This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

The White House would not say Monday why a neurologist with expertise in Parkinson’s disease, Dr. Kevin Cannard, visited the executive campus eight different times or who specifically the doctor was there to visit.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insinuated Cannard had traveled there to treat members of the military, telling reporters that “multiple neurologists” have traveled to the campus to treat the “thousands of military personnel,” many of whom “get care from the White House medical unit.”

Citing privacy concerns, Jean-Pierre declined, more than once, to say if the doctor’s visits to the White House were connected in any way to the treatment of President Biden, telling reporters she could not share information about any specialist “broadly from a dermatologist to a neurologist.”

Dr. Kevin Cannard’s Repeated Trips to the Executive Campus Stir Speculation

Late Monday evening, the White House finally offered an explanation in the form of a letter penned by Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician. He confirmed that Cannard visited campus and wrote that the Parkinson’s specialist “was the neurological specialist that examined President Biden for each of his annual physicals.”

The neurologist, O’Connor continued, provided care to a number of other patients beyond just the president. “Prior to the pandemic, and following its end, [Cannard] has held regular Neurology clinics at the White House Medical Clinic in support of the thousands of active-duty members assigned in support of White House operations,” Biden’s physician wrote. 

The visits only came to light because of publicly available visitor logs released by the White House. No such records exist, however, for the president’s private residence in Wilmington, Delaware, where Biden retreats nearly every weekend. He often arrives on a Friday and departs the following Monday. He has spent almost nine months of his presidency there, according to one recent analysis. His administration does not keep a record of visitors there. The residence remains effectively a black hole.

But the White House did say flatly that the president has not received medical care in Wilmington, far from the prying eyes of the press or the public. “He has not seen specialists in Delaware,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates told RealClearPolitics, adding only that “like past Presidents, he travels with a White House Medical Unit doctor.”

Press Secretary Hints at Medical Aid for Military Personnel

Increased scrutiny of the age and mental acuity of the president follows his disastrous debate in Atlanta, a halting performance that left members of his own party publicly questioning not just whether he can win the coming election but if he is physically up to the rigors of the presidency. “I think it’s a legitimate question to say, ‘Is this an episode, or is this a condition?’ And so, when people ask that question, it’s completely legitimate,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 84, said of Biden, 81.

Those questions now haunt the White House. Complicating things is the president himself, who told Democratic governors on Friday that he had a medical exam after the debate, an admission that came less than 24 hours after his spokeswoman side-stepped questions about whether the president had been examined by a doctor. On Monday, Jean-Pierre said only that Biden had “a check-in” with a doctor. The White House maintains that the president had a cold and was jet-lagged the night of the debate. The president, for his part, told ABC News that he was “exhausted” and simply had “a bad night.”

Regardless of the explanation for his performance, the health of the president has subsequently reignited a debate over transparency.

The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Kentucky Rep. James Comer, demanded that Secret Service begin keeping a record of who visits him behind closed doors.

“President Biden said he’d have the most transparent administration in history,” Comer told RCP in a statement. “As President Biden’s mental state continues to decline, now is the time for him to put his money where his mouth is and be transparent with the American people.”

“He should immediately direct the Secret Service to keep visitor logs for his Wilmington residence so Americans know who he is meeting with when he travels there,” he continued.

The White House previously tangled with Comer after classified documents were discovered at the Biden family home. Visitor logs for the Wilmington residence don’t exist, said a spokesman for the White House Counsel’s Office, because it is a private residence.

“Like every president across decades of modern history, his personal residence is personal,” spokesman Ian Sams told the New York Times. “But upon taking office, President Biden restored the norm and tradition of keeping White House visitors’ logs, including publishing them regularly, after the previous administration ended them.”

Former President Trump ended that practice during his four years in office. He also did not disclose visitor logs for any of his private residences, such as Mar-a-Largo, an omission that triggered a lawsuit from the Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

“It seems like we have the same problem here with Biden,” Richard Painter, the former ethics czar for the George W. Bush administration and CREW vice chair, told RCP. He added that the current president is not unique, noting that both Trump and Bush before him did not disclose visitors of their private residences. The names of anyone meeting the president on official business, or even making a personal visit, Painter said, should be disclosed: “He is the president, after all.”

The U.S. Secret Service has said previously that while they do not maintain visitor logs of private residences, they do screen visitors who meet with the President.

This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.

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

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This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

The White House would not say Monday why a neurologist with expertise in Parkinson’s disease, Dr. Kevin Cannard, visited the executive campus eight different times or who specifically the doctor was there to visit.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insinuated Cannard had traveled there to treat members of the military, telling reporters that “multiple neurologists” have traveled to the campus to treat the “thousands of military personnel,” many of whom “get care from the White House medical unit.”

Citing privacy concerns, Jean-Pierre declined, more than once, to say if the doctor’s visits to the White House were connected in any way to the treatment of President Biden, telling reporters she could not share information about any specialist “broadly from a dermatologist to a neurologist.”

Dr. Kevin Cannard’s Repeated Trips to the Executive Campus Stir Speculation

Late Monday evening, the White House finally offered an explanation in the form of a letter penned by Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician. He confirmed that Cannard visited campus and wrote that the Parkinson’s specialist “was the neurological specialist that examined President Biden for each of his annual physicals.”

The neurologist, O’Connor continued, provided care to a number of other patients beyond just the president. “Prior to the pandemic, and following its end, [Cannard] has held regular Neurology clinics at the White House Medical Clinic in support of the thousands of active-duty members assigned in support of White House operations,” Biden’s physician wrote. 

The visits only came to light because of publicly available visitor logs released by the White House. No such records exist, however, for the president’s private residence in Wilmington, Delaware, where Biden retreats nearly every weekend. He often arrives on a Friday and departs the following Monday. He has spent almost nine months of his presidency there, according to one recent analysis. His administration does not keep a record of visitors there. The residence remains effectively a black hole.

But the White House did say flatly that the president has not received medical care in Wilmington, far from the prying eyes of the press or the public. “He has not seen specialists in Delaware,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates told RealClearPolitics, adding only that “like past Presidents, he travels with a White House Medical Unit doctor.”

Press Secretary Hints at Medical Aid for Military Personnel

Increased scrutiny of the age and mental acuity of the president follows his disastrous debate in Atlanta, a halting performance that left members of his own party publicly questioning not just whether he can win the coming election but if he is physically up to the rigors of the presidency. “I think it’s a legitimate question to say, ‘Is this an episode, or is this a condition?’ And so, when people ask that question, it’s completely legitimate,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 84, said of Biden, 81.

Those questions now haunt the White House. Complicating things is the president himself, who told Democratic governors on Friday that he had a medical exam after the debate, an admission that came less than 24 hours after his spokeswoman side-stepped questions about whether the president had been examined by a doctor. On Monday, Jean-Pierre said only that Biden had “a check-in” with a doctor. The White House maintains that the president had a cold and was jet-lagged the night of the debate. The president, for his part, told ABC News that he was “exhausted” and simply had “a bad night.”

Regardless of the explanation for his performance, the health of the president has subsequently reignited a debate over transparency.

The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Kentucky Rep. James Comer, demanded that Secret Service begin keeping a record of who visits him behind closed doors.

“President Biden said he’d have the most transparent administration in history,” Comer told RCP in a statement. “As President Biden’s mental state continues to decline, now is the time for him to put his money where his mouth is and be transparent with the American people.”

“He should immediately direct the Secret Service to keep visitor logs for his Wilmington residence so Americans know who he is meeting with when he travels there,” he continued.

The White House previously tangled with Comer after classified documents were discovered at the Biden family home. Visitor logs for the Wilmington residence don’t exist, said a spokesman for the White House Counsel’s Office, because it is a private residence.

“Like every president across decades of modern history, his personal residence is personal,” spokesman Ian Sams told the New York Times. “But upon taking office, President Biden restored the norm and tradition of keeping White House visitors’ logs, including publishing them regularly, after the previous administration ended them.”

Former President Trump ended that practice during his four years in office. He also did not disclose visitor logs for any of his private residences, such as Mar-a-Largo, an omission that triggered a lawsuit from the Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

“It seems like we have the same problem here with Biden,” Richard Painter, the former ethics czar for the George W. Bush administration and CREW vice chair, told RCP. He added that the current president is not unique, noting that both Trump and Bush before him did not disclose visitors of their private residences. The names of anyone meeting the president on official business, or even making a personal visit, Painter said, should be disclosed: “He is the president, after all.”

The U.S. Secret Service has said previously that while they do not maintain visitor logs of private residences, they do screen visitors who meet with the President.

This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.

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

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Following Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann announcing plans to tackle chronic absenteeism next legislative session, State Auditor Shad White has released a report on the impact children missing school for long periods of time has on the state.

Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing more than 18 days of the school year, or 10%, for any reason including excused absences, unexcused absences, and suspensions in K-12 schools. It has skyrocketed across the country since the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the state auditor, in 2019, Mississippi compared favorably to its border states with a 14% chronic absentee rate. However, by 2023, Mississippi outpaced its border states with a 24.7% chronic absentee rate — a drastic increase.

White said students who are chronically absent have an increased chance of dropping out of school, which he contends leads to a higher likelihood of getting arrested or relying on social services later in life. Analysts estimate that the number of students who were chronically absent before dropping out of school in academic year 2023 alone will cost the Mississippi economy $550 million over time.

As Hosemann offered some of his proposals to keep children in the classroom, White also weighed in on measures the legislature can take to combat the state’s high chronic absenteeism rate.

Alter Mississippi’s School Accountability Ratings to include attendance Pass laws that link driver’s license privileges to school attendance Reorganize and hire more school attendance officers

“Kids need to be in school,” White said. “We pump a ton of taxpayer money into our K-12 school system, but it does no good if the students’ tails are not in the seats. Now is the time to address this before the problem gets worse.”

The state auditor’s full report can be found here.

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Mississippi’s U.S. Senators, Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, along with three members of the state’s congressional delegation, Trent Kelly, Michael Guest, and Mike Ezell, signed onto a letter Monday opposing the Biden administration’s EV mandate for heavy trucks. The five are part of a coalition of 157 lawmakers. Congressman Bennie Thompson, the only Democrat in Mississippi’s congressional delegation, did not sign on.

The letter urges the Biden administration to reverse course on implementing regulations set forth in the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles-Phase 3 before they negatively affect the nation’s shipping and farming industries. 

The rule dictates that all trucks, tractors, buses and semi-trucks have zero emissions in the near future. According to the EPA, phase 3 of the rule “sets stronger standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty (HD) vehicles beginning in model year (MY) 2027.”

“This final rule, which encompasses heavy-duty vehicles ranging from delivery trucks and school buses to tractors and semis, would disrupt the heavy-duty truck industry by forcing the broad adoption of heavy-duty zero emission vehicles on an extremely aggressive timeline, despite these vehicles currently being less than 1% of sales,” the lawmakers stated in their letter.

The release goes on to cite a study that determined it would cost about $1 trillion to effectively invest in an electric vehicle infrastructure to accommodate an all electric commercial fleet. That estimated cost did not factor in the expense of purchasing the electric vehicles. 

“Additionally, the cost for an electric semi-truck averages over $400,000 while a comparable diesel Class 8 truck costs around $180,000 – meaning electric trucks cost an average of 122% more than a normal semi,” according to the letter.

It is estimated that there are more than 3.1 million trucks, pickup trucks included, on more than 1.4 million farms across the United States. Combined with the 3.7 million tractors on about 1.5 million farms, farmers will be forced to deal with tighter margins due to the additional expense. 

“Not only would this rule harm consumers, but it would also exacerbate consolidation by effectively forcing our small trucking companies out of business that cannot afford this hasty transition to electric or hydrogen powered trucks,” the lawmakers stated.

The congressional coalition predicts that the cost of making those changes will lead to even higher prices on groceries and utilities. 

Utility prices would increase due to the anticipated $370 billion investment needed upgrade the power grids to meet electric vehicle demand, the letter reads. That cost does not factor in passenger vehicle needs. 

“This unaffordable and unachievable regulation will leave rural communities with grid capacity challenges and limited range versus comparable diesel vehicles. When regulations are rushed and the impacts on the economy are not sufficiently considered, business closures and job losses will result.”

The letter was signed by 29 members of the U.S. Senate and 128 members of Congress. 

U.S. Senators Wicker and Hyde-Smith are also co-sponsors of SB 3094, a bill that aims to prevent the EPA from enacting the EV mandate on trucks and passenger cars, as well as potential “future rules that would limit the availability of new motor vehicles based on that vehicle’s engine type.”

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Hospitals with over 250 licensed beds saw a 7.6% increase in average annual occupancy rates, or the percentage of staffed beds filled with patients, from 73.1% in 2020 to 80.7% in 2024. 

A shortage of health care workers, which limits the number of beds a hospital is able to open, is one factor that contributes to high occupancy rates. 

“Our staffing hasn’t rebounded since COVID,” said Kim Hoover, interim president and CEO of the Mississippi Hospital Association. “… Unfortunately there are some beds that are there but they’re not available because there aren’t staff there.”

The nursing shortage is the primary factor limiting hospital bed availability, she said.

Only 37.2% of registered nurses in Mississippi work in a hospital setting. Hospital registered nurse (RN) position vacancies skyrocketed to 3,038 statewide in 2022, according to a Mississippi Hospital Association survey in which 82% of Mississippi hospitals responded.

Hoover, who is a registered nurse, cited heavy workloads, a desire for regular working hours and higher pay as reasons nurses choose to seek work elsewhere. 

She said staffing shortages can lead to burnout and impose restrictions on the support nurses are able to provide to patients. “It’s difficult to be able to spend time with the family and the patient,” she said. “…Sometimes there are opportunities that we just don’t get to take.” 

Some hospitals have responded to staffing challenges by offering sign-on bonuses, more flexible hours and pay incentives. Alicia Carpenter, director of marketing for Merit Health Central, said the hospital has worked to ensure that its pay is competitive and has launched a loan repayment program for employees. 

In the past year, “nursing retention has substantially and measurably increased,” she said. 

Nationwide, hospital turnover rates have declined 2% from 2022 to 2023, according to a report from NSI Nursing Solutions Inc., a national nurse recruiting firm. 

Several large hospitals saw declines in the average number of staffed beds by over 30% during that period, including Delta Health System – The Medical Center in Greenville, Merit Health Central in Jackson and Singing River Health System in Pascagoula. 

North Mississippi Medical Center, the second largest hospital in the state with 640 licensed beds, averaged 387 staffed beds in 2020. From 2021 to 2023, the hospital’s average staffed beds dropped below 300 – less than half of the hospital’s licensed bed capacity. 

In the first four months of 2024, the Tupelo hospital’s capacity rebounded to an average of 345 beds. 

North Mississippi Medical Center declined to comment for this story. Delta Health System – The Medical Center did not respond to a request for comment. 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services stopped requiring hospitals to report capacity and occupancy data on May 3, ending provisions intended to track COVID-19 pandemic data. Hospitals can opt to continue voluntary reporting. 

Occupancy rates may also be impacted by hospital closures or reduced patient services and an aging population. 

Forty-five rural hospitals in the state – or 62% – have already experienced losses in patient services, according to an April 2024 study from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. More than half of Mississippi’s rural hospitals are at risk of closing, according to the same report.

When rural hospitals close or reduce services, transfer volumes balloon at large urban hospitals, said Dan Woods, St. Dominic’s Hospital senior director of emergency services and throughput. 

St. Dominic’s averages 4,000 to 5,000 transfers from other hospitals annually. 

“When one goes down, we all kind of carry the burden,” he said. 

St. Dominic’s often accepts stroke patients transferred from other hospitals to its Comprehensive Stroke Center. Wood said the center sees about 175 patients presenting signs of a stroke each month. 

“That’s a huge volume of patients that are coming in,” Wood said. “And we’re going to see that number grow as rural hospitals continue to struggle.” 

Wood said that Mississippi’s aging population also contributes to higher hospital occupancy rates. Geriatric patients are more likely to have more comorbidities like hypertension, diabetes or obesity. 

Mississippi’s older population is increasing. Between 2010 and 2021, the state saw a 29.3% increase in adults over 65. 

“The nursing shortage is not going away and will continue to grow with a higher aging population demand,” said Ashley Butsch, public relations manager for Singing River Medical Center. 

“I expect to see occupancy rates incline for everybody,” Wood said.

The organization is working on developing a health information exchange platform to transmit real time hospital data to facilities statewide. Hoover said she hopes the program, called IntelliTrue, will roll out before next spring. 

Currently, hospitals share occupancy data with the Mississippi Department of Health once each day, but that information can quickly become out of date. 

Because there is no statewide, continuously updated data hub, hospital staff must call other institutions to facilitate a patient transfer. 

“Sometimes they’ll call five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 people and … they say, ‘well, we don’t have a bed,’” said Hoover. 

The new program will allow hospitals to share real time capacity information. 

Hoover acknowledged that while the system will not help with staffing shortages, it will allow patients to be more seamlessly transferred to facilities with the capacity to treat them. 

“It’s better for us to care for our folks here in the state of Mississippi,” Hoover said. “So the goal really is, to be able to keep all of our patients in Mississippi so they can stay in their community as much as possible.”

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A security guard at a Mississippi convenience store and gas station was shot to death Monday, and three teenagers are charged in the killing.

Roy Love, 60, was providing security at M&M Food Express in south Jackson, according to the city’s police chief, Joseph Wade.

Love approached three teenagers at about 1:30 a.m. and asked them to leave, Wade said.

“They subsequently attacked him. They took his weapon, and they fired upon him with their weapon,” Wade said at a news conference.

The chief said video footage showed the deadly encounter and that Love never drew his weapon. Two of the teenagers ran away after the shooting and one left on a bicycle, Wade said.

Within hours, Jackson Police Department officers arrested two 17-year-old boys and a 16-year-old boy and charged each of them with capital murder, Wade said.

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