Mississippi Today
Stamps leads Bailey, but heated Central PSC race remains too close to call
The Central District public service commissioner’s race remained too close to call Monday — nearly a week after the Nov. 7 Mississippi general election — although challenger DeKeither Stamps still held a slight lead over incumbent Brent Bailey.
The Associated Press had yet to call the race early Monday afternoon with 96% of votes counted, and reported Democrat Stamps with 130,887 votes, or 50.6%, to Bailey’s 127,628 votes, or 49.4%. Stamps’ lead of now over 3,200 votes has continued to grow slightly as vote tallies trickled in over the last few days.
Friday is the deadline for counties to provide certified election results to the secretary of state’s office.
Stamps said the Veteran’s Day holiday had slowed vote counting in some counties but he was hoping for resolution soon.
“We’ve got folks out at different counties,” Stamps, a Marine Corps and U.S. Army combat veteran who has been serving in the state House of Representatives, said. “We’ve got lawyers ready. We’re prepared for anything. I’m an old war guy. We kill ants with a sledgehammer.”
Stamps said it looked like “It would take a miracle” for Bailey to overcome his lead with the remaining uncounted, absentee and affidavit ballots, but “I believe that miracles can come true — it’s a miracle that 130,000 people felt so strong about us to vote for us even with all those mailouts and ads with false information.”
Bailey said some Rankin County votes were coming in Monday that should help him gain ground on Stamps but said, “At this point the numbers I’ve seen are not in our favor — at this point.”
“It’s a challenging district for a Republican to win,” said Bailey, who is finishing his first term on the three-member commission that oversees public utilities and sets the rates they charge customers.
The two fought a heated race that saw some mudslinging, leaving some hard feelings with both candidates.
Stamps said a Washington, D.C., PAC dumped $250,000 in attack ads against him late in the race.
“There are obviously folks in D.C. that don’t like us,” Stamps said. “A quarter of a million dollars — why is Washington, D.C., that interested in a Mississippi PSC race?”
Bailey said: “Politics is politics, but to be labeled corrupt and have all these allegations against you — I take that personally, when you know good and damned well it’s false.”
The other two PSC seats were decided in the August primary, with Republican state Rep. Chris Brown winning the Northern District and Republican challenger Wayne Carr winning the Southern District seat.
Tuesday’s election also determined the three seats on the Transportation Commission.
Incumbent Northern District Commissioner John Caldwell was unopposed. Incumbent Willie Simmons was reelected to a second term as Central District commissioner and longtime state House Transportation Committee Chairman Charles Busby won the Southern District transportation commissioner’s job.
Incumbent Democrat Willie Simmons defeated Republican Ricky Pennington Jr. to win a second term as the Central District transportation commissioner. With 94% of precincts reporting, Simmons won over 54% of the vote. Simmons previously served in the Mississippi Legislature.
In the Southern District transportation commissioner race, three-term state Rep. Charles Busby, a Republican, defeated independent Steven Griffin pulling in over 72% of the vote with 95% of precincts reporting. Busby has served as the House Transportation Committee chairman.
Busby will replace retiring Commissioner Tom King.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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Mississippi Today
AT&T, union reach deal ending strike
AT&T workers are back on the job today after the company reached a tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America to end a month-long strike in the Southeast.
The new deal includes a 19.33% pay increase for all workers, and more affordable healthcare premiums.
Wire technicians and utility operations employes get an extra 3% pay increase.
In a statement, CWA president Claude Cummings Jr. praised the solidarity of the striking workers.
“I believe in the power of unity, and the unity our members and retirees have shown during these contract negotiations has been outstanding and gave our bargaining teams the backing they needed to deliver strong contracts,” he said.
CWA district president Jermaine Travis told Mississippi Today that he and his coworkers are happy to be back at work.
“It’s been a long month, so everybody is excited to get back to work and get back to taking care of business,” he said.
Travis also noted the significance of the strike, the longest telecommunications strike in the Southeast.
“I think we’re gonna look back at this strike, at this moment in history, and see it was really important for workers to stand up for the rights and force companies to do right by them, so I think we did a good thing,” he said.
AT&T has also reached a tentative agreement with the CWA in the West.
“As we’ve said since day 1, our goal has been to reach fair agreements that recognize the hard work our employees do to serve our customers with competitive market-based pay and benefits that are among the best in the nation — and that’s exactly what was accomplished,” AT&T said in a released statement. “These agreements also support our competitive position in the broadband industry where we can grow and win against our mostly non-union competitors.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1925
Sept. 16, 1925
“The King of the Blues” was born Riley B. King on a plantation near Itta Bena, Mississippi, the son of sharecroppers.
While singing in the church choir, he watched the pastor playing a Sears Roebuck guitar and told the preacher he wanted to learn how to play. By age 12, he had his own guitar and began listening to the blues on the radio. After playing in churches, he went to Memphis to pursue a music career in 1948, playing on the radio and working as a deejay who was known as “Blues Boy” and eventually “B.B.”
Within a year, B.B. King was recording songs, many of them produced by Sam Phillips, who later founded Sun Records. In 1952, “3 O’Clock Blues” became a hit, and dozens followed.
While others sought to bring change through the courts, King did it through music. The songs that he and other blues artists created drew many listeners across racial lines. One of the biggest fans walked into the studio one day and called him “sir.” His name? Elvis Presley, whose first big hit was the blues song, “That’s All Right, Mama.”
King explained that music was like water — something “for every living person and every living thing.” His smash hit, “The Thrill Is Gone,” made him an international star and led to collaborations with some of the world’s greatest artists.
He survived a fire that almost burned up his beloved guitar, “Lucille,” and won 18 Grammys as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1987, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Both Time and Rolling Stone magazines ranked him as one of the greatest guitarists of all time.
In 2006, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the greatest civilian honor. Two years later, his hometown of Indianola honored him by opening the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center. After he died in 2015, thousands flocked to the Mississippi Delta for the wake and funeral.
“Hands that once picked cotton,” the preacher told the crowd, “would someday pick guitar strings on a national and international stage.” He performed till the end, telling Rolling Stone in 2013 that he had only missed 18 days of performing in 65 years. He died two years later at 89 after battling diabetes for decades.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Podcast: Sen. David Blount discusses tax cuts, retirement system, mobile sports betting
State Sen. David Blount sits down with Mississippi Today’s Bobby Harrison and Adam Ganucheau to discuss the push for income tax elimination and how that would affect the state’s budget. He also talks about needed funding for the state’s troubled retirement system and whether Mississippi will soon adopt mobile sports betting.
READ MORE: As lawmakers look to cut taxes, Mississippi mayors and county leaders outline infrastructure needs
The post Podcast: Sen. David Blount discusses tax cuts, retirement system, mobile sports betting appeared first on Mississippi Today.
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