WCBI NEWS at Six - Friday, July 17th, 2020

Video Credit: WCBI
Published on July 17, 2020 -
WCBI NEWS at Six - Friday, July 17th, 2020

WCBI NEWS at Six - Friday, July 17th, 2020

Caledonia's sports teams will have a new name..

Thank you for joining us..

The name confederates...or "feds" is officially being retired... at today's school board meeting, members voted unanimously to adopt a new nickname and mascot... this comes after dozens of parents and community members voiced their concerns about what the nickname portrays.

Our quentin smith was at today's meeting and joins us live with more from today's decision scott, caledonia was first given the nickname "the confederates" back in 1957.... now the school will have a name change for the first time in more than 60 years...and they'll have 60 days to decide what that name will be.

With the raising of their right hands.... the five-member board made the highly anticipated vote to do away with the name...caledonia confederates" "i'm excited, i'm really excited this was a long time coming."

"i'm happy i feel like they acted responsibly, they listen to us, and they did the right thing."

Amanda neilson has been advocating for this change for more than a month... she organized the group "unify caledonia" in an effort to have the name removed "as i looked into this whole thing, it became apparent that black members of the community have been asking for these changes for at least 40 years, and nothing has been done."

Nielson has two kids in the school district.

While her kids are having good experiences at the school, she knows that's not the case for everyone, including her neighbor and recent caledonia graduate naterika shellman.

She believes the name confederates should have been retired years ago.

" now i know the school is taking forward to address the problem, so it'll be better for my younger brother who won't have to go through the same thing as i went through or have to wake nor the same things that i've had to ignore."

" i myself have seen a sort of self- segregation that seems to have happened between the towns in my area, and the name seems to contribute to that.

As i talk to people, they feel intimidated by the name, so that's not appropriate for school mascot, it's time to change that."

The process to determine what's next is now underway.

The principal, student body, community members, and alumni now have 60 days to decide on a new name and mascot then present it to the board to make a vote.

" if we decide what the mascot is in this room, we may pick something that's not indicative of what the community represents, so we want them to do it.

I want to say, i don't think the mascot and the community views it as racist at all.

I have been in that community my entire life, i don't see anything racist going on, it's just some people outside looking in viewing it that way, and it's just time to change that stance."

The new name and mascot will be presented to the board in september... and will take effect immediately following the board's vote reporting live in caledonia.

Quentin smith.

Wcbi news.

Take developing story stinger natvo gfx wipe to natvo a scary scene outside a columbus hotel is caught on video// the shooting happened outside the wingate hotel on wednesday night// columbus police chief fred shelton says two people were shot in the gunfight// those two are expected to be okay// investigators want to talk to the man wearing a white shirt and holding a gun in the video.// shelton says that someone rented a room at the hotel and threw a party// there was an argument inside the room that spilled out into the parking lot// no arrest has been made// but police do have suspects they are looking for.... 17-year-old jeremiah ratcliff and 19-year-old donqarous stewart both have warrants for their arrest// shelton says the teens will be charged with two counts of aggravated assault// if you know where they are tonight, call golden triangle crime stoppers// wipe to vo a dead body, a pipe bomb, and drugs... that's what choctaw county investigators are dealing with and trying to match the pieces together.

Sheriff brandon busby says the remains were found in a shallow grave behind a home on hebron road.

Those remains were found wednesday.

Deputies went to serve a search warrant at a home on thursday in connection with the remains.

Inside the house, a pipe bomb was found along with some drugs.

The atf is investigating the explosives.

Six people have been arrested on a variety of felony and misdemeanor charges ranging from drug possession to manufacture of explosive devices.

The remains have not been positively identified by investigators.

Deputies are conducting interviews today.

More charges are possible.

First look stinger first look summary: the lazy, hazy, hot days of summer are here.

Not a lot of moisture is expected over the next few days but a few spotty storms can't be ruled out during the daytime heating.

More widely scattered storms may return by the middle of next week.

Friday night: clear and quiet.

Lows in the mid 70s.

A good night for star gazing.

Saturday: partly cloudy, hot, and humid.

Highs in the mid 90s.

Heat indices between more than one thousand mississippians test positive for covid- 19 and icu numbers continue to climb.

One thousand 32 new cases are being reported today by the mississippi state department of health, along with 24 deaths.

One thousand 332 people have died after being diagnosed with the virus.

There are 41 fewer people in the hospital today than yesterday...that number is now one thousand 76.

At least 2 of those are members of the state legislature.

Representatives earle banks of jackson and manly barton of moss point// 253 people are in icu.

That number higher than yesterday's figure.

Lee county had the highest number of new cases with 33.

Union has 25.

Pontotoc, winston, and lamar county, alabama all had 13.

Monroe, oktibbeha, and lafayette had 12.

Wipe to vo seven thousand mississippi national guard troops will soon go to camp shelby for training.

Now, covid-19 precautions are being put in place.

The guard will host the troops from the end of july through the month of august on a rotational basis.

There will be daily screening measures for troops, mask requirements, and increased sanitation stations at the camp.

Units are moving to a field-training environment to help maintain social distancing, while completing training requirements.

Wipe to vo the lee county school district releases its "blueprint" for re opening// school starts august sixth.

Parents can choose either traditional learning, or distance learning.

Those who choose traditional learning will be at school five days a week, cdc guidelines will be followed and social distancing enforced with all classes and activities.

Students in distance learning will enroll for each nine week period.

Instruction will be provided through google classroom, with options for teacher meetings using google meets or zoom.

There are a host of other guidelines the district is implementing to make sure students, teachers and staff are safe as the new school year begins.

"a lot of planning has gone into that as well, making sure we can provide a healthy environment so we can stay in school because we understand the importance of face to face instruction with a high quality teacher for the education of our students, we want to be safe, we're extremely excited and we are ready for school."

The district will provide digital textbooks when they are available from the publisher.

Students will face the same direction in desks during class time.

Students and staff will be required to wear masks when social distancing is not possible.

Some big improvements are coming to a busy oktibbeha county road.

More than four miles of poor house road will be redone with an asphalt surface.

Money from the county and the state will pay for repairs.

Work will start on highway 25 and continue to oktoc road.

A traffic light will also be installed within the next three months.

"the intersection of old highway 25 and poor house road... this has been an intersection where we have seen safety issues.

We did data studies to know exactly what we needed to do, which included traffic counts and accident reports and they came back and said we need to put in a light and we are also going to illuminate the area."

The traffic light project is already under contract.

This is the day courtnay smith has been waiting for.

Two years in the making, the starkville woman receives the keys to her new home today.

This is a habitat house on azalea lane.

Homeowners like courtnay have to put in lots of manpower hours, working alongside volunteers to build the house.

This year has been a challenge.

I can definitely say through this process i have been taught patience is a virtue.

And, its been a long two years but its definitely been worth the wait and then when it comes to finally getting started on the process of building, we have the coronavirus which put a halt to everything, and i say god remains faithful and we finished on time.

Volunteers helped keep that schedule on time.

The smith family includes courtnay, her three children and one grandchild.

Stinger he helped the golden triangle take flight..

Now he's being honored for his vision and his work..

We look at his contribution when we come back..

Six businesses in downtown amory will get facelifts after they are awarded special grants.// the six businesses are winners of a grant competition sponsored by "amory main street."

Each business has six months to spruce up its storefront, and the expenses will be reimbursed as part of the grant contest// it will help restore the look of each building to its original state// amory main street director alyssa benedict says it's important to have a vibrant and visually appealing downtown area// "it makes a big difference, people have a lot to say about the way things look downtown, so we're excited we are getting to give it a little facelift, it will be a really inviting atmosphere i believe and everyone will really enjoy it."

Businesses chosen for the grants include; "the gemstone" "arbors on main" "bill's hamburgers" "kella boutique" "the grind" and a rental property.

The downtown area is seeing a revitalization with many new businesses opening up// golden triangle regional airport honors one of the men who helped them take flight// stuart vance was part of a three member board that helped bring the airport to the area he helped secure funds and mapped out plans for the facility.... and even helped give it the name "golden triangle airport"... today... vance was given two plaques by current airport board members, thanking him for all of his contributions and hard work.

"the awards that were given to me, i'll cherish them for a long time, long time, they're very special.

It's been such a pleasure to watch the continued growth of the golden triangle airport.

For a small town, and a rural remote are of america, we've got something good.

I'm proud of it, proud for them, and proud to have had a small part in it."

Golden triangle regional airport officially opened in 1971 stinger wx open summary: unsettled weather will remain in place through tuesday night with scattered rain and storm chances.

A cold front will sweep out the rain and humidity by mid morning wednesday leaving us with sunny and warm weather for the rest of the week and upcoming weekend.

Monday night: areas of showers will continue but gradually diminish in size and scope.

The threat of an isolated tornado should gradually end during the evening hours but we'll just have to monitor radar trends.

Look for a mild night with lows in the mid 70s.

Breezy se winds between 10 and 25 mph.

Tuesday: mostly cloudy with showers lingering first thing in the day.

A mix of sun and clouds is expected to develop as time goes on but that could lead to a few more showers or storms. highs are going to push 90?

With higher heat indices at times.

Winds ssw 10-20 mph.

Tuesday night: a cold front may spark a line of showers and storms after midnight.

While we can't rule out a few isolated strong storms most spots will not experience anything too rough.

Lows will be in the low to mid 70s.

Wednesday: any rain chance should move east by mid morning allowing sunnier and less humid conditions to build in on the heels of westerly winds.

Highs top out in the mid 80s.

Wednesday night: clear and refreshing.

Lows in the low 60s.

Thursday-monday: mostly sunny to partly cloudy, warm, and dry.

Highs in the upper stinger the high school football tour continues by checking in on stop #26, the aliceville yellowjackets // see the preview next in sports open the aliceville yellowjackets have no issue making it to the playoffs this year, the jackets hope to push even further and return to state for the first time since 2016 aliceville is stop #26 on the high school football tour ááááopen bbááá "just to be in the stadium and actually see the smiling faces whether it's players or its fans," aliceville head coach melvin pete said about returning to football this fall.

Besides the smiling faces, the aliceville yellowjackets have plenty to look forward to heading into the 2020 season.

The yellowjackets return following an 8-3 year; however, pete wants his team to learn from last year's losses.

"don't think that everybody can play with you and you can turn on the light switch when you get ready.

That was our biggest mistake as far as last year.

We kind of got into a dogfight.

We ended up coming up short because they did a great job of playing keep away," pete said.

Every down mean's something for pete and his team.

One player he doesn't have to reiterate that to: sophomore quarterback ty williams. in his freshman season, williams threw for over 1100 yards, and 16 touchdowns.

According to coach pete, he's already eager to do more.

"this is a guy who actually will call me in the middle of the night, 'coach i just got through watching some film.

Why did you hold back on play calling against gordo?'

I said, man, i was trying to protect you.

'we're not going to do that this year coach.

I'm gonna be ready.'

Man, you're talking a lot but let's see," pete said.

While the yellowjackets can count on williams to take care of the pass game, aliceville has to replace running back zavien wilkins, who accounted for nearly 1500 yards rushing for the jackets in 2019.

"i don't think the running game will be a problem because i'm relying on the guys upfront with that.

My guys upfront have been together at least two years.

I've just never been where we had our o-line, i've kind of had to rebuild every year.

This is the first time we've had a solid group coming back and returning," pete said.

As the season approaches, pete is also focusing on building a strong defensive line.

"there's some real big time players, our corners.

The other thing is we have a guy by the name of kobe sparks that's returning at defensive end.

Our biggest challenge this year is trying to find the other end.

We're trying to find some more d-lineman...we have some that have experience.

We're just trying to toughen up our front," pete said.

Aliceville kicks-off the season against greene county on august 21st.

With the yellowjackets on the hsft, courtney robb wcbi sports.

Last look stinger i'm not about where you are the more elegantly i think the landing the 20 along the way you do any ... are warm for you we can ratings is pretty limited related 90s next 90 or so to find a load 70 garrisons by the mill next is that you cannot perform only are you actually look like a lot definitely will i and watching

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