WCBI NEWS at 10 - 09/02/2020

WCBI NEWS at 10 - 09/02/2020

Thanks for staying up with us tonight, i'm cash matlock.

Mississippians will have a choice to make about the next state flag design in november.

The final design selected by the commission today.

It is the flag initially called the "new magnolia flag" that's the final design.

Commission members decided to now call it the "in god we trust" flag.

Courtney ann jackson has a recap of today's meeting.

The commission to redesign the state flag had a short timeline to adopt a design that could represent mississippi for years to come.

Robyn tannehill, commission member: "mississippians deserved the opportunity to choose between two.

I also believe it's critical that this flag passes in november."

But the law says just one design will be selected to appear on the ballot.

The discussion at the final meeting centered around the new magnolia flag and some minor changes like making the font bolder.

There was no discussion of the other finalist---the great river flag.

With a vote of 8- 1---the flag with the magnolia in the center was selected.

Commission chair judge reuben anderson--- reuben anderson, commission chairman "we'll be on the bottom all of my lifetime but my children and grandchildren will see us ascend and it'll happen because of what you have done to bring this great object to the people of mississippi to vote on."

Designer rocky vaughan-- rocky vaughan, one of the designers of final flag: "i knew there was something we could all come together and love and that's what happened today."

Others who've followed the process closely wanted to be here to witness this historic step.

Dr. kenny digby, christians action committee: "this flag makes it easier to carry out the great commission."

Rev.

Cj rhodes, mt.

Helm baptist church pastor: "it's definitely much more inclusive.

The old flag was used in the days of segregation and slavery, post- slavery as a symbol to keep certain people down, particularly my people.

So, i do think this is a new flag to symbolize a new mississippi."

A member of the "let mississippi vote" group says they're still planning on a ballot referendum that would put four choices on a later ballot: the 1894 flag, the flag adopted by the commission, the stennis flag and the bicentennial flag that features the state seal.

Lauren smith, let mississippi vote: "we want to include everyone in mississippi and give them the opportunity in the flag that flies over them so that everyone truly is represented."

The alliance for mississippi organization is a coalition of community, civic and business leaders who believes this is a design that will move the state forward.

And say they will work diligently in the next two months to encourage citizens to vote.

First look stinger summary: warm temperatures will hang around into next week but humidity levels will be lower saturday and sunday and that should allow lows to fall back into the 60s.

A few isolated storms are possible thursdthursday with a few more on friday.

The forecast past labor day remains quite uncertain so stay tuned for more details as we get closer.

Wednesday night: isolated early evening showers or storms are possible across our far nw counties.

Aside from that expect skies to go mainly clear tonight with a bright nearly full moon shining overhead.

Look for lows in the mid to low 70s.

Winds sw 3-7 mph.

Thursday: partly cloudy, hot, and humid.

Highs in the low 90s with heat indices around 100?.

A few showers and storms are possible but the rain chance is just 20-30%.

Tonight joe biden's campaign is accusing russia of "false" attacks on biden's health, and pointing a finger at president trump, who they accuse of keeping secret a u.s. intelligence report that reveals the plot.

Here's the latest from cbs.

Tonight dhs is pushing back against claims it buried an intelligence bulletin warning the russians were targeting joe biden.... the july document said there was a russian scheme to promote "allegations about the poor mental health" of biden" which there is no proof of.

But it was never sent.

In an email obtained by abc news, acting dhs secretary chad wolf's chief of staff writes: "please hold on sending this one until you have a chance to speak to wolf".

Tonight wolf said the document didn't meet his standards.

The report you reference was at the end of the day a very poorly written report.

But democrats are concerned the trump administration is blocking the flow of key intelligence on election interference to benefit the president.

The russians don't want me to be the nominee.

The bulletin reportedly cites a march story from state sponsored russia today pushing unfounded claims about biden's verbal miscues.

The president's attacks on the democratic candidate echo those of the russians.

As you know, joe biden he doesn't have a clue as do their campaign commercials... joe biden is slipping.... the russians have been spreading misinformation on facebook since the last election, and yesterday a fake news site created by a kremlin backed group, discovered by the fbi, had several of its pages taken down.

An inmate from the central mississippi correctional facility dies in the prison this morning.

Mississippi department of corrections says 50-year-old scott william deters most likely died from natural causes.

Deters was sentenced in 2019 to a total of 11 years for two convictions in different counties.

He received seven years for possession of a controlled substance in stone county and four years for prescription forgery in harrison county.

An autopsy will determine the official cause of death.

Covid-19 numbers inside of mississippi hospitals continue to improve.

State health officials are reporting 781 new coronavirus cases officials are reporting 781 new coronavirus cases today, along with 33 deaths.

The number of patients with confirmed or suspected covid-19 symptoms in hospitals across the state drops below 800.

It's been several months since that's been the case.

The number of people in i.c.u.

Drops below two hundred.

In our viewing area, lafayette county has the most new cases with 57.

Oktibbeha county has 38 and lee county is reporting 29.

The mississippi state department of health is reporting the first child death related to covid- 19.

During today's coronavirus press briefing, state health officer dr. thomas dobbs also talked about how covid-related deaths are reported.

The new numbers have led many people to believe that only 6 percent of coronavirus deaths have been caused solely by the virus and no other contributing factors.

Some doctors say that's not the case.

Dr. dobbs say covid-19 is an organ killer.

It attacks the body and causes organs to shut down, meaning there's always more than one thing that causes a coronavirus death and never just the virus alone.

"accute respitory failure, secondary to covid-19 and pnuemonia, that's a covid death.

Covid caused respitory failure and pnuemonia... heart disease with covid- 19 and mild cardio infarcion, was not counted as a covid death.

Cardio pulminary disease, heart disease, diabetes with contributing factor of covid, not counted as a covid related death."

Dobbs says the child that died was between the ages of one and five.

The child was also healthy prior to contracting covid- 19.

Roll vo in monitor a monroe county volunteer fire department gets a new piece of equipment that will help save lives for years to come.

Wcbi's allie martin shows us the new fire engine at hatley vfd and what it means to the area.

Nats getting truck hatley volunteer fire chief evan adams is taking the department's newest vehicle on the road.

Nats sirens engine 41 arrived from the factory this week.

The truck is valued at around 290 thousand dollars and should serve the community for 15 to 25 years.

It has a thousand gallon water tank for fighting fires and it will also be used in other emergencies.

"it is definitely a great asset, this is actually a rescue style pumper that will also contain a lot of rescue equipment for automobile accidents, extracation, but very proud to have this and community should be also."

Standup bridge engine 41 replaces engine 42 which was put into service about 20 years ago as a new vehicle.

This equipment is not only a big plus to the volunteer fire department, it also helps homeowners in the district.

"this will definitely help us maintain our current rating and potentially help us lower our rating, giving us two class a pumpers."

A lower rating means lower insurance premiums for homeowners in the area.

First district supervisor joseph richardson says it's important to give first responders the tools they need to do their jobs.

"we are fortunate in monroe county to have an extremely team of emergency services personnel, our volunteer fire departments play a vital role in that, along with our 9 1 1 disptachers, first responders, law enforcement, we have a search and rescue team, they all will use this equipment here."

All members of the department will train on the new engine before it goes into service.

In hatley, allie martin wcbi news roll vo in monitor the county was able to use money from the state fire rebate program to help pay for the new fire engine.

That money is collected from homeowners' insurance premiums to help fire departments get much needed equipment.

Stinger roll vo in monitor the county was able to use money from the state fire rebate program to help pay for the new fire engine.

That money is collected from homeowners' insurance premiums to help fire departments get much needed equipment.

Stinger wx open summary: warm temperatures will hang around into next week but humidity levels will be lower saturday and sunday and that should allow lows to fall back into the 60s.

A few isolated storms are possible thursday with a few more on friday.

The forecast past labor day remains quite uncertain so stay tuned for more details as we get closer.

Wednesday night: isolated early evening showers or storms are possible across our far nw counties.

Aside from that expect skies to go mainly clear tonight with a bright nearly full moon shining overhead.

Look for lows in the mid to low 70s.

Winds sw 3-7 mph.

Thursday: partly cloudy, hot, and humid.

Highs in the low 90s with heat indices around 100?.

A few showers and storms are possible but the rain chance is just 20-30%.

Thursday night: variably cloudy.

Lows in the low 70s.

Friday: sun & clouds with a 30% chance of a few showers and storms. highs in the low 90s.

Keep your fingers crossed that whatever pops up will start to fade away before high school football starts.

Friday night: mainly clear and cooler.

Lows in the mid to upper 60s.

Saturday & sunday: partly cloudy, warm, and less humid.

Highs in the upper 80s to around 90.

Lows in the mid 60s.

A stray shower or storms is possible but the rain chance is just 10%.

Labor day: partly cloudy and warm.

Highs in the low 90s.

Just a slight chance of a shower or storm.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger medical medical professionals are warning members of the public to be safe this holiday weekend, especially while on the water.

Health talk with baptist is after the break, don't go anywhere.

Cash 3 lottery gfx safety is a big concern for first responders and medical professionals as we approach the labor day holiday.

Today on health talk with baptist, we continue our conversation on water safety.

Take a look.

No script billboard attached stinger area juco's announce their football schedules for the season.

Find out who icc plays after the break.

Spx open there's plenty of hype surrounding mike leach's signature air raid attack....and rightly so.

But that isn't the only change we'll see from the bulldogs.

Defensive coordinator zach arnett is bringing the 3-3-5 defense to starkville.

An aggressive style of defense that should have defenders flying around the field.

Now as both sides of the ball continue learning their respected schemes, coaches and players say the offensive and defensive lines have been getting after it in practice.

"they communicate.

They know where to go.

They're pretty decent at their one on one matchups."

"all of them are really giving me a tough matchup.

We're mixing up everything.

We're going from nose to shave to 3 tech.

Everybody is really getting their rep against everybody.

Everyone is working their hardest to block us.

We're making sure we get the offense better, and they're making sure we get the defense better."

Over in oxford, ole miss continues their preparations for week one with a scrimmage today.

This was the team's second scrimmage of fall camp, but getting to this point hasn't been easy for the rebs.

Head coach lane kiffin spoke on the challenge its been getting the guys up to speed while battling covid-19 and injuries.

Despite the struggles, the team remains optimistic.

"if a guy misses two or three weeks, we barely know them from a person to person standpoint.

Then, they don't know our plays.

If you've been in a program and in these other programs, they've had their seniors for four years.

You've had everybody for at least a year except for your incoming guys.

They already know your stuff."

"just a little but right now we're just one spot.

We're getting a lot of reps for the ones and twos so we'll be alright.

They'll come back and we'll just keep going."

Baseball america baseball america released its top 25 recruiting classes for the year.

For the third straight season, mississippi state and head coach chris lemonis make the top 25 at 17.

Ole miss comes in at 21.

Some other sec schools to note....lsu at 2, vandy at 3, florida at 5, arkansas at 9, georgia at 12, auburn at 14, and tennessee at 19.

Earlier today, itawamba community college released its football schedule for the upcoming season.

Icc has a 6 game slate starting with a home opener against coahoma october 1st.

Then icc travels to holmes and northwest the following weeks before returning home for back to back home games against delta and northeast.

Then itawamba closes the season on the road against coahoma.

Here's what the team had to say about the news.

"i think it's a great schedule.

Balanced home and away.

Got 3 and 3.

We're excited about getting going.

It's a lull sometimes because it's taken awhile to get the season to start.

You look up and 3 weeks becomes 2 and 2 weeks becomes 1.

Then you got game week.

We're trying to put emphasis on the little things we're trying to get better at right now.

We know as a coaching staff we still have time to get where we want to go."

"it's about getting in shape and getting everybody tuned up.

We're going over everything.

Blitzes, alignments.

Everything we're supposed to.

Trying to get ready for game one."

Again game one will be october 7th at home against coahoma.

Still to come..

Chief meteorologist keith gibson returns things are a little brighter in downtown starkville tonight.

This photo coming from starkville mayor lynn spruill.

These are string lights that have been installed on lafayette street.

Spruill says the extra lightiting will allow for outdoor activities at night and will help promote social distancing.

Starkville utilities and the greater starkville development partnership were involved in the project.

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