OPINIONS

Ask Rufus: Our musical roots go 'Over the Hills and Far Away'

Posted 8/18/2012 in Local Columns

We often hear about music that was popular during times of national crisis. There is the big band music of World War II, the hard times music of Woodie Guthrie during the Great Depression and the haunting melodies of the Civil War. The War of 1812 brought us the Star Spangled Banner and the Revolutionary War yielded Yankee Doodle.

Our view: Tonight's opponent is indifference

Posted 8/17/2012 in Dispatch Editorials

Tonight marks the beginning of the high school football season, and it appears as though the weather will conspire to dampen, quite literally, the enthusiasm that generally adorns the occasion.

Voice of the people: Denise Reid

Posted 8/17/2012 in Letters to the Editor (voice@cdispatch.com)

Pawning stolen merchandise Regarding the stolen merchandise recovered by police at Rings & Strings. The article in The Dispatch was shared on the AP and ran in several newspapers' Internet editions across the country.

Our view: A neighbor we haven't met ...

Posted 8/16/2012 in Dispatch Editorials

Wednesday was the first day of classes at Mississippi University for Women, but unless your travels brought you in close proximity to the picturesque campus down on College Street, the event likely escaped your notice.

Voice of the people: Capt. Angela Wilson Cyrus

Posted 8/15/2012 in Letters to the Editor (voice@cdispatch.com)

In Columbus City Council's consideration of renaming the block of Fourth Street known as Catfish Alley to Catfish Alley Sallie Mae Jones, we have had an extraordinary opportunity to revisit the poignant history of The Alley (as we call it) and the entrepreneurial labors of its black business owners.

Voice of the people: Ken Durand

Posted 8/15/2012 in Letters to the Editor (voice@cdispatch.com)

I am wondering if The Dispatch is capable of selecting columnist and publishing articles that present a fair view of this political season.

Voice of the people: Cameron Triplett

Posted 8/15/2012 in Letters to the Editor (voice@cdispatch.com)

Tuesday's paper had a column by Margaret Carlson regarding Gov. Romney's choice of Rep. Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's running mate. I think those hippie-style glasses aren't the only thing still she uses from the 60s. That's not right or fair, but neither is her column.

Our view: The right way ...

Posted 8/14/2012 in Dispatch Editorials

A month after the Columbus City Council demonstrated how not to make a key appointment, the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors have the opportunity to do it the right way.

Voice of the people: Sanders Weatherby Sr.

Posted 8/14/2012 in Letters to the Editor (voice@cdispatch.com)

This letter is in response to the move to rename Catfish Alley here in Columbus.

Possumhaw: Ants in the Prairie

Posted 8/13/2012 in Local Columns

Across the back porch scooted a carpenter ant. You have to wonder how they navigate because they stop, turn left, turn right, back up and then file forward again. Carpenter ants are plentiful right now. Sometimes, if I'm feeling so inclined, I get up and step on them. From the road I look like I'm doing the porch Watusi.

Roses and thorns 8/12/12

Posted 8/11/2012 in Roses & Thorns

Birney Imes: E.J. Stringer and Catfish Alley's long history

Posted 8/11/2012 in Local Columns

Slimantics: An unanswered prayer ...

Posted 8/10/2012 in Local Columns

It is the custom of the Caledonia Board of Aldermen to begin each of its monthly meetings with an invocation delivered by Town Attorney Jeff Smith. I do not know if Smith tailors the prayer to each month's agenda or if he simply follows a time-honored script, like the Book of Common Prayer, for example.

Voice of the people: Nan Lott

Posted 8/10/2012 in Letters to the Editor (voice@cdispatch.com)

In response to Clayallday's online comment, "Crowds flock to Chick-fil-A," in Wednesday's Dispatch, I would ask the writer if he or she has thought about the hundreds of orphanages and schools sponsored by Christians and Christian groups that benefit children dying of AIDS.

Our view: Simply, Catfish Alley

Posted 8/9/2012 in Dispatch Editorials

On Tuesday, family members of the late Sallie Mae Jones asked the Columbus City Council to change the name of the stretch of Fourth Street between Main Street and College Street to Sallie Mae Jones Catfish Alley.

Innocence

Posted 8/7/2012 in Local Columns

I suppose that I grew-up in an age of innocence. I was born in 1950 and grew in my naiveté through the years. It was a time when you walked to school and rode the bus to downtown Columbus. Children of my age could go anywhere alone and there would be, surely, someone along the way that knew you or your family and could get you home if you needed their help.