WCBI New at Six - 08/10/2020

Video Credit: WCBI
Published on August 10, 2020 -
WCBI New at Six - 08/10/2020

WCBI New at Six - 08/10/2020

A significant drop in the number of new covid-19 cases in mississippi.

The mississippi department of health reports 476 new positive tests, along with 16 deaths.

There are currently 175 outbreaks reported inside long-term care facilities in the state.

One thousand 151 people are currently in the hospital with confirmed or suspected coronavirus.

334 of those patients are in i.c.u.

198 people are on a ventilator.

18-29 year-olds continue to lead the case count in mississippi.

State health officials did not a presumed recovered number today, as they usually do on monday.

Governor tate reeves says the state's seven day rolling average in cases is down.

The mississippi state department of health is releasing hospital data and availability on its website.

Right now, there are three open icu beds in the golden triangle.

The data was last updated on sunday.

It shows there are 10 covid patients in i.c.u.

At baptist golden triangle and two available i.c.u.

Beds.

Och regional medical center has four covid patients in i.c.u.

And no i.c.u.

Beds.

North mississippi medical center - west point has one open i.c.u.

Bed available and no covid patients in that unit.

The tupelo hospital has ten patients in i.c.u.

And 11 available beds in the critical care portion of the hospital.

Several employees in the columbus school district have tested positive for covid19 since school began thursday.

Superintendent dr. cherie labat confirmed to wcbi that several employees have been quarantined after testing positive or having a low grade fever from temperature checks.

In a statement, labat said some employees have tested negative but can not return to school because they have a fever.

Labat says, -quote- "we are being transparent while protecting the medical privacy of our employees" - end quote.

.

Internet access in rural areas, like noxubee county, has been an ongoing issue.

And with the school year set to take off next week, the school district has a plan to make sure students and teachers have what they need to for virtual learning.

Wcbi's bobby martinez joins us live in the studio with more..

Joey, 4-county electric power association chose northern noxubee county for a pilot internet program.

Now, other companies are also taking note of the growing issue.

This issue is growing, as more students will get their school lessons on a computer this year.

Now, administrators are working around the problem to help kids in their virtual classrooms. "this is history in the making."

Having little or no internet service is a common reality for rural areas like noxubee county.... terry lewis, principal at earl nash elementary..

Says it was important for the school district to come up with a plan to make sure each student has internet access.

Sot - terry lewis - principal - earl nash elementary "providing them with these hot spots and this internet services will allow them to be able to do the work necessary for them to continue on their trajectory to college and career readiness."

Administrators are taking steps for virtual learning and installing remote internet connections.

Bringing classrooms to the car.

"our school district is purchasing laptops for our students and our teachers.

And our district is also placing hot spots within different various parts of the community so that the people who do not have internet service will be able to drive up to these hot spots and access the internet."

Aarica smith, assistant principal at earl nash elementary... says students and teachers will be using a unique platform for the first few months of school..

Sot - aarica smith - assistant principal - earl smith elementary "our virtual model we will use the microsoft teams platform and that is our primary source for our students the first nine weeks."

Smith said smartphones with internet access will also be available to students.

"we are living in a time of technology if they are unable to have access within their home, we have many smart phones that students and parents have access to and they can use internet with those devices."

The need for virtual capabilities is being noticed.

Dave miller spokesperson for c spire..

Says the demand for internet services in rural areas have skyrocketed in recent months sot - dave miller - spokesperson - c spire "they've seen the demand go out of the roof.

You know we've had probably 50 75 100% increase in the demand for those services people want to be connected.

So it's really important to have a really good internet connection and that's what really c-spire majors in."

Rice says roughly 70 students will be on campus for their hybrid model learning..'

Rice says roughly 70 students will be on campus for their hybrid model learning..'

But on fridays..

All classes will be virtual while the school will complete a deep cleaning..

The mississippi house of representatives moves forward with a vote to override a veto by governor tate reeves.

In a 118-2 vote, house lawmakers vote to override the partial veto of the education budget.

The measure now moves on to the state senate.

A two-thirds majority will be needed to override the veto.

A teacher bonus program and the department of marine resources budget were also on today's agenda.

Some house members are suing governor reeves over other vetoes.

Those were not addressed today.

The list of potential new state flag choices have been has been narrowed to 225.

There were more than two thousand submissions to the mississippi department of archives and history.

Members of the new state flag commission selected 25 of their favorites to get to the 225 number.

Commissioners will trim that number to five by august 14th.

That's when residents can provide comments on the mdah's website.

The selection voters will see on the ballot will be unveiled on september second.

Community and business leaders in lowndes county want to be a bridge toward racial equality and they plan to start with conversations.

The columbus air force base, city of columbus, and lowndes county are hosting a panel discussion live on facebook tomorrow at 5:30.

Participants include mayor robert smith, base commander colonel seth graham, and police chief fred shelton.

There will also be education leaders there will also be education leaders and a local pastor.

The group will discuss issues surrounding race, including the importance of diversity and the church's role in healing racial tensions.

You can be a part of the conversation too.

Tune into the facebook live event tomorrow at 5:30 on mayor robert smith's page.

You can leave your questions and comments there during the discussion.

First look stinger there's not much relief from the heat and humidity coming anytime soon as temperatures stay in the mid to upper 90s with heat index values occasionally over 105.

We will increase rain chances just a bit through the middle of the week but even then, amounts will generally be less than an inch.

Monday night: mostly clear, mild, and muggy.

Temperatures will fall to the mid 70s with a light south- southwesterly wind.

Tonight should be a good night to view the annual perseid meteor shower.

Tuesday: another hot and humid day is in store for tuesday as temperatures a groundbreaking today for cornerstone park in starkville.

The estimated four million dollar project will be home to baseball tournaments for teams across the state.

Our stephanie poole joins us live in the studio with more.

For starkville and the surrounding community, today is the first step toward a field of dreams.éé an investment in what they hope will be the future baseball capital in mississippi.éé in order to make that a reality, they're getting in the soil to kick off the project .

éé and, they hope if they build it...well, you know the rest.éé in two years it'll be time to play ball at cornerstone park.

The new recreational facility allows baseball teams to hold practices and tournaments.

"i expect it to be a regional draw that extends into alabama,louisiana and hopefully tennessee, and points all around the state of mississippi."

Starkville mayor lynn spruill says with large numbers coming in, city revenue will soar.

"sports tourism is a big economic development driver so it is my hope that the activities here at cornerstone will be pretty much constant on the weekends.

From that we'll drive the attention and the heightened interest in the heightened interest in starkville as we go forward with msu hand and hand and create a sports tournament facility and create starkville as mississippi baseball capital."

Butt sots " this will be a supplement to what the city is already doing.

Tournament and travel ball is a multibillion dollar sports tourism economic driver.

We anticipate that this will allow the city to put themselves in a position to be a player in that game."

Starkville parks interim director, david d'aquilla says there will be 10 to 12 fields, depending on contractor bids.

With phase 1 of the project underway, deciding finishing touches is last on the check list.

" we're working on the final designs, lighting, turf grass, buildings and gc contract for the overall construction.

Those will go out on the street in late fall."

And they are anticipating up to 30 weekend games per year.

"this is going to be useful for our youth during the weekdays too,this will be a recreational opportunity."

Construction construction begins in january of 2021.éé the projected finish date is set for the spring of 2022.

éé here's the latest development on a story we first told you about this weekend.

Investigators are still trying to find what may have sparked a brooksville apartment fire.

The blaze happened on saturday night at brooksville manor apartments.

Four apartments received fire, smoke, and water damage.

Only three units were being lived in.

Noxubee county fire coordinator jim robbins says no one was injured.

The people living in the three apartments lost most of their belongings.

Stinger there's a lot more to buying a car than walking on a lot.

Find out mississippi dealers stay up to date just ahead on wcbi news at 6.

From the golden triangle to washington.... an area car dealer is elected by his peers to continue representing the state on a national level.

Michael joe cannon....owner of cannon ford- lincoln of starkville.... will serve as the director of mississippi on the national automobile dealers association board.

He'll be in charge of keeping the more than 150 new car dealers in mississippi... informed on legislative regulatory affairs that may be coming up.... as well as any issues or concerns that are happening on the national level.

Cannon has been in the automobile industry for more than three decades and says he's thrilled to represent the state for a third term.

"we feel like you've got to give back.

I've always thought the more you gave, the more you get back, so it's an honor and a privilege to be able to serve and represent all of the great dealers that we have in this great state of mississippi.

I would not be able to do that if it wasn't for great employees being able to take care of things while i was at home, and also taking care of our great customers."

Cannon's new term will officially begin in march 2021, and he will hold that position for the next three years..

A barbershop provides free haircuts for a back to school program.

Barbers at "b-n- style" in tupelo gave the haircuts.

It's part of an outreach called "youth make a difference day" and it was organized by two groups, "jewell's mentoring" and "millennial outreach foundation" along with the free haircuts, backpacks of school supplies were given to kids.

Organizers say they were looking for a way to help families with school age children.

"i want to be influential and send out a message to be encouraging, and let the community know there's someone thinking about them, and they don't have to fight any battles alone."

"a lot of times to be honest, a lot of people can't afford a back to school haircut or school supplies, these events are very much needed , even aside from money aspect, showing we do care."

There were also bags filled with personal hygiene very much needed , even aside from money aspect, showing we do care."

There were also bags filled with personal hygiene items for those heading off to college.

Stinger weather open there's not much relief from the heat and humidity coming anytime soon as temperatures stay in the mid to upper 90s with heat index values occasionally over 105.

We will increase rain chances just a bit through the middle of the week week but even then, amounts will generally be less than an inch.

Monday night: mostly clear, mild, and muggy.

Temperatures will fall to the mid 70s with a light south- southwesterly wind.

Tonight should be a good night to view the annual perseid meteor shower.

Tuesday: another hot and humid day is in store for tuesday as temperatures once again climb into the mid 90s with heat index values over 100.

Scattered storms will be possible anytime after lunch and into the evening.

Wednesday-friday: afternoon and evening storms will remain a possibility for the middle and end of the week, but not everyone will see rain every single day.

If you happen to get caught in a downpour, it will help to knock your temperature down a few degrees and make it slightly cooler.

Most of us will still see highs in the mid 90s and morning lows in the 70s.

Saturday-monday: pop-up storms will remain in the forecast for the weekend and even into early next week as temperatures remain hot and humid.

Highs will be in the low 90s with heat index values nearing 100.

To get the latest forecast anytime, download the wcbi news app or visit our website at wcbi.com/weather.

You can also get the latest weather updates on facebook, twitter, and instagram.

There's not much relief from the heat and humidity coming anytime soon as temperatures stay in the mid to upper 90s with heat index values occasionally over 105.

We will increase rain chances just a bit through the middle of the week but even then, amounts will generally be less than an inch.

Monday night: mostly clear, mild, and muggy.

Temperatures will fall to the mid 70s with a light south- southwesterly wind.

Tonight should be a good night to view the annual perseid meteor shower.

Tuesday: another hot and humid day is in store for tuesday as temperatures once again climb into the mid 90s with heat index values over 100.

Scattered storms will be possible anytime after lunch and into the evening.

Wednesday-friday: afternoon and evening storms will remain a possibility for the middle and end of the week, but not everyone will see rain every single day.

If you happen to get caught in a downpour, it will help to knock your temperature down a few degrees and make it slightly cooler.

Most of us will still see highs weather wrap stinger weather wrap stinger the high school football begins to wind down with stop number 50...the tour checks-in with the new hope trojans next in sports spx open the high school football tour continues on with the new hope trojans the trojans return after their first year in 5a looking to be a competitive force in 2020 new hope is stop #50 on the high school football tour áááintro bbááá the new hope trojans are hungry for a football season.

The trojans return to work after the team's first year in 5a, finishing 3-9 overall.

While new hope was put to the test by big teams like, houston, lafayette, itawamba and west point, the trojans are hoping to rise to the challenge in 2020.

"last year, we feel like we took a step closer getting more competitive in games, suring up some things take that and we've had a really good off- season," head coach wade tackett said.

"really great group of kids so taking that into the season this year."

"we did pretty well of playing together," senior olb hayden harris said.

"we want to just up it this year and maybe we can go all the way."

"i mean, it was a little difficult, but you know we get used to it and it'll come together," junior lg jeremiah jefferson said.

"every week is a new week," senior quarterback zac butler said.

"you have to play the best to be the best.

We may not have as much talent as every other team but if we work hard we'll be where we want to be and that's to be state champs."

Although the trojans have been young in years past, the trojans have more experience on the defensive side of the ball.

"really feel like our defense is our strong suit right now.

We're going to lean on them a little bit.

We're still very young on offense, a ton of juniors and sophomores are going to be out there.

We feel like all of our skill positions on offense have improved tremendously.

We feel like the overall attitude of the team is different, the focus is different, the drive, the effort is more right now," tackett said.

"we're coming together.

We've come a long way.

You know, as long as we hold and keep each other accountable and everything that's all it's about," jefferson said.

While the trojans might be a younger team than others, the experience is there to find success.

"weh have a lot of players on this time that have a lot of snaps under their belt now.

We have a lot of senior leadership and a lot of junior leadership.

We got a lot of pt with these kids.

These kids know what friday nights look like in 5a football and that's something that we haven't had prior years," tackett said.

New hope starts the season off at houston on september 4th.

With the trojans on the high school football tour, courtney robb wcbi sports.

áááoutro bbááá here's a look at the upcoming stops for any stops that you may have missed along the way you can always check out our website, wcbi.com when we return...chief meteorologist keith gibson will have a last look at your forecast.

Here's a look at the upcoming stops for any stops that you may have missed along the way you can always check out our website, wcbi.com last look stinger last look last look last look last look

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