A Hinds County Circuit Court judge has ruled the state Democratic Party improperly disqualified Bob Hickingbottom from this year’s gubernatorial primary ballot.
The state party is appealing the decision to the state Supreme Court. The high court issued an order Tuesday for parties to file briefs and other paperwork by Wednesday to expedite the matter, with the start of absentee voting drawing near.
Hinds Circuit Judge Forest Johnson Jr. ruled that Hickingbottom meets qualifications to run for Mississippi governor — being at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen for 20 years or more and a resident of the state for at least five years. The judge ruled that, while it is undisputed that Hickingbottom has failed to file a statement of economic interest with the Ethics Commission as required by law since he ran for governor in 2019 as a Constitution Party candidate, he should still be on the ballot.
The ruling said there is a difference between violating the law requiring a candidate to file an ethics report and qualifications to run for governor and, “Qualifications are core … Either you are or you’re not.” The court noted that if elected, Hickingbottom could face misdemeanor penalties for failing to file the report, including being barred from being sworn into office or receiving a salary.
The judge also ruled that while Hickingbottom appeared to wait too late to file an appeal of his disqualification by the party, his right to run for office and the right of people to vote for him “prevails over his delay in seeking relief from this court.”
“We are a constitutional democracy in this nation,” Johnson wrote. “Voting is a fundamental pillar of our democracy. The right of citizens to run for elected office, while not yet recognized on the same level as voting itself, is at least a quasi fundamental pillar of our democracy.”
The state Democratic Party Executive Committee in February ruled that Hickingbottom and another little-known candidate, Gregory Wash, had not met eligibility requirements to run for governor, with both failing to file statements of economic interest with the Ethics Commission. This left Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley as the lone candidate on the Aug. 8 primary ballot. Wash, who ran for governor as a Democrat four years ago, did not appeal the decision in court.
Presley is considered the frontrunner in the Democratic Primary and is expected to face incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who faces two little-known candidates in his primary, in the Nov. 7 general election.
Vernon Jordan, who once worked alongside Medgar Evers as a field secretary for the NAACP and later advised Bill Clinton, survived an assassination attempt in Fort Wayne, Indiana, by racist serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin (and so did Hustler publisher Larry Flynt).
Franklin was acquitted of the assault — only to confess his guilt years later. In an interview, Franklin said he considered Adolf Hitler his hero and “Mein Kampf” his Bible. “I read it hundreds of times.”
Trying to start a “race war,” he said he bombed synagogues, shot interracial couples and killed “enemies of the white race.” By the time it ended, he had killed at least 22 people, including Jackson State University student Johnnie Noyes Jr., who had simply been washing his car.
In 2013, Franklin was executed in Missouri for the 1977 murder of Gerald Gordon outside a synagogue in St. Louis.
Mississippi Today’s Adam Ganucheau, Geoff Pender, Bobby Harrison and Taylor Vance break down frequently asked questions about the 2023 lieutenant governor’s race. The Republican primary features incumbent Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and state Sen. Chris McDaniel.
Southern Miss celebrates its Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship at Riverwalk Park in Montgomery. That’s right fielder Carson Paetow on top of the pile. Somewhere, underneath, is pitching hero Justin Storm. Credit: Andrew Abadie/Pine Belt News
Different league, same result. Scott Berry’s Southern Miss Golden Eagles have won another championship.
Southern Miss defeated the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns 6-2 Sunday at Montgomery Sunday in the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in the Eagles’ inaugural season in the league. Southern Miss, ranked No. 16 nationally, will enter the NCAA Tournament later this week with a 41-17 record.
The Golden Eagles hope to host an NCAA Regional and will learn their tournament destination on Monday. Regardless of where they head, they will go as one of the hottest teams in college baseball. Sunday’s victory was their 19th in the past 21 games.
Rick Cleveland
“We earned every bit of that win today,” an emotional Berry said amid the championship celebration. “I just couldn’t be more proud of the way our guys competed and did what it takes in all phases of the game.”
There were many USM heroes Sunday, but none stood taller, literally and figuratively, than 6-foot, 7-inch left-hander Justin Storm. The hero of last year’s NCAA Regional championship against LSU, Storm replicated the feat against another Louisiana team. He pitched the final 5.1 innings, shutting out the Cajuns while allowing only three hits and striking out eight. Afterward, the former Madison Central basketball center paraded around field at Riverwalk Stadium with the championship trophy high above his head, while his teammates circled the field shaking hands with Eagle fans who made the “neutral site” championship much like a home game at Pete Taylor Park.
All American pitcher Tanner Hall was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after pitching a complete game victory in the Eagles’ opener against James Madison. Hall was warming up in the bullpen during the eighth and ninth innings, but Storm was able to finish it out.
“Storm was just electric,” Hall said. “He shut them down, just like I knew he would.”
Asked what the championship meant to him, Hall said, “I mean it’s everything, but it’s mostly about Coach Berry to me. This being his last conference tournament, it just means more.”
Berry, 60, announced his retirement — effective season’s end — 12 days ago. Christian Ostrander, the associate head coach and pitching coach, will take his place.
Shortstop Dustin Dickerson, third baseman Danny Lynch, first baseman Christopher Sargent and Hall all made the All-Tournament team. Dickerson and Lynch both homered Sunday and Sargent also contributed two hits.
Designated hitter Slade Wilks provided more heroics, launching a towering, two-run home run — his 20th — in the seventh inning, increasing a tenuous one-run lead to 5-2. The ball seemed to stay in the air forever before coming down just over the reach of leaping Louisiana right fielder Heath Hood.
The Cajuns probably would prefer to never see Lynch again. Lynch, a senior who will become a Southern Miss grad assistant next season, launched two grand slams just one week earlier to give the Golden Eagles an 11-9 victory and a 2-1 series victory over Louisiana.
Said Berry, “Sometimes, there’s somebody that has your number and Danny Lynch certainly has Lafayette’s.”
Despite the loss, the 40-22 Cajuns probably played their way in to the NCAA Tournament by defeating seventh ranked Coastal Carolina twice on Saturday to reach the league finals. The Sun Belt presumably will place four teams in the 64-team field: USM, Coastal, Louisiana and Troy.
It is difficult to fathom that on April 22, Southern Miss fell to 22-15 after a 20-7 drubbing administered by Coastal Carolina at Conway, S.C. The Eagles came back to defeat Coastal the next day to begin the hot steak they continued Sunday. From 22-15 to 41-17 is no easy feat and similar to what Ole Miss did a year ago when it went from 22-17 to a national championship.
Under Berry, Southern Miss won five Conference USA regular season titles and four CUSA Tournament championships. Berry’s Eagles also have accomplished seven consecutive 40-victory seasons, the most of any NCAA Division I program.
Southern Miss athletic director Jeremy McClain was beaming afterward.
“Our guys really wanted this for Coach Berry, and I’m really, really proud the fight they showed,” McClain said. “Scott is the epitome of what we want to be at Southern Miss: character, class, tough, doing everything the right way. He may be retiring, but his fingerprints will be all over this program for a long, long time.”
Ole Miss slugger Kemp Alderman won the 2023 Boo Ferriss Trophy as Mississippi’s most outstanding college baseball player, as chosen by Major League scouts and college coaches. As is almost always the case in these post-season awards, there was an outcry that the wrong guy got the trophy.
Kemp Alderman. Credit: MSHOF
Alderman won over fellow finalists Hunter Hines of Mississippi State, Tanner Hall of Southern Miss, Ty Hill of Jackson State and Slade Wilks of Southern Miss. Hall won the award in 2022.
First things first: Alderman is a worthy winner. All he did was hit .376 with a slugging percentage of .709 and on-base percentage of .440. He slammed 19 home runs and knocked in 61 runs. “One of the most productive seasons in Ole Miss baseball history,” is the way his coach, Mike Bianco, described it.
Nevertheless, social media and fan websites (and my email) were inundated with cries of favoritism or a rigged vote. Most of it came from Southern Miss fans who believed Hall, the Golden Eagles’ All American pitcher, should have won for a second consecutive season.
You may remember that Hall won last year, beating out, among others, Ole Miss’s heroic slugger Tim Elko, who eventually would lead the Rebels to the national championship. Naturally, Rebel fans believed Elko should have won.
As with Alderman, Hall’s numbers were off the charts. Pitcher of the Year in the Sun Belt Conference, Hall is 12-3 with a 2.23 earned run average. He has struck out 109 batters while walking only 30. In conference games, he was 9-1 with a 2.00 ERA. Understand, he was always pitching against the other team’s best guy.
If I had a vote, I would have voted for Hall, but that’s taking nothing away from Alderman, nor any of the other finalists who all had phenomenal seasons. Congrats to Kemp Alderman, who was eloquent and thoughtful in accepting the award. Congrats also to Hall for an All American season that is far from over.
This past Sunday, Jackson native Wilson Furr was leading the Korn Ferry Tour event in Kansas City when he went to the first tee to begin the fourth and final round. He looked around the quite sizable gallery and, much to his surprise, saw someone he recognized.
That someone was Tom Watson.
Wilson Furr interviewed at NCAA Tournament in 2017. Credit: UA Athletics
Yes, that Tom Watson: Kansas City native, winner of eight major tournaments, 39 PGA tournaments, eight European Tour tournaments and the world’s No. 1 golfer for four years consecutively.
Furr’s thoughts were just what you might suspect: “Tom Watson, one of greatest players in golf history, is out here watching me … ”
No pressure there.
So, Furr’s group gets to the sixth green, with Watson still watching, and Furr faces important chip shot, still holding a narrow lead. He addresses the ball and then it happens. In the gallery, someone’s phone rings.
Furr backs away and looks in the direction of the ringing phone. Yes, it was Tom Watson’s phone, and the World Golf Hall of Famer was fumbling with it, sheepishly trying to turn it off.
The rest of the gallery had a good laugh and Furr went on and made his par.
Furr shot a final round 71, which tied him for second place behind Grayson Murray, who shot a final round 68.
The second straight Top 10 finish moved Furr to No. 26 on the Korn Ferry points list, with the tour moving to Knoxville this week. The top 30 on the points list will gain full PGA Tour privileges for 2024. Furr has made quite a comeback since missing the cut in a Florida tournament last month because of controversial two-shot penalty.
I had my own personal episode with Tom Watson, long before he became famous and long before cell phones, for that matter.
This was 50 years ago in 1973 at the old Magnolia Classic in Hattiesburg. Several friends, including PGA officials, told me I had to get out on the course and watch this young golfer, recently graduated from Stanford, destined for greatness. Tom Watson.
Tom Watson
So I looked at the pairings, did the math and figured he should be approaching the fifth hole. The fifth at the Hattiesburg Country Club was then — and is now — the hardest hole on the course. I headed that way and arrived at the fifth green just moments before I saw somebody’s shot land on the green, bounce once and then roll into the hole. That somebody turned out to be Watson.
So, the threesome reached the green and the two other golfers marked their golf balls, while Watson, a short, little guy (then with a mustache) looked all around the green for his.
“Hey, buddy,” I called out, “check the hole.”
Watson walked over, looked down, broke into a smile and picked up his ball. He waved the ball to the gallery, which was one. Me. On a hole where par is a good score and birdies are rare, he had made an eagle-2. I followed him the rest of the way, amazed at his compact, efficient swing. He went on to finish third in the tournament. It was his last trip to the Magnolia Classic. He would win the Western Open the next year and the British Open in 1975. He was off and running. The rest was magic.
The Jackson metro area’s only inpatient hospice facility closed its doors at the end of April.
The nonprofit Hospice Ministries in Ridgeland offered 30 to 40 inpatient beds available for people who needed hospice services but could not remain at home or in another facility.
Hospice care is defined as a type of health care that focuses on comfort and alleviation of symptoms at the end of life for terminally ill patients. It is provided in homes, inpatient facilities and hospitals, among other facilities.
In addition to residential care, the inpatient facility at Hospice Ministries also provided short-term care for patients whose caregivers needed extra assistance or to leave the home.
It’s unclear what caused the facility to close, though a spokeswoman for the Mississippi State Department of Health said the closure was voluntary. The organization’s Executive Director Suzannah Britt referred questions to Medical Director Dr. Gerry Ann Houston, who did not respond by the time of publication.
A press release posted on the group’s website midweek attributed it to “the many changes in healthcare.”
“Closing the inpatient facility will allow Hospice Ministries to put more focus on providing end of life care to patients in their ‘homes,’ whether it be their personal residence, a nursing home or an assisted living facility,” the statement read.
In an interview with the Northside Sun in 2019, Britt said while the organization is mostly known for its inpatient care, most of the care it provides is via in-home services. She also said there was a waiting list for the inpatient facility, and there had been a donation from the McRae Foundation to expand the center and remodel a suite that had been closed.
The organization is funded by reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurance, in addition to community support, she said.
Hospice Ministries also offers in-home hospice care, bereavement services and a counseling center that offers grief counseling for children.
Ashley Parker, a geriatric social worker who runs a business called Compassionate Consulting, works in the Jackson area and has referred many of her clients to Hospice Ministries.
“The inpatient facility has been a godsend to families and has provided such wonderful care at the end of life. I am so saddened that Hospice Ministries is no longer able to provide their inpatient services,” Parker told Mississippi Today. “ … The support it offered will be missed significantly in our community.”
The only other inpatient hospice facilities in the state are located in Hattiesburg, the Gulf Coast and north Mississippi, according to the state Health Department’s health facilities directory.
Hospice Ministries’ website says it accepts patients regardless of ability to pay. The nonprofit reported around $300,000 in indigent charity care on its latest available tax filing.
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.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representatives Brandon Davis (left) with Christopher Klein (center) and Robyn Colosimo, discuss proposed Pearl River flood control options and field questions, during a public meeting held at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Sparkman Auditorium in Jackson, Wednesday, May 4, 2023. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
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.”
District 1 Supervisor Robert Graham questions U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reps, during a public meeting held regarding Pearl River flooding, at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Sparkman Auditorium in Jackson, Wednesday, May 24, 2023. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
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.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ proposed flood control options are viewed during a public meeting held at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Sparkman Auditorium in Jackson, Wednesday, May 24, 2023. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
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.
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
