WCBI NEWS at SIX 11/16/2020

WCBI NEWS at SIX 11/16/2020

Governor tate reeves adds several north mississippi counties to a growing mask mandate.

Itawamba, montgomery, pontotoc, and winston are now part of growing lists.

Lee and yalobusha counties are under the same order until december 11th.

Last week, mississippi saw at least three days where more than one thousand new cases were reported.

Reeves uses certain criteria, such as how many cases over a period of time per one thousand people.

Oktibbeha county supervisors vote to extend the county curfew and reinstate the mask mandate.

District 2 supervisor orlando trainer says every meeting the board discusses whether or not to keep the county's curfew-- which right now is from midnight to 4 am.

This meeting, they unanimously chose to keep the curfew in place for another two weeks.

With the holiday season coming up, the board also decided in a 3-2 vote that it was in the best interest of the citizens to reinstate a mask mandate.

Trainer says oktibbeha county's covid-19 case number are lower than other counties, and he attributes those results to the curfew and mask mandate.

25 to 39-year-olds continue to lead the covid-19 case count in mississippi.

Today, that number topped 30 thousand.

The mississippi state department of health is reporting 589 new covid-19 cases and two deaths.

Those deaths occurred in pontotoc and winston counties.

778 people are in hospitals across the state with confirmed or suspected coronavirus symptoms. 185 patients are in i.c.u.

Right now, only 10 point seven percent of infected people need to be hospitalized.

More than 116 thousand people are presumed recovered from covid-19 in mississippi.

This means there are over 14 thousand presumed active cases in the state.

111620-vo mooreville middle and high schools received the first round of new chromebooks today.

These chromebooks became available after the mississippi legislature passed the equity in distance learning act at the beginning of the year.

This bill allows for the use of millions of dollars in federal covid-19 funds.

More chromebooks are scheduled to be delivered to other schools in the lee county school district later this week.

The covid-19 pandemic has crippled many small businesses this year.

Those that have survived are finding safe and creative ways to cash-in during the outbreak.

Wcbi's bobby martinez talks with two golden triangle businesses about their plans and has more.

Adapting... sot - victoria lindsey - sales associate - george-mary's "i think social media is a really great way for us to advertise and keep up with what's going on."

And overcoming... sot - gail stevens - park place boutique and salon - columbus "the pandemic has affected us obviously... so we are going to do different things... kick it into gear.."

It's the time of the year where business is typically booming.... but this holiday season is quite like no other because of covid19 says victoria lindsey sales associate at george-mary's.... so creating a safe and beneficial game plan was the focus this holiday season..

Sot - victoria lindsey - sales associate - george-mary's "we have our pre- black friday beginning on friday the 20th.

And then on saturday we will be doing our cyber deals.

After thanksgiving we have our black friday bonanza where we will be having some more fabulous deals in the first 10 purchasing customers get a free christmas t- shirt."

Lindsey says the boutique is also keeping customers informed on deals through the digital world..

Sot - victoria lindsey - sales associate - george-mary's "i think that is helping people not feel like there's so much pressure to go out on that day of black friday being so close to people in a crowded space.

And i think it's really great that small businesses have also caught onto that."

As for owner gail stevens..owner of park place boutique and salon in columbus..

She says they are adding a new service for customers this year round..

Sot - gail stevens - park place boutique and salon - columbus "we will do a personal shopper here.

So if grandma or somebody wants to send their list, their christmas list, we will do all the shopping, gift wrap it and deliver it to your house for you."

Stevens says she is also ramping up the store's social media game as well..

Sot - gail stevens - park place boutique and salon - columbus "it got us through easter.

We delivered easter baskets to peoples front doors, put them on their door.

For this year we are going to do the same thing at christmas.

If you want your list we will do it you can buy it online and we will ship it to you or you can have store pick up."

As for those planning to shop in store..

Both stores are enforcing masks while inside and social distancing...... first look stinger summary: high pressure will keep our region sunny for the rest of the work week.

Seasonable temperatures are in order for the next few days with a gradual warm up heading into the weekend.

The next chance of rain looks like it'll be either late sunday or monday.

Monday night: clear, quiet, and chilly.

Lows mainly in the 30s.

Light wind.

Tuesday: sunny.

Breezy nw winds 10-15 mph.

Highs in the low to mid 60s.

Columbus firefighters rescue a man from a burning home.

The fire happened happened about 3- 15 this afternoon on miller lane.

Assistant fire chief duane hughes says the man was found in the back of the home.

The victim was taken to baptist golden triangle with smoke inhalation issues.

An investigation is underway to determine a cause of the fire.

Off top monroe county investigators believe remains found sunday are the body of a man missing since july.

Deputies recovered the remains in the woods - about a half mile from mike brown's home in bigbee/cason community.

Brown was reported missing on july 9th.

This is an image of investigators and deputies as the state crime lab prepared the scene for processing.

Monroe county sheriff kevin crook says the investigation into the case continues.

The remains have been sent to the state medical examiners office.

Vo off top a columbus man is still missing.

It's been 4 months since 39 year old james ryan taylor disappeared.

Taylor has been missing since july 14.

And according his mother laura taylor..

He 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 there have been numerous leads.

But she says the leads have so far not panned out for investigators.

Vo off top a teenager charged with manslaughter in aberdeen is out on bond today.

18-year-old amyia verner of hamilton was charged with manslaughter after allegedly shooting 26-year- old robert jackson of aberdeen.

Jackson died at the scene from the gunshot wound.

Aberdeen police chief henry randle says bond for verner was set at one hundred thousand dollars.

The shooting happened at southview apartments on november 10th.

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.

Stinger-stinger wcbi continuing coverage stinger the roadmap to move the confederate monument from the lowndes county courthouse is becoming clearer.

County supervisors discussed the move this morning at their meeting.

The mississippi department of archives and history is requiring the county to catalog the demolition of the monument and have an archeologist on site during the rebuilding process.

The county has the approval to move forward but approval to move forward but needed more information about the requirements for a permit.

One of the next steps in the process will be to solicit bids.

Supervisors voted earlier this year to move the monument to friendship cemetery.

Governor tate reeves wants to do away with the state income tax and create a patriotic education fund.

The governor released his 2022 executive budget recommendation today.

Lawmakers will still have to debate these issues.

Reeves says a phase-out approach to the income tax is the right way to go.

He is also proposing using three million dollars for the patriotic education fund.

The republican governor says far-left socialist teachings emphasize america's shortcomings.

He believes the money should be used to educate kids about "accomplishments of the american way."

Thanksgiving will look a lot different this year for everyone, including those less fortunate.

Columbus mayor robert smith will not host his annual senior citizen lunch meal at the trotter convention center this year.

Volunteers will also not be handing out thanksgiving meals at stokes-beard elementary school.

Instead, area leaders are encouraging folks to participate in a turkey giveaway.

You can still donate at the lowndes county sheriff's department, the salvation army, trotter convention center, and columbus parks and recreation.

The city of columbus, the sheriff's department and the community benefit committee has a goal of 500 turkeys for the giveaway.

Those turkeys will be handed out this saturday at the soccer complex beginning at 9 am, while supplies last.

You must have an id, live in lowndes county and there's only one turkey per household... stinger a mural that pays tribute to the history of a monroe county town is nearing completion.

Wcbi's allie martin checked in on the artist who is painting the massive mural and has an update.

On most days, when the weather is nice, tony bullard is working on the nettleton mural.

"fortunately we've had some good weather, so i've been able to get a lot done in a short period of time."

The mural, which covers the entire exterior north wall of the dorothy j lowe public library, features a downtown scene from the 1950s, four notable people with ties to nettleton, along with the school mascot, a portrait of president roosevelt, who visited the region launching tva, and other scenes.

There are still a few details to paint.

"in the brown area, there will be lettering, some towns, like lee, monroe, surrounding towns, it will look like a map, the car scene, more detail, names of businesses."

Standup bridge there are some surprises in the mural, there are some optical illusions.

For instance, the train, no matter where you stand, the train appears to be following you.

"the way i did the shadowing and the shading and all, it gives the illusion."

Bullard has spent countless hours working on the mural but says it has been a privilege and a learning experience.

"it's like a big playground for me, i get to come out here and meet a lot of people in the process, i'm learning as i go, because the portraits, on here, i'm learning about each one as i paint it."

Bullard hopes to be finished with the mural by the end of the year.

In nettleton, allie martin, wcbi news public service commissioner brandon presley, along with the town of nettleton, is sponsoring the mural.

Bullard has painted murals for other towns.

Stinger open summary: high pressure will keep our region sunny for the rest of the work week.

Seasonable temperatures are in order for the next few days with a gradual warm up heading into the weekend.

The next chance of rain looks like it'll be either late sunday or monday.

Monday night: clear, quiet, and chilly.

Lows mainly in the 30s.

Light wind.

Tuesday: sunny.

Breezy nw winds 10-15 mph.

Highs in the low to mid 60s.

Tuesday night: clear and chilly.

Lows in the mid to low 30s.

Wednesday & thursday: sunny.

Highs in the mid 60s.

Lows in the 30s and 40s.

Friday & saturday: sunny to mostly sunny.

Highs from the upper 60s to lower 70s.

Lows in the 40s and lower 50s.

Weather looks great for football once again.

Sunday: variably cloudy.

Highs in the 70s.

A chance for late day and evening rain.

Thanksgiving week: the weather pattern could become more active for our region with several cold fronts/disturbanc es that could give rise to rain and storms. some severe weather can't be ruled out.

We'll keep watching.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app summary: high pressure will keep our region sunny for the rest of the work week.

Seasonable temperatures are in order for the next few days with a gradual warm up heading into the weekend.

The next chance of rain looks like it'll be either late sunday or monday.

Monday night: clear, quiet, and chilly.

Lows mainly in the 30s.

Light wind.

Tuesday: sunny.

Breezy nw winds 10-15 mph.

Highs in the low to mid 60s.

Tuesday night: clear and chilly.

Lows in the mid to low 30s.

Wednesday & thursday: sunny.

Highs in the mid 60s.

Lows in the 30s and 40s.

Friday & saturday: sunny to mostly sunny.

Highs from the upper 60s to lower 70s.

Lows in the 40s and lower 50s.

Weather looks great for football once again.

Sunday: variably cloudy.

Highs in the 70s.

A chance for late day and evening rain.

Thanksgiving week: the weather pattern could become more active for our region with several cold fronts/disturbanc es that could give rise to rain and storms. some severe weather can't be ruled out.

We'll keep watching.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger we'll keep watching.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app watching.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger the rebels matchup with texas a&m has been postponed due to covid-19..

Next in sports what the next few weeks will look like for ole miss... after a dominant offensive performance in saturday's 59-42 win over south carolina... the rebels attempt at three wins in a row will have to wait... ole miss's matchup with number 5 texas a&m is postponed due to covid-19 the aggies have a high number of players who are quarantining... since texas a&m already rescheduled its game against tennessee for dec.

12, the league will look for other opportunities to play the ole miss game, including dec.

19, provided that the aggies are not competing in the sec championship game that day... this will be the rebels second off week in a four week span 00-05 :14-:19 kiffin says: when you're playing well you want to keep playing.

Two- game winning streak, i wish we were still playing but same as we did with elijah we'll just find ways to get better.

Carter says: last four weeks here will be very fluid.

There are some games that will be moved around potentially based on covid.

The thought is we don't want to have two teams who are at home healthy not playing if we can have someone playing that game we will want to do that.

One of the best high school baseball players in the state is planning to stay nearby.

Heritage academy senior infielder aaron downs signed with mississippi state today.

The five tool star athlete is one of the best high school pro prospects in the country and may not step onto dudy noble field but today, downs celebrates his commitment to the bulldogs.

After breaking his fibula and dislocating his ankle last season playing football, downs is extremely thankful for this day..... "i was thinking about it this morning how a year ago today, i was in my bed with a cast on my leg after having surgery.

I had a big football injury.

I was thinking my dreams were starting to go away.

I just kept going, kept going looking for god.

You just keep pushing forward and dreams come true."

"his power and his speed to me standout.

When a kid his size that can run as fast as he can and the power he has at the plate all stands out.

The ball just sounds different off his bat when he hits the ball."

Congrats to aaron and the heritage academy baseball family on the special day.

High school football playoffs are in full swing... week 11 of endzone did not disappoint... let's take a look at the top 5 plays number 5 let's head number 5 let's head to winona... early on darius townsend gets all the way to the outside and turns on the jets for the 40-yard touchdown... they'll take on amory this week in the playoffs..

Number 4... heritage academy and adams christian... jonathan peal reading this route all the way through... coming up with the interception..

The patriots fell though in overtime 22-20 number 3... tcps put up 62 points friday... but one of their defensive plays makes the cut... tucker higgins picks off emmitt bell's pass..

Tupelo christian will take on biggersville this week number two... choctaw county against amory... connor jewell's pass is tipped and picked off by jakobey cope he takes it to the house... huge momentum swing for the panthers right there and they defeated the chargers 27-26 to move on... our number one play of the week... nanih waiya hosting myrtle..

Opening kick tyquan mccully putting the moves on!

He is certainly shifty... making a few cuts along the way and returning this one 64 yards to the house... warriors got the win 45-8 when we return...chief meteorologist keith gibson will have a last look at your forecast.

You are watching wcbi news at six.