WCBI NEWS AT TEN - DECEMBER 16, 2020

WCBI NEWS AT TEN - DECEMBER 16, 2020

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 reporting 43.

Healthcare workers are first up on the list of eligible mississippians to get covid-19 vaccine.

And as courtney ann jackson explains--- many are looking to lead by example.

The mississippi state medical association's clarion call of "mask up mississippi" will now be combined with "vax up mississippi."

"we're doing this as a demonstration to let people see that we mean what we say and we'll do what we say."

Ten doctors rolled up their sleeves for that very reason wednesday afternoon.

I just woke up excited.

Couldn't sleep last night.

Proud to do this to show people how much we believe in the vaccine and how it is our way forward out of the pandemic."

"i think that on a smaller level when these patients to their doctors get it, they know they can ask me questions, i've been through it.

I can talk to him about it.

I can give them guidelines in tips.

If they have concerns or questions, we can talk through what they might be appropriate for it and when."

The university of mississippi medical center also started vaccinating frontline workers wednesday.

"it represents to me the light at the end of the tunnel.

A day that we've been waiting on.

Usually i stand here before you and talk about how many icu beds we are down, how we are struggling and we're tired.

Well that's all true, i feel like there's a shot of energy it's been imported into our staff today."

Ummc's first allotment was of 3,900 doses and after figuring up those at most risk of exposure---they believe that will cover those employees' first round of vaccination.

They'll still need the second.

"this shipment was for the first dose only.

So, we have been assured that we will get the second dose in the appropriate timeline.

We don't know exactly what day yet.

We're awaiting that notificaiton.

But we have asked that question many times because of course we're worried about that.

Dr. louann woodward says she chose to take the vaccine as part of the first round of employees because she didn't want to ask her employees to do something she had not yet done.

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.

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.

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 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.

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."

Intro 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 wx open wx 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 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: stinger the holiday blues can be a hard thing to cope with... after the break..

Some tips that could make things a little easier.

Health talk with baptist is coming up after the break.

Don't go anywhere.

Cash 3 lottery gfx goes here tonight on health talk with baptist, chaplain jonathan blackburn joins us for part two of our conversation on holiday blues.

Take a look.

No scripts billboard attached stinger oliday blues if you find yourself down or blue around the holidays well you are not alone there are ways to overcome these feelings be reasonable decide priotitees make a budget go easy on sugar dont expect holidays like you did when you were a child they arent the same becasue you are not the same nor are the people around you.

Join us next time 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 open ???take mon gfx???

Mike leach and the mississippi state bulldogs were active on day one of the early signing period 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???

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 started 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."

Msu looking to bounce back after a double ot loss to dayton this weekend 1st half....iverson molinar on the drive....step back jumper is good...state leads by 4 central arkansas playing tough....deandre jones on the attack...beautiful kick out to rylan bergensen for 3....tied up 8-8 bergensen on the drive...gets his layup punished by abdul ado bulldogs now on the fast break...devion smith kicks it out to jalen johnson spotted up in the corner.....shot is good then before halftime....d.j.

Stewart iso...double crossover with the step back...buckets....ms u leads 39-35 at halftime and msu pulls away in this one.....final 81-65 from the hump the shuler family in attendance for some competition on the hardwood between brothers first half, 17:27 to go -- guard devontae shuler drives to the rack and lays it in...and one!...7-0 ole miss after the free throw about midway through first half -- guard jarkel joiner out on the wing...bottoms the 3-ball...rebels first trey ball of the game...ole miss leading 20-12 4 and a half to go -- off the rebound, luis rodriguez out in transition and goes right to the bucket for two...ole miss up 24-14 under a minute in the first half -- rodriguez with the feed inside to forward romello white who finishes the shot...rebels up 29-19 seconds remaining before the break -- inbounds pass..joiner finds shuler...corner three...nothing but nylon..

Ole miss heads into halftime with a 10- point lead 32-