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At least six transgender students are facing hostility as they prepare to graduate from  D’Iberville High School because of policies that attempt to erase their existence at the Harrison County school. 

The students, who wish to remain anonymous until after Saturday’s ceremony, found out when yearbooks were distributed this month that their photos had been omitted from the senior class.

One transmasculine student was then publicly outed on May 17, when D’Iberville High School’s Facebook page posted what appears to be a digitally altered version of his senior portrait while congratulating him as this year’s salutatorian. The post highlights Jonas Hole’s “hard work, dedication, and commitment to excellence.” It also repeatedly uses his former name, also known as a deadname. 

For transgender people, being called by a deadname is a form of erasure, said Jensen Luke Matar, director of the statewide Transgender Resources, Advocacy, Networking and Services (TRANS) Program.

“It’s just dehumanizing,” said Matar, who is transgender and the parent of a transgender teenager. “You’re feeling like other people hate you, like they don’t have basic decency for you, a basic level of respect for you.”

Matar, who is in contact with parents of the transgender students, said Hole does not wish to speak to media until after graduating. While the majority of D’Iberville students impacted are transgender, a cisgender female student who wore a tuxedo in her senior portrait also did not appear in the yearbook, he told Mississippi Today.

A person who answered the phone at the D’Iberville High School office hung up after Mississippi Today reached out for comment. After being reached by Mississippi Today, the Harrison County superintendent did not provide comment before press time.

The turmoil around this year’s graduation is the latest example of Harrison County schools trying to enforce gender norms on LGBTQ+ and transgender students.

The school district has created stricter policies for transgender students in recent years, said Matthias Daniels, a transgender man. He said that when he graduated 10 years ago from Harrison Central High School in Gulfport, he wore pants and a button-up shirt without pushback. When a female transgender student wanted to wear a dress to her graduation in 2023, school officials told her to follow the boys’ dress code. She ended up skipping graduation altogether to celebrate with her family in an affirming environment.

Daniels said Harrison County’s student dress codes are transphobic and queerphobic.

“I think kids are going to die over this. If not die, I think kids are going to be irreparably harmed by this mentally,” Daniels said. He said the situation makes him angry and disgusted at what the nearby school in D’Iberville did and has failed to correct. 

Data from LGBTQ+ advocacy organization GLAAD shows transgender people being the target of over half of hate incidents it tracked in 2025. Earlier this month, a female transgender student at the University of Washington was stabbed to death on her school campus. 

Daniels said D’Iberville High School’s recent Facebook post potentially puts Hole at risk by making his deadname public, which could lead to further harassment and targeting.

“They have put this kid in danger,” Daniels said.

In the photograph D’Iberville High School posted, Hole is wearing his U.S. Army Junior ROTC uniform, bedecked with medals, ribbons and cords representing his awards for being a “superior cadet,” academic achievements and participation in color guard.

Tara Shay Montgomery, an LGBTQ+ advocate who knows the impacted students, told The Advocate that Jonas’ mustache had been digitally erased and his lips had been edited to look pinker. 

The post garnered around 1,300 comments and over 100 shares before D’Iberville High School limited comments. Overwhelmingly, the response was in support of Jonas, with the majority of people using his correct name and pronouns while celebrating his achievements. Commenters from Missouri and Texas also showed support.

The Harrison County School District Facebook page reposted the photo on May 17, also using Jonas’ dead name. Six days later, neither post had been edited.  The school and school district administration have not given any public response.

Jonathan Blue is a D’Iberville resident who called and left voice messages for Principal Cheryl Broadus, one of her former high school teachers. Blue, a transgender woman who attended D’Iberville High School in the early 2000s, was also in ROTC for four years. She was impressed by the number of ribbons on Hole’s uniform, showing that he is active in the community and a well-respected student. 

“You don’t just get those handed to you for nothing – you get those for actually participating and engaging,” she said. 

Blue plans to visit the school and Broadus, who she remembers as a highly regarded educator. Blue has two kids in the high school now, one of whom will be a senior next year. She wants Broadus to understand the importance of supporting students. 

“I want to get that she understands, stripping somebody’s identity is basically robbing them of everything that makes themself, and that kind of move makes no sense,” Blue said.

For now, the focus is on getting the students to graduation and keeping them safe, said Matar. He said he is in contact with other Gulf Coast-based LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations to coordinate their response. Organizers plan a community show of support at the graduation ceremony, purposefully not a protest but rather a celebration of the students’ accomplishments, including Hole’s. 

Matar also emphasized the students do not necessarily want to be politicized, or to be seen as representatives for transgender youth. They’re trying to graduate high school, the same as any student. 

For Daniels, the most important thing right now is protecting the students. While he was never outed to this extent, he said he can imagine how devastating it would be to have something like this happen to him. 

“It truly just breaks my heart,” he said. “It’s just been breaking my heart all week.”

This story was produced with support from the Sarah Yelena Haselhorst Fund for Health Journalism.

Eddie Terrell Parker, a victim of “Goon Squad” torture by Rankin County deputies in 2023, now faces Mississippi firearms charges in addition to charges in Louisiana.

According to a Mississippi Highway Patrol report, Parker wrecked his car Tuesday on U.S. 49 in Simpson County.

When trooper Jason Young arrived, he talked with Parker, who was in the ambulance, according to the report. Young quoted Parker as saying that when he tried to turn across U.S. 49, he accidentally struck another car that was headed northbound.

The report doesn’t indicate whether anyone else was injured.

Young wrote that while conducting his investigation, the Simpson County Sheriff’s Department contacted him to let him know that Parker was a convicted felon.

According to the patrol report, the trooper searched Parker’s car and seized a Taurus .45-caliber handgun and Mossberg International .22-caliber rifle, which resembles an AR-15.

After Parker was released from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, he was charged with illegally carrying firearms.

In addition to his firearms charge, Parker was charged for driving with a suspended license. He has been released on bond from the Simpson County Jail.

In Tallulah, Louisiana, he faces multiple traffic and drug-related charges, including being a felon in possession of a firearm.

In 2024, six Rankin County officers were sentenced to prison for torturing Parker and Michael Jenkins and shooting Jenkins in the mouth. The pair settled their lawsuit against Rankin County for $2.5 million.

The Simpson County jail docket had no listing for an attorney for Parker, and he couldn’t be reached for comment Friday. In an interview last year, Parker told Mississippi Today that for more than a year he never left the house where he was tortured. He said he was scared to leave.

Parker has one felony conviction in Rankin County for failing to “stop vehicle pursuant to officer’s signal,” according to court records. In Alabama, he had a 2019 conviction for drug possession with intent to distribute. 

Jenkins has no felony convictions listed in Rankin County or neighboring Hinds County.

Update 5/22/26: This story has been updated to reflect efforts to reach Parker and identify his defense attorney.

Medgar Evers was assassinated 63 years ago, never realizing two dreams. 

One was to become a lawyer. The second was to run for Congress. The first dream became a reality, at least for Evers’ family, when Mississippi College School of Law posthumously awarded him an honorary law degree on May 15.

Law school dean John Anderson said the school is “humbled and honored that its name will now be forever linked with that of Medgar Wiley Evers through the awarding of this Honorary Doctor of Laws degree.”

The awarding of the honorary degree was part of the college’s celebration of its bicentennial and its law school’s 50th anniversary.

Evers, who fought in World War II, sought admission to the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1954, one of the first Black applicants.

When Mississippi’s Attorney General J. P. Coleman questioned where Evers would stay while attending the segregated university, he replied, “On the campus, sir. I’m very hygienic. I bathe every day, and I assure you this brown won’t rub off.”

The all-white institution rejected him because of his race. Evers consulted with the NAACP on whether to sue.

He had hopes. Six years earlier, Ada Lois Sipuel had won her landmark legal battle to attend the University of Oklahoma College of Law.

But the NAACP was so impressed with Evers that the organization hired him as its first full-time field secretary for Mississippi. From his start in December 1954, he put 40,000 miles on his Oldsmobile, helping revive NAACP branches, organize new ones and register Black Mississippians to vote.

In 1962, he helped James Meredith enroll as an undergraduate at the University of Mississippi, effectively breaking the color barrier he had faced eight years earlier.

On June 12, 1963, Evers was shot in the back in the driveway of his home in northwest Jackson. It took 31 years for his killer to be brought to justice.

Evers’ daughter, Reena Evers-Everette, said her father’s dream was to attend law school.

“That rejection fueled his passion to fight for desegregation in the South for the rest of his life,” she said. “This honor means so much to us as his family members and honors our father’s life and all that he advocated for in a powerful way.”

State Treasurer David McRae, who delivered the keynote address to graduates on May 15, said Evers’ “enduring legacy and dedication to fairness and equality are inspirations for all Mississippians, and this recognition is a meaningful step in honoring a man who continues to impact both our state and nation.”

Although Evers never got the chance to run for Congress, his brother, Charles, ran for Congress in 1968 because of his brother’s dream. He won more votes than anyone else in the Democratic primary but lost in the runoff.

Former dean of the MC law school, Patricia Bennett, said Medgar Evers’ “courage, intellect and strong moral compass encapsulate everything MC represents. Our hope is that this moment acknowledges his incredible legacy and his aspiration to pursue a legal education.”

In recent months, Mississippi made fewer errors when determining payment for its food assistance program, according to the most recent data from the Mississippi Department of Human Services. 

Mississippi will still owe the federal government at least $80 million to continue running the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, based on its latest data tracking error rates and changes to federal law. However, that amount could rise to $120 million if the state distributes too much – or too few – benefits to people enrolled in the program.

Under the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump last summer, the cost of food assistance benefits will shift from the federal government to states. A state’s payment is based on its error rate for the SNAP program. A payment error rate measures how accurately each state determines the number of SNAP dollars an eligible person receives.

Experts say the metric does not comprehensively measure the program’s success and that it wrongly incentivizes states to deny eligible people. Some experts warn states may be unable to afford to keep their programs running at all. 

“When in doubt, states could err on the side of just cutting or denying a household, because the fiscal penalty of approving and issuing benefits that are in the wrong amount far outweigh denying that household,” said Joseph Llobrera, senior director of research for the Food Assistance Policy team at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. 

A payment error rate includes when states pay too little or too much toward benefits, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but Llobrera said this rate does not include inaccurate denials.

While payment accuracy is important, Llobrera said the success of the SNAP program hinges on its ability to balance multiple priorities, including accessibility. Llobrera sees the federal law as shifting these priorities out of balance. 

“It has put all the emphasis on that payment accuracy measure and lowering those payment error rates, without any guards against making access worse for people who need that food assistance,” Llobrera said. 

Already, Mississippi is one of the nation’s hungriest states. Nearly one in five Mississippians are food insecure, according to data from Feeding America, a national network of food banks and related services. 

At what cost? 

In fiscal year 2024, the most recent publicly available data, Mississippi had an error rate of 10.69% – below the national average, but still putting the state on the hook for the maximum penalty. A state with an error rate over 10% will have to begin paying 15% of its SNAP program benefit costs, previously covered by the federal government. Twenty-one states with error rates over 10% are in that position. 

But Mississippi is now at 9.43% according to unpublished data from the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, said Mark Jones, director of communications at the Mississippi Department of Human Services. States will only be judged for fiscal year 2025 or 2026 – whichever is lower. If the downward shift continues, Mississippi will qualify for a lesser penalty of $80 million – though that amount will still be a huge hit to the state’s budget. 

The department has reduced errors by providing more training for staff who determine if people are eligible to receive SNAP and by reminding recipients about the importance of updating income changes to ensure their paperwork is accurate, Jones said. 

On May 13, during an interview with SuperTalk Mississippi, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves applauded the reduction. Reeves said it is proof that his decision to make Mississippi the only state in the nation to ban what’s called “simplified reporting” and shift to a more complicated system called “change reporting” has been successful in combatting fraud. 

A simplified reporting system allows recipients to wait until their six-month redetermination to report minor changes to their income, household size or address. A change reporting system requires recipients to report all changes within 10 days. 

“You should become ineligible the day you become ineligible,” Reeves said during the segment. “With simplified reporting, they only check eligibility –  it depends, but every six months, every nine months, every 12 months.”

But experts have said Mississippi’s error rate would be even lower if the state did not use a system that generates so much additional paperwork. This year, lawmakers tried to adopt a system to simplify reporting the way every other state has, but the measure ultimately failed. 

Fraud has been proven rare in the SNAP program, which has one of the most rigorous systems to determine eligibility and payment accuracy among safety net programs, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.  

What’s next?

Nationwide, fewer people have enrolled in SNAP since 2024. But that “troubling” trend of decline has been expedited since the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill took effect in July, according to Theresa Lau, senior policy counsel at the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

Between January and July of 2025, SNAP participation dropped by about 4% in Mississippi. But in the six months after the federal law took effect in July, that decline more than doubled to over 8%. 

There’s no way to tell if this is due to an increase in denials, Lau said. But she believes at least part of it can be attributed to the federal law. In addition to the penalty for error rates, it also expanded work requirements for older adults, which experts believe is causing eligible enrollees to get kicked off or not apply to the SNAP program. 

The federal changes place burdens on beneficiaries and states, Lau said. It will be difficult for states to shoulder the increased paperwork, while paying tens of millions of dollars more from their budgets each year, and still maintain access. For families, that will mean going without food. 

“You’re talking about a lot of kids and families having to pick between buying food or paying rent or going to the doctor,” Lau said. “It’s going to have a huge impact on those who are struggling to make ends meet.”

DEKALB — A Kemper County chancery judge on Tuesday allowed a petition to remove three members of the Porterville Water Association to move forward after nearly 100 customers signed on.

The rural water provider has come under fire from local residents and officials in recent months over what they describe as repeated service issues, namely extended outages, low pressure and poor water quality. Members of the association have largely pointed blame at the water association’s leadership.

“It’s been quite a challenge, the water pressure, the quality,” said Paul Howard, a member of the association who lives near Scooba. “It’s gotten exponentially worse in the last year.”

Howard and others pointed to poor-tasting and darkly colored water from their taps, as well as a lack of notices when water pressure gets low or goes out altogether.

“We’re in a situation where we need some federal help,” said David Bryan, another member.

The complaints include those from a couple in their 80s, Willie and Pauline Thompson, who said they haven’t had running water at their home for nearly a year.

Mose Fleming, a water customer and former board member from 2022 to last October, said he witnessed the association losing money during his time on the board, both from aging infrastructure and a lack of training for system operators. Fleming and Howard also pointed to the wide geographic coverage of the water system for a relatively small population.

While state records indicate Porterville Water Association serves over 2,000 people, attorneys on Tuesday said the association has about 950 members in good standing, meaning they were up to date on their water bills. Rural water associations are run by the members they serve and governed by an elected board.

State nonprofit law allows members to force board members out if enough people sign a petition. In this case, the petition needed 95 signatures, or 10% of the association’s membership. Members of the Pearl River Central Water Association underwent a similar process earlier this year. The state Legislature put a spotlight on issues facing rural water systems this past session, creating new measures of accountability to keep those utilities on top of their finances.

Sixth District Chancery Court Judge Doug Crosby called Tuesday’s hearing to discuss a temporary restraining order he had ordered preventing the association’s members from holding a special meeting. The utility’s attorney, Dustin Markham, objected to a previous petition started by members because it included signatures from people who he said “didn’t fully understand what they were signing.”

After Markham and Mark Baker, the attorney representing the petitioning members, tracked down the needed 95 signatures from attendees at the hearing and elsewhere, Crosby ordered Markham to present the petition to the utility’s seven-member board at its next monthly meeting on Monday. After that, the board will have to set a special meeting within 21 days to discuss replacing the three board members, which include board president Cervera Davis.

The Porterville Water Association directed any questions about the system to Markham. The utility’s attorney told Mississippi Today after the hearing he was “glad we came to some resolution so that we can protect the integrity” of the Porterville Water Association. Markham acknowledged some of the association’s struggles, while also pushing back on some complaints, including by the Thompsons.

“ Porterville Water faces the same challenges as other rural water associations,” he said. “ They attempt to do what they can with what they have, and they are limited as far as their resources like any other rural water association.”

Markham said the utility twice unsuccessfully applied for funding through the American Rescue Plan Act, which sent money to upgrade water infrastructure throughout Mississippi. With aging water lines, it’s inevitable that the water association will have to soon raise rates.

“ Whether or not you remove members from the board is not gonna change the challenges that they face with funding, with the ability to hire qualified workers, and it’s not gonna stave off the possibility of increased water rates,” he said, explaining that the system’s challenges were 50 to 60 years in the making.

Estimates he received from the Mississippi Rural Water Association suggest the system needs about $25 million in support to fix its main issues, Markham said, adding that such funding would require a mix of state and federal support.

The attorney repeated that Porterville Water Association’s issues are similar to those facing other rural systems.

“ If you talk to anyone in rural water, Porterville is not the only entity that’s having the issues,” Markham said. “Everyone around us is facing the same issues as well. It’s just not broadcast because they have a few less disgruntled members.”

Mississippi Today previously reported on the Thompsons’ complaint about their ongoing water outage, a story that other local outlets have also reported on. Markham, though, disagreed with the couple’s description, saying the Thompsons signed an agreement when they moved into the home accepting lower water pressure.

Since the couple raised alarms about their last year of service, the utility has since contacted an engineering firm to improve the Thompsons’ pressure, Markham said. From the water association’s perspective, nothing has changed in its service to the Thompsons over the last year, he said.

While acknowledging the agreement, Pauline Thompson disagreed with Markham’s description. When they moved into the house about 20 years ago, she said the couple had to pay to build a new line connecting to the system and sign an exception allowing them to receive lower pressure. But the water was still usable, Thompson said, and it wasn’t until three years ago they started seeing extended outages. Then since May of last year, the water has stopped coming out of the tap altogether, she said.

Markham said the Porterville Water Association has worked closely with the Mississippi State Department of Health, which oversees the state’s drinking water systems.

When contacted by Mississippi Today, MSDH spokesperson Andrea Dilworth gave the following statement: “We will be pursuing the appropriate action with the association to resolve this specific matter regarding the couple and the other deficiencies that the water supply team has found. This might be one (for) the next hearings for the Bureau if they fail to supply sufficient details of action.”

Dilworth declined to provide any details about the utility’s “deficiencies.” Mississippi Today requested a copy of the agreement between the Thompsons and the water system from MSDH and is waiting to hear back.

All six members of Mississippi’s congressional delegation signed a letter urging President Donald Trump to approve a major disaster declaration to assist recovery from tornadoes and severe weather that struck the state on May 6 and 7. Gov. Tate Reeves sent the declaration request on Tuesday.

The request seeks individual and public assistance for Franklin, Lamar, Lawrence, Lincoln and Wilkinson counties. The storms, which included at least seven tornadoes, damaged 425 homes and injured 26 people. Of those homes, 88 were destroyed and 112 received major damage.

“Several of the tornadoes caused catastrophic damage, including an EF3 tornado that, at times, exceeded a mile in width and remained on the ground for nearly 70 miles,” said the letter sent on Wednesday from U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, and U.S. Reps. Bennie Thompson, Trent Kelly, Michael Guest and Mike Ezell. “Communities across the impacted region continue to face significant recovery challenges in the aftermath of these storms.”

In addition to the tornadoes, the storm event included straight-line winds, hail and flash flooding, the governor’s request said.

This marks the second such request Mississippi has sent the federal government in 2026. To aid recovery from Winter Storm Fern in January, the Trump administration approved the state’s request for public assistance in February and for individual assistance in April.

“The magnitude of the destruction has placed extraordinary strain on state and local resources, and the capabilities of volunteer and charitable organizations alone will not be sufficient to meet the long-term recovery needs of affected communities,” the letter added.

A federal judge on Thursday agreed to dismiss a lawsuit that claimed billionaire Tommy Duff, his brother and their companies improperly obtained over $6.7 million in federal pandemic loans.

The billionaire brothers are the two wealthiest people in Mississippi, and Tommy Duff is a potential candidate for governor. They were being sued by California-based attorneys on behalf of the federal government based on allegations about the Paycheck Protection Program loans.

The attorneys filed legal paperwork on Wednesday to voluntarily dismiss their lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Kristi H. Johnson agreed to the dismissal on Thursday morning. The lawsuit’s withdrawal came just over two months after attorneys for the Duffs successfully had the case transferred from a California federal court to a Mississippi federal court.

In a statement, Matt Miller, an attorney for the Duffs, celebrated the dismissal as a “complete and total victory for the Duff brothers” in a lawsuit he said was “recklessly” filed by attorneys looking to cash in on a settlement.

“From the beginning of this baseless case, we have stated that the facts show that the Duffs, under the guidance of competent accounting and legal professionals, always followed the law in obtaining PPP loans during the COVID-19 pandemic to help protect their employees,” Miller said. “The Duffs remained focused throughout COVID on supporting their 16,000 employees, many of whom were kept employed, even when many Duff businesses were forced to cut back. Tommy and Jim Duff have always, and will always, continue to do what’s in the best interest of the people here in Mississippi who are part of their family of businesses.”

The plaintiff in the case is Relator LLC, a group formed, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, by California attorneys Anoush Hakimi and Peter Shahriari. The notice of voluntary dismissal filed by attorney Kristen Nelson, who is representing the California attorneys, cited the federal government’s decision to avoid litigating the case itself, and said the factual claims in the lawsuit had not been a factor in the dismissal.

“The dismissal is not the result of any settlement or payment, and no party has paid or agreed to pay any consideration in connection with the dismissal,” Nelson wrote. “No claims have been adjudicated on the merits, and Relator has elected to dismiss its claims without further amendment.”

Nelson did not immediately respond to a request for more information on her client’s decision to withdraw the lawsuit. Reached by phone, Grafton Eric Bragg, a Mississippi-based attorney who had been working with Nelson as local counsel, said he was not authorized to comment on the case.

The lawsuit, which was filed under seal in the U.S. Northern District of California in 2024, claimed the brothers took advantage of a program designed to help small businesses cope with the pandemic. Attorneys for Duff sharply contested the claims, arguing the lawsuit relied on “inflammatory rhetoric” instead of facts.

The suit was filed under the federal False Claims Act and alleged the Duffs and their companies falsely claimed eligibility for the loans. The suit was brought by a “relator,” a legal term for a private entity suing as a whistleblower on behalf of the government to recover money.

The Justice Department investigated the allegations in the complaint and in June of 2025, federal prosecutors declined to intervene. But the federal prosecutors allowed the private attorneys to file the lawsuit on behalf of the U.S. government.

After the California attorneys asked to withdraw the lawsuit on Wednesday, Baxter Kruger, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, said acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche consented to the dismissal of the lawsuit “based on its determination that such a dismissal is commensurate with the public interest and that the matter does not warrant the continued expenditure of government resources” to pursue the case.

Kruger, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2025, also requested that all sealed documents in the case remain under seal, and Johnson agreed.

Before reversing course, the attorneys who filed the case had argued in legal filings that the Duffs “falsified loan documents” to the Small Business Administration in order to obtain taxpayer-funded payments through the PPP. Congress created the program in March of 2020 to keep businesses afloat as the global economy shuddered to a halt at the outset of the pandemic.

The Duffs applied for loans under the program, and some of their businesses received a total of over $6.7 million, according to court records. The plaintiffs said the Duffs should never have received the loans because they had access to substantial money through their multi-billion-dollar conglomerate. The Duffs then “doubled down on their misappropriation by seeking loan forgiveness” for a program they were never eligible for in the first place, the attorneys argued.

In subsequent court filings, the Duffs’ legal team rejected all the allegations and said their clients obtained the loans lawfully for the purpose of keeping “hard-working people employed and paid.” A memo outlining the Duffs’ motion to dismiss filed last week said the Duffs complied with all requirements laid out by the federal government for companies and franchisees applying for PPP loans.

The Duffs’ legal team has also pointed out that the California attorneys have filed similar lawsuits against others, some of which have also been dismissed. They argue the lawsuit is the product of trial lawyers looking to cash in on confusion surrounding pandemic-era government programs.

Court records show the Duffs and the plaintiff lawyers have agreed to pay for their own attorneys’ fees in the case. In his statement, Miller said the Duffs continue to “evaluate all available legal remedies” against the plaintiff due to “the incredibly frivolous nature and outrageous false allegations set forth in the lawsuit.”

Tommy Duff, 69, and Jim Duff have built a multi-billion-dollar business empire that started as a small tire shop. Thomas Duff has been a political power broker in Mississippi and a philanthropist. He served an eight-year stint on the board of the state Institutions of Higher Learning, first appointed by then-Gov. Phil Bryant, and has been a major contributor to many Republican campaigns in Mississippi.

Tommy Duff has said he is considering running for governor in 2027, but has not announced a decision.

Clarke County Sheriff Anthony Chancelor reinstated two of his deputies days after he said they were part of “an attempted internal coup” when they joined others in leaving the force and expressing concerns with how the department is run and the sheriff’s priorities. 

The two full-time deputies who are now back in service are Sgt. Kenneth Holifield and Deputy Peyton Kennedy, Chancelor said Wednesday evening in a statement shared with local media. 

On Monday, the sheriff said Holifield, Kennedy, Sgt. Andy Lafferty, Sgt. Steve Whitaker, Deputy Ellis Ray Dogget and Don Moore had resigned. 

Those who have not been reinstated held full- and part-time positions.  

Five of the six deputies who initially left signed an open letter saying they would resign from the sheriff’s office due to pressing issues, which they did not elaborate. 

“We are concerned about issues that we don’t have any control over,” they wrote. “We all share the concern of where our priorities of the administration lies. The integrity of us five deputies are being questioned by our community that we are sworn to uphold and protect.”

Whitaker’s resignation letter made allegations of on- and off-duty misconduct by the sheriff and raised issues with how administrative staff work. 

During a Monday Clarke County Board of Supervisors meeting, Chancelor was answering questions from the board when Whitaker interrupted to say he was resigning.  

“Everybody knows why,” Whitaker said before he eventually left the room. 

Chancelor could not be reached for further comment, and efforts to reach the deputies involved were not successful.

Almost half of Mississippi’s 138 school districts have not submitted at least one year of financial audits, leaving their finances murky. 

As of Tuesday, 61 districts have not submitted the audits for fiscal year 2025, which ended June 30, according to records requested by Mississippi Today from the Mississippi Department of Education. Additionally, 29 of those districts are also missing financial audits for fiscal 2024, and 13 are also missing them for fiscal 2023 — risking an immediate accreditation downgrade. 

Districts on probation must  develop plans to come into compliance. Eventually, districts may have their accreditation withdrawn, which comes with sanctions, including limiting extracurricular activities. 

Okolona Municipal Separate School District  hasn’t turned in audits for the past four years. 

Okolona school leaders reached out to the state education agency last year because they could not make the following month’s payroll. The state Board of Education voted to take over the district in November.

The interim superintendent, Chad Spence, would not comment on how Okolona is working to get up to date on audits, but agency spokesperson Jean Cook said the Education Department is working with Okolona to secure a contract with an external auditing firm to complete the outstanding audits. 

Following the Okolona takeover, state leaders have ramped up accountability for delinquent districts. In January, the board changed a rule that would put school districts with two or more outstanding audits on probation or downgrade their accreditation. Before the rule change, districts could have missed filing four consecutive annual audits before potentially losing accreditation.  

Schools have been turning in their audits since the agency tightened its rules and upped the consequences — districts missing audits for fiscal years 2024 and 2023 have fallen from 47 in December to 32 in March and to 29 in May, according to state officials.

Even so, Paula Vanderford, the agency’s chief accountability officer, said the issue of missing financial audits remains a top concern for the state Education Department. 

“I would consider this very serious,” she said. “We have to be concerned about whether we can be faced with another Okolona and be caught by surprise.”

State leaders dip into a specially allocated emergency fund when they take over a district, but that pot of money is limited. State Superintendent Lance Evans has said the agency already spent $1.5 million since taking over Okolona, meaning $4.8 million remains for future district takeovers. 

If that money runs out, the agency would need to “have a conversation with the Legislature,” Vanderford said.

“That doesn’t give us the ability to walk away from a district in need,” she said. 

READ MORE: ‘We don’t want any more Okolonas.’ State officials say their crackdown on schools with missing audits is working

Federal law requires public school districts to submit annual audits. Missing audits can mask urgent financial problems at school districts, which leaders have warned could lead to more emergencies and sudden takeovers. 

District leaders must submit audits to the Office of the State Auditor for review before they can be submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse. The education agency monitors district compliance with the audit deadline. 

Because of the audit backlog, the Office of the State Auditor is prioritizing the review of fiscal 2025 audits, Cook said.

Still, although a number of districts submitted their fiscal 2025 audits to the state auditor’s office in March, the office didn’t clear those audits for release before the March 31 federal deadline. 

That’s because a four-person team reviews school district audits and is managing over 40 school, county and community college audits, said Jacob Walters, spokesperson for the Office of the State Auditor. 

The team had warned schools’ audit firms to submit the reports by Dec. 31 to get approved by March 31. Many districts submitted audits within the last few days of March, making it impossible for the team to review them in time, Walters said.  

Another reason for the delay was that the federal Office of Management and Budget issued compliance requirements for those audits in November. Audit firms held the reports until then to ensure compliance with the standards, Walters said. 

The office staff are prioritizing the audits, he said. State Auditor Shad White has approved hiring an additional employee to address the school audit backlog.

State education leaders have said the factors driving missing audits include school administrative turnover, too few district business managers, auditor staffing shortages and the burdensome federal funding portion of the audits. 

Some districts are having problems finding accounting firms that have the capacity or ability to complete these audits. 

The education agency is struggling to keep up, too. Because of limited capacity, the department can’t sanction every district, Vanderford said. Districts found out of compliance must have due process and show-cause hearings, depending on whether they risk being put on probation or having their accreditation withdrawn.

“We’re going to have to triage these districts,” Vanderford said. “While they’re all at risk, we don’t have the capacity to inform a dozen districts at one time they have to have a hearing.”

The Family Dollar store at the busy intersection of Cooper and Terry roads will be closing its doors by the end of May, further limiting options for people to buy groceries, school supplies and cleaning items in south and west Jackson. 

The store’s closure was announced internally to employees toward the end of March. Signs went up shortly after, informing people of the store’s closing sale. Items have been discounted up to 70% this month to eliminate remaining inventory. 

Bobby “Bulldog” Rhymes lives a few blocks from Family Dollar and shops at the store several times a month. He said he wasn’t aware of the closure until he approached the store and saw the going-out-of-business signs that cluttered the windows.

Rhymes said he often has to go to the Cash Saver in west Jackson to get groceries because of the lack of stores in his neighborhood. 

“They’re leaving us without local service. Without being able to go get what you want,” Rhymes said. “Instead of 15 minutes, you’re talking 40 or an hour.”

Mississippi Today reached out to Family Dollar Corporate along with the district manager of the Terry Road location for comment about the closure. Neither responded before publication. The chain will have 10 stores remaining in south Jackson after the closure.

Acire McDonald serves as the assistant store manager. A transfer from another Family Dollar store in Brandon, McDonald has been working overtime at the Terry Road location. A manager asked her to help fill in as the store’s employees quit or were fired. 

“No context, not telling us if the old employees are going to be able to go to another store or anything like that,” McDonald said. “So we just filling in from other stores.” 

Mississippi Today spoke with two other employees, who both went through similar experiences.

When asked about the recent closures, Jackson Ward 6 City Council Member Lashia Brown-Thomas said a Roses discount store will soon be opening near the Family Dollar that is closing. She urged residents to remain patient while the council works to “bring south Jackson back together.”

Ward 7 Council Member Kevin Parkinson said he and Thomas had met with several groups who were planning projects in the area but could not provide information about them.

The closure of the nearly decade-old store is just one of many across Jackson in recent years. The continuous closures have primarily affected south Jackson. The most recent closure in the area was the Food Depot at the intersection of West McDowell and Terry Road. The grocery store closed in December, creating an even bigger problem for food access in south Jackson. 

A resident of Willowood for 28 years, Lula Green is one of the many residents affected by the scarcity of stores.

“Its very difficult, because we don’t have anything around in this area,” Green said. “Now everything is moving out of the area, and we have to go way out in order to get something.”

Green told Mississippi Today that when she can’t get groceries at the local Cash Saver, she has to travel nearly 7 miles to the Kroger on I-55 in northeast Jackson to get what she needs. She goes to Walgreens in Clinton to buy her medication. Green says it is more convenient than the local Walmart, despite the nearly 6-mile difference.

Mississippi is one of the top states in the nation for food insecurity. Nearly 1 in 5 people faced food insecurity in 2023 in Hinds County, where Jackson is located.  

The area has limited grocery options aside from a traditional store. Residents Dewaskii Davis, Jina Daniels and Matt Casteel have a network of gardens across the Jackson area. Additionally, other options – such as the Mississippi Farmers Market in Jackson – are helping residents find food for lower prices.

Astel Ellis has worked at the farmers’ market for 11 years. 

“The vendors we are getting our food from, they’re consolidating in a way that makes running a small grocery store unsustainable each year,” Ellis said. “Local communities that can come together and make food will be a more and more important resource in the future.”

Scott Crawford, a disability rights activist who lives in the Fondren area of north Jackson, said while he has the privilege of living near a grocery store, he’s concerned for people who don’t.

“It’s absolutely vital that they have a grocery store much closer to them, because they don’t have a car and can’t just load groceries into a trunk,” Crawford said. “It is way more difficult than most people understand.”