WCBI News at Six - Friday, August 14th, 2020

WCBI News at Six - Friday, August 14th, 2020

There will be fewer people in the stands on friday nights.

Thanks for joining us at six// governor reeves passed an order to today that limits how many people can be in the stands at football games and other extracurricular activities in the state// his latest executive order will limit crowd sizes for all k- through-12 sporting events across the state in a effort to slow the spread of covid-19// under this new guideline, two people for each player will be allowed to the games, band concert, or whatever activity your child is a part of in school// again, they're only allowed to have two people allowed to occupy space in the venue// governor reeves says extra governor reeves says extra curriculars are a vital part of students and they want to keep them in place, just in the safest way as possible// "the only way we can expand the number of 2 per participant is if the numbers in the community spread continue to decline in a rate similar to what we've seen in the last 3 weeks.

We need to take that number which was up near 10,000 over a seven day period, we need to drive it down to 2,500 to 3,000 level, which would be basically another cut in half of where we are today" indoor events require masks and masks must be worn at outside events unless you're sitting down with your respective party// this order is in effect until august 31st unless otherwise extended// the governors recent statewide mask mandate was also extended today until the 31st// the governor's executive order comes as the total number of coronavirus cases in mississippi reaches over 70- thousand// today, the mississippi state department of health reports 944 new covid-19 cases and 32 deaths// 11 deaths are from death certificates from last month// this is the third day this week the numbers have been below a thousand// 70-thousand-930 mississippians have reportedly been diagnosed with covid-19// 946 people are currently hospitalized with the virus// top at least 80 people signed up to drive up today.

Covid 19 testing was handled in starkville at the oktibbeha county safe room by the mississippi national guard and the university of mississippi medical center.

Reservations were preferred.

But there were around 20 people who also showed up in their vehicles to be tested.

These tests were provided free of charge.

There is money - earmarked in the cares act headed to three north mississippi economic development agencies the golden triangle, north central, and northeast planning and development districts will each get four hundred thousand dollars.

In total, eight agencies in the state will receive the federal money.

U.s. secretary of commerce wilbur ross says the funds will allow for economic development plans.

Money will also help boost programs to help communities and businesses during the covid-19 pandemic.

Roll vo in monitor "cares act" money is also funding a program to help people who have lost their jobs because of the pandemic.

The state is launching a new initiative.

It's called "re-skill mississippi."

The program offers anyone who's lost a job a chance to learn a new skill..

People can enroll at community colleges to take classes and get training to land a job at one of the industries in the state... our quentin smith speaks with a college about this new program..

He joins us live in the studio with more details... aundrea.... lawmakers have allocated 55 million dollars from its cares act money to cover the cost for the training.... east mississippi community college will offer classes and training starting in september.

The college says its their goal to get people back to work as quick as possible... preparing individuals for the workforce..

It's something east missisippi prides itself in... now they're keeping that momentum going... as part of re-skill mississippi, emcc is training workers displaced by covid- 19 find new jobs..

"we have training for manufacturing skills, we have training for welding, we have a composites program where people can go to work if they get selected through one of our local industry partners and working kind of with aviation, which is really fun, a certified nurses assistant program is qualified, and so all of these programs work together to help people find a quick entering into a job that they might have never considered before."

Dr. courtney taylor is the executive director of the community at emcc and says people have already expressed interest in the program..

There's also a component for on the job training so they can come to us and get the training, and then the employers that are interested can get up to 75% of your wages covered."

All of the classes and training offered is being funded through the cares act money.

Taylor says emcc will start their training in september.

These classes are typically a month or less, sometimes they spread over a couple of months, but it's a couple of days a week, it's not a full-time commitment like our degree programs are."

Taylor says emcc has partnerships with multiple industries in the golden triangle.

She believes those will now come in handy as the help individuals develop new skills.... " companies know that they are getting the skill sets that they need also because they work with us hand-in-hand, they meet with us every month, and we're talking through these things that way we know that everything we're doing is to benefit the person that they can go to work quickly, easily, and they can be a valuable team member as quickly as possible also."

The new initiative is also for individuals who've had their hours reduced due to the pandemic... the program runs through december... for more information about re-skill mississippi... visit our website at wcbi dot com... developing stinger a mississippi congressman says he believes there are legitimate concerns when it comes to mail in voting for the upcoming presidential election.

First district congressman trent kelly says federal, state and local officials are taking steps too ensure that in person voting is safe in november.

Congressman kelly, a republican, says health experts , including dr anthony fauci, say in person voting is safe, with safeguards such as social distancing, hand sanitizing stations and other measures.

Kelly says while there are safeguards for absentee voting, he believes there are simply too many unknowns about massive mail- in voting.

"what they're doing is sending those to every single address, whether there's a registered voter there or not, and i don't know how they determine how many to send to each place because they are just sending them, we need to be able to verify that people who are voting are eligible to vote and the only way you can do that is an absentee process, i voted absentee several times in my life, sending it in the mail, also by doing it early because i was deployed, downrange, in washington dc, had to do it once because i was up there doing the work of the people."

The u s postal service recently sent letters to 46 states warning it cannot guarantee all ballots cast by mail in november will arrive in time to be counted.

Wcbi continuing coverage and now there are nine.

Flag commission members have narrowed their focus to 9 finalists for the mississippi flag.

Magnolias feature heavily with the final designs.

There are also stars representing when the state joined the union.

The nine-member flag commission originally planned to vote today on five finalists.

That vote will now happen tuesday.

The commissioners have narrowed their finalists from nearly 3,000 flag designs.

You can find the nine finalists on the mdah website at mdah.ms.gov.

First look stinger first look summary: rain chances will lower as we head into the weekend but some stray showers or storms are possible.

Slightly cooler and drier air is slated to return early next week.

Friday night: isolated evening rain and storms. turning partly cloudy and quiet with lows in the low 70s.

Light and centered a teenager is facing charges in connection to a car theft and a string of car burglaries earlier this week in lee county.

Investigators arrested 18-year- old khasen mitchell after the tuesday morning break-ins.

The burglaries happened in several subdivisions in mooreville.

A car was stolen in saltillo.

Investigators traced the crimes back to mitchell through surveillance video.

Mitchell is charged with one count of felony taking of a motor vehicle and six counts of auto burglary.

The sheriff's department is looking for other suspects in the case.

Wcbi update off top what started out as a night out with a lady friend turned into an argument, gunfire, and a flood.

Columbus police were called to the courtyard by marriott about a shooting.

Chief fred shelton says the alleged gunman was confronted by his girlfriend, while he was with another woman, and an argument ensued.

Investigators tell wcbi the suspect fired a shot into the ceiling of the hotel room and the bullet hit a waterline.

The name of the suspect is not being released at this time and no arrest has been made.

There is an active search for the gunman.

Stinger building a business through bad times and good.

A look a how it works ahead on wcbi news at 6.

An area car dealership celebrates ten years in northeast mississippi.

Wcbi's allie martin has more on how the business has grown, and expanded during good and bad economic times.

Joe marshall purchased the hyundai dealership ten years ago, and changed the name to barnes crossing hyundai mazda.

Since then marshall and his team have turned the dealership around and have experienced steady growth, by staying focused on the things that matter the most.

On any day of the week, joe marshall can be found on the showroom floor of barnes crossing hyundai, talking with customers.

Nats and going over potential deals with sales associates.

Nats as dealer principal, marshall is involved in every aspect of the business and that means focusing on employees and clients.

Attracting great franchises, lot of used cars, we really focus on the customer, making sure they get a quality car for the money they spend."

When marshall bought the dealership in 2010, sales averaged about 30 cars a month.

It didn't take long for marshall and his team to transform that into 300 cars every month.

They have kept the momentum and expanded .

Barnes crossing auto group now owns ten stores in two states.

Ten years ago, bc auto group had 20 employees.

Now, more than 400 people work for the company.

General manager will cody came on board right after marshall bought the dealership.

He says there have been several constants, customers, sales associates and financing.

Barnes crossing auto group has its own financing company.

Cody says recruiting and keeping quality employees is key to the company's success.

"we are constantly searching out the next joe marshall, the next manager to run a store , or the next person who has never considered being in this field to come in so we can train them the way we do business, which has worked for us, it all comes down to people."

Marshall says sales associates try hard to overcome the stereotype many people have about car salesmen.

"we greet the customer in a manner they are comfortable with we have managers that get very active in it right from the start, so it's not a lot of going back and forth, we come in and we say, here's what we can do and here's how we can best help you."

Marshall and his team look to continue their success in the region and beyond.

Barnes crossing auto group is set to expand into alabama in the next few months.

In tupelo, allie martin, wcbi news centered barnes crossing auto group also supports numerous charities throughout northeast mississippi.

Stinger weather open summary: rain chances will lower as we head into the weekend but some stray showers or storms are possible.

Slightly cooler and drier air is slated to return early next week.

Friday night: isolated evening rain and storms. turning partly cloudy and quiet with lows in the low 70s.

Light and variable winds.

Saturday: partly cloudy, warm, and humid.

Highs in the low 90s.

A 20% chance of a few showers and storms during the heating of the day.

Winds nnw 5-10 mph.

Saturday night: mainly clear to partly cloudy.

Lows in the upper 60s to lower 70s.

Light winds.

Sunday: sun & clouds.

Highs in the low 90s with a 20-30% chance of a few pop-up showers and storms. winds nw 5-10 mph.

Monday-tuesday: mostly sunny to partly cloudy.

Highs in the upper 80s to lower 90s.

Lows in the 60s.

Wednesday-friday: sun & clouds.

A 20- 30% chance of showers and storms each day.

Highs around 90 with lows around 70.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger summary: rain chances will lower as we head into the weekend but some stray showers or storms are possible.

Slightly cooler and drier air is slated to return early next week.

Friday night: isolated evening rain and storms. turning partly cloudy and quiet with lows in the low 70s.

Light and variable winds.

Saturday: partly cloudy, warm, and humid.

Highs in the low 90s.

A 20% chance of a few showers and storms during the heating of the day.

Winds nnw 5-10 mph.

Saturday night: mainly clear to partly cloudy.

Lows in the upper 60s to lower 70s.

Light winds.

Sunday: sun & clouds.

Highs in the low 90s with a 20-30% chance of a few pop-up showers and storms. winds nw 5-10 mph.

Monday-tuesday: mostly sunny to partly cloudy.

Highs in the upper 80s to lower 90s.

Lows in the 60s.

Wednesday-friday: sun & clouds.

A 20- 30% chance of showers and storms each day.

Highs around 90 with lows around 70.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger only seven stops remain on the high school football tour...catch-one of the final previews with lafayette, next in sports the high school football tour continues with a look at the lafayette commadores.

The dores look to continue their brand of smash mouth football in 2020.

Lafayette is stop number 54.

888pkg888 the lafayette commodores enter 2020 looking to finally pluck the thorn that's been in their side.

The thorn being west point.

For the last two years, the commodores season has come to an end by the hands of the green wave in some tough fought playoff battles including last season's 21-14 defeat.

Fast forward to now, lafayette is hungry to hit the field and get over the hump.

"it comes down to a play one way or the other and for the last two years that other team has made that play.

We don't talk about it a lot to be honest with you.

Our team i think is pretty level headed when it comes to that.

Everybody wants to get to that next round.

We feel like, more importantly, they feel like this is the team to do it.

We're excited about it for sure."

"we've been preparing for that one round that we just can't seem to get past.

It's that one team and working hard."

"it's just a matter of actually going out and doing it.

Having it in our head that we can do it."

Working to make that goal happen this season will be a new crop of faces as lafayette loses a lot of experience from last year's team including last season's quarterback and leading rusher randy anderson who accounted for over 2,000 all purpose yards.

Head coach michael fair is confident that his team can meet the challenge.

"to say we're going to look different is an understatement.

I think we're as skilled as we've been since i've been here.

We got some speed on that side of the ball that i'm excited about.

We're going to look different, but i think we'll score some points.

That's what it's all about.

We have guys in key spots that have experience coming back.

We'll be leaning on those guys early."

Despite the turnover, expect the commodores to continue playing their gritty, hardnose brand of football.

A style of play you can expect from lafayette year in and year out.

"anytime you play the county, you can expect good defense and physical running of the football.

That's what lafayette has been long before i got here.

That's just the blue collar mentality this place is.

To be honest, we expect the same this year.

We're going to hold these guys to a really high standard.

One we'll push them everyday to meet and go from there."

"we're the county.

It's what we're known as.

We come from some hard working families.

Kids that want to hit somebody when they get on the football field."

The county kicks off the season on the road against horn lake september 4th.

With lafayette on the high school football tour, chris bolton wcbi sports.

Here's a look at the upcoming stops for any stops that you may have missed along the way you can always check out our website, wcbi.com a leslie or something for jesse or one of these for you.

We can into next week we will bring him humanly a tad like rain this weekend especially sunday versus saturday with aerial euros and 60 was that right.