CMSD takes care of meal planning with annual Summer Feeding Program

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The Columbus Municipal School District is helping out students and their families this Summer. The district is taking care of weekday meal planning with its annual Summer Feeding Program. Children 18 and under can grab a free breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday. And most won’t have to go too far to take advantage of the…

Multi-million dollar investment looks to bring over 150 jobs to Noxubee Co.

NOXUBEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – A $418 million investment will bring more than 150 jobs to Noxubee County. Huber Engineered Woods will locate a state-of-the-art oriented strand board plant in Shuqualak. The company will build on a 551-acre site and make specialty engineered wood panels. Noxubee County and the Tennessee Valley Authority are providing assistance. The Mississippi Development Authority will…

Park in Starkville set to receive major improvements

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – A Starkville park is set to receive updates to attract more families. Over the next year, J.L. King Park is set to see many major improvements. The splash pad is due to see an expansion, to help beat that summer heat. Along with the splash pad, the tennis and basketball courts are also set to receive…

Starkville receives millions of dollars for improvements downtown

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Downtown Starkville will be seeing a lot of development in the coming years. The City of Starkville has received a total of $6 million to put towards improvements on Main Street and Highway 182. $1.2 million is already being used to update the water, sewer, and stormwater lines on Main Street. The other $5 million will…

Local soup kitchen makes sure people stay fed, hydrated

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – A local soup kitchen is making sure people stay fed and hydrated. Loaves and Fishes in Columbus provides meals to more than 300 people every day. During the summer months, volunteers want to make sure people who use their services also have enough water. Recently Baptist Golden Triangle donated dozens of cases of water to help…

Lowndes County deputies arrest 8 people in meth trafficking investigation

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Lowndes County narcotics deputies arrested eight people in a months-long meth trafficking investigation. The narcotics STING unit seized more than $15,000 in cash, over eight pounds of methamphetamine, and five vehicles. Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said the case started after neighbors called deputies about a large amount of traffic coming to and from a house. Agents…

Fulton voters ready to invest tourism tax into town projects

FULTON, Miss. (WCBI) – Fulton voters are ready to invest in tourism and recreation. A 3% tourism tax passed in a special election Tuesday. Mayor Emily Quinn said they still have nine affidavit ballots and one absentee ballot to count, but that won’t change the outcome. The 3% tax will be added to food and beverage purchases inside city limits….

Camp Rising Sun shines light on special group of kids

MILLPORT, Ala. (WCBI) – Camp Rising Sun has been shining a light on a special group of kids in the region for decades. The camp was started to give kids with cancer or who have had cancer, a chance to do something they sometimes miss out on: just be kids. When you think of summer camp, you don’t typically think…

Itawamba County Jail garden provides life skills for trustees

The garden at the new jail is also a saving for taxpayers

ITAWAMBA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Inmates in Itawamba County are learning valuable life skills while growing their own produce. Since April, trustees at the Itawamba County Jail have worked the garden, Monday through Friday. “They come out every morning and work, four or five hours, gives them something to do and it shows them progress,” said Maj. Malcomb Driskill, jail…

Mississippi Governor’s School is in session on MUW campus

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – School may be out for the summer, but dozens of students are in class this week at the Mississippi Governor’s School. The annual educational retreat brings high-potential learners from across the state to Mississippi University for Women’s campus. Some classes at the Mississippi Governor’s School have remotes for video games and others have old-fashioned pen and…

Mississippi State University unveils new WWII memorial exhibit

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – June 6 marks the 79th anniversary of D-Day, a major turning point in World War II. And two brothers are looking to honor their father’s legacy and military career with a memorial at Mississippi State University’s Mitchell Memorial Library. Its purpose is to remember how three Mississippi natives and former bulldogs cleared the way to victory….

Area mental health service reminds people help is only phone call away

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Help is only a phone call away. That was one of the messages from Contact Helpline. Executive Director Katrina Sunivelle spoke to business and community leaders in Columbus. Contact Helpline has been providing mental health services in the Golden Triangle since 1975. Sunivelle and the specialists there have noticed an alarming trend in recent years: a…

Woman, her dog wanted after man was attacked in Winston County

WINSTON COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Winston County deputies are looking for a woman and her dog after a man was attacked. COURTESY: WINSTON COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT FACEBOOK PAGE Stormy Arnold and her pet have been on the run since Friday. Sheriff Jason Pugh said the victim was taken to the hospital and later flown to Jackson for treatment. The attack…

Recent plane crashes put spotlight on airplane safety

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Crashes like the one in Tupelo Saturday morning and another near Washington D.C. Sunday are putting a spotlight on aircraft safety. Statistically speaking, Air travel remains one of the safest modes of transportation, but there are risks. According to one news outlet, the odds of a plane going down are 1 in 5.4 million. Statistics show…

OCH Regional Medical Center to partner with new medical service provider

  OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Tensions ran high at today’s Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors meeting. This comes after OCH Regional Medical Center announced on social media it would be partnering with a new emergency medical service provider, Global Medical Response. The new contract would turn OCH’s ambulance services over to GMR or Medstat. The new contract is set…

Columbus city, Lowndes County leaders meet to discuss landscaping deal

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Columbus may get some help improving the entrances to the city. Mayor Keith Gaskin went before the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors to ask if the county would consider sharing the cost of landscaping the exits along Highway 82 and the straightaway behind Leigh Mall. The city put the mowing duties out for bid earlier this…

Columbus officers make burglary arrest at convenience store

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – A quick response led to a quick arrest in a Columbus convenience store burglary. CPD officers were alerted to an alarm at Union Stop in the 1200 block of Main Street shortly before 5 Sunday morning. When they arrived, they quickly located where the burglar entered the building. Officers found that a suspect was still inside…

Library displays Columbus photographer’s work from 1910s-1960s

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The work of photographer O.N. Pruitt of Columbus was on display at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library. The public library hosted an event displaying the work of Pruitt, a Columbus photographer from the 1910s to the 1960s. Pruitt is known for taking photographs of African-American people during the Jim Crow era, a time of racial segregation. Pruitt’s…

Argument turns into shooting injuring 1 person in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – A man was injured in a weekend shooting in Columbus. A spokesperson for Columbus police said the shooting happened in the area of 21st Street and Sixth Avenue North. Officers were called to Baptist Golden Triangle about a gunshot victim, just before 9:30 Sunday evening. Investigators believed the victim was shot by someone he knows and…

LCBS votes to rename Lowndes County Soccer Complex after Roger Short

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The Lowndes County Soccer Complex will now bear the name of the man who helped make it happen. At Monday’s meeting, the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to rename the facility, the Roger Short Soccer Complex. Short was credited with recognizing the need for a top-notch soccer complex in the area. As director…

Investigation continues into fatal Tupelo plane crash

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – The investigation into a deadly Tupelo plane crash over the weekend continues. The crash happened at the Tupelo Regional Airport on Saturday morning. Lee County Coroner Carolyn Green said it will be at least a week and a half before a positive, scientific identification is made of the victims. St. James Catholic Church in Tupelo identified…