Take a look back at the past year in Mississippi through the coverage of Mississippi Today to relive some of the biggest moments that defined 2021, including the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the delta variant of COVID-19’s repercussions on the state’s hospital system and so much more.
Visit our full 2021 recap to see some of our most-read coverage by category, staff favorites and a curated playlist of songs that helped the MT team make it through this trying and unprecedented year.
Auditor Shad White and welfare director Bob Anderson filed a motion opposing a broad gag order in Mississippi’s ongoing welfare fraud case.
Judge-ordered gags in the ongoing welfare embezzlement cases have prevented defendants, attorneys and prosecutors from speaking to the media about the criminal charges for the last year or so.
But attorneys for one defendant, former Mississippi Department of Human Services Director John Davis, want officials to stop talking publicly about the embattled bureaucrat altogether.
And State Auditor Shad White and the current welfare agency director Bob Anderson aren’t having it.
“Such an order would amount to an unconstitutional prior restraint, be overly broad, and would severely interfere with Auditor White’s, Executive Director Anderson’s, and agency employees’ responsibilities as public officials,” an assistant attorney general wrote on behalf of White and Anderson Tuesday.
White and Anderson were responding to a motion filed by Davis’ attorney Chuck Mullins of Jackson law firm Coxwell & Associates last Monday.
“Both Mr. Anderson and Mr. White have repeatedly made comments about Mr. Davis, inferring matters about his guilt, but failing to report instances when the actions taken by Mr. Davis were approved by MDHS policies,” reads Mullins’ motion filed Dec. 13. “In some instances, Mr. White and Mr. Davis have made comments about Mr. Davis’s actions when those actions were approved by other people at MDHS.”
Officials have accused Davis of conspiring with nonprofit founder Nancy New to steal over $4 million in federal welfare dollars. However, the charges in his indictment are more narrowly focused on how his agency paid Brett DiBiase, an ex-wrestler who has battled drug addiction, $48,000 under a contract for opioid addiction education he did not fulfill. The indictment also alleges Davis conspired with New to use taxpayer dollars to pay for DiBiase’s four-month long stay in a luxury Malibu rehab facility. DiBiase pleaded guilty in December of 2020 and has agreed to be a state’s witness.
Much of this misspending, and the agency procedures that led to it, have not resulted in criminal charges. Though some of the alleged purchases outlined by auditors may violate federal rules, they may not constitute a crime. White and Anderson argued Tuesday it is their duty to remain transparent about what transpired under the leadership of Davis, who was appointed by former Gov. Phil Bryant.
“Auditor White continues to receive information to date and has ongoing investigations into various allegations of additional wrongdoing at DHS during the tenure of the Defendant. There is a very real possibility that additional findings may be made by the Auditor’s office and that information may be required by law to be made public,” the motion reads. “Likewise, MDHS and its head, Executive Director Anderson, are dealing with significant fall-out because of the practices of the Defendant while he ran MDHS from 2016 through 2019. It may become necessary for Auditor White, Executive Director Anderson, or their employees to make public comments about these issues.”
The department also plans to file civil litigation in an attempt to recoup some of the misspent funds, which will be a public proceeding.
The latest motion asks the court to deny Davis’ motion to extend the gag order to apply broadly to White and Anderson discussing Davis’ actions.
White and Anderson argue that comments about how Davis ran the welfare agency “have nothing to do with the Defendant’s culpability” and would not influence the potential jury pool or threaten his right to a fair trial. Instead, White and Anderson say they agree to a limited gag order under which they will refrain from commenting on the criminal charges or Davis’ alleged crimes.
A hearing on Davis’ motion is currently set for Dec. 28.
Mississippi’s health department has reported an uptick in COVID-19 cases over the last few weeks after a months-long stretch that saw dwindling numbers since late August.
The seven-day average for new cases reached as low as 241 per day on Nov. 29, and was below 400 for nearly all of November. Since then, the average has more than doubled, reaching 624 on Tuesday.
Hospitalizations have also gone up, with the seven-day average increasing 31% since the start of the month.
While far below last winter’s surge, this increase in cases mirrors a similar trend from this time in 2020, when during the same stretch of December the average daily cases shot up nearly 50%.
Only 48% of Mississippians are vaccinated against the virus, the fourth-lowest rate of any state. The number of people getting vaccinated dropped off significantly after the summer and hasn’t picked back up since.
In an interview with Mississippi Today, state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said that almost all of Mississippi’s new COVID-19 cases are still from the Delta variant, although the first omicron variant case was identified in the state earlier this month.
Byers also said that MSDH’s safety recommendations haven’t changed for approaching the winter holidays, meaning that people should still wear masks during large indoor gatherings and be extra careful if they’re with vulnerable or unvaccinated family members.
From the words of Mississippi Today editors Kayleigh Skinner and Adam Ganucheau, “2021 was a year for the history books in Mississippi. Again and again, the state found itself making headlines across the nation and through it all, Mississippi Today was there.”
Click below to watch our 2021 recap video:
Video produced by Alyssa Bass
Take a look back at the past year in Mississippi through the coverage of Mississippi Today to relive some of the biggest moments that defined 2021, including the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the delta variant of COVID-19’s repercussions on the state’s hospital system and so much more reported by our dedicated journalists.
And make sure to check out our full 2021 recap to see some of our most-read coverage by category, staff favorites and a curated playlist of songs that helped the MT team make it through this trying and unprecedented year.
A coalition led by the University of Southern Mississippi that aims to jumpstart economic development on the Gulf Coast is a finalist for federal stimulus funds from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
The Gulf Blue Initiative is one of 60 finalists for EDA’s “Build Back Better Regional Challenge,” a program funded by the American Rescue Plan Act to bolster pandemic recovery and help communities overcome decades of economic divestment.
At this stage, GBI will receive $500,000 to further develop its proposal. In March, the EDA will award up to $100 million to 20-30 programs.
Coastal Mississippi has one of the nation’s most diverse collections of economic ventures seeking to capitalize on the resources of the ocean, according to a 2019 study. But two decades of floods, hurricanes and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill have left the Gulf Coast economy over-reliant on tourism, an industry that is vulnerable to those same disasters.
“We need this for the Gulf Coast,” said Shannon Campbell, the senior associate vice president for USM’s Coastal Operations. “It’s time.”
GBI’s proposal seeks to chart a way out of that cycle by using ARPA funds for three projects that will support efforts focused on developing more “blue economy,” STEM and light manufacturing jobs. Those include expanding USM’s Gulf Park Business and Workforce Education and Conference Complex and creating the “Gulf Blue accelerator program” and web portal for start-ups.
The initiative estimates these projects will create more than 3,300 jobs, 15 new startups, and higher wages across the Coast.
Campbell said the initiative intends for those jobs to be filled by Mississippians.
“Stopping the brain drain is definitely the first priority,” she said. “We have some incredibly talented people that are leaving our state for better opportunities in other states, and we really have got to be more aggressive about how we keep them here.”
The initial $500,000 will still be useful for the Coast even if the coalition does not receive a final award, Campbell said. GBI will use the initial round of funding to launch the accelerator program and bring in consultants who will create a plan that the coalition can use to help coastal communities develop their own strategic plans focused on the blue economy.
“A well-designed, well-thought-out proposal will be to the benefit of the region for many years to come,” Campbell said.
2021 was a year for the history books in Mississippi. Again and again, the state found itself making headlines across the nation and through it all, Mississippi Today was there.
A Mississippi law is at the center of a landmark legal case that could rewrite abortion laws for the entire nation. The state’s Supreme Court struck down the ballot initiative process. Our governor and legislative leaders couldn’t agree on a medical marijuana program that a vast majority of voters approved at the polls. As our newsroom covered these events and more, we always worked to center the lived experiences of everyday Mississippians in our coverage.
It’s why we launched MT Listens, a community listening program designed to help us learn how to report for readers and not about them. It’s a commitment to build a more diverse readership by targeting five specific communities across the state.
We lived through the personal and professional challenges of covering the darkest moments of the pandemic. We covered positive stories like massive corporations moving their headquarters to the state and Mississippi State winning a national baseball championship. We covered more challenging stories including a series on domestic violence, the murder of a former elected official, and the ongoing fallout of the state’s largest embezzlement case in history.
As the COVID-19 delta wave ripped through our state, the Mississippi Today newsroom sprang into action. We sent reporters into a field hospital erected in a parking garage. We asked the state’s top medical and government officials tough questions and launched a Vaccine Guide to provide you, the reader, with knowledge and information to better navigate these uncertain times.
We continue to reflect on who we are and who we need to be, and this introspection has resulted in several projects and initiatives that we hope will make us better and grow our state. Our core mission is to hold those in power accountable. That’s why we launched “Follow the Money,” a project that will closely follow what Mississippi does with billions of dollars of federal funds recently awarded to the state. We see it as our responsibility to closely track what leaders do with this once in a lifetime influx of cash, and hold them accountable.
Thank you for reading and engaging with us this year. We are proud to report to you.
State law enforcement officers — about 1,750 in various state agencies — are slated to receive a $1,000 bonus before the end of the year for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Tate Reeves announced.
The cost of the bonus, about $2.3 million, will be paid through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act that was passed on a bipartisan basis during the Trump administration to provide funds to the states to help battle the pandemic.
At the time, Reeves argued that he should have discretion to spend the entire $1.25 billion the state received from the CARES Act. But the Legislature blocked Reeves’ effort and spent the bulk of the funds. The Legislature provided the governor discretion in how to spend $50 million of the funds.
Reeves said Monday he had about $5 million left in the discretionary funds that he must dish out by the end of the year. He did not give details of how all of the remaining funds will be spent, though he did say that $688,000 would be allocated to the Department of Child Protective Services to help with the expenses they incurred trying to ensure safety of their staff and the foster children they oversee during the pandemic.
Reeves said he wanted to provide the bonuses or hazard pay to the officers because “day in and day out they put their lives on the line to keep us safe.”
He said they have not had the option to work from home during the pandemic.
About half of the sworn law enforcement personnel who will receive the bonuses are in the Department of Public Safety. The others are in a litany of state agencies, ranging from the Department of Revenue, Department of Agriculture and Commerce, and Insurance.
Sean Tindell, the commissioner of public safety, attended the Reeves news conference and said about 50 law enforcement officers — at both the state and local levels — have died of the coronavirus. The bonuses were allocated only for state officers.
“We just buckled down and did the job no matter what. Sometimes that entails wearing masks. We were in and out of that,” said Trooper Craig James who spoke at the news conference.
James said it was “humbling” that the governor would provide the funds “at this time of the year.”
Earlier this year, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and Speaker of the House Philip Gunn urged Reeves to call a special session to allow the Legislature to appropriate funds from another pot of federal money — the American Rescue Plan Act — to provide bonuses for health care workers who were overwhelmed during a COVID-19 surge in the late summer.
Reeves did not call a special session. On Monday, the governor praised health care workers, but did not make any comment on whether he would support such bonuses. He said the theme of the Christmas decorations at the Governor’s Mansion in 2020 was to honor “health care heroes.”
“We had a lot of health care heroes. No doubt about it,” the governor said.
The omicron variant of COVID-19 is sweeping through the nation, forcing many families to rethink holiday plans and even closing down many schools and workplaces.
Mississippi Today recently spoke with Dr. Paul Byers, the state health department’s chief epidemiologist, to learn more about the variant and how to take precautions during the holiday season.
Editor's note: This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Mississippi Today: Will you walk us through what we do and what we do not know yet about the omicron variant?
Dr. Paul Byers: Over the past year, we’ve seen new variant strains of the COVID-19 virus that have emerged with omicron being the latest one. What we know about it so far is that it looks like it is likely more infectious than the original strain of COVID-19 that we dealt with back in 2020. We don’t know yet how much more infectious it may be than the Delta variant. We do know that it looks like the vaccine is likely protective against severe complications, hospitalizations and deaths that can occur from the omicron variant. Certainly, people who’ve been infected previously, and then were fully vaccinated, likely have more protection, and that’s very similar to what we’ve seen with the other variant strains that have emerged over the last year.
We don’t know, ultimately, how effective the vaccine will be at preventing infection. We don’t know whether or not it will be resistant to some of the treatments that are out there, specifically things like the monoclonal antibodies, and we don’t know the severity of illness. So far, it’s looking like it may be causing a less severe illness than the delta variant. We’re still very early in the game on this one. We’re in the process of learning more and more about omicron on a daily basis. And so I think these next couple of weeks will tell us a whole lot more. But there are still some things that we know are the basics, and the basics are the basics.
The best way to prevent infection, transmission, and the complications from omicron are the same kinds of things that we’ve been doing this whole time. It starts with vaccination. Make sure you’re fully vaccinated. Make sure that you get a booster vaccine if you’re eligible. We know that now getting the booster vaccine is only going to help when it comes to omicron and other variants. We know that wearing a mask in indoor public settings is a good idea to not only protect yourself, but to protect those folks around you. We’re still seeing very high transmission or substantial transmission in the majority of the state right now. The other thing that we do know is that right now in Mississippi, virtually 100% of what we’re seeing being transmitted in the state is still delta. So we are still in the midst of delta transmission in Mississippi right now, although we need to watch omicron closely.
Mississippi Today: What recommendations would you have for folks as they’re maybe reevaluating their plans for the holiday season in response to the emergence of this new variant?
Byers: A lot of it’s gonna depend on what activities you do. Outdoor gatherings are safer than indoors, especially with groups that don’t normally gather together. If you go out to a big event, make sure that you’re wearing a mask in that indoor setting. Think about whether or not you need to attend that big event. In family groups, especially if there are folks in your family who are vulnerable, if you haven’t gotten vaccinated, go ahead and start that process. Rethink whether or not you need to be around those vulnerable family members if you may put them at risk. I think that we can do things safely. We just need to think about all we’ve all been through. The recommendations really haven’t changed that much from where we started.
Mississippi Today: Throughout the past two years, we’ve talked a lot about COVID fatigue, but it appears like it’s even more astute recently, with more talking and acting as if we’re in a post COVID world. What do you think about this shift in attitudes?
Byers: We know that everybody’s tired. And we know that we all want to go back to normal as much as we can and interact with our friends and families, especially over the holidays. We are still in the middle of significant transmission of COVID-19 in the state and although we’ve had some decline in our deaths recently, we are starting to see our case numbers go back up. And when we see our case number go up, typically we will start to see more hospitalizations and more deaths as a result of the increased numbers of cases. And with the holidays coming up, we do anticipate that we will see those increases both during and after the holidays.
We are not out of the woods yet. Things have gotten better than they were in the previous couple months, but again, we’re still seeing a lot of transmission. In Mississippi and in the United States, we may be done with COVID, but it’s not done with us yet. And I think we’ve just got to stay the course because really it’s all about saving lives.
The Mississippi Department of Education says there are 3,036 certified teacher vacancies across the state — a staggering figure that shows the extent of the state’s long-standing teacher shortage.
Mississippi Today has reported several times since 2019 that state officials had never tracked data regarding the state’s critical teacher shortage. The release of the new data last week by MDE marks the first time the generational problem has been comprehensively tracked by state officials.
The vacancies were reported by every school district across the state, and state officials said the 3,036 figure includes both positions that remain completely vacant and positions currently held by teachers who are not certified. There are currently about 32,000 total teachers across the state.
“This is perhaps one of the most comprehensive pictures we have ever had of teacher shortages,” Courtney Van Cleve, MDE director of educator talent acquisition and effectiveness, said when presenting the data to the State Board of Education on Dec. 16.
The largest number of vacancies is at the elementary level, with 958 vacancies. High school teachers come in at a close second of 881 vacancies. The remaining 1,200 vacancies were among middle school teachers and music/arts/special education.
The survey also measured vacancies in support staff and administration. When adding these vacancies with the teaching positions, the overall total of vacancies across Mississippi is 5,503. The largest categories of vacancies among support staff were teachers assistants, bus drivers and food service staff.
The survey was fielded in September 2021 for the 2021-2022 school year and had 100% district participation.
“Looking at many of your faces, I’ll acknowledge that (these) numbers can feel daunting,” Van Cleve told the board. “It can even feel disheartening. And yet we’re really encouraged. We’re encouraged in the office of teaching and leading that a number of the strategies we have in place are indeed targeting some of the highest areas of need statewide.”
Van Cleve then highlighted two programs, the Mississippi Teacher Residency and the Performance Based Licensure Pilot, which seek to facilitate the process of fully certifying a teacher for the classroom and attract and retain more teachers. Early data from MDE showed that both programs were helping teachers successfully overcome barriers.
When Angela Bass, a member of the State Board of Education, asked how this teacher shortage compared to previous years, Van Cleve explained that this is the first time the Department of Education has had this level of data, meaning there’s no benchmark to compare it to.
Teacher vacancies were also presented by congressional district. The largest portion of the vacancies exist in the 3rd Congressional District, with 1,274. The 1st Congressional District had the lowest number at 276.
Lawmakers have said they plan to address the issue of Mississippi’s lowest-in-the-nation teacher pay — a major contributing factor to the state’s teacher shortage — when they return to the Capitol in January 2022.
Mississippi Today editors Kayleigh Skinner and Adam Ganucheau discuss potential Mississippi legislation that would aim to ban critical race theory from being taught in Mississippi schools — even though critical race theory isn’t currently being taught in Mississippi schools.
