WEATHER

141st Year, No. 32

Jacqueline BaumbachFifth grade, Annunciation

High 77 Low 51Partly sunny

Full forecast on page 3A.

FIVE QUESTIONS1 What “Born in the U.S.A.” rocker published a kids’ book about a bank-robbing baby in 2014?2 For decades, what birds returned every year on March 19 to Mission San Juan Capistrano in California from their winter home in Argentina?3 What company boasts a distinctive green croc-odile logo that proudly appears on its clothing?4 What is traditionally hidden in a Mardi Gras king cake — a hot pepper, a tiny plastic baby doll, or a small crown?5 What puppet and Conan O’Brien guest often visits events like the MTV Video Music Awards and Republican National Convention?

Answers, 6B

INSIDEClassifieds 6BComics 3BCrossword 2BDear Abby 3B

Obituaries 5AOpinions 4AReligion 5B

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LOCAL FOLKS

Sylvester Jones, of Starkville, loves playing football.

PUBLIC MEETINGSApril 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 CenterMay 15: Lown-des County Board of Supervisors, 9 a.m., County Courthouse

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.

DISPATCH STAFF REPORT

The Lowndes and Oktib-beha county coroners con-firmed three deaths from the COVID-19 coronavirus Thurs-day, bringing the death toll in the Golden Triangle up to four.

A man at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle died of COVID-19 Thursday morn-

ing, marking Lowndes Coun-ty’s first death from the virus. Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant did not identify the individual but said he was an “elderly” man. He did not imme-diately release further details.

Oktibbeha County Coro-ner Michael Hunt confirmed Thursday afternoon that two men at OCH Regional Medical

Center were the second and third COVID-19 deaths in the county.

One man, age 62, died Wednesday night and had come to OCH from a long-term care facility, Hunt said. The second man was 63 years old and died Thursday morning.

Both men had underlying medical conditions. Hunt did

not immediately release further details about either patient.

An 89-year-old woman died at OCH on April 5 and was the first COVID-19 death in both Oktibbeha County and the Golden Triangle.

Gov. Tate Reeves announced in a Facebook Live broadcast this morning he had extended the state’s shelter in place order until April 27.

“I have to extend the shel-

ter in place order for seven more days, while taking some new steps to help Mississippi-ans mentally and financially,” Reeves said. “We are easing the brakes on ‘non-essential’ busi-nesses. I wanted to announce that we can all ease up and re-open today, but we can’t. We are still in the eye of the storm.”

The briefing was ongoing at press time.

3 new COVID-19 deaths in Golden TriangleGov. Reeves extends shelter in place order until April 27

Supes add $92K to budget for LCSO, delay action on storm sheltersSheriff’s office to get new uniforms, bulletproof vestsBY YUE STELLA YUsyu@cdispatch.com

Lowndes supervi-sors on Wednesday added $92,000 to the Lowndes Coun-ty Sheriff’s Office budget, including $65,000 for new uni-forms and $27,000 to match a federal grant to buy bulletproof vests.

The board voted Wednesday to amend the budget to cover the new costs. New uniforms for all LCSO employees will total about $85,000, said Sheriff Eddie Hawkins, but the department has $20,000 in its budget for uniform purchases.

Some employees will have three sets of everyday uniforms where-as others will receive class-A uni-forms, which are for occasions such as court appearances, Haw-kins told The Dispatch. Currently, employees wear clothes of different colors to work, he said.

“The problem that I have right now about uniforms is there’s noth-ing uniform about it,” Hawkins said during the meeting. “What I’m try-ing to do is to build morale and a more professional department.”

Supervisors also made budget

BY YUE STELLA YUsyu@cdispatch.com

Customers walked around her, coughing.

Rubbing alcohol and gloves were in short supply. The masks she wore, she made herself. Some of her coworkers, scared, had stopped coming to work. But not her.

Beyond five sick days a year, she said, “everything is up in the air” as far as paid leave if she becomes ill with COVID-19.

Deemed essential, however, the retail store worker — who request-ed anonymity out of fear of losing her job — has to help make ends meet for her family of three, even when that means she needs to gam-ble with her health during a pan-demic that has killed tens of thou-sands nationwide.

“Basically, either you work or you could lose your job,” she told The Dispatch. “So I feel like I have to go. … I’m scared every day.”

She is one of many black Mis-sissippians who must work front-line jobs to make a living amid the coronavirus outbreak. In the store where she works, she said, all of her coworkers are black.

The prevalence of contact-inten-sive work among black Americans helped lead to a disproportionately heavy impact the pandemic has on the state’s black communities, said

experts and community leaders. State-level statistics show black Mississippians account for a higher rate of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths compared to whites.

A combination of factors appears to contribute to those numbers — economic disadvantage, mistrust of institutions, a higher rate of under-lying health conditions and limited access to health care.

‘Whopping, lopsided mortality’As of Wednesday evening, Af-

rican Americans made up 56 per-

cent of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state and 66 percent of the state’s COVID-19 deaths, data from the Mississippi State Department of Health shows.

But the ethnic group accounts for only 38 percent of Mississippi’s population, according to the latest estimate from the U.S. Census Bu-reau. In Columbus, they accounted for 63.5 percent of the city’s popula-tion in 2018.

“It’s been a whopping, lopsided mortality when we look at Afri-

African Americans in Mississippi disproportionately affected by COVID-19

Dispatch file photo

Area municipal util-ities are grappling

with mounting delin-quent bills during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At Columbus Light and Water, General Man-ager Todd Gale said

about 1,000 customers are behind. While the

state’s shelter in place order persists, those

customers are protect-ed from disconnection. Gale said once that or-der is lifted, customers could set up 12-month

payment plans to catch up on their bills.

BY THEO DEROSAtderosa@cdispatch.com

Columbus Light and Water leaders al-ready are forming plans to return to nor-mal after the COVID-19 pandemic.

During Thursday’s virtual board of di-rectors meeting, General Manager Todd Gale addressed the idea of arrangements

for individual customers who could suffer discon-nection due to delinquent payments. Currently, 8 percent — more than 1,000 customers — are at risk of being disconnected.

While that order is in place, CLW and other util-ities across the state are not disconnect-ing utilities for lack of payment, but the bills are racking up.

Gale described a plan — which, he told

CLW deals with mounting delinquenciesMunicipal utilities looking at plans for ‘returning to normal’ after pandemic

COVID-19 Deaths by Race through

April 15 in Mississippi

Black or African American

66 percent

As of Wednesday evening, African Americans accounted for 56 percent of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state and 66 percent of the state’s COVID-19 deaths, state data shows. The ethnic group only accounts for 38 percent of the state’s population, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. — Information from the Mississippi Department of Health

White

34 percent

Gale

See CLW, 6A

‘It’s hard to undo decades of mistrust and concern about cost’

See AFRICAN AMERICANS, 6A

See SUPES, 3A

Hawkins

See COVID-19, 3A

INSIDE■ OUR VIEW: We know blacks are heavily affect-ed by COVID but why?

Page 4A

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com2A FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020

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AREA OBITUARIESCOMMERCIAL DISPATCH OBITUARY POLICYObituaries with basic informa-tion including visitation and service times, are provided free of charge. Extended obituaries with a photograph, detailed biographical informa-tion and other details families may wish to include, are avail-able for a fee. Obituaries must be submitted through funeral homes unless the deceased’s body has been donated to science. If the deceased’s body was donated to science, the family must provide official proof of death. Please submit all obituaries on the form 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.

Sarah HaydenCOLUMBUS — Sar-

ah Hayden, 78, died April 8, 2020, at her residence.

A private family only graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, at Mt. Olive Baptist Church Cemetery in Millport, Alabama, with Billy Turner 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. Sarah Hayden was born June23, 1941, in Columbus, to the late Willie Hayden and Sallie Hayden. She was formerly employed in housekeeping with Holiday Inn.

In addition to her

parents, she was pre-ceded in death by her siblings, Mary Shelley, Billy Hayden, Cebell Jones, Albert Hayden, Willie G. Hayden and Harvey Hayden.

She is survived by her siblings, Magalene Hayden of Columbus and Rosie Mason of Kankakee, Illinois.

Infant Jayden MorrisCOLUMBUS —

Jayden Amir Kage Morris, 3 months, died April 10, 2020.

A graveside service will be at noon Satur-day, at Union Ceme-tery. Carter’s Funeral Service of Columbus is in charge of arrange-ments.

Infant Jayden was born Dec. 13, 2019, to Quinton Morris and Riquala Dora.

In addition to his

parents, he is survived by his sister, Sariahh Morris.

Steve CollinsJACKSON — Steve

Collins, 59, died April 8, 2020.

Funeral services will be Saturday, at West Memorial Funer-al Chapel. Burial will follow at St. Paul M.B. Church Cemetery. Vis-itation is from 4-6 p.m. today, at the funeral home. West Memo-rial Funeral Home of Starkville is in charge of arrangements.

He is survived by his wife, Milette M. Collins; children, Stephanie Collins and Courtney Collins; mother, Eliza-beth Collins; siblings, Bobby Collins, James Collins, Darlene Collins and Evelyn Collins.

See OBITUARIES, 5A

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WA S H I NG T ON — President Donald Trump has given gov-ernors a road map for recovering from the economic pain of the coronavirus pan-demic, laying out “a phased and deliber-ate approach” to restoring normal activity in places that have strong testing and are seeing a decrease in COVID-19 cases.

“We’re starting our life again,” Trump said during his daily press briefing. “We’re starting rejuvena-tion of our economy again.”

He added, “This is a gradual pro-cess.”

The new guidelines are aimed at easing restrictions in areas with

low transmission of the coronavirus, while holding the line in harder-hit locations. They make clear that the return to normalcy will be a far lon-ger process than Trump initially envisioned, with federal officials warning that some social distanc-ing measures may need to remain in place through the end of the year to prevent a new outbreak. And they largely reinforce plans already in the works by governors, who have primary responsibility for public health in their states.

“You’re going to call your own shots,” Trump told the governors Thursday afternoon in a conference call, according to an audio record-ing obtained by The Associated Press. “We’re going to be standing alongside of you.”

Places with declining infections and strong testing would begin a

three-phase gradual reopening of businesses and schools.

In phase one, for instance, the plan recommends strict social dis-tancing for all people in public. Gatherings larger than 10 people are to be avoided, and nonessential travel is discouraged.

In phase two, people are encour-aged to maximize social distancing and limit gatherings to no more than 50 people unless precautionary measures are taken. Travel could resume.

Phase three envisions a return to normalcy for most Americans, with a focus on identification and isola-tion of any new infections.

Trump said recent trends in some states were so positive that they could almost immediately begin tak-ing the steps laid out in phase one.

“They will be able to go literally tomorrow,” Trump said.

The guidelines recommend that states pass checkpoints that look at new cases, testing and surveillance data over the prior 14 days before ad-vancing from one phase to another.

Trump gives governors options on how to reopen the economyNew guidelines are aimed at easing restrictions in areas with low transmission of virus, while holding the line in harder-hit locations

BY BARBARA ORTUTAY AND AMANDA SEITZ The Associated Press

Facebook will soon let you know if you shared or interacted with dan-gerous coronavirus mis-information on the site, the latest in a string of aggressive efforts the so-cial media giant is taking to contain an outbreak of viral falsehoods.

The new notice will be sent to users who have clicked on, reacted to, or commented on posts fea-turing harmful or false

claims about COVID-19 after they have been re-moved by moderators. The alert, which will start appearing on Facebook in the coming weeks, will di-rect users to a site where the World Health Organi-zation lists and debunks virus myths and rumors.

Facebook, Google and Twitter are introducing stricter rules, altered al-gorithms and thousands of fact checks to stop the spread of bad misinfor-mation online about the virus.

Challenges remain.

Tech platforms have sent home human moderators who police the platforms, forcing them to rely on au-tomated systems to take down harmful content. They are also up against people’s mistrust of au-thoritative sources for information, such as the WHO.

“Through this crisis, one of my top priorities is making sure that you see accurate and authori-tative information across all of our apps,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook

page Thursday.The company dis-

closed Thursday that it put more than 40 million warning labels in March over videos, posts or arti-cles about the coronavirus that fact-checking organi-zations have determined are false or misleading. The number includes du-plicate claims — the la-bels were based on 4,000 fact checks.

Facebook says those warning labels have stopped 95 percent of us-ers from clicking on the false information.

Facebook to warn users who ‘liked’ coronavirus hoaxes

Trump

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The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020 3A

BY EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS The Associated Press

JACKSON — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Thursday that economic prob-lems caused by the coronavirus pandemic are “insane” as the state — like other parts of the U.S. — continues to see steep increases in the number of peo-ple filing for unemployment benefits.

Mississippi processed more than 129,500 unemployment claims between March 14 and April 11, according to numbers released Thursday by the U.S. Employment and Training Ad-ministration. Reeves has said the usual number is no more than 1,000 a week.

The Mississippi Department of Employment Security is on a seven-day-a-week schedule and has brought in extra workers to process claims, but people are still having trouble reaching the agency to apply for benefits

because of the high demand.“It’s now a 14,000 percent

increase in lost Mississippi jobs. Many more still can’t get through because of the surge,” Republican Reeves said Thurs-day on Twitter. “This is insane — the bleeding has to stop. Lives depend on this as well. Please pray for wisdom as we consider all options. Our peo-ple can’t take much more.”

Grocery stores, pharmacies and several other types of busi-nesses that are considered es-sential have remained open un-der Reeves’s order. Restaurants are allowed to offer drive-thru or carry-out services. Many businesses, including automo-tive and tire manufacturing

operations, have furloughed workers.

The state Health Depart-ment said Thursday that Mis-sissippi had at least 3,624 con-firmed cases and 129 deaths from the coronavirus as of Wednesday evening. That was an increase of 264 cases and seven deaths from the previous day. The state’s population is about 3 million.

Cases have been confirmed in at least 65 long-term care fa-cilities, such as nursing homes, the department said.

For most people, the corona-virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, espe-cially older adults and people

with existing health problems, the highly contagious virus can cause severe symptoms and be fatal.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections said Thursday that four inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus.

The first of those cases was announced earlier this week — an inmate who had been in the State Penitentiary at Parchman and died in a hospital. After his death, a test confirmed he had COVID-19. One of the other in-mates who tested positive is in Parchman. The other two are in a regional facility, but the de-partment did not disclose the location.

Reeves: Economic woes from virus are ‘insane’Mississippi processed more than 129,500 jobless claims between March 14 and April 11

Reeves

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The death toll has risen to at least 36 from the two-day outbreak of strong storms that pounded the South, as Mississippi on

Thursday reported two additional deaths.

The National Weather Service said more than 100 tornadoes struck the South on Sunday and Monday.

The acting U.S. secre-tary of homeland securi-ty, Chad Wolf, is traveling to south Mississippi on Friday to look at tornado damage in the Pine Belt region.

Forecast teams check-ing for damage found 105 storm tracks that totaled more than 770 miles in all. The worst storm was an EF-4 tornado that was on the ground for nearly 68 miles and claimed several lives in southeastern Mis-sissippi, a report showed.

Forecasters deter-

mined Alabama had the most twisters, 21 begin-ning on Easter Sunday afternoon, but no one was killed in the state. An-other 20 tornadoes were confirmed in neighboring Georgia, where eight peo-ple died.

Tornadoes reached from the west in Tex-

as, where six were con-firmed, to Maryland, where survey teams de-termined two weak twist-ers struck.

The long-range fore-cast from the Storm Pre-diction Center shows there is another risk of severe weather across the region Sunday.

Death toll rises for 2-day outbreak of storms in the SouthStorm Prediction Center: Long-range forecast shows another risk of severe weather across the region Sunday

SupesContinued from Page 1A

room for $27,000 to match a 50-50 federal grant for the bulletproof vests. Some vests the depart-ment uses are wearing out, Hawkins said.

Board of Supervisors President Harry Sanders told The Dispatch Thurs-day he thinks the money is needed to protect the safety of the county’s en-forcement officers.

“I think that’s a no-brainer that we fur-nish them with all the protective items we can to protect our police offi-cers anyway that we can,” he said.

It’s also important for the sheriff’s department to wear matching uni-forms, Sanders said.

But the supervisors were reluctant to give the greenlight to a $28,000 purchase of three storm shelters for road depart-ment employees across the county following the

Easter Sunday tornado, which swept through Mississippi and caused 12 deaths statewide. The board postponed the deci-sion until its first meeting in May.

The road department has six stations across the county, but only three are furnished with storm shelters, District 4 Su-pervisor Jeff Smith said. Workers at the other three stations in Caledo-nia, Crawford and on Jess Lyon Road, he said, do not have a place to shelter in threatening storms.

“Those (shelters) are essential for the county

workers who respond to any weather event we may have in the commu-nity,” he said.

Smith told The Dis-patch the three 8-by-12-foot shelters would each cost roughly $5,000, according to the quotes County Emergency Ser-vices Director Cindy Law-rence received from local vendors. With additional costs for installation and transportation, the pur-chase would not exceed $28,000, he said.

The money could come from amending the budget of the board or the road department, he said during the meeting.

Sanders suggested Wednesday the road de-partment could build storm shelters them-selves and therefore re-duce the cost.

“They do all kinds of constructions already,” he said.

Sanders told The Dis-patch Thursday the board will vote to buy the storm shelters at the next meet-ing if the road department cannot build them.

“If we can do it cheap-er, we’ll do it ourselves,” he said. “If we can’t do it cheaper, we’ll buy the (prefabricated shelters).”

During the meeting, the board also discussed the necessity of building storm shelters across the county for the general public, especially when there is only one such shelter in the county west of the Tombigbee River.

The Easter Sunday tor-nado, Smith said, could have ripped through Crawford where hun-dreds of mobile homes reside.

“It did turn,” Smith said. “But that could have been devastating for Lowndes County.”

Aside from the storm

shelters in the east part of the county, he said, “we are pretty much at the mercy of the Lord.”

Sanders suggested Wednesday that the board could work to set up shel-ters in every community center and volunteer fire departments across the county, which he told The Dispatch totals about 20 locations.

But, he said, the mon-ey, which he said could reach hundreds of thou-sands of dollars, would need to be budgeted and phased out in the next three or four years.

“You are talking about probably $50,000 or $60,000 per shelter,” Sanders said. “And if you are going to have 20 shel-ters … that’s $1 million.”

Sanders Smith

COVID-19Continued from Page 1A

Mississippi State De-partment of Health report-ed on its website Thurs-day morning that there have been 129 deaths from the virus statewide. However, those numbers

are only through Wednes-day night and did not in-clude the Lowndes Coun-ty or Oktibbeha County deaths.

MSDH reported there are at least 3,624 con-

firmed COVID-19 cases in Mississippi, including 42 in Oktibbeha County, 30 in Lowndes County, 21 in Clay County and 18 in Noxubee County.

Nationwide, there

have been more than 600,000 confirmed cases and nearly 30,000 deaths from the virus.

4A FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 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

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS

OUR VIEW

We know blacks are heavily affected by COVID but why?What?” is almost al-

ways followed by another question:

“Why?”Once we are made aware of

something — the what — we want to understand it — the why.

The more significant the what, the more urgent the need to know the why. And when that answer is slow in coming, speculation often rushes in to fill the void.

Last week, data from COVID-19 testing revealed black Mississippians are disproportionately impacted by the virus both in terms of con-tracting the virus and dying from it as well.

According to the Mississip-

pi State Department of Health, there were 3,624 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 129 deaths in the state as of Wednesday. Blacks make up 38 percent of the state’s popula-tion, yet comprise 56 percent of COVID-19 cases and a whop-ping 66 percent of the deaths.

And Mississippi is not unique in this regard. Black populations around the country are being infected and dying in disproportionate numbers.

That’s the what.But why? Perhaps at some

point, scientists will be able to explain exactly why certain populations are hit harder by COVID-19. At this point, we do know that blacks have higher

rates of chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease, all of which am-plify the effects of the disease.

Another plausible expla-nation is tied to socio-eco-nomics. To some extent, in Mississippi at least, black citizens are more likely to be low wage-earners. Indeed, the poverty rate among black Mississippians is 31.2 percent, more than twice as high a rate as that of white Missis-sippians, according the 2017 Census data.

As it is with almost every crisis, history has shown us that the poor are almost always more vulnerable. They are more likely to suffer and more likely to have more

severe consequences.The poor often work and

live in vulnerable environ-ments and have less access to preventive health care — meaning illnesses are often detected at a more advanced stage.

One of the best measures available to reduce these health trends in the black com-munity is expansion of Medic-aid, but the Governor and key members of the Legislature re-main rigidly opposed, leaving as many as 300,000 working poor — black and white alike — without access to compre-hensive medical care.

The case for Medicaid expansion was strong even before COVID-19. The virus

only serves to emphasize the need for expansion.

No doubt, black citizens will look at this information and recognize it as a call for extra vigilance, which is a proper response. As for other races, that information should not be taken as a reason for people to let down their guards.

What we do know is that no one is exempt from contract-ing the virus.

We do not know all the answers to many of the “why” questions and may not have clarity on them for some time.

But we do know the larger “what” — that COVID-19 is a threat to us all.

For now, that may be all we really need to know.

Voice of the peopleAppreciates paper’s efforts

All of us in Columbus should be proud of our newspaper. Under unprecedented strain, The Com-mercial Dispatch staff continues to cover the city’s and county’s public events that shape the long term. At the same time, we get imaginative coverage of the virus and its immediate effects. Doing this work, with so much personal contact, can’t be easy.

I will mention Slim Smith, criticized personally as well as professionally, in a recent letter. When the reporting and writing have to get done, Slim will get them both done.

Thank you to everyone at The Commercial Dis-patch for your tremendous efforts.

George HazardColumbus

Comments on lifeCleanliness is pure and holy. Hygiene is a personal

responsibility if you are morally, mentally and socially stable. If not, those whom accountability and respon-sibility has been granted should do their job. This is a reference to vulnerable adults and children, etc.

Uncleanliness is a sin. Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Your mind is properly located in your head. Emotions run wild. Be renewed (transformed) by the renewing of your mind. Stop the negativity and think positive. Together we will and we can overcome our present situations. Stop hanging with negative people. Evil communication corrupt good manners.

I am the parent of three adult children. I was co-re-sponsible for their wellbeing and educational devel-opment (spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially, economically, residentially, financially).

My grandparents raised me. Grandpa was of Afri-can decent and Grandma was of Indian decent. I have my Grandpa’s work ethics: early rise, early to bed. Grandpa took care of us.

Working is not a sin. Parents were responsible for shelter, food, clothing and enforced church and school attendance. I’m 67 years of age. My lunch, books and whatever it took for my development, Grandpa stepped up and worked and paid the expen-ditures. He was a real man.

We weren’t on welfare. Columbus Brick Company was our welfare. If we were poor, I didn’t know it. We loved each other, ate together, worked together. I started cooking at age 12.

So middle-class, upper-class why should poor people, public schools pay for your education? Stop stealing and taking taxpayers money while their eyes are closed with ignorance or stupidity.

Columbus School District is right. Starkville is right. Covenant is different from a contract. Covenant is a bond from the heart. Contract is paperwork — pa-per dollars. Marriage is a bond before God and man, with God as the head.

Repent and tell the truth. Truth sets us free. All students are important.

Pat Fisher DouglasColumbus

In response to a recent letterLee Roy Lollar recently stated: I see how easy it

is to lose some of our basic rights: oversight erased, Supreme Court hijacked, Trump has turned the presi-dency into a dictatorship.

Joe Biden says the soul of this nation will be at stake in the 2020 election.

In the course of three days, beginning last Friday night, Trump fired an IG for telling the truth, at-tacked another for exposing the truth of a healthcare pandemic and removed another in an effort to avoid being held accountable for how trillions of dollars will be allocated.

All this money going through hands of politicians will corrupt the process with no accountability. The Republicans said the Obama administration was the most corrupt in history. Where is the accountability now?

Trump’s attacks on accountability are a threat to democracy.

The Supreme Court has delayed hearing cases, including three on lawsuits involving Trump’s tax and financial returns.

Trump is bad for America, but a vaccine for it won’t be available until November.

James HodgeSteens

ELECTION 2020

Vote by mail, just this onceWho among

us, know-ing what

we know now about COVID-19, doesn’t wish we could roll back the clock to Jan. 1, 2020 and make very different deci-sions about testing, contact tracing, PPE and social distancing?

Well, we are star-ing at another possi-ble disaster bearing down on us. I refer to the Nov. 3 election. There is still time to act wisely, but not much time.

In the midst of coronavirus, we simply cannot conduct elec-tions in the usual way. In-person voting represents a threat to the health of poll volunteers (most of whom are over age 60), and to voters themselves. We cannot ask people to risk their lives to exercise the right to vote. Wisconsin’s recent mess — with thousands disenfranchised because they didn’t receive their mail-in ballots in time, and peo-ple waiting in lines spaced out by 6 feet for multiple hours — is a flashing warning light.

Except November would be far worse than Wisconsin, because an in-person election held nationwide would throw the legitimacy of the results into doubt. At a time when we are a) bitterly divided; b) deeply dis-trustful; and c) facing a pandem-ic and economic depression, a disputed election might be more stress than we can stand.

Fortunately, alternatives to in-person voting are not that difficult to achieve with a little advanced planning. Vote-by-mail is already widespread. In the last election, 25% of votes were mailed in. Five states — Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah and Hawaii — already vote

almost entirely by mail. Every regis-tered voter receives a ballot at home. Twenty-eight others permit mail-in ballots upon request, and 17 states permit mailed ballots but require an excuse like travel, out of state study or disability.

To prevent fraud, states take a number of steps like signa-

ture matching, requiring other identifying information like the last four digits of a person’s Social Security number and using bar codes for each ballot. A study by the National Vote At Home Coalition found that of 100 million votes cast in Oregon since mail-in voting was adopted in 2000, there were only 12 cases of fraud.

President Donald Trump has thrust a stick into the spokes by suggesting that vote-by-mail disadvantages Republicans. But there is no data to support that, and plenty of evidence to the contrary. For one thing, the voters who would be most wary of in-person voting in the age of COVID-19 are the elderly. In 2016, voters over 65 were more likely to vote than any other age cohort and they gave 53% of their votes to Donald Trump. As Rachel Kleinfeld reports, studies of mail-in voting in Colorado and Utah found that turnout increased by about 2%, but nei-ther party got a boost. A newly published report from the De-mocracy and Polarization Lab at Stanford gathered mail-in voting data from California, Utah and Washington state since 1996 and found that voting by mail does not affect either party’s share of the electorate nor their percent-age of the vote. It did modestly

increase turnout.So Trump’s worry that a

vote-by-mail option would mean “you’d never have anoth-er Republican elected in this country again” is misplaced. The Republican secretary of state of Ohio, Frank La Rose, rejected that thinking, saying: “We’re fortunate that we’ve been doing vote-by-mail for a long time. We know how to do it, and we know how to get it done securely.” Besides, the six swingiest of the swing states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida and North Carolina — already permit absentee ballots upon request without the need for an excuse. Just ask Trump, who votes absentee himself in the Sunshine State.

Voting by mail will require money (Congress already appropriated $400 million in the CAREs Act), manpower and time. States that require an excuse could easily adopt a one-time change to the law permit-ting COVID-19 to suffice as an excuse for 2020. States can also provide secure drop-off sites for ballots, as well as drive-thru options. Extending early voting (generally a terrible idea) makes sense when we are dealing with a new system for 75% of voters, and when poll workers will likely be scarcer than usual.

Standing in line with your neighbors to vote in your local school or church is a civic ritual that ranks with fireworks on the Fourth of July. It’s part of the pageant of patriotism. But this year, we’ll need to make other arrangements. We cannot risk a crisis of political legitimacy on top of everything else we’re saddled with. The slogan for November should be: Mail it in!

Mona Charen is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

“

Mona Charen

CARTOONIST VIEW

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020 5A

Reba HallReba Hall of Alexandria, LA, former resident

of Columbus, MS, passed away peacefully on April 15, 2020, at the age of 95.

She was born on September 19, 1924, in Webster, KY, to George St. Clair and Lula Parks St. Clair of Brandenburg, KY. Reba is reunited in heaven with them; her husband, Ralph; grandson ,James Conroy; son-in-law, Jim LaBroad; and many of her loved ones.

Reba and Ralph were high school sweethearts in Brandenburg, KY and were married on October 19, 1942, over 70 years before his passing in 2013. Moving many times during her husband’s 21 years of military service to our country allowed her to have many different career opportunities. She worked for Kentucky Vital Statics, billing, payroll, and maintenance departments; but her passion for the American Red Cross Organization was the highlight of her working career. As a young woman, she worked for the Red Cross Blood Mobile in Louisville, KY.

When Ralph was assigned to Columbus AFB in the early 1960’s, Reba became the National Red Cross Assistant Field Director and served in that position for 17 years. Once she retired, she continued her work as the National Red Cross Disaster Assistant for 5 years answering the call to serve her community whenever a disaster occurred.

Reba is survived by her daughters, Rosemarie LaBroad of Pineville, LA, Linda Mentemeyer and husband Maj Gen (Ret) Rich of Keller, TX and Diane Conroy and husband Col (Ret) Daniel of Goode, VA. She leaves behind many beloved grandchildren, Mike Mentemeyer, Laura Mentemeyer Maxfield and husband Michael and great-grandson, Moxon, Kate Conroy Webster and husband Brian and great-grandchildren Connor and Abigail, Susan McCarty and husband David and great-grandchildren Michael, Emily, Erik and wife Noelle and great-great grandson Ronan, Amy Lewis and husband Heath and great-grandchildren Sydney, Ryanne and Annabelle.

Our family thanks the many wonderful people at Canterbury House Assisted Living in Alexandria, LA for their friendship and wonderful care they provided Reba. She loved playing bingo and many other games, and special events with the residents. She considered Canterbury her home away from home and loved all the care providers, staff members, and the other residents living there.

A graveside service will be held for both Reba and Ralph, accompanied by an honor guard for Ralph at Memorial Gardens of Columbus Cemetery, Columbus, MS. The service will be held at a later date, perhaps in the summer, due to the current situation with the COVOD 19.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to the First United Methodist Church, 602 Main St. Columbus, MS 39701, where Ralph and Reba attended church when living in Columbus.

Paid Obituary - Magnolia Funeral Home

Robert ClarkeOn Monday April 13th, 2020, Robert “Bob”

John Clarke passed gently into the arms of the Lord. Bob was born on September 26th, 1961, in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Northville High School and served as a fireman for the Mundy Township Fire Department for 20 years. In 2001, Bob met his wife of 16 years Lisa Coward Clarke at the First Annual Mayberry Squad Car Nationals of Fayette, AL. The couple married two years later at an intimate sunset ceremony on the gulf coast. Bob’s passions included his farm “The Back 40” in Gladwin, MI, classic cars, HAM radio, hunting and fishing, boating, and doting on his grandchildren. Known affectionately by friends and family as “Bob the Builder,” he worked construction most of his working life. “I always looked at him as a jack-of-all-trades,” remembers his son Ben.

Bob is preceded in death by his mother, Mary Wilma Nicks Clarke; and survived by his wife, Lisa. Bob is remembered by his father, Thomas Newman Clarke, Scottsdale, AZ; sister, Alice (Nick) Roe, Scottsdale, AZ; son, Benjamin (Emily) Junemann; and granddaughter, Blakeley, Hemlock, MI; stepdaughter, Kristen (Aaron) Budlove; and grandchildren, Brooklyn, Jude and Sadie, Columbus, MS; stepson, Jonathan Colvin, Aberdeen, MS; and stepdaughter, Jessica Colvin, Atlanta, GA; and his good boy Cain, man’s best friend.

A memorial service will be held at the Clarke home on Friday April 17th presided by Brandon Criswell of Sunday Local. Monetary donations can be made in Bob’s name to the Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society.

Sign the online guest book at www.memorialgunterpeel.com

716 Second Avenue North • Columbus, MS

Compliments ofLowndes Funeral Home

www.lowndesfuneralhome.net

Mary NewellMary Elizabeth Newell, 93, of Aliceville, AL

passed away Tuesday, April 7, 2020, at DCH Regional Medical Center, Tuscaloosa, AL.

A private family graveside service will be Saturday, April 18, 2020, at 1:00 PM at Center Hill Cemetery, Hamilton, MS, with Bro. Steve Lammons officiating and Lowndes Funeral Home assisting. Friends may view the service online the following day.

Mrs. Newell was born November 9, 1926, in Bibb County, AL. She retired from Hamilton Garment Plant where she was a seamstress. Mrs. Newell was a member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Columbus, MS.

She was preceded in death by her father , Sidney Pratt Kennedy; mother. Jo Anna Simmons Kennedy; husband, JC Newell, sisters; Kate Rice, Bea Cummings, Cyndy Paynes, Alma “Nina” Baker and Virginia Jones; and brother, Buddy Kennedy.

Mrs. Newell is survived by her sons, James (Brenda) Halverson, Pensacola, FL, Ronnie (Elaine) Bracknell, Tuscaloosa, AL and Bobby Halverson, Aliceville, AL; seven grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to Center Hill Baptist Church Cemetery Fund, P.O. Box 59, Hamilton, MS 39746.

ObituariesContinued from Page 2A

Kessler MaloneCOLUMBUS — Kes-

sler Chantez Malone, 24, died April 9, 2020, at UAB Hospital in Birming-ham.

A fam-ily only private graveside service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, at Memorial Gardens Cemetery, with the Rev. James Rice officiating. Visitation is from 3-6 p.m. today, at Carter’s Funeral Service. Car-ter’s Funeral Service of Columbus is in charge of arrangements.

Ms. Malone was born Oct. 16, 1995, in Columbus, to Leroy Malone and Denise Malone. She was a 2014 graduate of Caledonia High School. She was formerly employed with American Power Source and was a mem-ber of Union Chapel M.B. Church.

In addition to her parents, she is sur-vived by her fiancé, Leavy Terry of Ft. Wainwright; and sister, Annetta Staples of Batesville.

Roxie TaylorSTARKVILLE —

Roxie Anna Hogan Taylor, 86, died April 11, 2020.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, at Griffin U.M. Church, with the Rev. Ozell Landfair Sr. officiating. Burial will follow in Rock Hill Cemetery. Visitation is from 1-5 p.m. today, at Century Hairston Funeral. Century Hair-ston Funeral Home of Starkville is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Taylor was born July 5, 1933, to the late Albert Hogan and Mar-tha Lou Evans. She was formerly employed as a domestic worker.

She is survived by her children, Lawrence Bishop, Linda Hogan both of St. Louis, Mis-souri, Carleen Sherman and Dan Hogan both of Starkville; brother, Melvin Hogan; nine grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.

Mary LewisSHUQUALAK —

Mary Jane Oates Lewis, 59, died April 10, 2020, at her residence.

A graveside ser-vice will be at noon Saturday, at Slaughter Cemetery, with Robert Stevens officiating. Vis-itation is from 1-5 p.m. today, at Lee-Sykes

Funeral Chapel. Lee-Sykes Funeral Home of Macon is in charge of arrange-ments.

Mrs. Lewis was born Feb. 13, 1961, in Noxu-bee, to the late Charlie Thomas and Mamie L. Oates Brandy. She was a member of the Kingdom Hall.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, James Curtis Lewis; and siblings, Wilbert L. Oates, Jimmy D. Oates, Carl Thomas, LeDan Matthews and Shirley Seabrum.

She is survived by her children, Kend-rick Lewis of Marion, Alabama, Curtis Oates, Rafeal Lewis and Krystal Lewis; siblings, Bonnie Peoples of Detroit Michigan, Patsy Shield of Shuqualak, Johnny Oates, Derome Mosley of Shuqualak and Robert Stevenson of Queens, New York; and two grandchildren.

Cynthia PerriginBONIFAY, Fla. —

Cynthia Diane Perrigin, 41, died April 12, 2020.

Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Lown-des Funeral Home of Columbus.

Shirley PriceAMORY — Shirley

Temple Childers Bu-chanan Price, 82, died April 15, 2020, at North Mississippi Medical Center-Gilmore of Amory.

Private graveside services will be held Saturday, at the Amory Historical Cemetery. Cleveland-Moffett Fu-neral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Price was born Feb. 7, 1938, to James Arville and Nora Lee Welch Childers. She was a graduate of Itawamba Commu-nity College and was formerly employed in the family furniture business. She was a member of Wren Pres-byterian Church.

In addition to her parents, she was pre-ceded in death by her husband, Charles W. Buchanan Sr.; husband, Billy E. Price; son, Charles W. Buchanan Jr.; and siblings, James Childers, William Childers and Laura Etta Easter.

She is survived by her children, Dixie

Tomlinson of Starkville, Charlyne Schoolar and Art Buchanan both of Hatley; brother, Lee Childers of Wren; 16 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.

Pallbearers will be Bruce Schoolar, Pat-rick Schoolar, Dixon Tomlinson, Brandon Schoolar and Charles W. “Chaz” Buchanan III.

Allen Elizenberry Sr. COLUMBUS — Rev.

Dr. Allen Elizenberry Sr. passed away.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Sat-urday, at Lee-Sykes Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Friendship Cemetery. Lee-Sykes Funeral Home of Co-lumbus is in charge of arrangements.

Dr. Elizenberry was born in Columbus to the late Anthony and Josie Elizenberry Mor-gan. He was a graduate of R.E. Hunt High School, Mississippi University for Women and New Foundation Theological Seminary. He was a veteran of Vietnam War. He was formerly employed with Occidental Chemical Corporation, as a health program specialist with

Mississippi Department of health and as senior pastor of True Believers in Christ M.C, Church of Jackson.

He is survived by his wife, Josie Eli-zenberry; children, Shanta Elizenberry, Allen Elinzenberry Jr., LaKeecha Elinzenberry Jones, Robert Anthony Elizenberry and Connie Watford-Jones; siblings Sallie Butler, Mary Hayden and Andy Eli-zenberry; nine grand-children; and three great-grandchildren.

Leonard HarrisCOLUMBUS —

Leonard Harris, 54, died April 13, 2020.

Grave-side ser-vices will be at noon Saturday, at Turn-er-Hair-ston Cem-etery in Crawford, with Bobby L. McCarter Sr. officiating. Visitation is from 1-5:30 p.m. today, at Century Hairston Funeral Home. Cen-tury Hairston Funeral Home of Columbus is in charge of arrange-ments.

Mr. Harris was born June 14, 1954, in Crawford, to Walter C. Harris and Mattie Hairston Harris. He was formerly employed

as a factory worker. In addition to his

parents, he is survived by his children, Mon-trell Demond Turner, Heather Tate, Amber Benson all of Crawford, Steven Harris and Stephanie Harris both of Columbus; siblings, Mary Harris Lagrone and Rufus Harris both of Columbus; and seven grandchildren.

Betty BellWEST POINT —

Betty Foley Bell, 94, died April 15, 2020, at her daugh-ter’s home in West Point.

A pri-vate family graveside service will be held at Odd-fellows Cemetery in Starkville, with Ben Rosenkrans officiat-ing. Robinson Funeral Home of West Point is in charge of arrange-ments.

Mrs. Bell was born Nov. 3, 1944, to the late Colonel James McCor-mick Foley and Ailene Maddox Foley Everest.

In addition to her parents, she was pre-ceded in death by her husband Harry Carlton Bell Jr.

She is survived by her children, Cynthia Bell Kellogg and Harry Carlton Bell III; four grandchildren; and nine great-grandchil-dren.

Malone

Elizenberry Sr.

Harris

Bell

Lewis

Robert ClarkeServices:

A memorial service will be held.Clarke Home

2nd Ave. North Location

Dr. William GatesA private family graveside

service will be held. Friendship Cemetery

2nd Ave. North Location

Betty CourtneyIncomplete

College St. Location

Raymond LoweIncomplete

2nd Ave. North Location

memorialgunterpeel.com

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com6A FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020

CLWContinued from Page 1A

The Dispatch after the meeting, will “more likely than not” be implement-ed once Gov. Tate Reeves lifts Mississippi’s shelter-in-place order — where customers could agree to have the amount of their missed utilities payments divided over the ensuing 12 months. The aver-age monthly bill is $140 to $150, he said, which would mean customers three months behind would owe less than $40 per month as they work to make up their debt.

“The only (other) way to recoup some of these losses would be a rate in-crease, and we don’t want to do that,” Gale said in the meeting.

CLW board chair Brandy Gardner agreed that a rate i n c r e a s e would be a misstep, v o i c i n g support for Gale’s plan.

“I think that’s a great start,” Gardner said in the meet-ing. “I think that it kind of gives people some kind of peace of mind.”

Gale said that as of last Friday, CLW customers had unpaid debts totaling about $230,000 — a num-ber that has continued to rise each day. But he stressed that the utility remains financially stable

and has not yet needed to pursue loans to make ends meet.

Chief Financial Offi-cer Mike Bernsen said at Thursday’s m e e t i n g that while CLW ex-pected to break even, it actually made a prof-it on electric services in March. The utility’s year-to-date estimates show a projected deficit of rough-ly $200,000, Bernsen said that figure is “not too bad” considering the pandem-ic’s volatility.

“We always look for bright spots in dark times,” Bernsen said. “... People staying at home, they’re turning the switches on a lot more, and they’re running the faucets a lot more.”

SUD monitoring situation, weighing action

Starkville Utilities De-partment General Man-ager Terry Kemp told The Dispatch on Thursday the utility has been regularly hearing from customers concerned about shutoffs and arrangements due to the pandemic.

SUD, unlike CLW, hasn’t seen a large in-crease in the number of customers who could be

subject to disconnection — so far, anyway, the cus-tomers whose financial issues predated the pan-demic comprise the bulk of that population.

“We’ll probably have a better feel for what that number is in about two more weeks when we finish a cycle,” Kemp said. “But right now, it ap-pears that our numbers are pretty consistent with what they were prior to this virus starting. It’s the same group, and it goes back prior to that, and so we’ve not seen a big spike yet.

“Our hope is that in the near future we’ll be able to start back on our normal practices, but part of that is going to be continuing to work with people as their needs are identified,” he added.

He said the utility is making a push to ensure its customers stay caught up with their bills, which can tend to get out of hand after months without making a payment.

“If people get three, four months behind with no payments, that amount can be quite large,” Kemp said.

He said SUD — which has not taken out loans and does not anticipate

needing to — has no con-crete plan like that of CLW in terms of delinquent pay arrangements, hoping it will take less than a full year for customers to be able to pay their debts.

“Right now, we’re only into it one month or two months, and generally you would look for com-ing out of it the same time that it took to get in,” Kemp said.

When customers can return to work will be a critical point for the utili-ty; so too will be the date when Reeves rescinds the state’s shelter-in-place or-der.

“If the governor were to lift that, I do think that takes some of the pressure off and creates more flexibility as we go forward for the people to make those payments,” Kemp said.

Gardner

Bernsen

Kemp

African AmericansContinued from Page 1A

can-American folks,” said state health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs during a conference with the Mis-sissippi Legislative Black Caucus (MLBC) last week.

So far, MSDH has yet to publish county-level data on the racial break-down of coronavirus cas-es. Department spokes-woman Liz Sharlot told The Dispatch the data sample size is too small for a local data release.

The racial disparity is emerging not only in Mis-sissippi but also among other southern states and across the nation. Simi-lar racial gaps have been found in several cities like Chicago and Milwaukee, as well as in the state of Louisiana.

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Con-trol and Prevention also concluded the disease might disproportionately affect black citizens.

‘We can’t afford to be off’

Working as “front-line workers” — such as gro-cery clerks, postal work-ers, sanitation or fast-food workers — during the pan-demic increases chances of exposure to the coro-navirus, said Dr. Sandra Melvin, who chairs the Health Committee of the Mississippi Conference of the NAACP.

Many African Amer-icans who work those jobs, however, do not have a choice.

“We’ve got to work, that’s how we are going to take care of our family. We have to be out there,” said L a v o n n e L a t h a m -H a r r i s , p r e s i d e n t of the C o l u m b u s - L o w n d e s branch of the NAACP. “By being at the front line, we are also at the low end of the pay scale.”

African Americans in the state are at an eco-nomic disadvantage com-pared to whites, Melvin said.

Roughly 22 percent of the state’s population lived below the poverty

line in 2017, the latest year data available from the American Community Survey five-year estimate, a survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. About 57 percent of those who live in poverty were black, whereas 36 percent were white, data shows.

Rep. Kabir Karriem (D-Columbus), vice chair of the MLBC, said the finan-cial burden is too hard to bear for a lot of black Mississippi-ans.

“We can’t afford to be off,” he said.

Addition-ally, African A mer icans who live in “c rowded ” households with chil-dren and extended family may not even have a place to self-quarantine if they start showing symptoms, said Chris Taylor, former president of the Oktibbe-ha County NAACP chap-ter.

“If they have five or 10 (people) in the house they are living in,” he said, “how can you self-iso-late?”

High rate of health conditions, limited access to care

Patients with under-lying health issues are more vulnerable to the coronavirus than healthy individuals, Dobbs said.

Compared to whites, blacks have much higher rates of hypertension, im-munocompromised con-ditions, cardiovascular diseases, lung diseases and diabetes, he said. The rate of diabetes for blacks is about seven times high-er than in whites, he said.

Behind the high rate of health problems, com-munity leaders say, is the hardship for blacks to access affordable health care.

Roughly 12 percent of Mississippians were not insured as of 2018.

“If we break that down by race, 13.9 percent (of African Americans) are

without insurance in Mis-sissippi ... compared to 10.6 percent of whites,” Melvin said.

The lack of health in-surance coverage, Taylor said, is leaving a lot of black citizens helpless when they need medical attention.

Mobile coronavirus testing sites require a doctor’s referral, for ex-ample.

“The people not get-ting the care, they don’t have a personal doctor,” Taylor said. “The majori-ty of the whites do have a health care provider, but blacks have to depend on the (emergency rooms). And when they go to the ER, if it’s not life and death, they are going to send you home.

“They can be tested,” he added, “but they’ll al-most be dying by the time they do get tested.”

MistrustExacerbating these

problems is a mistrust a m o n g A f r i c a n Americans of insti-t u t i o n s , said David Buys, state health spe-cialist at Mississippi State University.

“(That) maybe leads African Americans to … wait until they are further along in the disease pro-cess before they show up

for testing and for treat-ment,” Buys said.

The retail store worker echoed that point.

“We’ve been taught to not trust the govern-ment,” she said. “We’ve been taught by different things that have hap-pened to people over the course of time.”

Some African Amer-icans in her community believe in conspiracy the-ories, she said, and that the pandemic is “not real.”

“(They think) it’s just something the media is putting out,” she said. “They felt that if it was that time the Lord wanted to (spread) the coronavi-rus, they were going to get it no matter what.”

That spread of misin-formation puts those com-munities more at risk, Karriem said.

“There was a pletho-ra of misinformation … that African Americans couldn’t get it, that we were immune to the coro-navirus,” he said. “All of that has been debunked. We see now that anybody can get it. It is a serious disease and is something that cannot be taken light-ly.”

What can be done?To raise awareness

among Mississippians, Buys said community leaders and local officials can help “put the word out.”

Trusted local leaders matter, and using the net-

work of those “local cham-pions” may help dispel rumors and spread accu-rate, useful information, Buys said. Specifically, faith groups can help, too.

“I think ministers, par-ticularly in African-Amer-ican communities, carry a lot of weight,” he said.

Some local leaders also pointed to the need to offer more tests to Mississippians in need, particularly in the black communities.

“I wish testing had been more available

to people in the Afri-can-American communi-ty and the virus wouldn’t have hit so dispropor-tionately,” Karriem said. “We have to set up test-ing shops inside the Afri-can-American communi-ties … and make it more accessible.”

District Attorney Scott Colom said there should be a targeted approach to reach those who are vul-nerable to the virus and offer them mobile testing.

“If a person in … pub-lic housing has the coro-navirus, it can more easily spread because they are living more condensed,” he said.

Help is already avail-able in Mississippi, with free, mobile testing sites across the state. The long-term solution, Karriem said, would be to expand Medicaid to cover more uninsured populations. But for now, chances are slim.

Even with the mea-sures that are already in place, misinformation and lack means will continue to be a challenge, Buys said.

“It’s hard to undo de-cades of mistrust and concern about cost,” Buys said.

Taylor

Karriem

Harris

Buys

Courtesy graphic/Mississippi Department of HealthAs of Wednesday evening, African Americans accounted for 56 percent of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state and 66 percent of the state’s COVID-19 deaths, state data shows. The ethnic group only accounts for 38 percent of the state’s popula-tion, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Tell your child a bedtime story.

SECTION

BSPORTS LINE662-241-5000Sports

THE DISPATCH n CDISPATCH.COM n FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020

MISSISSIPPI STATE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ANALYSIS

WITH SCHOLARSHIPS TO FILL, HERE’S WHO MSU AND MCCRAY-PENSON COULD HYPOTHETICALLY TURN TO

Keither Lucas/ODU AthleticsNikki McCray-Penson was introduced as MSU’s new coach in a press conference Tuesday.

BY BEN PORTNOYbportnoy@cdispatch.com

STARKVILLE — Nikki Mc-Cray-Penson is looking for fit.

Heading into her first offsea-son as the head coach at Mis-sissippi State — albeit a rather unique one given the outbreak of COVID-19 — McCray-Pen-son inherits a team that was ranked No. 3 nationally in ES-PN’s Way-too-Early Top 25 pri-or to Vic Schaefer’s departure to Texas.

And while growing pains are

a given when coaching tran-sitions occur, the former Old Dominion coach has four schol-arships to play with heading into next season. With needs at guard and in the low-post, expect MSU to make a play for some of the bigger names on the grad transfer market.

With that said, here are a few names to watch:

G Niya Beverley — Wisconsin (Junior)

Before Vic Schaefer left for Texas, the Bulldogs kicked

the tires with Duke graduate transfer Kyra Lambert. Now Lambert is joining Schaefer in Austin and MSU could still stand to add a guard with some leadership and experience to its roster.

Beverley’s numbers are al-most identical to Lambert’s, if not slightly better, over her three years in Madison and her 90 career games played are more than any guard on MSU’s current roster. It’s also worth noting the Laurel, Maryland na-tive played her high school bas-

ketball in the same conference as rising sophomore guard Ali-yah Matharu.

McCray-Penson also has ties to the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area given her time at Old Do-minion and that could factor in here should Beverley be inter-ested.

G Destiny Slocum — Oregon State (Grad transfer)

Of all the players on this list, Slocum is probably the least likely to end up at MSU. By all accounts, there’s been little if

any indication the former Or-egon State product has had any contact with the new staff in Starkville, but should MSU need an instant-difference mak-er she fits the bill.

After spending her freshman season at Maryland, Slocum av-eraged 15.2 points, 4.6 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game for the Beavers. The former Mc-Donald’s All-American also boasted a 1.75 assist-to-turn-over ratio.

Originally from Meridian,

For New Hope softball, heartbreaking end to ‘dream season’ is still sinking inBY THEO DEROSAtderosa@cdispatch.com

Charly Clanton had been dreaming of it since sev-enth grade.

For five years, the New Hope High School short-stop couldn’t wait for all the fireworks her senior season was going to bring: Senior night. Playoffs. A chance to play for a state champion-ship for the final time.

And through the first 10 games of Clanton’s senior year with the Trojans, all those things looked like they were on the horizon. New Hope improved to 5-0, 6-0, 7-0. The team earned the No. 1 ranking in one

Dispatch file photoThe New Hope softball team finished the 2020 season at 8-2 and earned the No. 1 ranking in Class 5A at one point. The Trojans’ outstanding season came to an official end Wednesday due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Video chats to home workouts, NFL draft prospects get it doneTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

UCLA running back Joshua Kelley was look-ing forward to visiting various NFL teams, checking out their facil-ities and meeting coach-es before the COVID-19 pandemic changed the pre-draft process.

“I think that would’ve been really dope be-cause I’ve been a fan of the NFL for so long and to get a chance to actual-ly be in a facility and see what goes on would’ve been really cool,” Kelley said.

Instead, because the NFL on March 13 barred all in-person pre-draft

visits, Kelley and other prospects had to do “vir-tual” visits with teams. Their conversations with coaching staffs took place on video confer-encing technology like Skype, Zoom and Face-Time.

On the positive side, the absence of visits gave players more time to work out.

“You take calls from coaches and then you have the rest of the day to train,” Kelley said. “You’re not flying on a plane. You’re not in ho-tels. It’s an extremely different process right now.”

See NFL, 3B

See WBB, 2B

See NEW HOPE, 2B

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com2B FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020

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

Yesterday’s answer

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DOWN1 Stockpile2 Feels sorry for3 Import oppo-nent4 Top rating5 Putting to work6 Fancy fur7 Movie theater worker8 Lady of Spain10 Owed amounts12 Exclude17 Small worker19 Encouraging words22 Confession list

24 Face, in slang25 Cuff site26 Virgil hero27 Demented28 Justice Antonin30 Move furtively31 Patellae places33 Poker pay-ment37 One of the Stooges

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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.

Log cabinWHATZIT ANSWER

Idaho, it’s fair to assume she sticks out West in another Pac-12 or Big 12 program, but should MSU be able to join the mix for her services, she’s a sure-fire All-American candi-date next season.

G DiJonai Carrington — Stanford (Grad transfer)

Like Slocum, Car-rington could end up staying on the West Coast with another high-major program, but MSU could stand to benefit from the fifth-year senior.

An All-Pac-12 honoree in 2019, the San Diego product missed all but five games in 2020 due to inju-ry. That said, Carrington averaged 14 points and 7.5 rebounds per game as a junior — her first season as a full-time starter.

Rising junior Myah Taylor and rising soph-omore JaMya Min-go-Young are both tal-ented enough to run the point for McCray-Penson and Matharu’s scoring upside at shooting guard is seemingly limitless,

but the former Cardinal would give MSU an ex-perienced piece who has competed in one of the top conferences in the country.

G Zaay Green — Tennes-see (Sophomore)

MSU has plucked transfers from fellow Southeastern Conference squads as recently as 2019 when the Bulldogs landed Anriel Howard from Texas A&M, while now-departed guard Jor-dan Danberry was also a one-time Arkansas player.

If McCray-Penson continues that trend, she could reach into her roots in Knoxville and take a long look at Green. De-spite being a consensus five-star product as a high schooler, MSU wasn’t heavily involved in her re-cruitment.

That said, Green earned SEC All-Fresh-man honors during the 2019 season as she aver-aged 9.6 points and four rebounds per game before a torn ACL derailed her

sophomore campaign.Her measurables are

comparable with rising sophomore Rickea Jack-son and incoming five-star freshman Madison Hayes, but her past suc-cess in the SEC coupled with McCray-Penson’s ties to Tennessee as a player could put MSU in play for the former Mc-Donald’s All-American.

F Birna Benonysdottir — Arizona (Freshman)

Starkville isn’t exact-ly a Nordic hotspot, but the Bulldogs could stand to add Benonsysdottir to a front court that will be thin heading into next season.

MSU does return sec-ond team All-SEC per-former Jessika Carter, junior college product Yemiyah Morris — who came on strong in the tail end of last year — and former five-star re-cruit and Michigan State transfer Sidney Cooks, but another big body could do wonders.

Stuck in a logjam in

Tucson, Benonysdottir saw time in just 10 games this season, hitting 3-of-7 shots while adding six re-bounds and four assists. Playing time aside, the Keflavik, Iceland native has proven her worth at the international level where she averaged 12.4 points and four rebounds at the under-20 European Championships in 2019.

Throughout last sea-son, Schaefer raved about Cooks’ ability to step out and hit 3-pointers and Be-nonysdottir offers some ability there, but the for-mer Wildcat is a dynam-ic talent who would give MSU some added length on the interior.

Other names to watch:G Rokia Doumbia —

ArkansasF Natalie Kelly — Au-

burnG Jaden Owens —

UCLAF Iho Lopez — Florida

StateG Dara Mabrey — Vir-

ginia Tech

WBBContinued from Page 1B

MHSAA Class 5A poll.“This was our season,”

Clanton said.It is theirs no longer.On Wednesday, when

the MHSAA announced the cancellation of all spring sports and activities due to the COVID-19 coro-navirus pandemic, Clan-ton and the Trojans had to come to terms with the fact that their “dream season” was over for good.

“It really was challeng-ing to take in that I wasn’t gonna have my senior night or my last game,” said se-nior second baseman Kate-lyn Humphreys, who said she sincerely believes New Hope would have won this year’s Class 5A champion-ship. “This team has put in a lot of work, and it’s just difficult to see that we ar-en’t gonna get to finish it.”

New Hope coach Ca-sey Finch Halford said the abrupt end to a season in which “the stars were just aligned” was a stroke of bad luck her team is still trying to wrap its head around.

“The Lord has a sense of humor,” Finch Halford said. “He has a way of teaching us patience.”

She and the Trojans were patient, though. They waited more than a month after what would be their final game for a final de-cision from the MHSAA, knowing what it would be but holding out hope regardless for a postpone-ment to the summer or another way their season could survive.

They didn’t get lucky.“Ultimately, our hearts

are still broken, but at least they did try to see if there was anything else they could do,” Finch Halford said.

When the decision came down Wednesday af-ternoon, the team’s group message began to blow up, as New Hope’s underclass-men told the team’s seniors — Clanton, Humphreys, Reagan Cook and Gabbi Manning — they loved and appreciated them. Parents of players on the close-knit squad sent their condolenc-es.

“We were really hoping that it wouldn’t happen,” Cook said of Wednesday’s ruling, all but inevitable after Gov. Tate Reeves announced Tuesday that public schools in the state would remain closed for the rest of the school year. “We had a really good shot this year. We were on top.”

New Hope finished its abbreviated 2020 season with an 8-2 record, winning its first six games before a trip to Gulf Shores, Ala-bama, for a major tourna-ment on what proved to be the season’s final weekend. While the Trojans whipped Hunters Lane (Tennessee) 31-0 and beat New Site 11-1, they suffered their first two losses of the season to host Gulf Shores and to Walker Valley (Tennessee).

But even in that final game, a 3-0 shutout loss to Walker Valley, New Hope continued to show improvement. Late in the five-inning contest, as pitcher Natalie Pruitt set-tled into a groove against the Trojans, Finch Halford directed her on-deck hitter to watch Pruitt’s grip as she held the ball against her stomach rather than in her glove. Once it was clear whether the pitcher was about to throw a rise ball, a fastball or a curveball, New Hope’s on-deck hitter would tell the batter.

The Trojans began stringing together hits against Pruitt; they didn’t score, but Cook said they would have likely tied the contest had it lasted one more inning.

“We found so many great things even in that one game,” Finch Hal-ford said. “Them learning things that fast and being able to help each other, it was just so many ‘aha’ mo-ments that were just excit-ing.”

Cook and Humphreys both credited a lot of New Hope’s success to Finch Halford, a former coach at East Mississippi Com-munity College and West Point High School in her first year at the helm for the Trojans.

“We have an amazing coach that’s gonna take this team far, time and time again,” Humphreys said.

She expressed her op-timism for the Trojans’ future seasons as long as they have Finch in the dug-out and talented players the coach can develop.

“We have legends on this team to come,” Hum-phreys said. “We have sev-enth, eighth graders that are putting the ball in play; they’re making the plays that I knew I couldn’t make being that age.”

The Trojans’ own leg-ends — their four seniors — will be moving on. Clanton is committed to play softball at Northeast Mississippi Community College, but her fellow upperclassmen have seen the pandemic affect their ability to catch the eye of college recruiters. Hum-phreys hopes to play for EMCC, but the National Junior College Athletic As-sociation has suspended

in-person recruiting; Man-ning is hoping for a spot on Meridian Community Col-lege’s roster.

Cook has made plans to attend the Mississippi University for Women, where she wants to go into nursing; she’s still unsure whether her softball career ended with Wednesday’s ruling.

“I’m not sure softball is gonna be in my future,” she said. “I really want it to, but I’m still debating that.”

For now, she’ll have the memories of the final game she played. How her team-mates began to cry as the reality of what could hap-pen sunk in. How Finch took the team aside to tell them she loved them, that they’d overcome a lot, that they’d done well, that they’d learned new things.

“‘This is it,’” Clanton thought to herself.

Had she known for sure, though, Clanton said she would have taken her final game more seriously, focusing more and putting more heart into it.

Humphreys said she would have savored the fi-nal minutes, hanging out with her teammates one more time had she known what was to come.

And instead of rush-ing off the field that Sat-urday afternoon, already impatient for a road game against Columbus High School that coming Tues-day to open district play, she wishes the Trojans had lingered on that field in Alabama where they came together for the fi-nal time.

“We would have just stayed in the moment a little longer,” Humphreys said.

New HopeContinued from Page 1B

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020 3B

Comics & PuzzlesDear AbbyDILBERT

ZITS

GARFIELD

CANDORVILLE

BABY BLUES

BEETLE BAILEY

MALLARD FILLMORE

HoroscopesTODAY’S BIRTHDAY (April

17). It’s a year of fun twists and unexpected encounters. Col-leagues will become like family, and family will support your work in some way. You’ll invest in yourself, which will pay huge dividends six months from now. At the end of 2020, you’ll be the recipient of an award, bonus or gift of gratitude. Sagittarius and Gemini adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 9, 7, 39, 20 and 18.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). You’ve been thinking about how to get what you want, and it’s clear you’ll need to make a special request. Timing is ev-erything. It will be better to ask

after nightfall or tomorrow. TAURUS (April 20-May 20).

You are mysterious and all the more attractive for your secrets. You’ll be nudged, and down-right bothered, to reveal them. Resist. There’s more power in keeping them to yourself.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You’ll have a heightened aware-ness of what arises from your subconscious, whether it be in the form of dreams, creativity or the assimilation of subtle clues you’ve picked up along the way.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Life has its own set of naviga-tional rules. To understand it, you have to look backward; to live it, you can only go forward.

Also, you can only feel what it’s like to be inside it when you’re standing still.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). There was a time you didn’t believe that you could actually change your circumstances by merely observing them differ-ently. Now you believe it, and you do it on a daily basis. Today brings proof.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). The messiness of life is the best part. Maybe it won’t make the edit for social media, and that’s why the insider’s view is always the best. Intimacy is about knowing another person’s mess.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). It’s like you’re trying to move a couch into a room with a small door. Once inside, everything will work out nicely. But getting through this tight squeeze will take some doing. What needs to be released in order to move forward?

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Visualizing alone can’t make things true, but it can motivate action that feels natural and familiar instead of labored and difficult. As you visualize the future, you lay its groundwork.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). The ancients believed that the soul resides in the area between the heart and the solar plexus. The soulfire in you radiates a sense of warmth and anticipation from this space today.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You’ve been generous and that generosity boomerangs back to you today in the form of unexpected help that allows you to accomplish more than you thought possible.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Why return to projects that were not enormously successful the first time around? You’d rather move on, and move on you will, after a brief bit of busi-ness is handled. Dive in and get it done.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Just because something goes unspoken doesn’t mean it’s unspeakable. Words will be like the keys to a cage. You’ll communicate and free yourself.

SOLUTION:Short end of the stick

FAMILY CIRCUS

DEAR ABBY: I was married for more

than 20 years and am recently divorced. I should have done it years ago, but my son, “Nicky,” begged me not to. He’s 22.

I am now dat-ing a gentleman, “Clyde,” and am very happy to be in this relation-ship. Clyde treats me like a queen. I have known him longer than I’ve known my ex-husband. He and his family (including his ex-wife) are close friends.

Before we started dating, Clyde called my ex, told him we were going to start seeing each other and that he wanted my ex to hear it from him, not through the rumor mill. My ex said he was fine with it and thanked him for letting him know.

We then informed Clyde’s kids and my son. Everyone was fine with it except Nicky. He’s upset that we started dating three months after my divorce. Mind you, my marriage to Nicky’s father was over years ago. Clyde had nothing to do with it. Now my son has an “attitude” with Clyde. He hardly speaks to

him and never spends time with us.

I have always been there for Nicky. His actions hurt. He can’t seem to accept that I’m happy and that Clyde and I are more than friends now. Be-fore we started dating, Nicky and Clyde had a good relationship. How do I get my son to come

around? — SECOND CHANCE IN MICHIGAN

DEAR SECOND CHANCE: Nicky may be hoping that you and his father might one day reconcile and regard Clyde as an interloper. Explain to him that the divorce may seem recent to him, but for you and his dad, it was the final step in disengaging from a marriage that had been over for years. Tell him you love him and are sorry he is upset, but it’s no excuse for treating Clyde badly, and you expect him to treat Clyde with respect, if not affection. Then go on and enjoy your life because you deserve it.

DEAR ABBY: My children attend a school where they are in three different buildings. One is in high school, one in

middle school and the young-est is in elementary. Recently, the married elementary school principal had an affair with a married teacher’s assistant. A few years before, the married middle school principal had an affair with a married teacher.

My concern is that the administration knows this but does nothing about it. I have addressed them with my concerns. I believe there was an abuse of power. If they are willing to sweep this under the rug, what else have they swept? Should I mind my own business or pursue the issue further? — MOM ON PATROL IN NEW YORK

DEAR MOM: Because of the litigious environment we live in, many businesses and educational institutions have policies that discourage frat-ernization. What you consider an abuse of power may be a relationship between consent-ing adults. You say you have brought this to the attention of school administration. I think you have done enough. From now on, stay out of this unless you have absolute proof there is coercion involved.

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.

Dear Abby

Of course, training schedules had to be dras-tically altered because players can’t go to gyms or use their school’s fa-cilities. Kelley’s agent, Molly McManimie, said she had to scramble to find 50-pound dumbbells for her client to use at home.

“You get super cre-ative,” McManimie said. “That’s where your grit and determination comes in. Bottom line is, this is a good example of how you’re going to face adversity. There’s going to be things in your ca-reer that aren’t perfect. But if you want it bad enough, you’ll make it work.”

Some players have

more access to equip-ment. Some have less. Space at home can be an issue, depending on where they’re living.

“What we’ve been able to do is create a cou-ple of different programs and send them directly,” said Brent Callaway, pro sports director at Exos in Dallas.

Going outside has been the biggest chal-lenge for players.

“Athletes who are try-ing to go to local high school field are being told that they can’t go out in that field or have someone come up and run them off that field,” Callaway said. “If there’s a place nearby, they’ve tried it, whether it ’s a

local park where they’ve shown up and found it locked up. We’ve heard of guys literally work-ing out in fields. Some of them are working out in their homes or in their yards or in the street, running in the street.”

Boston College run-ning back A.J. Dillon said he misses the weight room and work-ing with trainers in per-son. He’s doing sit-ups and push-ups at home and running.

“This is my only draft, so this is my normal,” Dillon said. “I’m making the most of it, everybody is. Obviously the biggest difference is the visits, the team meetings. I’ve done a bunch on Zoom.”

Tulane wide receiver Darnell Mooney said he runs four miles a day with his dog and works out at home. He goes outside to do positional drills.

“It ’s not a big thing for me because I’m always in the house,” said Mooney, who ran a 4.38-second, 40-yard dash at the com-bine.

While this crop of prospects doesn’t know what a typical pre-draft process looks like, teams have had to make many adjustments from their normal routine. New York Giants gener-al manager Dave Gettle-man said the ability to chat with players on vid-eo is “pretty beneficial”

because “you can see the guys.”

“I’m a city kid and a big believer in body language and all this and that,” Gettleman said. “It’s not great, it’s not perfect, it’s OK. For me, what we miss is watching them interact, watching them in your fa-cility. By not having pro days, you also miss that personal contact. Watch-ing guys among their peers and how they oper-ate, how they’re received. That tells a lot when you just watch a kid in those circumstances.

“Obviously, when we would go to workouts, a lot of times the night be-fore, our coach and scout that would be at the pro day would take one, two

or three of the players out to dinner and have some conversation that way. We have the visual touchpoint, but we’re real-ly missing out on the per-sonal touchpoint, when you can smell or feel a guy.”

Baltimore Ravens GM Eric DeCosta said one of the biggest challenges with lack of visits is as-sessing injured players.

“We’ve had to really work with our training staff and with the college training staffs to get as much updated informa-tion as possible,” DeCosta said.

Agents are helping players post videos on so-cial media because they missed out on pro days.

NFLContinued from Page 1B

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020 5B

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RELIGIOUS BRIEFSHistoric Church Homecoming Canceled

Historic Mt. Pleasant Methodist Church, Wright Road, Caledonia, MS Annual Homecoming on May 10, 2020 has been canceled due to the current Coronavirus Pandemic shutdown orders and it has not been rescheduled.

School of Ministry Enrollment

Mississippi State School of Ministry is now taking ap-plications for enrollment. Earn a certification, associates, bachelor, master or doctoral degree in divinity. For more information, call Dr. Michael T. Boyd, 662-425-8443.

CANCELED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE Forgive and Live

Forgive and Live meets from 6-7 p.m. every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month in the downtown YMCA Board Room and every 3rd Wednes-day at Vibrant Church Cafe.

Inquire and seek informa-tion to succeed spiritually, physically and financially and be eager to be a blessing to the community, churches and families through the Word of God. The public is invited to attend. For more information, call Pat Fisher Douglas, 662-251-5899.

Fellowship Dinner, Youth Service

Pleasant Ridge Faith Cen-ter, 923 Ridge Road, hosts a fellowship dinner and youth service every 3rd Sunday.

Gospel Book ClubFriendship M.B. Church,

1102 12th Ave. S., invites the public to join its Community Gospel Book Club from 6-7 p.m., on the fourth Friday of each month, to study and share views of the Holy Bible. Open to all ages and ethnic-ities. For more information, call Barbara Mattison or Lillian Murray, 662-570-5595.

Grief Support GroupThe Oil of Joy for Grief and

Mourning offers a grief sup-port group at 6 p.m. every 2nd Thursday of the month at Unit-ed Christian Baptist Church, 232 Yorkville Road East. “Making your grieving journey easier.” For more information, call 662-327-0604 or e-mail unitedchristian@cableone.net.

Celebrate RecoveryThe Assembly Church,

2201 Military Road, and Meadowview Church, 300 Lin-den Circle in Starkville, host Celebrate Recovery at 6 p.m. every Sunday at The Assembly Church (next to Lowe’s) and at 6 p.m. every Tuesday at Meadowview Church. Get help, healing and support for any habit, hurt or hang-up using the Christ-centered 12 steps.

Divorce RecoveryThe DivorceCare Recovery

support group meets from 4:30-6 p.m. each Sunday beginning Jan. 12-April 5 at Meadowood Baptist Church, 1512 Hatley Road in Amory. Child care provided through 5th grade. Standalone

seminar sessions topics are “Facing My Anger”, “Facing My Loneliness”, “New Relation-ships”, and “Forgiveness”. For more information, call Meadowood Baptist Church, 662-256-5616, or email meadowoodamory@gmail.com.

Prayer for YouthEvery 2nd and 3rd Sat-

urday, Pleasant Ridge Faith Center hosts a prayer for the youth from 2-3 p.m.

Prayer, Free CoffeeMount Zion Missionary

Baptist Church, 2221 14th Ave. N., hosts free coffee and a prayer community outreach service from 8-9 a.m. every 5th Saturday. For information, contact Jesse Slater, 662-328-4979.

Radio Program Apostles Patrick Perkins

invites the public to tune in to WTWG, radio 1050 AM for Per-fecting the Saints Broadcast, Wednesdays 8:30 a.m.

Women Prayer, Worship Service

Church of the Eternal Word, 106 22nd St. S., holds a prayer and worship service every Thursday from 5-6 p.m. Call Marie Nabors, 662-549-4322 or 662-329-1234, for prayer requests.

Prayer MinistryNew Beginning Everlasting

Outreach Ministry invites the public to call in with their prayer requests at 662-327-9843.

Prayer ServiceChurch of the Eternal

Word, 106 22nd. St. S., Co-lumbus, holds prayer service Thursday nights 5-6 p.m. Contact Marie Nabors, 662-549-4322. Church service times: Sunday school 10 a.m.; Sunday worship 11:15

a.m.; Tuesday Bible study 7 p.m. For information, call Pas-tor District Elder Lou Nabors, 662-329-1234.

Fitness Transformations

The Transformational Church, 2301 Jess Lyons Road, hosts boxing lessons Mondays and Wednesday from 5-7 p.m., weight-loss boot camp Tuesdays and Thursdays 5-7 p.m. and both on Saturdays 9-11 a.m.

Youth FellowshipThe Transformational

Church, 2301 Jess Lyons Road, hosts Youth Fellowship from 7-8:30 p.m. every Tues-day. Games, prayer, service, food, & more. Transportation available. For information, call Iris Roberson, 662-295-7456.

BY SEAN MURPHY The Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — In the 25 years since a truck bomb ripped through a federal building in down-town Oklahoma City and killed 168 people, the United States has suf-fered through foreign wars, a rise in mass shootings and a much deadli-er act of terror, the Sept. 11 attacks.

But the April 19, 1995, assault on a sleepy city in the nation’s heart-land shocked many Americans out of their sense of security and awak-ened them to their own vulnera-bility. Terror wasn’t just a foreign problem, it was here. Events since have only contributed to a shared anxiety.

Ordinarily, survivors and vic-tims’ families would gather Sunday at the memorial where the Alfred P. Murrah Building once stood to pay tribute to the lives that were lost and tragically altered, as they have every year since the bombing. But the 25th anniversary ceremony was canceled due to the coronavi-

rus restrictions, denying the public the chance to collectively grieve a past tragedy because a current one is unfolding. Instead, the Oklaho-ma City National Memorial and Museum will offer a pre-recorded video that will air online and on TV and will include the reading of the names of everyone killed followed by 168 seconds of silence.

“There are a lot of things to grieve this spring, and the loss of the commemoration in person is one of them,” Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt recently told The Asso-ciated Press. “But I think we’ve ac-cepted that’s clearly the right thing to do.”

25 years after Oklahoma City bombing, anxiety remains high

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Is it safe to open mail and packages during the pandemic?

There is no evidence that COVID-19 is spread-ing through mail or par-cels, according to the World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Dis-ease Control and Preven-tion.

Most of it is spread from droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, which are inhaled by people nearby.

Health experts say the risks are very low that COVID-19 will remain on envelopes or packages and infect anyone who handles them.

It’s still a good idea to wash your hands thorough-ly and regularly — and avoid touching your face — after handling deliveries.

Is it safe to open mail and packages during the pandemic?

BY JOYCE M. ROSENBERG AND ANDREW TAYLOR AP Business Writers

NEW YORK — The government’s lending pro-gram for small businesses is tapped out, leaving busi-ness owners who still need loans waiting for Congress to approve more funding.

The Small Business Ad-ministration said Thurs-day that it reached the $349 billion lending limit for the program, after ap-proving nearly 1.7 million loans.

Thousands of small business owners whose loans have not yet been processed must now look

to Congress to approve a Trump administration request for another $250 billion for the program. Lawmakers have been haggling over whether to extend the program as it stands now, or add provi-sions that, among other things, would help minori-ty businesses. It’s unclear when they might reach an agreement that would al-low loan approvals to con-tinue.

Business owners left in limbo were getting more anxious after hearing the program was on hold.

“I am very worried that I will be shut out,” said Shana Elson, owner of Top This Chocolate, a retail-er in Ventura, California. She applied for a loan on April 3, the first day of the program, but hasn’t heard back from her bank.

Meanwhile, thousands of other businesses are still applying, hoping to get loans when the program is extended.

While they wait, some banks continue to accept and process applications that will be forwarded to the SBA. Others were putting their application processes on hold. Truist Bank’s website told visi-tors, “we’re suspending the

application process to fo-cus our efforts on funding the first wave of SBA-ap-proved applications.”

The fight in Congress over the extension is along party lines. Republicans are amping up the political pressure in hopes of get-ting a relatively narrowly drawn infusion of $250 billion in funding into the program. Top Democrats are seeking to add funding for hospitals and state and local governments.

Matters have been com-plicated by the shuttering of the Capitol other than for pro forma sessions that require unanimous agree-ment in order for any legis-lation to advance.

Business owners left out as lending program goes on hold

This year’s anniversary ceremony was canceled due to the coronavirus restrictions

The Small Business Administration approved nearly 1.7 million loans

The DispaTch • www.cdispatch.com4B FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020

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

There’sno placelike home

Social distancing is the most e� ective tool we

have for slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

And that means staying home, if you can.

Work from home. Play at home. Stay at home.

If you must go out, keep your social distance—

six feet, or two arm-lengths apart. Young.

Elderly. In between. It’s going to take every one

of us. If home really is where the heart is, listen

to yours and do the life-saving thing.

Visit Coronavirus.gov for the latest tips and

information from the CDC.

to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

#AloneTogether

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legalS

Legal Notices

IN THE CHANCERY COURT OFLOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-SIPPI

IN THE MATTER OF THE ES-TATE OF BENJAMIN G. REIDSR., DECEASED

BENJAMIN G. REID JR., ADMIN-ISTRATOR

CAUSE NO.: 2019-0164-RPF

SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION

THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

TO: All Unknown Heirs-at-Law ofBenjamin G. Reid Sr., de-ceased, and Any UnknownParties In Interest

You have been made a defend-ant in the Petition for Adjudica-tion of Heirs-at-Law filed by theAdministrator, Benjamin G. Re-id Jr., on March 25, 2020,seeking to determine the heirs-at-law of Benjamin G. Reid Sr.,deceased. Other than you, theonly other interested parties inthis action are Benjamin G. Re-id Jr., Anita Reid Rickman andWanda C. Stanfield.

You are summoned to appearand represent your interestsagainst said Petition before theHonorable Rodney P. Faver,Chancellor of the 14th Chan-cery District at 9:00 a.m. onthe 27th day of May 2020, atthe Lowndes County Court-house in Columbus, Missis-sippi, and in case of your fail-ure to appear your interest inthis matter will not be con-sidered.

You are not required to file ananswer or other pleading, butyou may do so if you desire.

Issued under my hand and theseal of said Court, this the 1stday of April 2020.

CINDY E. GOODE, CHANCERYCLERKLOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-SIPPI

(SEAL)BY: /s/ Tina Fisher, D.C.

PUBLISH: 4/3, 4/10 &4/17/2020

IN THE CHANCERY COURT OFLOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-SIPPI

KIMBERLY DAVIS SANDLINAND JONATHAN SANDLINPETITIONERS

VERSUS

JOSHUA W. EGLER AND COM-MONWEALTH OF KENTUCKYCABINET FOR HEALTH ANDFAMILY SERVICESRESPONDENTS

CAUSE NO:2019-0258-S

SUMMONS

THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPICOUNTY OF LOWNDES

TO: JOSHUA W. EGLER, whosewhereabouts are unknown

NOTICE TO DEFENDANT

THE DOCUMENT THAT IS AT-TACHED TO THIS SUMMONS ISIMPORTANT AND YOU MUSTTAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION TOPROTECT YOUR RIGHTS.

Your are summoned to appearand defend against the Peti-tion for Termination of Parent-al Rights at 9:00 o’clock a.m.,on Friday, the 15th day of May,2020, in the Lowndes CountyChancery Court, at the Chickas-aw County Courthouse,Okolona, Mississippi, and incase of your failure to appearand defend, a judgment will beentered against you for themoney or other things deman-ded in said Petition.

You are not required to file andAnswer or other Pleading, butyou may do so if you desire.

Issued under my hand and sealof said Court, this 1st day ofApril, 2020.

Chancery Court Clerk ofLowndes County, MississippiCindy E. GoodeBy: Tina Fisher, D.C.(SEAL)

PUBLISH: 4/10, 4/17 74/24/2020

Legal Notices

IN THE CHANCERY COURT OFLOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-SIPPI

KIMBERLY DAVIS SANDLINAND JONATHAN SANDLINPETITIONERS

VERSUS

JOSHUA W. EGLER AND COM-MONWEALTH OF KENTUCKYCABINET FOR HEALTH ANDFAMILY SERVICESRESPONDENTS

CAUSE NO:2019-0259-S

SUMMONS

THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPICOUNTY OF LOWNDES

TO: JOSHUA W. EGLER, whosewhereabouts are unknown

NOTICE TO DEFENDANT

THE DOCUMENT THAT IS AT-TACHED TO THIS SUMMONS ISIMPORTANT AND YOU MUSTTAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION TOPROTECT YOUR RIGHTS.

Your are summoned to appearand defend against the Peti-tion for Termination of Parent-al Rights at 9:00 o’clock a.m.,on Friday, the 15th day of May,2020, in the Lowndes CountyChancery Court, at the Chickas-aw County Courthouse,Okolona, Mississippi, and incase of your failure to appearand defend, a judgment will beentered against you for themoney or other things deman-ded in said Petition.

You are not required to file andAnswer or other Pleading, butyou may do so if you desire.

Issued under my hand and sealof said Court, this 1st day ofApril, 2020.

Chancery Court Clerk ofLowndes County, MississippiCindy E. GoodeBy: Tina Fisher, D.C.(SEAL)

PUBLISH: 4/10, 4/17 &4/24/2020

IN THE CHANCERY COURT OFLOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-SIPPI

IN THE MATTER OF THE ES-TATE OF LULA PEARL TURNERLEIGH (DECEASED)

CHESTER LEIGH, PETITIONERPETITIONER

vs

THE UNKNOWN HEIRS AT LAWOF LULA PEARL TURNER LEIGH(DECEASED) WHOSE STREETADDRESSES AND POST OF-FICE ADDRESSES ARE UN-KNOWN AFTER DILIGENTSEARCH AND INQUIRY, ANDWHO ARE UNKNOWN AFTER DI-LIGENT SEARCH AND INQUIRYRESPONDENTS

CASE NO:18-238-RPF

SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION

THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

THE UNKNOWN HEIRS AT LAWOF LULA PEARL TURNER LEIGH(D),WHOSE STREET AD-DRESSES AND POST OFFICEADDRESSES ARE UNKNOWNAFTER DILIGENT SEARCH ANDINQUIRY

You have been made Respond-ents in a Petition filed in thisCourt by Chester Leigh, Peti-tioner, seeking to DetermineThe Unknown Heirs of LulaPearl Turner Leigh (d).

You are summoned to appearand defend against said Peti-tion at 9:00 a.m. o’clock onthe 21st day of May, 2020, inthe Chancery Courtroom of theOktibbeha County Courthouseat 101 E. Main Street, Stark-ville, Mississippi, in case ofyour failure to appear and de-fend a Judgment will beentered against you for themoney or other things deman-ded in the Petition.

You are not required to file ananswer or other pleadings butyou may do so if you desire.

Issued under my hand and offi-cial seal of said Court, this the3rd day of April, 2020.

CINDY GOODECHANCERY CLERKLOWNDES COUNTY,BY: Shantrell W. Granderson,D.C

PUBLISH: 4/10, 4/17 &4/24/2020

Legal Notices

IN THE CHANCERY COURT OFLOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-SIPPI

IN THE MATTER OF THE ES-TATE OF LULA PEARL TURNERLEIGH (DECEASED)

CHESTER LEIGH, PETITIONERPETITIONER

vs

THE UNKNOWN HEIRS AT LAWOF LULA PEARL TURNER LEIGH(DECEASED) WHOSE STREETADDRESSES AND POST OF-FICE ADDRESSES ARE UN-KNOWN AFTER DILIGENTSEARCH AND INQUIRY, ANDWHO ARE UNKNOWN AFTER DI-LIGENT SEARCH AND INQUIRYRESPONDENTS

CASE NO:18-238-RPF

SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION

THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

THE UNKNOWN HEIRS AT LAWOF LULA PEARL TURNER LEIGH(D),WHOSE STREET AD-DRESSES AND POST OFFICEADDRESSES ARE UNKNOWNAFTER DILIGENT SEARCH ANDINQUIRY

You have been made Respond-ents in a Petition filed in thisCourt by Chester Leigh, Peti-tioner, seeking to DetermineThe Unknown Heirs of LulaPearl Turner Leigh (d).

You are summoned to appearand defend against said Peti-tion at 9:00 a.m. o’clock onthe 21st day of May, 2020, inthe Chancery Courtroom of theOktibbeha County Courthouseat 101 E. Main Street, Stark-ville, Mississippi, in case ofyour failure to appear and de-fend a Judgment will beentered against you for themoney or other things deman-ded in the Petition.

You are not required to file ananswer or other pleadings butyou may do so if you desire.

Issued under my hand and offi-cial seal of said Court, this the3rd day of April, 2020.

CINDY GOODECHANCERY CLERKLOWNDES COUNTY,BY: Shantrell W. Granderson,D.C

PUBLISH: 4/10, 4/17 &4/24/2020

IN THE CHANCERY COURT OFLOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-SIPPI

IN RE: THE ESTATE OF ROBERTTODD WALDROP, DECEASED

CAUSE NO. 2020-0027-DE

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

STATE OF MISSISSIPPICOUNTY OF LOWNDES

Letters of Administration havebeen granted and issued to theundersigned upon the Estate ofRobert Todd Waldrop, de-ceased, by the Chancery Courtof Lowndes County, Missis-sippi, on the 9th day of March,2020. This is to give notice toall persons having claimsagainst said estate to probateand register same with theChancery Court of LowndesCounty, Mississippi, withinninety (90) days from the firstpublication of this Notice toCreditors. A failure to so pro-bate and register said claimwill forever bar same.

This is 23rd day of March,2020.

Brandy WaldropAdministratrix

PUBLISH: 3/27, 4/3, 4/10, &4/17/2020

IN THE CHANCERY COURT OFLOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-SIPPI

IN THE MATTER OF THE ES-TATE OF ROSIE MAE LEWISCLAY, DECEASED

KIMBLER GEAN DAVIS PETI-TIONER

CAUSE NO. 44CH1:19-pr-00212-RPF

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

STATE OF MISSISSIPPICOUNTY OF LOWNDES

By the Chancery Court ofLowndes County:

Letters of Administration havebeen granted and issued to theundersigned upon the Estate ofRosie Mae Lewis Clay, de-ceased, by the Chancery Courtof Lowndes County, Missis-sippi, on the 30th day ofMarch, 2020. This is to givenotice to all persons havingclaims against said estate toprobate and Register samewith the Chancery Clerk ofLowndes County, Mississippi,within (90) days from the firstpublication date of this Notice.A failure to so Probate and Re-gister said claim will foreverbar the same.

THIS the 31st day of March,2020.

/s/Kimber Gean DavisAdministrator of the Estate ofRosie Mae Lewis Clay, De-ceased

BRANDI E. SOPER,MSB#105026WEBB SANDERS & WILLIAMS,PLLCP.O. Box 496TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI 38802-0496PH: (662) 844-2137FAX: (662) 842-3863Attorney for Administrator

Publication Dates: 4/3, 4/10,4/17 & 4/24/2020

Legal Notices

IN THE CHANCERY COURT OFLOWNDES COUNTY, MISSIS-SIPPI

IN THE MATTER OF THE ES-TATE OF ROSIE MAE LEWISCLAY, DECEASED

KIMBLER GEAN DAVIS PETI-TIONER

CAUSE NO. 44CH1:19-pr-00212-RPF

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

STATE OF MISSISSIPPICOUNTY OF LOWNDES

By the Chancery Court ofLowndes County:

Letters of Administration havebeen granted and issued to theundersigned upon the Estate ofRosie Mae Lewis Clay, de-ceased, by the Chancery Courtof Lowndes County, Missis-sippi, on the 30th day ofMarch, 2020. This is to givenotice to all persons havingclaims against said estate toprobate and Register samewith the Chancery Clerk ofLowndes County, Mississippi,within (90) days from the firstpublication date of this Notice.A failure to so Probate and Re-gister said claim will foreverbar the same.

THIS the 31st day of March,2020.

/s/Kimber Gean DavisAdministrator of the Estate ofRosie Mae Lewis Clay, De-ceased

BRANDI E. SOPER,MSB#105026WEBB SANDERS & WILLIAMS,PLLCP.O. Box 496TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI 38802-0496PH: (662) 844-2137FAX: (662) 842-3863Attorney for Administrator

Publication Dates: 4/3, 4/10,4/17 & 4/24/2020

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Apts For Rent: Other

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1 BEDROOM2 BEDROOMS3 BEDROOMS

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Commercial Property For Rent

FOR RENT LOCATED NEAR

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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.

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OFFICE SPACE FOR

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real eStateaDS Starting at $25

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16 WIDNER IN NEW HOPE

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1.75 ACRE LOTS.

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

garage SaleS two free SignS

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Call 901−293−7608.2212 New Hope Rd. Fri.,

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Farm Equipment & Supplies

JOHN DEERE MODEL M

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Furniture

FURNITURE. Micro fabricsofa. $150. Two like new

recliners. $150 ea.Price negotiable.

Call 662−523−8662.

General Merchandise

WANTED FREON R12.

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

Certified professionals.312−291−9169

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Campers & RVs

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

Motorcycles & ATVs

1993 KAWASAKI

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Can be seen local.501−545−7750.

communityaDS Starting at $12

Travel & Entertainment

PUBLIC CATFISH POND

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