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Senate proposals that would put more than $1 billion into Mississippi’s government pension system are back in play after being killed by the House earlier this legislative session.
Sen. Daniel Sparks, a Republican from Belmont, has revived six of his dead proposals that would make changes to the state’s Public Employees’ Retirement System by inserting that language in House Bill 4073. The amended bill passed the Senate on Tuesday.
The proposed changes would put $1 billion into the state retirement system over 10 years, starting with $500 million this July, and an additional $50 million a year over 10 years for cost-of-living increases.
The retirement system, which covers about 350,000 public employees or retirees and represents about 10% of the state’s population, has unfunded liabilities of about $26 billion.
Last year, to try to shore up the underfunded system, the Legislature created a new plan with fewer benefits for people hired after March 1o of this year. It’s a hybrid of a defined contribution plan, similar to the 401(k) system many private employers offer, and a defined benefit plan, which the state has had for decades.
But opponents of last year’s changes say that many public employees, paid at an average of $50,000 a year, are incentivized to work for the state because of the promise of robust retirement benefits at the end of their years of service. The reduced benefits, they say, could make it harder to attract and retain workers.
Some state Democrats want to get rid of the new “Tier 5” category entirely. While Sparks’ revisions roll back some of the components that would impact new hires, he still believes the new category is necessary.
“There are lots of things I don’t want to do, but we have to run a balanced budget,” he said. “My number one commitment from Day One is to meet our obligations for Tier 1 through Tier 4 and pay them everything they’re owed, but for the next tier we had to be more sensible.”
Most notably, Sparks’ changes would bring down the years of service required to retire with full benefits from 35 to 30 for all state employees hired after March 1 and put $50 million in a fund to go toward cost-of-living increases for Tier 5 employees.
While cost-of-living adjustments aren’t guaranteed for state employees that fall into the new bracket of the retirement system — it’s something the Legislature must vote on every year — Sparks said this specific allocation sends a message that it’s a priority for the state.
“We mean what we say,” he said.
The amended bill would also make clear that every state employer shares a portion of the state’s unfunded PERS liabilities, correct a quirk in state law that doesn’t allow state employees to make catch up contributions to Roth retirement plans, and sweeten the pot for retirees who want to return to work.
Currently, people who have retired from state service can return for pay at 25% of their highest four years of service, or they can return part-time for half-pay, all while drawing full benefits. One provision of the bill would also allow people to come back to work at up to 80% of their position’s salary and get insurance benefits.
Only elected officials, K-12 superintendents and administrators at community colleges and universities are excluded.
“We’re losing all this institutional knowledge,” Sparks said. “Through this, they can return to work and we can get their knowledge and mentorship and fill vacancies.”
The House on Friday declined to agree on the bill. That means the chambers negotiate and try to come to agreement before next week’s deadline to keep the legislation alive.
The House’s major PERS proposals are still alive and included in the chamber’s teacher pay raise plan. But Senate leaders say they’re not interested in taking up the House’s bill, so it’s likely to die on the March 26 deadline.
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University of Mississippi Medical Center revenue fell roughly 20% below budget in February, the month a cyberattack struck the hospital system and led it to cancel all elective surgeries and appointments for nine days.
The medical center was about $34.2 million short of its expected $194.1 million in operating revenue in February, according to budget reports. But hospital leaders say they anticipate revenue will rebound as patient care charges logged on paper during the attack are input into the hospital’s computer system and as the medical center reschedules postponed surgeries.
“We really think that we won’t see the true catch-up picture, until maybe even, you know, March, April, the end of the fiscal year,” said Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC’s vice chancellor for health affairs at an Institutions of Higher Learning committee meeting Wednesday. The state’s fiscal year ends June 30.
In February, UMMC closed clinics statewide and canceled scheduled appointments and surgeries after discovering a cyberattack on its IT systems, forcing the shutdown of computer systems that hold patients’ electronic health records.
UMMC is the state’s largest public medical system, operating seven hospitals and 35 clinics statewide, and it provides a significant level of care to low-income and uninsured patients regardless of their ability to pay.
For nine days, medical staff cared for patients using paper charts — some for the first time in their careers — and without access to Wi-Fi or phone lines. The hospital resumed normal operations on March 2.
Roughly 650 surgeries were delayed during the cyberattack, said Jennifer Sinclair, UMMC’s chief financial officer. She said canceled appointments and surgeries have been rescheduled, and their financial impact should appear in revenue figures in coming months.
Woodward said clinic and operating room hours have been extended to accommodate postponed appointments.
Attacks using ransomware, or malicious software that holds computer systems or data hostage in demand for a payment, can have severe financial consequences for hospitals beyond a ransom, said Dr. Christian Dameff, an associate professor and co-director of the Center for Healthcare Cybersecurity at the University of California San Diego.
“They require, afterwards, a lot of money to try to shore up defenses,” Dameff said. “These are types of things that can cause systemic issues or risks to financial solvency for some organizations.”
A 2020 cyberattack on the University of Vermont Medical Center resulted in the academic medical center losing access to its electronic medical record system for 28 days and cost the system about $65 million, according to Vermont Public. Like the attack on UMMC, it led to canceled health appointments and impeded residents’ access to specialized care.
Other UMMC expenses are on budget, and the hospital’s net income is about $8.6 million behind budget for the year, Sinclair said.
Sinclair said all patient care charges from the same time period as the cyberattack should be reflected in the electronic system by the end of March, which means next month’s financial statements will likely more accurately show the impact of the cyberattack.
“That will catch up in March and will get a better reflection of what impact really was,” Sinclair said.
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MINNEAPOLIS — Latasha Lattimore led a balanced offense with 15 points as Mississippi overpowered Gonzaga 81-66 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA women’s college basketball tournament.
Cotie McMahon scored 13 points and Sira Thienou had 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for Mississippi, who on Sunday will face the winner of the matchup between Minnesota and Green Bay. The winner of Sunday’s game will advance to the Regional finals at Sacramento next week.
Denim DeShields added 11 points and four assists for the No. 5-seed Rebels (24-11), who were ranked 19th in the most recent AP poll and are playing in their fifth straight NCAA Tournament.
Mississippi forward Cotie McMahon, right, drives toward the basket as Gonzaga guard Ines Bettencourt defends during the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 20, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. Credit: AP Photo/Matt Krohn
Allie Turner led Gonzaga, champions of the West Coast Conference Tournament, with 27 points. Jaiden Haile had 11 points and eight rebounds and Lauren Whittaker added eight points and 13 rebounds.
After falling behind by as much as 13 in the first quarter, No. 12-seed Gonzaga (24-10) got a three-point play by Haile and a driving layup by Turner to cut the deficit to 25-19 midway through the second.
But Ole Miss responded with a 14-4 run that started with consecutive second-chance buckets by Lattimore in the low post. McMahon capped the run with a 3-pointer to send the Rebels into the locker room leading 39-23.
Mississippi guard Tianna Thompson, right, works around Gonzaga guard Allie Turner during the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 20, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. Credit: AP Photo/Matt Krohn
Smothering
Gonzaga didn’t get on the board until Haile made a layup with 5:06 left in the first quarter, cutting the Ole Miss lead to 8-2. The Bulldogs missed their first seven field goal attempts and three of their first four shots were blocked. They finished the quarter 4 for 14 from the field and committed seven turnovers, including two shot clock violations forced by the Rebels’ swarming defense.
In the trees
Gonzaga’s offensive struggles were due in large part to Mississippi’s lopsided size advantage. The Rebels had four starters and six rotation players standing 6-foot-1 or taller, compared to just three for Gonzaga.
Never say die
The Bulldogs trailed 70–37 early in the fourth quarter but they closed out the game strong. Teryn Gardner hit three 3-pointers, while Turner added eight free throws and a three as Gonzaga cut the deficit to 10 points with 47 seconds left before Ole Miss closed it out.
Gonzaga guard Allie Turner, right, works around Mississippi guard Denim Deshields during the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 20, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. Credit: AP Photo/Matt Krohn
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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday revived a lawsuit from an evangelical Christian barred from demonstrating in Mississippi after authorities say he shouted insults at people over a loudspeaker.
The high court unanimously ruled in the case of Gabriel Olivier, who says his religious and free speech rights were violated when he was arrested for refusing to move his preaching away from a suburban amphitheater. The city said he had shouted insults like “whores,” “Jezebel,” and “nasty” at people, sometimes holding signs showing aborted fetuses.
Olivier wanted to challenge the law as an unconstitutional restriction on free speech, but lower courts stopped him from suing because he’d been convicted of breaking it. A Supreme Court case from the 1990s found people can’t use civil lawsuits to undermine criminal convictions.
But the justices found that doesn’t stop Olivier from suing because he only wants to block future enforcement.
“Given that Olivier asked for only a forward-looking remedy—an injunction stopping officials from enforcing the city ordinance in the future—his suit can proceed, notwithstanding his prior conviction,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court.
The Supreme Court is photographed, Feb. 6, 2026, in Washington. Credit: AP Photo/Rahmat Gul
Olivier’s lawyers said he was demonstrating peacefully when he was arrested for refusing to move to a designated “protest zone.” The legal principle, they argued, affects free-speech cases across the political spectrum.
“This is not only a win for the right to share your faith in public, but also a win for every American’s right to have their day in court when their First Amendment rights are violated,” said Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of the conservative nonprofit First Liberty Institute.
The decision clears a path for him to file a civil-rights lawsuit, though it doesn’t guarantee an eventual win. Local governments have said that a ruling for Olivier could have wide repercussions by allowing a rush of new lawsuits against cities and towns.
The city of Brandon has said the restrictions weren’t about religion, and he had plenty of other legal avenues to challenge the law. The ordinance restricting Olivier to a designated “protest zone” has already survived another lawsuit, city attorneys said.
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Ted “Teddy” DiBiase Jr. began to cry as soon as the federal court clerk read aloud the first of 13 not guilty verdicts. By count seven, tears fell into his lap.
When the clerk finished reading the verdict – not guilty on all counts in a notorious welfare scandal that made national headlines – DiBiase’s mom crumpled in her seat on the second row of the courtroom, holding her face in her hands and sobbing.
Defense attorney Scott Gilbert darted out of the courtroom and his co-counsel, Sidney Lampton, swiveled around in her chair, beaming. DiBiase tightly hugged his wife, Kristen, who’d kept a cheery attitude throughout 20 days of trial.
Ted “Teddy” DiBiase Jr. hugs his brother, Brett, outside of the federal courthouse on Friday, Mar. 20, 2026, after jurors found him not guilty on all counts of conspiracy, fraud, theft and money laundering.
“That was seven years of emotion coming out of me,” DiBiase’s mom, Melanie DiBiase, said as they exited the courthouse Friday.
Jurors found DiBiase, a former pro wrestler-turned-entrepreneur, not guilty of all counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, theft and money laundering after he accepted nearly $3 million in federal funds designed to help poor residents and spent the money on luxury items.
The government needed to prove DiBiase acted knowingly or with intent. His defense: DiBiase never solicited the funds, he was offered them in exchange for the cachet he brought to the welfare agency, and he delivered as promised.
What’s next for the ex-wrestler?
“I’m gonna continue to serve people, because that really is who I am,” DiBiase said outside the courthouse after the verdict. “And I do care about every Mississippian. And to all the doubters or haters or people that have maybe had false information and not all the information, I forgive you, and I love you too.”
DiBiase was just one of dozens of people who received these funds supposedly to carry out the mission of an anti-poverty initiative called Families First for Mississippi under a now disgraced former agency director. By some estimates, state and nonprofit officials frittered away $100 million between 2016 and 2019 while serving few needy residents.
But the former WWE star was one of just eight people criminally charged over the misspending. The other seven pleaded guilty. The state made its first arrests in 2020 following an investigation by State Auditor Shad White, and DiBiase was indicted by federal prosecutors in 2023.
The verdict in DiBiase’s case answers a longstanding question about whether his conduct – which is similar to that of many other characters in the larger scheme – constituted a crime.
For years, many tied to the welfare purchases argued that the theory of auditors, investigators and prosecutors was all wrong. DiBiase’s defense described him as a well-meaning, albeit high-paid, changemaker who had no inkling he was involved in wrongdoing.
The jury deliberated for about four hours Friday. The makeup, by appearances, was seven white men, two Black men and three white women.
“While I’m disappointed in the result of the trial, nothing changes the fact that seven people have already pleaded guilty to state or federal charges because of the welfare scandal,” White said in a statement Friday. “My hope now is that the state’s lawyers will be able to recover as much of the misspent money as possible in civil court so hard-working taxpayers can see some accountability for what happened here.”
Six people still await federal sentencing after pleading guilty years ago to roles in the scheme and agreeing to aid the U.S. Attorney’s Office in its ongoing case. In addition to DiBiase’s brother, these include former Mississippi Department of Human Services Director John Davis, nonprofit directors Nancy New and Christi Webb, New’s son Zach New and a Florida-based neuroscientist Jake Vanlandingham. A seventh defendant, Anne McGrew, awaits sentencing in state court.
A parallel civil suit, which names DiBiase and dozens of other people or entities in an attempt to recoup the funds, is ongoing.
Update, 3/20/2025: This story has been updated with additional details.
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With federal pandemic relief dollars that for years bolstered Mississippi Division of Medicaid’s budget now depleted, state lawmakers are grappling with a steep budget increase request from the agency.
Lawmakers have been stunned by the agency’s request for a significant increase from last year and baffled by budget requests made by the agency and governor’s office, which differ by tens of millions of dollars.
The agency, which accounted for roughly a tenth of state spending this fiscal year and administers health coverage to nearly 700,000 children and low-income pregnant, disabled and elderly Mississippians, has requested a nearly $390-million increase in state funding over the current year, despite the program’s enrollment dropping to the lowest level in over a decade.
“This is a humongous amount of money, ” House Medicaid Chairwoman Missy McGee, a Republican from Hattiesburg, said at a January budget hearing.
Lawmakers have struggled to settle on a figure, in part because of a roughly $160-million discrepancy between the agency’s current request and a November budget proposal from Gov. Tate Reeves, whose office oversees the Division of Medicaid.
“That is a considerable difference from virtually within the same office,” McGee said in January before posing a slew of questions to agency leaders. “We feel like we have an obligation to dig in and understand.”
And, Medicaid’s request has grown since the fall, when state agencies made initial budget requests. Officials’ January request of $1.36 billion was about $45 million higher than the request it made in August, following a routine actuarial report. These periodic reports are used to forecast Medicaid’s fluctuating costs.
State legislators sent the agency’s funding bill to final negotiations between the chambers Wednesday, indicating that they have not yet reached a decision on the Medicaid budget.
The Division of Medicaid and the governor’s office did not respond to Mississippi Today’s request for comment.
Lawmakers seek ‘solid number’
In recent years, state lawmakers granted Medicaid marginal funding increases as the agency relied on a reserve of funds leftover from the COVID-19 pandemic to balance its budget. But with the surplus now exhausted, agency officials say a significant boost in state appropriations is necessary to maintain services at the same level.
Senate leaders appear more willing to grant the agency’s budget request, but they have acknowledged that they are trying to pin the agency’s leaders down for a specific, final dollar figure.
“Numbers have fluctuated, so we’re trying to get them to give us a solid number,” Senate Medicaid Chairman Kevin Blackwell said of the agency.
The two legislative chambers seem far apart on how much state money they are willing to spend on the agency. The House’s initial budget proposal would spend roughly $969 million in state money on the agency, a figure close to last year’s appropriation. The Senate proposed spending $1.07 billion — roughly $100 million more than last year but still about $290 million under the agency’s request.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson said the initial appropriations bill he passed for the agency was a placeholder measure, but he anticipates that the amount of state dollars going to Medicaid’s budget this year will increase.
“In the 19 years I’ve been here, I’ve been involved in some capacity with working on the Division of Medicaid’s budget,” Hopson said. “And it’s hard for the Medicaid director to know the exact amount that Medicaid needs.”
He said the division has largely been responsive to his questions about the budget, but he “still wants a little more detail” from them on their final request.
“The first number they gave us, frankly, was a little high,” Hopson said.
The lack of consensus on one of the state’s largest budget items, with roughly three weeks left in the legislative session, puts lawmakers in a challenging position, especially amid an ongoing, contentious debate over teacher pay raises and funding the state’s public pension system, while the state is phasing out its income tax.
Cindy Bradshaw, executive director of the Mississippi Division of Medicaid, listens during a meeting of the Medicaid Advisory Committee at the Sillers Building, Friday, July 25, 2025, in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
Cindy Bradshaw, the executive director of Mississippi Medicaid, has warned that underfunding the agency could force it to cut payments to providers.
“We can certainly control the budget if we need to,” she told members of the House appropriations committee in January. “But it’s not going to come without there being a reduction of what we reimburse to the providers. And nobody wants to reduce what we pay to the providers.”
Richard Roberson, president and CEO of the Mississippi Hospital Association, said Bradshaw informed him cuts to provider payments could be as high as 11%, though she did not describe how the figure was calculated or how it would be applied.
Roberson said he is hopeful that Medicaid won’t be forced to make those cuts, but he also wants lawmakers to remain mindful of the budget’s impact on state taxpayers.
“Somewhere there is a solution that balances the needs of taxpayers to have a fiscally conservative program, but to make sure that providers can pay for the increasing cost of care,” Roberson said. “It’s a tight rope to walk between what the state can afford to pay and caring for high-acuity level patients.”
And cuts to provider payments would not only impact doctors, but also patients and particularly children, over half of whom are covered by Medicaid, said Dr. Patricia Tibbs, the president of the Mississippi chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Doctors could stop accepting Medicaid patients or be forced to close their practices if payment rates fall, exacerbating existing physician shortages and care gaps, she said. And cuts to benefits could have drastic consequences for children’s development.
“Any cuts to Medicaid will really affect children’s care,” Tibbs said.
A looming cliff
The Division of Medicaid has warned legislators for years that a significant budget increase was on the horizon.
During a September 2024 budget hearing, Drew Snyder, the former state Medicaid director, told lawmakers they would be forced to make difficult decisions about program spending in coming years.
“Since the end of the public health emergency was announced in late 2022, we’ve been bracing for a dramatic increase in state spending, and there is catch-up coming,” said Snyder, who left the agency in October 2024.
During the pandemic, the federal government provided an enhanced match for state Medicaid funding in exchange for states keeping individuals enrolled during the emergency. As a result, Medicaid’s cash balance soared to $682 million in 2023, according to agency documents.
States were required to resume normal eligibility determinations in 2023. As the enhanced federal funding ended and states were once again allowed to remove ineligible participants from their rolls, Mississippi’s enrollment declined sharply, falling by over 185,000 beneficiaries in the year following its June 2023 peak, and continuing since then.
Snyder told Mississippi Today on Wednesday he was not surprised by the agency’s budget request for the upcoming fiscal year.
“Honestly, we were projecting in early 2024 larger numbers than that,” he said, noting that the numbers may be lower than earlier projections because Medicaid enrollment has fallen.
In addition to spending surplus funds, Medicaid has been facing rising costs for nursing home care and home- and community-based waiver programs, which allow Medicaid beneficiaries to receive long-term care in their homes or communities rather than in institutions, Bradshaw told lawmakers during budget hearings.
Last year, the Division of Medicaid requested a $160 million increase from the Legislature in anticipation of expiring federal funds, but lawmakers approved only about $60 million. When the surplus fund was depleted during the current fiscal year, legislators advanced a measure to give the agency a $35 million deficit appropriation to cover the current shortfall. This has not yet been approved by state lawmakers.
Agency leaders said in September the Division of Medicaid has stalled planned rate increases and cut back on spending in anticipation of the pending deficit.
Other states also received enhanced federal funding for Medicaid, but, to his knowledge, others are not facing the same funding cliff, said Edwin Park, a research professor who studies Medicaid policy and teaches at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy. Devoting the money to a reserve is “better than what some states may have done,” he added, such as using the money to bolster their general funds.
Roberson said he also was not aware of other states facing the possibility of a similar budget increase dilemma that could lead to cuts for providers.
Park said state Medicaid programs can cover budget shortfalls by increasing taxes or making cuts to provider payments, benefits or eligibility.
In the past, state Medicaid programs have increased provider taxes, which are used to draw down federal matching funds, to cover shortfalls, Park said. But increasing the taxes is no longer an option after Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July, which freezes states’ existing tax rates.
These budgetary pressures will only worsen under the gradual reduction in supplemental payments to hospitals, which bolster low Medicaid payments and will start to be phased out in 2028, Parks added.
“There’s nothing else on the horizon that is going to give the state any relief from a budget perspective,” Roberson said.
Lawmakers have until March 28 to file their first negotiated budget proposal for Medicaid.
Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story.
Mississippi Today Ideas is a platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share their ideas about our state’s past, present and future. Opinions expressed in guest essays are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of Mississippi Today. You can read more about the section here.
On a weeknight at city hall, residents file into a meeting room to weigh in on a proposed development project. A presentation is delivered. Charts are shown. When the floor opens, a line forms at the microphone. Each speaker is given two or three minutes.
The ritual is familiar across the country, with Mississippi no exception. It is also often described as listening.
When cities face major development proposals, officials promise to “listen to the community.” Public meetings are scheduled. Comment periods are opened. Residents are invited to step forward and share their thoughts.
These steps matter. They signal that public input has a place in civic decision-making. Yet they also raise a deeper question. What does it actually mean to listen?
A recent Mississippi Today story about a proposed data center in Clarksdale describes a familiar process. City leaders are considering rezoning land and discussing the potential economic benefits while also organizing opportunities for residents to weigh in. The intention is clear: before moving forward, officials want to give citizens a chance to be heard.
But hearing the public is not the same as listening.
Communities often mistake the opportunity to speak for the opportunity to influence. Public meetings and comment periods create space for residents to voice their views. That matters. At the same time, having a voice is not the same as having that voice heard.
Graham Bodie Credit: Courtesy photo
Many public processes are built around what communication scholar Jim Macnamara calls an “architecture of speaking.” Governments and organizations invest heavily in messaging: presentations, announcements, public meetings and media campaigns. Far less investment goes toward the harder work of listening.
Listening at scale requires systems, resources and a willingness to let public input shape decisions. Without those elements, public engagement can easily become a box-checking exercise that satisfies legal requirements while leaving many residents unsure whether their voices actually matter.
To be fair, city leaders often do provide opportunities for public input. Notices are posted. Meetings are held. Consultants design engagement processes intended to give residents a chance to speak.
The problem is often not the absence of opportunities but the conditions under which they occur.
Public meetings are frequently scheduled at times that are inconvenient for many working families. Parents are trying to get children through homework and bedtime routines. Others may work evening shifts. Some residents simply feel uncomfortable speaking at a microphone in a crowded room.
Even when people do attend, the format rarely encourages careful deliberation. A line forms at the front of the room. Each speaker is given a limited amount of time. The exchange can feel less like a conversation and more like a performance.
The result is predictable. A small number of highly motivated participants show up and speak passionately. Many other residents stay home. Officials leave with comments on record, yet without a clear sense of how widely those views are shared across the community.
At this point, a familiar explanation often surfaces: People simply aren’t interested until a decision affects them directly. Civic engagement, the argument goes, will always be limited until residents become angry enough to show up.
There may be some truth in that observation. Yet it also assumes that the existing channels for participation are well known and widely trusted. In practice, many residents stay quiet for different reasons.
Research suggests that people often remain silent not because they are apathetic, but because they see little point in speaking up. Some worry about social or professional repercussions in small communities where relationships are close and disagreements can carry consequences. Others believe their comments will not be taken seriously or will have no meaningful influence on the final decision.
When people suspect that nothing will change, silence becomes a rational choice. Fortunately, there are better ways to listen.
Instead of asking residents to come to city hall, communities can bring conversations to the places where people already gather: churches, neighborhood parks, community centers and school gyms. A Saturday afternoon picnic or a discussion after Sunday services may not look like a traditional public hearing, yet these settings often encourage more thoughtful participation.
When conversations take place in familiar spaces, people who might never attend a formal meeting are more likely to join. Smaller group discussions allow residents to ask questions, hear different perspectives and explore trade-offs together.
None of this eliminates disagreement. Nor should it. Major decisions about economic development, land use and infrastructure inevitably involve competing priorities. What better listening can do is improve the quality of the conversation before decisions are finalized.
Data centers, for example, promise significant investment and jobs. At the same time, they raise questions about land use, water and energy consumption, tax incentives and long-term impacts on local communities. These are exactly the kinds of issues that benefit from broad participation and careful discussion. And those deliberations can and should allow for dissent and robust debate.
Public hearings will always have a place in local government. They provide transparency and create an official record of public input. But they should not be mistaken for the entirety of community listening.
Real listening begins earlier. It requires designing processes that make participation realistic for ordinary residents and meaningful for the decisions that follow.
The question facing communities like Clarksdale is not simply whether a particular project should move forward. Cities across Mississippi will continue to face proposals for new industries and large scale investments.
The deeper question is whether we are willing to build something alongside those projects: civic processes that allow residents not only to speak, but to know their voices will actually be heard.
Graham Bodie is a professor of the Department of Media and Communication in the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi. When asked what he does for a living he responds, “I teach people to listen.” He does this by publishing, teaching and facilitating workshops that help debunk common myths about what it means to “listen well.”
One spring day in 2018, entrepreneur and former WWE wrestler Ted “Teddy” DiBiase Jr. “became an instant millionaire,” a federal prosecutor told jurors Thursday.
Eight years later, DiBiase sat stoically in a federal courtroom as his trial in a sprawling welfare scandal neared a close.
This spending was not the result of an illegal scheme by DiBiase, the defense retorted, but of a government in chaos.
In two of the 13 counts against him, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged DiBiase with theft under a federal statute uncannily bearing the code section 666.
A piece of paper from a yellow legal pad sat propped on the desk facing DiBiase Thursday. Red handwritten letters read, “JESUS” and “NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST ME SHALL PROSPER.”
After 19 days of trial, DiBiase’s fate was left up to jurors, who were expected to begin deliberating Friday.
Twelve Mississippians are now tasked with finding the facts and determining if accepting welfare funds in the manner DiBiase did constitutes a crime – something that has eluded lawyers, state officials and policy experts since the scandal broke six years ago.
DiBiase is the only person the federal government has indicted and put on trial in the sprawling welfare scheme in which auditors questioned purchases of up to $100 million from 2016 to 2020.
Most of the seven people who have pleaded guilty did so under bills of information, charging documents the government uses when a defendant waives the right to a grand jury. This makes DiBiase’s case unique, because it is the only time prosecutors have been in the position of trying to convince a jury that conduct surrounding the misspending was a crime.
DiBiase began receiving federal funds in 2017 after the Mississippi Department of Human Services, under then-director John Davis, had outsourced much of its welfare delivery system to two nonprofit organizations to run a nebulous initiative called Families First for Mississippi.
The state agency and the two private entities, Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of North Mississippi, claimed to be working together to usher in a new multi-generational approach to interrupting poverty. At just 32, DiBiase, who’d left the WWE and taken up leadership training, became one of Families First’s top purveyors.
Davis, a middle-aged man with no spouse or children and few friends, liked DiBase and elevated him to the highest levels of Mississippi government by arranging contracts between the nonprofit organizations and DiBiase’s LLCs. Davis and the nonprofit directors, Nancy New and Christi Webb, have all pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme.
DiBiase’s contracts – containing jaw-dropping dollar amounts and signed in rapid succession – are at the heart of the case against him. The agreements listed tasks such as leadership outreach services, assessments of emergency food assistance needs and programs to help inner-city youth.
He did not use the money on operational expenses to carry out those tasks, the prosecution argued, but to purchase a boat, a truck, a 6,000-square foot house and take expensive vacations. The defense argues DiBiase was an independent contractor operating on no limits to his profit margin.
John Davis, former Mississippi Department of Human Services director, heads to the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
There would have been no financial windfall to DiBiase without Davis. The prosecution claimed in its closing remarks that by cozying up to Davis in exchange for cash, DiBiase was engaging in a common con artist operation called a “lonely hearts scam.” This term elicited an incredulous, cringed laugh from DiBiase’s father, former WWE star Ted “The Million Dollar Man” DiBiase, who sat on the court’s front row.
The defense called Davis “crazy as a loon” and said DiBiase never solicited the funds from the director.
The prosecution claimed DiBiase’s contracts were shams – “fake, bogus, pretend” – and that DiBiase never intended to complete the work. The documents were sloppy, with inconsistent terms and vague objectives, which could make it hard to discern whether the agreements were met.
“Exactly,” said U.S. Department of Justice trial attorney Adrienne Rosen. “It means that no one read it. No one cared about the terms of those contracts.”
The defense presented records and text messages to assert that DiBiase had a genuine desire to improve Mississippians’ lives. “I want to serve bro. That may seem insane to most people, but I really just want to help people,” DiBiase once texted Davis.
Defense lawyer Scott Gilbert said the welfare agency devolved into chaos when it shoved tens of millions of dollars into Families First with “no plan.” He said that despite the whole operation teeming with attorneys, including those who drafted or reviewed the contracts, no one expressed concerns to DiBiase.
“You couldn’t throw a dead cat in this case without hitting a lawyer,” Gilbert said.
And Gilbert argued DiBiase did, in fact, do his work: attending meetings, delivering presentations and drafting proposals to further Families First’s mission.
None of these things satisfied the purpose of the contracts, the prosecuted rebutted. The emails, texts and calendar entries were just ways to “paper over what really happened,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Dave Fulcher.
“What he did was put on the clothing of an MDHS employee, put on the clothing of somebody who would have made less than $100,000 a year, but instead he was paid $2 million a year,” Fulcher said.
Gilbert said in his client’s work with Davis, DiBiase never hid or operated with the kind of secrecy one might expect from someone committing fraud. After all, DiBiase traveled with Davis to Washington to testify before Congress about their programs.
“You don’t do that if you think you’re doing something illegal,” Gilbert said.
But Fulcher argued DiBiase got his contracts from the nonprofits, instead of the state agency, precisely so the records would not be publicly accessible.
“How they did it tells you why they did it,” Fulcher said. “… I suspect your common sense is telling you, ‘This isn’t right.’”
Gilbert acknowledged it was sad that this is how the national and state government worked, that welfare funds could be spent so flippantly. But he asked jurors to consider whether the evidence suggests a criminal conspiracy by DiBiase, “Or is this just a really crappy example of human behavior that falls at the feet of a lot of people?”
Several family friends attended court Thursday to support the wrestler, including Nick Coughlin, DiBiase’s former business partner who appeared as a witness in the case. Coughlin also worked under contracts with the nonprofits and is facing his own legal troubles in a parallel civil lawsuit over the alleged misspending.
Dozens of people or companies are still facing civil charges in that case, including people whose circumstances and conduct were similar to DiBiase’s. One thing that set DiBiase’s case apart from others was the sheer amount of money he personally received. Coughlin, for example, is being sued for less than $200,000 and is putting up a vigorous defense to the charge.
But both the prosecution and defense told jurors not to base their decision on the amount of money DiBiase received, however shocking. If it’s fraud, Gilbert noted, it would be fraud whether he’d received $2.9 million or $20,000.
DiBiase’s mom, Melanie DiBiase, who has attended each day of trial, said the years-long legal battle, an ordeal that should have torn her family apart, has only brought them closer together. Their faith in God has played a huge role.
“We can still stand with our heads high because the truth should prevail,” she said while leaving the courthouse Thursday.
Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story.
Steve Knight became the head men’s basketball coach at William Carey College way back in July of 1982 at the age of 25.
That same month, Jimmy Connors beat John McEnroe for the Wimbledon championship. Tom Watson, now 76, won golf’s Open Championship at Royal Troon, Scotland. William Winter was Mississippi’s governor. Ronald Reagan was president. Pete Rose led the National League in hitting. From Rocky III, Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” was No. 1 on the record charts.
Yes, it has been a while. Mississippi has had seven governors since, but William Carey, now a university, has had the same basketball coach until Thursday, when it was announced that Knight, by far the winningest college basketball coach in Mississippi history, was retiring.
Rick Cleveland
In sports, these days, it is rare to see anyone stay in the same coaching job for 10 years, much less 44. Put it this way: Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Miss have each had six men’s basketball coaches during those 44 years. At the small college level, Belhaven has had 11.
For the past 16 years, with each victory, Knight has broken his own record as Mississippi’s winningest college basketball coach. On Nov. 10, 2010, Knight claimed that honor by surpassing Alcorn State legend Davey Whitney for his 506th career victory.
And it’s not as if Knight has fallen off his game late in his career. His Carey Crusaders this season finished 28-5, tying the school record for victories. They won the Southern States Conference championship with a 15-3 record and qualified for the NAIA National Tournament.
Steve Knight, men’s basketball coach at William Carey University. Credit: Courtesy of William Carey Athletics
So why quit now?
“I think the fact that we had such a great year was a part of it,” Knight said. “I wanted to go out on a winning note, but it was more than that. I had hip surgery in December and missed some games and a lot of practices. Coaching can be a real grind, plus I’ve got grandkids that are playing high school ball now and I want to watch them play. Also, my wife and I want to do some traveling and we want to do it while we’re healthy enough to enjoy it. It just seems like the right time.
“I just want everyone to know that I have really loved working at William Carey in my hometown with so many great people. It never really felt like a job.”
This writer’s relationship with Knight goes back to his high school days when when “Bone” – as he was nicknamed – was a star baseball pitcher and shooting guard for the Hattiesburg High Tigers. Bone, you ask? “I was 6-foot-2 and weighed 140 pounds, maybe. I was all skin and bones. Somebody shortened that to Bone and it stuck.”
Knight was a key player on a Hattiesburg basketball team, led by the great Purvis Short, that won a state championship in 1974. He later was a fine pitcher for Southern Miss, where his catcher was Mississippi Sports Hall of Famer Corky Palmer. Knight pitched two years in the Seattle Mariners organization before returning to Hattiesburg and taking the job at Carey.
Knight also served a season as William Carey’s baseball coach early in his career and then for 30 years (1987-2016) as the school’s athletic director. Carey’s athletic department grew exponentially during his leadership, more than tripling the number of sports offered from five to 17.
“The basketball program and the university owe a lot to Coach Knight,” said Tracy English, the current Carey athletic director. “For 44 years he produced championship teams and sent young men back to their communities to be productive citizens. He coached hundreds of players that went on to become coaches, bankers, doctors, businessmen, preachers, you name it.”
Knight coached 22 Carey teams to 20 victories or more, won 19 conference championships and made 15 NAIA National Tournament appearances. He was named his league’s coach of the year 15 times, including this past season. Knight also has been inducted into the Southern Miss M Club Hall of Fame, the William Carey Hall of Fame and the Southern Miss Alumni Hall of Fame.
Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story.
Hi! My name is Mukta Joshi and I’m an investigative reporter with Mississippi Today.
For nearly two years, I’ve been writing about police misconduct and the power of sheriffs in our state. Now, as I start a yearlong fellowship program at the New York Times, I’m shifting my focus to a topic that’s been making headlines across the country, though less so here at home: the detention of immigrants picked up by ICE.
ICE raids have been taking place at an unprecedented scale in big cities all over, including in the South. Texas and Louisiana famously house more ICE detainees than any other states.
But did you know that Mississippi plays a special part in immigration enforcement?
Despite having one of the smallest immigrant populations, Mississippi is home to the second largest ICE detention facility in the entire country – the Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, which houses more than 2,000 detainees.
The federal government limits access to ICE detention centers. They aren’t inspected as often as state prisons. Only immediate family members and attorneys are allowed to visit detainees. And because the Adams County facility is owned and run by a private, for-profit company, CoreCivic, it isn’t covered by public records laws, and taxpayers don’t get to see what happens inside.
Over the next couple of months, we’re going to find out everything we can about the facility, from who is held there to how it impacts the local economy.
We’d like to invite you along.
Every Friday morning, I plan to publish something about my reporting – what I’m learning about how the facility works, about the people held there or about the impact the detention center has on the community surrounding it. You’ll be able to find it on Mississippi Today’s website, on our social media channels and in our Friday newsletter. And you can follow me on X @mukta_jo.
I’ll start posting on March 27. In the meantime, if you know something about the detention center, if you know someone who works there or is detained there, or want me to find out something about it for readers, please get in touch.
I will not use your name or any part of your submission without contacting you first. If you prefer to get in touch with me anonymously, send me a message on Signal @mmj.2178. Or you can contact me via email at mukta.joshi@nytimes.com.
Our mailing address is PO Box 12267, Jackson, MS 39236.
