WCBI New at Six - 10/15/2020

WCBI New at Six - 10/15/2020

Show open show open show open show open good evening.

Thanks for joining us.

The number of new coronavirus cases in mississippi surpasses one thousand today.

The state department of health is reporting 1,322 new cases today, along with 12 deaths.

One of the deaths is in lee county.

633 people are hospitalized with confirmed or suspected coronavirus symptoms. 143 patients are in i.c.u.

And 72 are on a ventilator.

In our area lee county has the most new cases with 26.

Lafayette has 19 and lowndes has 16.

A covid19 surge this fall in the u.s. and around the world could overwhelm hospitals, kill hundreds of thousands, and leave even young survivors with long-term complications.

And as this happens, the economy also on the line.

But stimulus negotiations are at a standstill with no relief in sight for americans.

Camila bernal explains.

Covid-19 is surging around the country dr. paul casey/medical director, emergency department at bellin hospital: "over the course of the past three weeks, we have seen an alarming spike in covid patients who require admission."

Increasing hospitalizations stressing health care services in parts of the midwest dr. ashok rai/president and ceo, prevea health: "it means that we're not able to give the kind of care we want to give to the entire community."

The pandemic also continuing to take its toll on the economy.

898-thousand american workers filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week.

Joanna ortiz/hotel worker: "a lot of us in the hospitality industry are going to have to reinvent ourselves."

Weekly claims have fallen a long way since peaking in late march.

But the improvements have slowed to a snail's pace in recent weeks, and new jobless claims have begun rising.

Bob stuckey/restauran t owner: "we're fighting for our lives" but in washington dc stimulus negotiations are at a standstill.

Steve mnuchin/treasury secretary: "getting something done before the election and executing that would be difficult."

With the deal in question, wall street opening sharply in the red on thursday.

Investors also skittish amid surging coronavirus cases in europe.

Leaders there, imposing new restrictions to to slow the spread health experts warning people in the us and abroad to brace for a difficult road ahead... maria van kerkhove/coronavi rus technical lead, who health emergencies programme: "our new normal means we will have to be living with this for some time, make some sacrifices, but put the work in."

I'm camila bernal reporting.

I'm camila bernal reporting.

It's expensive to pay for child care especially during a pandemic.

Families in need of assistance at muw's child and parent development center may have tuition and fees covered.

This is an emergency relief grant allowing the w's child and parent development center to help young families.

The center recently received more than $145,000 from the governor's emergency education relief grant fund.

This covers essential emergency educational services specifically for the early care and education of very young children.

This grant will help cover 90 days of child care.

Priority is given to children of essential workers.

First look stinger first look summary: clouds and a few isolated showers are possible tonight in the wake of a cold front passing through.

Breezy, cooler air settles in for friday but conditions will be ideal for high school football.

Some frost is possible saturday morning but temperatures will moderate back above normal going through the weekend and into next week.

Thursday night: mostly cloudy with a few showers possible.

Lows from the upper 40s to low 50s.

Winds nnw 10-15 mph with higher gusts.

Friday: areas of morning clouds with full sun developing as the day wears on.

Breezy northerly winds 10-15 mph with gusts to 20 mph.

Highs mainly in the low to mid 60s.

Jackets and hoodies will be needed for high school football with evening temperatures in the low 50s and upper 40s.

Three shootings early sunday morning prompt a city-wide curfew in west point.

And those behind these shootings are still on the run, according to west point police... wcbi's bobby martinez spent the day in west point and joins us live in the studio with the goal behind this curfew and what residents should expect.

Bobby?

That is right aundrea, chief cook tells me these three shootings are all related.

And he says he is hoping that this curfew will be a stepping stone in helping them arrest the ones responsible for these shootings..

The old saying... actions speak louder than words..

Has come to fruition in west point..

Sot - avery cook police chief - west point pd "in our effort to get this under control, i asked the board will they work with me for a curfew for 30 days and that curfew i ask for is from 12 midnight to 5 am in the morning ."

It has been a long and busy week for the west point police department.

Three shootings early sunday morning... at three different homes all in different locations..

Has police continuing to search for answers... sot - avery cook police chief - west point pd "we are still in the investigation stage of that.

And we had several people of interest that we are going to talk to.

And getting information on those conversations that we had, and possibly soon hopefully will make an arrest."

And with less traffic on the road throughout the night..

West point mayor robbie robinson says this curfew will make officers jobs much easier.

Sot - robbie robinson - mayor - west point "it sure would help police if there aren't any unauthorized traffic around town at that hour.

That they can make stops.

They are not going to harass our local people who are working.

I know there are people who have jobs that they have to go to work after midnight or you know they may be coming home after midnight.

But they'll be safe they'll be fine."

And this curfew will remain in effect for the next 30 days.

Anyone with any information on these shootings..

Is asked to contact the west point police or the golden triangle crimestoppers.

Stinger-stinger wcbi continuing coverage stinger off top three months and still no sign of 39 year old james ryan taylor.

Taylor has been missing since july 14.

And according his mother laura taylor..

James stopped by her house on plymouth road in columbus to visit that night... laura says to her it was just a normal time with her son as they ate dinner and spent time together.

Taylor's mother says the columbus police department continues to follow every lead and updates her on a regular basis.

Monitor intro city leaders in ackerman are considering a downtown revitalization project.

The plan would replace crooked and narrow paths with easily accessible sidewalks.

Our stephanie poole speaks with city officials about the project.

She joins us in the studio with more.

Aundrea, mayor cutts tells me, if board members approve the plan, downtown businesses will benefit.éé but before any construction can begin,3 board members must approve.

éé " we have issues on our sidewalks."

Cracks and dips... ackerman mayor tim cutts says these are just a few of the problems citizens face downtown.

A revitalization project to build new sidewalk will improve both accessibility and aesthetics.

" right now, we have a budget of 1.2 million dollars.

Right now, we have the opportunity tonight to accept 200-thousand dollars from the legislative session.

Those funds are earmarked for these sidewalks and we actually need another 138-thousand dollars to do so."

The city put 18- thousand dollars towards the project.

If the board votes yes, 338-thousand dollars of their goal will be met.

" we are sitting with 120-thousand dollars small mini grant from two years ago that we can use on these sidewalks plus this 200-thousand dollars that we could use on this sidewalks that we could use that puts us within 138- thousand dollars of our goal."

Cutts says if they don't make the improvements, someone could get hurt.

"we do have cracks, we have non-ada compliant.

If we chose not to ignore that then we do have a liability situation."

The change would be a welcome one for customers who frequent downtown eatery pap's place.

" it would really be nice to re-do our sidewalks and to make the sidewalks easier for the elderly to coming in now.

They're so high up and it'll be nice to be able to flatten them down some and fix them and make them more wheelchair accessible."

Owner cherrie salleys says several customers have difficulties making their way up the stairs.

"i do hope the board they they will vote yes tonight to help fix up our sidewalks."

Butt sots " we have to get this to them tomorrow or we will not receive the 200-thousand dollars and in that light it's hard to believe that we will ever try to address this issue any time soon."

450-thousand dollars is needed before development plan can begin.

The supervisor who has been on the lowndes county board for just 10 months will now take over as board president.

Trip hairston was nominated by acting president john holliman as his replacement.

Former board president harry sanders seconded the motion.

The three then voted to approve hairston as incoming president.

Sanders stepped down from the role after making racist public remarks to a columbus newspaper.

Longtime board members leroy brooks and jeff smith voted against hairston.

Brooks says the decision to give the job to a new supervisor shows experience was based on race, not experience.

This board is hell fire bend on showing the community they are going to do whatever they choose, no matter how racist it is and think people are going to accept that.

It's an insult to anyone.

I think trip has some qualifications but he has been here 10 months and promote him to the head of the table and try to justify it.

It's just racism, hairston will take hairston will take over from holliman at the beginning of the year.

101520-vo off top a local firefighter is honored by his colleagues with a luncheon at lion hills.

Members of the community joined columbus fire and rescue in celebrating the achievements of bob dinsmore.

Dinsmore began his firefighting career in december of 2017, he's certified in haz-mat awareness, emt, and rope rescue.

Dinsmore says there's "never been a day when he hasn't looked forward to coming to work."

Dinsmore is station at fire station number one.

His official rank is "firefighter."

Stinger armstrong junior high school teachers have chosen tri nason as teacher of the month because of his commitment to helping students succeed.

Wcbi reporter stephen pimpo sat down with the history teacher today and joins us in studio with his story.

If those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it...can people who teach history predict it?

Tri nason has been using zoom to help students since back in 2016.

So when armstrong junior high was planning how to handle classes during the pandemic...nason was more than ready to help students through the virtual learning experience.

This is what class looks like for tri nason.

In just his second year armstrong junior high school...the history teacher and football coach has been running fully virtual classes since the semester started back up in late august...but his experience with teaching through zoom predates the covid-19 pandemic.

"in order to help my students not fall too far behind, we had to come up with a way to still meet even if we were out of school for snow, so what we started doing was i actually started using zoom in 2016."

Su: about 40 percent of the student body at armstrong junior high take virtual classes.

Coach nason is responsible for 140 students this semester.

Zoom sessions with students start at 8:45 in the morning.

The first thing he does is review how exactly they can find the material and do their assignments."

"before i can teach them history, i need to make sure they understand the learning system."

Nason's set-up includes a video camera, a high-end microphone and light stands to give students the best zoom sessions possible.

He uses a green screen background to display images related to that day's lesson.

"if they get tired of looking at me, which, i believe they would, i would get tired of looking at me, they can zone out into the background that they see and they can be learning that way."

Nason says he often will play a pre-recorded lecture, then use zoom sessions for class discussion.

"instead of me telling them what they need to know, i've already given them what they need to know and they can come to zoom and they can ask me, 'i didn't quite understand it, help me understand this better."

He says the more personal setting of the online classes can help students learn at their own pace.

"they have the chance to come into a smaller group setting without 25-30 peers and ask a real question they may have been scared to ask in a classroom full of people their age."

" nason says that early on, adapting to the virtual learning style was like asking students to go from ridding a tricycle to a motorcycle.

But he says since then, they've improved in leaps and bounds and are moving in the right direction.

Stinger weather open summary: clouds and a few isolated showers are possible tonight in the wake of a cold front passing through.

Breezy, cooler air settles in for friday but conditions will be ideal for high school football.

Some frost is possible saturday morning but temperatures will moderate back above normal going through the weekend and into next week.

Thursday night: mostly cloudy with a few showers possible.

Lows from the upper 40s to low 50s.

Winds nnw 10-15 mph with higher gusts.

Friday: areas of morning clouds with full sun developing as the day wears on.

Breezy northerly winds 10-15 mph with gusts to 20 mph.

Highs mainly in the low to mid 60s.

Jackets and hoodies will be needed for high school football with evening temperatures in the low 50s and upper 40s.

Friday night: clear, quiet, and chilly.

Lows in the mid to upper 30s.

Areas of frost are possible, especially in those traditionally cool spots.

Saturday: bright sunshine.

A chilly start with morning summary: clouds and a few isolated showers are possible tonight in the wake of a cold front passing through.

Breezy, cooler air settles in for friday but conditions will be ideal for high school football.

Some frost is possible saturday morning but temperatures will moderate back above normal going through the weekend and into next week.

Thursday night: mostly cloudy with a few showers possible.

Lows from the upper 40s to low 50s.

Winds nnw 10-15 mph with higher gusts.

Friday: areas of morning clouds with full sun developing as the day wears on.

Breezy northerly winds 10-15 mph with gusts to 20 mph.

Highs mainly in the low to mid 60s.

Jackets and hoodies will be needed for high school football with evening temperatures in the low 50s and upper 40s.

Friday night: clear, quiet, and chilly.

Lows in the mid to upper 30s.

Areas of frost are possible, especially in those traditionally cool spots.

Saturday: bright sunshine.

A chilly start with morning temperatures in the 30s.

Afternoon highs around 70.

Winds se 5-15 mph.

Saturday night: clear and not as cool.

Lows in the mid to upper 40s.

Sunday: mostly sunny to partly cloudy.

Highs in the upper 70s.

Next week: unseasonably warm air looks to build back into the region.

Highs in the low to mid 80s are possible again along with lows in the 50s and 60s.

A few showers are possible but it's too early to tell how much will occur.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger the southeastern conference faces covid-19 struggles...more information on that, next in sports mississippi state hosting number 11 texas a&m this saturday..

Familiar territory for mike leach..

When he was head coach of texas tech... the aggies were a conference foe for the bulldogs head man and he says students made the most of those matchups..

Often camping out let's be honest when you're in colle it's fun to camp out and build fires and eat stuff with your friends.

Some of these tents had everything from waterbeds to pool tables to televisions that i have never had the pleasure of owning.

There'd be speakers and music, it was one heck of a deal.

Someone would guard the camp during the day while one tent would go to class.

It was one heck of an event.

,.

The coronavirus continues to wreck havoc on the southeastern conference ole miss head coach lane kiffin announcing on wednesday that for the first time during the season, the rebels are experiencing a covid-19 outbreak on the football squad kiffin making the announcement around a similar time that alabama head football coach nick saban tested positive for covid-19 alabama and ole miss matched up this past weekend as of right now, kiffin saying this weekend's game against arkansas is still on for this weekend as is alabama's top ten match-up against third ranked georgia coach kiffin wouldn't discuss numbers however expressed concerns for the team's numbers going into this weekend's game kiffin: "for the first time we are having issues with that.

A number of guys out..i'm not going to get into numbers.

We have not had that in season.

We had that during camp.

This is the first time dealing with it in season.

It's very difficult moving people around and we're beat up too from very high play count in a very intense game versus a game team saturday so we're not in a great situation number wise at all."

Ole miss basketball practiced for the first time this season today..

Kermit davis's group has a lot of returners... but breein tyree graduated last season and that's a big loss... he provided just under 20 points per game last year... davis says he's been impressed with senior devontae shuler's leadership..

,.

You look at a player like devontae and he has to be the most experienced guard in the sec.

Two year starter, played a lot as a freshman and he has been in a lot of big big games.

Played great minutes and it's been fun for me to watch him mature at all levels.

From academically to leadership roles to everything the coronavirus forcing friday the coronavirus forcing friday night football match-ups to cancel for yet another week the myrtle hawks week seven match- up against h.w.

Byers at home has been canceled due to covid-19 myrtle head football coach jeremy smithey says that the hawks are expected to return to action next friday for an away game at ashland on october 23rd the hawks currently hold a 2- 3 overall record on the season regardless of the recent covid-19 outbreaks throughout the s- e-c, all match-ups for ole miss, mississippi state and alabama are still scheduled to go on as planned this weekend here's how to watch ole miss at arkansas, 2:30 on sec network no.

11 texas a&m at msu, 3 pm on espn no.3 georgia at no.

2 alabama, 7 pm on wcbi highlights and scores saturday night at ten look last look last look stinger last look