YP Daily Roundup 7/10/18

Special MS House Election today to replace Gipson

Sen. Hyde-Smith attends SCOTUS announcement

Looking forward to being at the @WhiteHouse this evening as @POTUS names his choice of another conservative to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Appreciate the invitation to witness this historic announcement. #SCOTUSPick

— U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (@SenHydeSmith) July 9, 2018

WDAM/WLBT – Mississippi politicians react to nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to Supreme Court

WDAM-TV 7-News, Weather, Sports-Hattiesburg, MS

Judge Brett Kavanaugh is committed to the rule of law and will uphold the Constitution. @realDonaldTrump made an outstanding selection who deserves swift confirmation by the Senate.

— Phil Bryant (@PhilBryantMS) July 10, 2018

Judge Kavanaugh is a well-qualified conservative jurist, and I commend President Trump for his commitment to naming Supreme Court justices who are committed to the rule of law. I look forward to being part of the important confirmation process. #SCOTUSPick https://t.co/5WbJTvDpZB pic.twitter.com/spWukPNIMZ

— U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (@SenHydeSmith) July 10, 2018

President Trump has once again kept his promise to nominate to the Supreme Court a well-qualified jurist with a record of upholding the integrity of the law and the Constitution. I look forward to meeting with Judge Kavanaugh. #ScotusPick

— Senator Roger Wicker (@SenatorWicker) July 10, 2018

WTOK – Lawsuit claims Mississippi legislative district dilutes black vote

The suit, filed Monday, asks a judge to declare that Senate District 22 violates the federal Voting Rights Act. It also asks a judge to order legislators to reconfigure the district before the 2019 state elections.

The district has a 51 percent black voting-age population, but the suit says it lacks “real electoral opportunity” for African-Americans.

The district has been represented since January 2004 by Republican Sen. Eugene “Buck” Clarke of Hollandale, who is white. Clarke is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

CLARION LEDGER – MDOT: Political pressure driving road connecting Tate Reeves’ subdivision, shopping center

The new road will start near the locked-gate entrances of Oakridge Trail — where Reeves lives — and Dogwood Place subdivisions and end at the Dogwood Festival Market shopping center. The road would not front any current developments and would likely receive little public traffic besides those living in the 130 or so houses in Oakridge and Dogwood.

“Yes. Political pressure. From the Legislature,” said MDOT Director Melinda McGrath when asked why the new road is being built. “We would not have done this otherwise.”…

…Reeves through a spokeswoman declined an interview about the new road but issued a statement saying, “Reeves has not spoken to anyone at the agency regarding the Frontage Road and believes (the project) was negotiated between the city of Flowood and MDOT.”

But MDOT records indicate Reeves’ neighborhood property owners’ association, not the city of Flowood, has attempted to call the shots on how the new road is built.

In a list of early “demands” the neighborhood gave MDOT, it wanted the new road to have only one-way traffic from the neighborhood to Dogwood Boulevard. MDOT balked at building what would have essentially been a state-funded private driveway.

Flowood Mayor Gary Rhoads said he knows of no political pressure from Reeves for MDOT to build the new road, and the city supports it as a “safety issue.” He agreed with Reeves that the city was the impetus for building the road. He said any talk that Reeves pushed for it is “BS if I’ve ever heard it.”

WLOX – Mississippi revises proposal for Medicaid work requirement

To qualify for Mississippi Medicaid, a single parent or caretaker must earn less than $384 a month. However, someone working 20 hours a week at minimum wage would earn $580 a month – not enough to afford private health insurance but too much to remain on Medicaid.

Under Mississippi’s new proposal, able-bodied Medicaid recipients who meet the minimum 20-hour-per-week work requirement would still receive Medicaid coverage for two years. An earlier proposal was one year of coverage.

#MS04: Democrat Anderson responds to staffer’s “tongue-in-cheek remark”

Statement regarding out of context tweet by staffer. Please see below. pic.twitter.com/qPFcGs5DDQ

— Circle (@JerameyForMS) July 10, 2018

WLOX – Singing River Health System’s new CEO talks what lies ahead for hospital

WLOX.com – The News for South Mississippi

Four years ago, the word thrive wasn’t even on the table after the system wrote more than $80 million dollars in bad debt.

“It was bad,” recalled Bond. “It was the largest accounts receivable adjustment in American healthcare history unfortunately, and probably the largest pension debacle in American healthcare history.”

He added that things have changed a lot since then. “Well today, we’re in a lot better shape than we were three and a half years ago. We had eight days cash on hand then. Now, we have 91. Our quality metrics continue to rise.”

WLOX – School superintendents talk school safety this week at state convention

WLOX.com – The News for South Mississippi