Between the Headlines: Columbus

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We bring two sitting Mississippi legislators into the studio for a candid discussion about what’s really happening with the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science: why a top-tier STEM residential school can post big academic wins while students and staff deal with aging buildings, unreliable heating and air, and years of deferred maintenance. We keep the focus on facts, tradeoffs, and what “good stewardship” of Mississippi tax dollars should look like when the stakes are kids’ daily lives. 

From there, the conversation widens to the Mississippi University for Women and the political gravity around university consolidation. With a shrinking population and tight budgets, we ask what happens to smaller campuses and whether the state saves money by closing schools or just creates new problems when buildings and communities are left behind. We also dig into collaboration and program overlap, including how shared services and smarter specialization could reduce duplication without turning education into a winner-take-all fight between Columbus and Starkville. 

We finish by taking on K-12 consolidation and the emotional core of it: schools aren’t just buildings, they’re community identity. You’ll hear a blunt debate over incentives versus mandates, administrative bloat, trust in government, and why technology and online learning can’t replace a real teacher in a real room. If you care about Mississippi education funding, MSMS, MUW, and the future of public schools, hit subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave us a review with your take on what should happen next.

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A CEO comes in from out of state, lasts about two months, and suddenly he’s gone. We dig into the leadership shakeup at the Golden Triangle Development LINK, why “mutual parting of ways” can land like a dodge, and what people mean when they say an organization’s culture demands transparency. We also talk frankly about how the LINK's past still shapes the present, including the expectations left behind by Joe Max Higgins and the pressure that comes when a board is trying to prove it has learned its lesson.

From there, we look at the customer side of economic development. Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill doesn’t mince words about what she sees as premature decision-making, and we break down the real tension between personnel privacy and accountability to paying clients. We also spend time on what comes next for new CEO Meryl Fisackerly, why institutional knowledge matters, and why the region can’t afford a slow reset if competition for clients heats up.

Then the vibe turns fun and surprisingly meaningful when Stafford Shurden joins us. He’s a Mississippi entrepreneur and social media personality famous for reviewing convenience store food, and he explains how his brand grew from local politics, restaurant ownership, and a love for the country stores many of us grew up on. Along the way we hit customer experience, rural small business, and a big question for the next few years: when AI makes the internet easier to fake, who becomes the trusted source?

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A single unpaid bill can turn into a full-blown test of how local government works, and that’s exactly what’s happening between the City of Columbus and Lowndes County. We walk through the jail fee standoff step by step: the original per-inmate agreement, the Mississippi Attorney General opinion that undercuts it, and the city’s claim that it “overpaid” and should be able to withhold new payments as credit. 

To lighten things up, we shift to the Columbus amphitheater, a new construction timeline that points toward a real opening next spring, and what hiring a professional promoter could mean for booking concerts and building a downtown Columbus live music destination. We also react to an alleged offering plate theft at a local church, using it as a springboard for church security basics and how to make a clearer 911 call under stress. 

Plus, special guest Wesley Stewart joins us to explain why Festival of the Fae is exploding in popularity and what to expect at the two-day Renaissance festival.

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A brand new road gets paved, then a jackhammer shows up and the patch looks worse than what was there before. That frustration kicks off a wide-ranging conversation about Columbus considering a new ordinance that could require permits for utility repairs in the public right-of-way. 

From there, we head to Friendship Cemetery. When records are old, incomplete, or scattered across spreadsheets, books, and public deeds, even buying a cemetery plot can come with unsettling uncertainty. We weigh practical steps the city can take immediately, and the tradeoff of spending real money on ground-penetrating radar to reduce the risk of another painful surprise.

Then we step into politics, asking what fairness looks like when the Southern Poverty Law Center faces federal indictments and pressure lands on Senate candidate Scott Colom to disavow. We break down the difference between direct donations and independent PAC spending, and how narratives get built when campaign finance and national labels collide.

Finally, we bring in guests Max Brallier of The Last Kids on Earth and Emily Liner of Friendly City Books for a hopeful turn: school visits, Title I outreach, and why graphic novels can be a legit on-ramp to lifelong reading, especially for reluctant readers and some dyslexic kids. Subscribe for more local reporting and sharp conversation, share the show with a friend, and leave us a review with your take on what makes a city worth investing in.

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A new grocery store can change the daily rhythm of a town, and the Aldi chatter around Columbus Place is getting too loud to ignore. We talk through what we’re hearing, why official confirmation is so hard to pin down, and the real issue underneath the rumor: Columbus has more shoppers than it has aisles, carts, and parking spaces. If you’ve ever felt trapped in a cramped checkout line, you’ll understand why this one matters.

Then we dig into a City of Columbus decision with real stakes: spending $65,000 to train a fingerprint analyst instead of paying top dollar for an experienced hire. We break down what that training covers, why the city is trying to build a stronger regional crime lab, and the five-year payback clause meant to keep Columbus from becoming a stepping stone for newly certified talent.

From there, it’s a surprisingly deep debate between Zack and David, sparked by one RV in a driveway. After annexation changed the rules, a resident thought he’d been grandfathered in, only to learn the issue was tabled decades ago and never resolved. 

We also cover MUW leadership news around Scott Tollison and what an interim appointment signals about IHL’s appetite for an expedited search. Finally, we bring on Main Street Director Barbara Bigelow and festival coordinator Amber Brislin to preview the 30th annual Market Street Festival, including vendor standards, food, two music stages, kids’ activities, and the car show.

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A leadership decision can look “done” before it officially begins, and that’s where we start. We break down the Mississippi University for Women president search, including what we heard from the public listening sessions and why the insider versus outsider question matters for MUW’s identity. We talk about the excitement around a well-connected MUW alum and seasoned public figure.

From higher education politics to local government accountability, the conversation shifts to Columbus City Hall and the escalating dispute involving the city’s public information officer role. 

Then we welcome our guest, Charles Yarborough, the new Columbus Fire Department fire chief. He tells us why he came out of retirement, why he says a fire chief has to be a “politician” and a firefighter, and what he’s changing right away. As bonus content, we also talk with Betty Bryan about Columbus’ historic Pilgrimage and the work of telling a more inclusive story that includes African American history alongside the architecture.

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Zack and David break down recent headlines, including Senate Bill 2114, which places additional demands on local sheriff’s offices when it comes to ICE cooperation. We walk through what the bill actually changes, what many counties say they’ve already been doing, and why the “it’s no big deal” take doesn’t calm people who feel like their safety could depend on which county line they cross. We also get blunt about the language floating around online, especially the idea of “reporting” someone you merely “suspect,” and how easily that turns into profiling instead of evidence-based law enforcement.

Then we shift to Mississippi state appropriations and what a $54 million Golden Triangle package means for local projects, plus our frustration with stopgap funding and political games around MSMS facility needs. We round it out with a Kratom ban reality check, a quick guide to Columbus Pilgrimage and the Tales from the Crypt tradition, and three local storylines including tourism planning surveys, radar mapping for unmarked graves at Sandfield Cemetery, and Artemis II memories tied to Columbus Air Force Base.

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Progress has a sound, and sometimes it’s a chainsaw. We start in Burns Bottom, where a few dozen older trees are slated to come down as a new housing development prepares for infrastructure and dirt work. We talk through what’s actually happening on the ground and a plan to plant about 200 street trees. 

Next, we dig into Mississippi public school accountability ratings and the frustration of changing standards year after year. We question what those A through F labels really communicate when the scale keeps shifting.

After the break, Matt Dowell, executive director of Golden Triangle Regional Airport, joins us from the world of air travel. We cover TSA during the government shutdown and the community support that kept morale up, new airline connections heading both east and west, major terminal upgrades like a first jet bridge, and what drives airfare pricing as planes fill and algorithms adjust. If you care about local growth, jobs, and the everyday logistics of travel, this one ties it all together. 

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We talk to Iain Vasey, the newly hired CEO of the Golden Triangle Development LINK, to talk plainly about how the Golden Triangle can win industrial recruitment with limited resources and a lot at stake. 

We get into Iain’s “Moneyball” approach to economic development: focus on the industries where you can win, keep your information accurate and verifiable, and build relationships that lead to repeat projects instead of a single splashy headline. He shares hard-earned lessons from high-dollar negotiations, including how incentives and tax limitation agreements can help when they’re structured well and hurt when they’re not. 

We talk solar, workforce development, data centers and housing. If the region lands hundreds of new jobs with its latest Megasite, where do people live, especially the “missing middle” workforce that earns too much for assistance but not enough for new-build prices? 

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A fire department is more than sirens and turnout gear. It’s a workplace culture, a retention problem, a medical response machine, and a public promise that has to hold up at 2 a.m. We sit down with Columbus, Mississippi Fire Chief Duane Hughes as he prepares to retire after 31 years in the department, and he tells the truth about what changed and what still needs work.

We get into how the job used to run on “conditioning” and top-down control, why that mindset shifted toward empowerment, and what actually keeps firefighters from leaving. Hughes breaks down recruitment and retention in plain terms: money is the top answer, but benefits, leadership, scheduling flexibility, and real organizational support can matter just as much. He also explains why Columbus Fire and Rescue’s international accreditation matters, how performance indicators translate into better readiness, and why improved fire ratings can lower homeowners insurance premiums.

Then we pivot from public safety to community arts with Colin Krieger from Golden Triangle Theatre, who previews Hairspray at the Lyceum at Lee. 

If you care about Columbus local news, firefighter staffing, EMS realities, severe weather shelter planning, or simply want a great reason to see live theater, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.