According to reports from friends and family, two children between the ages of 6 and 10, Justin and Jacob Brown, went missing however they say the boys’ father and another brother survived the accident. The father is said to have been driving the ATV when the accident occurred. Columbus police, the state wild life and fisheries division and the lowndes county sheriff’s department all coordinated a command post near propst park during the search. Authorities have not released any other information at this time. The investigation is still on-going.

Angelina Jolie says after being told she had an 87 percent chance of getting breast cancer, she decided to remove the tissue in both breasts to decrease her chances of getting the disease. Jolie also had reconstructive surgery. Many women are still concerned that the double mastectomy will leave them disfigured. Robyn Havard is a breast cancer survivor who elected to only have the lump removed from her breast 6 years ago.

“I don’t know that I would’ve made the same decision today and a lot of that has to do with awareness. At the time I was diagnosed, my largest fear was to have to have a mastectomy, or a double mastectomy. I think you immediately think you’re going to be disfigured and that you’re life will just never be the same,” says Havard.

Havard carries a mutated breast cancer gene and was in stage 3 when she was diagnosed. Still, she chose to have a lumpectomy, leaving her breast tissue in tact. Looking back she says, she didn’t realize what her options were.

“I think science has just come to a point as the medical community, that they are taking care a lot of those fears and a lot of those things are going away. So I don’t know that I wouldn’t make the same decision but I think I probably would’ve looked a little bit more into my options and that just comes with awareness,” says Havard.

Dr. Travis Methvin is a surgeon with the Center for Breast Health and Imaging in Starkville and performs surgeries at OCH Regional Medical Center. He says having a double mastectomy is solely the patient’s decision.

“I leave that up to the patient. There are other options, the double mastectomy is one. Increased screening is another, whether that be starting at an earlier age for performing mammograms. Whether that be going to MRI of the breasts instead of mammograms,” says Methvin.

Dr. Methvin says all women carry the breast cancer gene but the mutation is what determines who will likely develop breast cancer. He says every woman has to decide what’s best for her once diagnosed and how that decision will affect her life.

“If they can’t sleep at night and they’re going to worry about this and it’s going to affect their quality of life, then have a double mastectomy. If they do get it and we can find it small, remove it and still have a long-term survival,” says Methvin.

Dr. Methvin says women should also know that they’re at risk for ovarian cancer if they are diagnosed with a mutated breast cancer gene.

According to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, someone dies of breast cancer every 74 seconds around the world.

A ribbon cutting was held this morning to kick off the 13 market season. The early morning crowd was plentiful as people wanted to take advantage of the fresh produce grown by area farmers. Jessica Reed is with the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association which sponsors the market.

“We are big advocates of supporting our local farmers as well as promoting a healthy living. With Tupelo being named the healthiest city in Mississippi this past year we’re excited to have this addition to Tupelo and be able to buy your local and really fresh,” says Reed.

Reed says the Tupelo Downtown Farmers Market will be open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturday’s from 6am to noon, or when the farmers sell all their produce.

Parents from all over the region came out to learn more about the program and help share information about foster parents to other families. The event focused on showing appreciation for the parents and their continued dedication and commitment to providing safe and permanent homes for children in care. This year community partners, potential resource parents and their families were also invited to participate.

“Right now we’re in desperate need of foster homes in our region for teenagers and sibling groups. We’re training our foster parents how to go out to the community to recruit other foster parents for us,” said Leah Hill, Regional Resource Supervisor.

For more information about how to be a foster parent you can call the Oktibbeha County MDHS at  1-800-821-9157

The Dollar General brand has been exploding nationwide within the last few years. That’s why this May, the company has committed to hiring 10,000 new employees. Positions range everywhere from district manager to supply distributor.

“We’re a growing company, you see news stories popping up every day and we just want to make sure that we have the staff. And we also want to put out there that our development opportunities are wonderful as well,” said Emily Broussard, a Dollar General recruiter.

The job fair that was held today was just one of thousands that took place at Dollar General’s nationwide. Recruiters were present to take applications and answer questions about the quickly growing industry.

“Come in and start at any level. You don’t necessarily have to start at the top because you will get there,” said Broussard.

There are 40 states in the US with Dollar General locations and there are 9 just here in Columbus. But the company is still growing. Sales have been steadily increasing for over a year causing more stores to be planted and higher quality products to fill the shelves.

Columbus store manager Natalie Evans worked her way up from lead sales associate all the way to her current position- in just 2 years. She believes it is now her duty to aid fellow employees in succeeding at Dollar General.

“Helping my employees grow within the company. Teach them new things, teach them what I know. To help them get where they want to go.”

Evans plans to continue working her way up at Dollar General and eventually become an HR representative. For more information on Dollar General and their job opportunities, visit www.dollargeneral.com.

Her children Faye Loveday and Lewis Curry were in attendance. Maudelle has lived in Columbus for the last 35 years and is a member of Fairview Baptist Church. She has four grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Riders traveled on a ninety mile circuit to raise money for children in need. The largest little red wagon in the world was also at the event for children and families to ride.

“If we don’t help the children they won’t have anybody. We help the local people in 4 counties, Lamar, Fayette, Marion, and Winston,” says program coordinator Estes Carl.

Trophies were awarded at today’s fundraiser for farthest traveler and oldest motorcycle.

It was 75 years ago May 18, 1938 when Congress passed the bill creating the Natchez Trace Parkway as part of the National Park Service. Today members of the current Mississippi  Congressional delegation joined the celebration at the Parkway Headquarters in Tupelo.

“The Nachez Trace is so much a part of Mississippi’s history, our nature our culture. And it happened because a lot of people cooperated together to a get tough project done,” says State Representative Alan Nunnelee.

“Why don’t we just start here in 2013 celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Natchez Trace and then next year we’ll celebrate the bi-centenial of Andrew Jackson’s march down the Natchez Trace to the Battle of New Orleans,” says Senator Roger Wicker.

Tupelo is a natural location for the park headquarters being almost in the middle of the 444 mile long national park. Unfortunately the Natchez Trace doesn’t have the bragging rights for being the longest. The Blue Ridge Parkway is 470 miles long. Still, no park has as many historical sites along its route, including the Chickasaw Indian Village, which is maintained by the dedicated national park employees.

“We have a crew of fanastic law enforcement maintainance, administrative, interpretative resource management personnel that manage all the diversity of natural and cultural resources along the parkway,” says Park Ranger Terry Wildy.

One of those resources is Patrick Shell, the Parkway’s Southern District Supervisor who gave visitors a history lesson about the contribution of black soldiers in the Civil War.

“What it makes me think about more than anything else is the price that was paid before me for my freedom. It was paid in blood. And although what I do here doesn’t compare to their sacrifice, what I’m really trying to do is be a voice for them and hopefully represent them in a way they’d feel honored by,” says Shell.

It was a great day for celebrating history.

For two hours Saturday, the Mississippi State softball team (33-24) showed the fight which brought them to the big dance, coming from behind to eliminate Mississippi Valley State (25-32) from the 2013 NCAA Mobile Regional. Hours later, the music on the dance floor came to a screeching halt, as the Bulldogs were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament with a 3-0 defeat to host South Alabama (47-8).
“We have to get a taste of postseason play, be hungry and realize
what it takes to play in the postseason,” Head Coach Vann Stuedeman
said. “This team made a decision to fight. This team is resilient.”

Down to its last four outs and trailing 1-0 against the Delta
Devilettes in the first elimination game of the day, senior right
fielder Jessica Cooley launched a game-tying home run deep over the
center field wall. Following a walk by redshirt sophomore Briana Bell
and a bunt single by freshman Kayla Winkfield, senior first baseman
Shelby Fisher drove in Bell for the winning run with a single to left
field.

All seven of MSU’s hits in the 2-1 victory came with two outs. On top
of Bell, Cooley, Winkfield and Fisher, juniors Jessica Offutt, Heidi
Shape and Sam Lenahan all went 1-for-3 in game one at the dish.

Junior right-hander Alison Owen tossed a complete-game two-hitter, with
her only run being unearned. The righty struck out a NCAA Tournament
school-record 13 batters, with her 11th strikeout of the game breaking
the single-season school record of 246 set by Autumn Anderson in 1998.
The Newnan, Ga., native’s 20 strikeouts this weekend also marked a
school record for a single NCAA Tournament as well as in a career.
Owen’s win in game one snapped a six-game losing streak in the NCAA
Tournament for the Maroon and White, while giving Stuedeman her first
career victory as head coach in postseason play.

Thirty minutes following the conclusion of game one, the magic ran out
for Mississippi State against the host Jaguars. South Alabama’s Farish
Beard went the distance in the circle for the victors, hurling her
third-career one-hit shutout, improving to 22-0. The righty struck out a
career-high tying 14 batters, with MSU junior Logan Foulks recording the
only hit for MSU.

In her last game as a Bulldog, senior lefty Stephanie Becker suffered
the loss in game two, falling to 10-9 in her final campaign. The
Illinois native surrendered three runs (two earned) on two hits and
three walks. Fellow senior southpaw Kylie Vry pitched lights out in her
final collegiate outing, throwing 3.2 scoreless innings in relief. In
all, five of the nine runs given up by MSU in the Mobile Regional were
unearned.

The Bulldogs ended the 2013 season with an overall record of 33-24 and
their first NCAA Tournament win since 2008. Stuedeman’s squad defeated
four teams hosting NCAA Regionals this weekend, with three of the four
wins coming on the road. With Saturday’s win against MVSU, Stuedeman
improved to a perfect 14-0 against in-state teams since arriving in
Starkville.

“It is just part of the process of building a program,” Stuedeman
said. “Last year, we were close to winning one game in a big series,
and this year we won a game and were close to winning the big series.
Last year, we weren’t able to win in the postseason, and this year, we
were able to. It is part of growing and building the program.”

Fans can follow the program in the offseason by searching for
“MStateSB” through Twitter, Facebook, Tout and Instagram. For
more information on Starkville’s Team, including information on
MSU’s summer softball camps, visit HailState.com.

The Rebels got three-run shots from Preston Overbey and Austin Anderson, combined with two-run shots from Will Allen and Overbey to help power to the win. Ten of the Rebels’ 11 runs came on home runs in the series finale.

Freshman Matt Denny (2-1) picked up the win in relief, working 0.2 innings and allowing one hit after entering the game in the sixth. Denny got the Rebels out of the sixth before Ole Miss would plate five runs in the seventh to take the lead it would never relinquish.

Senior Brett Huber picked up his 12th save of the season, working the final 2.2 and holding LSU off the board to give the Rebels the win. The 12 wins ties Huber’s personal best for saves in a season set as a freshman in 2010. He is one save shy of tying three-time All-America Stephen Head for the single season save record.

Kevin Berry (4-1), who picked up the win in relief the night before, took the loss for the Tigers as he allowed three runs on four hits with a strikeout in 0.2 innings of work. Berry entered the game in the seventh with two men on base and gave up a three-run home run to Overbey in the first at bat and the two-run home run to Allen two batters later as the Rebels grabbed the lead.

“This was a big win today for so many reasons,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “The biggest might be that it was a game in which we had to fight back and keep swinging after falling behind early. I’m proud of the guys for continuing to battle and fight today after a tough loss last night. It’s big for us as we move forward and look to the SEC Tournament next week and then the start of the NCAA Tournament the following week.”

The Rebels got on the board first when Preston Overbey crushed a two-run shot over the stands in left field to give Ole Miss the 2-0 lead in the second inning. Andrew Mistone scored on the play, reaching on a single to open the inning and taking second on a groundout from Orvis.

LSU rallied in the third, using a single and then a well-executed hit-and-run to put men at the corners to start things off. A strikeout put the first out on the board before another hit-and-run through the left side brought a run home and kept men at the corners. LSU then got back-to-back singles to push two more runs home and take the 3-2 lead.

A wild pitch moved a second man into scoring position before Chris Chinea hit a sac fly to right to make it 4-2 in favor of the Tigers. A walk put men at the corners again and the Rebels turned to the bullpen for right-hander Chris Ellis.

The Tigers then got an RBI single and a two-RBI double to take the lead out to 7-2 before Ole Miss would get out of the inning.

Ole Miss answered in a big way in the top of the fourth when Austin Anderson drilled a three-run home run to right field to cut the lead to 7-5. Tanner Mathis and Auston Bousfield scored on the play after drawing a pair of walks to reach base.

LSU took the lead back out to four with a pair of runs in the sixth, but the Rebels had different plans. Preston Overbey with a three-run shot and Will Allen with a two-run shot gave Ole Miss the 10-9 lead at the stretch.

The Tigers responded in the bottom of the inning, using a leadoff double to put a man in scoring position. A sac bunt moved him to third and the Rebels turned to the bullpen for Huber. The senior got a groundout and a strikeout to end the inning and maintain the lead for Ole Miss heading to the eighth.

The Rebels added a run in the eighth inning when Stuart Turner scored from third on a double play ball. Turner singled to open the inning and took third on a single to left center from Mistone, setting up the score on the Orvis ground ball that put Ole Miss up 11-9.

Huber then closed things out for the Rebels with a scoreless eighth and ninth as the Rebels picked up the win.

Ole Miss will open the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Tuesday as the sixth seed and will face the 11th-seeded Kentucky Wildcats at 9:30 a.m. at Regions Park.

The 16th-ranked Bulldogs erased an early deficit to post a 7-2 victory over No. 12 South Carolina in the final game of a three-game Southeastern Conference weekend series.

With the victory, MSU secured the No. 5 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament. MSU will face No. 12 seed Missouri in the fourth and final game of the tournament’s opening day Tuesday at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Ala. The contest will start 30 minutes after the completion of the 4:30 p.m. contest between No. 8 Florida and No. 9 Texas A&M. Comcast Sports Southeast will televise the night session of the Tuesday’s opening round.

By taking its first series from South Carolina since 2009, MSU enhanced its NCAA hosting resume while locking down a third-place finish in the Western Division and a fifth-place finish in the overall standings.

“I am awfully proud of the kids for playing really well this weekend,” MSU head coach John Cohen said. “Against a really good team, we competed all weekend and did a lot of things right. We were one base hit away Friday night from a sweep. There was a lot riding on this weekend and the kids really responded.”

MSU finishes the regular season at 40-16 overall and 16-14 in league play. South Carolina is now 39-16 and 17-12. The Bulldogs recorded 40 wins in the regular season for the first time since 1997.

Seven MSU seniors were honored in the pregame. After that, a pair of sophomores dominated the Gamecocks on the mound. Jacob Lindgren drew the start and worked 4.1 innings. Asked to protect a 2-1 lead, Ross Mitchell did just that. Mitchell completed the seven-hitter and moved to 10-0, with each of those victories coming out of the bullpen.

“Throw strikes and challenge hitters,” Cohen said. “I thought we did a great job of that today. Ross has been very consistent this year. With a one-run lead, we had to be careful with Jacob. He gave us a great start and then Ross did a great job of closing things down from there.”

The Bulldogs expanded the lead with two runs in the sixth inning and three runs in the eighth inning. An atypical three-error worksheet by South Carolina did not help the Gamecocks’ cause either.

Demarcus Henderson led MSU with three of the team’s 11 hits. Henderson had run-producing hits in both sixth and eighth innings. Adam Frazier, Brett Pirtle and C.T. Bradford each added multiple hits.

South Carolina finished with seven hits, including multi-hit games by LB Dantzler and Max Schrock. Freshman Jack Wynkoop (7-3) was chased in the sixth inning and took the loss for the Gamecocks.

Class 4A
Newton County defeats Newton County
GAME 1 – NEWTON COUNTY Wins, 16-3
GAME 2 – NEWTON COUNTY Wins, 10-0

Class 3A
St. Patrick defeats Nettleton
GAME 1 – ST. PATRICK Wins, 11-0
GAME 2 – ST. PATRICK Wins, 15-6

Class 2A
East Webster defeats Enterprise (Clarke)
GAME 1 – ENTERPRISE Wins, 6-3
GAME 2 – EAST WEBSTER Wins, 6-5
GAME 3 – EAST WEBSTER Wins, 3-1

Class 1A
Nanih Waiya defeats West Union
GAME 1 – NANIH WAIYA Wins, 15-6
GAME 2 – NANIH WAIYA Wins, 13-7

Sunday now looks like it will be a dry day and that bodes well for outdoor activities. Temperatures will likely climb into the upper 80s for a change. It’s finally going to feel and look like May around here!

Warm & humid conditions will persist into the start of next week as well. Our next cold front appears as if it will move through Wednesday or Thursday and that’s when the next best chance of rain will occur.