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The University of Mississippi Medical Center closed all its statewide clinics and canceled many appointments Thursday and Friday after a cybersecurity attack shut down all its computer systems, an incident officials expect to last multiple days. 

The state’s only academic medical center said in a Facebook post that many of its IT systems are down after the attack. That includes the electronic medical record system, which stores patient medical history, billing, test results, appointment booking and chart documentation. 

Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor of the medical center, said at a press conference Thursday morning that all UMMC’s locations were impacted. She said the hospital was continuing to provide urgent, time-sensitive services using protocols that can function without electronic medical records, like paper charts. Emergency services will also continue to be available.

She said UMMC was trying to determine what would happen to patients’ personal information stored in the hospital’s computer systems, but the hospital had taken down the systems to prevent potential privacy breaches. 

“We are working to mitigate all the risks that we know of,” she said.

In addition to suspending its clinic operations Thursday and Friday, the hospital system canceled all elective procedures, except for those at the Jackson Medical Mall’s dialysis clinic.

When asked about what impact the attack would have on the UMMC emergency service communication system, Dr. Alan Jones, vice chancellor for health affairs at UMMC, said that system could operate independently of the regular hospital operations and should be capable of functioning during the attack. 

He said the university was working to set up a phone line for patients to get more information about rescheduled or upcoming appointments, in addition to creating an operational plan for providing other medical services.

The attack has had repercussions beyond the medical center. County health departments rely on UMMC’s electronic medical record system for their clinical services, and Mississippi State Department of Health spokesperson Greg Flynn said providers at the departments are now using paper charts. He said all local health department services remain open. 

More than 10,000 employees work across UMMC, making the institution one of the state’s largest employers, according to the university. Over 3,000 students are enrolled in the medical center, which has an annual budget of roughly $2 billion. UMMC facilities include seven hospitals and 35 clinics statewide. 

In addition to the main campus in Jackson, UMMC has sites in Ridgeland, Holmes County and Grenada County.

UMMC runs the state’s only Level 1 trauma center, programs that are best equipped to respond to severe medical emergencies. Woodward said the hospital is continuing to serve Level 1 patients using manual procedures.

The cyberattack happened Thursday morning, Woodward said, and the attackers were in contact with the medical system afterward. She declined to answer what the attackers have said or asked for, but she said the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency were aware of the hack. 

Woodward did not answer questions about how long UMMC and federal agencies expected the cyberattack to last or how long it would take to restore normal operations once the medical center regained control of its computer services. Jones said UMMC has information stored on both local and cloud-based servers, and the medical center believes the attack was just on the local servers. 

The hospital system’s websites were down Thursday, including a site that shows which medical services are diverting patients to other facilities. UMMC in-person classes will continue as scheduled, according to Woodward. 

Update, 2/19/2026: This story has been updated to reflect that UMMC will again cancel many appointments and close clinics Friday.

Update, 2/19/2026: This story has been updated to show that UMMC officials say the hospital was contacted after the cyberattack, and that the hospital has been in touch with investigators.

Some Mississippi Supreme Court justices on Wednesday raised questions about a lower court judge’s dismissal of a defamation lawsuit that former Gov. Phil Bryant filed against the state’s largest newsroom, Mississippi Today. 

Two justices asked if a jury – not a judge – should ultimately decide whether the nonprofit news outlet defamed Bryant in describing Mississippi’s welfare scandal that has led to multiple guilty pleas and rocked the state’s politics. Bryant did not attend Wednesday’s hearing and has not been charged with any crime.

“Why wouldn’t what you’re saying today to us be appropriately brought before a jury?” Chief Justice Michael Randolph asked an attorney for Mississippi Today. “So they would agree with you, hopefully, on your behalf. Why isn’t this jury material?”

Lee Crain, a Gibson Dunn attorney representing Mississippi Today, disagreed with Randolph. He said a jury-like standard is not necessarily needed in a defamation case because a judge could dismiss the suit if the judge believes Bryant’s complaint contained legal deficiencies and didn’t meet the burden of proof showing actual malice existed.  

Justice Josiah Coleman also pressed Crain on whether the case belonged in front of a jury, while Justice Kenny Griffis said he was concerned about whether the procedural mechanism that Madison County Circuit Court Judge Bradley Mills used for dismissing the case was correct. 

Justices on Wednesday did not question the accuracy of Mississippi Today’s reporting on the welfare scandal but expressed reservations about whether the case was properly dismissed by the lower court.

If a majority of justices determine the lower-court judge improperly tossed out the lawsuit, they could decide to send the case back to Madison County Circuit Court for more legal arguments. 

If it goes back to the trial court, attorneys for both Bryant and the newsroom could then file additional motions and gather more evidence, and the case could ultimately head to a jury for consideration. 

Mississippi Today reporter Anna Wolfe spent years researching and writing about a sprawling welfare scandal — something that investigators have called the largest public embezzlement scheme in the state’s recent history. Auditors have questioned roughly $100 million in welfare spending under the leadership of John Davis, who was chosen by Bryant to lead the Mississippi Department of Human Services.

Wolfe did not attend the Supreme Court hearing Wednesday. Her series of stories, The Backchannel, examined how federal welfare dollars meant to help the state’s poorest residents were misspent or misdirected to projects involving powerful figures, including former NFL star Brett Favre and associates of then-Gov. Bryant, a Republican who held the state’s highest office from January 2012 to January 2020.

Seven people have pleaded guilty to federal and state crimes in connection with the scandal, and another is on trial in federal court for 13 charges related to the scandal. 

Shortly after Wolfe won a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage, Bryant filed a lawsuit in Madison County Circuit Court against the newsroom and its CEO, Mary Margaret White. 

Bryant’s lawsuit didn’t challenge the accuracy of Wolfe’s reporting because he didn’t file the lawsuit within the specific statutory timeframe needed to file such a claim.

Instead, Bryant’s lawyers have argued that the news outlet, its CEO and other employees made defamatory comments about the former governor when discussing the series in public settings, including during a radio interview and during a speech at a journalism conference. 

Bryant has emphasized in his lawsuit that he has not been charged by state or federal authorities with any crime related to the welfare scandal, and he argued that Mississippi Today’s public comments went beyond protected journalistic reporting. 

Mills dismissed Bryant’s lawsuit in April, and the former governor is now arguing before the state Supreme Court that the lower-court judge should not have done so. 

At the core of the legal disagreements is whether the news outlet committed “actual malice” with its series. 

Actual malice is a legal standard in defamation law requiring that someone said or published something, particularly against a public official, that they clearly knew was false, a high bar to prove against elected officials such as Bryant. 

“Make no mistake, the statements that were issued here are false, defamatory, and they were made with actual malice,” Billy Quin, Bryant’s attorney, argued Wednesday. 

But Mississippi Today’s attorney, Crain, argued that it’s highly unlikely for the news outlet to have committed actual malice because the newsroom believed what it said was true and was supported by interviews, public records and research.

To support his claims, Crain argued that Sports Illustrated published a similar article about Bryant’s role in the scandal, and the former governor also sued the magazine over for defamation. 

U.S. District Judge Kristi Johnson, who was nominated to the bench by President Donald Trump, dismissed the former governor’s lawsuit. Bryant also appealed that ruling to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, where it awaits consideration.  

Crain argued that the Sports Illustrated and Mississippi Today cases were nearly identical. However, Randolph said legal standards for Johnson’s decision in federal court were different than the state law standard. 

After oral arguments ended, Crain said in a statement that Mississippi Today’s reporting on the welfare scandal is “journalism at its best” and the news outlet “shed light on wrongdoing that diverted millions of dollars away from Mississippi’s most vulnerable.” 

“The trial court already dismissed this flawed case, and today we asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to affirm that decision,” Crain said in the statement. “The freedom of the press is sacred in Mississippi, and Mississippi Today remains committed to serving as the state’s flagship source for independent news.” 

Only seven justices are currently on the usual nine-member court because the U.S. Senate recently confirmed two of the former members as federal judges in northern Mississippi.

Justices Jenifer Branning and David Ishee did not ask questions during oral arguments. Justice Leslie King was absent Wednesday, but he can still participate in the court’s decision in the case. 

It’s unclear when the justices will issue a ruling.

Mississippi is still waiting on a declaration from the federal government that would allow residents to apply for individual assistance for damage wrought by a winter storm last month, lawmakers said at a legislative briefing on Wednesday.

A group of lawmakers, most of whom represent areas in north Mississippi hit hardest by the storm, convened at the Capitol to discuss damage assessment and ongoing efforts to secure funding for local governments and individuals staring down a costly recovery. The ice storm resulted in the death of at least 29 people, forced thousands to go without power for weeks, hampered local water systems and left debris and damage across large swaths of terrain.

Rep. Jody Steverson, a Republican from Ripley who chaired the hearing, said he has been receiving calls from constituents wondering when they could apply for individual assistance to help pay for damage to their homes. But that money could only be provided by the federal government issuing an individual assistance declaration.

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Scott Simmons said earlier this month that the state is “nowhere near” finished with its damage assessment, which FEMA uses as a basis for approving different types of assistance.

On Feb. 6, President Donald Trump approved a federal disaster declaration request from Mississippi, clearing the way for local governments to seek public assistance through FEMA, which would go toward repairs for infrastructure such as roads and government buildings. The federal government has also stepped in to provide food and supplies across Mississippi and approved replacement benefits for SNAP recipients. But the declaration that would provide assistance for individual residents with damaged property could still be weeks away, lawmakers said at the Wednesday hearing.

Sen. Scott DeLano, a Republican from Biloxi, has said the state’s damages from Winter Storm Fern will likely reach $400 million. His district was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and he said some elements of the damage he had seen in north Mississippi as a result of the winter storm, such as widespread power outages, were evocative of the historic hurricane.

“What we saw a couple of weeks ago in north Mississippi is equally as devastating as Katrina was for south Mississippi,” DeLano said. “We understand that we’re in unprecedented times when it comes to the scale of impacts across the northern part of the state. When you have an ice dome where you have four or five days that nobody can get in, that’s the thing that all of the families that lived through this will be scarred their entire life for.”

More updates from the hearing include:

• One of the biggest challenges local governments have faced is the cost of tree removal. The federal government will reimburse 75% of these costs, the state will pay 12.5% and local governments will cover the remaining 12.5%, said Sen. Daniel Sparks, a Republican from Belmont. In places such as Prentiss County, that figure could reach about $3.5 million. Many cities and counties will not be able to afford their cost for these repairs, which means the state would likely need to step in to provide additional local assistance, Sparks said.
• Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill, who was present at the Capitol for the hearing, said her city is facing close to $25 million in storm recovery expenses. Debris removal makes up by far the largest share of the costs at an estimated $16.6 million. “It has just been a catastrophic event,” Tannehill said. “We didn’t budget for $25 million in expenses this year.” Tannehill said she met with House Speaker Jason White and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann on Wednesday and urged them to pass legislation sending additional money to local governments.
• The Senate has passed a bill, which now heads to the House for discussion, that would create a “disaster recovery emergency loan program” to aid counties included in the recent federal disaster declaration. DeLano described the proposed program as a “revolving loan fund,” meant to get public assistance money to counties and cities on the front end as they await reimbursements from FEMA. On Wednesday, DeLano said the bill would serve as a starting point for negotiations with the House.
• Multiple lawmakers urged their constituents to document all damage to their properties and record all conversations they have in the future with insurance companies. In previous natural disasters, some Mississippians have been left on the hook for pricy repairs because they didn’t have such documentation.
• Rep. Rodney Hall, a Republican from Southaven, called for an “after-action review” of Mississippi’s response to the winter storm. He said he’s spoken to several mayors who have been displeased with the pace at which state officials responded to the dangerous conditions.

The House Education Committee, in a five-minute meeting on Wednesday, passed two Senate education bills before its leader announced that the panel would not meet again this session.

That means that the last school choice measure standing before the Legislature, a bill that would make it easier for students to transfer between public school districts, would be dead. 

“This is our only meeting that we will be having, from what I am understanding,” said House Education Committee Chairman Rob Roberson, a Republican from Starkville, at the conclusion of the meeting. 

The move, and Roberson’s wording, could indicate the House leadership is striking back at the Senate, which killed Speaker Jason White’s school choice bill.

The Senate Education Committee killed White’s omnibus education policy change bill — which included a program that would have allowed parents to spend public dollars on private school tuition — earlier this month. 

White, a Republican from West, had made school choice his signature issue this session. He lambasted Senate leaders at a meeting in downtown Jackson on Monday for their opposition to private school choice programs and called their decision to kill his bill after only 90-seconds of deliberation “theatrical.”

“I was told that this is the only meeting that we’re having for this session,” Roberson told Mississippi Today after his committee’s brief meeting.

He would not definitively say that this would be the House’s final move on school choice, which could mean interest in the governor calling a special session about school choice is gaining momentum. A special session, which can only be called by the governor, would allow Republican Gov. Tate Reeves to set the agenda and put pressure on lawmakers. Reeves has been an outspoken supporter of school choice.

Senate Education Chairman Dennis DeBar, a Republican from Leakesville, said the House’s actions wouldn’t interrupt his committee’s priorities, and that he appreciated the House Education Committee passed two Senate bills at its Wednesday meeting.

Before Roberson’s announcement, the panel of representatives passed a Senate bill that would allow the Mississippi Department of Education to create a code of ethics for school counselors to follow — rather than a national, “ever-changing” code, said Republican Rep. Jansen Owen of Poplarville. The committee also placed the language in another Senate bill with a new math initiative, standards that build on the 2013 literacy act and financial literacy requirements for Mississippi students. 

“We’re just going to continue doing the work that we’ve been elected to do and charged to do … and try to keep our priorities alive and moving forward,” DeBar said. “Hopefully we can come together at the end. 

Roberson could change his mind, but if the House Education Committee doesn’t meet again, more than a dozen Senate bills are poised to die. 

Just a few months ago, shelves at Levure Bottle Shop in Jackson were full of wines that can be hard to find in Mississippi. 

Now, shelves are empty and customers come in asking if the store is closing. Owners put a sign outside that says, “Not going out of business … still waiting for the ABC to deliver.” 

Mississippi’s alcohol industry is in crisis due to operating changes and delays at the state-run Alcoholic Beverage Control warehouse through which most alcohol in the state has to pass. Over the last month, package stores and restaurants have struggled to fill their shelves and owners are worried. It’s not just impacting small businesses such as Levure. Casinos and restaurants across the state are also waiting for orders. 

With officials saying the warehouse expects to clear half its backlog by March, some businesses are worried about staying afloat. Some are waiting on tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of orders that are weeks late. When orders do come, they often contain only part of what the businesses paid for. 

Supply is dwindling or just gone. Bartenders are telling customers their favorite drink is out of stock. Restaurant owners are scrambling to adjust their wine menus. 

“I have not received inventory to keep (the store) full. We are a smaller business, so I don’t keep a ton of back stock but you shouldn’t have to be a big business to have a business in Mississippi,” said Brandi Carter, a co-owner of Levure and the beverage director at the Jackson restaurant Elvie’s, which was recently awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

Levure was born out of Carter’s love of natural wines and sharing them with Mississippians. Natural wines are produced using minimal human intervention and additives and often have unique colors and flavors. As Carter developed Elvie’s wine menu, she realized that there weren’t enough natural wines in the state. To bring in new wines, she went through the painstaking, years-long process of getting them certified with the state’s ABC. 

Mississippi is one of 17 alcohol control states. In these states, some or all alcohol sold wholesale must go through a state agency. For many years, lawmakers have discussed privatizing alcohol distribution but some have worried that the state would lose the hundreds of millions of dollars it receives in taxes. In Mississippi, all wholesale spirits and wine must go through the ABC warehouse in Gluckstadt. ABC is under the state Department of Revenue. 

This is not the first time that ABC has experienced issues with deliveries. To address these issues, the Legislature in 2022 approved $55 million to build a new warehouse that could hold double the capacity at the time and the Department of Revenue contracted a private company in 2023 to operate the warehouse. 

Even though the process can be complicated, business owners say that they know how to do it and that lead times had improved.

In January, the warehouse took a planned break to do inventory and had notified customers months in advance. It also implemented a new software management system and ran into issues with the transition that took weeks to resolve according to Chris Graham, DOR commissioner. 

“We really crawled for a couple of weeks on shipping cases because of the challenges that they had with their system and getting it in place,” Graham said at a House State Affairs Committee hearing held Tuesday because of the alcohol crisis. 

In addition, new software was not compatible with the old conveyor belts that the warehouse used to load delivery trucks. So, operators removed three of the four conveyors and implemented a system to pick up and place individual pallets onto the trucks. While Graham said there had been a learning curve with the new system, he said that the warehouse had recently hired some experienced workers to help mitigate the issue.  

But business owners say issues go beyond delayed deliveries. 

“We may order five cases of an item. It’ll be marked as out of stock but we will get them,” said Jamie Farris, owner of Lincoln Road Package Store in Hattiesburg and a leader of the Mississippi Independent Package Store Association. Farris said that while it’s normal for orders to get mixed up, what’s happening now is “bonkers.”

Many businesses have reported being charged for orders they have not received or only partially received. Usually they are charged a few days before delivery but now they’re not sure when their products will be delivered. 

“There shouldn’t be widespread billing and not receiving the product unless there’s a problem that needs to be investigated,” Graham told lawmakers. 

“I think there is a problem,” responded Rep. Shanda Yates, an independent from Jackson. “I mean as of last night, I’ve heard from a dozen package store owners and restaurants who were facing this issue across the state.”

Lawmakers and industry leaders discussed various options to find solutions, including limiting orders to a hundred cases, authorizing direct shipment to businesses, and implementing a process for businesses to pick up their orders from ABC instead of waiting for delivery. Lawmakers are likely to propose new legislation in the coming days and weeks, but many business owners walked away from the hearing unsure when their orders would arrive.

“While we were sitting in this meeting, I had an order that was scheduled for today. It was going to be roughly 35 cases. It was charged to my account and one of my employees just sent me a text that we received five cases,” said Anne Marie Smith, the operations manager at Raines Cellars in Flora, speaking to the committee. 

Correction 2/18/2026: Rep. Shanda Yates is an independent from Jackson. Her party affiliation was listed incorrectly in an earlier version of this story.

Facing new federal charges, the Madison man accused of setting fire to Mississippi’s largest synagogue pleaded not guilty again on Wednesday. 

After Stephen Spencer Pittman’s initial arraignment last month, a federal grand jury indicted the 19-year-old on two new charges last week, upping the prison time he faces if convicted. 

The superseding indictment accuses Pittman of destroying religious property “because of the religious character of that property,” a charge that carries up to 20 years in prison. He was also indicted for using fire to commit a felony for allegedly burning the Beth Israel Congregation in northeast Jackson. That charge comes with a 10-year prison sentence.

Pittman, who usually goes by his middle name, was previously indicted on one count of attempting to destroy property used in religious commerce – a charge he still faces under the new indictment. Facing up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on that charge, Pittman pleaded not guilty last month. 

“The Department of Justice will not tolerate attacks on houses of worship,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a press release announcing the new charges last week. “This superseding indictment shows that we will investigate and we will prosecute such vicious attacks that strike at the core of our country’s long tradition of religious liberty.”

The federal government is also ordering Pittman to forfeit any property he used in the alleged arson. He is accused of driving his truck to the synagogue on Old Canton Road where, hours before dawn on Jan. 10, he allegedly used an ax to break through one of the windows, poured gasoline inside the building and used a torch lighter. 

Pittman was set to face trial in federal court later this month, but U.S. Magistrate Court Judge LaKeysha Greer Isaac entered an order this week pushing the date back to April 6. 

In state court, Pittman faces a separate first-degree arson charge with an enhancement under a Mississippi law punishing “offenses committed for discriminatory reasons.” A Hinds County grand jury swiftly indicted Pittman after he was arrested by law enforcement at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where he was being treated for burns. 

Despite his attorney’s efforts, Pittman remains in jail after Isaac deemed him a threat to public safety at a detention hearing last month. Pittman – who comes from a wealthy suburb of Jackson and attended a private Catholic school – continues to be represented by a federal public defender. 

In the weeks leading up to his alleged arson attack, Pittman allegedly began making antisemitic statements and behaving in such a way that the “family pets were afraid” of him and his mother was considering “locking their bedroom doors at night,” an FBI agent testified last month.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matt Allen, Jonathan Buckner and Taylor Payne from DOJ’s civil rights division are prosecuting the case. Pittman is represented by federal public defender Michael Scott.

READ MORE: Suspect in Mississippi synagogue fire laughed as he confessed to his dad, authorities say

SOUTHAVEN – In a room of a couple hundred attendees, not one spoke in favor of a proposed air permit for an Elon Musk-owned operation in Southaven during a two-and-a-half hour public hearing.

MZX Tech LLC, a part of Musk’s xAI artificial intelligence company, applied for permits to construct and operate 41 natural gas turbines in the north Mississippi city. Those turbines would power the company’s nearby data centers, which include two just across the state line in Memphis as well as a recently announced $20 billion investment in Southaven.

Mississippi’s environmental permit board, which is made up of seven appointees from several state agencies, will decide whether to approve or deny MZX Tech’s application.

The South African-born billionaire has already funded 27 “mobile-temporary” turbines at the Stanton Road facility. Mississippi regulators maintain those turbines don’t require an air permit because of their “mobile-temporary” designation. Environmental lawyers disagree, and for months residents have complained about the turbines’ uncounted emissions and perpetual high-pitched humming.

Tuesday night’s hearing, held by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, affirmed and amplified those concerns. About 30 audience members spoke — few stayed under their allotted three minutes, and all either expressed fear of the turbines’ potential pollution, asked the agency to reject the application or requested MDEQ shut down the already operating generators.

Taylor Logsdon, a mother of three who lives less than half a mile from the plant, said two of her children have developed respiratory problems just in the few months since xAI’s temporary turbines began running over the summer. Her eczema has spread “dramatically” in the last month, which her dermatologist attributed to formaldehyde exposure, Logsdon said.

Formaldehyde is a known release from gas production, but without a permit xAI’s exact releases are unknown. Logsdon called the state’s lack of information on the turbines’ releases “irresponsible.” She and other members of a local advocacy group called the Safe and Sound Coalition donned T-shirts reading, “not all money is good money.”

“Since August, we have slowly fallen out of love with where we decided to grow our family,” she said.

Chestela Farmer, another mother who said she lives less than a half mile from the plant, said she’s recently felt increased shortness of breath and seen more frequent asthma flareups.

“My family shouldn’t be forced to live in fear of long-term health consequences simply because pollution is being allowed to continue and expand,” Farmer said. “I never thought after 23 years here I would have to fight for the basic right to breathe clean air in my own house.”

A number of Southaven residents complained of the noise the turbines made, a concern they raised over the summer. In November, the city’s mayor, Darren Musselwhite, a supporter of the xAI investments, said the company assured him that any noise issues would be resolved in a matter of days. Yet just before the Tuesday hearing, Mississippi Today reporters could clearly hear the constant humming near homes less than a mile away from the facility.

Devan Jenkins, whose family has lived in a nearby neighborhood for five generations, described it as a “deep, constant drone that vibrates in your house.”

No officials from the city of Southaven or xAI spoke during the hearing.

Several residents pointed to the already poor air quality in the area. Last year, the American Lung Association gave DeSoto County — where Southaven is located — an “F” grade for high ozone, or smog.

The public hearing also saw attendees from neighboring Memphis, including Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson. In 2023, the Republican-led Tennessee House expelled Pearson and another representative because of a gun protest at the capitol. They regained their seats in a special election. Pearson also co-founded Memphis Community Against Pollution, which pushed back against unpermitted xAI turbines there.

“The consequences of this air pollution are going to be in Southaven, in the Horn Lake area, but it’s also going to be in the Westwood and Whitehaven communities that I represent in Memphis,” he said. “Pollution doesn’t care about the imaginary boundary between states, which is why we have to have solidarity.”

The hearing came just days after the Southern Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice, on behalf of the NAACP, sent a notice of their intent to sue over the use of the “mobile-temporary” turbines. The letter — addressed to Musk, xAI, EPA, Gov. Tate Reeves, MDEQ and others — argues the use of the turbines without a permit violates the Clean Air Act.

Update, 2/18/2026: This story has been updated with additional photos.

Curley Clark said he first became aware of the Rev. Jesse Jackson when he was a college student in Nashville and bullets were flying near his dorm as the National Guard responded to riots after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Jackson was a close aide of King and had been standing near the civil rights leader on a motel balcony in Memphis when a gunman killed King on April 4, 1968. In the immediate aftershock of the assassination, and for decades afterward, Jackson rose up as one of the nation’s strongest voices for equality.

Jackson was 84 when he died Tuesday in at his home in Chicago. His daughter, Santita Jackson, confirmed that her father, who had a rare neurological disorder, was surrounded by family in his final moments.

After Clark lived in Nashville, he moved to Chicago, attended Chicago State University and lived in the same South Shore community as Jackson. But Clark said that as a young man, he had trouble getting onboard with Jackson’s messages of nonviolent activism. 

“I remember Jesse at the time had started Operation Breadbasket in the South Side, and I was inspired by his mission of trying to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and push for racial equality,” Clark said. “But because of my temper at the time, I couldn’t fully embrace the idea of nonviolence. But I did in later years come to understand the importance of it. You can’t defeat hate with hate. Only love can defeat hate. The teachings of Jesse Jackson helped me learn those principles.”

Clark later moved to Pascagoula, where he joined the NAACP and became politically active. He’s been the president of the Moss Point-Jackson County Branch of the organization for more than 40 years. And he credits Jackson as a “monumental” inspiration for gains the organization has made there, including the ouster of the Jim Crow era system of “at-large” local city council members that had prevented Black people from being elected. 

“(Jackson) inspired me to get involved in the political arena, not as a candidate but as an activist,” said Clark, also a longtime delegate to the Democratic National Convention for Mississippi. “I’m proud to say that because of the inspiration he provided, we were able to make some monumental gains politically for the Black and underserved community in Jackson County, Mississippi.

“I’m very proud to have had the opportunity to be a follower of Jesse Jackson and be able to implement some of the ideals that he put forth,” Clark said. “Jesse Jackson made America a better place.”

Clark is among the Mississippi residents this week who are mourning the death of Jackson — a two-time presidential candidate and one of America’s foremost civil rights leaders.

Jackson frequently visited Mississippi, a state at the center of the Civil Rights Movement, to highlight issues facing poor and underrepresented communities. His advocacy in the United States and abroad included pushes to advance voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care access. 

A native of Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson rose from obscurity in the segregated South to become one of the nation’s best-known civil rights activists since King, whom Jackson counted as a confidant. Through his work with other civil rights leaders and his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, he was a towering figure in the fight for racial equality. 

Jackson ran for president twice, in 1984 and 1988. Although he lost both times, he fared better than any Black politician before Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008. Jackson did well in Mississippi in 1984, although there was a dispute over the delegate count. In 1988, Jackson won Mississippi and 12 other Democratic primaries and caucuses and gave a powerful speech at the party’s national convention that year.

His trips to Mississippi put him in touch with numerous local leaders, and with everyday people. 

State Sen. Hillman Frazier of Jackson, the longest-serving Black member of the state Senate, first met Jackson at the Mississippi State Capitol in the 1980s when Frazier was serving in the House. 

“He was very open and inclusive,” Frazier said about meeting Jackson for the first time. 

Frazier said people who did not know Jackson would often criticize him for going against the status quo, but, at his core, the civil rights icon wanted to ensure everyone had a voice and a seat at the table. 

“He worked to make sure our country would become the best version of itself,” Frazier said. 

In 1965, Jackson joined the voting rights march King led from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. King also dispatched him to Chicago to launch Operation Breadbasket, a Southern Christian Leadership Conference effort to pressure companies to hire Black workers.

Frazier supported Jackson when he ran for president and said he was able to win delegates, caucuses and primaries because he had an “amazing ability to organize” and build coalitions.

Jackson presented Frazier with the 2012 Humanitarian of the Year Award in the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, which was a touching moment for the state lawmaker.

“He paved the way for Barack Obama and Black people serving in the Senate and Black governors.” 

Leroy Brooks was elected in 1983 as the first Black supervisor in Lowndes County and is still serving in that office. He said he met Jackson several times and was inspired to pursue a career in politics.

“We are of that generation that is not too far removed from the struggles of the ’60s, so when you got to meet someone like Jesse Jackson and others – it just left a lasting impression of, ‘I want to do that, too,’” Brooks said.

Brooks said he was about 30 years old at the time of their meetings, and “the things he had to say and the way he said them left a lasting impact.” His career fighting for equality and justice motivated an entire generation, Brooks added.

“He could motivate and captivate people with the way he communicated. And, he had a great sense of humor.”

Brooks, of Columbus, said Jackson came to his area several times over the years. Brooks also was around Jackson through their mutual friendship with U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson.

Once, at Mississippi State University, Brooks said he was picked to give an opening speech before Jackson took the stage.

“He was running a little late, and they asked me to speak before he got there,” said Brooks, who remembers that, at the time as a new politician, it was “a little nerve-racking.” 

Longtime former Mississippi state Rep. Ed Blackmon of Canton said he met Jackson twice, including when Jackson was in Mississippi in the 1980s helping with a voter registration drive.

“He was absolutely charismatic,” Blackmon said. “He was a wordsmith … well schooled in public speaking and he could just put it together, could pull people into what he was saying.”

Blackmon said Jackson’s presidential campaigns were inspirational.

“Yes, because he was Black, and he was a serious candidate,” Blackmon said. “He had huge recognition in the Black community, so he was inspiring. He was sharp on all the issues, foreign and domestic, and he won several primaries. 

“And his catch phrase was inspiring: ‘I may be Black. I may be poor, but I am somebody,’” Blackmon said. “That was something resonating across Black America. … He just had a huge impact, here and nationally and even internationally.”

In a statement on Tuesday, Thompson said he and Jackson were “in the fight together” for those whose voices too often went unheard.

“Jesse never backed down,” Thompson said. “He believed in justice, in equality, and in the power of faith to move mountains. And he carried that belief with courage every single day. We marched. We organized. We prayed. We fought for progress we knew our communities deserved. His voice may be quiet now, but his impact will echo for generations.”

Jackson Mayor John Horhn, who’s a former state senator, called Jackson a “giant of the civil rights movement and a lifelong champion for justice, equality, and opportunity.” 

“From organizing communities to opening doors for generations of leaders, his voice and vision helped shape our democracy and strengthen our collective conscience,” Horhn said in a statement. “His life reminds us that ordinary people, standing together, can create extraordinary change.”  

 Pittsboro, Mississippi was the site. It was nowhere near neutral, as was evident when the proceedings began with a prayer asking for an one-year extension for Trinidad Chambliss, the Ole Miss quarterback. The prayer was answered. The Clevelands also talk about the opening weekend of college baseball season, the Winter Olympics and a whole lot more.

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Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson on Tuesday endorsed Scott Colom in his bid to become the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate ahead of the state’s March 10 primary. 

Thompson, Mississippi’s lone Democrat in Congress, said in a radio ad that Colom is “honest, fair, and a fighter.”

“We need a senator who will fight to lower prices, create jobs, and protect our health care and hospitals,” Thompson said. “That’s Democrat Scott Colom.”

Colom is currently the elected district attorney for the state’s 16th circuit district, which includes Lowndes, Clay, Noxubee and Oktibbeha counties. 

“​Few leaders have done more for Mississippi than Congressman Bennie Thompson,” Colom said in a statement.  “He has spent his career fighting for fairness, economic opportunity, and investment in communities that too often get overlooked.” 

Colom will compete in a three-person Democratic primary race on March 10. He faces Democrats Albert R. Littell and Priscilla W. Till. 

In the Republican primary, incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is competing against GOP challenger Sarah Adlakha. 

Much of the Republican establishment has lined up to support Hyde-Smith. Most of Mississippi’s statewide officials, dozens of state legislators and President Donald Trump have all publicly endorsed Hyde-Smith’s reelection campaign. 

The Republican and Democratic nominees will compete against independent candidate Ty Pinkins in the general election.