Officer Docked 60 Days for Fight
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ESTABLISHED 1879 | COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI CDISPATCH.COM 50 ¢ NEWSSTAND | 40 ¢ HOME DELIVERY WEDNESDAY | JULY 6, 2016 COLUMBUS GOV. State Rep. Smith speaks LOWNDES CO. GOV. Officer to Columbus Rotary County to docked cash out stock, bond 60 days investments Move preserves big for fight gains from trust fund Mayor: Officer BY SLIM SMITH ‘lucky’ to keep job ssmith@cdispatch A bird in the BY ALEX HOLLOWAY hand is worth two in [email protected] a bush. During Tues- A Columbus day’s Board of Police Depart- Trustees of the ment officer Lowndes County will face a 60- Reserve and Trust day suspen- Fund voted unan- Brigham sion without imously to transfer 80 percent of pay after her its balance of $32,098,138 from involvement in Smith stocks and bonds to cash in order a fight at Mc- to preserve a gain of $1,607,107 it Donald’s while she was on has earned through the first six duty. months of 2016. During executive session The move, which retired bank- of Tuesday’s Columbus City er and District 2 Supervisor Bill Council meeting, council- Brigham has advocated, should men unanimously voted to mean the county can withdraw suspend Kenyatta Blair, who $962,944 at the beginning of 2017. got into the altercation at Mary Alice Truitt/Dispatch Staff State representative Jeff Smith speaks with a Columbus Rotary Club member after Renasant Wealth Management about 10:30 p.m. on June 22 at speaking at Lion Hills Center on Tuesday afternoon. and Stephens Capital Manage- the McDonald’s on Alabama ment, the two firms handling the Street. Blair’s suspension is fund, will now make the changes effective immediately and Smith talks state budget, HB 1523 and gun control in the county’s portfolios based on will be followed by one year Tuesday’s vote. BY INDIA YARBOROUGH “It’s not a revenue problem,” Smith on probation. The decision to take a “time [email protected] said. “It’s a spending problem.” Blair, 24, reportedly re- out” from the stocks and bonds He also hailed Republicans in the leg- moved her gun belt, untucked markets comes in the wake of late State Representative Jeff Smith ad- islature for cutting state taxes. her uniform shirt and failed dressed state budget issues, House Bill dip in the stock market at the end Smith spoke briefly of House Bill 1523 to activate her body camera 1523 and gun control at the regular Co- of 2015, which allowed county to in light of a U.S. District Court judge’s before engaging a citizen in a lumbus Rotary Club meeting Tuesday af- withdraw just $73,049 at the be- recent decision to block the bill that fight in the McDonald’s park- ternoon at Lion Hills Country Club. ginning of this year. would have allowed professionals, such ing lot. A CPD press release During the meeting, the Republican By state law, the county can issued after the incident said legislator said he hopes Mississippi’s as clergy and circuit clerks, to deny ser- withdraw up to 3 percent of gains Blair signed out on her radio economy is turning around. He said the vices based on personal religious beliefs. on its investments each year. to speak with someone be- state’s education budget has increased He said Mississippi is one of a few states Since that law was passed in 2013, fore the fight started. and suggested citizens’ budget concerns without workplace anti-discrimination the county has withdrawn $2.8 Mayor Robert Smith said come when the budget does not increase laws and suggested H.B. 1523 was not million over three years while the council followed Police exponentially. necessary despite news that Gov. Phil increasing the trust’s balance by Chief Oscar Lewis’ recom- “We’ve put more money in education Bryant plans to appeal the judge’s deci- more than $2 million as of the end mendation for Blair’s punish- than we ever have,” Smith said. “We have sion. of June. ment. He said the council dis- an education system that’s not lacking for “It’s probably not something that we The Board of Supervisors also cussed a stiffer punishment. money. It’s lacking for excess of money.” needed all that strongly,” Smith said. acts as the Board of Trustees for “I think the officer is lucky Smith said more than once state bud- He claimed the bill was not intended to the trust fund. that she still has a job here in get problems are not arising from lack of offend anyone. “I’ve been thinking about See COUNCIL, 3A revenue. See ROTARY, 8A See SUPES, 8A MUW athletic director reports on month of progress versity for Women in Columbus. New York, where he was re- ‘2017 is right around Today marks the one-month sponsible for the day-to-day the corner’ anniversary of Trufant’s first operations of compliance, game day on the job at MUW’s new operations, fund raising and BY AdaM MINICHINO athletic director. His mission is marketing, sport supervision, [email protected] to help MUW rebuild an inter- team and departmental budgets collegiate athletic department and purchasing. Prior to that, Jason Trufant has had plen- that was discontinued in 2003 he served as associate director ty of opportunities to do a wide by then-President Claudia Lim- of athletics at Molloy College variety of things in his athletic bert after a November tornado and as head assistant baseball career. destroyed the school’s gymna- coach at Frostburg State Uni- From player to coach to ad- sium. versity. He also served as base- ministrator, Trufant has seen “It’s funny. When you called ball coach at the State Universi- the inner workings of teams, the other day, I said, ‘Oh my ty of New York at Cobleskill. programs and athletic depart- God, it has been a month,’” Tru- Trufant graduated from ments from numerous perspec- fant said. “It hasn’t even felt like University of Albany, where he tives. that. It has felt like four days. played baseball, in May 2000. All of that work has prepared That is a good thing.” He then received his master’s Mary Alice Truitt/Dispatch Staff him for a job of even bigger pro- Trufant arrived at MUW degree in human performance Newly hired Mississippi University for Women athletic director portions: re-forming an athletic from Dowling College, a Divi- from Frostburg State. Jason Trufant speaks in his office at Cromwell Hall on Tuesday. department at Mississippi Uni- sion II school in Long Island, See MUW, 8A WEATHER FIVE QUESTIONS CALENDAR LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC MEETINGS 1 Which empire lasted from 1324 to July 11: Columbus Munici- Thursday pal School District Board of 1922? ■ Exhibit reception: Come as you are 2 What do all the numbers add up to Trustees, Brandon Central to a free reception 5:30-7 p.m. at the on a standard clock face? Offices, 6 p.m. Rosenzweig Arts Center, 501 Main St., 3 Who provided the voice of Charlie July 15: Lowndes County as the Columbus Arts Council opens “A on the 1970’s television show “Char- Supervisors, Courthouse, New Twist on Fiber Arts,” featuring work lie’s Angels”? 9 a.m. 4 What are a cat’s whiskers called? by Julia Graber and Sherry Pence. Pence Amiya James Aug. 1: Lowndes County 5 In 1958, who became the youngest demonstrates lace tatting. A presenta- Pre-K, Tupelo Supervisors, Courthouse, footballer, at age 17, to play in the tion to Edwina “Mother Goose” Williams FIFA World Cup? is at 6 p.m. Call 662-328-2787 for more 9 a.m. Aug. 8: Columbus Munici- High 91 Low 75 Answers, 8B information. Chance of t-storms ■ Sounds of Summer: Charlie Burgin pal School District Board of Full forecast on and Southbound Train perform at this Trustees, Brandon Central page 2A. free summer concert at the Columbus Offices, 6 p.m. Riverwalk from 7-9 p.m., presented by Aug. 12: Lowndes County Main Street Columbus and the Colum- School District Board of bus-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce. Trustees, District Office, 11 INSIDE Concessions available; lawn chairs and a.m. blankets encouraged. No pets or coolers, Aubree Jordan, 2, lives in Aug. 15: Lowndes County Classifieds7B Obituaries 4A please. For more information, contact Columbus and attends Co- Supervisors, Courthouse,9 137TH YEAR, NO. 98 Comics 4B Opinions 6A MSC, 662-328-6305. lumbus Christian Childcare. a.m. DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471 2A WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016 THE DISPATCH • www.cdispatch.com DID YOU HEAR? Study: Residents may ignore emergency alerts Wednesday DONATION TO HISTORY During bad weather, people are more Columbus’ United Daughters of the Confederacy chapter accept- ed an Iron Cross of Honor from UDC “sisters” of North Carolina likely to follow what their family and June 28 at the Stephen D. Lee Home. The cross was made in the friends are doing than alerts Scene&Seen early 1900s to honor Lee. BY ELLEN CIURCZAK used during tornadoes The Hattiesburg American and hurricanes,” Kar said. “We were investigating HATTIESBURG — A which technologies were study by two University best suited to which com- of Southern Mississippi munities — how effective researchers on the effec- they are in getting the tiveness of emergency message across.” alerts has revealed some Cochran and Kar re- surprising results. cently completed their David Cochran and four-year study involving Bandana Kar, associate three counties along the professors in the De- partment of Geography Coast — Hancock, Har- and Geology, recently rison and Jackson. The concluded work with the project was one of only Department of Homeland 10 nationwide funded by the Department of Home- Security on the impact of Carolyn Kaye and Juanita Bryant Joanna Barns and Kathalia Wiggins messages that appear on land Security to examine smartphones during bad the effectiveness of the weather.