By Bob Garver Poster credit IDMDB The dialogue-free Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoons are my favorite of the Looney Tunes. No jokes centered around annoying accents or speech impediments, just pure physical comedy about a hapless carnivore and his Ahab-like obsession with catching and eating a skinny flightless bird. Although the cartoons are ridiculous, they follow strict rules, outlined by creator Chuck Jones. Rules include the action always having to take place in the

By Jessica Breazeale Look at this picture. What do you see? Imagine a man walking along with a cloud hanging directly above his head. He walks into town. The cloud follows. He goes home. The cloud follows. He travels across the country. The cloud still follows. Now, what do you see? One person might say, “That man is depressed. Darkness is following him everywhere he goes.” Another might say, “No, he’s a thinker. That cloud is filled with ideas, imagination and creativi

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com CoffeeTime: “WAITING CAN BE DISASTROUS” Would you knowingly hesitate to find shelter until you saw a huge tornado was only thirty feet from you? Would you wait until your three-year-old was bitten in the face by a rattlesnake, to finally take it away from him? How about your house mortgage? Would you carelessly refuse to make a payment for twelve solid months, even though you certainly had the funds? I seriously doubt if most people

Special to WTWZ The music world is mourning the loss of one of its most recognizable and beloved voices. Dolly Parton, the country music legend whose songs became part of the soundtrack of American life, died Tuesday, Aug. 25, in Nashville after a brief battle with cancer. She was 80. Parton died at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones, according to her publicist. Born Jan. 19, 1946, in Sevier County, Tennessee, Parton rose from humble beginnings in the Gr

By Raymond Barranco, Professor of Sociology, MSU One of the most frustrating parts of being a parent is knowing exactly what's going to happen and being completely unable to stop it. Good parents know that punishments should come with explanations. It doesn't do much good to punish a child without explaining what they did wrong. That's how children learn what behavior is acceptable and what isn't. They don't know enough – or have enough experience – to figure these things out

By Misty Strieff Prine “Every next level of your life will demand a different version of you.” – Unknown I thought about whether to do this one for a little while and it finally hit me why my attention kept being drawn back to it. Our lives are kind of like onion layers. (Ha...got that from Shrek!) Each layer of our lives will demand different versions of ourselves. Some layers are made of sadness, vulnerability, regret and frustration. However, there will be times where our

The Nissan Neighbors grant will help offset costs during the 2026-27 school year for student field trips to the museums. Nissan Neighbors has awarded a $40,000 grant to the Foundation for Mississippi History to support student field trips to the Two Mississippi Museums—the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. The grant will help offset costs during the 2026-2027 school year for visits to the museums related to admission, transportation, an

By Mississippi Republican Party (Pictured left to right - Clay Mansell new URF Chairman, Rita Buse Lee County GOP Chairwoman, Phil Buffington former URF Chairman) The Mississippi Republican Party is pleased to announce the selection of State Rep. Clay Mansell as the new chairman of the MSGOP’s United Republican Fund (“URF”). Mansell succeeds Phil Buffington, who helped strengthen the organization’s efforts to support the Mississippi Republican Party and its advancement of con

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Have you ever had the chance to watch quail in the evening when the sun is setting? Those tiny birds make it very clear; they want home. And home to them usually means gathering in a circle of other quail, with their heads toward each other and tails outward. If you sit quietly nearby their chosen roosting place as the day closes down, you can hear a rustling in the air, as quail after quail arrives and settles in for the night.

By Ron Powers In 1980, Billy Joel scored the biggest hit of his career to that point with “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”. Released as the second single from Glass Houses, the song quickly climbed the charts, becoming Joel’s first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending two weeks at the top. More than just a commercial triumph, it captured the tension between timeless songwriting and ever-changing musical trends, as Joel poked fun at the fashion, hype, and industry

By Ron Powers

By Raymond Barranco, Professor of Sociology, MSU In 1980, a 13-year-old girl named Cari Lightner was walking to a church carnival in California when a drunk driver hit and killed her. It was not his first offense. He had been arrested for drunk driving multiple times before, and at the time he hit Cari, he was already out on bail for a previous hit-and-run, also while drunk. Cari’s mother, Candace Lightner, did something with her grief that most of us never do. She did not ju

By Misty Strieff Prine “Sometimes walking away has nothing to do with weakness, and everything to do with strength.” – Unknown. The thought of walking away from something, in my mind, used to always mean defeat. I have struggled with many decisions in my life that ultimately took far too long to make and got even more hurt in the process, just because I didn’t want to look as though I was giving up without a fight. Have you ever been in this same predicament? Well, let me t

By Bob Garver Poster credit IMDB It takes a very generous suspension of disbelief to enjoy “One Night Only.” The film is set in a not-too-distant future where premarital sex is outlawed, save for one night a year. Comparisons to “The Purge” are inevitable, which to me raises an interesting question: Which would lead to more violent crime in this country – one night of legalized violent crime, or gradually-building sexual frustration on all but one night?

A new Mississippi attendance law (Mississippi Code Annotated § 37-13-91) takes effect this school year (starting July 1, 2026). The new state legislative mandates are designed to bolster classroom engagement and academic performance for public school students. The Copiah County School District recently outlined the upcoming guidelines, which stem from the updated Mississippi state law and apply uniformly to every public school district across the state. Under the revise

By Jessica Breazeale You've heard it a hundred times. Probably from your mama, maybe from a frustrated coworker, definitely from a friend talking you down off a ledge of self-pity: “The world doesn’t revolve around you.” Usually it comes with a little side-eye attached. But stick with me, because there’s something genuinely wonderful hiding inside that old saying — and part of it isn’t even a metaphor. It's Not Just a Saying. It's Literally True. Here’s a fun one: for most of

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Pappa and his two small great grandsons were having fun playing in the park on a gorgeous afternoon. Kicking around a soccer ball, they soon decided to start a game. Well, a loosely-termed version of the game of soccer. The kind of game that has very few boundaries or rules. Or at least, rules that Pappa and the oldest grandson agreed upon. At his tender age, Pappa’s four-year-old great grandson, the youngest, had little understandin

By Misty Strieff Prine “Remember that just because you hit bottom doesn’t mean you have to stay there.” – Robert Downey, Jr. I want you to do a little exercise. If you were asked today to name one of the darkest moments of your life, what would it be? Looking back on that time, do you see how far you've come? Ok, now think about where you are in your life right now. God is great, isn't He? You see, the darkness is not what you should remember. Instead, you should

By Bob Garver Poster credit IMDB When we last left Peter Parker aka Spider-Man (Tom Holland) back in 2021, he had to submit to a spell from Doctor Strange that would make the world forget he ever existed. His Aunt May (Marissa Tomei) had died, so he had no family left, but he had to watch his friends Ned (Jacob Batalon) and MJ (Zendaya), go off to college without him, blissfully unaware of what they meant to him. As we rejoin Peter in “Spider-Man: Br

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com A person lied, absolutely no doubt about it. Carefully thought it out, then purposely and deviously worded their misleading statement to you or a group. Usually, they have a definite motive, and protecting people is rarely their purpose. Usually, their reason is rooted in self-protection or self-promotion. “If I tell the unvarnished truth, I will look like a fool, and I can’t bear that.” Or, “I don’t have to tell the whole ugly trut