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Articles by Clay Mcferrin
Clay McFerrin | The Grenada Star
• None These above-ground concrete tombs in Rocky Branch Cemetery near Charleston may be the original source of a skull and bones found recently in an old evidence and court exhibits room at the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Charleston.
Oakland Man Indicted For Murder By Grand Jury
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above. Username Password Lost your password? Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you. Email ← Back By Clay McFerrin Sun-Sentinel Editor CHARLESTON – An Oakland man charged in the August 2023 shooting death of a Coffeeville woman has been indicted by a Tallahatchie County grand jury.
Man charged with break-in, multiple thefts in Tallahatchie
Edward Carl Haire is charged with commiting a couple of crimes in rural Tallahatchie County. (Driver's license photo courtesy of the Tallahatchie County Sheriff's Office) Man charged with break-in, multiple thefts in Tallahatchie A DeSoto County man was arrested Sunday in connection with the whirlwind thefts of a utility task vehicle and four guns in two separate Tallahatchie County crimes.
Members of MS delegation holding President Biden responsible for Afghan exit
Joe Biden speaks to his supporters during the Get Out and Vote event at Tougaloo College’s Kroger Gymnasium Sunday, March 8, 2020. Rasmussen Poll says 52% want Biden to resign, 60% say he should be impeached.
Governor Reeves holds press conference providing additional information on Hurricane Ida
Governor Reeves holds press conference providing additional information on Hurricane Ida Below is a press release from Governor Tate Reeves: Governor Tate Reeves has recently given a press release to discuss Hurricane Ida and its impact on Mississippi.
Flash flood watch in effect until 7 a.m. Tuesday
Flash flood watch in effect until 7 a.m. Tuesday The National Weather Service in Memphis has issued a flash flood watch for Calhoun, Lafayette, Marshall, Panola, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Tate and Yalobusha counties in North Mississippi, and Fayette County in West Tennessee, until 7 a.m. Tuesday. Heavy rainfall associated with now Tropical Depression Ida is expected to affect portions of the Mid-South through Tuesday. Rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches are possible.
How to track power outages across Mississippi during Hurricane Ida
How to track power outages across Mississippi during Hurricane Ida More than 100,000 Mississippi customers are without power on Monday morning as Tropical Storm Ida tracks across the entire state of Mississippi. Widespread power outages were expected across the state as the center of the storm — where the highest winds and heaviest rains are located — takes aim for central and north Mississippi.
Mississippi Covid-19 Update : August 30, 2021
Listed below is the daily COVID-19 update for the state of Mississippi. New cases of COVID-19: 7,971* * New COVID-19 positive test results reported to MSDH for the three-day period August 27 through August 29 as of 3 p.m. yesterday * Tests may have been made during the past week, and represent individuals who became ill a week ago or more. Repeated tests for the same individual are counted only once. New COVID-19 related deaths: 82 Forty-nine deaths occurred between August 13 and August 28.
West Tally's virtual classes nix CHS-WTHS egg game
SUMNER — The West Tallahatchie School District has suspended in-person classes and switched to virtual learning in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19, it was announced Saturday. The move is only temporary, beginning Monday, Aug. 23, and continuing through Monday, Sept. 6.
School board qualifying period nears conclusion
School board qualifying period nears conclusion The window in which to qualify for two school board positions up for grabs this year in Tallahatchie County will close in just over one week. The qualifying period opened Aug. 4 and the deadline to sign up to be a candidate is Friday, Sept. 3, at 5 p.m. The Nov.
Angela Porter
Angela Porter CHARLESTON — Angela Dawn Porter, age 56, passed away Monday, Aug. 23. Visitation will be held 6-7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26, at Womble Funeral Home. Mass of Christian burial will be held 10:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 27, at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Hernando. Interment will follow in Brazil Cemetery.
Fresh veggies for the win
One of my favorite meals consists of veggies and cornbread, with a sliced tomato and some chow-chow on the side. As most of you know, my sisters and I grew up on a farm in Eudora. There were plenty of suppers that did not include a meat and consisted of nothing but fresh vegetables and cornbread. Of course, my middle sister, Stephanie would try to hide her vegetables in a potted plant. With all of us now adults, it’s the best meal ever. I thought I’d share with you a few good country recipes.
Emmett Till center hosts virtual screening of youth documentary Saturday night
Some film workshop students stand in front of the historic Tallahatchie County Courthouse and a marker in Sumner recognizing where the historic murder trial was held for the men who killed 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955.
Lawmakers hear from experts as they ponder eliminating income taxes
State Capitol in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today Lawmakers hear from experts as they ponder eliminating income taxes As the Legislature considers eliminating Mississippi’s personal income tax and raising sales taxes, a panel of lawmakers on Wednesday heard about the nuts and bolts of state revenue — which is way up in part due to federal pandemic spending — from state tax and budget officials.
COVID-19 vaccine Q&A with Dr. Hubert Spears
OXFORD – The safest, most effective way to avoid COVID is to take the vaccine and wear masks indoors, said Dr. Hubert Spears, a physician with the University of Mississippi Health Services. He urges everyone who is eligible, but has not received the vaccine, to immediately do so. Spears, a native of Grenada who earned his M.D. from the university in 1980, has more than 30 years of experience.
Ask Me Anything: COVID-19 in Mississippi with Will Stribling
We’re devoted to arming you with the information you need during the COVID-19 pandemic, which now includes giving you the opportunity to ask questions and get answers in real-time. Each Monday, Will Stribling, Mississippi Today’s healthcare reporter, is taking the noon hour to answer your questions about COVID-19 through our text line. Below is a selection of reader questions asked during today’s AMA that were answered by Will. Can the vaccination later sterilize young people?
MDOT touts safety practices with 'Road to Game Day' kickoff
MDOT touts safety practices with 'Road to Game Day' kickoff JACKSON – Football season is officially back in action, and as the coaches and players start gearing up for the season, the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) has its own game plan to get you there safely before kickoff. To avoid the congestion on your game day road trip, drivers can download the free MDOT Traffic mobile app; it gives users real-time access to tools that show road conditions and traffic alerts.
History Is Lunch: Carolyn Brown and Ellen Ruffin, "The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection"
History Is Lunch: Carolyn Brown and Ellen Ruffin, "The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection" On August 18, 2021, Carolyn J. Brown and Ellen Hunter Ruffin presented “The de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection at USM” as part of the History Is Lunch series. During the 1960s, a dedicated library science professor named Lena de Grummond initiated a letter-writing campaign to children’s authors and illustrators requesting original manuscripts and artwork to share with her students.
MDOT: Transportation commission awards contracts throughout state
Below is a press release from the Mississippi Department of Transportation: The Mississippi Transportation Commission at its August 10 meeting awarded contracts for maintenance projects throughout Mississippi. The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) will oversee the 14 projects, which will maintain and enhance transportation infrastructure across the state.
Data from U.S. Census consistent with estimates as lawmakers start redistricting process
DeSoto and Harrison counties showed large-scale growth in population between the 2010 and 2020 U.S. Census. With the actual U.S. Census data, the Mississippi Legislature can begin what can be a contentious chore of redrawing the state's 174 legislative districts and four congressional districts.
Opinion: Covid wave #4
Well, so much for the heat putting an end to the Covid virus. It’s surging again in Mississippi during the hottest part of the year. That’s just one of many surprises about this virus. Maybe it is so unpredictable because it was man made. The CDC says the latest Delta variant has an RO of nine. That means for every one person who gets it, nine more will be infected.
Opinion: Mississippi herd immunity by December?
Robert Wise: David, Mississippi’s outbreak of the Delta variant looks out of control. David Dzielak: Mississippi is third in the nation for covid infections. Infections are spreading past the highs of last January and are heading higher. Only Florida and Louisiana are worse. Delta is burning through Mississippi’s unvaccinated. The unvaccinated have fueled two doublings of cases in the past month. The rise is exponential.
Clyde Brewer
Clyde Brewer CASCILLA — Clyde Marvin Brewer, age 77, passed away Sunday, Aug. 15, at Tallahatchie General Hospital in Charleston. The family will hold a graveside service beginning 12 o'clock noon on Thursday, Aug. 19, at Stonefield Cemetery near Cascilla. Newsom Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.
Census data offers insight into changing face of state
OXFORD – The latest installment of 2020 U.S. Census data, released early last week, offers some important insights for state and local leaders on how the region's demographics are shifting and how to battle the trend of declining population within Mississippi's borders.
Bobby Murphree
Bobby Murphree CHARLESTON — Bro. Bobby Murphree, age 76, passed away Friday evening, Aug. 13, at his home. The family will receive friends on Monday, Aug. 16, from 12 p.m. until service time beginning at 2 p.m. at Springhill Church of God of Prophecy. Interment will follow in Needmore Cemetery, near Tippo. With forty plus years in the ministry, and being a carpenter, he was also an avid fisherman and hunter.
New local geologic map useful for landowners, archaeologists, wildlife management
New local geologic map useful for landowners, archaeologists, wildlife management JACKSON — The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality’s (MDEQ) Office of Geology recently released a set of map products for Bolivar, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Leflore, Carroll, Grenada, Washington and Coahoma counties.
Claude Hargett
Claude Hargett CHARLESTON — Claude Hargett, age 85, passed away Thursday, Aug. 12, at his home in Charleston. The family received friends on Sunday, Aug. 15, from 1 p.m. until service time at 2 p.m. at Charleston Church of God. Interment followed in Charleston City Cemetery. Newsom Funeral Home had charge of arrangements. Claude was a very hard worker, used car dealer, loved car auctions and his family remembers his love of dirt drag racing.
Mississippi Covid-19 Update : August 16, 2021
Listed below is the daily COVID-19 update for the state of Mississippi. New cases of COVID-19: 7,839* * New COVID-19 positive test results reported to MSDH for the three-day period August 13 through August 15 as of 3 p.m. yesterday * Tests may have been made during the past week, and represent individuals who became ill a week ago or more. Repeated tests for the same individual are counted only once. New COVID-19 related deaths: 52 Thirty COVID-19 related deaths occurred.
Some things already clear on taxes
Some things already clear on taxes Studying Mississippi’s tax structure is a good idea as long as lawmakers don’t have a preconceived idea of what the end product should look like. It’s clear that House Speaker Philip Gunn does. He got his chamber several months back to hurriedly pass a 317-page overhaul of the state’s tax code that undoubtedly few House members read.
Incumbent, opponent sign up for school board
Incumbent, opponent sign up for school board Education District 6 incumbent Lincoln “Buddy” Smith will have at least one opponent in his quest for re-election to the East Tallahatchie School District Board of Trustees. Smith, 40, of 148 Martin Luther King St., Charleston, filed qualifying papers Monday morning. Audra Denise Brown, 52, of 1217 Teasdale Road, Charleston, qualified last week to compete for the post presently held by Smith.
Indictments charge gunplay, drug sales, other offenses
Indictments charge gunplay, drug sales, other offenses Indictments handed down recently in Tallahatchie County Circuit Court's First Judicial District allege assaults with firearms and drug trafficking, among other charges. Records on file Tuesday afternoon at the circuit clerk’s office in Charleston show the following: » Madison Paige Swain, 26, of 1323 Eskridge St., Charleston, was indicted on two counts of drive-by shootings in connection with a Jan.
Dobbs paints dire picture of COVID-19 situation in Mississippi
Dobbs paints dire picture of COVID-19 situation in Mississippi Mississippi's state health officer used some of the strongest language yet to describe the state's battle with the COVID-19's Delta variant, which he says is mainly a plague against the unvaccinated and those under age 50. “It's been kind of a hard time around here at the Department of Health, just just to be honest it's been exhausting,” Dr. Thomas Dobbs told a media briefing. “I think we're all emotionally spent.
Two more Tallahatchie deaths raise local COVID-19 death toll to 44
Several vehicles from the Tallahatchie County Sheriff's Office are among a procession of some 60 law enforcement and first responder automobiles ushering the body of Yalobusha County Sheriff Mark Fulco from a DeSoto County hospital back to Water Valley Tuesday night. Fulco, 50, died Monday of COVID-19 complications and pneumonia.
Public Notices August 12, 2021
IN THE CHANCERY COURT OF TALLAHATCHIE COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF SHIRLEY TAYLOR THOMAS, DECEASED CAUSE NO. 2017-29-2 JOHNNIE B.
Booster shots: a difficult choice
Booster shots: a difficult choice Although a lot of the attention in recent months in this country has been focused on the willfully unvaccinated, there is another concern about COVID-19 vaccination at the opposite end of the serum spectrum. How much protection is enough? Should America and other developed nations be lining up people for a third shot when the vast majority of the undeveloped world has yet to get the first one?
Is Mississippi up to the task of (properly) spending billions in federal pandemic dollars?
Below is a political analysis column by Geoff Pender: Billions of federal dollars are flowing to state and local governments and agencies through the American Rescue Plan Act, providing unprecedented opportunity for a poor state such as Mississippi to enact projects and programs that would otherwise be impossible.
Getting vaccinated prevents more COVID-19 mutations
Nearly 90% of hospital patients with COVID-19 are unvaccinated. (Photo by CanStock/Erdosain) Getting vaccinated prevents more COVID-19 mutations STARKVILLE — With the Delta variant of COVID-19 spreading three times as easily as previous strains in Mississippi and unvaccinated patients comprising most of the state’s cases, receiving the vaccine is now more critical than ever to slow the spread.
Veterans, members of armed forces have student aid options
Veterans, members of armed forces have student aid options Veterans and members of the U.S. armed forces and National Guard may be able to take advantage of numerous student aid programs to help pay for college or technical training, according to KHEAA. The federal government also offers programs for the dependents of veterans and service members. Federal programs include: • GI Bill benefits, first passed for veterans of World War II.
Mississippi Highway Patrol to appear in 2022 America's Best Looking Cruiser Calendar
Trooper John Harris’ Dodge Charger is photographed at scenic Red Bluff Canyon in Marion County. Mississippi Highway Patrol to appear in 2022 America's Best Looking Cruiser Calendar JACKSON – The Mississippi Highway Patrol will appear in the 2022 America’s Best Looking Cruiser calendar. Each year, the American Association of State Troopers holds a nationwide competition to determine which state has the best-looking cruisers.
Ricky Joe Mitchell
Ricky Joe Mitchell ROSEBLOOM — Ricky Joe Mitchell, 61, of Rosebloom, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 4, at Baptist Memorial Hospital – North Mississippi in Oxford. Funeral services will be held at 12 p.m. Wednesday, Aug.11, at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Grenada. Interment will follow in the Smith Cemetery at Rosebloom. The family will receive friends from 11 a.m. until service time Wednesday at the church. He was born March 26, 1960 in Charleston to Raymond Cecil and Jeanette Dorman Mitchell.
Local demand for fiber internet guides C Spire to Greenwood, Mississippi
Ashley Phillips, C Spire General Manater of Home Services Local demand for fiber internet guides C Spire to Greenwood, Mississippi There is no doubt the topic of infrastructure is on the minds of many Americans. Seventy-four percent of respondents to a June 2021 Pew Research poll identified infrastructure in the U.S. as a “big problem.” But infrastructure is much more than the highway paving projects and municipal utility overhauls we usually think about.
Family of Dominique Clayton, woman killed by former Oxford police officer, files wrongful death lawsuit
Dominique Clayton's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Oxford Police Department, the City of Oxford and former OPD officer Matthew Kinne.
Qualifying for school board posts may begin Aug. 4
Qualifying for school board posts may begin Aug. 4 The qualifying period opens Wednesday, Aug. 4, for two school board positions in Tallahatchie County that will appear on Nov. 2 ballots, according to Circuit Clerk Daphane Neal. The qualifying deadline for those slots is Friday, Sept. 3, at 5 p.m., Neal noted.
COVID-19 has killed thousands of Mississippians this year. All but 37 were unvaccinated.
COVID-19 has killed thousands of Mississippians this year. All but 37 were unvaccinated. All 37 of the breakthrough deaths were from high-risk patients aged 65 or older, according to data obtained by Mississippi Today. Of the 2,400 Mississippians who died of COVID-19 between Jan. 1 and July 22 of this year, only 37 were fully vaccinated, according to data obtained from the Mississippi State Department of Health.
Coahoma Community College cancels $433,000 in student debt
Coahoma Community College cancels $433,000 in student debt Coahoma Community College officials announced Monday that the institution has canceled approximately $433,000 in student debt for students who have faced financial hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic. The relief was made possible through the use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF II and III), Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplement Appropriations Act (CRRSAA), and the American Rescue Plan (ARP).
After Five Weeks On The Run, Scott Is Back In The County Jail
Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Jerry Ferguson escorts Ewel William Scott to the Coffeeville courthouse for a court appearance Monday afternoon. Scott escaped from the Yalobusha County Detention Center on April 1 and eluded authorities until his capture Saturday in Tallahatchie County. – Photo by John Beshears/Coffeeville Courier ENID — A convicted felon who escaped from jail more than a month ago was captured in Enid just before noon on Saturday, saying he was tired of running.
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