people that their decisions affect. I can promise you, the students that I know (both from public and private school) that attend GTECHS very much fit the model that the school was designed for. You would think by now these “educators” would know that a “one size fits all” approach to educating children does not work, and there was very much a reason these kids left their school district to begin with. Remote learning (as proposed by Labat) will socially isolate a child. Dual-enrollment will still force some of these kids to be back in a school environment where they were relentlessly bullied. The Middle College Program that Peasant is touting isn’t guaranteed to be up and running by August, when he is forcing his district’s GTECHS students to return to SOCSD, so it may not even be available to the kids.

At the end of the day, I think school boards and su-perintendents have lost sight of the fact that they are dealing with children, not numbers or dollar signs. And they most definitely have lost sight of what is in the best interest of the children.

Jennifer SmithColumbus

Social distancing is affecting us all in different ways. We want to hear how you’re doing. The Dispatch has set up a voicemail so our readers can share their thoughts and feelings during this unique time. If you want to share, please call 662-328-2424 and dial extension 101. You can leave a message 24 hours a day. Certain messages will be selected to print in the paper. Even if we don’t select yours, know that someone is out there listening and you’re not alone. We’re all in this together.

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020 5A

Lenore PratherA private family graveside

service will be held. Friendship Cemetery

2nd Ave. North Location

Dr. William GatesA private family graveside

service will be held. Friendship Cemetery

2nd Ave. North Location

Robert ClarkeIncomplete

2nd Ave. North Location

Betty CourtneyIncomplete

College St. Location

memorialgunterpeel.com

Lenore PratherLenore Loving Prather

peacefully entered into the greater glory of God surrounded by loved ones at her home on April 11, 2020.

Born on September 17, 1931, in West Point, Mississippi, she was the first child of Hattie Hearn Morris Loving and Byron Herald Loving. She graduated from West Point High School in 1949, and received a Bachelor of Science degree from Mississippi State College for Women, now Mississippi University for Women. She then earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1955.

She began her legal career practicing law with her father. She met Robert “Bob” Brooks Prather in West Point, and they were married in 1957. She and her husband practiced law together, and she was appointed as Municipal Judge in West Point in 1965 and continued until 1971. During this time, Lenore and Bob had three daughters. In addition, she was a part-time instructor at Mississippi State University in the Communications Department.

In 1971 Governor John Bell Williams appointed her as Chancery Judge for the 14th Chancery District, and she attended the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada. Governor William F. Winter appointed Lenore to the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1982. She later became a Presiding Justice and served as Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court from 1998 to early 2001. In that position, she served as head of the judicial branch of government for the State of Mississippi. Following her legal career, she served as Interim President of Mississippi University for Women.

She said her accomplishments would not have been possible without the example of her parents. Her father was an attorney and legislator, and her mother served as a legal secretary and elections commissioner. They instilled in her the importance of public service, and she encouraged others to pursue public service as well. Several others opened doors for her in the legal profession including Tom Tubb who recommended her for the position of Municipal Judge. She was grateful to Governor John Bell Williams and Governor William Winter for their appointments as Chancery Judge and Supreme Court Justice. She worked to improve the legal system for all Mississippians.

Outside of her legal career, she was a beloved mother to her three daughters, and a devoted daughter, wife, sister, grandmother to her two grandchildren, aunt and friend. She tried to open doors for others in appreciation for those who did the same for her. She enjoyed travel, fine arts, and gardening. She especially enjoyed her rose garden. She was loyal to her alma maters and always enjoyed time in the Grove before an Ole Miss football game. She was an active member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church where she was a Vestry Member, and she completed the Education for Ministry program through Sewanee University.

She received numerous awards and recognitions. She was inducted into the University of Mississippi Hall of Fame. The University of Mississippi School of Law named her Alumna of the Year and inducted her to the Law Alumni Hall of Fame. MUW awarded her its Medal of Excellence and the MUW Alumni Achievement Award. Governor Haley Barbour awarded her the Mississippi Medal of Service in 2009. She also received several awards from the Mississippi Bar Association. She was a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Club, and member of the DAR.

Lenore is survived by her daughters, Pamela Prather of Jackson, MS, Valerie Jo Sundman of Steens, MS and Malinda Prather (Kenton) Johnson of Saint Paul, MN; two grandchildren, Tyler Brooks Sundman and Laura Loving Sundman; sister, Marmion Loving Francis of Meridian, MS; brother, James M. Loving, of Myrtle Beach, SC; and brother-in-law Jacque (Patti) Prather of Tupelo, MS; cherished nieces and nephews; and her faithful canine companion Max.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; and her sister, Ida Loving Cunetto.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the University of Mississippi Foundation, 406 University Avenue, Oxford, MS 38655; St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 318 College Street, Columbus, MS 39701; and the Lenore L. Prather Scholarship Fund at Mississippi University for Women, 1100 College Street, Columbus, MS 39701.

Sign the online guest book at www.memorialgunterpeel.com

716 Second Avenue North • Columbus, MS

ObituariesContinued from Page 2A

Ellie WestHAMILTON — Ellie

Rhee Reeves West, 100, died April 15, 2020, at Trinity Health Care in Columbus.

A private family funeral service will be held, with Don Harding officiating. Tisdale-Lann Memo-rial Funeral Home of Aberdeen is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. West was born Sept. 1, 1919, in Vernon, Alabama, to the late W.M. Reeves and Nora Edgeworth Reeves. She was a member of Pleas-ant Grove Methodist Church.

In addition to her par-ents, she was preceded in death by her hus-band, Ruben West; son, Willie H. “Hoot” West; three sisters; and two brothers.

She is survived by her children, Betty Ray of Hamilton, Martha Sue Gwathney of Aberdeen and Dean West of Columbus; eight grandchildren; 13 great-grand-children; and nine great-great-grandchil-dren.

Pallbearers will be Matt Darling, Chris West, Leslie West, Mike West, Aaron West and Hunter West.

Melinda McShanCOLUMBUS — Me-

linda McShan, 54, died April 15, 2020, at her residence.

Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Carter’s Funeral Service of Columbus.

Christine MorrowBROOKSVILLE

— Christine Morrow. 90, died April 9, 2020, at Windsor Place in Columbus.

A private family graveside service was held Wednesday, at Brooksville Cemetery, with Bill Ross officiat-ing. Cockrell Funeral Home of Macon was in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Morrow was born March 23, 1930, in Garrard County, Ken-tucky, to the late Robert and Lilly Prather Fath-ergill. She was formerly employed in a garment plant and with Hardin’s

Bakery. She was a member of Deerbrook Baptist Church and Cal-vary Baptist Church.

In addition to her par-ents, she was preceded in death by her husband Johnie H. Morrow; children, Johnny Lee Morrow and Ricky Dale Morrow; and eight siblings.

She is survived by her daughter, Deborah Kay Gilmore of Colum-bus; four grandchildren; and four great-grand-children.

Faye BrownMACON — Faye B.

Brown, 59, died April 11, 2020, at her resi-dence.

A private family only service will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, at Carter’s Funeral Service Chap-el, with Jack Vaughn officiating. Burial will follow at Mount Carmel MBC. A private visi-tation is from 3-5 p.m. today, at the funeral home. Carter’s Funeral Service of Macon is in charge of arrange-ments.

Mrs. Brown was born Jan. 5, 1961, in Noxubee County, to the late Robert Grissom and Cleo Patrick. She was a member of Mr. Carmel MBC.

In addition to her parents, she was pre-ceded in death by her siblings, Patricia and Arthur Lewis.

She is survived by her husband, Albert Lee Brown; children, Demetris Willis of West Point and Cor-nece Willis of Macon; siblings, Zackie Carter of Chicago, Illinois and Robert Earl Grissom Jr. of Macon; and four grandchildren.

Martin RiceCOLUMBUS —

Martin James Rice, 66, died April 12, 2020, in Aliceville, Alabama.

Services will be held at a later date. Lown-des Funeral Home of Columbus is in charge or arrangements.

Mr. Rice was born Aug. 7, 1953, in Perth, Australia, to the late Donald and Lily Han-rahan Rice. He was formerly employed with Tronox.

He is survived by his children, Caitlin Rice, Lindsey Rice, Hannah Rice, Miranda Dale all of Columbus and Estelle Rice of Perth, Australia; siblings, Ann Paton and Michael Rice; and seven grand-children.

Memorials may be made to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 1907 Dun-barton Drive, Suite C, Jackson, MS, 39216.

Austin Peat Jr.CRAWFORD —

Austin Peat Jr., 67, died April 6, 2020, at his residence.

A private family only graveside service will be at 11 a.m. Fri-day, at Oakland MBC Cemetery, with Sam-mie White officiating. Private visitation is from 2-5 p.m. today, at Carter’s Funeral Ser-

vice. Carter’s Funeral Services of Columbus is in charge of arrange-ments.

Mr. Peat was born March 25, 1953, in Lowndes County, to the late Austin Peat Sr. and Addie Peat. He was formerly employed with Hollis Roofing.

In addition to his parents, he was pre-ceded in death by his siblings, Halbert Peat, Nelson Peat Sr., Charlie Stewart, Essie Peat and Queen Sykes; step-brothers, John Odeneal and Willie Odeneal.

He is survived by his children, Addie Peat, Austin Peat III and Matrell Peat all of Flint, Michigan; siblings, Barbara Brooks, Edward Peat Sr., Mary Tucker and J.B. Odeneal Sr. all of Flint, Michigan; 10 grandchildren; and two great-grandchil-dren.

William GatesCOLUMBUS — Dr.

William “Bill” C. Gates died April 15, 2020, at Dugan’s Nursing Home in West Point.

A graveside service for immediate family will be Saturday, at Friendship Cemetery. Memorial Gunter Peel Funeral Home & Cre-matory, Second Ave-

nue North location of Columbus is in charge of arrangements.

Dr. Gates was born in 1937 to the late W.C. and Mary Vick-ery Gates. He was a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Medical College of Alabama.

He is survived by his wife, Linda Simmons Gates; children, Jennie Paulding, Bill Gates III and Currie Webster;

siblings, Anne Rainer and Katheryn Gates; grandchildren; and great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be sent to Pushmataha Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, PO Box 9570, Columbus, MS 39705 or Walter O. Parmer Scholarship Foundation, Inc., PO Box 832, Greenville, AL 36037.

cdispatch.com

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com6A THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020

BusinessContinued from Page 1A

tering burgers, the judges will be on social media checking out the best photo-worthy picks.

Contestants must post pictures or videos of their burger and grilling skills with a team name and name of their burger by 8 p.m. Friday. Prizes include grills, coolers and speaker towers, which will be awarded to the most liked photos, most Instagrammable, most team spirit, and the best picture of a burger with a Budweiser.

“We’re really excited to bring Bud & Burgers vir-tual during this unknown time,” said Mitchell Com-panies Communications Manager Anna Grace Tanner. “We thought this event would be a positive opportunity for our com-munities to feel a sense of togetherness even while participating from homes.”

Grillers, spectators and social media aficiona-dos get ready for Friday and be sure to check out the Bud & Burgers page at https://www.facebook.com/.

Over in Starkville, a quirky coffee shop has transformed from its typi-cal coffee and snack shop to a drive-thru essential station.

At Strange Brew, folks can drive through for a coffee pick-me-up, roll of paper towels, bag of flour, eggs, even a bottle of hand sanitizer and, yes, toilet paper.

With businesses changing their operating practices in the wake of COVID-19, Strange Brew has been added to the list of businesses breaking through the typical mold.

Owner Katelyn Reed said the coffee shop has continually changed since March to keep their em-ployees safe and busy and offer the public as many supplies as they can. Both Starkville locations, on Highway 12 and Univer-sity Drive, are selling their typical menu items as well as those essential ones in high demand at your local grocery stores.

“We wanted to of-fer a safer way for our customers to grab what they need by swinging through the drive-thru instead of having to walk into a big store,” Reed said. “…We are (thank-ful) our customers have worked with our changes and allow us to still pro-vide them with a moment of happiness in their days. We are constantly adapting to the newest safety guidelines and

while it can be challeng-ing, we are willing to do whatever it takes to safely serve strangers every day.”

In other news in Starkville, Flavors Cui-sine of India on Martin Luther King Jr. has reopened. The Indian restaurant, which pre-viously closed in March due to COVID-19, offi-cially announced it would serve customers again with pick up and carry out orders this week.

Each week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention releases tips and ideas to keep every-one safe throughout this pandemic. While the best motto is to simply limit your time being out and about, we all know that we have to grocery shop and pick up essential items.

If you do have to leave the house, it’s important to keep a few of these CDC tips in your mind.

Luckily, in this age we don’t have to go to the grocery store physically to stock our cabinets and pantries. With Walmart, Kroger and Vowell’s Marketplace, you can place orders for pick up by simply going online. If you do have to go out, the CDC is suggesting

we wear masks (even if it’s just a T-shirt covering to shield your mouth and nose).

As always, when you’re in public it’s important to keep a six-foot distance from those around you, avoid touching your face and use hand sanitizer after touching credit card machines, money, doors and shopping carts.

Unfortunately, it’s true that the less we interact with each other, the bet-ter off we are at flattening the curve. You’ve proba-bly all noticed that stores throughout the Golden Triangle are taping lines six feet apart to remind us to stay safe and far apart.

If you’re like me and you want to go the extra mile, after I pick up groceries I have started wiping down canned goods, produce and other non-porous containers to prevent the spread of germs. That may be tak-ing it to the extreme, but it only takes a few extra minutes to put my mind at ease.

We’re all in this together, guys. Be sure to be mindful of others, take only what you need, give when you can and as always, be safe.

FisherContinued from Page 1A

ginning in June and help out with other county business. While Sanders said Fisher’s salary as of Oct. 1 hadn’t been deter-mined, Billingsley’s salary is $125,000 annually.

Fisher told The Dis-patch Wednesday night his 25 years of experience in the military, including two years as vice com-mander who helped man-age an annual operating budget of up to $65 mil-lion, would help with his new role.

“I’ve had experiences from small organizations (of) 10 to 12 people all the way up to … multi-thou-sand-people (organiza-tions),” he said. “Being able to manage people and set the right tone of the or-ganization … would help me to be successful in this role.”

‘Legitimate concerns’ or ‘vicious lies’?

Sanders, who previous-ly declined to comment on Billingsley’s retire-ment, told The Dispatch Wednesday that, out of “le-gitimate concerns,” he and Hairston approached Bill-ingsley two months ago to ask for his resignation.

He would not specify what the concerns were on the record.

Brooks also questioned the necessity of hiring

Fisher as soon as May. “If this person is so

damn qualified, (why has) he got to come in (five) months (early) to be trained?” Brooks said.

Filling the position of county appointees five months in advance is un-precedented, Sanders said. But faced with the coronavirus pandemic, he said he felt the hiring was warranted.

“Hiring now so he can learn how to do the budget … to meet with all the de-partment heads, to know how the county is run,” Sanders said. “At the same time, we’ve got an awful lot of paperwork and bu-reaucracy … (with) the coronavirus.”

At the meeting, Brooks also accused the three supervisors who voted to hire Fisher — all of whom are white — of ruling out women and minority can-didates. Brooks and Smith are black.

“You’ve deprived peo-ple in this county of the right of due process that they are entitled to ap-ply for these positions,”

Brooks said.Regarding Brooks’

comments, Sanders said Brooks voted against the hiring of Billingsley to begin with. He said the hiring only needed three votes on the board.

“For 20 years, we’ve never advertised for the positions,” Sanders said. “It’s very plain.”

During the meeting, Smith also expressed his frustration against the board’s process of picking the candidate.

Smith claimed he was left out of the loop when other supervisors discussed the hire and was only informed after the decision was made. Fisher told The Dispatch Wednesday night he never spoke with Smith.

“I was totally disregard-ed,” Smith said. “That’s totally disrespecting me, totally.

“You’ve got the votes, you do what you choose to do,” he added. “You have that authority, but this process of how you get to where you are going is wrong.”

Sanders told The Dis-patch that Fisher was first interviewed by him and Hairston, and then by District 3 Supervisor John Holliman. Brooks, upon hearing about the can-didate, promised to vote against Fisher and asked to wait until the end of the year to make the hire, Sanders said.

Smith, Sanders said, was only notified.

“It’s impossible for everyone to know at the same time,” Sanders said.

When reached by phone Wednesday night, Billingsley confirmed Brooks’ and Smith’s com-ments at the meeting.

“I have no comment at this time other than to say what Leroy and Jeff com-municated at the board meeting today was an ac-curate representation of what’s going on,” he said. “There have been some vicious lies said about me that should have never been said.”

In other business, su-pervisors also voted to allow child care facilities in the county to open as long as they follow the guidelines listed by the state. The county pre-viously closed those fa-cilities along with other nonessential businesses to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

BrooksSanders Smith Billingsley

If you don’t read The Dispatch, how are you gonna know?

BY DISPATCH STAFF

STARKVILLE — For-mer Mississippi State for-ward Chloe Bibby will fin-ish out her college career on the East Coast.

After entering the transfer portal on April 6, it was announced Wednesday via Twitter that Bibby will play her final year of collegiate competition under Bren-da Frese at Maryland.

“I would like to thank all the universities and coaches who took the time and effort in contact-ing me during this pro-cess,” she wrote. “I am excited to announce that I will be continuing my education and basketball journey at the University of Maryland. Go Terps!

I also want to say a massive thank you to Mississippi State Uni-versity and the bulldog family, I will be forever grateful for the love and support you showed me as a person and player.”

Bibby averaged 7.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game as a junior at MSU after her soph-omore campaign was cut short due to a sea-son-ending knee injury. Never quite finding her previous form post-inju-

ry, Bibby saw her playing time decrease from 27.6 minutes per game in 2019 to 23 minutes per contest this past year.

It’s unclear whether she will be immediate-ly eligible.

B i b b y b e c o m e s the second f o r m e r MSU play-er in the past five days to find a new colle-giate home after fresh-man guard Jayla Heming-way committed to West Virginia April 10.

The Bulldogs are slat-ed to have four scholar-ships still available for next season, though it remains to be seen how first-year head coach Nik-ki McCray-Penson will fill those slots.

“Obviously, recruiting is the lifeline for what we do,” McCray-Penson said in her introductory press conference Tuesday. “Right now, we’re in com-munication with players. I will tell you we’re going to get players in there that fit our culture. They have to fit our brand and we know we are a national brand right now.”

BY THEO DEROSAtderosa@cdispatch.com

Westlee Honeycutt sat on his front porch, waiting.

It was Tuesday afternoon, and the Caledonia High School senior baseball play-er was watch-ing Gov. Tate Reeves deliver an update on public schools in Mississippi in the midst of the COVID-19 coro-navirus pandemic. Honeycutt listened, hoping not to hear what he knew was coming.

Reeves said it anyway: Schools were closed for the rest of the 2019-20 academic year. Honeycutt, aware of the Mississippi High School Ac-tivities Association’s policy that no practice or competi-

tion could take place while its member schools were closed, knew what the announcement meant: His baseball career was over.

Shortly after noon Wednes-day, MHSAA confirmed what Honeycutt and baseball and softball coaches around the area already knew. The orga-nization suspended all sports and activities among the state’s public schools through June 1 and until further no-tice, officially wiping spring sports off the calendar for the rest of the year — and leaving Honeycutt with a message stuck in his mind.

“Experience life as it comes,” he told The Dispatch on Wednesday. “Don’t take it for granted. Enjoy the mo-ment. You never know when it can be taken away.”

For Honeycutt and seniors around the area, the decision

hit the hardest, as players who spent four or even more years investing in a program never got to see it through in their final seasons.

“The seniors took it real-ly hard,” Caledonia softball coach Andy Finch said. “For it to be taken away without any control, it’s heartbreak-ing for them.”

Finch said that while his four seniors — Carlee Dale, Maddy Suggs, Tori Brooks and Olivia Boykin — will never forget the games they played, they’ll be unable to make more lasting memories outside of competition.

“They’ll remember the bus trips,” said Finch, whose team was 6-2 when the sea-son shut down. “They’ll re-member stopping and eat-ing with teammates.” That’s something you can never get back.”

Make no mistake, though: Area players and coaches understand the MHSAA’s decision to prioritize the safe-ty of its athletes. Columbus High School softball coach Eric Thornton praised the league’s incremental mea-sures: On March 16, the MH-SAA paused competition for two weeks, and Reeves’ order March 20 that schools would be closed through April 17 extended the suspension. Thornton said the MHSAA had a plan in place if schools restarted this coming Mon-day and another for a May 4 resumption.

Ultimately, the contin-gencies weren’t needed, but Thornton said he is “really proud of how they’ve handled all of it.”

He’s still aware of the unfortunate circumstances

SECTION

BSPORTS LINE662-241-5000Sports

THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020

Reeves

Bibby

HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

MHSAA OFFICIALLY CANCELS SPRING SPORTS

Jason Clark/EMCC AthleticsEMCC sophomore guard Donte Powers drives to the basket for the Lions. Powers, a Starkville High School graduate, signed with Sam Houston State on Wednesday.

EMCC guard Donte Powers signs to play basketball at Sam Houston StateBY THEO DEROSAtderosa@cdispatch.com

East Mississippi Community Col-lege men’s basketball coach Billy Begley has seen Donte Powers grow more in two years than any other player Begley has coached in Scoo-ba.

The Starkville High School prod-uct came to EMCC in July 2018 standing 6-foot-2 and weighing just 160 pounds. During his freshman season, he averaged 5.5 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.

But by his sophomore season, Powers had gained 15 points, had improved his scoring mark to 13.2 points per contest and had become the Lions’ leader in a 16-9 season.

“I put in the work,” Powers said.On Wednesday, that work was re-

warded when Powers signed to play basketball for NCAA Division I pro-gram Sam Houston State.

“It wasn’t a surprise to me that I was going D-I because it’s what I

worked for,” Powers said.Powers, who said he saw improve-

ment in his scoring ability and his feel for the game in his two seasons with the Lions, said the best part of his game is his ability to create off the dribble. But both he and Begley pointed out Powers’ skill on the oth-er end of the floor as well.

“He can really defend the ball,” Begley said. “He’s gonna really take pride defensively.”

The coach also noted that Pow-ers is adept at making the extra pass, getting in the lane and knock-ing down shots. Couple that with a well-developed work ethic, and the Bearkats will get a solid player to add to their roster.

“He’s consistent with his effort every day,” Begley said of Powers. “You know what you’re gonna get.”

What Sam Houston State will get is a player who Begley said has been somewhat “overlooked” through his career in high school and college. Powers felt the same, but for him, it

was just “fuel to the fire.”“It made me want to work even

harder in my craft,” Powers said.So he did, working to earn sever-

al Division I offers -- exactly what he planned on when he picked EMCC out of high school.

“JUCO really developed my game,” Powers said. “I’m really glad I went JUCO.”

On Wednesday, he officially chose Sam Houston State over Ar-kansas-Pine Bluff and Texas State. The Bearkats have what Powers called a “gritty” style of play, and Powers said he’s a gritty person and player by nature. Thus the match was made.

Powers will join former New Hope High School standout Terry-onte Thomas in Huntsville, Texas, after the two played together with the Lions last season.

“He taught me a lot,” Powers said. “I’m looking forward to getting better with him and hopefully win-ning a championship.”

See SPORTS, 2B

MSU’s Bibby transferring to Maryland

College commissioners tell Pence no football before campuses openTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The commissioners of the nation’s major college football conferences held a 30-minute conference call Wednesday with Vice President Mike Pence and stressed that college sports cannot return from the coronavirus shutdown until campuses have reopened.

The 10 commission-ers, along with the ath-letic director of Notre Dame, comprise the Col-lege Football Playoff man-agement committee.

“We were able to talk

about the differences be-tween us and professional sports,” American Athlet-ic Conference Commis-sioner Mike Aresco said. “We talked about how ac-ademics and college ath-letics were inseparable.”

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said Pence asked good questions and was “hopeful and op-timistic” about the fight against the coronavirus. The pandemic has shut down all major sporting events since mid-March and forced colleges to close campuses and move

See COLLEGE, 2B

2020 Spring records for local teamsn Starkville softball: 2-0n New Hope softball: 8-2n Columbus softball: 4-1n Caledonia softball: 6-2n Caledonia baseball: 9-4n Starkville baseball: 8-4n New Hope baseball: 5-3n West Point softball: 0-0n West Lowndes baseball: 0-0n West Point baseball: 2-7n West Lowndes softball: 0-2n Noxubee County softball: 0-2n Noxubee County baseball: 0-3n Columbus baseball: 0-7

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com2B THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020

classes online.The White House has

said it is important to re-open the U.S. economy, though the details on how that will happen will be complicated and like-ly involve local, state and federal guidelines on safety. President Donald Trump has also been en-gaged with profession-al sports leagues with the multibillion-dollar sports industry on hold.

The college football season is scheduled to begin Labor Day week-end, but many questions remain to be answered for a sport that is the life-

blood for many athletic departments.

“(We) made the point we were concerned and wanted to get back to having kids attending college and opening up our colleges and univer-sities,” Bowlsby said. “That until that hap-pened we weren’t going to be having any sports.”

The commissioners would like major college football to start at the same time all over the country, which could be difficult depending on how the pandemic fades.

“We talked a little about whether there

would be a national pol-icy because, obviously, if governors have different policies you’re going to have some issues,” Ares-co said. “If California isn’t allowing football and Ohio is that’s going to be issue for what is obviously a national en-terprise.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United State’s top in-fectious disease expert, said in a Snapchat inter-view it is unlikely sport-ing events can happen this summer with large crowds in attendance.

Bowlsby said another call with the vice presi-

dent was likely in about a month.

College Football Play-off executive director Bill Hancock, who was also on the call, said the Jan. 1 semifinals in New Orleans and Pasadena, California, and the Jan. 11 championship game in Miami are still on.

“I was glad to know that the vice president understands how im-portant college football is,” Hancock said.

The size of the sea-son is daunting, with more than 1,500 reg-ular-season games for 130 schools in the Bowl

Subdivision alone, the NCAA’s highest level of football. Each team plays 12 regular-season games and each confer-ence plays a lucrative championship game.

Division I colleges, including about 120 that either play in football’s second-tier or not at all, have already taken a fi-nancial hit with the can-cellation of the NCAA men’s basketball tour-nament in March. Some $375 million will not be distributed to them this year.

Not playing a football season could be even

more costly. That would put television contracts that pay out hundreds of millions to the so-called Power Five conferences at risk. The other five FBS conferences make far less from TV rights, but their schools still rely heavily on football revenue.

The College Football Playoff, including the major bowl games known as the New Year’s Six pay out about $674 mil-lion per season. Most of that gets paid to confer-ences and passed along to member schools.

CollegeContinued from Page 1B

for his team, of course. Columbus was 4-1 be-fore play was suspend-ed, and Thornton said the Falcons were better set up than they had been in the past five or six years. After a move down to Class 5A competition, the coach thought his team had a shot.

“We did feel like we had a chance to com-pete and get in the play-offs,” Thornton said.

So did Honeycutt, whose Caledonia team was 8 -3 and unaware of

what was to come when the ’Feds traveled to Gordo (Alabama) for a March 12 game.

During the contest, which Caledonia lost 8 -0, the visitors’ dugout grew loud with chat-ter and thick with ten-sion. After the game, coach Travis Garner addressed his team about the possible con-sequences of the virus’s outbreak.

“‘This pandemic is getting real,’” Honey-cutt thought to himself.

Around the same

time that day, after the West Point baseball team suffered a 2-1 walk-off loss to Water Valley at the Northeast Mississippi Community College Classic in Boon-eville, Green Wave se-nior Baker Watson had to come to grips with the same realization.

“I was really hoping that that wouldn’t be our last game,” he told The Dispatch.

Before Reeves’ state-ment Tuesday, Watson and his mother Stepha-ny struck up a conversa-

tion about the possible implications of the vi-rus. When Stephany, a chemistry and physics teacher at her son’s high school, admitted that a return to in-person classes was improbable, Baker had one question: Was his final baseball season about to be over?

“‘Most likely,’” his mother told him.

Baker said that while Wednesday’s official announcement from the MHSAA was no sur-prise, “(i)t was kind of sad that the senior sea-

son got cut short.”Neither he nor Hon-

eycutt has been able to earn a college scholar-ship to play baseball, and both are well aware that will be even harder now. Watson said he’s signing up for as many recruiting showcases and tryouts as he can, but Honeycutt has had to come to terms with the fact that he’s played his last competitive baseball game. He’ll head to Itawamba Com-munity College in the fall, not 100 percent

sure of what major he’ll pursue.

And despite the ear-ly end to their f inal year, Honeycutt and his teammates are staying positive. A fter Reeves’ press conference, the ’Feds’ 12th graders comforted each other in their senior class group chat. Honeycutt, disap -pointed but remaining optimistic, broke the news to his father.

“‘It ’s been fun,’” Honeycutt told him. “‘I don’t regret anything that ever happened.’”

SportsContinued from Page 1B

Little League World Series faces 0-2 count amid coronavirusTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Put them in, coach. The boys and girls of summer are ready to play.

But Little League, like most of the sports world, has been benched. Youth baseball fields sit empty, and parents mourn the loss of spring ball, yearn-ing for the days when the best way to f latten the curve was with a line drive up the middle.

The youth baseball program that boasts more than 2.5 million kids spread over 6,500 programs in 84 coun-tries is on hold at least until May 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Even that target date seems optimistic, and the fate of its signature event, the Little League World Series in August in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania is unclear.

“If we were going to play the world se-ries, traditionally like we have done for many, many years, we need to be playing and picking teams by the middle of June,” said Little League President Stephen Keen-er, who has yet to set a drop-dead date for a

tournament decision.Keener has been the

Little League CEO since 1996 and spent almost 40 years in the organiza-tion, but trying to figure out the dynamics of a re-scheduled tournament is more complex than the infield f ly rule.

At best, Little League would have to loosen some of its rules on qual-ifying - - such as mini-mum number of games - - for teams to participate. Postponement to even a fall date is a thorny issue because anything be-yond August would dis-rupt the school year.

“If we were to do it in the fall, pretty much ev-ery team that would be here would have to be uprooted from school,” Keener said. “I’m not so sure that it would be in the best interest of a child’s education, after having missed proba-bly a couple of months school already, to take them out of school in the fall to come play in a baseball tournament. That, to me, would be quite unimportant.”

And there’s this: It is a World Series, emphasis on world. The 2019 inter-national bracket features

teams from Curaçao, Ja-pan, Mexico, Australia and Italy. There are trav-el restrictions guidelines because of the global pandemic that could make it impossible for some teams to partici-pate.

“Ultimately, we’ll have to go country by country,” Keener said.

The Associated Press is looking at the impact of the cancellation or postponement of some of the iconic sporting events due to the coro-navirus pandemic is hav-ing on cities and com-munities. If the LLWS is canceled, the hardest hit town would surely be Williamsport, a city of about 29,000 that is the heartbeat of Lycoming County, and synony-mous with Little League since 1947.

“This is who we are. This is what we’re known for,” said Jason Fink, the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce president. “It ’s more than just baseball.”

The World Series is scheduled to run Aug. 20 to Aug. 30, and any kind of cancellation would crush the hospitality in-dustry. Hotels would not

have the packed floors of families, fans and ball-players that send busi-ness booming for two weeks every August.

Nilesh Patel, the general manager of the Red Roof Inn across the street from the complex, said 30 to 40 percent of its business is generated during the World Series.

“It ’s a hot time for all business people, not only us,” Patel said.

Patel said the mo-tel’s 100 rooms are sold out for two weeks - go-ing for $199 to $259 per night - and families from South Korean and Chi-nese teams usually book rooms at checkout for the next year.

Now, Patel lament-ed, “people are afraid of traveling,” leaving the vacancy light on these days, though no one has canceled yet for August because the series is still on the calendar.

The Major League Baseball Little League Classic was added in 2016 and the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles are still set to play Aug. 23 at Bowman Field, the home of the Phillies’ Class-A team.

Fink said the econom-

ic impact of the LLWS on the region is “well over $30 million” and there is no event that could raise even a fraction of the po-tential lost revenue.

There’s also the expo-sure that comes with a television contract with ABC/ESPN that earns the organization more than $9 million per year through 2022. The 2019 championship game got 3.02 million viewers on ABC.

But if the event is canceled this year, Fink said the city will bounce back.

“If for some reason we do not have it this year, next year it will be big-ger, it will be better,” he said.

The Little League World Series turns 75 next year, and the quaint traditions of the event such as pin trading are cardboard box sled rides down the hill behind Howard J. Lamade Sta-dium are sure to return once its safe.

Without a tourna-ment, there would be no feel-good stories like the one Alex Rice enjoyed.

He was the coach of the Taney Dragons and then 13-year-old Mo’ne

Davis, the 2014 Associat-ed Press Female Athlete of the Year who became an instant celebrity and the first girl to win a Lit-tle League World Series game.

“The first night game, with I think 35,000 peo-ple, and about 95% Phil-adelphia folks, that was really terrific,” Rice said. “... But kind of like we are now, we were se-questered in our little dorms. The kids were are on social media and everything but you real-ly have a good sense of what was going on with how excited the city was getting.”

Amid the hoopla, Rice didn’t feel the Dragons got a chance to really live the full World Series experience so he took the majority of the team back in 2015 as regular kids.

“We did the pin trad-ing. We did the card-board down the hill,” Rice said. “We kind of relaxed on the hill and enjoyed it.”

Once it ’s safe for play to resume, so should the memorable times at Wil-liamsport.

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020 3B

Comics & PuzzlesDear AbbyDILBERT

ZITS

GARFIELD

CANDORVILLE

BABY BLUES

BEETLE BAILEY

MALLARD FILLMORE

HoroscopesTODAY’S BIRTHDAY (April

16). Your cosmic birthday present is the power to create yourself, which you’ll do in affirmations, actions, prayers, exercises, work and reflection. It’s your own innermost feelings that will have the greatest bearing on who you become and what happens next. Practice self-love and faith in all you have to offer. Your Leo and Scorpio adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 8, 1, 44, 37 and 11.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). You may not do what you set out to do, but that is hardly the point. The more you try and accomplish, the better your skills get. Soon your ability will

be so sharp that all connected work will be done in a fraction of the time.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Gravity is invisible, though the proof of gravity is rather obvious to see. Love is the same way. Today, you’ll witness the effects of love and feel its force on a visceral level.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You are coming back to a part of yourself that has been long abroad. It’s not that you outgrew or rejected this aspect of you, but you have not been able to prioritize it. That will change.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Privacy is sacred. Your story is yours to impart or not. Keeping

things on a need-to-know basis can be as much about self-re-spect and love as it is about image control.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Consider what it means to feel trapped. If a person believes there is a lack of options, it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not; limits are in place. Ask the question and repeat: What is really true here?

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Problems just get knottier when left to nature. The thinking — or more likely the unthinking — that created a tangle cannot also unravel it. You’ll employ your higher mind.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You don’t think it’s anyone’s job to be on your side, and that’s what makes for the sweet mo-ment when you notice that it’s happening quite naturally. Your team is emerging.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You are enacting patterns that served another situation and no longer apply to the current one. There’s nothing to work on here. As you get used to the way things are now, the unnecessary things will fall away naturally.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). The historic cases of subjects falling in love with their biographers are numerous — a natural progression, as there is nothing more seductive than interest. Use the concept to your advantage.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). To be true to yourself creates a power that the world will organize itself around. It will be well worth the courage you have to muster in order to make this happen.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Places aren’t perfect because people aren’t perfect. Wherever they go, they are there inside an imperfect vessel. While it’s futile to look for the ideal spot, today you’ll find one that’s much better than the last.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). On the one hand, you feel you shouldn’t have to perform for people. On the other, every-one does. People need their roles, and they also need to trust that others will play theirs, too. It’s making the world go around today.

SOLUTION:Tit for tat

FAMILY CIRCUS

DEAR ABBY: I’m in my mid-40s, and

a LOT of my female friends are involved in multilevel mar-keting companies. Whether it be for eyelashes, sup-plements, jewelry, antiaging products, candles, leggings, etc., I receive nonstop “invita-tions” to buy their products.

I’m old enough to know from expe-rience that most of the products are rubbish, and many times way overpriced. I’m simply not interested. How do I politely (yet firmly) decline the invitations that come my way without hurting their feelings? — MULTILEVEL MARKETING HATER

DEAR MULTILEVEL MARKET-ING: It’s time you recognize the difference between a friendship and a marketing ploy. If you are invited to something, feel free to ask whether there will be any selling and, if there will be, decline. To do so is not being rude or hurtful. Women who are really your friends will continue to be, and those who aren’t will disappear.

DEAR ABBY: My mom and stepdad occasionally watch my children to help us out or to spend time with them. I just found out that Mom will not put

my 8-month-old into a crib or Pack ‘n Play to sleep. She puts her into bed along with my 4-year-old son. I have asked my mother repeatedly not to do that, not only for safety, but so everyone can sleep. She refuses. She says I should trust them, and they should be allowed to do

whatever they want when the kids are with them. Please tell me what to do. — FRUSTRATED DAUGHTER

DEAR FRUSTRATED: Why you should trust someone who deliberately ignores your wishes is beyond me. Let me tell you what NOT to do. Do not allow your children to stay with your mother under these circum-stances. Sometimes Mama does NOT know best, and this is one of them. If you prefer your children not share the same bed, your wishes should be respected.

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend and I live quite far from town and spend a lot of time in the car — usually his. He bought some air fresheners for his car, which made me nauseated and gave me headaches. I asked him to please remove them, but

he refused because he doesn’t want to waste the $2.50. He said he likes the smell.

Abby, we have two other vehicles we can take. I felt it was such a small thing he could do to make me feel better. He doesn’t agree. What is your opinion on the matter? — STUNK UP IN FLORIDA

DEAR STUNK: You may be allergic to something in that air freshener, which is why you got the headache and became nau-seated. Asking your boyfriend to remove it was a small thing -- not like asking him to remove a limb. If he were less self-cen-tered and more considerate, he would have accommodated you.

In my opinion, you should take one of the other cars when you drive together.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

For an excellent guide to becoming a better conversa-tionalist and a more sociable person, order “How to Be Popular.” Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $8 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Popularity Book-let, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

Dear Abby

Column: When sports returns, a chance to move past greedTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Golfers on the Euro-pean Tour received news this week that didn’t ex-actly paint a rosy picture of what things might look like when the coronavirus crisis subsides and play re-sumes.

There will almost sure-ly be less money to play for, which by itself was bad enough. Euro Tour CEO Keith Pelley told players he expects reductions in purs-es because sponsorships and television money will be down.

But no espresso in the player’s lounge? No free courtesy cars to get around?

Possibly no fans, either, but that increasingly looks like the reality for most

sports, at least for the re-mainder of this year.

A different era in sports is coming, thanks to the ravages of the new coro-navirus. And it’s not only golfers who will be feeling the fallout for some time to come.

Around the world, sports officials are scram-bling to figure out a future that is suddenly uncertain. And just what that future might be is now beginning to come into a little focus.

In golf it likely means fewer tournaments, fewer perks and, yes, less mon-ey. While the PGA Tour has yet to weigh in, Pel-ley made it clear what the sport is facing in the places it plays around the world.

“The reality is, the pan-demic is going to have a

profound impact on the tour financially, as well as many of our partners, both in sponsorship and broad-cast areas,” Pelley said.

There will be changes in other sports, too. Money that has fueled exorbitant profits — and exorbitant salaries — for most of the current century won’t be as easy to find as businesses and entire industries try to recover from the economic shock of the coronavirus shutdown.

The old guarantees are simply not there anymore. The financial model for sports may not be broken, but it’s certainly going to suffer from a million cracks.

That’s a big reason why the XFL folded its tent rath-er than try to resume what

had been a promising first season. It’s the same rea-son colleges around the country are beginning to make moves as they try to figure out what football and basketball will look like when sports resume.

Already, the University of Cincinnati has slashed soccer, a sport on campus for nearly a half century. Salaries at Iowa State have been trimmed, and Lou-isville basketball coach Chris Mack had $400,000 lopped off his $4 million annual pay.

Meanwhile, Major League Baseball is cutting the salary of senior staff by an average of 35% for this year as it becomes increas-ingly clear any season that might be played — if it is played — will be shorter

than anyone wants. MLB had already made a deal with the players’ union to advance $170 million to players in salary for the first 60 days of the season in exchange for players giving up the remainder of their roughly $4 billion in salary if no games are played.

Revenues are going to be down across the board in all sports. There’s no way around it because even if games resume, fans will be slow to return and adjustments will have to be made to lure them back.

That might not be such a bad thing for fans who have to pay $50 to park and $16 for a decent beer after already digging deep to buy tickets for the family. That’s especially true now,

with millions of fans out of work and others living pay-check to paycheck, with no money in the budget to go to a ballgame when they resume.

It will be a bad thing for players, who might be shocked to find out that in the real world, salaries can go down just as they once used to always go up.

It’s already an issue in England, where players in the Premier League are digging their cleats in and refusing to accept pay cuts. That drew a re-sponse from a Conserva-tive Party lawmaker who contrasted player pay to that of health care work-ers and said they needed to have their salaries cut as part of sacrifices being made across the nation.

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com4B THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020 5B

COLUMBUS

STARKVILLE

CHEVRON488 US-45 S & Frontage Rd.1.65

LOCAL GAS PRICESSource: gasbuddy.com

SPIRIT1450 Jess Lyons & Ridge Rd.1.67SPRINT3115 US 45 N & Holly Hills Rd.1.67

STRANGE BREW605 MS 12 W1.49WALMART105 Market St.1.52MURPHY USA1012 MS-121.52

BY KEN SWEET AP Business Writer

NEW YORK — The major banks in the U.S. are anticipating a flood of loan defaults as house-holds and business cus-tomers take a big financial hit from the coronavirus pandemic.

JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs raised the funds set

aside for bad loans by near-ly $20 billion combined in the first quarter, earnings reports released over the past two days show. And Wall Street expects that figure may go even higher next quarter, a possibility bank executives acknowl-edged on earnings confer-ence calls.

Bank of America and Citigroup said Wednes-day that their profits sank

more than 40 percent in the first quarter as both set aside billions for po-tentially bad loans. A day earlier, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo reported even steeper drops in prof-it as those banks also set aside large sums to cover loan losses.

Even the investment banks were not immune to the pandemic. Goldman Sachs’ first-quarter prof-

it dropped by 46 percent from a year earlier, due to significant losses on its own investments as well as a buildup in reserves for potential loan defaults.

The coronavirus out-break has bought the U.S. economy to a virtual standstill in just weeks. Most economists — and bank CEOs — expect the U.S. to go through a de-pression.

Banks brace for big loan defaults by US, global customers

Factory shutdowns near WWII demobilization levelsTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — American industry col-lapsed in March as the pandemic wreaked havoc on the U.S. economy. Manufacturing and overall industrial production posted the biggest declines since the United States demobilized after World War II.

The Federal Reserve reported Wednesday that manufacturing output dropped 6.3 percent last month, led by plunging production at auto factories that have entirely shut down. Overall, industrial production, which includes factories, utilities and mines, plummeted 5.4 percent. The declines were the biggest since 1946 and far worse than what economists had expected.

Production of autos and auto parts went into freefall, dropping 28 percent.

The lockdowns and travel restrictions imposed to combat COVID-19 have brought economic ac-tivity to a near-standstill. Output dropped 3.9 per-cent at utilities and 2 percent at mines as oil and gas drilling plunged, the Fed said.

Factories were running at 70.2 percent of ca-pacity last month, down from 75.1 percent in Feb-ruary and lowest since 2010 when the U.S. econo-my was still recovering from the 2007-2009 Great Recession.

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON — The wave of lay-offs that has engulfed the U.S. economy since the coronavirus struck forced 5.2 million more people to seek unemploy-ment benefits last week, the government reported Thursday.

Roughly 22 million have now sought jobless benefits in the past month — eas-ily the worst stretch of U.S. job losses on record. It means that roughly one in seven workers have lost their jobs in that time.

The grim figures point to an economy

that is tumbling into what appears to be a calamitous recession, the worst in de-cades. The nation’s output could shrink by roughly 10.5 percent before it starts to rebound, according to Ryan Sweet, an economist at Moody’s Analytics. That would be more than double the contrac-tion that occurred during the 2008-2009 recession, which was the worst down-turn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

All businesses deemed nonessential have been closed in nearly every state. Deep job losses have been inflicted across nearly every industry.

Record 22 million have sought US jobless aid since virus

Get promoted? Win an award? Send us your business brief.news@cdispatch.com subject: Business brief

LOCAL BUSINESS VOICES

BY THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE DEVELOPMENT LINK

The COVID-19 crisis has left many in our community without all or some of their

source of income. Federal relief pro-grams under the CARES Act will provide support to individuals and businesses, but these programs are still being delivered and, in some cases, details worked out.

Stimulus checks began roll-ing out this week, but many will continue to wait for help. Yesterday, Governor Tate Reeves announced two programs to provide additional assistance to those in need.

Mississippi Home Help is a program that will allow funds to be distributed to individuals to assist with their mortgages. Homeowners can apply online at mshomesaver.com to submit a request. This pro-gram can provide up to six months of mortgage assistance.

The MS Department of Human Services and the MS Department of Health rolled out the MS Childcare Crisis Assistance in Isolation Re-sponse Plan. Emergency childcare centers will be opening around the state for essential workers if their traditional childcare operators are not open. Emergency assistance to pay for childcare through this program is available through the state. Details of this program can be found at mdhs.ms.gov/ccair.

UnemploymentIf you have not already, now is

the time to apply for unemploy-ment benefits. If you haven’t been able to get through, keep trying.

We’ve been communicating with our partners in Jackson to try and implement strategies to reduce the bottleneck and get individuals processed quickly. We’ve heard stories of people submitting their applications online in the early morning hours, getting multiple people to attempt to call the ho-tline, coworkers helping each other walk through the online applica-tion, and other strategies to get it. Keep trying.

Individuals may qualify for benefits if:

■ you have been laid off or your employer has shut down due to COVID-19

■ your hours have been reduced as part of the COVID-19 pandem-ic; you may be eligible for partial unemployment.

■ you have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, or have been quarantined by a medical pro-fessional or government agency because of contact with COVID-19

■ are caring for an immediate family member who is diagnosed with COVID-19

It is important to file your unem-ployment claim as soon as possible. The weekly waiting period has

been waived, and benefits can be delivered to you as quickly as they are processed, often within 7 days.

If you do not qualify for un-employment, you still qualify for assistance under the CARES Act.

Assistance for filing for unem-ployment can be accessed anytime via phone at 888-844-3577 or visiting mdes.ms.gov/unemploy-ment-claims/. These claims can be filled out online on a phone, tablet or computer.

Locally, the following offices are available by phone or email to individuals looking for assistance:

Mayhew Job CenterAmoryJobCenter@mdes.ms.gov662-243-1797 or 662-243-1801

West Point Job CenterAmoryJobCenter@mdes.ms.gov662-243-2647 or 662-243-1802

These offices are not open to the public currently and are follow-ing shelter in place guidelines.

Remember, following the economic recession in 2008, the Golden Triangle saw one of the most significant periods of new job growth and wealth creation in the region’s history. This isn’t our first rodeo. We are going to recover and get back to work as soon as we can.

Take care and continue to shel-ter in place.

Help when you need it

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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.

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Houses For Rent: Other

HOUSE NEAR MUW W/

APARTMENT. 323 13th St.N. 3 Blks from MUW. LR,DR, 2/3BR−3BA, lg den w/fire place, kitchen, laundry,outside fenced patio,screened side porch &work room & ATTACHEDAPARTMENT: 1BR/1BA,living room/kitchenettearea. NO HUD. Ref req.Dep req. $1075/mo.662−386−7506.

Mobile Homes for Rent

RENT A CAMPER!

CHEAPER THAN A MOTEL!

Utilities & cable included,from $145/wk − $535/moColumbus & County Schoollocations. 662−242−7653

or 205−442−2011.

RV/MOBILE HOME SITE

East or West Columbus ornear CAFB, Caledoniaschools. 601−940−1397.

Office Spaces For Rent

OFFICE SPACE FOR

LEASE. 1112 Main St.,Ste. 5. 3700 sq. ft.Plenty of private parking.662−327−9559.

real eStateaDS Starting at $25

Houses For Sale: East

2BR/1BA @ 1521

Shepherd Rd.

Sold as is, needs work.Serious inquiries only,

769−274−4110.

Houses For Sale: East

BARGAIN: 2BR/2BA inColumbus. LR, DR/KIT &step down den. Large lot.Needs work but is livable.Price reduced. Must sell.$9500. 662−574−2617.

Houses For Sale: New Hope

16 WIDNER IN NEW HOPE

Newly remodeled. 3BR/2BA home. Approx. 1,500sq. ft. Has 25’x30’ wiredmetal shop w/ roll−up front& side door. $154,500.662−549−9298.

Lots & Acreage

1.75 ACRE LOTS.

Good/Bad Credit Options.Good credit as low as 10%down, $299/mo. EatonLand, 662−361−7711.

merchanDiSeaDS Starting at $12

Farm Equipment & Supplies

JOHN DEERE MODEL M

TRACTOR. A set of one rowcultivators w/ hydraulic lift,has been repainted, looksgood & runs good, $3500.Call 662−436−2037.

Furniture

FURNITURE. Micro fabricsofa. $150. Two like new

recliners. $150 ea.Price negotiable.

Call 662−523−8662.

LIVING ROOM SET

Loveseat & chaise for sale.NEW!! $300.662−242−2884. Leave amessage.

General Merchandise

WANTED FREON R12.

We pay CA$H.R12 R500 R11.Convenient.

Certified professionals.312−291−9169

RefrigerantFinders.com/ad

General Merchandise

WHITE POSTER

BOARDS.

24"x23"$0.50 each100 in stock

Visit 516 Main Streetor call 662−328−2424

vehicleSaDS Starting at $12

Campers & RVs

2012 JAYCO EAGLE 5thWHEEL, 39ft, 4 slide−outs.2BR, 48" TV & 27" TV.$26,500. 662−386−9605.

Motorcycles & ATVs

1993 KAWASAKI

VOYAGER XII Only 25,500miles. Runs & looks good.No problems. $3000 OBO.

Can be seen local.501−545−7750.

2 RACING GO KARTS,

extra tires & gears,$2,500. Call between8a−7p, 662−328−0028.

communityaDS Starting at $12

Travel & Entertainment

PUBLIC CATFISH POND

@ 130 Hillcrest Drive.Open Tues−Sat, 7a−5pAppointment Only, call

662−386−8591

You’ll find the best dealswhen you advertise

and shop here!

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