JACKSON—The small town of Houston, Miss., has struggled in recent years. The only emergency room in the area closed in 2014, and the poverty rate remains higher than in the rest of the state.
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said at a Democratic candidates forum earlier this week that the prognosis is grim for his hometown and similar municipalities unless leaders take steps to bring all parts of the state into the 21st century when it comes to technology education and infrastructure.
“That is the hope for our future,” Hood told the Women for Progress Political Candidate Forum at the Art Center of Mississippi in Jackson on July 23. “In two-lane roads like the town I’m from, the only hope we have is for technology. And that’s through our young people developing apps and technologies that can make a difference in our lives.”
Mississippi Lags Behind in Broadband
Right now, though, just over 30% of the state does not have access to high-speed broadband service at all and remains limited to relying on slower options, like dial-up, to connect to the internet. It’s worse in rural areas and small towns.
