Pearl, Miss. –– The Disaster Recovery Center in Hinds County operated by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and FEMA will close permanently at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 13.

The center is located at:

Hinds County Hinds County Public Works Department parking lot (look for the FEMA and MEMA signage) 10000 I-20 Frontage Road Bolton, MS 39041

Even though centers are closing, FEMA is still on the ground in Mississippi to help homeowners and renters recover from the April 8-11, 2024, storms.

FEMA will continue to receive and process appeals, assist applicants with questions and help survivors apply for assistance. Survivors can contact FEMA by:

• Calling the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362. If you use video relay service, captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA your number for that service.
• Going online to DisasterAssistance.gov
• Downloading the FEMA mobile app
• Visiting the remaining open Disaster Recovery Center in Humphreys County

Survivors have until August 9, 2024, to apply for assistance.

The following center will be open until further notice:

Humphreys County Humphreys County Multipurpose Building (look for the FEMA and MEMA signage across the street from Willard Jack Trucking) 417 Silver City Road Belzoni, MS 39038

Centers are open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Centers are closed on Sunday.

Specialists from FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration will be at the centers to help survivors apply for federal disaster assistance, check the status of their application, answer questions and provide referrals to resources.

It is not necessary to visit a center to apply for assistance. Survivors can apply for FEMA assistance by going online to DisasterAssistance.gov, downloading the FEMA mobile app or calling the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362. If you use video relay service, captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA your number for that service. For the latest information on recovery from the April tornadoes, visit msema.org and http://www.fema.gov/disaster/4790. On X/Twitter follow MEMA @MSEMA and FEMA Region 4 @femaregion4.

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This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

• Most projects involve widening major highways and interstates, while another prepares for the construction of a Buc-ee’s along the Gulf Coast

Across Mississippi, the Department of Transportation is currently working on, or overseeing, projects along the Magnolia State’s major highways and byways. Here’s an update on the largest projects. 

Highway 49

Along Highway 49, 9.2 miles of the highway is being milled and overlayed from the Simpson County line to just south of the city of Florence. Repair work that’s been completed so far includes re-leveling the underlying concrete pavement using pressure grouting, widening the turn lanes at Star Road and Eagle Post Road and ditch repairs south of Star Road. Another component of the project will upgrade deficient guardrails. APAC-MS out of Jackson won the bid for the $11.4 million project. Completion of the remaining aspects of the project is expected by spring of 2025. Motorists should expect lane closures during the night, which reduces traffic impacts as the project continues. 

I-10 Projects

Four major projects are currently underway along I-10, three of which are focused on interchanges.

New interchange for Buc-ee’s 

In preparation for the construction of a new Buc-ee’s along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, interchange projects are underway at the Menge Avenue exit along Interstate 10. Funding for the project is being provided privately and publicly through the business and the Harrison County Board of Supervisors, according to a press release from the Mississippi Department of Transportation issued in February of this year. MDOT is overseeing the project to ensure construction efforts meet the agency’s road and bridge standards and specifications. Completion of that project is slated for November of this year. T.L. Wallace Construction, based out of Columbia, won the bid for that project, which entails replacing the overpass and widening the entrance and exit ramps. The project is reported to cost about $15 million. 

I-10 widening

The largest project being conducted along I-10 will create a six lane section of the interstate from the Diamondhead exit to the County Farm Road exit that spans 11 miles through Harrison and Hancock Counties. To add the new lanes, the existing median will be used. As part of the project, crews will install digital signs to relay messages to motorists and cameras so MDOT can monitor traffic conditions. To reduce the impact of noise from the increased traffic from the interstate in the Diamondhead area a noise barrier wall will be installed. A multi-use path at the Diamondhead exit will also be created as part of the work. 

Widening the interstate to six lanes will reduce congestion, while also making that section of I-10 safer for motorists and pedestrians. Huey Stockstill Inc. out of Picayune was awarded the $155 million project, which is expected to be complete sometime in 2027.

Diamondhead interchange

Another project underway along I-10 is a $17 million project to improve the Diamondhead interchange. The contractor who won the contract, T.L. Wallace, will construct roundabouts in the north and south sides of the exit and another at the intersection of Gex Drive and Aloha Drive. The anticipated completion date for that project is sometime in 2026.

Interchange at Shriners Boulevard

Teardrop-shaped roundabouts are being installed at the north and south exits of the Shriners Boulevard exit in Harrison County. Once complete, those new features are expected to reduce traffic speeds, therefore preventing collisions and accidents. JLB Contractors, LLC out of Long Beach was awarded the $2.3 million project. That project has an anticipated completion date of sometime this fall.

Future I-55 Widening & Highway 7 Projects

During the most recent Legislative session, MDOT received a $250 million appropriation for capacity projects to be added to the re-appropriation of $370 in unspent funding. That funding will be used to conduct widening projects along I-55 and State Route 7.

Widening of I-55 will be conducted through three sections. The section from I-55 from Goodman to Church Road is in the right of way purchasing phase, which also entails relocating utilities. MDOT anticipates the utility relocation process to take about two years. This section of I-55 was outlined in Gov. Tate Reeves Infrastructure Proposal.

“Assuming Funding is obtained, construction should start after utilities are moved,” MDOT officials said.

Work along a section of I-55 from Church Road to I-69/I-269 is still in the conceptual planning phase and only a few right of way acquisitions have been purchased at press time. 

Another section of I-55 to get attention focuses on the area starting at I-69/I-269 to Commerce Street and is also still in the conceptual phase. Right of way acquisition for this section of the project has not yet begun.

From the Belk Boulevard intersection to the State Route 7 roundabout in the city of Oxford, the Legislature provided $160 million to widen the highway to four lanes. Right of way acquisition and utility relocation is anticipated to start later this summer. 

Also during this year’s Legislative session, lawmakers provided $175 million for a capacity project along State Route 7 in Lafayette County and $156 million for a capacity project on I-55 in DeSoto County. The State Route 7 project in Lafayette County is anticipated to be awarded in spring of 2025, and has an anticipated three-year construction timeline. Utilities for that project are currently being moved.

The capacity project in DeSoto County is set to be awarded to a contractor in spring of 2026 and has an expected three-year construction timeline. Utility relocation for that project is currently underway.

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

Read original article by clicking here.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

• Most projects involve widening major highways and interstates, while another prepares for the construction of a Buc-ee’s along the Gulf Coast

Across Mississippi, the Department of Transportation is currently working on, or overseeing, projects along the Magnolia State’s major highways and byways. Here’s an update on the largest projects. 

Highway 49

Along Highway 49, 9.2 miles of the highway is being milled and overlayed from the Simpson County line to just south of the city of Florence. Repair work that’s been completed so far includes re-leveling the underlying concrete pavement using pressure grouting, widening the turn lanes at Star Road and Eagle Post Road and ditch repairs south of Star Road. Another component of the project will upgrade deficient guardrails. APAC-MS out of Jackson won the bid for the $11.4 million project. Completion of the remaining aspects of the project is expected by spring of 2025. Motorists should expect lane closures during the night, which reduces traffic impacts as the project continues. 

I-10 Projects

Four major projects are currently underway along I-10, three of which are focused on interchanges.

New interchange for Buc-ee’s 

In preparation for the construction of a new Buc-ee’s along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, interchange projects are underway at the Menge Avenue exit along Interstate 10. Funding for the project is being provided privately and publicly through the business and the Harrison County Board of Supervisors, according to a press release from the Mississippi Department of Transportation issued in February of this year. MDOT is overseeing the project to ensure construction efforts meet the agency’s road and bridge standards and specifications. Completion of that project is slated for November of this year. T.L. Wallace Construction, based out of Columbia, won the bid for that project, which entails replacing the overpass and widening the entrance and exit ramps. The project is reported to cost about $15 million. 

I-10 widening

The largest project being conducted along I-10 will create a six lane section of the interstate from the Diamondhead exit to the County Farm Road exit that spans 11 miles through Harrison and Hancock Counties. To add the new lanes, the existing median will be used. As part of the project, crews will install digital signs to relay messages to motorists and cameras so MDOT can monitor traffic conditions. To reduce the impact of noise from the increased traffic from the interstate in the Diamondhead area a noise barrier wall will be installed. A multi-use path at the Diamondhead exit will also be created as part of the work. 

Widening the interstate to six lanes will reduce congestion, while also making that section of I-10 safer for motorists and pedestrians. Huey Stockstill Inc. out of Picayune was awarded the $155 million project, which is expected to be complete sometime in 2027.

Diamondhead interchange

Another project underway along I-10 is a $17 million project to improve the Diamondhead interchange. The contractor who won the contract, T.L. Wallace, will construct roundabouts in the north and south sides of the exit and another at the intersection of Gex Drive and Aloha Drive. The anticipated completion date for that project is sometime in 2026.

Interchange at Shriners Boulevard

Teardrop-shaped roundabouts are being installed at the north and south exits of the Shriners Boulevard exit in Harrison County. Once complete, those new features are expected to reduce traffic speeds, therefore preventing collisions and accidents. JLB Contractors, LLC out of Long Beach was awarded the $2.3 million project. That project has an anticipated completion date of sometime this fall.

Future I-55 Widening & Highway 7 Projects

During the most recent Legislative session, MDOT received a $250 million appropriation for capacity projects to be added to the re-appropriation of $370 in unspent funding. That funding will be used to conduct widening projects along I-55 and State Route 7.

Widening of I-55 will be conducted through three sections. The section from I-55 from Goodman to Church Road is in the right of way purchasing phase, which also entails relocating utilities. MDOT anticipates the utility relocation process to take about two years. This section of I-55 was outlined in Gov. Tate Reeves Infrastructure Proposal.

“Assuming Funding is obtained, construction should start after utilities are moved,” MDOT officials said.

Work along a section of I-55 from Church Road to I-69/I-269 is still in the conceptual planning phase and only a few right of way acquisitions have been purchased at press time. 

Another section of I-55 to get attention focuses on the area starting at I-69/I-269 to Commerce Street and is also still in the conceptual phase. Right of way acquisition for this section of the project has not yet begun.

From the Belk Boulevard intersection to the State Route 7 roundabout in the city of Oxford, the Legislature provided $160 million to widen the highway to four lanes. Right of way acquisition and utility relocation is anticipated to start later this summer. 

Also during this year’s Legislative session, lawmakers provided $175 million for a capacity project along State Route 7 in Lafayette County and $156 million for a capacity project on I-55 in DeSoto County. The State Route 7 project in Lafayette County is anticipated to be awarded in spring of 2025, and has an anticipated three-year construction timeline. Utilities for that project are currently being moved.

The capacity project in DeSoto County is set to be awarded to a contractor in spring of 2026 and has an expected three-year construction timeline. Utility relocation for that project is currently underway.

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

Read original article by clicking here.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Redrawing some Mississippi legislative districts in time for this November’s election is impossible because of tight deadlines to prepare ballots, state officials say in new court papers.

Attorneys for the all-Republican state Board of Election Commissioners filed arguments Wednesday in response to a July 2 ruling by three federal judges who ordered the Mississippi House and Senate to reconfigure some legislative districts. The judges said current districts dilute the power of Black voters in three parts of the state.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed in 2022 by the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP and several Black residents. The judges said they wanted new districts to be drawn before the next regular legislative session begins in January.

Mississippi held state House and Senate elections in 2023. Redrawing some districts would create the need for special elections to fill seats for the rest of the four-year term.

Election Commission attorneys said Republican Gov. Tate Reeves would need to call legislators into special session and new districts would need to be adopted by Aug. 2 so other deadlines could be met for special elections to be held the same day as this November’s general election for federal offices and state judicial seats.

“It took the State a considerable period of time to draw the current maps,” the Election Commission attorneys said.

The judges ordered legislators to draw majority-Black Senate districts in and around DeSoto County in the northwestern corner of the state and in and around Hattiesburg in the south, and a new majority-Black House district in Chickasaw and Monroe counties in the northeastern part of the state.

The order does not create additional districts. Rather, it requires legislators to adjust the boundaries of existing ones. Multiple districts could be affected, and the Election Commission attorneys said drawing new boundaries “is not realistically achievable” by Aug. 2.

Legislative and congressional districts are updated after each census to reflect population changes from the previous decade. Mississippi’s population is about 59% white and 38% Black.

In the legislative redistricting plan adopted in 2022 and used in the 2023

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For all the usual stagecraft, the Republican National Convention that opens Monday is different from Donald Trump’s previous nominating affairs.

In 2016 and 2020, Trump was the underdog heading into fall and faced criticism from within his own party. This year, he will accept the Republican nomination with his party in lockstep behind him and Democrats in turmoil over President Joe Biden’s viability.

There will be the usual convention tasks throughout the four days. Delegates, almost 2,400 of them, must approve a platform and formally designate the presidential ticket: Trump and his yet-to-be-named running mate. They’ll hear from both national candidates and a slew of others rallying support for Trump and taking aim at Democrats.

The GOP expects a triumphant moment.

“The political environment is not only great for Donald Trump, but it’s really great for Republicans running for Senate, governor, House seats, all the way down,” said Henry Barbour of Mississippi, an influential Republican National Committee member who has sometimes criticized Trump in the past.

Here’s are some questions going into the convention.

Are there any dissenters left in the ‘Trump National Committee’?

Trump has buried his opponents and taken over the party. Voters get fundraising mail with “Trump National Committee” stamped above the RNC’s Capitol Hill address. Trump’s closest primary rival, Nikki Haley, will not see the convention stage. Instead, delegates will hear from, among others, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who ended his presidential campaign after the Iowa caucuses and immediately endorsed Trump.

“I don’t think there’s any comparison to his previous campaigns,” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump ally.

Most importantly, Trump is on offense against Biden and confident enough that his campaign promised in a convention preview that “President Donald J. Trump will usher in a new golden age for America.”

Who will be the pick for vice president?

Ever the showman, Trump has strung out his choice of running mate. The most commonly mentioned candidates are North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. Trump has mused that he’d love to withhold his pick until the convention

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This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

• The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? – Psalm 27:1

“The LORD is my light and my salvation.” Here is personal interest: “my light,” “my salvation“; the soul is assured of it, and therefore declares it boldly. Into the soul at the new birth, divine light is poured as the forerunner of salvation; where there is not enough light to reveal our own darkness and to make us long for the Lord Jesus, there is no evidence of salvation.

After conversion our God is our joy, comfort, guide, teacher, and in every sense our light: He is light within us, light around us, light reflected from us, and light to be revealed to us. Note, it does not just say that the Lord gives light, but that He is light; nor that He gives salvation, but that He is salvation; so, then, whoever by faith has laid hold upon God has all the covenant blessings in their possession. Once this fact is assured, the deduction from it is put in the form of a question, “Whom shall I fear?” A question that is its own answer. The powers of darkness are not to be feared, for the Lord, our light, destroys them; and we need not dread the damnation of hell, for the Lord is our salvation.

This is a very different challenge from that of boastful Goliath, for it rests not upon the conceited vigor of human strength, but upon the real power of the omnipotent I AM. “The LORD is the stronghold of my life.” Here is a third glowing quality showing that the writer’s hope was fastened with a threefold cord that could not be broken. It is no surprise that we accumulate terms of praise where the Lord lavishes deeds of grace.

Our life derives all its strength from God; and if He deigns to make us strong, we cannot be weakened by all the cunning movements of our adversary. “Whom shall I fear?” The bold question looks into the future as well as the present. “If God is for us, who can be against us,” either now or in time to come?

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

Read original article by clicking here.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

• The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? – Psalm 27:1

“The LORD is my light and my salvation.” Here is personal interest: “my light,” “my salvation“; the soul is assured of it, and therefore declares it boldly. Into the soul at the new birth, divine light is poured as the forerunner of salvation; where there is not enough light to reveal our own darkness and to make us long for the Lord Jesus, there is no evidence of salvation.

After conversion our God is our joy, comfort, guide, teacher, and in every sense our light: He is light within us, light around us, light reflected from us, and light to be revealed to us. Note, it does not just say that the Lord gives light, but that He is light; nor that He gives salvation, but that He is salvation; so, then, whoever by faith has laid hold upon God has all the covenant blessings in their possession. Once this fact is assured, the deduction from it is put in the form of a question, “Whom shall I fear?” A question that is its own answer. The powers of darkness are not to be feared, for the Lord, our light, destroys them; and we need not dread the damnation of hell, for the Lord is our salvation.

This is a very different challenge from that of boastful Goliath, for it rests not upon the conceited vigor of human strength, but upon the real power of the omnipotent I AM. “The LORD is the stronghold of my life.” Here is a third glowing quality showing that the writer’s hope was fastened with a threefold cord that could not be broken. It is no surprise that we accumulate terms of praise where the Lord lavishes deeds of grace.

Our life derives all its strength from God; and if He deigns to make us strong, we cannot be weakened by all the cunning movements of our adversary. “Whom shall I fear?” The bold question looks into the future as well as the present. “If God is for us, who can be against us,” either now or in time to come?

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

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Ty Pinkins, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, has challenged his Republican opponent, incumbent U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, to a debate during the upcoming Neshoba County Fair. 

Pinkins, a Vicksburg resident, wrote Wicker a letter outlining that the fair has a storied tradition of political stump speeches and has hosted a few political debates, notably the 1995 gubernatorial debate between Republican Kirk Fordice and Democrat Dick Molpus. 

“In keeping with this proud tradition, I believe that a debate between us at the Neshoba County Fair would provide an excellent opportunity for voters to hear firsthand our positions on the critical issues facing Mississippi and our nation,” Pinkins wrote. 

Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is not scheduled to speak at the fair and has not accepted Pinkins’ debate invitation.  

Nathan Calvert, communications director for Wicker’s reelection campaign, told Mississippi Today in a statement that the U.S. Senate is in session during the week of the fair and “Sen. Wicker will be in D.C. doing the job Mississippians have elected him to do.” 

Wicker, a Tupelo resident, has represented the Magnolia State in the U.S. Senate since 2007. Before the Senate, he served several terms in the U.S. House and in the Mississippi Legislature. 

Pinkins, an attorney, has spent some of the last several years aiding Black farmer workers in the Delta who were being paid less money for their work than white visa workers from South Africa doing the same jobs. Pinkins unsuccessfully ran for secretary of state in 2023.

The two will compete in the general election on November 5. Mississippians can begin voting by absentee ballot on September 23, according to the secretary of state’s elections calendar. 

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

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Mississippi’s highest-elected state officials may have opposing tax agendas going into the 2025 legislative session.

While Gov. Tate Reeves has maintained that chief among the top priorities of his second term is to completely eliminate Mississippi’s income tax, or what he calls a “tax on work,” Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann could possibly throw a wrench in those plans by pivoting the legislature’s focus to slashing the state’s grocery tax, which is the highest in the U.S.

“I think the grocery tax is out of whack. To me, I think inflation, groceries, prepared foods, and whatnot have skyrocketed,” Hosemann said on MidDays With Gerard Gibert. “We’re currently reducing the income tax again this year and next year. We’re getting rid of the inventory tax. I think it’s time to look at the grocery tax.”

Reeves signed the largest-ever tax cut in Mississippi history into law in 2022. The legislation eliminated the state’s 4% tax bracket and will gradually phase the 5% bracket down to 4% by 2026, though some lawmakers and the governor alike have called for the process of total income tax elimination to be expedited.

Nonetheless, the lieutenant governor argued that slashing the state’s burdensome 7% grocery tax would be more beneficial for residents and feasible for the state. Hosemann projects that each percentage of the grocery tax that is cut would cost the state around $62 million compared to more than one-fourth of Mississippi’s revenue stream disappearing as a result of the income tax being gutted.

The Senate leader also assured that municipalities, many of which depend on the grocery tax as a primary revenue source, would be compensated by the state for any losses incurred. He further contended that it makes more sense to start the process of lowering the grocery tax while other forms of taxation are already being phased out instead of increasing taxes on consumption to justify eliminating a chunk of cash flowing into the state’s coffers.

“I’m not seeing a lot of push right there on accelerating [a total income tax cut] at this point,” Hosemann continued. “It’s $2 billion. It’s 28% of our

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