There was no shortage of big headlines for Sunflower County in 2024. Now a few days into the new year, it is likely to be another active one here locally, especially with municipal elections on the horizon. Here are a few trends to watch for in 2025. We hope that some of these will come true, and we hope that some of these do not materialize. Election Messes The City of Indianola is on a special charter, which places its primary in October, instead of April like the other municipalities in the county. The city is currently dealing with two issues that may cause headaches for election officials this cycle. The first is a proposed plan for redistricting. A public hearing is set for January 27. There, citizens can offer input on the plan that aims to make more equal the population of the city’s five wards. After that hearing, the city may adopt new maps, which may take the process further into February and perhaps March. Meanwhile, the qualifying period for the city’s upcoming fall election is underway, meaning that there is a possibility that new ward lines could put candidates who have already qualified in one ward in an entirely new one. The second round of headaches may come if the city settles its annexation litigation later this year. Like redistricting, annexation could also have an impact on ward lines, population and potential candidates for office. We’ll keep a close eye on these issues and hope that they are resolved with only minor inconveniences. Crime Patterns Sunflower County suffered from a whopping 16 homicides in 2024. Nine of those deaths occurred in Indianola, which had two separate triple murders. We hope this trend does not continue, and there are certain things that could be done to help curb these trends. Last month, the City of Indianola lifted its emergency order, putting its 2 a.m. curfew for establishments back into effect. While we agree that it was past time to end the emergency order, the city may consider changing its curfew by ordinance so that establishments are made to close earlier. Indianola Police Chief Ronald Sampson told us this week that in the weeks since the city put the curfew back to 2 a.m., there has been an increase in criminal activity during the early hours. This includes a pair of drive-by shootings that he said occurred in the Curtis Street area last week that fortunately did not result in any injuries. If shootings and other crimes begin to increase after midnight, the city may take action by way of ordinance this time around. Business Growth and Potential Sunflower County is due some good news on the business front. We did have the opportunity to cut some ribbons for some great new businesses in our community in 2024, but we would like to see this trend accelerate. We would also like to see the needle move when it comes to industrial development. That may very well happen after the board of supervisors voted during budget time to levy one mil for industrial site development. There’s a good chance that the county may be able to acquire land for one or even multiple industrial sites in the county in the next 12 months. Sunflower County has so many positive things going for it, including two solvent county-owned hospitals, a B-rated school district, tourist attractions like the B.B. King Museum and more. There’s no reason why our county should be second to any in our region when it comes to business development. Let’s make it happen in 2025. Cybersecurity Cybersecurity threats are increasing at an alarming rate, and our small towns and rural institutions are not immune to the effects. This was apparent when last February’s Change Healthcare’s cyberattack resulted in delays in reimbursements and billing for thousands of hospitals, including South Sunflower County Hospital and North Sunflower Medical Center. Cyber criminals will likely target smaller governments and institutions at an elevated rate moving forward. Most are now buying cyber insurance policies for such attacks. Let’s hope that none of ours have to use those in 2025, but let us also hope that they stay vigilant in their efforts to keep cyber criminals out of our systems.
