WCBI NEWS at 6 11/24/2020

WCBI NEWS at 6 11/24/2020

Good evening everyone... a model, aspiring student, and a loving mother to two children.

This is how brittany phillips' mother describes her daughter.

Phillips died after being hit by a vehicle... the man she has a child with is behind bars... today, wcbi's bobby martinez talks with some of phillips' close friends... who are still shocked their friend is gone.

He joins us live in the studio with more.

Joey, phillips' friends tell me it is hard to come to terms with losing her in such a tragic way.

But they are hoping this will shed light on what they say was bad domestic situation.

Natvo "justice for brittany..

Justice for brittany" she touched a lot of lives..

Sot - angel boatright - friend "brittany was the kind of person that once you had just one conversation with her..

You realized she just wasn't all looks...and superficial..

She had so many of her own opinions.... she would do anything to improve anybody's situation or anything they were going through.."

But in the midst of helping others..

Close friend rachel phelps says she was in a rocky relationship with james heath kitchens... phillips shared some of her recorded messages and the conversations she had with kitchens with a friend.

Nat snd brittany audio : i just wanted you to be the one... in the some of the audio obtained by wcbi, phillips and kitchens are heard arguing.

In other sound, she is asking him to be part of her life.

Sot - rachel phelps - friend "that was the mother of his child....that he ran over... he'd been abusive..

There are so many people that know what she's been going through for a long time... and we just want justice for her and her babies..

Because he took their mother from them.."

Screen shots between the two on social media seem to reinforce the emotional conflict.

Kitchens was arrested after allegedly striking phillips with a car on riviera road saturday night..

Sot - rachel phelps - friend "hopefully we can all come together as a community and get justice for her.."

Sot - angel boatright - friend "and raise awareness for domestic violence because this is just textbook.."

Kitchens has been charged with manslaughter and is currently out of jail on a twenty-five thousand dollar bond.

Oktibbeha county justice court does not have an attorney of record at this time for kitchens.

In a year quite like no other.

Many factors have played into domestic violence calls here in the state.

Especially during the holidays... oktibbeha county sheriff steve gladney and clay county sheriff eddie scott..

Say the holiday season comes with many stress factors..

It's something they see all the time... even arguments between adults can impact kids.

Sot - eddie scott - clay county sheriff "it's been a very unusual year you have kids out of school, you have people laid off work, so they've been home together so a lot of it is just like family disturbances when they get to arguing and not necessarily fighting all the time but we've had had a few cases of domestic violence."

Sot - steve gladney - oktibbeha county sheriff the kids are normally going to be the losers in this you know, they sit there, they listen to mom and dad fuss and fight, then the police get called in and try to separate them.

We will have more information about domestic violence awareness on our website... wcbi dot com.

Vo off top two men are charged in connection with a lowndes county shooting.

37-year-old kevin parker and 34-year- old steven carley are both charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit a felony crime, and felon in possession of a weapon.

Both men remain in jail.

Investigators did not say if bond had been set in today's press release.

A 26-year-old man was shot at a home on old west point road last week.

He was airlifted from the scene.

Witnesses told investigators there was an argument inside the house before the gunfire.

Deputies have not said what may have led up to that feud.

Sheriff eddie hawkins says more charges are possible, as the investigation unfolds.

First look stinger first look tuesday night: variably cloudy during the evening with skies becoming mostly cloudy during the night.

A few showers are possible by sunrise.

Breezy sse winds increase to 10-20 mph.

Evening temperatures will briefly fall into the low 50s before rising to around 60 by sunrise.

Wednesday: areas of rain and storms are possible during the daylight hours.

The window of any strong to severe activity looks to be from about mid morning through the afternoon.

Isolated damaging wind gusts are the main concern but we can't totally rule out an isolated tornado.

The overall setup doesn't look like it will produce a lot of severe weather here but we'll be watching it all day.

Look for milder highs in the 70s with breezy ssw winds 10-25 mph with gusts around 30 mph.

Vo several counties are having runoff elections today.

Noxubee county voters in district 3 are voting for a new supervisor.

Ira lee mccloud and la-velle patterson-rice are facing each other in a runoff election.

District 5 voters in chickasaw county are also going to the polls to elect a supervisor.

In tishomingo county, there is a runoff for the justice court judge north position.

Polls close at seven tonight.

Stinger-stinger wcbi continuing coverage stinger lowndes, choctaw, chickasaw, prentiss, union, lafeyette, and tishomingo, along with 9 other counties are added to the governor tate reeves's mask mandate.

That means 41 out of mississippi's 82 counties are now under more restrictions.

However, reeves says he will ánotá issue a state-wide mask mandate right now, but says he hasn't completely ruled out the idea completely.

In a press conference earlier today, the governor expressed concern for thanksgiving and gave an update on mississippi's involvement with the coronavirus vaccine.

Reeves says the high covid-19 cases numbers we see today are most likely from social gatherings around halloween.

Because of this, reeves says the folks should be extra cautious going into the holiday.

Reeves also addressed vaccine distribution at the briefing.

He says when a coronavirus vaccine becomes available, it will be a "multi-dose" vaccine, meaning people will have to get 2 shots, three weeks apart from each other.

"over 1,000 of our fellow mississippians will be involved and engaged in the distribution of the moderna vaccine, and i have full confidence just as they do with 80 million vaccines a year already distriburted by the cdc that this distribution process will be done fair.

It will be done in such a way to get this out to the people of our state."

Reeves says the state could receive up to 22 and a half million doses of the vaccine from pfizer by the end of december.

He says another 15 million doses will arrive at the same time from moderna.

The first mississippians to receive the vaccine will be front line health care workers followed by those at a higher risk.

13 counties in the wcbi viewing area are under a mask mandate...including yalobusha and winston.

Covid-19 continues to have a big impact on hospitals across mississippi.

The state department of health is reporting 665 new cases today, along with 53 deaths.

11 of those fatal cases were in the wcbi viewing area.

One thousand 14 people are hospitalized across the state with confirmed or suspected coronavirus symptoms. 213 of those patients are in i.c.u.

Those are the most recent numbers from the health department, which were accurate as of sunday.

In our viewing area, lee county has the most new cases with 40.

Itawamba has 21.

Oktibbeha, pontotoc, and yalobusha counties are all reporting 15 new cases.

Across the state line in alabama, pickens county has 23 new cases.

Lamar has seven.

Stinger giving this year may not be as hands on as most years but that does not mean that there are not alternative options.

See what some of those options are next.

You're watching wcbi news at six.

Intro thanksgiving dinner will look different for many mississippians this year because of the pandemic.

And so does the way various organizations have given back to their communities.

Wcbi reporter stephen pimpo talked with several of them today and joins us in studio with the story.

With covid-19 making traditional thanksgiving outreach meals unsafe, local organizations are adapting.

And while being safe may mean doing a little less...they know that giving what they can...still goes a long way.

"we may not be able to do everything we wanted to do but we can do something."

This thanksgiving, two things that haven't changed in the golden triangle.

The severity of the covid-19 pandemic and the needs of the less fortunate.

"certainly this year it's accentuated by covid and people have been under more financial pressure than they have in the past."

So local outreach groups have had to change the way they are giving back this holiday season.

The bridge church in columbus will hold a meal giveaway on thanksgiving day.

To spread out the number of people gathered over a period of time, they are having recipients sign up for specific time slots on their website before hand.

"we'll have different stations here throughout the church where the food will be stationed, will be prepped and then will be brought up to where it can actually be delivered to the individual."

Columbus city councilman pierre beard held his annual meal giveaway at the boys and girls club on tuesday and also switched to a drive-through set up with volunteers in masks and gloves who underwent temperature checks.

"with covid-19 going on, the numbers are rising and we are being extra safe and it's just to let people know that we still giveaway at the boys and girls club on tuesday and also switched to a drive-through set up with volunteers in masks and gloves who underwent temperature checks.

"with covid-19 going on, the numbers are rising and we are being extra safe and it's just to let people know that we still care about them through a pandemic."

Peter's rock temple church in starkville also held their annual turkey givaway tuesday and switched to a drive through system without the traditional worship service they hold for recipients.

"people were here at 7 o'clock this morning.

The line went beyond the red light up the highway."

The church says they gave away more than 150 turkeys in close to half an hour.

"it just wasn't the normal people who needed it.

It was people who had lost their jobs.

It was people who could not get with their families."

Councilman beard says they gave away close to 300 meals within the first hour and says he won't let anything stop him from safely holding this event every year.

"that's what we're here for is to adapt and to still be of service to our communities."

For information on signing up for the thanksgiving day meal giveaways at the bridge, you can go to our website at wcbi.com.

They'll also be offering contactless delivery for those unable to leave their homes in the columbus area.

Top judge paula drugole-ellis has been giving food to others for their holiday meal for about a decade.

As the need has grown, the judge says she has partnered with local groups like churches and agencies to distribute more food to more people.

The judge funds the turkey giveaway herself, usually in oktibbeha, lowndes, clay and noxubee counties.

She says she is grateful for the opportunity to serve her community.

It is the way i can give back to the community.

There are so many people in our community that are in need, especially this year with the pandemic.

These people are unemployed and just don't have what they need to have, so when i sit down at the table with my family on thanksgiving, then i want to mae sure there are others to enjoy a meal with their family on thanksgiving.

Noxubee county is part of the judge drungole-ellis' chancery district.

During her visit today, she gave 50 turkeys away to local families.

Stinger weather open summary: a cold front will spark some gusty showers and storms around the region wednesday.

The main threat will be isolated damaging gusts but we can't totally rule out an isolated tornado.

Pleasant weather builds in briefly for thanksgiving day but more rain is possible again friday.

Additional rain and even some storms could return on sunday.

Tuesday night: variably cloudy during the evening with skies becoming mostly cloudy during the night.

A few showers are possible by sunrise.

Breezy sse winds increase to 10-20 mph.

Evening temperatures will briefly fall into the low 50s before rising to around 60 by sunrise.

Wednesday: areas of rain and storms are possible during the daylight hours.

The window of any strong to severe activity looks to be from about mid morning through the afternoon.

Isolated damaging wind gusts are the main concern but we can't totally rule out an isolated tornado.

The overall setup doesn't look like it will produce a lot of severe weather here but we'll be watching it all day.

Look for milder highs in the 70s with breezy ssw winds 10-25 mph with gusts around 30 mph.

Wednesday night: turning partly cloudy.

Lows in the mid 40s.

Thanksgiving day: mostly sunny.

Highs in the mid to upper 60s.

Thursday night: partly cloudy.

Lows in the mid 40s.

Friday: turning mostly cloudy with afternoon and evening rain developing.

Highs in the upper 60s.

Saturday: mostly cloudy with a 20% chance of a shower or two higher odds of rain farther to our south.

Highs in the low 60s.

Weather looks fair for the egg bowl in oxford.

Sunday: additional rain and storms develop.

There could be some strong activity somewhere across the twins states so stay tuned for updates.

Highs should range from the upper 50s to low 60s.

Early next week: much cooler highs in the 40s.

Lows in the 30s and 20s.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger it's egg bowl week... next in sports mike leach and lane kiffin preview this weekend's matchup spx open ááátake mon gfxááá we're four days away from this year's egg bowl... head coaches mike leach and lane kiffin's first years are wrapping up... never easy to establish a good culture at a new program in year one... it doesn't help when there's a global pandemic that wiped out spring practices... the 3-4 and 2-5 seasons for ole miss and state have finally led to this... egg bowl week... the bulldogs have won the last two contests against the rebels... when it comes to this season though.... state's two wins came against lsu week one and a 24-17 victory over vanderbilt a few weeks ago... ole miss has won back-to-back games agaist vanderbilt and south carolina... you can easily make the argument that they could have defeated alabama...auburn and arkansas as well... all of those matchups came down to the wire... despite the adversity this year.... both head coaches believe their teams have made progress... 00-05 :35-:40 leach says: i don't think we've reached our potential yet.

I think we're young enough where we are gonn a change to the popsitive and that?s where the biggest strides come when young players develop.

They're collectively explosive on offense that jumps out the most.

Kiffin says: these guys have played really well on defense for most of the season.

Give you a lot of problems, play hard and have really good players.

We have our hands full and they hadn't played well on offense but turned it around and started to beat drop 8 which was their issue lately.

The stage has officially been set for north half finals across missisippi this is what the match-ups will look like for next week in 6a after oxford took down hernando...the chargers will officially head to clinton next week for the 6a north half final in 5a...west point survives to advance and will take on third seeded ridgeland on the road next week in 4a...we get a match-up of two wcbi viewing area teams as itawamba ahs will hit the road and take on the louisville wildcats...louisvill e taking down pontotoc on friday night in 3a...winona and noxubee county will face off for a fierce battle...winona coming off the huge win against amory and noxubee taking down north panola in 2a...the north half will feature another two of our area teams...calhoun city and east union...this one..definitely a potential game of the week contender 1a...nanih waiya will host biggersville...the two best teams in 1a all season facing off...the first meeting for these two teams all season highlights and scores next week on the endzone ááátake gfxááá this week's lineman of the week goes to the okolona cheiftans... they defeated west lowndes this season in a defensive battle 2- 0 and also took down thrasher 34-6 in week one of the season... okolona's season ended with a loss to nanih waiya... they're your lineman of the week..

ááátake mon gfxááá be sure to check out our egg bowl special..

I9t will air friday at 630 and then saturday at 11 am 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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