OurTupelo

Once a vocal champion of campaign finance transparency and reform, lieutenant governor candidate Chris McDaniel has again filed an incomplete and incoherent report of the amounts and sources of funding for his campaign.

This comes after McDaniel’s campaign last month said he was returning legally questionable large donations from a Virginia dark-money nonprofit, and shutting down his PAC through which the donations flowed to his campaign.

Incumbent Republican Delbert Hosemann, who faces McDaniel in the Aug. 8 Republican primary, on Wednesday reported raising nearly $193,000 from January through April, and having $3.4 million cash on hand as the primary race enters the final stretch. His largest single donation was $25,000 from Barry Wax, owner of Wax Seed Co. in Amory and a longtime large contributor to Mississippi Republican campaigns.

McDaniel, a four-term state senator who has twice run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate, filed only a cover sheet for his campaign finance report, failing to itemize donations or spending over $200 as required by state law. His filing on Wednesday’s deadline was listed as the “Committee to Elect Chris McDaniel,” not under his name as his past reports have been filed, and McDaniel failed to register such a committee with the secretary of state’s office.

McDaniel and campaign staff did not respond to a request for comment about the filing.

Hosemann in a statement Thursday said: “At this point, there appear to be multiple campaign finance violations stemming from multiple committees. Standing for election integrity includes following campaign finance laws, which require basic reporting of contributions, expenditures, and cash on hand. We are asking for enforcement of these laws. If Chris McDaniel can’t get this simple paperwork done, he won’t be able to manage a $7 billion budget.”

READ MORE: Chris McDaniel returns questionable campaign donations, shuts down PAC. Hosemann complaint with AG pending

McDaniel’s campaign and PAC reports to date make it impossible to know for sure exactly how much money he has raised, has on hand or from whence it came. In his filing in January that was supposed to cover 2022 collections, he reported collections from this year. In the cover sheet totals he filed Wednesday, it would appear he is re-reporting money he already reported in January. Given this, it would appear his campaign raised about $87,000 this year through April. His cover sheet claims he has about $336,000 cash on hand.

McDaniel had also created the Hold the Line PAC. Its public filings and subsequent explanations and amended reports from McDaniel and others have been confounding. Hold the Line initially failed to list the source of hundreds of thousands of dollars it claimed to have collected, and its reports have had amounts and dates that don’t add up. For instance, Hold the Line reported having raised hundreds of thousands of dollars the year before McDaniel legally registered it with the secretary of state’s office, and failed to list the source of that money as required by law.

Mississippi Today first reported about issues with McDaniel’s PAC and campaign finance reports in early February. In mid-April, after Hosemann filed a complaint that the secretary of state’s office forwarded to the attorney general, McDaniel’s campaign said it was returning donations from the PAC, and the PAC in turn was returning donations to a dark-money nonprofit corporation that Hosemann’s camp claimed violated state law.

A spokeswoman for McDaniel’s campaign last month said McDaniel was confident he would prevail in court on any challenge to his finances, but was returning $460,000 to the American Exceptionalism Institute “to avoid a protracted legal fight with the establishment.”

READ MORE: Coming soon to screens near you: Mississippi election ad wars

Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s only response to date about Hosemann’s complaint has been, “We are reviewing it.” Secretary of State Michael Watson’s office cited its lack of investigative and prosecutorial authority when it forwarded Hosemann’s complaint to Fitch.

An intentional violation of Mississippi’s campaign disclosure law is a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a $3,000 fine, six months imprisonment, or both. But in Mississippi campaign finance laws are seldom enforced, and alleged violations seldom investigated or prosecuted.

In response to questions from Mississippi Today on Wednesday, Watson’s office said McDaniel’s cover letter was all he filed for his report, and that, “We have not received a Statement of Organization from the Committee to Elect Chris McDaniel.” The statement said that candidates must file a statement of organization within 48 hours of receiving or spending $200. Failure to do so can eventually result in administrative penalties from the state Ethics Commission, which will eventually turn the case over to the AG’s office if a candidate continues to fail to file.

The post Chris McDaniel files incomplete campaign finance report, Hosemann posts $3.4M cash on hand appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Top-ticket Mississippi political campaigns are about to bombard voters with millions of dollars in television, digital and radio ads, with some opening salvos already released.

Incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves’ campaign is up on social media with “Mississippi Momentum,” a lengthy video narrated by his wife, Elee. She recounts the governor’s accomplishments and all the challenges the state faced from hurricanes, tornadoes, the pandemic, the media and national liberals under Reeves’ watch.

“When tragedy hit, he sought the help of our God,” Elee Reeves says. “… As first lady I watched it all and I saw it up close. Tate was a leader and the liberal media went nuts … We cannot let the national liberals ruin what makes this the last great place for families.”

But another video Reeves’ campaign posted on social media last week garnered much more attention than his official kick-off video: It’s clips of Clint Eastwood as “the Man With No Name” shooting up a town full of bandits, with Reeves’ face digitally inserted for Eastwood’s. Reeves dual-wields six shooters as he smokes a cheroot, and the usually baby-faced Reeves even sports a scruffy cowboy beard.

Reeves’ likely opponent in November, Democratic Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, kicked off his campaign in mid-January with a polished three-minute video on social media blasting Reeves.

“I’m running for governor because I know Mississippi can do better,” Presley says in the video. “We’ve got a state filled with good people but horrible politicians — and that includes our governor. Tate Reeves is a man with zero conviction and maximum corruption. He looks out for himself and his rich friends instead of the people that put him into office. And he’s been caught in the middle of the largest public corruption scandal in state history.”

Down ticket one notch, the lieutenant governor’s ad battle between incumbent Republican Delbert Hosemann and primary challenger state Sen. Chris McDaniel is already fully enjoined. McDaniel, for weeks has had social media videos decrying Hosemann as a “fake conservative” and #DelbertTheDemocrat.”

Hosemann is countering with videos touting his accomplishments and conservative bona fides including cutting taxes and implementing voter ID. One says, “The next time you vote, remember Delbert Hosemann made your vote secure” and “… Delbert Hosemann kept your personal information from winding up in Joe Biden’s garage.”

In the crucial GOP battleground of the Coast, Hosemann has a social video ad hammering McDaniel on an issue that McDaniel also faced in his first failed run for U.S. Senate in 2014.

“Chris McDaniel turned his back on the Coast after the most devastating hurricane in U.S. history,” the Hosemann ad narrator says. “Chris McDaniel said he didn’t know if he would have voted for Hurricane Katrina recovery funds.” The ad shows texts of McDaniel’s statements back then. “And with thousands of jobs on the line, McDaniel didn’t vote to support improvements at the port of Pascagoula. Not standing up for Katrina relief. Not supporting our economy. Chris McDaniel is out for Chris McDaniel, not the Coast.”

A McDaniel social media video says Hosemann “is no conservative” because he has appointed Democratic senators to chair Senate committees.

“You can tell a lot about a man by the company he keeps,” says the ad, which shows pictures of Delbert at a Capital press conference with Democratic senators. “That’s how we know Delbert Hosemann is no conservative. As lieutenant governor Hosemann teamed up with Democrats and appointed 13 different liberals as chairmen of crucial committees … Fake conservative Delbert Hosemann stands with Democrats, not us.”

Hosemann on social media has responded that photos McDaniel used from that press conference on crime cropped out Republicans such as U.S. Rep. Michael Guest and House Speaker Philip Gunn. Also, McDaniel’s ad and posts about Hosemann appointing Democrats to chairmanships doesn’t mention all of Hosemann’s Republican predecessors did the same, in part because there are more Senate committees than there are Republican senators.

McDaniel also has a social media video up claiming “The woke left and lieutenant governor Delbert Hosemann are mad that Mississippi just passed a bill to protect kids from dangerous and radical gender surgeries.” The ad claims Hosemann supported the measure only because it was an election year and he feared a challenge from the right from McDaniel.

Candidates won’t be the only ones running ads this state election cycle. Third party groups, at least for top ticket state races, will also enter the fray.

True Conservatives of Mississippi, a PAC created by Republican operatives Quinton Dickerson and Josh Gregory, has a television ad up hitting McDaniel, saying he’s been ineffective during his long career as a state senator.

“Chris McDaniel says he likes to fight,” the PAC’s ad narrator says. “… In McDaniel’s long political career, what has all this fighting accomplished?

“Since 2014, McDaniel has written only three bills that passed,” the ad says. “Recognizing a football team. Congratulating a pageant winner and naming a week because of mosquitoes.

“Lots of speeches. Lots of big talk. But no substance. No real accomplishments. That’s the real Chris McDaniel.”

McDaniel also has a radio ad up, and despite his hammering Hosemann in social media ads, the spot is rather tame. It says he “will continue to fight for all of Mississippi,” and says, “Mississippi deserves a real, home-grown conservative.”

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

The post Coming soon to screens near you: Mississippi election ad wars appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Gov. Tate Reeves’ reelection campaign is using 2019 video from the now-shuttered New Summit School that was owned by Nancy New, one of the central figures in Mississippi’s massive welfare scandal.

New and her son Zach New, both past political donors to Reeves, have pleaded guilty to fraud charges after bilking $4 million in public education funds related to their work at New Summit School. They have also pleaded guilty to numerous other charges related to the misspending of $77 million in welfare funds that were intended to help the state’s poorest residents.

In 2019, then-Lt. Gov. Reeves, who was campaigning for a first term as governor, shot an ad at the private New Summit School highlighting his proposed pay raise for public school teachers. The 2019 video featured private school teachers and students, Mississippi Today reported at the time. The school has since closed after the News faced their litany of legal problems. They await sentencing and are cooperating with federal prosecutors.

But at least two scenes from that 2019 campaign commercial are now part of Reeves’ new 2023 campaign kickoff video released last week, according to a Mississippi Today review of both ads. In the 2023 ad, Reeves can be seen wearing the same clothes and standing with several of the same people in some of the same New Summit School rooms as the 2019 ad.

READ MORE: Coming soon to screens near you: Mississippi election ad wars

The welfare scandal has been a top focus of Reeves’ Democratic challenger Brandon Presley, who has hammered the governor for his connections to those involved in the welfare scandal.

Michael Beyer, Presley’s communications director, said of the new video: “Tate Reeves launched his campaign with a paid advertisement reminding Mississippians of his connection to the largest public corruption scandal in state history, and no matter what he says or does, he won’t be able to escape Mississippians’ questions about his role in funneling millions of dollars meant for working families to pet projects for his celebrity friends and personal trainer and then firing the veteran prosecutor once the investigation got too close to him and his buddies.”

Beyer was referring to Reeves’ abrupt firing of Brad Pigott, an attorney who was hired by Reeves’ welfare agency director to try to recoup millions in misspent welfare funds. Reeves at the time said Pigott, a former U.S. attorney appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton, was fired because he was “too political.” Pigott said he was fired because he was investigating people and entities close with Reeves, such as former Gov. Phil Bryant and the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation.

READ MORE: State fires attorney probing former Gov. Phil Bryant in welfare scandal lawsuit

Additionally, well-known Mississippi fitness trainer Paul Lacoste, who said he was a close friend of Reeves’ when he endorsed him in 2019, is being sued by the state to recoup $1.3 million in welfare funds he received. Mississippi Today reported in its “The Backchannel” investigation that Lacoste met in 2019 with Reeves and John Davis, the former director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services who has since pleaded guilty to charges related to the scandal.

Two days after that 2019 meeting, Davis asked his deputy to find a way to push a large sum of money to New’s nonprofit without triggering a red flag in an audit, so that the nonprofit could fund Lacoste’s boot camp. Davis called the project in a text message “the Lt. Gov’s fitness issue.”

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

Reeves has adamantly denied any wrongdoing in the scandal. The Reeves campaign did not respond to questions from Mississippi Today about his continued use of video from New Summit.

In a 2019 statement, then-Reeves spokesman Parker Briden said the campaign films ads at public and private schools because Reeves “isn’t trying to pit them against each other.”

“We were proud to film this one at New Summit, a school that has helped many special needs children gain a quality education; Tate has a strong sense of mission to help those kids. They were very gracious with their time and space after a school day. The teachers featured in our ad were public school teachers.”

But at the time, Mississippi Today verified that at least some of the teachers in the ad were not public school teachers and were employed in private schools. It could not be verified at the time whether any of the women in the commercial were current public school teachers.

During his tenure as lieutenant governor and governor, Reeves has been an outspoken advocate of providing public funds to private schools. A lawsuit is currently pending before the Mississippi Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of grants supported by Reeves for private schools.

During the final days of the 2019 legislative session, the legislative leadership, led by then Lt. Gov. Reeves, quietly inserted language into a bill adding $2 million to a program providing vouchers to private schools for special needs students. Much of that money at the time went to New Summit. The money was added even though House Education Committee Chairman Richard Bennett, R-Long Beach, had promised House members the program would not be expanded because of oversight concerns highlighted in a legislative watchdog report. Bennett told House members he did not know the language adding the extra money was in the bill.

The News, after the federal indictment related to New Summit School, pleaded guilty and agreed to work with federal prosecutors who continue to probe welfare misspending. Nancy New pleaded guilty to one count of using proceeds of wire fraud, or money laundering, which comes with a possible prison sentence of up to ten years. Zach New pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a sentence of up to five years.

Among the misspending outlined in the indictment, federal prosecutors alleged that Nancy New used at least $76,889 in funds that were supposed to go to Mississippi public schools to purchase her house in northeast Jackson.

The post Reeves campaign uses video from shuttered private school linked to welfare scandal appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A Gulfport dentist continues to serve on the state dental watchdog board, despite making thousands in unauthorized campaign contributions from a Mississippi Dental Association bank account, including $5,400 to Gov. Tate Reeves, and despite covering up $29,225 stolen from that account, some of which went to casinos.

Jeff Zimmerman continues to decide the fates of dentists accused of improper or illegal conduct, despite the pleas of the association and the board for Reeves to remove Zimmerman from the Mississippi State Board of Dental Examiners.

“Had the MDA chosen to file charges against Dr. Zimmerman and if he were found guilty, it would be a felony conviction that could lead to a fine and imprisonment,” the association’s investigative report says. “The fact that no charges were filed in lieu of return of the stolen funds does not eliminate the fact that Dr. Zimmerman admits to misappropriating $5,900 of the MDA’s money that had been entrusted to him in his position as Treasurer without proper authority.”

Under state law, only Reeves has the power to remove a board member “on proof of inefficiency, incompetency, immorality, unprofessional conduct, or continued absence from the state, for failure to perform duties, or for other sufficient cause,” according to the law.

Asked about Reeves’ lack of action, Press Secretary Shelby Wilcher said the governor didn’t receive formal notification of the board’s order in the case until April 5.

“The Governor is continuing to evaluate the Consent Order in the light of his statutory duties pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 73-9-9,” she said in an email. “The Governor holds each and every one of his appointees to the highest ethical and moral standards.”

Zimmerman did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment about his continuing service on the board in light of that order.

The Mississippi Dental Association has long been active in political circles. Over the past quarter century, the association has contributed more than $1 million in donations through its Political Action Committee, nearly two thirds of it to Republican candidates, including at least $21,000 to Reeves, according to followthemoney.org.

Three months after becoming treasurer for the association’s District 5 in July 2019, Zimmerman obtained an unauthorized debit card for the District 5 bank account, according to the investigative report obtained by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, which is part of Mississippi Today. Over the next four months, that card was used to make more than 150 unauthorized purchases, totaling $29,225.

Records show many purchases at Walmart, payments to the Island View Casino in Gulfport and repeated $500 cash withdrawals from an ATM.

On Nov. 7, 2019, Zimmerman made an unauthorized political contribution of $500 to Michael Watson, a candidate for secretary of state, from the District 5 checking account, according to the report.

Watson did not respond to a request for comment.

On April 23, 2021, Zimmerman used association funds to make an unauthorized political contribution of $400 to Reeves’ campaign. Three months later, Reeves appointed him to the watchdog board.

Wilcher cited the association’s overwhelming support for Zimmerman for the board’s District 5 position — 21 votes compared to three votes for his next closest competitor.

“Because Dr. Zimmerman received the overwhelming majority of the votes cast, effective July 1, 2021, the Governor appointed Dr. Zimmerman to the Board to represent Dental District 5,” she said.

A month later, Zimmerman used association funds to make an unauthorized political contribution of $5,000 to Reeves’ campaign.

District 5 President Patton Webb Jr. learned of the $5,000 check when the Reeves campaign thanked the association for the contribution. He contacted Zimmerman and asked him to get the check back, according to the report.

Wilcher said the Reeves’ campaign returned the $5,000 contribution on that same day. She said the campaign hasn’t received a request to return the $400 contribution.

The report says Webb also asked Zimmerman to provide bank statements for the past three years. When Zimmerman finally shared those statements a month later, Webb discovered other unauthorized purchases and political contributions.

Confronted by District 5 officials, Zimmerman blamed an employee for the $29,225 in illicit purchases, saying an employee stole the card from his desk, according to the report. He said he fired the employee and arranged repayments for restitution.

Although he discovered those unauthorized purchases in January 2020, he didn’t replace those funds until after District 5 leaders asked for bank statements in October 2021, according to the report.

“He further stated that he did not report the theft to Dr. Webb or anyone else in District V,” the report says. “It was recommended that Dr. Zimmerman step down as MDA District V Secretary/Treasurer, which he did.”

Past board member Frank Conaway of Bay St. Louis said he viewed all of the District 5 bank records, which suggested “some money had been moved around that did not seem appropriate. It was closer to $40,000.”

As for the campaign contributions, District 5 members never voted to approve them, he said. “In the history of the 5^th District, we have never done donations that way. It was Dr. Zimmerman acting alone when he did that.”

He said he wrote a letter on behalf of District 5 members that “we had lost confidence” in Zimmerman representing them, but the letter was never mailed under advice from legal counsel.

When questioned, Zimmerman admitted that he had held the reimbursement of these stolen funds in his own bank account until Webb discovered the theft, according to the report. 

Asked how the association felt about Zimmerman continuing to serve on the state dental watchdog board, President Rebecca Courtney said by email that the association isn’t affiliated with the board or involved in any board decisions.

Asked if the association would support a change in state law that would allow the state board to remove board members who have violated ADA ethics and the Professional Code of Conduct, she replied, “We would always support positivity to strengthen the Board of Dental Examiners and ensure they are following proper ethical conduct.”

In February 2022, Webb filed a complaint with the watchdog board regarding Zimmerman’s actions. The board investigated and determined that he and the fired employee had “failed to fully cooperate” with the investigation by “withholding information,” according to the report.

The board concluded Zimmerman had violated both state dental ethics and the American Dental Association’s Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct, according to the consent order signed by both the board and Zimmerman.

In that order, he admitted that more than $29,000 had been removed from the District 5 bank account for illicit purchases and $5,900 had been removed for unauthorized campaign contributions.

He repaid the money taken for the purchases. He agreed to pay a $2,000 fine and finish a 90-day ethics program. 

On March 31, the board voted unanimously to censure Zimmerman, who can no longer serve as an officer or on a committee, but he can continue to vote on whether to revoke a dentist’s license.

The board’s executive director, Denny Hydrick, said Wednesday that neither he nor the board had any comment beyond the consent order.

On Jan. 13, District 5 officials voted to expel Zimmerman for his actions and recommended his removal from the watchdog board. 

“Board Members must be beyond reproach and should be held to a higher standard of behavior than the rank & file dentist in Mississippi,” the report concluded. “They investigate complaints against dentists, hygienists, and radiology permit holders made by the Public and other Agencies. They then sit in judgment of these license holdings in hearings that can take someone’s license to practice their profession and their ability to make a living in the profession that they worked and trained for. Board Members must be above the law. Dr. Zimmerman has proven that he has violated the trust given his position.”

The post Dentist still serving on watchdog board, despite covering up $29K stolen from the Mississippi Dental Association — some of it going to casinos appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The 1890 Constitution strikes again. The story behind the cartoon here.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Taxing Situation appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The University of Mississippi Medical Center has let go nearly all of the instructors at its Oxford-based accelerated bachelors of science in nursing program, prompting outcry from current and former students who worry this will hurt their chances of passing the national nursing exam. 

The move, announced last week, came in the middle of the program’s one-year cycle. Students received an email on May 1 that described the decision as “difficult” a few hours after five of the program’s seven faculty members were informed that UMMC would not renew their contracts this summer. 

“Please understand these personnel changes are not punitive, rather this restructuring is based on programmatic and student needs,” wrote Julie Sanford, the dean of UMMC’s School of Nursing, and Leigh Holley, an assistant dean who was one of just two instructors to not be let go. Neither administrator responded to Mississippi Today’s requests for comment. 

Days later, students received even more personnel news: Sanford, who UMMC named dean in 2019, would be leaving for a new position at the University of Alabama’s nursing school. 

One of the five faculty members, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear that UMMC would revoke their remaining month-and-a-half of pay, said she was devastated by the decision and caught completely off guard. She said the only reason they were given is that “it was a business decision.” 

“I just want you to know that I have committed my life and career to this institution and to this program and to these students,” the faculty member told Mississippi Today. “I feel completely betrayed, especially when you look up the mission … of the School of Nursing. … They are not living their values and their mission and our whole faculty team did.” 

Even though the instructors’ contracts aren’t up until June 30, the faculty member said that Sanford, Holley and a representative from UMMC’s Human Resources made faculty members turn in their badges and computers. Someone from UMMC was folding moving boxes during the meeting.

“This is why it’s so, so confusing,” she said. “You give us no reason, and you told the students it’s not punitive, but they treated us like criminals.” 

A spokesperson said UMMC had “no comment” on the decision. Holley, who joined the program last fall, wrote in the email that she would continue teaching courses, along with instructors from the program in Jackson who will drive up. It is unclear if this arrangement will continue for future cohorts or if instructors will be permanently replaced. 

“We’re very fearful for the success of our students, which is our number one concern, really,” the faculty member said. “We have a nursing shortage. We’re living in a state of desperation for nurses.” 

The Oxford program, started in 2014, is one of several undergraduate nursing programs offered by UMMC and primarily caters to recent graduates who did not major in nursing. It is intensive and rigorous, packing an entire bachelors degree into just three semesters. 

More than 60 students a year have graduated from the Oxford program in recent years, with many filling positions at Mississippi hospitals amid the state’s pervasive nursing shortage. According to recent data from the Mississippi Hospital Association, registered nurse vacancies and turnover rates have soared in the last year to the highest numbers in at least a decade.

One of the current students is Ashley Ledbetter, a 38-year-old former teacher who is using the program to change careers. As one of the older students in the program, she said the instructors made her feel comfortable and taught her how to navigate the at-times traumatizing profession, such as the first time she saw a patient die during clinicals. 

The irony, Ledbetter noted, is that her cohort is about to enter the third and final leg on May 30, the most crucial stretch. She’s worried it will be harder to prepare for the exam with all-new instructors.

“I feel that, really, if you were focusing on student needs, you wouldn’t have taken away one of the most fundamental parts of this program before the program is over,” Ledbetter said. “Our faculty got fired in the middle of the program and that, to me, is very insane.” 

On May 1, shortly before Holley and Sanford sent the email, Ledbetter said she was asked to attend a virtual meeting with other student leaders.

During the meeting, which lasted roughly 20 minutes, Ledbetter said students were told the decision was due to the program’s falling pass rates on the National Council Licensure Examination, or NCLEX. 

But Holley and Sanford did not say if the pass rates were threatening the program’s accreditation or were simply lower than UMMC wanted, Ledbetter said. The most recent nursing report from the Institutions of Higher Learning shows that UMMC’s undergraduate NCLEX pass rate fell from 100% to 95.9% during a three-year period ending in 2021, but the report includes all of UMMC’s undergraduate baccalaureate nursing programs.

“We kept being told they couldn’t give us any more information because of HR policy,” Ledbetter said. “It was very vague.” 

UMMC’s bachelors of science in nursing programs, including the Oxford program, were reaccredited last year. 

The faculty member said that Sanford and other UMMC administrators had previously singled out the Oxford program for its low NCLEX pass rate despite pass rates falling across the country during the pandemic. 

“We’ve definitely felt under scrutiny for the past couple years, and we have been told outright, ‘if you don’t bring up your pass rates, we could end this program,’” she said. “We have bent over backwards for students and changed things, but we were just never really given a chance to watch how what we changed played out.” 

A few hours after Holley and Sanford’s first email, Holley sent a follow up, acknowledging students’ reactions to the abrupt announcement. The cohort’s GroupMe blew up with texts; the instructors whose contracts were not renewed were receiving dozens of supportive messages on Facebook. 

“Hi all, I know this news is unexpected, unsettling, even saddening and prompts many questions,” Holley wrote. 

One of the instructors who was let go, Neeli Kirkendall, had been honored for her teaching. In 2016, she won the DAISY award for nursing faculty. One student who nominated Kirkendall for the award described her as “the ideal example of the perfect nurse.” 

Kirkendall did not respond to a request for comment by press time. 

Alison Doyle, who graduated from the program in 2020, said she thought the lower NCLEX passing rate was likely due to the pandemic even as she felt the quality of the instruction actually improved after her classes were moved online. She was able to record and rewatch lectures rather than scramble to take notes in real time. 

Doyle described the bonds that students had formed with the five instructors who were let go. 

“I saw these women for 12 months more than I saw anyone else in my life when I was in nursing school,” she said. 

University of Mississippi had been investing in the program in recent years, converting a former hospital in Oxford into instructional space in 2019, according to a UMMC newsletter. 

Other state universities are replicating the program. In January, the University of Southern Mississippi launched the first class of a similar program at its satellite campus on the coast. 

The post ‘They treated us like criminals’: UMMC lets go of most instructors for Oxford nursing program appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The three Jackson women serving as plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the controversial House Bill 1020 testified Wednesday the law would impact their right to elect judges from their community like other residents of the state are able to do. 

“It adds insult to injury,” said plaintiff Ann Saunders about the establishment of a Capitol Complex Improvement District court within Jackson. 

“It’s usurping the right that the great state of Mississippi has written into its constitution that I have,” she said. “For some reason my city, my county is being singled out for something other than legitimate access to the court and a legitimate reflection of the court that represents our vote.” 

Saunders testified with plaintiffs Dorothy Triplett and Sabreen Sharrief before Hinds Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas, who ordered a temporary restraining order last week. 

The goal of the Wednesday hearing was to hear from the plaintiffs and for the attorneys to make their case about the constitutionality of HB 1020. 

Residents and Democratic lawmakers have spoken out against HB 1020, including concerns that it would empower white state officials to appoint judges instead of having them elected by citizens of the majority-Black city and create a separate police force within Jackson. 

Jackson lawmakers say they were not consulted in the crafting of the legislation. 

Thomas is expected to rule by the end of the week whether to approve a preliminary injunction to stop the bill from being implemented. That decision could lead to either of the sides asking for the Mississippi Supreme Court to hear the lawsuit in an appeal. 

MacArthur Justice Center Director Cliff Johnson, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, said the ultimate goal is a permanent injunction that would prevent the appointment of temporary judges and the creation of a Capitol Complex Improvement District court. 

Gov. Tate Reeves signed HB 1020 into law April 21, and within days it faced two lawsuits – one by the NAACP in federal court and the other in state court. Both lawsuits argue HB 1020 is unconstitutional. 

The plaintiffs are represented by the ACLU of Mississippi, the Mississippi Center for Justice, the MacArthur Justice Center and the Legal Defense and Educational Fund. 

“We begin where we end with the constitution,” Johnson told the judge about the state constitution requirement that all circuit court judges be elected. “The Legislature went too far and it missed the mark.”

Rex Shannon, an attorney from the attorney general’s office, said the state is against an injunction and that HB 1020 doesn’t violate the state constitution because the Legislature can create inferior courts and because the constitution allows temporary judges to be appointed.  

The state has also asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed, arguing that it doesn’t have proper jurisdiction with the chancery court, it doesn’t show violation of the constitution and it doesn’t show that the plaintiffs have suffered or will suffer harm that is different from harm experienced by the general public. 

Johnson said there is a notion by the state that Jackson is troubled and that justifies state intervention in the local criminal justice system and the deprivation of the rights of Hinds County residents. 

Shannon said HB 1020 is the Legislature’s way to address crime in Jackson. 

The defendants in the state lawsuit are Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Michael Randolph, who would be tasked with appointing four temporary judges to the Capitol Complex Improvement District Court; Hinds County Circuit Clerk Zack Wallace; and Greg Snowden, director of the state’s Administrative Office of Courts. 

On Wednesday, Judge Thomas approved a motion by the plaintiffs to add additional defendants: Gov. Reeves, Attorney General Lynn Fitch and the State of Mississippi. 

Randolph has asked to be dismissed as a defendant on the grounds of judicial immunity and to maintain conduct that prohibits him from making public comments on pending matters, said attorney Mark Nelson. 

Wallace also asked to be dismissed as a defendant because he has no role in the lawsuit and would distribute cases based on Supreme Court orders, said attorney Attorney Pieter Teeuwissen. 

Johnson said the plaintiffs sued defendants who would be responsible for implementing the law, such as the clerk who would assign cases, the Administrative Office of Courts who would provide staffing and set pay and the chief justice for appointing judges. 

Thomas is expected to rule this week whether to keep Randolph and Wallace as defendants and whether the attorney general’s office can dismiss the lawsuit. 

“Thank you for your patience, and I will try to do my best,” Thomas said at the end of the Wednesday hearing. 

The post Hinds judge mulls putting hold on law creating separate court district in Jackson appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The wave of presidential turnover at Mississippi’s institutions of higher learning has come to Rust College. 

The state’s oldest historically Black college in Holly Springs announced in a press release Wednesday that Ivy Taylor, who was appointed in June 2020, has left. Though Taylor gave an interview to a local paper last week announcing she was leaving, it’s unclear if she stepped down or was fired; the press release does not say. Her last day was May 6.  

In Taylor’s place, the private college’s board of trustees named Robert Dixon, the interim vice president for academic affairs, as interim president. He is a physicist who has worked at six historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the last five decades in various administrative roles. 

“I am proud to lend my talents and expertise to such a historic and prestigious institution such as Rust College,” he said in the release. “I look forward to following in the traditions of past exceptional leaders who have served this institution during its 157 years.” 

It’s unclear if, or when, the college’s board will undertake a search for a new permanent president. 

The announcement makes Taylor the latest president of a Mississippi college or university to leave under mysterious circumstances. The trend began last summer when the governing board for the state’s eight public universities suddenly announced it had let go William LaForge, who had served as the president of Delta State University in Cleveland for nine years. 

Rodney Bennett, the former president of University of Southern Mississippi, stepped down soon after. Then earlier this year, the Institutions for Higher Learning Board of Trustees placed Thomas Hudson at Jackson State University on administrative leave, then let him go. 

More recently, the board announced that Felecia Nave was no longer Alcorn State University’s president days after she interviewed for the chancellor position at Louisiana State University in Shreveport.

The IHL board has refrained from providing the community with more information about the “personnel issues.” In Nave’s case, the board even refused to answer questions from Mississippi Today about if the change was a resignation or firing. In general, the only additional details about the board’s decision have come from the presidents themselves.

Other universities that haven’t seen presidential turnover have faced discontent from students, faculty and alumni. At the end of last year, a change.org petition circulated at Mississippi Valley State University calling on the IHL board to fire Jerryl Briggs, the president, due to enrollment decline, issues with financial aid and “lack of leadership.” Then Briggs’ supporters created a counter-petition. 

At Tougaloo College, alumni have also created a change.org petition asking the board and Carmen Walters, the president, to acknowledge the enrollment declines and low morale on campus. The petition claims that Tougaloo’s leadership has withheld critical information such as budgets and grant funding. 

The Rust College board hired Taylor, the college’s first female president, after an eight-month search and reportedly interviewing more than 70 candidates. A former mayor of Holly Springs said the board focused on finding a president who would prioritize technological investments that could improve the infrastructure and education at Rust College, which was founded in 1866. 

The hope was that through modernization, Taylor could bring more students to Rust College — or at least, stave off a sharp enrollment decline during the pandemic. 

“Dr. Taylor brings energy, intelligence, and competence as well as experience in listening to diverse views and building coalitions,” said the board chair, David Swinton, said in a press release at the time.

When Taylor arrived on campus, she was met with controversy around some of the on-campus housing conditions. In at least one dorm, the college was reportedly bunking four students to a room, the Tri-State Defender reported. 

In an interview last week, with the local paper in Marshall County, Taylor touched on the enrollment decline and said it was a trend that began before her term. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Rust College’s enrollment since 2016 has plummeted by more than half to just 462 students in 2021. 

“Enrollment had been declining at Rust College for several years when I arrived and the pandemic exacerbated the scenario,” Taylor said. 

Taylor also said she experienced high turnover in leadership turning her time at Rust College, which she attributed to the small, rural nature of Holly Springs, the state of public education in the area, and “the overall ‘Great Resignation’ trend occurring in other sectors.” 

She ended the interview saying that she does not yet have plans for a new job and is using the time off to rest. 

Editor’s note: Ivy Taylor is a member of Mississippi Today’s board of directors.

The post In the latest college president turnover, Rust College’s Ivy Taylor is out appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office has filed its appeal in a lawsuit about public money being allocated to private schools, echoing their arguments from earlier in the process. 

The Legislature gave $10 million to a grant program for private schools at the end of the 2022 legislative session, a move that frustrated some advocates and legislators. The funding comes from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which gave the Mississippi Legislature $1.8 billion to spend on pandemic response, government services, and infrastructure improvements to water, sewer, and broadband. 

The Mississippi chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Democracy Forward, and the Mississippi Center for Justice brought a lawsuit challenging this allocation on behalf of Parents for Public Schools, a Jackson-based national nonprofit.

The decision, which a Hinds County judge handed down in October 2022, found that the allocation violated section 208 of the Mississippi Constitution, which prohibits giving any public funds to private schools. With this decision, the state was barred from distributing the money. Legislators re-allocated the $10 million in the 2023 legislative session in case the appeal prevails. 

Section 208 reads in its entirety: 

“No religious or other sect or sects shall ever control any part of the school or other educational funds of this state; nor shall any funds be appropriated toward the support of any sectarian school, or to any school that at the time of receiving such appropriation is not conducted as a free school.” 

The attorney general’s office raised one new point in its appeal, saying Section 208 only applies to state educational funds. As this money came from federal COVID relief, it is not subject to these restrictions. 

Will Bardwell, an attorney with Democracy Forward, disputed this point, saying that the money’s origin is not relevant. 

“This is money that went into the state treasury and was doled out by state officials under rules promulgated by the state Legislature,” he said. “Of course it’s state money.”

The appeal’s other main points are similar to previous filings, arguing that Parents for Public Schools does not have a legal standing to challenge the constitutionality of this allocation and its members are not negatively impacted.

The decision from Hinds County Chancery Court Judge Crystal Wise Martin referenced the competition between private and public schools, and its subsequent negative impact on public school enrollment and funding, when granting a permanent injunction in the case. 

The attorney general’s office disputed this line of thinking but said that even if this situation were to occur, it would be public schools or their students who would experience a negative side effect of private schools receiving this money, not the members of Parents for Public Schools who are predominately parents and teachers. 

Bardwell called the notion that parents don’t have a legal interest in their children’s constitutional rights “pretty silly.” 

Attorneys for the state also reiterated the argument that because the Legislature appropriated the money to the Department of Finance and Administration to run a grant program for private schools, instead of directly to those private schools, these laws did not violate the state constitution. 

The judge’s decision rebuked this idea, saying the state cannot avoid compliance with the constitution by delegating appropriating power to an executive agency. 

Bardwell echoed this sentiment when discussing the new filing. 

“The constitution says what it says, it is unambiguous,” he said. “It forbids sending any funds, at all, to private schools. You can’t get around that by money laundering.”

Joann Mickens, the executive director of Parents for Public Schools, said legislators and taxpayers know that the purpose of public funds is to support public goods and services. 

“In this case, Parents for Public Schools is standing up for almost half a million Mississippi children, their families, their communities, and the greater good,” Mickens said in a statement. “In doing so, we stand up for a stronger, better Mississippi and against perpetuating inequity.”    

Bardwell said their filings are due in early June and he expects the Mississippi Supreme Court will want to hold oral arguments in late summer or fall. 

The post AG’s office files appeal in public funds to private schools lawsuit appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi Today reporter Anna Wolfe won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting for her remarkable investigation “The Backchannel,” which uncovered the depth of the sprawling $77 million welfare scandal, the largest embezzlement of federal funds in the state’s history. Anna joins Mississippi Today editor-in-chief Adam Ganucheau to discuss the win, her career, and how she sees her role in Mississippi.

The post Podcast: Anna Wolfe discusses Pulitzer Prize win appeared first on Mississippi Today.