NATHAN GREGORY

Funds raised from the 2012 Oktibbeha County Relay for Life eclipsed the $100,000 mark for the first time.

Relay for Life celebrates cancer survivors and raises awareness about the disease. Relay co-chair Barbara Foster said this year’s installment raised $102,000 with more donations still coming in. Proceeds go to the American Cancer Society for research, education and advocacy programs.
This year’s total out gained the amount raised in 2011 by more than $25,000. More than $76,000 was raised last year. Prior to this year’s relay, teams had already raised more than $57,000.

Foster said she is grateful to see the increased participation in and support for the relay each year it is held. She said having more money to provide to ACS means the organization has more to devote toward education, which can help in getting possible victims to recognize warning signs of cancer more quickly.

“(The funds) go for education, research, scientists — just all aspects of everything cancer touches,” Foster said. “Educating people on cancer as far as early detection (is important) because more and more lives are getting saved every day.”

She said in order to raise the bar each year more participation is needed.

“It’s just a matter of getting more and more people involved and getting everybody you know affected by this terrible disease, whether it be family members or friends,” she said. “When I got involved, my sister had breast cancer. I felt like I had to do something. I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. This is a great avenue for me to participate, get involved and raise money because each dollar I raise makes me feel like I’m that much closer to a cure.”

Read complete article at the Starkville Daily News.

STEVEN NALLEY

Arnita Riley felt helpless on the day her father died. She said she never wanted to feel that helplessness again.

Riley, now an infection control and clinic nurse manager at OCH Regional Medical Center, said there were many reasons she chose to become a nurse, but her father’s death was the deciding factor.

“I felt like if I had known what to do for him, he would not have died,” Riley said. “I wanted to comfort people in their pain and suffering. I wanted to heal.”

Riley is one of several nurses OCH is celebrating for National Nurses’ Week and National Hospital Week, both of which run May 6-12.

According to an American Nurses Association press release, May 12 marks the birthday of Florence Nightingale, regarded as founder of modern nursing. Martha Fulcher, OCH Chief Nursing Officer, said because the two special weeks coincide, OCH is saving its celebration of nursing employees for June 15. The theme, she said, is a surprise.

“In the past, we’ve held various events such as (a) Western day, fiesta and Hawaiian luau,” Fulcher said. “These events always include a great meal along with special entertainment usually provided by ‘prominent’ hospital and nursing employees.”

Riley is not the only nurse at OCH who was motivated to join the profession by a death in the family. Kathleen Hilbun, OCH accreditation officer, said she chose nursing while losing her mother to cancer.

“At her bedside, I saw plenty of good and bad nurses,” Hilbun said. “I challenged myself to show the concern to help others with a sincere heart. My love for dealing with people and public encouraged me.”

To this day, Hilbun said it is still a challenge to comfort families during difficult times like the ones she faced, but the rewards of helping people are worthwhile. Riley said continuing her education to become a nurse was a challenge, but it was worthwhile in the end.

“There were many obstacles in the way, but with God’s guidance and the help of my friends, I was able to get my (nursing degree),” Hilbun said. “I (initially) came to OCH to stay a short while to help my daughter with her new baby. That baby is now 7 years old. I just enjoy working at OCH.”

Another nurse at OCH, Jessie Wall, said the job challenges nurses to be in multiple places at once. Nurses have to work weekends, holidays and nights, she said, and their families often have to rearrange their plans. It can be a difficult career, but she said it’s the one she’s always wanted.

“All I can ever remember wanting to do is be a nurse,” Wall said. “I always wanted to do something to help people. It is important because we make a difference for people. We are here to help teach them how to take care of their babies, breast-feed, how to put a baby in a car seat correctly, etc.”

Lynn Gregg, an acute care charge nurse at OCH, said what challenges her most about the job is not any task she does. The challenge, she said, lies in what she can’t do.

Read complete article at the Starkville Daily News.

MATT CRANE

The Starkville Junior Auxiliary will host its second annual Kentucky Derby Party Saturday at 4 p.m. Larry and Janet Mullins will host the event at their home located at 1903 Hwy. 12 West.

Meredith Martin, SJA chairman of events, said the organization plans for larger turnout this year than last.

“We had around 250 to 300 people the first time,” she said, “and it seemed to just be the talk of the town.”

Saturday’s events include horseshoe and croquet games, as well as a photo booth for all guests. A thoroughbred race horse and jockey will be on site for attendees to pose with, adding yet another aspect of the Kentucky Derby culture to the evening, Martin said. A part of that culture includes a flair for fashion, especially when it comes to larger-than-life hats.

“The bigger the hat, the better,” Martin said.

Guests will have the chance to vote on their favorite hats from the evening, and the top 10 winners will be featured in a hat parade.

“People went all out last year,” Martin said.

Musical entertainment will be provided by Party of Four. The local group includes musicians Jeffrey Rupp, Jim Beaty, Earl Six and Drew Dieckmann.

Dinner and drinks are included with ticket purchase, and Martin promises a nice selection of both at this year’s event. Menu items include shrimp and grits, pork tenderloin with Henry Bain sauce and miniature derby pies among many others.

Beginning at 5 p.m., guests will gather around a large projection screen to watch the derby’s 138th race unfold.

Patrons will also have the opportunity to bet on horses which are assigned to one of the service projects the SJA sponsors.Bets can go toward the SJA as a donation, Martin said.

The party honors its various sponsors who help support the 10 service projects the organization is working with next year.

Read complete article at the Starkville Daily News.

STEVEN NALLEY

Emily Damm prefers poems that incite smiles and laughter to more depressing fare, but sometimes, tragedy and comedy are not mutually exclusive.

Damm, a junior at SHS, said one of her favorite creative writing assignments dealt with similes and metaphors. She was asked to create a poem where such a comparison starts out positive and ends up negative, but Damm turned the tables more than once. She starts “Icy Containment” comparing her life to leftover food in a fridge, patiently hoping to be chosen only to be left in the darkness.

“Eventually, untouched, I give up / Until one day I am picked up by a warm hand,” Damm writes. “I practically jump with joy — / Only to find myself in a trash can.”

Damm placed first in the Starkville High School Annual Poetry Writing Contest, sponsored by “Mississippi Quarterly,” which will recognize her and two other winners Thursday at 6 p.m. in the SHS library.

The evening will feature a dessert buffet, performances from members of SHS’s Jazz Band and a keynote address from Catherine Pierce, the co-director of Mississippi State University’s creative writing program who won the 2007 Saturnalia Books Poetry Prize for her collection, “Famous Last Words.” “Mississippi Quarterly” will award Damm $100, while freshman Barnes Locke will receive $50 for second place and junior Katrina Henn will receive $25 for third place.

Robin Dibble, a senior English teacher at SHS, has organized the competition for the last eight years, and she said it was formerly known as the Cotton District Arts Festival’s poetry competition which also held an awards ceremony in MSU’s John Grisham Room. The competition is open to Starkville Academy students as well, she said, and the poems are first judged by MSU’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta and then by MSU faculty Nancy Hargrove and Peter DeGabriele.

“I would never want to be a judge,” Dibble said. “I think there’s a real art to recognizing the nuances of poetry, what makes a poem good. I think good poetry is something that speaks to a wide range of people. I think, to write poetry well, you have to read a lot of poetry yourself, a lot of good poetry. I think you also have to be able to take a lot of risks. I think it has to come from deep down inside and communicate things you wouldn’t necessarily communicate any other way.”

Dibble said she is grateful to Pierce for returning to the annual awards ceremony after speaking last year.

“Her talk was right on target with high school students,” Dibble said. “It was very inspiring and motivating for young writers. I do want to give credit to Noel Polk and ‘Mississippi Quarterly.’ They donate the prizes each year, and that’s a huge incentive for high school students.”

Damm said her favorite subject is actually math, and English is actually her hardest subject. The lack of rules set in stone makes English more difficult than math for her, but poetry is an exception.

Read complete article at the Starkville Daily News.

NATHAN GREGORY

The Starkville Board of Aldermen held its first public hearing on amending the current bicycle safety helmet ordinance to allow riders over the age of 15 to ride without a helmet at its meeting Tuesday. A vote to hold a second public hearing after gathering input from the city’s transportation committee passed 5-2, with Ward 6 Alderman Roy A. Perkins and Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn opposed. Ward 4 Alderman Richard Corey introduced the proposed amendment and called for the hearing at the board’s April 17 meeting.

The hearing drew a slew of citizen comments, both for and against making the change. Each member of the board also offered input.

Vaughn, who is a member of the city’s Healthy Hometown Committee, cited the city recently being awarded a Healthy Hometown grant by Blue Cross & Blue Shield for practicing safe habits such as the enforcement of helmets for bicyclists and said common sense alone was enough to merit this amendment not being passed.

“We were awarded $50,000 … now we’re taking the money and we’re going to run with it … What does this make us look like? Now we want to change the whole ball game after taking this money for being a healthy hometown in Mississippi,” Vaughn said. “If these kids have sense enough to put a helmet on, what’s wrong with the rest of us?”

Brent Crocker, who works at Mississippi State University as assistant director of the Sanderson Center and as an emergency medical technician, was one of several who spoke in favor of making the change.

“I don’t think a contest is the right reason to create an ordinance. Some kind of contest to win us notoriety or money is not the right way,” Crocker said. “To say ‘We won the award and we now need to keep it that way,’ is that despite the will of the people of Starkville? I understand the safety side of it, but if we say we’re going to do this in the name of safety, where do we stop? I think we have to expect personal responsibility from people … My daughter will wear a helmet when she rides because I told her to. I don’t need a law that says she has to. I generally wear a helmet when I ride, but that’s my decision. It shouldn’t be your decision.”

Starkville citizen Chris Taylor also spoke in favor of the proposed change.

“I hate that helmet, and I hate it when you make an ordinance telling me what I can and what I can’t wear on the road. I’m a grown man,” Taylor said.

Citizen Alvin Turner was opposed to any change.

“Do we really respect our police officers? We give them one thing to do and then we turn around and change it … They’re out there to make it safe for pedestrians like me, the people who ride bikes and the people who drive cars. We have laws and we need to stick to laws because if you don’t, people will wind up hating the government body that makes laws and (doesn’t) stick to them.”

Austin Check, who said he has worked in public safety for 10 years and has never worked a bicycle accident, was another citizen in favor of the change.

Read complete article at the Starkville Daily News.

CARL SMITH

Starkville officials are hopeful recent additions to the fire department’s arsenal will help lower the city’s fire rating and provide insurance breaks to business owners.

Starkville Fire Department recently acquired live-fire, multi-trainer systems housed in two 48-foot-by-8-foot trailers through a U.S. Department of Homeland Safety grant. The grant paid for 90 percent of the equipment’s $318,000, while the remainder was covered by the city of Starkville.

The two new training simulators were brought to Station No. 3 and should be ready for use by May 10.

Besides the new training units, SFD Chief Rodger Mann said his department recently addressed issues involving manpower and aging equipment. Addressing these issues, he said, could play a major role in possibly lowering Starkville’s fire rating from a Class 5 designation to a Class 4. Officials from the Mississippi Fire Ratings Bureau are due to reassess Starkville sometime in May or June, he said.

“These (simulators) are going to play a huge part in the rating. While they don’t give us a traditional training facility per say, it gives us the ability. Training ability is definitely looked at in the rating process,” Mann said.

Starkville is currently rated at a low Class 5 designation, Mann said, and a lower rating would provide great insurance benefits to local business owners.

“We won’t know how these (simulators) will specifically help (with the final rating) until the bureau makes its final decision, but we’re hopeful,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of work since the last time we were evaluated.”

SFD Training Officer Charles Yarbrough said local firefighters will be able to practice a number of fire simulations, including confined rescues and structure ventilations. The fire department could add on additional units to the sides and on top of the trailers due to the units design.

“Usually the only times we get to practice, we’re doing it for real,” Yarbrough said. “These units provide experience you can’t easily get.”
Having the two simulators allows the city to train its firefighters locally instead of sending them to the state fire academy in Clinton. Fire training classes in Clinton can cost up to $1,000, a figure which does not account for food, lodging and the loss of local manpower, Mann said.

Read complete article at the Starkville Daily News.

NATHAN GREGORY

The Starkville Board of Aldermen will hold public hearings on amending both the bicycle safety helmet and sidewalk ordinances at its meeting today.

The only proposed amendment to the safety helmet ordinance aims to lessen its strictness. Currently, the law states anyone riding a bike in the city is required to wear a helmet. The amendment would allow individuals 16 years of age or older to ride without a helmet if they so choose.

Ward 4 Alderman Richard Corey said while he believes everyone riding a bicycle on public roads should wear a helmet as a safety measure, those who don’t feel the same way should not be forced to do so.

“As with any public hearing, I hope we have an engaging discussion on the need for this change,” Corey said. “I do think we need to have something in effect to protect our children, but I think this change will allow the adults in this comity to have more freedom of choice in this matter and make the requirement less onerous.”

A letter to the board written by the Healthy Starkville Committee said the group supports the ordinance because helmets drastically reduce the risk of brain injuries.

“We recognize that not everyone sees donning a bike helmet as an obvious and natural part of getting ready to go out for a ride. To understand why our Health Coordinators conducted a small focus group of cyclists recently as part of a city-wide assessment of needs and resources related to health,” the committee said in the letter.

“The discussion confirmed that the participants were not well educated about the risks of riding without of the helmet or the benefits of wearing one … The helmet ordinance and bike lanes that we do have are a strong statement but may not prove sufficient on their own. This situation of inadequate education among cyclists and motorists is of our own doing.”

The letter also referenced proposed amendments to the city’s sidewalk ordinance.

“We also recognize sidewalks as a central component of civic infrastructure and that walkable neighborhoods contribute not just to health but to accessibility and quality of life,” the committee said in the letter. “We see the sidewalk ordinance as a mechanism for ensuring that as our community grows we take sensible steps to ensure that pedestrian accessibility is part of the built environment.”

Those proposed amendments, as introduced by Ward 5 Alderman Jeremiah Dumas, include mandating the construction of sidewalks in appropriate areas of the city and exempting certain areas of the city that are not conducive to pedestrian traffic.

Read complete article at the Starkville Daily News.

NATHAN GREGORY

For the second straight year, Starkville was named a Playful City USA community today for its efforts to provide more recreational avenues for local children.

Approximately 213 communities were recognized by KaBOOM! this year with the distinction. KaBOOM! is a national non-profit organization devoted to saving play for children.

Starkville is one of only five communities recognized as a Playful City USA in Mississippi, with the other four being Amory, Hernando, Horn Lake and Senatobia. Starkville joins the latter three towns as repeat winners of the award.

Playful City USA is a national recognition program established in 2007 by KaBOOM! honoring cities and towns that make play a priority and develop unique programs for getting children active and healthy.

The benefits of being named a Playful City USA community include earning eligibility for grants via Let’s Play, a community partnership led by the Dr. Pepper -Snapple Group to get kids and families nationwide more active and healthy. Recipients will be announced next month.

In addition to its designation, Starkville was one of five communities highlighted by KaBOOM! for its innovative efforts to get local children and families more involved in recreational activity. The Starkville Parks Commission, Starkville School District, civic groups and businesses collaborated to invest in play by creating a joint-use agreement allowing for school play spaces to be open for public use during non-school hours.

Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman said he was pleased to see Starkville receive the distinction for the second year in a row.

“Creating more and better play spaces is something that is very important to us. Research shows that recreation improves a person’s physical and emotional well-being. Quality play spaces make recreation more fun. The more fun recreation is, the more likely it is that our citizens will engage it, leading up to a healthier, happier community,” Wiseman said. “The Playful City USA program is the most distinguished program recognizing quality environments for recreation in the country.

We feel validated in our efforts that they continue to recognize this community.”

Starkville Parks Director Matthew Rye shared Wiseman’s enthusiasm in being recognized.

“We’re really excited about it. We have to continue to improve on what we have, and it shows we’re committed to play in general. Our belief is play is very important to the lifestyle of everybody, especially kids,” Rye said. “The projects we have going on confirms we are committed to that. It allows the school district and city to have some access or opportunity for grant money. Due to our joint-use agreement, whoever receives it benefits because they’re open public spaces.”

Read complete article at the Starkville Daily News.

CARL SMITH

County officials confirmed the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks has vacated its Oktibbeha County Lake Campground facilities after the agency declined to renew its 16th section land lease.

It is unclear at this point who will maintain the campground’s facilities as property control is transitioned back to the Oktibbeha County School District. MDWFP State Lake Coordinator David Berry said the transition will end Monday.

The most recent county lake lease was executed in 1986 and expired last year. The land’s 407 acres earned a $2,500 annual payment.

Officials say MDWFP declined to renew its lease after a recent reappraisal considerably boosted the property’s value. Rent for 16th section leases is set at fair market value, and appraisals and adjustments must be made at least every 10 years, per the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office.

County Superintendent of Education James Covington said he met with MDWFP and Secretary of State officials in March to discuss the reappraised value of the 16th section land. Wildlife officials later declined to renew the lease, he said. The land’s approximate reappraised value was unavailable at press time.

Covington said the school board recently began advertising the property for potential lessees. He could not comment on any early interest in the property.

Read complete article at the Starkville Daily News.

CARL SMITH

Starkville School District officials will conclude a visit by a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools quality assurance team with an exit conference 3 p.m. today at the Greensboro Center.

SSD is seeking to renew its current designation from the group’s Council on Accreditation and School Improvement area following a review from five evaluators. The district voluntarily goes through the national accreditation process every five years.

“(The quality assurance team) is making sure we meet the standards for accreditation and looking at evidence we have provided through data, documentation, observation and dialogue,” Response to Intervention Director Julie Fancher said. “The primary focus is on improving student performance. The team will come in and give us and the board recommendations to continue the quality of learning for students in the district.”

Fancher said the quality assurance team interviewed over 150 individuals, from teachers to students and stakeholders, during its review process.

The accreditation is based on seven standards, including vision and purpose; governance and leadership; documenting and using results; resources and support; stakeholder communication and relationships; and commitment to continuous improvement.

During the district’s last accreditation process in 2007, the review team recommended that the district work on facilities improvements, increase technology and use data to track student progress, all of which have since been addressed and continue to be points of focus for the district.

Assistant Superintendent Beth Sewell said having an outside review of SSD always provides beneficial recommendations which the district can implement.

SSD Board President Keith Coble said he looks forward to the meeting and hopes it gives trustees a good indicator of where the school is in its educational quest.

Read complete article at the Starkville Daily News.