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Federal officials repeatedly reminded an emotional room of Jacksonians that they have yet to pick a flood control plan for the capital city. Still, nearly all the comments at Wednesday’s public meetings centered on one design.

As has been the case for over a decade now, One Lake dominated the discussion on curbing flooding from the Pearl River.

Staff from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spent about four hours on Wednesday on a stage at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum in Jackson, listening to what flood victims, politicians, businessmen, and other concerned residents had to say about the controversial proposal.

The agency is starting a new environmental analysis of several options that include the One Lake proposal, voluntary buyouts, elevation or other floodproofing, a hybrid of those options, or an alternative that has yet to be presented to the public. Corps officials alluded to a proposal from the University of California Berkeley that they were looking into.

One Lake is the result of a decades-long effort among local officials to prevent flooding in Jackson like what happened in 1979 and, more recently, in 2020. The proposal would widen the Pearl River for several miles next to Jackson. Supporters say the plan would reduce flooding by giving the river more room to flow, and also point to business opportunities created within the plan’s footprint. Opponents argue it would threaten wetlands downstream, harm struggling species, and wouldn’t provide the flood protection that the $340 million project advertises.

According to its current timeline, the Corps will release a draft of the analysis in September, hold a 45-day public comment period, and then come out with a final proposal in December. Then, Assistant Secretary of the Army of Civil Works Michael Connor will make a final decision around January of next year. Corps representatives said that decision could include no action if none of the options meets their criteria.

Citizens and stakeholders have until June 30 to submit a comment, which they can do through the Corps’ website.

Many of the comments supporting One Lake focused on economic improvement just as much as they focused on flood control.

“It’s way past time for this project to come to action,” Tamika Jenkins, executive director of the Hinds County Economic Development Authority, said. “If we have national news about flooding, companies are not going to come here.”

Socrates Garrett, a contractor and well-known business figure in the city, said Jackson has limited opportunities such as One Lake for economic growth.

“The only potential that (Jackson) has is within the (Pearl River) footprint,” Garrett said. “The only opportunity that we have now is to make this river, that God blessed us with, be a blessing for the citizens of Jackson, and provide the economic opportunity that makes this place become a tourist attraction, makes us have a river beach front that we can walk on, that we have hotels in the middle of the river, that we have all these businesses that are surrounded. It’s the only chance Jackson has to grow and attract a new tax base.”

Those sentiments echoed throughout the night, including from pastors in Jackson — including Greg Divinity of Vineyard Church, CJ Rhodes of Mount Helm Baptist Church, and Ronnie Crudup of New Horizon Church — other local business figures, such as restaurant owner Jeff Good and Visit Jackson CEO Rickey Thigpen, and education leaders as well, including Renee Cotton, Chief of Staff at Hinds County Community College.

A bipartisan group of local and state lawmakers also pledged their support.

“We believe that the proposed project provides protection, opportunity and extends benefits to minority and low-income households in Jackson,” said Rep. Zakiya Summers, D-Jackson, who said that One Lake would also help address a “chokepoint” that exists in between the city’s current levees, leading to worse flooding in certain areas.

Other political figures supporting the project included Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson, Hinds County Supervisor Robert Graham, former Hinds County Republican Party Chairman Pete Perry, Richland Mayor Pat Sullivan, Jackson Councilman Ashby Foote, and Rep. Shanda Yates, I-Jackson. Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba has also given his backing to One Lake.

Several backers also pointed to the recent support from Jackson’s third-party water manager Ted Henifin. Henifin said in a press release that the plan would allow the city to build a new treatment plant at a more optimal location for distribution, and where it’d be less susceptible to flooding.

But while supporters zeroed in on the financial benefits of building the project, opponents of One Lake also latched onto that very point.

“The big picture is not being shown,” said Rep. Ken Morgan, R-Morgantown. “This thing is one of the biggest realty scams that ever took place in the state of Mississippi.”

Multiple opponents shared that view.

“One Lake is a private real estate development scheme masquerading as a flood control project,” Lea Campbell with Mississippi for a Green New Deal said.

Elected leaders of downstream communities, including Monticello Mayor Martha Watts and Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, said that creating a lake would disrupt the flow south of Jackson, including for large employers like Georgia Pacific that rely on water intake.

“Don’t come looking south of Jackson for a vote, let me assure you, because we’re all mad,” Currie said.

At a Tuesday meeting in Slidell, Louisiana, other downstream residents voiced similar concerns.

While most comments took a stance on One Lake, others simply urged the Corps to find the best solution.

“The main solution I want to see is what we can implement the fastest,” said Shawn Miller, who said flooding has already displaced him twice since moving to Jackson in 2018.

In addition to the Corps’ website, commenters can e-mail PearlRiverFRM@usace.army.mil, and or mail their feedback to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CEMVK-PMP, 4155 Clay Street, Vicksburg, MS, 39183-3435.

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MAY 25, 1774

Lancaster Hill and other Black Americans in the Massachusetts Bay colony, “who are detained in a state of Slavery in the Bowels of a free & Christian Country,” declared in a petition that they were born free just like the white citizens and “have never forfeited this Blessing by any compact or agreement whatever.” 

Seven years later, Elizabeth “Bett” Freeman heard that the new Massachusetts Constitution said every person had a right to freedom. The next day, she approached a lawyer, asking why the law wouldn’t give her freedom, and the lawyer filed a lawsuit. 

At the same time, Quock Walker, sued his former master, Nathaniel Jennison, for battery. After the local courts ruled in their favor, they pressed the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on whether the state’s Constitution applied to those enslaved. That challenge led to Supreme Court Chief Justice William Cushing’s conclusion that slavery was “inconsistent with our own conduct and Constitution.” 

By 1790, the U.S. Census found no Black Americans enslaved in Massachusetts, making it the first state to abolish slavery

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Three former Jackson police officers are facing murder charges in the death of a man who died in their custody last year.

Avery Willis, Kenya McCarty and James Land were indicted last week on charges of second degree murder and manslaughter relating to the death of 41-year-old Keith Murriel on Dec. 31, 2022, said Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens. 

“We at JPD will continue to be transparent and we will continue to have accountability measures in place not only from the bottom up, but from the top down as we move forward,” Interim Police Chief Joseph Wade said during a Wednesday press conference. 

In a news release issued at the time, police said Murriel experienced a medical emergency while in police custody. But the man’s family disagrees, saying in an April lawsuit in federal court that the officers used excessive force against Murriel and failed to render medical aid. 

“I believe we have to acknowledge his humanity and the individual that he was, and the tragic loss that will be shared amongst his family much different than the rest of us,” Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said Wednesday. 

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation, and during that time the city didn’t release video. But now that the investigation is over, Lumumba said the city has released body camera footage from the three police officers and video from the area. 

That video was released to Murriel’s family before the conference, and it was shared with local media outlets. 

The video opens with officers driving up to the Extended Stay America hotel on East Beasley Road and talking with Murriel outside.  

Later, one of the officers brings Murriel to the ground and holds him there by kneeling on his back. The sound of a stun gun can be heard multiple times as officers try to handcuff him, followed by screams. 

An ambulance arrives, and the emergency personnel are seen administering CPR while one of the officers radios in that Murriel has suffered cardiac arrest.

Lumumba described the actions seen in the video as “excessive, disheartening and tragic.”

McCarty and Willis face charges of second degree murder and Land was charged with manslaughter, Owens said. As of Wednesday, the indictments have not yet been uploaded onto the Mississippi Electronic Court system. 

Owens could not go into details about the case, but said the varying charges reflect culpability in the man’s death. 

The indicted officers were placed on administrative leave at the beginning of the year during an internal police investigation. McCarty was fired in February, and Willis and Land were fired for a policy violation in April, WJTV reported. 

“We want to build a vision of public safety that is based in community love and also based on trust, and these actions don’t appear to be consistent with that vision,” Wade said. 

Additional reporting by Alex Rozier

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The Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees has once again selected Academic Search, an executive headhunting firm, to help it find the next president of a public university in Mississippi. 

This time, the board has hired Academic Search to help trustees pick a permanent replacement for Thomas Hudson at Jackson State University. The decision was made at the board’s meeting last week. The contract has not been finalized, but an IHL spokesperson said Academic Search would be paid $115,000. 

Hudson resigned in mid-March after the board placed him on administrative leave with pay, making him the third permanent president in a row to step down from Jackson State. Unlike his predecessors, it is still not known why Hudson resigned from the top job at Mississippi’s largest historically Black university. 

Elayne Hayes-Anthony has been filling the post in the interim. Hayes-Anthony has been over Jackson State’s Department of Journalism and Media Studies. In March, Hayes-Anthony told reporters that she was interested in becoming Jackson State’s permanent president and would apply for the position.

At on-campus listening sessions held by the board last month, only one community member mentioned they’d like to see Hayes-Anthony permanently take the job. But it was resoundingly clear that community members wanted IHL to conduct a national search. 

Carrine Bishop, a faculty member whose family has deep roots at JSU, put it the most bluntly: “Stop hiring your friends,” she told trustees. “We need to vet every individual.”

Hudson, who had been appointed interim president in the wake of William Bynum Jr.’s resignation, was elevated in an expedited search at the end of 2020. Trustees did not conduct a national search before appointing Hudson permanently. 

In Mississippi, business has been booming for Academic Search. In the last year, the IHL board has hired the firm to assist with the presidential searches at Delta State University and University of Southern Mississippi.

Despite contracting with the search firm, trustees ultimately opted not to do a national search at USM and voted to appoint Joe Paul, who had been the interim president Academic Search never posted a formal announcement for the position. 

But at Delta State, the board’s pick, Daniel Ennis, applied for the job after seeing the posting on Academic Search’s website.  

The board paid Academic Search $85,000 for the Delta State search. IHL’s initial contract with Academic Search was for $130,000, but it was amended after the board cut the search short.

READ MORE: ‘Stop hiring your friends’: JSU community speaks up in listening session for next president

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GULFPORT — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley called Tuesday for a new investigator to scrutinize Mississippi’s massive welfare scandal and continued to hammer Republican Gov. Tate Reeves’ lack of support to reform the state’s welfare agency.

Presley, the state’s Northern District Public Service commissioner, told reporters in Gulfport on Tuesday that, if elected to the state’s highest office, he would urge the Mississippi Ethics Commission to appoint the independent inspector who would operate freely of political pressure from state lawmakers and the governor. 

“I promise that I won’t insert myself into this investigation,” Presley said. 

It’s unclear what exact duties the hypothetical investigator would have or what the scope of a potential inquiry would be, but Presley told the media he would want the person to have wide leeway to “do what they think” is best to conduct the review.

The four-term utilities regulator has made the multi-million dollar scandal that has led to multiple people pleading guilty to federal and state charges one of the primary focuses of his bid for the Governor’s Mansion. 

READ MORE: Brandon Presley unveils ethics package, slams governor for welfare scandal

One of the likely reasons the Democratic candidate is pitching the need for a new investigator is to contrast himself with Reeves’ involvement in deciding which attorneys should handle the state’s ongoing civil lawsuit to recoup allegedly misspent welfare funds.

Reeves’ administration last year abruptly fired Brad Pigott, a former federal prosecutor who initially handled the state’s civil lawsuit against dozens of defendants. The governor said he approved Pigott’s termination after the former prosecutor filed a subpoena on the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation.

“When that former U.S. attorney got just a little bit too close to Tate’s buddies and started asking just a little bit too tough of questions and started looking at what really was the deep infection of this corruption, he woke up the next day fired,” Presley said Tuesday.

The other major item that Presley pushed was encouraging representatives from three state agencies to form a public integrity task force to primarily examine state contracts the Department of Human Services awards to its vendors — one of the root causes of the welfare scandal.

While the Democratic candidate is pitching new ethics reform policies, he’s also accusing Reeves, his presumptive Republican opponent in November, of idly letting the scandal play out while he presided over the state Senate as lieutenant governor for eight years. 

“You can write this down and put it in concrete,” Presley said. “Tate Reeves will not fight corruption. Let me say it again. Tate Reeves will not fight corruption. He’s not opened his mouth about corruption in this campaign. He’s not said a word.” 

Reeves has maintained he did not know about the welfare scandal when he was lieutenant governor and played no part in the diversion of welfare funds.

READ MORE: Gov. Tate Reeves inspired welfare payment targeted in civil suit, texts show

In a recent campaign ad, Reeves re-used footage from his 2019 bid for the Governor’s Mansion of him visiting the now-defunct New Summit School that was owned by Nancy New, a principal figure who has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the welfare scandal. 

Presley criticized the governor’s decision to use campaign footage of a the private school and called New Summit School the “Chernobyl” of the sprawling welfare scandal, comparing it to the 1980s nuclear plant disaster in Russia. 

The Reeves campaign did not address questions from Mississippi Today about the campaign video and other accusations from Presley, but in response, a Reeves campaign spokesperson labeled Mississippi Today as a “liberal Democrat SuperPAC.”

“No one in Mississippi should endure any lecture on government ethics from Brandon Presley while he is funding his campaign with money from a convicted felon found guilty of attempting to bribe elected officials across Mississippi,” Reeves’ campaign manager Elliott Husbands said in a statement.

Husbands later clarified he was referring to Dickie Scruggs, a disbarred attorney who pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge and a federal mail fraud charge in 2009. He served a stint in prison, which he completed in 2014.

The prominent former attorney donated $10,000 to Presley’s campaign, according to the candidate’s most recent campaign finance report, and he regularly donates to political candidates in the state.

The Tuesday press conference was the second event the utilities regulator has conducted about tightening ethics rules and reforming lobbying laws in state government. He’s expected to unveil more proposals in the coming weeks.

Editor’s note: Dickie Scruggs has been a donor of Mississippi Today. Donors do not influence Mississippi Today’s editorial decisions, and a list of our donors can be found here.

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Mississippi’s already lackluster employment numbers would be impacted more than most states if Congress does not raise the debt limit to pay the nation’s bills.

If there is a long-term lapse in the nation’s ability to pay its debt, the state could lose as many as 64,000 jobs or 5.4% of its workforce, according to a recent report by Moody’s Analytics, a subsidiary of Moody’s credit rating agency. In a short-term scenario, Mississippi would lose as many as 21,700 jobs or 1.23% of its workforce. Moody’s predicts only five states would lose a larger percentage of their workforce than Mississippi.

“The blow to the economy would be cataclysmic,” Moody’s said of a “prolonged breach” of the debt limit. Moody’s reasons that states that depend more on federal revenue would be the ones most negatively impacted if the nation defaults on its debt.

The Republican leadership of the House is currently refusing to raise the nation’s debt limit to pay past commitments made by Congress unless multiple cuts are made to future spending. Congressional leaders and President Joe Biden currently are negotiating a deal that will result in raising the credit limit. If no deal is reached, projections are the nation could be unable to pay its debt starting in early June.

The debt limit debate comes as Gov. Tate Reeves has touted the state’s job growth as part of his reelection campaign. The Republican Reeves will likely face Democratic Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley in the November general election.

After April’s unemployment rate of 3.4% was announced for Mississippi, Reeves said: “Reaching a record low unemployment rate in back-to-back months speaks volumes to Mississippi’s momentum. Our education system is thriving, jobs are plentiful, and there are more opportunities than ever before. We’re making historic investments in workforce development and infrastructure and are attracting thousands of high-paying jobs to every region of the state. It’s a great day to be a Mississippian.”

Despite those low unemployment numbers, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that there were fewer Mississippians working in April of this year than in April 2022. In April 2023, 1.212 million were employed — 8,089 fewer than were working a year ago.

April marks the seventh consecutive month where there were fewer Mississippians working than in the prior year, according to BLS data. There are 2,073 fewer jobs in April 2023 than in January 2020 when Reeves took office, though April 2023 numbers are still preliminary.

Employment numbers have been tenuous in Mississippi for some time. The state’s highest levels of employment occurred in May 2000, when there were 1.24 million employed. That number has never been surpassed.

Mississippi’s labor force participation rate also peaked in early 2000, when 62.85% of the people eligible to work were employed. The state’s rate is currently at 54.5% and trails the national average of 62.9% and all other states with the exception of West Virginia.

Responding to those numbers in the past, Reeves has said there are jobs available for people who want to work.

But those jobs pay less than jobs in other states. Mississippi has the lowest mean or average household income at $65,156 per year. Mississippi has trailed the rest of the nation in per capita income for decades, though Reeves points out per capital income has increased by 21% or $8,100 since 2019.

Wages in Mississippi, like in the rest of the nation, have been increasing since the pandemic. Personal income in Mississippi grew by an annualized rate of 4.1% between the third and fourth quarters of 2022. During the same period, the nation’s personal income grew by an annualized rate of 7.4%, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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Fewer Mississippi children participate in special education services for young children than the national average, according to a new report.

The report found that participation increases with state median income. 

The National Institute for Early Education Research published a report Tuesday evaluating the state of services for children with disabilities, particularly the federal programs known as Early Intervention, for children under three, and Early Childhood Special Education, for children ages 3-5. The report uses data from the 2020-21 school year to focus on inequities in the availability of these services by race and state. 

Children are often referred to these programs when they show delays or difficulties during developmental screenings performed by pediatricians or child care centers. Mississippi has historically had a low rate of developmental screenings, but now ranks 33rd nationally due to investment from a federal grant.  Research shows intervention improves outcomes and is more effective the earlier it is delivered.

In the 2020-21 school year, 1.5% of Mississippi kids received services through the under three program, while 3.2% did nationally. For children ages 3-5, 4.4% of Mississippi kids received services compared to 5.2% nationally. 

The report found a correlation between state median income and participation in these services, both of which were low for Mississippi. Experts attributed this pattern to health care access and state policy choices. 

“Those families that either don’t have health care or don’t have transportation to get to health care are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to accessing early intervention programs,” said Katy Neas, deputy assistant secretary with the U.S. Department of Education. “Having done some work in your state, the lack of providers in places outside of Jackson is really quite profound.”

Neas added that local Head Starts provide a high-quality experience for young children with disabilities, helping to address the gap in options.  

Steve Barnett, co-director of the institute, also pointed out that some other states with low median incomes face similar challenges but have much higher enrollment, naming New Mexico and West Virginia as examples. He said these differences in state policy are one of the reasons they recommend convening state leaders to share ideas. 

The report also found when children in Mississippi finish the under three program, many are not being screened to see if they are eligible for the 3 to 5-year-old program. Neas said she believes a lack of collaboration between state agencies can lead to this issue; in Mississippi, the under three program is operated by the Mississippi Department of Health, while the 3-5 program is operated by local school districts. Nearly 40% of Mississippi children in the younger program were not evaluated for the older one. About 20% of kids in the under three program were evaluated and found to be eligible for the 3-5 program. Nationally, these numbers are nearly reversed. 

“… If kids have the audacity to turn three at a time other than the beginning of the school year, sometimes the transition can be sub-optimal,” said Neas.

She added that this transition is a point of focus for the U.S. Department of Education.

The report also highlights racial disparities in the children receiving services, with white children having higher rates of enrollment nationally than Black or Hispanic children, a pattern that largely holds true in Mississippi. 

There are also racial differences in the disabilities students are enrolled to address. In the program for students aged 3-5, significantly more white children are enrolled for speech or language impairments than developmental delays. For Black children, there is a nearly equal distribution of kids between the two categories. 

States are required to measure children who participate in these programs using three goals: positive social-emotional skills; acquisition and use of knowledge and skills; and use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs. In Mississippi, about 50% of children met these goals for the under three program, and closer to 70% of kids met them by the end of the 3 to 5-year-old program. 

The report authors did not offer specific policy suggestions to address these disparities, save additional federal funding, and instead called on the federal government to convene a national commission to study the issues and share best practices among states. 

On the press call, Neas emphasized struggles with adequate staffing for these programs and child care centers more broadly as an area that needs attention.

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The golf season is in full bloom, and Randy Watkins, Mississippi’s Mr. Golf, joins us to talk PGA Championship, Brooks Koepka, who won, and Michael Block, who stole the show (and has a Mississippi connection). We also discuss Wilson Furr, the Jackson native, who has played his way into the spotlight on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Stream all episodes here.

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