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What would happen if every mother in Mississippi – or in Mississippi’s neediest counties – received no-questions-asked cash assistance during pregnancy and months after a baby is born? Lawmakers pondered these questions at the state Capitol Thursday. 

The conversation focused on a program called Rx Kids, that started in Flint, Michigan, and is branded as a “prescription to poverty.” Dr. Mona Hanna, the program’s founder, presented her initiative to Mississippi lawmakers in House and Senate Public Health committees as a way to combat infant mortality. Nationwide, infants die at a higher rate in Mississippi than any other state. 

Mississippi doctors offered context during the hearing on rising infant deaths. In August, the state health department declared a public health emergency, and this week, doctors urged lawmakers to think creatively in how they choose to address the crisis. 

“Every hour that goes by, every day that goes by when a baby is born without the resources they need is a failure on all of us – we can do better,” Hanna said. “We don’t have to be OK with babies dying because of deprivation. This is not a genius idea, it’s not a new idea, it’s not a radical idea – this is just common sense.”

Rx Kids gives $1,500 to moms during pregnancy and $500 a month for six to 12 months after birth. This program only applies to mothers in the perinatal window in select communities, unlike a universal basic income, which would be available to everyone in theory. However, it is similarly unconditional – requiring no proof of income or employment and making no stipulations about how the money is spent. In Michigan, the program has given over $17 million to nearly 4,000 families in 11 communities to date – and the preliminary data bodes well.

Rx Kids is administered by GiveDirectly, a global cash assistance program funded by a number of private foundations and government institutions. At one point, this list included the U.S. Agency for International Development. 

Senate Public Health Committee Chairman Hob Bryan, a Democrat from Amory, said the program showed “great promise,” and House Public Health Committee Chairman Sam Creekmore, a Republican from New Albany, said he intends to “float the idea out to the Legislature.”

“My initial thoughts are that it’s great,” Creekmore said. “It comes down to can we afford it, or can we not afford it – but we can’t ignore it. It’s proven, successful and something I wanted to bring to the table today.”

Cash assistance programs similar to what Hanna described have demonstrated usefulness and public appeal. During the pandemic, the nation briefly had a cash assistance program for parents through the expanded child tax credit. The program helped reduce childhood poverty to a record low of 5%. After members of Congress failed to extend the program, childhood poverty has surged to a new high of 12%. Had Congress voted to continue the program in 2022, an analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found 3 million children could have been kept from poverty.

The U.S. is exceptional among wealthy nations for its high rate of childhood poverty. Evidence shows that when children endure poverty, they also are at greater risk of experiencing emotional dysregulation, obesity and malnutrition. These conditions are significant contributing factors to developing chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. In Mississippi, one of the poorest states in the nation, nearly 1 in 4 children live in poverty. 

Around childbirth, expenses increase while income decreases for parents, making it a uniquely difficult time. The United States offers no national paid parental leave policies but produces the highest costs in child care globally, according to the World Economic Forum. 

The program Rx Kids has helped alleviate some of those crushing costs for young families in Michigan. The number of infants staying in the neonatal intensive care unit, as well as those born underweight, dropped by more than a quarter, while preterm birth dropped by 18%, according to a study conducted on the program in Flint. In addition, evictions fell by 91%, and postpartum depression and nutritional access improved by 14%. 

Mississippi doctors are encouraged by these data and how a program like what Hanna has launched could boost quality of life for young patients and caregivers. Dr. Patricia Tibbs, a Laurel pediatrician and president of the Mississippi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said she is sold on the program, calling the premise and the results so far “amazing.” 

“It seems like it shouldn’t work, but it works,” Tibbs told Mississippi Today. “There’s something that happens when a child is not born into absolute poverty, when that first year or two years of that child’s life is stress-free. It makes a huge difference in this child’s trajectory in the future.”

Given her understanding of child development and psychology, Tibbs believes even a temporary alleviation of poverty is worth it, because of the dramatic long-term effects that it can have on health and wellbeing. 

“The security of a check for a few months is enough to make you realize the possibilities,” Tibbs said.

Dr. Anita Henderson, a pediatrician in Hattiesburg and former president of the Mississippi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said this program would help many of the patients she sees. 

“Transportation is an issue, child care is an issue, missing half a day at work is financially not feasible for many of my families,” Henderson said. 

During the hearing, Rep. Dan Eubanks, a Republican from Walls, raised concerns about the “lack of accountability” in the program. 

“If we’re trying to incentivize better behaviors, but we’re just giving them money, how does that incentivize them to correct some of the underlying causes of infant mortality?” Eubanks asked. 

Hanna said research shows the program led to an 11% decrease in smoking in the third trimester – something she attributes in part to a reduction in stress. 

“We didn’t create a complicated program to tell people to stop smoking – but people are on their own,” Hanna said. “Because moms by and large know what they need to do. They know what’s important, everybody loves their babies, and they want healthy babies. If you just give them a little bit of an economic cushion during this window, we see all these improvements.”

In Michigan, the absence of bureaucratic and systemic barriers allowed the program to garner bipartisan support. Michigan Sen. John Damoose, a Republican who represents a rural swathe of northern Michigan, recalled going from a skeptic to a champion of the program. 

“My immediate first thought was, ‘I’m a Republican – we don’t support giving away free money,’” Damoose told Mississippi Today. “But, as a pro-life Republican, I did wonder whether this program might give some young mothers the courage they need to choose life, so I decided to dig a little deeper. What I found was a brilliantly crafted initiative that was totally efficient and through its simplicity, addressed some of the most critical needs facing young families and children throughout our society.”

Damoose said he found the economics of the program compelling, since it “avoids the massive costs of bureaucracy.”

The program has almost no overhead. Once the money is allocated, there is very little that states have to do to administer it. Hanna estimated a pilot program in two Mississippi counties would likely require two staff members on the ground. 

“We are not hiring offices of people to figure out who’s in, who’s out, who’s deserving, who’s not deserving,” Hanna explained. “Plus, everybody needs help during this window. That’s why this program is more focused on poor places, rather than poor people.”

In Michigan, the program is made possible through a combination of state funds, federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds, and philanthropic funds. 

Mark Jones, director of communications at the Mississippi Department of Human Services – which oversees the TANF program – said they have not allocated any money toward the program and won’t know whether they have the funding to do so until early 2026. 

“We have been approached by those who have operated the program in other states and are always open to hearing solutions that would benefit Mississippians,” Jones said. 

A private foundation called The Families and Workers Fund, headquartered in New York, has already pledged $2 million to implement the program in Mississippi – contingent on the state putting up funds, Hanna said. The state’s funds don’t have to be TANF funds, and they don’t have to be a direct match – it could be less than $1 million. 

“About $2.5 million is needed to start a pilot program, and we have $2 million,” Hanna said. 

The use of philanthropic funds means the assistance counts as a gift, rather than income. That saves people from falling off “the benefits cliff,” a phenomenon where needy families who see a small increase in income get kicked off of social safety net programs, such as Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

This kind of direct investment in families influences outcomes beyond poverty or infant mortality, Hanna said. It bolsters community and strengthens public trust in government. 

“As much as we are eliminating poverty and improving health, we are sending a message,” Hanna said. “This is all very much about shifting the narrative about how we can care for each other. We are literally telling people: ‘We love you, we are investing in you, and we cannot wait to see what you become.’”

A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration Thursday to find the money to fully fund SNAP benefits for November.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. gave President Donald Trump’s administration until Friday to make the payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, though it’s unlikely the 42 million Americans — about 1 in 8, most of them in poverty — will see the money on the debit cards they use for groceries nearly that quickly.

The order was in response to a challenge from cities and nonprofits complaining that the administration was only offering to cover 65% of the maximum benefit, a decision that would have left some recipients getting nothing for this month.

“The defendants failed to consider the practical consequences associated with this decision to only partially fund SNAP,” McConnell said in a ruling from the bench after a brief hearing. “They knew that there would be a long delay in paying partial SNAP payments and failed to consider the harms individuals who rely on those benefits would suffer.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

McConnell was one of two judges who ruled last week that the administration could not skip November’s benefits entirely because of the federal shutdown.

The Trump administration chose partial payments this week

Last month, the administration said that it would halt SNAP payments for November if the government shutdown wasn’t resolved.

A coalition of cities and nonprofits sued in federal court in Rhode Island and Democratic state officials from across the country did so in Massachusetts.

The judges in both cases ordered the government to use one emergency reserve fund containing more than $4.6 billion to pay for SNAP for November but gave it leeway to tap other money to make the full payments, which cost between $8.5 billion and $9 billion each month.

On Monday, the administration said it would not use additional money, saying it was up to Congress to appropriate the funds for the program and that the other money was needed to shore up other child hunger programs.

The partial funding brought on complications

McConnell harshly criticized the Trump administration for making that choice.

“Without SNAP funding for the month of November, 16 million children are immediately at risk of going hungry,” he said. “This should never happen in America. In fact, it’s likely that SNAP recipients are hungry as we sit here.”

Tyler Becker, the attorney for the government, unsuccessfully argued that the Trump administration had followed the court’s order in issuing the partial payments. “This all comes down to Congress not having appropriated funds because of the government shutdown,” he said.

Kristin Bateman, a lawyer for the coalition of cities and nonprofit organizations, told the judge the administration had other reasons for not fully funding the benefits.

“What defendants are really trying to do is to leverage people’s hunger to gain partisan political advantage in the shutdown fight,” Bateman told the court.

McConnell said last week’s order required that those payments be made “expeditiously” and “efficiently” — and by Wednesday — or a full payment would be required. “Nothing was done consistent with the court’s order to clear the way to expeditiously resolve it,” McConnell said.

There were other twists and turns this week

The administration said in a court filing on Monday that it could take weeks or even months for some states to make calculations and system changes to load the debit cards used in the SNAP program. At the time, it said it would fund 50% of the maximum benefits.

The next day, Trump appeared to threaten not to pay the benefits at all unless Democrats in Congress agreed to reopen the government. His press secretary later said that the partial benefits were being paid for November — and that it is future payments that are at risk if the shutdown continues.

And Wednesday night, it recalculated, telling states that there was enough money to pay for 65% of the maximum benefits.

Under a decades-old formula in federal regulations, everyone who received less than the maximum benefit would get a larger percentage reduction. Some families would have received nothing and some single people and two-person households could have gotten as little as $16.

Carmel Scaife, a former day care owner in Milwaukee who hasn’t been able to work since receiving multiple severe injuries in a car accident seven years ago, said she normally receives $130 a month from SNAP. She said that despite bargain hunting, that is not nearly enough for a month’s worth of groceries.

Scaife, 56, said that any cuts to her benefit will mean she will need to further tap her Social Security income for groceries. “That’ll take away from the bills that I pay,” she said. “But that’s the only way I can survive.”

The next legal step is unclear

This type of order is usually not subject to an appeal, but the Trump administration has challenged other rulings like it before.

An organization whose lawyers filed the challenge signaled it would continue the battle if needed.

“We shouldn’t have to force the President to care for his citizens,” Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman said in a statement, “but we will do whatever is necessary to protect people and communities.”

It often takes SNAP benefits a week or more to be loaded onto debit cards once states initiate the process.

___

Associated Press writers Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut; and Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

Yazoo County officials have lifted evacuation and shelter-in-place orders for those near the CF Industries, an ammonia plant just north of Yazoo City. The order followed an ammonia leak at the facility Wednesday evening.

Yazoo County Emergency Manager Jack Willingham said he wasn’t sure what caused an explosion that led to the leak, but said there was no fire from the burst. No injuries or deaths occurred from the event, he said, and all roads are back open after initial diversions on U.S. 49.

“My building’s a mile away, and I could feel it shake,” Willingham said. “And when I walked outside you could see the huge plume. But there was no fire I’m aware of.”

The county lifted the evacuation order, he added, around 1 a.m. on Thursday. About 15 families who live along Renshaw and Generette Roads needed to evacuate, Willingham said. The shelter order applied to everyone living north of 15th Street in Yazoo City.

Gov. Tate Reeves posted on social media around 9 a.m. Thursday that the shelter-in-place order was still in effect, but posted shortly after that it had been lifted.

Air quality levels were safe in the area as of about 6 a.m. Thursday, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality said. The agency said it will continue to monitor air levels through the day.

Willingham said he was waiting to hear from CF Industries officials about what caused the explosion.

A man who beat his cellmate to death at the Hinds County Detention Center in 2023 will serve a life sentence without parole. 

On Wednesday, a jury found Avery Bankston, 38, guilty of first-degree murder for the death of Tyrone Wilson. 

The night of Feb. 23, 2023, the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation found 50-year-old Wilson dead and lying on his back in the cell he shared with Bankston. 

Video camera footage showed both men enter and exit the cell and visible movement from under the cell door: a struggle and a red-sleeved arm reach from under the cell, according to the Hinds County District Attorney’s office. Later, video captured Bankston using a white cloth to clean the inside cell window and door. 

“For our system of law to work, prisons have to be safe. We will not tolerate our detention centers to become battlegrounds,” Hinds District Attorney Jody Owens said in a statement. “Every act of violence behind bars will be prosecuted as aggressively as one on the street.”

Owens said he hopes the verdict will bring closure to Wilson’s family who lives in Illinois and didn’t have the chance to say goodbye to him. 

At the time of the killing, Bankston was being held at the Raymond facility awaiting trial for burglary charges. Charge information for Wilson was not immediately available. 

Bankston’s attorney asked the court to suppress or limit testimony about any alleged previous altercation between Bankston and Wilson as hearsay because no one personally witnessed an altercation, and to limit allegations of Bankston’s prior arrests. 

At least six people have died at the Hinds County Detention Center this year, including the homicide of a man whose body was found in his cell after an apparent assault.  

In the state prison system, a team of Mississippi reporters found that at least 43 people have died by homicide inside Mississippi prisons since 2015. The corrections commissioner has vowed to revisit investigations of the unprosecuted homicides and undetermined deaths. 

Nobody knows more about today’s college football landscape than Ross Dellenger and he has plenty to talk about these days, including the stunning in-season coaching changes happening all over the country.

Stream all episodes here.

Thabi Moyo broke into a grin, recalling dynamic blues music that coursed through the crowd as Diunna Greenleaf played at the recent Richmond Folk Festival in Virginia, and the way that one kid on the front row for the infectious Cuban rhythms of Son QBA got so blissfully lost in the music that Moyo was transported right along with him.

“I didn’t know these people,” she said of festival performers that also included a klezmer band and Hawaiian falsetto singers, “but I’ll never forget them.”

Moyo, local manager for the 82nd National Folk Festival, wants fellow Jacksonians and capital city tourists to grab and take away the same thrill, surprise and bliss when the free, three-day festival takes over downtown Jackson Friday through Sunday. 

The National Council for the Traditional Arts partners with host communities, in this case the city of Jackson, to produce the National Folk Festival around the country, and this is the first one in the Deep South. 

“It’s like the festival is coming home,” council Executive Director Blaine Waide said, noting Mississippi artists’ frequent presence at different festivals it produces, and the state’s impact on American music and musical history. “It’s a really appropriate place to have the festival.”

Jackson remains the host city for the 83rd and 84th National Folk Festivals in 2026 and 2027, laying the groundwork for a locally produced festival after the three-year National Council for the Traditional Arts residency ends. Ergon/Alliant is the presenting sponsor of the 82nd National Folk Festival.

Mississippi artists hold a vibrant role at this year’s festival as well, Those on the roster include Jackson blues icon Bobby Rush, Bentonia bluesman Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, Greenville blues musician Keith Johnson, Clarksdale’s James “Super Chikan” Johnson, Bay Springs Southern soul artist Ms. Jody, singer/guitarist Vasti Jackson of Hattiesburg and even the Sonic Boom of the South.

“At our event, we’ll have, obviously, what’s near and dear to us, which is the blues and gospel,” Moyo said, “and you’ll hear some new things like go-go music out of D.C., you’ll hear Irish fiddling, you’ll hear so many different types of music presented from world-class musicians.”

The National Folk Festival celebrates traditional arts — the music, dance and crafts of many different communities and cultures that may have roots in farflung places, but call America home. The knowledge, skill and artistic expression are passed down informally, through families and in community. 

“They’re key to identity,” Waide said. “When people think about, ‘Who am I? What defines me?’ it’s often those traditional expressions that have been passed down across generations.

“Folk and traditional arts isn’t just banjo and fiddle music,” he said. It is that, but it encompasses much more. The tremendous sweep of cultural expression enlivening the festival in Jackson also includes zydeco, salsa dura, South Asian qawwali (sung poetry, a meditative form of Islam), cowboy and western, trío romántico, Korean pungmul, flamenco, Cabo Verdean (blend of African and Portuguese influences, familiar in New England), sacred steel gospel, klezmer, West African balafon and more.

“Absolutely amazing performers,” Waide pegged them. “People are going to come to this festival because they want to see Bobby Rush, or they’re going to come to see Ms. Jody or E.U., and they’re going to walk away, going, like, ‘Holy crap, I didn’t know Korean percussion and dance was so cool.’” Many of the artists perform multiple times over the three days.

The closest equivalent to the National Folk Festival is probably Jubilee! JAM, the large-scale, ticketed music festival with a family-friendly, all-ages appeal in downtown Jackson that took place from the late 1980s through early 2000s. Notable differences: the National Folk Festival is free, and it has no “headliners,” or at least performers touted as such.

“The festival is the star,” Waide said, emphasizing that the event’s rich and varied cultures and sheer range of artistic expression constitute its primary draw. “It’s not about elevating any one artist over other artists. There are no headliners, there’s no main stage. It’s about experiencing the whole thing.

“The message is that these folks are all around us, that this level of artistry and creativity across different cultural communities is there in America and it’s a chance to celebrate and honor that.”

The festival presents a chance to riff on that, too, as artists come together and creative sparks fly. Moyo recalled the magical synergy that bubbled up among a zydeco singer, blues band and Beat Ya Feet dancers at one festival, “And, it was one of the wildest things that I’ve ever experienced!” she said with a happy laugh. “You’ll never see that again.”

The National Folk Festival is free to make it accessible and set in downtown Jackson to make it centrally located.

“There’s the symbolic idea of the public square, and welcoming everybody in that space and offering a program that is as representative as possible so that everybody there feels that it belongs to them,” Waide said. 

The pedestrian-only festival site stretches from State Street to Farish Street, and Pascagoula Street to Yazoo Street, with six outdoor stages and a dance pavilion. Concrete barriers will prevent vehicular traffic on the site. Performers take to the streets, too, with Capitol at Congress a prime spot to catch them offstage, including krump dancing from Leaving Legacies in Jackson or New Orleans Black masking craftsman and stilt dancer Chief Shaka Zulu.

Parking options, free and paid, are available at downtown public parking decks and garages outside the festival site. Free festival parking is available at the southwest corner of the State Fairgrounds with a shuttle or walk to the festival site, as well as a free park-and-ride shuttle service from Smith-Wills Stadium.

Food and drink (soft drinks, lemonade, water, beer, seltzers, canned wine) will be for sale at the festival. Food selections, too, reflect a range of cultures, including Jamaican, Southern, barbecue, Mediterranean, Mexican, Colombian, fair food and more, with strong representation from local eateries (including Hen and Egg, Campbell’s Bakery, Hal & Mal’s, Green Ghost Tacos and Lee’s Heavenly BBQ & Soul Food).

A Festival Marketplace highlights traditional and contemporary handmade creations from state and regional artists and craftspeople, including quilts, pottery, jewelry, woodwork and more.

“One of the best parts about the festival is that it’s going to bring everyone together around the arts,” Mississippi Arts Commission Executive Director David Lewis said.

The festival welcomes cultural communities from across the nation to Jackson, plus showcases many right here in Mississippi, particularly in the City with Soul Mississippi Folklife Area and stage on the Old Capitol Green. This year’s “Legacies of Empowerment” theme ties into the centennial of the births of blues legend B.B. King and civil rights champion Medgar Evers. In addition to blues and gospel, hear hip hop, punk and Mexican huapango music, enjoy Choctaw social dancing and see demonstrations of pine needle and Choctaw basketry, and Super Chikan’s guitar-making skills.

“Visitors have an opportunity not only to learn from the artists, but also participate actively in creating something communally as part of the festival,” Kristen Brandt, the folk and traditional arts director at the Mississippi Arts Commission, said. Zinesters lead visitors in creating their own mini-magazines, for example.

The folklife focus also wraps in groups bound by community and culture that may surprise some to find at the arts-heavy festival, such as skateboarders with Skate Jackson, the Motor Mouse Motorcycle Club from Indianola and a fourth generation farming family from Sledge.

The “Legacies of Empowerment” theme echoes, too, in the Family Area in Smith Park, where children can make their own personalized little Lucilles in a nod to King’s famous guitar, and make-and-take buttons reminiscent of the Civil Rights Movement. Traditional Choctaw games and crafts, animal ambassadors from the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, family crest or flag making and storytelling, and Mississippi State University’s cyber-education team’s STEM trailer all entice engagement from the younger set. Performers such as the Acme Miniature Flea Circus, Leaving Legacies krump dancers and Vasti Jackson with his Soul of Jimmie Rodgers program keep steady entertainment on the park’s stage.

The National Folk Festival’s join-in fun hits its peak at the Welcome to Jackson Dance Pavilion where Pearl and State streets meet, music rules and feet move to klezmer and country western, go-go and zydeco and plenty more.

“That’s going to be the hot spot, the entire weekend,” Moyo said of the pavilion. “You can dance anywhere, but that’s where you learn and that’s where you can participate. There will always be some sort of music that will make you move your body at the dance tent.”

The event, built on partnerships, requires 800 to 1,000 volunteers for efficient operation in backstage support, beverage sales and transportation, and as artist ambassadors, members of the Bucket Brigade collecting donations to help keep the festival free, and more. 

“Really, the festival is about community engagement, civic participation and public service,” Waide said. “It takes the whole community to get behind it.” 

Moyo witnessed the strong, years-long family engagement at other festivals. 

“I talked to one daughter who started volunteering with her mom when she was 6. She’s 22 now, and that story’s not rare in the folk festival world. This is an opportunity for our families here … to build new traditions,” Moyo said.

Stakeholders see potential benefits stretching far beyond this weekend. 

“We have an opportunity to demonstrate to people what a wonderful place Jackson is. It’s not hard to find a lot of negative narratives about the city, but what gets missed is all the wonderful things that are in Jackson,” Jackson Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Christopher Pike said.

“I think it’s going to be a catalyst. You’re going to get people to come to Jackson who’ve never been to Jackson before, and they’re going to fall in love with the things that we have, that we do well here, and you might see other investments to come out of that.”

National Folk Festival volunteers can sign at nationalfolkfestival.com/volunteer or on site at the festival’s volunteer check-in.

Correction 11/6/2025: This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Thabi Moyo.

A Mississippi sheriff arrested last week in a federal drug conspiracy sting has pleaded not guilty and vowed to mount a full defense, but has stepped down from his elected office to comply with his bond agreement.

Humphreys County Sheriff Bruce Williams pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit drug distribution, drug distribution and firearms conspiracy. After a years-long investigation, Williams was arrested last Thursday by FBI agents, who fanned across the Mississippi Delta in armored cars and conducted a series of predawn arrests.

By sunrise, 20 people, including 14 law enforcement officers, across the Delta and Tennessee had been arrested.

Williams allegedly received multiple bribes from undercover FBI agents posing as Mexican cartel members “for his blessing for the cartel to operate in his county” and for the cartel to use his deputies for protection. Multiple bribes totaling $18,000 were paid to the sheriff during the conspiracy, the indictment said.

In a statement to Mississippi Today on Wednesday, Mike Carr, Williams’s attorney, said the sheriff had pleaded not guilty to all counts in the indictment in which he is named.

“We look forward to receiving and reviewing the Government’s alleged evidence in this case,” Carr said. “We anticipate a full and complete defense to all of the allegations — every accused person in this country stands not guilty until proven beyond a reasonable doubt otherwise. We are looking forward to our day in court.”

The investigation and alleged law enforcement corruption spanned counties across the Delta and stretched into Memphis, where some of the officers are alleged to have accepted bribes in exchange for providing protection to undercover FBI agents posing as members of a Mexican drug cartel.

The federal probe began years ago when the FBI Jackson field office connected with a known local drug dealer who investigators code-named “Green.” The drug dealer became a confidential informant for the FBI. Between 2023 and 2024, the officers escorted the undercover agents transporting cocaine through the rural Delta along U.S. Highway 61 and into Memphis, court records allege.

Of the 20 individuals charged, 19 are accused of illegally carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The charges, which are outlined across multiple indictments, portray an operation that extended from rank-and-file patrol officers up through police chiefs and sheriffs.

In Humphreys County, Williams ran unopposed for sheriff in 2023 and had been serving a four-year term set to expire in 2027.

Williams took a leave of absence following his arrest, and the Humphreys County Board of Supervisors appointed former Belzoni police Chief Mickey Foxworth as interim sheriff. That is because federal authorities offered Williams a bond agreement that prohibits him from staying employed as a law enforcement officer. The agreement demands that he seek another form of employment, the bond agreement shows.

The other elected sheriff arrested in the federal takedown, Washington County Sheriff Milton Gaston, is also accused of attempting to disguise bribes in the form of “campaign contributions.” Court records did not show an attorney listed for Gatson, and it was not clear on Wednesday if he had entered a plea yet.

The arrests stunned residents of the Delta, one of the poorest regions of the country. Residents were still reeling from a mass shooting in October that killed nine people and wounded a dozen more during or after high school and college homecoming celebrations. 

House Speaker Jason White continues to champion school choice at the state Capitol, but some of his constituents aren’t so sure about the policies.

The Kosciusko Board of Aldermen adopted an anti-school choice resolution on Tuesday night, breaking from their representative and the set of proposals that White, a Republican, is aggressively pushing. Kosciusko, 70 miles north of Jackson, is the largest city in White’s district, which encompasses parts of Attala, Carroll, Holmes and Leake counties, and it’s where his law office is located. 

Kosciusko joins a handful of cities that have publicly denounced school choice policies, which fund educational opportunities outside of traditional public schools, often with state money. The boards’ actions could signal a lack of support among everyday Mississippians, while powerful state lawmakers like White continue their years-long, full-court press for school choice, backed by billionaire-funded national conservative organizations and the Trump administration. Proponents of school choice say there is also a grassroots movement driven by parents that have buoyed their cause.

Taylor Spillman, a spokesperson for White, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the resolution. 

The resolution calls the local public school system — graded an “A” for three years straight by the Mississippi Department of Education — the “lifeblood” of the community and urges the Kosciusko legislative delegation to oppose school choice policies. The statement defines education savings accounts, vouchers and tax-credit programs — which all direct taxpayer money to private or homeschool education — as school choice policies. 

When reached by Mississippi Today, Kosciusko Mayor Tim Kyle noted that open enrollment policies that loosen regulations around public school transfers would also divert funds from the local school district. 

Henry Daniel, a Democrat who represents Ward 2 on the Kosciusko board, said he voted for the local resolution because he doesn’t think private schools should receive taxpayer funds if they don’t adhere to the same admission and testing standards as public schools, which have to admit and serve all students regardless of background or ability. 

Last month, Barrett Donahoe, executive director of the Mid-South Association of Independent Schools, told lawmakers that private schools his organization represents were not willing to support school choice unless the dollars came with no strings attached. 

“We’ve got a good school system here,” Daniel said. “Even though Jason is our representative … you have to put that to the side and see what’s best for the kids and the community.”

Dr. Tim Alford co-authored the resolution, which he modeled after one passed by the Clinton Board of Aldermen, and brought it before the Kosciusko board on Tuesday. All three of his children were educated in the public school district. The experience taught them how to get along with people of all backgrounds, Alford said.

“My thought is that a lot of these folks, they feel like some of the public school communities are beyond saving, and the alternative is just to retreat into the private world, which is in large part segregated,” he said. “The public school world … has some good things going on. To me, that’s where we ought to be concentrating our efforts and energies.”

When white Mississippians left the Delta amid school desegregation, Alford witnessed the devastation that flight wrought on his hometown of Greenwood. He said he’s afraid school choice policies will spur similar results in Kosciusko — and he said he’s already seeing seeds of that outcome. 

“To be honest, I think the white flight tendency is happening in Kosciusko now,” he said. “There are private school options that are available immediately in the community and some several miles down the road that parents are choosing. We don’t have the balance of race that we used to have. I’m afraid to say that I think that is part of what is driving this.”

White, who lives in West, sent his children to private schools in Winona and Madison. His public school district, Holmes County Consolidated School District, has historically struggled academically and is currently under state control.

Alford acknowledged that White has been “very helpful” to Kosciusko and said they both want to improve educational opportunities for all Mississippians.

“I hate to run up against Rep. White because I think he has the best intentions,” Alford said. “But he and I disagree on how to get there.”

Kyle, the mayor, said while he understands and supports parents’ desires to have more choices regarding their child’s education, he doesn’t think that should come at the expense of the public school district. He believes the board’s vote represents the majority of Kosciuskians.

Kyle said Kosciuskians’ opposition is at least partially driven by a fear of the unknown — legislators are drafting an omnibus education bill that would expand school choice in Mississippi, though it’s unclear what specific policies will make it into the legislation.

Some House Republicans support sending money to private schools through vouchers, while others want to keep school choice reforms limited to making it easier for students to transfer between public schools.

School choice policies in other states have resulted in higher private school tuition, skyrocketing education costs and worse academic outcomes. 

“As your schools go, so does your community,” Kyle said. “We don’t want that to happen. That’s the message our community wanted to send.”

11/5/2025: This story has been updated to show that Jason White sent his children to private schools in Winona and Madison.

Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Hayes Carll is currently touring promoting his new album – the critically acclaimed, “We’re only human.”

He will perform Saturday night in Philadelphia at the Ellis Theater, which is part of the Congress of Country Music, a museum and music venue started by music icon and Neshoba County native Marty Stuart.

Mississippi Today Ideas Editor Bobby Harrison recently interviewed Carll online about his scheduled performance in Mississippi, his songwriting and the current political climate.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Mississippi Today Ideas – How did this Nov. 8 concert at the Ellis Center come about?

Hayes Carll  – We’re just on tour promoting the new record, and we’re covering a lot of grounds. I heard about this, I think, new venue. The association with Marty and the town, just made it a good stop. 

MT Ideas – What can we expect from that concert? 

Carll –  I’m going to have my band out with me. I’ve got a six-piece band. I call them the Gulf Coast Orchestra. I started out on the Gulf Coast of Texas playing music. So that’s been what I called my bands ever since.

It’s a pretty eclectic show. We kind of run the range between singer-songwriter and storytelling stuff. But then we can crank it up. We’ve got some brilliant musicians and we’ll get loud and honky tonk it and rock out.

I like all kinds of music and have been influenced by a lot of different styles. So for me, a fun show is one where I can incorporate all that stuff together.

MT Ideas – I’m assuming you will be playing a lot of stuff from your new album, “We’re Only Human.” It is getting great reviews. You talk about your music and everything, and all that’s true. But I think you’re known for your songwriting ability and this album doesn’t let people down on that front.

I view the album as kind of about the human condition, about redemption, about struggling and learning to live and thrive.

Carll – Thank you. That’s a really good recap actually. Yeah, I think the human experience can be challenging and I’ve had my struggles over time, and I got tired of having the same conversations with myself year after year. I’m just trying probably like most people to find a way to live with a little more peace and little more joy and to not struggle as much. So I reached a point in life where we really leaned into doing some personal work to try and sort out how I can live better. And so this record stemmed from that. A lot of it’s just things I discovered for myself about how to stay sane and joyful and grateful.

I wrote it in large part for myself. It was, you know, one big therapy session. I feel like as I’ve gone out and played it for people and shared it with the world I get a lot of feedback that it seems to connect. You know, we’re not that different no matter what our circumstances are.

We all want to feel safe and appreciated and not overwhelmed and able to navigate life with some grace and love. It started off about me, but I think it’s turned into something that hopefully people, regardless of their situation, can relate to and connect with.

MT Ideas – Would you consider this album sort of a departure from your past work? 

Carll – I do in a couple ways. This is my 10th record, and I got into songwriting just because I loved it so much – the storytelling, the ability of songwriters that I looked up to, to articulate my experience or put words to my feelings that I didn’t know how to do to put me in a certain kind of mood to help me find my identity. And there’s so much about it that I just was really excited by.

So when I started writing, I was like most artists, you start off kind of copying your heroes and you slowly start to find your own style and I found I had a lot of different styles and things that I liked to touch on. I would write a song and do it the best I could and then write another song and it came time to make a record.

I would just kind of collect all the songs I had finished and find the best ones or the ones that fit together the best.

This was the first time in my life, in my career,  that I had set out with an intention and a theme about what I wanted to write. It was a very different process for me because of that.

I had some parameters where if it’s not honest, if it’s not helping me sort something out or express something that I felt like I needed to express, then it just wasn’t part of this record. I’ve got a lot in the past of storytelling songs or rock and roll songs, or honky tonk songs or funny songs or things that are touching on specific things, but usually looking from somebody else’s point of view. In this record, I just tried to keep it in a space where I was working toward a goal. And so that was kind of liberating to be able to know that everything I was doing creatively was in this area. 

MT Ideas – Well, if you listen to the words closely though, I still think, you don’t lose your sense of humor, which I think has been an important part of your work for a long time.

Carll – Yeah, thank you. It’s always been important to me. Humor. You know John Prine is a hero of mine. And there’s so many songwriters who can use humor to just be funny or as a contrast to the serious and the heavy. I love the idea of showing the whole human experience and humor and levity and ability to laugh at oneself or at the surroundings.

That’s how I keep my sanity a lot of times. And so even when I’m trying to work through some heavier stuff for me, humor’s always gonna be a part of it.

MT Ideas – Full disclosure. I first learned about you back when my brother-in-law gave me an album – it was actually a CD – called “Trouble in Mind” for Christmas in 2008, 2009.

Carll – Yeah. that’s about right.

MT Ideas – To this day it remains one of my favorite albums. That album I think, it really captured you as a songwriter. I think you have a unique ability to be funny, but also poignant and write tear jerkers at the same time. “Nice things” is not on that album, but it is one of my favorite songs.

Carll – It’s one I wrote with Brothers Osborne, one of my favorite country bands here in Nashville. Yeah, that originally started out as I had this idea of a wife saying to her husband why we can’t have nice things. And at first we were thinking about writing from that point of view. Then we sort of zoomed out and made it more global, universal.

MT Ideas – You made God a woman, and she came back down and just said, whoa, this is why we don’t have nice things. 

Carll – Exactly. She was not thrilled with some of what she saw going on.

MT Ideas – OK. You mentioned John Prine. You’re from Texas. I know Texas is a big state with lots of people, but still it seems like Texas has more than its share of great songwriters going back to Townes Van Zandt, one of my favorites, Guy, Clark, and on and on. You’ve been placed in those categories of songwriters. Are some of those folks your heroes?

Carll  – Absolutely. Texas has a really rich songwriting tradition, musical tradition, just sort of in the air there, I mean, the first memories I have are listening to Willie Nelson.

Kenny Rogers was one of my first. That’s not the same kind of thing as a songwriter, but he was one of my first musical influences. I had an uncle who played in a garage band with Kenny in Houston. It is just kind of everywhere.

Yeah, I, really got heavily into Townes and Guy. Lyle Lovett was maybe the first one for me – his ability to have this unique perspective and this sense of humor and weirdness and elegance and combine all these things that I just didn’t hear on the radio a lot. And, so I really did a deep dive pretty early on into finding all these, to me at the time, obscure singer-songwriters.

They became heroes and now they’re, I think, seen as legends. It’s been really cool for me to come out as those people were my heroes. One of the first co-writes I ever did was with Guy Clark. I got my start in a bar called “The Old Quarter” that Townes had recorded a live record in. I get to tour with Lyle and he’s become a friend, and I’ve toured with Robert Earl Keen. And so for me, as a kid who just looked up to all these guys and viewed them as titans and geniuses and just really brilliant artists, it’s been really gratifying to through the course of years, get to befriend them, work with them. It’s really special. I have to pinch myself sometimes. 

MT Ideas –  What, what was your thought process writing, ”She left me for Jesus?”

Carll – I have a friend named Brian Keane, who’s a great singer songwriter. And he came over to my apartment. I was living in Austin at the time, and he was kind of going through a situation where his relationship was maybe not going to work out because he was not religious enough.

He brought that idea to me. At first I wasn’t feeling it. I wasn’t sure what to do with that. Sometimes you start a song, and it could take years and you just labor away and sometimes it just happens like that. We got the concept that there was this mistaken identity and that the guy thought his girl was cheating on him with some guy named Jesus and didn’t put it together.

And then we kind of made him a certain type of character and started bringing satire and irony into it. We wrote it in probably an hour, and then we had three or four extra verses as well. It just became one of those things where the ideas were flowing and we’re just poking a little fun at folks who maybe call themselves Christian, but don’t behave in Christian ways or maybe would pick a fight with Jesus if he walked into a bar today.

MT Ideas – There is some controversy going on today with songwriters involved in politics? You have not taken political stances, but sometimes I think your songs do. Can you just talk a little bit about that? 

Carll – First of all, I think on the whole our job is to be artists. I don’t think anybody should be told as an artist what they should or shouldn’t write about. It’s always sort of strange to me when people say people should stick to their lanes.

We’re all people here and I don’t think you have to be an elected official or a talking head on TV to have an opinion and be able to share it. We all have that right. And  particularly as an artist, I feel like our job is to look at the world in a certain way and share that point of view.

You don’t have to agree with it, don’t have to like it. But our job certainly is not to get small and, and not examine what we see.

A lot of my heroes early on were really politically active – Bob Dylan  or Prine in some ways. And so I always admired that, but I never felt quite comfortable finding my voice to express it – on stage or off.

I definitely have some songs where I think I let it be known where I’m coming from or try to challenge certain ideas. Off-stage, it’s a bit more challenging.

I feel like these days, whatever your opinion is or however justified or based in decency or respect you try to make it,  there’s a section of the populist, no matter what side you’re on, that’s gonna come back at you in a pretty unpleasant way. And it’s not that I’m afraid of that blowback, although I don’t enjoy it. But I sometimes feel like I’m just adding to the noise because we seem to have lost the ability to just have a nuanced and respectful conversation.

And so if all I’m doing is throwing fuel out there for people to get upset about, I’m not sure I’m actually accomplishing what I want to accomplish by sharing my opinion. So I just kind of take it as it comes and try to take care of myself and my family and my friends and neighbors.

And I certainly have my opinions and if I feel I need to express them I will and do, but I try not to lead with that. Part of what this record is about is some of that. I like to define people not by their differences or disagreements, but try and find the commonality ’cause I have a lot of people, friends that I disagree with strongly about certain political issues, but I know they’re really good people and so I like to start there and build some commonality and respect there. And then we can argue once we’ve established a baseline of decency.

MT Ideas – Yeah. You have a song on the new record that talks about that, where the couple meets at a rally and yells at each other and then feels bad and goes out to eat together. You have written several songs I think that talk about the ability of people who get along despite their differences.

Carll – Yeah, I feel like we get divided and there’s people who profit off of division and animosity, and I don’t think it’s the regular people who are benefiting from it. And so again I believe everybody should have their belief systems and fight for what they think is important. But sometimes I think with social media and the news 24-7 and all the opinions and all the politics, it can make people think that’s all that we are. And we’re so much more than that. 

MT Ideas – Well, look I appreciate your time. I know you’re busy with your new record and getting ready for your tour, so I thank you for taking some time to be with us.

Carll – I appreciate you having me, and I’m really looking forward to playing. 

Brittney Reese, a seven-time world champion and Olympic golf medalist long jumper, headlines the 2026 Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame induction class announced at the MSHOF museum Wednesday.

Reese is joined by a talented and diverse group that includes three former football stars, the winningest college baseball coach in Mississippi history, a championship swimming and diving coach, and perhaps the most successful strength and conditioning coach in football history.

In alphabetical order, the MSHOF Class of 2026:

• Glen Collins, a Jackson native and Mississippi State first team All American football star. One of the most decorated defensive linemen in Mississippi football history, Collins was a first round draft choice of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1982 and played seven years in the NFL. Collins played high school football at Jim Hill. At State, he was so dominant that opposing teams nearly always double-teamed him. He was one of the heroes of State’s memorable 6-3 victory over Alabama in 1980, which remains perhaps the most treasured victory in MSU football history.
• Louis Guy, a two-way player, who was one of the heroes of the undefeated 1960 Ole Miss football team that was awarded the Football Writers of America national championship. Guy played wingback and defensive back and was a threat to score on either side of the football. He caught three touchdown passes in a game against Houston and returned a pass interception 100 yards for a touchdown in a victory over Tennessee. Guy was drafted in the third round of the NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles and later played for both the Philadelphia Eagles and Oakland Raiders. Following his playing days, he built a successful career as an orthodontist and Jackson community leader.
• Michael Haddix, a two-time Mississippi State All-SEC running back from Walnut who was the eighth overall pick of the 1983 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. Haddix was one of those running backs with a rare blend of both speed and power, which he employed to gain six yards per carry for his entire State career, still a school record. “Just an unbelievably great back,” Collins said. “I know because I had to tackle him in practice. Michael was a great teammate and a great guy.. All us guys from that era of State football remain close.”
• Bobby Halford, a Meridian native who was a terrific baseball player before becoming the head baseball coach at William Carey University where he has amassed more than 1,300 victories, surpassing Hall of Famer Ron Polk as the winningest college baseball coach in Mississippi history. He has led the Crusaders to 19 conference championships and 26 national tournament appearances. He was the NAIA National Coach of the Year in 2017.
• Ronnie Mayers, former Delta State athletic director and before that the championship swimming and diving coach for the Cleveland school. Mayers’ teams won 11 Gulf South Conference titles and made 15 NCAA Championship appearances. Mayers recruited and coached 56 All Americans during his career – little wonder the Delta State aquatics center bears his name.
• Johnny Parker, considered a pioneer in strength and conditioning, particularly in football. Parker coached for 35 years at the college and professional levels after beginning his career at Indianola Academy. His innovative training methods have influenced generations of coaches and athletes. He earned three Super Bowl rings as an NFL strength coach with the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Bucs.
• Brittney Reese, a Gulfport native who has become one of the most decorated athletes in Mississippi history, male or female, in any sport. She starred in track and field and basketball at Gulfport High and Gulf Coast Community College before concentrating in track and field under Hall of Fame coach Joe Walker at Ole Miss where she was a two-time NCAA champion for the Rebels. She is a seven-time world champion who won the Olympic gold medal in 2012 and silver medals in 2016 and 2021. She is the latest in an amazing pantheon of Mississippi long jumping greats, including Hall of Famers Ralph Boston, Willye B. White, Larry Myricks and Savanté Stringfellow.

The Class of 2026 will be inducted in ceremonies during MSHOF Hall of Fame Weekend July 31-Aug. 1.