WCBI NEWS at 6 - 11/23/20

WCBI NEWS at 6 - 11/23/20

We're learning new details about the death of a starkville woman.

30-year-old james heath kitchens is charged with manslaughter.

éé multiple sources tell wcbi he is a former tupelo police officer.

Oktibbeha county deputies were called to riviera road on saturday night about a person being hit by a vehicle.

Investigators say 26-year-old brittany phillips was hit by that vehicle and later died at the hospital.

Deputies believe this incident could have started from a domestic situation but stress this is an ongoing investigation.

Phillips has been taken to the state crime lab for an autopsy.

Bond for kitchens was set at 25 thousand dollars.

Monitor intro while many people look forward to spending the holiday season with family, for others, it can be the time when disagreements boil over.

Wcbi's bobby martinez talked with wendie woods, executive director of christian changes counseling and recovery center in starkville.

Who says there are many factors that lead to family fractures around the holidays.... he joins us live in the studio with more..

Joey, wendie woods tells me..

Domestic violence happens all year round.

But during the holiday season.... there tends to be an uptick in these cases..

And she is urging victims to not be afraid to reach out for help..

Domestic violence..... "it can last for years.."

Is an ongoing issue here in the state for both men and women.

According to national coalition against domestic violence..

In mississippi....39.7 percent of women and 31.7 percent of men... experience domestic violence from their partner, ranging from physical violence, sexual violence - even stalking... wendie woods of christian changes counseling and recovery center in starkville says these relationships can affect a victim's mental health.

Sot - wendie woods - ex.

Director/owner - christian changes counseling and recovery center "it can also impact the victim through posttraumatic stress disorder.

Nightmares fears of getting into addition of relationships inability to trust other people."

And with the holiday season upon us.... woods says stress plays a pivotal role in a lot of these cases..

Sot - wendie woods - ex.

Director/owner - christian changes counseling and recovery center ""it does rise around the holidays simply because holidays can bring about more stress.

In terms of family relationships and discord within families definitely more stress with financial burdens that that rise in the holiday season."

Reaching out can also be a fear for some domestic violence victims. sot - wendie woods - ex.

Director/owner - christian changes counseling and recovery center "it could be a fear of the perpetrator seeking vengeance or moving on to another relationship.

It could be fear that a new person might present themselves as a knight in shining armor.

And then turn around and betray that person's trust through violence again."

On cam bridge stand up and it was here on riviera road saturday night.

Oktibbeha county deputies responded to a person being struck by a car.

That victim was later identified as brittany philips who was later pronounced dead at och.

That suspect?

30 year old james heath kitchens.

---------------------------... --------------------- deputies say a domestic incident could have played a role in phillips' death.

However, they say this is an active investigation and there is still evidence to be examined.

If you feel like you are in a toxic relationship and may be worried about violence in your home, there is help.

You can go to wcbi dot come for a link for help and support.

Top louisville police continue searching for a killer.

The body of 32- year-old jarvis eichelberger was found by two hunters last thursday.

Investigators taped off the wooded area just off baremore street to look for evidence.

Police chief sean holdiness says it appears eichelberger had a single gunshot to the back of his head and other suspicious markings on his body.

The mississippi bureau of investigation is helping with the investigation.

If you have any information about the case call winston county crime stoppers.

Top an elderly care worker is caught with money she's accused of stealing from her patient.

33-year-old alicia horne is charged with exploitation of a vulnerable person.

Tishomingo county deputies horne was assigned to an elderly person's residence, where large amounts of money were reportedly taken.

Investigators say they found some of the alleged stolen cash on horne while she was being interviewed by law enforcement.

Adult protective services is assisting tishomingo county deputies with the case.

Child protective services was also brought in to investigate.

More arrests and charges are possible.

First look stinger first look summary: the weather pattern will be much more active over the next week but that's typical for late november.

A cold front on wednesday will spark some gusty showers and storms. thanksgiving looks on november 21st, mississippi saw some of it's highest covid cases to date.

More than nineteen hundred cases were reported last saturday... and medical experts say we could surpass 2 thousand cases sometime this week.

University of mississippi medical center says they are operating at full capacity.

Doctors there say in some cases the numbers are worse than they were in the summer, and they are very concerned with the upcoming thanksgiving holiday as well as college students returning home for the break.

"here at this medical center at this hospital, we could not handle a surge of a whole lot more patients, you know, coming at us.

We are at capacity as we speak."

"in the last week we've had an increase in the number of requests that we've seen coming to our hospitals from outside of the state requesting transfers from other states, as far away as missouri, into the state for icu beds."

"we're doing our best to take care of every person that comes through the door.

That's what we're here for.

That's what we're meant to be, but when you have a full department, and you still have people walking in the door, you have to figure out how to take care of them in different ways, and move people around, and there's only so many rooms."

Medical experts say it's not just ummc that's maxed out... they say hospitals across the entire region are struggling to meet demands athe next few weeks will be critical.

Mississippi's covid- 19 numbers are lower today than we saw this past weekend.

However, that's usually the case on monday.

Some data is also not up to date on the department of health's website.

There are 699 new cases and no deaths.

25 - 39-year-olds continue to lead the case county in mississippi.

65 and older patients account for the most deaths in the state.

Health officials say more than 121 thousand people are presumed recovered from the virus.

This means there's about 17 thousand presumed active cases in the state, right now.

In our area, lafayette county is reporting 72 new cases.

Lee has 32.

Itawamba, prentiss, and union counties are all reporting all 11 new cases.

Since the first covid-19 case in winston county, back in march, there has been a team in place to respond.

County leaders, along with folks from the city of louisville and winston medical center have kept in touch and prepared the community.

The pandemic team wants to stay proactive in educating the community and ensuring there's enough personal protective equipment in place.

Winston county was placed under a mask mandate by governor tate reeves and cases continue to climb.

Now, it's up to the people that live there prevent the spread of the virus by wearing a mask and social distancing.

"put the appropriate information out there.

That people can make their own decisions and that's what we're going to do.

Make sure that people have the best information.

Make sure that people are aware that we're looking at a severe increase, not only in winston county, but in the state of mississippi.

This is the real increase that we planned for a little early, when we did the economic shutdown."

Winston county currently has one thousand 158 cases.

Top a tupelo city councilman is ready to take the lead role in the city.

Ward one councilman markel whittington announced his candidacy for mayor today.

Whittington has represented ward one for the past 12 years.

He says the experience has taught him the essentials of governing the city.

Whittington says he is committed to making sure tupelo's strong financial position continues by executing good business practices.

He also wants to focus on maintaining strong public school system and building on an already strong community.

Whittington owns and operates middleton office supply.

He's running as a republican.

Stinger coming up next see how mardi gras has changed with the covid-19 pandemic it's still a couple of months away, but the people who organize mardi gras celebrations are already making other plans.

In jefferson parish just outside of new orleans, the parade may be pushed back to the beginning of summer.

Erika ferrando takes a look at the proposed changes.

Every fat tuesday - thousands of people line veterans boulevard in metairie - as argus rolls through.

But co-captain of the krewe of argus -lawrence chehardy says parading during carnival season is unlikely in 2021 - "argus's big concern is safety."

But there are discussions about parading in may 2021 instead.

"i think that makes a lot of sense."

"they really anticipate by may there will be a good amount of the vaccine out there."

Council member jennifer van vrancken says proposed changes to the carnival ordinance would add safety measures like requiring masks and gloves for riders - while giving krewes more flexibility "normally we require how many riders how many floats how many bands, this year were going to be flexible on those requirements."

While parades may be pushed back, there is still discussion about holding family gras in february here at clearview center.

"it is the one thing i think we can still do in the carnival time frame."

Producer of family gras greg buisson says if there is a family gras in 2021 - it would be designed to celebrate local musicians.

"so were going to find the artists from louisiana who have defined louisiana's music culture and ultimately create an event with those artists."

Erika do you think there is a way to do it safely?

Greg i do, there have been enough events done around the country, music events that have limited a certain number of people who have been able to set the ground work for what you can and cant do "we think we can do sort of in the same vain of drive in events, you'd have pods of people distanced from each other" the jefferson parish council meets december 9th to discuss the quickly approaching carnival season.

Stinger weather open summary: the weather pattern will be much more active over the next week but that's typical for late november.

A cold front on wednesday will spark some gusty showers and storms. thanksgiving looks seasonable and dry but more wet and potentially stormy weather lurks for the rest of the long holiday week.

Monday night: clear and chilly.

Lows in the mid to low 30s.

Tuesday: mostly sunny to partly cloudy.

Highs in the mid 60s.

Winds se 10 mph.

Tuesday night: becoming cloudy with rain possible late.

Breezy southerly winds 10-15 mph.

Lows in the mid 50s.

Wednesday: areas of rain and storms from about mid morning into the afternoon.

Some storms could be severe with damaging wind gusts the main concern.

The overall tornado risk should remain relatively low with this setup but it bears watching.

Highs in the low summary: the weather pattern will be much more active over the next week but that's typical for late november.

A cold front on wednesday will spark some gusty showers and storms. thanksgiving looks seasonable and dry but more wet and potentially stormy weather lurks for the rest of the long holiday week.

Monday night: clear and chilly.

Lows in the mid to low 30s.

Tuesday: mostly sunny to partly cloudy.

Highs in the mid 60s.

Winds se 10 mph.

Tuesday night: becoming cloudy with rain possible late.

Breezy southerly winds 10-15 mph.

Lows in the mid 50s.

Wednesday: areas of rain and storms from about mid morning into the afternoon.

Some stinger stinger spx open ááá take mon gfxááá the 93rd egg bowl special is this saturday in oxford... the bulldogs are 10- point dogs against ole miss... and while it hasn't been a picture perfect year one for both first year head coaches... the teams are certainly trending in the right direction... mississippi state played what head coach mike leach called their best performance of the season..

They went toe-to-toe with the 13st best team in the country in georgia... falling 31-24.... state sits at 2-5 on the year... on the other side ole miss will be fresh... they had the week off after their texas a&m matchup was postponed due to covid-19... they're coming off an explosive offensive performance... they took down south carolina 59- 42... for leach and kiffin it'll be their first egg bowl however they've heard all about the magnitude of the rivalry... 00-05 :32-:37 leach says: over the years even when i was a kid i knew it was always an incrdibly intense game, meaningful to people and in conversation year round.

There's always conversations about the egg bowl.

I also know there have been plenty of them that were exciting to watch before i came to mississippi and it's exciting to be a part of it and it's a good opportunity to play in one.

Kiffin says: i had known about it from watching it, it used to be on thanksgiving, also my brother being here for a number of years i knew it was a big deal.

It's a big deal.

Check out our egg bowl special... it'll air for the first time thursday on wcbi ole miss announced earlier this afternoon that it's first four games of the season are cancelled due to positive covid-19 tests and contact tracing within the basketball program... that means its first three games... originally against central arkansas... jackson state and arkansas state are cancelled... along with it's december 5th home contest against the memphis tigers... team activities have been suspended until december 7th and so as of now the rebels will open their season december 12th against unc wilmington..

ááátake mon gfxááá another week of high school football playoffs in the books... which means another great week of our top 5 plays... roll it!

Number five... louisville at pontotoc... emory james runs into a wall... bounces out of it for a big gain... talk about turning nothing into something!

Louisville took down them grapes to moves on in the playoffs they'll play itawamba this week number four... aliceville hosting mars hill bible ty williams connects with landon ball in triple coverage.... impressive snag... yellowjackets went on to lose though 55-14... number three... west alabama... gordo taking on west limestone... tanner bailey connects with hunter oglen... he gets to the outside and he is off... to... the races... a 53 yard touchdown and gordo took care of business 48-13... number two... amory at winona... hun ter jones scrambles out of the pocket... heaves one off his back foot and braxton griffin makes the snag in traffic for six..... impressive stuff!

Winona got the win 45-35... number one let's head out to nanih waiya... tanner courtney back to pass... tosses one to the back corner of the end zone and ethan dailey makes a spectacular grab from 24 yards out... warriors won big 36-3... those are your top 5 plays when we return...chief meteorologist keith gibson will have a last look at your forecast.

You are watching wcbi news at six.

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