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NESHOBA COUNTY FAIR — Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Michael Watson on Thursday vowed to reform Mississippi’s lax campaign finance and lobbying reporting and nearly nonexistent enforcement of laws if reelected.

He also vowed in his Neshoba County Fair speech to do away with politicians’ “legacy” campaign finance accounts — money still held in accounts under pre-2018 rules that allowed politicians to spend campaign money however they want and pocket the money when they leave office.

Watson’s Democratic opponent, Shuwaski Young, on Thursday at the fair also called for campaign finance reform, as did incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann on Wednesday.

This statewide election cycle has seen several claims of campaign finance law or reporting requirement violations. It has also shown what appears to be a reluctance by Attorney General Lynn Fitch – the only statewide officer with clear authority to enforce campaign finance laws – to address or investigate complaints.

Mississippi’s campaign finance, lobbying and ethics laws and reporting requirements are weak, and contained in a piecemealed patchwork of confusing – some conflicting – laws passed over many years. The secretary of state’s office and Ethics Commission have for years said they lack enforcement or investigative authority. Most often, campaign finance violations go unchecked, leaving the state political system open to the corrosive influence of special interest money.

Mississippi’s system also lacks transparency. For instance, unlike all neighboring states, Mississippi’s campaign finance reports are not electronically searchable. They are PDF files, and some politicians still submit hand-written reports. One in recent years submitted hers in calligraphy.

Both Watson and Young have vowed to have electronically submitted and searchable campaign finance records.

Watson on Thursday said he is not seeking more responsibility or power for his office, but that he would take enforcement authority if no one else will, and lawmakers approve. He appeared to take a shot at incumbent AG Fitch in his statements.

“I want to be very clear here: I do not want more responsibility and I’m not seeking more power,” Watson said. “But when people do not do their jobs, I will stand in the gap for Mississippians.”

Watson called politicians’ grandfathered campaign accounts from pre-2018 “retirement accounts, golden nest eggs” and said they should be abolished. Mississippi’s old system of allowing politicians to pocket campaign money was called “legalized bribery.” Lawmakers passed some reforms in 2017 after two years of arguing, but grandfathered money held separately in old accounts, which allows politicians to keep the money when they leave office. Gov. Tate Reeves has such a legacy account, which contains about $1.9 million, which he could keep after he leaves office.

Last year, Reeves vetoed an effort by lawmakers to give the secretary of state’s office authority to levy civil penalties against candidates or political committees that fail to file campaign finance reports.

Young on Thursday noted that the portal for candidates to file campaign finance reports online is currently broken – during the busy statewide election season.

“We need a campaign finance system we can count on,” Young said.  He also called for numerous election reforms to make voting and registration easier.

Hosemann, who has filed campaign finance complaints against his lieutenant governor’s race opponent Chris McDaniel that appear to be going unaddressed by Fitch, on Wednesday said lawmakers will likely tackle reform if such laws are going unenforced.

The post Secretary of State candidates vow sweeping campaign finance reform, enforcement appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi election officials cannot prevent people with disabilities from seeking assistance to vote absentee or by mail in the upcoming Aug. 8 party primary election or in the November general election.

The temporary restraining order issued Wednesday by U.S. Judge Henry Wingate of the Southern District of Mississippi said the so-called ballot harvesting ban passed by the 2023 Legislature would be a violation of federal law designed to ensure that people with disabilities and those who cannot read or write have equal access to the ballot box.

Wingate wrote, “When questioned by this court, defendants (state officials) were unable to provide any data illustrating whether Mississippi has a widespread ballot harvesting problem.”

Legislative leaders said the bill was needed to prevent ballot harvesting – gathering absentee ballots of disabled and elderly people and essentially voting for them.

When signing the bill into law, Gov. Tate Reeves said, “Mississippi is taking another step toward upholding the absolute integrity of our election process by banning ballot harvesting across the state. This process is an open invitation for fraud and abuse and can occur without the voter ever even knowing.”

Senate Bill 2358  prohibits anyone other than election officials, postal workers, commercial carriers, household members or caregivers from providing voter assistance and submitting an absentee ballot. Under Mississippi law, only certain people, including the elderly and disabled, can vote early or via mail. But to vote by mail, a person has to go through multiple steps, including requesting a ballot application before receiving the actual ballot.

Wingate said he was concerned the bill did not properly define who could help a person obtain a mail-in ballot and vote. He said the term caregiver was especially ambiguous.

And that uncertainty combined with the criminal penalties for a violation of the new law could deter the estimated 850,00 Mississippian who could be impacted (one in five adults) from voting, Wingate said.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Southern District of behalf of a group of Mississippians and the League of Women Voters of Mississippi by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Mississippi Center for Justice, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU-Mississippi and Disability Rights Mississippi.

“Mississippians with disabilities have a right to vote without barriers and to have access to fully participate in all areas of civic life,” said Greta Kemp Martin, litigation director of Disability Rights Mississippi. “We are pleased the court has recognized this and that Mississippians with disabilities can rest assured that they may cast their ballot in whichever manner is most accessible to them, including having the assistance of a person of their own choosing.”  

Kemp Martin is running as the Democratic candidate for attorney general this year against Republican incumbent Lynn Fitch whose office defended the law. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann also has touted the new law in his reelection campaign this year. He called it one of the Legislature’s efforts to ensure the integrity of the ballot.

But others questioned the need for the law.

“Mississippians deserve to vote with confidence,” said Rob McDuff, director of the Impact Litigation Initiative at the Mississippi Center for Justice. “Many people in difficult situations rely on friends and neighbors to help deliver absentee ballots. We are glad that voters with disabilities and language barriers can freely exercise their right to vote with assistance from a person of their choosing.”

Wingate said he would hold additional hearings before deciding whether to permanently strike down the law.

The post Judge halts new law that he says will deter voting by disabled appeared first on Mississippi Today.

NESHOBA COUNTY FAIR — Incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and his main primary opponent state Sen. Chris McDaniel had little nice to say about each other in their Neshoba County Fair stump speeches Wednesday, as their large crowds of campaign T-shirt-clad supporters cheered and booed.

McDaniel, as he did with Republican opponents in his past failed bids for U.S. Senate, continued his attack on Hosemann as not conservative enough, or a RINO — Republican-in-name-only. His speech rehashed lines from previous speeches during U.S. Senate runs and focused more on national partisan themes than state legislative issues.

“My opponent has moved us to the left,” McDaniel said. “He’s helping those people … He’s done absolutely nothing, nothing to push back against Joe Biden, the most incompetent and corrupt president in our history … (Democrats) are here to tear down our foundations … Everything they touch fails … Why would you ever reach across the aisle with these people? Why would you ever compromise with these people?”

Hosemann opened by listing accomplishments of his first term, including the largest teacher pay raise in state history; the largest income tax cut in state history; paying down state debt; and unprecedented spending on infrastructure. Then, he fired back at McDaniel.

Hosemann, who as lieutenant governor oversees the state Senate where McDaniel serves, reiterated a knock on McDaniel other opponents have used: that he has been ineffectual as a senator for four terms and is frequently absent from Senate proceedings and votes.

“I appointed him as chairman of the Environmental Protection, Conservation and Water Resources Committee,” Hosemann said. “… You know what? He didn’t hold one hearing. He didn’t pass one bill. He doesn’t work at all. He doesn’t show up for work.”

Hosemann called McDaniel “despicable” and asked voters in the crowd to “get rid of him on August 8.”

McDaniel reiterated another accusation his campaign has made against Hosemann, that he helped run a Jackson abortion clinic.

“It’s an objective, verifiable fact that from 1976 to 1990 he was vice president of an abortion clinic,” McDaniel said.

Hosemann, who has been endorsed by the national and Mississippi chapters of Right to Life, reiterated his defense — that as a young lawyer he did legal work to help a women’s clinic get started, but that work ended in 1981 before the clinic ever did abortions. A doctor who directed the clinic has corroborated Hosemann’s explanation.

Hosemann, under attack from McDaniel’s campaign as “Delbert the Democrat,” continued to list his conservative GOP bona fides Wednesday.

“I was a (Ronald Reagan) guy. My opponent was 9 years old when I first ran as a Republican,” Hosemann said. “My opponent voted in the Democratic primary in 2003.”

After Hosemann spoke at the pavilion in Founder’s Square on Wednesday, McDaniel waited backstage trying to corner him and again challenge Hosemann to a debate. But Hosemann, surrounded by staff, supporters and media, bypassed McDaniel and went to a nearby cabin to have a brief press conference. He has declined McDaniel’s requests for a debate ahead of the Aug. 8 primary.

Before either of the frontrunners spoke Wednesday, little-known Republican lieutenant governor candidate Tiffany Longino of Brandon spoke, saying the state must focus on education, economic development and improving health care.

Both Hosemann and McDaniel had large crowds of enthusiastic supporters packing the pavilion during Wednesday’s stumping.

McDaniel supporter S. Ross Aldridge of Rankin County said: “I support him because of his true conservatism and belief in the original intent of our Constitution and the 10th Amendment — power and sovereignty of the states … I don’t appreciate RINOs.”

Hosemann supporter Margie Morken of Pass Christian said: “Delbert has already proven himself to me, and I want more of the same leadership he’s shown. He’s been getting things done.”

The post Delbert Hosemann, Chris McDaniel trade blows in Neshoba stump speeches appeared first on Mississippi Today.

NESHOBA COUNTY FAIR — Weeks after Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann’s campaign filed a complaint over discrepancies with his main opponent’s campaign donations, the state’s chief law enforcement official is still largely silent over what her office is doing about the allegation.

Republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch said very little to reporters at the Neshoba County Fair on Wednesday about what her agency is doing with ongoing questions about how state Sen. Chris McDaniel is funding his campaign for lieutenant governor. 

“We’re certainly reviewing everything, and everything is under investigation,” Fitch said. “We’re certainly looking at any violations that have been brought to us.” 

When pressed if she meant her agency is actively investigating the GOP state senator, Fitch walked her comment back and clarified that neither McDaniel nor his campaign representatives were under active investigation. 

READ MORE: Chris McDaniel’s reports deny accurate public accounting of campaign money

The allegations against the Jones County legislator, in part, stem from a political action committee McDaniel created. A secretive Virginia dark-money nonprofit corporation sent $475,000 to the PAC, and the PAC funneled $465,000 of those funds to his campaign account. 

State law limits corporate donations to $1,000 per year to a candidate or PAC, so the contribution appears to be $474,000 over the state’s legal limit.

After reporters and politicians raised questions about the discrepancy, McDaniel and the PAC eventually returned the money to the dark money group, and he shut down the PAC.

But, by his campaign’s own reporting, McDaniel’s now-defunct PAC did not return $15,000 of the over-state-limits money, and he has offered no substantive explanation for what happened to it.

McDaniel outright denied to the press on Wednesday that he violated any of the state’s campaign finance laws and rejected any notion that any campaign donations were unaccounted for. 

“I’m not the treasurer, but that’s not accurate,” McDaniel told reporters about unaccounted money.

READ MORE: Hundreds of thousands of dollars unaccounted, questionable in McDaniel’s campaign report

However, he appeared to tacitly acknowledge his campaign skirted the state law on accepting more than the legal limit from a corporation, but he believes the state law is unconstitutional. 

The four-term senator said the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling declaring federal campaign caps on corporations unconstitutional could extend to similar caps on the state level. 

“Just to avoid the protracted legal fight and have the money perhaps locked up in court for nine months, we sent it back,” McDaniel said. “There’s no crime they commited; there’s nothing wrong that’s been committed. It’s perfectly legitimate, it’s perfectly transparent.” 

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

The questionable campaign finance report has emerged as an issue between the firebrand senator and Hosemann, but the question of how fervently prosecutors should enforce the law has boiled over to the attorney general’s race. 

Fitch’s Democratic opponent, Greta Kemp Martin, called the attorney general’s muted response a “failure” and said if she were serving as the chief attorney for the state, she would have fast-tracked Hosemann’s complaint to the top of the agency’s agenda. 

“I think that complaint filed by Lt. Gov. Hosemann should have been given priority,” Kemp Martin said. “There should have been an investigation. The AG is the only one with clear authority to enforce campaign finance laws.” 

Mississippi’s campaign finance laws are a confusing, often conflicting patchwork that the Legislature has piece-mealed over the years into the state code books without providing explicit clarity for who can and cannot enforce the law.

As the state’s top law officer, Fitch runs the only state agency with clear authority to investigate and prosecute campaign finance violations. 

At one point on Wednesday, Hosemann and Fitch near the storied Founder’s Square Pavilion passed by one another on the porch of one of the infamous cabins at the fairgrounds. But Hosemann, running for a second term, declined to address if he thought Fitch’s office was doing enough to investigate his own complaint.

Instead, he warned if prosecutors allowed McDaniel’s actions with campaign donations to go unchecked, it could be a precursor that future candidates would disregard other state laws.

“In the future, every time you have a candidate, you don’t know who bought them off,” Hosemann said. “That’s not the law, and I’m going to be surprised if there are not clarifications early in the (legislative) session about campaign finance reform.” 

READ MORE: Chris McDaniel, Lynn Fitch show that Mississippi might as well not have campaign finance laws

The post AG Lynn Fitch offers no new details on Chris McDaniel campaign finance complaints  appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley said if he is elected this year, he would not work to reverse state laws placing restrictions on transgender Mississippians.

“Tate Reeves knows that I won’t work to overturn these laws, and this issue is settled in Mississippi, but he’s busy pushing the same old false political attacks to cover up his career of corruption,” Presley told Mississippi Today this week. “As a man of faith who is pro-life, I’ve never once had an issue disagreeing with my party when they’re wrong, so I’ll be clear: I don’t think boys should be playing against girls, and girls shouldn’t be playing against boys. I don’t think minors should be getting surgery to change their gender.”

Reeves has signed bills into law in recent years to ban trans women and girls from competing in women’s sports and to prohibit gender affirming health care for trans minors. The Republican governor has blistered his Democratic opponent this year for not addressing trans issues, which Reeves has made a focal point of his campaign.

“So far in Mississippi, my opponent — he won’t say a word,” Reeves told journalists in June. “Y’all spilled a lot of ink over the legislation when I signed it.”

Presley’s recent comments to Mississippi Today are an expansion of what he had said earlier in the campaign when asked about a Mississippi law that bans gender affirming health care for minors.

At that time, Presley said, “I trust families. I trust mamas, I trust daddies to deal with the health care of their children.”

When asked this week whether his recent comments squared with his previous ones, the Presley campaign said he stood by the earlier comments and that he was both opposed to gender affirming surgeries on minors and trusts parents.

Presley’s recent comments could perhaps address the politics of the state and the powers of a governor. The Republican supermajority in the Legislature that overwhelmingly passed the bills to ban the gender-affirming care for minors and to prohibit trans women from competing in women’s sports will still be in control the Capitol after the November elections. It is highly unlikely any governor could usher repeals of those same laws through the legislative process.

These issues have been heavy focuses in other states’ governor’s races. In Kansas and Kentucky, Republican gubernatorial candidates have criticized their Democratic counterparts for not supporting efforts to ban trans women from competing in women’s sports.

In Kansas, competitive swimmer Riley Gaines, who has been vocal in her opposition of having to compete against a trans woman, was featured in an ad opposing the Democratic incumbent in the 2022 election. Anti-trans ads also were run in Kentucky in the 2019 gubernatorial campaign.

In both states, the Republican candidates who were supposed to be boosted by the ads lost their elections.

Andy Beshear, Kentucky’s Democratic governor who is running for reelection this year, is again being attacked for his position on trans issues. This year, Beshear vetoed legislation prohibiting various gender affirming medical treatments for minors, but like Presley said he opposed gender affirming surgeries for minors.

According to the Louisville Courier Journal, there has been no such surgeries performed in Kentucky. Supporters of the Mississippi law dealing with banning gender affirming care for minors also could not cite any similar surgeries being performed in state on minors.

Presley, in the recent comments to Mississippi Today, chalks up Reeves’ focus on trans rights issues to political deflection.

“Tate Reeves will come up with any smokescreen to hide the fact that he’s at the center of the largest public corruption scandal in state history by directing $1.3 million dollars in illegal payments to his personal trainer and canceling his personal trainer’s deposition by firing the former federal prosecutor leading the investigation,” Presley said.

That statement is a reference to the ongoing welfare scandal investigation of the state’s misspending of at least $77 million in federal welfare funds that occurred while Reeves was lieutenant governor. Reeves, who has not been charged with any crime and denies any wrongdoing, has been a focus of public scrutiny in the scandal.

Well-known Mississippi fitness trainer Paul Lacoste, a close ally of Reeves, 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 state welfare director who has since pleaded guilty to charges related to the scandal. Two days after that meeting, Davis asked his deputy to find a way to fund Lacoste’s boot camp with welfare funds. Davis called the project in a text message “the Lt. Gov’s fitness issue.”

And the Reeves administration did not renew the contract of Brad Pigott, a former U.S. attorney who was hired by the state’s welfare agency to recoup the misspent money. The governor publicly accused Pigott, who was targeting many of Reeves’ campaign donors and supporters in the civil lawsuit, of having a “political agenda” in his handling of the case.

The state’s lawsuit to recover the funds is continuing under a new firm hired by the Reeves administration, and a federal investigation into the broader misspending continues.

The post Brandon Presley says he would not change Mississippi trans athletes and health care laws appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A federal court Wednesday morning released a proposed agreement that would shift control of Jackson’s deteriorating sewer system under the control of Ted Henifin, who is already overseeing the city’s water system as a third-party manager.

The stipulated order wouldn’t take effect until after a public comment period that will go until Aug. 31, and will include meetings for residents to attend. The Jackson City Council already approved the change in a vote two weeks ago.

“Under today’s agreement, expedited measures will be taken to address the City of Jackson’s deteriorating sewer infrastructure and inadequate operation and maintenance, which have caused residents and businesses to endure sewage discharges that threaten public health and the environment,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Todd Kim said in a press release.

The proposal comes about a decade after Jackson entered into a consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency over violations including over 2,300 sanitary sewer overflows — times when raw sewage escaped the system —as well as repeated prohibited bypasses, which are when the city lets untreated or under-treated sewage spill into the Pearl River.

From March 2020 to February 2022, the city allowed over 4 billion gallons of untreated or under-treated wastewater to flow into the Pearl from its Savanna Street treatment plant, according to Wednesday’s court filing.

The city has made little progress with the EPA consent decree, citing a lack of funding to make the required improvements.

Just as with the stipulated order for the water system, this proposal lays out priority projects for Henifin to tackle should he take control. The 11 priority projects include rehabilitating the city’s treatment and interceptor facilities, as well as addressing over 200 sewer line failures throughout Jackson (a list of sewer failure locations are at the end of the proposal).

The filing estimates the projects would cost $130 million, which could be paid for from a few different funding streams: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorized $125 million to help fix the sewer system as part of the Water Resources Development Act. Jackson also received over $8 million in money from American Rescue Plan Act, part of which will be matched by the state, according to the filing.

The proposal was signed by the plaintiffs in the case — the EPA and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality — as well the defendant, the city of Jackson.

“This agreement is an appropriate next step in our enforcement efforts to ensure that the City of Jackson lives up to its responsibility, pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act and Mississippi law, to address and correct issues with its sewer system,” MDEQ Executive Director Chris Wells said in a statement.

Similar to the what U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate approved for Henifin with the water system, the third-party manager won’t have to comply with state contracting laws, as long as he’s not spending money administered by MDEQ, which would include the state’s matching program for ARPA funds.

Once the comment period wraps up, the federal government can withdraw the proposal or ask the federal judge for approval.

The order would require the parties to modify the terms of the 2013 consent decree within three years. Should the stipulated order stand, Henifin would maintain control of the sewer system for four years (until 2027) or until he finished the priority projects.

The proposed order includes a budget of about $1 million for the first year of the order, which includes: $96,000 for Henifin’s salary, living and travel expenses; $280,000 for staffing; and $750,000 for contracting and consultant support.

The EPA said one public meeting for residents to offer feedback will be held on Aug. 21 at the Mississippi e-Center at 1230 Raymond Road in Jackson, from 6 to 8 p.m. The agency said more meetings will be announced later.

The post Feds propose putting broken Jackson sewer system under Henifin appeared first on Mississippi Today.

This will be Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Weekend here in the Jackson area, and Class of 2023 inductee Paul Maholm joins us to help celebrate. Maholm, one of the most decorated pitchers in Mississippi State Diamond Dog history, was a three-year ace of the State staff and then won 77 games as a Major League pitcher for five different teams, including a memorable stint in 2012-13 with the Atlanta Braves.

Stream all episodes here.

The post Podcast: Paul Maholm joins Crooked Letter for Hall of Fame Week episode. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

TUPELO — A Republican candidate for the state Legislature might have publicly admitted to skirting the state’s election laws by voting in a city where she didn’t actually live, according to her opponent and an election attorney. 

Lauren Smith, a candidate in the GOP primary for Senate District 6 in Lee County, testified before the Mississippi Republican Party Executive Committee in a Feb. 16 hearing that she has lived in the northern Mississippi town of Saltillo since at least 2018.

However, she voted at a Tupelo business address for part of that time. 

“I want to point out that I might have used the address to vote outside of my district, but it was merely a place of convenience,” Smith said. “It was where we had a sawmill, we had our place of business.” 

Her comments surfaced after the district’s incumbent senator, Chad McMahan, attempted to kick her off the primary ballot. In a petition he filed earlier this year, McMahan claimed Smith did not meet the statutory requirements to live within the district at least two years before this year’s November general election. 

As part of his evidence, McMahan and his attorney pointed out that Smith used the Tupelo address, located in a different Senate district, to vote in the 2020 presidential election and the 2022 congressional primary election. Still, Smith, at the hearing, insisted she lived in Saltillo during that time.  

“It was stated in the challenge that I need to prove unequivocally that I had been a resident there since only November of 2021,” Smith said of her Saltillo address. “I took it a step further and went to the steps of proving my residence all the way to 2018 should someone want to see them.” 

Mississippi Today obtained Smith’s voting record from the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office through a public records request. It showed that on Oct. 29, 2020, she moved her voter registration status from Nettleton to Tupelo. 

Those same records show that she voted in two elections with the Tupelo address, and on Oct. 4, 2022, she moved her registration from Tupelo to Saltillo, where she is currently registered.

Despite her Tupelo voting history, the Republican Party’s executive committee, whose sole job was to examine her residency, ultimately sided with Smith, believing she had enough documentation showing she had at least lived at her Saltillo address for two years. 

McMahan did not appeal the committee’s ruling to the state court system, but the executive committee recorded the hearing and submitted it as a public court filing in a separate election challenge. Mississippi Today obtained the video from the court record.

“When I look at the evidence of my opponent and see she’s been voting out of district due to convenience for several years, I’m convinced that she’s committed voter fraud during multiple election cycles,” McMahan told Mississippi Today. 

Smith adamantly rejects the allegation that she’s committed voter fraud or violated any of the state’s election laws, though she does not dispute she voted under the Tupelo address while she lived in Saltillo. 

“I committed no fraud, and I committed no crime,” Smith told Mississippi Today, adding that she believes the allegations against her are a “headhunt” from McMahan.

State law requires Mississippians to register to vote in the precinct of where they live, and section 97-13-5 of the Mississippi Code states anyone “who shall vote out of the district of his legal domicile” shall, upon conviction, be imprisoned in the county jail for no more than one year or be fined no more than $1,000, or both.

Sam Begley is a Jackson-based attorney who has represented dozens of candidates in elections challenges for several years. He told Mississippi Today that state law clearly states voters are required to register using their home address.

“She’s claiming her legal domicile is that Senate district she’s running in, but she’s voted outside of that legal domicile,” Begley said. “That appears to be a clear violation of 97-13-5.” 

Several prosecuting agencies could, in theory, probe if Smith potentially violated a statute, but the most direct way for an investigation to commence is for McMahan or another witness to her February comments to file an affidavit in justice court or county court, which they haven’t done. 

The primary election between Smith and McMahan will take place on Aug. 8. 

The post State Senate candidate admittedly voted outside her home precinct. Some say she broke the law.  appeared first on Mississippi Today.

President Joe Biden is expected to sign documents Tuesday to create a national monument honoring Emmett Till and his mother, according to National Park Service officials.

“The Till story is a vital part of the American story, and it’s fitting that it’s recognized and protected by the federal government,” said Dave Tell, author of “Remembering Emmett Till.”

After he was killed in Mississippi, his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on opening his casket so “the world could see what they did to my boy.” Photographs of his brutalized body ran in Jet magazine and around the world, provoking international outrage.

In September 1955, an all-white jury acquitted half-brothers Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam — only for them to confess months later to Look magazine that they had killed the 14-year-old from Chicago.

Less than 10 weeks after the acquittal, Rosa Parks boarded a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, and refused to give up her seat. She was quoted later as saying she was thinking about Till the whole time.

To this day, he remains a flashpoint for civil rights activities. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. mentioned his name in the same breath with the 1963 assassination of his friend, Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers.

In the decades since, Till’s name and photographs have appeared in protests alongside those of Trayvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd.

Among the sites making up the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument:

• Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago where Till’s funeral was held.
• Graball Landing, near where Till’s body was found in the Tallahatchie River.
• The Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Sumner, where the jury acquitted his killers.

Noticeably missing from the list is the former Bryant Grocery, where Till reportedly wolf-whistled at a white woman.

The store’s owners — the children of the late Ray Tribble, who voted with other jurors to acquit Till’s killers — have repeatedly refused to sell the store, demanding $4 million for the crumbling structure. That price tag prompted the late Alvin Sykes, the force behind the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act, to remark that the family was “holding history hostage.”

The Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., the last living witness of Emmett Till’s kidnapping, said it’s been his life’s work “to tell the truth of what happened to Emmett.”

“This national monument designation makes certain that Emmett Till’s life and legacy, along with his mother Mamie Till-Mobley’s social action and impact, will live on and be used to inspire others to create a more just and equitable society,” Parker said. “We thank President Biden for codifying the national monument and are heartened to know these places will foster empathy, understanding and healing for years to come.”

Veteran state Rep. Tommy Reynolds, D-Water Valley, says the action of President Joe Biden to designate the national monument to honor Emmett Till is the culmination of hard work by local people. 

“We had people in Tallahatchie County work together to form the Emmett Till Commission. It was half white and half Black. A lot of people worked to preserve the sites and deserve credit. They worked together,” said Reynolds, who represents much of the area in the Mississippi House and is the attorney for the Tallahatchie County Board of Supervisors. He will be present at the Tuesday ceremonies at the White House and at the Department of Interior. 

“This is going to be well received in our area. And it is appropriate to be remembered in hopes it will not happen again. We are all Americans and should have the right to life, liberty and happiness.” 

Reynolds said the federal, state and local governments contributed to restoring the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Sumner to its 1955 condition. In 1955 two white men were tried and acquitted by an all white jury for the murder of the teen-ager Till. The men later confessed to the murder. 

The Mississippi Legislature passed a bill to allow Tallahatchie County to convey the deed to the courthouse to the federal government. 

Money also has been raised to provide a new location to replace the historic Tallahatchie County Courthouse where routine business can be conducted. Under the agreement, the historic courthouse can still be used by the county until the new location is ready.

The center’s executive director, Patrick Weems, said the designation represents 15 years of hard work for a story that is pivotal in our nation’s history.

“The lynching of Emmett Till and the courage of Mamie Till Mobley served as a springboard to the modern Civil Rights Movement, and preserving this history in perpetuity will serve as a continual act of restorative justice,” Weems said. “We extend our deepest gratitude to the Tallahatchie County Board of Supervisors, and Congressman Bennie Thompson for championing this vision of reconciliation, which has now become a national monument.”

Rev. Willie Williams, chair of the board of directors of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, praised the decision to designate a national monument.

“Out of the tragedy of Emmett Till’s brutal murder, a national monument has risen as a symbol of hope, healing, and reconciliation,” he said. “Through this designation, we affirm that what man intended for evil, God can indeed use for good. We honor the memory of Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, whose courageous actions sparked a civil rights movement and continue to inspire us today. We are grateful to the local people of Tallahatchie County who have tirelessly worked to make this monument a reality. Their efforts remind us that out of the ashes of tragedy, beauty can emerge, and that through collective action, we can transform pain into progress.”

The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and the Mellon Foundation are investing $5 million to help preserve the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ for future generations.  

Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of National Parks Conservation Association, said throughout our nation’s history, “There are few stories as heart wrenching as the murder of Emmett Till. It is a story that lays bare the brutality of systemic racism and injustice for the world to see. 

“But it is also a story of determination,” Pierno said. “This is a story of a brave young mother who experienced a parent’s worst nightmare, but found the strength and power to rise up and shine a light on injustice as a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. Mamie Till-Mobley galvanized a movement and inspired a nation.

“Yet despite the progress we have made since 1955, the work is not done. The America we live in still bears many of the scars of the past, and some of our darkest history repeats itself. We still see echoes of Emmett’s story and blatant racial injustice in our society today, and as national park advocates, we are committed to doing our part to fight it. Black Lives Matter. They matter in our homes, they matter in our stores, our cities, and yes, in our national parks.”

Mississippi Today political reporter Bobby Harrison contributed to this report.

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Almost half of Mississippi’s rural hospitals could close, according to a newly updated report.

The report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform shows that 34 of Mississippi’s 74 rural hospitals are struggling financially and at risk of closure. Twenty-five of those are at risk of closing immediately, or within the next couple of years.

The previous version of the report, which the organization updates every three months, showed 27 hospitals at risk of closure in Mississippi, with 20 at risk of immediate closure.

The new data puts Mississippi third in the country — behind New York and Alabama — for states with the highest percentage of rural hospitals at risk of immediate closure.

The center decides closure risk by analyzing how long hospitals can stay afloat while losing money. Hospitals that can sustain losses for six to seven years are deemed at risk, while those that can offset losses for only two to three years are deemed at immediate risk.  

Harold Miller, CEO of the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, said Mississippians should be concerned about the new data. 

He attributed the hospitals’ worsening financial state to poor payments from private insurers. Miller’s organization advocates for hospital payment reform.

“They will not be able to stay open unless Blue Cross and other private insurance companies pay them enough to cover their costs,” he said. 

Blue Cross insures the majority of Mississippians with private insurance. The company went head to head with the state’s largest public hospital, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, for months last year over its reimbursement rates. 

An analysis by Mississippi Today and The Hilltop Institute at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County showed that during the throes of the dispute, Blue Cross’ negotiated rates were largely lower than other major private insurance companies for several common procedures. 

The updated report is based on the most recent quarterly release of cost report data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services this month, according to Miller. This data covers hospital finances for 2022 for most hospitals, and in some cases, the first few months of 2023 in addition.

Mississippi’s hospitals have been bleeding out for months. 

The pandemic worsened an already dire situation — it became more expensive to continue operations, while hospital profits generally did not increase. Now, health systems are struggling to recoup their losses. 

Two-thirds of rural hospitals in Mississippi are losing money caring for patients, the report says. 

In recent months, at least one hospital, KPC Promise in Vicksburg, has closed. Others, such as North Mississippi Health Services and Ochsner Health System, have laid off employees. St. Dominic Memorial Hospital not only announced layoffs in June, but also announced the closure of its behavioral health unit. 

Miller said Mississippians could see an increasing number of hospitals eliminating important services in order to stay open in the coming months.

Before the end of the session, the Legislature announced a grant program that would bring hospitals a one-time influx of millions of dollars. At the time, hospital CEOs said they were counting on the money to survive the year.

However, hospital officials are now reporting difficulties getting their hands on that money because of restrictions on the federal COVID-19 relief dollars.  

Despite support from the majority of Mississippians, Gov. Tate Reeves has continued to oppose Medicaid expansion. Experts say the policy change would not single-handedly solve the hospital crisis, but would help slow the bleeding.

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