WCBI NEWS AT SIX - MARCH 27, 2020

WCBI NEWS AT SIX - MARCH 27, 2020

Thank you for joining us..

Another local industry announces a temporary shutdown.

Yokohama is suspending production at its west point plant in response to the covid-19 outbreak.

The company says production will be suspended after saturday.

The shutdown is expected to last two weeks.

The plant's shipping department will maintain normal operations hours, along with other maintenance related jobs.

The west point plant produces commercial truck tires.

Wipe to gfx the city of columbus will remain under a curfew at least through the weekend..

The curfew is from 10 p-m to 5 a-m, except for essential travel for those over 18- years-old.

City leaders will revisit the issue on monday..

All other restrictions issued by the city will remain in place until repealed.

Last saturday, city leaders declared a civil emergency resulting from covid-19.

Coronavirus is having an impact on families around the world.

Here at home schools and daycares have had to close, and that's leaving staff and families with a lot of uncertainty.

Our stephanie poole stopped by one of those daycares today, she joins us live in the studio with more on how their managing..

Aundrea, every morning, dana tait would walk in her daycare and see dozens of kids...that's no longer the case.

All she wants is for things to go back to normal..

Normally, this room in mighty oaks daycare would be loud and full of children.

Now, it's completely silent.

" i never experienced anything like this."

Director dana tait says covid-19 fears caused for her daycare to shut down for the time being, impacting at least 80 families.

" it's totally new grounds for all of us it's very scary and it's a day by day thing.

We try to help parents find other alternative care and try to work with them through this whole process but it's the unknown i think that's very scary for everyone."

She says the abrupt ending left her and her staff members puzzled and concerned about what's next.

" several people have been temporarily laid off and we had to temporarily lay off our staff as well because we do not know the time frame.

I think that's what makes it hard for everyone and we've tried to make sure that our staff is taken care of and they have the resources they need to get some income coming in."

This is the year tait says she planned to retire.

It's an even tougher pill to swallow knowing she can't spend the next couple of weeks with the people who matter most.

" i love being in the classroom and i love being able to interact with the children, they are just the most amazing thing.i walk in and it's very bittersweet especially since i imagined leaving here full of life and joy.

I worry about the children and i worry about the families.

I pray for them and hope that everything gets back to normal as much as we can."

But all she can do right now is wait and find the positives of the situation.

" you have to try to find some good in the day to get through the day."

Mighty oaks daycare will remain closed until further notice.

,take vo off top the mississippi department of health is reporting 94 new cases of coronavirus.

// and two more people in the state have died -- bringing the total to eight.

// lowndes, lafayette and calhoun counties have two new cases, each// oktibbeha and yalobusha are reporting three, each.

// chickasaw, choctaw, lee, clay and pontotoc counties all have one new case.

// mississippi's total count is 579 and more than three thousand people have been tested.

// business closings and temporary layoffs have many people turning to local pantries for food.

Now some of them are running low.

An area organization is stepping in to fill in the gap.

Quentin smith joins us in the studio to explain.

Aundrea, united way of north central mississippi saw this big need... which led to them starting a covid-19 food drive.

During this time many people are without jobs and money is tight... volunteers say they understand this difficulty many families are facing... and this is their way of giving back to their community.

Having food is essential....especia lly in times like this, and no one knows that better than candy crecink.

" the first concern that came to everyone's mind was how are we going to feed all of the people that are going to find themselves without a way to be able to purchase food."

That concern quickly led her to this idea...creating a food drive for those impacted by the coronavirus.

Nat pounds on top of pounds of perishable items filled this box... and in minutes it went from looking like this.... to this... " that's what united way is all about.

We bring people together to help each other.

We are the community, we are the fiber that makes the connection."

"doing a food drive like this when we have so many of our own neighbors that are in need, i think it's incredibly important."

Haggan walker was one of the many people to drop off donations.

He says he felt compelled to help those who are in need.

" people that had a job last week might not have one right now, and just knowing that there is security to at least have some of the bear essentials that you need, that's what we are here for and that's what we really want to take care of."

While united way is taking care of residents... over at mississippi state, the newly formed bully's closet and pantry is taking care of students..

"what we are doing now is we have pre- made bags which have a little bit over a weeks worth of food for the student, for the student will come in, they will fill out a form, we will check to make sure they are at least in rolled in one credit hour, they will tell us what they need, we will add that to the bank, and then we will give them a bag and send them on their way."

Montelleo hobley works with the food pantry and says they make roughly 65 bags a day to give away to students.

Volunteers say these kinds of selfless acts define what it means for a community to come together as one.

" we are filling our shelf and then we are also making sure our community it's good as well, because we want to make sure that we know that this is bigger than mississippi state, and this is bigger than starkville, this is a thing that we all have to come together on right now."

The united way will have drop off locations set up outside both walmart stores.... kroger... vowells market place..

And the starkville daily news... if anyone is interested in making donations to bully's closet and pantry... you can drop everything off on the backside of the building.... or visit our website at wcbi dot com... take gfx off top the city of starkville is activating a phone line that citizens can call if they have needs.

Mayor lynn spruill posted on social media that the hotline will be manned monday thru friday from 9am to 4pm.

Callers will be able to get information about services and resources local churches are providing like food, counseling, delivery, and yard care.

The number is 662- 323-4813.

First look stinger first look summary: summer- like weather carries over into the start of the weekend.

A cold front will spark a line of gusty showers and storms saturday evening/night.

Wind and hail appear to be the main threats if storms happen to become severe.

Sunday looks good but another batch of rain and storms is possible late monday through tuesday.

Stinger a mission trip leads to a love match..

We meet a couple of unique newlyweds when we come back... thousands of people impacted by the sudden economic downturn are getting help from two local ministries.

Eight days of hope and the american family association are delivering meals as part of the outreach called "feed tupelo."

Anyone needing lunch or dinner can make their request online, and volunteers will deliver the meals to the person's home.

Volunteers make the lunches and dinners at the pontotoc county headquarters of eight days of hope.

In the first few days, more than four thousand people have been fed.

"feed tupelo" will continue throughout next week.

The meals are delivered without any human contact, to practice "social distancing" guidelines recommended by the cdc.

For two of the volunteers helping with "feed tupelo" this has been an especially busy and eventful week.

As allie martin reports, a woman from mississippi and a man from new york state were married at the ministry headquarters, after a long distance courtship that began on a mission trip.

Nats of wedding i hope?

Their story begins in the mission field.

Bruce and lisa macqueen have served with the 8 days of hope ministry for several years on many different trips.

Nats---of them working g together?

But it wasn't until last fall , during a mission project in texas, when things started getting serious.

"bruce asked if he could stay in touch with me, and like any of my eight days of hope family, , i gave him my phone number and the day after we left beaumont, i got a scripture and a prayer.

Have been getting a scripture and prayer from bruce everyday, since then."

Bruce and lisa maintained their long distance relationship , learning about all they had in common and believing their relationship was a special blessing.

Finally, bruce was in austin working with eight days of hope, when he reached out to lisa, who was at her home in mississippi.

"the lord led me to ask her online to marry me," "in other words he texted me" "yes, texted."

"the first one was, marry me lisa, and i said, ok" since bruce and lisa met each other through eight days of hope, they wanted to get married at ministry headquarters.

On tuesday, they exchanged vows in the ministry's lobby, with a few friends looking on.

Nats serving making lunches and when the macqueens found out the ministry was delivering meals to needy people in the tupelo area, they joined in the effort.

"for our wedding gift, from god, we get to serve, so we're right here today."

The macqueens believe their story is part of a god sized plan they never could have envisioned.

"bruce was saying, just a year ago, if i'd known, i wouldn't have believed it, if god had said this is where you're going to be, i wouldn't have believed it, we're kind of seeing the rest of our lives like that, we're making plans and waiting for god to change them for us."

After the feed tupelo outreach, bruce and lisa may take a trip to florida, if their plans aren't changed by another service opportunity.

In pontotoc county, allie martin, wcbi news bruce and lisa are full time missionaries with eight days of hope.

Stinger wx open summary: summer- like weather carries over into the start of the weekend.

A cold front will spark a line of gusty showers and storms saturday evening/night.

Wind and hail appear to be the main threats if storms happen to become severe.

Sunday looks good but another batch of rain and storms is possible late monday through tuesday.

Friday night: partly cloudy during the evening with low clouds filling back in late.

Lows in the mid 60s.

Winds s 5-10 mph.

Saturday: mostly cloudy to start with a mix of sun and clouds developing during the day.

Southerly breezes between 10 and 20 mph will push high temperatures well into mid to upper 80s.

A few more record highs may occur.

Saturday evening/night: a line of gusty storms is expected to move across the area with a cold front.

Damaging wind gusts and hail still look to be the main threats if severe weather occurs.

Rainfall amounts will vary but most spots will likely have under 1" of moisture so no flooding concerns are expected at this time.

Lows will be in the upper 50s to around 60 by sunrise sunday.

Sunday: mostly sunny to partly cloudy.

It'll be a pleasant day with highs in the 70s.

Monday: becoming mostly cloudy with showers developing during the afternoon and evening.

Highs in the upper 60s to around 70.

Tuesday: rain and storms. highs in the 70s.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and on the wcbi news app stinger we catch up with our sports team when we come back..

Spx open no script available and happy friday everyone.

Welcome to the very first addition of style w cbs sports saying inside with these trying times we miss the most about sports.

I didn't realize it plays a role in every part of my days besides order to let ourselves and our chapter were preparing our postseason.

I just woke up and i miss basketball adjustments possible ... march madness no mba on thursday the will party mentally scares myself for march madness in the wake lessons in baseball is in the camp and why basketball they switch over to fighting a relaxing sports .

He does like today's electoral hour days here in your embrace them.

I see your dear, i came home from the other half of the and is called a oh no you hate to see what is your favorite moment.

You will the game- winner run around the corner.

Everyone's around madness.

Second was the head cut off and live in person is, we covered the leash on those are kinda tied in different ways, oxford and oh, grow, change state championships.

Chris: he is almost insane high school game i've ever witnessed.

In we think the way them if they wanted and you only hearing was going on what is happening in so it was incredible.

This episode one many more to come ... i'm tom apple wall.

Chris will back after this