WCBI News at Ten - 07/14/2020

WCBI News at Ten - 07/14/2020

The number of people in hospitals and the care they need takes a sharp increase today.

Thank you for joining us..

Mississippi health experts report 862 new covid-19 cases today and 23 deaths.

One thousand 272 people have died in the state after being diagnosed with the virus.

The mississippi state department of health reports more people are in the hospital today with confirmed or suspected covid-19.

There are also record numbers in icu and on ventilators.

Masks still aren't required statewide in mississippi, but there's a large association saying they should be.

Courtney ann jackson explains.

Governor tate reeves is describing what sounds like a juggling act-again noting that he realizes not all mississippians are convinced of the covid-19 dangers.

Gov: "we've got a thread that needle of hell do we get the best compliance and i believe that the approach were currently taking is the right approach."

But the mississippi state medical association says- the virus doesn't know city limits or county lines.

That's why they are calling for a statewide mask mandate.

Dr. claude brunson, ms state medical association executive director: "this is the only tool we have left before we get to another lockdown.

But we also know that based on the science, that we can decrease the spread and if we decrease the spread, will take the pressure off our hospitals."

Dr. thomas dobbs tweeted this tuesday morning- showing how sharply hospitalizations have increased.

Dobbs: "consistent with our predictions.

17% more or less of cases will end up hospitalized.

So every time we had a 500 new cases, we predict we're gonna have another 85 hospitalizations.

" reeves also criticized some of the state's hospitals...saying they could've done better with avoiding suspension of some elective procedures again.

Gov: "adhere to our executive orders which require 25% of capacity in hospitals to be for covid patients.."

Ultimately-reeves says his goal is the same as that of the medical association.

Reeves and the medical association both want more mississippians to mask up.

He just doesn't think the statewide mandate is the answer.

The state of mississippi continues to map out the plans for the upcoming school year.... each school district has its own set agenda for returning students, but 'how' students will engage with teachers is raising concerns, virtual or in-class learning.

Our stephanie poole speaks with parents about their decision for the school year.

Classrooms are silent and halls are empty...and the biggest question is if they will stay they way.

" i don't think it's a smart decision for your kids wanting to go back to that setting and around all the other kids and everyone else.

Cora williams has two daughters, one in first grade, the other in third grade.

She says with the threat of covid-19, keeping her family healthy is the main priority.

"small kids elementary aged kids, they're not going to keep those mask on.

They're still going to put their hands on their face and their mouth, they're going to touch stuff, they're going to touch each other."

Other parents, like stacy browne are choosing to go virtual too.

" the reason i'm doing that is because my concerns were for her high-risk for her asthma because of her lungs.

And if she were to get the virus it would put her in the hospital and it would be harmful to me or my husband."

With rising cases each week, many parents say getting infected seems more likely to happen.

" around september, october they will start to be kids getting out of school with strep throat, then flu season is right around the corner and they are out with flu and all that."

However despite their uncertainty about virus exposure, they are optimistic their children will learn effectively from home.

" she's like i can pretty much sit for 8 hours on a camera opposed to in the classroom.

She can be 1-1 with the teacher.

The distractions of the children would be muted so all she would hear is the teacher."

And hopefully, browne says, the school system can implement after- hour tutoring for families.

"the schools would be able to help the children as well.

They can maybe set up a program after school or something for the kids.

Virtual school if it comes down to that.

The columbus municipal school district has announced hybrid and virtual options for the fall semester.

éé for information about your child's options, please visit their school website or contact their administrator.

éé first look stinger first look summary: hot and humid july weather is now entrenched and it's going nowhere for a while.

Highs each day over the next week look to be in the mid 90s with heat indices between 100 and 110.

Some spotty showers and storms are possible each day but not everyone will get in on the action.

The atlantic remains quiet so there are no tropical troubles for our region at this time.

Tuesday night: mainly clear and quiet.

Lows in the low 70s with calm wind.

Wednesday: partly take new at 10 stinger jeff sessions won't be getting his old job back - at least not for another 6 years..

Republican voters headed to the polls today to decide the party's primary run-off race for u.s. senate.

The race pitted former u.s. attorney general and senator from alabama, jeff sessions, against former auburn and ole miss head football coach tommy tuberville.

And coach tuberville has another win to add to his record after defeating sessions.

Sessions held the senate seat for 20 years, before resigning to join president trump's administration as u.s. attorney general.

He was forced to resign after getting on the president's bad side for recusing himself from the investigation into russian meddling with the 20-16 election.

Trump endorsed tuberville in the race.

Tuberville faces the incumbent doug jones who came out on top of a crowded field in the special election to replace sessions.

The race to fill the district 37 state house of representatives seat is starting to move forward.

D chism of columbus is the first person to publicly announce an intention to qualify for the special election.

Republican gary chism retired on june 30th.

Governor tate reeves has yet to set a special election date or qualifying date.

District 37 covers portions of lowndes, clay, and oktibbeha counties.

The next time you visit the ole miss campus, you might notice a big change// the 30-foot confederate monument that has been standing at the circle on university avenue for over 100 years is gone... crews spent the day relocating the statue to a cemetery on campus.... as quentin smith reports.... those who pushed for this change said they always had faith this day would come..

This is the statue that was once the most prominent image at the center of campus at ole miss... now the statue has a new home... nat work crews spent hours relocating the state to confederate cemetery... it's a move ole miss graduate leah davis says she's proud of... "it's been a long time coming.

I think my initial reaction was it's bout time... davis helped write the initial resolution to have the monument relocated... "it's a huge ugly reminder of the history of the university, how the university was built regarding integration when james meridith was integrated in 1962.

It was definitely time for the university to put a more positive foot forward and to say this is not something that we want to welcome our students, our new perspective students and alumni back to campus."

She says it took a lot of hard work and dedication from herself and other student organizations to get to this point... the ole miss alum says she was always hopeful the relocation would happen... now she's excited because of the impact it'll have on those coming after her... "i'm very grateful that it's being done.

My sister is starting at ole miss in the fall, so she can walk onto that campus and not have that monument when she goes to class everyday, when she walks towards the james meredith statue."

Just last month trustees on the institutions of higher learning approved the relocation.

While davis is happy the monument will have a new home, she's not happy about the future plans to spruce up the cemetery to highlight it's latest addition.

"that confederate cemetery was kind of hidden on campus and it was just being maintained, so that's why the statue was requested to be relocated there.

I don't think that any more glorification should happen to confederate symbols whatsoever, so i think it's very disheartening."

The confederate monument has stood tall on campus since 1906..

The relocation costs to bring it here to confederate cemetery will cost just over a million dollars... that money will be privately funded... reporting in oxford... quentin smith... wcbi news chancellor glenn boyce issued a statement saying today's relocation is a meaningful change for our community.

To read his full statement just visit our website at wcbi dot com stinger wx open summary: unsettled weather will remain in place through tuesday night with scattered rain and storm chances.

A cold front will sweep out the rain and humidity by mid morning wednesday leaving us with sunny and warm wx open summary: unsettled weather will remain in place through tuesday night with scattered rain and storm chances.

A cold front will sweep out the rain and humidity by mid morning wednesday leaving us with sunny and warm weather for the rest of the week and upcoming weekend.

Monday night: areas of showers will continue but gradually diminish in size and scope.

The threat of an isolated tornado should gradually end during the evening hours but we'll just have to monitor radar trends.

Look for a mild night with lows in the mid 70s.

Breezy se winds between 10 and 25 mph.

Tuesday: mostly cloudy with showers lingering first thing in the day.

A mix of sun and clouds is expected to develop as time goes on but that could lead to a few more showers or storms. highs are going to push 90?

With higher heat indices at times.

Winds ssw 10-20 mph.

Tuesday night: a cold front may spark a line of showers and storms after midnight.

While we can't rule out a few isolated strong storms most spots will not experience anything too rough.

Lows will be in the low to mid 70s.

Wednesday: any rain chance should move east by mid morning allowing sunnier and less humid conditions to build in on the heels of westerly winds.

Highs top out in the mid 80s.

Wednesday night: clear and refreshing.

Lows in the low 60s.

Thursday-monday: mostly sunny to partly cloudy, warm, and dry.

Highs in the upper 80s to around 90 with overnight lows mainly in the low to mid 60s.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app summary: hot and humid july weather is now entrenched off top take gfx off top some calhoun county residents will need to take extra precautions with cooking and making their coffee in the morning.

The big creek water association is issuing a boil water notice for all customers north of the booster station on county road 314.

This includes county roads 320, 319, 300, and 302.

A water leak caused a loss of pressure in the line..

Stinger residential construction in west tupelo is driving commercial development.

We'll have that story coming up on wcbi news take scott's reentry in monitor tupelo's residential population is moving// now, retail development is following it// allie martin has more on a multimillion dollar commercial project going up in the all america city.

Nats machines and workers for about a week now, crews have been busy at this parcel of land on coley road.

Nats they are laying the groundwork for what will be market center number two.

Iuka - based brooks grocery will anchor the five million dollar project, which will also include other retail spaces.

"neighborhood shopping centers are becoming a thing of the future.

Big shopping centers with massive parking lots and all massive crowds, are not as favorable shopping centers now, it's just a trend."

Jess may is the architect for the project and says brooks grocery, and retail spaces will attract customers and other businesses.

"along this coley road corridor this will help develop other businesses through here, will be a lot of traffic coming from residential areas around here , through here.

And other businesses will pop up in area to catch some traffic from residential areas."

Standup bridge for years, grocery stores went to other parts of the city, but recently, residential construction has taken off in west tupelo and that has left a void in commercial development.

"tupelo is pretty well served in most categories, but on west side is heavily populated and most of the new development , housing is on this side of town so the need for a grocery store has been here for several years and this will be a real addition to the neighborhood.

" cleveland says covid 19 hasn't hampered construction on market center two, or other commercial projects.

In fact, he says several businesses have expressed interest in leasing space at the retail center.

In tupelo, allie martin, wcbi news take vo in monitor cleveland estimates market center two could be open within ten months.

Stinger official changes have been made to the high school fall athletics season, more information on that when we come back spx open take the mississippi high school athletic association deciding the fate of fall sports this afternoon the good news, the 2020 football season will be better late than never... the executive committee approved a plan that pushes practice back until august 17th, and game one of the season will move from august 21st to september 4th 1a, 5a, and 6a will play 10 games 2a, 3a, and 4a will play 9 games the bad news, games in the original first two weeks will not be made up... -- which means we're losing a lot of very good non- division games such as the little egg bowl, noxubee county and louisville... this is a fluid situation, we will continue to update you as information becomes available alabama week continues on the high school football tour stop number 23 checks-in with the lamar county bulldogs continuing on with a rebuild...take a listen áááopening bb vernon is loaded and reading to go for the 2020 season.

"the desire to be out here," head coach robbie bradford said.

"it's a fun spirit this year.

These guys are looking forward to every day they come in excited to be here and to be honest they'd stay all night if we let them."

Coming off a rebuilding season, the bulldogs are ready to get back to winning.

"last season it seems like start to finish we kept getting in our own way.

We had a lot of struggles throughout the year and we did have a young team and a young nucleus and we had two very successful years prior to that," bradford said.

"last year we kind of struggled to be a team," senior lg/nt shemar suddth said.

"this year we're just trying to make the team better."

"we had a really bad attitude last year," senior quarterback/safet y braxton hatchcock said.

"i think this year if we go into the season with a better attitude we should come out better with a better record."

However, that was just a bump in the road for vernon.

In terms of turning things back around, bradford said it starts with focusing on the team's core values and playing a vernon style of football.

As to what that entails, bradford says, "a passion and a desire to do things correctly.

When it comes to your effort level, your technique and being accountable to your teammate."

"all come together as a family," senior wr/rb/k jamichael cribbs "we got a good coaching staff and a big group of people, big kids."

The bulldogs always look forward to fierce rivalries that lamar county has to offer against sulligent and south lamar.

For those match- ups this season, the bulldogs want to come out on top.

"there's really good football in lamar county with south lamar, sulligent and vernon all together.

It's just usually a war whenever we come together."

"we're going to try our best to take them down this year," senior lt jesus casas "i feel like we have all the skill, all the technique we need to beat basically anybody."

Step one of getting those wins on the board this season: leadership.

"this is going to be another year of us being extremely young, but not necessarily that we're looking to not be successful we just have a lot of new players and a lot of kids moving up from the junior high program.

We're excited to go in and see but there are question marks on both sides of the ball for sure."

Vernon starts the season off with a road match against south lamar on august 21st.

With the bulldogs on the hsft, courtney robb wcbi sports.

ááclosing bbááá gfx off the top once again technology fails us, and our mega millions feed was a bust, but never fear - we have your numbers..

Grab your tickets and good luck tonight's winning numbers are 6 -26 - 55 -56 -64 the mega ball is 22 and the megaplier is 4 times..

And remember, if you're the winner, you know where to find us..

Now let's try our weather luck with keith's last look at tonight's forecast..

Last look stinger last look stinger