Mississippi Roundup

Colorlines: Kiese Laymon wins Andrew Carnegie Medal, to give prize money to young Mississippians

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Colorlines: The American Library Association honored “Heavy: An American Memoir”—Kiese Laymon’s account of growing up Black in Mississippi—with its Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction January 27. The author and professor announced on Twitter that he will donate the $5,000 prize money to youth in his home state. Read the Colorlines article and see Kiese Laymon’s Tweet here. In its news release, the ALA says the awards (Rebecca Makka was the announced winner of the fiction award) serve as a guide to help adults select quality reading. “It was an incredible year of reading and discussing the best books of 2018 alongside the dedicated and insightful readers on the committee.

Mississippi Roundup

Sun Herald: These are the 7 people who will help decide how the BP oil spill money is spent

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The Sun Herald is reporting that “an advisory board that will oversee spending of BP oil spill recovery money is now set.” Read the complete story by the Sun Herald here. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves’ appointees:
Jerry Levens of Long Beach, retired partner at CPA firm Alexander, Van Loon, Sloan, Levens & Favre
Mark Cumbest of Cumbest Bluff, owner of Cumbest Realty
Gov. Phil Bryant’s appointees:
Ashley Edwards of Biloxi, president and CEO of the Gulf Coast Business Council
Moses Feagin, vice president and CFO of Mississippi Power
Becky Montgomery Jenner of Pass Christian, Workforce Development & Education Manager at Mississippi Power
Speaker Philip Gunn’s appointees:
Greg Cronin of Ocean Springs, president and CEO of Charter Bank
Jim Simpson of Gulfport, attorney for Long Beach city and school district and former state representative
Lawmakers in a special session last year determined that the Gulf Coast will get 75 percent of the settlement funds. https://mississippitoday.org/2018/08/29/most-bp-settlement-cash-going-to-coast-ending-special-session/

 

Mississippi Roundup

Daily Journal: Lee County supervisor critical of black caucus organizations

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Daily Journal: TUPELO — A white Lee County supervisor has criticized the existence of caucus groups formed by black elected officials. During a Lee County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday morning, District 2 Supervisor Mike Smith vocally criticized and ultimately voted against a measure allowing the board’s lone black supervisor to receive reimbursement for travel to the Mississippi Association of Supervisors minority caucus education conference in April. Supervisors ultimately granted the request, with only Smith voting in dissent. Tommie Lee Ivy represents county District 4 and annually attends the minority caucus. Read the complete article by Caleb Bedillion of the Daily Journal here.

Mississippi Roundup

USDA to reopen some offices for three days to help farmers during shutdown

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Some Farm Service Agency offices are set to reopen on a limited basis to aid farmers and ranchers, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a news release announcing that the USDA was recalling about 2,500 FSA employees to open offices for three days —Thursday, Friday and Tuesday. “Until Congress sends President Trump an appropriations bill in the form that he will sign, we are doing our best to minimize the impact of the partial federal funding lapse on America’s agricultural producers,” Perdue said in the release. “We are bringing back part of our FSA team to help producers with existing farm loans. Meanwhile, we continue to examine our legal authorities to ensure we are providing services to our customers to the greatest extent possible during the shutdown.”

According to the release, the FSA staff will be on hand to assist with existing farm loans and to ensure the agency provides 1099 tax documents to borrowers by the Internal Revenue Service’s deadline. The statement goes on to say:

Staff members will be available at certain FSA offices to help producers with specific services, including:

• Processing payments made on or before December 31, 2018.

Mississippi Roundup

Legislation to designate Evers home as a national monument reintroduced

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Mississippi’s two senators have reintroduced legislation to designate Medgar and Myrlie Evers’ Jackson home as a national monument within the National Park System. “The Medgar and Myrlie Evers home is of great historic significance to the civil rights movement as well as our American history and deserves to be recognized as a national monument,” U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker said in a news release last week. “That is why I have continued to work with the members of our Mississippi congressional delegation to bring additional resources to the site. These efforts will help ensure future generations can learn about the life and legacy of the Evers family.”

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith added, that “The preservation of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers home as a national monument will help future generations understand this family’s important role in the pursuit of equality and justice as part of the civil rights movement.”

According to the news release, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson reintroduced companion legislation to Wicker and Hyde-Smith’s bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. “I, like many others, have always been inspired by the magnitude of determination Mr. Evers showed by dedicating himself to others and fighting against adversity,” Thompson told the Clarion Ledger last year when he first sponsored a bill to make the home a national monument.

Mississippi Roundup

Washington Post: Trump’s sons’ hotel expansion is at a standstill

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Washington Post reporters Jonathan O’Connell and Justin Vicory write about the status of hotels the Trump Organization plans to open — including four in Mississippi:
Shortly after Donald Trump entered the White House, his eldest sons announced ambitious plans to open a line of hotels called Scion that would target young, hip customers mostly in places where their father had proved popular with voters. The first Scion would open in the Mississippi Delta in early 2018. A second line of hotels, called American Idea, would soon follow, with three in Mississippi and more than a dozen elsewhere. In all, the Trump Organization said it had preliminary agreements to open 39 properties. A year and a half later, progress has been slow.

Mississippi Roundup

Coahoma County mayor arrested, charged with embezzlement

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A Coahoma County mayor is accused of embezzling city water payments and a police firearm. Jonestown mayor Kenneth Lester was indicted by a Coahoma County grand jury on five counts of felony embezzlement. He faces up to 20 years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines on each count, according to a news release from the attorney general’s office. The indictment alleges that between July 2017 and August 2018, Lester took money paid for water bills and water repairs and converted it for his own use, according to the statement. He is also alleged to have taken a city-owned handgun and pawned it for cash.