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Neshoba County School District students get board school buses after the district's first day of school on Wednesday, August 5, 2020. Credit: Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today

Children affected by latest COVID-19 surge, raising concerns over back-to-school plans

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Tue, 07/13/2021 - 05:06 PM

The latest surge of COVID-19 cases in Mississippi, caused by the Delta variant, is also hitting the state’s younger population, increasing concerns over the return to schools next month.

State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs tweeted Tuesday morning that 12 minors have been hospitalized due to Delta infections in Mississippi, and 10 of them are now on ventilators. This trend contrasts sharply with the earlier strains of COVID-19, which were much less transmissible and did not infect children to the extent seen with the Delta variant.

Holmes County Consolidated School District. Credit: File photo (Mississippi Today)

Promotion of superintendent’s daughter raises ethics questions in Holmes Co. school district

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Tue, 07/13/2021 - 11:12 AM

School board members for the Holmes County Consolidated School District promoted the daughter of the new superintendent from a $47,000-a-year position in the district to the director of technology, a district-level position with an annual salary of $82,920.

At a special called board meeting last month, the board voted to approve the hire of Superintendent Debra Powell’s daughter with only one member opposing, according to the meeting minutes.

Young LGBTQ+ residents share challenges of living in Mississippi, desire for better future

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Mon, 07/12/2021 - 10:00 AM

For much of their life, Kyle Simpson, a Perry County resident who identifies as non-binary or as someone who identifies neither as female or male, has felt invisible.

“I have always been punished for who I am,” said Simpson, who is an aspiring counseling psychologist. “I have spent my life with people telling me that I’m the problem.”

Agave Americana

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Wed, 07/07/2021 - 08:41 AM

While it is rumored to only bloom once every 100 years there is more to the story. Edith Polk and Mamie Walker each got an Agave Americana 40 years ago from Canton. Mrs. Polk’s did not make it, but Mrs. Walker’s did. It has bloomed twice since the current publisher has been here. It is located on Second Avenue.

Hundreds of colleges nationwide are requiring COVID vaccines this fall. Can Mississippi?

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Mon, 07/05/2021 - 12:36 PM

Last year, DeeDee Baldwin, a history research librarian at Mississippi State University, saw firsthand how her community came together to keep each other safe during the pandemic.

The faculty asked for a classroom mask mandate, the provost made it happen. It seemed to Baldwin like the custodial staff were always on campus. Professors worked with students who missed assignments or couldn’t come to class.

Between 13-20 bus drivers for the Greenville Public School District skipped work to protest reduced pay and what they called poor work conditions. Credit: Kayleigh Skinner, Mississippi Today

Greenville officials poised to report names of bus drivers who went on strike to attorney general

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Wed, 06/30/2021 - 02:12 PM

Greenville school officials last week directed the school board attorney to draft information about the April bus driver strike to submit to the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, according to attorney Dorian Turner.

“The board discussed and reviewed information regarding individual bus drivers and the alleged strike,” Turner said in a statement. “They directed the board attorney to draft for their approval documentation to submit to the appropriate authorities.”

This is part two in a five-part series about Philip Gunn’s influence in changing the Mississippi state flag.

As activists demanded state flag change in 2020, Philip Gunn began counting GOP votes

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Wed, 06/30/2021 - 11:48 AM

A police officer murdered George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis. A team of police officers killed Breonna Taylor in her apartment in Kentucky. White men killed Ahmaud Arbery while he was jogging in Georgia. Millions of Americans had taken to the streets to protest police brutality in a national reckoning on racism.

Speaker of the House Philip Gunn, who had been the most prominent Republican to publicly call for removing the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag but struggled to get buy-in from his GOP legislative colleagues, was watching intently.

Magee FUMC welcomes McDonald

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Wed, 06/30/2021 - 08:40 AM

On Sunday, July 4, Magee First United Methodist Church will welcome a new pastor, Rev. Tony McDonald.
Currently serving in Avon and Glen Allan, Rev. McDonald grew up in Lone Star and Collins, Miss., and is a graduate of Mt. Olive High School and the University of Southern Mississippi. After serving in the U.S. Navy and working on an offshore oil rig, he accepted the call to ministry. He graduated from Emory University and has been preaching for over 25 years.

This is part one in a five-part series about Philip Gunn’s influence in changing the Mississippi state flag.

Why Philip Gunn became the first prominent Republican to call for changing the state flag

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Mon, 06/28/2021 - 03:55 PM

The day Speaker of the House Philip Gunn became the first prominent Republican elected official to publicly call for changing the state flag, the backlash he received was so distressing that he asked the Clinton Police Department to watch his house closely overnight.

Inside Philip Gunn’s efforts to change the state flag

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Mon, 06/28/2021 - 03:35 PM

A five-part Mississippi Today series will chronicle the behind-the-scenes efforts of Speaker Philip Gunn to change the state flag.

How unlikely was it that lawmakers would vote to change the state flag one year ago today?

“It would be the greatest legislative achievement in the history of the state,” a top adviser to Gov. Tate Reeves told this journalist just 12 days before the final vote. “There’s just no way it’ll happen.”

Will Gunn run? Speaker signaling 2023 challenge of Gov. Tate Reeves

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Fri, 06/25/2021 - 11:35 AM

"I do not know what the future holds," Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn said when asked about a possible gubernatorial run.

He’s been crisscrossing the state for months meeting with local leaders. He’s on track to have $1 million in his campaign coffer this year. He’s taking jabs at Gov. Tate Reeves at every opportunity.

Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn sure shows all the signs of someone strongly considering a gubernatorial run in 2023.

Sorority inducts 25 women

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Thu, 06/24/2021 - 09:46 AM

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Rho Iota Zeta Chapter of Mendenhall recently welcomed 25 ladies to the Sisterhood.
These college-educated women have different backgrounds but have found a common bond in the Blue and White family. Through their demonstration of the Sorority’s principles--Scholarship, Service, Sisterly Love, and Finer Womanhood--each lady will use her skills and talents to continue elevating and serving the chapter as well as the community.

Sorority inducts 25 women

1

Thu, 06/24/2021 - 09:46 AM

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Rho Iota Zeta Chapter of Mendenhall recently welcomed 25 ladies to the Sisterhood.
These college-educated women have different backgrounds but have found a common bond in the Blue and White family. Through their demonstration of the Sorority’s principles--Scholarship, Service, Sisterly Love, and Finer Womanhood--each lady will use her skills and talents to continue elevating and serving the chapter as well as the community.

How Black women and the church shaped Deesha Philyaw’s writings

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Thu, 06/24/2021 - 09:43 AM

How Black women and the church shaped Deesha Philyaw’s writings

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Thu, 06/24/2021 - 09:43 AM

MDE: Mississippi maintains education ranking at 39th nationally, up from 48th in 2014

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Thu, 06/24/2021 - 09:27 AM

Below is a press release from the Mississippi Department of Education:

Mississippi Education Remains Strongest Factor in Kids Count National Data.

Mississippi held its education ranking of 39th in the country in 2021, a substantial gain from its 48th position in 2014, according to new data released in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual KIDS COUNT® 2021 Data Book.

The Rusty Thoms Omaha story, a gift that keeps on giving for Bulldogs

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Wed, 06/23/2021 - 01:19 PM

Twenty-four years ago, Mississippi State’s Rusty Thoms won the hearts of Omaha and fans of the College World Series.

Twenty-three years ago, on a memorable return trip, Thoms paid tribute to those Omaha fans in his own special way.

This week, in Omaha, one College World Series fan paid Thoms back still again.

Audit: 5.5% of Mississippi’s unemployment payouts in 2020 were improper

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Tue, 06/22/2021 - 01:59 PM

The prior year, before the pandemic and when the labor office issued just $59.6 million, just 3% of payments were improper.

Mississippi sent out $117 million in improper jobless benefits in fiscal year 2020, during the state’s unprecedented unemployment hike brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, an audit released Tuesday revealed.

Mississippi is losing the catfish wars

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Mon, 06/21/2021 - 03:55 PM

The flood of foreign catfish imports to Mississippi continues despite new U.S. Department of Agriculture oversight.

Mississippi farmers are losing the catfish wars against their foreign competitors with the very weapon they saw as their salvation.

Supreme Court upholds ACA, turns focus back to Medicaid expansion

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Thu, 06/17/2021 - 04:51 PM

The U.S. Supreme Court this week eliminated one of the reasons cited by Mississippi Republican leaders for not expanding Medicaid.

The nation’s highest court rejected, in a 7-2 decision, a lawsuit asking that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — better known as Obamacare — be struck down. It was the third such lawsuit rejected by the Supreme Court in recent months. The lawsuit was filed by Texas and joined by 17 other Republican-led states, including by former Gov. Phil Bryant on behalf of Mississippi.