WTOK – Mississippi candidates seek cash as deadline approaches
Candidates for Mississippi governor are asking supporters for cash as another campaign finance reporting deadline approaches.
Two former governors, William Winter and Ray Mabus, are putting their names on fundraising letters for fellow Democrat Jim Hood. The fourth-term attorney general is one of nine Democrats seeking the party nomination for the state’s highest office.
Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves released this week an online ad focusing on his family.
CLARION LEDGER – Mississippi state flag: Another AG candidate makes it an election issue
Mississippi’s next attorney general won’t have the power to change the state flag. But that hasn’t stopped it from becoming a campaign issue in recent weeks.
One Republican candidate, Andy Taggart, came out strongly earlier this month in favor of redesigning the the flag, which includes the Confederate battle emblem. He said it provides a negative “snapshot” of Mississippi, associating it with Civil War and slavery.
Now, another Republican in the race, state Rep. Mark Baker, R-Brandon, is making the flag an issue in his campaign, too, disagreeing with Taggart.
He talked about the flag at campaign stops in Simpson, Newton and Clarke counties over the weekend, according to a campaign announcement and a video of the Newton County event. His comments also followed New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s order last week to remove the flag from a prominent state park, saying the Confederate image on the flag was “reprehensible.”
DESOTO TIMES – Gipson seeks a new generation of farmers
Mississippi’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce believes the state should be actively working to bring up a new generation of people involved in agriculture.
Andy Gipson, named to the position when predecessor Cindy Hyde-Smith was appointed U.S. Senator by Gov. Phil Bryant in April 2018, spoke to DeSoto County Republicans this month about what he sees as the state’s role in agriculture.
Gipson, when asked later about what the greatest challenge is to Mississippi agriculture, said it is fostering new farmers to replace the current, yet aging, generation of those who work the land and raise livestock.
YP – Does Jim Hood’s ‘home court’ advantage in northeast Mississippi really exist?
Mississippi politics is rife with uncertainties for myriad and often seemingly-contradictory reasons. The takeaway from this analysis seems to be that at least relative to Tate Reeves, Hood does not necessarily enjoy a mathematically demonstrable “homefield” edge with northeast Mississippi voters. Add to that the MSGOP success even since 2015 of having key local candidates “flipping” from Democrat to Republican (or Independent) in places like Itawamba and Alcorn counties, and the loss of key Democrats on the ballot like Rep. Steve Holland of Tupelo and Rep. Nick Bain in Alcorn County.
With seven months and party primary elections to go, it may be too early for even seasoned pundits to postulate about what constitute near-certainties.
Sen. Wicker presses Navy, Marine Corps nominees on seapower priorities
DAILY JOURNAL – Mississippi to develop in-state teacher residency program
With grant funding from a state education foundation, Mississippi will develop the first state-run teacher residency program in the United States.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation granted $649,366 to the National Center for Teacher Residencies to develop a program which will be aimed at recruiting and retaining African American male teachers and helping teachers pursue national board certification.
According to a press release from the Mississippi Department of Education, this will be the first teacher residency program that is run by a U.S. state. MDE will oversee and operate the residency program when it is up and running.
WJTV – Port Gibson could see 30,000 new jobs coming soon
HATTIESBURG AMERICAN – SNAP benefits: Ban lifted on Mississippians with drug convictions
As many as 67,000 Mississippians with felony drug convictions could become eligible for federal food assistance after the state Legislature opted out of a federal rule preventing them from receiving the benefits.
The change is part of criminal justice reforms lawmakers passed this year to try to reduce recidivism and prison population.
In 1996, Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. It disqualified people convicted of a state or federal drug felony from receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families for life — unless their state legislatures opt out.
When the Mississippi Legislature passed House Bill 1352, the Criminal Justice Reform Act, this year, it opted out the federal ban on SNAP. The change becomes effective July 1.
Congressman Palazzo discusses use of National Guard at border
Congressman Guest says Democrat plan is “Medicare for none,” rural hospitals “would close virtually overnight”
This is not Medicare for All, it’s Medicare for None. Under the Democrats’ plan, the rural hospitals that thousands of Mississippians rely on “would close virtually overnight.”https://t.co/XkjbVGUwIK
— Congressman Michael Guest (@RepMichaelGuest) April 30, 2019
WLBT – City Council to vote on equal pay measure
The City of Jackson wants to make sure women are receiving the same pay as men.
Tuesday, Councilman De’Keither Stamps introduced the ordinance called the Compensation of Personal and Application Content for Employment.
He hopes to stop hiring practices on the local level that he says economically disadvantage women in the application process.
