Lost+Found Coffee Company @ 248 South Green Street, Tupelo,MS. inside Relics in Downtown Tupelo. Open Monday through Saturday from 10:00am till 6:00pm.
With most any restaurant or coffee house, it’s a balance between atmosphere, menu, and know how. For a coffee shop, Lost & Found has it going on!
You could spend the better part of a day just strolling through both floors of the antique building looking at all the treasures. When your ready for a coffee break, the knowledgeable baristas can help you choose the perfect pick me up!
They have everything from a classic cup of joe to the creamiest creation you could imagine! From pour overs to cold brews. From lattes, mochas, to cappuccino’s, Lost & Found Coffee Company has got ya covered!
So the next time you want to hunt for lost treasures, or find the perfect cup of coffee, Lost & Found Coffee Company has got ya covered! See y’all there!
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Do you thrive on the unexpected? Are you waiting for the next fire to crop up?
Have you ever noticed that you can plan something so intricately and you are still going to catch the glitches when life throws you a curve ball? It is one of the beauties of life that we can never prepare for. The unexpected. The only difference is our response to the unexpected. Do we have a knee jerk reaction that finds us swerving to gain back control of our life? Or do we instead just go with the flow and decide to embrace the scenic route life decided to take us on? Our response to life can cause us more stress or we can just enjoy it for what it is in that moment of time. I used to thrive on the unexpected. It was part of my career for many years. The never knowing what “fire” was going to sprout up that day and how I was going to need to put it out. Even this week as we launched our newest book in my publishing company. I thought I had it all planned out only to run into major “hiccups” within 72 hours of the launch. I could either stress out or take it in stride.
Slow and Steady
As my dad retired I watched him take a different approach to life than I had ever seen him take before. I mean, all you have to do is climb up in the cab of his king ranch Ford pick-up and see he is a changed man. He drives slower than anyone should even be allowed to drive out on the roads these days. He knows how to drive, so don’t go yelling at him next time you are stuck behind him. Trust me, my mom does enough yelling for all of us at him about that! He just takes life these days. His sentiments are that he lived in the fast lane his whole life. Rushing to be on time to work, rushing to come home to his family, the constant busy we get entangled with as adults…now, he doesn’t have to be busy and he is going to enjoy that. Truth is, I can’t even be mad at him for that. Now that I am an adult out here rushing from one thing to the next, I totally could use some driving twenty miles per hour in my life some days. Took me getting to nearly forty to even be able to say that though.
The lesson in his wisdom can be heard by all. Some things we lose it over won’t even amount to anything five years from now, yet we gave them so much energy in the moment. All the things we think are so important that we must do and do now. Most will not really matter years from now, yet we poured our soul into them. What would change if we took the time to just enjoy life? To just flow with things as they happened? When hit with something we didn’t expect, we embraced it instead of fighting it? What would happen? I dare say we might have more peace? I probably would be a lot calmer. I probably wouldn’t lose my temper near as much. I probably wouldn’t have anxiety or stress on the daily. I would probably take time to enjoy life more. I certainly wouldn’t yell at the slow driver in front of me.
What about you? Next time you get behind someone driving slowly…take back the name calling and curse words. Maybe take back all of the assumptions that they don’t know how to drive. Maybe use it as a reminder to take a moment, roll down your window, soak in the sunshine. I can promise you that wherever the heck you are going, you will still get there. Maybe that person figured out life and you can use their wisdom too. If they are driving a blue king ranch Ford truck, I can assure you that he is just enjoying his day and he would want you to enjoy yours too. Matter of fact, I wish I had listened to his wisdom a lot more in my earlier days instead of waiting until now.
Here is a plain, searchable text version (most other versions we found were Images or PDF files) of City Of Tupelo Executive Order 20-018. Effective Monday June 29th at 6:00 PM
The following Local Executive Order further amends and supplements all previous Local Executive Orders and its Emergency Proclamation and Resolution adopted by the City of Tupelo, Mississippi, pertaining to COVID-19. All provisions of previous local orders and proclamations shall remain in full force and effect.
LOCAL EXECUTIVE ORDER 20-018
The White House and CDC guidelines state the criteria for reopening up America should be based on data driven conditions within each region or state before proceeding to the next phased opening. Data should be based on symptoms, cases, and hospitals. Based on cases alone, there must be a downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period or a downward trajectory of positive tests as a percent of total tests within a 14-day period. There has been no such downward trajectory in the documented cases in Lee County since May 18, 2020.
Hospital numbers are not always readily available to policymakers; however, from information that has been maintained and communicated to the City of Tupelo, the Northeast Mississippi Medical Center is near or at their capacity for treating COVID-19 inpatients over the past two weeks without reopening additional areas for treating COVID-19 patients. The City of Tupelo is experiencing an increase in the number of cases of COVID-19. The case count 45 days prior to the date of this executive order was 77 cases. That number increased within 15 days to 107, and today, the number is 429 cases. The City of Tupelo is experiencing increases of 11.7 cases a day. This is not in conformity with the guidelines provided of a downward trajectory of positive tests. By any metric available, the City of Tupelo may not continue to the next phase of reopening.
Governor Tate Reeves in his Executive Order No. 1492(1)(i)(1) authorizes the City of Tupelo to implement more restrictive measures than currently in place for other Mississippians to facilitate preventative measures against COVID-19 thereby creating the downward trajectory necessary for reopening.
That the Tupelo Economic Recovery Task Force and North Mississippi Medical Center have formally requested that the City of Tupelo adopt a face covering policy.
In an effort to support the Northeast Mississippi Health System in their response to COVID-19 and to strive to keep the City of Tupelo’s economy remaining open for business, effective at 6:00 a.m. on Monday, June 29, 2020, all persons who are present within the jurisdiction of the City of Tupelo shall wear a clean face covering any time they are, or will be, in contact with other people in indoor public or business spaces where it is not possible to maintain social distance. While wearing the face covering, it is essential to still maintain social distance being the best defense against the spread of COVID-19. The intent of this executive order is to encourage voluntary compliance with the requirements established herein by the businesses and persons within the jurisdiction of the City of Tupelo.
It is recommended that all indoor public or business spaces require persons to wear a face covering for entry. Upon entry, social distancing and activities shall follow guidelines of the City of Tupelo and the Governor’s executive orders pertaining to particular businesses and business activity.
Persons shall properly wear face coverings ensuring the face covering covers the mouth and nose,
1. Signage should be posted by entrances to businesses stating the face covering requirement for entry. (Available for download at www.tupeloms.gov).
2. A patron located inside an indoor public or business space without a face covering will be asked to leave by the business owners if the patron is unwilling to come into compliance with wearing a face covering
3. Face coverings are not required for:
a. People whose religious beliefs prevent them from wearing a face covering. b. Those who cannot wear a face covering due to a medical or behavioral condition. c. Restaurant patrons while dining. d. Private, individual offices or offices with fewer than ten (10) employees. e. Other settings where it is not practical or feasible to wear a face covering, including when obtaining or rendering goods or services, such as receipt of dental services or swimming. f. Banks, gyms, or spaces with physical barrier partitions which prohibit contact between the customer(s) and employee. g. Small offices where the public does not interact with the employer. h. Children under twelve (12). i. That upon the formulation of an articulable safety plan which meets the goals of this
Executive Order businesses may seek an exemption by email at covid@tupeloms.gov
FACE COVERINGS DO NOT HAVE TO BE MEDICAL MASKS OR N95 MASKS. A BANDANA, SCARF, T–SHIRT, HOME–MADE MASKS, ETC. MAY BE USED. THEY MUST PROPERLY COVER BOTH A PERSON‘S MOUTH AND NOSE.
Those businesses that are subject to regulatory oversight of a separate state or federal agency shall follow the guidelines of said agency or regulating body if there is a conflict with this Executive Order.
Additional information can be found at www.tupeloms.gov COVID-19 information landing page.
Pursuant to Miss. Code Anno. 833-15-17(d)(1972 as amended), this Local Executive Order shall remain in full effect under these terms until reviewed, approved or disapproved at the first regular meeting following such Local Executive Order or at a special meeting legally called for such a review.
The City of Tupelo reserves its authority to respond to local conditions as necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens.
Honeyboy and Boots are a husband and wife, guitar and cello, duo with a unique style that is all their own. Their sound embodies Americana, traditional folk, alt country, and blues with harmonies and a hint of classical notes.
Drew Blackwell, a true Southerner raised in the heart of the black prairie in Mississippi. First picked up the guitar at fourteen, he was greatly influenced by his Uncle Doug who taught him old country standards and folk classics. Later on in high school, he was mentored and inspired to write (and feel) the blues by Alabama blues artist Willie King. (Willie King is credited for bringing together the band The Old Memphis Kings.)
Drew has placed 3rd in the 2019 Mississippi Songwriter of the Year contest with his song “Waiting on A Friend” and made it to the semi finalist round on the 2019 International Songwriting Competition with his song “Accidental Hipster.”
Honeyboy (Drew) can also be found belting out those blues notes as the lead vocalist for the Old Memphis Kings and begins everyday with a hot cup of black coffee!
Courtney Blackwell (Kinzer) grew up in Washington State and comes from a talented musical family. She began playing cello at the age of three taking lessons from the cello bass professor Bill Wharton at the University of Idaho. Her mother was most influential in her progression of technique, tone quality, and ear training. Since traveling around much of the South, she has enjoyed focusing on the variety of ways the cello is used in ensembles. When she plays, you will feel those groovy bass lines making way to soaring leads create an emotional and magical connection between you and her music.
Courtney enjoys working in the studio, collaborating with artists and continuing to challenge the way cello is expressed.
They have opened for such acts as Verlon Thompson, The Josh Abbott Band, Cary Hudson (of Blue Mountain), and Rising Appalachia.
Honeyboy And Boots have performed at a variety of venues and festivals throughout the southeast, including the 2015 Pilgrimage Fest in Franklin, TN; Musicians Corner in Nashville; the Mississippi Songwriters Festival (2015-2018); and the Black Warrior Songwriting Fest in Tuscaloosa, AL (2018-2019). They also came in 2nd place at the 2015 Gulf Coast Songwriters Shootout in Orange Beach, FL.
They have two albums, Mississippi Duo and Waiting On a Song, which are available on their website, iTunes, Amazon, and CD Baby.
The duo also just released their fourth recording: a seven-song EP called Picture On The Wall, which was recorded with Anthony Crawford (Williesugar Capps, Sugarcane Jane, Neil Young). It is now available on Spotify, Itunes, Google Music, and CD Baby.
Who or what would you say has been the greatest influence on your music?
My Uncle Doug, because he began to teach me guitar and introduced me to a lot of great older country music.
Favorite song you’ve composed or performed and why?
“We Played On” because it’s about our family reunions, where we would sit around and play guitar and share songs.
If you could meet any artist, living or dead, which would you choose and why?
Probably Willie Nelson. He’s my all time favorite.
Most embarrassing thing ever to happen at a gig?
A guy fell on top of me while I was performing. I was sitting down. He busted a big hole in my guitar.
What was the most significant thing to happen to you in the course of your music?
Getting to perform at Musicians Corner in downtown Nashville. Probably the biggest crowd we’ve ever been in front of.
If music were not part of your life, what else would you prefer to be doing?
I don’t know, maybe fishing or golf.
Is there another band or artist(s) you’d like to recommend to our readers who you feel deserves attention?
Our friends, Sugarcane Jane. They are a husband/wife duo from the Gulf Shores area. Great people and great artist.
Delta State University is investigating the death of a student who was found hanging from a tree on the Cleveland campus early Monday.
The student was a 21-year-old Black man from Grenada, Mississippi. Delta State released his name, but Mississippi Today is choosing not to do so pending the results of the investigation.
Col. Michael L. Peeler, director of public safety and police chief at Delta State, said his department was notified a body was found hanging from a tree in the central part of the campus at 7:05 a.m.
While he said there was no evidence of foul play, he asked the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the Bolivar County Sheriff’s Department and the Cleveland Police Department to assist in the investigation.
“Wait here while I check your information. Everything will be alright.”
That’s what Mario Reyes Rodas’ attorney said the federal immigration officer told his client the morning of Aug. 27 during a traffic stop along Interstate 20 in Rankin County. The Morton resident provided a current driver’s license and work authorization card that has allowed him to work as a landscaper while he sought permanent residence.
Then came the questions.
Where are you from? Mexico, Reyes Rodas answered. Do you have a visa or authorization to be in the country? No, the man replied, though he had been trying to obtain permanent residency for years.
That was enough information for him to be detained, even though he has no criminal record.
Reyes Rodas left his car on the side of the road as he was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He was taken to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Pearl to be processed and then to the Madison County Detention Center. Within a week, he was taken to River Correctional Center, an ICE facility in Ferriday, Louisiana.
“He hasn’t seen freedom since then,” said Jeremy Litton, who is representing Reyes Rodas in an ongoing immigration case.
Reyes Rodas was charged with the civil violation of entry into the country without authorization, his attorney said.
The 40-year-old father of two was not given a reason for his detainment, his attorney said, nor was there documentation of a warrant to arrest or detain him.
Litton said his client also was not stopped that day under suspicion of violating a state law, such as speeding.
Why, then, Litton wondered, was Reyes Rodas detained. A week and a half later came a potential answer.
On Sept. 8, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal immigration officers can stop people without reasonable suspicion based on their apparent race or ethnicity, if they speak in Spanish or accented English, if they are in a place where undocumented immigrants are known to gather and if they work in specific jobs that undocumented people are known to work.
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the Sept. 8 majority order that multiple considerations taken together “can constitute at least reasonable suspicion of illegal presence in the United States.”
In her dissent, Justice Sonya Sotomayor argued the Trump administration has declared all Latinos regardless of U.S. citizenship who fit those criteria “are fair game to be seized at any time.”
Reyes Rodas isn’t the only person detained who doesn’t have a criminal background.
As of September, 70% of all people held in immigration detention centers around the country have no criminal convictions, according to Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse immigration data by Syracuse University. Of those with criminal convictions, many committed minor offenses such as traffic violations.
A spokesperson from Customs and Border Protection confirmed the detention of Reyes Rodas and that he was turned over to Immigration and Custom Enforcement for removal processing. An ICE spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
Federal immigration agents have conducted immigration enforcement along I-20, including in March and May that resulted in at least 70 arrests and seizure of firearms and ammunition.
Emmanuel Reyes, the eldest American-born son of Reyes Rodas, remembers finishing work on Aug. 27 when his girlfriend called.
Don’t worry, she told him, but immigration officers picked up your father. Reyes said the news immediately sent him into a panic.
Reyes said his father is a loving man of faith who has supported him and his 17-year-old brother, coming to every game, meet and match for the multi-sport athletes.
His parents came to America 20 years ago to provide support for their family members in Mexico, and they stayed to give their sons a better life. Reyes said he and his brother have grown up aware of their U.S. citizenship and looked for ways to help their parents, including how to help them gain legal status.
“My dad was trying to live for what he came here for, the American dream,” Reyes said. “ … They wanted to give us opportunities. It’s better here.”
Litton has represented Reyes Rodas since 2019, not long after he was one of more than 600 mostly Latino workers detained in raids at chicken processing plants in central Mississippi.
That year, he filed an application requesting the cancellation of removal proceedings against Reyes Rodas, which is a defense available to those facing deportation who meet certain requirements, including a clean criminal record, continuous presence in the country for at least 10 years and potential hardship to his U.S. citizenship children if he were deported.
Litton said the 42B application is a pathway to a green card: permanent residency that allows people to live and work in the United States.
As they waited for the application to be processed, Litton said Reyes Rodasapplied and received authorization to work, which is valid through 2029. That document enabled him to get a Mississippi driver’s license.
It took several years for Reyes Rodas to be issued notice to appear in immigration court to be able to file the 42B application. His first court date scheduled in 2021 was delayed several times, Litton said.
By 2023 as they prepared for the hearing, Litton looked up the case and found it was gone, which he said is something that has happened in a handful of other cases relating to the poultry raids.
Reyes Rodas had a court date scheduled for Tuesday with the LaSalle Immigration Court in Jena, Louisiana. But like his earlier case, the date disappeared off the court calendar, Litton said he learned Friday afternoon.
As a result, Litton plans to request a bond hearing to argue that Reyes Rodas had valid work authorization and a pending immigration application when he was detained and mention the administrative challenges with his case.
However, Reyes Rodas may not be able to receive it in light of a recent Board of Immigration Appeals decision stating that immigration judges lack the authority to approve or hear bond requests for those already in the country without authorization.
Litton said it’s “indefinite detention” for anyone, regardless of when they entered the country.
This story is part one of our series, The Black Box: Inside Mississippi’s opioid settlement spending. Explore the series.
Mississippi has received tens of millions of dollars in lawsuit settlement money each year since 2022 from corporations that contributed to the opioid overdose epidemic, a public health crisis that’s killed roughly 10,000 people in the state since 1999.
But a Mississippi Today investigation found that in the three years of receiving the funds, public officials across the state reported spending less than $1 million – or less than 1% of the money received so far – on direct measures to prevent more drug deaths.
The attorney general’s office split the money – expected to total around $421 million through 2040 – between Mississippi’s state and local governments. Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office and the Legislature oversee most of Mississippi’s opioid settlement dollars, but they’ve only spent money on attorneys’ fees so far. The remaining portion – 15% of Mississippi’s funds – goes to cities, counties and towns.
Management of the local dollars has mostly been a mystery until now. Fitch created a contract with towns, cities and counties that allows them to spend their portion on whatever they see fit – unlike agreements in at least 34 other states. They’re also not required to report what they do with the dollars.
But how Mississippi governments spend money is information that can be requested by anyone. From May to August, Mississippi Today filed public records requests with all 147 towns, cities and counties that have received settlement dollars to find out how much they’ve gotten and how they’ve been using the funds.
The newsroom accounted for about $15.5 million and received responses from almost every city and county receiving settlement shares. It filed an ethics complaint against Mound Bayou, the only local government that didn’t provide any information. Mississippi Today tracked how that money is being spent and analyzed the data to determine how much Mississippi is spending to prevent overdoses, treat addiction and connect people with recovery.
Mississippi Today has published a database for anyone to search how local governments are spending opioid settlement dollars.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways:
Since September 2022, the 146 towns, cities and counties that responded to Mississippi Today reported receiving roughly $15.5 million. Leaders for those governments have spent about $6.4 million of that.
Around $945,000 has been used to address addiction with the strategies laid out in one of the opioid settlements, which plaintiffs’ lawyers called “an exemplar.” Most of that money has been used to support drug courts and mental health crisis intervention services. All of the states bordering Mississippi report using at least $4 million each – significantly more than Mississippi both in terms of dollars and percentage of total share – on strategies to address the overdose crisis, and mosthave committedtens of millions of dollars already.
Over the past three years, 20 of the 147 local governments have spent or finalized plans to spend some or all of their opioid settlement shares to address addiction, officials told Mississippi Today, and 53 governments have not spent or made plans to spend any opioid dollars.
Just one of the 147 governments, Hattiesburg, indicated it would create opportunities for public input on how to spend its opioid settlement dollars. Mayor Toby Barker initiated his plan after Mississippi Today submitted its public records request in May.
Public health and legal experts who reviewed Mississippi Today’s data said the pattern of Mississippi’s local spending is a problem, as the money was won from companies that profited while residents struggled with addiction.
Representatives for the towns, cities and counties pointed out to Mississippi Today that Fitch’s contract advised them to spend their dollars for any public purpose. The attorney general has minimized the amount of Mississippi opioid settlement money that must be spent addressing addiction.
While most states have developed plans that say all opioid settlement money needs to go toward addressing addiction, the Mississippi attorney general’s version says the state can use 30% of its dollars on other purposes, the most allowed by the national lawsuit settlements. Fitch included all of the local dollars in that 30%.
In addition to the attorney general’s directive, some city and county officials said the small amounts they were receiving made it difficult to identify the right addiction-related project. They instead highlighted other efforts they have undertaken to address substance use disorder, like funding local drug courts with other public dollars.
Mississippi Today emailed Fitch a letter with these findings, and she did not answer whether she still believes it was the right decision to allow cities and counties such free rein. Her chief of staff, Michelle Williams, said in a statement that the opioid crisis has cost the country hundreds of billions of dollars, and the settlements allow state and local governments to pay for prior opioid expenses over the past three decades.
She said the attorney general’s office is working with the Legislature and a new state opioid settlement advisory committee to use the majority of Mississippi’s settlement dollars to prevent more overdoses.
“The Attorney General’s Office is committed to doing everything we can to get the money out to where it is needed quickly,” Williams wrote.
But the state’s share likely won’t be distributed until July 2026, after the Legislature passes its next budget. Until then, the local dollars are the only Mississippi opioid settlement funds expected to be spent on anything besides lawyers’ fees and administrative expenses.
Dr. Rahul Gupta was the former Office of National Drug Control Policy director, a position also known as the country’s “Drug Czar.” Credit: Courtesy of West Virginia University
Dr. Rahul Gupta, former director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and an expert witness in several of the lawsuits against opioid companies, said these dollars should be an opportunity to prevent more suffering after the defendant companies’ business models led to an unprecedented number of drug deaths.
“We should have learned a lot from our tobacco settlement funds,” Gupta said. “It’s disheartening and disappointing to see that.”
‘There was just nothing’
In 2022, when Tricia Christensen established the Appalachian Opioid Remediation project, she created a database to track how 13 states in the region spent their opioid settlement dollars. For the next two years, she led a team that pored through Google alerts, media reports and local public meetings in those states, including Mississippi.
She and her team found opioid settlement spending information in every state, except one.
“In Mississippi, there was just nothing,” said Christensen, now a consultant who advises states on how to spend opioid settlement money. “It was like a black box.”
While a few local governments provided Mississippi Today with spending resolutions passed by city and county officials, most appear to be spending their dollars without any public announcement. Many officials didn’t produce any internal documents that detailed how they were using their money and instead emailed the newsroom a few sentences that outlined their expenses.
Officials with McComb and Charleston said they didn’t know how much opioid settlement money they’d received – despite the fact they were already spending it. Mississippi Today referred clerks for the cities to the management firm in charge of distributing national opioid settlement money so they could determine how much their governments had secured.
When they provided the newsroom with that information and their spending, the records showed each had already spent a large amount of their dollars. McComb used $106,500 of its roughly $151,000 for new police cars, and Charleston had used the roughly $1,000 it received for payroll expenses and police supplies.
Dr. Judith Feinberg, a West Virginia University behavioral medicine and psychiatry professor, helped write a set of best practice guidelines for how states can use these dollars to prevent more overdose deaths. She said she believes state officials who don’t require or even encourage public reporting of opioid settlement spending are prioritizing politics over public health.
Dr. Judith Feinberg is a professor at the West Virginia University Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry. Credit: Courtesy of West Virginia University
“If no one writes anything down, then there’s nothing to investigate,” she said.
Not every government provided Mississippi Today with all the requested information. Officials for Rankin County, which is expected to get the third largest amount of opioid settlement money of any local government, provided Mississippi Today with checks they’ve received but no documents that detail how they’ve been spending nearly $510,000.
In county attorney Craig Slay’s response, he included a copy of Fitch’s contract with local governments. The sentence that says counties can spend opioid dollars on anything they deem appropriate was highlighted.
Slay did not respond to calls and emails from Mississippi Today about the spending, and he didn’t engage with a reporter for the newsroom at a Rankin County Board of Supervisors meeting in August when he was asked how these dollars were spent.
“The fact that no one has to report is tragic because you don’t know what the money was spent for,” Feinberg said. “And there’s no accounting. That’s really crazy.”
Thinking about the larger picture
Mississippi’s local governments are expected to accept at least $48 million more in opioid settlement funds over the next 15 years.
Dr. Cathy Slemp led the West Virginia health department as the state battled the country’s deadliest overdose crisis in the late 2010s. She said the unspent dollars could be an opportunity for local elected officials to begin developing the treatment and recovery resources needed to stop more Mississippi drug deaths.
It’s easy to understand why local governments might want to use the funds to plug budget holes, she said. But she cautioned whether that would be the wisest decision, as many Mississippians struggling with opioid addiction still don’t have access to effective treatment.
“We can continue to just fill holes, or we can think about it in the larger picture,” she said.
Melody Worsham, a peer support specialist for the Mississippi Recovery Advocacy Project, said she’s hopeful this money can eventually find its ways to groups like hers — organizations that rely on the expertise of those who’ve dealt with addiction and can share which strategies may reach others in similar situations.
But she said the management of the opioid settlement funds mirrors a concerning pattern of how officials in Mississippi spend public dollars.
“When they get the money, the state figures out, the governments figure out how to spend that money as quietly as possible.”
Editor’s note: Mississippi Today sent almost all of its public records requests in mid-June. Local governments responded on dates that ranged from the same day we sent the request to early September. The settlement administrators sent some payments out throughout July, and governments that wrote back to the newsroom in June have likely received more money since then. We’ve noted the date of when we received the information in our database. Additionally, some towns, cities and counties may have used money or formalized spending plans since they responded.
When governments provided totals with and without interest, Mississippi Today used the total without interest, as more governments responded in that format. Some checks originally earmarked for towns and cities, especially those set to receive relatively little opioid settlement money, were reallocated to their counties. Because of that, the total these governments expect to get may differ slightly from what they will get.
Mississippi Today special projects intern Maeve Rigney contributed to the data collection for this story. Andrea López Cruzado contributed to the data analysis.
Tens of billions of dollars are being paid to states from some of the country’s largest opioid distributing and manufacturing companies, the result of lawsuits that accused the companies of enabling a catastrophic overdose death crisis. Every state — usually the attorney general — decides who gets the money, how it’s allowed to be spent and whether the families most impacted by addiction can know or advise how the dollars are spent.
When the first opioid settlements were being finalized in 2021, Mississippi’s main decision maker, Attorney General Lynn Fitch, asked the state’s towns, cities and counties to sign on to an agreement to join the lawsuits. The agreement says local governments receive 15% of Mississippi’s total share, and their elected officials can spend the money like any other public dollars without reporting where the dollars go.
Nearly 150 Mississippi cities and counties signed onto the agreement, and most started receiving their payments in the fall of 2022. For the next two and a half years, they told their constituents almost nothing about how they were spending their money.
Beginning in May, Mississippi Today put in records requests to all local governments receiving Mississippi opioid settlement money. One hundred and forty one of the 147 opioid governments that received opioid settlement funds told Mississippi Today how much money they’ve received and how they’ve been using the dollars. Five localities provided Mississippi Today with incomplete information, and Mound Bayou provided the newsroom with no information.
Cities and counties were scattered in the timing of their responses, from a few providing information the same day and others fulfilling requests months later. The presentation of their responses also took a variety of forms; some local record keepers provided detailed spending ledgers and official city or county meeting minutes where elected officials voted how to spend their dollars. Others replied to the email with a few sentences explaining how much money they received and how it’s being used.
To clearly show how much money local governments have received and how they’ve been using those dollars, Mississippi Today created its database. We broadly identified five pieces of information from the responses:
How much money a government has received
Whether a government’s settlement money is being used for a specific project and what that project is
Where a government’s settlement money is being deposited into its general fund
Where a government’s settlement money is unallocated or used for unknown purposes because the officials didn’t respond
Those that were using settlement money to address addiction
Those that were not using settlement money to address addiction
Those that used some settlement money to address addiction
Those that did not respond to our request for spending plans
Those that have yet to spend their dollars.
When a local government administrator provided official records that showed the money is being spent, Mississippi Today uploaded the documents and linked to the file in the database.
To make sure this information was presented accurately and consistently, Mississippi Today hired an independent fact checker to review the database. The fact checker was not paid based on the results of the assessment.
This story is part two of our series, The Black Box: Inside Mississippi’s opioid settlement spending. Explore the series.
For the past three years, 147 towns, cities and counties have controlled millions of Mississippi opioid settlement dollars meant to address the overdose epidemic.
However, elected officials have been much more likely to spend the money on routine government expenses than on addressing addiction, a Mississippi Today investigation found. And they are doing so legally: Attorney General Lynn Fitch allowed them to spend these dollars on any public purpose rather than addressing the public health catastrophe that’s killed over 1,300 Mississippians since the state received its first lawsuit check.
Most of Mississippi’s opioid settlement money is controlled by the state Legislature, which tasked an advisory committee with recommending how lawmakers spend the state’s share to treat and prevent opioid addiction. But applications for those dollars only went out last month, and that money is unlikely to be distributed until the Legislature enacts a budget in July 2026.
Until then, the only Mississippi lawsuit money that can likely address addiction is funds that went to the 147 local governments, which are expected to net around $48 million more in settlements over the next 15 years.
Melody Worsham, a peer support specialist for the Mississippi Recovery Advocacy Project, has worked to address the harms of the addiction epidemic for over a decade. She said she sees missing resources in the state’s effort to prevent overdose deaths every day, and she hopes the settlement money will eventually go to groups such as hers that build on the knowledge of people who’ve experienced addiction.
She said that she would be willing to fill potholes herself after Mississippi Today told her the amount of local government opioid lawsuit money being used for city and county general expenses.
“I’ve got people to volunteer to do the potholes if they stop spending the opioid money for that,” she said. “I’m disgusted. I’m disillusioned. I’m actually kind of speechless, I really am.”
Jackson County on the Gulf Coast and the city of Jackson are two of the five local governments that have received the most money in the state to date. Neither are using their dollars to address addiction, records responses show.
Jackson County, the county with the most suspected overdose deaths last year, is using over $1 million for unspecified government expenses. The city of Jackson has spent some of the roughly $547,000 it reported receiving for fiber optic cable installation, office moving expenses and a shelving system.
Both Jackson County Board of Supervisors President Barry Cumbest and Jackson Mayor John Horhn did not respond to emails asking whether their governments have made the best use of these lawsuit dollars. Records show Horhn took office after the city of Jackson spent some of its settlement money for general purposes.
Mississippi Today could only account for about $945,000 across all 147 localities that has been spent to address and prevent addiction. Most of that went to fund mental health emergency services and drug intervention courts, programs that direct some people struggling with substance use disorder away from jails or prisons and toward treatment programs.
Officials for the dozens of governments depositing opioid settlement checks into general expense accounts told Mississippi Today that once the money goes into those accounts, it’s impossible to trace where the dollars go. Many of them pointed to a settlement agreement and letters authored by Fitch’s office, which told local governments to use the money however they see fit.
Dr. Judith Feinberg, a West Virginia University behavioral medicine and psychiatry professor, co-authored a guide with other public health professors that lays out how states can use opioid settlement money to prevent more deadly overdoses. After reviewing Mississippi Today’s data, she said the local governments’ spending so far has been “very tragic.”
Dr. Judith Feinberg is a professor at the West Virginia University Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry. Credit: Courtesy of West Virginia University
“From a public health perspective, this is complete and utter bullshit,” she said.
After Mississippi Today sent Fitch a letter that outlined the local governments’ spending, she did not answer a question about whether she still stood by the decision to allow cities and counties to spend the money on any public purpose.
In a statement, Fitch’s Chief of Staff Michelle Williams said the opioid crisis cost hundreds of billions of dollars, expenses that affected government health care, criminal justice and social safety net services. Williams said the settlements can be used to reimburse cities and counties for some of these costs.
It’s a different message than Fitch communicated when announcing at least one of the settlements in 2021. When an agreement was finalized with the consulting group McKinsey, her office said the funds were being provided “to address the crisis.”
In a July interview, Williams said that the attorney general’s agreement was the best way to encourage Mississippi’s towns, cities and counties to join the national opioid lawsuits.
But she said she couldn’t recall if any local governments said they wouldn’t sign on to the lawsuits unless they could spend their money on any purpose, though she believed it helped get more to join.
Fitch is reported to be considering a run for governor in 2026, which Feinberg said could have played into her decision.
“It’s just politically to make everyone happy at the local level,” she said. “Like, ‘Oh, here’s a little slush fund for you. Do what you would like.’”
Jane Clair Tyner talks about her son, Asa Henderson, who died from opioid use, at Moore’s Bicycle Shop on Friday, May 30, 2025, in Hattiesburg, Miss. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
Pine Belt resident Jane Clair Tyner watched her son Asa Henderson struggle with opioid use until he died at 23 years old in 2019. When Mississippi Today told her about the settlement spending of the cities and counties, she said it adds heartache to the grief she continues to carry.
Tyner said she has no interest in receiving settlement checks from the pharmaceutical companies, as the money would be better used to prevent more overdoses. But the spending shows that Fitch’s new message is the one cities and counties have taken to heart.
“It’s just incredibly unjust,” she said. “It makes a mockery of our entire justice system. It makes a mockery of court cases. It makes a mockery of settlements.”
‘The epidemic is marching on’
While U.S. and Mississippi overdose deaths have slightly decreased over the past two years, both the state and national death rates are higher than they were in the late 2010s, when the country’s surgeon general said combating the opioid epidemic was his top public health priority.
Dr. Caleb Alexander, a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health professor and an expert witness in many of the opioid settlement lawsuits, said all the money Mississippi is receiving is a valuable resource that can prevent more deaths.
“The epidemic is marching on, and enormous harms continue to occur in cities and counties, big and small,” he said.
Shortages in the state’s treatment and recovery resources, ones that more local financial support could help address, have likely prolonged the epidemic. A 2023 Journal of the American Medical Association study found that among Mississippians on Medicaid, a federal-state health insurance program for vulnerable people, less than a third of those diagnosed with opioid addiction received effective medication for the disease.
Sixty-eight of Mississippi’s 82 counties didn’t have any recovery residences, also known as sober living homes, according to a 2022 report from the Public Health Institute. The report says the availability of these homes, which the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has said is crucial to curbing more overdoses, is among the lowest of any state in the country.
To Tyner, the mother who lost her son to an overdose, these are some of the resource holes that the settlement dollars could help fill.
“We have an opportunity to open more beds, to create more community mental health centers, to make recovery possible,” she said.
The only government that reported spending its money to improve access to opioid use disorder medication or recovery residences was Horn Lake, which donated about $75,000 to a local treatment center in June.
DeSoto County has used all of its settlement money for the construction of a new crisis stabilization unit, and Lamar County plans to do the same with its hundreds of thousands of dollars. But these centers are designed for stabilizing people in crisis or experiencing psychosis, and they don’t provide long-term services for addiction.
Melody Madaris oversees one of these units as the executive director of the community mental health center Communicare in north Mississippi. Centers like hers run both crisis stabilization units and addiction treatment programs, and she said local officials who want to prevent more overdoses should look to fund the treatment services instead.
Emily Presley, a naloxone trainer with Communicare, demonstrates the use of naloxone and explains its life-saving potential during a training session at the Northeast Mississippi Addiction Summit in Tupelo, Miss., on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
Some of the Mississippi settlement spending that counts as addressing addiction is unlikely to prevent more overdose deaths, according to public health researchers. The city of Starkville is using about $15,000 for its police to teach the Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or DARE, a program that most research indicates isn’t effective at preventing drug use.
The city of Clarksdale’s deputy clerk said the government is spending roughly $36,000 so its police and fire departments can buy more naloxone, the opioid overdose-reversing medication. But Worsham, the Mississippi peer support specialist, said the criminal nature of opioid use makes it unlikely people will call law enforcement to respond to an overdose.
“They’re putting it in the hands of people who are least likely to be able to hand it to the people who need it,” she said.
David Engel, the Copiah County administrator, said he believes the drug court addiction treatment program his government is sending its settlement dollars to is amazing.
But beyond that, he said he and the supervisors are unclear how best to prevent more opioid deaths. And the attorney general’s office messages saying the money can be spent on anything aren’t helpful.
“That’s no guidance whatsoever,” he said.
Repeating history could doom future crisis response
Dr. Rahul Gupta, the former Office of National Drug Control Policy director, said it should be the responsibility of the state government to encourage local governments how best the dollars can be used to stop the public health overdose crisis.
Fitch’s counterparts in states such as North Carolina and Utah have developed instructions for how these dollars can best be used to prevent more overdoses. Fitch did not answer a question about whether she would consider making a guide like those for the local governments.
“It’s not fair to blame them (localities) for utilizing money in different ways if we’re not providing that overarching guidance to them,” Gupta said. He added that public health bodies such as Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health have created helpful national guides for opioid settlement spending.
Only one of the 147 governments, the city of Hattiesburg, indicated that it would seek input from residents who’ve been impacted by addiction to guide how it should use its settlement funds. It reported receiving roughly $54,000 in May.
Mayor Toby Barker said in June he wanted to seek the advice of families who’ve lost loved ones, addiction treatment providers and law enforcement officers of how to best spend its dollars.
“I don’t want us to do something to do something,” he said. “I want to see Hattiesburg make a focused investment on where it can do some good.”
Feinberg, the West Virginia University professor, said community input is the best way to make sure these dollars reduce the overdose death rate. She said other local elected officials may want to look to Hattiesburg as an example of what’s possible, as she thinks it could have the best luck at saving lives.
It’s important that these dollars be spent to prevent more overdose deaths not just for this crisis but also for future ones, Gupta said. The opioid lawsuits were modeled after tobacco cases in the 1990s, and a lot of that money didn’t end up addressing the public health emergency at hand.
If that happens again, Gupta said, judges could be hesitant to demand response money for the next public health emergency created by corporations.
“It’s going to be very difficult to argue why these are required to abate that crisis,” he said.
Mississippi has been received tens of millions of dollars in opioid settlements each year since 2022, and the use of those dollars has been mostly a mystery. But a Mississippi Today investigation this summer found that of over $124 million the state has received, less than $1 million has been used by public officials to address addiction. Managing editor Kate Royals and mental health reporter Allen Siegler speak with Tricia Christensen, a nationally recognized leader in overdose prevention and opioid settlement spending from Tennessee, about how this compares to other states and what it means for Mississippians harmed by the overdose epidemic.
Mississippi quarterback Trinidad Chambliss scrambles as he sets up to pass against Arkansas during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
If you watched Ole Miss out-score Arkansas 41-35 Saturday night, you know this: Rebel quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, a transfer Division II from Ferris (Michigan) State, can play. He is the real deal. He can run. He can throw. He has the “it” factor.
The Ole Miss roster lists Chambliss at 6-foot-1, and he might be 6 feet tall in his spikes, which is probably why he played first at Ferris State and not at Michigan or Michigan State. But he runs like a halfback, and throws with accuracy and zip. He makes good decisions, and he makes plays.
Rick Cleveland
Chambliss led Ferris State to the Division II national championship last year throwing for a gazillion yards and running for a zillion more. He produced 51 touchdowns in a single football season, which is crazy good in any league.
But still, it’s a gigantic leap from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to the SEC. Chambliss has played before more fans in two SEC games than he did in his entire career at Ferris State, located in Big Rapids, Michigan, in the west central part of the state. The Ferris State stadium is called a field and seats about 6,000, although that many seats are rarely needed.
Chambliss played well in relief duty a week earlier when Ole Miss starter Austin Simmons suffered an ankle injury at Kentucky. Making his first SEC start against Arkansas, he threw for 353 yards and a touchdown and ran 62 yards and two touchdowns. He was, in a word, terrific. Lane Kiffin will have an interesting decision to make when Simmons regains his health. It won’t be easy to sit Chambliss back down.
The guess here is we might see Chambliss set a trend across college football. It wouldn’t surprise me if there aren’t a lot more DII players who make the jump. This much I know: There have been plenty of DII players in the past, some right here in Mississippi, who could have played at the next level.
Exhibit A would be Josh Bright, the splendid Delta State quarterback, who led the Statesmen to the 2000 DII national championship and won the Conerly Trophy in the process. Bright ran coach Steve Campbell’s option offense to perfection, running and passing for more than 1,000 yards. Asked Sunday whether Bright could have played in the SEC, Campbell, who has since coached at several Division I schools, laughed before answering. “You know he could have, you saw him” Campbell said. “Not a doubt in my mind. He was a no-brainer. All you had to do was watch him.”
But you don’t have to take it from Campbell – or me. Back then, I happened to be working on a book with legendary Ole Miss coach John Vaught, who watched on TV as Bright put up 63 points in the national championship game. Said Vaught of Bright, “He damned sure could have played quarterback for me,”
Said Campbell, “We had some other players who could have played at the highest level. Rico McDonald, a running back on that championship team, could have played anywhere in the country.”
At least two other recent Delta State quarterbacks likely could have played big-time college football. Most recently, Patrick Shegog, almost exactly the same size as Chambliss, threw for 32 touchdowns and only two interceptions in 2023, leading the Statesmen to 10 wins. He, too, won the Conerly.
Scott Eyster, a four-year DSU starting quarterback, was a four-time finalist for the Conerly Trophy, a three-time All-American. He threw for 128 touchdowns in four years. That’s all. Ron Roberts, one of his DSU head coaches, is now the defensive coordinator at Florida and has also coached Baylor and Auburn. I texted Roberts Sunday morning, asking if Eyster could have played at the SEC level. “No doubt,” Roberts answered, and then he mentioned that Seth Adams, who played behind Eyster at DSU and transferred to Hinds Community College, eventually wound up starting at quarterback for Ole Miss.
Eyster, now the principal at Bay High in Bay St. Louis, says he has no regrets about his Delta State career, but knows in his heart he could have played DI football. He said he was contacted by Mississippi State about the possibility of transferring. “But back then, I would have had to sit out a year and there was no NIL money,” Eyster said. “It wasn’t worth it. Plus, I loved Delta State. They were good to me there. I have to admit, I’d be a lot more tempted now that you don’t have to sit out a season when you transfer and there’s all that NIL money.”
Fast Freddie McAfee could have played for anybody, too, when he helped Mississippi College to a DII national championship. Indeed, he did play for five different teams in a 16-year NFL career. Vicksburg native Malcolm Butler played his college football at DII West Alabama, before he became famous for making a Super Bowl-saving interception for the New England Patriots.
Campbell, the national championship coach of Bright at Delta State, once played on a DII national championship at Troy State. He well remembers blocking a linebacker named Jessie Tuggle, who played at DII Valdosta State, before a long career with the Atlanta Falcons.
“Everybody should remember who Jessie Tuggle was,” Campbell said. “His name is on the stadium in Atlanta. He was a load.”
Tuggle probably was overlooked by the SEC powerhouses because he stood only 5 feet, 11 inches tall, which is still three inches taller than Sam Mills, the linebacker who is in both the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers halls of fame. Mills played his college football at Division III Montclair State.
“Here’s the deal,” Steve Campbell continued. “There are great players at every level of college football, especially at the skill positions. It would not surprise me at all if you see more players moving up a level with NIL and the portal.”
The expected rising costs for health insurance could give Democratic candidate Scott Colom a line of attack in next year’s election against incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.
It is an issue that will hit tens of thousands of Mississippians right dab in their faces and in their pocketbooks when they go to renew their health insurance policies later this year and see how much their monthly premiums have increased.
Colom, a longtime district attorney from Columbus, can hammer Hyde-Smith for the rising costs. After all, the rising costs could be traced directly to Hyde-Smith and her allies if the Republican-led U.S. Congress and President Donald Trump do not act to prevent the increase in health insurance premium costs for about 285,000 Mississippians who purchase coverage through the Affordable Care Act exchange or marketplace.
Unless Congress acts before the end of the year, the price of the marketplace’s health insurance policies will increase an estimated $480 annually in Mississippi, according to KFF, a national group that conducts health care research. And based on other factors, such as inflation, the increase could be significantly more.
While the enhanced federal assistance helps primarily lower income people or the working poor, the end of the enhanced federal assistance also could mean more affluent Mississippians who depend on the marketplace policies would no longer be eligible for any federal help.
During the administration of former President Joe Biden, lawmakers passed legislation to enhance the federal aid provided to people who purchase insurance through the ACA marketplace. Lower income people already received some help with the cost of the marketplace policies as an important part of the Affordable Care Act, but the Biden-era legislation increased the amount of help. And under the Biden legislation, wealthier people would be eligible for federal assistance if their health insurance costs more than 8.5% of their total earnings.
Hyde-Smith, like other members of the Mississippi congressional delegation, voted against the enhanced federal assistance for the marketplace policies.
In the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill passed earlier this year, Trump and the Republican Congress were careful to ensure that the cuts to Medicaid and other programs would not go into effect until after the 2026 midterm election, when Colom is challenging Hyde-Smith.
But Congress did not take any action in the One Big Beautiful Bill to ensure that the enhanced federal marketplace assistance did not end before the 2026 elections, leaving rising health care costs as an issue for Colom and others.
Mississippi will be hit particularly hard by the end of the federal aid for the cost of marketplace policies.
Participation in the marketplace by Mississippians has increased 242% in recent years since the enhanced federal assistance program was enacted, according to KFF. Only Texas has seen a greater increase at 255%.
Unsurprisingly, the states where the participation has increased the most are all red states that in most cases have not expanded Medicaid to provide health insurance for primarily the working poor, with the federal government paying the bulk of the costs. In states where there is no Medicaid expansion, data shows that the working poor flocked to the exchange to garner health insurance.
It should be pointed out that the end of the enhanced federal assistance for marketplace policies will hurt not just those having to pay the higher premiums for the marketplace policies, but the state of Mississippi as a whole. Hospitals and other medical providers, already struggling, will be forced to provide more uncompensated care or pass those costs on to other Mississippians who do have health insurance.
Despite those health care issues, Hyde-Smith will be a heavy favorite to win reelection in Mississippi, where a Democrat has not won a U.S. Senate election since 1982.
But if Colom can connect rising health insurance costs to Hyde-Smith, that could be a powerful issue.
Of course, Hyde-Smith and the Republican Congress have until the end of the year to act and prevent people from having to pay more for marketplace plans.
On a warm Sunday afternoon in August, Nelson “Andy” Wade arrives at Cooper Down in Terry, Mississippi, where a parade of trucks towing horse trailers, cars filled with families and food vendors arrive from across the state for a horse appreciation day.
“This kind of horsepower is the fun way to ride,” said Nelson “Andy” Wade, galloping in front of the other kind of horse power at a horse show appreciation show in Terry, held at Cooper Down, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
A strong breeze cools the shade under large oak trees, and makes lounging and visiting with friends a more pleasant time as the heat of the day rises.
Wade makes the rounds, chatting with friends old and new. He stops kids riding horses to ask how they’re doing. He asks about the horses. He smiles and waves, laughing and telling stories before heading towards the fencing of the oval track where drivers train and race harness horses called Standardbreds.
Nelson “Andy” Wade chats with Josiah Smith, 12, at a horse show appreciation event in Terry, held at Cooper Down, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025.
Along the way, Wade spots a mechanical bull, promptly pulls off his boots and hops on. He rides with glee and to the amusement of the small crowd gathered to cheer him on. The crowd records his joy on cell phones held high. Eventually, he’s thrown off, but is all smiles. He accepts a few hugs as his reward, puts on his boots, then encourages the children to try their hand at bull riding.
It’s the joy of the ride for Nelson “Andy” Wade, showing off his mechanical bull riding skills during a horse show appreciation event held at Cooper Down, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 in Terry.
Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
“I love this,” he said, waving an arm to indicate the festivities around him. “I especially love seeing these kids out here riding. There’s a lot of our youth that come to shows like this and the horse races that are interested in horses, but they don’t even have a horse. Their parents and not any of their family members have horses.”
Nelson “Andy” Wade stops to admire horses brought by their owners to a horse show appreciation event in Terry, held at Cooper Down, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
Wade wants to help kids in his community – especially those of color – learn equestrian skills as another way for them to get into college. He has made it his mission.
Nelson “Andy” Wade and rider James Dinger, from the Rivers of Living Waters Ranch in Ponchatoula, La., settle down Dinger’s horse at a horse show appreciation event in Terry, held at Cooper Down, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
“Here I am, a cowboy, rancher, horse trainer, horse racer and a licensed official for the United States Trotting Association. I’m an equestrian consultant, calf roper, steer wrestler and do workshops to train our youth. If I could put all that on a business card, know what would be in the boldest print?
“I’m a mentor,” Wade said.
“I’m a cowboy, rancher, bullrider, horse trainer, steer roper and a licensed official of the U.S. Trotting Association,” said Nelson “Andy” Wade, during a horse show appreciation event held at Cooper Down, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in Terry.
Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
“So I thought, you know what. I’m going to try and do everything I can to change that,” Wade said, before waving down two young men galloping across the green sward to chat them up. He asks if they’re enjoying themselves, about the horses they ride.
“These young fellas right here are why I do what I do in mentoring kids and exposing them to riding,” said Nelson “Andy” Wade (center) with riders Lawrence Cooper, Jr. (left) and Jaden Marshall, during a horse show appreciation event in Terry, held at Cooper Down, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025.
Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
“What I do is try and pair these kids with someone that has horses. They get an opportunity to learn how to train, ride and care for them. If they’re really serious about what they’re doing, I make it possible for them to get their driver or jockey license, compete on a professional level. And for the ones not interested in that, we find activities for them too.”
Wade walks back to the fence at the oval track, hitching up a booted foot to resume sharing his mission.
Nelson “Andy” Wade, at a horse show appreciation event in Terry, where he was the announcer during the event, held at Cooper Down, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025.
Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
“Kids can also get involved in sports clubs like 4-H, learn a respectable trade like being a farrier, earning them a good living. It’s really about equestrian and agricultural activities, because it can get them a college scholarship. My own son is going to college on a rodeo scholarship, getting a full ride, if you know what I mean,” he said, smiling broadly.
Darius Hampton, a farrier from McComb, chats with Andy Nelson as he shoes a horse, at an appreciation show in Terry, held at Cooper Down, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
Wade mentions a program for youth he’s starting with Rep. Rickey Thompson, a Democrat from Shannon. He hopes to help them “get started on the right path.”
“My path was out of love and necessity. Necessity as in making a living. I want to be a model of success to these kids so that they not just dream of success, but to have success,” he said. “I want to be for them what Lane Frost was for me. He was my bull riding idol. I loved that guy. He was awesome. Not only was he a great cowboy, he was a great person. He always took the time to stop and talk with kids. That made a big impression on me. I never forgot it.”
Nelson “Andy” Wade (center) and his horse Taz, pose with friends attending a horse show appreciation event in Terry, held at Cooper Down, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today