WCBI NEWS AT SIX - 12/18/2020

WCBI NEWS AT SIX - 12/18/2020

A two-car crash in chickasaw county kills a houston woman.

The accident happened on highway 8, near the natchez trace, in chickasaw county on thursday night.

State troopers say a car driven by 49-year-old wilson parker was backing out of a driver way just before the collision.

The other vehicle involved was driven by 62-year- old melvin jackson of aberdeen, who was eastbound on highway 8.

A passenger in parker's car, 52- year-old mabeline vance of houston, died at the scene.

Parker and 72-year- old mattie baskins were injured.

Jackson was not injured.

The mississippi highway patrol continues to investigate the crash.

Stinger wcbi continuing coverage stinger mississippi's new covid-19 numbers continue to stay over the two thousand mark.

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.

State health officer dr. thomas dobbs issues a warning to healthcare workers earlier today.

Dobbs held a zoom conference with healthcare professionals across the state around 4 o'clock this afternoon.

During the conversation he addressed questions about the covid-19 vaccines.

He says it's important for everyone to take the vaccine, even if they've already had the coronavirus.

He says the christmas holiday will most likely bring more case numbers than those we saw after thanksgiving.

"if this were the peak of the hospital stuff, i wouldn't be worried.

The hospitals are doing great.

Hey, and healthcare workers, doctors and people watching, it's going to be hard on you guys for the next month or two and just get ready.

Get rested when you can.

Stay hydrated.

It's going to be rough."

Dobbs says once you take the vaccine, you will not test positive for covid-19, but you could test positive for the antibodies.

Lowndes county volunteer fire departments are changing the way they respond to emergencies.

Because of covid- 19 they'll now only allow a limited number of volunteers on the scene of any emergency.

The plan also limits the firefighters response to only rescue type situations..

Instead of going to every medical call in the county.

Lowndes county fire coordinator neal austin says it's a measure designed to cut down possible exposure to the virus.

" we do not want to have 15 or 16 volunteers that have normal everyday job exposed and possibly contaminate their work place, that kind of thing.

10 people/responders and for a normal chest pain call we don't want that many people going into somebody's house that may have a covid issue.

So we would limit that down to one or two to assist the ambulance service doing what they do."

Austin says with 145 volunteers spread through the five districts of lowndes county..

The plan creates more man power to call for multiple emergencies.

Governor tate reeves says he could never have envisioned what his first year in office would be like, but he has high hopes for the new year.

The first-term republican reflected on 2020 during an interview with wcbi at the governor's mansion.

In january, the jackson area with hit by flooding, then in march the state began feeling the effects of covid 19.

Reeves says since then, many small businesses haveclosed or are struggling to survive, while more than 43 hundred mississippians have died from the virus.

The governor remains hopeful for a better 2021.

"i worry very seriously about the mental impacts of what this virus has done to our people and as we go into christmas, let's remember the reason for the season, let's celebrate that we do have an opportunity in this country to practice our religion, to focus on the good things going on , and look i'm an optimist, i believe we will come out of this, stronger than we were before and we will position ourselves to compete" the governor has said he will not do a second state- wide shutdown.

Off top alabama's unemployment numbers show significant improvement across the board.

The november unemployment rate is four point four percent.

That is a drop from october's five point seven percent.

The alabama department of labor says this is the highest level of employment since march.

Gains were seen in trade, transportation, utilities, professional, and manufacturing sectors.

Lamar county's unemployment rate is two point seven percent, which is a full point below last month's numbers.

Pickens county has a four point five percent unemployment rate...down from six percent in october.

First look stinger first look friday night: mainly clear during the evening with more clouds late.

Lows around 30.

Light wind.

Saturday: turning mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of showers during the afternoon and early evening.

Highs in the low 50s.

Winds se at 10 mph.

Holiday shopping should monitor intro the school year that begins in fall of 2021 may look a little different for the columbus municipal school district.

Classes will be in session for extended periods to target student achievement and learning loss.

School administrators are currently developing a plan for teachers,students ,and parents.

Our stephanie poole has more of those details.

She joins us in the studio with more.

Joey, the district says having students in the classroom 'more' will open the opportunity for engaged learning.

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That's why board members are working to develop a modified schedule to focus on college readiness, grade- level preparedness, and instructional- learning.

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The columbus muncipal school district is exploring a change in the school calendar.

This new schedule will ease the summer slide for teachers and students.

" our students are in different learning environments.

We've been in the virtual and hybrid setting and our teachers have been asked to do things that are unprecedented."

Superintendent dr. cherie labat says the district will follow a similar model to corinth school district, taking four weeks from summer break to spread it throughout the school year,also known as 'intersessions'.

" we can work on students and give them gray-level instruction during the year.

We're being proactive and preparing for those deficits by getting our students where they need to be during the year.

I do feel we can replicate that type of success."

Dr. labat says intersession will also promote academic achievement, college and career readiness, and workforce development for graduating students.

" there will be some critical moments in education in the next two years because of what we've gone through.

There's exhaustion, there's trauma, there's pads.there's things we'll deal with from students with academic interruption from quarantine and positive cases."

Even though participation for intersession is optional for teachers, educator roselynn rainey is already on board.

" you're refreshed and not so worn out.

What i liked was the intersession in october because you can work on those fundamental skills that the kids need instead of waiting until the end of the year playing catch up."

Rainey says during the summer, more than half the students will forget what they've learned.

" the first intersession you do fundamentals and the next intersession you do enrichment where it's something that you like or you want to learn more about so it makes learning more exciting for them."

Butt sots " i am so amazed at how many parents are in agreement with the modified schedule.

They're speaking up on how it will help our students here at fairview elementary."

Labat says there are a few steps to complete before a final decision is made for the 21-22 school year.

She and board members will continue researching the best method possible.

"our teachers are not going to work any more days than the 187 days than they are contracted.

Our students, unless they need the assistance, acceleration, enrichment, or remediation will only go to school 180 days.

Being an innovative district with innovative employees we want to do something that's progressive for our students by providing shorter breaks to eliminate learning loss and to deal with the covid-19 slide."

Dr. labat tells me another community stakeholder meeting will be on january7th.

The columbus municipal school district will also meet with the corinth school district about those developments and school plans.

Dr. labat also says traditional holiday's such as thanksgiving, christmas,and easter will not be altered.

A new traffic light at a dangerous intersection is up and in test mode.

This is poorhouse road at old highway 25 in oktibbeha county.

Over the years, the oktibbeha county sheriff's department has worked a number of accidents at this intersection.

That's why mississippi department of transportation studied the traffic volumes in the area to determine the need.

Supervisors approved the traffic signal.

It is scheduled to be fully on line by wednesday.

Stinger "in 2020 it feels like positive or negative has taken the place of naughty or nice, how santa is saying social distance this holiday season.

The story ahead on wcbi."

There isn't much this year that has been normal.

But santa, thank goodness, is still checking his list and prepping that sleigh.

But since santa has been so busy, there have been fewer chances to visit him in person.

But wcbi's stephen pimpo has located santa and is live with the details.

"it's not like how "it's not like how christmas is supposed to go because we had corona and everything."

That's how 8-year- old easton sums up the holiday season in 2020.

In a year where the covid-19 pandemic has changed so much...hollyhocks giftshop in columbus wanted to at least make sure 2020 wouldn't be a year without a santa claus.

"santa and i discussed it.

We wanted to make sure that it was going to be safe.

And so with a good discussion of how we would implement those safety measures."

Su: to make sure the only thing being spread is christmas cheer...kids can have their picture taken standing next to santa instead of on his lap.

"i feel very safe.

We're wearing masks, everybody's been very good and very respectful about the point of not being too close to saturday and sunday are your last chances to see santa before he gets ready for next week's delivery.

Pictures are $10 per person.

... saturday and sunday are your last chances to see santa before he gets ready for next week's delivery.

Pictures are $10 per person.

Have santa toss back.

The west point police department is preparing for its annual toy giveaway tomorrow.

The event will be in the front parking lot of the police station saturday morning at 9 o'clock.

Officers say the event is drive-thru only.

Parents can drive up, see santa, and receive a toy.

Organizers say it's important for children to see police officers in this type of setting.

"when we have events like this, it gives us an opportunity to connect with the people in our community, to get to know them better, they get to know the officers better, they get to see the officers in a different light, as well.

So, that's very important to us."

"the toys and things that we have available to give away to the children, these items came from the community.

So, that's what it's all about.

It's just an opportunity for the entire community to come together-- especially this year."

In addition to toys, officers will also be giving out free masks .

Stinger weather open summary: showers return to the region saturday afternoon and they could linger into the first part of sunday morning.

Dry and relatively mild conditions build back in for early next week.

A strong cold front is expected to push across our region late wednesday or early thursday.

It'll give us more rain and perhaps even a small chance at some frozen precipitation before the moisture moves away thursday morning.

Friday night: mainly clear during the evening with more clouds late.

Lows around 30.

Light wind.

Saturday: turning mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of showers during the afternoon and early evening.

Highs in the low 50s.

Winds se at 10 mph.

Holiday shopping should be rain free for the first half of the day.

Saturday night: areas of rain.

Lows in the low 40s.

Sunday: mostly cloudy.

Some rain is possible during the morning.

Highs in the low 50s.

Total weekend rainfall generally in the 1/4" to 1/2" total weekend rainfall generally in the 1/4" to 1/2" range.

Summary: showers return to the region saturday afternoon and they could linger into the first part of sunday morning.

Dry and relatively mild conditions build back in for early next week.

A strong cold front is expected to push across our region late stinger ole miss continues mississippi state football returning to davis wade stadium one last time this season... hosting the missouri tigers... the bulldogs looking for their first victory since the november 7th win over vanderbilt... they've dropped their last three and only scored 10 points in last week's loss to auburn... but missouri has struggled on the defensive side recently ..

Allowing at least 48 points in each of their last two games so potential for state's offense to bounce back..

Kickoff is at 2:30 on sec network alternate..

The tigers are one point favorites... ole miss added to it's list of impressive commits... inking i-c- c wide receiver qua davis... in six games this year he had 258 yards and two touchdowns... davis... the three star recruit accoring to 24-7 sports... had offers from florida state and south carolina but ultimately opted to stay in his home state... he went to biggersville high school... the rebels will wrap up sec play saturday in baton rouge when they take on lsu... despite not having elijah moore and kenny yeboah who began preparing for the nfl draft thursday... ole miss is favored by one and a half points..

Kickoff is at 2:30 on saturday on the sec network... with just one weekend to go...let's take a look at the s-e-c standings and where teams stand as we approach the finish line..

In the west, alabama is the clear leader...undefeate d with 10 wins and playing in the sec title game this weekend texas a&m follows, then auburn, ole miss with a 4-4 overall record...lsu...arka nsas... mississippi state with a 2-7 overall record..

In the east, florida sits up top with 8 wins on the year followed by georgia, missouri, kentucky, tennessee, and south carolina... vanderbilt sits at the bottom of the sec as the only team in the conference to go winless with 9 losses this season mississippi state women's hoops hits the hardwood tonight playing host to southern through the first four games... offensively the bulldogs looking pretty sharp mississippi state is averaging 90 points per game and outscoring opponents by a 27 pt margin head coach nikki mccray-penson said although she's seen a lot of positives from her team offensively there's still plenty of work to be done especially on the defensive side of the ball nmp: "things that we gotta continue to get better at is transition defense.

I know we play a lot of multiple lineups because we could.

We just gotta know.

Part of that is communication.

Rebounding--we gotta be able to rebound out of transition.

A team that shoots a lot of shots in transition you have to be able to rebound out of transition.

That's an area we gotta get better at."

Ole miss men's basketball has started the season 4-0 after wednesday's victory over middle tennessee state in the battle of the shuler brothers..

This team was picked to finish ninth in the sec and they certainly don't look like it at this point... the rebels rank 4th in the country in scoring defense only allowing 52 points per game from opponents although it's still early in the season, head coach kermit davis is proud of what he's seen so far... davis: "it has a chance to be one of the very best defensive teams that i've ever coached.

We kind of saw that early on.

We've guarded for periods of time in these first four games really well.

Tonight i thought it was the most consistent.

I thought we guarded better off the bench.

Just our effort and following game plan has been good so far."

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

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