WCBI News at Six - Wednesday, December 16th, 2020

WCBI News at Six - Wednesday, December 16th, 2020

Columbus police are investigating a late-morning shooting.

The call went out around 11:15 this morning.

Paramedics and investigators were dispatched to 14th avenue north.

There are reports that a victim was shot in the chest and upper arm.

There is no word and upper arm.

There is no word on that person's condition or the circumstances behind the shooting.

Police have not released any information on the shooting.

No word on any arrests or the condition of the victim.

Stinger wcbi continuing coverage stinger the number of i.c.u.

Beds in mississippi continues to dwindle.

The state department of health is reporting two thousand 343 new covid-19 cases and 42 deaths.

Ten of those occurred in the wcbi viewing area.

Right now, there are 70 open i.c.u.

Beds open in the state.

The rolling seven- day average number of new cases is almost 22- hundred.

Locally, lee county has the most new cases with 118.

Lowndes, pontotoc, and union counties are all reporting 50 new cases each.

Monroe is repotrting 43.

More hospitals around the country are delivering pfizer's covid-19 shots to their frontline workers, as cases of the virus rise across the country.

And, a panel of experts is expected to vote to recommend the vaccine developed by ?moderna?

Tomorrow, with the fda's green light expected soon after.

David begnaud reports from sacramento, california.

An emergency room doctor at uc davis medical center in sacramento recorded this video on his iphone and shared it with us to show what was described as a tremendous surge of coronavirus patients.

The pandemic has never been worse here.

Dr. nate kuppermann runs the e.r.

Here - and yesterday i've never been so excited to get an immunization in my life.

He was one of the first 300 front line workers to receive that pfizer vaccine.

With this immunization, i now know i will not die from this disease.

Cbs news had exclusive access when 4,875 doses arrived in one box tuesday morning, 3 hours ahead of schedule, thanks to the fedex delivery man who said he was just& doing my part.

And because of that, the wheels were in motion.

As soon as they came off the truck, first stop is the pharmacy to start opening the box pharmacy supply chain manager erin st.

Angelo took the lead& this moment is about to happen once the box was open&she immediately placed the vials into this ultra cold freezer.

As erin is putting them in, it's negative 79 degrees celsius in the freezer mission accomplished!

The next step?

Take out 100 vials, label them, and give them 30 minutes to thaw out.

It was time to transport them to the vaccine room in a mobile refrigerator.

As they moved through the hospital one man was pumping his fist in the air.

Finally we're able to give them // more or less absolute prevention given the efficacy of this vaccine once those first 100 vials with 500 doses arrived in the vaccination room they were allowed to continue thawing out while the call went out to eva teniola, the nurse who would the first uc davis health employee to receive the vaccine.

I am so super ready!

While her husband drove her to the hospital& the vaccine had thawed& it was then mixed with saline solution and given to teniola right after she arrived.

Yes!

This is the start!

The start.

Signaling the first of many more to come.

You can sense the excitement from these frontline workers.

Pzifer's vaccine is being given now.

Moderna is up next.

They could get approval as early as friday.

And moderna's vaccine could be given to frontline workers as soon as next week.

David begnaud cbs news at the university of california medical center here in sacramento, california.

121620-rdr students in the calhoun county school district will start the spring semester learning from home.

School officials announced today due to an increased number of positive covid-19 cases, students will be virtual january fourth through the eleventh.

Grab and go breakfast and lunch will be available that week from 10:30 to 11:30 at school cafeterias.

Staff who are healthy will report back to school on january fourth.

Parents can contact the superintendent's office for more information.

The legacy of a second grader who passed away last year continues at tupelo's joyner elementary school.

As wcbi's allie martin reports, a collaboration between the student's mother, and teachers will ensure that the "bright light" that characterized p j mcgee won't be forgotten.

"p j was a bright light here at joyner, he never had a frown on his face, always smiling."

Dana daugherty taught p j mcgee in second grade challenge class.

The seven year old passed away last december, after a sudden illness.

Pj's mother, crystal, along with joyner teachers and staff wanted to do something to honor his memory, so wednesday morning, two second graders received the "bright light christmas gift award' "we did an all around student, somebody who was a friend to everybody, cause pj was a friend to everybody, and somebody who also had good academically, good attendance, and everything cause pj had all those qualities" teachers were asked to nominate a boy and girl for the first "bright light" awards.

Jasper hall and shelby mister received this year's award.

Along with a certificate, each student also received a new bike.

Nats although shelby had to take part in the event through facetime, she was excited.

What did you think about winning this purple bike?

"it was awesome" jasper was recognized for his desire to help others, and his competitive nature, which teachers say was also a trait of pj's.

Tell us why it's important to do the right things and help others out.

"so when you get a job, you can be helpful, nice and safe" pj's memory will also live on through an addition last spring to the playground.

This piece, in ole miss colors, which was pj's favorite football team, was purchased by the joyner community in pj's memory.

In tupelo, allie martin, wcbi news each december, two joyner second graders will be presented with the "bright light christmas gift award."

First look stinger first look summary: high pressure will give us more sun as the work week comes to an end.

More rain is possible saturday with another cold front.

Sunny and mild conditions are set to return early next week.

Wednesday night: mostly cloudy.

Lows in the upper 20s.

Winds nw 4-8 mph.

Thursday: morning clouds then turning mostly sunny.

Highs in the mid 40s.

Winds nw 5- 10 mph.

Vo off top for nearly 30 years, fred bell has been fighting crime - his way.

Today as he retired from the golden triangle crime stoppers board, local law enforcers talked about how much he has mean to their community - and to the local area.

Clay county sheriff eddie scott says bell helped launch crimestoppers and has worked tirelessly to raise money for the program.

Crimestoppers is a successful tool used by investigators to identify and prosecute criminals.

Bell has long believed crimestopper tips in exchange for reward money can help fight crime.

And he has committed himself to education and funding for the effort.

121620-sot but he's dedicated to everything he does.

I know even in the community over there, the work that he does, the volunteer work.

But in particular crimestoppers.

That was his heart.

That was his baby.

He made sure that this thing stayed sound as it is today and again with out him, we wouldn't be here today.

Bell has been honored over the years for his civic service including the mississippi crime stoppers lifetime service award.

You can enjoy the beauty of two historic homes in columbus from the comfort of your ?own?

Home.

The preservation society of columbus is hosting its first- ever virtual christmas tour of riverview and rosedale.

The tours will launch thursday online and will take you on a journey into the past.

The tour will give you a visual history of christmas traditions and decorations of the mid 19th century.

The psc hopes to make the christmas tour an annual event.

We're really excited to establish this a tradition.

We think that so many people associate christmas with traditions - be it traditions with your family, traditions with your community, maybe your church, maybe your neighborhood.

And we hope to be able to bring this christmas tour of homes into your traditions and celebrating these and celebrating columbus.

Again the tours launch tomorrow online at preserve columbus dot com.

You can also find information on the preservation society's social media pages.

Tickets are 15- dollars and allow for unlimited viewing.

Stinger " a local non profit won't let the pandemic stop them from helping those in need this holiday season.

The story ahead on wcbi."

Every year during the holiday season...prairie opportunity community action agency in starkville gives out free meals to their clients all across the golden triangle.

While the pandemic has limited how they can help this year...they know their clients need their help now more than ever.

Wcbi's stephen pimpo was with them as they handed out meals while staying safe and socially distant.

"there's probably something in that box that i can't even buy."

Prairie opportunity community action agency says their clients have come to rely on their annual meal giveaways during the holiday season.

"we do this at least once a year for our elderly and disabled clients and they expect that, they look forward to it and it's just a chance for us to give back and ease the burden during this time of year."

That burden has only increased amid the ongoing covid-19 pandemic.

"am i going to pay this electric bill or am i going to get groceries for the month?

Am i going to pay child care or do i have enough money to pay my gas bill for the month."

So the local non- profit set up at various locations across choctaw, clay, leake, lowndes, noxubee, oktibbeha, webster, and winston counties this morning to give out the christmas boxes full of food.

Su: prairie opportunity put together nearly 300 boxes of food to give out to households across 8 different counties "we actually had to reach out to people.

We reached out to people so they got a surprise call in other words saying 'hey, we're giving away food and your name is on that list.'" contacting clients who were most in need...prairie opportunity scheduled times for them to come by and have the meals dropped off in their trunks...allowing just two cars at a time over 30 minute intervals and making sure everyone wore masks.

"i thank yall from the bottom of my heart that ya'll gave us those boxes.

It could help a long ways."

"thank prairie opportunity for what they're doing for the peoples and god bless 'em."

"god bless us all."

In starkville...stephe n pimpo...wcbi prairie opportunity told us they gave away all but 10 of the 240 food boxes they prepared for today.

They said they were overwhelmed by the amount of donations from the community that help make it all possible.

Stinger weather open summary: high pressure will give us more sun as the work week comes to an end.

More rain is possible saturday with another cold front.

Sunny and mild conditions are set to return early next week.

Wednesday night: mostly cloudy.

Lows in the upper 20s.

Winds nw 4-8 mph.

Thursday: morning weather open summary: high pressure will give us more sun as the work week comes to an end.

More rain is possible saturday with another cold front.

Sunny and mild conditions are set to return early next week.

Wednesday night: mostly cloudy.

Lows in the upper 20s.

Winds nw 4-8 mph.

Thursday: morning clouds then turning mostly sunny.

Highs in the mid 40s.

Winds nw 5- 10 mph.

Thursday night: clear and cold.

Lows in the mid 20s.

Friday: mostly sunny.

Highs in the low 50s.

Saturday: mostly cloudy with a 50% chance of showers.

Highs in the low 50s.

Saturday night: mostly cloudy.

Lows around 40.

Sunday: mostly cloudy.

Highs in the low 50s.

Early next week: mostly sunny to partly cloudy.

Milder highs in the upper 50s to around 60.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger high school football stars from across the area put their names on the dotted line as today is national signing day!

Where are they heading though?

We have that covered next in sports... stinger high school football stars from across the area put their names on the dotted line as today is national signing day!

Where are they heading though?

We have that covered next in sports... spx ???take mon gfx???

Mike leach and the mississippi state bulldogs were active on the recruiting trail on signing day... despite losing a few who were verbally committed earlier in the year... including defensive mj daniels who flipped to ole miss... nonetheless... one of mike leach's first commits once he was hired... four star quarterback out of lubbock texas sawyer robertson... called his footwork immaculate..

Expect to hear his name more soon... another texan... teddy knox out of the woodlands... the 5-10 and 167 pound speedster will give will rogers some help... a big surprise today was four star receiver antonio harmon out of kosciusko..

This was a newer commitment to mike leach's offense..

The 6-4 205 pound receiver was a nice addition... the other four star get was john lewis out of germantown... defensive coordinator zach arnett was given an extension on tuesday and already has more firepower... their class ranks 36th according to 24/7 sports and mike leach says his team isn't done 00-05 leach says: we've got our eye out for other guys as well at pboth of those positions as that continues we'll look at more dbs and transfers as well they'll be looking to boost the secondary more... kickoff saturday with missouri is at 2:30 ???take gfx???

???take gfx???

Ole miss inked six four star recruits today... their class is ranked 18th nationally... bralon brown the receiver out of fort lauderdale... luke altmyer out of starkville... hudson wolfe the 6'7 tight end out of savannah tennessee... safety tysheem johnson from philadelphia... safety dink jackson... cornerback markevious brown... lane kiffin says patience was the ultimate virtue,,, kiffin: "if you look at us a month or two ago im sure everyone thought we sucked you know and cant recruit.

Theres kind of a plan when youve been doing this long enough.

So we don't care about early commitments.

A lot of our guys signing today had told us a long time ago they were coming and we told them not to put it out."

For the rebels, christmas starts early for them as they were able to flip 4-star recruit and starkville quarterback luke altmyer from florida state to join the lane train.

Altmyer signed with ole miss earlier today in the starkville gymnasium.

In his press conference today, head coach lane kiffin called altmyer a "talent and a natural leader."

Altmyer explains why heading to oxford is the fit for him.

"distance.

It's just an hour and a half away from where i live right now.

Obviously, they've been really exciting to watch on saturday's.

Matt corral has been tearing it up.

Elijah moore.

The way that coach kiffin and coach leby put their players in the best position to be themselves and great is really special.

I want to be a part of that."

In oxford, head coach chris cutcliffe and the chargers cheer on a few of their own as they sign on the dotted line earlier this morning.

5 star kicker jack tannehill decides to stay in-state and sign with the university of southern miss.

His teammate linebacker tristan shorter is making the move to play with arkansas state.

And lineman jamal pe-geece signs with jacksonville state.

All of them are excited to continue playing the game they love.

For tannehill though, the opportunity to play in his home state just means more.

"especially having friends that have gone off and played college football in different states like j.j.

Peagus.

He went and played in alabama.

Quinton wilfon who's now at south alabama.

I feel like it just means a little bit more when you're on your home turf a little bit."

"i'm blessed.

I didn't know i would be in this position right now.

For me to be in this position from where i came from, how i've been playing, and how the season went is crazy.

I give thanks to god."

In tupelo, star linebacker dalton hughes is making the move to continue playing at south alabama.

Hughes was a problem for defenses all season long.

He can't wait to bring the same energy to the jaguars d.

"getting after the quarterback.

That's what i liked that they emphasized.

Cade walmack.

The head coach, it's called the swarm d.

That's what he's bringing to south alabama.

He's gonna be aggressive and i'm excited.

I think i'll fit in very well."

In lafayette, cornerback brendan toles announced his intent to sign with southern miss as well.

His signing is set for friday morning.

When we return...chief meteorologist keith gibson will have a last look at your forecast.

You are watching wcbi news at six.

Connie, we do expect to see some sunshine there is a pinnate friday s'more showers possible saturday next week.

The minor things a little bit back up to around 60 no major weather systems andra as the