In its first month of operation, the new Uber program that takes Mississippians to county health department appointments received 58 transportation requests.
Without a marketing plan for the initiative and just a month of data, it’s not clear how effective the program is yet at increasing health care access in Mississippi.
The Uber initiative is aimed at making it easier to get to county health departments where an increasing number of Mississippians may be seeking care. The ongoing health crisis has forced hospitals to stem services to stay open, making it harder to access care nearby.
Transportation can be a major barrier to receiving health care in rural Mississippi, resulting in “no shows” at county health department appointments. According to State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney, Mississippi county health departments currently experience a 50% no-show rate.
More than 1 in 5 people without transportation missed or skipped a medical appointment in 2022, and people of color and people with low incomes were more affected, one survey says.
However, the new program is only available in counties with Uber services, which many rural parts of the state don’t have.
The state Department of Health did not answer a question about which Mississippi counties have Uber services.
In November, the first month of the program’s operation, the requests came from 21 counties: Alcorn, Clarke, Copiah, DeSoto, Forrest, Grenada, Hinds, Jones, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lincoln, Madison, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Pontotoc, Rankin, Tippah, Tishomingo, Walthall, Warren and Yazoo.
The state Department of Health’s one-year emergency contract with Uber says that the agency will pay Uber Health up to $1 million for non-emergency services transporting patients to their health department appointments, to a pharmacy if needed and then returning them home. It’ll all be scheduled by the health department through an internal dashboard, and the rider doesn’t have to pay.
All patients have to do is contact the health department’s call center, said Victor Sutton, the state Health Department’s chief of community health and clinical services, or ask about a ride when they schedule an appointment.
“The great thing about this program is MSDH patients will not need the Uber app,” he said via email. “The Health Equity Team will ensure that rides are scheduled, clients have received their notifications and reminders, and will round out the process with a follow up after the rides are completed.”
The program is being funded by a grant through state and federal programs to address COVID-19 health disparities.
Agency officials also say they hope the initiative creates jobs by bringing Uber to more parts of the state.
It’s not clear if that’s happened yet — an agency spokesperson said the state Health Department is still gathering data to “address gaps” and will soon create a marketing plan “to support driver availability within the program service area.”
Rideshare services have expanded to the health care market in recent years. However, some studies show that rideshare availability doesn’t have a significant impact on missed health care appointments.
The board of the Jackson Public School District approved a plan Tuesday night to close 13 school buildings, with one board member dissenting.
In October, JPS district leadership introduced a plan to close 16 school buildings because of declining enrollment in the district. The district has lost around 9,500 students between the 2015-16 and 2023-24 school years, about a third of its population. The district has also previously consolidated schools.
Earlier this month, district leadership presented an amended plan that removed three elementary schools from this list of proposed consolidations, citing feedback they had received at community meetings.
The following schools are on the updated consolidation plan:
Dawson Elementary School
G. N. Smith Elementary School
Lake Elementary School
Lester Elementary School
Marshall Elementary School
Obama IB Elementary (delayed to 2025)
Raines Elementary School
Shirley Elementary School
Sykes Elementary School
Wells APAC Elementary (delayed to 2025)
Chastain Middle School
Whitten Middle School
Wingfield High School
At the meeting Tuesday, several people spoke for and against the proposed closures, including community activists, current teachers and state legislators.
Rep. Chris Bell, D-Jackson, said he supported the consolidation plan because he did not want financial issues to open the district up to state takeover again.
“JPS has risen from the ashes,” he said. “Under the leadership of Dr. Greene, we have risen to a point where individuals have pretty much washed their hands of trying to take over JPS.”
When Superintendent Errick Greene spoke before the vote, he emphasized this decision cannot be delayed or pushed down the road without putting the district in serious jeopardy.
“If we do not take drastic action right now … we could, in effect, create a situation where our system cannot survive because we didn’t take the measures to stop the bleeding,” he said.
Nearly every board member agreed that something needed to be done to decrease costs for the district, but some questioned the way the plan was communicated.
“Everybody knows that we have too many buildings and we have too much real estate and we don’t have any money to take care of it,” said Cynthia Thompson, JPS board member for Ward 6. “It’s not so much that I, or even the community, is upset with the plan, it was just the presentation.”
Thompson motioned to remove Wingfield High School from the list, a measure that failed 3-3. She was also the only board member who did not vote in support of the consolidation plan.
“We face, in Jackson, the challenges that we face because of the state of Mississippi (government),” said Frank Figgers, board member for Ward 3. “People in our communities … should know on whose feet and backs to place this blame that we are in this position.”
The Mississippi State Board of Education has named Mississippi native Lance Evans as the next state superintendent.
Lance Evans was named the new state superintendent of Mississippi. Credit: Mississippi Department of Education
Evans, the current superintendent of the New Albany School District, would assume the position in July of 2024 if confirmed by the state Senate.
He will replace Ray Morgigno and Mike Kent, the two interim superintendents who have led the Mississippi Department of Education since the Senate rejection of Robert Taylor. Taylor was selected through a national search process last year to replace outgoing State Superintendent Carey Wright.
Evans’ 24-year career in education spans multiple leadership roles in the New Albany School District, including principal of New Albany High School and Elementary School. He has led the district since 2017, earning an A rating every year since 2019 and implementing a workforce development initiative. Before joining the New Albany School District, he also worked in the Oxford and Itawamba County school districts.
“I am deeply honored and humbled to accept the position of State Superintendent of Mississippi,” he said in a statement. “My commitment to fairness, equity, and innovation in education aligns seamlessly with the values of this great state. I look forward to collaborating with educators, stakeholders, and communities to forge new pathways for our graduates, ensuring every student has the opportunity to thrive and succeed.”
Evans is the 2023 Mississippi Superintendent of the Year and has served on the boards of multiple professional organizations for school administrators. He holds degrees from Itawamba Community College, Mississippi State, the University of Mississippi and Delta State.
At the time of publication, MDE communications said they did not know what Evans’ salary would be. Both Taylor and Wright received a salary of $300,000.
McPherson and Jacobson, a national superintendent search firm based in Nebraska, conducted the search on behalf of the board. The firm also led the search last year which resulted in Taylor’s selection and oversaw this one as an extension of its initial contract. The firm received $51,200 in total for its services.
“Dr. Evans is a visionary leader who is committed to continuously improving student achievement,” said Glen East, board chair. “The Board sought broad public input about the qualities and priorities the next state superintendent of education should have, and Dr. Evans meets all of our expectations.”
The board overseeing Mississippi public universities failed to pass a series of policy changes in November that would have increased its oversight of off-campus degree programs following months of unusually spirited discussion for the typically rehearsed public body.
The trustee pushing the changes said the new policies would address an issue of growing concern among higher education officials in Mississippi: Larger and better-resourced universities moving into the geographic area of regional colleges and forcing direct competition for a decreasing pool of in-state college students.
For example, Mississippi State University announced in October that it was launching the Gulf Coast Aquatic Health Laboratory, an expansion of its offerings in what has been traditionally considered the University of Southern Mississippi’s backyard.
Mississippi’s eight public universities currently have wide latitude to move on-campus degree programs offsite — think of Mississippi State University’s Meridian campus — even if those programs tiptoe into a region of the state another school traditionally recruits in.
Under the board’s existing policies, universities seeking to set up new off-campus programs are supposed to do so “without unnecessary program duplication in the same geographic area.” If another institution is within 50 miles of a university’s proposed program, the two schools are directed to discuss the conflict and possibly obtain mediation from IHL, but it’s unclear what criteria IHL uses to make a decision.
When the number of high school graduates in Mississippi begins to decline in 2025, this could become a problem, according to Trustee Gee Ogletree, an attorney and a University of Southern Mississippi alumnus.
So in April, Ogletree started working on policy changes that would have required every university to receive approval from the IHL board before moving already-approvedprograms off-campus, with the idea that trustees would yay or nay requests based on “objective criteria” that factors in the best interest of the university system.
The proposal would result in months of back-and-forth that culminated in a confusing vote against the changes at the board’s November meeting.
Ogletree, who told Mississippi Today he had nothing to add to statements he has made at public meetings, introduced the changesin September during the board’s annual retreat at the White House Hotel in Biloxi, 170 miles from the board’s usual Jackson meeting place.As is typical for these retreats, it was not attended by any member of the public except a Mississippi Today reporter.
But two trustees — both Mississippi State alums — had some questions. A spirited discussion ensued.
“One is, what is the intent of this?” asked Hal Parker, a businessman who founded a successful fiberglass insulation distribution company. “Are there issues that we’ve neglected in the past, or?”
This policy could become “political,” Parker added, something Ogletree said he didn’t foresee happening.
“Can I ask a question? Why do we really need this,” said Bruce Martin, the president of an insurance agency, a few minutes later. “I’m having trouble understanding what the issue is that we need to solve.”
“Well,” Ogletree replied, “as I had indicated earlier, if I have some holes in my yard, I don’t wait till I step into them and break my leg before I fill the hole—”
“Gee, I’m not interested in what can,” Martin interrupted. “Has anything happened that makes this an issue?”
“Yes, what has happened, as we’re all aware, is that we will have over the next decade much fewer traditional students,” Ogletree stated, adding that he thought the board would be abdicating its responsibility to be a good steward of state dollars if it permitted the universities to duplicate off-campus programs without more oversight.
It did not convince Martin who said he believed the universities currently must “work to have the best programs” and that Ogletree’s policies sounded like “protectionism which I would not be in favor of.”
“It seems to me what we’re doing is not providing freedom of choice for the people and giving people all the opportunities,” Martin said.
The three trustees also sparred over whether the most powerful president in the university system — MSU’s Mark Keenum — was on board. The September meeting was on a Thursday. Ogletree said when he spoke to Keenum that Monday, Keenum was supportive. But Parker said when he spoke to Keenum the day before the board meeting, Keenum had concerns.
Martin did not respond to an inquiry from Mississippi Today, and Parker said he thought the policies were not needed because “the intrusion on IHL universities into the territory of other IHL universities” is protected by the board’s existing policies.
This dispute could have easily gone down between trustees who had graduated from any school in the university system. When the University of Mississippi expanded its Oxford-based nursing program offerings earlier this year, there were concerns that it would draw students away from Delta State University. In Natchez, Southern Mississippi used to have a nursing program that the board transferred to Alcorn State University in 1977.
By the time Ogletree reintroduced the policies in November, the IHL board staff had made some edits. A phrase was removed that would have directed the commissioner to develop guidelines that considered the “potential harm to existing similar degree-granting academic programs.” But the bulk of the policy remained the same.
It was approved for a first reading during the regular meeting. Then, before the board adjourned, Parker asked for a motion to reconsider, then a roll call vote.
Parker’s motion passed. But there was some initial confusion. Van Gillespie, the board attorney, asked the board to redo the vote so the secretary could accurately take notes.
Ogletree, who read a statement about why he disagreed with the board, made a motion to let the vote stand.
“I understand we’re a democracy and that majority rules,” he said. “I’ve counted the votes and I understand those. In this case I simply don’t think the majority is correct.”
A federal judge will decide whether to approve another injunction to prevent state appointments to a new, separate court system in Jackson set to go into effect in two weeks.
U.S. District Court Judge Henry Wingate said Tuesday he plans to rule on the injunction and other pending court motions before Jan. 1, 2024, which is when the Capitol Complex Improvement District court will be created through House Bill 1020.
Wingate heard arguments about the injunction in a NAACP lawsuit on behalf of Jackson residents that is challenging the court appointments required under the law. The injunction seeks to prevent Chief Justice Michael Randolph from appointing one judge and Attorney General Lynn Fitch from appointing two prosecutors to the Capitol Complex Improvement District court.
Brenden Cline, who is representing the plaintiffs, called HB 1020 “a comprehensive overhaul of the criminal justice system in Jackson” and a change in status quo for the city’s voters.
They won’t get to elect judges from their community who can be held accountable like other communities across the state do, he said. Plaintiffs also argue that the legislation dilutes the voting power of Jackson residents and stigmatizes them, sending the message that they are unfit to have a say in their own local government.
Cline also argued that HB 1020 has discriminatory impact on the majority Black city, had discriminatory intent by the Legislature and that the plaintiffs would suffer irreparable harm to their voting rights and their 14th Amendment rights.
He emphasized that the plaintiffs are challenging state officials’ appointments to, not the creation of, the CCID court.
The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in September that creating the CCID court would be allowed under the state constitution. It also ruled that appointing four temporary judges to Hinds County Circuit Court was unconstitutional.
Rex Shannon, who is representing the defendants from the attorney general’s office, said the plaintiffs don’t have standing and the burden is on them to prove discriminatory intent and risk of actual, imminent harm.
Voting rights are not an issue in this case, he said, and nothing in HB 1020 affects the plaintiffs’ voting rights. Shannon added that the legislation doesn’t change the way judges are elected in Jackson and Hinds County, nor did it remove elected judge positions.
Shannon also emphasized that not every action or intent behind the legislation is racist, including how judicial appointments would be made and how the CCID court would function.
He also said the plaintiffs have assumed the Legislature was not acting in good faith when crafting and passing HB 1020. Shannon asked whether any legislative act relating to Jackson could be seen as discriminatory based on the city’s racial makeup.
Shannon argued that blocking creation of the CCID court would prevent lawmakers from addressing Jackson’s ongoing public safety and criminal justice issues.
The city is in need of additional resources, he said, and the Legislature is providing them by supporting the Capitol Police and establishing the court to handle the force’s increase in cases, rather than adding additional cases to the Hinds County Circuit Court, which is experiencing a backlog, he said.
“That shouldn’t be controversial at all,” Shannon said about the state’s interest in Jackson as the capital city and its efforts to address crime there.
In his rebuttal, Cline asked whether the state could have funded the existing Jackson and Hinds County criminal justice system rather than creating a new one. He said the assumption is that the Legislature would have to write a blank check, but the city’s delegation and local leaders over the years have requested funding that the Legislature has not approved.
Chief Justice Randolph’s place in the lawsuit was brought up again in court.
Randolph was a defendant in the lawsuit up until September when Wingate removed him under judicial immunity, paving the way for Randolph to proceed with judicial appointments. As of December, Randolph has not appointed any judges to the CCID or temporary judges to work in the Hinds County Circuit Court.
The plaintiffs proposed a workaround to block Randolph’s judicial appointments even though he is no longer part of the lawsuit.
Those motions and others, including a request from the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene, are awaiting a ruling from Wingate. He said Tuesday that he would address them in an elongated opinion.
Melvin Jones, a 64-year-old native of Cleveland, was in his 30s when he was diagnosed with diabetes. He knew he was at an increased risk because of his family history.
In 2013, at 54 years old, Jones had two toes on his right foot removed and would later lose the big toe on his left foot. He didn’t know it then, but he had peripheral artery disease, or PAD, a condition where plaque builds up in peripheral arteries – those that do not supply blood to the heart or brain – and restricts circulation. Without treatment, a patient will continue to need further amputations and will die young.
One doctor told Jones he would likely need to amputate his entire foot – but Jones, whose condition made him retire early from his job at Baxter Pharmaceuticals, was resolved not to let that happen.
“I thought ‘I don’t want that,’ and me and the doctor were through,” Jones said. “It would have changed my life. I already can’t drive my truck no more.”
But many diabetics in rural Mississippi don’t have access to the care Jones went on to receive to avoid further amputations. Diabetes and the cardiovascular problems it causes are often asymptomatic at first, or symptoms are obscure. A lack of specialists coupled with some of the lowest social determinants in the country leave regions like the Delta prone to late detection of diabetes and a high rate of amputations.
Now, Jones goes to cardiologist Dr. Foluso Fakorede’s Cleveland clinic, Cardiovascular Solutions of Central Mississippi, for regular wound care from a nurse practitioner who travels to the clinic every Thursday from Oxford.
His life is different now, but he’s thankful he can still move around and hasn’t had to undergo a major amputation, which, for legs, is characterized as any cut above the ankle joint.
Mississippi is the only state with every county represented in what is called the “diabetes belt” of the U.S., which spans an upward arc from the deep South to Appalachian states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fakorede said academic institutions should be investing in the region through medical research, but it’s not an attractive market.
“I’ll make the argument that it should be,” he said. “Because these people were never given the chance to catch up. And now we’ve left them to suffer in isolation and in pain.”
With 14.8% of its adults diagnosed with the disease, Mississippi is second only to West Virginia in prevalence.
Uncontrolled diabetes, which runs rampant in rural and underserved areas, can lead to blindness, kidney failure, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart attacks, strokes and gangrene.
Mississippi, one of 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid, is the fifth highest uninsured state. In Bolivar County and several other Delta counties, at least one in five residents have medical debt in collections.
About one in three diabetics over the age of 50 will develop PAD, which often goes undiagnosed and untreated in medical care deserts like the Delta.
When it is caught, doctors often have an “amputation-first” mentality, which results in the loss of limbs and early mortality – despite the fact that a procedure exists to clean out the arteries of a PAD patient and restore blood flow to extremities.
Within five years of an amputation, diabetics stand a good chance of being dead. Nationally, Black patients are four times more likely to suffer diabetes-related amputations than white patients.
“It’s a death sentence,” Fakorede said, “and it’s very often preventable.”
The procedure capable of decreasing a PAD patient’s odds of amputation by 90% is called an angiogram, an invasive diagnostic imaging test that detects arterial blockages. Revascularization is the therapeutic procedure that cleans out those arterial blockages.
Jones received five angiograms and revascularization procedures in both his legs over the course of the last two years.
The number of angiograms a diabetic patient with PAD will need depends on a number of risk factors such as age, race, hypertension, heart conditions and habits such as diet and tobacco use.
In the U.S., more than half of patients never receive an angiogram or revascularization procedure before a major amputation.
At his Delta clinic, Fakorede, the only cardiologist in Bolivar County, estimates that the number of amputees who never had an angiogram is close to 90%.
Dr. Foluso Fakorede follows up with patient Joann Moore at Cardiovascular Solutions of Central Mississippi in Cleveland, Miss., Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. Credit: Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today
Fakorede, who was born in Nigeria and spent his teenage and young adult life in New Jersey, struggled to justify moving to Mississippi and opening his own clinic. He knew nothing about the place and had never operated his own business. But when he saw how great the need was in the Delta for a procedure he was skilled at, he knew his mind was made up.
“You walk through Walmart or Kroger here,” Fakorede said, “and I promise you you’ll see someone who has had a limb taken off or a dialysis catheter around their neck.”
In the end, Fakorede said the Delta proved to be far more similar to his hometown in Nigeria than he thought. They are regions that, for the majority of residents, reflect nothing of their country’s wealth – despite the rich resources they provide that contribute to that wealth.
“That is actually what made me stay – that similarity,” he said.
In the Delta, Fakorede explained, there are a number of socioeconomic factors that contribute to what he calls “the perfect storm” and leave people at a greater risk of chronic and life-threatening conditions.
Studies have shown that the body’s inflammatory response to chronic stressors like poverty, food deserts and unemployment – all of which pervade the Delta – can accelerate diseases like PAD.
Fakorede believes that a large part of the problem is inadequate screening measures. The United States Preventive Services Taskforce, or USPSTF, is the governing body that doctors look to for recommendations on who to screen for which conditions.
The USPSTF has not endorsed a screening for PAD, despite the fact that the five-year mortality for undiagnosed or untreated PAD patients is higher than that of breast cancer and prostate cancer, and studies have shown minorities are disproportionately affected.
“That is atrocious,” Fakorede said. “These patients have existed for decades. We know that this disease is destroying them because it’s taking them out of the workforce. It’s taking them out of their homes. They’re ending up in caskets early on.”
Meanwhile, Ozempic shortages are sweeping the nation as doctors prescribe the FDA-approved, weekly Type 2 diabetes medication to patients without diabetes for weight loss.
In Mississippi, nurse practitioner KC Arnold, director of the Ocean Springs Diabetes Center, witnesses the shortage daily.
“Every single day I’m getting a call: ‘hey, my pharmacy can’t get this,’” Arnold said. “In all my years of helping people with diabetes, this has been the biggest challenge for me to help people get what they need.”
Arnold’s facility is nurse practitioner owned and run – a rarity in Mississippi, where restrictive and expensive collaboration agreements limit the freedom with which nurse practitioners can operate.
Ozempic has a weight-loss version called Wegovy, but it isn’t covered by Medicare, so doctors will sometimes prescribe Ozempic in its place. The Mississippi Board of Nursing has guidelines that prohibit nurse practitioners from prescribing the weight loss drugs off label. But that rule doesn’t apply to doctors.
Arnold says she supports insurance companies covering a drug that addresses obesity. But until that happens, doctors shouldn’t be prescribing Ozempic to patients for weight loss.
“I can’t get the medicine for my patients with Type 2 diabetes,” she said. “Insurance needs to change to help people with weight – I’m all for that – but right now my patients with diabetes need medicine they’re not getting.”
And the drug isn’t just prescribed to people with diagnosed obesity. Chelsea Handler, a comedian and host of the 2023 Critics Choice Awards, joked that “everyone’s on Ozempic” in Hollywood.
Many insurance companies don’t cover drugs prescribed off label, but those who can afford it are paying premiums out of pocket.
“You know who ain’t getting it?” Fakorede said. “We ain’t getting it here in the Delta. There are people who are not even diabetic who are getting it in the Upper East Side in New York. Socioeconomic status matters.”
Dr. Foluso Fakorede takes a call from a professional in wound care while at Cardiovascular Solutions of Central Mississippi in Cleveland, Miss., Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. Credit: Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today
Mississippi’s alarming rate of diabetes plays a significant role in another of the state’s abysmal health statistics: leading the country in infant and maternal mortality.
Pregnancy tends to highlight the socioeconomic disparities of diabetes since some women receive Medicaid coverage for the first time during pregnancy, according to maternal-fetal specialist Dr. Sarah Novotny.
“Often, pregnancy is the first time women have access to health care insurance,” Novotny, who serves as division director of maternal-fetal medicine at University of Mississippi Medical Center, said. “So, a lot of times patients are coming into pregnancy with very poorly controlled diabetes because they didn’t have access to pre-pregnancy care.”
In pregnancy, diabetes can be separated into two categories: women who already had diabetes, whether it be Type 1 or Type 2, and then became pregnant, versus those who developed gestational diabetes during pregnancy.
Women who have preexisting diabetes and become pregnant are at risk of developing vascular problems, high blood pressure, renal problems and retinopathy. Gestational diabetes doesn’t carry the same risks for the mother. Both conditions carry increased risks such as abnormal growth and birth defects for babies.
Women who develop gestational diabetes carry a 50% risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later in life.
Managing diabetes before conception would go a long way in mitigating the state’s maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity rates, according to Novotny. But at the very least, recognizing and diagnosing diabetes during pregnancy can serve as an opportunity for previously uninsured or underinsured women to improve their quality of life.
In the last three decades, despite all the technological and medical advancements that have been made, diabetics in minority populations have seen worse outcomes.
Turning those statistics around would mean prioritizing tackling inequities in health care and recognizing places like the Delta as meccas for research, according to Fakorede.
“We need to be collaborators,” he said. “We need to be hope dealers. We need to be disruptive in terms of using our positive thinking to address some of the systemic inequities that have plagued these people and this region for decades.”
The high school football season is in the history books, which means it’s time for the best, biggest and fastest to decide where they are going to play college ball. The Cleveland boys discuss National Signing Day, as well as Saturday’s Ole Miss-Southern Miss basketball game at Biloxi, the New Orleans Saints’ playoff hopes (yes, they still have some) and a whole lot more.
For the first time in a court filing, a key defendant in the Mississippi welfare scandal is alleging that former Gov. Phil Bryant was behind the use of welfare agency grant funds for two projects now deemed illegal.
The nonprofit founded by Nancy New, one of the central figures of the scheme, is alleging that Bryant was involved in directing welfare funds towards the construction of a volleyball stadium and a pharmaceutical startup company — two projects former NFL quarterback Brett Favre lobbied officials to support. Favre has also alleged that Bryant supported the nonprofit’s payments to the two ventures.
“Based on the foregoing, as well as evidence that will be presented at trial, Bryant was involved, both directly and indirectly, in directing, approving, facilitating, and/or furthering MDHS’s use of federal grant funds for Prevacus and for construction of the USM volleyball center,” reads a Dec. 12 court filing by Mississippi Community Education Center’s attorney Gerry Bufkin.
Bryant has previously denied involvement in the use of welfare funds for either project. Through his attorney, Bryant declined to answer questions about the allegations made in the Dec. 12 filing. Bryant, who is suing Mississippi Today for defamation, has sent threats to the news outlet for continuing to report this story, including basic updates about public court documents.
The court filing also details how at least some of the welfare money sent to the concussion drug company Prevacus may have actually ended up in the hands of scammers in Ghana.
New is one of eight criminal defendants and 47 civil defendants that Mississippi Department of Human Services is suing in an attempt to recoup $77 million in stolen or misspent federal funds.
Last year, New alleged in a filing that Bryant instructed her to make a $1.1 million payment directly to Favre, but this is the first time she or her nonprofit have alleged Bryant was behind payments to the other Favre projects.
Mississippi Community Education Center’s 81-page answer to the complaint, filed Dec. 12, alleges that Bryant conferred with then-agency director John Davis to channel agency grant funds towards the projects, but that the state has purposefully left the former governor out of the lawsuit. The filing also argues that the welfare department has been exploiting flexibility in federal law around state spending since the inception of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in 1996.
“By omitting Bryant, and by attempting to disavow Davis, MDHS seeks to distance itself from its 25-year course of performance in relation to TANF and other grant expenditures,” the filing reads.
This is a similar argument to those made by other defendants such as Favre, fitness trainer Paul Lacoste and the nephew of the former welfare director.
The timeline
The latest court filing contains a lengthy timeline of Bryant’s alleged involvement in the Favre projects using texts and documents, most of which have been previously produced in court or published by Mississippi Today.
The relevant messages include texts New has produced between herself and Favre and Bryant; texts Bryant produced between himself and Favre; texts Vanlandingham produced between himself, Bryant and Favre and other associates.
The texts contain gaps that defendant testimony — which has not yet been gathered — may fill. Mississippi Community Education Center’s latest filing contains references to records and unspecified “evidence that will be presented at trial” to back up its claims against the former governor.
The following is an abbreviated timeline of the events as described in the court document. It reflects only Mississippi Community Education Center’s side of the story, and Bryant is not a defendant in the case.
Nov. 1, 1996: Phil Bryant became Mississippi’s State Auditor, the same year Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which replaced the former entitlement cash welfare program with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant.
Jan. 11, 2016: Elected governor four years earlier, Bryant appointed John Davis as the director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
April 20, 2017: Favre first texted Bryant to say that he was working to build a volleyball facility on University of Southern Mississippi’s campus, and “I need your influence somehow to get donations and or sponsorships.”
July 2017: Favre again asked for the governor’s help, texting, “you are the governor and on our side and that’s a good thing.” The governor communicated with Davis, the filing alleges. Davis then met with Favre, New and others at USM, where Davis committed $4 million to the project.
August 2017: USM would not immediately accept the funds. Favre contacted Bryant for help, the filing alleges, then Bryant contacted New. New texted Favre, “Wow, just got off phone with Phil Bryant! He is on board with us! We will get this done!” Days later, USM accepted the grant funds after someone arranged a deal that the university could take $1 million of it for its own improvement projects.
September 2017: Worried about a funding shortfall for the volleyball facility, Favre again contacted the governor, the court filing alleges “based on information and belief.” “I saw the Governor last night,” New texted Favre. “It’s all going to work out.” Soon after, the filing alleges, the welfare agency increased its commitment from $4 million to $5 million.
May 2018: Construction again faced a funding shortfall. Favre reached out to Bryant, texts show. One week later, the project received additional funding. “Good News. I have a little money for the ‘project’ – $500,000!” New texted Favre.
October-December 2018: Favre and Vanlandingham, the Prevacus founder, had been in talks with a Mississippi-based investor group, but the deal fell through after the group asked for 95% shares in the company, with no cash investment, solely for them to use their “political clout” to secure FDA approval. So they reached out to Bryant. They offered him stock in the company. All three, in addition to others, met for dinner at Walker’s Drive-In to discuss opportunities for the company. Mississippi Today has reported on this meeting and the text exchanges surrounding it.
January-June 2019: Days after the Walker’s meeting, welfare officials met at Favre’s house and agreed on a $1.7 million grant for Prevacus. Vanlandingham texted the governor to express his excitement about working with his welfare officials. “1.95M with the Governors help,” Vanlandingham texted another Mississippi official and potential investor, according to the court filing. New began sending payments to Prevacus and Favre informed the governor of the cash flow. Vanlandingham, Favre and Bryant texted continually about Prevacus business developments. Read more in Mississippi Today’s series “The Backchannel.”
June 11, 2019: Vanlandingham met Gov. Tate Reeves, then a candidate for governor, in New Orleans. Discussing the meeting with other Prevacus board members, Vanlandingham said, “I’m meeting the governor and who he’s supporting to take his place in Mississippi. Hoping to keep that non-dilute running our way!!!” Read more in Mississippi Today’s October article.
June 21, 2019: Bryant received a tip about Davis allegedly committing fraud, which he turned over to State Auditor Shad White, effectively forcing Davis out of office.
July 2, 2019:Bryant met with New, the court filing alleges. “MDHS owed reimbursements to MCEC and New told Bryant she could no longer fund Prevacus and volleyball without the reimbursements,” the filing reads.
July 12, 2019:New texted Vanlandingham, “we can send 400k today [but] I will need to let Brett know that we will need to pull this from what we were hoping to help him with [volleyball]….” (MDHS’s civil complaint says the money was delivered on July 16, 2019.)
July 16, 2019: New texted Favre, “I may not be able to assist you in Aug. as we had planned.” Favre responded, “About to see Governor Bryant.” Favre, on his way to see the governor, texted Bryant, “I really need your help with Nancy and Jake.” Bryant responded, “You my man… we are all in….” After seeing Favre, Bryant texted New, “Just left Brett Favre. Can we help him with his project. We should meet soon to see how I can make sure we keep your projects on course.”
July 22, 2019: New submitted a grant proposal to MDHS for $2 million in additional funds to finish construction on the volleyball stadium.
August 8, 2019: Bryant texted New, “Meeting with Brett in a few. Have the proposal and working it through DHS.” Bryant and Favre met. Favre texted New that they had met about something else, and “he only had 15 minutes but he did say at the end that he will get this done with you!!!”
August-November 2019: Bryant, Favre and New worked together to try to usher the volleyball proposal through MDHS, the court filing alleges. “Bryant, using Favre as intermediary, told New how to revise the grant proposal to ‘get it accepted,’” the filing alleges. Favre texted New, “He said to me just a second ago that he has seen it but hint hint that you need to reword it to get it accepted.” Bryant secured a meeting for New and Favre with then-director Christopher Freeze to discuss the proposal. Later on, Bryant told Freeze he supported the project. Read more here.
December 2019: After a meeting between Bryant and New, the court filing alleges, the welfare agency awarded New’s nonprofit three new grants totaling $8.6 million. Bryant texts New, “Did y’all get any Of the new programs from DHS?” New responded, “Yes, we did … Someone was definitely pulling for us behind the scenes. Thank you,” to which Bryant responded with a smiley face emoji.
January 2020: Favre and Vanlandingham discussed offering Bryant a package – either stock or cash – ”that will get him determined to see [Prevacus] through.” After Bryant left office on Jan. 15, 2020, Vanlandingham texted Bryant the next day, “Now that you’re unemployed I’d like to give you a company package for all your help … we want you on our team!!!” Bryant responded, “Sounds good. Where would be the best place to meet.”
Feb. 5, 2020: John Davis, Nancy New and four others “were arrested for spending grant funds as directed, approved, facilitated, and/or furthered by MDHS, including, without limitation, the MDHS Executives, Bryant, and Davis,” the filing reads.
At Jackson State Deion Sanders smiles as he holds the Orange Blossom Classic trophy after winning an NCAA college football game over Florida A&M on Sunday, Sept. 5, 2021, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)
The sports world doesn’t stop spinning during the holiday season. There’s all sorts of news, much of which deserves comment. To wit:
Sports Illustrated names Deion Sanders Sportsperson of the Year.
I don’t even know where to begin with this news. So how about this: Are you freaking kidding me?
Rick Cleveland
Since skipping the SWAC Championship press conference and leaving Jackson State – where he said God had led him – Sanders coached Colorado to a 4-8 record this past season. This he achieved by losing seven of his last eight games after after firing about 50 or 60 inherited student-athletes who only thought they had signed on to play their college football at Colorado.
This he did after firing the offensive coordinator whom he had talked into leaving a job as a college head coach. This he did by blowing a 29-0 halftime lead over a mediocre-or-worse Stanford team in his home stadium.
All this he did while his every move was being filmed for his own documentary purposes. We saw it all here in Jackson at Veterans Memorial Stadium where there were always more TV cameras pointed at Coach Prime on the sideline than there were pointed at the players on the field.
When Deion signed on at Jackson State, I called an old friend who had covered him for years in the NFL. I asked him: What is the most important thing I need to know about Deion Sanders. His answer: Just remember this: “You know how coaches talk about how the word ‘team’ does not include letter ‘I’? Well, you can’t spell Deion without the letter ‘I.’ That’s the main thing you need to know about Deion.”
He was right. With Deion, it’s all about Deion, all the time. He was an unbelievably great athlete. He is a good football coach. Sports Person of the Year? Again, are you freaking kidding me?
Off the top of my head, I can think of, oh, 50 to 60 athletes and coaches more deserving. On a planet where Shohei Ohtani has become the greatest baseball player since Babe Ruth, and the remarkable Patrick Mahomes is the reigning Super Bowl MVP, and Nikola Jokic has redefined the role of the big man in pro basketball, we get the self-proclaimed Coach Prime as Sportsperson of the Year? Seems nothing short of blasphemy.
Fred McNair leaves Alcorn for Texas Southern; Cedric Thomas takes over.
Had heard rumors that McNair, the original Air McNair, might be leaving Alcorn State, but never thought it would happen. This almost seems like someone from the Henry Ford family going to work for Chevrolet.
McNair, simply put, is Alcorn royalty, a star player under Theo Danzy and older brother of the late Steve “Air II” McNair, the greatest player in Alcorn history and later an NFL MVP.
Fred McNair has won big at Alcorn, his alma mater. Credit: Rick Cleveland
Fred McNair leaves after having been Alcorn’s head coach for seven seasons and coaching the Braves to four SWAC Eastern Division championships and two overall SWAC titles. McNair’s Braves were 7-4 last season, tied for the division title and defeated arch-rival Jackson State in McNair’s final game as Alcorn coach.
McNair leaves with an overall record of 48-35, including a sparkling 38-17 record against SWAC opponents. In his final season, the Braves defeated not only in-state rivals Mississippi Valley State and Jackson State but also fierce rivals Grambling and Southern.
Here’s where it gets a little crazy: What cost the Braves the outright division title and a championship game berth was a stunning 44-10 defeat to Texas Southern, 2-7 beforehand, on Nov. 12, the week before the Jackson State game.
TSU’s stunning victory wasn’t enough to save Coach Clarence McKinney’s job. McKinney won 12 games and lost 35 in four seasons at the Houston school.
At 12:21 p.m. Tuesday, Alcorn emailed a press release thanking McNair for his service and including this quote from interim athletic director Robert Raines: “I would like to thank Coach Fred McNair for his many years of service and dedication to Alcorn State University. We worked diligently to extend Coach McNair a multi-year contract that would have placed him in the top tier of the conference for compensation, incentives and additional incentives for assistant coaches. Unfortunately, we could not reach an agreement.”
At 1:24 p.m., another Alcorn press release announced the promotion of Thomas from defensive coordinator to head coach. Thomas, also an Alcorn grad, has also coached at Southern Miss and has head coaching experience at both Mississippi Delta Community College and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Wednesday is National Signing Day.
Every coach in the country will brag about their recruiting “haul” and say they filled their immediate needs and claim victory. Meanwhile, Alabama and Georgia will sign the best recruiting classes and Florida State, Texas and Ohio State will not be far behind. It happens every year. In a not-so-bold prediction, I will tell you it will happen again Wednesday.
The latest 247sports.com recruiting rankings, using verbal commitments, puts Ole Miss by far tops among Mississippi schools at No. 21 nationally. That puts the Rebels 10th among SEC schools. Heading into signing day, State ranks 35th nationally. Southern Miss, at 72nd, ranks tops among Sun Belt Conference schools. It should be noted Ole Miss will fare far better in transfer portal rankings, surely in the top five nationally if commitments hold.
