Residents fill sand bags on Courthouse Road in Gulfport, Miss., on Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020, as coastal residents prepared for impact of two possible back-to-back hurricanes. (Donn Hupp/The Sun Herald via AP)
BILOXI — Mississippi Gulf Coast residents shoveled sand into bags and boarded up windows ahead of two tropical storms forecast to affect the state this week.
The historically rare one-two punch of tropical storms hitting the United States within hours of each other comes 15 years to the week after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005.
“This is no Katrina, but I’d be lying if I told you it didn’t cross my mind,” Gulfport resident John Smith said after he finished loading a few sandbags into the back of his pickup. “I’m sure as hell taking it seriously.”
By Monday early afternoon, forecasters believed that Tropical Storm Marco would dump several inches of rain along coastal counties and could produce a storm surge of 2-4 feet on Monday into Tuesday.
But state officials warned that a second storm — the more powerful Tropical Storm Laura entering the Gulf of Mexico on Monday night — could be more dangerous for the Coast later in the week. Laura is expected to become a hurricane, and as of Monday afternoon is forecast to make direct landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border.
But even on its current track, the size of that storm could still produce flooding and high winds for Mississippi.
“The fact is that the second storm is not yet in the Gulf of Mexico,” Gov. Tate Reeves said on Monday morning. “Just like we saw with Marco, there is a lack of predictability as to exactly where that storm goes… This is 2020, so we expect the unexpected. We expect rare events to occur, and what we’re seeing this week is exactly that.”
Hurricane preparations and evacuations are made more difficult by the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to affect Mississippi worse than most other states. State officials on Monday morning again warned residents to avoid shelters if they could during the pandemic.
“Shelters will be opened if they are needed. COVID will not keep us from opening them,” said Greg Michel, executive director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. “But it’s important to remember that congregate shelters do place more individuals at risk during this pandemic. We are stating that if you have other means and places to go, please use that as your first option.”
A supporter of the old state flag sits in front of the Mississippi Capitol in June. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Paperwork has been filed to begin the convoluted process of gathering the signatures to place on the ballot an initiative to resurrect the 126-year-old state flag that features the Confederate battle emblem prominently in its design.
Several steps must be finalized before the actual process of collecting the signatures can begin. Once the paperwork is completed, initiative sponsors will have one year to gather the necessary signatures.
In order for the flag proposal to make the ballot, the signatures of 106,196 registered voters must be obtained, or 12 percent of the total from the 2019 election for governor. The signatures must include 21,239 from each of the five congressional districts that existed in the 1990s.
If and when the initiative’s organizers begin that daunting task, they had better plan on doing extra work in the old 2nd Congressional District.
After all, that district has significantly fewer residents than the other four districts. But that does not matter. The state Constitution mandates the signatures be garnered equally from the districts as they existed in the early 1990s, when Mississippi voters went to the polls to enact the initiative process. Mississippi later lost a congressional district in the early 2000s because other states were growing faster.
The old 2nd District, which consisted of much of the Delta and areas of the Jackson metro, has 475,786 residents based on the 2010 Census, or 212,441 fewer residents than the old 1st District that included DeSoto County in northwest Mississippi and the Tupelo area in northeast Mississippi. The 2nd District has 147,034 fewer residents than the average of the other four districts.
In addition to the population deviation, there also is a large racial difference that could be significant. When it comes to collecting signatures of people who support bringing back the Confederate flag, it is likely safe to assume many Black Mississippians would oppose that effort.
The 2nd has 122,454 white adult residents compared to 219,985 African American adult residents, based on the 2010 Census. The other four districts average 312,020 white adults.
In June, the Mississippi Legislature approved removing the state flag. The Legislature formed a commission that will recommend a flag for voters to approve or reject this November. If the design is rejected, the commission will offer another proposal in 2021.
A group called Let Mississippi Vote sprung up in opposition to the action of the Legislature. Its initiative filed with the Secretary of State’s office would allow Mississippians to choose between four designs:
The former state flag, including the Confederate battle emblem, but with the addition of the phrase “In God We Trust.”
The flag commission recommendation.
The bicentennial flag that many groups flew during the state’s 200th birthday in 2017 with the state seal incorporated into its design.
The former Stennis flag, now called the Hospitality Flag, with “In God We Trust” as part of its design.
If and when voters adopt a recommendation from the flag commission, it will be state law. If voters approve a referendum from the Let Mississippi Vote effort, it will be part of the Constitution, making it much more difficult to change. Bringing back the old state flag most likely would generate national attention since Mississippi was in the national spotlight in June when the Legislature voted to remove the Confederate symbol.
The paperwork filed with the Secretary of State’s office calls for an election on the old flag in November 2021, but that will not happen.
First of all, it would be a monumental feat to gather the signatures in time for an initiative to appear on the 2021 ballot. And more importantly, the Constitution calls for the initiatives to be placed on the statewide general election ballot. In 2021, there are municipal elections in the spring and summer, but no statewide general election. And there is a question of whether the 2022 midterm elections, when congressional candidates and judicial candidates will be on the ballot, will count as a general election, meaning it could be 2023 before the issue is on the ballot if the required signatures are collected.
If the process seems like a maze, it is because legislators believed it should be difficult to amend the Constitution. And truth be known, lawmakers in the early 1990s were not fully invested in the concept of allowing citizens to be able to bypass the Legislature and amend the Constitution. Legislators intentionally made the process cumbersome and fraught with pitfalls.
Of the more than 70 initiatives that have been filed since 1992, seven have made the ballot, including the medical marijuana proposal that will be on the ballot this November.
Before the flag initiative makes the ballot, expect numerous twists and turns and perhaps various legal wranglings that are not uncommon with Mississippi’s convoluted initiative process.
Good Sunday evening everyone! Tonight we will remain mostly clear, with a low around 71.
Hurricane Marco will approach the central Gulf Coast tomorrow, then move westward along the coast and away from our area through Wednesday. A few afternoon storms are possible in North Mississippi tomorrow as Marco’s rain bands move through. Otherwise, expect mostly sunny skies with a high near 90. East wind 5 to 10 mph.
Monday night, mostly cloudy skies and a low around 72. We will keep a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the forecast overnight and into Tuesday morning.
Good Saturday morning everyone! It is currently comfortable out the door with temperatures in the upper 60s this morning. We will see mostly sunny skies today, with a high near 87. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph. We have a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms due to a stationary front to the south of our area with low pressure along it. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. All of North Mississippi is in a Dense Fog Advisory until 10 am, so use caution in your morning commutes!
TONIGHT: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the early to late evening. Otherwise, partly cloudy skies, with a low around 69.
SUNDAY: A mix of sun and clouds, with a high near 91. South southeast wind around 5 mph.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy, with a low around 71.
The federal government allotted Mississippi $18 million through the Emergency Solutions Grant COVID-19 to prevent homelessness during the pandemic. In Mississippi, the program is called the Rental Assistance for Mississippians Program (RAMP).
In an earlier relief package, the federal government offered states almost $3 billion in rental assistance grants to cover the gaps for people who found themselves unable to afford rent due to the pandemic. Mississippi initially received $8 million — which it began administering through three housing programs in northern, central and southern regions of the state in late June — and then another $10 million.
But it will take at least $100 million to meet the enormous need across the state, researchers estimate.
Mississippi’s unemployment rate jumped 2% from June to July as more people began seeking work in the fourth month of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Extended unemployment benefits — which offered an additional $600-a-week on top of Mississippi’s $235 weekly max — ended on July 31 while Congress remained in gridlock over a new relief package.
The state’s unemployment rate, which had hovered around 5.5% before the pandemic, was 10.8% in July, just above the nation’s rate of 10.1%, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Gov. Tate Reeves announced Thursday the state would apply for a $300 weekly boost offered by President Donald Trump’s recent executive order. The state must match the federal money by $100, but Reeves said it would use the existing state payments to recipients for this match, meaning Mississippi’s lowest-income earners receiving state benefits under $100 will not receive the supplement. This could apply to part-time workers who earned $866-a-month or less — $8.66-an-hour on 25-hour work weeks — before the pandemic.
Reeves said Thursday he estimated the state would start issuing payments within one to three weeks, but a release by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security said the state must wait for federal approval and then it will take three to four weeks before funds are available.
In April, almost every state, including Mississippi, recorded their single highest unemployment rate dating back to 1976, the earliest year in the publication. In Mississippi, the figure was 16.3%.
When the pandemic hit in March, Mississippi’s unemployed population rose to almost 200,000 Mississippians, or about one-sixth of the labor force, within a month. But an additional nearly 70,000, about 5% of the worker population, also left the labor force altogether in that time.
As people started returning to work in Mississippi in May and June, the percentage of jobless workers started to shrink, but as others who had fallen out of the labor force started looking for work again in July, the jobless rate ticked up.
About 133,000 people in Mississippi were still unemployed in July, almost 30,000 more than in June, but about 38,000 people also reentered the workforce in that time, according to the national monthly household survey.
Mississippi was one of 14 states whose jobless rates increased from June to July, based on preliminary figures.
Nearly 200,000 people were seeking unemployment benefits in Mississippi by early August, according to the most recent data published by the U.S. Department of Labor. To qualify typically, an jobless person must be willing and able to return to work and be searching for a job. Reeves initially waived the state’s work search requirement, but that expired in early August, which means people will have to prove they are looking for work to continue receiving benefits.
Employers that have since reopened and called employees back to work may notify the state unemployment office if a worker is electing not to return and the state will end their benefits.
Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America
Gov. Tate Reeves speaks to media about his shelter-in-place order for Lauderdale County, as Executive Director of MEMA Col. Gregory S. Michel listens during a press conference at the State of Mississippi Woolfolk Building in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, March 31, 2020.
The Mississippi Legislature is scheduled to convene at 4 p.m.Monday to try to pass a budget for the Department of Marine Resources, which has been in limbo from a fight between the Legislature and Gov. Tate Reeves over spending authority.
Passing the agency’s budget has taken on new urgency, as it would reportedly face problems making payroll by the end of the month, and as two potential hurricanes bear down on the Gulf Coast.
DMR, which provides regulatory and marine law enforcement services on the Gulf Coast, has been without a state budget since July 1 .
Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann are calling the Legislature back into session.
At issue is oversight of Gulf restoration funds Mississippi receives for oil and gas leases. The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, or GOMESA, is a federal revenue sharing program for oil and gas producing states in the Gulf. For this year, the state has about $46 million in GOMESA funds.
Legislative sources on Friday said a deal has been made for lawmakers to leave about $26 million allocated for projects already approved or started. Of the remaining money for this year, $10 million would be left for the governor to approve the projects, as has been done since the program’s inception. For the remaining $10 million, projects would be submitted to the Legislature for its approval.
The deal would apply only to this year’s DMR budget and GOMESA funds. Moving forward, lawmakers would continue to haggle over what control the governor or Legislature has over the projects and spending.
Legislative sources said there is some urgency in resolving the issue and passing a DMR budget. The agency will reportedly have trouble meeting payroll by the end of the month, and there are two potential hurricanes bearing down on the Gulf, which could potentially make landfall early to mid next week. DMR would need budget and spending flexibility to handle emergency work in marine waters before and after a storm.
Since its inception in 2006, then-Mississippi Govs. Haley Barbour and Phil Bryant controlled approval of GOMESA projects vetted by DMR as the revenue started out small but continued to grow.
In recent years, lawmakers and others have questioned whether projects chosen are helping coastal restoration and protection, or if they are just pet political projects.
Millions in GOMESA funds have been granted to build boardwalks near casinos, a planned aquarium in Gulfport — including a tram system threatened to be “de-obligated” for not meeting GOMESA requirements — and other projects critics have said don’t meet the intended purpose.
This year, House lawmakers wanted to include legislative oversight of GOMESA spending in DMR’s budget, saying the Legislature, not the governor, controls state purse strings. Gov, Tate Reeves has called the move a “power grab” and said he should continue to control the money as his predecessors did. Coast lawmakers have been divided over the issue.
The Senate, over which Reeves presided for eight years as lieutenant governor, has balked at stripping the GOMESA spending authority from the governor.
Lawmakers set the rest of a $6 billion state budget and left town July 1 still at an impasse over the DMR budget. They had plans to return within a week and haggle out DMR’s budget, but a COVID-19 outbreak at the Capitol infected 49 legislators and had the Capitol shut down for weeks.
Lawmakers reconvened earlier in August, in large part to override Reeves’ veto of most of the public education budget. Lawmakers successfully squashed his veto, the first time since 2002 the Legislature has overridden a governor’s veto. But lawmakers remained at an impasse over the DMR budget and GOMESA spending.
Normally the Legislature would not be able to convene itself this late in the year and would be dependent on the governor to call a special session. Earlier this year, though, the Legislature approved a resolution allowing them to reconvene to deal with COVID-19 issues. The Legislature presumably could convene for the pandemic, and then take up non-coronavirus related issues.
University of North Carolina students wait outside of Woolen Gym on the Chapel Hill, N.C., campus as they wait to enter for a fitness class Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. The University announced minutes before that all classes will be moved online starting Wednesday, Aug. 19 due to COVID clusters on campus. (Julia Wall/The News & Observer via AP)
Two Mississippi universities reported COVID-19 outbreaks this week as tens of thousands of students return to campuses across the state.
Faculties are publicly urging administrators to reconsider face-to-face instruction plans.
Colleges around the country have been forced to halt their in-person reopenings, and the talk of American higher ed this week is how to keep students safe during the worsening pandemic.
But on Thursday, the 12-member board of trustees of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning — the governing body of the state’s eight public universities — held a 26-minute meeting that ended without a single mention of the coronavirus.
The IHL board’s monthly meetings are an opportunity to communicate with the public about issues facing the higher education community. Board members on Thursday, participating in a conference call meeting, however, did not discuss the most topical issue.
An IHL spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment after the meeting.
All of Mississippi’s public universities opened on Aug. 17 except for the University of Mississippi, which is scheduled to open Aug. 24.
This week, the board’s regular meeting happened the day after the state’s top health official announced that the Mississippi Department of Health was investigating two outbreaks at Mississippi universities.
“We’re extremely concerned about colleges,” State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said during a Wednesday press conference. “We’ve seen, certainly across the country, a lot of situations where people have actually had to close college right after they opened it. Certainly, that’s not something that we would want to see (in Mississippi).”
One of the confirmed outbreaks is at the University of Mississippi, and one is at the Mississippi University for Women. Dobbs did not disclose the number of confirmed cases for these outbreaks, but he said the MUW outbreak occurred after students visited the Cotton District in Starkville, home to the much larger Mississippi State University.
“Not a big surprise, right? We know when people socialize and get in groups, concentrated, not wearing masks they’re absolutely going to spread the coronavirus,” Dobbs said.
The University of Notre Dame shut down all in-person classes eight days after classes started and moved fully online for at least two weeks because of COVID-19 outbreaks. Similarly, the University of North Carolina stopped all in-person classes within a week of starting the fall semester.
As of Aug. 20, the number of confirmed Coronavirus cases on UM’s campus had risen to 161 total with 28 new cases this week.
The week before, UM faculty pressed Chancellor Glenn Boyce at a town hall meeting about why the university planned to reopen when area infection rates have significantly worsened. Boyce alluded to a system-wide decision, but faculty otherwise could not get a clear answer.
In the weeks leading up to the start of school, faculty of at least two Mississippi universities sent open letters imploring their administrations to rethink their reopening plans.
Delta State University’s letter asked that all but “essential classes” be moved online.
“The situation worsens by the day and to ignore the likelihood of a coming health catastrophe on our campus is a position morally untenable to us,” the letter reads.
Mississippi State University’s letter, signed by more than 300, proposed the same and called to conscience what returning to school would mean for the university’s most vulnerable staff members.
“Janitorial and custodial workers face the greatest risk from a large population returning to campus, and they will not be receiving hazard pay … Those facing the greatest risks of exposure through an increase of student contact have had little say in the decision-making process, have less job security, more limited benefits, and are not being compensated for their heightened vulnerability.”
