Grenada County gets $5.3 million grant for industrial park road to continue manufacturing growth

GRENADA, Miss. (WCBI) – The Greater Grenada Partnership announced June 14th that the county is getting a $5.3 million grant that will go towards creating a four-lane road into its industrial park. It’s the latest in a series of major investments into the county’s growing manufacturing sector. “This total access road that’s going to be built for the citizens in…

Aberdeen native Billy B is having a living estate sale

Chance for the public to own some eclectic items from the make up artist to the stars

ABERDEEN, MISS. (WCBI) – An Aberdeen native, known as the make-up to the stars, is downsizing, and now you could buy from his personal collection. John Beard has organized a lot of estate sales, but none quite like this one. “This is by far, the biggest estate sale we’ve ever done. There are thousands of items for sale,” Beard said….

Columbus’s plans to spend its share of American Rescue Plan Act money

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The City of Columbus’s plans to spend its share of American Rescue Plan Act money continue to take shape. At a press conference Wednesday morning, Mayor Keith Gaskin discussed how the ARPA Funds have been earmarked so far. Originally, $1.3 million was set aside for incentive pay for city workers. Only about 700,000 of that will…

Columbus and Greenville Railroad hosted a job fair

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Several area residents came out today to explore a new career track. Columbus and Greenville Railroad hosted a job fair in an effort to attract some new talent. The 100-year-old line is looking for locomotive conductors. To some, it may sound like an old-fashioned job, but modern conductors are responsible for the many operation and safety…

Lowndes County Supervisors will be getting a raise

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Lowndes County Supervisors will be getting a raise, just not immediately. Senate Bill 27-19 passed during this year’s legislative session and increased the maximum amount County Supervisors across the State can be paid. Boards only have to vote to approve the raise and spread it on the minutes of the meeting. Lowndes County Supervisors approved…

Chief Duane Hughes is the new chief for Columbus Fire and Rescue

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The search for a new chief for Columbus Fire and Rescue is complete. Interim Chief Duane Hughes can now drop the “Interim” from that title. At Tuesday night’s meeting, the Columbus City Council voted to promote Hughes to Chief on a full-time basis. Hughes replaces Chief Martin Andrews, who retired in March after 30 years in…

Starkville Utilities debuts new Operations Center to expand water, electric and other services to customers

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Tuesday afternoon, Starkville Utilities held an official opening ceremony to debut its new state-of-the-art Operations Center. They invested nearly $2 million to unite their water, electric and other services in one place. “Having everybody in one location, utilizing shared facilities, shared resources, will help us and make us more efficient and make us more responsive to…

Drone competition is underway in Starkville and its going to be essential for law enforcement

Teams from across the nation competed in the third stage of the First Responders U.A.S Triple Challenge in Starkiville

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- Teams from across the nation competed in the third stage of the First Responders U.A.S Triple Challenge in Starkiville on Tuesday June 21, 2022. The competition was hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology; it featured the advances in drone technology. Competitors put their best bot forward to try and capture…

NEMCC Career Development Academy provides inspiration and motivation

The camp helps young people explore possible career choices, and also teaches valuable life skills

BOONEVILLE, MISS. (WCBI) – As one group of campers was building bridges out of balsa wood for an engineering project, another was playing a fast-paced, musical game. This is the fifth year NEMCC has hosted the Career Development Academy Camp.   It runs three days a week. And every day is a full day. “We usually start out with breakfast…

June is designated Men’s Health Month

Written by Victoria Bailey

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The month of June is all about the guys. Men’s Health Month rolls around each year to remind gentlemen to stay in the know about personal wellness. “We don’t like to go to the doctor at all, We men do, we don’t like to think that we need to have anything fixed,” said Hank Norwood, Pharmacist….

Rising gas prices slowing down road work progress

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Rising gas prices are not only slowing down drivers, but they’re also slowing down the folks paving the roads. An increase in fuel and material prices is forcing Lowndes County Supervisors to adjust the budget for this year’s road paving program. Supervisors had allotted 2 million dollars to resurface 17 miles of roads across the…

Monroe County Sheriff Department makes four arrests in major multi-state scamming operation

ABERDEEN, Miss. (WCBI) – Friday, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department announced four arrests resulting from a six-month investigation into a major scamming operation that spans multiple states. Christopher “Big Money Bunny” Bradley is charged with nine counts of felony false pretense, Janiqua Edmond and Shaquayne Ware are both charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, and Antoine Griffin Jr. is…

MUW invited area residents to help celebrate Juneteenth

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Mississippi University for Women invited area residents to help celebrate Juneteenth. The W hosted a program at Fant Memorial Library to observe the holiday. Library staff have set up an exhibit in the main lobby, and Dean of Library Services, Amanda Powers, is spearheading an effort to collect oral histories of people’s Juneteenth memories. Juneteenth was…

Funeral services begin Monday evening for State Rep. Lynn Wright

PICKENS COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Funeral services begin Monday evening for state Representative Lynn Wright. Visitation is from five until eight at Skelton Funeral Home in Reform. The funeral service will be Tuesday at 2 PM at Mount Zion Baptist Church in the New Hope community of Lowndes County. There will be visitation one hour before the service and immediately…

Columbus police investigating shooting Sunday night

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Columbus police continue to investigate a Sunday night shooting where at least 70 shots were fired. The shooting happened about 10:30 Sunday night in a busy shopping center parking lot, just off Highway 45. Officers first learned of the shooting after someone showed up at Baptist Golden Triangle with a gunshot would to the leg. Police…

People in the Golden Triangle come together for the Juneteenth weekend

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Juneteenth celebrations took place all over the Golden Triangle this weekend. From the park to the parade routes, we were not short of festivities. People showed their Juneteenth spirit for the historical holiday in Columbus. It all started with a parade on Main Street in Columbus and continued at Sim Scott park with vendors and people…