WCBI New at Six - 10/23/2020

WCBI New at Six - 10/23/2020

An oktibbeha county man is accused of stabbing his brother.

50-year-old bennie hubbard is charged with aggravated assault.

Oktibbeha county deputies were called to john high road about 11:30 last night about the stabbing.

Investigators tell wcbi that the victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment and is expected to recover.

Hubbard remained in jail this morning.

A prentiss county infant is in a memphis hospital with injuries that law enforcement say came from abuse.

Now, jimmy senter and courtney burcham are both charged with felonious child abuse with serious bodily injury.

Le bonheur children's hospital called prentiss county deputies once the eight week old was taken there this past weekend.

The child has multiple injuries and is still being treated.

Senter's bond was set at five hundred thousand dollars.

Burcham's is one hundred thousand.

Other children in the victim's home are now in the custody of child protective services.

Off top a former educator is indicted for two child sex crimes.

Simeon weatherby, of starkville, was indicted by a kemper county grand jury.

He now faces a sexual battery and a touching a child for lustful purposes charge.

In june, kemper county deputies told wcbi that weatherby was employed by the kemper county school district when the investigation began last october.

Investigators were told weatherby was allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a student at kemper county high school.

He was arrested this past june.

Weatherby previously worked as an educator in oktibbeha and lowndes counties.

Today, the family of an aberdeen man who was killed earlier this year held a special memorial in his memory.

Curtis "cj" williams jr. was shot and killed back in may in the parking lot at relax inn in west point.

This morning, over 70 people gathered at cj's childhood home where his parents had a tree planted in their backyard as a living tribute to the memory of their youngest son.

Mississippi has one of the highest murder rates in the country.

Now, prosecutors are showing how families are destroyed but there are things to keep the victim's memory alive.

16th circuit court district attorney scott colom started planting trees as memorials for shooting victims just this year.

He says that when friends, family and loved ones plant those trees, it brings home the dire consequences of gun violence.

Colom uses the events as a way to raise awareness for the issue and the more and more people have attended each memorial ceremony so far.

"a long lasting memory and to also stand as a deterant for other young people that make the decision to use gun violence.

That hopefully, they understand the consequences of those decisions are significant and they cause a lot of harm."

Colom says another reason he decided on planting trees was because just as trees take a long time to grow...families take a long time to recover and heal after losing a loved one.

Stinger wcbi continuing coverage stinger there are fewer people hospitalized for covid-19 in mississippi today.

But out of those, more are in the icu.

Here are the latest numbers from the state department of health.

There are 795 new cases in the state and seven deaths being reported.

701 people are hospitalized with confirmed or suspected coronavirus symptoms. 158 of those patients are in i.c.u.

In our area, lafayette county has the most new cases with 24.

Lowndes county has 20.

Oktibbeha is reporting 15 new cases and prentiss county has 11.

Across the stateline, pickens county has 12 new cases.

First look stinger first look friday evening/night: areas of rain and thunder with a passing cold front.

Temperatures cool from the 70s into the 60s and 50s by sunrise.

Winds become northwesterly 5- 15 mph.

Pack a poncho or umbrella just in case if you are headed out to high school football.

Saturday: cloudy and cool all day long.

Highs in the 50s and 60s across north mississippi and west alabama.

Northerly winds 5- 15 mph along with some light rain, mist, or drizzle.

No significant issues are expected for the ole miss game in oxford.

There are 23 new police officers ready to protect and serve across northeast mississippi.

The north mississippi law enforcement training center graduated 23 members from class b 65.

The cadets spent twelve weeks living through the week at the academy, where they took part in classroom work, and other essential parts of police work, such as pursuit driving, firearms training, self defense techniques and many other topics.

The newest officers say they worked hard and are looking forward to the next step in their careers.

"it's very exciting, i'm honored to serving and protecting the city of tupelo, always loved tupelo, went to tupelo for everything i needed, felt safe in tupelo, and it's a big part of my life."

"it means a lot to me i've always wanted to be a police officer since i was younger, i have a lot of friends in law enforcement, they pursued me encouraged me to get it done and i'm grateful to be able to accomplish my goal sir."

The new officers will work with a "field training officer" in their agencies.

Class b 66 starts in january.

Throw out those pills.

If you have a cabinet or drawer filled with prescriptions you don't need, this is the weekend to hand them over.

Monroe county started early with national prescription drug take back day.

Area residents were offered a safe drop off location for old and un-needed medication.

And it paid off.

Monroe county collected 37 pounds of drugs today - the most they have ever gathered in one day.

The medicine cabinet is often the source of abused prescription drugs.

Susan honeycutt organizes the drop off twice a year.

She says the sheriff's department has a clear objective.

What we want to accomplish is to get them out of the home and into a regulated drug site.

Not only the eldery but teenagers and young children that may be in homes where they are no longer used.

A national survey on drug use and health reports 9.9 million people admit to misusing controlled prescription drugs.

Controlled drugs include medicine used as pain killers.

Starkville police and oktibbeha county deputies will be in front of kroger, vowells and walmart saturday from 10 - 2 to take your medicine.

The lowndes county sheriff's department will also part of take back day tomorrow from 10 to 2.

For one of the graduates the ceremony had an extra special meaning.

Wcbi's allie martin tells us about the new officer and a close family member who knows what it is like to walk the thin blue line.

As jared thompson walked across the stage to graduate from class b 65, his grandmother was cheering him on nats wanda lindsey is the dare officer with the amory police department.

She graduated from the north mississippi law enforcement training center, the same as her grandson, in 1996.

"i know exactly what he went through."

Jared says his grandmother was instrumental in his decision to become a police officer.

Earlier this year, jared, who is also a professional bodybuilder, was working at premiere athletix.

But when covid hit and gyms shut down, jared had a talk with his grandmother.

"it was a wake up call, i re thought my life, and wanted a new career, new direction, so went to my grandmother, and got some of her advice, law enforcement it was."

So when it came time for the pinning ceremony, when a spouse or family member puts the badge on the police academy graduate, jared asked his grandmother to do the honors.

Nats wanda is proud of her grandson and jared says he is grateful for his grandmother's support, encouragement and prayers.

"we pray for him every night and pray for other officers and other people in this line of duty, cause we know they have it hard, and pray for families, they have it hard too, waiting on their husband or wife to come home, it will be a tough job but i know he can fulfill it."

"she's a veteran, she has worked all different parts of law enforcement field, and i know she will be able to answer any questions i have."

Jared looks forward to starting his career as a police officer, and helping others everyday, just like his grandmother has done for more than twenty years.

In tupelo, allie martin, wcbi this week we have been looking at the mississippi ballot.

In this part of his series, wcbi's cash matlock looks at the new design for the state flag.

Here's breaking down the ballot.

On november 3rd, mississippi voters will make decisions regarding the presidency, the u.s. senate and house of representatives, and the state flag.

This election will determine what image will replace the controversial confederate battle flag.

A state commission has selected the magnolia flag, also known as the "in god we trust" flag, to be on the ballot.

Mississippians can vote either yes or no for the new design.

If more than 50 percent of voters vote "yes," then the magnolia flag will be the new state flag.

If the majority vote "no," the process for selecting a new design will start completely over.

This year, more than 3 thousand new designs were submitted to the commission.

The details in the in god we trust flag design are very thought out.

Under the rules adopted by the legislature, the next flag must not contain the confederate battle flag and must use the words "in god we trust."

The 20 white stars represent mississippi being 20th state to join the united states, and the 21st gold star represents the native americans who were originally here.

But even if voters approve of the new design this november, the fight may not be over.

There's a group called "let mississippi vote."

If they get enough signatures, they hope to put four different designs on next year's ballot.

One of them will the 1894 battle flag design.

For more information on this year's ballot and the magnolia flag, visit wcbi dot com.

I'll see you next time on breaking down the ballot.

For more information or to see the first two parts of this series you can visit our website wcbi dot com stinger temperatures will be up and down over the next week as several cold fronts and storm systems pass through the region.

Not much rain will occur this weekend but clouds may be hard to break up until late sunday.

More rain and storms are possible by the middle of next week.

Friday evening/night: areas of rain and thunder with a passing cold front.

Temperatures cool from the 70s into the 60s and 50s by sunrise.

Winds become northwesterly 5- 15 mph.

Pack a poncho or umbrella just in case if you are headed out to high school football.

Saturday: cloudy and cool all day long.

Highs in the 50s and 60s across north mississippi and west alabama.

Northerly winds 5- 15 mph along with some light rain, mist, or drizzle.

No significant issues are expected for the ole miss game in oxford.

Saturday night: cloudy and cool.

Lows in the 50s.

Sunday: cloudy skies during the morning with some breaks developing during the afternoon.

Highs are likely going to remain in the 60s.

Some 70s are possible if there are enough peaks of sun.

Early next week: mild air creeps back in and that means more highs in the 70s and 80s at least through wednesday.

A storm system may produce heavier rain and storms by midweek but the exact details remain uncertain so stay tuned for updates this weekend.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the summary: temperatures will be up and down over the next week as several cold fronts and storm systems pass through the region.

Not much rain will occur this weekend but clouds may be hard to break up until late sunday.

More rain and storms are possible by the middle of next week.

Friday evening/night: areas of rain and thunder with a passing cold front.

Temperatures cool from the 70s into the 60s and 50s by sunrise.

Winds become northwesterly 5- 15 mph.

Pack a poncho or umbrella just in case if you are headed out to high school football.

Saturday: cloudy and cool all day long.

Highs in the 50s and 60s across north mississippi and west alabama.

Northerly winds 5- 15 mph along with some light rain, mist, or drizzle.

No significant issues are expected for the ole miss game in oxford.

Saturday night: cloudy and cool.

Lows in the 50s.

Sunday: cloudy skies during the morning with some breaks developing during the afternoon.

Highs are likely going to remain in the 60s.

Some 70s are possible if there are enough peaks of sun.

Early next week: mild air creeps back in and that means more highs in the 70s and 80s at least through wednesday.

A storm system may produce heavier rain and storms by midweek but the exact details remain uncertain so stay tuned for updates this weekend.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger spx open "they understand just how good this district is.

Last year, three of the final four teams in the north were in our district.

That says a lot about how tough it is.

That helps motivate the kids to be like these are some serious games.

Give your best effort.

They give it their best effort every week so there's definitely a different mindset when you're playing district games."

"i feel like both programs are hard working programs. kids that love the game and work hard.

Come to work everyday.

I feel like both teams will be ready to play friday night so it will come down to who takes care of the ball."

"we'll have to be more hungry than they are.

They have a chip on their shoulder like coach said.

We whooped them last year to go to the state championship so they'll have a chip on their shoulder.

We'll have to play harder than they do."

"we're mad too because we didn't finish the season like we wanted to.

Word is when they breakdown, they breakdown on our name so we're coming in with a chip on our shoulder."

When we when we return...chief meteorologist