OurTupelo

The Republican National Committee has named Mississippi GOP Chairman Mike Hurst as general counsel for the national party. 

“As a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi appointed by President Trump, Mike brings invaluable legal expertise and a proven commitment to our party through his time at the Mississippi GOP,” Joe Gruters, chairman of the RNC, said in a statement. 

Hurst’s appointment as general counsel means he will be the top lawyer at the national party. He will still serve as state GOP chairman while advising the national party on legal matters. 

The Mississippi Republican Party on social media congratulated Hurst on his new role. It said it was confident he would “continue to bring the same passion, wisdom, and dedication to the RNC that he has shown throughout his career in public service and leadership.” 

Before his role at the state GOP, Hurst served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi under President Donald Trump’s first administration. Hurst was elected MSGOP chairman in 2024, after being endorsed by Republican Gov. Tate Reeves. While the state chair post is technically elected, a sitting governor is de facto head of the party and has say over who serves.

Editor’s note: Historian Derrion Arrington reflects on early positions taken by Robert Clark, who in 1967 became the first Black Mississippian elected to the state Legislature in the 20th century, and how those issues championed by Clark are being addressed today.

Mississippi’s struggles with Medicaid are deeply tied to the state’s broader history of social, racial and political tension.

When President Lyndon Johnson established Medicaid nationally in 1965, it marked a landmark federal expansion to provide health care for low-income Americans. The program coincided with sweeping civil rights reforms, placing the provision of basic health care at the center of debates about equality, federal authority and social justice.

In Mississippi, resistance to Medicaid reflected long-standing patterns of political conservatism, racial segregation and apprehension toward federal oversight. Many state leaders feared that expanding social programs would upset the established social hierarchy and erode local control. Southern governors repeatedly requested delays in implementation, citing concerns about raising funds and securing legislative approval, while conservative lawmakers warned against what they framed as a slippery slope toward socialism.

Amid this climate, state Rep. Robert Clark Jr., the first Black legislator in Mississippi in the 20th century, emerged as a rare voice insisting that moral imperatives should outweigh political caution. Clark called for a special session to prioritize Medicaid over other state programs, arguing that the needs of Mississippi’s most vulnerable citizens demanded immediate action.

“Before we place any new tax burdens on the backs of poor people, we must do something to help them survive,” Clark declared.

Clark’s proposals were ambitious. He sought to fund Medicaid by reallocating state resources, including defunding the state Sovereignty Commission – a segregationist spy agency that had long promoted racial hierarchies under the guise of preserving state autonomy. He also proposed expanding Medicaid to include welfare recipients who had previously been excluded.

Conservative factions, led by figures such as Sen. W. B. Alexander of Cleveland, opposed these measures vigorously, arguing that Medicaid expansion threatened to increase taxes and represented a form of “government overreach.”

Ultimately, in 1969 Gov. John Bell Williams did call a special session as Clark proposed. It was intense. Legislators debated heatedly, weighing fiscal concerns against human need. At one point, Rep. Sterling Seabrook collapsed on the House floor, a stark illustration of the session’s tension.

Despite the opposition, the Medicaid bill passed the House 79-34 and later secured Senate approval on Aug. 7, 1969. Mississippi, though late to the program, became the second-to-last state to implement Medicaid — a testament to the persistence of advocates like Clark, who fought to protect the state’s most marginalized residents.

This episode established a pattern that would endure for decades. Medicaid and other social programs in Mississippi were repeatedly subjected to political compromise, delay and retrenchment. Welfare reform in the 1990s introduced work requirements and time-limited benefits, disproportionately affecting Black and low-income communities.

Starting in 2010, Mississippi has repeatedly rejected Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, leaving hundreds of thousands without coverage and cementing structural gaps in health access.

The historical arc of Medicaid in Mississippi demonstrates a fundamental tension between the ethical imperative to protect vulnerable populations and the political pressures to restrict government programs. Each policy decision, delay or rollback reverberates through communities, shaping health outcomes, economic opportunity and intergenerational equity.

The battles of 1969 are not distant history. They are a lens for understanding contemporary struggles over access, equity and the moral responsibilities of government.

The 2025 policy context

More than five decades after Clark’s advocacy, Mississippi faces another high-stakes battle over public health coverage. In July 2025, the federal government enacted what supporters labeled the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” a sweeping package that significantly reduces Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding.

While the bill – now law – was framed as a measure to promote fiscal efficiency and personal responsibility, public health experts warn its provisions could have profound consequences for the state’s most vulnerable populations. The law imposes work or community engagement requirements for Medicaid recipients aged 19 to 64, tightens SNAP eligibility and reduces overall Medicaid spending by 12%.

Proponents argue the reforms encourage self-sufficiency and reduce federal spending, yet in a state like Mississippi – where poverty is widespread, rural infrastructure is limited and access to health care is already precarious – the practical effects are stark. Analysts estimate tens of thousands could lose coverage and critical nutritional support, amplifying structural inequities that have persisted for generations.

The Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus convened a hearing in September to examine the fallout. Lawmakers, researchers and advocates warned that the federal law threatens health outcomes, workforce stability and community well-being. Nearly 1 in 5 Mississippians lives below the federal poverty line, and the state ranks among the worst nationwide for maternal mortality, chronic disease management and child nutrition. For these communities, Medicaid and SNAP are lifelines, not abstractions.

Dr. Laila Henderson of the University of Mississippi Medical Center testified: “Policy is never abstract. It determines who lives and who suffers. Cutting Medicaid coverage for working families destabilizes entire communities.”

The debate over the federal law also highlights the persistent tension between federal mandates and state autonomy – a tension that has shaped Mississippi’s social welfare history. Just as Southern governors in the 1960s delayed Medicaid citing funding and legislative concerns, modern leaders navigate the pressures of balancing political priorities, federal requirements and urgent public needs.

Looking forward: A moral imperative

The struggle over Medicaid in Mississippi is both a continuation of a decades-long battle and a reflection of enduring questions about the role of government in protecting its most vulnerable citizens.

From Robert Clark’s 1969 advocacy to the debates surrounding the “One Big Beautiful Bill” in 2025, the state has repeatedly confronted the tension between political priorities and moral responsibility. Clark framed Medicaid not as a political program but as a matter of survival and justice.

“There’s no need for babies to continue to suffer for lack of medical attention,” he said.

This ethos remains urgent. Today’s policymakers face the consequences of decades of delayed or restricted programs. The cuts in the 2025 federal legislation threaten to widen health disparities, destabilize families and strain fragile rural and urban infrastructures.

The moral question is clear: Will Mississippi once again prioritize political expediency over human need, or will it act decisively to protect access to essential services?

The stakes are both ethical and practical. Reductions in coverage jeopardize public health, weaken the workforce and threaten economic stability. They exacerbate cycles of poverty and inequality that have long defined Mississippi’s social landscape.

Conversely, expanding access to Medicaid and SNAP strengthens communities, stabilizes local economies and promotes intergenerational equity – the very goals Robert Clark championed more than 50 years ago.

Ultimately, the fight over Medicaid is a measure of Mississippi’s values. Clark died earlier this year. His legacy reminds contemporary leaders that social programs are not merely budgetary line items. They are lifelines that define the character and conscience of the state.

As Mississippi navigates the 2025 policy landscape, the state faces a choice: continue a legacy of resistance that leaves vulnerable populations at risk or embrace a vision of governance that prioritizes care, equity and moral responsibility.

The stakes are profound, the consequences tangible and the opportunity to act morally and decisively is as urgent as it was in 1969.

Bio: Derrion Arrington is an award-winning historian from Laurel and a graduate of Tougaloo College. He currently works for the ACLU of Mississippi. Arrington is also the author of two books: “Standing Firm in the Dixie: The Freedom Struggle in Laurel, Mississippi” and the forthcoming work, “Robert Clark: The Rise of Black Politics in Mississippi.”

The Washington State Cougars are flying more than 2,000 miles across the continent to play Ole Miss Saturday for what will be the Rebels’ homecoming game. That’s a long, long way to travel for what appears to be a gross mismatch. 

Ole Miss is a 32.5-point favorite, and that’s far and away the largest point spread in college football this week. Still, it  would not surprise this writer if the Rebels were to cover that spread by halftime. This is a Washington State team that lost 59-10 to North Texas State. This is an explosive Ole Miss team, ranked No. 4 in the land, that can score points quickly.

But that’s not the point of this column. If Washington State-Ole Miss seems like a weird matchup, well, that’s because it is. It is also a sign of the times in what has become an increasingly strange world of college athletics, which is my point.

This game was scheduled last October in an emergency situation for both schools. Ole Miss had to find a game because Wake Forest reneged on a return match with Ole Miss after the Rebels beat the Deacons 40-6 last September. (If you can’t compete with  ‘em, drop ‘em, I suppose.) Meanwhile, Washington State was in the midst of needing to almost totally rebuild its schedule after the Pac-12 Conference disintegrated. In fact, even after scheduling the Rebels, Washington State still needed five more games to complete its 12-game 2025 schedule. That’s why the Cougars are playing an eclectic schedule that includes games against such unnatural rivals and strange bedfellows as James Madison, Louisiana Tech, Toledo and Virginia – and two games in one month against Oregon State, the only other Pac-12 rival remaining after the league’s mass exodus.

Really, what happened to the once-proud Pac-12 is just nuts. Washington, Oregon, Southern Cal and UCLA left for the Big Ten, which has become, in actuality, the Big Eighteen. Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado scrambled into the Big 12 (which now has 16 teams). And Stanford, located as it has always been in Palo Alto, California, is now a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, as strange as that sounds. That really is nuts.

So, Southern Cal and UCLA now play conference games three time zones away in Piscataway, New Jersey, and College Park, Maryland. That’s not just for football, mind you. That’s all sports. College athletes will spend nearly as much time in jets  as they do in classrooms. This week, Stanford’s volleyball team will play conference games at Boston College and Syracuse, then fly back across the continent to play conference games against Miami and Florida State. Nuts, I tell you. 

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, who once coached in the Pac-12 at Southern Cal, laments the demise of that league.

“I think the whole thing’s sad, the whole conference alignments and especially that one,” Kiffin said at a press conference this week. “There’s so much history with UCLA and USC and that conference in the Pac-8 and then 10 and then 12, and now they’re flying all over the country and teams flying out there and these weird kickoff times, and I understand it. All these decisions made by conferences and schools are always about money. I get it. It is what it is. It’s just, I don’t think it’s good outside of the money. I think it’s bad for the kids and their travel and their school and rivalries and fans, especially that conference where everybody’s way over there and it’s just the whole thing’s sad.”

And nuts, he might have added.

Because of his time in the Pac-12, Kiffin does have much more familiarity with Washington State than most Mississippians. His USC teams faced the Cougars twice, winning 50-16 on the road against a Washington State team coached by Paul Wulff in 2010 and losing at home 10-7 in 2013 to a Mike Leach-coached Cougars team. Kiffin’s memories of that 2013 game aren’t likely pleasant. The loss came in the Trojans’ home opener at the Los Angeles Coliseum and ended with boos raining down on Kiffin. USC fired Kiffin three weeks later.

To say Kiffin has turned his career around in the dozen years since is an understatement of immense proportions. To say Washington State’s fortunes have diminished over that same time period is a similar understatement.

To say college sports have gone haywire over that same 12 years is perhaps the biggest understatement of all. By the way, Ole Miss comes out pretty swell financially from all this. Wake Forest had to pay Ole Miss $700,000 to cancel the game. Ole Miss only had to pay Washington State $400,000 to come to Oxford. That’s a net profit of $300,000. In today’s crazy world of college sports 300K will get you, at the least, a pretty decent linebacker.

Thirty-four men have died by court-ordered executions in the U.S. so far this year, and eight others are scheduled to be put to death by year’s end, including five in the next eight days.

The total for 2025 already far exceeds the number of executions carried out last year — 25 — and could be the highest since 2012, when 43 inmates were put to death, though still far below the modern peak of 98 executions in 1999.

The increase in executions is largely being driven by four states — Florida, Texas, Alabama and South Carolina — that have carried out 76% of this year’s court-ordered killings.

“This is not an uptick of executions nationally — this is really down to just a few states,” said Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

Chief among them is Florida, which has already carried out 13 executions after performing just one last year. The increase comes as President Donald Trump has urged governors to expand their use of the death penalty.

“Gov. DeSantis is scheduling all of these executions with complete autonomy and in complete secrecy,” Maher said.

Ron DeSantis’ office has not responded to questions about why the governor is increasing the pace of executions now and whether Trump’s policies are playing a role.

Executions have been carried out this year in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

All but one of those states — Arizona — are run by Republican governors.

Here’s a look at the executions scheduled for the rest of the year, by state:

Indiana

Roy Lee Ward is set to die by lethal injection early Friday in the state’s third execution since resuming capital punishment last year.

Ward, 53, was convicted in the 2001 rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne.

Attorneys said Ward is remorseful and has exhausted his legal options after many court battles.

Missouri

Lance C. Shockley is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday.

Shockley, 48, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham outside his home in Carter County in 2005.

Authorities said Graham was killed because he was investigating Shockley for involuntary manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident.

Florida

Samuel Lee Smithers is set to receive a lethal injection Tuesday evening.

Smithers, 72, was convicted of killing two women whose bodies were found in a rural pond in 1996. Authorities said he met his two victims — Christy Cowan and Denise Roach — on different dates at a Tampa motel to pay them for sex.

Norman Mearle Grim Jr., 65, is scheduled to be put to death on Oct. 28. He was convicted of raping and killing his neighbor Cynthia Campbell, whose body was found near the Pensacola Bay Bridge in 1998.

Smithers’ and Grim’s executions would be Florida’s 14th and 15th death sentences carried out in 2025, further extending the state’s record for executions in one year. Since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976, the state’s previous record was eight in 2014.

Mississippi

Charles Ray Crawford is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for kidnapping and killing a college student in 1993.

Crawford, 59, was sentenced to death for fatally stabbing 20-year-old community college student Kristy Ray after abducting her from her parents’ home in northern Mississippi’s Tippah County. Crawford told officers he had blacked out and did not recall killing her.

Texas

Robert Roberson had been scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Oct. 16, but his closely watched case was paused Thursday by Texas’ top criminal court.

Roberson, 58, had been set to become the first person in the U.S. put to death for a murder conviction tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.

Prosecutors at Roberson’s 2003 trial argued that he hit his 2-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis and violently shook her, causing severe head trauma that led to her death.

But Roberson says he never abused the girl. A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers believe Roberson is innocent and have sought to get him a new trial.

Roberson’s lawyers and some medical experts say his daughter died from complications related to pneumonia. They say his conviction was based on flawed and now outdated scientific evidence.

Arizona

Richard Kenneth Djerf is set to be executed Oct. 17 by lethal injection for killing four members of a family in their Phoenix home.

Djerf, 55, had pleaded guilty to four counts of murder in the 1993 killings of Albert Luna Sr., his wife Patricia, their 18-year-old daughter Rochelle and their 5-year-old son Damien.

Prosecutors say Djerf blamed another Luna family member for an earlier theft of home electronic items at his apartment and became obsessed with revenge.

Alabama

Anthony Todd Boyd is scheduled to be executed by nitrogen gas on Oct. 23.

A judge sentenced Boyd to death for his role in the 1993 killing of Gregory Huguley in Talladega. Prosecutors said Boyd taped Huguley’s feet together before another man doused him with gasoline and set him on fire over a $200 cocaine debt.

Boyd has long maintained his innocence, saying he never participated in the killing.

Tennessee

Harold Nichols is scheduled to be executed Dec. 11.

Nichols, 64, was convicted of rape and first-degree felony murder in the 1988 death of 21-year-old Karen Pulley in Hamilton County. Authorities said he broke into Pulley’s home, raped her and hit her in the head several times with a board.

Nichols had been scheduled to be killed in August 2020, but the execution was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most of Mississippi’s national parks and monuments are closed to visitors because of the federal government shutdown.

An exception is the Vicksburg National Military Park, which initially closed when the shutdown began Oct. 1 but entered an agreement to reopen the next day with donations from the nonprofit Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park. 

While the visitor center, USS Cairo Gunboat & Museum, tour roads and restrooms are all open to visitors, the park is running on limited staff.

Operating the park during the shutdown costs $2,000 a day, said Bess Averett, executive director of Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park.

“We are not a massive nonprofit, so we do have limited resources,” Averett said. “So far, the public has been very generous.”

Keeping the park closed would make it vulnerable to vandalism, relic hunting and more problems, she said. It also would mean turning away visitors, hurting the local economy.

The military park is the most visited attraction in Mississippi, according to the local tourism office, Visit Vicksburg.

The federal government shut down after Congress failed to pass a budget for the new federal fiscal year. During a shutdown, essential services continue, including air traffic control and emergency response, but many federal employees are furloughed.

Mississippi Today reached out to most of the national park sites in Mississippi and went to the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home in Jackson to check if they were open. The calls went to voicemail, the emails either bounced back or went unanswered by the time of publication, and the Evers Home was empty.  

The Emmett Till Interpretive Center and the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, both in Sumner, are closed. 

Visitors can still access the islands on Gulf Islands National Seashore in Ocean Springs, the Sun Herald reported. However, the Davis Bayou Area appeared to be closed. 

All of Mississippi’s barrier islands are “pretty much shut down,” said Ronnie Wentzell, who works for the privately run Ship Island Excursions.

“When I say it’s shut down, it’s only the fact that there’s no security people, there’s no park rangers on none of the islands or going to the islands,” Wentzell said.

The ferry service is still taking people to Ship Island. However, Fort Massachusetts is closed and there are no public accommodations. 

Kim Foster, a spokesperson for Natchez Trace Compact, wrote in an email, “I am happy to report that the Natchez Trace Parkway and many (not all) of its sites remain open during the shutdown.”

The parkway is open for travel, with a closure that is unrelated to the shutdown, between milepost 181 and milepost 204, roughly French Camp to Mathiston. Most sections of it are open, but some historic sites and trails are closed “for restoration or maintenance.”

Mississippi Today emailed the National Park Service press office, which responded with a statement that national parks would be “as accessible as possible” during the shutdown.

“Critical functions that protect life, property, and public health will remain in place, including visitor access in many locations, law enforcement, and emergency response,” the statement said.

The National Park Service is keeping most national parks partially open during the shutdown. However, more than two-thirds of its employees are furloughed. 

The National Parks Conservation Association is calling on Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to close all national parks, arguing that keeping them open is a danger to visitors and the parks themselves.

According to the National Park Service contingency plan, limited staff will remain to perform “exempted activities,” such as law enforcement and fire suppression. 

Trails, park roads, lookouts and open-air memorials “will generally remain accessible to visitors.” However, there will be no updates on road or trail conditions. Websites and social media will only be updated for emergencies. Parks that collect fees under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act can use those fees to provide basic visitor services.

Parks that don’t have accessible areas won’t operate and will have minimal staff.

“As part of their orderly shutdown activities, park staff will post signs notifying visitors that only basic or no visitor services, maintenance, or other management activities will be conducted, and emergency services will be limited,” the plan read.

BELZONI – When Archway Charter School was first proposed, it was described as providing “bridges to a brighter future.” It was later referred to as a “reprieve” from a slew of failing school districts in the Mississippi Delta. Archway students would engage with ancient texts in virtual reality and be immersed in a classical education that only students in more affluent zip codes could normally access.

The school was described as an opportunity for Belzoni, a community of 1,700 residents in Humphreys County in one of the poorest, most rural and least tech-accessible parts of the state.

Regulators, evaluators and others ask: Can a virtual school succeed there?

The county, where over a fifth of the residents live below the poverty level, ranks 61st in broadband access out of Mississippi’s 82 counties, according to research from Mississippi State University.

Belzoni – pronounced bel-ZONE-ah by locals – rises from fields of soybean, corn and cotton,  more than an hour’s drive northwest of Jackson.

The town first appears in gas station signs and a tall neon one off Highway 49 inviting travelers into “the heart of the Delta.” Ponds beside dirt and paved roads still produce the town’s famous commodity. Belzoni has called itself the “Catfish capital of the world” since 1976. 

Plans for Archway Charter School were first announced in spring 2024, with an initial proposal for grades seven to 12. However, the school has struggled to raise start-up funds since gaining state approval. Financial disclosures have also spelled recent trouble for the company contracted to provide the virtual learning component. 

These facts, including lack of internet access, concerned the state’s third-party evaluator when Archway first sought approval of its charter in October 2024

“I have seen a hybrid model that worked, but not in rural areas where there’s a high rate of poverty and families that may not have access to equipment or resources to be successful,” said Wanda Giulliaume, one of three independent evaluators who issued a recommendation to the board.

Archway Founder David Herndon responded by saying Archway would pay for internet access for students who need it, by potentially “diverting some funds” to get families access to quality internet. School officials would collect that information along with enrollment applications.

He said he is confident students will be able to connect to the internet after conversations with Southeast Cable and other broadband providers. 

But access issues still worry Mississippi Department of Education administrators and local legislators. 

Kym Wiggins, chief operating officer for the state Department of Education, expressed concerns after consulting surveys from districts about students’ access to equipment and broadband.

“There is an access issue,” Wiggins said. “So what do students do when they don’t have access? They do nothing. And they are going to a McDonald’s in a gas station. That’s not a viable option.”

Tiny communities such as Midnight, Louise and Putnam as well as homes along Highway 12 and Highway 7 lack adequate broadband access, said Rep. Timaka James-Jones, a Democrat from Belzoni.

By the end of the September 2024 Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board meeting, Archway had an approved charter with stipulations before it could open, such as proof of start-up funds.

Once it opens, Archway Charter School is expected to draw $488,817 from Humphreys County School District in the first year to cover some of the $1.4 million in operating costs.

Without a Charter School Program fund and only assumed sources of revenue on its most recently listed budget, Archway has not demonstrated how it will recruit high-quality teachers and finance its operation. Even before the school has opened, Herndon has asked the authorizer board to let Archway expand down to sixth grade. 

“As of today, the school does not have any funds available for operations,” board executive director Lisa Karmacharya wrote in an email Thursday to Mississippi Today. “The school will be required to submit an amended/updated budget to the authorizer (board) in December.”

Now Entering the Delta-verse

On a Friday afternoon in Belzoni, locals congregated on porches, pulled grills and invited friends to shuttered gas stations, leaning up against long-emptied gas pumps with plate lunches and cold beer. One street has shacks with wooden boards for windows and black plastic fluttering under loose roof shingles. Another has a junior high school that can only be glimpsed from behind a chain link fence. Restaurants where families would toast new graduates and fill up on grub in between football games are now vacant with yellowed, sunbeaten signs of the meals they once served. The town’s youngest residents still board yellow buses – and on Friday  nights in the fall, locals still root for the Humphreys County Cowboys. 

For Herndon, the Delta, and particularly Humphreys County, seemed fertile ground for a hybrid school. 

In the application to the Mississippi Charter Authorizer Board, Archway identified 14 Delta districts within a 1.5-hour drive of the future charter with “failing” middle schools. Mississippi law restricts charter schools to districts that earn a D or F on the state accountability system. Humphreys County School District has a D, but nine of the 14 Herndon listed are rated C.

“The vast majority of parents with rising sixth-graders in this district are forced to send their children from successful elementary schools to the district’s only middle school that is failing,” Herndon, the charter school’s executive director, told the board.

While nearly every Delta public school district sees a drop in test scores in middle school, the same phenomenon is true in school districts across the state, including in DeSoto County, Pearl and Pearl River County, among other districts that are labeled A or B in accountability ratings. Nearly a third of Delta region elementary schools received a D or F.

The plan is for Archway to be a hybrid school where each month, students log into virtual learning for 18 days and meet in person for two days for culture building and assessments. On virtual learning days, students will have live classes in the morning and self-paced coursework in the afternoon. On Fridays, students will complete self-paced online coursework all day.

Classes conducted in virtual reality will slowly be introduced to the curriculum as the school grows, Archway’s approved charter application says. The district plans to purchase VR headsets for students and staff.

Virtual charter schools have become more popular since the waning days of the COVID-19 pandemic, with many promising better outcomes for students on a more flexible schedule.

However, research from Stanford University found that online charter students saw less academic growth than their peers in traditional public schools, growing 58 fewer days in reading and 124 fewer in math per year.

Most of the elective courses are also contracted out to an online learning software called Edgenuity, which was investigated by the Los Angeles United School District’s inspector general for poor results for students. Hundreds of Plano, Texas, families pulled their kids from an online school that made use of the software because of its poor quality of instruction. A 2020 Mississippi Today story highlighted concerns by students and parents who couldn’t reach a teacher for help during online courses.

The Florida Connection

Herndon said he based his recent failed proposal to expand to sixth grade partly on recent analysis provided by OptimaEd, the Florida-based company contracted to provide the online education component of the Archway curriculum. 

OptimaEd provides “virtual reality educational experiences” to schools primarily in Florida.

In one example of virtual learning posted to the company’s account on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, Latin students at The Walker School in Florida walk in avatar form across a digital rendering of a Roman villa. In another post, students at another Florida school virtually traipse across the ocean floor to learn about biodiversity.

OptimaEd’s founder is Erika Donalds, a school choice advocate and the wife of U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican.

Adam Mangana, the company’s new CEO replacing Donalds, lives in Mississippi, according to Archway’s application. For the last four years, he’s held executive positions at the Naples, Florida-based company he helped co-found.

Mangana previously founded Midtown Public Charter School in Jackson, led a virtual reality lab at Jackson Prep in Flowood, and served as dean of students at St. Andrew’s School in Ridgeland and headed the Christian-centered St. Benedict School. 

Midtown Public Charter School has noticeably only received Ds or Fs in the state accountability rating since the 2017-2018 school year.

The application also mentioned that several other company employees were Mississippians whose “proximity” allowed for “a truly unique partnership to Archway as it opens and grows.”

A Florida Bulldog investigation documented the recent financial struggles of the education technology firm. While a previous year’s disclosure listed the company’s value between $1 million and $5 million, the company is now valued between $500,000 and $1 million. This coincides with it losing contracts with three Florida charter schools because of accounting errors.

For third-party evaluators, the “classical inspired” education offered by OptimaEd also didn’t clearly align with standards set by the Mississippi Department of Education.

“There is no evidence to support the effectiveness of classical education principles combined with the proposed curriculum,” wrote the third-party evaluators in their final recommendation.

Herndon is the former headmaster of Saint Augustine School, “a classical Christian school” in Ridgeland. 

Matthew Metcalf, the Archway school board president, serves as director of business and financial services for an Idaho-based company that helps found “classical Christian schools” across the country, according to his LinkedIn page. He also formerly led “classical academies” in both Alaska and Minnesota.

Classical Christian schools are private schools with curriculums informed by great works of Western literature and philosophy as well as the Bible. 

The hub-bub about the hub

Herndon plans to establish an in-person hub whereby students can go to join online classes should they be unable to connect to the internet. 

At the most recent board meeting in September, board chair Marcy Scoggins said it would defeat the purpose of a virtual school to depend on an in-person hub.

The hub would be at Archway’s physical address at Upper Room Fellowship Ministries, off U.S. 49 in Belzoni. Third-party evaluators said Archway overrepresented how much classroom space was available at the hub for students, pitching the idea of setting up classrooms in the gym, fellowship hall and auditorium. 

The Boys and Girls Club, which offers after-school programming to school-aged children, occupied the same site up until this past summer. The Humphreys County club expects to have a new location by January.

Despite outlining a goal to enroll 208 Delta students in Archway’s first year, school officials’ applications or compliance check-ins with the board did not include testimony from any local family planning to enroll a child. 

“It is not the best avenue for this rural area for our district, for our county,” Rep. James-Jones said. “It will definitely harm our public school system.”

During the last board meeting in September, two members appointed by Republican Gov. Tate Reeves – Tupelo pastor Jay Carney and Laurel attorney Ben Morgan – were the sole votes in favor of expanding the charter to include sixth grade.

“I think a little differently that we have some flexibility on the front end,” Morgan said. “I want us to be problem solvers, not problem creators.”

Archway is slated to open in August with the condition that it provides proof that it met 40% of its enrollment goal and that all enrolled students have internet access and an amended budget that demonstrates financial solvency.

James-Jones said she has not received a coherent plan guaranteeing her constituents would have access to Wi-Fi if they enrolled a student.

“I understand the focus of the school is education,” she said. “But you have to have the resources to do that.” 

President Donald Trump has nominated former Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes III, also a former longtime state senator, to the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission.

If his nomination is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Hewes would join the commission’s acting chairman, Peter Feldman, who’s currently the lone member of the commission after Trump removed three commissioners appointed during the Joe Biden administration and a fourth commissioner, Republican-appointed, resigned.

The commission is a regulatory agency created by Congress in 1972 “to protect the public against unreasonable risks of injuries and deaths associated with consumer products.” It has jurisdiction over thousands of consumer products “from coffee makers to toys to lawn mowers,” according to its website, although it does not have authority over automobiles, foods, drugs and cosmetics.

Hewes’ nomination came as a surprise to some Washington observers, as Trump in his fiscal 2026 budget proposal had called for eliminating the commission and placing its functions under the Department of Health and Human Services. The proposal called for one person serving as an assistant secretary for consumer product safety. This would require congressional action, but Trump’s firing of three commissioners and the resignation of Republican Douglas Dziak appeared to be a move toward elimination or consolidation without congressional action.

In July, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the reinstatement of the fired Democratic commissioners pending lower court litigation.

If his nomination is approved, Hewes would serve a term through 2031. It remains unclear how the commission would operate without a quorum of three. By statute, the commission can have up to five members, appointed by the president and subject to Senate approval for seven-year terms, with no more than three being of the same political party.

Hewes, in a text message responding to a request for comment on Wednesday, said he was on an airplane and could not immediately talk.

Hewes is a longtime Gulfport real estate and insurance business owner and a songwriter and musician whose songs have appeared in movie soundtracks. He was first elected to the state Senate in 1992 and served until 2012, reaching the second-highest leadership spot in the chamber as president pro tempore in 2008. He ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2011, losing the Republican primary to now-Gov. Tate Reeves.

Hewes was elected Gulfport mayor and served from 2013 to June of 2025, declining to seek another term. He has served as an advisory board member for the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Park Service.

Funding for a food and nutrition program that serves nearly 70,000 Mississippi caregivers and children is expected to last through October amid the federal government shutdown, State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney said after a Board of Health meeting Wednesday. 

“We have a runway with our current federal funding for all of October, probably early November,” Edney said. “And the shutdown better be over by then.”

This comes a day after state Health Department spokesperson Greg Flynn said if benefits for the Women, Infants and Children program (WIC) program dried up this month, the department would have to look at ways to “shore things up” with state funds. 

These funds make vital services possible for tens of thousands of households statewide, offering breastfeeding support and monthly vouchers for healthy foods to women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or postpartum, as well as infants and children under the age of 5. Roughly 300 WIC-approved grocery stores and pharmacies allow members to use their benefits. 

To stretch federal dollars further, the state Health Department will limit new applicants, Edney said. He added that this could help keep the program afloat for a few weeks. He also said he hopes the use of state funds will not be necessary. 

During the government shutdown, new applicants will only be approved if they fall under “Priority 1” designation, which includes pregnant and breastfeeding women and high-risk infants. However, according to Flynn on Tuesday, officials will not require proof of pregnancy, breastfeeding or a high-risk infant to determine priority status, allowing people to get the help they need while it lasts. 

“Priority 1” applicants will still need to follow the guidelines for approval, including bringing proof of income, residence and identification to their initial WIC appointment. More information about the application process can be found on the state Health Department’s website. 

Leadership at the state Health Department is encouraging WIC applicants and enrollees to direct any questions to an agent at 1-800-338-6747.

PASCAGOULA – Strings of papel picado and flags representing Latin American countries hung above the crowd at the Festival Hispano de Pascagoula, their bright colors and patterns flashing in the sun. Families from across the Gulf Coast gathered at Beach Park in Pascagoula Sept. 20 to celebrate food, music and cultural pride in the open air. 

At the festival, vendors offered tamales, fresh tortillas, empanadas and other dishes. Zona Libre played Latin music as the crowd danced and immersed themselves in the sounds with pride and excitement on their faces. Members of the Studio of Dance and Gymnastics wore colorful cultural outfits as they spun in circles, while older eventgoers spoke about heritage and roots in their native countries.

“It feels good to celebrate my culture,” said Nancy Morosky, a Gulf Coast resident originally from Puerto Rico. “I like to be reminded of where we come from, and I want to pass it down to the next generation.”

Pascagoula has one of the largest Hispanic communities on the Gulf Coast. According to the 2020 Census, nearly 15% of its 22,000 residents identify as Hispanic or Latino. In Jackson County, the share is closer to 7%. 

Main Street Pascagoula and the city organized the event, now in its fourth year.

“We think it is important because we have a large Hispanic community that is all along the Coast of Mississippi, and we just love to bring people together to celebrate that with good food, fellowship and good fun,” said Susannah Northrop, executive director of Main Street Pascagoula. 

“There are so many Hispanic people on the Gulf Coast, it is important for us to know our culture,” said Marisol Perez, a Gulf Coast resident originally from Puerto Rico, as she held her 8-month-old granddaughter, Neylan E. Quirindongo. 

The event highlighted more than food, music or cultural outfits. It showed how Hispanic families have built a growing and connected community on the Gulf Coast.

As the day neared its end, drums and maracas kept the rhythms in play. The crowd danced, laughed and celebrated their rich culture and heritage under the southern Mississippi night sky. 

PASCAGOULA — Tiras de papel picado y banderas de países de América Latina —con sus colores fuertes y diseños llamativos— brillaban bajo el sol de septiembre y sobre las cabezas de los asistentes al Festival Hispano de Pascagoula. El 20 de septiembre, familias de toda la Costa del Golfo se reunieron para celebrar su orgullo gastronómico, musical y cultural al aire libre.

En el festival, puestos de comida ofrecían tamales, tortillas frescas, empanadas y otros platos. Zona Libre tocaba música latina y la multitud bailaba, inmersa en los sonidos. Sus rostros transmitían orgullo y emoción. Los miembros de Studio of Dance y Gymnastics, luciendo trajes típicos coloridos, daban vueltas mientras que los asistentes mayores conversaban sobre cultura y raíces en sus países de nacimiento. 

“Se siente bien celebrar mi cultura”, dijo Nancy Morosky, una residente de la Costa del Golfo que nació en Puerto Rico. “Me gusta recordar de dónde venimos y quiero transmitirlo a la siguiente generación”.

Pascagoula es hogar de una de las comunidades latinas más grandes de la Costa del Golfo. Según el censo de 2020, cerca de 15% de sus 22,000 residentes se identifica como hispano o latino. En el condado de Jackson, la proporción es de casi 7%. 

Main Street Pascagoula y la ciudad organizaron el evento, que ya está en su cuarto año. 

“Creemos que es importante porque tenemos una amplia comunidad hispana a lo largo de toda la Costa del Mississippi, y nos encanta reunir a la gente para celebrar eso con comida, compañerismo y entretenimiento sano”, dijo Susannah Northrop, directora ejecutiva de Main Street Pascagoula. 

“Hay tantos hispanos en la Costa del Golfo, es importante para nosotros conocer nuestra cultura”, dijo Marisol Pérez, una residente de la Costa del Golfo originaria de Puerto Rico, mientras cargaba a Neylan E. Quirindongo, su nieta de ocho meses.

El evento destacó más que comida, música y trajes típicos. Demostró cómo las familias latinas en la Costa del Golfo han construido una comunidad que crece y que se conecta. 

A medida que el día llegaba a su fin, tambores y maracas mantenían el ritmo. Los asistentes bailaban, reían y celebraban su rica cultura y herencia bajo el cielo oscuro de la noche del sur de Mississippi.