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Most Mississippi public universities saw an increase in student enrollment for the fall semester compared to last year, according to an annual data report the Institutions of Higher Learning board released Monday. For regional institutions like Delta State University and Mississippi University for Women, that growth means victory. 

Overall, the state’s public institutions saw a 2.7% increase in enrollment with more than 81,961 students on campuses this fall compared to 79,817 students enrolled last year. 

The W, located in Columbus, had the largest enrollment increase of the eight public universities: 8.1% or 2,371 students. That’s the university’s largest enrollment growth in over a decade. 

“We had increases in both new students and in continuing students, so recruitment and retention strategies are having a positive impact,” Nora Miller, president of The W, said in a press release. 

Delta State, another regional institution located in Cleveland, enrolled 2,791 students this fall — a 5.2% increase from 2024. The university also had its highest freshman enrollment growth since the pandemic: a 38% increase from fall 2024. 

“This milestone reflects the exceptional value of a Delta State education, the dedication of our faculty and staff, and the growing confidence families place in our mission to transform lives through innovative, student-centered learning,” Delta State President Dan Ennis, said in a press release. 

Delta State also enrolled 18% more transfer students this year than in 2024, and has 33% more first-time graduates, according to the university. 

For Delta State, that growth occurred after years of  declining enrollment. 

Last year, the university cut $3 million from its budget, which included more than a dozen faculty layoffs and reductions to 21 academic programs. This year, as Delta State celebrates its centennial, administrators said they are focusing on increasing enrollment through intentional recruitment and admissions marketing.

“That kind of momentum signals that more students and families are seeing the value of a Delta State education and the opportunities it provides,” university officials said in a statement to Mississippi Today. 

Two of the state’s flagship institutions, University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University, saw another year of record-breaking student enrollment. Ole Miss had the largest number of students this fall: 25,222. Mississippi State’s enrollment grew by more than 400 students this semester, totaling 23,563. 

The state’s third largest public institution, the University of Southern Mississippi, enrolled 13,191 students, only 0.2% more than last year. 

For the state’s historically Black universities, Mississippi Valley State University had the highest increase in student enrollment, 3.2%, or 2,276 students. Jackson State’s enrollment by 2.2% this fall, totaling 6,464. 

Alcorn State University, an HBCU near Lorman, was the only state institution that saw a slight decline in enrollment, falling to 2,900 students this fall from 3,000 in 2024. 

Edward Rice, vice president of student affairs and enrollment management, said the university plans to do an audit to assess enrollment over the last five years. The goal is to develop data strategies to improve student retention and assess admissions applicants. 

Rice expressed disappointment in the enrollment decline but said the university’s enrollment team hopes to expand Alcorn’s footprint with a new outreach campaign to target prospective students in neighboring states. 

“As we look ahead to the upcoming freshman class, our focus will be strategic and centered on student support and success as well as enhancing our onboarding process to better support incoming students,” Rice said.

President Donald Trump’s nominees for federal judgeships and U.S. attorneys in Mississippi appear to have stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

The committee has yet to vote on Robert Chamberlin and James Maxwell, both nominated by Trump in August to fill open federal judge positions in Mississippi’s Northern District. Both are current justices on the Mississippi Supreme Court. 

The committee also has not taken up Trump’s nominations in early July of Scott Leary and Baxter Kruger, his choices for U.S. attorney for the Northern and Southern districts of Mississippi, respectively. Leary declined to comment. None of the other three nominees responded to a request for comment. 

The committee must vote to advance the nominees before the full U.S. Senate can consider them. The committee has met several times, including on Thursday, and has not voted on the nominees. 

The committee cancelled its Oct. 23 executive business meeting entirely when the four men were the only nominees the committee was to consider that day.

A spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley told Mississippi Today that the delay in advancing the Mississippi nominees out of committee is unrelated to the nominees themselves. 

“They’re caught up in a dispute between on-committee and off-committee senators,” the spokesperson said. “The chairman will plan to advance them when the issue is resolved.”

Most judicial nominees receive committee votes within a couple of weeks of their confirmation hearings, depending on the Senate schedule. The delays involving the Mississippi nominees are unusual because the committee has repeatedly delayed voting on them without explanation. 

Both of Mississippi’s U.S. senators, Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, support the nominees’ confirmation and spoke in support of them at the confirmation hearing. Neither of them responded to a request for comment, and neither serves on the Judiciary Committee.

Sarah Tramel loves libraries. She visits them regularly, takes her daughter to storytimes and listens to audiobooks on Hoopla, an app that provides free access to ebooks, audiobooks, movies and other library material.

“Having a young toddler, it’s nice to be able to listen to audiobooks while you’re driving in the car, doing stuff like that,” said Tramel, 30, who works at Greater Belhaven Foundation in Jackson.

Back in April, a halt to federal funding caused many libraries to temporarily suspend or limit access to Hoopla. Though Tramel did not lose access, she said losing the app means she wouldn’t be able to read as much.

“It would make me very sad,” she said.

The Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services caused the funding pause. The institute provides federal funding to museums and libraries across the country and is the largest source of federal funding for America’s libraries.

Funding was restored months ago, and federal courts blocked the administration’s efforts. But the federal government shutdown means that the agency’s future is still at risk.

“Sometimes you don’t know what you had until it’s gone,” said Jennifer Lena, deputy executive director of the Mississippi Library Commission. “And I don’t think a lot of people realize how many people don’t have access to the internet at home, especially in rural areas. I don’t think they understand how many people go to their libraries for support, for job searches, again to check out materials for those who can’t afford them.”

If the Institute of Museum and Library Services shuts down, libraries and their users in Mississippi would lose important services. 

The Mississippi Library Commission distributes some of the money from the institute as subgrants. It uses the rest to help pay for many of the services libraries and their users rely on.

During the 2025 budget year, the Mississippi Library Commission received $2.1 million from the institute through the Grants to States program. 

Without the federal infusion of funds, library users could lose free access to Hoopla, Talking Book Services, summer reading programs and more. Libraries could lose important resources such as consultants, training and professional development for library staff and technology support.

“Most of the cases … for them (libraries) to try to independently get those services, they would be significantly higher in cost,” Lena said. “So for many of them, the ability to get them back would just really not be there.”

If federal funding sharply decreases or goes away altogether, the commission would have to evaluate its services and decide what it can and can’t keep, based on what would have the most impact.

Mississippi’s libraries receive funding from state and local governments, as well as the federal government. Total funding for each library and library system varies, but small, rural libraries would be hit the hardest by potential cuts.

Patty M. Bailey, director of the Yalobusha County Public Library System, explained that the federal grant is “vital” to her library.

“In small, rural communities like those we serve, the library serves as a community center, a gathering spot for all ages,” she said.

It’s also a place where residents can access computers and the internet.

Emmaline Smith, 41, is a board member of JXN Friends of the Library. She said she and her family often use Hoopla and a similar app called Libby.

“Even if you don’t use the services yourself, there’s a lot of people in our community that really rely on them and need them,” Smith said.

Alivia Beckham, 18, has been going to Quisenberry Library in Clinton since she was in eighth grade. A student at Hinds Community College, she often uses the library to do schoolwork or meet with study groups. 

“I love the library. I come here a lot. It’s my favorite thing to do, is just sit down and read for hours,” Beckham said. She also uses the digital archives for schoolwork, one of the services Lena cited as being at risk if federal funding goes away.

Zarah Drake, 30, lives in Jackson. He used to frequent the Eudora Welty Library downtown. When it shut down, he tried one other branch before finding his favorite, Quisenberry.

He’s been going to libraries for years, though he doesn’t get to visit the library as often because of work. He said he likes to read books and use the WiFi on his laptop.

“I think that libraries, they give us access to a wealth, a treasure trove of knowledge and information that we can utilize and apply in our everyday lives,” Drake said.

Caitlin Sewell, 29, who works as a protective blast engineer,said she uses the online catalog to reserve books and pick them up.

“There’s just so many books that you have access to,” she said. “I mean, I don’t want to have to pay for a book every single time I want to read a book.”

According to Jeanne Williams, executive director of the Jackson/Hinds system, losing support services from the commission would be “the most critical loss.”

The Jackson/Hinds system is working on a five-year revitalization effort. Williams said that without the commission’s support, the system would potentially have to spend money that could’ve gone toward revitalization on replacing the technology support services and consultants. It also would lose access to free training and support for staff and would have to reduce its ebook catalog.

“If Mississippians care about literacy, workforce development, economic health, access to technology and the internet and safe spaces for learning and community connection, then they should care deeply about libraries,” Williams said.

What would happen if every mother in Mississippi – or in Mississippi’s neediest counties – received no-questions-asked cash assistance during pregnancy and months after a baby is born? Lawmakers pondered these questions at the state Capitol Thursday. 

The conversation focused on a program called Rx Kids, that started in Flint, Michigan, and is branded as a “prescription to poverty.” Dr. Mona Hanna, the program’s founder, presented her initiative to Mississippi lawmakers in House and Senate Public Health committees as a way to combat infant mortality. Nationwide, infants die at a higher rate in Mississippi than any other state. 

Mississippi doctors offered context during the hearing on rising infant deaths. In August, the state health department declared a public health emergency, and this week, doctors urged lawmakers to think creatively in how they choose to address the crisis. 

“Every hour that goes by, every day that goes by when a baby is born without the resources they need is a failure on all of us – we can do better,” Hanna said. “We don’t have to be OK with babies dying because of deprivation. This is not a genius idea, it’s not a new idea, it’s not a radical idea – this is just common sense.”

Rx Kids gives $1,500 to moms during pregnancy and $500 a month for six to 12 months after birth. This program only applies to mothers in the perinatal window in select communities, unlike a universal basic income, which would be available to everyone in theory. However, it is similarly unconditional – requiring no proof of income or employment and making no stipulations about how the money is spent. In Michigan, the program has given over $17 million to nearly 4,000 families in 11 communities to date – and the preliminary data bodes well.

Rx Kids is administered by GiveDirectly, a global cash assistance program funded by a number of private foundations and government institutions. At one point, this list included the U.S. Agency for International Development. 

Senate Public Health Committee Chairman Hob Bryan, a Democrat from Amory, said the program showed “great promise,” and House Public Health Committee Chairman Sam Creekmore, a Republican from New Albany, said he intends to “float the idea out to the Legislature.”

“My initial thoughts are that it’s great,” Creekmore said. “It comes down to can we afford it, or can we not afford it – but we can’t ignore it. It’s proven, successful and something I wanted to bring to the table today.”

Cash assistance programs similar to what Hanna described have demonstrated usefulness and public appeal. During the pandemic, the nation briefly had a cash assistance program for parents through the expanded child tax credit. The program helped reduce childhood poverty to a record low of 5%. After members of Congress failed to extend the program, childhood poverty has surged to a new high of 12%. Had Congress voted to continue the program in 2022, an analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found 3 million children could have been kept from poverty.

The U.S. is exceptional among wealthy nations for its high rate of childhood poverty. Evidence shows that when children endure poverty, they also are at greater risk of experiencing emotional dysregulation, obesity and malnutrition. These conditions are significant contributing factors to developing chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. In Mississippi, one of the poorest states in the nation, nearly 1 in 4 children live in poverty. 

Around childbirth, expenses increase while income decreases for parents, making it a uniquely difficult time. The United States offers no national paid parental leave policies but produces the highest costs in child care globally, according to the World Economic Forum. 

The program Rx Kids has helped alleviate some of those crushing costs for young families in Michigan. The number of infants staying in the neonatal intensive care unit, as well as those born underweight, dropped by more than a quarter, while preterm birth dropped by 18%, according to a study conducted on the program in Flint. In addition, evictions fell by 91%, and postpartum depression and nutritional access improved by 14%. 

Mississippi doctors are encouraged by these data and how a program like what Hanna has launched could boost quality of life for young patients and caregivers. Dr. Patricia Tibbs, a Laurel pediatrician and president of the Mississippi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said she is sold on the program, calling the premise and the results so far “amazing.” 

“It seems like it shouldn’t work, but it works,” Tibbs told Mississippi Today. “There’s something that happens when a child is not born into absolute poverty, when that first year or two years of that child’s life is stress-free. It makes a huge difference in this child’s trajectory in the future.”

Given her understanding of child development and psychology, Tibbs believes even a temporary alleviation of poverty is worth it, because of the dramatic long-term effects that it can have on health and wellbeing. 

“The security of a check for a few months is enough to make you realize the possibilities,” Tibbs said.

Dr. Anita Henderson, a pediatrician in Hattiesburg and former president of the Mississippi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said this program would help many of the patients she sees. 

“Transportation is an issue, child care is an issue, missing half a day at work is financially not feasible for many of my families,” Henderson said. 

During the hearing, Rep. Dan Eubanks, a Republican from Walls, raised concerns about the “lack of accountability” in the program. 

“If we’re trying to incentivize better behaviors, but we’re just giving them money, how does that incentivize them to correct some of the underlying causes of infant mortality?” Eubanks asked. 

Hanna said research shows the program led to an 11% decrease in smoking in the third trimester – something she attributes in part to a reduction in stress. 

“We didn’t create a complicated program to tell people to stop smoking – but people are on their own,” Hanna said. “Because moms by and large know what they need to do. They know what’s important, everybody loves their babies, and they want healthy babies. If you just give them a little bit of an economic cushion during this window, we see all these improvements.”

In Michigan, the absence of bureaucratic and systemic barriers allowed the program to garner bipartisan support. Michigan Sen. John Damoose, a Republican who represents a rural swathe of northern Michigan, recalled going from a skeptic to a champion of the program. 

“My immediate first thought was, ‘I’m a Republican – we don’t support giving away free money,’” Damoose told Mississippi Today. “But, as a pro-life Republican, I did wonder whether this program might give some young mothers the courage they need to choose life, so I decided to dig a little deeper. What I found was a brilliantly crafted initiative that was totally efficient and through its simplicity, addressed some of the most critical needs facing young families and children throughout our society.”

Damoose said he found the economics of the program compelling, since it “avoids the massive costs of bureaucracy.”

The program has almost no overhead. Once the money is allocated, there is very little that states have to do to administer it. Hanna estimated a pilot program in two Mississippi counties would likely require two staff members on the ground. 

“We are not hiring offices of people to figure out who’s in, who’s out, who’s deserving, who’s not deserving,” Hanna explained. “Plus, everybody needs help during this window. That’s why this program is more focused on poor places, rather than poor people.”

In Michigan, the program is made possible through a combination of state funds, federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds, and philanthropic funds. 

Mark Jones, director of communications at the Mississippi Department of Human Services – which oversees the TANF program – said they have not allocated any money toward the program and won’t know whether they have the funding to do so until early 2026. 

“We have been approached by those who have operated the program in other states and are always open to hearing solutions that would benefit Mississippians,” Jones said. 

A private foundation called The Families and Workers Fund, headquartered in New York, has already pledged $2 million to implement the program in Mississippi – contingent on the state putting up funds, Hanna said. The state’s funds don’t have to be TANF funds, and they don’t have to be a direct match – it could be less than $1 million. 

“About $2.5 million is needed to start a pilot program, and we have $2 million,” Hanna said. 

The use of philanthropic funds means the assistance counts as a gift, rather than income. That saves people from falling off “the benefits cliff,” a phenomenon where needy families who see a small increase in income get kicked off of social safety net programs, such as Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

This kind of direct investment in families influences outcomes beyond poverty or infant mortality, Hanna said. It bolsters community and strengthens public trust in government. 

“As much as we are eliminating poverty and improving health, we are sending a message,” Hanna said. “This is all very much about shifting the narrative about how we can care for each other. We are literally telling people: ‘We love you, we are investing in you, and we cannot wait to see what you become.’”

A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration Thursday to find the money to fully fund SNAP benefits for November.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. gave President Donald Trump’s administration until Friday to make the payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, though it’s unlikely the 42 million Americans — about 1 in 8, most of them in poverty — will see the money on the debit cards they use for groceries nearly that quickly.

The order was in response to a challenge from cities and nonprofits complaining that the administration was only offering to cover 65% of the maximum benefit, a decision that would have left some recipients getting nothing for this month.

“The defendants failed to consider the practical consequences associated with this decision to only partially fund SNAP,” McConnell said in a ruling from the bench after a brief hearing. “They knew that there would be a long delay in paying partial SNAP payments and failed to consider the harms individuals who rely on those benefits would suffer.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

McConnell was one of two judges who ruled last week that the administration could not skip November’s benefits entirely because of the federal shutdown.

The Trump administration chose partial payments this week

Last month, the administration said that it would halt SNAP payments for November if the government shutdown wasn’t resolved.

A coalition of cities and nonprofits sued in federal court in Rhode Island and Democratic state officials from across the country did so in Massachusetts.

The judges in both cases ordered the government to use one emergency reserve fund containing more than $4.6 billion to pay for SNAP for November but gave it leeway to tap other money to make the full payments, which cost between $8.5 billion and $9 billion each month.

On Monday, the administration said it would not use additional money, saying it was up to Congress to appropriate the funds for the program and that the other money was needed to shore up other child hunger programs.

The partial funding brought on complications

McConnell harshly criticized the Trump administration for making that choice.

“Without SNAP funding for the month of November, 16 million children are immediately at risk of going hungry,” he said. “This should never happen in America. In fact, it’s likely that SNAP recipients are hungry as we sit here.”

Tyler Becker, the attorney for the government, unsuccessfully argued that the Trump administration had followed the court’s order in issuing the partial payments. “This all comes down to Congress not having appropriated funds because of the government shutdown,” he said.

Kristin Bateman, a lawyer for the coalition of cities and nonprofit organizations, told the judge the administration had other reasons for not fully funding the benefits.

“What defendants are really trying to do is to leverage people’s hunger to gain partisan political advantage in the shutdown fight,” Bateman told the court.

McConnell said last week’s order required that those payments be made “expeditiously” and “efficiently” — and by Wednesday — or a full payment would be required. “Nothing was done consistent with the court’s order to clear the way to expeditiously resolve it,” McConnell said.

There were other twists and turns this week

The administration said in a court filing on Monday that it could take weeks or even months for some states to make calculations and system changes to load the debit cards used in the SNAP program. At the time, it said it would fund 50% of the maximum benefits.

The next day, Trump appeared to threaten not to pay the benefits at all unless Democrats in Congress agreed to reopen the government. His press secretary later said that the partial benefits were being paid for November — and that it is future payments that are at risk if the shutdown continues.

And Wednesday night, it recalculated, telling states that there was enough money to pay for 65% of the maximum benefits.

Under a decades-old formula in federal regulations, everyone who received less than the maximum benefit would get a larger percentage reduction. Some families would have received nothing and some single people and two-person households could have gotten as little as $16.

Carmel Scaife, a former day care owner in Milwaukee who hasn’t been able to work since receiving multiple severe injuries in a car accident seven years ago, said she normally receives $130 a month from SNAP. She said that despite bargain hunting, that is not nearly enough for a month’s worth of groceries.

Scaife, 56, said that any cuts to her benefit will mean she will need to further tap her Social Security income for groceries. “That’ll take away from the bills that I pay,” she said. “But that’s the only way I can survive.”

The next legal step is unclear

This type of order is usually not subject to an appeal, but the Trump administration has challenged other rulings like it before.

An organization whose lawyers filed the challenge signaled it would continue the battle if needed.

“We shouldn’t have to force the President to care for his citizens,” Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman said in a statement, “but we will do whatever is necessary to protect people and communities.”

It often takes SNAP benefits a week or more to be loaded onto debit cards once states initiate the process.

___

Associated Press writers Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut; and Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

Yazoo County officials have lifted evacuation and shelter-in-place orders for those near the CF Industries, an ammonia plant just north of Yazoo City. The order followed an ammonia leak at the facility Wednesday evening.

Yazoo County Emergency Manager Jack Willingham said he wasn’t sure what caused an explosion that led to the leak, but said there was no fire from the burst. No injuries or deaths occurred from the event, he said, and all roads are back open after initial diversions on U.S. 49.

“My building’s a mile away, and I could feel it shake,” Willingham said. “And when I walked outside you could see the huge plume. But there was no fire I’m aware of.”

The county lifted the evacuation order, he added, around 1 a.m. on Thursday. About 15 families who live along Renshaw and Generette Roads needed to evacuate, Willingham said. The shelter order applied to everyone living north of 15th Street in Yazoo City.

Gov. Tate Reeves posted on social media around 9 a.m. Thursday that the shelter-in-place order was still in effect, but posted shortly after that it had been lifted.

Air quality levels were safe in the area as of about 6 a.m. Thursday, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality said. The agency said it will continue to monitor air levels through the day.

Willingham said he was waiting to hear from CF Industries officials about what caused the explosion.

A man who beat his cellmate to death at the Hinds County Detention Center in 2023 will serve a life sentence without parole. 

On Wednesday, a jury found Avery Bankston, 38, guilty of first-degree murder for the death of Tyrone Wilson. 

The night of Feb. 23, 2023, the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation found 50-year-old Wilson dead and lying on his back in the cell he shared with Bankston. 

Video camera footage showed both men enter and exit the cell and visible movement from under the cell door: a struggle and a red-sleeved arm reach from under the cell, according to the Hinds County District Attorney’s office. Later, video captured Bankston using a white cloth to clean the inside cell window and door. 

“For our system of law to work, prisons have to be safe. We will not tolerate our detention centers to become battlegrounds,” Hinds District Attorney Jody Owens said in a statement. “Every act of violence behind bars will be prosecuted as aggressively as one on the street.”

Owens said he hopes the verdict will bring closure to Wilson’s family who lives in Illinois and didn’t have the chance to say goodbye to him. 

At the time of the killing, Bankston was being held at the Raymond facility awaiting trial for burglary charges. Charge information for Wilson was not immediately available. 

Bankston’s attorney asked the court to suppress or limit testimony about any alleged previous altercation between Bankston and Wilson as hearsay because no one personally witnessed an altercation, and to limit allegations of Bankston’s prior arrests. 

At least six people have died at the Hinds County Detention Center this year, including the homicide of a man whose body was found in his cell after an apparent assault.  

In the state prison system, a team of Mississippi reporters found that at least 43 people have died by homicide inside Mississippi prisons since 2015. The corrections commissioner has vowed to revisit investigations of the unprosecuted homicides and undetermined deaths. 

Nobody knows more about today’s college football landscape than Ross Dellenger and he has plenty to talk about these days, including the stunning in-season coaching changes happening all over the country.

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Thabi Moyo broke into a grin, recalling dynamic blues music that coursed through the crowd as Diunna Greenleaf played at the recent Richmond Folk Festival in Virginia, and the way that one kid on the front row for the infectious Cuban rhythms of Son QBA got so blissfully lost in the music that Moyo was transported right along with him.

“I didn’t know these people,” she said of festival performers that also included a klezmer band and Hawaiian falsetto singers, “but I’ll never forget them.”

Moyo, local manager for the 82nd National Folk Festival, wants fellow Jacksonians and capital city tourists to grab and take away the same thrill, surprise and bliss when the free, three-day festival takes over downtown Jackson Friday through Sunday. 

The National Council for the Traditional Arts partners with host communities, in this case the city of Jackson, to produce the National Folk Festival around the country, and this is the first one in the Deep South. 

“It’s like the festival is coming home,” council Executive Director Blaine Waide said, noting Mississippi artists’ frequent presence at different festivals it produces, and the state’s impact on American music and musical history. “It’s a really appropriate place to have the festival.”

Jackson remains the host city for the 83rd and 84th National Folk Festivals in 2026 and 2027, laying the groundwork for a locally produced festival after the three-year National Council for the Traditional Arts residency ends. Ergon/Alliant is the presenting sponsor of the 82nd National Folk Festival.

Mississippi artists hold a vibrant role at this year’s festival as well, Those on the roster include Jackson blues icon Bobby Rush, Bentonia bluesman Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, Greenville blues musician Keith Johnson, Clarksdale’s James “Super Chikan” Johnson, Bay Springs Southern soul artist Ms. Jody, singer/guitarist Vasti Jackson of Hattiesburg and even the Sonic Boom of the South.

“At our event, we’ll have, obviously, what’s near and dear to us, which is the blues and gospel,” Moyo said, “and you’ll hear some new things like go-go music out of D.C., you’ll hear Irish fiddling, you’ll hear so many different types of music presented from world-class musicians.”

The National Folk Festival celebrates traditional arts — the music, dance and crafts of many different communities and cultures that may have roots in farflung places, but call America home. The knowledge, skill and artistic expression are passed down informally, through families and in community. 

“They’re key to identity,” Waide said. “When people think about, ‘Who am I? What defines me?’ it’s often those traditional expressions that have been passed down across generations.

“Folk and traditional arts isn’t just banjo and fiddle music,” he said. It is that, but it encompasses much more. The tremendous sweep of cultural expression enlivening the festival in Jackson also includes zydeco, salsa dura, South Asian qawwali (sung poetry, a meditative form of Islam), cowboy and western, trío romántico, Korean pungmul, flamenco, Cabo Verdean (blend of African and Portuguese influences, familiar in New England), sacred steel gospel, klezmer, West African balafon and more.

“Absolutely amazing performers,” Waide pegged them. “People are going to come to this festival because they want to see Bobby Rush, or they’re going to come to see Ms. Jody or E.U., and they’re going to walk away, going, like, ‘Holy crap, I didn’t know Korean percussion and dance was so cool.’” Many of the artists perform multiple times over the three days.

The closest equivalent to the National Folk Festival is probably Jubilee! JAM, the large-scale, ticketed music festival with a family-friendly, all-ages appeal in downtown Jackson that took place from the late 1980s through early 2000s. Notable differences: the National Folk Festival is free, and it has no “headliners,” or at least performers touted as such.

“The festival is the star,” Waide said, emphasizing that the event’s rich and varied cultures and sheer range of artistic expression constitute its primary draw. “It’s not about elevating any one artist over other artists. There are no headliners, there’s no main stage. It’s about experiencing the whole thing.

“The message is that these folks are all around us, that this level of artistry and creativity across different cultural communities is there in America and it’s a chance to celebrate and honor that.”

The festival presents a chance to riff on that, too, as artists come together and creative sparks fly. Moyo recalled the magical synergy that bubbled up among a zydeco singer, blues band and Beat Ya Feet dancers at one festival, “And, it was one of the wildest things that I’ve ever experienced!” she said with a happy laugh. “You’ll never see that again.”

The National Folk Festival is free to make it accessible and set in downtown Jackson to make it centrally located.

“There’s the symbolic idea of the public square, and welcoming everybody in that space and offering a program that is as representative as possible so that everybody there feels that it belongs to them,” Waide said. 

The pedestrian-only festival site stretches from State Street to Farish Street, and Pascagoula Street to Yazoo Street, with six outdoor stages and a dance pavilion. Concrete barriers will prevent vehicular traffic on the site. Performers take to the streets, too, with Capitol at Congress a prime spot to catch them offstage, including krump dancing from Leaving Legacies in Jackson or New Orleans Black masking craftsman and stilt dancer Chief Shaka Zulu.

Parking options, free and paid, are available at downtown public parking decks and garages outside the festival site. Free festival parking is available at the southwest corner of the State Fairgrounds with a shuttle or walk to the festival site, as well as a free park-and-ride shuttle service from Smith-Wills Stadium.

Food and drink (soft drinks, lemonade, water, beer, seltzers, canned wine) will be for sale at the festival. Food selections, too, reflect a range of cultures, including Jamaican, Southern, barbecue, Mediterranean, Mexican, Colombian, fair food and more, with strong representation from local eateries (including Hen and Egg, Campbell’s Bakery, Hal & Mal’s, Green Ghost Tacos and Lee’s Heavenly BBQ & Soul Food).

A Festival Marketplace highlights traditional and contemporary handmade creations from state and regional artists and craftspeople, including quilts, pottery, jewelry, woodwork and more.

“One of the best parts about the festival is that it’s going to bring everyone together around the arts,” Mississippi Arts Commission Executive Director David Lewis said.

The festival welcomes cultural communities from across the nation to Jackson, plus showcases many right here in Mississippi, particularly in the City with Soul Mississippi Folklife Area and stage on the Old Capitol Green. This year’s “Legacies of Empowerment” theme ties into the centennial of the births of blues legend B.B. King and civil rights champion Medgar Evers. In addition to blues and gospel, hear hip hop, punk and Mexican huapango music, enjoy Choctaw social dancing and see demonstrations of pine needle and Choctaw basketry, and Super Chikan’s guitar-making skills.

“Visitors have an opportunity not only to learn from the artists, but also participate actively in creating something communally as part of the festival,” Kristen Brandt, the folk and traditional arts director at the Mississippi Arts Commission, said. Zinesters lead visitors in creating their own mini-magazines, for example.

The folklife focus also wraps in groups bound by community and culture that may surprise some to find at the arts-heavy festival, such as skateboarders with Skate Jackson, the Motor Mouse Motorcycle Club from Indianola and a fourth generation farming family from Sledge.

The “Legacies of Empowerment” theme echoes, too, in the Family Area in Smith Park, where children can make their own personalized little Lucilles in a nod to King’s famous guitar, and make-and-take buttons reminiscent of the Civil Rights Movement. Traditional Choctaw games and crafts, animal ambassadors from the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, family crest or flag making and storytelling, and Mississippi State University’s cyber-education team’s STEM trailer all entice engagement from the younger set. Performers such as the Acme Miniature Flea Circus, Leaving Legacies krump dancers and Vasti Jackson with his Soul of Jimmie Rodgers program keep steady entertainment on the park’s stage.

The National Folk Festival’s join-in fun hits its peak at the Welcome to Jackson Dance Pavilion where Pearl and State streets meet, music rules and feet move to klezmer and country western, go-go and zydeco and plenty more.

“That’s going to be the hot spot, the entire weekend,” Moyo said of the pavilion. “You can dance anywhere, but that’s where you learn and that’s where you can participate. There will always be some sort of music that will make you move your body at the dance tent.”

The event, built on partnerships, requires 800 to 1,000 volunteers for efficient operation in backstage support, beverage sales and transportation, and as artist ambassadors, members of the Bucket Brigade collecting donations to help keep the festival free, and more. 

“Really, the festival is about community engagement, civic participation and public service,” Waide said. “It takes the whole community to get behind it.” 

Moyo witnessed the strong, years-long family engagement at other festivals. 

“I talked to one daughter who started volunteering with her mom when she was 6. She’s 22 now, and that story’s not rare in the folk festival world. This is an opportunity for our families here … to build new traditions,” Moyo said.

Stakeholders see potential benefits stretching far beyond this weekend. 

“We have an opportunity to demonstrate to people what a wonderful place Jackson is. It’s not hard to find a lot of negative narratives about the city, but what gets missed is all the wonderful things that are in Jackson,” Jackson Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Christopher Pike said.

“I think it’s going to be a catalyst. You’re going to get people to come to Jackson who’ve never been to Jackson before, and they’re going to fall in love with the things that we have, that we do well here, and you might see other investments to come out of that.”

National Folk Festival volunteers can sign at nationalfolkfestival.com/volunteer or on site at the festival’s volunteer check-in.

Correction 11/6/2025: This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Thabi Moyo.

A Mississippi sheriff arrested last week in a federal drug conspiracy sting has pleaded not guilty and vowed to mount a full defense, but has stepped down from his elected office to comply with his bond agreement.

Humphreys County Sheriff Bruce Williams pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit drug distribution, drug distribution and firearms conspiracy. After a years-long investigation, Williams was arrested last Thursday by FBI agents, who fanned across the Mississippi Delta in armored cars and conducted a series of predawn arrests.

By sunrise, 20 people, including 14 law enforcement officers, across the Delta and Tennessee had been arrested.

Williams allegedly received multiple bribes from undercover FBI agents posing as Mexican cartel members “for his blessing for the cartel to operate in his county” and for the cartel to use his deputies for protection. Multiple bribes totaling $18,000 were paid to the sheriff during the conspiracy, the indictment said.

In a statement to Mississippi Today on Wednesday, Mike Carr, Williams’s attorney, said the sheriff had pleaded not guilty to all counts in the indictment in which he is named.

“We look forward to receiving and reviewing the Government’s alleged evidence in this case,” Carr said. “We anticipate a full and complete defense to all of the allegations — every accused person in this country stands not guilty until proven beyond a reasonable doubt otherwise. We are looking forward to our day in court.”

The investigation and alleged law enforcement corruption spanned counties across the Delta and stretched into Memphis, where some of the officers are alleged to have accepted bribes in exchange for providing protection to undercover FBI agents posing as members of a Mexican drug cartel.

The federal probe began years ago when the FBI Jackson field office connected with a known local drug dealer who investigators code-named “Green.” The drug dealer became a confidential informant for the FBI. Between 2023 and 2024, the officers escorted the undercover agents transporting cocaine through the rural Delta along U.S. Highway 61 and into Memphis, court records allege.

Of the 20 individuals charged, 19 are accused of illegally carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The charges, which are outlined across multiple indictments, portray an operation that extended from rank-and-file patrol officers up through police chiefs and sheriffs.

In Humphreys County, Williams ran unopposed for sheriff in 2023 and had been serving a four-year term set to expire in 2027.

Williams took a leave of absence following his arrest, and the Humphreys County Board of Supervisors appointed former Belzoni police Chief Mickey Foxworth as interim sheriff. That is because federal authorities offered Williams a bond agreement that prohibits him from staying employed as a law enforcement officer. The agreement demands that he seek another form of employment, the bond agreement shows.

The other elected sheriff arrested in the federal takedown, Washington County Sheriff Milton Gaston, is also accused of attempting to disguise bribes in the form of “campaign contributions.” Court records did not show an attorney listed for Gatson, and it was not clear on Wednesday if he had entered a plea yet.

The arrests stunned residents of the Delta, one of the poorest regions of the country. Residents were still reeling from a mass shooting in October that killed nine people and wounded a dozen more during or after high school and college homecoming celebrations.