News

Checking the news while waiting for the coffee pot, thanks to The News-Commercial! The folks at the Senior Center in Collins recently arrived early to read about the latest happenings. The center offers meals, games, and activities for local senior citizens.

The Covington County Homemaker Volunteers group attended the annual conference from May 20 through May 24, 2019 at Mississippi State University in Starkville. A program of Mississippi State Extension, they enjoyed meeting and learning with other council members from Mississippi’s 82 counties. The convention included workshops, a meet-and-greet, a memorial service and ended with a grant banquet with awards ceremony. Members, both Bulldogs and non-Bulldogs, enjoyed the beautiful Mississippi State campus and exceptional hospitality. Those attending include, from left, Carolyn Williamson, Frances Speed, Margaret Ellis, Martha Douglas, Betty Pritchett, Jo Bucklew.

Photo/Rotarian Dr. Word Johnston, right, congratulates 2019 Collins Rotary Club Humanitarian Irving Hitt, center, during the annual awards banquet on Thursday, June 20, 2019. Hitt’s son, Oliver, is shown to the left and beside Mistress of Ceremony Jessica Bowman.

(The News-Commercial) An evening of great food, inspiring speakers, and a festive atmosphere celebrated the Collins Rotary Club’s Humanitarian of the Year and scholarship winners. Held on Thursday, June 20, 2019 at the Collins Civic Center, Irving Hitt was announced as this year’s recipient of the top honor. Member Dr. Word Johnston introduced the crowd to Hitt before giving the award. He recognized Hitt’s impact on Covington County through his work before retirement as a hospital administrator and after retirement as a community volunteer and trailblazer. He also recognized Hitt’s wife, Gwen, as being a vital part of the couple’s strong partnership. “People, we need you,” Hitt said after accepting the award. “Our world is in trouble. We take for granted our drinking water. We take for granted our health. We need to commit ourselves to building a better world, a better community. I dare you and me to recommit ourselves to be the kind of people to make our community a better place.” The banquet is now an annual event, used to unite the Rotary membership from the community. The audience heard from guest speakers and members.

The Boys and Girls Club of Covington County, in partnership with the University of Southern Mississippi Campus Link AmeriCorps, are excited to kick off the summer program with our AmeriCorps Volunteers. These recent high school graduates have displayed great interest in serving their communities and have met the requirements to serve as AmeriCorps Volunteers. As volunteers, these students will be tutoring fourth through eighth graders in summer programs with the goal of improving academic success. The current AmeriCorps members are Ta’Rasha Bolton, Madison Weary, Tamija Alexander, Kaitlyn Harvey, and Joanna Barnes (pictured above). Once these students have completed their hours, they will be awarded an academic scholarship to the institution of their choice. Organizers are proud to have these students and hopeful for the outcome of the program.

Collins leaders have taken legal steps to clean up the city.

During the meeting of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen at Collins City Hall Tuesday, June 4, 2019, a list of 32 dirty, overgrown, or unkept properties were presented. Property owners were required to mow grass, pick up trash, or otherwise clean their lots or face hefty penalties from the city.

Several property owners packed the board room and lobby before and during the meeting. About 10 of them cleaned their land before the meeting and made an appearance to be sure they were now good. Another nine didn’t show up at the meeting, but Public Works Director Bob Shoemake was able to confirm to Mayor Hope Jones, City Clerk Suzette Davis, and the board that they had cleaned their lots. A couple others had started cleaning, but were told to do more. Nearly 10 others were not at the meeting and did not complete any improvements with a couple of them telling the city to “do what you needed to do,” as quoted in the meeting.

Many of those in attendance at the meeting offered reasons to city leaders why the lots were in such bad shape. For example, the owner of one lot is now in assisted living care. A son said he cleaned up the yard, but doesn’t want to put too much effort into cleaning or repairs at this time.

“I don’t want to spend a bunch of money on it and then them take it away from us (to pay for a nursing home),” the man said.

Another property owner said she has spoken with Fire Chief John Pope about burning the house down for training. Pope wasn’t at the meeting, but the Mayor said she isn’t aware of that conversation, and questioned whether or not the city can do that, anyway.

Even for the lots that are now clean, the owners will remain on the list for one year. If any of those lots become dirty or overgrown again, just like the ones that haven’t been cleaned yet, Shoemake’s team can now go onto private property, clean it, and bill the services directly to property taxes.

In other city business, the board approved July 4 and 5th as city holidays due to a proclamation from the governor’s office, approved $26,258.30 for the purchase of a foam system for the fire department with $25,000 of that to be reimbursed by a Homeland Security grant, approved beer and light wine sales at the Family Dollar located at 816 Main Street, discussed some repairs needed on the outside of the Civic Center, discussed a scheduled power outage in late June or early July to replace equipment (details will be published in The News-Commercial when they are available), approved a speed limit of 35 miles per hour for the entire length of Fir Avenue with the exception of 25 miles per hour in school zones, and approved the purchase of flashing school zone signs for the lowest bids.

(The News-Commercial)

Jones College recently hosted WDAM-TV’s annual Top of Class recognition program. Collins High School Valedictorian Ronnie Davis Jr., left, and Salutatorian Ambir Amacker, right, participated in this year’s celebration. WDAM meteorologist Nick Lilja, center, awarded the area’s valedictorians and salutatorians with a certificate of achievement. Students will be featured during WDAM-Sunrise at 5:58 a.m. through June 14 and on the WDAM-TV web page. WDAM-TV and Jones College are sponsors of this annual event.

The award-winning Arrington Living Center continues to add new accolades to its name, recently receiving a 2018 Embracing Quality Award and a 2019 Customer Experience Pinnacle Award. Both awards are centered around customer satisfaction and patients’ experience with their care. “We always strive to give our residents the best experience possible, so to have that affirmed through these awards is very gratifying,” said Josh Clayton, administrator of Arrington Living Center. “These awards are evidence that God has very much blessed our efforts to provide the best care possible to the people of Arrington.” To receive both awards, a number of Arrington Living Center’s residents and their family members were interviewed to assess the quality of care, quality of life and quality of service provided by the facility. The application process to receive these awards is rigorous, with the Embracing Quality Award evaluating facilities quarterly and the Pinnacle Award requiring monthly check-ins. Arrington Living Center had to meet the standards of these regular evaluations consistently for a 12-month period to receive the awards. “It’s a lot of work to participate in these awards programs, but they’re important to us as we evaluate whether or not we’re meeting the needs and expectations of our residents,” said Clayton. Only six nursing facilities in the state of Mississippi received the 2018 Embracing Quality Award for customer satisfaction. Sixteen facilities in Mississippi received a 2019 Customer Experience Pinnacle Award with Arrington being the only facility located in the Pine Belt.