TIM PRATT

City officials met Wednesday with Mississippi Department of Transportation representatives and learned an overlay of pothole-riddled Highway 182 won’t take place until 2013.

Additionally, if the Board of Aldermen wants curbs and sidewalks installed along a roughly 1.5-mile stretch of Highway 182 adjacent to downtown, the city would have to pay for it, said MDOT Northern District Engineer Bill Jamieson. The Department of Transportation handles overlays on state roadways, but doesn’t typically include curbs or sidewalks in the paving process.

The meeting brought Jamieson and MDOT Northern District Commissioner Bill Minor together with Mayor Parker Wiseman and aldermen Ben Carver, Sandra Sistrunk and Jeremiah Dumas. City engineer Edward Kemp, Chief Administrative Officer Lynn Spruill and Mississippi State University assistant professor of public administration Bethany Stich also were in attendance.

All were concerned about Starkville’s infrastructure and transportation opportunities, from roads and sidewalks to bicycle lanes, railroad tracks and shuttle service. The meeting was designed “to address the current condition (of the city) and the changes we see forthcoming in the future,” Wiseman said. City officials also drove Jamieson and Minor around the city to show the condition of roads and sidewalks.

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SPECIAL TO THE DISPATCH

Starkville “A Country Christmas” Parade winners

Best Use of Theme for Walking Unit: Ebenezer Baptist Church
Best Use of Theme for Float: Girl Scouts Troop 320
Best Use of Lights: Oktibbeha County Hospital
Best Faith-Based Entry: Hope Community Church
Best Business Entry: Rolling Hills

Read complete article at Commercial Dispatch.

TIM PRATT

STARKVILLE — The city of Starkville’s Parks and Recreation Department is preparing to add yet another feature to its award-winning Sportsplex facility on Lynn Lane.

Construction will begin soon on a playground designed specifically for toddlers. The playground will feature small sliding boards, decks and rubber ground surfacing for safety.

Mary Love Tagert, a Starkville Junior Auxiliary member who also serves on the city’s Park Commission said younger children in the community often don’t have as many pieces of playground equipment as their older brothers and sisters. Starkville Junior Auxiliary recently received a $4,000 grant from the Starkville-Oktibbeha Achieving Results organization, which it contributed to the playground project.

“The grant was written for a toddler playplex and that’s what this is: Something for 2- to 4-year-olds, because there isn’t enough equipment to fit that age group,” Tagert said.

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TIM PRATT

The Mississippi Highway Patrol on Tuesday released details about a weekend crash in Clayton Village that left a Dispatch newspaper carrier in critical condition.

Winston Minor had just driven his silver 2003 Ford Explorer south down the Highway 82 off-ramp Sunday at about 2 a.m. and was attempting to cross Highway 182 when he was struck on the driver’s side by a westbound 2007 Freightliner, said Mississippi Highway Patrol Public Affairs Officer Brian Mobley. It is unclear if Minor came to a halt or ran the stop sign at the end of the off-ramp, Mobley said.

“The only people who would know that are the two drivers,” Mobley said. “Even if he did stop, at some point he came out into the flow of traffic.”

Minor was transported to Oktibbeha County Hospital, then flown to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. He was still in critical condition this morning.

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BONNIE COBLENTZ

Oktibbeha County school officials discussed results of the most recent safety audit and easement issues related to timberland in Monday night’s meeting at West Oktibbeha Elementary School in Sturgis.

Two forestry items took the board’s attention. The board followed the Mississippi Forestry Commission’s recommendation and agreed to pay $25,821 to replant 237 acres of trees that had been harvested for timber. Superintendent James Covington said this amount covers the trees, the labor and their guaranteed survival.

The second item was tabled until the board could get legal advice and explore its options. The school district has timber worth about $345,000 that is ready to harvest, but they must cross private land to get to it.

“The owner said he wants $5,000 to cross his property,” Covington said. “We need to find out what we can do legally to obtain an easement so we can access that property.”

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TIM PRATT

A longtime newspaper carrier, who was preparing to deliver Sunday’s edition of The Starkville Dispatch, was seriously injured when his vehicle was struck by a tractor-trailer.

Winston “Ringo” Minor was on his way to pick up newspapers at Clayton Village Mini Storage Sunday at around 2:30 a.m. when an 18-wheeler “T-boned” Minor’s vehicle at the Highway 182-Highway 82 interchange, said fellow carrier Mary Tallent, who was waiting for Minor at the drop location when the accident occurred.

Tallent became worried when Minor still had not shown up at the drop location at around 2:15 a.m., so she called him on his cellular phone. Minor told Tallent he was five or 10 minutes away, Tallent recalled Monday.

Shortly after Tallent and Minor got off the phone together, she heard the accident take place. Tallent’s grandson was with her and also heard the wreck.

“He said, ‘I think that’s a wreck,’” Tallent recalled. “And I said, ‘I hope that’s not Winston.’”

Read complete article at Commercial Dispatch.

TIM PRATT

Construction could begin as early as this spring on the renovation and expansion of Oktibbeha County Hospital.

The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors Monday voted to advertise this month for construction bids on the project. Supervisors will open the bids Jan. 21 at 10 a.m. in the boardroom of the Oktibbeha County Courthouse.

Hospital Chief Executive Officer Arthur “Sonny” Kelly said it will probably be late March or early April before construction begins.

As part of the renovations, new patient rooms will be constructed and old rooms will be renovated, Kelly said. Additional patient rooms will be located in a new tower the hospital plans to have built.

Among other improvements, the hospital will renovate its birthing suites and, when complete, the facility will feature a state-of-the-art Caesarian section suite and recovery area. Patients also will encounter a brand new newborn nursery and viewing area, enlarged nurse stations and patient triage and observation rooms.

Read complete article at Commercial Dispatch.