ESTABLISHED 1879 | COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI CDISPATCH.COM 75 ¢ NEWSSTAND | 40 ¢ HOME DELIVERY TUESDAY | OCTOBER 20, 2020 Downtown business cited for mask violations after owners publicize their opposition to city order Most businesses in Columbus, Starkville, ‘just But Columbus, where mask Blaine and Corie citations were issued to a down- Walters, owners accept’ local mask ordinance during pandemic town business, has caught the of Bride and attention of the public. Groom Bridal BY SLIM SMITH masks,’’ said Barbara Bigelow, Blaine and Corie Walters, Boutique on Fifth [email protected] director for Main Street Colum- owners of The Bride and Groom Street South in Columbus, say bus. “Most of the merchants I’ve Bridal Boutique on Fifth Street Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves they’ve been tar- talked to just accept it as some- South, say their business has allowed the statewide face mask geted by the city thing they have to do now.” been targeted because of their mandate to expire on Sept. 30. for their opposi- outspoken opposition to the In three weeks since, local mask There are exceptions, howev- tion to the city’s city’s mask mandate. requirements that remained in er. mask order. They According to the Walterses, place since the governor’s action In Starkville, police have is- say CPD officers police officers came to their visited their store have generally been accepted as sued citations for violating the four times in a a fact of life among businesses in mask order at four businesses shop four times between Oct. 6 since Oct. 1, including three sep- and 16, issuing citations to both 10-day period and Columbus and Starkville during issued three cita- the COVID-19 pandemic. arate incidents at Drifter’s Bar owners and an employee on Oct. 16. tions for violating “Honestly, we haven’t really and Grill, where 42 separate vi- the mask order. had a lot of conversations about olations were cited. See MASK VIOLATIONS, 3A Courtesy photo DRIVE-BY BOOKS MSU professor emeritus: Next month’s vote will take days to be counted Mail-in ballots, mostly from Democratic voters, will most likely decide the presidential race BY TESS VRBIN [email protected] A handful of ab- sentee ballots decid- ed Starkville’s 2017 mayoral contest, and Marty Wiseman be- lieves absentee and mail-in ballots will decide the 2020 pres- idential election as Wiseman well. As a result, Election Day will be more like Election Month, the retired Mississippi State Universi- ty political science professor told Starkville Rotary Club at its Mon- Tess Vrbin/Dispatch Staff day meeting. Loraine Walker, left, the children’s librarian at the Starkville Public Library, shows Caden McKinzie, 5, a Star Wars book from a goodie bag Saturday at the library’s drive-through event coordinated with the Junior Auxiliary of Starkville. The library and “You can go on to bed on elec- JA gave away more than 200 free books and signed up about 90 children and adults for new library cards during the 5-hour tion night because it will be days event, Walker said. Caden is the son of Amber McKinzie. See WISEMAN, 6A Blake Hill, left, vice presi- dent of Phillips Contracting, Longview Road project likely explains to the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervi- sors at its Monday meeting to begin before the end of the year that the Columbus-based company waited months for Phillips VP: Crews will ‘be over there as much as AT&T and 4-County Electric Power Association to move we can’ now that utility wires are moved utility wires on Longview Road. Phillips accepted BY TESS VRBIN Residents along the gravel road a $2.2 million contract in [email protected] southwest of Starkville have been July 2019 to pave the road, waiting decades for the road to be which area residents have The first stages of the long-await- paved, and the board of supervi- waited for years to happen, ed paving of Longview Road will sors awarded the project to Colum- and Hill said the company most likely start in the next few had been hoping to start bus-based Phillips Contracting in the project in the spring months, after the COVID-19 pan- June 2019 for $2.2 million. and be almost done by now. demic delayed the movement of The paving has not yet started, Tess Vrbin/Dispatch Staff utility wires along the roadway. See SUPERVISORS, 3A WEATHER FIVE QUESTIONS CALENDAR LOCAL FOLKS PUBLIC MEETINGS 1 In which country is Kronborg Castle, a Thursday Renaissance edifice built in the city of Oct. 20: Columbus Elsinore, where Shakespeare’ tragedy through Saturday City Council, 5 p.m., ■ “Hamlet” is set? Welty Writers’ Municipal Complex, 2 Chiogga, touchstone gold and Detroit Symposium: Former facebook.com/Cityof- dark red are varieties of which vegetable? U.S. poet laureate ColumbusMS/ 3 Recognized as one of the greatest Natasha Trethewey and hockey players in history, which athlete is Nov. 2: Lowndes Mary Hampton Durst many more writers are known as “Mr. Hockey”? County Board of Su- First grade, Annunciation featured in The W’s 4 The active volcano Popocatepetl is located pervisors meeting, 9 about 40 miles from which capital city? virtual symposium. High Low 5 Who was fittingly the first passengers to visit muw.edu/welty for a.m., Lowndes County 84 62 ride with Jerry Seinfield in his web series, details and link for live- Courthouse, facebook. Mostly sunny “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”? com/LowndesCounty- Full forecast on streamed events. Mississippi/ page 3A. Answers, 6B Saturday Nov. 16: Lowndes ■ Book signing: Caro- County Board of Su- lyn Haines and Miranda pervisors meeting, 9 INSIDE James sign copies of a.m., Lowndes County Classifieds5B Dear Abby 4B their new books, 2 Courthouse, facebook. Comics 4B Obituaries 5A p.m., Columbus Arts Debra Carter, of Starkville, loves com/LowndesCounty- 141ST YEAR, NO. 189 Crossword 6B Opinions 4A Council, 501 Main St. sewing masks. Mississippi/ DISPATCH CUSTOMER SERVICE 328-2424 | NEWSROOM 328-2471 2A TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2020 THE DISPATCH • www.cdispatch.com ‘Running angry’: Trump attacks Dr. Fauci, the press and polls ‘People are tired of How Trump plowed through hearing Fauci and all $1 billion, losing cash advantage these idiots. Every time BY BRIAN SLODYSKO AND ZEKE MILLER he goes on television, The Associated Press there’s always a bomb.’ WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s sprawling political op- eration has raised well over $1 billion since he took the White House in BY ZEKE MILLER AND JILL COLVIN 2017 — and set a lot of it on fire. The Associated Press Trump bought a $10 million Super Bowl ad when he didn’t yet have a challenger. He tapped his political organization to cover exorbitant TUCSON, Ariz. — legal fees related to his impeachment. Aides made flashy displays of An angry President their newfound wealth — including a fleet of luxury vehicles purchased Donald Trump has by Brad Parscale, his former campaign manager. come out swinging Meanwhile, a web of limited liability companies hid more than $310 against Dr. Antho- million in spending from disclosure, records show. ny Fauci, the press Now, just two weeks out from the election, some campaign aides and polls that show privately acknowledge they are facing difficult spending decisions at him trailing Demo- Trump a time when Democratic nominee Joe Biden has flooded the airwaves crat Joe Biden in key with advertising. That has put Trump in the position of needing to do battleground states in a disjointed more of his signature rallies as a substitute during the coronavirus pan- closing message two weeks before demic while relying on an unproven theory that he can turn out support- Election Day. ers who are infrequent voters at historic levels. On the third day of a western “They spent their money on unnecessary overhead, lifestyles-of-the- campaign swing, Trump was fac- rich-and-famous activity by the campaign staff and vanity ads way too ing intense pressure to turn around early,” said Mike Murphy, a veteran Republican consultant who advised his campaign, hoping for the type John McCain and Jeb Bush and is an outspoken Trump critic. “You of last-minute surge that gave him could literally have 10 monkeys with flamethrowers go after the money, a come-from-behind victory four and they wouldn’t have burned through it as stupidly.” years ago. But his inconsistent mes- sage, another rise in coronavirus cases and his attacks on experts felt better now than at any point in The doctor is both respected like Fauci could undermine his final 2016. “We’re in the best shape we’ve and popular, and Trump’s rejection efforts to appeal to voters outside ever been,” he said. of scientific advice on the pandemic his most loyal base. Seeking to shore up the morale has already drawn bipartisan con- “I’m not running scared,” Trump of his staff amid growing private demnation. told reporters on Monday before concerns that he is running out of At his rally, Trump also ramped taking off for Tucson, Arizona, for time to make up lost ground, Trump up his attacks on the news media, his fifth rally in three days. “I think blasted his government’s own sci- singling out NBC’s Kristen Welk- I’m running angry. I’m running entific experts as too negative, even er, the moderator of the next pres- happy, and I’m running very con- as his handling of the pandemic, idential debate, as well as CNN for tent ‘cause I’ve done a great job.” which has killed more than 220,000 aggressively covering a pandemic Trump’s aggressive travel comes people in the United States, re- that is now infecting tens of thou- as he plays defense in states he won mains a central issue to voters.