WCBI NEWS at SIX 11/12/2020

WCBI NEWS at SIX 11/12/2020

Open for the second day in a row, mississippi sees more than 12 hundred new covid-19 cases.

The state department of health reports one thousand 271 new positive cases, along with 17 deaths.

Hospitalizations for confirmed or suspected coronavirus symptoms are up to 756, across the state.

191 of those patients are in i.c.u.

In our area, lee county has the most new cases with 85.

Union county has 29, lafayette has 26, lowndes has 22, and oktibbeha has 20.

Health officials say 25-39-year-olds continue to lead the case count in the state with 29 thousand 222.

Every day the mississippi department of health releases the latest data on covid19.

That includes the latest on the state's hospitals.

Today dr. thomas dobbs reports there are no icu beds available in the state's largest hospital in jackson.

Each day, there are graphs and charts and a county by county look at how the virus is affecting people in the state.

But what does it all mean?

Here's our cash matlock with the breakdown.

The numbers change everyday.

When it comes to coronavirus, it's the health department's job to make decisions based on the number of positive cases throughout the state.

Governor tate reeves extended his "safe recovery" executive order through december 11th, but a few things are different.

Some counties have been dropped from the mandate-- like chickasaw who only saw 58 cases from october 19 to november 1st.

Two counties in the wcbi viewing area will still be impacted though... that's lee and yalobusha.

Lee county has seen 338 new cases within that same time frame.

So how does the governor determine which counties need a mask mandate and which counties don't?

How do school determine if they will meet in person or go virtual?

And how are hospitals handling the growing number of cases?

For the governor, the process is a little complicated.

He looks at a formula that views 500 new cases for every 100,000 people over a 2 week period--- or 200 new cases total over a two week period.

For example, yalobusha county only has a population of just over 12,000 people.

If they hit 200 cases within a two week time frame, they meet the mask mandate criteria set by the state.

That means when the governor holds a press conference, there's a delay in information.

For example, if reeves speaks on a tuesday, his cases numbers are usually from a week or two weeks earlier.

School districts have guidelines from the state education department.

Each district has a safe at school plan that sets a threshold for positive cases.

If the district hits their number, then students go to online classes.

Just this week, starkville oktibbeha consolidated school district, pontotoc junior high, and houlka attendance center announced alternative plans that involve virtual learning because of case numbers either in their district or in their county.

Hospitals in columbus, starkville, and tupelo report their bed availability to the health department numbers.

For example, as of november 11th, baptist golden triangle has 18 total icu beds.

But 5 of those beds are being occupied by covid patients, leaving only 3 open icu beds.

So what happens if there's a wreck or another emergency?

Let's talk about another example in starkville.

At och regional medical center, there's 6 staffed icu beds.

2 of them have covid patients.

Only 1 other bed is available today.

And in tupelo at north mississippi medical center, they have 46 staffed icu beds, with 11 of them occupied by covid patients, leaving only 10 beds open today.

Right now we're seeing the highest case numbers in months.

I'm cash matlock and this has been "the breakdown."

Top governor tate reeves is comparing mississippi covid-19 cases to other states in the country.

In a press conference, reeves says out of 30 states with surging coronavirus numbers, mississippi ranks 28th.

Most of the states listed actually double mississippi's count of positive covid-19 cases.

Reeves points has been significant uptick in cases across the country.

And he plans to keep a mask mandate enforced in counties that meet his criteria.

" it's significantly more than what we have become accustom to.

Here in the late month of august and septment and october.

To put it in perspective yesterday went and looked at the date at the 30 states that have the most total cases throughout the pandemic, mississippi ranks 28th.

Mississippi actually had less cases than all the other 29 states yesterday.

" due to rising case numbers, louisville municipal school district announced eiland middle school will begin virtual learning starting november 13th through november 20th.

Students will return back to school on november 30th.

Covid-19 is causing a strain on almost everything... including towns... but some help arrives this week for columbus.

More than 500 thousand dollars is reimbursed to the city for covid- 19 expenses for first responders.

Wcbi's stephen pimpo talks with city leader today about the money and and what it could be used for.

The funding is meant to cover the cost of the extra time, precautions and training by columbus police and fire responding to covid related calls.

As cases continue to rise...the mayor called the reimbursement crucial.

"it showed that the need was there and it showed that the mayor and the city council have set up a system to where we can directly help people in need."

The mississippi emergency management agency has given the city of columbus more than half a million dollars to reimburse the police and fire departmets for their effort amid the on-going pandemic.

"this can help and assist our police department, our fire department for supplies, equipment, whatever the case may be."

Su: to qualify for the reimbursement the city had to track covid- related police and fire responses from march to september.

"of course you had to have proof, documentation as to why you needed this and then you had to show it, these were expenses occured during covid."

Columbus fire chief martin andrews says his department always has extra work and sanitation after every covid-19 call.

"our entire truck has to be decontaminated, the crew has to be decontaminated every single time.

So it is a strain, it is a difference."

Police chief fred shelton says his officers are constantly going through protective gear.

"that means a constant change of gloves, that means a constant change of masks and again, that was a little beyond our budget."

Mayor robert smith says the city council will meet to decide how exactly the more than five hundred thousand dollars will be used.

"i'm so elated that we received these funds to help and assist us in continuing to provide services to covid related cases."

City leaders told me they're also in the process of applying for more funding from fema for costs that weren't covered in this reimbursement such as loss of revenue within the city connected to the pandemic.

First look stinger first look gfx vo off top gfx vo off top we know playing with a gun can be dangerous and in aberdeen it turned deadly.

Now, a teen is in jail.

18-year-old amyia verner of hamilton is charged with manslaughter.

She remains in the monroe county jail.

Bond has not been set for verner.

The shooting happened at southview apartments on tuesday afternoon.

Monroe county coroner alan gurley says 26- year-old robert jackson of aberdeen died at the scene from a gunshot wound.

Aberdeen police chief henry randle says verner made a tragic mistake that she can't come back from.

Investigators believe verner and jackson were playing with a gun they thought was unloaded when it fired.

Randle says this is a sad situation for the families involved.

"if you don't know how to work a gun, the mechanics of a gun, you don't know how to check it out... please put that gun up.

Please do not have that gun laying around so anybody can access it.

Because like i said once before, taking a magazine out of a gun does not clear the gun.

And you know, no knowledge of a gun leads to the situation that we have now."

An autopsy has been ordered.

The incident remains under investigation.

Students at local community colleges can connect quicker with professors and their peers.

This is the mississippi optical network.

It's an initiative that helps boost internet speeds and will lower internet costs for schools.

Today c spire is expanding their optical network to all 15 community colleges here in the state.

Jason guntharp, system engineer at icc and emcc president dr. scott alsobrooks say in a time where majority of learning is online, having faster and more reliable internet is a game changer for students and teachers.

"without the ability for students to login to distance- learning systems. the idea that a student cannot get into a zoom class from his or her home, that's a really big deal."

With the broadband connectivity, makes it so much easier.

I couldn't imagine trying to engage with students even five years ago with the connectivity we had then it would be impossible.

We would not have been able to serve students through this pandemic without services like c-spire and their fiber optic network."

Mississippi university for women have also been added to the mississippi optical network.

Stinger coming up next, see what has tupelo residents concerned.

Some tupelo residents are upset over what they believe is a growing problem with what they describe as overly aggressive homeless people in the downtown district.

Wcbi's allie martin has more from a concerned homeowner and the city attorney about the issue and what can be done.

Pkg like many residents in the downtown area, terry lytal takes walks around the historic district for exercise.

But on a recent afternoon, the medical professional was approached by a group of people.

"all of a sudden there was four young homeless people, who came upon me and demanded i give them my phone, then they started using a lot of profanity, threatening me to give it to them, then i politely turned around, and kind of went wild on them, told them i had dialed 9 1 1 and police were on their way."

Lytal says the group backed away and retreated.

Lytal made a police report, and has even identified some of the suspects to police.

Lytal says he has noticed an increasing number of homeless people in the downtown area, especially in the past year and as a homeowner, he has concerns.

"it bothers me because i moved to this area, it was up and coming.

Tupelo is saying how they're trying to revive the downtown area and trying to bring it back to life, and they've done a great job downtown with restaurants, and other things, i'm afraid it's going to affect people wanting to move down here if they don't get a grip on it."

Standup bridge tupelo city attorney ben logan says he has also heard from homeowners and business owners in the area, who shared similar concerns.

And there are things people can do if they are threatened or know that someone is trespassing.

"always file a police report if you feel intimidated or threatened, always give notice to those folks to stay off your property, if they stay off your property, if they don't then you can file an affidavit with city court to have them prosecuted."

Recently, the city cleared out an encampment in this wooded area off of south madison street.

A concerned citizen sent us photos of a tent that had been set up on the property, along with other photos of homeless people congregating on private property.

A lot of foot traffic occurs between carnation street and jefferson street.

The salvation army , on carnation, provides lunch and dinner, while all saints episcopal church, on jefferson, serves a free breakfast monday through friday.

Both lytal and logan say having one location providing services for the homeless would help.

"find a spot, somewhere, centralized, so you don't have salvation army, library, with wi fi there and episcopal church with a feeding program on the grounds, one place so there's not a lot of movement around several blocks downtown."

While the salvation army operates a shelter, logan says not everyone chooses to follow the guidelines in order to stay there.

In tupelo, allie martin, wcbi news tag stinger weather open summary: more sun than clouds can be expected over the next summary: more sun than clouds can be expected over the next week.

Our only chance of showers will come on sunday with a passing cold front.

No strong or severe weather is in the offing anytime soon.

Thursday night: mostly clear during the evening with some passing clouds later on.

Lows in the mid 40s.

Light wind.

Friday: a few clouds early then turning mostly sunny.

Highs in the 60s to low 70s.

Winds nw 5-15 mph.

Jackets are needed for high school football with temperatures falling back into the 50s and upper 40s.

Friday night: clear and quiet.

Lows in the mid to low 40s.

Saturday: sun & clouds.

Highs in the low to mid 70s.

Saturday night: increasing clouds and warmer.

Lows in the 50s.

Sunday: mostly cloudy with scattered showers.

Highs in the upper 60s.

Sunday night: clear and cooler.

Lows in the upper 30s.

Next week: sunny skies are expected all week long.

Highs should range from the mid 60s to low 70s with overnight lows in the 30s and 40s.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger summary: more sun than clouds can be expected over the next week.

Our only chance of showers will come on sunday with a passing cold front.

No strong or severe weather is in the offing anytime soon.

Mon gfxááá college basketball is less than two weeks away... the ole miss rebels tip off the 25th in a home contest against central arkansas in the jackson reed classic... kermit davis and company certainly thinking about the future... and his club made history on the recruiting trail... daeshun ruffin commited to the rebels... the four star guard is the 21st ranked recruit in the 2021 class according to espn... making him the highest ranked recruit in program history... the 5-9 guard played at callaway high school in jackson and averaged just under 27 points... 4 rebounds and 3 assists per game in his junior season last year... head coach kermit davis had been aggressive on the recruiting trail in his attempt to recruit ruffin... and the ole miss commit says it was an easy choice... 06-11 :25-:30 ruffin says: it's not far away from home, my family can come here at any time.

Everything about the school, the fan base, the players who showed much love to me and the education is big there too and i can excel in many ways at the school on and off the court and it would benefit me and my family in the long run.

Davis says: he may be the most electrifying scorer in the whole class.

You can't keep your eye off him even while he plays.

Even the other people in the class of 2022 they all know and respect him.

They've played against him and with him and that can help him down the road recruiting wise this week's game of the week is back in noxubee county as the tigers host booneville in a class 3a showdown!

Two extremely talented and well coached teams that could very well be a north half final matchup crossing paths in the second round.

Noxubee enters this game rolling after a dominating win last friday against by-hey- leeah.

But the blue devils have their sights set on dethroning the reigning north half champs.

Both teams are keyed in on bringing their best to the table tomorrow!

"you're playing the #1 ranked team in the state of mississippi to me in 3a, noxubee county.

Great athletes.

Very well coached.

They can run the ball.

They can throw the ball.

Defensively, they're going to fly to the football and get after you.

We'll have to be on our a plus game and them make some mistakes for us to have a chance at beating them."

"it's definitely going to be a tough game.

We're going to have to give a 110 percent.

Battle is won up front with our line.

I know they have the ability to do that.

Everybody else, we have to sync and i think that'll give us a good chance to do that."

"they're going to play hard.

Watching the film, their guys play hard.

Hustle a lot.

They're big up front.

They play hard in the trenches.

I think they'll come in and give us their best shot."

"coach young always said we're going to have to match the other team's energy.

We know from watchinig film that they're going to come out hard so we have to match their energy."

Be sure to watch endzone tomorrow to see the highlights from this game and plenty other playoff matchups around the area!

Two heritage academy standouts make their decision to play softball on the next level official today... infielder carley martin is going on to play ball at emcc and madison tipton is staying in columbus as she will play at muw.

The dynamic duo have been playing softball together since 6th grade after this season, the two are going to miss playing ball together but are excited for what the future holds..... "i've been at heritage my whole life and she came in 6th grade.

She really impacted my softball career.

She's an amazing player.

I love playing with her.

She's one of my best friends."

I think it will be sad.

We have to play against each other so that will be fun.

I think it will be fun though because we can go our own ways but still be able to talk about it and have that moment together."

When we return...chief