LUY-Development

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  • Mississippi Teacher Pay Bill Clears 1 Step, Goes To House

    Mississippi Teacher Pay Bill Clears 1 Step, Goes To House

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi senators asked no questions Thursday before voting unanimously to move forward with a teacher pay raise proposal.

    But, the vote was just one step in what could be a long legislative process, and the bill awaits an uncertain fate. House leaders say they want more information about the state’s economic performance before committing to a multimillion-dollar plan.

    Mississippi has long had some of the lowest teacher salaries in the nation. According to the most recent figures available from the Southern Regional Education Board, the average teacher salary in the U.S. for 2018-19 was $62,304. For Mississippi, the average was $45,105.

    Senate Bill 2001 would give certified teachers with three or more years of experience a $1,000 pay increase.

    Teachers with two years of experience and less would get a $1,110 bump, bringing them to a starting salary of $37,000 a year. Assistant teachers would receive a $1,000 pay increase. The bigger raise in early years is an effort to make teaching jobs more attractive.

    The bill is similar to legislation proposed last year that was stalled after the coronavirus pandemic created uncertainty about state spending.

  • Jackson Mayor: City Will Not Tolerate Street Racing

    Jackson Mayor: City Will Not Tolerate Street Racing

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Jackson’s mayor says the city will not tolerate drag racing and other types of reckless driving that draws crowds to watch.

    Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba made the comments after such activity recently closed part of Interstate 55 in Jackson, WLBT-TV reported.

    Authorities have good information about a number of people believed to have been involved, the mayor said.

    Lumumba added that the city will not stand for drag racing and drifting — attention-grabbing stunts that he called extremely dangerous.

  • Candidate Qualifying Begins In Louisiana Congressional Races

    Candidate Qualifying Begins In Louisiana Congressional Races

    BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Candidate registration opened Wednesday for Louisiana’s March 20 election to fill two vacant U.S. House seats, one representing a majority-minority district centered in New Orleans and the other a rural district covering the state’s northeast and central parishes.

    The special elections come only months after voters filled the seats in November and December competitions.

    The New Orleans-based 2nd District seat is open after Cedric Richmond, a Democrat, left the position he’d held for five terms to work for President Joe Biden’s administration. The 5th District seat, which covers a largely rural portion of the state and the cities of Monroe and Alexandria, is unfilled because Luke Letlow, a Republican newly elected to the job, died from COVID-19 complications before he could be sworn in to Congress.

    Two prominent Democratic contenders for the 2nd District seat — Troy Carter and Karen Carter Peterson, both state senators from New Orleans — filled out their paperwork and paid their qualifying fees shortly after registration opened on a day where the nation’s attention was focused on Biden’s inauguration in Washington.

    “That’s the possibility of hope. That’s the possibility of change, the possibility of being better,” Carter said.

    Peterson talked of the historic importance of Kamala Harris entering the vice president’s job, and Peterson noted her standing as the only Black woman running for a congressional delegation that currently features all men.

    “When women are not at the table, they’re on the menu,” she said.

    Also signing up for the race was Gary Chambers Jr., a Baton Rouge Democrat, community activist and local publisher who gained prominence during the protests of the 2016 shooting death of Alton Sterling by local police. He, too, noted the “magnitude of the moment” he chose to register for the race. Libertarian candidate Mindy McConnell of New Orleans also joined the field.

    Carter, a former New Orleans City Council member, is running with Richmond’s endorsement and touted it Wednesday.

    “At the end of the day, relationships matter,” Carter said. “As a new congressman, I will have the ear of the guy who has the ear of the president of the United States.”

    Both he and Peterson described their legislative service as selling points. But Carter said his local government tenure and his decade away from government work give him a broader perspective.

    Peterson, a former chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party, cited her bonafides on progressive issues and her willingness to “sometimes shake things up.”

    “I’ve been fighting for working-class families,” she said. “That is what is needed at this moment in the pandemic.”

    Chambers said the next congressman needs to work on bringing jobs to Louisiana to help combat crime.

    The candidate signup period runs through Friday.

    In the 5th District competition, the highest profile candidate — Letlow’s widow, Julia — intended to register for the race Thursday. Julia Letlow, a Republican who lives in Richland Parish, announced her campaign last week, saying she wanted to continue the work her husband started.

    Luke Letlow died Dec. 29, only weeks after winning the runoff election and days before he was scheduled to take the oath of office. He was going to fill the seat vacated by his one-time boss and his supporter, Republican Ralph Abraham.

    Four contenders in the race qualified Wednesday. They include last fall’s third-place finisher, Sandra “Candy” Christophe, a social worker and Democrat from Alexandria.

    Another candidate from the 2020 election seeking the position again is Allen Guillory, an Opelousas Republican who supported Luke Letlow in the runoff and said he’s worried about Julia Letlow’s entrance into the race because of the Letlows’ two young children. Guillory said if Julia Letlow wins the congressional seat, “those kids could lose two parents.”

    Also on the ballot is a special election for a seat on the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education representing northwestern Louisiana.

    All candidates, regardless of party, will run against each other on the March ballot. If no candidate tops 50% of the vote, the race will move to an April 24 runoff.

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    Follow Melinda Deslatte on Twitter at http://twitter.com/melindadeslatte.

  • Louisiana Advocate For Ex-Inmates Among Those Pardoned

    Louisiana Advocate For Ex-Inmates Among Those Pardoned

    NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A former federal prisoner who operates a Louisiana nonprofit aiding ex-inmates is among those pardoned in the final hours of the Trump administration.

    Syrita Steib-Martin’s pardon was announced by the White House early Wednesday.

    The Louisiana native pleaded guilty in 2000 to federal charges arising from her role in a burglary and arson at a car dealership in east Texas when she was 19. She was sentenced to 10 years.

    After her release from prison, Steib-Martin founded Operation Restoration in New Orleans. The organization provides services for women adjusting to society after leaving prison.

    She’s also credited with helping draft legislation prohibiting Louisiana colleges from asking about criminal convictions on admission applications.

    Another pardon recipient with a Louisiana connection: Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., better known as the New Orleans-born rapper Lil Wayne. The Grammy-winner was charged in Florida on Nov. 17 with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, a federal offense that carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison. In the pardon, he was praised for his “commitment to a variety of charities, including donations to research hospitals and a host of foodbanks.”

  • Law Officers Search For Teen After South Mississippi Slaying

    Law Officers Search For Teen After South Mississippi Slaying

    MOSS POINT, Miss. (AP) — Law officers in south Mississippi are searching for a 15-year-old they say was involved in the Monday shooting death of a 19-year-old man, authorities said.

    Moss Point police arrived at the shooting scene Monday night and found Caleb Gabriel Lett, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds, The Sun Herald reported. He was pronounced dead at the scene after first responders were unable to resuscitate him.

    Moss Point police believe Lett was shot and killed during an armed robbery.

    An arrest warrant on a capital murder charged has been issued for the 15-year-old suspect, who is from Moss Point, police said. Police were searching for him. They said a second person is wanted for questioning.

  • Trump Pardons Mississippi Physician Convicted Of Bribery

    Trump Pardons Mississippi Physician Convicted Of Bribery

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — One of the people pardoned during Donald Trump’s final hours as president is a Mississippi physician who pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge in 2012.

    Dr. Robert S. Corkern was the president, secretary and treasurer of Batesville Hospital Management, which handled business operations for the not-for-profit Tri-Lakes Medical Center in Batesville.

    Federal court records show that in his January 2012 guilty plea, Corkern admitted that on March 28, 2007, he paid $25,000 to the Panola County administrator as a bribe for the administrator’s role in securing a $400,000 county payment to the rural hospital eight days earlier.

    “Corkern had a financial interest in Tri-Lakes Medical Center and benefitted from the $400,000 transfer,” the records show.

    Corkern was sentenced in November 2012 to two years’ house confinement and three years’ post-release supervision.

    A White House news release said Trump’s pardon of Corkern is supported by Mississippi’s two Republican U.S. senators, Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith; and Republican former Gov. Phil Bryant.

    “This pardon will help Dr. Corkern practice medicine in his community, which is in dire need of more doctors as it has struggled to keep up with demand for emergency services,” the news release said. “Dr. Corkern served in the Mississippi Army National Guard and has generously provided his services to low-income patients.”

    The Mississippi Board of Medical Licensure revoked Corkern’s license January 2013 “due to felony conviction of crime of moral turpitude” and reinstated it in May 2014.

    Corkern was working as an emergency room physician at Delta Regional Medical Center in Greenville at the time his license was revoked.

  • Small Earthquake Reported In South Mississippi

    Small Earthquake Reported In South Mississippi

    COLLINS, Miss. (AP) — A 2.1 magnitude earthquake occurred Wednesday morning in south Mississippi.

    The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency posted on Twitter that the earthquake happened near Collins around 7:33 a.m..

    So far, no issues, damage or injuries had been reported to MEMA.

    Collins is about 26 miles (41.8 kilometers) northwest of Hattiesburg.

  • FBI: Louisiana Man Charged In Capitol Spoke Of Returning

    FBI: Louisiana Man Charged In Capitol Spoke Of Returning

    NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana man charged in the deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol had discussed returning to Washington around the presidential inauguration and bringing rifles, ammunition and body armor, federal authorities said in court records.

    A criminal complaint says Cody Connell of Vivian, Louisiana, was arrested Saturday on charges including violent entry of Capitol grounds and obstruction law enforcement.

    Connell posted photos and videos of himself and another man identified by the FBI as his cousin, Daniel Page Adams, outside the Capitol the day of the siege Jan. 6, said an affidavit by FBI agent Michael Sahadi Jr.

    In a screen capture of an apparent Facebook exchange, Connell posted: “I have more videos of us breaching the Capitol but not gonna post them. We will be back and it will be a lot worse than yesterday!”

    A witness told authorities that Connell had discussed with at least two other people returning to Washington in the coming week — which includes President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration Wednesday — possibly first buying “long-rifle firearms, ammunition and body armor to bring with them,” the affidavit said.

    The same witness told authorities Connell “explained that he was not returning to Louisiana unless he was in a body bag,” according to the agent’s affidavit.

    Adams was arrested Saturday in Texas on similar charges as those brought against Connell.

    It was not immediately known if either Connell or Adams had attorneys representing them.

  • Police: 2 Louisiana Teens Fatally Shoot Each Other

    Police: 2 Louisiana Teens Fatally Shoot Each Other

    NEW IBERIA, La. (AP) — Two 16-year-olds have died after shooting each other simultaneously over the weekend, according to Louisiana authorities.

    New Iberia Police were called to a neighborhood Sunday night, where they found both teenagers lying in a roadway with gunshot wounds, police spokeswoman Sgt. Daesha Hughes said. The teens were pronounced dead at the scene.

    Police determined that the two fired their weapons at the other simultaneously at close range, according to the department.

    The victims were not immediately identified and no additional information was released.

  • Louisiana Gets Reports Vaccine Providers Are Discriminating

    Louisiana Gets Reports Vaccine Providers Are Discriminating

    BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana’s chief public health officer Tuesday warned hospitals, pharmacies and clinics that they should not be steering their coronavirus vaccine doses solely to their own patients, saying the state has received reports of such favoritism.

    Dr. Joe Kanter, with the Louisiana Department of Health, sent a memo to the vaccine providers that cautioned any found to be discriminating in favor of their patients — and denying vaccine appointments to nonpatients — could face penalties.

    “To the extent that such discrimination is occurring, it must immediately cease,” Kanter wrote to the health facilities. He reminded that coronavirus vaccine providers “are subject to after-action audits, and adverse action could be considered if improper discrimination by a provider is determined to have occurred.”

    The vaccine providers could face financial penalties, limits on future vaccine allocations, legal actions or other response if found continuing to discriminate in its distribution, said health department spokesperson Aly Neel. The state has control over licensing of health facilities and steers billions of dollars, through the Medicaid program and other health initiatives, to hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.

    The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in Louisiana are available to health care employees; EMS workers; firefighters; people with kidney failure; anyone aged 70 and older; people with disabilities over the age of 16 who receive community- or home-based services and their providers; and people who live and work at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

    Once vaccination was opened to the elderly this month, the state began steering some of its weekly allocation of vaccine doses from the federal government to a growing network of pharmacies and clinics, by appointment only. The health department also called on hospitals with excess doses that are not needed for their own employees to set up appointments for the elderly and others eligible.

    “Louisiana providers who are administering the COVID-19 vaccine must adhere to the guidance developed by the Louisiana Department of Health to ensure an equitable approach to making vaccinations available to as many people as possible in the eligible groups,” Kanter told providers.

    About 850,000 people out of Louisiana’s 4.6 million residents fall into the current vaccine eligibility categories, according to Edwards administration estimates. More than 170,000 people have received at least the first dose of the two-dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, according to the latest data from the state health department.

    Kanter’s letter to vaccine providers also addresses other issues that have come up in the first month of distribution.

    It says providers must “make a reasonable effort” to verify that the person getting immunized actually meets the eligibility criteria and must schedule every person who gets a first dose of vaccine for the appointment to receive their second dose before they leave the vaccination site.

    It also tells the hospitals, clinics and pharmacies that they must enter the vaccination information into a state computer system within 24 hours, including the self-identified race of the recipient.

    “Routinely selecting ‘other’ as a default in the race field is not acceptable and will hinder the state’s ability to understand and address inequities in vaccine distribution,” the letter says.

    Kanter also gave vaccine providers instructions on how to minimize vaccine waste, telling them that if a dose is in risk of expiring within six hours, “every effort should be made” to find people who meet Louisiana’s eligibility standards. If unable, he wrote, the provider can vaccinate someone out of the eligibility groups to avoid wasting the vaccine.

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    Follow AP’s coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak. Follow Melinda Deslatte on Twitter at http://twitter.com/melindadeslatte.