YP Daily Roundup 9/17/20

YP – Hurricane Sally moves east; Gov. Reeves discusses impact overnight

“Praise God—Hurricane Sally moved east and avoided a direct hit on Mississippi. We felt some effects overnight, but the worst fears were not realized,” said Reeves.

Lt. Governor Hosemann visits Jackson County EOC

#Mississippi avoided any major impact from #HurricaneSally, but the Office of Emergency Services was well prepared in Jackson County. Good to visit with Director Earl Etheridge, Sheriff @MikeEzell11, and Senators @bricewigginsMS, Mike Seymour, and @JeremyEnglandMS. pic.twitter.com/TJlZ8GZPXQ

— Delbert Hosemann (@DelbertHosemann) September 16, 2020

YP – Auditor calls for termination of professor who participated in two-day strike

State Auditor Shad White is investigating a University of Mississippi sociology professor who he says improperly participated in a two-day strike.

The incident of note happened last week for “Scholar Strike” on September 8 and 9. It was a nationwide event protesting issues surrounding racism and social injustice.

On Monday, September 7, James Thomas sent an email to his students informing them that he would not be holding class, meetings or office hours that Tuesday and Wednesday as he would be participating in the strike.

Re: the strike of Prof. Thomas at UM:

It is my job to ensure no public money is illegally spent. Strikes and work stoppages are illegal in Mississippi. He cannot be paid for days he didn't work. The penalty for striking is termination. The law is the law. See the letter here. pic.twitter.com/W4zmBQsZCD

— Shad White (@shadwhite) September 16, 2020

MSDH daily COVID-19 report

Today MSDH is reporting 711 more cases of COVID-19 in Mississippi, 22 deaths, and 133 active outbreaks in long-term care facilities. The total of #covid19 cases for the year is now 91,234, with 2,756 deaths. Case details and prevention guidance at https://t.co/QP8mlJ41AN pic.twitter.com/cypbgGsSr1

— Mississippi State Department of Health (@msdh) September 16, 2020

YP – Wicker: Oracle’s TikTok Deal Raises Serious Questions

U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., today joined U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Rick Scott, R-Fla., Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and John Cornyn, R-Texas, to outline significant concerns regarding reports that the U.S.-based technology company Oracle Corp. had confirmed a deal with the China-based ByteDance to become a “trusted technology provider” for the wildly popular social media app TikTok. The deal is the result of negotiations started by ByteDance after President Trump threatened to shut down TikTok’s U.S. operations unless the company severed the app’s ties with China and could guarantee the safety of U.S. user data.

“Any deal between an American company and ByteDance must ensure that TikTok’s U.S. operations, data, and algorithms are entirely outside the control of ByteDance or any Chinese-state directed actors, including any entity that can be compelled by Chinese law to turn over or access U.S. consumer data,” the senators wrote. “As reported, the proposed partnership agreement between Oracle and TikTok leaves significant unresolved national security issues, and we expect the Administration to keep Congress fully informed as you evaluate this potential agreement.”

YP – Hyde-Smith asks for agency plans to get COVID-19 vaccines to rural areas

U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today sought details of how federal agencies plan to ensure the availability and distribution of an anticipated COVID-19 vaccine to rural and underserved communities.

CLARION LEDGER – Among Mississippians, Gov. Reeves’ pandemic approval ratings decline as Trump’s hold steady

Significantly fewer Mississippians approve of Gov. Tate Reeves’ handling of the pandemic now compared to the early weeks of the crisis, a new survey shows.

Some 56% of state residents approved of Reeves’ performance in late April, a figure that slipped to 34% by August, according to the latest in a series of surveys about governors’ performance across all 50 states.

The survey project — run by researchers from Northeastern, Harvard, Rutgers and Northwestern universities — found while governors across the board saw their pandemic approval ratings slip, Reeves and 11 other governors had garnered “notably low” ratings.

WJTV – Mississippi Secretary of State on how to avoid hurricane charity scams