Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America

House Speaker Philip Gunn, left, and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann share a laugh before the State of the State Address at the State Capitol Monday, January 27, 2020.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and Speaker of the House Philip Gunn once supported allowing all Mississippians to vote early in person. So why, as many Mississippians fear for their safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, did the Legislature’s two presiding officers retreat from that position?

Various studies show that Mississippi did less than the vast majority of other states to make voting safer ahead of the Nov. 3 general election. The Brookings Institute, which has tracked states’ actions on voting during the pandemic, gave Mississippi a D ranking for its 2020 efforts. Other groups that track voting issues gave Mississippi similar or worse grades.

It became obvious early on that the Republican leadership in Mississippi was not going to expand mail-in voting options as most other states had done. But history indicated that there was an appetite among key politicians for allowing all Mississippians to vote early in person.

In both the 2016 and 2017 sessions, the Mississippi House of Representatives voted by overwhelming margins to allow all Mississippians to vote early at their circuit clerks’ offices. The measure passed 117-2 in 2016, and 113-8 in 2017. Gunn voted in favor of both early voting bills.

In both years, the early voting measures were killed in the Senate, where Tate Reeves presided as lieutenant governor. But in 2020, there was a new sheriff in town as lieutenant governor: Delbert Hosemann, who had also advocated for in-person early voting for all Mississippians while serving as secretary of state and the state’s chief elections officer.

It seemed like a no-brainer that in-person early voting could pass at least for 2020 to try to make elections safer for those concerned about the coronavirus. But such was not the case, and the “why” is not clear.

Granted, Reeves is now serving as governor and presumably could have vetoed any early voting effort. But in 2016 and 2017, early voting passed the House by margins far greater than the two-thirds majority needed to override a governor’s veto. With Hosemann’s backing, perhaps it would have passed the Senate by similar margins. Perhaps Reeves would have signed the bill. We will never know.

During the 2020 session, Hosemann barely said a word in support of early voting. When asked recently after what was described by legislative leaders as the longest session in history if more should have been done to help make the election process safer, Hosemann said, “I think they (legislators) did a good job.”

Existing state law allows those who are going to be away from their homes on Election Day, those over the age of 65 and the disabled to vote early. In the 2020 session, as Hosemann pointed out, the Legislature added a new provision to the state elections law to allow those in a physician-imposed quarantine because of the coronavirus and those who are caretakers for people impacted by the coronavirus to vote early.

But those who might want to vote early to minimize the risk of catching COVID-19 in potentially crowded precincts will be out of luck. And, by the way, current Secretary of State Michael Watson has said the wearing of masks will not be mandated in those precincts.

In the two years that the House passed early voting, Bill Denny, R-Jackson, served as Elections Committee chair. He was defeated in his 2019 re-election bid and was replaced as House Elections chair by Jim Beckett, R-Bruce. Beckett said recently he did not necessarily oppose early in-person voting, but consensus to pass such a proposal could not be reached during the 2020 session. He said support was needed not only from legislators, but from county circuit clerks, election commissioners, the secretary of state and others.

While it might be a mystery why legislative leaders were not willing to approve early voting, the process of developing the elections bill that ultimately passed was done in a secretive fashion. Legislative rules mandate that the conference committees — where House and Senate leaders meet to hash out the final version of a bill — be conducted in open, public session. But that rule is almost always ignored, and during the coronavirus pandemic, there were even fewer in-person meetings occurring at the Capitol.

When asked whether in-person early voting was being considered, Senate Elections Chair Jenifer Branning, R-Philadelphia, said she would comment when a compromise was reached.

Such a lack of transparency only adds to the mystery of why legislative leaders, who had supported early voting in the past, refused to consider it in a year when Mississippians might need it most.

The post Hosemann and Gunn once supported early voting. Why did they retreat during COVID-19? appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Bruce Newman

Whitey Ford threw the ceremonial first pitch on April 22, 1989, when the University of Mississippi officially dedicated its new home stadium, Oxford-University Stadium.

Baseball Hall of Famer Whitey Ford, the stylish, left-handed pitcher who died Thursday at age 91, pitched in a remarkable 498 Major League games, all for his beloved New York Yankees.

Rick Cleveland

The catcher for Ford’s last game in 1967? He would be Jake Gibbs, the Ole Miss football legend from Grenada.

“Whitey was the master,” Gibbs said Saturday morning by phone from his home in Oxford. “Whitey was a pitcher, not a thrower. He was an intelligent pitcher. He could put the ball where he wanted it. He had all the pitches. He kept it down around the knees, moved it inside and out, changed speeds, always had the batter guessing.

“You know how many great pitchers the Yankees had in the ’50s and ’60s?” Gibbs continued. “Well, Whitey Ford was the one they called the Chairman of the Board. He was the best. People ask me who the best pitcher I ever caught was, well, it was Whitey Ford. No doubt about that. Everybody who plays the position of catcher should have one opportunity to catch a pitcher like Whitey. ”

Gibbs and Ford were close as teammates, and the friendship lasted through the years. When Gibbs signed with the Yankees in 1961, Ford, a veteran all-star pitcher, was one of the first to greet him. When Ford and Mickey Mantle went out on the town in New York, Gibbs was often riding shotgun, making sure everyone got home safe and sound.

Ford was once asked about how he, a son of New York City’s east side, and Mantle, a country boy from Oklahoma, became such close pals and running buddies. Said Ford, “We both liked Scotch.”

Gibbs laughed heartily upon hearing that. “Sounds about right,” Gibbs said “They didn’t miss many last calls.”

When Ford and Mickey Mantle began their baseball fantasy camps after retirement, they chose Gibbs to run the camps. When Gibbs, as Ole Miss baseball coach, was dedicating the Rebels’ new baseball stadium in 1989, Ford came down from New York to throw out the first pitch.

That day in 1989, Gibbs arranged for this writer to have a few minutes to chat with Ford, one of my childhood heroes. We talked about Mantle, about Roger Marris, about Casey Stengel and Ralph Houk, and about many other Yankee heroes. But what I remember most of the conversation was this: Just how much Ford loved Gibbs.

“I’d do anything for Jake,” Ford said. “Everybody loves Jake or there’s something wrong with them.”

I concur. And where Ford and Gibbs were concerned, the feeling was clearly mutual.

“Whitey was so smart, so good at what he did, but he was one of the guys, a great teammate,” Gibbs said. “He was so outgoing, mixed and mingled with everyone. He was not a prima donna kind of guy. He enjoyed people and he enjoyed having a good time. He never got hung up on himself. I can’t tell you how much it meant to me that he would take the time to come all the way down to Oxford to help open our stadium.”

The Yankees were the kings of baseball back when Gibbs broke in, more famous as a Rebel football hero than for his baseball skills. When he wasn’t playing quarterback, Gibbs had been an infielder at Ole Miss, and the Yankees were loaded with infielders and infield prospects at the minor league level. Gibbs probably would have become a key player with other teams but the Yankees were flush with talent.

Nevertheless, Gibbs never played at a level lower than Class AAA. In fact, it was at that level that the Yankees converted him from infielder to catcher, the position at which he made the big league club for good in 1965 as the great Elston Howard’s back-up. You should also know Gibbs was the link between Yankee catching greats Howard and Thurman Munson. When Howard retired, Gibbs got the job. Shortly thereafter, Munson, another Yankee legend, came on the scene.

Bruce Newman

Jake Gibbs, after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch to open the Ole Miss baseball season last February.

Clearly, catching Ford was one of the joys of Gibbs’ career.

“He threw a two-seam fast ball, a four-seam fast ball and a slider,” Gibbs said. “You see those big strapping guys today throwing 95 and 99 miles per hour. White was 5-foot-10, tops, and he probably threw 87-88 mph, but he knew where that ball was going. I’d put my mitt down about two-inches off the corner on a right-handed batter. He’d hit the mitt right there, and I never moved the mitt. Nine times out of 10, it was a strike.”

Famously, Ford was not above loading the ball with saliva or mud – or nicking it with his ring – for a crucial pitch.

“If there was a nick or a spot on the ball, Whitey could make that thing talk,” Gibbs said. “He could make it drop out of sight.”

Whitey Ford won 236 games, lost only 106, with an earned run average of 2.75. He did that with great economy. He pitched to contact. He worked quickly.

“In ’65, I caught one of Whitey’s games that we won 1 to nothing,” Gibbs said. “The entire game lasted an hour and a half. Can you believe that? Ninety minutes.”

Ford was at his best when the moment was biggest. He won 10 World Series games and at one point had a streak of 33.2 scoreless World Series innings, still a record. For such a little guy, he was cocksure of himself. He pitched confidently.

And he might have pitched a lot longer had it not been for circulatory problems in his throwing shoulder that first surfaced in the 1964 World Series.

“It could be a hot day in August, and the right side of Whitey’s jersey would be soaked with sweat,” Gibbs said. “But the left side of his jersey would be completely dry. It was unreal and it was because of bad circulation.”

Ford underwent surgery for a blocked artery to try and fix the problem. Any relief was only temporary. He won 24 games in 1963, 17 in ’64, and 16 in ’65. He pitched sparingly in 1966 and 1967, when Gibbs caught his last game.

Let the record show that in ’67, his last year, Ford still achieved a 1.64 ERA in 44 innings. At 38, he couldn’t throw as hard or as often, and he sometimes couldn’t feel his left shoulder and arm. But when they gave him the ball he could still pitch. He could get by on fortitude and guile.

Says Gibbs, “Nobody knew more about how to pitch than Whitey.”

The post Jake Gibbs caught Whitey’s last pitch, and the teammates remained devoted friends appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Jackson native disrupts downtown with new tech hub plans

How fighting discrimination in artificial intelligence informed ideas to foster tech access

By Erica Hensley | October 10, 2020

Driving through the edges of downtown Jackson as a kid, Nashlie Sephus was fascinated with a particular abandoned factory warehouse she called “the barn.” 

The barn is still stark in size and stature, towering over a major thoroughfare that’s more highly trafficked than nearly every other street in the city, but has suffered from decades of divestment despite being flanked by Jackson State University and the city’s business district. Dissected by the state’s main railroad corridor that houses Jackson’s Amtrak station and Town Creek that winds through downtown to feed the Pearl River, Sephus says North Gallatin Street is the perfect spot for the city to re-envision its future and to invest in her home.

But until recently, the property sat abandoned like much of the street and surrounding area. Sephus, 35, bought it in September along with 12 accompanying acres to create what she’s dubbed the “Jackson Tech District” — a block of now-unused industrial property she’s morphing into a technology district, mixing non- and for-profit space to create a resource, playground and potential development anchor for the community. 

“I believe in all the benefits of having come from a place like Jackson and being born in Mississippi. There’s not a person who knows me who doesn’t know that I’m from Mississippi and I love to brag on it and help change people’s stereotypes,” she said. Having lived on both coasts and worked with people all over the world in the tech industry, “I like to put that front and center.”

Sephus has dedicated her career to technology equity. A Mississippi State University graduate in computer engineering, she now works for Amazon reconfiguring data patterns that show implicit bias. She also launched a non-profit in Jackson two years ago called The Bean Path, dedicated to helping everyone from children to small business owners access tech tools they need through coding and engineering programing, “tech hours” at local libraries and grant-making to encourage STEM growth in schools. 

The Bean Path will own and operate arts and culture programming, tech classes and events in two of the seven buildings across the tech hub’s new district. Mixed-use development comprising housing, offices, restaurants and collaborative work spaces are planned for the other buildings, all revolving around the idea of leveling the playing field with dedicated space for and open access to tech tools. 

“This (technology) is such a huge infrastructure and a part of our daily lives, it’s very important for us to keep up and not be left behind,” she said. “I think it’s really important for me to make sure I’m doing everything I can, being that I’m an expert in this industry, to make sure that other people like me have opportunities to be successful in this field and also to bridge the gap to help people with their everyday lives.”

In Jackson, classes are still virtual but resources are scarce and COVID-19 emotional and physical tolls are high, exacerbated by longstanding housing and health inequities. “(We were) thinking about kids that may need somewhere to access the internet, they need to rent laptops for a day and access a tutor, because not all parents are about that tutoring life,” Sephus said.

She added this type of strategic community planning and investment in the community has traditionally been missing from big Jackson development projects. “We can provide them a space for them to come, this belongs to the community just as much as it belongs to me. I want to make everybody a part of that, I think engaging the community is one of the biggest pieces that might be missing from that downtown area.”

As a computer engineer focused on machine learning, she looks for patterns and, often more importantly, diversions from those patterns to help artificial intelligence course-correct for bias. For AI, patterns determine everything, like the types of ads you see on social media, what kind of music and TV shows streaming services suggest for you and which routes self-driving cars pick. 

But patterns meant to teach AI can also be deceiving and discriminatory if they only reflect certain groups — and it all revolves around what dataset the tech pulls from. Research shows facial recognition software works best for white men and misidentifies Black faces more often. 

For AI to recognize and learn from situations, it uses information from previous datasets — when it encounters something new, the bias defaults to reject or mis-categorize it unless it fits in with pre-existing patterns. AI can be biased because the information it has to learn from is biased, particularly when it comes to race, gender and social inequity.

Sephus works on Amazon Web Services’ AI team to detect inequities in algorithms and retrain them to discern differences. Essentially, her team works to identify and recalibrate fairness within data patterns, such as facial recognition and how bank loans are awarded. 

“Anything outside of those patterns shows up as an anomaly and so we’re looking at things to detect faces, even to detect my voice. If you haven’t ‘trained your algorithm’ on voices of people from the South, it probably won’t work as well for people who sound like us,” she said.

Sephus experienced the bias inherent to bank loan algorithms firsthand over the last 18 months when she fought for, and was ultimately denied, financing to buy up the now-abandoned property in downtown Jackson that she plans to develop into the tech hub.

“For me having come from Amazon, I had a startup successful acquisition, I have access to a lot of capital, a lot of it is my own — I just realized sometimes it doesn’t matter how much money you have. The banks don’t care, they’re looking for certain trends and patterns,” she said.

It took the then-landowner agreeing to owner financing and Ridgeland-based Butler Snow law firm committing to pro-bono representation to close the deal, she says. A year and half after deciding to make the tech hub reality, Sephus is breaking ground on the new project. She says it stands to not only revolutionize the community and its capital, but also transform Jackson’s infrastructure and development to be from a community, rather than just for it — issues the nearby Farish Street has been plagued with. 

“I am a fairly young person, I’m a Black female. I don’t know many other people who look like me who are similar to me, who own property and are doing the same thing in the downtown area,” she said. “I think that’s kind of what it takes — for somebody who thinks differently with a different background to come in and, as we say in the start-up world, disrupt … I’m crazy enough to believe that we can pull this off.”

She lives and works in Atlanta, but is spending a lot of time home in Jackson to get the project going and funded, and is not new to homegrown non-profit work, like The Bean Path that will spearhead community programming for the new tech district. She says she hopes more infrastructure recognizes that tech equity is more than just the biases in technology itself, but access to it, like universal high speed internet access. 

She sees the tech hub as an inflection point for the area that will not only bring economic development and impact for kids who benefit from the tech resources, but with classes, trainings and tutoring she thinks it will bring workforce skills development for people going to work within the tech industry, and increase the area’s property value and infrastructure along the way. One of her more-pressing goals is to turn the barn event space into a safe WiFi hotspot for students’ virtual learning needs. 

“Especially given the things that have happened this year in terms of COVID, in terms of the Black Lives Matter movement, I think the time is now,” she said. “I just want people to understand that it shouldn’t be this hard and that I am dedicated to making sure that I bring the community along in this process and educating them on how I’m going about it and how they can also do the same thing …  you can do it. Get a good support system. I definitely have more than my fair share of people that are supporting me, and that I attribute my success to. I want to be that person for the next generation.”

Editor’s note: Tray Hairston, a member of Mississippi Today’s board of directors, is the Butler Snow attorney who worked with Sephus for the tech hub property closing.

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Eric J. Shelton, Mississippi Today/ Report for America

Alabama head coach Nick Saban could have named the score at Ole Miss two years ago. He settled for 62-7.

As Mississippi football weekends go, this one captures 2020 in a nutshell:

• Most high school games were moved from Friday night to Thursday night because of Hurricane Delta, the 25^th named storm in this horribly active hurricane season. And many were played in slop, despite the change.

• Southern Miss’ homecoming football game with Florida Atlantic Saturday has been postponed because COVID-19 has so affected FAU, the south Florida school didn’t know if it could field a team. Get this: FAU and Southern Miss have both changed their schedule six times this season, and we are in the second week of October.

• Kickoff for Saturday’s Alabama-Ole Miss game at Oxford has been switched to 6:30 p.m. from 5 p.m. because playing conditions, iffy because of Hurricane Delta, should be better by then.

Rick Cleveland

Today, let’s concentrate on that Alabama-Ole Miss game, the one that brings the nation’s second-ranked (and best, in my opinion) college football team to Oxford. I had to laugh earlier in the week when Alabama coach Nick Saban, he of the six national championships, was talking about the predicted weather for Saturday and the uncertainty that the game would even be played.

Said Saban, “We’re going to make our best effort to play on Saturday…Nobody listens to anything I say anyway…”

I beg to differ. His players certainly do. For the most part, Saban’s teams have played textbook football over the years. You can take nearly any Alabama game tape over the last few years and use it as an instructional video on how to block and how to tackle. And, yes, it helps when you have the best athletes, but that’s because of Saban, too.

If you watch those tapes chronologically over the last few years, you will see a sea change in the way Alabama plays offensive football. No longer do they line up all the time in an I-formation, hand the ball to the tailback and smash the mouths of the opposition.

No, they spread the field, sometimes split five receivers wide and they throw the ball all over the place. Yes, and occasionally, they still do hand the ball to one of three or four future NFL tailbacks and smash the mouths of the opposition.

And you know whom Saban turned to when he decided to make that change to a more wide open offense? Lane Kiffin, that’s who.

It was 2014. Doug Nussmeier had left Alabama to go to Michigan. Saban hired Kiffin to replace him and said this of Kiffin: “He is an outstanding and creative offensive coach who has great experience both at the college and NFL level. … I have always been impressed with what I saw in the games he called.”

Ole Miss athletics

Lane Kiffin, amid the celebration of his first Ole Miss victory at Kentucky.

Kiffin changed the way Alabama played offense, spreading the field more, throwing the ball slightly more, going at a faster tempo. After Kiffin’s offense averaged nearly 600 yards per game in his first four games at Bama, Saban said this: “I’ve been begging the offensive coordinators to open it up ever since I’ve been here…”

He didn’t have to beg Kiffin.

Theirs is a most interesting relationship. In three seasons at Alabama, Kiffin was part of teams that lost only two SEC games, both to Ole Miss and Hugh Freeze. No doubt, Freeze and his high-tempo, spread-the-field offense had much to do with Saban hiring Kiffin to change his offense. And, for the most part, Saban praised Kiffin for his work at Alabama. But there were also times when the boss wasn’t so pleased.

One was late in a game against Western Kentucky in early September of 2016. Bama was cruising but Kiffin called something Saban clearly didn’t like. Saban ripped off his headset and tore into Kiffin while TV cameras stayed on the two of them. Asked about the “argument” post-game, Saban said, “There are no arguments. Those are called ass-chewings.”

There were more. Famously, Kiffin missed the bus a couple times after games. Saban waits for no one. And more famously, the two parted ways in 2016 when Kiffin had taken the FAU job but planned to stay on and help coach the Crimson Tide through the playoffs. Essentially, Saban said, “No need for that.”

Clearly, however, there is a mutual respect between the two. Earlier this week at his weekly press conference, Saban said this of Kiffin: “Lane has done an outstanding job (at Ole Miss). They are playing hard, making a lot of explosive plays. They present a lot of problems… We have a tremendous lot of respect for Lane and the job he did here.”

For his part, Kiffin often has credited Saban’s influence for making him a better coach.

As for Saturday’s matchup, Saban is dead-on when he talks about the explosiveness of Kiffin’s Ole Miss offense. The Rebels have plenty of offensive playmakers, who actually rival Alabama’s for speed and skill. Ole Miss can move the ball and score on virtually anybody.

Where Ole Miss doesn’t match up, nearly as well, is on defense and also in the offensive line.

No matter what time they play, or how many people listen to Saban, or how wet the field is, Alabama has more and better athletes, especially across the lines. In a very different 2020 season, that much has remained constant.

The post On most weird weekend of most weird 2020, Saban-Kiffin matchup takes center stage appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The Mississippi State Fair opened this week and runs until Oct. 18.

As other states including North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland cancelled their state fairs this year due to COVID-19 concerns, Mississippi’s opened on Wednesday.

The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce advises people who do not feel well or have underlying medical conditions stay home. Fair rides will be sanitized after each ride and hand sanitizer will be available on the fairgrounds, the department said.

“By coming to the Fair, you acknowledge and agree that you assume these inherent risks associated with attendance,” Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson said in a statement.

The state is no longer under a statewide mask mandate, though fair workers and vendors are required to wear masks. As for fairgoers, “Wearing a mask is a matter of personal preference,” Gipson said.

“We strongly encourage fairgoers to bring a mask in case they are not able to socially distance. We will have masks at the gate for fairgoers that may need one.”

Here are images from the 161st Mississippi State Fair:

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Mississippi Today is pleased to announce three new members of the Mississippi Today team: Vickie King, photojournalist; Brittany Brown, the inaugural recipient of the Mississippi Today Emerging Reporters Fellowship; and Alyssa Bass, product engagement coordinator.

Photojournalist Vickie King

King, a veteran photojournalist, joins Mississippi Today after working for more than two decades as a senior photographer at The Clarion Ledger. Most recently, King served as a staff officer producing visual content at the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

A Pulitzer-nominee with more than 30 years of news photography experience, King has shot everything from natural disasters to sporting events to a papal visit. She will work alongside the editorial team to anchor and grow the newsroom’s visual storytelling through photo essays and video.

“Mississippi is a grand state, rich in culture and history,” King said. “Mississippi Today provides me an opportunity to take her people with me as I document their lives and stories through my lens.”

Emerging Reporters Fellow Brittany Brown

Brown is the first recipient of Mississippi Today’s Emerging Reporter Fellowship, which aims to promote diversity in journalism by helping to create a pipeline of young investigative reporters of color who want to stay and work in Mississippi. During her eight-month fellowship, Brown will report on criminal justice issues.

A Quitman native who is currently completing her master’s degree in Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi, Brown previously interned for The Baltimore Sun’s breaking news desk and completed an investigative reporting fellowship with Carnegie-Knight News21, where she produced an award-winning documentary about hate crimes in the U.S.

Brown also reported on the ground in Puerto Rico during the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

“At the core of my work is a commitment to justice and equity while centering and uplifting the voices of those who are often unheard,” Brown said. “In my home state of Mississippi, we have a rich tradition of storytelling and need for stories to be told. Mississippi Today provides me the opportunity to do just that.”

King and Brown, working in the newsroom, will help fill critical journalistic needs in Mississippi.

“Good visuals are necessary to effectively telling Mississippi stories, and Vickie brings with her a trove of experience and a profound ability to relate to Mississippians,” said Adam Ganucheau, Mississippi Today’s editor in chief. “She’s going to immediately make our journalism more relatable and compelling, and I can’t wait for everyone to see her work.”

“And the justice system remains one of the most important but chronically undercovered issues in the state,” Ganucheau continued. “Brittany’s interests and academic expertise align perfectly with our mission of holding leaders accountable — and no leaders need accountability more than the ones who oversee our justice system that has often and needlessly harmed too many Mississippians.”

Product Engagement Coordinator Alyssa Bass

Bass joins Mississippi Today as the newest member of the audience team and will work to grow and engage with our audience through social media, newsletters and other platforms. She will also work to enhance and market our brand. She is a recent graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in Black studies and served as executive editor of The Student Printz, the student newspaper on campus.

She interned with Mississippi Today’s marketing and engagement team in 2019 and most recently served as an Emma Bowen Fellow for PBS FRONTLINE.

“As someone who started their journalism career as a reporter, I understand the value of telling meaningful stories,” Bass said. “However, I know that the value of those stories gets diminished if the communities who need them the most don’t have access to them. Helping Mississippians get engaged in the news that impacts their everyday lives is an honor, and I am proud to be a part of a team that values community feedback and partnership.”

“I am beyond thrilled to have Alyssa join our new dedicated audience team. Her background as a reporter and editor with a keen interest in connecting people with news that matters to them and their communities makes her a perfect fit in this role,” said Mississippi Today’s Audience Development Director Lauchlin Fields. “I look forward to working with Alyssa as we deepen engagement with our readers and build a more diverse and informed audience.”

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The post Marshall Ramsey: Target Practice appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America

Gov. Tate Reeves (right) and Executive Director of MEMA Col. Gregory S. Michel at a press conference at the State of Mississippi Woolfolk Building in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, March 31, 2020.

Hurricane Delta on Thursday appeared on track for landfall in Louisiana, but Gov. Tate Reeves and emergency officials warned Mississippi will feel its effects, both wind and rain, starting late Friday afternoon.

Reeves and others warned that its track could shift and Mississippians should remain “weather aware” through the weekend.

Southwestern and western Mississippi along the Mississippi River could see winds up to 65 mph, rainfall of 4-6 inches and spinoff tornadoes. The rest of the state could see rainfall of 1-2 inches and gusty winds before the storm exits Mississippi through the Corinth area in the early hours of Sunday, if it keeps its current track toward a landfall around Lake Charles, Louisiana.

“This thing is about 27 or 28 hours from making landfall,” Reeves said. “And it’s just not that far from the Louisiana-Texas line to the Mississippi-Alabama line in terms of where these things can shift.”

Hurricane Delta weakened after a brief landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, but reorganized and strengthened on Thursday into a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. Forecasters expected it to continue to strengthen through Thursday night and could reach Category 3 or higher before U.S. landfall.

Hurricanes are rated on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale from 1-5, with Category 3 and higher considered major hurricanes. The scale is:

• Category 1: wind 74-95 mph
• Category 2: wind 96-110 mph
• Category 3: wind 111-129 mph
• Category 4: wind 130-156 mph
• Category 5: wind 157 mph or higher

Reeves declared a state of emergency for Mississippi on Wednesday, and the White House approved the declaration, freeing federal funds if needed. Reeves said Mississippi is also prepared to help Louisiana if needed.

Mississippi Emergency Management Director Greg Michel said 161,000 sandbags had been delivered for use in southwest Mississippi and 11 shelters were on standby to open if needed, with three planning to open Friday. MEMA and the National Guard were staging people and supplies in case they’re needed.

Reeves on Wednesday repeated a term he uses often that Mississippi will “prepare for the worst, pray for the best and expect somewhere in between.”

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