The Commercial Dispatch

09/19/2026

According to AirDNA, a data analytics platform that tracks and provides data on the short-term rental market using data from platforms including Airbnb and VRBO, there are 145 properties in Lowndes County. There are 659 listings in Oktibbeha County. Clay County has 83 listings.

Though Ocean Springs implemented a 115-property cap on short-term rentals allowed in the city more than a decade ago, it has done little to slow rising housing prices and rental figures, said Alderwoman Shannon Pfeiffer, who represents Ward 4 for the city.

09/19/2026

According to HUD data, in 2021 fair market value to rent a three-bedroom apartment in Lowndes County was $1,008, Oktibbeha County was $1,017 and Clay County was $1,001. For 2026, those numbers rose to $1,278, $1,341 and $1,131, respectively.

Yolanda Young was born and raised in Starkville. If it were up to her, she’d live in Starkville for the rest of her life.

09/19/2026

In a collision between two state championship hopefuls in different classifications, the Yellow Jackets struggled on offense but got a 69-yard interception return, two field goals and a touchdown throw from Jacory Ruffin to grab just enough breathing room late for a 20-16 win over the Wildcats.

Coming into Friday’s game at Louisville, Starkville head coach Brett Morgan said it was going to be a battle for four quarters – and his prediction came true.

09/19/2026

“When somebody called me, if they needed something, I’d try to get it fixed or help them out as much as I could. … That’s what you’re supposed to do as a public servant.”

Pick up the phone. That’s the advice Chuck Younger said he has lived by in his 12-plus years as Mississippi’s District 17 senator, and it’s the advice he would offer anyone seeking public office.

09/19/2026

Both Starkville and Columbus missed their projected sales tax budgets for this fiscal year by less than $50,000.

09/19/2026

Before Mississippi State's SEC opener at South Carolina, The Dispatch went behind enemy lines to talk with Lulu Kesin, South Carolina beat reporter for the Greenville News.

Before Mississippi State’s SEC opener at South Carolina, The Dispatch went behind enemy lines to talk with Lulu Kesin, South Carolina beat reporter for the Greenville News.

09/18/2026

A six-member search committee tasked with managing the selection of Mississippi University for Women's next president was announced Thursday by the Mississippi Institutes of Higher Learning.

A six-member search committee tasked with managing the selection of Mississippi University for Women’s next president was announced Thursday by the Mississippi Institutes of Higher Learning.

09/18/2026

It all happened in an instant.

One moment Kaisley Neal, a fifth-grader at West Lowndes Elementary School, remembers being told to sit down by the driver of her school bus. Next thing she knew, the bus was struck by another car and sent careening off Highway 45. The bus rolled three times before coming to a stop upside down in a ditch, she said.

"It was scary, and that was the worst thing I (have) ever experienced in my life," Neal told The Dispatch on Wednesday. "And … I was the first one to get off the bus, and I helped all the other kids off the bus."

It all happened in an instant.

09/18/2026

After a dominant performance on the road against Minnesota last week, the Bulldogs continue their road swing with a trip to Columbia, S.C., for their SEC opener against the Gamecocks. The Bulldogs are winless since 1998 in the Palmetto State.

This time, it just means more.

09/18/2026

About 90 households in south Oktibbeha County could see decreased insurance rates starting Oct. 1 with the expansion of the fire rating district within Fire District 5.