A rose to Ageless Aviation Dreams Foundation, which for the past six years, has found a unique and fun way to honor our military veterans.
Since 2011, AADF has provided aging veterans from throughout the country with rides in a vintage, Boeing PT-17 Stearman trainer, an open-cockpit plane used by the U.S. military to train World War II pilots. On Friday, four veterans from Trinity Place Retirement Community – John Moore, Ray Hill, Doug Franks and Ben Ross – were treated to flights that lasted about a half-hour. There was no need to ask how they liked it: Their smiles answered that question. We thank AADF, along with its many sponsors and partners, including Methodist Senior Services, which arranged Friday’s flights. For these vets, it was very much a “bucket-list” item. For the rest of us, it’s a reminder of their service.
A rose to Mississippi State University for hosting Thursday’s candidates forum, which provided voters in District 38 a chance to hear from the three candidates vying to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Tyrone Ellis, who announced he is stepping down from his post in the House of Representative after nearly 40 years of service.
For voters, it was a chance to hear the candidates – Narrisa Bradford, Cheikh Taylor and Lisa Wynn – present their views on everything from criminal justice reform to road/bridge infrastructure to broadband access. For the candidates, it was an opportunity articulate their views and draw distinctions between themselves and their opponents. Thursday’s forum allowed voters to go beyond campaign literature to find the substance of their positions. As a result, voters left the forum better-informed and more able to make a wise choice on Nov. 7.
A thorn to Columbus Ward 2 councilman Joseph Mickens for creating a needless distraction at a community meeting he and fellow Ward 3 councilman Charlie Box hosted Monday at First Christian Church.
The meeting was a chance for citizens to meet with police and city officials to discuss crime and traffic concerns. Mickens sidetracked the meeting when he questioned why Eric Thomas, who ran against Mickens in the Ward 2 race, was attending the meeting. Mickens went on to challenge Thomas’ claim to residency in the ward.
While the meeting was called for Ward 2 and 3 residents, all citizens were welcome to the event and since crime and traffic are not issues exclusive to those two wards, Mickens’ objection was irrelevant. The campaign ended four months ago. The bickering should have ended then as well. It was a needless distraction that did nothing to better inform the citizens who turned out. Enough is enough. Let’s move on.
A rose of congratulations to Mississippi University for Women, which celebrated the grand opening of the John Clayton Fant Memorial Library on Friday morning. Guests, including community members and state and local officials had an opportunity to tour the completely renovated facility, which features state-of-the-art technology and reorganized spaces.
As part of the renovation, Fant Memorial Library is now home to a robotic Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) — the first in the state and in the region — which currently houses accesses than 100,000 items.
Affectionately known as Athena, The W’s ASRS enables the university to expand its collections without further increasing its physical footprint, making more square footage available for classrooms, meeting rooms, group study rooms, the Connie and Tom Kossen Center for Teaching and Learning, as well as the Beulah Culbertson Archives and Special Collections. The renovated library will be great asset for generations of W students to come.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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