I just pray that we can get the school year launched safely and keep the students in school this year. We’re facing a big challenge with the delta variant and its ability to spread rapidly. “The delta variant is more aggressive and much more transmissible than previously circulating strains. It is one of the most infectious respiratory viruses we know of and that I have seen in my 20-year career,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky
Cynetra Freeman, founder of the nonprofit Mississippi Center for Re-Entry, knows what it’s like to have a second chance at life.
In 2010, Freeman was faced with a three-year sentence for trafficking heroin. Freeman’s public defender worked tirelessly to get her out of jail and, once the case was resolved, she was faced with the struggle to re-enter society.
Once out of jail, Freeman realized that post-release services were important to getting her life back on track and re-establishing herself outside of probation services.
“After getting out of jail, the struggle of being able to re-enter and trying to regain entrance into society made me want to start Mississippi Re-entry,” Freeman said.
It took a year, but Freeman regained strength and was able to re-enter into the community. Though there were many challenges, she was able to get back on her feet.
“I didn’t have a good support system, but I did get back on my feet,” she said. “I became ill and had to step away from the nonprofit and take care of my health.”
Freeman was diagnosed with chronic end-stage renal kidney disease and had to take dialysis. When she became ill, she relocated to Mississippi to be closer to family. During her time in Mississippi, Freeman regained strength and started to pursue her dream to establish Mississippi Re-entry as a nonprofit. She founded Mississippi Reentry in 2017, and it has become a beacon to the community.
“Re-entry is a social service, and I didn’t want to make a profit off of anything but to change lives,” she said.
Mississippi Center for Re-entry has many programs, including housing, jobs and education. Freeman knows first-hand what an individual needs and knows where they are coming from.
“I have walked in the shoes of those individuals, and I know what they will need,” she said.
These programs are designed with the person in mind with case plans tailored especially for the client. Businesses, such as Concord Career College, Northwest Mississippi Community College, FedEx, Home Health and Best Notary are a few businesses that have invested their programs into the organization.
MCR has a virtual summit Aug. 5 on Zoom. The vision for this summit is to raise awareness and shed light on the struggles of those leaving incarceration. Attendees will give people a glimpse into why re-entry is needed. Sessions will be taught by people who have been incarcerated and those who work in re-entry. The sessions can also prepare anyone interested in helping those formerly incarcerated learn about re-entry.
Now that Mississippi for Re-entry has been in the community for a while, Freeman feels she can help people believe in re-entry. Also, in five years, she expects a decrease in people going to jail and recidivism rates decreasing as a result of her work .
To sign up for Mississippi Re-entry or to receive information, visit the website at www.msreentry.org.
Florance Bass of Brandon kept her kindergarten son home last year.
Nicholas, who has Down syndrome and a repaired congenital heart defect, wasn’t able to participate in virtual school because of vision issues, but he did receive about one hour of instruction a day via Zoom.
Bass was determined to get her son back in a school building this year as he repeats kindergarten. But the rise of the Delta variant, recent surge in COVID-19 cases and woefully undervaccinated status of the state has her increasingly concerned — and angry —for her high-risk child.
“I am so tired of people telling me ‘Well, if you’re that scared, or he’s that high risk, then stay home,’” she said. “We stayed at home for 16 months. We’ve done everything we needed to do to keep my child safe. My child should not be kept out of a classroom because other people don’t do what they need to do.”
Most schools in Mississippi are scheduled to start the year in early August.
Although the number of new daily cases this summer are becoming very similar to infections in July of last year, Gov. Tate Reeves has signaled he will not be issuing any mandates around masks or other COVID-19 protocols in schools. This means Mississippi districts are left to grapple with what restrictions to put in place in a state where only 34% of the population is vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Of that, just 7% of children ages 12-15 and 14% of kids ages 16-17 are fully vaccinated, according to the Mississippi Department of Health.
Mississippi is seeing what health officials are calling a “fourth wave” of COVID-19 infections, and the majority of the cases are the more transmissible and infectious Delta variant. Children are more vulnerable to this variant, it seems — earlier this month seven minors were hospitalized after becoming infected.
Last week the Mississippi Department of Health followed the CDC’s lead and recommended mask-wearing only for unvaccinated students and staff. They also recommended schools maintain three feet of social distancing when possible, in addition to several other guidelines.
Parents around the state are sounding off about how schools should operate during the second school year of a global pandemic. While some parents like Bass are in favor of stricter regulations to protect vulnerable children and adults, others don’t see the need.
“My wife is teaching in high school and she really has no concerns going into this year, she’s really hoping it’s just as normal a school year as it can be with little to no masking and social distancing,” said Jeff Frank of Kosciusko. At this time, both he and his wife have not been vaccinated.
“I won’t say that I won’t get vaccinated, because I probably will at some point,” Frank said. “I don’t really think it’s been out long enough. I would like to see a little more information around people’s experiences and what the effects are moving forward, versus the effects of actually catching COVID…I think there’s a lot of misinformation out there on both sides of the coin. You have Dr. Dobbs in Mississippi telling us that 96% of new cases are in unvaccinated people, yet you’ve got the medical professionals in Great Britain saying that 60% of new infections are in vaccinated people.”
The statement in question was an error by Britain’s chief scientific officer who misspoke and subsequently apologized last week, accidentally saying ‘vaccinated’ when he meant to say ‘unvaccinated’.
Rachel Chestman, a teacher and parent of two sons in Pontotoc City School District, said she is very concerned by the low rate of vaccination in her area and the district’s current stance that masks will be optional.
Chrestman said her district has not held vaccine drives or encouraged staff to get vaccinated other than announcing the shots are available at the school clinic. She’s also overheard colleagues discuss their distrust of the vaccine and their plans not to receive it.
As a cancer survivor who underwent chemotherapy two years ago and the mother of a child who’s not old enough for the vaccine, this worries her.
“Speaking as a parent and a teacher and someone who’s been through a critical illness … I so wish everyone (who can) would get vaccinated so we could get through this more quickly and spare more lives,” she said.
Jeff Navarro has twin sons entering the eleventh grade at Amory High School. When discussing the new guidance released by the Mississippi Department of Health last week, Navarro said he understood the limitations of their position, but did not feel that it was sufficient.
“What you do in terms of exercising your freedom is fine, as long as it doesn’t pose a threat to me, and unfortunately with coronavirus it does,” Navarro said. “It’s a public health concern, it’s not an individual decision. I think politically that’s been lost in the mix, so ideally I would want to see a mask requirement, but I’m afraid there would be such mass resistance to it that I think what the Department of Health did is probably as much as they could do.”
On Thursday the Mississippi chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, along with the division of pediatric infectious disease at Children’s of Mississippi, penned a letter to school administrators and school board members recommending masking for everyone in schools, regardless of vaccination status.
Those reasons include that many students are not vaccinated at this time because the youngest eligible age is 12, and masking is the next best way to reduce transmission among the unvaccinated.
“Many schools lack a system to monitor vaccine status among students, teachers and staff,” the letter stated. “In the absence of schools being able to conduct monitoring of vaccination status on a daily basis, universal masking is the best and most effective strategy to create consistent messages, expectations, enforcement and compliance without the added administrative burden placed upon already stressed teachers.”
Bass, who also has an eighth grader and a tenth grader in the Rankin County School District, said she still has questions for the district about how they will ensure unvaccinated people are taking precautions.
“I really want to know what they’re going to require at the staff level … for those who are vaccinated versus not vaccinated,” she said. “The adults really need to be the example for the kids about how to keep each other safe.”
State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said he is working with schools and CDC officials to figure out how schools can monitor this. He suggested a policy similar to the Mississippi Department of Health’s in which unvaccinated office workers sign a document saying they will maintain six feet of distance and wear a mask when not at their desk. Liz Sharlot, a spokesperson for the department, said the goal is not to monitor who is and is not vaccinated but to ensure everyone knows the policy.
In Rankin County, school is set to begin on Aug. 6, and the district’s “Smart Restart” plan includes a return to “traditional school procedures with enhanced hygiene and disinfection protocols.” The document also says the year will begin with optional face masks but acknowledges that masks may be necessary as the year goes on, dependent upon state guidance.
A spokesperson for the district said Thursday she was unavailable to provide more details about the schools’ plans.
Cynthia Lisle, of Olive Branch, has a grandson entering the first grade in DeSoto County Schools. She felt that it was the right move for schools to be open last year since COVID-19 posed a lower threat to children, but the Delta variant’s increased threat to children has her very concerned. They have no plans to keep him out of school, but Lisle said she wished the vaccine was available to all school-age children.
“For six, he’ll put his mask on, but he forgets. He’s good at washing his hands but you’ve got to remind him. He calls it ‘the coronavirus’ all the time…but they did a great job at his public school,” Lisle said.
DeSoto County Schools have made masks optional for the upcoming year.
Henderson, the president of the state’s pediatrician association, said parents need to be aware that the Delta variant — which now accounts for all new COVID cases in the state — is up to twice as contagious as the original strain of COVID-19, and that 10 to 20% of children who’ve had the virus experience long-term complications such as shortness of breath, fatigue and high heart rate.
But despite those statistics, some parents are opposed to requiring masks in schools.
A group of parents in Oxford created a “Parents Against Mask Mandates in Oxford School District” Facebook group with over 300 members.
Oxford school board members are set to approve the district’s return-to-school plan at their meeting next week.
“Most parents would say I would do just about anything to get my child in school and keep them in school. Well, parents have that ability — they have the ability to get themselves vaccinated, the ability to get their children age 12 and up vaccinated and the ability to have their kids wear masks in schools,” said Henderson.
She also referenced the rise in respiratory illnesses pediatricians are seeing in the state this summer.
“Our concern is when winter hits and all these other respiratory illnesses (such as flu and RSV) are circulating with coronavirus, it’s going to be a continued explosion of illness in our children,” she said. “Masking in the school system would help protect us from that.”
Because of Covid, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame will be inducting two classes – the Class of 2020 and the Class of 2021 – the weekend of July 31 and August 1. Eleven new inductees, including some of the greatest athletes and coaches in Mississippi history, will be inducted. Bill Blackwell, the Hall of Fame’s executive director, joins to discuss the plans.
A Mississippi man has been arrested and charged with assaulting a Capitol police officer during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
Michael Leon Brock, a 54-year-old resident of Walls, is the first Mississippian to be charged in connection to the events of Jan 6. Over the past six months, more than 535 people have been arrested across all 50 states for crimes committed during the deadly pro-Trump riot.
Footage from a Capitol police officer’s body camera, and a video posted to the far-right social media platform Parler, show Brock beating multiple law enforcement officers with a four-foot-long metal rod. Two confidential witnesses identified Brock as the man in the footage to investigators, one who had known him for two decades.
In addition to the video footage, federal investigators obtained phone records for Brock, which showed his phone connecting to a cell tower that provided service to the interior of the Capitol Building during the riot.
The federal charges brought against Brock include:
Assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers
Disorderly conduct in the Capitol building
Active physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings
Obstruction of law-enforcement during civil disorder
Brock made his initial appearance in the Northern District of Mississippi on Wednesday. The felony assault charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. A Florida man became the first Capitol riot defendant to be sentenced for a felony charge on Monday. That rioter, Paul Hodgkins, was sentenced to eight months in prison. He was not accused of physical violence, however, but of obstructing an official proceeding.
House and Senate negotiators are expected to begin meeting next week to try to draft a medical marijuana compromise bill, and both sides say they believe the governor could call a special session in August for lawmakers to pass such a measure.
Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, who is leading the Senate’s efforts, on Wednesday repeated his expectation that an agreement can be reached soon, and that a special session could be called by mid-August.
Rep. Lee Yancey, who is drafting a House bill, said, “I don’t see why not, as long as we come to an agreement soon,” on an August session. Both Yancey and Blackwell said they’ve had informal discussions, but plan to start getting down to brass tacks next week.
The Senate Public Health Committee on Wednesday held its third – and likely final – hearing on medical marijuana as the Senate drafts a bill. The panel has heard from medical experts, cannabis business associations and officials from several other states with medical and-or recreational marijuana programs.
But it appears lawmakers still have many issues to come to terms on with a medical marijuana program. Some lawmakers in both the House and Senate continue to question issues such as how strict regulations should be, whether smoking of cannabis should be allowed, whether to allow outdoor growing or only indoor and whether to allow cities to “opt out” of allowing dispensaries or other cannabis businesses.
Mississippi lawmakers are trying to reach consensus on a medical marijuana program after the state Supreme Court shot down one overwhelmingly passed by voters last year with ballot Initiative 65. The state Supreme Court ruled in May that the medical marijuana initiative and the entire ballot initiative process is invalid.
Gov. Tate Reeves holds sole authority to call a special session of the Legislature. He has said he would do so only when he’s assured the House and Senate have at least a rough agreement on a medical marijuana measure. He said he doesn’t want taxpayers to foot the bill for a drawn out session if the two chambers can’t agree on particulars and quickly pass a bill.
“Our position is different from the Senate position, but there are similarities,” Yancey said. “… I think the House position is much closer to Initiative 65, that voters passed, than the Senate position.”
Blackwell said the Senate’s goal also is to honor the spirit of Initiative 65, but he said his starting point is the last measure the Senate passed last session that died in the House. Some Initiative 65 proponents decried that measure as too strict and feared it would not allow Mississippi entrepreneurs to get into the business because of relatively high licensing fees and regulations.
“We are focused on the business end of this being a free-market approach,” Yancey said. “We don’t want to limit the number of licenses or anything like that. I believe we would probably have too many businesses in the first year, but the free market – supply and demand – would take care of that pretty quickly. As Jerry Clower used to say, everybody deserves a fighting chance.”
Yancey said his plan is to cleave as closely to Initiative 65 as possible, but he conceded that many House members share differing views on regulation, taxation and other issues and outside groups and lobbies are putting on pressure. He said his goal for the House position is to have doctors decide whether patients can smoke cannabis or use some other delivery, noting people with some conditions could not use edibles or other oral forms and might need to smoke it – but some lawmakers have called for not allowing smoking of cannabis.
“On one end of the spectrum you’ve got prohibition, and on the other Cheech and Chong, and they’re all throwing slings and arrows,” Yancey said. “People have got to remember, this is about alleviating the pain of suffering people. That’s what we’re trying to do here.”
Senate Public Health on Wednesday heard via online conference from a doctor in Colorado about issues that state has faced from both medical marijuana and recreational use, as 18 states now allow. They also heard from the director of Michigan’s marijuana regulatory agency and from representatives of the Mississippi Cannabis Trade Association and the Mississippi Minority Cannabis Association.
Cedric Anderson with the Mississippi Minority Cannabis Association told lawmakers that nationwide, people of color have not been able to adequately participate in business opportunities from legalized cannabis largely from “the shadow of discriminatory drug policies” and law enforcement of the past.
Anderson said MMCA’s goal is that any programs the state stands up “reinvest in communities disproportionately affected by the war on drugs,” and that they not bring unintended consequences to these communities such as increased illicit drug trafficking as some states have seen caused by policies and prices in their legal programs.
“There are some of the best farmers in the U.S. in this state,” said Roderick Woullard, also with the MMCA. “Let’s find a way to get them to the table.”
During this summer’s Senate hearings, particularly in discussions with leaders from other states, adult-use recreational marijuana has frequently come up.
Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, said he doesn’t advocate legalizing recreational use, but he says lawmakers should be transparent with Mississippians that a push for it is an inevitable next step from medical legalization.
Andrew Brisbo, director of the marijuana regulatory agency in Michigan, which has legal medical and recreational use, told Mississippi lawmakers, “It’s reasonable to assume it will morph into adult use at some point. That’s inevitable.”
Before Wednesday’s hearing, a few cannabis advocates held a sparsely attended press conference to, among other things, advocate for legalized recreational marijuana use in Mississippi.
Garbage truck manufacturer New Way Trucks plans to expand its Booneville operation and create at least 120 new jobs.
New Way is investing $4 million to grow its manufacturing capacity in Prentiss County, according to the Mississippi Development Authority. The Iowa-based company got a host of state incentives, including a rebate agreement, to grow its Mississippi footprint.
New Way CEO Mike McLaughlin called the expansion “an easy decision” because of the company’s existing partnership with state and local leaders.
The jobs will pay an average of $49,700, according to Prentiss County Development Association Director Leon Hays. The existing factory already employs about 140 people.
“It’s a good win for us,” Hays said. “These are good paying jobs, really good opportunities for folks in our community.”
New Way opened its Booneville facility inside a former tubing factory in 2019. The new factory is a 66,000-square-foot facility inside the Prentiss County Industrial Park, where workers will fabricate truck parts as well as research new product development.
Prentiss County purchased the building for New Way for about $675,000, according to the local development association. New Way will rent the space from the county. The Mississippi Development Authority is paying $720,000 to rehab the building, which is all but $23,000 of the estimated construction costs.
As part of the state’s Advantage Job Rebate Program, New Way will likely make back a good chunk of its initial investments. The program allows businesses to receive rebates if they create new jobs above the area’s annual average salary.
New Way must hire at least 100 new positions at a minimum salary of about $36,500 over the next two years to collect the rebate, according to the written agreement obtained by Mississippi Today.
If New Way paid salaries at the minimum end of its agreement, it could receive more than $1 million back over next 10 years. The program caps the amount a company can earn back at 4% the cumulative total of the added salaries.
“Mississippi boasts a strong portfolio of business advantages, all of which assist in keeping companies like New Way Trucks competitive in today’s marketplace,” Gov. Tate Reeves said in a statement. “Mississippi’s strongest advantage is our people, who are committed to their employer’s success just as much as their own.”
New Way has been steadily working with Northeast Mississippi Community College to ensure skilled welders are available to fill its open positions. Hays expects that relationship to grow so the factory can fill the upcoming openings.
New Way plans to begin operating the facility by the end of the year.
Seventy-four cases of COVID-19 have been reported at the Raymond Detention Facility and the Work Center, Hinds County Sheriff Lee Vance said in a Tuesday press release.
Of the total number, 14 employees and 60 detained people tested positive for the coronavirus. Vance said the positive cases were found after random rapid testing was conducted. He also said employees are on mandatory quarantine while detained people are being separated and quarantined within the facilities.
Other employees within the HCSO have tested positive for COVID-19 and are in quarantine, though the official number of people is not yet available, HCSO Captain Tyree Jones said in an email.
“The (Hinds County Sheriff’s Office) will continue to practice and enforce safety measurements for both detainees and employees,” Vance said in a statement released Tuesday.
Earlier this year Dr. Marc Stern, an assistant professor of health services at the University of Washington and an expert in correctional health care, told Mississippi Today jails and prisons are also high-risk locations for the coronavirus to spread.
“(It’s) much more likely that you’re going to get infected because it’s hard to keep social distance,” Stern said. “Ventilation may not be great. Hand hygiene may be challenging. Mask wearing may be challenging. All those things that we’re supposed to do are more difficult in a correctional setting.”
Vance said the increased COVID-19 numbers within the Raymond facilities also reflect the number of positive cases in the general public.
On July 20, the Mississippi Department of Health reported 961 new cases of COVID-19 and 8 deaths, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 330,664 and 7,485 total deaths.
With over 2 million shots administered, only 34% of Mississippians have been fully vaccinated, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
“I personally encourage people to get vaccinated in an effort to slow the spread and minimize the numbers of those infected,” Vance said in a Tuesday press release.
In this episode of Mississippi Stores, Mississippi Today Editor-At-Large Marshall Ramsey sits down with Jackson-based chef Nick Wallace.
Nick Wallace learned to associate love and food from his grandmothers. That passion has continued throughout his long career as a chef, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Named best chef in Jackson and Mississippi, Wallace has been featured in many publications (Southern Living Magazine) and episodes for Food Network’s “Chopped” and “Fire Masters.”(which he won.) On July 20, 2021, his latest venture, The Nissan Café opened at Mississippi’s Two Museums. He also has given back through his non-profit Creativity Kitchen. Wallace talks about his life, his career, his philosophy, his passion and his love of Mississippi.
