Iesha Harris

As a teacher, it isn’t always just about the subjects that you teach in school. This job is also about how we can guide and shape the young minds that often look up to us and depend on us to give them the knowledge that they need to succeed in life. Once in awhile though, we as teachers have a student that teaches us more than we can ever begin to teach them. For me, Iesha Harris taught me more than I could ever teach any student about what really matters the most in this life.
Long before Iesha was a student in my classroom, I knew who she was – everyone did. It wasn’t just the fact that Iesha was born with spina bifida that made her known to everyone because you had watched her struggle with each step as she walked down the hall. It was the light from within her that shined brighter than the sun in the sky ever could. The smile on her face and the light that radiated from within her allowed God to bless everyone in her path. I can say without a doubt that any teacher or student at New Hope that came into contact with her was blessed and excited anytime they were in her presence. Iesha was always a joy to be around and was friends with everyone – both students and teachers.
I will never forget how excited Iesha was and I was when I began teaching her in August of 2005 when she began her eighth grade school year. I don’t think I’ve ever had a student that seemed so happy to be in my classroom. Iesha was a model student in my language arts classroom. She was dependable, hard working, reliable, trust-worthy, friendly, kind, and eager to learn anything you threw her way in the classroom. It would have been a dream to have had a classroom full of students just like her. As that school year progressed, I developed a love for Iesha that ran very deeply. I truly loved her like one of my own daughters. I knew that Iesha struggled on a daily basis because of spina bifida and it truly broke my heart. I would have given anything to have taken her struggles away. But you know what? I think I struggled more deep down with her disease than she did. You NEVER heard Iesha complain. You never saw Iesha get down. In fact, Iesha was always the person that was encouraging and helping everyone around her.
It broke my heart when the 2005-06 school year came to an end. Iesha had begun talking to me and even writing to me about a surgery she was scheduled to have that summer at UMC in Jackson. During that last week of school, instead of checking out each day after exams, Iesha would take her morning exams and then come down to my classroom and stay there until school dismissed for the day. She would study, draw me pictures, write me letters, and talk to me about her upcoming surgery.
Iesha even came to school on the very last day which was mainly just scheduled for students that had make-up exams to take. Even though she didn’t have any exams to make up, she came to school anyway. She stayed in my classroom that entire day.
Midmorning that last day, I sent Iesha to a neighboring classroom and I snuck down to Dollar General during my planning period. While at Dollar General, I bought Iesha a card and every single thing in that store that I thought she would remotely like. It had hit me that I was losing one of my babies to the high school and this would be the last day that she would ever be one of my students in my classroom.
When I got back to my classroom and brought her back in there and let my oldest daughter, Merri Frances, give her all of those presents, it was all I could do not to break down and cry. Iesha emailed me that night and thanked me for all of her gifts. She said that she had told Merri Frances that she wanted to cry but did not want to feel embarrassed in front of me.
That summer, Iesha emailed me at least 75 times (yes, I still have copies of all of these emails thank goodness). The kids and I also saw her several times at Slip and Dip. Merri Frances gave her our phone number and Iesha even began calling us to keep in touch. She underwent surgeries that summer and those surgeries did improve her condition that she had been struggling with. In every single email and during every single phone call, Iesha always began and ended them by calling me Mommy and telling me that she loved me.
That fall when school resumed, Iesha’s presence in my classroom was missed. I kept in touch with Iesha through email and by seeing her at all of the home football games. I even sent her a Valentine’s Day gift that year as a surprise. She was overjoyed to say the least! She told me that she named the teddy bear Mama Liza. Then I was the one that was overjoyed!
Unfortunately, since Iesha was attending school at NHHS and I was a teacher at NHMS, we didn’t get to see each other as much over the next several years. It wasn’t that we lost touch, we just weren’t around each other every single day of the school week anymore. I did see her at all of the home ball games. She was always there to cheer on her superstar brother, Todd Harris. We also stayed in touch through emails and then kept in touch through Facebook. Once she got a cell phone, we stayed in touch more than ever. (If you are friends with Iesha then you know exactly what I’m talking about. She was a texting girl!) That phone stayed glued to her hand I am sure! I would get numerous texts a week, and sometimes even several a day. Through these texts, Iesha was always encouraging others and sharing Bible scriptures to uplift your day. Sometimes, it was if God himself had typed out the exact verse that I needed to read and sent it through that little angel here on earth.
I attended Iesha’s NHHS graduation at MSU in May of 2010. I couldn’t have been more proud of her. As I walked around the outer hallway at the Humphrey Colliseum passing all of those former students and familiar faces that were lined up to graduate, there was one smiling face that I was searching for more than any other one – the face of Iesha. When she looked up and caught my eye, I have never seen her so happy. As she reached up with those little arms and threw them around my neck, it was all I could do not to break down and cry. (Somewhere I’ve got a picture of the two of us that was taken that day. It’s going to drive me crazy until I find it because I have searched and searched over this last week.) As Mr. Lynn Wright handed Iesha her diploma as she walked across the floor at The Hump, the applause and cheers that were given up for Iesha were louder than the ones for almost anyone else there. Everyone there from New Hope not only knew Iesha, but loved Iesha.
Last Monday night, Feb. 6, Marc had taken me out to eat at McAllister’s Deli in town. While sitting there at the table and having a great time, I received a Facebook message from a former student about Iesha. Danielle Morgan was asking me what had happened to Iesha. She said that she had just heard the news about Iesha’s death and knew that I would know because we were so close.
In reality, I had no idea that Iesha had passed away until that very moment. As I struggled to hold it together inside of the restaurant, it hit me that this tiny little angel on earth had really passed away as I read over a few comments on Facebook. To say that I was devastated is an understatement.
As Marc and I left McAllister’s, I had him call our Lowndes County Coroner, Greg Merchant, to see if it was true. I was praying with all of my heart that it was not true, but as I listened to Marc talk to Greg, I knew that what I wanted would not be.
I had Marc take me immediately to Iesha’s house but nobody was there. We went by again, but nobody was there. I guess I was hoping deep down that once I arrived there she would come to her door with that smile on her face and light in her eyes that always greeted me whenever I saw her. I was hoping that those tiny little arms would reach up and grab me around the neck and hug me to tell me that none of it was true. Unfortunately for myself, I realized the reality of the situation. At that very moment, instead of reaching up and hugging my neck, Iesha was reaching up and hugging the neck of Jesus.
I can’t imagine how hard those next few days were for Iesha’s family as they prepared for her funeral. It was heart wrenching each time I talked to them on the phone or through a text. There were many broken hearts over the fact that Iesha had passed away so suddenly and unexpectedly. None of us got to say goodbye. None of us had expected it. We all knew that she struggled with spina bifida and had undergone many surgeries over the course of her life, but nobody expected Iesha to pass away at the young age of 20 years old. Her life had been and continued to be a miracle with all that she endured, but her death was not expected.
A couple of days after her death, Iesha’s dad (Willie Harris) said that he would like for me to speak at her funeral. I was blown away. I felt honored, yet terrified. I can talk all day long in front of a classroom full of students, but having to speak in front of a crowd was something that makes me nervous even thinking about it! As I prayed about what I would say at the funeral and prepared in my mind what I would speak about, I knew that it was something that I had to do. I didn’t have to only do this for Iesha, but for the ones of us that were left behind and would feel the void in our lives forever because she was no longer here with us.
As I read over the two Facebook pages created in her honor, I came across so much kindness and love that people had for Iesha. You see, Iesha was friendly to everyone. There wasn’t a mean bone in that little girl’s body! I can say without a doubt that I have never heard anyone say a negative thing about her, and unfortunately that just doesn’t happen much when you teach around middle school aged kids ha!
Now, if you are still reading this loooooong piece of material that I’m writing then please don’t roll your eyes and think that you’re going to get an English lesson from Iesha’s former teacher, because that isn’t what this is about. However, I am going to talk to you about some of the parts of speech. As I read over all of the comments on Facebook about Iesha, I’ve never read so many kind words about anyone.
There were so many nouns (a person, place, thing, or idea) and adjectives (words that describe nouns) about Iesha. Some of those nouns and adjectives included: best, wonderful, happy, sweet, sweetest, tiny, smiley, pretty, precious, beautiful, true, independent, hilarious, small, truthful, spunky, encouraging, Holy, loving, caring, amazing, darling, joyous, sassy, prayerful, and angel. I realized though that there was nothing small or tiny about Iesha and the love that she had for me, for her family, for her church, for her teachers, for her friends, and especially for God. She may have been a small girl, but she had a huge spirit.
You see, Iesha wasn’t just a noun with a lot of good adjectives said about her, Iesha was a verb (a word that shows action). Iesha lived her short life to the fullest. She wasn’t just a person on the sidelines. She was the best at all she did. She strived to be wonderful at everything and to everyone. She was happy to just be alive. If you looked up the word sweet or sweetest in the dictionary, I promise her picture would be there as an example! She loved, she cared, she prayed, she spoke the truth, and she was as sassy and as spunky as she could be. She was a verb no doubt! And although she may have appeared independent to everyone, she was more dependent on God than almost anyone I know.
One of the last Bible verses that Iesha wrote on my Facebook wall said, “Do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9. Here was this tiny little girl that was born with greater struggles than most of you and I will ever know or understand. Here was one of God’s precious children that He had loaned to us for just a little while telling me on that day not to be afraid of the problems that were tiny compared to the obstacles that Iesha faced on a daily basis. But you see Iesha wasn’t afraid or discouraged of her obstacles. She measured the size of her obstacles against the size of her God and she knew that there was nothing to be afraid about.
As school teachers, many of us feel called to teach in the classroom. We may feel called to teach science or to teach English or many other courses. But what our students often don’t realize is that many of our students teach us. God uses those students that He places in that desk in our classroom to change our lives and teach us in ways that you can’t be taught from a textbook.
Iesha was one of those students that changed my life and taught me more than I’ll ever be able to teach any student about English or reading. And even today, Iesha is still teaching me. She is teaching me about what is really important in this life. This life isn’t about me. This life isn’t about what we can get for our own self or what we can accomplish. This life is about what we can accomplish for the glory of God. She accomplished more in her 20 years than many of us have accomplished in our long lives that we have been blessed to be given. She didn’t have to stand behind a pulpit to minister to me, to her other teachers, to her classmates, to people at her church, or to people she struck up a conversation with somewhere out and about. She was a servant and a minister in how she went about living her life each day. And she chose to live that kind of life every single day no matter where she was or what she was doing or what she was having to endure that day. She truly allowed the light of Christ to shine through her and bless others no matter where she was.
I have already missed all of the texts that Iesha sent out to me quite frequently. If you are on that list then I know you are giggling to yourself because you know exactly what I’m talking about! But even though I won’t be getting anymore texts from Iesha, I know that she is still in our corner and is cheering us on in this game of life that she wants us to play by winning souls for Jesus.
Just as she cheered on her brother, Todd, at all of his ballgames – she is also cheering each of us on to persevere and press on towards the goal for the prize that she has been given that we can all receive if we are open to it. I guarantee you that if she can look down from Heaven and see us that she is smiling and wants us to be happy and to continue to face our obstacles and be strong and be courageous, just as she was.
I know that now that Iesha is in Heaven, she is dancing and doing cartwheels and praising Jesus with every breath that she takes. She is free from pain and from struggling and from suffering. And if there are hot Cheetos in Heaven, I know she’s also eating them and licking her red stained fingers one by one just to get under my skin for all of the germs she’s consuming. I can see that sassy smile on her face and that little wink that she would be giving me if I could see her enjoying the life that she will enjoy in eternity with her Creator, her Maker, her Heavenly Father. And as I picture that smile of hers in my mind, it gives me a peace in my heart knowing that Iesha is Home.

Jeff Doty, who is interested in buying Cal City Grocery, requested that the board grant a variance to the beer sales ordinance.
[The Cal-City Grocery has been in operation since the 1970s. Due to the fact that it was already selling cold beer when cold beer sales were banned, it was allowed to continue selling under a so-called grandfather clause. Owner Bill Pearrow died in September 2010 and his daughter, Valerie Riley, has since been trying to find someone to take over the business. A leasee was found, but broke the lease and, as a result, the store was closed for two months. When Ms. Riley appeared before the board late last year to question the aldermen about the grandfather clause, she was told that the exemption would be lost if the store ever ceased to operate. Due to the closure, the grandfather clause expired and now Mr. Doty is seeking to get it reinstated. – Brian Jones]
Town Attorney Jeff Smith attempted to explain the situation.
“The problem is going to be selling cold beer,” Smith said. “There is a 1945 ordinance that prohibits you from selling beer within 1,500 feet of a church or school. You pass that one. The other one is a 1982 ordinance requiring you to sell beer hot. Your store was grandfathered in. I assume that’s what you’re here about?”
“Well, I’m just here enquiring,” Doty said. “We’re looking at making a big investment. I’m going to a show tomorrow looking at all new kitchen equipment and that type of stuff.”
“The long and the short of it is that unless the board approves a variance, you’re not grandfathered in anymore,” Smith said. “You’ve been closed. The business itself has been closed for two or three months. The board’s position has always been – and I’m just the lawyer, they can do what they want – the board’s position has always been that there is no place in Caledonia that can serve cold beer. Y’all’s was the only one.”
“Don’t say y’all’s, it’s not mine yet,” Doty said. “What I’m trying to do now is buy the property. I’m waiting on the appraisal to come back. I’m going to revamp the store and everything, and that’s why I’m here to enquire about beer sales. I’ve had one in Aberdeen and run it for 10 years now, we’ve sold it. I’ve sold beer out of there. I’ve never had a bad checkup. We ID, we card. I’ve got about 18 DUIs that I’ve gotten put on people for trying to buy beer that didn’t need to be driving or whatever. I’m here to enquire about [the beer sales] before I spend $150,000 or $200,000.”
“What about the liquor store?” asked Mayor George Gerhart.
“I’ve still got the liquor store in Aberdeen,” Doty said. “State law is that you can only have one. I’m going to sell that liquor store, I don’t know that I’ll do that again. The biggest thing we’re looking at here is the food end, we think that’s going to be the biggest end of it. I already own Penny Lane Java Café in Aberdeen, and we’re thinking about maybe moving some of that menu in here. My concern tonight is really the beer sales.”
“If you couldn’t sell beer, would it change your plans about coming?” asked Alderman Quinn Parham.
“It probably would, yeah,” Doty said. “I just don’t think…I think with everything I’m putting into it, it’s going to take everything I can get. I will bring a lot of revenue. I do a tremendous amount of business in Hamilton, and I’ve been told that if we leave and come here a lot of them will follow us here.”
“What’s involved with the variance?” asked Alderman Mike Savage.
“Y’all need to remember why this thing was done,” Smith said. “I’ve never understood why it was done, but of course I don’t vote. You had a guy that was thinking about putting in a nightclub, and that ordinance was a reaction to the nightclub maybe being put in. The thought was they were going to start serving beer from a tap, and that was the reason that you can no longer sell beer individually, and it has to be served hot. The ordinance has been looked at time after time after time, but no board has ever changed it. The variance would be fairly simple, he’d have to request it and then the board could grant it with a vote.”
“Why was it not in the ordinance how long it had to be closed before it could no longer serve beer?” Gerhart asked.
“The thought was that courts have always said ‘a reasonable amount of time,’ which is generally considered 30 days,” Smith said. “That’s what we’ve always used.”
“We’ve tried to make this move quicker,” Doty said. “It’s been a difficult transition. I’ve got an appraiser, it’s supposed to be ready this week.”
“If we do a variance, does that open us up to everybody in town?” Savage asked.
“If you grant a variance, you’re supposed to have a legitimate reason,” Smith said.
“The legitimate reason to me would be the tax dollars,” Parham said. “People who want beer are going to buy it, they’ll just go somewhere else.”
“The courts say you can’t be arbitrary or capricious,” Smith said. “It can’t be because you like Jeff or he’s kin to you.”
“Due to the fact that it will add to the town coffers, I have no objection,” Gerhart said.
“It’s not just beer sales,” Parham said. “We want it to open up. It’ll have gas and food, too.”
Smith said that Doty needed to make a written request to the board for the variance, at which time the board could vote it up or down.
Doty asked that the board move quickly.
“I’m about to be unemployed where I am because we’re moving out of there,” Doty said. “I’m ready to make a move. That would give me March, and my tentative opening date would be approximately April 1. That gives me a 30-day window to come in and get everything done.”
The board took no action that night.
[The board held a special meeting Saturday morning to take the issue up again. I learned about the meeting after the fact, so was not there to cover it personally; I have no idea how or if the meeting was noticed to the public. The variance was voted down 3-2. Bill Darnell, Steve Honnoll and Brenda Willis voted no, with Savage and Parham voting yes.
This is not the first time beer sales have come up in recent years. In November 2009 Mi Toro Mexican Restaurant requested a variance, but was turned down. Mi Toro, unlike Cal-City Grocery, is right next to a church. I don’t believe that Cal-City is within 1,500 feet of a church, and Messrs. Smith and Doty seemed to believe that the location of the store was not an issue. I believe the board’s primary concern was that, by granting a variance to Cal-City, they would then be inundated by requests from other entities for the same thing. – Brian Jones]

Jim Westberry asked that the board consider installing stop signs at the intersection of Wolf Road and Cal-Steens Road.
“Is there anything we can do?” he asked. “That is the worst intersection in the county right there. My suggestion is to put a stop sign up for incoming traffic on Wolf Road. That’ll solve the problem. You can’t see around that bend until you start making your turn. You put stop signs in, you’ll be able to see one another. Us old people, we can’t turn around see what’s coming. Nobody comes through there at 35 miles an hour no way. Anything you can do would be better than what you’ve got now.”
Gerhart asked Darnell, Honnoll and Marshal Ben Kilgore to get together with County Road Manager Ronny Burns and try to find a solution.

In other business, the board hired a prosecuting attorney for town court. Former County Prosecutor Tim Hudson will take the post. He will be paid $175 per month. Hudson’s hire was approved unanimously.

The board went into an approximately 100-minute executive session to discuss an right-of-way issue with the Water Department. Jim and Pam Robertson allege that the Water Department did work on their property last year without first seeking a right-of-way. The Robertsons and Water Department Superintendent Benny Coleman met behind closed doors with the board, but no action was taken.

At their February 13 meeting, the Columbus Municipal School Board took no action on a personnel issue that would have laid off over 50 teachers. Trustee Currie Fisher asked that the personnel matters be tabled because more names had been added to the list since last week.

The board also heard a presentation about a district-wide abstinence education program.

Last week the CMSD announced that they planned to lay of some 59 teachers who had two years or less experience in the district as part of a cost-saving plan. The news caused much public concern, and, while the CMSD board meetings are typically sparsely attended at best, Monday’s meeting drew a crowd of protestors. About 25-30 teachers, students and parents picketed the meeting, first standing outside the municipal complex as trustees and district employees arrived, and then moving inside to stand along the back wall of the board room.
[The teachers who protested were not the ones whose jobs are on the chopping block. One individual I spoke to said that the affected teachers were scared to show up at the board meeting because they were afraid it would adversely affect their chances of being rehired. Others I spoke to wondered aloud how many teachers’ jobs could be saved if district-level personnel were to take a pay cut. I think this is a fair question. In March 2010 the board voted to reduce administrators’ contracts by 10 days, a move that then-Superintendent Del Phillips estimated would save the district around $800,000. At the time he said the cut would remain in place for “at least” two fiscal years. I think it’s time to not only revisit that cut, but to deepen it. The teachers being cut are paid around $41,000 a year, including fringe benefits. It doesn’t seem like the district would have to cut very many high-level jobs to free up the cash to keep on at least a few teachers, especially at the high school, which is bearing the brunt of the cuts. I won’t hold my breath, though. I’ve always been amazed at the ability of high-level officials to weather budget-related storms. – Brian Jones]
Personnel agenda items are usually disposed of with one vote and little discussion. When board member Tommy Prude made the motion, President Glenn Lautzenhiser had to call twice for a second before Bruce Hanson offered a second. Then, rather than proceeding to a vote as is normal, Trustee Currie Fisher asked that the item be tabled.

CMSD teachers picket outside the Columbus Municipal Complex during the Monday night School Board meeting.

“There are some additional names that I was not aware of,” Fisher said. “I think it would probably serve us well to table this particular action until we have an opportunity to get some explanation as to why there are differences. There seem to be some changes between what we looked at last week and what we are seeing tonight.”
Interim Superintendent Martha Liddell asked Personnel Director Myra Gillis to explain the additions.
“The names are based on the non-renewal policy under state statute,” she said. “They are people in our district who have been employed either for less than two years with us or less than…We had to do some further research after the first query that we made in the database and look at personnel man by man to determine if we had missed any in our first review. We had missed some because we had people who worked in the district but were not working in a certified position. The law says they have to work consecutive years in a certified position. We had some folks that had been in the district for multiple years but have been in some other capacity than a certified position.
“So we had an initial pull and then we went back to make sure we didn’t miss anyone,” Gillis said. “We did that constantly up until I guess Thursday or Friday. There were different scenarios for each person. We have gone back and reviewed for people who thought their circumstances were different. We certainly don’t want to make a mistake on that. This is verified to the best of our ability.”
“Do you feel comfortable with this list?” Liddell asked.
“Yes,” Gillis said. “If anyone questions it or submit that their record is different…there’s always room for human error, and I welcome any questions. We definitely want to get this right.”
“Are we under a time frame in respect to approving this tonight?” Fisher asked.
“March 1 for administrators and April 15 for teachers,” said Board Attorney David Dunn.
“I would like to take the teachers off who have been added to give them the opportunity to rest assured that this is right,” Fisher said.
“I’m looking at the list here, and I’m not sure which names fall into that category,” Lautzenhiser said.
“I would not attempt to do that from memory,” Gillis said. “That would be risky. But all of these people have received a letter from the superintendent as of Thursday or Friday of last week. Several of them have come and enquired and we have searched their information and given them the results of the research. We can always come back if we find something questionable, but to my knowledge we have resolved each one.”
“Are the other personnel matters time sensitive as well?” asked Trustee Bruce Hanson.
“The administrators are the most time sensitive,” Liddell said.
“I’m talking about the whole agenda,” Hanson said. “All the staff and personnel matters. Can we lay it on the table subject to call and still be able to deal with these issues in a straightforward matter so that everybody’s satisfied that we’re doing the right thing. I believe that’s what my friend Ms. Fisher is asking. I see there is a lot of doubt in here. If you look around the room you see some doubt as well. I believe we deserve to make sure we’ve done everything possible.”
“There are items on here such as terminations that have nothing to do with this particular matter,” Dunn said. “We have resignations—”
“Sir, my question was are there sensitive issues on this agenda that cannot wait for another date,” Hanson said, cutting him off. “That’s my question. I have not got an answer yet. I did not ask you that, I asked the superintendent.”
“We have, looking at the agenda, we certainly have time,” Liddell said. “Administration are the most sensitive. By state law those have to be dealt with by March 1. We think it would be fair and just to allow the personnel office to go back and look at this again.”
The personnel matters were tabled. A special board meeting will be called in the near future to take them up again.

In other business, the board discussed abstinence education.
Public Information Officer Janet Lewis and Nurse Sharon Reifers made a presentation to the board about possible options.
“House Bill 999 requires Mississippi school districts to adopt a sex-related education policy by June 30 of this year,” Lewis said. “The curriculum must start with the 2012-13 school year. The curriculum must be approved by the Mississippi Department of Education or the board can adopt one developed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services and the Department of Health. The bill requires several key points. It is an opt-in policy, meaning that parents must sign and give their permission for students to be a part of these courses. They courses must all be gender based. We will separate by gender when teaching these courses. There are no demonstrations allowed in either abstinence or abstinence-plus, nor are there any abortion instructions allowed.
“We decided that the district needed input and formed a committee of stakeholders to examine the bill and examine curriculum and make a recommendation to the board,” Lewis said. “The committee consisted of administrators, principals, parents, nurses, counselors and community members. We looked at the data and had speakers to present the reason the bill was passed in the first place: the rate of teen pregnancy and the disease rate. Then we looked at possible curriculum. Nurse Reifers has given us great hope for a grant that would fund teacher training, curriculum and tracking to see how effective our program is. The Mississippi Department of Health will administer the grant. They are partnered with Mississippi First, which created a program called Creating Healthy And Responsible Teens.
“The requirements to participate are that first we have to adopt an abstinence-plus policy,” Lewis said. “The districts are divided into three tiers. Tier One has the highest need and are automatically funded through this grant. Tier Two and Tier Three will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Lowndes County is a Tier Three county.”
Lewis said the committee looked at several policies before settling on CHART.
“The curriculum is evidence-based and is proven to reduce the rates that we’ve discussed,” Lewis said. “If selected we can then apply for the grant, and if we get our name in fast enough we can get funding. If selected for funding, this curriculum will be at no cost to the district.”
“What is the percentage of parents who support this program?” asked Trustee Aubra Turner.
“It’s around 90% statewide,” Lewis said. “The number is broken down by county, and our county had a high percentage, but we didn’t have numbers for the Columbus school district.”
“Do you plan to hire new personnel for this program or will you use instructors that we have?” Turner asked.
“That would be a decision the district administration would make,” Lewis said. “It’s only a six-week course and would be included in a health course or something along those lines. There wouldn’t be an additional instructor to just do this.”
The board tabled the abstinence education policy. New policies must be placed on the table before they can be enacted. The policy will be taken up again at the board’s next meeting.

In other business, the district approved the Hunt Cultural Center agreement. The Hunt Cultural Center will lease space at Hunt school for three years.
Johnnie Johnson heads up the Hunt Cultural Center. He spoke to the board briefly.
“It is our plan to develop and establish a center for the lost history of African-Americans in this community,” Johnson said. “We have 14 members working on this, and we plan in the near future to have an open house to show the committee the artifacts we have. We want to build a museum where our kids can see the history of black Americans in this community.”
The lease was approved unanimously.

[Throughout this board meeting I was very happy to see board members actually asking questions and discussing issues. The CMSD meetings, all too often, are a mere rubber stamp for the superintendent, with little discussion taking place. I hope this is a sign that the trustees are becoming more active and more willing to question what’s put before them. – Brian Jones]

Commissioner Thomas Moore and Glenn Jefferson voted to approve with Commissioner Al Hatcher opposing.
The twin controversies of promotions and lateral hiring have gone hand in hand at the department and have been a highly debated issue for months.
Officers within the Columbus Police Department began the promotions process back in February, 2011 and were repeatedly told that promotions would be happening. However, nearly a year later, not a single officer at the CPD has been promoted.
After former chief of police Joe St. John’s firing in July, McQueen was selected as the interim chief and the promotions process put on hold.
In recent months, McQueen had been quoted as saying that he would in fact begin promoting officers and they would be selected from the list of 31 eligible officers. In last week’s Packet however, the chief said, “I am not promoting anyone. In order to promote people, I would have to abide by rules that I don’t agree with.”
The rules that McQueen was referring to were the guidelines that the chief had to abide by. According to McQueen, if an officer had been suspended for 60 days but was at the top of the promotions list, under civil service guidelines, he or she would still have to be promoted.
At Thursday night’s civil service meeting, the commissioners voted to amend that rule. In addition, they also approved a change that states that an officer must score a 70 or above on the written test in order to be eligible for promotions.
As far as the topic of lateral hiring is concerned, the chief told commissioners that the CPD must first try to hire from within before they bring in anyone from another department.
The city council initially approved the issues of promotions and lateral hiring in January. The joint issues then went before the civil service commission. Officers gathered at the meeting to voice their outrage over the unwelcome possibility of lateral hiring and delaying promotions. Seemingly shocked at the officer’s outrage, the commissioners decided to table the issue and send it back to the city council. The city council approved the issues again at last Tuesday’s meeting when they voted to approve lateral hiring and changes to the promotions process 3-3 with the mayor breaking the tie.
Before the commissioners voted, Commissioner Hatcher asked McQueen what exactly the city council approved. McQueen responded by asking the commissioners if they wanted to go into executive session. After some debate about whether going into executive session on a policy matter was legal, Commissioner Moore told the gathered crowd “Life is hard.” and the group was banished outside.
[When McQueen asked the commissioners if they wanted to go into executive session, WCBI News Director Steve Rogers was sitting behind me and mumbled, “They can’t do that. They can’t go into executive session for a policy issue.” I immediately asked the commissioners “Are you allowed to go into executive session over a policy issue?” The room fell silent as the commissioners looked at each other, as if not quite sure how to respond. Commissioner Moore spoke up, informing me that yes, they could go into executive session. I again asked “Even though it is a policy issue and not a personnel issue?” Moore replied that he believed this was in fact a personnel issue. Rogers then asked the commission why the city attorney, Jeff Turnage, was not present and after much discussion, the commission’s secretary, Loria Porter asked if city human resource director Pat Mitchell should be in the room since she was present at the city council meeting. While Mitchell was being brought into the room, myself, Rogers and Commissioner Moore engaged in a heated conversation of whether the issue of promotions and lateral hiring was a personnel or policy issue. Speaking to Moore, I said, “Yes, this is a personnel issue but it falls under the umbrella of policy.” Rogers again asked why Turnage was not present and questioned if the commissioners could legally kick us out of the meeting when Moore responded “Well, life is hard.” To that Rogers responded “Life is hard? I respect your position sir, but life is hard?” Dispatch contributor Jeff Clark then spoke, asking other members of the media “What are they going to do if we don’t leave? Have us arrested?” As we gathered our belongings to exit, both Rogers and I immediately called Jeff Turnage. After speaking with Rogers, Turnage hurriedly came down to city hall. Members of the media and gathered officers were allowed back into the meeting after a 30 minute wait outside. SF]
Once the crowd was allowed back inside, the commissioners quickly went to a vote on the issues at hand. Before the vote Commissioner Moore said he “trusts the chief to make the right decision on this—he’s the man responsible.”
The changes are effective immediately.

Sarah Fowler

Another Valentine’s Day has come and gone and surprise surprise, I’m not hanging from my shower rod. That may be a bit extreme but I swear, if you’re single on Valentine’s Day people automatically assume that you’re going to spend the holiday curled up in bed with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s, a baggie full of your favorite prescription meds on your night stand and a marathon of bad Lifetime movies on TV as you sob into your pillow, crying for the love that could have been. That’s not exactly how I choose to spend my days, ya know? Granted, there is that slight twinge of jealousy as my Facebook news feed fills with pictures of roses and candy but then my blue eyed cupid climbs into my lap and gives me a home made Valentine that proclaims in big, bold letters “I love you, Mommy” and all is right with my little world. Then she goes to bed and it’s just me and the boxed wine. For a few moments I sit in my dark living room, quiet except for the hum of the dishwasher in the kitchen and I take it all in. In that moment where it’s just me and the yappy little dog that has come to be my constant companion I am forced to take a look at who I really am. I’m a mommy, yes, but what else? I’m a daughter, a friend, a writer, a lover on rare occasions and a shopaholic when all else fails but down at the core, the deepest part of who I am, what else is there?

Prinny spent this past weekend with her father and for the life of me, I didn’t know what the heck to do with myself. He came and picked her up and six p.m. on Friday and I didn’t see my little princess until 5 p.m. on Sunday. I understand that this is what most custody arrangements consist of but this is incredibly new for us, and I’ll confess, I’m not sure if I like it or not. Everyone kept telling me “It will be good for you” or, my personal favorite, “You deserve a break” A break from what? Being a mommy? Why on Earth would I want a break from that? Prinny and her dad left and I swear, my house instantly felt three times larger. Normally filled with the sounds of laughter, barking dogs and slamming doors, all I heard was…nothing. I sat down in the middle of my living room floor and just kind of looked around for a moment, almost like a lost child. My baby was gone and I didn’t know what the heck to do. Our weekends are filled with cheerleading, playdates and trips to the bookstore. Faced with the idea of two whole days without her, I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. So I cleaned the house, vacuumed the floors, organized my closets and took a nap for the first time since 2006. And I was bored out of my mind. Had it not required putting on pants that button, I might have gone out and found myself a man just so I wouldn’t have to be alone. But that required way too much effort so there I was, in my newly cleaned house, still reeking to the heavens of Pinesol and Febreeze when I had the overwhelming desire to just get out. I dug an old pair of running shoes out of my newly organized closet and literally ran away. Normally I wouldn’t run from a bear but that day I ran harder, faster, longer than I have in ages. It was if I was literally trying to outrun my loneliness; if I ran just one more mile, made it to the top of that hill, my thoughts and fears couldn’t catch up to me. When I finally came to a rest at the bottom of the hill, hands on my knees, my breath hanging in the cold air, I realized just how pathetic I was. I am so involved in my role as “mommy” that I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be anything else. To be anyone else.

There was a time not so long ago when I asked myself what else life could give me. I was a mommy, but what else? I wanted more than motherhood had to offer. It’s hard to see in black and white but I was OK with the idea of being the less than perfect mommy if it meant having a career too, if it meant truly “having it all.” Now I am so wracked with guilt at the idea of missing yet another school party, another play date at the park or not tucking her in at night that I have thrown myself into the role of mommy, not yet reaching the idolized goal of June Cleaver but settling in somewhere between Old Mother Hubbard and the witch that tries to eat Jack and Jill before they boil her in the pot. It may not the highest of aspirations but for the moment, it’s a place both Prinny and I are comfortable with. I still burn cookies and forget to sign permission slips but I’m home at night to read her a story and that’s all that matters to me right now, everything else will fall into place. So now that I’ve got the mommy part of me taken care of, what about the rest?

Women do strange things when faced with fear and desperation and Valentine’s Day is the one day of the year where our paranoia about being the lonely old woman with the cats is magnified to gargantuan proportions. I have a girlfriend that is so terrified of being alone that she recently slept with a man because he bought her a coffee maker. Granted it was one of the really shiny, high end coffee makers that makes the perfect espresso with a touch of the button but my lord, what would she have done if he had bought her a set of those infomercial steak knives that cut through shoe leather? Are we really that desperate for companionship, our standards that low, that we throw ourselves at the closest thing with a pulse? All so we don’t have to be alone? Both Friday and Saturday night I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling and having conversation after conversation with God and I’m going to be honest, it wasn’t always pretty. There were moments of self doubt, insecurity, thoughts, fears, hopes and dreams. In those quiet hours of being alone in the darkness I realized that I would rather go to bed alone, by myself, questioning who I am than questioning who the stranger is next to me. Yes, it is uncomfortable and painful at times but examining who we are as women is the only way we’re going to get to know ourselves. And getting to know myself, what I really want out of life, what I need, is worth more to me than all the heart shaped boxes of chocolates in the world.

Leshawn Cunning

On Feb. 1, around 11:30 pm, CPD Officer William Thrasher stopped a white Chevrolet Tahoe driven by Leshawn Cunning on 11th St. S near the MUW Recreation Building for suspected drunk driving. Officer Brian Jenkins responded to the scene to back up the other officer. When he spoke with Cunning, Thrasher became suspicious that the man may be involved in drug activity. Cunning was asked to step out of his vehicle and K-9 Officer Wade Beard was called in to do a quick search with his dog, Lucy.
Lucy gave indications that she smelled narcotics in and around the Tahoe. A search of the vehicle turned up no contraband, so Cunning himself was searched thoroughly. A full body search revealed a bag containing nearly two ounces of crack cocaine was found tucked in his underwear.

Martin on his way to LCADC

A week and a half later, on Saturday, Feb. 11, Officer Thrasher stopped a tan Chevy Tahoe at Ali Quick Stop at 19th St. and Main St. Driver Jonathan Johnson was arrested on misdemeanor warrants.
However, his passenger, Lillian Martin was found to have several small baggies of cocaine stuffed in her panties. There was also a stolen .380 pistol tucked beside her seat.

Martin was charged with Possession of Cocaine and Possession of a Stolen Firearm. Johnson promised to come bail her out.

Ron Williams

The issue of “lateral hiring” became a hot-button issue within the Columbus Police Department a few weeks ago. With the Civil Service Commission approval of the measure, lateral hiring now becomes a reality.
So let’s look back on how this process came to be.
Columbus Mayor Robert Smith reportedly wanted to hire an outsider for the department. In order to do so, the outsider wanted to maintain his rank, which would require the lateral hiring measure to be passed. Smith apparently instructed his man, CPD Chief Selvain McQueen, to get on the trail of making lateral hiring a reality. So, Chief McQueen, who has never taken the “written test” required to be promoted within the Columbus Police Department (that I know. If he has, I’d have to be shown when, where and what score he made. RW), sets out to make his boss happy, along with many other players in this story.
The fact that so many people (including many of the current officers of the CPD and members of their families) supported McQueen in his bid to become Columbus Police Chief in the farce of a selection process we witnessed last year, based on the fact that he was a come-up-through-the-ranks, in-house officer and not an outsider, and for him to let down all of these people, is a tragedy in itself. McQueen announced last week that he “was not promoting anyone.”
His decision not to promote followed a suspicious Civil Service Commission meeting where the commissioners approved the lateral hiring issue.
So now, that brings us to the title of this piece, “Robert’s Rules of Order.” The particular Robert’s Rules’ I speak of here are the rules that all city employee’s fall under, and that is Mayor Robert Smith’s rules. Those rules are, apparently, that he is the mayor and, in the end, what he says…goes. Period. What Mayor Smith wants, Mayor Smith nearly always gets.
The only municipality that I know that uses lateral hiring is Southaven, as mentioned by CPD Officer Kemp in last week’s Civil Service Commission meeting. He added that they lose a ton of cops by using it, also.
In the end, this entire process, from the selection of McQueen as chief, to the approval of lateral hiring and then the decision to not promote, has taken on an appearance of being orchestrated. And every orchestra has to have a conductor.
In the meantime, the patrol officers (the ones with reported low-morale. RW) are out there arresting criminals, protecting citizens, laying their lives on the line…everyday. Recently, report after report has come in that the CPD patrol officers are doing a fantastic job and are to be highly commended. All the while, their superiors (in this case Chief McQueen, Mayor Smith and part of the city council. RW) are not giving them any incentive to do so.
How much longer can these brave men and women be expected to perform their duties at a top-notch level and not be rewarded accordingly? Not that they are doing their jobs to impress or for brownie points, but because they love to protect our citizens and are dedicated individuals. It’s high time that their superiors give them incentive to continue by doing the right thing. Not promoting them is not the right thing.

Columbus, Ms. Facebook  Watch Group Extends Invitation to City Leaders

Lynn Sanders Nordquist, one of the creators of the Facebook watch group, asked me to relay an invitation to city leaders (especially including the one’s I just raked over the coals, but I know they can take it because they are men with tough skin. RW), to a Columbus, Ms Facebook Watch Meet & Greet to be held at The Columbus Fairgrounds (indoors) Tuesday, Feb.21 from 6-8 pm. I told Lynn that the meet and greet coincides with an already-scheduled Columbus City Council meeting at 5 pm that same evening. You never can tell how long those meetings are, but if it lets out before 8 pm, many of our city leaders should really try and make the meet and greet.
The Facebook watch group now has over 4,420 members and is growing daily. They are a force to be reckoned with in the community and will likely grow even stronger. The group has been taking anonymous donations and will soon feed CPD, LCSO, 911 personnel, emergency and first responders within the city and county. Nordquist said that member Chris West came up with the idea of the meet and greet. The meeting will be held indoors and visitors are asked not to bring in any food or drink.
Nordquist also said the invitation was extended for county leaders as well, and she has heard from many of them and they will be attending. I would remind that city elections are not that far off, though it should never be the sole reason elected officials attend a meeting such as this. But you can bet that many voters will be taking notes of who attends and who doesn’t.

The Patriot Guard of Riders To Tupelo Saturday

The Patriot Guard of Riders will be participating in SFC Bill Sutton’s funeral services on Saturday, Feb. 18, in Tupelo. Many of you rode, in October, to see SFC Sutton and the 288th Sapper group off in Houston. Now, we need to help the family bring SFC Sutton home. If you would like to ride with a group from Columbus, please meet at the K Mart (Hwy. 45) parking lot Saturday morning, leaving at KSU (kick stands up) 8:30am. You do not have to be a Patriot Guard Rider to participate. The group will arrive in Tupelo by 9:45 am, and fall-in with the flag line for visitation and funeral and then the escort ride. For more information visit the Mississippi Patriot Guard Rider webpage http://www.pgrofms.org/ or call Susan 662 549 1255.

Talley at his arraignment hearing Friday morning

Earnest Terrell Talley has been arrested and charged in the 1997 murder of George Wilbanks.

Talley, 44, of 805 Remunda Drive, was charged by the Columbus Police Department earlier this morning.

Talley was in the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center for a January 14 arrest of two counts of burglary of a dwelling. He had not yet made his 20,000 bond.

At his arraignment Friday morning, Judge Marc Amos set Talley’s bond at 2 million dollars.

Wilbanks was one of five unsolved murders that garnered national attention in the last 1990′s.

The newly formed homicide task force consisting of retired police chief Pete Bowen and investigator Ed Williams made the break in the case but according to Bowen, “The evidence was there, we just put the last piece of the puzzle together.”

Talley’s court date is set for May 17.

The name of the suspect is not being released at this time.

Wilbanks was murdered Nov. 2, 1997. The case has been unsolved for the past 14 years and was one of several unsolved murders featured on a 48 Hours national broadcast.

Wilbanks was one of five senior citizens murdered in the late 90′s. Also murdered were Mack Fowler, Robert Hannah, Loiuse Randall and Betty Everitt.

McQueen would not say if the suspect in the Wilbanks’ case is believed to be responsible for additional murders, saying “Each individual case is based on it’s merits.”

We will have more on this story as it unfolds.

Joe Wylie presents a State of Mississippi certificate signed by Phil Bryant, Governor of Mississippi & Giles K. Ward, Senator Senate District 18 to the three sheriffs.

The Louisville Retired Teachers Association presented three sheriffs who graduated Louisville High School with certificates of recognition last Thursday.

Honored were Lowndes County Sheriff Mike Arledge, Oktibbeha County Sheriff Steve Gladney, and Winston County Sheriff Jason Pugh. Arledge is a 1973 graduate of Louisville High School, Gladney graduated in 1974 and Pugh in 1990.
“It feels good to be recognized and to go back to my old hometown,” said Mike Arledge. “It was real good to see my old coach, Tommy Wiley, and it had been about 35 years since we had been able to catch up.”
Arledge said his good friend Steve Gladney knew each other back in school and had played sports together. Years later, they were partners at the Mississippi Highway Patrol Office and shared a car. “That was about 25 years ago,” he said. “It’s fairly unique that we were both elected at the same time.”
Arledge graduated from Miss. Law Enforcement Academy and has over 300 hours of Criminal/Civil law from the University of Mississippi Judicial College. He is a retired Mississippi State Trooper, retired criminal investigator and special agent with the miss. Bureau of Narcotics and served two terms as a Justice Court Judge for 31 years of law enforcement related experience.
He was also award the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics award for going above and beyond the call of duty in statewide drug enforcement. He is married to Patty Arledge and has one daughter named Kim.
As sheriff, he said his goals are to reduce crimes against people with an emphasis on domestic violence offenders, to focus on community involvement with Neighborhood Watch, Citizens Academy and crime prevention education. He also stated he has a zero tolerance toward drug dealers and gangs in Lowndes County.
Gladney is also a retired Mississippi State Trooper and graduate of the Mississippi Law Enforcement Academy. Before his retirement, he was director of the Mississippi Highway Uniform Division of Public Affairs Officers. He also worked with the Starkville Police Department for 1.5 years. He has worked over 29 years in the law enforcement. He also served as a bailiff in Municipal Court for two years.
Gladney has several awarded honors to his name including being one of the Top 40 over 40 in the Starkville Daily News in 2009, Starkville’s Jaycee’s Outstanding Young Law enforcement Officer of 1980, and the Starkville Optimist Club Distinguished and Dedicated Service Award in 1988. He was also selected to travel and provide security for the Mississippi State football team for 16 years.

Norma Jackson, Assistant Superintendent of the Louisville Public School District presents recognition certificates to the three sheriffs who graduated from Louisville High School: Sheriff Mike Arledge (1973) Lowndes County, Sheriff Steve Gladney (1974) Oktibbeha County, Sheriff Jason Pugh (1990) Winston County.

He said his goals as sheriff are to provide fair, honest, impartial, professional services to all the citizens of Oktibbeha County and to provide a safe community for families to enjoy living, working and raising their children. He is married to Sandra Tobor Gladney. They have two daughters, Emily and Maggie and two granddaughters, Sutton and Olivia.
Winston County Sheriff Jason Pugh is a Mississippi State University and Harrison County Law Enforcement Academy graduate. He has worked as a dispatcher at the Winston County Sheriff’s Department, as a patrolman with the Philadelphia Police and Louisville Police Departments, and as an investigator with the Winston County Sheriff’s Department. He has over 15 years of law enforcement experience.
His goals include working with the Louisville Police Department and Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics to arrest and convict every drug dealer and trafficker of illegal narcotics in the area. He also wants to use the D.A.R.E program to educate the youth of the community on the dangers of drug use.
He is married to Michele Pugh. They have three children, Abigail, Matthew and William.