Category: Mississippi

Virus–Local News

Not often do I post on the doings in my region……but during this time of crisis because of Covid-19 I think that a little local news could help people understand what would be coming for their neighborhood.

My state, Mississippi, now has the highest rate of hospitalizations due to Covid-19…….

Mississippi currently has the highest COVID-19 hospitalization rate in the nation, at 31 percent, according to states’ health department data gathered by The COVID Tracking Project. 

Based on numbers the state health department released Wednesday, 333 patients have been hospitalized so far and 22 people have died. Since the state started regularly updating hospitalization rates, Mississippi has consistently remained among the top three states of about 40 states consistently reporting hospitalization data. As of Wednesday, Oklahoma and South Carolina rank just behind Mississippi, at 30 and 27 percent, respectively.

Mississippi has nation’s highest COVID-19 hospitalization rate

And yet the idiot that Mississippians elected, Tate Reeves or as most of us call him  Tater Tot, downplayed the effects of the virus and we see where that got the state….apparently Tater Tot was waiting for Donald the Orange to tell him what to do….

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves issued a shelter-in-place order for the entire state on Wednesday as new COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to mount in the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The declaration will go into effect at 5 p.m. on Friday and last until 8 a.m. on April 20.

“Every day, for the last several weeks, I have asked our health experts whether it is time for the ultimate action of a shelter-in-place order statewide,” Reeves said. “Yesterday, for the first time, we got the answer we had been anticipating. They told me we are now at the point in Mississippi’s cycle where such drastic restrictions are required. Today is the day. We are announcing a shelter-in-place order.”

We have finally got our local shelter in place order and it came with a curfew as well….

One by one coastal cities throughout Harrison County are issuing orders to help keep communities safe during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Words from Coastal city leadership as the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc throughout the world.

Biloxi issued a shelter in place order, D’Iberville issued a stay-at-home order and Long Beach issued a stay-at-home order, and Gulfport issued a safer at home order. Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes said, “It’s gotten to the point where even with the measures we put in place a couple weeks ago that they are not having the effect we’d hoped for. We’re continuing see the spread of COVID-19 in our community.”

Each order carries a nightly curfew from 11 p.m. until 5 a.m. “Most businesses can still remain active to a limited fashion. They have to make sure they limit things to ten people or less and don’t allow people inside their store greater than ten. They have to have the social distances, six feet apart, in place. If you are in a line of work and it’s articulated in this order that, if you’re a workout gym facility, a barbershop, a salon, places where you have to be in close proximity to people, those businesses we told need to shut down.”

Stay home orders issued throughout Harrison County

Come Thursday at 11 p.m., a curfew will be in place nightly from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., applying to all but few who travel roads within Biloxi city limits until further notice. Biloxi Police Chief John Miller said, “There are just a lot of people who are maintaining their jobs at night, so those people we are certainly going to let go to and from work at night without any problems-anybody in the medical field, military, all those folks will be able to go to work and go home without a problem.”

It’s all part of an emergency order issued and signed off on by Biloxi Mayor Andrew ‘FoFo Gilch this week, an order that also requires businesses with close contact among customers to also shut down until further notice come early Thursday morning at 12:01 a.m. “The tattoo businesses, the spas, the hair salons, nail salons, all those things right now are going to be asked to shut down. It’s a mandatory shut down.”

It will be inconvenient for me for I walk MoMo at 0400 hrs to avoid people and traffic…..I will adjust to 0500 hrs and avoid people and traffic instead off the usual time.

Watch This Blog!

Be calm…..avoid crowds…..remain prepared….and wash hands often……

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Curfews And Such

Closing Thought–24Mar20

This does NOT pertain to the nation as a whole….I offer up what is happening in my region as to what could be coming to the rest of the country.

It appears that our county supervisors will be taking up the possibility of a 2 week 24 curfew…..

Rumors are circulating about a possible “lockdown” in Harrison County in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Harrison County Sheriff Troy Peterson and police chiefs in Harrison County are recommending a two-week, 24-hour curfew beginning Monday night.

Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich said he expects the issue to come up during a Harrison County Board of Supervisors meeting Monday morning.

Peterson and the police chiefs suggest the curfew run through April 6 at 6 p.m.

Possible two-week, 24-hour curfew for Harrison County likely to be discussed by leaders Monday

Read and weep for this could be a policy coming to you and your neighborhood soon.

This is just rumor for now…..we also had a rumor last week that we were going to see martial law in the cities soon…..that did not happen (not yet anyway) but it is still on the table from what I have heard.

This curfew thing would be a blast for MoMo she depends on her walks and if not she gets cranky.

AS I was preparing this post news came out that curfews were not something they want to do at this time….but it is still a consideration…..

On the advice of Coast mayors, the Harrison County Board of Supervisors rejected imposing a curfew Monday, but all warned that day could be coming as the new coronavirus continues to spread.

The supervisors did close the beach to groups of no more than 10, saying exercise and the ability to get outdoors is important for residents.

“There are so many things bouncing around,” Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes told supervisors at the meeting, which was streamed live on Facebook with only mayors and supervisors in the Gulfport courthouse meeting room.

Something that is still on the table for future considerations.
 
This is the stuff that is coming to an area near you as well.

Be calm……Avoid crowds……Be well….Be Safe

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those Southern Democrats

In the last round of primaries my state of Mississippi voted for Biden (go figure)….but that was going to be a “gimme” for Biden.

The turnout in Mississippi was up 17% from last election and that was a surprise for me.

Southern Democratic voters are more conserv than most GOPers….why is this?

the website….fivethirtyeight takes a look at these voters….

From 1964 to 2008, three Democratic presidential candidates made it to the White House. All of them were southerners. Yet for the last half-century, the GOP’s Southern strategy eroded the Democratic Party’s stronghold on the South. States on the edges of the South — Virginia, Florida and North Carolina — have turned purple or a light shade of blue, but the heart of the South unquestionably remains Republican territory in presidential elections.

Nonetheless, Democratic voters in the South still exert significant influence on the party during the primary season. The states of the former Confederacy1 will elect a little over one quarter of Democrats’ pledged delegates in 2020 — six of them on Super Tuesday (Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia). And so as the 2020 Democratic primary contests move to the South, I figured it was worth a dive into what happened there in the 2016 Democratic primary, based on a 2016 survey of 3,668 Americans by the Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics, of which I am the director.2 It illustrates the ways in which Democrats in the South are different from Democrats outside of the region — differences that may again come into play in 2020.

What Makes Southern Democrats Unique

The problem I see, especially in Mississippi is the voter has a tendency to vote against their own best interests.

Take Rep. Gene Taylor who was a staunch conserv Blue Dog Dem and voted with the feelings of his people only to lose his seat in 2010 and his only crime was he was a Dem and was linked to “demon” Pelosi….his voting record meant NOTHING to low information voters.

Now my state has a toadie sycophant that will be lead around by his genitals by the president and business.

So Biden’s win in the primary was not a surprise for the Mississippi voter will fall for every one liner and slogan that comes down the pike.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–05Mar20

Occasionally I write about my region and a recent report has me concerned.

The Coast is basically 30 miles….from bridge to bridge as we like to call it.

We have had our share of crime on the Coast but it is getting worse by the year……for instance homicides…..

Today’s fatal shooting in Biloxi makes number six on the growing homicide list in Harrison County.

Over the last week, a crime wave washed over the Coast, hitting Harrison County the hardest. Six Gulf Coast residents in seven days have been the victim of gun violence.

Monday, February 24th a Biloxi family lost 16-year-old Madison Harris after her family says they discovered on a doorbell home security video the suspects leaving the Harris grandparent’s home following an alleged robbery-turned-murder. The community held a vigil at the Biloxi Lighthouse to honor Madison’s memory on Tuesday.

Crime wave hits the Coast

I write about this because in a region with about 300,000 residents and a low incident of gun violence…this is a huge crime wave.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Southern Strike 2020

Closing Thought–17Feb20

This may not be of much interest to most of my readers……I just want to point out the training that our troops must go through……….

I am a student of conflict and these days we fight terrorists not so much grand armies…..and my area has been part of the training to fight our enemies…….

Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center CRTC

Special Tactics Airmen and Green Berets from the 3rd and 20th Special Forces Group participated in Southern Strike 2020. The event was a large-scale, joint multinational combat exercise hosted by the Mississippi Air National Guard. This exercise provided special operators a unique training opportunity that provided tactical level training for the full spectrum conflict.

This rundown is from sof.news……

Exercise Scope. The time frame of the exercise was from January 30 to February 13, 2020. The Southern Strike exercise is a National Guard Bureau (NGB), Title 32 funded, tactical exercise program. The Joint Exercise Control Group (JECG) is comprised of military and civilian personnel with extensive SOF experience. The Mississippi National Guard hosts and supports this annual event.

Training Areas. The large-scale exercise took place in Mississippi at several military installations. Many of the primary (C2) events took place at the Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC) in Gulfport, Mississippi. Outlying locations provided many of the field training opportunities. These included Camp Shelby, Fort Morgan (AL), Camp McCain Training Center, and Naval Air Station Meridian.

Participating Units. More than 2,000 service members from 22 states – and some international participants as well – conducted missions designed to enhance their effectiveness. The participating air units came from diverse fields to include ISR, close air support, airlift (fixed and rotary), and Aeromedical Evacuation. Active duty, National Guard, Reserve units were all represented. The countries of Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, and the Netherlands all provided military personnel.

List of Units:

  • 3rd Special Forces Group
  • 20th Special Forces Group
  • Dutch SOF
  • Air Force Special Operations Surgical Team (SOST)
  • 125th Special Tactics Squadron (STS) (ANG)
  • 183rd Airlift Squadron
  • 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment
  • Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 (Seabees)
  • Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 60
  • 49th Fighter Training Squadron
  • 119th Wing
  • 266th Range Squadron
  • And many more . . .

Exercise Features. The Southern Strike 2020 event featured counterinsurgency, air supremacy, close air support, en route casualty care, non-combatant evacuations, maritime and riverine special operations. In addition, staffs were provided the opportunity to further develop staff functions and procedures.

SOF Ground Unit Training. Ground units from Special Tactics, 3rd Special Forces Group, and the 20th Special Forces Group conducted a variety of missions supported by air assets. COIN, Direct Action, Close Air Support, and other missions were exercised. There was a lot of air activity due to the huge role played by the air units. This afforded the SOF ground elements plenty of opportunities to conduct air infils, exfils, close air support calls for fire, helicopter hoist operations, and more.

Our military is prepared for the wars to come…..

Personally I would prefer that we worry about the failure of our infrastructure….we have always had a superior military….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–22Jan20

I live in Mississippi and from time I write about to doings in my state….I do not write much for I do not think that too many are interested in the policies and events in Mississippi

But since a good portion of the population of my state is in prison or have been in jail…I read an article about the so-called “restitution program”…..

Debtors’ prison may sound like a concept from another century. But the Marshall Project asserts that Mississippi is running a court-ordered restitution program that is essentially the same thing. The investigation found that judges sentence hundreds of people a year to one of four “restitution centers” around the state. There they must live while they work off court-ordered debts, including fees, fines, and restitution to victims. One big problem is that most of the workers have low-paying jobs, making their stays at the centers open-ended. And “centers” might be overstating things. One is described as a motel-turned-jail that is surrounded by razor wire. The residents sleep on prison-issued mattresses, eat the same food as inmates, and generally have the same restrictions.

“We don’t know of any other states that have a program quite like Mississippi’s,” says Sharon Brett of Harvard’s Criminal Justice Policy Program. The story by Anna Wolfe and Michelle Liu also includes this quote from Cliff Johnson of the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi. “Debtors’ prisons are an effective way of collecting money—as is kidnapping. But there are constitutional, public policy and moral barriers to such a regime.” The program has its defenders, including a judge who says it’s better than sending people to regular prison. One woman who went through it isn’t so sure. Annita Husband ended up escaping from her center. When caught, she went to prison for 10 months, about half as long as she would have spent at the center had she stayed and paid off the debt under its system.

I have thought that it was beyond time for reform in our penal systems and programs…..like why is there little training offered or educational programs?

While writing this draft more news about Mississippi penal system came to light……

Two inmates were beaten to death in a fight with other inmates in an understaffed Mississippi prison that has been shaken by other deadly violence in recent weeks, a coroner said. The state Department of Corrections on Tuesday confirmed the men died at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman and said officials are investigating, the AP reports. “Both victims appear to have died from blunt force beating injuries,” said Sunflower County Coroner Heather Burton. The department originally said the inmates died Monday night, but Burton later clarified that they died early Tuesday. Department spokeswoman Grace Simmons Fisher said the injuries occurred late Monday as the two inmates fought with other prisoners. “At this moment, it appears to be an isolated incident—not a continuation of the recent retaliatory killings,” the Department of Corrections said Tuesday.

Violence is a recurring problem in Mississippi prisons, where many jobs for guards are unfilled. Five inmates were killed and an undisclosed number of others inmates were injured during an outbreak of violence in Mississippi’s prison system between Dec. 29 and Jan. 3. Three of those five deaths were at Parchman. In addition to those deaths and the two on Tuesday, another inmate was found hanging in his cell Saturday night at Parchman. Burton said she was called Sunday to the prison, where Gabriel Carmen was found hanging the night before. She said corrections officials reported he had been irate and throwing feces before his death. An autopsy was being done. Prison officials said Carmen’s cell lock had been jammed from inside the cell. One of the inmates who died Tuesday was Timothy Hudspeth, 35, who was serving a 10-year sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The name of the other inmate was not immediately released because a chaplain was trying to reach his family.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–04Oct19

From time to time I write about the events in my state of Mississippi……this time it happened only about 30 miles from where I live in the training facility known as “Camp Shelby”…..

Looks like the paratroopers got caught in a situation……

Eight-seven parachuting soldiers were blown into trees, 32 were injured and 18 of them hospitalized, including one who suffered a broken back during a night training exercise at a Mississippi military training center, officials said Thursday.

The soldiers were among 650 jumping in to open a 10-day training exercise at Camp Shelby, a 134,000-acre (525-square-kilometer) National Guard site that includes a joint forces training center for active and reserve service members, officials said in a news release.

Lt. Col. Matthew Myer, commander of the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, wrote on Facebook that the soldier with the spinal injury was among 18 who “required care” and are all expected to recover. The one with a broken back was operated on successfully and “is expected to recover well,” he wrote.

He said 87 soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division landed in trees. At least four lodged so high up that the fire department had to help get them down.

https://newsradiowrva.radio.com/articles/ap-news/32-parachuting-soldiers-hurt-18-hospitalized-mississippi

Glad to hear that all involved will recover…..

Just an FYI…some of the record sized Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes come from around the area of Camp Shelby….I personally saw one that was just short of 7 feet….but that was many years ago……

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Hope all have a wonderful weekend ….be well, be safe.