YP – Special Elections in Mississippi coming up Tuesday, November 2nd
According to the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office, there are only two contested state legislative special elections being held on Tuesday – State Senate District 32 and District 38. Uncontested races – those without an opponent – are for State Representative in House District 29, Circuit Court Judge in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Districts, and Chancery Court Judge in the 19th District. Also, two District Attorney positions were up for grabs but both candidates drew no opponent in the 2nd and 13th Districts…
…On the local level, there are special elections being held for school board, county supervisor, county sheriff and other positions across the state in the following counties: Hancock, Hinds, Jackson, Kemper, Lauderdale, Lee, Leflour, Marion, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pike, Quitman, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tippah, Walthall, Wilkinson, Winston, Adams, Amite, Boliver, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Claiborne, Clarke, DeSoto, George, Greene, Grenada.
Polls open from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. throughout the state. If you are not sure where you are registered to vote or what your polling location would be, you can access it through the Secretary of State’s website under Y’all Vote. All mail in ballots must be postmarked by November 2nd.
MSDH COVID-19 Reporting
Today MSDH is reporting 343 more cases of COVID-19 in Mississippi, 5 deaths, and 26 ongoing outbreaks in long-term care facilities. State #covid19 totals: 504,009 cases, 10,064 deaths, and 1,370,743 persons fully vaccinated. Full COVID-19 information: https://t.co/YCv9xPyJDk pic.twitter.com/jCxSmeZgUo
— Mississippi State Department of Health (@msdh) October 28, 2021
MSDH says Tuesday’s COVID case number reflect data backlog
State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers stated that the relatively high number of cases reported on Tuesday was partly due to data backlog.
Jim Craig encourages everyone to get vaccinated and get the booster vaccine, if eligible, before the holidays.
— Magnolia Tribune (@magnoliatribune) October 28, 2021
YP – Seven-Member Subcommittee appointed in Mississippi Senate to recommend use of $1.8 billion in American Rescue Plan funds
Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann (R) and Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson (R) have named a seven-member Senate Appropriations Subcommittee today to make recommendations on expending the $1.8 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds allocated to the Mississippi Legislature.
Hosemann and Hopson announced the new subcommittee in a release on Thursday.
State Senator John Polk (R) will Chair the Subcommittee. Members include Senators Albert Butler (D), Dennis DeBar (R), Hillman Frazier (D), Walter Michel (R), Rita Parks (R), and Bart Williams (R).
Comments from State Officials at MEC HobNob
Expanding access to broadband.
Training our workforce for the jobs of the next 50 years.
Working to eliminate the state income tax.
Today I was glad to be at Hobnob 2021 to discuss the steps we're taking to put Mississippians on the path to economic prosperity. pic.twitter.com/VkTWrfaG6f
— Governor Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) October 28, 2021
Speaker of the House @PhilipGunnMS recapped his comments at #HobNob2021 which primarily focused on the federal vaccine mandates coming down from the @POTUS administration.
"I think it's an overreach. I think the President has abused his authority." #msleg pic.twitter.com/Yd9Hw9ZOLB
— Magnolia Tribune (@magnoliatribune) October 28, 2021
Earlier, members heard from State Auditor @shadwhite who continued to commit to his office's work to find fraud in the state regardless of "who you are, how powerful you are, or what party you are from," for the benefit of the taxpayer and use of their dollars. #HobNob2021 pic.twitter.com/bmwPydQYMI
— Magnolia Tribune (@magnoliatribune) October 28, 2021
Commissioner @CommAndyGipson recapped his speech today. He noted that #Mississippi's economy is doing well but there are some threats to it in the form of labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, inflation and the federal vaccine mandate. #HobNob2021 pic.twitter.com/4exiCcrmeR
— Magnolia Tribune (@magnoliatribune) October 28, 2021
Favre issues statement on Facebook in response to State Auditor’s comments
After repaying nearly $600,000 to the state earlier this week, Brett Favre posted the following on Facebook on Friday morning:
As I have said before, I would never accept money for no-show appearances, as the state of Mississippi auditor, Shad White, claims.
I am doing all that I can to support this investigation to make things right for the people of Mississippi and I have shared all that I know, which is that I was paid for three years of commercials that I did, and I paid taxes on the money, as I should.
Of course the money was returned because I would never knowingly take funds meant to help our neighbors in need, but for Shad White to continue to push out this lie that the money was for no-show events is something I cannot stay silent about.
Despite all efforts to seek clarification with the auditor, he has never granted a call back or a meeting with me, but has instead only repeatedly run to the media.
Prioritizing sensational headlines over seeking truth is doing a disservice to the people of our great state who deserve answers and a resolution.
Brett
WJTV – Longtime member of Mississippi State Parole Board resigns
A longtime member of the Mississippi State Parole Board announced he will resign on Sunday, October 21, 2021.
Nehemiah Flowers, Jr., has served on the five-member board for the past eight years. He was appointed by former Governor Phil Bryant in 2013 and was reappointed by Governor Tate Reeves in 2020.
WXXV – WXXV Welcomes Meggan Gray to “NEWS 25 Today” Team
WXXV-TV (NBC and FOX) in Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi is pleased to welcome veteran newscaster Meggan Gray to the News 25 family. Meggan will co-anchor “News 25 Today” from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday-Friday and will also anchor the noon newscast on WXXV-TV, NBC.
YP NOTE: Gray left WLOX following the company’s imposition of a COVID vaccine requirement for employment.
Magnolia Tribune
