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July 26, 2024

A company wanted to store carbon under US forests. It may get its wish.

After it was twice denied permission to store carbon dioxide under U.S. Forest Service lands, a company looking to store millions of tons of the greenhouse gas in the Southeast made a strategic decision: Keep pushing.

The company, CapturePoint Solutions, leased property adjacent to forest service land in Mississippi for a project there. It started a program teaching carbon management at a school system near Forest Service land in Louisiana. And then, more than a year after it received its first denial, CapturePoint invited federal officials on an informational tour to discuss storing carbon under forest service land.

USFS officials are now considering a draft rule to allow carbon capture under U.S-owned land. The agency insists the company’s requests did not influence its decision to draft the rule — and that no one from the Forest Service attended the informational tour.

“We always felt and believed that the Forest Service was not following (Federal Land Policy and Management Act), and therefore continued our efforts,” said a CapturePoint spokesperson who asked not to be named.

That law allows some federal lands to be used for energy, including gas. Environmental groups argue the 1976 law does not cover carbon dioxide storage. They are concerned that CO2 could leak from the ground, injuring or killing people and animals and damaging the forest. Injecting the carbon underground, they say, amounts to an industrialization of federal land.

While it is technically possible for such a leak to occur, the chances of a leak from storage areas more than a mile underground are “extremely remote,” CapturePoint CEO Tracy Evans told Floodlight.

Visitors can ride their horses on one of many multiple-use trails on Sam Houston National Forest, Texas. ExxonMobil had sought to inject carbon under the forest, which is not allowed under U.S. Forest Service regulations. A draft agency rule, if finalized, would allow such sequestration. Credit: Preston Keres / U.S. Forest Service

Agency records reveal various requests

CapturePoint’s efforts were detailed in public records obtained from the Forest Service by CURE, a Minnesota-based nonprofit, and shared with Floodlight. CURE is opposed to carbon pipelines in Minnesota and is concerned about carbon storage under Forest Service land in its state. The records also reveal inquiries in 2022 by ExxonMobil to stash carbon under the Sam Houston National Forest in Texas.

The Carbon Capture Coalition says the United States won’t be able to meet 2050 greenhouse gas reduction targets unless it allows federal land to be used for carbon storage. The pro-carbon capture coalition of more than 100 companies, unions, conservation and environmental policy organizations estimates about 130 million acres of federal lands overlay suitable geology for the secure storage of captured carbon dioxide. The Forest Service manages 21% of that land.

CapturePoint applied to inject carbon under the Kisatchie National Forest in central Louisiana in 2021 under its previous corporate name, Authentic Reductions. CapturePoint also applied to inject carbon under the Delta National Forest in Mississippi in 2022.

The applications were rejected for the same reason — such a permit would allow a permanent use of Forest Service land, something the agency has historically not allowed.

The U.S. Forest Service owns 173 million acres of land. It is proposing that some land under its forests be used to store carbon captured from industries to prevent it from being released into the atmosphere. Credit: U.S. Forest Service

New carbon capture rule on tap

Now, more than three years after the company began its push, the Forest Service is in the middle of changes that could allow the storage of the greenhouse gas under millions of acres of Forest Service land indefinitely.

The comment period for the draft rule ended in January. The Forest Service is currently reviewing the comments, agency spokesperson Catherine McRae said.

Both CapturePoint and the Forest Service agree: No agency employees ended up attending the tour the company held of the Kisatchie and Delta forests in 2022. CapturePoint said it had no direct input on the creation of the draft rules. And McRae said the company’s requests did not prompt the Forest Service to propose the draft rule.

The email correspondence in the records obtained by CURE included draft applications from CapturePoint to inject carbon under the two forests. In both, CapturePoint offered $1 per ton of injected carbon. In the Kisatchie National Forest, CapturePoint proposed injecting up to 50 million tons over a 12- to 20-year period — which it said is equivalent to removing the emissions from 10 million cars a year. In the Delta forest, the company said it wanted to inject 6-12 million tons over 12 years.

The Inflation Reduction Act offers companies that capture and store carbon dioxide from $60 to $180 per ton in tax credits. Evans told Floodlight $1 per ton was offered when subsidies were lower, but there are mechanisms in place to increase the payments if subdies increased.

“Some of the lobbying was sort of surprising,” said Hudson Kingston, legal director of CURE. He said the company “sucked up to” federal employees by offering to take them on the tour. “It’s how regulatory capture works.”

Victoria Bogdan Tejeda, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, had a similar reaction.

“One could really infer that there was a lot of industry pressure or influence to try to get access to this pore (underground) space,” Bogdan Tejeda said. “And that, so far, they were successful, at least with getting a rule out there that would make their applications possible.”

CapturePoint doesn’t see it that way. Evans argued that storing carbon under Forest Service and other federal lands makes sense given the federal government’s “desire to have CCS move forward.”

Visitors enjoy riding one of many multiple-use trails on Sam Houston National Forest, Texas.
(USDA Forest Service photo by Preston Keres) Credit: Preston Keres / U.S. Forest Service

Feds already allow some carbon storage

In addition to approaching the Forest Service, CapturePoint also inquired about storing carbon under a U.S. Army base in central Louisiana, he said.

Some federal agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, already allow carbon to be stored under their lands under the federal land management law. In 2022, the BLM granted its first approval to ExxonMobil to permanently store carbon under land in Wyoming, a project that remains controversial.

While CapturePoint says the law should also apply to the Forest Service, Bogdan Tejeda said it’s not that straightforward. The law does not mention carbon dioxide or permanent storage, and historically, the Forest Service has interpreted its own authority as barring any permanent use, she said.

November’s draft rule by the Forest Service surprised many agency observers, who say it bucks precedent. While there are leases on Forest Service for oil and gas drilling, for instance, those leases are for a set number of years, not for a permanent use, Bogdan Tejeda said.

“I’m not seeing anything in the rule that they (USFS) issued, showing why that would change,” she said.

Among the concerns over storing carbon under forest service land is the potential to endanger tribes’ access to fish and other food, which the federal government agreed to protect in exchange for seizing vast tracts of Native American land, according to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon.

Boaters head out onto Lake Conroe on Sam Houston National Forest, Texas. Credit: USDA Forest Service photo by Preston Keres

Bogdan Tejeda still has a lot of questions, including who will monitor the stored carbon after CapturePoint is gone — and who will be liable if something goes wrong.

“It gives industry essentially a place to dump their carbon dioxide waste, benefit from the tax credits, and they don’t have to deal with the messiness of trying to get permission from property owners and eminent domain.”

The federal government says, ‘Hey, just come on over here,’ ” she said, “and that’s a form of a subsidy.”

Floodlight is a nonprofit newsroom that partners with local and national outlets to investigate the powerful interests stalling climate action.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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$100 million emissions reduction project announced in Yazoo City

State News

Frank Corder

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July 26, 2024

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CF Industries’ Donaldson, Louisiana Ammonia 6 plant. (Photo from company website)

It is the second major decarbonization project undertaken by CF Industries Holdings, Inc., the world’s largest producer of ammonia.

A carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project is moving forward in Yazoo City. That was the word Thursday from CF Industries Holdings, Inc., the world’s largest producer of ammonia.

The company announced that the project at its Delta facility, its second major decarbonization project, is expected to reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted to the atmosphere from the facility by up to 500,000 metric tons annually. As part of the project, the CF Industrial Holdings signed a definitive commercial agreement with ExxonMobil for the transport and sequestration in permanent geologic storage of the CO₂, with sequestration expected to start in 2028.

“We are pleased to advance another significant decarbonization project that will keep CF Industries at the forefront of low-carbon ammonia production while also helping us achieve our 2030 emissions intensity reduction goal,” said Tony Will, President and CEO of CF Industries Holdings said in a statement. “This decarbonization project also will increase the availability of nitrogen products with a lower-carbon intensity for customers focused on reducing the carbon footprint of their businesses.”

CF Industries Holdings said it is investing approximately $100 million into its Yazoo City Complex. Once sequestration by ExxonMobil has commenced, the company expects the project to qualify for tax credits under Section 45Q of the Internal Revenue Code, which provides a credit per metric ton of CO₂ sequestered.

The Yazoo City Complex is expected to be able to manufacture products with a substantially lower carbon intensity than conventional ammonia production sites.

According to the company, most of the ammonia produced at the Yazoo City Complex is upgraded into nitrogen fertilizers such as urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) solutions and ammonium nitrate (AN), or upgraded into diesel exhaust fluid, which is used to reduce NOx emissions from diesel trucks.

AN produced at Yazoo City is used as fertilizer and also by the mining industry as a component of explosives. The company anticipates demand for these products manufactured with a lower carbon intensity to increase significantly as the agriculture and mining industries work to lower carbon emissions in their supply chains.

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First-timers guide to the Neshoba County Fair

State News

courtney ingle

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July 26, 2024

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First-timers guide to the Neshoba County Fair

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

This year’s “Giant House Party” runs from July 26 until August 2.

If you’re headed to the Neshoba County Fair in Choctaw, Mississippi, for the first time, you should know that it will be an experience you’ll never forget. Known as “Mississippi’s Giant House Party,” the Neshoba County Fair is the nation’s only remaining campground fair, and it draws in people from all over the world.

For 135 years, this fair has brought thousands to this otherwise humble campground, celebrating the uniqueness of the Magnolia States, from the fair’s cabins to the racetrack.

Visiting the Neshoba State Fair is like getting a masterclass in hospitality and Mississippi culture. It’s easy to get overwhelmed the first time you visit, so here’s a comprehensive guide for thoroughly enjoying your first time at the Fair.

Beat the heat

Unless you’re in the pageant or dancing at Founder’s Square after dark, now is not the time to be cute! This is real Mississippi heat. The kind of heat that sticks to you and lives on your skin like a thick coating, like a sunscreen that won’t sink in. Wear loose clothing that you don’t mind getting dirty. A lot of the Neshoba County Fair is on dirt or gravel; when it rains it’s muddy and if it doesn’t, it’s dusty. Be prepared for either!

Comfortable walking shoes or mud boots are a necessity; however, leave the high-dollar, easy-to-ruin kicks at the house. And since there’s a slight chance of rain nearly every summer day in Mississippi, pack a poncho or umbrella just in case.

What you wear isn’t the only way to beat the heat at the Neshoba County Fair. Stay-cool towels that you can wet and throw around your neck will help keep you cool, as will battery-operated, handheld fans.

Free water is available at the Exhibit Hall – just look for the CDP booth.

Cash is king

Debit card usage isn’t consistent across the Neshoba County Fairgrounds. While some vendors and ticket counters can take them, others can’t. Even the card-taking vendors might lose network connectivity from time to time, and the fairgrounds are remote.

You’re better off carrying enough cash to get your meals, snacks, tickets, and anything you might find, especially for the arts and crafts fair.

Think of the children

Wagons and strollers are allowed inside the gates, and with the amount of walking, keeping the kiddos content is worth it. Remember that if it has recently rained, pushing through might be harder than usual.

However, the Neshoba County Fair is incredibly kid-friendly, with a petting zoo, interactive exhibits, vendors, rides, and more. Best of all, kids nine and under get into the fair for free.

Directions and accommodations

The Neshoba County Fair website lists several area hotels, RV parking opportunities, and directions to the Fairgrounds. The Neshoba County Fair is only 200 miles from Birmingham, 210 miles from Memphis, and 256 miles from New Orleans, and is easily accessed from Interstates 20, 55, and 59. Click here for more in-depth directions and hotel recommendations.

As you get closer to the Fairgrounds, you will see paid and free parking opportunities, but shuttling to and fro is not typically included in the price. You’re buying the availability and certainty of a parking spot without having to drive around, so keep in mind that the further out you are, the more walking you may be doing.

Here’s a map of the Neshoba County Fairgrounds to help you plan your experience:

Get ready for the fun

Each day of the Neshoba County Fair promises fun and excitement for all ages. With different events each day, you’ll want to know what’s happening before you plan your day.

Click here for a full lineup of daily events at the Fair.

Click here for the rundown of nightly activities.

Crowds will vary throughout the day, but Founders Square is often packed with events during the day. Some of the busiest times are during the Arts and Crafts Fair and the political speeches at the Pavilion.

Have fun! There’s so much to experience at the Neshoba County Fair. Plan your trip now by visiting the Neshoba County Fair website.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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God’s is the victory

Lifestyle

c.h. spurgeon

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July 26, 2024

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But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. – Exodus 7:12

This incident is an instructive illustration of the certain victory of God’s handiwork over all opposition. Whenever a divine principle is set in the heart, even though the devil may create a counterfeit and produce swarms of opponents, we may be sure that God is in the work, and it will swallow up all its foes. If God’s grace takes possession of a man, the world’s magicians may throw down all their staffs, and every staff may be as cunning and poisonous as a serpent; but Aaron’s staff will swallow up their staffs.

The sweet attractions of the cross will woo and win the man’s heart, so that although he had lived only for this deceitful earth, he will now have an eye for heaven, and his mind will be set on the things that are above. When grace has won the day, the unbeliever begins to seek the world to come. The same fact is to be observed in the life of the believer. A company of enemies assailed our faith—our old sins; the devil threw them down before us, and they turned to serpents. What numbers of them! But the cross of Jesus destroys them all. Faith in Christ makes short work of all our sins.

Then the devil has launched another host of serpents in the form of worldly trials, temptations, unbelief; but faith in Jesus is more than a match for them and overcomes them all. The same absorbing principle shines in the faithful service of God!

With an enthusiastic love for Jesus, difficulties are surmounted; sacrifices become pleasures; sufferings are honors. But if faith is a consuming passion in the heart, then it follows that there are many people who profess it but do not have it; for what they have will not bear this test. Examine yourself, my reader, on this point. Aaron’s staff proved its heaven-given power. Is your faith doing so? If Christ is anything, He must be everything. Do not rest until love and faith in Jesus are the master passions of your soul!

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Judge: Pretrial Files in Jay Lee Murder Case to Remain Unsealed

State News

Mississippi Free Press

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July 25, 2024

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Judge: Pretrial Files in Jay Lee Murder Case to Remain Unsealed

OXFORD, Miss.—Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge Kelly Luther denied a joint motion on Thursday by attorneys on both sides to seal all pretrial filings in the capital-murder case against Sheldon “Timothy” Harrington, who is accused of killing Jimmie “Jay” Lee in 2022, a University of Mississippi student who planned to start graduate school in the fall. Lee’s body has not been found.

Rep. Kevin Horan, Harrington’s defense attorney, and District Attorney Ben Creekmore, the prosecuting attorney in the case, jointly filed the motion to seal the filings. Both attorneys assert that this action will guarantee a fair trial for the defendant, a former UM student from Grenada, Miss.

The case has received immense media attention since Jay Lee’s disappearance on July 8, 2022. Horan has said that he believes this publicity will introduce prejudice to the trial and to a potential jury pool.

“People on social-media platforms have the tendency to post everything we do, and sometimes they get it wrong,” Horan said. “For example, this motion would only cover the filings between now and the time the jury is seated, and not the whole trial. That’s not what’s being reported, and that jeopardizes the defendant’s right to a fair trial.”

Still, prosecutors and defense attorneys filing jointly on a motion to seal case information is rare. “The state also has the ethical obligation to ensure the defendant’s right to a fair trial,” Horan said. “The coverage of this case isn’t going to diminish, and any efforts to diminish sensationalized pretrial publicity are in the best interest of a fair trial.”

‘Secrecy Lessens the Public’s Trust’

Charles Mitchell, a media-law professor at the University of Mississippi, speculated that the concern is not with what traditional media outlets are reporting, but rather with the voluminous amount of social-media posts circulated since Lee’s disappearance.

“Courts and their records are open for a reason, (and) it has to be noted that any amount of secrecy lessens the public’s trust in the process,” Mitchell said. “Judges have to balance the interests at stake when there’s a motion like

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Congressman Michael Guest exchanges barbs over Kamala Harris’ role as ‘border czar’

State News

Russ Latino, Empower MS

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July 25, 2024

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Congressman Michael Guest exchanges barbs over Kamala Harris’ role as ‘border czar’

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on reproductive freedom at Howard University on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution today condemning Vice President and presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for failures as the Biden administration’s ‘border czar. The 220-196 vote saw six Democrats break with their party and joined Republicans in supporting the measure.

The floor vote came a day after Mississippi Congressman Michael Guest (R) presented the resolution in the House Rules Committee. In a tense exchange, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) challenged Guest on whether the Biden administration had ever named Harris ‘border czar.’

Guest noted that Harris had repeatedly been identified that way by the media, to which McGovern retorted “right wing media.”

The Political Dangers of Being Labeled ‘Border Czar’

The question of Harris’ role in managing the border crisis has featured prominently in the days following President Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 election. For much of this year, immigration polled as the top issue facing the country.

Gallup reports that amid a record surge in illegal border crossings, 55 percent of Americans want to reduce immigration into the country — the first time since 2005 that a majority supports less immigration.

The stakes are high on the issue. A YouGov poll published this week showed Harris trailing former President Trump on the question of immigration by 15 points.

Harris’ track record on immigration could pose challenges in the current environment. When she ran for president in 2020, Harris indicated she did not think illegally crossing the border should be a crime and voiced support for providing taxpayer-funded government healthcare to migrants. In a 2018 Senate hearing, then-Senator Harris drew parallels between ICE agents and the Ku Klux Klan.

A ‘Right Wing’ Hit Job?

Axios’ Stef W. Kight wrote yesterday, “the Trump campaign and Republicans have tagged Harris repeatedly with the ‘border czar’ title — which she never actually had.”

Efforts to portray the use of the moniker as a Republican or ‘right wing’ falsehood also appeared in or on ABC, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, and TIME magazine.

In a joint press conference held on March 24, 2021, Biden assigned Harris to “lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle, and the countries that need help stemming the migration to our border.”

Kight, at the time of the press conference, wrote an article for Axios entitled “Biden puts Harris in charge of border crisis.”

Similar headlines appeared three years ago in mainstream news outlets such as the Associated Press, NBC News, ABC News, Politico, The BBC, and The Los Angeles Times (Headlines pictured below).

Following a critical response on social media platforms, including a Community Note on X which highlighted the inconsistency in Kight’s 2021 story and her story from yesterday, Axios added a correction to the 2021 story, which read:

“Editor’s note: This article has been updated and clarified to note that Axios was among the news outlets that incorrectly labeled Harris a ‘border czar’ back in 2021.“

Headlines from various news outlets from the day of Biden’s and Harris’ press conference announcing Harris’ new border control assignment.

The conservative Media Research Center put out a video compilation from ABC News, CBS News, CNN and MSNBC yesterday, which contrasted recent denials that Harris served the function of ‘border czar,’ with previous statements made by reporters and pundits on those same news outlets applying that label to her.

More than ‘Border Czar’ Revisions

News outlets are not the only ones revising stories in the wake of Harris’ ascent. In 2019-2020, the non-partisan organization GovTrack rated Harris as the most liberal senator in the U.S. Senate. GovTrack deleted that story from its website this week and added this note:

On July 23, 2024, this article was updated. The text “, especially given our ranking her as the most left-leaning senator in 2019 based on cosponsorship. But looking at the legislation she’s introduced tells a different story — judge for yourself.” was removed. Once the 2019–2020 session of Congress was complete, the statistics for the entire session and for Harris’s entire tenure in the senate showed a different story.

The revised rankings for 2019-2020 put Harris as the second most left leaning Senator, behind only Senator Bernie Sanders.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Read original article by clicking here.

Congressman Michael Guest exchanges barbs over Kamala Harris’ role as ‘border czar’

State News

Russ Latino, Empower MS

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July 25, 2024

0

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on reproductive freedom at Howard University on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution today condemning Vice President and presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for failures as the Biden administration’s ‘border czar. The 220-196 vote saw six Democrats break with their party and joined Republicans in supporting the measure.

The floor vote came a day after Mississippi Congressman Michael Guest (R) presented the resolution in the House Rules Committee. In a tense exchange, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) challenged Guest on whether the Biden administration had ever named Harris ‘border czar.’

Guest noted that Harris had repeatedly been identified that way by the media, to which McGovern retorted “right wing media.”

The Political Dangers of Being Labeled ‘Border Czar’

The question of Harris’ role in managing the border crisis has featured prominently in the days following President Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 election. For much of this year, immigration polled as the top issue facing the country.

Gallup reports that amid a record surge in illegal border crossings, 55 percent of Americans want to reduce immigration into the country — the first time since 2005 that a majority supports less immigration.

The stakes are high on the issue. A YouGov poll published this week showed Harris trailing former President Trump on the question of immigration by 15 points.

Harris’ track record on immigration could pose challenges in the current environment. When she ran for president in 2020, Harris indicated she did not think illegally crossing the border should be a crime and voiced support for providing taxpayer-funded government healthcare to migrants. In a 2018 Senate hearing, then-Senator Harris drew parallels between ICE agents and the Ku Klux Klan.

A ‘Right Wing’ Hit Job?

Axios’ Stef W. Kight wrote yesterday, “the Trump campaign and Republicans have tagged Harris repeatedly with the ‘border czar’ title — which she never actually had.”

Efforts to portray the use of the moniker as a Republican or ‘right wing’ falsehood also appeared in or on ABC, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, and TIME magazine.

In a joint press conference held on March 24, 2021, Biden assigned Harris to “lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle, and the countries that need help stemming the migration to our border.”

Kight, at the time of the press conference, wrote an article for Axios entitled “Biden puts Harris in charge of border crisis.”

Similar headlines appeared three years ago in mainstream news outlets such as the Associated Press, NBC News, ABC News, Politico, The BBC, and The Los Angeles Times (Headlines pictured below).

Following a critical response on social media platforms, including a Community Note on X which highlighted the inconsistency in Kight’s 2021 story and her story from yesterday, Axios added a correction to the 2021 story, which read:

“Editor’s note: This article has been updated and clarified to note that Axios was among the news outlets that incorrectly labeled Harris a ‘border czar’ back in 2021.“

The conservative Media Research Center put out a video compilation from ABC News, CBS News, CNN and MSNBC yesterday, which contrasted recent denials that Harris served the function of ‘border czar,’ with previous statements made by reporters and pundits on those same news outlets applying that label to her.

More than ‘Border Czar’ Revisions

News outlets are not the only ones revising stories in the wake of Harris’ ascent. In 2019-2020, the non-partisan organization GovTrack rated Harris as the most liberal senator in the U.S. Senate. GovTrack deleted that story from its website this week and added this note:

On July 23, 2024, this article was updated. The text “, especially given our ranking her as the most left-leaning senator in 2019 based on cosponsorship. But looking at the legislation she’s introduced tells a different story — judge for yourself.” was removed. Once the 2019–2020 session of Congress was complete, the statistics for the entire session and for Harris’s entire tenure in the senate showed a different story.

The revised rankings for 2019-2020 put Harris as the second most left leaning Senator, behind only Senator Bernie Sanders.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Read original article by clicking here.

‘A Humanitarian Issue’: South Jackson Residents Demand Response From Mayor Over Living Conditions

State News

shaunicy muhammad

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July 25, 2024

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‘A Humanitarian Issue’: South Jackson Residents Demand Response From Mayor Over Living Conditions

JACKSON, Miss.—South Jackson residents are organizing over what they say has been a lack of municipal investment in their neighborhoods and a decline in their quality of life in recent years, they said during a July 18, 2024, meeting at the Peggy Calhoun Community Center on Willowwood Boulevard.

“Our leadership has failed us,” Earnest Ward, a long time resident and president of the Association of South Jackson Neighborhoods, said during the meeting.

About 50 residents attended the ASJN meeting, where Ward gave an impassioned speech urging them to be vocal about issues plaguing their neighborhoods.

Tim Henderson, a 2024 candidate for the Jackson mayoral seat, was one of those in attendance.

Despite paying taxes, Ward said, residents do not believe they are receiving adequate municipal services. “We are not getting the quality of life we’re supposed to get. What y’all gonna do?” Ward asked the crowd gathered on a Thursday night. “Are you going to continue to stay silent?”

During the meeting, he cited a lack of investment from the 1% sales tax, lackluster code enforcement of city ordinances, a desire for increased police presence, and ongoing issues with water and sewer services as some of the problems.

While residents across the capital city have grappled with issues like crime, fires at abandoned properties, illegal dumping and decline in population, problems have been particularly persistent in some South Jackson

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Foster parent recruitment begins with retention

State News

thomas dent

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July 25, 2024

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Foster parent recruitment begins with retention

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

Thomas Dent writes that Mississippi desperately needs to increase its focus on retention to address the shortage of licensed homes.

Benjamin Franklin famously said, “In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” In Mississippi, you can add the need for more foster parents to the list.

We see the news stories and hear about the need for additional foster homes in our state. It’s a heartbreaking reality, and as time goes on, the problem persists. Being a foster parent is hard, but are we making it harder than it should be? As a former foster parent, I believe there needs to be more focus on retaining the foster parents we recruit. The questions we need to be asking are, “Who are the best recruiters?” and, “Are we using them to their full potential?”

I believe current and former foster parents are the best recruiters, and although they are used in some capacity, their potential impact is far greater. Using people with firsthand experience to recruit isn’t a new idea; the military and universities use their own, and recruiting foster parents can work the same way. This idea works because we value others’ personal experiences. We all want to dip our toes in the water before deciding whether to dive in.

One of the best ways the public gets educated about foster care is when someone in their circle is fostering. It could be a relative, neighbor, friend, or someone from church or school. It’s effective because it’s less overwhelming; it’s about one or two children instead of the thousands of children in the system. The connection through a personal relationship is stronger than a news story, even though it may reach fewer people. Through a personal relationship, questions can be answered, experiences shared, eyes opened, and hearts changed with little pressure.

For this to be effective, the foster parent has to feel supported by the child welfare agency to want to share and potentially recruit others. Being shown respect, consideration, trust, and value by the agency are the cornerstones of feeling supported. These have to be more than words on a page, and they must be felt by those serving in the trenches. I am talking about retention, and Mississippi desperately needs to increase its focus in this area to address the shortage of licensed homes.

The problem didn’t develop overnight and won’t be solved that quickly either. I believe foster parents aren’t encouraging other families to follow their lead due to their experience within the system. These negative experiences will have to change if we want to see an increase in safe and loving homes becoming licensed.

At its core, retention is a communication and customer service issue. Foster parents need to feel safe asking questions with the expectation that they will get a timely response. If calls, voicemails, and texts are regularly ignored, then their opinion of the agency will rightfully suffer. Most foster parents understand that agencies are understaffed and overworked and are willing to give caseworkers the benefit of the doubt as long as it doesn’t become a pattern. They also want to be heard.

They understand that the caseworkers and the judges have to make difficult decisions in a child’s case and that they won’t always agree with those decisions. From the foster parent’s perspective, frustration exists when those decisions are made without all the information available, as is sometimes the case. For a foster parent, agreeing isn’t the goal; being heard is. A part of being heard is addressing issues brought up by foster parents. That means listening, understanding, and resolving concerns promptly. The resolution doesn’t necessarily mean agreement. It is reasonable that the answer may not be what the foster parent was hoping for. However, the resolution should be communicated with a sensible explanation of how the decision was determined.

Are these ideas the norm inside the state’s child welfare system? I’d argue that the declining number of licensed homes gives reason to be concerned about how foster parents are treated and ultimately retained.

When a family gets licensed, no one, including the family, knows how long they will be fostering. Will it be for one or ten years? Will they accept one placement or twenty?

As their journey begins, each interaction and experience will shape how long they foster. Families need to be given support by the child welfare system as they open their homes to our most vulnerable. There are too many families that closed their homes early due to their experiences with the system, not the children. We can’t go back and change the past, but we can change the future by focusing on retention.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Free Press Awards Tally: 91 Honors for Work Since March 2020

State News

Mississippi Free Press

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July 25, 2024

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Mississippi Free Press Awards Tally: 91 Honors for Work Since March 2020

The Mississippi Free Press awards board keeps swelling! As of July 2024, our team is up to 91 national and U.S. regional awards and finalist nods since we launched in late March 2020, plus a number of coveted awards from inside Mississippi. Here they are with links to specific work honored (see winners’ bios here). We will update this page from the top as more honors come in.

2024 Diamond Journalism Awards

The Arkansas Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists held their annual Diamond Journalism Awards ceremony on July 24 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The regional competition rewards outstanding journalism from news outlets in Arkansas and six bordering states.

1st Place, Profiles: Donna Ladd
Hodding Carter III: Hellraiser, Journalist, Mentor, 1935-2023

1st Place, Special Topics–Business: Heather Harrison
Medical Cannabis Industry Faces Growing Pains in Mississippi
‘Nightmare Scenario’: MSDH Places Hold On Rapid Analytics-Tested Medical-Cannabis Products
Olive Branch Medical-Cannabis Dispensary Fights Advertising Ban
‘Building an Industry’: Medical Cannabis Investors Focus On Lab Testing For Patient Safety

1st Place, Special Topics–Environmental/Science: Donna Ladd
‘One Lake’ or ‘No Lake’? Debate Over Pearl River Flooding Options Means Unlikely Allies, Opponents

1st Place, Visual Journalism–General News Photography: Shaunicy Muhammad
‘Human Error’ Caused Hinds County Election Day Ballot Shortages, Commissioners Say

Votings-rights advocates and others in Jackson, Miss., listen to Hinds County election commissioners on Dec. 18, 2023, explain the mistakes that led to ballot shortages on Election Day 2023. Photo by Shaunicy Muhammad

1st Place, Visual Journalism–Graphics/Illustrations: William Pittman
State Has Wrong or Missing Addresses for 92 Voting Precincts, MFP Investigation Finds

Finalist, Enterprise/In Depth Reporting: Christian Middleton & Donna Ladd
The Case of Harry Mitchell: One Family’s Fight for Justice
Heart of Darkness: 1991 Lafayette County Cold Case Spurs Black Family’s Struggle for Justice
Gone But Not Forgotten: Who Was Harry Mitchell?
Stop Shifting Blame, Ignoring Opinion | Black Families Who Lose Loved Ones to Violence

Finalist, Features: Aliyah Veal
‘Red and Bootjack’ Marker Shines Light on Duck Hill Lynching, Remembers Victims

Finalist, Arts & Entertainment Coverage: Aliyah Veal
‘Astronaut Behind the Music’: Jackson Artists Share Wisdom on Advancing in the Industry
‘Sounds Like Family’: Jackson Rappers Unify for Collaborative ‘Thanksgiving’ Album
‘Home Is

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The Political Dangers of Being Labeled ‘Border Czar’

A ‘Right Wing’ Hit Job?

More than ‘Border Czar’ Revisions

The Political Dangers of Being Labeled ‘Border Czar’

A ‘Right Wing’ Hit Job?

More than ‘Border Czar’ Revisions