Two arrested in rash of armed home invasions Starkville Police Chief Mark Ballard addressed reporters at a press conference Tuesday in Houston as Chickasaw County Sheriff James D. Meyers looks on. Law enforcement announced the arrest of two suspects charged in armed home invasions in Starkville, Pontotoc County and Chickasaw County between April 18 and 30. The two also face other charges or residential burglary and grand larceny in the area. Zack Plair/Dispatch Staff
HOUSTON, Miss. Starkville Police Chief Mark Ballard and Chickasaw County Sheriff James D. Meyers met in-person for the first time Tuesday afternoon. But their agencies, along with about a half-dozen others in North Mississippi, had been working together toward a common goal for weeks.
SPD chief: Auto burglaries ‘at heart’ of city’s juvenile crime problem Starkville Police Chief Mark Ballard answers questions about the proposed juvenile curfew he and city officials hope will curtail juvenile crime at a community meeting held at Starkville High School Monday night. Ballard said juveniles are often out between midnight and 4 a.m. stealing guns in auto burglaries. Isabelle Altman/Dispatch Staff
Starkville Police Chief Mark Ballard said juveniles are the ones behind the majority of the auto burglaries in Starkville and drew a direct link between the guns they’ve stolen from cars and the increase in violent crime that has occurred over the past months.
Oktibbeha supes to hold public hearing on potential juvenile curfew
The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing to discuss the possibility of enacting a juvenile curfew within the county.
Brett Watson
Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Brett Watson presented a potential curfew plan to the board Monday. He gained inspiration for the ordinance after examining multiple juvenile curfews across the state and said he believes the plan will help diminish some of the juvenile misconduct in the area.
“We at the sheriff’s department are looking at this as a way to encounter these folks that are out walking late at night when they shouldn’t be,” Watson said. “It’ll give us an opportunity to encounter them in a legal way.”
Residents concerned about crowd size, violence at McKee Park Starkville city officials, led by Ward 2 Alderman Sandra Sistrunk, speak at a town hall meeting at McKee Park Thursday evening. Sistrunk presented both short-term and long-term plans for creating a safer environment in city parks. Tyler B. Jones/Dispatch Staff
Tytus Brown mentors kids at McKee Park every week through his mentorship program, Brothers Against Violence.
While he and his kids were not at the park Tuesday night when a drive-by shooting occurred just after 9 p.m., he said they had been there just a short hour prior. He said the situation upset him because he aims to prevent violence at the same place violence had occurred.
Aldermen to consider furloughs, pay cuts for city staff amid pandemic Lynn Spruill
Starkville aldermen will consider a proposed $737,500 in cuts to the city’s budget to start to make up for what Mayor Lynn Spruill said she anticipates to be a $1.3 million sales tax revenue shortfall due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
The cuts include a 20-percent pay cut for the mayor, board of aldermen and all city department heads and a furlough of 15 percent of the city’s employees, both until further notice.
Spruill’s salary (an annual pay of $75,000) would be cut by $1,250 per month with this measure. The aldermen, now with an annual salary of $20,000, would see their pay slashed by roughly $333 per month.