WCBI NEWS AT SIX - MAY 8, 2020

WCBI NEWS AT SIX - MAY 8, 2020

As mississippi sees it's highest number of reported coronavirus cases, governor tate reeves reopens more businesses in the state.

Thank you for joining us..

Owners will have to deep clean, sanitize and disinfect before they'll be allowed to open up shop// customers will have some rules to follow too.

We also want to point out, the governor is encouraging mississippians to practice personal responsibility.

For salons...here's a few of the guidelines.

One big thing is all waiting rooms have to stay closed.

If you have an appointment you have to wait in your car until you're called.

And you'll be screened.

Salon and barbershop owners can only allow one client per employee.

There also has to be six feet between each customer.

Employees and customers have to wear face masks and employees will have to wear gloves.

As for gyms ...only 30-percent of the buildings capacity will allowed in.

Employees must make sure equipment is six feet a part, common areas must be closed and the gym can only stay open until 10 p-m// the entire list of guidelines can be found over on our website at wcbi dot com// governor reeves said with today's announcement of a historical climb of unemployment, he can't let mississippi continue to go down an economic decline// i believe in my heart that endless government shutdowns are not an option.

Not when we're on the brink of an economic catastrophe.

The likes of which we have not seen in over 100 years.

Wallstreet is going to be okay.

My concern is about main street."

Within the last hour columbus mayor robert smith is order salons, barbershops and gyms in the city limits to stay closed until after the restart columbus committee meets on monday// take vo off top even though gyms will be allowed to re-open, a starkville gym owner is suing the city claiming it violated his constitutional rights by ordering his business to close because of covid-19// owners of the "starkville athletic club" claim the city of starkville quote " aided and abetted the governor of mississippi" end quote// the suit says the city enforced policies which caused a loss of income and property.

Gyms were among business designated by the governor as non essential// attorney jim waide is representing the owners of the gym and claims the city has violated the fifth amendment of the u-s constitution// waide also says the gym's future business prospects have also been damaged because of the city's actions// "a substantial number of members quit paying, or stopped their payments, but you also have people who won't ever come back so we believe it will be a permanent harm to the business, part of it is the hysteria, this business has now been labeled by city government as a dangerous business so there are customers who won't ever return so it's a permanent harm."

The lawsuit says the gym owner is not allowed to sue the state of mississippi because of a constitutional amendment// the owner asks for a jury trial and seeks unspecified monetary damages// there will soon be a change in the way customers in west point can shop inside retail stores// city leaders pass an ordinance requiring all employees and customers to wear face coverings before entering// our quentin smith speaks with city leaders and a business owner about the changes.

Quentin what are they saying?

Scott, mayor robbie robinson says they're doing this to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus in clay county.... this month alone, he says there have been nearly two dozen new cases.... one business owner says he understands why the city passed this measure... but he also believes requiring people to wear face coverings could have a negative impact on his business.... as customers shop inside petal pushers...pretty soon we're face coverings like this...will be the new norm.

" it caught me by surprise for a little bit.

I wasn't real sure that it was going to happen until i heard about it yesterday."

Scott reed owns the flower shop and admits, he has mixed views about making customers wear face coverings.

"i understand we need to keep people healthy, we need to keep people safe, so i'm all for masks if that's what needs to happen.

I'm just a little bit worried from a business owner about enforcing an ordinance like that and how it could affect my business if someone chooses not to wear a mask."

If someone comes in without their face being covered, business owners would be required to ask the customer to leave the store.

"a lot of people are saying that in response to this or an opposition to this, they are just going to not shop in west point anymore, and that bothers me more than anything.

Owners didn't have anything to do with this ordinance, and for them to protest in a way by avoiding our businesses, that's only hurting us, and our employees, and people who are depending on the store."

" hopefully the general public will comply."

Mayor robbie robinson says the measure was passed strictly for safety reasons.

Within the past week, he says there have been 22 cases of covid-19 and he believes this measure could help flatten the curve.

"the ordinance will not take affect until monday, may 11 at noon.

There are some nuances about the language in the resolution that could possibly be addressed by the board early next week."

" honestly i hope some things change before it comes into play monday.

If things don't change, we will do the best that we can.

We're going to offer curbside if someone just doesn't want to wear a mask but still wants to shop here."

Robinson says some of the nuances they'll address next week is determining who will be in charge of paying the fine if customers violate the ordinance.

They'll decide if it'll fall on the customer or business owner.

I do want to point out....customers are not required to strictly wear facemasks.

The face coverings can include a t- shirt.... bandanna... or anything covering the nose and the mouth... take vo off top some area healthcare workers are getting masked up thanks to a mississippi attorney// richard schwartz donated more than a thousand k n 95 masks to healthcare workers and residents at facilities across north mississippi// staff picked up the masks at schwartz's tupelo office// schwartz said he wanted to do something to help healthcare workers and elderly residents who have been impacted by covid 19// "people in nursing homes, hospice care, that;s our moms, dads, grandparents and we need to make sure they're safe and people taking care of them are safe and that they can go home in a safe environment and make sure their children and family doesn't have the disease.

That's why we decided to give 12 hundred n 95 masks to facilities in this area to make certain people are safe."

Facilities getting masks include sanctuary hospice, methodist senior services, heart of hospice and avonlee of tupelo senior living// wipe to vo bars, salons, gyms, and in-restaurant dining will be allowed to reopen with limits in alabama.

Gov.

Kay ivey announced the new rules will go into effect monday at 5 p-m.

The businesses will be required to maintain social distancing and limit crowds.

Restrictions on non-work gatherings of 10 or more people will be lifted.

This will allow churches to resume services.

Entertainment venues including movie theaters must remain closed.

Ivey says reopening businesses will allow additional people to go back to work.

It's a day to show your mom how truly special she is...mother's day.

However, the covid-19 pandemic is affecting how some families will spend time with their loved ones.

Our stephanie poole explains.

" 20 years ago i lost my father so at this moment she's all i have.

My mother is everything to me.

She is just a great woman of god and she's been very supportive and she loves her grandchildren."

Toni jackson and brandi nicholson wanted to give their mother a special gift this year.

A trip to the bahamas... but due to covid-19, their plans are now on standby.

" we decided last week that we were doing to do steaks.

We don't want her to cook cause she normally cooks for us every sunday.

So we just have a small circle of people coming with who we've been in contact with."

She says although their original plans were cancelled, it's all about showing their mom how much she means to their family.

" we just try to spend as much time with her that we can.

She's all about service, she tries to help other people, and she's very influential in the community as well and very involved in the church."

And for families who aren't able to visit with loved ones, they're sending flowers and gifts to show their gratitude.

" the phone has been constantly ringing."

Loretta shelton owns the flower girl wedding and florist shop in columbus.

She says she's almost overbooked with mother's day orders.

"we had over 90 something for today,to do today.

I figured tomorrow would probably be about the same and we've delivered 30 to 40 every day this week."

Shelton says even though it's a lot of work, she's happy to help put a smile on her customers' faces.

" every order we take it and try to make very special for the person and we strive to have every flower they ask for, sometimes there's things we can't get because of the pandemic but we've been pretty good and stocked."

Butt sots "i tell people even after the pandemic if you have the chance to spend with your mother or call her every day go see her as much as you can cause you only get one mom."

Reporting in lowndes county, stephanie poole, wcbi news.

Shelton says her shop will continue to fulfill all orders.

Her business will be closed on sunday.

First look stinger after a rainy and dreary friday, drier and cooler weather is in store for mother's day weekend.

Some spots could see record low temperatures on saturday and sunday morning.

Temperatures will warm up through the week with rain chances remaining minimal.

Friday night: cloud cover will exit the area overnight, leaving us mostly clear by sunrise.

This will allow our temperatures to fall to near 40.

Northerly winds could be breezy at times from 5 to 15 mph.

Saturday-sunday: great weather returns for the weekend, but we'll be cooler than usual.

Highs on saturday will be in the 60s with temperatures returning to the mid 70s by sunday.

Overnight lows could be as low as the upper 30s, which could break record lows across the area.

Skies will remain mostly sunny for the weekend.

Monday-tuesday: we'll remain mostly sunny for monday and tuesday with a few high clouds passing through.

Temperatures will a missouri man and a columbus woman are in jail after a traffic stop leads to the discovery of a secret drug lab// 40-year-old eric toney of springfield, missouri and 44- year-old nekesha brooks of columbus both face drug charges// thursday the duo was pulled over on highway 82 near main street here in columbus// the lowndes county narcotics task force says they found drugs and cash// the traffic stop then led them to the economy inn where investigator say they found a drug lab.

The missouri man is charged with trafficking and manufacturing illegal narcotics// brooks is charged with manufacturing- controlled substances// basically we were out doing some patrols, checking some hot areas.

We came across subjects smoking marijuana.

A subsequent search of the vehicle led to heroine, marijuana, and also ecstasy.

During the course of the investigation, we determined that the subject had a hotel room."

These drugs are manufactured locally and distributed out on the street contain methamphetamine which is a very addictive drug.

A one-time user can become addicted to this ecstasy and then they have to have more and more of that drug to supply their habit.

So far, bonds has not been set for toney and brooks.

Wipe to gfx the starkville police department is encouraging an armed robbery suspect to turn himself in.

19-year-old jakevious goss is wanted for an armed robbery on westside drive.

The incident happened on may 2nd.

The suspect and victim reportedly knew each other.

Anyone who has information on goss's location is asked to call starkville police department or golden triangle crimestoppers.

Stinger an area photographer is taking a áshotá at telling the story of tupelo..

We take a look when we come back... the spirit of tupelo is being captured - 1 face at a time..

Allie martin talks to the photographer behind the ambitious undertaking..

As the city of tupelo celebrates its sesquicentennial, a local photographer wanted to do something special to showcase the residents of the all america city.

So throughout the year, 150 people who reflect the area's qualities, will be showcased as part of the project called "faces of tupelo " nats photo session with spencer on a recent sunny friday afternoon, jacqueline savoy was taking photos of tupelo native spencer kirpatrick, by the elvis statue at fairpark.

Nats spencer is part of savoy's "faces of tupelo" photography project.

Spencer is well known for his outgoing personality.

He recently graduated from msu's access program, a four year program for special needs students and he was named mr msu this school year.

Nats savoy says the idea for "faces of tupelo" came to her not long after she moved to the all america city when her husband got a job at nmmc.

"i moved here two years ago and really fell in love with tupelo, with the community and the people and i wanted to show the community to other people."

She updates "faces of tupelo's" facebook page on a regular basis, with photos and stories about the people who embody the tupelo spirit.

"i want to get a wide diversity, kind of showing everything that tupelo emcompasses, i've been trying to get people who cook, dance, people who have a passion for tupelo, kind of showing everything, all the different things tupelo has, that even i've learned since i started this project, like, we have a pickleball team, i knew nothing about until now."

So far jacqueline savoy has 121 names for faces of tupelo, and she wants to get to 150, to coincide with the all america city's sesquicentaennial celebration this year.

She welcomes any suggestions of people who have helped make tupelo a better place to live, work and play.

Allie martin, wcbi news take vo in monitor you can submit suggestions to savoy at the "faces of tupelo' facebook page.

Stinger wx open after a rainy and dreary friday, drier and cooler weather is in store for mother's day weekend.

Some spots could see record low temperatures on saturday and sunday morning.

Temperatures will warm up through the week with rain chances remaining minimal.

Friday night: cloud cover will exit the area overnight, leaving us mostly clear by sunrise.

This will allow our temperatures to fall to near 40.

Northerly winds could be breezy at times from 5 to 15 mph.

Saturday-sunday: great weather returns for the weekend, but we'll be cooler than usual.

Highs on saturday will be in the 60s with temperatures returning to the mid 70s by sunday.

Overnight lows could be as low as the upper 30s, which could break record lows across the area.

Skies will remain mostly sunny for the weekend.

Monday-tuesday: we'll remain mostly sunny for monday and tuesday with a few high clouds passing through.

Temperatures will also be on the increase, with highs back into the 70s.

Overnight lows will remain in the mid 40s.

Wednesday-friday: aside from a stray shower on wednesday, most of us will remain dry for the middle portion of the week.

We could see a little bit more in the way of cloud cover, but we should still see plenty of sun.

Highs will be back into the 80s.

We'll see a mix of sun and clouds on friday as well with the chance of a stray afternoon shower.

Stinger one nfl quarterback has his post-football job in place...and he hasn't retired from the league more on that, next in big news in the baseball world..... espn's jeff passan reporting the major league baseball draft will be only five rounds in 2020....which could have major implications on college baseball the amount of talent that will be on college campuses, juco and division one, will make the game the strongest it could ever be, while the ncaa has yet to make a ruling on easing transfer restrictions, roster sizes, and minimum scholarships the official dates for the mlb draft have not been made to college football....alabama sophomore quarterback taulia tagovailoa has entered the transfer portal a-l dot com's matt zenitz was the first to report the younger brother of heisman trophy winner, nfl first rounder tua......taulia was 9- 12 for 100 yards and one touchdown in three appearances for the tide in 2019 high school sports news....the alabama high school athletics associations issues a statement to the latest safer-at-home orders from governor kay ivey while new orders say gyms and other facilities can open with half the capacity....all public school campuses will remain close through june 5th....that including all athletic activities the a-h-s-a-a is scheduled to meet with its fall sports committee xt week to develop plans for when schools begin to reopen one nfl quarterback already has his post-football plans in place....and he hasn't retired from the game yet indianapolis colts quarterback philip rivers will take over the st.

Michael catholic football team in fairhope, alabama......once he retires from the nfl rivers is currently under a one-year, 25-million dollar contract with the colts..... athletic director paul