3 JPD officers on leave following individual’s death in custody
Three officers with the Jackson Police Department are on administrative leave after a person died in their custody last week.
Officers responded to a service call near 500 E. Beasley Road Saturday night and took a person into custody who experienced a medical emergency, according to a news release from the department. An ambulance was called, but the person, who has not been identified, died at the scene.
Officers Avery Willis, Kenya McCarty and James Land will remain on leave until an internal police investigation is complete, according to Jackson police.
“The Jackson Police Department is committed to community-oriented policing and providing relevant information to the public, however, until both internal and external investigations conclude, the department will make no further comments,” the department said in its release.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which investigates officer shootings statewide, is also investigating. In statements from JPD and the city, the incident was described as an “officer-involved incident” rather than a shooting.
“The loss of life is always tragic and we remain committed to transparency,” Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said in a Wednesday statement from the city.
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Podcast: When it’s tough to talk about football.
So many entertaining bowl games over the weekend, but then came Monday Night Football and the devastating injury to Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin. For the Clevelands, the injury brought back memories of Chucky Mullins and was a stark reminder of the inherent dangers in the sport of football. With that as an unsettling backdrop, the Ole Miss and Mississippi State bowl games, the college football playoffs and Tulane’s magnificent victory are all discussed.
Stream all episodes here.
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State’s second largest school district goes virtual because of Jackson water pressure woes
The Jackson Public School District will be conducting school virtually on Jan. 5-6 due to little or no water pressure at 33 schools.
City of Jackson officials said Wednesday they’re still working to put more pressure into the city’s drinking water system before being able to lift the boil water notice. Most of the city has been under a boil water notice for the past 10 days, since Christmas morning, after below-freezing temperatures once again wrecked the city’s distribution system.
JPS officials said computer devices will be available for pickup on Jan. 4 from 3-6 p.m. at each school. Breakfast and lunch will be available for pickup on Jan. 5-6 at each school from 7-9 a.m. The announcement comes as students prepare to return from their winter break.
“The loss of water pressure in our school communities has had an enormous impact on us all,” the press release said.
JPS serves more than 18,000 students in the capital city, and chronic issues with water pressure have frequently forced schools to pivot to virtual learning. In September 2022, the district went virtual for a week during the water crisis which left residents without clean water or reliable water pressure for an extended period of time. District officials previously told Mississippi Today each student receiving a device through the federal COVID relief funds has also been beneficial for responding to water pressure issues, allowing them to pivot to virtual instruction more easily.
The press release said the district will continue to monitor updates from the City of Jackson and provide daily updates to families regarding when schools will reopen.
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IHL wants a new president at Delta State by summer 2023
The Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees wants to hire a new president at Delta State University by summer 2023 or sooner.
The interim president, E.E. Butch Caston, who IHL appointed last July, had said he would stay in the position for a year. The 22-page profile recently finalized by Academic Search, the headhunting firm that IHL is contracting for the search, gives some clues to the type of president trustees want to take over after Caston.
While the regional college in Cleveland, a small town in the Mississippi Delta, is contending with plummeting enrollment and shaky finances — problems that are widespread in higher education — potential applicants do not need experience working in university administration, so long as they’re successful in their field and have a “deep knowledge” of higher education, according to the profile.
IHL prefers candidates with a terminal degree, but the profile does not say it is required.
The profile makes clear that despite the challenges facing Delta State, IHL wants candidates with ambition that match the university’s vision to become “the best regional university in America as it combines a heritage of academic strength with a robust commitment to serving people and communities, particularly in the Mississippi Delta.”
Delta State opened as a teachers college in 1924. The profile touts the university’s small student-to-teacher ratio; efforts to increase diversity, equity and inclusion like the annual “Winning the Race” conference; and its estimated $175 million annual economic impact on the Mississippi Delta.
The next president will be expected to increase enrollment, both graduate and undergraduate, and retention across all classes, according to the profile. This is a significant challenge, as Delta State has lost enrollment faster than any other public university in recent years. Headcount has dropped 29% percent since 2014, with just 2,556 students enrolled this year.
Another challenge that IHL wants the next president to tackle is growing the university’s annual fund and modest $30 million endowment by reaching out to alumni, community members and regional employers. State appropriations, once the school’s most significant source of funds, have plummeted in recent years.
Adjusted for inflation, Delta State receives less money from the state than it did in 2000. The university’s cash on hand was less than half of IHL’s recommended reserve of 90 days in 2020.
At Delta State, the enrollment and financial challenges are reciprocal. The lack of funding over the last decade has led the administration to slash scholarships and raise tuition and that in turn has made the university less affordable to students.
In 2014, tuition at Delta State cost $6,012 a year before room and board. This year, it’s up to $8,435, a quarter of the median household income in Bolivar County.
Most students receive Pell Grants — federal financial aid for students from low-income families — and are from Mississippi. Though the university has long, and still does, serve one of the highest percentages of Black students of any public university in the state, its demographics don’t line up with the Delta’s. In 2020, 33% of students at Delta State were Black and 55% were white, according to federal data — a near inversion of the demographics of Bolivar County, which is 65% Black and 33% white.
IHL wants the next president to “demonstrate a lived commitment” to diversity, equity and inclusion and to work well with faculty and staff by hewing to the “the principles of shared governance.”
On behalf of the board, Academic Search will take confidential applications until the position is filled but prefers candidates submit by January 31. Presidential searches are secret in Mississippi.
Candidates must submit a cover letter, a “written philosophy” of diversity, equity and inclusion, a resume and five professional references.
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Lawmakers face redistricting lawsuit as 2023 session and election cycle start
As the 2023 session of the Mississippi Legislature gets underway this week, lawmakers face the specter of a federal lawsuit.
Various groups have joined together to file a lawsuit on behalf of the NAACP and other Mississippians claiming that the newly drawn legislative districts dilute the voting strength of African Americans.
Republicans, who enjoy supermajorities in both the House and Senate, drew and passed the new legislative districts in 2022 session. The lawsuit asks that the districts be declared unconstitutional and that new districts be drawn.
Carroll Rhodes of Hazlehurst, a long-time civil rights attorney who is involved in the lawsuit, has said in the past the new legislative districts violate federal law and the U.S. Constitution by “packing” Black voters in a smaller number of districts to dilute their strength.
Rhodes and others claim that a new redistricting plan could generate more Black majority districts in addition to increasing the number of African Americans in other districts to provide them more impact in non-minority majority districts.
“Mississippi’s newest maps are a continuation of the state’s long history of disenfranchising Black voters. Black voices were not heard in the redistricting process and these districts, which break up Black communities and limit their electoral voice, are the result,” said Janette McCarthy, general counsel with the NAACP. “If our elections are to be just, equitable and fair, it is imperative that all Mississippians have a fair opportunity to elect candidates that reflect their communities and are responsive to their needs.”
The 174 members of the Mississippi Legislature (52 senators and 122 House members) face a Feb. 1 deadline to qualify to run for reelection. So the federal lawsuit will play out against the backdrop of the 2023 campaign.
Under the plan approved by the Legislature and facing the federal lawsuit, 29% of the Senate districts are majority African American while 34% of the House districts are. Based on the 2020 Census, the state’s African American or partially African American population is 38%, while the white population is 59%.
Under the current maps, there are 42 Black majority districts in the House and 15 in the Senate. But the number of districts where Black voters can have an influence, such as a district with an African American population of more than 35%, has been significantly reduced over the past two redistricting cycles.
Redistricting normally occurs every 10 years after the U.S. Census. Legislative districts across the country must be redrawn to match population shifts found by the census.
Those involved in the lawsuit include both the national and state chapter of the NAACP, state and national chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the law firm of Morgan, Lewis and Bockius, the Mississippi Center for Justice, and others.
A three-judge panel has been convened to hear the lawsuit. The federal panel consists of Circuit Judge Leslie Southwick, Chief Judge Daniel Jordan of the Southern District of Mississippi and Judge Sol Ozerden of the Southern District.
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Jackson officials push back lifting boil water notice as pressure remains low
Jackson officials said they’re still working to put more pressure into the city’s drinking water system before being able to lift the boil water notice.
Ted Henifin, the city’s third-party manager, said that the city got through Monday night without many challenges, and that the hope was to lift the boil water notice for all residents on Wednesday.
Officials had not released any further updates Wednesday morning.
“We continue to make progress restoring the system pressures,” Henifin said. “However, we still have to put more water into the system than is used on typical days. That’s because we have to account for the tremendous losses due to the deep freeze.”
He added that the city is continuing to ask residents to conserve water where possible.
“This will help us get pressure and water to those that have suffered without any water since Christmas Eve,” Henifin said.
Most of the city has been under a boil water notice for the past 10 days, since Christmas morning, after below-freezing temperatures once again wrecked the city’s distribution system. On Friday, after getting clean water samples, officials lifted the boil water notice for Jackson’s well system customers as well as residents in the 39211 zip code, the corner of the city closest to the O.B. Curtis water treatment plant.
Henifin initially said on Friday that, barring an “unforeseen issue cropping up,” pressure should be restored by Monday.
To lift the boil water notice, the city has to see pressure restored and then conduct tests to make sure the water is clean of bacteria. It takes a day to get the results from those samples.
Meanwhile, Jackson State University is asking students to delay their move-in because of the city’s low water pressure.
The city is distributing water at the following locations:
2 p.m.
Metro Center Mall near old Dillards Loading Dock
Flushing Water & Drinking Water
Elderly or disabled residents seeking water delivery should call 311 or 601-960-1111.
The city also provided details for getting water in Spanish below:
2 p.m.
Metro Center Mall cerca del antiguo muelle de carga de Dillards
Agua de descarga y agua potable
Área de aparcamiento detrás de Forest Hill High School, Jackson, MS
Agua potable
Si no puede viajar a un sitio de distribución, llame al 311 o al 601.960.1111
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Legislative leaders want to override several of Gov. Tate Reeves’ vetoes
Legislative leaders hope to override Gov. Tate Reeves’ line-item vetoes of projects lawmakers approved last year, including $13 million to rejuvenate a golf course and build a nature trail at LeFleur’s Bluff State Park in Jackson.
“We are looking into overriding it,” House Speaker Philip Gunn said on Tuesday. “That’s because of the precedence it sets — no matter who is governor. It’s the executive branch trying to usurp the power of the legislative branch. We are having discussions now.”
Lawmakers say that besides killing projects approved by the Legislature, Reeves’ action was an overreach of executive power. The Mississippi Constitution says a governor may veto or approve parts of any appropriations bill. But it does not give the chief executive line-item veto power on general bills. They can either veto the whole bill or let it pass into law.
While House Bill 1353 last year included $223 million for dozens of projects across the state, it was technically a general bill — a “transfer” bill that shifted money from one account to another — and not an appropriations bill. Reeves vetoed 10 projects, about $27 million worth, of the bill. His vetoes appeared selective, and the city of Jackson bore the brunt, with four projects nixed by the governor, including upgrades to the city’s planetarium and convention center parking lot.
READ MORE: Gov. Tate Reeves blocks state funding for major Jackson park improvement, planetarium
Overriding a governor’s veto — a rare occurrence in Mississippi — requires a two-thirds vote from both the House and Senate. That’s a heavy lift, and the clock is ticking. Lawmakers have three days from official receipt of Reeves’ veto notice on Tuesday to take the vote. Lawmakers successfully overrode a Reeves veto of education funding in his first year. Before that, no governor’s veto had been overturned since 2002, with then-Gov. Ronnie Musgrove.
When he vetoed 10 of the hundreds of capital projects lawmakers passed last year, Reeves called them “wasteful” spending. He said spending on “golf courses, private pools … city and county office buildings” and $7.5 million earmarked for three private companies without going through the state’s incentives vetting process were untenable and “bad expenditures are bad expenditures.”
Reeves also said Jackson has too many problems such as crime and failing water infrastructure for the state to be spending money on such projects. But he approved scores of other projects across the state. Multiple county courthouses received funds for renovations as did various museums and other projects.
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who presides over the Senate, said on Tuesday as the 2023 legislative session started that he also wants to discuss an override with Gunn and other legislative leaders.
“I thought the governor’s veto of those items in a general bill was improper,” Hosemann said. “We have a few options. One, obviously, we could override his veto. Second, we could reappropriate those funds. Then, if he vetoed it a second time, we could try to override it then.”
Hosemann said he supports the projects Reeves vetoed for Jackson and does not consider them wasteful spending.
“While I realize the many needs Jackson has, such as water, the federal government just approved $600 million for it. We put up another $100 million … The question is whether or not we will support cultural attractions so our young men and women will come live and work here. LeFleur’s Bluff is a jewel for Jackson and for the state, and we need to treat it as such.”
Hosemann continued: “We could spend our entire budget on fixing water, but we don’t need to ignore other needs. The planetarium, LeFleur’s Bluff, Thalia Mara Hall — those are attractions for the whole state and region. We can’t ignore things like crime in Jackson, and we are not. We are spending tens of millions of dollars on combatting crime. But we can’t ignore the cultural parts of this state.”
State Rep. Christopher Bell, a Democrat representing Jackson, said: “Personally, I believe every veto the governor signed should be subject to a veto override. The governor has always displayed his hate for the city of Jackson. I wasn’t surprised by hearing the majority of the projects in the city of Jackson were vetoed.”
If Reeves’ line item vetoes of a general bill stand, it would mark another expansion of executive branch power in Mississippi.
In 2020, the Mississippi Supreme Court expanded the governor’s authority when it upheld two partial vetoes despite multiple Supreme Court cases dating back to the 1890s that had greatly limited that authority.
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A splendid football weekend was halted by reminder of the sport’s inherent danger
We had enjoyed a stupendously entertaining holiday weekend of football. On Saturday, the NCAA semifinal games were both down-to-the wire classics with TCU upsetting Michigan and Georgia surviving Ohio State on Saturday. Then, Monday, Mississippi State won one for The Pirate, before Tulane shocked the football world, overcoming a 15-point fourth quarter deficit to stun Southern Cal and its Heisman Trophy quarterback.
All were perfect examples of why so many of us love the sport of football so much – such passion, so much drama, so many heroics. But that was enough football for me until the social media alerts prompted a check-in to the NFL Monday night game, which had been suspended because of a dreadful injury. As this is written, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin remains in critical condition from a freakish injury suffered just seven minutes into the game. Hamlin’s heart stopped beating after he tackled Cincinnati receiver Tee Higgins.
Higgins’ helmet hit Hamlin in his chest. Hamlin went to the ground, rose to his feet and then just keeled over to the ground unconscious and stopped breathing. CPR was administered on the field as players on both teams cried and comforted one another. It was shocking scene, a sober reminder that this sport many of us love so much is so inherently dangerous.
And here’s the deal: In all that football we watched over the weekend, there were scores of collisions that appeared far, far more hazardous than the one that severely injured Hamlin. His was clearly a freakish injury.
For many of us in Mississippi, it was a reminder of a scene 33 years ago at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium when Chucky Mullins slammed into Vanderbilt receiver Brad Gaines and fell to the earth never to rise on his feet again. The collision shattered four vertebrae and paralyzed Mullins from the neck down instantly. Approximately 19 months later, Mullins was stricken with a pulmonary embolism and died on May 6, 1991.
What happened to Mullins changed the way at least this one sports writer has viewed the sport. Always before, my reaction to such a collision was, “Wow! What a great hit!” Ever since, my reaction to the same sort of hit has been: “Please, get up.”
In more recent years, as we have learned more and more about the long-term effects of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), every collision and every resulting concussion rekindle the fear for the safety of those who compete. Indeed, five years ago, I did a series of stories about Mississippi football players who, years after retirement from football, suffered the dreadful effects of CTE. The families of Bobby Crespino, Doug Cunningham, and Willie Daniel donated their brains to CTE Center at Boston University. There are four stages of CTE. Crespino, Cunningham and Daniel all were in the fourth and most dire stage.
I have spoken with many, many former college and professional players, still living, who live in fear that will face similar issues. Wesley Walls, the former Ole Miss and NFL star, may have put it best. “I worry, man, I worry,” Walls told me. “It’s the biggest worry of my life because I see what it has done to other guys, guys I played with and against. I was taken off the field three times for concussions. I probably had at least four more.”
Leaders at every level of football have changed the rules to try and make the sport more safe. Targeting (a helmet-to-helmet hit) has been outlawed. Blindside blocks are now penalized. Equipment, helmets especially, have been upgraded. But there’s just no getting around the fact that these are huge, fast men running into one another. Rule changes and equipment improvements will never eliminate the inherent danger of serious injury. That’s just fact.
And this is nothing new. In the early 1900s President Theodore Roosevelt led the crusade for radical rule changes in hopes of saving the sport. Those rule changes lessened the danger and reduced deaths.
But the danger remains. And it will remain.
In the end it is up to each individual to decide whether or not to participate or, for that matter, whether even to watch.
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