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The National Transportation Safety Board opened an investigation last week into two natural gas-fueled explosions in Jackson that happened last month, one of which killed an older woman.

On Wednesday, Rep. Bennie Thompson released a statement asking for an in-person briefing to examine the cause of the two events, which happened within four days and within a mile of each other.

“The safety and well-being of our communities are paramount, and it is imperative that we take these incidents seriously,” Thompson said. “The potential risks posed by natural gas cannot be understated, and we must ensure that all necessary measures are in place to prevent such tragedies from occurring in the future.”

The NTSB, an independent federal investigative agency, is still looking into the incidents. Both homes, which are in the southwest corner of the city below Interstate 20, were using gas connections from Atmos Energy Corp.

According to the NTSB’s statement, its staff was already en route to the first scene when it found out about the second explosion.

“On January 24, 2024, about 8:14 a.m., a home explosion and fire occurred at 185 Bristol Blvd. in Jackson, Mississippi, resulting in one fatality and one injury,” the statement reads. “While the National Transportation Safety Board investigative team was traveling to the scene, the NTSB learned of a second home explosion and fire.”

The second explosion happened just a few bocks south on Shalimar Drive around 4 a.m. on Jan. 27, and caused a fire that spread to a neighboring home. There were no injuries or deaths from the second event, the NTSB said.

The person who died in the first explosion, according to local news reports from WLBT and others, was 82-year-old Clara Barbour.

The NTSB, which has yet to release a cause of the incidents, said that Atmos discovered two leaks near the sites of the explosions over a month before they occurred. The utility provider determined that the leaks, which it found on Nov. 11 and Dec. 1, respectively, were “nonhazardous.”Atmos didn’t repair either leak prior to the explosions, the NTSB said.

Once the agency analyzes evidence and determines a cause, it will compile a final report and then make safety recommendations. The NTSB “tries to complete an investigation within 12 to 24 months,” according to its website. The agency, however, does not have any enforcement power.

“The NTSB is not a regulatory agency and therefore does not have any enforcement authority,” said Keith Holloway, a public affairs officer with the agency. “NTSB will issue safety recommendations during or as part of its final report at the end of an investigation to prevent a similar accident from reoccurring. NTSB recommendations are not geared towards recommending legal or enforcement action.”

Earlier this week, WLBT reported, Central District Public Service Commissioner De’Keither Stamps and nonprofit Mississippi Move went to homes near the incidents to give out free gas and carbon monoxide detectors.

Atmos, which serves gas to 274,000 customers in Mississippi, issued the following statement on Thursday:

“The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued a preliminary report for the January incidents that occurred in Jackson, Miss. The report is available here. The NTSB report confirms that the investigation is ongoing and future activity will focus on causal factors. The safety of our customers, employees, and communities is Atmos Energy’s highest priority. We appreciate the NTSB’s investigative efforts and will continue to work with their team, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, and the Mississippi Public Service Commission as the investigation continues.”

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Even as the Mississippi Supreme Court considers whether it is constitutional for the state to provide public fund to private schools, the House leadership is filing legislation to provide vouchers for students to attend private schools.

House Education Committee Chairman Rob Roberson, a Republican from Starkville, has filed legislation to allow vouchers — public funds to private schools — with no limitations.

But Roberson stressed that he is not sure what if any voucher legislation will pass this session. He said he filed the legislation “to start a conversation.”

But during an interview earlier this week on the SuperTalk radio network, Republican House Speaker Jason White seemed more committed to a limited voucher program. White advocated for vouchers for students in low-performing D and F schools.

“In D and F districts, we want that child to go anywhere they can find, whether public, private, charter, home school, whatever,” White said, adding that state funds would follow the students wherever they went. “If they are in a D and F district, we want to open their choice all the way.”

He said in states that have “universal choice,” like Arizona, a vast majority of students remain in the public school.

A lawsuit is currently pending before the Mississippi Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of providing public money to private schools. The Mississippi Constitution states that public funds shall not go to any school “not conducted as a free public school.” The lawsuit is not expected to be decided by the Supreme Court before the Legislature is scheduled to end the 2024 session in May.

READ MORE: Supreme Court hears oral arguments in lawsuit challenging public money to private schools

It is questionable how much momentum there is this session for an expansive voucher program. In his budget plan, Gov. Tate Reeves only recommended expanding by $1.8 million a program that provides public funds for some special needs children to attend private schools.

What House and Senate leaders have talked the most about is expanding public school choice, especially in low performing school districts — as White said this week.

Under current law, there is limited public school choice. But in most instances, both public school districts must agree to the student transfer before it can go forward.

White proposed that a school district not be able to hold “a student against their will.”

READ MORE: Lawmakers spent public money on private schools. Does it violate the Mississippi Constitution?

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The Legislature last week took its first substantive step of redrawing Mississippi’s circuit and chancery court districts, potentially altering the composition of how justice is administered around the state.

The House Judiciary B Committee and the Senate Judiciary A Committee convened on Feb. 13 to discuss what metrics Capitol leaders would use to redraw the 20 chancery districts and the 23 circuit districts. 

The current districts have largely remained unchanged for decades, but Senate Judiciary A Committee Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, told reporters that he intends to use population shifts in each district and the number of active cases in each district to determine if counties need to be added or taken away from certain districts. 

“Would we be doing our job if the status quo was kept in place? I would say no,” Wiggins told reporters. “For too long, politics has entered into this process, and we are relying on the data. And that’s what you saw today — was the data and what it says.” 

Senate Minority Leader Derrick Simmons, D-Greenville, implied at the hearing that he would object to the Legislature enacting major changes to the districts and preferred to leave the current configuration intact.

State law mandates the process must be completed by the fifth year after the U.S. Census is administered. The last census was performed in 2020, meaning the Legislature’s deadline is 2025. 

If the Legislature does not redraw the districts by the deadline, state law requires the chief justice of the state Supreme Court to modify the districts.

Chancery courts, commonly called a “court of equity,” deal with estate, custody, and constitutional issues while circuit courts primarily deal with major civil and criminal cases. The chancery court system contains 52 judges, while the circuit court contains 57 judges, according to the Mississippi Supreme Court’s annual report.

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The Ole Miss-Mississippi State basketball rivalry, 110 years old this month, will be renewed tonight at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville.

If history tells us anything, it is that the home team has a massive advantage. You could look it up. 

In fact, I did. The 96 miles that separate Oxford and Starkville make a huge difference.

When Ole Miss plays in Starkville, State wins 78% of the time. When State plays at Oxford, Ole Miss wins 65% of the time. Overall, State leads the series, having won 149 of the 269 previous meetings.

Ole Miss won this year’s first meeting, 86-82, on Jan. 30 at Oxford.

But the home team advantage dates all the way back to 1914.

On Feb. 26, 1914, the two teams played for the first time at Starkville. If the final score is any indication, Ole Miss played as if the university boys had never seen a basketball before.

State won 68-15. They played again the next night, again at Starkville. It was even worse. State won 84-18. It was as if Ole Miss had to shoot at a moving basket.

Interestingly, both teams traveled from Starkville to Oxford the next day to play for a third consecutive day. The Jackson Daily News published a report in its Jan. 28, 1914, edition. After winning by an average of of about 60 points a game the two previous nights, State won by a tiny 12-10 margin at Oxford.

The Daily News recap began this way: “Twelve to ten, nobody killed or seriously hurt, and all the players able to join the rah, rah, rah, rah, at the final sound of the referee’s whistle, tells the tale of the final game between Ole Miss and A & M for the state championship giving the Aggies the seat of honor…”

Ole Miss was much more competitive at Oxford. The score was tied 4-4 at halftime and Ole Miss took an 8-4 lead in the second half “which looked like it would be the final score for the longest time,” the Daily News reported.

The Aggies rallied for a 10-8 lead but then Frank Smythe of Ole Miss “threw in a goal from a difficult angle” to tie the score. State won it on a basket by Clark. The winning basket did not even earn Clark a first name in the next day’s newspaper.

Turns out, it wasn’t the last game of the season. They played again the next night. State won again 20-8 for a four-game season sweep.

The A & M Aggies would go on to win the first nine games of the series. Ole Miss did not win until Feb. 27, 1917, when the Oxford boys prevailed 29-15.

State dominated the early years of the series, winning 16 of the first 18 times the two played. Interestingly enough, in 1919, future Mississippi State athletic director Dudy Noble was the head coach at Ole Miss. The two teams played three times and State won all three, which might have been part of the reason why Noble years later told a sports writer, “I know what hell is like. I once coached at Ole Miss.”

Things have been much more competitive in recent years. Since 2008, the two are tied with 16 victories each.

Ole Miss-Mississippi State games always carry special import. Tonight’s could prove especially important. Both teams are on the proverbial NCAA Tournament bubble, and both need to pad their postseason resume.

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi – for my money, the best in the business – has Mississippi State in the tournament as a 10-seed. The Bulldogs can ill afford any slip-ups. Neither can Ole Miss, which Lunardi has as the very last team in the field.

State (17-8) has a No. 26 RPI, two spots ahead of Ole Miss (19-6). The two teams are tied for seventh place in the SEC standings with 6-6 records.

State is a 6.5-point favorite tonight, which figures. Home court advantage, don’t you know?

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Legislative leaders on Tuesday pushed back on Republican Gov. Tate Reeves’ social media post that criticized state lawmakers for pressing ahead with legislation that would expand Medicaid coverage to the working poor — a policy the governor has long opposed. 

“Some in the MS State Capitol still want Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion,” Reeves wrote. “Most — but not all — are Democrats.”

As part of his post, Reeves attached a picture of a 2023 social media post from former Republican President Donald Trump, saying “Obamacare Sucks!!!” 

Republican leaders in the House and Senate on Tuesday were undeterred by Reeves’ remarks and said they are still considering legislation to expand Medicaid coverage to improve some of the state’s dire health outcomes and address the high percentage of Mississippians who remain uninsured.

House Speaker Jason White, R-West, told Mississippi Today that the governor is entitled to his opinion on Medicaid policy, but he believes the GOP-controlled House will pass a bill this session that expands health insurance to more citizens.

“My position’s been pretty clear on the fact that we were going to explore and look at Medicaid as it affects hard-working, low-income Mississippians,” White said. “My ideas and thoughts about that haven’t changed. He’s the duly elected governor and he’s certainly entitled to his opinions on that matter. I don’t hold any of those against him. We just maybe here in the House have a different view of it.” 

Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, the leader of the Senate, similarly said that state leaders must do something at the Capitol to try and improve the state’s dismal labor participation rate, one of the lowest in the nation.

“Even a casual review of the health stats in Mississippi require us to consider all options to reach this goal,” Hosemann said on Tuesday. 

READ MORE: Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann announces Senate Medicaid expansion bill

Conservative lawmakers in both chambers have authored legislation to expand Medicaid coverage, though they aren’t yet available on the Legislature’s website and are several steps away from becoming law. 

White personally introduced a measure to expand Medicaid coverage to additional people, a strong signal that the proposal is a major priority for the House speaker. 

House Medicaid Chair Missy McGee, R-Hattiesburg, also conducted a committee hearing on Tuesday afternoon where national experts said Medicaid expansion would be a boon for the state’s economy and create more jobs. 

McGee, after the meeting, did not substantively comment on Reeves’ remarks but made it clear that she plans to continue pushing legislation through the Capitol that will insure poor Mississippians.

“I believe that we have strong support in the House for finding health insurance solutions for our low-income workers and we can do it in a very positive, economically beneficial way,” McGee said. 

READ MORE: House panel holds hearing on previously taboo topic: benefits of Mississippi Medicaid expansion

In the Senate, Medicaid Chairman Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, is expected to file legislation that expands Medicaid eligibility to additional people. 

“I think it’s a misclassification to call it Obamacare Medicaid expansion,” Blackwell said in response to Reeves’ post. “I think it would be judicious to reserve comment after the bill’s language has been presented. Our goal is to provide health care for those who are working.” 

The tension between the Republican leaders has crescendoed this week, but Reeves will appear alongside White and Hosemann on Monday night when the governor will deliver his annual State of the State address to outline his legislative priorities. 

The speech is a chance for legislative leaders to formally hear an outline of the governor’s policy proposals — an occasion that has recently become an amicable affair because all of the state’s leaders belong to the same political party.

But the Reeves tweet on Tuesday about Medicaid policy was the opening salvo of the 2024 session, and the tension is expected to intensify throughout the year. The political stakes are high for both Reeves and the Capitol’s two leaders.

If Reeves successfully thwarts the Legislature’s attempt to pass a Medicaid expansion proposal, it would significantly undermine the historically powerful role of the lieutenant governor and House speaker in Mississippi politics.

And if White and Hosemann can form a large coalition of lawmakers to override a governor’s objections, it would send a strong signal that Reeves, in his final term of office, will not hold an iron grip on the state’s legislators.

READ MORE: House Democrats unveil Mississippi’s first major Medicaid expansion plan

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With their sneakers planted firmly on the NCAA Basketball Tournament bubble, the Ole Miss Rebels and Mississippi State Bulldogs meet Wednesday night for Round 2 of Egg Bowl basketball. The game is always important, but this one really matters to each team’s post-season hopes. Also, the high school basketball championship tournament heats up and college baseball is officially underway.

Stream all episodes here.

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Experts told a panel of lawmakers Tuesday that expanding Mississippi Medicaid would bring a large influx of federal dollars — costing the state nothing for the first two years and little in the years after.

In providing health coverage to poor, working uninsured Mississippians, it would also boost the economy, generate thousands of jobs and help struggling hospitals.

It’s nothing that experts, health providers and economists haven’t been saying for years — but it’s the first time in recent years House Republicans have offered them a platform to speak.

The House Medicaid Committee heard from speakers from the Hilltop Institute, a nonpartisan research group that partnered with the Center for Mississippi Health Policy on several Medicaid economics reports. 

“I thought it was an excellent presentation by the Hilltop Institute … We are seeking information right now to make the best policy decisions that we can,” Medicaid Chairwoman Missy McGee, R-Hattiesburg, said. 

The hearing marks a sea change for the Mississippi Legislature.

Republican legislative leaders are for the first time in a decade at least considering Medicaid expansion. Mississippi remains one of only 10 states not to expand the federal-state program to cover hundreds of thousands of Mississippians who cannot afford private insurance. The issue has been a political third rail for Republicans in Mississippi. GOP state leaders, including former House Speaker Philip Gunn, blocked even serious discussion or hearings on the issue in recent years.

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has remained steadfast in opposition to what he calls “Obamacare” and “Welfare” even as polls show a wide majority of people in Mississippi support expansion.

Reeves on Tuesday in a social media post criticized Republican lawmakers for considering the program, and said “for those wondering how I feel, I offer you the words of President Trump” — with a screenshot of a Trump post saying “Obamacare Sucks!!!”.

New Republican House Speaker Jason White – who replaced Gunn this year – has been outspoken about the state’s health care crisis and has authored a soon to be made public expansion bill. Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said the Senate has drafted its own Medicaid expansion plan, which would likely also include people paying premiums through a private care option and a work requirement.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Data scientist Morgan Henderson outlined the results of a 2021 study on the economic effects of a hypothetical expansion program in Mississippi. He covered three sets of impact: cost to the state, impact on the state economy, and impact on state hospitals. 

The study estimated:

• There would be about 210,000 new enrollees from expansion.
• Of these, 95% are expected to be newly eligible and not currently insured – despite critics predicting that expansion would incentivize people to get off private insurance and move to Medicaid.
• The first two years of adopting the program would cost the state nothing.
• The third year would cost the state roughly $3 million.
• For state- and locally-owned hospitals, which make up about 40% of Mississippi hospitals, there would be a reduction in uncompensated care costs by about 60% each year.
• Expansion would stimulate the economy, putting about $1.2 billion into circulation that the state would not otherwise see.
• Expansion would create an additional 11,000 new jobs. 
• Expansion would improve hospital aggregate performance by up to 2.4%

The study was based on a traditional expansion model, as opposed to one including a private care option – first modeled in Arkansas and which has gained traction as conservative lawmakers consider expanding Medicaid in several Southern states. 

House Democrats, in the minority, recently unveiled an expansion proposal, which includes a private insurance option for people making up to double the federal poverty level. It’s often touted as a more pragmatic approach, since it involves more people partially paying premiums in a tiered system, based on income.

The House Republican bill authored by White, and the Senate expansion bill both had yet to be assigned to committee or publicly posted late Tuesday, but leaders in both chambers said they were filed before a Monday night deadline.

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House leaders filed a bill Tuesday that would ditch the objective formula that has for decades determined the funding level for Mississippi’s public schools and instead leave it to lawmakers to annually determine how much to give schools.

The bill, which would scrap the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP), is sponsored by House Education Chair Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, and is supported by first-year House Speaker Jason White.

READ MORE: Speaker Jason White says House will work to scrap, rewrite public education funding formula

Roberson on Tuesday did not rule out the possibility that the House leadership’s final version could include an objective funding formula to determine what is known as the base student cost.

The current MAEP, which Roberson and other members of the House leadership are trying to rewrite, uses a formula to ascertain the base student cost to provide an adequate education for each child and provides that amount of money for each student. Local school districts are required to pay a portion of that base student cost — no more than 27%. MAEP provides more state funding for poor districts than for more affluent districts.

First-year House Speaker Jason White, R-West, announced earlier this week on the SuperTalk radio network his plans to “scrap” MAEP and pass out of the House a new plan in about two weeks, but he offered few other details. If the White-Roberson plan passes the House, it would go to the Senate, where leaders have introduced legislation to “fix” but not totally replace MAEP.

The House rewrite bill, House Bill 1453, was posted on the legislative website on Tuesday, but was later removed.

While Roberson did not rule out the possibility of an objective formula being added to the bill, he said, “I would contend the current formula is not objective.” Even though MAEP was passed in 1997 with bipartisan support, some Republicans have been longtime critics, arguing the state could not afford it and that the program was too complex.

Roberson said the rewrite would direct more money than the base student cost to students based on certain criteria, such as for special education needs or for English learners. But as the bill is currently written, the Legislature would determine what the base student cost is. Some public education advocates fear legislators would reduce the base student cost in future years so that they could fund other pet projects or provide tax cuts.

Roberson said he hopes to provide an additional $100 million to $150 million to public education as part of the rewrite. MAEP is underfunded $174 million for the current fiscal year and has been underfunded by $3.52 billion since 2008.

In the 2010s, then-House Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves tried to rewrite MAEP and to remove the objective formula. That effort was killed in a bipartisan effort in the Senate in 2018.

The current effort by new Speaker White is the first attempt since 2018 to completely rewrite the formula.

Last year the Senate, led by Education Committee Chair Dennis DeBar, R-Leakesville, tried to make significant changes to MAEP and to fully fund it. The Senate’s proposed changes included requiring wealthy school districts to contribute more to the formula and limiting the possible year-over-year growth in the formula. Those proposed changes and full funding were rejected by House leaders.

DeBar has filed a bill again this session to try to enact those same changes.

Rep. Bryant Clark, D-Pickens, introduces legislation every year to increase how much in state funding MAEP would allocate to the districts for at-risk students. At-risk students would include those living in poverty. But considering that MAEP has been fully funded only twice since it was enacted in 2003, there has not been much appetite among state leaders to increase the money going to MAEP by increasing the amount of money at-risk students are supposed to receive. Under current law, local school districts are supposed to receive an extra 5% for each at-risk student.

Clark said he has not yet seen the proposed MAEP rewrite bill, but said an objective formula is important. He called the objective formula “the heart and soul of MAEP” and without it feared how poorer districts could be impacted in later years.

READ MORE: Could this be the year political games end and MAEP is funded and fixed?

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The Legislature has overwhelmingly passed a bill to regulate how insurance companies decide which prescription drugs and medical procedures to cover for a consumer — a process called prior authorization.

The Senate passed the proposal unanimously earlier this month, but the House had amended the Senate bill and sent it back. The Senate on Tuesday agreed to the House’s changes. 

The proposal now heads to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who vetoed a similar measure last year, for consideration. 

“The bill that we have will be a great improvement for the process,” Senate Insurance Committee Chairman Walter Michel said. “It’s great for the medical community, it’s great for the patient, and it’s an improvement for the insurance companies as well because they have a defined timetable to provide the prior authorization.”

Prior authorization is when physicians have to seek approval from an insurance company before the company will cover a prescribed procedure, service or medication that is not an emergency.

If an insurance organization denies a prior authorization claim, a consumer could be forced to pay for a prescription or medical procedure out of pocket. 

Insurance companies typically believe prior authorization helps ensure doctors provide only medically necessary services. Doctors argue the process is typically handled by clerical insurance staffers ill-equipped to understand medical procedures. 

The bipartisan proposal would require insurance companies to create a “portal” or website by January 2025 for doctors to submit prior authorization applications.

For emergency services such as treating a stroke, prior authorization is not required under the new measure. For urgent services or procedures that can help treat someone in intense pain, insurance companies have 48 hours to process requests. For non-urgent services, insurance companies have seven days to process requests. 

The governor vetoed a similar measure last year, but a Reeves spokesperson previously told Mississippi Today that the governor’s office has worked with “necessary stakeholders” to address some of his concerns in last year’s version of the bill. 

“We made changes mainly to hopefully find something that the governor can agree with and go on and sign into law,” House Public Health Chairman Sam Creekmore IV said. “I think they were reasonable changes, and I hope it will make for a more efficient prior authorization process going forward.” 

Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney’s office will be responsible for enforcing the plan, and Michel told reporters on Tuesday that he intends to ask legislative leaders to give more money to Chaney’s office to effectively enforce the program. 

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