Jail: A Learning Experience?

The Lafayette County Detention Center stays busy,
especially on weekends.

Oxford police have recently been cracking down on DUI and public intoxication arrests. It is not surprising that a lot of these arrests are students at Ole Miss. What is surprising is the amount of repeat offenders OPD sees. The return rate in America's prisons is 62.8 percent, with Mississippi at 60 percent.

"There are a number of programs we have in place with the University and government agencies trying to help people avoid being repeat offenders," Major Sheridan Maiden of the Oxford Police department said.

Jail is supposed to be a punishment that teaches you a lesson, but are the people who continue to break the law really learning anything? Perhaps law enforcement is too quick to arrest. Many people believe Oxford police prefer to arrest students because they're an easier target. Oxford police have in the past used students they arrest, put them in harm's way even, as a means to reach an end.

"I really don't feel police in Oxford like arresting students as much as some people think," sophomore Lindy Stevenson said. "When they arrest you, they have to."

Stevenson was recently arrested for driving under the influence. She said she would rather be arrested than hurt somebody, and her arresting officer was just doing his job.

In contrast, sophomore Matt Wyatt has been arrested four times in the past ten months. Three of these incidents occurred in Oxford. All of them were either DUI or public intoxication charges.

"It was bull****," Wyatt said of his second arrest. "They arrested me just for falling over. I mean I was drunk but I was fine."

Wyatt is under the age of 21, so he was aware he was breaking the law. Although the crime rate in Oxford is not very high, he feels that "law enforcement should focus less energy on arresting drunk college students and more on arresting actual criminals."

So what is it really like to get arrested in Oxford, MS? Many people think things like this won't happen to them, but Wyatt and Stevenson thought that too. Watch the video below for a closer look:

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Day in the Life of a Car Wash Manager

Four Seasons Car Wash located in Madison, MS is the only of its kind in the area. Many have heard but never seen or experienced such a high quality car wash. Four Seasons Car Wash's high end automated wash bays and high speed tunnel washing system use newer technology to ensure an efficient, thorough wash every time. From their car wash attendants to the detailing staff, you will be sure to be receive the best service. When it comes to the employees they hire, the wash is highly selective.

 Tamarco Taylor, manager at the Hwy 463 location, gives us a look into the life of a car wash manager and what it takes to successfully operate an automatic wash. An employee for 2 years, Taylor against all odds became the head manager of one of the three Four Season Car Washes in the area.

Oxford Maker's Market Artist Has Some "Heated" Talent

Fun and excitement filled the streets of downtown Oxford,Mississippi this past weekend. Members of the Oxford Square Alliance held their annual Holiday Open House on the Square. The big event was comprised of smaller events and gave local residents and visitors a variety of opportunities to participate in whichever event they chose. The smaller events consisted of photos with Santa Clause, a free opportunity to create holiday art, free carriage rides, Christmas tree lightings, and more.

Oxford Maker's Market was one of the smaller events hosted on Friday during the Holiday Open House. It is a monthly art market venue  for local artists in Oxford to sell their works and goods.  It all began in 2010 and has continuously grown over the years. Now it includes others features like music, poetry readings, art demonstrations, and more. The Market is mainly dedicated to giving artists and artisans of all types an outlet to be seen and heard.

Angela King was one of the many artists present for the Oxford Maker's Market venue with unique talent.

King's lamp work talent began only three years ago, when she embarked on a school abroad trip to Italy.  

"I saw this lady that had on this beautiful glass jewelry. I had to ask her, like how; tell me how do you do that? She told me where to go to take classes and then from there, I got to here."  

Over a small amount of time, King has learned a lot about the sale business and also about the ups and downs in selling her own personal items. Here in Oxford, she says her clientele is very high and people "actually" know who she is and what she does.

Her price range for her special hand-made pieces range anywhere from $3 single beads to $200 necklace.

Angela King has a Facebook account where many can browse through her vast collection of handmade necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and more.

What Is Black Friday And Where Did It Come From?

 Black Friday Shoppers

For years, as early as the 1950's, people have been gearing up for Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when retail stores drop their prices and practice their biggest sales of the year for one day.

There are many stories and myths about where Black Friday came from, but one the more interesting stories comes from Philadelphia PA. In the 1950's thousands of people would attend the Army/Navy football game that took place the Friday after Thanksgiving. With a larger crowed presence, stores dropped their prices in hopes of bringing people into the shops. The police officers were forced to work twice as hard and twice as long as a normal shift on this day, and so they gave the day its own name and coined the phrase "Black Friday" and it began to catch on across America.

Not long after Black Friday started to get popularized, retail stores decided to try and do away with the negativity of its origins and in the late 1980s created the "red to black" notion, which means the day after Thanksgiving is the day retailers actually turn a profit.

But what does this mean for our economy? Black Friday not only gives a boost to the economy, it also helps the stock market see what people are spending on and how much they're spending going into the new year. This can have effects on the way retails set up for the next year to come.

However the sales have started sooner every year and with technology advancing we are starting to see more use of online shopping. With stores keeping prices low after Thanksgiving and people not being able to attend the Black Friday sales, they began online shopping at work the following Monday, this become such a large thing the National Retail Federation (NRF) coined the term Cyber Monday.

For more on the traditions and dangers behind Black Friday watch the video here.

Amazon Launches the Premiere of their New Show, The Grand Tour

from left, Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarson, and James May presenting
at the Premiere of The Grand Tour. Courtesy: Amazon.

After a year and a half of waiting, the premier of The Grand Tour, hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May, launches to Amazon Prime subscribers in select countries late Thursday night.

"Grand Tour started when Jeremy Clarkson conveniently, was fired after assaulting one of the [Top Gear] show producers. After a handful of Clarkson-free episodes, James May and Richard Hammond also departed," says Allen St. John, Forbes contributor. 

With a rocky separation from the BBC Clarkson, Hammond, and May have been the topic of world wide conversation, and this premiere will be no exception.

Watch below for more on the story:

While the trio aired on the BBC, they set the Guinness world record for "Most widely watched factual TV program" in 2013. The Guardian says, "Top Gear was watched by 350 million people in 214 territories," at that time. Amazon is hoping to retain some of that viewership with the start of The Grand Tour.

Amazon has not yet reviled the numbers relating to how many millions of their Prime member tuned into the premiere, but their press release did hint that the show had a good start. "The depute episode of the highly anticipated new Amazon Original series, The Grand Tour, has become the biggest show premiere ever on Amazon Prime Video," said Amazon.

In the Press release Jeff Bezos, Chief Executive Officer says, "The guys are back, doing what they do best. Their creativity along with the amazing production quality and 4K HDR streaming, has Prime members responding in a big way."

Courtesy: Amazon

Veteran Affairs with Mickey McCamish in Chattanooga

United States veterans have struggled with adjusting to civilian life after war ever since Vietnam. According to retired United States Navy Captain Mickey McCamish, "America turned its back on us but, we did not turn our back on America."

Fifty-thousand soldiers lay at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

Still to this day, the veterans' struggle continues. Cpt. McCamish noted the reason why veterans struggle so much is that they must re-establish themselves from scratch and take new, different responsibilities to what the veterans previously had. Twenty percent of the 1.7 million soldiers that served in Iraq or Afghanistan get diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or manic depression. As of 2016, about eight percent of the homeless population, are veterans and 1.4 million veterans are at risk of homelessness. 

The United States Veteran Affairs Department has not done an adequate job of taking care of America's returning soldiers. The V. A. serves nearly 9.1 million veterans and the wait lists for medical attention are over a month long. Departments across the country have been concealing these month-long wait lists which caused V. A. Undersecretary, Dr. Robert Petzel, to resign in 2015. 

However, Chattanooga V. A. Clinic Manager and veteran Chris Marcus has hope, "I'm assuming the new administration will be very responsible for veterans' needs... I have seen, over the last couple of years, a lot of very positive changes." Wes Cooper has more on that story.

For more information:

Chattanooga V. A. Outpatient Clinic's Facebook Page

U. S. Department of Veteran Affairs Facebook Page

The Ole Miss Chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta Has Everyone on Their Feet for Another Year of "Theta Encore"

Kappa Alpha Theta practicing for their Encore performance.
(Instagram Post)

Hitting the stage for another year of Theta Encore were over 5,000 Ole Miss sorority women, who began practicing for this competition weeks ago. It was a full house at the Ford Center on Thursday, November 17th, to watch sororities in silly costumes perform in the annual philanthropy event.

Although this competition may look like all fun and games, the members of Kappa Alpha Theta work year-round to plan Theta Encore, which includes a dance competition and blood-drive. All of the money raised from this event is donated to the national Kappa Alpha Theta Philanthropy, Court Appointed Special Advocates or CASA. 

Pi Beta Phi performing as
"Alice in Wonderland"

The event starts with a performance by Theta who is not in the competition, but still performs every year for fun. Each sorority chooses their own fun music, goofy costumes, and creative themes to perform for the audience who cheer with every group on stage. 

"All the sororities during rush told us how much of a bonding experience this event was, but I figured that was just a way to get us to their house. But, I really have met so many girls in my pledge class and made so many friends. It has been really awesome!" Said Pi Beta Phi freshman, Reagan Gentges.

This is the first big event for the new Greek members and it seems to have all of them loving the decision they made to "Go Greek!"
Check out the video below to see more from the event:

HD screen ensures a ‘front row’ experience for fans at AT&T stadium.

As fans find their way to their seats in AT&T stadium, not all have the opportunity to sit as close to the field as they would like. The stadium has a 105,000-guest capacity, leaving many spots hundreds of yards away from the game itself. To ensure that every guest experiences an e
xhilarating Dallas win, an 11,500 square foot screen allows even the furthest guest to see every play up close.

Chief Broadcast Engineer, Dwin Towell, is specifically assigned to keep this massive screen performing for every guest in the stadium. The screen’s 34 million dollar price tag was more than the old Texas Stadium’s original building cost. On a daily basis, the LED bulbs are lit to only a 25% capacity, depending on graphics that are presented. Mitsubishi built the screen in their Japan based factories in 2013. When the parts arrived in the stadium, the screen was assembled while suspended in the air. 

Although many guests enjoy the screen’s clear picture and striking HD precision, some prefer proximity to technology. Many fans agree that the screen is helpful, but not the only way to enjoy America's Team. 

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HoneyBaked Ham manager prepares for upcoming holiday

The HoneyBaked Ham Company is frequently the go to for people preparing meals during the holidays. From the ham and the turkey to the side dishes and desserts, these items help round out a family meal.

Just how much time and preparation goes into pleasing customers each holiday season? Let's just say that it starts with offering extended hours for those customers that are stuck at work and can't get to the store until later.

For the Thanksgiving holiday, stores were open five extra hours longer than their normal schedule. On average, a single HoneyBaked Ham store assists about 500 people in one day during the holiday. With that amount of people coming through a store, the manager has many different tasks that need to be completed far in advance.

Debbie Fazio, General Manager of the HoneyBaked Ham store in Strongsville, Ohio, had many tasks she needed to complete both before the holiday and during the peak busy hours of the days leading up to Thanksgiving. Get more on this story below:

General Manager Debbie Fazio prepares the back cooler for a new shipment of product.

#NoDAPL Day of Solidarity

Standing Rock Sioux Indians march on their native land.
Courtesy of The Nation

The proposed construction of a 1,200-mile underground oil pipeline project has caused much uproar in the environmental community. However, there is one group in particular that has taken expansive measures to shed light on the violations against the United States environmental regulations and the violations to treaty-guaranteed Great Sioux Nations territory.

The No Dakota Pipeline movement, formed in April 2016, consists of water protectors that have been gathering at the Dakota Pipeline construction on the Missouri River in protest.


Fracking and environmental racism are issues that have violated indigenous rights. Drilling into the ground and pumping millions of gallons of fresh water, chemicals, and sand under enormous pressure into shale in order to release fuel trapped in the bedrock causes harm for the contamination of natural resources. The disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on people of color has put a damper on the relationship between natives and governmental rule.

In the past month there have been three major pipeline spills in the United States. With aging pipeline infrastructure, #NoDAPl proposes an increase in pipeline infrastructure and pipeline incidents throughout the country.

The North Dakota pipeline in particular violates the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and 1851 signed by the U.S. as well as recent United States environmental regulations.

Action was taken in the national #NoDAPL Stand in Solidarity with Standing Rock Day mostly by calls to the Army Corps of Engineers’ for the Dakota Access Pipeline to be rescinded as well as protests organized on multiple college campuses and community areas.

Informational pamphlets were circulated by protesters and supporters in hopes of increased support with standing in solidarity for the safety and security of native lives. Joy Addison has more on the story.

Oxford Runner Prepares to Silence Naysayers

January 7th is the date for the tenth annual Mississippi Blues Marathon. This is the largest marathon in the state. This year the marathon is estimated to draw in over 5,000 participants.

The run starts and finishes in downtown Jackson at the Mississippi Museum of Art's Art Garden. Proceeds will go towards the Mississippi Blues Commission, which also supports local blues artists.

Runners will be introduced to a scenic Jackson, Mississippi as well as an inside look into the legacy the Mississippi Blues bestowed upon its state. These runners come from all over the country with some very interesting stories.

UM Junior Accounting Major Kody Archer intends on running the marathon and has been training for months on end. Archer notes the inspiration to embark on the journey comes after an ankle injury almost changing his life as a runner forever. Reuben Johnson of NewsWatch 99 has more on the story below:

If you are interested in running the marathon, it is not too late. Click this link to register: https://register.racepartner.com/msbluesmarathon/

Newlife Landscapes in Northern Georgia Reacts to Drought Regulations

 

 Newlife Landscapes is a company that operates just north of Atlanta. Recent set backs have been experienced due to a decrease in the amount of rainfall throughout the entire state. Drought response levels ranging from levels 1 to 3 may be issued if the amount of water does not increase. A level 1 response is the least severe and has a smaller amount of restrictions, while a level 3 has the restrictions of both levels 1 and 2, as well as additional ones. These restrictions and rules are not as heavily enforced as they used to be. In the past there were people assigned to drive around and make sure people were watering during the scheduled time.Today, workers from Newlife say they no longer see drivers out and as a result of this, the water problem is not improving at rapid rates.

Newlife currently has less restrictions to follow than residential members, because Newlife is a business and they're allowed certain exemptions so they can function adequately. Most water restrictions are to be conducted during the hours of 10:00 AM through 4:00 PM. The most common restriction is on irrigation, specifically for gardens, fields, and golf courses which require a great deal of water. 

Certain parts of the state are classified as D3 and D4, which are Extreme Drought and Exceptional drought. The levels of water near lakes and other areas are dangerously low. Newlife does jobs throughout various parts of the state and all of their work sites have been affected to some degree. Within the last three months Georgia has gone back and fourth in their rankings for the level of dryness, and as of October 2016 Georgia was ranked 30th. If drought conditions don't improve in coming months, new rules and regulations may be created and strictly enforced.

It's Not All About Catching Bad Guys

Officer Craig Manne has been with the Sandy Springs Police Department for three years. Joining the force in 2014 after volunteering for several years. When Officer Manne took the oath, he knew the dangers of the job. On Wednesday, the officers in Mannes shift were all wearing a black and blue stripe over their badge. This is a way to remember a fallen police officer that got ambushed and died while in the line of duty. A reminder to them all of the dangerous job they do to protect the residents of Sandy Springs. One busier days Officer Manne could be called to respond upon to any number of calls that come over his radio. From domestic violence calls, car wrecks, burglaries, and school lock downs. Police work is not all about writing traffic tickets, it is also about protecting people and their property.

Manne rides alone in his patrol car, which is dangerous. Not all departments are able to put two officers in a car. If something were to happen and Manne needed back up, he knows that his fellow officers would respond in a mater of seconds.

Below is a video that shows the calmer days while Officer Manne is on shift.