Recent editorials from Mississippi newspapers:

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Sept. 24

The (Columbus) Dispatch on a new approach to preserving historic homes in a Mississippi city:

A group of people who own many of Columbus’ antebellum homes have announced their intentions to take over operations of the 79-year-old Pilgrimage, which is currently the domain of the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation and primarily funded by the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The homeowners have formed a new group - Preservation Society of Columbus - with the goal of restoring operations of the Pilgrimage to themselves, which was how the Pilgrimage operated in its early days.

The group believes it can be more successful in not only staging Pilgrimage but raising funds to extend preservation efforts far beyond its current scope.

“Pilgrimage can’t just be about a few rich white people and their homes,” is how one group member put it.

Indeed, the survival of the Pilgrimage may rely heavily on telling a fuller, more inclusive story of the history of Columbus.

The homeowners are requesting the money provided to the CCHF from the CVB for Pilgrimage each year will go to their group. Based on estimates by the group, about one-third of the money provided to the CCHF goes toward administrative costs, largely salaries.

Preservation Society of Columbus believes those administrative costs can be reduced and used instead to expand preservation beyond antebellum homes.

“We want to preserve all cultures, not just what you might call antebellum culture,” said the group’s president, Dick Leike, who owns two historic Columbus homes.

The group’s plans call for an ambitious approach to the Pilgrimage, which it believes can help raise money for preservation of many historic places in the community which have never quite fit into the old idea of what should be preserved and protected. That includes efforts to preserve the remaining history of our city’s black community, which has largely been ignored.

We applaud the group’s mission and encourage the CVB and CCHF to open a dialogue with the homeowners group. The new preservation group says the decision by antebellum homeowners to take over Pilgrimage operations was unanimous. This need not be a fight between the homeowners and the CCHF over the control of the Pilgrimage, but rather, a partnership.

As a practical matter, there can be a Pilgrimage without the CCHF, but there can be no Pilgrimage without the homeowners. It makes sense that the homeowners have operational control of this event if they want it. They are the ones with skin in the game.

In getting back to the roots of how the Pilgrimage began, the homeowners are also presenting a vision of preserving not just a portion of our city’s rich history, but all of it.

We strongly support this holistic approach to preservation.

Online: https://www.cdispatch.com

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Sept. 22

The (Tupelo) Daily Journal on Northeast Mississippi schools increasing their accountability rankings:

Northeast Mississippi schools and districts demonstrated another strong performance in the state accountability rankings, increasing its number of A school districts by two, according to rankings released last week by the Mississippi Department of Education.

Two thirds of public school districts received either an A or a B on accountability ratings. Of 30 school districts within the region, nine school districts received an A rating, 11 a B, seven a C, two a D and one an F, according to a story by Daily Journal staff writer Caleb Bedillion.

The top-ranked A districts were Alcorn, Amory, Booneville, Lafayette, New Albany, Oxford, Pontotoc City, Tishomingo County and Union County.

The Alcorn County, Amory and New Albany school districts moved into the A ratings this year, while North Tippah dropped out of the A ratings, earning a B this year. Alcorn, Amory and New Albany are all receiving A designations for the first time under the current testing regime, putting them among nine districts this year earning their first A rating.

Tupelo maintained a district-wide grade of B, while Lee County improved from a C to a B.

The single F in the region went to the Aberdeen School District, a decline from the district’s C rating last year. Statewide, 31 districts received an A, 35 a B, 35 a C, 23 a D and 19 an F. The number of A-rated districts rose from 18 to 31, while the number of districts earning a C, D or F rating fell.

These recent test results demonstrate the need to continue placing a high emphasis on our students going forward to ensure that these successes continue in the districts that performed well and that improvements can be made in other districts.

While these rankings indicate how schools and districts are performing based on student performance on state tests taken during the 2018-19 school year, we all know more factors go into the makeup of great schools.

Northeast Mississippi has always placed public education at the top of the list for community and economic development. Strong public schools are an essential part in creating growth in our communities. For students to be successful, a good, solid education is needed no matter the path they follow - whether it be toward an advanced education degree or entering today’s workforce.

We must keep state leaders on task to continue to implement changes to help improve public education. We also have individual responsibilities. We must come together - as a community - to do whatever is needed to ensure students and teachers have every opportunity to succeed.

“Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s the determination and commitment to unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.” - Mario Andretti

Our communities must be determined and committed - we must work together toward excellence in education. As long as communities are willing to come together and invest in education, our students will be poised for a successful life or career in the future.

Online: https://www.djournal.com

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Sept. 20

The Greenwood Commonwealth on the effects of Mississippi’s electric vehicle tax:

A new Consumer Reports study shows that Mississippi’s new tax on electric vehicles will be 158% higher than the comparable gas tax on a regular vehicle. That’s approximately 2.5 times more. It will be one of the highest electric vehicle taxes in the nation. And, unlike the gas tax, the electric vehicle tax will go up with inflation.

The tax, passed last year by the state legislature instead of a gas tax, applies to any vehicle with rechargeable batteries, fuels cells or other portable sources of current. The tax includes all hybrid vehicles. Unfortunately, the tax will be a drop of the bucket, making up less than .04% of the state highway funding in states where it has been adopted, according to the report. The Mississippi electric vehicle tax would be equivalent to a car getting about 14 highway miles per gallon.

In 2019, eight states passed new fees for EV registrations or increased current fees and, of these, Consumer Reports found that all but one would be “extremely punitive” - or would cost EV drivers at least 50% more than the gas taxes paid by the driver of an average new gas-powered car. All told, there are already 18 states with EV fees higher than the annual gas tax equivalent for an average new car, and at least eight more punitive fees have been proposed.

The real culprit in the loss of gas tax revenue is that conventional vehicles have become far more efficient. As they consume less gasoline, less revenue is generated for the highway funds. Moreover, gas taxes have not kept up with inflation for decades, the report states. Adjusted for inflation and fuel efficiency gains, gas taxes have fallen 64% over the last 25 years.

The passage of the electronic vehicle tax has done practically nothing for the real problem: Mississippi has never adjusted the 1987 gas tax for inflation. This failure must be corrected or our roads will cost far more to fix down the road and vehicle owners will spend far more than the extra $7 a month in gas taxes on new rims, tires and front ends. Neighboring Alabama and Tennessee have addressed this problem and adjusted the tax. It’s high time Mississippi state leaders step up to the plate and do the same. Using hypothetical lottery money to fund a fraction of the maintenance shortfall is not going to cut it.

Online: https://www.gwcommonwealth.com

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