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The Tate Reeves campaign says the governor still intends to give away political contributions he has received from those involved in the state’s welfare scandal, though at this point those funds remain in his campaign coffers.

“The political donations from anyone who is connected to the TANF scandal will be donated to a worthy cause at the ultimate conclusion of the legal proceedings. Those cases are ongoing,” said Elliott Husbands, Reeves’ campaign manager, referring to the continuing investigation of the misspending of $77 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families welfare funds.

In a February 2020 press conference, Reeves acknowledged receiving campaign contributions from people associated with the scandal and ongoing investigation, such as Nancy New and her son Zach, both of whom have pleaded guilty to state and federal charges related to the misspending of funds that were designed to provide assistance to the state’s poorest citizens.

“I can tell you right now, anything they gave to the campaign is going to be moved to a separate bank account,” Reeves said in 2020. “… Anything they gave the campaign will be there waiting to be returned to the taxpayers and help the people it was intended for. If that doesn’t happen, the money will go to a deserving charity.”

There is no indication that the funds have been transferred to a separate bank account based on a review of Reeves’ multiple campaign finance accounts. The Reeves campaign gave no indication that a separate bank account had been established.

Records indicated that the News contributed at least $6,000 to Reeves’ election efforts.

In Reeves’ 2019 gubernatorial campaign, he also filmed public education commercials touting his public school teacher pay plan at the News’ now shuttered private New Summit School in Jackson. Private school students and teachers were used for the commercial. Video from the 2019 New Summit advertisement has been used again this campaign cycle by Reeves in two commercials.

READ MORE: Reeves campaign uses video from shuttered private school linked to welfare scandal

In addition to other charges and guilty pleas related to the welfare funds, federal prosecutors have alleged that Nancy New used at least $76,889 in public funds that were supposed to go to the New Summit School to purchase a house.

The governor also is close to other people who have been caught up in the welfare scandal. Fitness trainer Paul Lacoste, who received $1.3 million in welfare funds that the state is now trying to recoup, cut a campaign commercial on social media endorsing Reeves and touting himself as the governor’s personal coach.

THE BACKCHANNEL: Gov. Tate Reeves inspired welfare payment targeted in civil suit, texts show

And Reeves received a campaign contribution from members of Brett Favre’s family, including his wife Deanna.

Favre was able to secure $5 million in welfare funds to build a volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre had pledged to USM that he would raise funds for the volleyball center, and he has said he did not know the money he secured for the center was supposed to go to help poor people.

Referring to the inquiries from Mississippi Today, Husbands called Mississippi Today “a liberal Democrat SuperPAC” and mentioned an unnamed donor who has given money to both the nonprofit newsroom and to Brandon Presley, Reeves’ Democratic challenger for governor later this year.

Mississippi Today shares numerous contributors to both the Reeves and Presley campaigns, and no Mississippi Today donor has been convicted of misspending public funds.

Editor’s note: Donors do not influence Mississippi Today’s editorial decisions. A list of our donors, always posted publicly to our website, can be found here.

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A $5 million federal lawsuit was filed Tuesday against the city of Indianola, the police chief and Officer Greg Capers, just days after police shot an 11-year-old boy.

“There is no way a reasonably trained officer who would have done what Greg Capers did — to shoot an unarmed 11-year-old,” Carlos Moore said Tuesday at a news conference outside his Grenada office. Moore, the managing partner of The Cochran Firm in the Mississippi Delta, is representing the youth, Aderrien Murry, and his mother, Nakala. 

On May 20, she received an unexpected visit from “an irate father of one of her minor children,” according to the lawsuit. “(She) instructed her son to call the police, because she feared for her and the children’s safety.”

Capers responded and drew his gun, but “failed to assess the situation before displaying and-or discharging his firearm,” according to the lawsuit.

As a result, Aderrien, 11, was shot, resulting in a collapsed lung, lacerated liver and fractured ribs.

His mother said her son asked, “Why did he shoot me? “What did I do?” before he began crying.

Doctors intubated him when he arrived at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and put him on oxygen. They released him from the hospital four days later.

These injuries could have been avoided if Capers and other officers had received adequate training in this area. Instead, Capers acted with “deliberate indifference, reckless disregard and gross negligence,” the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit also accuses the officer of acting with malice, saying the “ulterior purpose in misusing the legal process was to severely harm Plaintiffs while not executing their lawful duties to actually serve and protect Plaintiffs and other similarly situated individuals.” 

City officials have not responded to the lawsuit, which represents only one side of a legal argument. 

At the news conference Tuesday, Murry’s mother, Nakala, said whenever she closes her eyes, the scene flashes back — holding her son and applying pressure to his wound, only to see blood running from his mouth.

She called for a halt on the shootings of the sons of so many mothers. “We’re a voice for everybody,” she said, “because something needs to be done.”

Capers was named Policeman of the Year in 2021, according to the Enterprise-Tocsin. He is now on administrative leave with pay. 

“If he’s your best, you need a clean house from top to bottom,” Moore said. “If that’s your best, I would hate to see the worst.”

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is now conducting a probe into the shooting. 

Murry’s family is calling for the arrest of the officer on aggravated assault charges and for firing both the officer and chief of police, Moore said. “Give this family some justice and some peace.”

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Read the story behind the cartoon.

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A Hinds County Circuit Court judge has ruled the state Democratic Party improperly disqualified Bob Hickingbottom from this year’s gubernatorial primary ballot.

The state party is appealing the decision to the state Supreme Court. The high court issued an order Tuesday for parties to file briefs and other paperwork by Wednesday to expedite the matter, with the start of absentee voting drawing near.

Hinds Circuit Judge Forest Johnson Jr. ruled that Hickingbottom meets qualifications to run for Mississippi governor — being at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen for 20 years or more and a resident of the state for at least five years. The judge ruled that, while it is undisputed that Hickingbottom has failed to file a statement of economic interest with the Ethics Commission as required by law since he ran for governor in 2019 as a Constitution Party candidate, he should still be on the ballot.

The ruling said there is a difference between violating the law requiring a candidate to file an ethics report and qualifications to run for governor and, “Qualifications are core … Either you are or you’re not.” The court noted that if elected, Hickingbottom could face misdemeanor penalties for failing to file the report, including being barred from being sworn into office or receiving a salary.

READ MORE: What is Bob Hickingbottom up to?

The judge also ruled that while Hickingbottom appeared to wait too late to file an appeal of his disqualification by the party, his right to run for office and the right of people to vote for him “prevails over his delay in seeking relief from this court.”

“We are a constitutional democracy in this nation,” Johnson wrote. “Voting is a fundamental pillar of our democracy. The right of citizens to run for elected office, while not yet recognized on the same level as voting itself, is at least a quasi fundamental pillar of our democracy.”

The state Democratic Party Executive Committee in February ruled that Hickingbottom and another little-known candidate, Gregory Wash, had not met eligibility requirements to run for governor, with both failing to file statements of economic interest with the Ethics Commission. This left Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley as the lone candidate on the Aug. 8 primary ballot. Wash, who ran for governor as a Democrat four years ago, did not appeal the decision in court.

Presley is considered the frontrunner in the Democratic Primary and is expected to face incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who faces two little-known candidates in his primary, in the Nov. 7 general election.

The post Judge puts Democratic candidate back on gubernatorial ballot appeared first on Mississippi Today.

MAY 29, 1980

Vernon Jordan, who once worked alongside Medgar Evers as a field secretary for the NAACP and later advised Bill Clinton, survived an assassination attempt in Fort Wayne, Indiana, by racist serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin (and so did Hustler publisher Larry Flynt). 

Franklin was acquitted of the assault — only to confess his guilt years later. In an interview, Franklin said he considered Adolf Hitler his hero and “Mein Kampf” his Bible. “I read it hundreds of times.” 

Trying to start a “race war,” he said he bombed synagogues, shot interracial couples and killed “enemies of the white race.” By the time it ended, he had killed at least 22 people, including Jackson State University student Johnnie Noyes Jr., who had simply been washing his car. 

In 2013, Franklin was executed in Missouri for the 1977 murder of Gerald Gordon outside a synagogue in St. Louis.

The post On this day in 1980 appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi Today’s Adam Ganucheau, Geoff Pender, Bobby Harrison and Taylor Vance break down frequently asked questions about the 2023 lieutenant governor’s race. The Republican primary features incumbent Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and state Sen. Chris McDaniel.

The post FAQ: The 2023 lieutenant governor’s race appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Different league, same result. Scott Berry’s Southern Miss Golden Eagles have won another championship.

Southern Miss defeated the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns 6-2 Sunday at Montgomery Sunday in the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in the Eagles’ inaugural season in the league. Southern Miss, ranked No. 16 nationally, will enter the NCAA Tournament later this week with a 41-17 record. 

The Golden Eagles hope to host an NCAA Regional and will learn their tournament destination on Monday. Regardless of where they head, they will go as one of the hottest teams in college baseball. Sunday’s victory was their 19th in the past 21 games. 

“We earned every bit of that win today,” an emotional Berry said amid the championship celebration. “I just couldn’t be more proud of the way our guys competed and did what it takes in all phases of the game.”

There were many USM heroes Sunday, but none stood taller, literally and figuratively, than 6-foot, 7-inch left-hander Justin Storm. The hero of last year’s NCAA Regional championship against LSU, Storm replicated the feat against another Louisiana team. He pitched the final 5.1 innings, shutting out the Cajuns while allowing only three hits and striking out eight. Afterward, the former Madison Central basketball center paraded around field at Riverwalk Stadium with the championship trophy high above his head, while his teammates circled the field shaking hands with Eagle fans who made the “neutral site” championship much like a home game at Pete Taylor Park.

All American pitcher Tanner Hall was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after pitching a complete game victory in the Eagles’ opener against James Madison. Hall was warming up in the bullpen during the eighth and ninth innings, but Storm was able to finish it out.

“Storm was just electric,” Hall said. “He shut them down, just like I knew he would.”

Asked what the championship meant to him, Hall said, “I mean it’s everything, but it’s mostly about Coach Berry to me. This being his last conference tournament, it just means more.”

Berry, 60, announced his retirement — effective season’s end — 12 days ago. Christian Ostrander, the associate head coach and pitching coach, will take his place.

Shortstop Dustin Dickerson, third baseman Danny Lynch, first baseman Christopher Sargent and Hall all made the All-Tournament team. Dickerson and Lynch both homered Sunday and Sargent also contributed two hits.

Designated hitter Slade Wilks provided more heroics, launching a towering, two-run home run — his 20th — in the seventh inning, increasing a tenuous one-run lead to 5-2. The ball seemed to stay in the air forever before coming down just over the reach of leaping Louisiana right fielder Heath Hood.

The Cajuns probably would prefer to never see Lynch again. Lynch, a senior who will become a Southern Miss grad assistant next season, launched two grand slams just one week earlier to give the Golden Eagles an 11-9 victory and a 2-1 series victory over Louisiana.

Said Berry, “Sometimes, there’s somebody that has your number and Danny Lynch certainly has Lafayette’s.”

Despite the loss, the 40-22 Cajuns probably played their way in to the NCAA Tournament by defeating seventh ranked Coastal Carolina twice on Saturday to reach the league finals. The Sun Belt presumably will place four teams in the 64-team field: USM, Coastal, Louisiana and Troy.

It is difficult to fathom that on April 22, Southern Miss fell to 22-15 after a 20-7 drubbing administered by Coastal Carolina at Conway, S.C. The Eagles came back to defeat Coastal the next day to begin the hot steak they continued Sunday. From 22-15 to 41-17 is no easy feat and similar to what Ole Miss did a year ago when it went from 22-17 to a national championship.

Under Berry, Southern Miss won five Conference USA regular season titles and four CUSA Tournament championships. Berry’s Eagles also have accomplished seven consecutive 40-victory seasons, the most of any NCAA Division I program.

Southern Miss athletic director Jeremy McClain was beaming afterward.

“Our guys really wanted this for Coach Berry, and I’m really, really proud the fight they showed,” McClain said. “Scott is the epitome of what we want to be at Southern Miss: character, class, tough, doing everything the right way. He may be retiring, but his fingerprints will be all over this program for a long, long time.”

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Alderman won over fellow finalists Hunter Hines of Mississippi State, Tanner Hall of Southern Miss, Ty Hill of Jackson State and Slade Wilks of Southern Miss. Hall won the award in 2022.

First things first: Alderman is a worthy winner. All he did was hit .376 with a slugging percentage of .709 and on-base percentage of .440. He slammed 19 home runs and knocked in 61 runs. “One of the most productive seasons in Ole Miss baseball history,” is the way his coach, Mike Bianco, described it.

Nevertheless, social media and fan websites (and my email) were inundated with cries of favoritism or a rigged vote. Most of it came from Southern Miss fans who believed Hall, the Golden Eagles’ All American pitcher, should have won for a second consecutive season.

You may remember that Hall won last year, beating out, among others, Ole Miss’s heroic slugger Tim Elko, who eventually would lead the Rebels to the national championship. Naturally, Rebel fans believed Elko should have won.

As with Alderman, Hall’s numbers were off the charts. Pitcher of the Year in the Sun Belt Conference, Hall is 12-3 with a 2.23 earned run average. He has struck out 109 batters while walking only 30. In conference games, he was 9-1 with a 2.00 ERA. Understand, he was always pitching against the other team’s best guy. 

If I had a vote, I would have voted for Hall, but that’s taking nothing away from Alderman, nor any of the other finalists who all had phenomenal seasons. Congrats to Kemp Alderman, who was eloquent and thoughtful in accepting the award. Congrats also to Hall for an All American season that is far from over.

That someone was Tom Watson.

Yes, that Tom Watson: Kansas City native, winner of eight major tournaments, 39 PGA tournaments, eight European Tour tournaments and the world’s No. 1 golfer for four years consecutively. 

Furr’s thoughts were just what you might suspect: “Tom Watson, one of greatest players in golf history, is out here watching me … ”

No pressure there.

So, Furr’s group gets to the sixth green, with Watson still watching, and Furr faces important chip shot, still holding a narrow lead. He addresses the ball and then it happens. In the gallery, someone’s phone rings. 

Furr backs away and looks in the direction of the ringing phone. Yes, it was Tom Watson’s phone, and the World Golf Hall of Famer was fumbling with it, sheepishly trying to turn it off.

The rest of the gallery had a good laugh and Furr went on and made his par.

Furr shot a final round 71, which tied him for second place behind Grayson Murray, who shot a final round 68.

The second straight Top 10 finish moved Furr to No. 26 on the Korn Ferry points list, with the tour moving to Knoxville this week. The top 30 on the points list will gain full PGA Tour privileges for 2024. Furr has made quite a comeback since missing the cut in a Florida tournament last month because of controversial two-shot penalty.

This was 50 years ago in 1973 at the old Magnolia Classic in Hattiesburg. Several friends, including PGA officials, told me I had to get out on the course and watch this young golfer, recently graduated from Stanford, destined for greatness. Tom Watson.

So I looked at the pairings, did the math and figured he should be approaching the fifth hole. The fifth at the Hattiesburg Country Club was then — and is now — the hardest hole on the course. I headed that way and arrived at the fifth green just moments before I saw somebody’s shot land on the green, bounce once and then roll into the hole. That somebody turned out to be Watson.

So, the threesome reached the green and the two other golfers marked their golf balls, while Watson, a short, little guy (then with a mustache) looked all around the green for his.

“Hey, buddy,” I called out, “check the hole.”

Watson walked over, looked down, broke into a smile and picked up his ball. He waved the ball to the gallery, which was one. Me. On a hole where par is a good score and birdies are rare, he had made an eagle-2. I followed him the rest of the way, amazed at his compact, efficient swing. He went on to finish third in the tournament. It was his last trip to the Magnolia Classic. He would win the Western Open the next year and the British Open in 1975. He was off and running. The rest was magic.

The post Touching all bases: On Ferriss award, Furr, and brushes with Tom Watson appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The Jackson metro area’s only inpatient hospice facility closed its doors at the end of April.

The nonprofit Hospice Ministries in Ridgeland offered 30 to 40 inpatient beds available for people who needed hospice services but could not remain at home or in another facility. 

Hospice care is defined as a type of health care that focuses on comfort and alleviation of symptoms at the end of life for terminally ill patients. It is provided in homes, inpatient facilities and hospitals, among other facilities.

In addition to residential care, the inpatient facility at Hospice Ministries also provided short-term care for patients whose caregivers needed extra assistance or to leave the home.

It’s unclear what caused the facility to close, though a spokeswoman for the Mississippi State Department of Health said the closure was voluntary. The organization’s Executive Director Suzannah Britt referred questions to Medical Director Dr. Gerry Ann Houston, who did not respond by the time of publication.

A press release posted on the group’s website midweek attributed it to “the many changes in healthcare.”

“Closing the inpatient facility will allow Hospice Ministries to put more focus on providing end of life care to patients in their ‘homes,’ whether it be their personal residence, a nursing home or an assisted living facility,” the statement read.

In an interview with the Northside Sun in 2019, Britt said while the organization is mostly known for its inpatient care, most of the care it provides is via in-home services. She also said there was a waiting list for the inpatient facility, and there had been a donation from the McRae Foundation to expand the center and remodel a suite that had been closed. 

The organization is funded by reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurance, in addition to community support, she said.

Hospice Ministries also offers in-home hospice care, bereavement services and a counseling center that offers grief counseling for children. 

Ashley Parker, a geriatric social worker who runs a business called Compassionate Consulting, works in the Jackson area and has referred many of her clients to Hospice Ministries.

“The inpatient facility has been a godsend to families and has provided such wonderful care at the end of life. I am so saddened that Hospice Ministries is no longer able to provide their inpatient services,” Parker told Mississippi Today. “ … The support it offered will be missed significantly in our community.”

The only other inpatient hospice facilities in the state are located in Hattiesburg, the Gulf Coast and north Mississippi, according to the state Health Department’s health facilities directory.

Hospice Ministries’ website says it accepts patients regardless of ability to pay. The nonprofit reported around $300,000 in indigent charity care on its latest available tax filing. 

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