After weeks of often contentious back-and-forth with child care providers, the Mississippi Department of Health is walking back its revised regulations for the industry.
External affairs and media relations director Greg Flynn confirmed the news, explaining that MSDH is still working on the proposed changes, and that they will not present them in the near future. “The topic will not be presented at the Board of Health meeting in April,” he stated.
Nicole Barnes, director of the Child Care Licensure Bureau, stated that, “Once the edits have been finalized, we will plan to share those accordingly with the child care advisory council.”
According to an MSDH spokesperson, MSDH leadership retracted the revisions on Feb. 28. It’s the same day the Division of Early Childhood Care & Development’s Child Care Payment Program Advisory Council was supposed to hold an ad hoc meeting going over the revisions. The meeting was cancelled after the announcement.
This update comes after months of upset among child care providers over revisions. Initially, MSDH filed to revise child care regulations last November. Child care providers criticized the revisions for being too restrictive and impractical. They also criticized the licensing agency for its rollout of the revisions.
MSDH said these changes were necessary to follow the Child Care and Development Fund Block Grant Act’s health and safety requirements. They did not initially consult the Child Care Advisory Council or the Small Business Regulatory Committee.
The agency maintained that it followed Mississippi Administrative Procedures Act. However, some child care providers said they violated state law by not notifying them of the proposed changes within three days of filing them, as well as being generally inconsiderate of providers’ needs.
“We are all committed to providing high-quality care for children in the state of Mississippi and want to partner with the Health Department to ensure their health and safety is our first priority,” said Lesia Daniel, owner of Funtime in Clinton and member of the advisory council.
Roberta Avila, a member of the Child Care Advisory Council, said there needs to be more transparency and consideration for providers during revision changes. “As a member of the Council I want to work in cooperation with the agency,” she said. “I hope we can start anew with the agency to ensure that all licensed providers, who will be affected by any changes in the regs, are informed about the process and will have an opportunity to give timely input to the agency.”
A bill that would make it easier for K-12 students to transfer to other public schools outside their home districts will die in the Mississippi Senate, the chamber’s leaders said as a Tuesday night deadline loomed.
But the House responded by inserting language from the legislation into an unrelated bill, a Hail Mary attempt to keep the measure alive this session. The last-minute procedural move was aimed at saving legislation that would allow students to request a transfer to another school district outside their home area, and introduce legal requirements to ensure districts comply.
Senate Education Chairman Dennis DeBar, R-Leakesville, said the policy, known as “open enrollment” or “portability,” would not advance this year.
“Nothing will happen this year as far as requiring public-to-public (transfers). But I still would like to have it studied, so that might come up later this year,” DeBar said. “I do not believe you’ll see anything regarding portability being implemented this year.”
DeBar’s statement confirmed the bill didn’t have the votes to pass in its current form, which was later affirmed by Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who leads the Senate.
The legislation’s demise in the Senate unfolded even though easing public school transfers was cited before the session as a key education priority by the Republican leaders of both chambers, House Speaker Jason White and Hosemann.
On Tuesday afternoon, it appeared the conversation between the legislative leaders on education had soured. If the House portability bill died in the Senate, it would show a failure of leadership on Hosemann’s part, White said in remarks to Mississippi Today.
“I think it speaks volumes to the leadership in the Senate and where they are on education, and that they are for the status quo. At some point, the Lieutenant Governor has to embrace the fact that he is part of that status quo. He was on record all through the fall saying he was for portability,” White said. “His mouth says one thing but his actions and leadership in the Senate say a completely different thing.”
In a statement, Hosemann said he supports portability, but confirmed the votes weren’t there to pass the bill in his chamber.
“I have always supported public-to-public portability with capacity requirements and will continue to do so despite not currently having the votes,” Hosemann said.
The House Education Committee inserted language from the portability bill, HB 1435, into SB 2618, an unrelated bill that aims to address chronic absenteeism in schools.
Rep. Jansen Owen, R-Poplarville, said the move will “continue the discussion and give the Lieutenant Governor an opportunity to accomplish two policy goals he has stated multiple times in the press in the last few months.”
Hosemann has cited both portability and fighting chronic absenteeism as key priorities.
Portability is a component of a broader array of policies known as “school choice,” which proponents say gives parents greater autonomy to customize their children’s education. Opponents say the policies undermine public schools serving some of the state’s neediest students.
Mississippi currently has a very limited form of “open enrollment” that allows students to transfer from their home district to a nearby school district. However, the transfer requires the approval of both the home and receiving school districts.
HB 1435 passed the GOP-majority chamber last month 67-46, with partisan crossover supporting and opposing the legislation. Four Democrats joined the Republican majority to support the proposal, while 10 Republicans joined with the Democratic minority to oppose the bill.
Under the House-approved legislation, sponsored by Owen, a student could request to transfer to another school district outside their home district. The receiving school district would have 60 days to either accept or reject the student’s application. The home school district could no longer prevent the student from transferring to another district.
In a statement shortly after the Senate Education Committee declined to take up his bill on Tuesday morning, Owen told Mississippi Today that there was still time for the committee to reconsider ahead of the evening deadline.
“I’m hopeful the votes are there to move this legislation to the next step,” Owen said.
But DeBar said there was a “plethora of issues” with easing public transfers that needed to be studied further before the Senate would get on board with the policy.
“At this point, there are so many issues ranging from local taxes, how do you get a child from one school district to the other when you’re poor and you can’t afford it anyways,” DeBar said.
School districts receive funding through local property taxes and the state government. The state funds under the bill would follow the student from district to district, while the funds from local property taxes would stay in their original district.
Under the House proposal, the state would pay the difference to the receiving school district if a student transferred. House lawmakers said they planned to allocate $5 million for transfers for the first year if the proposal becomes law.
Some House Democrats, almost all of whom are Black, said they worried the proposal could bring re-segregation of schools because families with means would flock to well-performing school districts while poorer families who lack reliable transportation would be locked in low-performing school districts.
Proponents said the bill would allow open enrollment for all students, and the legislation prohibits school districts from discriminating against applicants over their race, sex and income level.
There were also members who feared portability could be used primarily as a pretext for making athletic transfers easier, DeBar said.
White had put school-choice issues such as portability near the center of his legislative agenda. But most of the measures have either already died or had yet to advance ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.
“It was a baby step in the school choice movement to give parents some other outlet,” White said of the portability bill.
Robert Clark, the first Black person elected to the Mississippi Legislature in the modern era, has died at age 96.
Clark, a Holmes County native, was elected to the House in 1967 and served until his retirement in 2004. Clark was the highest-ranking Black person elected to a state government office in Mississippi since Reconstruction in the 1800s.
Clark was elected speaker pro tempore by the House membership in 1993 and held that second-highest House position until his retirement.
On Tuesday it was the state Senate – not the House — where Clark’s death was first announced in the Mississippi Capitol. The House, where Clark broke so many barriers, was not scheduled to convene until Tuesday afternoon.
On Tuesday morning, freshman Sen. Bradford Blackmon, D-Canton, who represents Clark’s native Holmes County, announced on the Senate floor that Clark had died earlier in the morning.
The Senate held a moment of silence and adjourned in his memory.
“Robert Clark … broke so many barriers in the state of Mississippi with class, resolve and intellect. So he is going to be sorely missed,” said the Senate’s presiding officer, Lt.Gov. Delbert Hosemann, to the Senate chamber after the moment of silence.
When the House did convene Tuesday afternoon, Clark was recognized for his tenure.
“He was a trailblazer and icon for sure,” said House Speaker Jason White, who like Clark hails from tiny Holmes County. “He was always mighty good to me when I was elected to office.”
Still, White joked that when he was elected speaker pro tem Clark was quick to point out he was the second pro tem from Holmes County.
“Robert Clark, he was the beginning,” said Rep. Oscar Denton, D-Vicksburg. “He was the beginning for every African American up here. Can you imagine being the only one?”
Denton said the state owed Clark a debt of gratitude for helping to usher in a new era for Mississippi.
Clark served as the only Black Mississippian serving in the Legislature from 1968 until 1976.
Clark was ostracized when first elected to the House and sat at a desk by himself without the traditional deskmates that other House members had. But he rose to be a respected leader.
Clark, who was an educator when elected to the House, served 10 years as chair of the House Education Committee, including during the period when the historic Education Reform Act of 1982 was passed.
In 1992 during an intense speaker’s election, incumbent Speaker Tim Ford tabbed Clark as his choice for pro tem. Ford was reelected as speaker, and Clark made history by becoming pro tem.
For a brief period in the 1800s after the Civil War, Black Mississippians held major positions in state government. But Clark was the first Black Mississippian to hold such a position since that Reconstruction period.
As pro tem, Clark presided over the House in Ford’s absence.
He was succeeded in the House by his son, Rep. Bryant Clark. While Billy McCoy was serving as speaker from 2004 until 2012, Bryant Clark on occasion would preside over the House as his father had made history doing.
“He was not just a trailblazer in our state’s history, but a true mentor, confidant and (counselor) to me,” Bryant Clark said on Facebook Tuesday. “He shaped me into the man I am today, and through every challenge and triumph, he was there — offering guidance, wisdom, and yes, even a few tough critiques when I needed them most. He was my hero, both in public service and in life, and his impact will forever be felt by me and many others.”
Rep. Omeria Scott, D-Laurel, who served as Clark’s deskmate from the time she was elected in 1992 until his retirement in 2004, simply said, “I don’t think there will be another one” like Clark. Scott now serves as a deskmate to Clark’s son.
In the 1980s, Clark ran to become the first Black Mississippian elected to the U.S. House since Reconstruction. He won the Democratic primary for the 2nd District post, but lost the general election. In later years, Mike Espy won the election to become the first Black Mississippian elected to the U.S. Congress. Espy was followed by Bennie Thompson, continuing until this day the representation by a Black Mississippian in the 2nd District.
“My prayers go out to Robert Clark and his family,” said Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs who served in the House with Clark. “The honorable Robert Clark has broken so many barriers. I always will remember him as a gentleman who persevered. I learned so much from him. He was a giant of a man.”
Rep. Robert Johnson of Natchez, the House Democratic leader who also served with Clark, said, “Mississippi has lost a giant, but his legacy will endure in the laws he helped shape, the leaders he mentored and the countless lives he touched.”
Updated 3/4/24: This story has been updated with comments from Missippi House members.
Note: This essay is part of Mississippi Today Ideas, a new platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share fact-based ideas about our state’s past, present and future. You can read more about the section here.
As a young boy in Philadelphia, Mississippi, I dreamed big.
In the sixth grade, I wrote an essay proclaiming that I wanted to be a musician because, as I penned with all the sincerity of a child, “music will be my love forever.” That statement holds as true today as it did then, and now I find myself at a moment where my love of music has brought me full circle.
The Congress of Country Music, an endeavor born out of passion, dedication and an abiding respect and admiration for the roots of country music, is now under construction in my hometown. This project is more than bricks and mortar — it is a temple dedicated to the legacy of country music and Mississippi’s profound role in shaping its story.
Country music is more than entertainment; it is the heartbeat of America, echoing the stories, struggles and dreams of ordinary people. Mississippi, with its rich cultural tapestry, is the Old Testament land of country music — a sacred place where the genre’s foundation was laid. Legends like Jimmie Rodgers, the father of country music, and countless others drew their first breaths here, their voices forever imprinted on the soundtrack of our nation.
For decades, I’ve been blessed to live a life in music. Along the way, I’ve collected and cherished the stories and artifacts of those who came before me: rhinestone suits that sparkled under the Grand Ole Opry’s lights, handwritten lyrics that birthed timeless ballads, instruments that carried melodies into the hearts of millions and so much more.
My collection of over 22,000 historic artifacts, each one a treasure that tells a part of our shared history, became the largest privately held collection in the world. It has been my dream to find a home for these artifacts in a place where they can inspire, educate and honor the giants whose shoulders we stand upon.
When I handed over my 6th grade essay to the Country Music Hall of Fame as a symbol of my entire collection, I said, “Here is my life.” That moment underscored the deep connection between an artist and their legacy. The newfound partnership between the Congress of Country Music in Philadelphia and the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville is a natural extension of that sentiment. The level of care and preservation provided by the Country Music Hall of Fame, combined with the entirety of their already publicly available collection, will unite to create something that pays tribute to the history of country music while ensuring its preservation for future generations.
Marty Stuart’s Congress of Country Music in Philadelphia is the creation of the country music icon, located in his hometown. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
The Congress will not just be a museum. It will be a living, breathing center for culture, education and performance. Housed in historic Downtown Philadelphia, the Congress will welcome visitors to explore the roots of country music, witness world-class performances and engage with exhibits that celebrate the genre’s legends and unsung heroes. It will be a place where history comes alive and where the next generation of musicians and fans can draw inspiration.
For me, this is more than just a personal project. It is a mission to honor the profound impact that country music and Mississippi have had on the world. I want visitors to leave the Congress with a deeper understanding of this genre’s soul and the unique role Mississippi played in shaping it. This is our story to tell, and it deserves to be told with the reverence it commands.
As construction continues on the Congress, I am filled with gratitude for the countless individuals and organizations who have supported this vision. From the halls of the Country Music Hall of Fame to the streets of Philadelphia, Mississippi, this is a collective effort, driven by a shared love of music and history.
To those who share my passion, I extend an invitation. When its doors open, come visit the Congress of Country Music. Step into the past, celebrate the present and dream about the future of country music with us. Together, let’s honor the pioneers, preserve the stories and ensure that the love of country music resonates forever.
Here is my life. And here, in the heart of Mississippi, is the soul of country music.
Marty Stuart, a Philadelphia native, is an inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame, five time Grammy winner and the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the American Music Association. In addition to being an acclaimed musician, Stuart also is a country music historian and photographer.
Mark Keenum, the president of Mississippi State University, addressed the turmoil caused by the Trump Administration’s numerous changes to higher education funding over diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, in an unusual letter for the state’s conservative higher education system.
Keenum, a former under secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and former chief of staff to the late Sen. Thad Cochran, wrote to the campus community Friday that Mississippi State was working to comply with a sweeping memo the U.S. Department of Education issued earlier this month declaring virtually all race-based programming and admissions policies illegal.
If universities did not comply by Feb. 28, the department threatened to investigate and withhold federal funding that supports research, student financial aid and other institutional operations, the loss of which would be “catastrophic to our university,” Keenum wrote.
Though Keenum wrote that Mississippi State was working to not “over- or under” interpret the letter, “making us an outlier,” his letter is notable because it was also sent to the media as a press release.
While some universities in Mississippi have issued internal statements to faculty and staff about the Trump administration’s attempts to reshape higher education, MSU appears to be the only four-year institution in the state that has commented on the department’s “Dear Colleague” letter in a detailed, proactive way.
To comply, Keenum wrote that Mississippi State has changed website language, nomenclature on campus and policies concerning student organizations, though the letter did not state which policies. The university is also initiating a process to rename the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center to the Holmes Center for Student Success, subject to the approval of the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees.
The center is named after Richard Holmes, the first Black student to enroll at Mississippi State in 1965, and once supported 11 student organizations that promoted diversity and inclusion.
“We are committed to working with government at all levels as an effective partner,” Keenum wrote. “At the same time, we are equally committed to providing a safe and welcoming learning environment on our campus.”
Throughout the years, Keenum has repeatedly offered his support for diversity, equity and inclusion policies at Mississippi State. This past school year, the university rechristened its diversity office; most other four-year institutions in the state followed suit.
Perhaps the strongest words in Keenum’s letter were for changes the Trump administration is contemplating to federal research funding, particularly a planned reduction in funding that can be used for research facilities, lab equipment and capital improvements.
This plan was recently halted by a federal judge, but Mississippi State is “developing contingency plans” in the event the reduction goes through, Keenum wrote.
The land-grant university has the state’s highest amount of federal research funding, which Keenum called “an incredible success story.” It also means the potential changes have “high stakes — $162 million, according to the press release.”
“We are extremely concerned about announcements from Washington that pause or interrupt the research of our faculty, staff and students,” he wrote, adding that “we will work hard to do all that we can do to protect our most valuable assets – our people.”
A Jackson attorney suspended from the practice last year for taking contraband into a jail could face further Mississippi Bar disciplinary action for how he allegedly represented plaintiffs in a multimillion-dollar, wrongful death class action federal lawsuit, leading to its dismissal.
A March 25 investigative hearing is scheduled before the Bar on Reggie Ruffin’s complaint against attorney Guy N. Rogers Jr.
Jimmie Lee Ruffins, a machine operator and pest control worker at the now-closed Frito-Lay plant on Boling Street in Jackson, died in 2010 from lung cancer his son alleged was caused by hazardous substances at the old plant. Credit: Courtesy of Reggin Ruffin
Reggie Ruffin of Dallas initially filed a federal lawsuit in 2020 in Texas alleging his father, Jimmie Lee Ruffins, was exposed to asbestos while working as a machine operator and pest control worker at the Frito-Lay plant in Jackson, causing him to develop lung cancer and ultimately die on July 4, 2010, at the age of 69. However, the case was dismissed in Texas, citing statute of limitations
Ruffin then filed a class action lawsuit in Mississippi in 2021 against Frito-Lay North America and its parent company, PepsiCo, on behalf of his father and other workers at the Jackson plant.
In addition to Ruffin’s father, the lawsuit alleged three others died from cancer related to their employment at the Frito-Lay plant, and others were being treated. All the employees worked for more than 20 years at the Frito-Lay plant, which was located at 1325 Boling St. in Jackson, according to the lawsuit. The plant closed in 1999.
The lawsuit said the workers suffered injury, damages and death from serious illnesses such as lung cancer, brain cancer, mesothelioma, Parkinson’s Disease, leukemia, ovarian cancer and other neurological disorders. “The direct and proximate cause of these injuries was plaintiffs’ exposure to unreasonably dangerous, disease-causing, hazardous, and toxic substances which were in use each day at the facility and in the structure/physical plant,” according to the lawsuit.
PepsiCo said in a statement for this story: “The safety, health, and well-being of our associates is one of our top priorities as a company. We have established policies and systems to provide and maintain a safe and healthy workplace, and we are dedicated to engaging with our employees to continually improve.”
U.S. District Judge Dan Jordan dismissed the lawsuit in December 2022 on a motion by Frito Lay North America Inc. and PepsiCo, citing the lawsuit was barred by Mississippi’s three-year statute of limitations clause in wrongful death cases.
But Jordan said in court papers the reason for dismissing the lawsuit was because plaintiffs didn’t respond to Frito Lay’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit in the timeframe set, which Ruffin lays squarely on Rogers.
Jordan said Frito-Lay and PepsiCo sought dismissal with prejudice in the motion, but the plaintiffs did not respond. He then entered a show cause order giving plaintiffs a second chance to respond and warning the motion would be granted if they did not.
“The court therefore concludes that defendants’ motion to dismiss with prejudice should be granted on the merits, for failure to prosecute, and for failure to obey a court order,” he ruled.
Now almost three years later, Ruffin’s Bar complaint blames Rogers, who represented him and the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit, for dismissal. Ruffin said Rogers refused to serve Frito-Lay and file documents in the case. He cited other factors as well. But Ruffin said in a phone interview that had he known documents weren’t being filed; he would have driven from his home in Dallas to Jackson to file them in court.
Repeated efforts to reach Rogers regarding Ruffin’s allegations failed. Phone numbers and emails associated with Rogers when he was a practicing attorney are no longer in service.
Since Rogers is already on suspension, it’s uncertain what disciplinary action he could face if Ruffin’s complaint is deemed credible.
Without mentioning Rogers’ case, Mississippi Bar General Counsel Melissa Scott said a suspended attorney can face additional disciplinary action in a separate case.
Scott said each case is different, but an investigatory hearing generally involves a notice for the respondent attorney to appear at a set date and time. She said an attorney in her office will question the respondent attorney about the allegations in the informal Bar complaint.
The Office of General Counsel then reports its findings back to the Committee on Professional Responsibility, which will make the decision on whether to recommend disciplinary action to the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Retired Texas attorney Kevin Kurtz said in Ruffin’s complaint to the Mississippi Bar that Rogers was given contact information for the process server to serve summons to Frito-Lay at the company’s national headquarters in Dallas, but it didn’t occur.
“Who files a $100 million civil suit and fails to serve the defendants?” Kurtz said in Ruffin’s Bar complaint.
Kurtz said the lawsuit against Frito Lay was dismissed because Rogers disgraced himself, his profession and worst of all his clients who counted on him to seek justice.
Although Jordan dismissed the lawsuit based on the failure to respond to the motion to dismiss, he cast doubt on it being successful, saying the federal claims were meritless, and the current claims as written would not survive the statute of limitations.
Ruffin said he and other plaintiffs knew about the statute of limitations, but argued they didn’t learn until 2018 that workers may have been exposed to contamination. Also, he said some workers, who suffered long-term medical conditions were alive when the class action lawsuit and some are alive today.
In August of last year, the Mississippi Supreme Court suspended Rogers after he entered a plea to a felony charge in Warren County of possessing contraband in a jail facility. The Mississippi State Bar called for Rogers’ disbarment and opted for suspension.
Rogers entered a best-interest plea, which is technically a guilty plea. The Warren County Circuit Court withheld the plea subject to a 36-month probationary period, which could lead to the charge being dismissed if Rogers doesn’t violate the terms of the probation.
Rogers argued in court papers he shouldn’t be disbarred for accidentally taking a cellphone wire into the Warren County Jail. He said at the most, he should be subjected to some type of disciplinary action, but not the drastic sanction of disbarment.
Rogers said at the time that he only entered the Alford plea to avoid trial, even though the state could not prove their case. He said prosecutors wouldn’t offer a misdemeanor plea or anything less than a felony plea because he used profanity towards a plain-clothes deputy of the Warren County Sheriff Department.
The indictment against Rogers said he attempted to furnish or assist In furnishing two black Android cellphone cords to an inmate at the Warren County Jail.
The state high court struck Rogers’ name from the Bar roll and immediately suspended him from the practice of law, but denied the Bar’s request for disbarment, saying disbarments are reserved for final convictions. If Rogers successfully completes his 36-month probation and has the charge against him dismissed, he can petition for reinstatement to the Bar.
Elections Committee Chairman Noah Sanford has successfully pushed some House members to scrap a Senate proposal to establish early voting in Mississippi and expand the state’s absentee voting program instead.
Sanford, a Republican from Collins, last week got the committee to adopt a plan clarifying voters who anticipate their employers might require them to work on Election Day and adding that people who care for children or disabled adults can vote by absentee.
“I’m the poster child for this,” Sanford said. “I’ve got a 5-year-old, a 2-year-old and a 9-month-old. I can promise you, you don’t want me bringing them into the polling place. They’d be knocking something over, and it would be a bad experience for all of us.”
The plan passed the Elections Committee with no audible opposition, and it can now go before the full House for consideration.
Sanford’s proposal also establishes an early voting task force, although Sanford held a hearing over the summer to study the issue. It also allows election workers to process absentee ballot forms leading to Election Day.
To vote by absentee, a voter must meet one of around a dozen legal excuses, such as temporarily living outside of their county or being over 65. Mississippi law doesn’t allow people to vote by absentee purely out of convenience or choice.
The Senate passed a proposal, authored by Republican Sen. Jeremy Englad of Vancleave, that would have established 15 days of no-excuse, in-person early voting and required voters to present a valid photo ID to an elections worker.
Sanford told committee members that the Senate proposal does not have enough support from House members needed for it to pass. If the House passes Sanford’s proposal, it would return it to the Senate for consideration.
Mississippi is one of only three states that do not have no-excuse early voting or no-excuse absentee voting.
