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The Local Voice #467 is out now! Summer is offically here in Oxford and Ole Miss!
The Local Voice #467 features all the information you need to have a wonderful, fun, and exciting time this spring in North Mississippi. Let there be food, drinks, arts, entertainment, events, and local information!
Pick up a free copy of the collectable printed newspaper in the Oxford and Ole Miss area or access the digital edition PDF here, which has more content, puzzles, and puzzle solutions that aren't in the printed newspaper.
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It's time to get ready for the 2025 North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic! The Local Voice #467 features the official Picnic Guide. Access it here!.
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Local Music:
Family of Faith: Ole Miss Gospel Choir Offers More Than Joyful Praise
Fifty-year-old student organization builds lasting bonds, enriches college life
As palms hammered tambourines and audience members raised their hands in worship inside Clear Creek Missionary Baptist Church, the moment felt like more than a performance for the 40-plus students in the 2024-25 choir. Their show was a culmination of months of rehearsals, shared prayers, laughs and late-night encouragement with peers who became a family rooted in faith. Read more
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Local Festivals: North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic
The Hill Country Picnic Celebrates 20th Anniversary June 27 & 28, 2025
by Davis Coen
It’s time to ring in the summer with the hottest music festival in the region
On June 27 and 28, 2025, the area’s finest performers of traditional, roots, blues, and rock will gather in Waterford, Mississippi, for what might be the biggest lineup yet. The annual weekend family picnic and festival, which draws folks from throughout the Mid-South and beyond to enjoy live music, workshops, food, and camping, has only missed two years since it began in 2006. Read more about this year's fantastic festival
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Local Views: The View From The Balcony
by Randy Weeks
Anyone who regularly reads my column knows that I’m a huge fan of the works of the 13th century Persian poet, Rumi. In this column I want to take some of Rumi’s most salient words and add a wee bit of commentary. See Randy's view here
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University of Mississippi:
Survey tracks 69 avian deaths in five weeks, spurring calls for more safe glass
A University of Mississippi ornithologist and researcher is working to make the windows on campus safer for birds. Read more
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University of Mississippi:
Researchers Take One Small Step Toward Planning Life on Mars
Near-surface water ice could provide resources for human exploration on the Red Planet
Before they take the long journey to another planet, humans will have to find the right place to land. New findings from a University of Mississippi researcher may point to just such a place on Mars. Read more
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Local Views: Lafayette County Master Gardeners
by Bronwynne Bailey
I am visiting my sister in Cleveland while she recovers from a total knee replacement. Now that she is getting more independent, I am venturing into her garden. Due to her knee pain prior to surgery, she is behind on weeding and mulching. This article will focus on two plants, bleeding heart and thistle. Read more
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Local News:
High School Students Explore the Arts at Summer College
by Andrea Drummond
Monthlong program immerses participants in the arts and college life
Some two dozen high school students are earning college credit and exploring their creativity through a four-week Summer College program at the University of Mississippi. Read more
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University of Mississippi:
Gift to School of Education Honors Mississippi Ties
Donation expands scholarship endowment for aspiring teachers
Nancy Finkelmeier is adding $50,000 to the Lindsey O. Todd Scholarship Endowment, named after her father-in-law. Her late-husband, Joseph "Joe" Todd, who died in November 2024, established the scholarship to support students from Newton County who are pursuing degrees in the School of Education. Read more
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Local Views: Lafayette County Master Gardeners
by Ginny Cheek
You look out on your lawn and you see weeds cropping up. What is your yard trying to tell you? Read more
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Local Literary News:
A Life in Verse: Ann Fisher-Wirth Appointed State Poet Laureate
by Marisa C. Atkinson
Award-winning poet, retired Ole Miss professor embraces new role to celebrate and elevate poetry statewide
A lover of poetry since childhood, retired University of Mississippi English professor Ann Fisher-Wirth has been named the new Mississippi poet laureate. Gov. Tate Reeves appointed her as the official state poet for a four-year term. Read more
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Local Athelics:
Heading into year three in Oxford, Chris Beard and his staff have built upon the momentum from the 2024-25 NCAA Tournament run to build out their roster for the upcoming season, as the men’s basketball program unveiled their roster for the 2025-26 season on Monday. Read more
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Local News:
Mike Tonos Retires After Decade of Service to Journalism School
by MacKenzie Ross
Professor shaped students, strengthened programs and found purpose in helping others succeed
After more than a decade of service to the University of Mississippi, Mike Tonos is retiring from his full-time faculty role in the School of Journalism and New Media, but not from the campus or community he's poured his heart into. Read more
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University of Mississippi:
Family Leadership Council Invests in Student Experience
by Jordan Karnbach
Ole Miss group contributes major support to improve services, facilities
The Ole Miss Family Leadership Council has invested more than $400,000 in the University of Mississippi to strengthen the student experience. The projects will help students maintain their physical and mental health, access career development resources and thrive even when facing financial challenges. Read more
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University of Mississippi:
University of Mississippi Research Indicates Stuttering Is More Than a Speech Disorder
by Tina H. Hahn
Emerging science suggests the condition may be part of a broader disease process
Many people consider stuttering just a simple speech disorder. But University of Mississippi professor Gregory Snyder and a team of student researchers are working to upend that thinking and develop new ways of treating it as a complex central nervous system disorder. Read more
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University of Mississippi:
Sea Cucumbers Could Hold Key to Stopping Cancer Spread
by Clara Turnage
University of Mississippi-led study explores how sea cucumber sugars could be used in cancer therapy
Sea cucumbers are the ocean's janitors, cleaning the seabed and recycling nutrients back into the water. But this humble marine invertebrate could also hold the key to stopping the spread of cancer. Read more
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University of Mississippi:
Summers Chair of Physics Established at Ole Miss
by Tina H. Hahn
Brother pays tribute to late Ole Miss professor, researcher
The late Donald Summers wrote his first research paper during spring break in junior high school, conducting the research at the University of California Astronomy Observatory Library where he worked during the day and camped in the observatory's post office lobby at night. Read more
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Mississippi:
MDWFP Receives Donation of Marsh Master II for Enhanced Wetland Management
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks is proud to announce the generous donation—administered by the Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries, Parks, Marine Foundation— of a Marsh Master II amphibious track vehicle on behalf of Mr. Jim Kennedy and York Woods, Mr. Kennedy’s private wildlife conservation property in Tallahatchie County. Read more
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Mississippi Museums:
Explore the Backyard Like Never Before at the Mississippi Science Museum
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks’ Mississippi Museum of Natural Science invites visitors to discover the hidden world of science in your backyard. Explore a garden of wonders, see the outdoors through a bee’s eyes, walk through a digital garden, and discover nocturnal creatures at the Backyard Adventures Exhibit. This exhibit is open through January 4, 2026 and is included with museum admission or with Mississippi Museum of Natural Science Foundation membership. Read more
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Mississippi Music:
Where the Blues Began: Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience Set to Launch
A first-of-its-kind orchestral concert series celebrating Mississippi’s unmatched blues legacy—benefiting the Ground Zero Arts Foundation and presented in partnership with Visit Mississippi
Mississippi’s storied blues tradition takes center stage with the launch of Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience, a first-of-its-kind national concert series that merges the emotional depth of Delta Blues with the power of a live symphony orchestra. Read more
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Local Crime in Oxford & Lafayette County
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The Local Voice
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Oxford, Mississippi 38655
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