YP Daily Roundup 1/18/21

YP – Governor Tate Reeves Extends Executive Order

Governor Tate Reeves announced the decision to extend Executive Order 1535 until Wednesday, February 3,2021 at 5:00 PM.

The following counties are currently under a county wide mask mandates after meeting the certain requirements in relation to COVID-19:

 Alcorn, Amite, Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Coahoma, Copiah, Covington, De Soto, Forrest, Franklin, George, Greene, Grenada, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys, Itawamba, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Kemper, Lafayette, Lamar, Lauderdale, Leake, Lee, Leflore, Lincoln, Lowndes, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pearl River, Perry, Pike, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Rankin, Scott, Simpson, Smith, Stone, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union, Walthall, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Winston, Yalobusha and Yazoo Counties.

MSDH daily COVID-19 reporting

Today MSDH is reporting 1,606 more cases of COVID-19 in Mississippi, 40 deaths, and 210 ongoing outbreaks in long-term care facilities. The total of #covid19 cases for the year is now 252,475, with 5,521 deaths. Case details and prevention guidance at https://t.co/YCv9xPyJDk pic.twitter.com/BK592JZZ1k

— Mississippi State Department of Health (@msdh) January 17, 2021

YP – Wicker: Big Tech Has Crossed a Red Line

This month, powerful tech companies took unprecedented steps to censor free speech. In the days after the deadly Capitol Hill riot, Facebook suspended President Trump’s account, saying it posed a “risk of further violence.” Twitter went a step further and permanently banned the President’s account, along with 70,000 others they described as a security risk. Snapchat also closed the President’s account while platforms like Reddit and Twitch began limiting Trump-related content. In addition, Parler, a platform popular among conservatives, was forced offline after Apple, Google, and Amazon removed the platform from their app stores and withdrew support services.

This tidal wave of censorship crosses a serious threshold. Conservatives have long complained about censorship on social media, but these companies have never gone this far. Their actions drew sharp criticism from our European allies, the President of Mexico, and even the liberal ACLU, who recognize this could lead to further suppression of speech. I am concerned these acts of censorship will set a dangerous trend that could threaten free speech and divide our nation further.

YP – CORDER: No, Joe! Raising minimum wage to $15 would devastate small business recovery

Nestled in President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 stimulus plan he released Thursday evening was a provision to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, a Democratic cause célèbre over the last few years that until now would not have been a possibility with Republicans in the majority of at least one chamber.

A newly released study from the Employment Policies Institute projected that such a move could result in the loss of 36,161 jobs in Mississippi and over 2 million jobs nationally by 2027.

The federal minimum wage was last increased in 2009.  Since then, workers on that minimum wage have declined, either due to states raising the wage on their own or through increased economic opportunities in the private sector that have allowed business growth and educational attainment to buoy workforce development.

Push poll on Medicaid in the field in MS

Left leaning push poll in the field testing the waters for #Medicaid expansion in Mississippi.

Group who commissioned push poll unidentified. #msleg pic.twitter.com/zKQwm0Af28

— Magnolia Tribune (@magnoliatribune) January 15, 2021

WLOX – Coast Democrats excited about presidential inauguration