MFP Contributor
Both federal manager Ted Henifin and the Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba are warning that state politicians are attempting to take over Jackson’s water system, along with hundreds of millions in federal funds meant for repairing it.
Merit announced in September 2022 that the Joseph M. Still Burn Center would share the same fate as Mississippi’s last dedicated burn center in 2005. It closed in October 2022, and now its predecessor in Georgia is receiving many of the most serious cases that would have otherwise found stellar treatment in their home state. No other facility like JMS exists in Mississippi.
Ted Henifin’s years of public utilities expertise made him the U.S. DOJ’s pick for leadership as Jackson’s new “interim third party manager,” a role with unique autonomy from both the City of Jackson and the State of Mississippi. He spoke to the Mississippi Free Press just ahead of a windfall of federal funds-and a dangerous winter storm.
Jackson’s newly established interim third-party management team will soon enjoy a massive war chest to fund their revitalization of the water system, a project previously estimated to have a total cost of $1 billion dollars.
The City of Jackson is on the cusp of receiving an unprecedented $600 million in federal funds to alleviate the water crisis and rebuild significant portions of the drinking water system. U.S. House Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., andU.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., announced that the congressional year-end funding omnibus bill will include the enormous grant exclusively for the City of Jackson.
The State of Mississippi is leaving millions of dollars on the table that could directly benefit families in deep poverty, witnesses emphasized repeatedly during a public hearing Thursday before the Mississippi House and Senate Democratic caucuses.
The Mississippi Free Press will appeal the Mississippi Ethics Commission’s determination that the State Legislature is not a public body under the Open Meetings Act. That decision, which the commission finalized today, allows the House Republican Caucus to gather a full quorum of the Mississippi House of Representatives and deliberate on legislation in secret.
The Mississippi Ethics Commission held its likely final discussion on the Mississippi Free Press’ complaint against the State House of Representatives today, restating their disagreements over the commission’s decision to declare the Mississippi Legislature not a public body under the Open Meetings Act.
The Centers for Disease Control is warning of the worst flu season in over a decade, with more than 78,000 hospitalizations and 4,500 deaths across the nation this year alone. Mississippi’s health system, already struggling with the damage from years of COVID-19, is feeling the consequences of the surge as well.
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The Mississippi Free Press is a project of the Mississippi Journalism and Education Group, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit journalism organization (EIN 85-1403937).