WCBI New at Six - 09/01/2020

WCBI New at Six - 09/01/2020

Good evening everyone... for seven months it seems we've been waiting on some type of normalcy.

Watching high school football in september in the south feels pretty normal.

With 25 percent capacity now allowed at stadiums more people will experience that tradition.

Wcbi's bobby martinez is live in starkville with how some schools are handling the new rules... bobby that's right joey, the starkville/west point match-up is a big rivalry game, so tickets will go fast.

And today i talked with yellow jackets athletic director on how fans can purchase a tickets and what rules will be in place at the stadium.

"thankfully the executive order changed and allowed us to go 25 percent which will give us more fans in our stadium.."

It will be a friday night special in starkville .

Two powerhouse football programs ready to lay it out all on the field for the game they love.

Which means tickets will be in high demand..

"tickets go on sale to the general public here for homeside on wednesday from 530 to 7 at the home ticket booth.

But we're going to have a very limited amount of tickets remaining for that but we will be able to sell to our public for that night."

So if you're lucky enough to purchase a ticket... there are some rules owen wants spectators to be aware of... "our community really help us out as well and remember the 3w's wash your hands watch your distance and wear your mask and those are the general guidelines that we are asking all of our people all of our guests to do whether it's our jacket community or our guests from west point."

Owen says this football season will be like no other because of covid19 but is confident his staff will keep spectators safe at games.

"it's new to us all so it's all in details you know.

It's a lot of planning that goes into place making sure the security is in place and we've done a wonderful job through the years, so i don't doubt any of that.

I know that our guys will be ready to handle the crowds that we are going to get."

Owen says gates will open at 5:30 pm and you must have ticket to enter the stadium.

Reporting live in starkville.

Bobby martinez wcbi news.

Wcbi update stinger covid-19 also has many towns worrying about their bottom line... with fewer shops open and fewer people out spending money... tonight...two north mississippi towns will be talking taxes.

Starkville aldermen will host a second public hearing on the possibility to the raise taxes.

City leaders are anticipating losing about 880 thousand dollars in sales tax.

Half of the tax increase would be to support a grant the city received.

The other half would help make- up for the shortfall.

Winona leaders will also have a public hearing tonight to discuss the town's budget and possible tax increase.

Covid is also causing concerns at the polls.

Secretary of state michael watson talks about that issue today at the kiwanis club of starkville.

During his speech, watson encouraged everyone to make sure they are registered to vote by october 5th.

Watson says the country is expecting to see an increase in absentee voting because of the coronavirus.

Watson also spoke on mail-in voting and how to prevent fraud.

"making sure that we've got clean voter rolls.

We have seen in mississippi, there are 33 counties that have 90 percent or more of thier voting age population showing as registered voters.

What you typically see when people are purging the rolls properly, that number is going to be around 75 percent.

Of those 33 counties, there are five with over 100 percent.

That's impossible.

So either dead people are on the voter rolls, folks that no longer live here, people that have moved out of state, or out of thier region or county."

Watson believes voting by mail in watson believes voting by mail in mississippi should not be discussed until voter rolls have been cleaned out.

First look stinger summary: summer- like weather is set to continue during the first week of september.

The highest odds of rain through friday will be just to the northwest of the wcbi-tv coverage area but some showers and storms are still possible here.

Slightly drier air is expected for saturday and sunday.

Additional rain & storm storm are possible early next week.

Tuesday night: isolated showers and storms fade away during the evening.

Turning mostly clear to partly cloudy overnight.

Lows in the mid to low 70s with ssw winds between 2-7 mph.

Wednesday: a mix of cloud & sun with high humidity.

Just a 20% chance of a few showers or isolated storms. highs in top 6rtyrg investigators are trying to determined what sparked a deadly oktibbeha county house fire.

Firefighters were called to a mobile home on jody young road just after 11 this morning.

Deputies say an older woman was found inside the home.

The state fire marshal is assisting oktibbeha county deputies in the investigation.

Coroner michael hunt says an autopsy has been ordered.

The victim's name has not been released.

Roll vo in monitor a husband and wife say their dogs saved their lives by waking them up moments after their house caught fire this morning.

Bobby elliott say the fire broke out at his home on old highway 45 in shannon around 3 this morning.

Elliott and his wife managed to escape the fire, after their dog "soldier" began barking , waking the couple up.

The homeowner says there is no doubt that "soldier " saved both of their lives.

"when the dog started barking i woke up, seen smoke, told my wife to get up, get dogs and get out of the house, i had to put my prosthetic leg on, by time i got my leg on i like not to made it out of the house, i'm going to tell you, if it wouldn't be for them dogs, we wouldn't be here today, we didn't have smoke detectors, nothing like that , i will not never live in another house that does not have smoke detectors, if you ain't got one, go get one."

Unfortunately, "soldier" went back into the unfortunately, "soldier" went back into the house and died in the blaze.

The elliotts plan to rebuild in the same spot.

Several other dogs made it out of the house fire.

Investigators are trying to find what sparked the blaze.

New at six stinger top two people, including a child, are dead after a shooting in new albany yesterday.

Police say they were dispatched to albany acres apartments around 9 pm.

Once on scene, officers discovered a white hyundai elantra with the body of a juvenile and a wounded female inside.

During the investigation, police received another call from baptist memorial union county informing them that a man had been admitted the e.r.

With a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

The female victim, 21-year-old izachia a.

Bogard from holly springs, died from her wounds.

The names of the juvenile and the other male are not being released at this time.

The mississippi bureau of investigation and the union county sheriff's department are assisting with the investigation.

Gfxvo the lowndes county man arrested in a pickens county shooting is formally charged.

36-year-old eric daniel jennings is charged with attempted murder, theft of property, and robbery.

Jennings was taken into custody in lowndes county last yesterday evening.

The shooting happened about 5:30 on monday morning.

Sheriff todd hall tells wcbi deputies were called to a home on county road 75, about a mile north of highway 82, in the liberty community.

Hall says the victim was shot multiple times and treated by volunteer firefighters.

That person is expected to survive.

No other information is being released about the incident at this time.

Hall says this remains an active investigation.

Gfx off top a columbus man is arrested in connection with an oktibbeha county shooting.

22-year-old trequalin burton is charged with 15 counts of aggravated assault.

Investigators believe burton is the driver of one of the vehicles involved in the july 16th shooting at a store located at the roundabout on blackjack road.

One person was injured.

James spencer and jerome davis have also been arrested in the investigation and are facing the same charges as burton.

Ivestigators are not saying what led up to the shooting but more arrests are expected.

Burton's bond was set at one hundred 50 thousand dollars.

Stinger-stinger wcbi continuing coverage stinger top the survivors of a horrific and deadly accident in oktibbeha county continue to recover in the hospital.

22-year-old nakendria roby and 16-year-old kimbryanah roby both died in the crash.

Nakendria was driving a ford mustang when it went left old west point road and hit a tree.

The crash happened early sunday morning, near camps airport road.

The young ladies that died are first- cousins from brooksville.

Deputies tell wcbi the three other passengers in the car remain in the hospital and are stable.

One juvenile is at a jackson hospital.

Two other crash victims are at a tupelo hospital.

Investigators believe the car was going east on old west point road at a high-rate of speed.

The accident remains under investigation.

Stinger a former church is in amory getting a massive makeover.

Wcbi's allie martin tells us about the project and how it will mean new life for the historic project and how it will mean new life for the historic building.

When you drive by the old first christian church, you can't help but notice the ornate, stained glass windows.

Inside, the building is undergoing a major renovation, and when complete, the "windows of amory " will be a cultural, educational and artistic center for the community.

"we are going to get one shot at it and it has to be done right in order to preserve it for another one hundred years."

Steve stockton is president of the non profit group "windows of amory" ten years ago, they purchased the old "first christian church" building, at the corner of 3rd street and 3rd avenue, one block northeast of main street.

"the vision is to utilize this building for performing arts, as well as an event venue for weddings, looking forward to increasing knowledge from this building,having lessons that can taught here for art, and possibly tutoring, wi fi available for students."

The goal is to renovate and repair the structure, while keeping unique features, such as the original floors, pews, hardware and of course, the windows.

John sean kelly is with the lathan company from mobile alabama and he is overseeing work on the stained glass and the wood around it.

He learned the craft from his dad in ireland and says the windows in the old first christian church have been well preserved.

"i'd rate this, the way the glass is and everything, i'd rate this 90 percent, when we're done with it will be one hundred percent."

Stacy forbus is a realtor, insurance agent and board member for windows of amory.

She says the project will have a positive impact on the entire area.

"it brings the community together, gives us something to share a common cord to get involved with, to be a part of."

It is a major project to renovate an historic landmark.

The goal is to have the "windows of amory" opened by the 100 th anniversary of the building.

That would be 2026.

In amory, allie martin, wcbi news total cost for the project is estimated at one point four million dollars.

About half that amount has been raised so far.

The create foundation is handling donations for the "windows of amory" project.

Stinger weather open summary: summer- like weather is set to continue during the first week of september.

The highest odds of rain through friday will be just to the northwest of the wcbi-tv coverage area but some showers and storms are still possible here.

Slightly drier air is expected for saturday and sunday.

Additional rain & storm storm are possible early next week.

Tuesday night: isolated showers and storms fade away during the evening.

Turning mostly clear to partly cloudy overnight.

Lows in the mid to low 70s with ssw winds between 2-7 mph.

Wednesday: a mix of cloud & sun with high humidity.

Just a 20% chance of a few showers or isolated storms. highs in the low to mid 90s with heat indices in the low 100s.

Winds sw 5-15 mph.

Wednesday night: partly cloudy and reasonably quiet.

While a storm is possible most of the activity should remain just to our northwest.

Lows in the mid to low 70s.

Thursday & friday: partly cloudy with a 30% chance of showers and storms both days.

Highs in the low 90 with lows in the 70s.

Saturday & sunday: partly cloudy and pretty nice overall.

Slightly lower humidity levels will make it feel a little bit better.

Warm highs in the upper 80s to low 90s with overnight lows in the 60s.

Early next week: a few more showers and storms likely.

Highs in the low 90s with lows moderating back into the 70s.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app.

Stinger the s-e-c announces start times for several matchups.

More on when you can the state and ole miss this season next in sports.

Open sec football is on the horizon as ole miss kicks off the lane kiffin era with a september 26th date hosting florida.

But the starting quarterback in this matchup for the rebs has yet to be announced.

The sec's top rushing qb, true sophomore john rhys plumlee and redshirt sophomore matt corral and others continue to battle it out at fall camp for the starting job.

Head coach lane kiffin says he likes what he's seeing from the group as they near the start of the season.

"the quarterbacks both made some really big plays and did some really good things.

A lot of the explosive plays we just discussed.

I'm very pleased with their production.

They need to take care of the ball a little bit better but i like where they're going with that."

Over in tuscaloosa, the crimson tide continue getting ready for the upcoming season that looks to be unlike any we've ever witnessed.

This has been a wild off season to say the least.

No spring practice and a limited fall camp have made preparations for a 10 game sec slate that much tougher.

But players say the coaches have done a good job in helping the team battle through all the obstacles before hitting the gridiron.

"no spring ball.

No class.

We're home for all this time.

We're doing zoom meetings.

I applaud our coaches and the university for how they've handled this because there's so much uncertainty.

Whether that's what we're gonna play, are we gonna play, what's going on outside the world.

This entire social justice movement as well.

And an election year.

I think our coaches and staff have handled it really well as far as preparing us for the best opportunity to be able to play."

Earlier today the sec announced some start times and networks for games across the conference.

Here are how things shape up for ole miss.

They host dan mullen and the gators for the season opener sept 26 at 11am on espn.

The following week they play at kentucky at 3pm on sec network.

Then oct 17th, the rebs travel to play arkansas.

At what time and on what network, we still don't know for certain but it can be anywhere from 11am to 2:30 or 3pm.

Now for the dogs in starkville, times for five games have been announced.

U can watch that state lsu season opener at 2:30 here on wcbi!

The next week msu's home opener against arkansas will be at 6:30 on sec network alternate.

October 17th, state hosts a&m at a time we'll learn more about moving forward.

Then the dogs will travel to bama october 31st and play at 6pm on espn.

And on nov.

7 state hosts vandy at 3pm on sec network.

In high school football, the mississipp high school athletic association is working on making a decision on where the high school football state championships will be held.

They were originally planned to be at davis wade stadium this year on december 4th and 5th but the bulldogs now host missouri on the 5th.

Both ole miss and southern miss don't have home games that weekend which make them possible options.

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