(WCBI) – As the Pontotoc Juniorettes Charity Ball was wrapping up Preston started Lollipops Cotton Candy a couple of years ago I want to get some more money,” Preston said he has bought two more machines and has learned the art of making spun sugar confectionery Lollipops Cotton Candy can be found at many public and private events The family converted a horse trailer into a mobile cotton candy unit Lollipops Cotton Candy has used volunteers when things get really hectic Jackson says helping in the family business has many benefits and it brings more family time for the family,” Jackson said Preston enjoys the results hard work brings I’m going to serve myself after all this hard work,” Preston said Lollipops Cotton Candy has helped raise money for non profits such as St Jude Children’s Research Hospital The Tupelo Children’s Mansion and the Pontotoc Food Depot For information on how to get Lollipops Cotton Candy at your event For 24/7 news and updates, follow us on Facebook and X. © 2025 Home – WCBI TV | Telling Your Story PONTOTOC COUNTY'S HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1929 which is under the umbrella of the Pontotoc Women's Club celebrated a successful year of fund raising putting $21,828 into the coffers The club celebrated with a charity ball and remarks from special guests Felecia Pollard with PACT and Barry Boyd with the Pontotoc Churches United Food Depot Lana Baldwin was crowned as the queen of the juniorettes Charity Ball by her mother Samantha Baldwin The four Diamond Juniorettes were also recognized in a special way Each of these young ladies raised $1,000 or more in sponsorships The Juniorettes are the youth arm of the Pontotoc Women's club Those who participated this year other than the four mentioned above included: Faith Dabbs Applications are being sought from those girls who will be freshmen next year to come join Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Get a free dose of heath care news and wellness tips delivered to your inbox each Tuesday morning Powered by North Mississippi Health Services Get our front page stories each morning as well as the latest updates each afternoon during the week + more in-depth weekend editions on Saturdays & Sundays Get the latest need-to-know information delivered to your inbox as it happens Get a weekly rundown of the top stories from the Monroe Journal dropped into your inbox each Thursday afternoon Get a weekly rundown of the top stories from the New Albany Gazette dropped into your inbox each Thursday afternoon Get a rundown each Monday morning of all that's going on in the All-America City From local government updates to live music schedules and more Don't miss any of our Mississippi State coverage Sign up to receive a weekly report plus need-to-know updates From Friday nights under the lights to Saturdays on the diamond Prep Rally is your year-round source for Northeast Mississippi high school sports coverage and stories sure to get your weekend off to the perfect start Sign up to get the Daily Journal e-edition delivered to your inbox each morning Sign up to view our weekly e-editions each Wednesday with just a click Sign up to view our weekly e-editions each Wednesday with just a click.  Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account South's Anniston Wiggins connects with a pitch Another successful softball season came to an end for South Pontotoc (19-10) in the second round of the 4A playoffs as the Lady Cougars fell in two games to Itawamba AHS Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content Pontotoc's Hadley Corley celebrates with teammates Braxton Whiteside and Malachi Witcher at the plate after blasting a two-run home run on Monday Pontotoc baseball (19-10) put together a convincing two-game sweep of Cleveland Central in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs After wet weather postponed game one until Saturday the Warriors traveled to Cleveland and came away with an 11-0 shutout victory Lady Viking shortstop Lacie Simmons hustles to track down a fly ball in Saturday's game one against Tishomingo County An outstanding softball season came to a close Monday night for the North Pontotoc Lady Vikings (19-9) as they fell in two games in a second round 4A playoff series to Tishomingo County (25-7) North ultimately could not find enough offense against Lady Brave pitcher Gracie Wilson The junior hurler tossed a complete game one-hitter in a 5-0 Tish County victory in Saturday's game one at North Pontotoc which was postponed twice due to rainy weather Star Williams was the winning pitcher and had a 3 hits and 4 RBIs in Saturday's game one The Pontotoc Lady Warriors (17-9) took down Cleveland Central in two games to open the Class 5A playoffs Rylan Kentner had 3 hits for the Vikings on Saturday North Pontotoc (18-12) saw its season come to an end in the second round of the Class 4A baseball playoffs against a tough West Lauderdale team with the Knights (24-3) sweeping the best of three series to advance the Knights came with a hard-fought 5-2 victory 6 inches to come in second in the pole vault Saylor Payne advanced to state in the high jump Pontotoc High track and field again had a number of excellent performances at the 5A North Half Championship last Wednesday The boys team finished as North Half runner-up TUPELO — When Alex Harmon graduated from the Tupelo Law Enforcement Training Academy Friday morning he accomplished a major feat in Chickasaw County law enforcement And the accomplishment very directly involves a Pontotoc County man and his wife Pontotoc County Sheriff Leo Mask said that a late Sunday afternoon traffic stop in Pontotoc County netted the largest seizure of illegal cocaine ever by the sheriff’s department Sheriff Mask said that deputies seized 110 pounds (50 kilos) of pure cocaine and charged 66-year-old Dannie Thomas with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute Mask (pictured above with Chief Deputy Randy Roberts left) said that fifty 2.2-pound packages of cocaine were confiscated from Thomas’s vehicle is the largest cocaine amount seized in my 38 years with the sheriff’s department,” Sheriff Mask said “This case is being handled in conjunction with federal Drug Enforcement Agency officers Thomas will face state and federal charges This cocaine was en route from Dallas to Atlanta.” Email notifications are only sent once a day How to watch Mississippi high school baseball: North Pontotoc vs North Pontotoc High School will host West Lauderdale High School How to watch West Lauderdale vs. North Pontotoc baseballWest Lauderdale and North Pontotoc will match up on Saturday, April 26, at 7 p.m. CT. Don't miss out on any of the action with NFHS Network The NFHS Network gives you access to live high school sports around the country Follow your favorite team and never miss a game Want to track your alma mater, local team or family member's school throughout the playoffs? NFHS Network has high school baseball streaming live plus on-demand replays and highlights of all the action from thousands of schools across America Watch North Pontotoc vs. West Lauderdale on NFHS Network! All NFHS Network events are available to watch online at NFHS Network and through the NFHS Network Mobile Apps for iOS and Android and TV Apps for ROKU The Pontotoc Spring facility in Pontotoc will close later this year PONTOTOC - A Pontotoc manufacturer plans to close its doors after more than 40 years of operation according to a letter from the company sent to Pontotoc Mayor Bob Peeples this week Peeples announced he had received written notification that Matthew Warren will permanently close their Pontotoc Spring facility in Pontotoc david.helms@djournal.com Caden Spears was the winning pitcher for Pontotoc last week in their victory over Amory SMITHVILLE – Pontotoc got knocked down a few times last Monday fundamental hitting to beat Amory 7-6 at Smithville High School South shortstop Blakelee Dollins throws across the diamond for an out SPRINGVILLE- South Pontotoc softball (18-8) defeated Houston 5-1 in game one of their 4A first round playoff series against Houston last Thursday The teams would ultimately split the first two games with the deciding game 3 scheduled for Tuesday (after press time) Sammy Terry went the entire way in the circle The feeling didn't hit Pontotoc coach Kyle Heard even after the buzzer sounded Following a back-and-forth championship game, with the long, grueling fourth quarter, Heard wanted to ensure the game was over, even as the Lady Warriors were celebrating is the game really over or we got to do this some more?" Heard said It was finished — and Pontotoc claimed the MHSAA Class 5A state championship 41-39 over Canton on Friday night at Mississippi Coliseum It was Pototoc's first state title since 2021 "I think it was that we were nervous," said senior guard Lyla Cox "But we also knew that we had to get our job done Cox knew that she and the senior group had to step up in their final high school game You'll have to fight if y'all want this.' " Cox said who opened the game with three consecutive three-pointers Pontotoc's (28-6) Channing Lane finished second in points with 12 Canton's (28-6) Shamira Morton had 22 points and 16 rebounds She was the MHSAA Class 5A Miss Basketball and averaging a double-double The Lady Warriors knew they had to limit the junior forward "We spent a lot of hard work and a lot of time preparing for her," Cox said "And Coach (Heard) scheduled many teams with 6-foot-5 girls just to play with the Laurel (Kayllis Walker) or the Canton girl I think that was a very good execution on his part." Boddie ended with 10 points and three rebounds I really just challenged Boddie to go head-to-head and be rough on her and you know Michael Chavez covers high school sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at mchavez@gannett.com or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez Pontotoc County Agri-Center director Kevin McGregor invited people to deliver supplies to the Pontotoc Co Agri-Center to be transported to the tornado ravaged places in Mississippi “I am working up a load to carry to a tornado hit area,” McGregor said “I’m looking at the Strayhorn/ Senatobia area If they get what they need we will re-route to Arkansas or Tennessee regina.butler@journalinc.com This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Drivers in Downtown Memphis might have noticed a significant amount of construction blocking the roadway along Pontotoc Avenue the last few weeks The construction outside the historic Hotel Pontotoc building is for an ongoing renovation to restore the hotel into a mixed-use space including a new cocktail and wine bar called The Dame In April 2024, co-owners Joseph Lewis and Tony Kuhn were awarded a $30,000 retail improvement grant from the Center City Development Corp. an affiliate board of the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC) for improvements on the basement level of the building where The Dame restaurant will be located DOWNTOWN MEMPHIS DEVELOPMENT: Harborside at Conwood Flats brings new apartments, rooftop dog park, pickleball to Downtown It is the second improvement grant the pair has been awarded from DMC boards awarded a $60,000 development grant for exterior and interior renovations at the property While the 3,500-square-foot The Dame restaurant will occupy the lower levels of the three-story building, the top two floors will be reserved for a 10-room boutique hotel. The hotel will reprise its historical namesake, Hotel Pontotoc, and reopen later this year The hotel's iconic sign was removed during construction According to the Shelby County Register of Deeds Lewis and Kuhn purchased the 1906-dated property in April 2022 for $1.2 million The co-owners have invested more than $2 million into restoring the property since purchasing it Neil Strebig is a journalist with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at neil.strebig@commercialappeal.com, 901-426-0679 or via X: @neilStrebig North's Landon Hill follows through on a swing and prepares to get down the first base line against Houston ECRU- Down one game in the series and down to their final three outs twice the North Pontotoc Vikings (18-9) rallied and defeated Houston 5-4 in extra innings Friday night That ultimately propelled North to take the final two games over the Hilltoppers and advance in the 4A playoffs and one batter later Griffin Moss belted a 2-run home run The Vikings got plenty of traffic on the bases in the bottom of the 1st including having a runner tagged out at the plate but they would leave them loaded after Box Pontotoc’s Lyla Cox couldn’t have asked for a better start Behind the fast start by Cox along with defensive stops the Lady Warriors were able to hold off Canton 41-39 to claim the MHSAA Girls Class 5A State Championship at the Mississippi Coliseum on Friday night It’s Pontotoc’s (28-6) sixth state title in school history and first since 2021 “It came to down to the end and it was tooth to nails close but glad our girls found a way to hold at the end,” said Pontotoc coach Kyle Heard “Had some seniors step up and carried us offensively and couldn’t be more proud of those three.” Cox began the game scoring Pontotoc’s first 14 points as the Lady Warriors held a 14-11 lead at the end of the first quarter Canton ended the second quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 22-20 lead at halftime In the third quarter each team traded runs Canton went on a 6-3 run to begin the frame to extend their lead to 27-23 but Pontotoc ended the quarter on a 7-3 to tie the game 30-30 The fourth quarter was back-and-forth with lead changes but with Pontotoc leading 38-36 Channing Lane hit a three-pointer with 2:33 left to give the Warriors a 41-36 lead Shamira made one-of-two free throws and a lay-up for Canton with 1:35 left in the fourth quarter to cut the Pontotoc lead to 41-39 Canton missed two free throws with nine seconds left that would’ve tied game and Pontotoc was able to run out the clock “I knew coming either Lyla or Channing were going to have a good game shooting the ball That’s how focused they were coming in,” Heard said This team is very unselfish and plays well together and just wants to win.” finished with 15 points to lead the Lady Warriors and was named the game’s most valuable player while Emarie Boddie chipped in 10 points for Pontotoc “I just knew that we had to start out strong and I was trying to do it the best I could,” Cox said “We had to limit their big girl touches and get those easy looks It’s an unbelievable feeling winning state my senior year.” had a game-high 22 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Canton (26-6) “This group never quit from beginning to end The way their shooter started out was unreal and just trying to comeback from that at end made it harder,” said Canton coach Melissa Word “I’m so proud of the kids for the effort they gave to get here.” Please disable your ad blocker, whitelist our site, or purchase a subscription (WCBI) – Pontotoc County deputies have arrested three people in connection with a child sex crime case Mary Garza was charged with four counts of contributing to the delinquency or neglect of a child She’s accused of letting the abuse happen Christopher Garza was charged with two counts of Sexual Battery and two counts of Contributing to the Delinquency or Neglect of a Child Investigators said the children were five and seven years old Mary and Christopher Garza are out on bond Hall has a hold from the department of corrections More charges are expected in the ongoing investigation For 24/7 news and updates, follow us on Facebook and X PONTOTOC, Miss. (WCBI) – Link to sign up to become a certified sensory safe salon Children with autism have a wide variety of support needs What is common with nearly every autistic child is meltdowns One triggering event is getting a simple haircut and sensations can all be too much for some kids said some parents have seen their kids be restrained for haircuts “A lot of parents have experienced stylists holding their children down,” Neese said “I don’t feel like you should have to hold someone down to be able to give them a service Crystal Short, the Vice President of KC’s School of Hair Design said they do their best to prevent trauma and build trust “We start out with whatever needs to be done,” Short said “But we want to make sure that we bridge that gap and that we also do not cause any trauma KC’s School of Hair Design is the first sensory safe certified school trained by The Sensory Safe Solution It is a nonprofit dedicated to training salons to properly handle people with sensory issues Before getting a haircut families fill out a questionnaire It tells the cosmetologist about the child’s likes Neese said meeting kids where they are is the most important part of the work “It’s very crucial to be patient with them and make sure that they are comfortable no matter what is going on,” Neese said sometimes we don’t even get them in the chair But that’s okay because they know us now and they know we’re not here to hurt them and make them feel their best self.” Neese said it warms her heart to see kids with high support needs get the care and haircuts they want “It’s heartwarming because I know that there are a lot of kids that don’t get the attention and respect and dignity that they deserve,” Neese said Short said the group is already seeing results “We started out in the floor and running around and and coloring all over his mother,” Short said “And we were barely being able to even turn the clippers on he is in the chair every other Tuesday morning and it takes about 15 minutes to have his haircut and he’s out of here To be able to know that you’re able to make a difference is what God put us here for.” Every student that graduates from KC’s School of Hair Design is trained in sensory safe haircuts Sensory safe haircut days are available by appointment every third Monday of the month For 24/7 news and updates, follow us on Facebook and X © 2025 Home – WCBI TV | Telling Your Story.