OurTupelo

MINNEAPOLIS — Latasha Lattimore led a balanced offense with 15 points as Mississippi overpowered Gonzaga 81-66 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA women’s college basketball tournament.

Cotie McMahon scored 13 points and Sira Thienou had 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for Mississippi, who on Sunday will face the winner of the matchup between Minnesota and Green Bay. The winner of Sunday’s game will advance to the Regional finals at Sacramento next week.

Denim DeShields added 11 points and four assists for the No. 5-seed Rebels (24-11), who were ranked 19th in the most recent AP poll and are playing in their fifth straight NCAA Tournament.

Allie Turner led Gonzaga, champions of the West Coast Conference Tournament, with 27 points. Jaiden Haile had 11 points and eight rebounds and Lauren Whittaker added eight points and 13 rebounds.

After falling behind by as much as 13 in the first quarter, No. 12-seed Gonzaga (24-10) got a three-point play by Haile and a driving layup by Turner to cut the deficit to 25-19 midway through the second.

But Ole Miss responded with a 14-4 run that started with consecutive second-chance buckets by Lattimore in the low post. McMahon capped the run with a 3-pointer to send the Rebels into the locker room leading 39-23.

Smothering

Gonzaga didn’t get on the board until Haile made a layup with 5:06 left in the first quarter, cutting the Ole Miss lead to 8-2. The Bulldogs missed their first seven field goal attempts and three of their first four shots were blocked. They finished the quarter 4 for 14 from the field and committed seven turnovers, including two shot clock violations forced by the Rebels’ swarming defense.

In the trees

Gonzaga’s offensive struggles were due in large part to Mississippi’s lopsided size advantage. The Rebels had four starters and six rotation players standing 6-foot-1 or taller, compared to just three for Gonzaga.

Never say die

The Bulldogs trailed 70–37 early in the fourth quarter but they closed out the game strong. Teryn Gardner hit three 3-pointers, while Turner added eight free throws and a three as Gonzaga cut the deficit to 10 points with 47 seconds left before Ole Miss closed it out.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday revived a lawsuit from an evangelical Christian barred from demonstrating in Mississippi after authorities say he shouted insults at people over a loudspeaker.

The high court unanimously ruled in the case of Gabriel Olivier, who says his religious and free speech rights were violated when he was arrested for refusing to move his preaching away from a suburban amphitheater. The city said he had shouted insults like “whores,” “Jezebel,” and “nasty” at people, sometimes holding signs showing aborted fetuses.

Olivier wanted to challenge the law as an unconstitutional restriction on free speech, but lower courts stopped him from suing because he’d been convicted of breaking it. A Supreme Court case from the 1990s found people can’t use civil lawsuits to undermine criminal convictions.

But the justices found that doesn’t stop Olivier from suing because he only wants to block future enforcement.

“Given that Olivier asked for only a forward-looking remedy—an injunction stopping officials from enforcing the city ordinance in the future—his suit can proceed, notwithstanding his prior conviction,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court.

Olivier’s lawyers said he was demonstrating peacefully when he was arrested for refusing to move to a designated “protest zone.” The legal principle, they argued, affects free-speech cases across the political spectrum.

“This is not only a win for the right to share your faith in public, but also a win for every American’s right to have their day in court when their First Amendment rights are violated,” said Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of the conservative nonprofit First Liberty Institute.

The decision clears a path for him to file a civil-rights lawsuit, though it doesn’t guarantee an eventual win. Local governments have said that a ruling for Olivier could have wide repercussions by allowing a rush of new lawsuits against cities and towns.

The city of Brandon has said the restrictions weren’t about religion, and he had plenty of other legal avenues to challenge the law. The ordinance restricting Olivier to a designated “protest zone” has already survived another lawsuit, city attorneys said.

Ted “Teddy” DiBiase Jr. began to cry as soon as the federal court clerk read aloud the first of 13 not guilty verdicts. By count seven, tears fell into his lap.

When the clerk finished reading the verdict – not guilty on all counts in a notorious welfare scandal that made national headlines – DiBiase’s mom crumpled in her seat on the second row of the courtroom, holding her face in her hands and sobbing. 

Defense attorney Scott Gilbert darted out of the courtroom and his co-counsel, Sidney Lampton, swiveled around in her chair, beaming. DiBiase tightly hugged his wife, Kristen, who’d kept a cheery attitude throughout 20 days of trial.

“That was seven years of emotion coming out of me,” DiBiase’s mom, Melanie DiBiase, said as they exited the courthouse Friday.

Jurors found DiBiase, a former pro wrestler-turned-entrepreneur, not guilty of all counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, theft and money laundering after he accepted nearly $3 million in federal funds designed to help poor residents and spent the money on luxury items. 

The government needed to prove DiBiase acted knowingly or with intent. His defense: DiBiase never solicited the funds, he was offered them in exchange for the cachet he brought to the welfare agency, and he delivered as promised.

What’s next for the ex-wrestler?

“I’m gonna continue to serve people, because that really is who I am,” DiBiase said outside the courthouse after the verdict. “And I do care about every Mississippian. And to all the doubters or haters or people that have maybe had false information and not all the information, I forgive you, and I love you too.”

DiBiase was just one of dozens of people who received these funds supposedly to carry out the mission of an anti-poverty initiative called Families First for Mississippi under a now disgraced former agency director. By some estimates, state and nonprofit officials frittered away $100 million between 2016 and 2019 while serving few needy residents. 

But the former WWE star was one of just eight people criminally charged over the misspending. The other seven pleaded guilty. The state made its first arrests in 2020 following an investigation by State Auditor Shad White, and DiBiase was indicted by federal prosecutors in 2023.

The verdict in DiBiase’s case answers a longstanding question about whether his conduct – which is similar to that of many other characters in the larger scheme – constituted a crime. 

For years, many tied to the welfare purchases argued that the theory of auditors, investigators and prosecutors was all wrong. DiBiase’s defense described him as a well-meaning, albeit high-paid, changemaker who had no inkling he was involved in wrongdoing.

The jury deliberated for about four hours Friday. The makeup, by appearances, was seven white men, two Black men and three white women.  

“While I’m disappointed in the result of the trial, nothing changes the fact that seven people have already pleaded guilty to state or federal charges because of the welfare scandal,” White said in a statement Friday. “My hope now is that the state’s lawyers will be able to recover as much of the misspent money as possible in civil court so hard-working taxpayers can see some accountability for what happened here.”

Outside the courthouse after the verdict, DiBiase hugged his younger brother, Brett DiBiase, who pleaded guilty to state charges in 2020 and federal charges in 2023.

Six people still await federal sentencing after pleading guilty years ago to roles in the scheme and agreeing to aid the U.S. Attorney’s Office in its ongoing case. In addition to DiBiase’s brother, these include former Mississippi Department of Human Services Director John Davis, nonprofit directors Nancy New and Christi Webb, New’s son Zach New and a Florida-based neuroscientist Jake Vanlandingham. A seventh defendant, Anne McGrew, awaits sentencing in state court.

A parallel civil suit, which names DiBiase and dozens of other people or entities in an attempt to recoup the funds, is ongoing.

Update, 3/20/2025: This story has been updated with additional details.

MORE TRIAL COVERAGE:

Greed or chaos? Jurors will determine if taking high-dollar welfare contracts was criminal

Ex-wrestler sought to gamify self-help for poor Mississippians, defense witness testifies in welfare scandal trial

DiBiase defense seeks to discredit witness who testifies the ex-wrestler got federal welfare money but did almost no work 

DiBiase radio ads, conference talks and teen rallies were not in contract for federal welfare funds, Nancy New testifies

Ex-welfare director with ‘two separate personalities’ waffles on the witness stand. Some jurors tire

In trial of ex-wrestler, Mississippi’s former welfare director testifies about appeasing politicians, trying ‘my very best’

Defense for ex-wrestler seeks mistrial in welfare fraud case

Trump faith initiative drove decision to hire wrestler, ex-welfare chief testifies in fraud trial

Welfare director texted wrestler who was his high-paid aide about ‘money bags,’ testimony shows

Feds ask disgraced former welfare director ‘million-dollar question’: Why? Loneliness and love

Opening statements in welfare scandal trial paint former director as villain who doled out millions over infatuation

TRIAL PREVIEW: Ex-WWE wrestler faces feds in first – and potentially only – criminal trial in Mississippi welfare scandal

With federal pandemic relief dollars that for years bolstered Mississippi Division of Medicaid’s budget now depleted, state lawmakers are grappling with a steep budget increase request from the agency.

Lawmakers have been stunned by the agency’s request for a significant increase from last year and baffled by budget requests made by the agency and governor’s office, which differ by tens of millions of dollars.

The agency, which accounted for roughly a tenth of state spending this fiscal year and administers health coverage to nearly 700,000 children and low-income pregnant, disabled and elderly Mississippians, has requested a nearly $390-million increase in state funding over the current year, despite the program’s enrollment dropping to the lowest level in over a decade. 

“This is a humongous amount of money, ” House Medicaid Chairwoman Missy McGee, a Republican from Hattiesburg, said at a January budget hearing. 

Lawmakers have struggled to settle on a figure, in part because of a roughly $160-million discrepancy between the agency’s current request and a November budget proposal from Gov. Tate Reeves, whose office oversees the Division of Medicaid.

“That is a considerable difference from virtually within the same office,” McGee said in January before posing a slew of questions to agency leaders. “We feel like we have an obligation to dig in and understand.”

And, Medicaid’s request has grown since the fall, when state agencies made initial budget requests. Officials’ January request of $1.36 billion was about $45 million higher than the request it made in August, following a routine actuarial report. These periodic reports are used to forecast Medicaid’s fluctuating costs.

State legislators sent the agency’s funding bill to final negotiations between the chambers Wednesday, indicating that they have not yet reached a decision on the Medicaid budget. 

The Division of Medicaid and the governor’s office did not respond to Mississippi Today’s request for comment. 

Lawmakers seek ‘solid number’

In recent years, state lawmakers granted Medicaid marginal funding increases as the agency relied on a reserve of funds leftover from the COVID-19 pandemic to balance its budget. But with the surplus now exhausted, agency officials say a significant boost in state appropriations is necessary to maintain services at the same level. 

Senate leaders appear more willing to grant the agency’s budget request, but they have acknowledged that they are trying to pin the agency’s leaders down for a specific, final dollar figure.

“Numbers have fluctuated, so we’re trying to get them to give us a solid number,” Senate Medicaid Chairman Kevin Blackwell said of the agency. 

The two legislative chambers seem far apart on how much state money they are willing to spend on the agency. The House’s initial budget proposal would spend roughly $969 million in state money on the agency, a figure close to last year’s appropriation. The Senate proposed spending $1.07 billion — roughly $100 million more than last year but still about $290 million under the agency’s request. 

Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson said the initial appropriations bill he passed for the agency was a placeholder measure, but he anticipates that the amount of state dollars going to Medicaid’s budget this year will increase.

“In the 19 years I’ve been here, I’ve been involved in some capacity with working on the Division of Medicaid’s budget,” Hopson said. “And it’s hard for the Medicaid director to know the exact amount that Medicaid needs.” 

He said the division has largely been responsive to his questions about the budget, but he “still wants a little more detail” from them on their final request.

“The first number they gave us, frankly, was a little high,” Hopson said.

The lack of consensus on one of the state’s largest budget items, with roughly three weeks left in the legislative session, puts lawmakers in a challenging position, especially amid an ongoing, contentious debate over teacher pay raises and funding the state’s public pension system, while the state is phasing out its income tax. 

Cindy Bradshaw, the executive director of Mississippi Medicaid, has warned that underfunding the agency could force it to cut payments to providers. 

“We can certainly control the budget if we need to,” she told members of the House appropriations committee in January. “But it’s not going to come without there being a reduction of what we reimburse to the providers. And nobody wants to reduce what we pay to the providers.” 

Richard Roberson, president and CEO of the Mississippi Hospital Association, said Bradshaw informed him cuts to provider payments could be as high as 11%, though she did not describe how the figure was calculated or how it would be applied. 

Roberson said he is hopeful that Medicaid won’t be forced to make those cuts, but he also wants lawmakers to remain mindful of the budget’s impact on state taxpayers.

“Somewhere there is a solution that balances the needs of taxpayers to have a fiscally conservative program, but to make sure that providers can pay for the increasing cost of care,” Roberson said. “It’s a tight rope to walk between what the state can afford to pay and caring for high-acuity level patients.” 

And cuts to provider payments would not only impact doctors, but also patients and particularly children, over half of whom are covered by Medicaid, said Dr. Patricia Tibbs, the president of the Mississippi chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

Doctors could stop accepting Medicaid patients or be forced to close their practices if payment rates fall, exacerbating existing physician shortages and care gaps, she said. And cuts to benefits could have drastic consequences for children’s development. 

“Any cuts to Medicaid will really affect children’s care,” Tibbs said. 

A looming cliff

The Division of Medicaid has warned legislators for years that a significant budget increase was on the horizon.

During a September 2024 budget hearing, Drew Snyder, the former state Medicaid director, told lawmakers they would be forced to make difficult decisions about program spending in coming years. 

“Since the end of the public health emergency was announced in late 2022, we’ve been bracing for a dramatic increase in state spending, and there is catch-up coming,” said Snyder, who left the agency in October 2024. 

During the pandemic, the federal government provided an enhanced match for state Medicaid funding in exchange for states keeping individuals enrolled during the emergency. As a result, Medicaid’s cash balance soared to $682 million in 2023, according to agency documents. 

States were required to resume normal eligibility determinations in 2023. As the enhanced federal funding ended and states were once again allowed to remove ineligible participants from their rolls, Mississippi’s enrollment declined sharply, falling by over 185,000 beneficiaries in the year following its June 2023 peak, and continuing since then. 

Snyder told Mississippi Today on Wednesday he was not surprised by the agency’s budget request for the upcoming fiscal year. 

“Honestly, we were projecting in early 2024 larger numbers than that,” he said, noting that the numbers may be lower than earlier projections because Medicaid enrollment has fallen.

In addition to spending surplus funds, Medicaid has been facing rising costs for nursing home care and home- and community-based waiver programs, which allow Medicaid beneficiaries to receive long-term care in their homes or communities rather than in institutions, Bradshaw told lawmakers during budget hearings. 

Last year, the Division of Medicaid requested a $160 million increase from the Legislature in anticipation of expiring federal funds, but lawmakers approved only about $60 million. When the surplus fund was depleted during the current fiscal year, legislators advanced a measure to give the agency a $35 million deficit appropriation to cover the current shortfall. This has not yet been approved by state lawmakers. 

Agency leaders said in September the Division of Medicaid has stalled planned rate increases and cut back on spending in anticipation of the pending deficit. 

Other states also received enhanced federal funding for Medicaid, but, to his knowledge, others are not facing the same funding cliff, said Edwin Park, a research professor who studies Medicaid policy and teaches at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy. Devoting the money to a reserve is “better than what some states may have done,” he added, such as using the money to bolster their general funds.

Roberson said he also was not aware of other states facing the possibility of a similar budget increase dilemma that could lead to cuts for providers. 

Park said state Medicaid programs can cover budget shortfalls by increasing taxes or making cuts to provider payments, benefits or eligibility.

In the past, state Medicaid programs have increased provider taxes, which are used to draw down federal matching funds, to cover shortfalls, Park said. But increasing the taxes is no longer an option after Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July, which freezes states’ existing tax rates. 

These budgetary pressures will only worsen under the gradual reduction in supplemental payments to hospitals, which bolster low Medicaid payments and will start to be phased out in 2028, Parks added.

“There’s nothing else on the horizon that is going to give the state any relief from a budget perspective,” Roberson said. 

Lawmakers have until March 28 to file their first negotiated budget proposal for Medicaid. 

Mississippi Today Ideas is a platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share their ideas about our state’s past, present and future. Opinions expressed in guest essays are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of Mississippi Today. You can read more about the section here.

On a weeknight at city hall, residents file into a meeting room to weigh in on a proposed development project. A presentation is delivered. Charts are shown. When the floor opens, a line forms at the microphone. Each speaker is given two or three minutes.

The ritual is familiar across the country, with Mississippi no exception. It is also often described as listening.

When cities face major development proposals, officials promise to “listen to the community.” Public meetings are scheduled. Comment periods are opened. Residents are invited to step forward and share their thoughts.

These steps matter. They signal that public input has a place in civic decision-making. Yet they also raise a deeper question. What does it actually mean to listen?

A recent Mississippi Today story about a proposed data center in Clarksdale describes a familiar  process. City leaders are considering rezoning land and discussing the potential economic benefits while also organizing opportunities for residents to weigh in. The intention is clear: before moving forward, officials want to give citizens a chance to be heard.

But hearing the public is not the same as listening.

Communities often mistake the opportunity to speak for the opportunity to influence. Public meetings and comment periods create space for residents to voice their views. That matters. At the same time, having a voice is not the same as having that voice heard.

Many public processes are built around what communication scholar Jim Macnamara calls an  “architecture of speaking.” Governments and organizations invest heavily in messaging: presentations, announcements, public meetings and media campaigns. Far less investment goes toward the harder work of listening.

Listening at scale requires systems, resources and a willingness to let public input shape decisions. Without those elements, public engagement can easily become a box-checking exercise that satisfies legal requirements while leaving many residents unsure whether their voices actually matter.

To be fair, city leaders often do provide opportunities for public input. Notices are posted. Meetings are held. Consultants design engagement processes intended to give residents a chance to speak.

The problem is often not the absence of opportunities but the conditions under which they occur.

Public meetings are frequently scheduled at times that are inconvenient for many working families. Parents are trying to get children through homework and bedtime routines. Others may work evening shifts. Some residents simply feel uncomfortable speaking at a microphone in a crowded  room.

Even when people do attend, the format rarely encourages careful deliberation. A line forms at the front of the room. Each speaker is given a limited amount of time. The exchange can feel less like a conversation and more like a performance.

The result is predictable. A small number of highly motivated participants show up and speak passionately. Many other residents stay home. Officials leave with comments on record, yet without a clear sense of how widely those views are shared across the community.

At this point, a familiar explanation often surfaces: People simply aren’t interested until a decision affects them directly. Civic engagement, the argument goes, will always be limited until residents become angry enough to show up.

There may be some truth in that observation. Yet it also assumes that the existing channels for participation are well known and widely trusted. In practice, many residents stay quiet for different  reasons.

Research suggests that people often remain silent not because they are apathetic, but because they see little point in speaking up. Some worry about social or professional repercussions in small communities where relationships are close and disagreements can carry consequences. Others  believe their comments will not be taken seriously or will have no meaningful influence on the final  decision.

When people suspect that nothing will change, silence becomes a rational choice. Fortunately, there are better ways to listen.

Instead of asking residents to come to city hall, communities can bring conversations to the places  where people already gather: churches, neighborhood parks, community centers and school gyms. A Saturday afternoon picnic or a discussion after Sunday services may not look like a traditional public hearing, yet these settings often encourage more thoughtful participation.

When conversations take place in familiar spaces, people who might never attend a formal meeting are more likely to join. Smaller group discussions allow residents to ask questions, hear different  perspectives and explore trade-offs together.

None of this eliminates disagreement. Nor should it. Major decisions about economic development, land use and infrastructure inevitably involve competing priorities. What better listening can do is improve the quality of the conversation before decisions are finalized.

Data centers, for example, promise significant investment and jobs. At the same time, they raise  questions about land use, water and energy consumption, tax incentives and long-term impacts on  local communities. These are exactly the kinds of issues that benefit from broad participation and careful discussion. And those deliberations can and should allow for dissent and robust debate.

Public hearings will always have a place in local government. They provide transparency and create an official record of public input. But they should not be mistaken for the entirety of community listening.

Real listening begins earlier. It requires designing processes that make participation realistic for ordinary residents and meaningful for the decisions that follow.

The question facing communities like Clarksdale is not simply whether a particular project should move forward. Cities across Mississippi will continue to face proposals for new industries and large scale investments.

The deeper question is whether we are willing to build something alongside those projects: civic processes that allow residents not only to speak, but to know their voices will actually be heard.

Graham Bodie is a professor of the Department of Media and Communication in the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi. When asked what he does for a living he responds, “I teach people to listen.” He does this by publishing, teaching and facilitating workshops that help debunk common myths about what it means to “listen well.” 

Steve Knight became the head men’s basketball coach at William Carey College way back in July of 1982 at the age of 25.

That same month, Jimmy Connors beat John McEnroe for the Wimbledon championship. Tom Watson, now 76, won golf’s Open Championship at Royal Troon, Scotland. William Winter was Mississippi’s governor. Ronald Reagan was president. Pete Rose led the National League in hitting. From Rocky III, Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” was No. 1 on the record charts.

Yes, it has been a while. Mississippi has had seven governors since, but William Carey, now a university, has had the same basketball coach until Thursday, when it was announced that Knight, by far the winningest college basketball coach in Mississippi history, was retiring.

In sports, these days, it is rare to see anyone stay in the same coaching job for 10 years, much less 44. Put it this way: Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Miss have each had six men’s basketball coaches during those 44 years. At the small college level, Belhaven has had 11.

For the past 16 years, with each victory, Knight has broken his own record as Mississippi’s winningest college basketball coach. On Nov. 10, 2010, Knight claimed that honor by surpassing Alcorn State legend Davey Whitney for his 506th career victory.

And it’s not as if Knight has fallen off his game late in his career. His Carey Crusaders this season finished 28-5, tying the school record for victories. They won the Southern States Conference championship with a 15-3 record and qualified for the NAIA National Tournament.

So why quit now?

“I think the fact that we had such a great year was a part of it,” Knight said. “I wanted to go out on a winning note, but it was more than that. I had hip surgery in December and missed some games and a lot of practices. Coaching can be a real grind, plus I’ve got grandkids that are playing high school ball now and I want to watch them play. Also, my wife and I want to do some traveling and we want to do it while we’re healthy enough to enjoy it. It just seems like the right time.

“I just want everyone to know that I have really loved working at William Carey in my hometown with so many great people. It never really felt like a job.”

This writer’s relationship with Knight goes back to his high school days when when “Bone” – as he was nicknamed – was a star baseball pitcher and shooting guard for the Hattiesburg High Tigers. Bone, you ask? “I was 6-foot-2 and weighed 140 pounds, maybe. I was all skin and bones. Somebody shortened that to Bone and it stuck.”

Knight was a key player on a Hattiesburg basketball team, led by the great Purvis Short, that won a state championship in 1974. He later was a fine pitcher for Southern Miss, where his catcher was Mississippi Sports Hall of Famer Corky Palmer. Knight pitched two years in the Seattle Mariners organization before returning to Hattiesburg and taking the job at Carey.

Knight also served a season as William Carey’s baseball coach early in his career and then for 30 years (1987-2016) as the school’s athletic director. Carey’s athletic department grew exponentially during his leadership, more than tripling the number of sports offered from five to 17.

“The basketball program and the university owe a lot to Coach Knight,” said Tracy English, the current Carey athletic director. “For 44 years he produced championship teams and sent young men back to their communities to be productive citizens. He coached hundreds of players that went on to become coaches, bankers, doctors, businessmen, preachers, you name it.”

Knight coached 22 Carey teams to 20 victories or more, won 19 conference championships and made 15 NAIA National Tournament appearances. He was named his league’s coach of the year 15 times, including this past season. Knight also has been inducted into the Southern Miss M Club Hall of Fame, the William Carey Hall of Fame and the Southern Miss Alumni Hall of Fame.

As Knight put it, “What a ride it has been!”

Hi! My name is Mukta Joshi and I’m an investigative reporter with Mississippi Today.

For nearly two years, I’ve been writing about police misconduct and the power of sheriffs in our state. Now, as I start a yearlong fellowship program at the New York Times, I’m shifting my focus to a topic that’s been making headlines across the country, though less so here at home: the detention of immigrants picked up by ICE. 

ICE raids have been taking place at an unprecedented scale in big cities all over, including in the South. Texas and Louisiana famously house more ICE detainees than any other states. 

But did you know that Mississippi plays a special part in immigration enforcement? 

Despite having one of the smallest immigrant populations, Mississippi is home to the second largest ICE detention facility in the entire country – the Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, which houses more than 2,000 detainees. 

The federal government limits access to ICE detention centers. They aren’t inspected as often as state prisons. Only immediate family members and attorneys are allowed to visit detainees. And because the Adams County facility is owned and run by a private, for-profit company, CoreCivic, it isn’t covered by public records laws, and taxpayers don’t get to see what happens inside.

Over the next couple of months, we’re going to find out everything we can about the facility, from who is held there to how it impacts the local economy. 

We’d like to invite you along.

Every Friday morning, I plan to publish something about my reporting – what I’m learning about how the facility works, about the people held there or about the impact the detention center has on the community surrounding it. You’ll be able to find it on Mississippi Today’s website, on our social media channels and in our Friday newsletter. And you can follow me on X @mukta_jo.

I’ll start posting on March 27. In the meantime, if you know something about the detention center, if you know someone who works there or is detained there, or want me to find out something about it for readers, please get in touch.

I will not use your name or any part of your submission without contacting you first. If you prefer to get in touch with me anonymously, send me a message on Signal @mmj.2178. Or you can contact me via email at mukta.joshi@nytimes.com. 

Our mailing address is PO Box 12267, Jackson, MS 39236.

¡Hola! Me llamo Mukta Joshi y soy reportera de investigación en Mississippi Today.

Llevo casi dos años escribiendo sobre la mala conducta policial y el poder de los sheriffs en nuestro estado. Ahora, al comenzar una beca de un año en The New York Times, voy a poner mi atención en un tema que ha acaparado los titulares en todo el país, aunque no tanto aquí en casa: la detención de inmigrantes por parte del ICE.

Las redadas del ICE se han estado llevando a cabo a una escala sin precedentes en las grandes ciudades de todo el país, incluido el sur. Es bien sabido que Texas y Luisiana albergan a más detenidos del ICE que cualquier otro estado.

¿Pero sabías que Misisipi desempeña un papel especial en la aplicación de las leyes migratorias?

A pesar de tener una de las poblaciones de inmigrantes más pequeñas, Misisipi alberga el segundo centro de detención del ICE más grande de todo el país: el Centro Correccional del Condado de Adams en Natchez, que alberga a más de 2000 detenidos.

El gobierno federal limita el acceso a los centros de detención del ICE. No se inspeccionan con tanta frecuencia como las prisiones estatales. Solo los familiares directos y los abogados pueden visitar a los detenidos. Y como el centro del condado de Adams es propiedad y está gestionado por una empresa privada con ánimo de lucro, CoreCivic, no está sujeto a las leyes de registros públicos, y los contribuyentes no pueden ver lo que ocurre en su interior.

Durante los próximos meses, vamos a averiguar todo lo que podamos sobre el centro, desde quiénes están recluidos allí hasta cómo afecta a la economía local.

Nos gustaría que nos acompañaras.

Cada viernes por la mañana, tengo pensado publicar algo sobre mi reportaje: lo que voy averiguando sobre el funcionamiento del centro, sobre las personas que están allí o sobre el impacto que tiene el centro de detención en la comunidad alrededor. Podrás encontrarlo en la página web de Mississippi Today, en nuestras redes sociales y en nuestro boletín de los viernes. Y puedes seguirme en X @mukta_jo.

Empezaré a publicar el 27 de marzo. Mientras tanto, si sabes algo sobre el centro de detención, si conoces a alguien que trabaje allí o que esté detenido allí, o si quieres que averigüe algo al respecto para los lectores, por favor, ponte en contacto conmigo.

No usaré tu nombre ni ninguna parte de tu mensaje sin contactarte primero. Si prefieres ponerte en contacto conmigo de forma anónima, envíame un mensaje por Signal @mmj.2178. O puedes comunicarte por correo electrónico a mukta.joshi@nytimes.com.

Nuestra dirección postal es P. O. Box 12267, Jackson, MS 39236.

The number of school districts missing annual financial audits is going down, falling to 32 from 47 since the Mississippi Department of Education has drawn attention to this issue, according to Paula Vanderford, the agency’s chief accountability officer. 

She told the state Board of Education Thursday that 19 districts are behind on the most recent year’s audit, and another 13 are missing audits for both fiscal years 2024 and 2023. Most have a plan in place to become compliant, Vanderford said. 

Education Department leaders have taken steps to be more proactive about struggling districts — amid a slew of fiscal issues and school takeovers. In recent months, the department took over two school districts — Wilkinson County and Okolona — the latter stemming from financial woes. 

READ MORE: ‘We can only go up from here’: Hope and apathy in Wilkinson County schools

Audits are required by federal law. Missing audits can mask urgent financial problems at school districts. 

In October, Okolona school district leaders reached out to the state education agency because they could not make the following month’s payroll. 

The state Board of Education approved taking over the district in November and subsequently voted in January to approve a temporary rule change that would put school districts with two or more outstanding audits on probation or downgrade their accreditation. Before, school districts could have missed filing four consecutive annual audits before potentially losing accreditation. 

The board made the rule change final on Thursday, ramping up accountability for districts behind on their audits.

“We don’t want any more Okolonas,” board chair Matt Miller said.

Some of the factors driving the missing audits are school administrative turnover, a lack of district business managers, auditor staffing shortages and the burdensome federal funding portion of the audits themselves, said Samantha Atkinson, director of the agency’s internal audit department.

“We do have a problem in Mississippi with a lack of CPA (accounting) firms that do audits for a number of reasons of which we can’t control,” board member Bill Jacobs said. “I don’t want to penalize a school district because there is an issue with finding CPAs that can do or will do the audits.”

But Vanderford said the agency is federally mandated to sanction schools missing their audits and doing so is in the public’s interest.

Miller said he was pleased with delinquent districts’ progress since November. 

School districts have until March 31 to submit financial audits for fiscal year 2025. Vanderford said at the meeting that this year’s audits are “coming in at a much faster pace.” Already, 63 of the state’s 138 public schools districts have submitted audits. 

Education officials have suggested suspending funding as a last resort for noncompliant districts.

There is “no way” the state Education Department’s Office of Accreditation would have capacity to review 32 districts at one time and downgrade their accreditation status, Vanderford told the board Thursday. Instead, if many districts are out of compliance this year, the agency would have to focus on the most egregious violators.

School districts across the state are facing more than financial struggles. On Thursday, the state Board of Education also approved 12 corrective action plans for districts that were largely sanctioned for fiscal and recordkeeping violations.

A majority of the districts with corrective action plans, which are meant to help districts correct issues of noncompliance with accreditation policies and process standards, are located in the Mississippi Delta. Jackson Public Schools, one of the state’s largest school districts, was put on probation in October for issues with school board policies, residency requirements, immunization requirements and student records. 

However, violations at two districts proved too severe for board approval. The board denied corrective action plans for Hazlehurst and North Bolivar school districts.  

Hazlehurst, which has been on probation for a decade, has been docked for issues such as poor recordkeeping, school board governance issues, dangerous campus conditions and not providing some special education services. With North Bolivar, the agency has also taken issue with the district’s nonfunctional alternative school, missing proof of employment for staff, poor recordkeeping, illegal school board policies, faulty financial reporting and poor fiscal management. North Bolivar schools have been on probation for nine years.

Vanderford said the agency needs to work more closely with both districts to bring them into compliance. Documentation from the agency also notes that districts have made insufficient progress in implementing the corrective actions detailed in their respective plans.

If the Hazlehurst and North Bolivar districts don’t correct their deficiencies by Dec. 31, they will be subject to an unannounced on-site audit or their accreditation may be withdrawn. Then, the state could take over those districts. 

But the state Education Department may not have the capacity for many more state takeovers. 

The state runs six school districts. State Superintendent Lance Evans said recently at a legislative meeting that there is only $4.8 million available to provide assistance to school districts taken over by the state. Since taking over Okolona schools, the agency has already spent $1.5 million. 

Evans has asked lawmakers for additional funding for next fiscal year.

Reporter Leonardo Bevilacqua contributed to this story.