WEDNESDAY: Good morning everyone! It is another mild start with temperatures in the low 50s. We will see a mix of sun and clouds with increasing clouds through the day and an afternoon high near 73. There will be a 20% chance of showers in the forecast, mainly after 4 pm.
⛈STORMS TONIGHT: It still looks like a line of strong to severe storms will move across North Mississippi from west to east tonight through Thursday morning. Heavy rain, large hail, damaging wind gusts and isolated tornadoes will be possible.
We want you to keep up with the latest forecasts through the National Weather Service, local meteorologists and have multiple ways of receiving alerts with this overnight event. Stay weather vigilant, friends!
Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America
People stand six-feet apart as they wait for hand sanitizer at Corner Market in the Westland Plaza on Fortification Street in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, April 8, 2020. The hand sanitizer was donated by Cathead Distillery.
As millions of dollars begin flowing into Mississippi to aid in the economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic, black leaders in the state are demanding officials better involve the black community, which has been hardest hit by the disease.
Gov. Tate Reeves announced April 14 he had created the Governor’s Commission for Economic Recovery, led by political allies and business leaders, to study the impacts of the pandemic and craft solutions as the state prepares to “reopen.”
The commission is chaired by Sanderson Farms CEO Joe Sanderson and the executive team is comprised of five white businessmen who, according to its website, “represent the diverse geographical regions of the state.”
“It baffles me how you could not have black Mississippians, who are directly on the front lines of this crisis and who face these day-to-day impacts, as part of the conversation about recovery. It’s unacceptable,” Corey Wiggins, executive director of the Mississippi NAACP, told Mississippi Today.
In a letter to State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs dated April 14, a coalition of black leaders also demanded that the state increase black representation in its response teams; greater invest in COVID-19 interventions and solutions for disadvantaged communities; target messaging to the black community; expand testing and release more data about COVID-19 cases and testing.
“Recognize that the circumstances affecting vulnerable populations are multilayered,” the letter asks.
The Mississippi State Health Department began releasing statistics April 8 that show Mississippi is no exception to the national trend of the virus’ devastating affect on black residents. Despite representing less than 40 percent of the state’s population, black people made up 56 percent of COVID-19 cases and 63 percent of the related deaths by April 19. Mississippi has reported race “unknown” for a very small percentage of cases, whereas a whopping 65 percent of cases reported nationally to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by April 19 did not specify race.
Before COVID-19 hit Mississippi and under Dobbs’ new leadership, the health department had already begun building back its Health Equity division, led by Victor Sutton. “He has put his money where his mouth is,” Sutton said of Dobbs.
Sutton said the health department has conducted much outreach in the black community surrounding COVID-19 education and has worked with historically black colleges and over 90 faith based leaders. “My wife got a text from the church that Jackson State has testing this weekend,” Sutton said Friday. “I think that is a piece that can’t be overlooked and can’t be missed as we talk about really reaching the community.”
“You have to be kind of intentional if you really want address those issues,” said Rep. Jarvis Dortch, D-Raymond.
Mississippi is expected to receive at least $1.25 billion from the federal government to help the state recover from the pandemic’s economic damage, including the more than 130,000 people who have filed for unemployment since Mississippi’s first COVID-19 case. Dortch argued that elected officials, as opposed to just business leaders, should have a say in how to prioritize the funding.
“People in our districts elected us … If I get on there and I’m only thinking about how to help the business community, my constituents are going to know. They’re going to vote against me,” Dortch said. “Joe Sanderson isn’t responsible to anybody but himself.”
Reeves’ staff has not responded to requests for interviews about the administration’s plan to tackle the underlying causes of health disparities in the state’s black community.
“We need Mississippians helping Mississippians,” Reeves said in a press release. “I have asked a trusted group of our state’s top business minds to do just that. Under the ‘Restart Mississippi’ umbrella, they are going to develop a series of recommendations and goals for our new economy. They will study the impact of COVID-19 on our workforce and small businesses. And they will help us recover — day by day.”
Reeves addressed the commission’s lack of worker representation at his Friday press conference, saying, “We don’t need union bosses to tell us how to take care of our people. We never have and we never will.”
Without black representation on the state’s COVID-19 related task forces, advocates worry the virus’ disproportionate affect on black folks will be minimized to that community’s higher rates of comorbidities, such as diabetes and hypertension, without addressing the root causes.
By focusing solely on the health conditions that put people at greater risk, “it’s almost like they’re putting the blame back on the victim and not really leading with, let’s be really honest about the structure of racism that exists in this country and in our state — how we haven’t started out equally and the resources are not equal,” said Cassandra Welchlin, co-founder and director of the Mississippi Women’s Economic Security Initiative.
Researchers recognize that black Americans are at greater risk of catching and dying from COVID-19 for the same underlying reasons they have higher rates of other diseases. The disparities stem from poverty and wealth inequity, residential segregation, underfunded education and systemic racism and racial bias.
While higher rates of poverty and lower education levels make black communities more susceptible, these social determinants of health cannot fully explain the gap in health outcomes between black and white Americans. The disparities are driven also by racial bias in the health care system and higher level of stress in the black community.
“Income and education is a driver of health in the United States regardless of your race. But race matters for health even after you take income and education into account,” said David Williams, Ph.D., professor of public health Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and professor of African and African American Studies and of Sociology at Harvard University. “We have research that documents the racism in our society, the interpersonal discrimination and other mechanisms of racism matter for health.”
The letter to Dobbs urges the state to consider “healthcare quality, access to timely testing and treatment or biases in care that Black people may have faced.”
“There has also been little recognition of the prolonged exposure essential workers and community members faced as the response to the pandemic evolved in our state,” the letter reads.
The authors are also asking for the health department to release more comprehensive data on COVID-19 cases, such as employment and geographic information, so organizers know which populations to target with information and support.
Organizers could be passing out face masks at Wendy’s, for example, without knowing if fast food workers are really the most at-risk population, said Nakeitra Burse, a local public health consultant.
“This is a defining moment for the world,” Burse said. “Will we do things the way we’ve normally done or will we address the root cause and create more equitable systems and strategies?”
I am not sure if any of you have noticed but the quarantine has brought out the crazy in some folks. It’s not the ones you would expect. I’m not sure if it’s because they are spending so much time with their spouses than normal that they are taking it out on the rest of us or if they are really getting cabin fever. Today’s episode is probably out of character for me but I except a challenge to be stretched in my abilities to see the humor it. I didn’t at first, if I am being honest. However, after I have thought about it I think it is the perfect opportunity to turn on the oven and prepare for a roast!
Transition
Part 1
My wife, if you do not know, was born in South Korea. Now, she was raised in the United States since she was about 4 ½. She did have to go through an ordeal with immigration around 1999 when we tried to apply for a passport to go see her adoptive mother that lived in Japan. The application triggered a whirlwind of events that lasted until 2008. We had to appear in deportation court, even though we had been married, at that time, for 5 years. It was a trying time for us that depleted our savings to pay legal fees and filing fees with the government to keep her from being deported. Now, do not think for one second we are bitter about any of it. You cannot know how proud I am of her and to watch how she handled all of that. Through all of that battle, she maintained the attitude that because we have laws in this country and because we work hard to defend those laws – it was only right to go bout the entire process as we should. In 2008, she became a naturalized citizen of the United States – every inch of her – all 4’9” of her (unless she’s wearing her heels). I needed for you to get a mental image of her. Now, imagine this petite 4’9” Asian cutie-pie that I love with all of my heart with the Southern draw as thick as anyone you know from Itawamba County MS. (For all of you that listen to this podcast from anywhere than Mississippi, the accent is NOT the Scarlett O’Hare from Gone with The Wind, but rather more like kid from Sling Blade thick). Now, picture her doing her dead level best to social distance and keep an awareness that there is some kind of bug that is literally present to kill anyone that wishes to not protect themselves. I mean, she doesn’t go into town without her mask and her gloves. She is every Manga cartoon character you’ve ever seen.
She asked if I would drive her to Tupelo on Friday. That way, she would only have to get out and worry about sanitizing one door handle. I would save her the trouble of having to wipe down the stirring wheel. I would just drop her at the door so that both of us would not be inside the store together. This is her plan to minimize cross contamination. To be fair to her – she’s been doing this since our first born was brought into this world. If we went anywhere it wouldn’t matter if Mr. Clean himself moonwalked into a decontaminated green zone – she was going to clean the area again before we ate or pushed a buggy of some sort. This pandemic did NOT catch her off guard at all. I drop her off at one of the grocery stores (Aldi’s, if you must know) and she got out with her list in her hand. I am doing as I’m told and stayed in the truck. A few minutes later she emerges from the store with her bag and goes through her routine to sterilize anything she can and proceeds to get into the truck. As we are about to leave she tells me what just transpired inside the store.
As she was standing in line to pay for the groceries a grown adult man standing behind her was becoming agitated. He was becoming a spectacle. He was questioning the cashier why there were no more registers open. He was only 3rd in line behind my wife that really didn’t have a lot. He did not like the explanation given that they only open another register as they need to and that she would get to him quickly. He wasn’t having it. He begins to raise his voice and announce to anyone that would listen that we are not in America anymore. This is not America. The quarantine is not American.
It was at that moment that something bold rose up inside of this little petite woman who is mostly an Angel unless one of our kids leaves a dirty dish in the sink. It was if she was the body of water that Godzilla lived in and someone had mashed the panic button to summons the large lizard to come take out some buildings. She turns to the adult grown man and said, “Yes sir it is very much still America!”
You would think that would be it and we can get home and enjoy our groceries. Of course not – this sorry excuse for a human being holding his Jiffy Pop popcorn and Diet no name brand cola made the one mistake he should have never made. Something in his brain had apparently malfunctioned due to the hardship of sheltering in place or maybe his wife hisses at him like a mad cat for no reason and it’s obviously had a profound effect on his ability to keep his own mouth shut. He looks at my wife and says, “This AIN’T America – YOU are not American!” [A long dramatic pause] Uh Oh! I am pretty sure her eye twitched a little. The Pikachu loose in her mind broke whatever hamster wheel it was jogging on that would normally keep her under control. In all the years I’ve known her there has never been once that I remember her having a confrontation with another person. She isn’t wired that way – I thought. The mental note right now is make sure my life insurance is paid up and hope to all things holy I didn’t leave the toilet seat in the upright position back at home. Something clicked in her that made the patriot rise up and take control. This buffoon just implied that she was not an American. Suddenly, all those years that she was told she wasn’t American up till the day she raised her hand and took an oath to become a naturalized citizen – intersected into a pivotal moment. Now, in my mind, I see a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon moment where she suspends in midair and bicycle kicks this potato back to the produce isle. I imagine her becoming every character of Kung Fu Panda and rolling this guy into a burrito and stuffing him into small freezer. She looks at him over her surgical mask and says – “Again, I am VERY much an American and this is VERY MUCH America!” Again, in my mind, I am imagining the background music from Independence Day right after we defeated the aliens.
Commercial
Part 2
It would be my humble advice to everyone that we realize that we are in this together whether we like it or not. We all matter. The healthcare person working extra hard to keep from bringing something home to the family – they matter. The truck drivers delivering items from warehouses to stores – matters. The clerks at the stores stocking shelves and meeting people all day long – matters. The restaurant owners learning a new way to feed everyone with curbside service – matters. The family members with compromised immune systems – matters. Those sheltering in place and wondering how bills will be paid until this is done – matters. At the end of the day, we should all matter to one another. We should respect each other so much that we work hard to stay healthy, but then work a little harder to keep one another healthy. Finally, it is apparently left up to the smallest among us to be the loudest. Don’t let the worse cases among us get away with bringing these workers down with hard words of criticism. Speak up for them – and shut down the negativity. Some of us learned this growing up when we would get into trouble – go to your rooms and don’t say a word. If we can do that a little bit longer we’ll all be better for it tomorrow.
SUNNY TUESDAY: Good Tuesday morning everyone! It is mild outside with temperatures in the mid to upper 50s across North Mississippi. High pressure sticks around bringing us another beautiful Spring day with plenty of sunshine and a high near 75! It will be another great day to do some yard work, go for a walk, fishing or maybe take your lunch outdoors! Tonight we will have mostly clear skies and a low near 50.
SEVERE WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY: We’ve already had a couple severe risks the past week or so, yet another risk comes in late Wednesday through early Thursday. Strong winds, hail and spin-up tornado risks are in play. The North Mississippi area is under Level 1 out of 5 risk. I know we are all tired of severe weather, but it’s important to stay weather aware, friends.
Before Pistol Pete Maravich hit the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1968, he hit the court in Hattiesburg in 1967 for one memorable night.
So, I was doing a podcast with a friend the other day, and he posed this: “Tell me the most amazing performance you’ve seen in sports in Mississippi that our listeners wouldn’t know much about…”
Rick Cleveland
And so I told him about the first time I ever saw Pistol Pete Maravich play. This was back in February of 1967, at a time when college freshmen were not allowed to play on the varsity. I was a 14-year-old gym rat, who had only read and heard the tall tales of Maravich, who was pouring in about 50 points per game for LSU’s freshmen.
The Baby Tigers, as they were called then, were coming to Hattiesburg to play the Southern Miss freshmen, who featured a teenage wunderkind of their own, Wendell Ladner, a physical marvel who would go on to become a professional All-Star in the old ABA. Seldom have preliminary events, as the freshmen games were then, caused such a stir.
When the teams took the floor for tipoff at 5:30 p.m. Reed Green Coliseum was packed with more than 9,000 people. For perspective, you need to know that varsity games at the time often drew crowds counted in the hundreds, not thousands.
Maravich was 6 feet, 5 inches tall and seemingly as skinny as a broomstick, from his floppy, mop-top hair down to his floppy, loose-fitting socks. Standing beside Ladner, he appeared anemic. Ladner was just a tad taller but built like an NFL tight end, broad-shouldered and heavily muscled. I remember thinking that if the two collided, Wondrous Wendell, as he was known, might break Pistol Pete in two.
So, LSU got the opening tip and the ball went to Pistol Pete at the top of the key, and you won’t believe what he did next. He took one, two and then three dribbles – backwards! – out to near mid-court. Then, he stopped and, while everyone was trying to figure out what he was doing, he took the ball down to his chest and let go a high-arching, two-hand set shot from about 40 feet. The ball swished through the net, not touching anything metal. For a moment, the crowd was silent and then there was an extended, collective, “Ooooooh…”
And so it began.
Even a 40-footer counted for only two points. There was no three-point line back then. Maravich would go on to score 44 points per game over his three varsity seasons. It easily would have been more than 50 per game if a three-point line had existed.
Wendell Ladner
Southern Miss had a terrific freshman team, featuring Ladner from Necaise Crossing, point guard Johnny Vitrano out of New Orleans and Paul Dodge from Gulfport. Ladner was – and still is – the most highly recruited basketball player in Southern Miss history, offered scholarships by Adolph Rupp at Kentucky, Babe McCarthy at Mississippi State and many other of the nation’s top basketball schools. He chose Southern Miss, largely because his older brother Berlin played there. (Hancock North Central, his high school, once featured a starting lineup of all Ladners, brothers and cousins. They were coached by Roland Ladner.)
Vitrano drew the task of attempting to guard Maravich. Years later, he would tell me: “That first shot had to be from 40 or 45 feet. I know. I was supposed to be guarding him. I was supposed to be guarding him two other times when he hit the same shot.”
Maravich was just getting started. Yes, he hit more of those outrageously long set shots, but he also hit an assortment of mid-range jump shots and twisting, spinning layups. He dribbled between his legs and behind his back. He passed to people without looking at them, sometimes behind his back. A couple times, he hit teammates in the face or chest when they weren’t expecting his crisp, on-target passes from impossible angles.
Meanwhile, Ladner was matching him nearly bucket for bucket and clearing nearly every rebound. The lead went back and forth. LSU led by a single point with about six minutes left in the half. That’s when it happened. Vitrano, now a high school principal in the New Orleans area, remembered, “Pete was going for a layup and I was trying to draw a charge. Paul Dodge came up from behind and knocked Pete over me. Pete hit the floor hard, face-first. There was blood everywhere.”
Maravich, dazed and unsteady, was helped off the court and was taken to the USM infirmary where a doctor repaired a laceration above his left eye with seven stitches. Meanwhile, Ladner and USM took the lead.
Johnny Vitrano
We thought we had seen all we would see of Pistol Pete. We were wrong. Three minutes into the second half, Maravich returned, a big white bandage above his left eye. Vitrano: “He looked almost dead. I thought, ‘Now, I’ve got him. No way he can continue to do that stuff.’”
No, Maravich simply did more. The Pistol scored 27 points over those last 17 minutes with an assortment of moves and shots that, more than half a century later, still surpass my ability to describe.
Courtesy of LSU Athletics
Sometimes, the basketball just seemed an extension of Pete Maravich, because he handled it so well.
Vitrano does better: “Pete just ate my lunch. He was unconscious….One time, they had a two on one fast break and I was the one. Pete had the ball and I was sure he was going to pass behind his back. So, the second he goes behind his back, I make my break to steal the pass. Only, he palms the ball behind his back and switches to a bounce pass, between his legs, that hit the guy perfectly for an easy layup. He did it all in one motion, full-speed. He played me for a fool.”
USM still led with nine minutes to go. That was when Vitrano, the team’s quarterback and normally a top-shelf defender, fouled out in his futile attempt to stop the unstoppable. And that was that. Maravich and the Tigers took the lead and then pulled away for a 92-84 victory despite Ladner’s heroics.
Wondrous Wendell finished with 32 points and – get this – 24 rebounds. Maravich? He scored 42 despite missing nearly a quarter of the game to have his face repaired.
Remember, this was the preliminary game. When the USM varsity tipped off about 30 minutes later, only a sprinkling of fans remained, mostly to talk about what they had just witnessed.
