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Mississippi’s congressional delegation hopes President Donald Trump’s administration will approve a disaster declaration for the state after deadly tornadoes ripped through the South, but the request has been pending for a month. 

Gov. Tate Reeves submitted a disaster declaration request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency on April 1. If approved, it would allow millions of federal dollars to be allocated to state and local governments. 

The state’s four congressmen and two senators signed a letter on April 2 urging the Trump administration to quickly approve the request. But Lea Crager, a spokesperson for FEMA, told Mississippi Today in a statement that the request is pending.  

The tornadoes impacted around 20 Mississippi counties in mid-March. They caused an estimated $18.2 million in damages, destroyed 233 homes and damaged 208 homes, according to the letter from the federal lawmakers. 

U.S. Rep. Michael Guest, a Republican congressman who represents areas struck by the tornadoes, said in a statement that he has been in contact with Trump’s staff multiple times over the last two weeks and is waiting for the administration to sign off on the request. 

The administration has denied a similar request from Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a former Trump White House press secretary, over damage from the same storm system. The administration has also denied requests for disaster relief from other states.

Sanders is appealing that decision, and the state’s congressional delegation, all of whom are Republicans, wrote a letter to the Trump administration asking them to reconsider the denial. 

Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have also floated the idea of dismantling FEMA and suggested that states should spend more of their own money to deal with storm recovery efforts. 

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the state’s lone Democrat in Washington, is the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee. He offered an amendment in the committee recently that would have prevented the federal agency from using federal funds to shutter FEMA. His amendment failed in the GOP-majority committee. 

“For the life of me, I can’t understand why, right now, Arkansas and Mississippi have requested disaster declaration from the president, and he’s refused to give it,” Thompson said in the committee meeting. “North Carolina is struggling. We’re a better country than this.” 

Mississippi has historically benefited from FEMA’s assistance in the wake of deadly storms.

After Hurricane Katrina’s historic devastation in 2005, Mississippi received nearly $25 billion in federal relief spending, which state leaders have credited with saving the state from ruin and allowing communities and families to rebuild.

Below are the full responses from the state delegation to questions from Mississippi Today about the pending disaster declaration request and Trump’s suggestions to shutter FEMA: 

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker: 

“Mississippi is no stranger to natural disasters. Unfortunately, we are also too familiar with FEMA’s bureaucratic red tape, which stops Mississippians from getting the help they need. I look forward to Mississippi getting much-needed disaster relief and hearing President Trump’s ideas to make FEMA more efficient.”

U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, through her spokesperson, Chris Gallegos: 

“The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act authorizes the issuance of major disaster or emergency declarations, which make assistance available to protect property, human health and safety.  These declarations trigger critical aid to people in need, and Senator Hyde-Smith fully supports the Governor’s request on behalf of Mississippians impacted by the tornadoes last month.  The Senator, who serves on the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, is also open to exploring options for making the delivery of disaster assistance more efficient and cost-effective.”

U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly, 1st Congressional District: 

Did not respond to a request for comment.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, 2nd Congressional District: 

“Of course, I hope President Trump approves Mississippi’s disaster declaration quickly – but given how he’s been acting lately, I’m not sure we can depend on him to quickly do the right thing. Mississippi, just like every other state, relies on FEMA when disasters strike – whether it’s a storm or a massive hurricane. President Trump wanting to eliminate FEMA is shameful and makes no sense. We’re making sure he won’t be able to do it.”

U.S. Rep. Michael Guest, 3rd Congressional District:

“I have been monitoring the recovery efforts made necessary by storms that hit our state in March. The devastation is awful, and Mississippians are suffering. Right after the storms, I was on the ground for damage assessment, and I have been in continuous contact with those impacted by the storms. Governor Reeves submitted his disaster assistance request to President Trump on April 1st. On April 2nd, the Mississippi Congressional Delegation sent a letter to President Trump requesting his approval of FEMA Federal Assistance. I have been in touch with the President’s staff multiple times in the last two weeks, and we are currently waiting for his final sign-off. Mississippi will rebuild, and we will be stronger when we reach the other side.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Ezell, 4th Congressional District: 

Did not respond to a request for comment.

Javonda Stanton’s T-shirt is impossible to miss: Pink, glittery cursive bearing the words “violence against women will not be tolerated” pop out against a bright, azure blue background, a mugshot and an inmate’s number.

Stanton created the T-shirt displaying her rapist’s face about 15 years ago after the assault. She made several designs, which she used to wear twice a week. 

“For lack of a ladylike word, it’s quite ballsy,” Stanton said. “But that’s how I felt about surviving.” 

Now, Stanton only breaks the shirt out for special occasions, including yesterday’s second annual “Denim Day” hosted by the City of Jackson’s Office of Violence and Trauma Prevention to raise awareness of sexual violence. 

More than 60 advocates, nonprofit employees and community members participated in the event on the brick garden outside City Hall. Organizations from the FBI’s Community Outreach, Teen Health Mississippi, and the Mississippi Coalition Against Sexual Assault shared resources for victims and survivors, such as information on rape kits, STI testing, while the People’s Advocacy Institute offered a sign-up sheet for upcoming meetings for a new program called Jackson Heals focused on trauma recovery through restorative justice conversations. 

But perhaps the most impactful part of the event came when Stanton and other survivors spoke about their experience working through the mental toll of sexual assault, multiple attendees said. 

“Nobody wants to talk about sexual assault because it’s ugly, and then we want to say sexual assault when, really, we should say rape,” Stanton said. “The word rape just sounds so heinous. Well, it is. The act is heinous.” 

In 2024, the state saw a 27% increase in rape kits sent to the state crime lab thanks to a 2023 law aimed at reducing the persistent testing backlog and create a systems for survivors to track the kits as they’re processed, though the extent of the backlog is still undocumented.

Denim Day originated in 1999 after an Italian court found an alleged rape had likely not occurred because, it concluded in a ruling since overturned, the tight jeans the alleged survivor was wearing could not have been removed without her help. Participants in the international event wear denim in solidarity with and in protest of stigma against survivors.

Keisha Coleman, the director of the Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery, said events like this support her goal of bringing together community organizations. 

“One of the most important things is we are bridging community organizations that have been working in silos,” Coleman said. 

The office, which was formed three years ago in the midst of a crime spike in the city, is also working to create a public-facing dashboard that can help Jacksonians understand the extent of crime in Jackson. 

“We are victim advocates, but for the most part, our goal is to focus on the data,” Coleman said. 

Still, Coleman said much of the office’s work has been difficult to quantify. For instance, Coleman, a trauma coach, works with people who have been traumatized by violence. She recently took seven families out to dinner so they could meet each other. 

“We’re just having people call us and say, ‘Hey, I need help,’ or ‘Hey, I’m a mother suffering’ or ‘I’ve received a call to say my daughter was killed, we have to move because of retaliation and I don’t have food,’” she said. “So stuff like that, it’s not tangible.” 

But qualitative impacts matter too, she said. 

“Anytime we can reach one person, we consider it a success,” she said. 

If that’s the goal, Jamesia Wilson Cox’s experience illustrates it was met. 

The counselor and disorder specialist came out on her lunch break to meet people and hear from the speakers, among them an advocate and military veteran from Clinton named Tara Rivers who read a poem about grappling with the reality of being assaulted. 

“Summer months used to be my favorite, but now it’s just another trigger like my 9 millimeter,” Rivers read. 

As she listened, Wilson Cox pulled out her phone and took a selfie. 

That act might seem small to others, but it was meaningful to Wilson Cox. Last year, she was assaulted in her home in Brandon. She said it changed her self-perception and left her feeling “dirty.” She stopped looking in the mirror or taking selfies. 

“I used to be the selfie queen,” she said. 

But day by day, she’s become more comfortable with her image. 

If the city hosts Denim Day next year, Wilson Cox said she hopes to be in a place where she, too, can get up on the stage and speak. 

A state organization tasked with advocating for and providing legal services to Mississippians with disabilities will stop taking new cases for the first time in its history, the organization announced Thursday.

The federally mandated nonprofit has not received the remainder of its federal funding for the current fiscal year. The organization, referred to as a protection and advocacy agency, is awaiting over $700,000 for several critical programs.  

“ … Without our promised funding, if someone calls tomorrow and needs assistance, we can only refer them to another agency, which is so troubling and antithetical to the mission-driven work that we do,” Polly Tribble, DRMS’ executive director, said in a press release.

The funding delays will affect the organization’s ability to investigate reports of neglect and abuse and to advocate for voter accessibility for those with disabilities, among other services. The five affected programs are funded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration and Administration on Community Living – both housed under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

Disability Rights Mississippi recently released a report uncovering widespread misconduct in the industry of unlicensed personal care homes across Mississippi, where, unlike in other states, these facilities “have the ability to comfortably engage in illegal practices without the threat of licensing agencies penalizing them.” 

The organization is waiting on just over $741,000 out of $1.3 million awarded for those programs, DRMS Communications Director Jane Carroll told Mississippi Today. 

The magnitude of the money being withheld is what’s leading the nonprofit’s leaders to call this year’s delays a “funding crisis.”

“Maybe one program could be delayed, that’s not totally unheard of … But what’s different here is that it’s all five programs from Health and Human Services, which are our larger programs,” Carroll explained. 

Mississippi’s health and mental health departments have fallen victim to massive cuts in funding in recent months from HHS under the Trump administration.

Protection and advocacy agencies supporting the rights of disabled people in New Jersey and Arkansas have had to limit their services in recent weeks due to not receiving the federal funding they are owed, Mother Jones reported.

A draft of President Donald Trump’s proposed 2026 budget shows eliminations or significant funding reductions of many of DRMS’ programs, Tribble said in the press release.

For the time being, the organization will focus on continuing to serve current DRMS clients as funding allows, but has instated a hiring freeze until further notice. 

“It seems all of these changes, eliminations, and delays are in the name of efficiency and to save money, but our work enables Mississippians to get back to work, to be self-reliant, and to avoid institutionalization in the expensive facilities that rely on taxpayer dollars,” Tribble said. “So not only does our agency’s operations make financial sense, but also, the work we do literally saves lives. We are at a loss at the thought of no longer being able to serve the community we so deeply value.”

We are thrilled to announce that veteran journalist Emily Wagster Pettus has joined Mississippi Today as our senior editor.

Emily brings more than three decades of experience covering Mississippi. She joins the newsroom’s leadership team to help guide our editorial strategy, mentor young reporters and grow our relationship with newsroom leaders across the state and region.

The dean of the Mississippi Capitol Press Corps, Emily served as The Associated Press’s Mississippi Capitol correspondent from 2001 until January 2025. She previously reported for The Clarion-Ledger, The Vicksburg Evening Post and The Oxford Eagle. She is a graduate of the University of Mississippi.

“Emily is, in so many ways, a trailblazer for Mississippi journalists,” said Adam Ganucheau, Mississippi Today’s editor-in-chief. “Her steadfast, tough-but-fair reporting has inspired many journalists — myself included — to serve Mississippians in similar ways. I can’t overstate how excited we are to have her join our newsroom, where her insight and perspective will be invaluable to us and will help shape our future. And, of course, everyone is thrilled about the return of Emily’s byline after a few months of well-deserved rest.”

Emily’s reporting has been widely praised for its fairness, accuracy and depth. In March 2025, the Mississippi Legislature honored her with a resolution recognizing her contributions to journalism and public understanding. She is also a past recipient of the University of Mississippi’s prestigious Silver Em Award.

“I’m looking forward to working with smart, energetic journalists at Mississippi Today, many of whom are friends and former colleagues,” Emily said. “It’s important to report with depth and historical perspective on the complex issues of this state and to demand accountability from public officials, elected and appointed.”

Emily can be reached at epettus@mississippitoday.org.

The City of Jackson is preparing to host the 82nd annual National Folk Festival, a three-day event to be held downtown November 7-9. The free-to-attend festival, the first of a three-year residency in Jackson, will bring around 300 artists, musicians, dancers and storytellers together for a weekend celebrating traditions such as blues, bluegrass and go-go music.

“This moment is especially thrilling because it represents not just a lineup of remarkable performers but the beginning of something truly transformative for our city, a cultural legacy in the making,” said Jackson’s first lady Ebony Lumumba, chair of the executive committee for the National Folk Festival Jackson.

“For the next three years, Jackson will be home to one of the oldest and most celebrated cultural festivals in the nation, and that means that we are planting artistic and economic seeds that will blossom into something extraordinary for our residents, our artists, our young people and visitors from all over the world,” she said.

The National Folk Festival was created in 1934 and has traveled nationwide. With an anticipated 60,000 to 80,000 visitors in its first year, the event is expected to grow to welcome more than 150,000 people to the Capital City. The festival will stimulate economic growth in Jackson, with other host cities seeing $15 million to $30 million dollars of long-term annual impact by the end of its third year, said Blaine Waide, executive director of the National Council for the Traditional Arts. 

On Wednesday, Waide and other key partners in the festival announced the first performers added to the lineup. Artists include sacred steel guitar band The Campbell Brothers, go-go group E.U. featuring Sugar Bear, and Mississippi-born, Chicago-based John Primer & The Real Deal Blues Band. Bluegrass singer Dale Ann Bradley, Irish artist Eileen Ivers, flamenco couple LOS RICOS featuring Sonia and Ismael, bomba band Plena Libre and the South Asian ensemble Riyaaz Qawwali will also perform.

Over the next coming months, more will be announced, including dancers, craftspeople and storytellers, leading to approximately 300 artists tapped to participate. Applications are open for food and market place vendors. The deadline to apply is May 19.

Thabi Moyo, local festival organizer, said that it’s not just a big weekend, but a promising opportunity for Jackson and Mississippi. Jackson was selected out of 42 cities that applied to host the festival.

“Mississippi has been at the National Folk Festival, but this is the first time that it’s come to the Deep South, but Mississippi has always been represented,” Moyo said. “That right there to me speaks to the influence of the type of music and culture, arts and culture and impact that we’ve had because it’s already out in the world and people love it.”

In addition to the National Folk Festival, Moyo has been hosting Folk After 5 at Hal and Mal’s restaurant, which will be held every first Thursday leading up the the festival. Visitors can enjoy folk music played by a live DJ, and meet with organizers and learn more about the festival. 

“I wanted to create a space that’s low stakes, that’s easy, where you can come engage with folks who are involved with making the festival happen,” Moyo said.

Waide said that Mississippi is the perfect place to host the National Folk Festival due to its cultural influence and legacy of creating history-making entertainers. 

“It’s the home of Robert Johnson, Jimmie Rodgers, Pops Staples. You’ve got country music, blues music, gospel music,” Waide said. “… American musical history would not be what it is without the state of Mississippi, so it’s an appropriate place to have this festival.”

The University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery hosted a free oral, head, and neck cancer screening Wednesday at the Jackson Medical Mall as part of Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week.

The event featured quick, noninvasive screenings aimed at catching cancer early — when treatment is most effective. Onyx Care provided free HPV vaccinations, while the ACT Center for Tobacco Treatment, Education, and Research offered resources on smoking cessation and free services.

“These screenings take about 10 minutes and can save lives,” said Dr. Gina Jefferson, head and neck surgical oncologist at UMMC. “The earlier a cancer is diagnosed, the better chance we have of curing it.”

Tobacco and alcohol use remain major risk factors for these cancers. However, physicians say an increasing number of cases are linked to HPV, especially among younger adults with no history of smoking or drinking. Dentists are often the first to spot early signs, which can include persistent sores, lumps in the neck, or difficulty swallowing.

Oral, head and neck cancers are among the most common globally. When found early, survival rates can exceed 80 percent.

Mississippi State didn’t even wait until the end of the season to fire Chris Lemonis, who brought the national championship to Starkville not quite four years ago. Where do the Bulldogs go from here. Robbie Faulk who covers the Bulldogs more closely than anyone else joins the podcast to discuss the situation.

Stream all episodes here.

Mississippi Today is looking to speak with current and former mobile sports betting users. We’d like to speak with people who spend considerable amounts of time and money betting on sports through online gambling sites.

We’re interested in hearing the experience of people who have suffered from gambling addiction or problems, or friends and family members of people who have. We also would like to talk with people who believe legalizing mobile sports betting would benefit Mississippi and its residents.

We want to hear from you. Please take the survey below or contact Political Reporter Michael Goldberg by email at mgoldberg@mississippitoday.org

LONG BEACH — A retired Long Beach police officer arrested Thursday is accused of assaulting a woman holding a protest sign and threatening a second victim, Long Beach Police Chief Billy Seal confirmed Friday.

Police arrested Craig DeRouche, 64, for allegedly assaulting a woman during an encounter on U.S. 90 at Jeff Davis Avenue. He is charged with a second misdemeanor charge of assault by threat for allegedly threatening a man who reported that he saw the alleged attack and tried to intervene, Seal said.

According to Seal, the protester, identified as a 74-year-old woman, was holding a protest sign supporting the right to due process under the U.S. Constitution for Americans before the assault occurred.

The woman, a Navy veteran, is now in stable condition in a local hospital.

READ THE FULL STORY at the Sun Herald.

On April 28, 2022, the Ole Miss baseball Rebels had won 23 games and lost 17 overall. They were 6-12 in the Southeastern Conference. The various Internet message boards were filled with posts calling for head baseball coach Mike Bianco’s dismissal. Yes, and two months later, Bianco and his Rebels won the College World Series.

Contrast that with this: On April 28 of this year, Mississippi State’s Diamond Dogs had a 25-19 record overall, 7-14 in the SEC. The various Internets boards were filled with posts calling for head coach Chris Lemonis to be fired. He was.

In both those situations, the Mississippi teams were six games over the .500 mark overall. In both those situations, the teams had lost twice as many SEC games as they had won. Ole Miss stayed the course, and it paid off, remarkably so. In sharp contrast, Mississippi State pulled the trigger, and we shall see what happens next.

Another big difference in the two situations: Bianco had never won a national championship in his previous 20 years at Ole Miss. Lemonis won the first national championship in State history just four years ago.

You ask me, that national championship, not even four years ago, should have earned Lemonis, at the very least, the right to finish out this season. I don’t see anything to be gained with firing the man with three weeks remaining in the regular season. Most NCAA Tournament projections have Mississippi State listed as one of the first four teams out. The Bulldogs are ranked 45th in RPI against the nation’s 13th most difficult schedule. They are on the NCAA Tournament bubble, just as Ole Miss was three seasons ago.

This is not to say I believe that Lemonis, given the opportunity, would have done what Bianco did three years ago, But it is certainly within the realm of possibility. We’ve seen it happen. In baseball, more than any other sport, teams run hot and cold. State could have gotten hot, gotten on a roll in May and June and at least made it to the College World Series. It happens for someone nearly every year in college baseball. For that matter, it could still happen for State this year with interim head coach Justin Parker calling the shots.

And I know what many of those calling for the dismissal of Lemonis will say. They’ll say that in firing Lemonis now, State can get a head start on hiring a new coach to turn the program around. Not so. Any coach that the Bulldogs would hire is still coaching a team and will be coaching a team through at least May. 

Traditionally, Mississippi State baseball is one of the nation’s top programs. State baseball facilities are second to none. Fan support is among the nation’s best. 

But it is not, as athletic director Zac Selmon put it “the premier program in college baseball.” It is much more accurate to say State’s is a really good program in the premier conference in college baseball.

LSU, Texas, and Arkansas, all teams in the same conference, have similar fan support, terrific facilities and have enjoyed much more on-the-field success. Tennessee has improved dramatically. Ole Miss, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Texas A & M have made huge strides in facilities, fan support and baseball emphasis. 

And here’s the deal: Tradition, facilities and fan support, while still important, all have become secondary issues when it comes to ingredients for success in college athletics. You know what really matters most? NIL and the ability to attract players in the transfer portal, that’s what. This is no longer amateur sports. It’s pay-for-play. It’s professional sports in every respect.

The first question recruits ask: What can you pay me? The first question any prospective coach will ask Mississippi State: How much money will I get to pay players? In Monday’s press release announcing the dismissal of Lemonis, Selmon was quoted as saying State’s baseball “NIL offerings” are second to none. There’s no way of knowing for sure, but I have heard otherwise from numerous sources.

 I hate that we have reached this point in college athletics, but we most assuredly have. I also hate that Lemonis, a good man and a good coach, doesn’t get the chance to finish the season. I thought he had earned that.