Top stories of 2023

Dec. 27—As Meridian and Lauderdale County residents look to ring in the new year, The Meridian Star is looking back on some of the top stories of 2023. From elections to state championships, the year was packed with both triumphs and defeats.

Here are The Meridian Star's top stories of the year:

Lauderdale County Government Complex

In November, Lauderdale County officials celebrated the opening of the new $50 million Lauderdale County Government Center, which was built at the site of the old Village Fair Mall off of 22nd Avenue.

The Center, which houses the Board of Supervisors, tax collector and assessor, circuit and chancery clerks, district attorney and courts, was built after years of complaints and criticism about the old Lauderdale County Courthouse on Constitution Avenue, which will now house the county's archives and history department.

The opening of the government center marks the final stages of construction on the greater government complex, which includes the new Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department and intervention court next door.

Medical Marijuana

Medical marijuana became available in Meridian with the opening of Legally Rooted Cannabis Dispensary in January 2023. The dispensary, which is owned by business partners Wayne Williams and Michael Grace, who also own Meridian Underground Music, was one of the first dispensaries in the state to open to the public.

Three months later, the Queen City welcomed another business investing in the newly legal pharmaceutical with Southern Crop opening a 175,000 square-foot cultivation and processing facility. The state-of-the-art facility combines modern agriculture practices with medical precision to develop a range of cannabis oils, pills and products.

The past year also saw other areas opening up to the fledgling marijuana industry as both Lauderdale County and Marion officials voted to allow medical marijuana businesses to set up shop within their limits. Both entities had previously opted out of allowing cannabis and cannabis-related industry through a short window provided in the Legislature's Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act.

Voters overturned the county's decision through a petition process in November 2022, and Marion officials had planned to revisit their initial opposition once they had a better understanding of what the town's responsibility would be if cannabis were allowed.

LCSD Bond Failure

Voters in Lauderdale County School District in October overwhelmingly voted against a $12.5 million bond issue to construct a consolidated Career and Technical Education Center for the county schools.

Intended to occupy the old Peavy Electronics building on Highway 11/80, the centralized CTE center was billed as a way to expand career and technical training options and reduce waste by eliminating the need for duplicate programs across the district's four campuses.

The bond issue faced staunch opposition from some county residents who felt the district was not communicating clearly about what was needed, why and at what cost. The referendum was voted down by a margin of almost 5-to1.

Following the election, Superintendent John-Mark Cain said the district will continue with its plan to house its CTE programs under one roof, but the process will take much longer without the funding.

Anderson Health to merge with Baptist

Anderson Regional Health System and Baptist Memorial Health Care officials announced in October that the two health providers will merge beginning in January 2024.

Baptist Memorial, based in Memphis, currently operates 22 hospitals in Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas and is the largest health system in the Magnolia State. Anderson provides health services to east Mississippi and west Alabama, operating two hospitals, a regional cancer center and multiple clinics.

In announcing the merger, leadership from both entities expressed the shared goal of continuing and improving community-based care in the areas they serve.

"As part of our strategic plan to strengthen the mission of ARHS, a partnership with a larger health system provides a number of benefits for patients, physicians and employees," said John G. Anderson, president and CEO of Anderson Regional Health System in October. "The combination of these two faith-based systems supports a shared vision to enhance the delivery of clinical services. By joining Baptist Memorial, ARHS will be stronger and more equipped to meet the needs of our patients for many years to come."

Sheriff Sollie retires

Lauderdale County residents will wake up Jan. 1 for the first time in almost half a century without Billy Sollie keeping them safe. After a 28-year run as sheriff, Sollie announced in 2022 he would retire at the end of his term.

Prior to being elected sheriff in 1995, Sollie served as a member of Meridian Police Department, starting in 1974 and working his way up the ranks to become police chief before retiring in 1994. In total, he has served as a law enforcement officer in Lauderdale County for a total of 49 years.

Sollie said an accomplishment he is proud of is when in 2007, LCSD became the first law enforcement agency in the state to become accredited by the Mississippi Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission.

Succeeding Sollie will be his longtime Chief Deputy Ward Calhoun, who was elected sheriff in the general election on Nov. 7. Calhoun will be sworn in along with other elected officials on Dec. 31.

MSU-Meridian

The Mississippi State University-Meridian Campus continued to grow its Riley Campus in downtown Meridian in 2023 with the expansion of some of its existing health science programs and the announcement of some new ones.

Earlier this year in February, the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning approved offering a master's degree program in nursing at the Riley Campus. Aimed at addressing the state's nursing shortage, the Accelerated Master of Science in Nursing program will be the first graduate entry-level nurse licensure program in the state.

In the spring, MSU received IHL approval for its first doctoral program, a Doctor of Psychology in Combined Health Service Psychology, with three concentration offerings in clinical, counseling and school psychology. The addition of the doctoral program, along with the expansion of other behavioral and mental health degree programs, is an effort by MSU-Meridian to increase the number of graduates who are eligible for licensure to work locally in the mental health field at a time when there is a shortage of mental health professionals in the state.

Then in May, MSU's Master of Physician Assistant Studies program at the Riley Campus, which welcomed its first cohort of students in early 2021, graduated 18 of those first students. MSU's PA program is the state's only publicly funded program of its kind. It went through the second of three accreditation site visits administered by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant earlier this year, and the university received continued provisional status of accreditation for the program.

MSU-Meridian and MSU officials also announced this year that the university had received a $1.6 million grant from AccelerateMS's Nursing and Allied Health Grant Program, which will be combined with a $4 million gift from The Riley Foundation, to fund a $6 million renovation of the I.A. Rosenbaum Health Sciences Building on the Riley Campus. Located in downtown's historic Kress and Company store building, the renovated Rosenbaum facility will house one of the most advanced interprofessional simulation centers in the state. When completed, the center will house a nursing skills lab, a team-based learning classroom, a physician assistant skills lab, a student lounge and break area and new offices.

Infrastructure

Numerous local infrastructure projects have been started or completed in the past year as state and local officials look to spend pandemic stimulus money and funding available through infrastructure packages.

In the City of Meridian, a project to repave the medical district began with repairs to the underlying stormwater and sewer lines before Falcon Contracting came in to resurface the streets. Falcon also recently completed paving North Hills Street from Highway 19 to Highway 39, as well as a paving project including Clinton and Conehatta streets and Panola and Koosa drives in Marion.

A $3.4 million project replacing a 54-inch sewer line running along Sowashee Creek just south of Interstate 20 was also completed this year, as was a bridge replacement along Old Highway 80, a renovation of a notoriously rocky railroad crossing on 29th Avenue and more.

Multiple projects are also ongoing throughout the city related to the federal consent decree regarding the sewer system. Repairs to sewer lines, upgrades to the city's wastewater treatment plants and implementing new technologies and policies are all part of the city's compliance.

In addition to paving, the Town of Marion also saw the completion of a bridge replacement along Dale Drive. The $1.3 million project was completed by Lauderdale County and funded through the state's Emergency Road and Bridge Repair program. The bridge is one of the busiest in Lauderdale County and has long been in need of repair.

Lauderdale County has also been busy restoring its infrastructure. In addition to the new government complex and the Dale Drive bridge, the county has been working to acquire needed rights of way for a bridge replacement on Murphy Road, work with power companies to relocate utilities for a bridge project on Pine Springs Road, and started work on replacing two bridges on Lizelia Road.

APAC, an asphalt supplier and paving contractor, is also working in the county to tackle an asphalt overlay package, including roughly 17 miles of county roads. At the same time, McCraney Striping, which was awarded a term bid for striping, has been applying thermoplastic paint to roads tackled in other recent paving packages.

The county is also nearing the end of a $3 million central maintenance facility located at the road maintenance department on Windmill Drive. The new facility is intended to centralize the road department's facilities as well as provide a modern facility that more closely suits the county's needs.

2023 also saw continued infrastructure investment in both the Lauderdale County School District and Meridian Public School District as the two educational bodies worked to spend federal funding allocated during and immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayor-Council Tension

The past year has also seen the continuation of tension between Mayor Jimmie Smith and his administration and the City Council following a February 2023 order by the council to remove funding from unfilled billets across all city departments except police and fire, and move that money into the council-controlled legislative fund.

During the budgeting process, the city sets aside enough money to pay each position for 12 months with benefits. The council's action took funding that had not been used for the first six months of the budget year while leaving six months of funding available to pay an employee if the position was filled.

The move had unexpected consequences, however, as city department heads were accustomed to using those funds to plug holes in other areas of their budgets. Reallocating the funding also became more difficult as a budget amendment, requiring approval from the City Council, was needed to direct the money toward other needs.

The relationship between the council and administration was further strained by accusations of micro-managing from the mayor and of ignoring requests for information from the council. Under Meridian's strong-mayor form of government, the mayor is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the city. The council's responsibilities are to set the annual budget, approve payroll and claims and vote on purchases over $75,000.

Council members can alert city officials to problems within their districts and work to connect constituents with city services, but they cannot order city employees to perform specific tasks. Council members do have the right to ask questions and request information needed to make informed decisions; however, the mayor, who appoints department heads and has the power to hire and fire city employees, can instruct staff not to answer.

Tourism

Meridian's reputation as a tourism destination grew in 2023 as several large conferences were held at the MSU Riley Center. The Queen City hosted the Governor's Conference on Tourism, an annual conference of tourism and marketing professionals from throughout the state. The Rail Passengers Association's annual fall conference also came to Meridian as rail enthusiasts wanted to both see the revitalization efforts they associate with the construction of Union Station and a key junction in a future passenger rail line connecting Atlanta, Georgia, and Dallas, Texas.

Mississippi Municipal League, a professional organization that provides resources, training and advocacy for municipal governments and officials throughout the state, also choose downtown Meridian to hosts is 2023 Small Town Conference.

The Queen City also celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Jimmie Rodgers Festival in 2023, making it the longest running music festival in the nation. More than 150 musicians performed throughout the nine-day festival, which was attended by more than 8,000 people from 15 states, organizers said.

In April, Sipp & Savor at the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience brought in 2,800 attendees from at least 13 states and Canada for the one-day event, organizers said. Billed as a one-of-kind culinary experience, Sipp & Savor is one of the major annual fundraisers for The MAX.

Athletics

This was a year full of celebration and accomplishments for high school athletes in Lauderdale County. Multiple teams brought home championships, and local athletes were rewarded for their hard work with athletic honors and college scholarships.

Meridian High School's Daniel Hill earned SBLive Mississippi Player of the Year and was named an All-American for his accomplishments on the football field after a track and field season in which he secured two hurdling state titles. Emmanuel Wilson also earned his second individual powerlifting state title for the Wildcats in March.

Southeast Lauderdale's Demondre Graham was named 3A Mr. Basketball in February before leading his Blue Devils to a state championship appearance in March. Caleb Fowler and Annlee Haney then lifted their way to a couple of individual state titles later in March to cap their first seasons of competitive powerlifting.

West Lauderdale's Breelyn Cain earned 4A Miss Softball honors in May during a season that ended with West earning its first softball state title. West Lauderdale girls soccer earned its fifth state championship, while the school's boys cross country team garnered its first state title, and the Knights' baseball team made a run to the state championship series.

Lamar School and Russell Christian Academy brought home multiple state championships as well. RCA won an Alabama Christian Athletics Association softball state championship to go along with its seventh-straight football state title in 2023.

Lamar earned a seventh-straight Midsouth Association of Independent Schools golf championship and its second-straight volleyball championship. Annabelle Simmons and Henry Hiatt contributed a mixed doubles tennis title to the Raiders' 2023 athletic accomplishments, and Austin Acton and Erica Smith combined for three individual track and field titles.