WCBI NEWS AT SIX - 12/17/2020

WCBI NEWS AT SIX - 12/17/2020

The former head of mississippi's department of corrections is under fire after a new audit shows alleged misspending... everything from travel reimbursements to massage chairs are being questioned.

State auditor shad while says former commissioner pelicia hall was paid thousands of dollars in bogus travel reimbursements.

More money was allegedly used to update excutive suites at mdoc facilities, which included a bedroom suit, televisions and a vaccum.

20 massage chairs were bought for mdoc staff and inmates.

Decorations, such as rugs and art, were also reportedly purchased for meditation rooms at corrections facilities.

White says the attempts to cover up the reported mis-spending were wide reaching and started at the top of the agency.

"the old leadership at mdoc had been destroying documents, documents about financial transfers and transactions that made it very difficult to determine how money was being spent.

The excuse is that the destruction of those documents was accidental.

In one case, they are saying documents that should have been saved were loaded onto a burn truck.

But you can tell, if that's going it becomes very difficult to identify issues unless somebody on the inside can help you identify what's going on and that's what happened here."

White says the current mdoc staff requested the audit and cooperated with his staff.

Former commissioner hall resigned last december.

The state auditor's full report is on our website wcbi dot com.

Off top new information tonight in a columbus shooting... officers arrest a teenager in connection with the gunfire.

The shooting happened wednesday, just before noon, in the 21 hundred block of 14th street north.

A man was reportedly shot in the arm.

Police chief fred shelton says an argument led to the shooting.

Help from area residents helped investigators find the teen within hours of the incident.

Shelton is not releasing the name of the suspect or his age but says the accused shooter is younger than 16.

Police hope others will learn from this kid that is now facing grown-up decisions after being charged with two counts of aggravated assault.

"gun violence is not the way.

Taking out a gun when you have a dispute is not the way.

So, you have a dispute is not the way.

So, we encourage our young people to use a little conflict resolution.

Try to talk it out instead of getting in an argument about it and if there is an argument don't use a weapon to resolve it."

The teen will be tried as an adult and is being held in the lowndes county jail.

His bond was set at 20 thousand dollars this afternoon.

Top investigators in chickasaw county need your help identifying two suspects in an armed robbery.

It happened wednesday morning around 9:30 at "money man" on kyle drive in houston.

These are images from an camera inside the building.

No other information about the robbery is available.

If you recognize the suspects, call the chickasaw county's sheriff's department or houston police.

A truck sitting at a green light leads to a dui and grand larceny arrest.

42-year-old terrance rogers is facing several charges after officers saw a truck and trailer stopped at a green light early wednesday morning.

About three hours after rogers was booked for dui, no drivers license and obstructing traffic the truck he was driving was reported stolen.

Starkville police say the trailer he was pulling was also reported stolen.

Now, rogers is also charged with two counts of grand larceny.

Rdr a well known north mississippi farmer is dead after a tragic accident this morning.

Lee county coroner carolyn green says 69 year old roger campbell's tractor flipped this morning at his baldwyn farm.

He later died at the hospital.

Campbell helped operate his family's business, "campbell farms" his entire life.

121720-gfx off top a columbus man is still missing.

It's been 5 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.

First look stinger first look summary: seasonably cool weather will stick around through the weekend.

Our next chance of rain will come late saturday, saturday night, and sunday morning.

Another round of rain is possible on christmas eve day.

Christmas day continues to look cold and dry.

Thursday night: clear, calm, and very cold.

Lows in the mid 20s.

Friday: mostly sunny.

Highs in the low 50s.

A doctor from starkville was part of the historic first round of mississippi healthcare workers to get pfizer's covid-19 vaccine.

Dr. emily landrum of the family clinic says she found out tuesday that she would be getting one of those early doses.

Wcbi's stephen pimpo sat down with doctor landrum today to find out about the experience and why she says mississippians should not be afraid to get the vaccine when it's available.

"way back when, doing the polio vaccine and small pox vaccine for the first time, trying to end those deadly diseases and that's something i think we never thought we would experience again."

Dr. emily landrum says it was a surreal moment as she received her first dose of pfizer's covid-19 vaccine on wednesday.

The physician from the family clinic in starkville was among the first group of medical leaders to receive the vaccine at quinn healthcare.

"to be a part of kind of the first group of people to get a vaccine that is really going to be life-changing i think for us as a society was just really special."

Su: in 3 weeks...dr. landrum will get the required second does of the pfizer vaccine and it will be about a week after that she'll have full protection from the virus.

"it varies but in general...i'm in contact with it on a fairly regular basis."

In addition to protecting those frontline workers...the mississippi state medical association and state department of health wanted to show the public that the vaccine is safe and ready.

"we need to get to a pretty high vaccination rate to really give good protection against severe disease and decrease our hospitalizations so it is going to take a while but it's so promising that we're at least at the beginning of that phase."

Dr. landrum says that like most vaccines, they do expect it to have some initial side effects...which could include some soreness, slight fever and aches and pains.

So far...she says she feels fine.

"i've checked my arm several times at the injection site and not had any redness, no rashes, no itching.

I haven't felt any headaches, body aches or anything like that out of my norm."

Doctor landrum has been documenting her reaction to the vaccine on social media and that the cdc is tracking the reactions of those who have been vaccinated.

"we'll have so much more information by the time that it's available to the public that i think, even then it's just going to be an even better and even more promising option for people to do."

In starkville...stephe n pimpo...wcbi news.

Dr. landrum told us she expects the vaccine to be available to the public by spring of 2021.

The first doses of the covid 19 vaccine were given to frontline workers at tupelo's north mississippi medical center.

Earlier this week, nmmc received almost 2 thousand doses of the vaccine produced by pfizer.

The vaccines will be given to the most essential healthcare workers over the next few days.

Mississippi has received 25 thousand doses of the vaccine, and all of those were sent to hospitals across the state.

Nmmc officials say they are confident they will have the doses needed for a second round of shots for those who take the pfizer vaccine.

The second shot should be given about three weeks after the first shot.

Federal authorities are expected to approve emergency use of the moderna vaccine soon.

Mississippi's new covid-19 numbers continue to stay over the two thosuand mark.

The state department of the state department of health is reporting two thousand 261 new cases and 26 deaths.

Nine of those fatalities occurred in the wcbi viewing area.

One thousand 316 people are hospitalized across the state with confirmed or suspected coronavirus symptoms. 321 of those patients are in i.c.u.

Locally, lowndes county has the most new cases today with 77.

Lee has 50, winston has 45, pontotoc has 43, and union has 35.

Stinger "tupelo salvation army is in the middle of its red kettle campaign, there's not as many red kettles out and about but there's other ways to donate.

We'll tell you how that money is used throughout the year, that story is coming up on wcbi news."

The salvation army's red kettle campaign is underway... with fewer kettles all because of covid- 19.

However, there are still ways to give and help.

Wcbi's allie martin has the story.

It's a familiar sound every christmas season.

Nats bell ringers for the salvation army's red kettle campaign.

"this is our number one fundraiser, this time of year."

Covid-19 is forcing the organization to have fewer kettles.

However, the charity is turning to technology and other methods to keep the donations coming in.

At each kettle location, a qr code allows people to donate electronically, using their smartphones.

People can also send a check to the tupelo salvation army's carnation street offices, or donors can contribute online.

All donations collected during the six week holiday period make a big difference through the year for thousands of people.

"what we raise during the holiday season goes to almost forty to fifty percent of our annual budget, which is why it's so important that it does well and works well.

Standup bridge the tupelo salvation army is about halfway to its goal of 400 thousand dollars for its year end fundraising push.

That money helps provide services throughout the year, a year that's seen an increase in demand for those services and an increase in expenses for providing those services.

"when we talk about sheltering , it's gotten more expensive because of the precautions we have to take and so that's why we really can't afford to come in below our goal."

The holiday fundraising period ends at the end of this year, but the kettle campaign wraps up christmas eve.

In tupelo, allie martin, wcbi news if you would like more information on how to donate... go to our website... wcbi dot com.

Top 4-county electric power association looks to be the shinging star on the tree for some this christmas.

This is the 11th year the electric cooperative has teamed up with the u.s. marine corps reserve toys for tots program.

Utility members and employees went the extra mile by donating toys and giving to families in need.

Covid may have paused a lot of activities, but it surely didn't slow up the gift of giving.

"over 400 toys is what you'll see in our lobby.

I think it's a record year for us kudos to the members of 4- county electric power association and the employees have done a great job.

If you see all the toys here you'll be amazed.

A lot of kids are going to be happy this year."

"they said the collections were down this year, but you can look around and see we've been blessed because we've got a lot of toys in.

We do about 1,600 kids so every little toy helps and it always comes in handy."

Donations were picked up today and will be handed out in four county's service area.

Stinger weather open summary: seasonably cool weather will stick around through the weekend.

Our next chance of rain will come late saturday, saturday night, and sunday morning.

Another round of rain is possible on christmas eve day.

Christmas day continues to look cold and dry.

Thursday night: clear, calm, and very cold.

Lows in the mid 20s.

Friday: mostly sunny.

Highs in the low 50s.

Friday night: a few clouds.

Lows around 30.

Saturday: mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of showers late in the day.

Highs in the low 50s.

Saturday night: areas of rain likely.

Lows in the low 40s.

Sunday: mostly cloudy.

Some rain is possible during the morning.

Highs in the mid 50s.

Monday- wednesday: mostly sunny to partly cloudy.

Some showers are possible late wednesday with an incoming cold front.

Milder highs from the upper 50s to low 60s.

Lows in the 30s.

Follow @wcbiweather on summary: seasonably cool weather will stick around through the weekend.

Our next chance of rain will come late saturday, saturday night, and sunday morning.

Another round of rain is possible on christmas eve day.

Christmas day continues to look cold and dry.

Thursday night: clear, calm, and very cold.

Lows in the mid 20s.

Friday: mostly sunny.

Highs in the low 50s.

Friday night: a few clouds.

Lows around 30.

Saturday: mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of showers late in the day.

Highs in the low 50s.

Saturday night: areas of rain likely.

Lows in the low 40s.

Sunday: mostly cloudy.

Some rain is possible during the morning.

Highs in the mid 50s.

Monday- wednesday: mostly sunny to partly cloudy.

Some showers are possible late wednesday with an incoming cold front.

Milder highs from the upper 50s to low 60s.

Lows in the 30s.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger the alabama crimson spx open two ole miss rebels decide that their college football careers in oxford have come to a close ole miss wide receiver elijah moore and tight end kenny yeboah announcing on twitter that both rebels will declare for the 2021 nfl draft the decision comes just before ole miss hits the road to play the teams final game of the s-e-c regular season against lsu moore finishes his career at ole miss totaling over 2400 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns after transferring from temple, yeboah went on to total over 500 yards and six touchdowns in his solo year in oxford the 2021 nfl is scheduled to take place april 29th of next years hail state women's hoops picking up win number three of the season against troy 103-76 on monday the bulldogs able to pull of the three digit victory by not only shooting 54- percent from the field but also with the help of 18 three point shots state started off with the hot hand in the first half shooting 13 of the overall 18 shots from downtown while a presence from deep is always great to have and exciting to see..head coach nikki mccray- penson has a game plan to ensure the trey ball doesn't cause more harm than good nmp: "what we've said is if we miss three in a row than do something different because we don't ever want them questioning themselves.

You know we want them to be ready to shoot it and they were.

If it's in rhythm and it's uncontested that's a good shot.

When we miss three in a row then we have to do something different.

Obviously there's some games where i've said lets get this ball inside because clearly we had a big size advantage.

So, our players have to understand what the game plan is."

The alabama crimson tide are getting ready for the team's thirteenth appearance in the s-e-c championship the number one team in the country, alabama will be facing off against the 11th ranked florida gators there's a lot of history in this match-up between the tide and the gators this will be the thirteenth appearance for both teams and while alabama might have the most wins with eight total...florida has seven the last time the two faced off in the title game was back in 2016 where alabama came out with the 54-16 win while the tide might lead 6-5 for title meetings between the two, head coach nick saban recognizes the challenge this florida team could present saban: "you have to focus on what's in front of you because at this point in the season it's like the playoffs it's like a new season.

What you did during the season really doesn't have any impact on the outcome moving forward.you have to have the maturity to understand that and stay focused on what you need to do to continue to play well and the people you're going to play against are going to be the best players you played against all year long."

This weekend marks the final weekend of the regular season for football teams in the southeastern conference it's the final chance for teams across the s-e-c to add wins to their resume before bowl selections begin here's the schedule for the final weekend in the southeastern conference ole miss will hit the road for the rebels last away test taking on the lsu tigers...2:30 pm on the sec network mississippi state hosts its final home game of the year against missouri in davis wade stadium...that game at 2:30 pm available to watch on the sec network alternate channel and the s-e-c championship kicks -off at 6 pm central right here on wcbi...you can see all the action from the final weekend of the season by joining us on wcbi news at ten when we return...chief meteorologist keith gibson will have a last look at your forecast.

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