LUY-Development

Tag: mississippi

  • Panel Backs Ex-Louisiana Warden To Lead Mississippi Prisons

    Panel Backs Ex-Louisiana Warden To Lead Mississippi Prisons

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Senate Corrections Committee on Tuesday unanimously endorsed a former prison warden who faced ethics questions in Louisiana to be the new leader of Mississippi’s troubled prison system.

    The full Senate is expected to vote in the next few days on confirming Burl Cain as corrections commissioner. Cain, 77, has been working as commissioner since May 20, when Republican Gov. Tate Reeves announced he was nominating him to the $132,000-a-year job after a nationwide search. It’s not unusual for a nominee to work while awaiting confirmation.

    Corrections committee members said during the confirmation hearing Tuesday that a background report by a Mississippi legislative watchdog group cleared any concerns they had about Cain’s ethics issues in Louisiana. But, members of the committee would not release the report to The Associated Press, citing confidentiality.

    Mississippi’s prison system is under federal investigation and has struggled for years with tight budgets, short staffing and shoddy living conditions.

    “Failure here is not an option to me,” Cain told senators Tuesday.

    Two lawsuits filed on behalf of inmates say that the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman is dangerous, vermin-infested and unfit for human habitation. Attorneys in both are being paid by entertainment mogul Jay-Z, rapper Yo Gotti and Team Roc, the philanthropic arm of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation.

    “We’re going to fix Parchman,” Cain said Tuesday.

    Mississippi has one of the highest incarceration rates in the nation. The U.S. Justice Department announced in February that it is investigating the state prison system after several inmates were killed or injured in outbursts of violence in late December and early January.

    During his 21-year tenure at Angola, Cain was credited with improving conditions and decreasing violence. He was also known for pushing the expansion of religious outreach. After his 2016 resignation, a Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office report said nearly $28,000 in public money was used for the unauthorized purchase of appliances and household furnishings for Cain’s home on prison grounds. It also said Cain’s relatives stayed overnight in state-owned homes at the prison nearly 200 times.

    Cain resigned a year before the audit was issued, after reports by The Advocate about his private real estate dealings. The newspaper reported that Cain sold interest in tracts of land to two developers who were friends or family of two Angola inmates convicted of murder, raising questions about whether Cain had violated corrections policy.

    “I’ve been thoroughly investigated, and I’ve come out clean,” Cain said Tuesday.

    Last month, Reeves characterized Cain’s time at Angola as a success story, saying: “They went from beatings to Bible study.”

    Cain told senators Tuesday that he is still chairman of a prison employees’ credit union in Louisiana and that he is chief executive officer of Global Prison Seminaries Foundation, a nonprofit organization that’s based in Texas and operates in 17 states.

    Cain told reporters after the hearing that someone else is now running the foundation and he has requested an ethics opinion on whether he can be a paid consultant for the foundation while he is Mississippi corrections commissioner. He said he took a pay cut from his previous salary of $150,000 to come to Mississippi. He said he is not paid by the credit union.

    A previous Mississippi corrections commissioner, Christopher Epps, is in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2015 to money laundering and filing false tax returns. Prosecutors said he took nearly $1.5 million in bribes from contractors doing business with Mississippi prisons.

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    Associated Press writer Kevin McGill in New Orleans contributed to this report.

  • Natchez Municipal Primary Election 2020 Live Results

    Below are the Live Results of the Natchez Mississippi Municipal Primary Election. These results are unofficial and do not include absentee ballots or affidavits.[vc_single_image image=”1386″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.natchezford.com/”][vc_single_image image=”1387″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.crye-leike.com/natchez/ms”][vc_single_image image=”1388″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.unitedms.bank/”][vc_single_image image=”1389″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.themarketsonline.com/”][vc_btn title=”Click here for Detailed Live Results by Precinct!” color=”primary” size=”lg” align=”center” button_block=”true” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.google.com%2Fspreadsheets%2Fd%2Fe%2F2PACX-1vQDp1WdU_zK3e9q7IWCqo2_TW7ojk3jnUbQ4WBkMUAtBztEG7F025ewKqzXp86nrtlZLCoot3LCgeAn%2Fpubhtml%3Fgid%3D233272784%26single%3Dtrue||target:%20_blank|”]

  • Barbers to snip again in Mississippi as virus rules loosen

    Barbers to snip again in Mississippi as virus rules loosen

    Some courts will also reopen Monday

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Some Mississippians will be able to take that inch of hair off beginning Monday thanks to a further rollback of coronavirus restrictions, but the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the state even as some protest that Gov. Tate Reeves hasn’t done enough to loosen up.

    The Republican Reeves says hair salons and barbershops can reopen Monday as long as chairs are at least 6 feet apart, employees and customers wear face masks, and everyone is screened for virus symptoms. Customers are supposed to wait outside until stylists are ready for them.

    Gyms can reopen Monday too at 30% capacity, operating under restrictions.

    The moves come as Mississippi officials on Sunday reported nine new deaths and 123 new cases, pushing the total number of cases above 9,500 and the total number of deaths to at least 430.

    Michelle Johnson of Fountain of Love hair salon in Southaven told WREG-TV she’s eager to open in part because employees need money.

    “They’ve been living off their savings and that can only go on for so long,” Johnson said.

    She said her employees have been at a competitive disadvantage because salons in nearby Tennessee opened last week.

    Others say they will stay closed for a while longer,

    “We just feel that it’s really just too soon,” barber Rickey Boggan in Meridian told WTOK-TV. “You’re dealing with more people and with more people, more risks are associated.”

    Some courts will also reopen Monday, although defendants in Columbus are being asked to sign in outside and wait in their vehicles for a phone call with further instructions. The city of Oxford is allowing restaurants to reopen their dining rooms on Monday after a delay behind the statewide reopening. West Point says shoppers and store employees must start wearing masks beginning Monday, while a similar requirement was lifted in Starkville.

    Reeves’ “Safer at Home” order now extends until May 25. He has said he might loosen more restrictions between now and then, a move that could be welcomed by thousands of casino employees statewide. In Tunica County, some local business people say they fear that Mississippi’s delay in reopening casinos behind Arkansas could accelerate a shift in gambling dollars to a casino in West Memphis, Arkansas.

    “It’s great for Arkansas, but it’s bad for Mississippi,” Tunica auction house owner Howard Mea told WHBQ-TV. “They are getting a jump on us, and we are sitting down here wondering where and when and how and for the governor’s office to get us back up.”

    Reeves’ moves are not enough for some, though. The Sun Herald reports that about 150 people attended a protest Saturday in Biloxi to protest restrictions, although about 50 of them participated from a distance.

    They heard from Ocean Springs Mayor Shea Dobson and state Sen. Chris McDaniel, two Republicans who suggested that restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of the virus were tyrannical violations of Americans’ rights.

    “We will not accept our rights being trampled on any longer,” Dobson said.

    GOP state Sen. Chris McDaniel said America was founded by revolutionaries, and told the crowd they shouldn’t be ashamed of that legacy.

    “They didn’t let the fear of dying stop them from living,” McDaniel said. “You and you alone are ultimately responsible for your safety.”

    The audience cheered when McDaniel said, “We’ll take our chances because we’d rather be free.”

    E. Brian Rose, president of the Jackson County Republican Club, and Dan Carr, who heads the Harrison County Republican Club, organized the event. When asked why, Rose said, “Because somebody told me I couldn’t.”

  • Favre Repaying $1.1 Million For No-Show Speeches, Mississippi Auditor Says

    Favre Repaying $1.1 Million For No-Show Speeches, Mississippi Auditor Says

    The NFL legend says he didn’t know the payments he received came from welfare funds

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre is repaying $1.1 million in welfare money that he received for multiple speeches where he did not show up, the Mississippi state auditor said Wednesday.

    Auditor Shad White said his office received $500,000 from Favre on Wednesday, plus a commitment that Favre will repay the other $600,000 in installments over the next few months.

    Favre’s effort to repay the money came two days after White released an audit of spending by the Mississippi Department of Human Services that showed Favre had been paid by Mississippi Community Education Center, a nonprofit group whose former leader has been indicted in a welfare embezzlement scheme.

    Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the U.S., and the community education center had contracts with Human Services to spend money through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, also known as TANF.

    “I want to applaud Mr. Favre for his good faith effort to make this right and make the taxpayers and TANF families whole,” White said in a statement Wednesday. “To date, we have seen no records indicating Mr. Favre knew that TANF was the program that served as the source of the money he was paid.”

    The audit released Monday said the center paid Favre Enterprises $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018, and he was supposed to make speeches for at least three events. The auditor’s report said that “upon a cursory review of those dates, auditors were able to determine that the individual contracted did not speak nor was he present for those events.”

    Favre, who lives in Mississippi, faces no criminal charges. The audit report lists the payments to him as “questioned” costs, which White said means “auditors either saw clear misspending or could not verify the money had been lawfully spent.”

    In a Facebook post Wednesday night, Favre said he didn’t know the payments he received came from welfare funds and noted his charity had provided millions of dollars to poor kids in his home state of Mississippi and Wisconsin, where he played the bulk of his Hall of Fame career with the Green Bay Packers.

    “My agent is often approached by different products or brands for me to appear in one way or another. This request was no different, and I did numerous ads for Family First,” Favre wrote.

    “I have never received moneys for obligations I didn’t meet. To reiterate Auditors White’s statement, I was unaware that the money being dispensed was paid for out of funds not intended for that purpose, and because of that I am refunding the full amount back to the state of Mississippi.

    “I have spent my entire career helping children through Favre 4 Hope donating nearly $10 million to underserved and underprivileged children in Mississippi and Wisconsin.

    “It has brought a ton of joy to my life, and I would certainly never do anything to take away from the children I have fought to help! I love Mississippi and I would never knowingly do anything to take away from those that need it most.”

    White said the money being repaid by Favre will be sent to the Department of Human Services.

    Favre has not returned multiple text messages sent to him by The Associated Press since Monday. His manager, Bus Cook, told AP on Wednesday: “We’ve got nothing to say.”

    In an audit, White said his employees identified $94 million in questionable spending by the agency, including payments for sports activities with no clear connection to helping needy people in one of the poorest states of the U.S.

    The audit was released months after a former Human Services director and five other people were indicted on state charges of embezzling about $4 million. They have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial in what White has called one of Mississippi’s largest public corruption cases in decades.

    “If there was a way to misspend money, it seems DHS leadership or their grantees thought of it and tried it,” White said.

    John Davis was director of the Department of Human Services from January 2016 until July 2019, appointed by then-Gov. Phil Bryant — a Republican who also appointed White to office when a previous auditor stepped down. Davis was one of the people indicted; another was Nancy New, who was director of the Mississippi Community Education Center. Davis, New and the others indicted have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

    AP left a phone message Wednesday at Mississippi Community Education Center’s Jackson office with questions about the payments to Favre. There was no immediate response.

    The auditor’s report said Human Services leaders, particularly Davis, “participated in a widespread and pervasive conspiracy to circumvent internal controls, state law, and federal regulations” to direct grant money to certain people and groups. Davis instructed two groups that received grants, the Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of North Mississippi, to spend money with certain other people or groups, the auditor’s report said.

    White said the those two nonprofit groups received more than $98 million in Department of Human Services grants during the three years that ended June 30. Most of the money came from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

    The audit will be sent to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and federal officials will decide whether to sanction the state for misspending, White said.

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    Associated Press sports writer Arnie Stapleton contributed to this report from Aurora, Colorado.

  • Auditor: Favre Received Welfare Money For No-Show Speeches In Mississippi

    Auditor: Favre Received Welfare Money For No-Show Speeches In Mississippi

    Favre Enterprises was paid $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A nonprofit group caught up in an embezzlement scheme in Mississippi used federal welfare money to pay former NFL quarterback Brett Favre $1.1 million for multiple speaking engagements but Favre did not show up for the events, the state auditor said Monday.

    Details about payments to Favre are included in an audit of the Mississippi Department of Human Services. State Auditor Shad White said his employees identified $94 million in questionable spending by the agency, including payments for sports activities with no clear connection to helping needy people in one of the poorest states of the U.S.

    The audit was released months after a former Human Services director and five other people were indicted on state charges of embezzling about $4 million. They have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial in what White has called one of Mississippi’s largest public corruption cases in decades.

    “If there was a way to misspend money, it seems DHS leadership or their grantees thought of it and tried it,” White said Monday.

    White said the Human Services audit “shows the most egregious misspending my staff have seen in their careers.”

    Payments to Favre were made by Mississippi Community Education Center, a group that had contracts with the Department of Human Services to spend money through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. The audit says Favre Enterprises was paid $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018, and he was supposed to make speeches for at least three events. The auditor’s report says that “upon a cursory review of those dates, auditors were able to determine that the individual contracted did not speak nor was he present for those events.”

    Favre, who lives in Mississippi, faces no criminal charges. The audit report lists the payments to him as “questioned” costs, which White said means “auditors either saw clear misspending or could not verify the money had been lawfully spent.” The Associated Press on Monday sent questions to Favre by text message and left a message for him with his longtime agent Bus Cook, and Favre did not immediately respond.

    John Davis was director of the Department of Human Services from January 2016 until July 2019, appointed by then-Gov. Phil Bryant — a Republican who also appointed White to office when a previous auditor stepped down. Davis was one of the people indicted; another was Nancy New, who was director of the Mississippi Community Education Center. Davis, New and the others indicted have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

    The auditor’s report said that Department of Human Services leaders, particularly Davis, “participated in a widespread and pervasive conspiracy to circumvent internal controls, state law, and federal regulations” to direct grant money to certain people and groups. Davis instructed two groups that received grants, the Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of North Mississippi, to spend money with certain other people or groups, the auditor’s report said.

    White said the those two nonprofit groups received more than $98 million in Department of Human Services grants during the three years that ended June 30. Most of the money came from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

    White said the audit will be sent to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and federal officials will decide whether to sanction the state for misspending, White said.

    The audit said the Mississippi Community Education Center awarded contracts for services to Davis’ relatives, including to a company owned by his brother-in-law and his nephew. It said that Family Resource Center used welfare money to buy one vehicle for more than $50,000 and another for nearly $28,000. White said the Department of Human Services should take the vehicles because they were bought with public money.

    The audit said the Mississippi Center for Community Education spent $1.3 million to a group called Victory Sports Foundation to conduct three 12-week fitness boot camps. White said some participants paid but were not screened for eligibility for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The audit said state legislators and other elected officials took the fitness classes for free. White said Monday that the nonprofit group is responsible for the questioned spending, not the participants.

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    Associated Press sports writer Arne Stapleton contributed to this report from Aurora, Colorado.

  • Mississippi Inmates, Prison Staff Get Masks During Pandemic

    Mississippi Inmates, Prison Staff Get Masks During Pandemic

    The highly contagious virus is difficult to control in prisons

    By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
    Associated Press
    ###

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — All inmates and employees in Mississippi prisons have been given masks to try to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, the state Department of Corrections said Monday.

    Advocates have repeatedly raised concerns that the highly contagious virus is difficult to control in prisons, where inmates have little chance to keep distance from one another even when they’re told to do so. They have also pushed for wider testing for COVID-19 in prisons.

    The corrections department said four Mississippi inmates had tested positive for the highly contagious virus by Monday — two at the State Penitentiary at Parchman and two in the Winston-Choctaw County Regional Correctional Facility. The department has previously said one of the Parchman cases was an inmate who died.

    The department said 21 inmates had tested negative for COVID-19 as of Monday. Two were waiting for test results; one was at the Marshall County Correctional Facility and one was at Delta Correctional Facility.

    For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, the highly contagious virus can cause severe symptoms and be fatal.

    In court papers filed earlier this month, the Department of Corrections said and inmates in crowded spaces are being encouraged to sleep face-to-feet with each other rather than face-to-face. Prisoners’ rights attorneys said in a separate court filing that in some areas of Parchman, more than 100 inmates were sleeping about 18 inches (46 centimeters) apart from each other.

    More than 18,500 people are in custody in Mississippi prisons. Long before the pandemic, multiple health inspections showed sanitation problems including broken sinks and toilets in cells and widespread mold in showers.

    The Department of Corrections said gloves and additional soap are being provided in prisons. A news release said hand sanitizer is available in “strategic locations,” including dining areas. In court papers filed in mid-April, the Department of Corrections said hand sanitizer with 60% or more alcohol is a security concern, and distributing it to all inmates is not feasible.

    “Running a prison in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is all the more difficult, as corrections systems are neither infallible nor immune from the virus’s spread,” the department said in the court papers. Those came in response to demands made by attorneys who sued the state early this year over conditions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

    The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and Mississippi Prison Industries Corporation have provided many of the masks being used by inmates and prison employees. The news release said Parchman inmates are using 5,000 masks donated by REFORM Alliance, affiliated with entertainment mogul Jay-Z.

    Mississippi prisons were hit by outburst of violence in late December and early January that left several inmates dead or injured. The Justice Department announced Feb. 5 that its civil rights division would investigate Mississippi prisons that have also struggled with tight budgets, short staffing and poor living conditions.

    Mississippi prison officials have told state budget writers for years that the department has trouble hiring guards because the jobs are dangerous and the pay is low. Despite the requests, budgets were cut.

    Two federal lawsuits have been filed on behalf of prisoners since January, saying Parchman is dangerous, vermin-infested and unfit for human habitation. Attorneys in both lawsuits are being paid by Jay-Z, rapper Yo Gotti and Team Roc, the philanthropic arm of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation.

  • Adams County Inmate Who Became Pregnant Behind Bars Out On Bond

    Adams County Inmate Who Became Pregnant Behind Bars Out On Bond

    Jessica Aldridge was released Monday

    NATCHEZ, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi inmate who is facing a murder charge and became pregnant after she said she had a “quickie” with another inmate has been released from jail on bond, authorities said.

    A court order signed Friday reduced Jessica Aldridge’s bond from $200,000 to $100,000, The Natchez Democrat reported. She was released Monday.

    According to the order, Aldridge has to stay at home, wear an electronic monitoring device and pay the device’s monthly service fee. No one can visit Aldridge and she cannot use social media, the internet or phone, the order said.

    Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten previously said trusted female inmates at the Adams County Jail were allowed to leave their cells to perform cleaning duties under supervision. Aldridge told investigators she was cleaning the stairwell, saw an unidentified male inmate in the laundry room and had sex with him, which she described as a “quickie,” Patten said.

    The sex was consensual and no guards were involved, Patten said.

    Aldridge had been held at the jail after being charged with murder in the 2019 death of her boyfriend, 41-year-old Joseph Cupit.

    Aldridge said she and Cupit got into an argument on March 17, 2019, and he choked her, Patten previously said.

    Patten said Cupit was getting into his vehicle to leave when they continued arguing and Aldridge shot him. Witnesses said Aldridge fired from the house and was not in any immediate danger, Patten said.

    Aldridge’s next court date is scheduled for June 11. It’s unclear whether Aldridge’s attorney was available to comment on her behalf.

  • Mississippi Prison System Confirms Its 1st Case Of COVID-19

    Mississippi Prison System Confirms Its 1st Case Of COVID-19

    The Mississippi Department of Corrections on Monday night made its first announcement of a coronavirus case in one of the state prisons.

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) —  An inmate at the Mississippi State Penitentiary was found to have had to the virus after he died, the department said in a news release. It did not give the inmate’s name or say when he died. It said he had underlying health problems.

    “We are committed to protecting the health and well-being of all within our system,” Interim Corrections Commissioner Tommy Taylor said.

    He said that since the beginning of the pandemic, Mississippi has limited the transfer of inmates from prison to prison. The only visitors allowed are attorneys, and daily screenings are done of prison workers.

    “With this first positive case, we have further isolated all the affected areas and increased screenings for all the inmates who came in contact with the individual,” Taylor said. “Inmates who came in close contact with the positive individual have been provided with masks.”

  • Mississippi Death Toll Rises; Elective Surgeries Banned

    Mississippi Death Toll Rises; Elective Surgeries Banned

    More than 2600 virus cases in Mississippi as of Saturday, April 10th

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi officials have reported 11 additional deaths from the coronavirus, raising the state’s death toll from the disease to at least 93, as the governor banned all elective surgeries including abortion.

    The state Department of Health released the new figures on Saturday. They show the total number of virus cases at a little under 2,650.

    Gov. Tate Reeves has encouraged residents to continue practicing social distancing over the Easter holiday by worshiping at home on Sunday.

    On Friday, Reeves signed an order that banned any surgical procedure not needed to save a life or correct a serious medical condition until April 27, including abortion. In a news briefing, Reeves said the order was needed to save medical equipment including protective gear because Mississippi was “moving to a peak” of its cases.

    The owner of the state’s only abortion clinic, Diane Derzis, referred questions to the Center for Reproductive Rights, which said it was “exploring all options” for ensuring that abortion access continued in the state.

    In Texas, abortion providers asked the Supreme Court to allow the procedure to resume there after a similar order by Gov. Greg Abbott.

    For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, the highly contagious virus can cause severe symptoms and be fatal.

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  • Severe Weather Outbreak Likely Today In The Miss-Lou

    Severe Weather Outbreak Likely Today In The Miss-Lou

    Gusty wind, rain, hail and tornadoes in the Easter Sunday forecast

    The latest forecasts from the National Weather Service in Jackson.