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The post Marshall Ramsey: The First Draft appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Many state lawmakers want to take action on teen mental health and say they believe restricting cellphone use in schools is a solution. But opinions and research on the topic are mixed.

Among those who oppose a full ban: Two high school students from opposite ends of the state.

Kate Riddle, a senior from Lafayette County School District, told Mississippi Today that her social media experience has always been “positive and uplifting.” 

“Social media can be a positive or negative tool; it just depends on how you use it,” she said. 

Riddle said she uses it for communication, news and entertainment. 

Crosby Parker, a junior from the Gulfport School District, also said social media hasn’t had a “tangible impact” on his mental health and that he uses it on a “need-to basis” to talk to friends.

Neither supports a full cellphone ban. But Riddle acknowledged that “phones are an immense problem in school districts and finding a way to navigate the challenges that they will bring in the coming years is vital to the success of all,” 

Riddle supports a phone ban for elementary school students, but not necessarily for older students. She suggested schools restrict cellphone use without banning phones entirely, such as taking them up before class. 

Parker supports his school’s current policy, where students can use their phones anywhere except during class. 

“This allows students to stay in communication with their family throughout the day, and it limits the phones to any time that doesn’t distract others from learning,” he said.

Earlier this month, the state youth mental health task force released their recommendations. Among them was that all school districts implement policies on cellphones and social media use in classrooms. 

At the same time, Rep. Sam Creekmore, R-New Albany, a task force member, is drafting a bill to ban cellphones in schools statewide with possibly leaving it up to each of the state’s 144 school districts to determine how to do that.. 

“As we recognize the importance of technology, we also have to recognize the importance of our children’s health, which includes mental health,” he said.

Cellphones are ubiquitous in American culture. Pew Research Center found that 95% of American teenagers between 13 and 17 have a smartphone and 23% reported using social media for four or more hours a day. 

Many educators, parents and researchers fear phones are driving the nation’s youth mental health crisis with 72% of high school teachers telling the Pew Research Center in June that they think cellphones are a major problem in classrooms.

Jonathan Haidt’s “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness” describes how teen mental health has declined sharply since 2010. In 2020, teen suicide rates increased 91% for boys and 167% for girls. The percent of teens who reported having at least one episode of major depression increased 145% for girls and 161% for boys. Haidt and many other researchers attribute this decline to the rise of social media and cellphone use. 

Last year, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released a report warning about how social media harms teen mental health, citing statistics that 46% of teens said social media makes them feel worse about their body image and 64% said they were “often” or “sometimes” exposed to hate content. 

Creekmore said Haidt’s book and the surgeon general’s report are major influences for his bill.

According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 6, 68% of American adults support banning cellphones from middle and high school classrooms. Eight states have passed bans and/or restrictions on cellphones in schools so far. 

In Mississippi this year, Marshall County School District and Greenwood School District introduced bans on cellphone use during school hours. 

“Vast research connects the decline in mental health among children and adolescents in part to the near constant use of smartphones and social media,” Lt Gov Delbert Hosemann said in a statement to Mississippi Today. 

Touching on the concerns about school safety in the wake of multiple school shootings, he said, “School safety and ensuring parents can stay connected with their children are also important concerns. We are confident local districts can negotiate these competing concerns and implement policies protecting instructional time from distraction.”

Cellphone bans have their drawbacks. They can be difficult to enforce, and some parents want to be able to reach their children for pick-ups and emergencies. However, the National School Safety and Security Services says that using a phone during an emergency can actually cause more trouble by distracting people, overloading cellphone systems, disrupting evacuation efforts and more.

The research on cellphone use and its impact on teens is more mixed. There are several places where the research is lacking, including what types of content cause the most harm and how exactly social media creates/exacerbates mental health problems.

The National Academy of Sciences’ report on the topic pointed out the positives to using social media, such as communication, learning and connection. The surgeon general’s report also found that 58% of teens said that social media made them feel more accepted. 

Lynda Stewart, a mental health counselor and director of the Division of Children and Youth Services at Mississippi’s Department of Mental Health, is also part of the state task force. While she said she has no opinion on cellphone bans, she pointed out that they’re not the only factors harming youth mental health.

“Adolescence is a very, very difficult time. It’s a time when children are growing and changing,” she said. 

Stewart cited the pandemic and academic and social pressures as major problems. Young people are also more aware about mental health and are less afraid to reach out for help than previous generations.

“One thing we know about our youth today is that they’re strong and they’re brave,” she said, “and they’re more willing than any other generation of youth to let somebody know when they’re not okay.” 

The task force made several recommendations, including more schools partnering with community health centers, more mental health professionals on school staff and universal mental health screenings for students.

Stewart advised parents to check in with their kids daily and look out for behavioral red flags. This includes them always being alone, dropping hobbies they used to love, getting bad grades, and drastic changes in their style and friend groups.
Mental Health Mississippi provides information on mental health providers in the state. For mental health crises, dial the national suicide and crisis line at 988. You can also dial the DMH helpline at 1-877-210-8513 for help and information about mental health services.

The post Will Mississippi schools join the cellphone ban bandwagon? appeared first on Mississippi Today.

State Auditor Shad White on Monday released a study he commissioned to find government waste, saying it identified more than $335 million in government fat that could easily be trimmed without tanking services to taxpayers.

White paid a Massachusetts-based consulting group $2 million for the study. He gave Boston Consulting Group the directive to find at least $250 million in wasteful spending among the 13 state agencies it examined.

It appears White and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann — who have each indicated they have 2027 gubernatorial aspirations and have sparred with each other politically — will have dueling government fat-trimming initiatives. Hosemann said recently he wants legislation to reorganize and consolidate state government.

In a livestreamed press conference and public presentation Monday, White called his study long overdue and, “A roadmap for a leaner, more modern state government that saves money … to make sure we are getting the biggest bang for our bucks.” He said the study had “No criminal findings … but we found inefficiency.”

Mississippi has more than 200 agencies, boards and commissions, and a more than $7 billion state-support budget.

White’s report recommends the state consolidate its purchasing and look for better deals when it buys goods and services. For instance, the study noted that when the state buys Dell computers, it “pays a higher price than individual consumers could find from Dell’s consumer website” in some cases. It noted state agencies were paying $245 for a computer monitor that the public could buy for $195 and that could be had for $130 through a federal government purchasing deal available to state and local governments.

Much of the Boston consultant’s report for White covers potential savings or overspending that others — including White — have pointed out in the past. This includes spending on state buildings and office space, which some lawmakers and others have questioned over years, and government travel, which media has examined. It also noted potential savings from consolidating purchasing and back-office functions, which others have in the past championed, usually with minimal success.

The report found that, compared to other states, Mississippi government is spending too much on office space and insurance for state buildings and on advertising and public relations for state agencies.

White said some government offices have 800 square feet per employee and, “We are a lot of times leasing space we don’t need to be leasing.”

READ MORE: Former Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson gives Mississippi lawmakers tips on streamlining government 

White also said Mississippi could sell the state’s airplane, do like 18 other states and make officials rely on commercial or charter flights, and save over $1 million a year.

The consultant’s study focused on some of the state’s largest agencies, including the Departments of Education, Corrections, Revenue, Medicaid, Public Safety and Finance and Administration. Most examined are agencies that report directly to Gov. Tate Reeves. White on Monday praised the governor for his cooperation in the study.

Much of White’s proposed savings in the “Project Momentum” report would require legislative action. He said Monday that numerous lawmakers have been anxiously awaiting his report and he is hopeful “they will look at this very closely.”

Neither Hosemann, who oversees the state Senate, nor Speaker Jason White, who oversees the House, immediately responded to a request for comments sent to their offices Monday.

The report recommends the state “operate more like a business,” and that Mississippi leaders “ruthlessly eliminate or alter failing programs” to save taxpayers money.

“The nature of government is people forget what happened yesterday and forget what went wrong yesterday, and that nature of government is to do nothing,” White said.

The post Auditor Shad White releases study on Mississippi government spending fat appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: History appeared first on Mississippi Today.

A “listening session” organized by the Rankin County chapter of the NAACP along with the Department of Justice changed course after attorneys who represent the sheriff’s department and the county sat in, and were asked to leave to prevent victims from feeling intimidated. 

The NAACP had organized the session on Thursday, Oct. 25, at Mount Carmel Ministries in Pearl in association with the Justice Department to provide for a safe space for victims of police excesses by Rankin County law enforcement to speak up. The Justice Department opened an investigation into the patterns and practices of policing in Rankin County last month, after six members of a “Goon Squad” of deputies were sentenced for their role in the abuse and torture of three men. An investigation by the New York Times and Mississippi Today had revealed that the abuse spanned decades, and dozens of Rankin County residents had experienced similar brutality at the hands of officers. 

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland had called the actions of the “Goon Squad” “a betrayal of their community, a betrayal of their profession.”

The invitation to the listening session urged Rankin County residents who felt that they had been affected by any kind of discrimination, harassment or potential civil rights violations to attend. 

Angela English, president of the Rankin County chapter of the NAACP, said that when she asked the attorneys to leave, they refused, insisting the session was a public event. So instead of inviting attendees to share their experiences with the group as planned, the NAACP arranged for private one-on-one sessions in separate rooms of the church.

“When they realized they weren’t hearing anything, they left after like 20, 30 minutes,” English said about the attorneys. 

She claimed that a Rankin County deputy and a former officer of the FBI were also present. 

In a statement made on Facebook in September, the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department had written that it would “fully cooperate” with all aspects of the Justice Department’s investigation, “while also welcoming DOJ’s input into our updated policies and practices.”

Jason Dare, an attorney who represents the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, said he was not attending on behalf of the department, but rather in his individual capacity as a member of the Rankin County community. He claimed that he was there to learn.

“That is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard,” English said. 

“I was just sitting in the back. I was not dressed in anything other than attorney attire,” Dare said. He added that he did not have a badge or gun issued by the sheriff’s department. 

“I’m not sure anybody even knew who I was until I was introduced [to English] and I was asked to leave.”

Dare said he told two Justice Department officials that he planned to attend the listening session a day in advance, and that they didn’t raise concerns. 

Mississippi Today has attempted to reach Neeta Pal of the Department of Justice. This story will be updated if she responds. 

Richard Cirilli, an attorney at Brunini Law who attended the session, had not responded to a request for comment at press time. In 2018 and 2019, the Rankin County Board of Supervisors hired the Brunini firm to lobby on their behalf, according to government transparency group OpenSecrets. The story will be updated if and when Cirilli responds.

The post Public Goon Squad ‘listening session’ by Rankin County NAACP and Justice Department turns private after attorneys for sheriff’s department and county arrive appeared first on Mississippi Today.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A conservative federal court on Friday said Mississippi cannot count mail-in ballots that arrive shortly after Election Day, although the decision was not expected to affect the Nov. 5 election.

While the appellate judges firmly asserted that counting late ballots violates federal law, even if those ballots are postmarked by Election Day, the judges stopped short of an order immediately blocking Mississippi from continuing the practice. Their ruling noted federal court precedents have discouraged court actions that change established procedures shortly before an election.

The ultimate outcome may be negligible in most elections in heavily Republican Mississippi, however the case could also affect voting in swing states.

The three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a July decision by U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr., who had dismissed challenges to Mississippi’s election law by the Republican National Committee, the Libertarian Party of Mississippi and others. The appeals court order sent the case back to Guirola for further action, but the issue may wind up at the Supreme Court.

The appeals court said its ruling Friday would not be returned to a lower court until seven days after the deadline for appealing their decision has passed — which is usually at least 14 days. That would put the effect of the ruling well past Nov. 5.

UCLA law professor Richard Hasen wrote on his election law blog that the appeals court ruling was a “bonkers opinion” and noted that “every other court to face these cases has rejected this argument.”

Republicans filed more than 100 lawsuits challenging various aspects of vote-casting after being chastised repeatedly by judges in 2020 for bringing complaints about how the election was run only after votes were tallied.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley praised the ruling for upholding “commonsense ballot safeguards” and said voters deserve “a transparent election which ends on November 5th.”

Mississippi is one of several states with laws allowing mailed ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The list includes swing states such as Nevada and states such as Colorado, Oregon and Utah that rely heavily on mail voting.

In July, a federal judge dismissed a similar lawsuit in Nevada. The Republican National Committee is asking the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to revive that case.

Guirola wrote that Mississippi’s law does not conflict with federal election laws. The suit challenging the Mississippi law argued that the state improperly extends the federal election and that, as a result, “timely, valid ballots are diluted by untimely, invalid ballots.”

Guirola disagreed, writing in July that “no ‘final selection’ is made after the federal election day under Mississippi’s law. All that occurs after election day is the delivery and counting of ballots cast on or before election day.”

Although the Mississippi challenge was led by Republicans and Libertarians, there is bipartisan support for the Mississippi practice. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch is defending the state’s top election official. Secretary of State Michael Watson a defendant in the case. Both are Republicans.

The members of the appellate panel that reversed Guirola were judges James Ho, Stuart Kyle Duncan and Andrew Oldham, all nominated to the 5th Circuit by former President Donald Trump.

The post Federal court says Mississippi can’t count late ballots but the ruling doesn’t affect Nov. 5 vote appeared first on Mississippi Today.

There are adages about sewing that make one smile.

“Sewing isn’t just a hobby, it’s a way of life.”

“Sewing is my happy place.”

“Sewing is like magic, but with fabric.”

All true for Annette Olowo-Ake, who with her husband Mike, owns and operates Perfect-Fit Alterations, located in the Fondren District in Jackson. The business sits tucked just west of North State Street on Mitchell Avenue. 

For 34 years, Olowo-Ake has made magic with needle, thread and fabric, whether she brings a teenager’s glam dress dream come true from a photograph to altering the length of a tee shirt to an emergency popped zipper fix or broken button. She admits, she really is in her happy place. 

Walk into her alteration shop and be immediately greeted with a smile.

“My grandmother taught me to sew,” said Olowo-Ake. “I was an accounting major. And yes, I had an accounting job,” she shares with a slight eye roll. “But I kept drifting back to sewing. I realized I loved my sewing more. So, here I am.”

“One thing accounting taught me, though, was how to manage money.”

“My husband and I started out with no loans of any kind. You know what we did? We saved our income tax checks and each time, we would buy one piece of equipment. We paid ourselves a salary. But that was it. No dipping into the bank account for frivolous things.”

“Over time and different locations, we built up a following. We built up a business,” she says proudly. “This place here was originally my husband’s shop. I was over on Old Canton Road. But as the years passed, as we got older, we simply decided to just have this one. And it’s been a blessing.”

Covered in bits of thread and wearing more varied sizes of pins in her work smock than a pin cushion, Olowo-Ake doesn’t miss a beat, from taking measurements for a party dress, writing up a customer’s requests, answering the phone and shouting out a greeting to a previous customer who “didn’t want to hold you up, I just stopped by to say, hi.”

“She’s good people and a good, good friend,” said Dr. Jim Aron, checking on clothing he’d previously dropped off and needing broken buttons replaced on a pair of slacks. 

“I’ve known him since he was a med student driving a beat up old truck,” said Olowo-Ake, taking a pair of slacks from the doctor. “It’s a little over 30 years, ’bout as long as I’ve been here. All of his children are doctors now. That’s how long we’ve known each other.”

The two hug and the doctor heads on his way as another customer enters the shop, and is greeted by name.

It’s obvious Olowo-Ake is truly wielding magic with fabrics and threads. She’s creating, making memories, friends and repeat business.

“This is an art I learned from my grandmother. It’s kind of sad really, because it’s a dying art. Kids today seem to be more interested in their phones. It’s a new age, though. I don’t fault them. Times change.”

Perfect-Fit Alterations is located at 538 Mitchell Ave. in the Fondren District in Jackson.

Shop hours: Monday – Friday, noon – 5 p.m. Closed: Saturday and Sunday.

The post Perfect-Fit Alterations. A Fondren District fixture for 34 years appeared first on Mississippi Today.

“We’re open for business,” Northern District Public Service Commissioner Chris Brown said, a sentiment he repeated throughout the PSC’s “Nuclear Summit” on Tuesday.

Brown and his colleagues – Central District Public Service Commissioner De’Keither Stamps and Southern District Public Service Commissioner Wayne Carr – are in their first term after last year’s statewide elections saw a complete turnover in the PSC. The PSC oversees a broad range of public utility issues, such as electric generation, power bills, water infrastructure, among many others. 

As the world looks towards alternative energy forms to balance an increased demand with the need to limit carbon emissions, the PSC is hoping to move Mississippi ahead of the curve. 

“We think nuclear’s our future,” Brown said during a Wednesday Senate hearing. 

The PSC’s “Nuclear Summit” hosted several speakers from the industry as well as representatives from utilities serving the state that are looking to expand nuclear generation. 

“Economic development in the future is going to go to places where you have affordable and reliable power,” Stamps said during the summit. “And one of the most affordable and reliable power sources is nuclear.” 

One speaker, Kirk Sorenson of Flibe Energy, talked about the prospects of opening a new nuclear plant in Tishomingo County at the Yellow Creek site. The Tennessee Valley Authority started, and later abandoned, work on a nuclear plant there in the 1970s. Sorenson said Flibe has been leasing the site for the last five years and has spent a quarter of a billion dollars on improvements, although it’s unclear what the timeline for a Yellow Creek nuclear plant would be (getting approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission can take up to five years, although Congress recently passed a bill to speed up the review process). 

In 2023, 76% of Mississippi’s generated energy came from natural gas, much higher than the 43% for the country as a whole. The state’s two largest power producers are the Grand Gulf nuclear plant in Port Gibson, owned by Entergy, and the Victor J. Daniel plant in Moss Point, owned by Mississippi Power, which uses both coal and gas. 

Mississippi Power initially planned to close Plant Daniel’s coal units in 2027, a move clean-energy advocates celebrated, because the plant was producing excess power. However, the company is now delaying the closure to sell energy to Georgia. At Grand Gulf, Entergy upgraded the plant’s power in 2012 to make it the country’s largest single-unit nuclear power plant in the country. The plant is licensed to run until 2044. 

Earlier this month, state lawmakers advocated for bringing more nuclear power to the state during a Senate committee hearing, the Clarion Ledger reported. Industry representatives advised lawmakers tax incentives were one of the ways to attract more nuclear development in the state.

Nuclear power isn’t considered renewable because its required fuel, such as uranium, is a finite resource, but its generation doesn’t yield any carbon emissions. Compared to renewable energy like wind and solar, nuclear plants can run more consistently and use up less space. However, nuclear power comes with much higher upfront costs and more government restrictions because of safety concerns. On top of that, the United States doesn’t have any permanent storage facilities for nuclear waste.

‘We’re not anti-solar’

During interviews with Mississippi Today, all three commissioners maintained that they weren’t against solar power, saying they believe in an “all of the above” approach to sourcing energy.

Brown, a former state lawmaker and the current PSC chairman, took exception to media and advocacy groups painting the commission as “anti-solar.” 

“We’ve approved every solar generation plant (that’s come before the PSC),” he said. Electric generating facilities in the state have to get approval from the PSC. “Just because you ask questions doesn’t make you anti-anything. Our goal is just to ask questions our constituents are asking.”

Brown referenced a “Solar Summit” the PSC held in August, similar to other fact-finding sessions the agency has held around certain topics. The “Solar Summit,” though, didn’t include any speakers from the solar industry, as the outlet Floodlight reported. And unlike the “Nuclear Summit,” much of the session’s airtime was instead filled with skepticism around what the industry might mean for Mississippi.

One of the speakers, for instance, was state Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Andy Gipson, who has no background in the energy field. Gipson spoke for about an hour and theorized over the threat that new solar facilities could pose to farmland.

“How much solar do we need as a state?” Gipson asked. 

As of 2023, solar power made up less than a percent of the state’s electric generation, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, compared to 4% nationally. Overall, when including sources like wind and hydropower, renewables made up 21% of the country’s energy mix, compared to under 3% for Mississippi. 

A major point of disagreement between the PSC and solar advocates is that of incentives. The last PSC, led by former commissioners Brandon Presley and Brent Bailey, added incentives under the state’s net metering rule, which requires the two state-regulated energy companies – Entergy Mississippi and Mississippi Power – to reimburse customers for self-generated renewable energy. Gov. Tate Reeves criticized the move, calling on state lawmakers to reverse the rule. 

This spring, just over a year after the new rule went into effect, commissioners Brown and Carr voted to suspend incentives for low-income customers as well as for schools looking to put in solar panels.

The two commissioners argued that such incentives create a cost shift against people without solar panels, although it’s unclear whether that’s come close to happening in Mississippi, a state with relatively few net metering customers.

“No one has ever given me anything my entire adult life,” Carr told Mississippi Today, also panning recent federal programs pushing for more solar generation. “I don’t feel like that because ‘Big Brother,’ so to speak, says that we should be helping out an industry, I don’t agree with that… We’re not against solar. If you want to do it, pay for it.” 

Renewable advocates like Monika Gerhart pushed back on that point. Gerhart, executive director of the Gulf States Renewable Energy Industries Association, argued that the state government gives out economic incentives to different industries all the time, including recently for Amazon as well as an electric car battery plant. 

“Mississippi has historically provided a pretty good economic incentive for industries that it was interested in,” she said. “I don’t see this as being that different, that you attract a developing industry because you know there will be dividends.” 

The PSC is also looking to create an “overarching state law” around approving solar facilities, Stamps said during the summit, to create a consistent process for every county to follow. During Wednesday’s Senate hearing, Brown said that the agency will be asking for new regulations dealing with solar plants, including around decommissioning facilities. 

“I think that solar is a useful tool, but it does need some guardrails,” he told the lawmakers. 

The post Mississippi’s new PSC energized by nuclear power, tepid over renewables appeared first on Mississippi Today.

”Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.” – President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

”Hold my beer.” – Gaslighting

The post Marshall Ramsey: Gaslighting appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday shared with members of the Mississippi Senate’s Government Structure Committee that he was able to successfully streamline some of Arkansas’ government services without firing or laying off workers. 

Hutchinson, who served as governor of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023, said he wanted to make restructuring state government a component of his legacy when he left office, and the reforms he made to the system have largely remained intact. 

The two-term GOP governor recalled a recent conversation he had with an Arkansas lawmaker about the restructuring. Hutchinson asked the senator what the reaction has been to the reforms, and the legislator replied that it’s largely flown “under the radar.” 

“And I said, ‘That’s the best answer I could ever have,’” Hutchinson said. “That means nobody’s trying to dismantle it. They’re accepting it as the way we do business in government today and I’m hopeful that it’ll be a lasting impact.” 

When he began the effort to consolidate government functions, Hutchinson said he formed an advisory board to make recommendations. When he formed the board, he gave it three goals: promote efficiency and savings, increase managerial control and improve the delivery of services to taxpayers. 

When he adopted the board’s recommendations, Hutchinson said he was able to reduce the state government workforce by 5,000 employees by instituting a flexible hiring freeze and deciding not to replace the jobs of certain positions once workers retired. 

Hutchinson also consolidated various state boards and commissions, which he believes reduced the amount of money taxpayers were spending on rent for government offices. 

Hutchinson mounted a brief, unsuccessful presidential bid earlier this year. He dropped out of the Republican primary in January. His testimony was part of a hearing the Senate Government Structure Committee conducted on restructuring Mississippi’s government.

The post Former Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson gives Mississippi lawmakers tips on streamlining government  appeared first on Mississippi Today.