Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting-News

Mississippi officials did what South Dakota leaders couldn’t — block Medicaid expansion

The South Dakota Republican leadership, like many of their counterparts in Mississippi, oppose accepting federal funds to provide health insurance for primarily the working poor.

Doctors: Mississippi Is Still The Most Dangerous State For Mothers and Babies

Dr. Anita Henderson has her work cut out for her. The health of mothers and babies is her professional concern, and Mississippi remains the most dangerous state for both by virtually every metric.

News, Public Health, Mississippi NewsKatherine MitchellJune 14, 2022Mother and infant health, lack of health care, dangerous state, maternal health care, infant health care, lack of doctos, mississippi, poverty, preterm births, infant-mortality rate, pediatrician shortage, OB-GYN shortage, postpartum extension, health care dessert

Caregiving disputes expected to rise with aging baby boomers population

For more than one and half years, Alana “Lana” Slaughter was the caregiver with her family’s consent to Kathy Mashburn, a woman she called a friend and mother figure.

News, Public Health, Mississippi NewsKatherine MitchellJune 9, 2022disabled, people with disabilities, Disability, elderly, elder boomers, baby boomers, aging, elder care disputes, caregiving, Alana Slaughter, Kathy Mashburn, eldercare

‘State-sanctioned violence:’ Inside one of the thousands of schools that still paddles students

COLLINS, Miss. — At the beginning of every school year, April Johnson oversees distribution of the Covington County School District student handbook. Tucked into the first half of the handbook is a section titled “Corporal Punishment.”

News, Mississippi News, EducationKatherine MitchellJune 5, 2022corporal punishment, schools, paddles, paddling, suspension, pressure on parents, discipline, US, Covington county, Hechinger Report

Pandemic exacted a steep toll on people with disabilities

Legally blind and alone, Katrina Byrd of Jackson, Mississippi, was reeling from her partner’s death from ALS when the pandemic sent her into isolation, cutting her off from the services and help she needed.

Shattering ordinary people’s mental health

Dillion Swindle of Oxford had just gotten his dream promotion and relocated to Louisiana when COVID-19 smacked the nation in 2020.

'A long time in the making': New water pipe to improve water service in South Jackson

Five miles of water pipes will be built in South Jackson by the fall and the new pipes are expected to improve water service by increasing flow and pressure, city officials said.

News, Mississippi Spotlight, Mississippi NewsKatherine MitchellMay 19, 2022Tainted, Tap water, Mississippi Spotlight, Water pipes, South Jackson, Mayor Lumumba, J.H. Fewell, McDowell Road, High Street, Pearl street, I-55, water pressure

A man the FBI thought was dead recalls details of 1960 murders

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Not a day has passed during the past 62 years that Willie Gibson hasn’t thought of Louisiana and the horrific shootings in Monroe that left four of his friends and co-workers dead and a fifth seriously wounded.

News, Civil RIghtsKatherine MitchellMay 12, 2022LSU Manship School News Service, LSU Cold Case Project, Robert Fuller, Civil rights killing, KKK, Murder 4 men, shot 5 men, Killings on Ticheli Road, 1960s, Willie Gibson, witness alive, civil rights cold case

Hospital staffing, bed space leave mentally ill defendants languishing in jail

Brad Sellers celebrated his 40th birthday in February in the Clarke County Jail in Quitman, having been there since June 2021 on a charge of aggravated assault on a Quitman police officer.