By Les Ferguson
Columnist

If I’ve done the math right, it was 1983. We were oh-so-young, and so was the World Catfish Festival in Belzoni. The annual event was only six years old, and Belzoni was a tiny delta town. Current statistics show that the city has a population under 2,000. If it was more significant in 1983, it wasn’t by much. 

As I said, my now wife and I were very young and with her parents. I only remember a few specifics of what the festival had to offer. Of course, an event celebrating Mississippi’s catfish industry and Belzoni’s epicenter meant plenty of catfish to eat, cooked multiple ways with all the sides and fixings. 

I explicitly remember eating hushpuppies, fried onion rings, and coleslaw. I was not tempted to eat chitlins that day — I’d already tried them before, and once was enough. Despite my young age and much higher metabolism, I suspect I’m still carrying a pound or three from that day. 

But the best memories of that long ago time were holding hands with my best girl as we wandered through the booths and displays of the event. I can still see her in the bright sunlight, the smile on her face, the twinkle in her eyes, and the highlights in her hair. 

This past weekend, Oxford hosted its annual Double Decker Festival around the town square. Before the event, it was estimated that some 75,000 would attend — quite a difference from Belzoni in 1983.

Like many others, my still-best girl and I shuffled from booth to booth. Shuffled is a perfect description — it was so crowded that one could hardly walk. As we did that long ago day, we held hands the best we could amidst the crowd’s crush. I ate catfish and hushpuppies again. My girl bought some art.

It was a good day. It was a day of memories. It was a day of making new memories. And in a funny way, the memories of that long ago day and those created this past Saturday all run together. They tell the story of a life blessed by the presence of another. 

I pray you will know, experience, and revel in good, strong, and beautiful relationships — and eat the Mississippi catfish, too!

As King Solomon says, “Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.”

(Ecclesiastes‬ 4‬:9‬-10‬ CSB‬‬)

LONG BEACH, Calif. – There were no tickets sold with all six numbers in Tuesday’s (April 30) drawing of the multi-state Mega Millions lottery, pushing the estimated jackpot for Friday’s drawing to $284 million.

There were three tickets sold with five numbers, but missing the Mega number sold in California, Mississippi, and North Carolina, lottery officials announced.

The tickets sold in Mississippi and New York are worth $1 million each.

The ticket sold in California is worth $392,160 and was sold at Eddie’s Jr. Market in the 2400 block of 4th Street in Long Beach.

The numbers drawn Tuesday were 10, 18, 27, 37, 61 and the Mega number was 5.

The Mega Millions game is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. Virgin Islands.

Related

JACKSON, Miss. — The body of a Mississippi man who was found dead after vanishing under mysterious circumstances will not be released to family members until law enforcement agencies finish investigating the case, a state judge said Tuesday.

At a hearing in Jackson, Mississippi, Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas did not make an official ruling from the bench. He instead told attorneys the body of Dau Mabil would be preserved at the state crime lab while investigators try to shed light on what happened to the man. Mabil, who lived in Jackson with his wife, Karissa Bowley, went missing in broad daylight on March 25 after going for a walk.

Mabil escaped a bloody civil war in Sudan as a child and built a new life in America. His disappearance prompted an outcry from civil rights organizations and is alleged to have sparked discord between local law enforcement agencies. Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, whose district includes Jackson, sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting a Justice Department investigation.

Tuesday’s hearing had been set to settle a legal dispute between Bowley and Dau Mabil’s brother, Bul Mabil, regarding the standards for a future independent autopsy. But Thomas also allowed attorneys to ask questions about Bowley’s marriage to Dau Mabil.

Bowley took the witness stand and was peppered with questions by Bul Mabil’s attorney, Lisa Ross. In a tense exchange, Ross asked Bowley to read text messages detailing arguments between the couple over several issues, including Dau Mabil’s alcohol consumption and Bowley’s penchant for “feminist podcasts.”

Bowley’s attorney, Paloma Wu, said the hearing had become a “forum for freewheeling defamation” of Bowley, but Thomas overruled her objections.

Police have never said Bowley is a suspect in Dau Mabil’s disappearance. The legal conflict between her and Bul Mabil began after fishermen spotted a body April 13 in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) south of Jackson. Days later, officials confirmed the remains were those of Dau Mabil.

A sheriff said an initial state autopsy did not uncover signs of foul play, but Bul Mabil has disputed those findings. Bul Mabil filed an emergency request that an independent medical examiner examine Dau Mabil’s body before releasing the remains to Bowley and her family.

In a subsequent filing, Bowley’s attorney said her client did not oppose additional autopsy by a qualified examiner. But she asked the court to ensure the second autopsy takes place only after law enforcement finishes investigating to preserve the integrity of the evidence on her late husband’s body.

On Tuesday, Thomas said he agreed that police should finish their investigation before releasing Dau Mabil’s body and that a second, independent autopsy would likely be permitted.

“I do not draw conclusions about anybody or what’s happened to this man other than that it’s unfortunate. I hope … there was nothing nefarious done to him,” Thomas said. “But I want to find out. And I want the state to find out. I think they’re going to do that.”

Medical examiners do not typically store a body for the entirety of a police investigation, however long it takes. But, authorities would make an exception due to the “extraordinary nature of this case,” said Eric Brown, an attorney for the state medical examiner’s office.

Thomas said he would issue a formal order later in the week to deal with the specific requests made by Bul Mabil and Bowley over setting the rules for a future autopsy conducted by an independent medical examiner.

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Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him at @mikergoldberg.