Mississippi Today
Broadband expansion in Mississippi continues with $70.9 million in grants
In the latest push to expand broadband access in Mississippi, internet service providers across the state will receive $70.9 million in grants for infrastructure projects.
This first round of grants is expected to expand access to 26,500 homes across 19 counties. More grants will be announced throughout the summer and into the fall.
“BEAM is working to reach the most homes possible as quickly as possible,” Sally Doty, director of Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi, said in an email. “With this first round of funding reaching 26,500 (homes), I would estimate that the total reach of the Capital Projects Fund will be 35,000 – 40,000 homes.”
The money is part of the $152 million in Mississippi Capital Projects Funds awarded to the state by the U.S. Department of the Treasury through the American Rescue Plan Act, signed into law in 2021.
Since BEAM was established in 2022, it has received a windfall of federal dollars aimed at increasing access to broadband internet service in Mississippi, which consistently ranks among the last nationwide for broadband availability, infrastructure and subscription rate.
Broadband, or high-speed internet connection, is the modern standard for internet service. Its availability enables individuals to get the most out of the internet. According to the Federal Communications Commission, broadband service is defined as internet connection with at least 100 Mbps – megabits per second – download speed and 20 Mbps upload speed.
Uplink Internet, one of the grant recipients, has been providing internet access to people in the rural Mississippi Delta for more than a decade. What began as a group of farmers attempting to bring internet access to their homes in the country blossomed into a business after it became clear the demand was there.
“These grants are really helping us meet the needs of people who have been requesting it (internet service) for a long time,” Scott Litwiller, chief operating officer of Uplink, said.“It's very gratifying to be able to get these rural communities the internet they've been wanting for a long time.”
Litwiller said that demand skyrocketed during the pandemic, which is when Uplink decided to take the leap and apply for the grants. Most of Uplink's clients are people who have not had internet access before or were dissatisfied with their current service. Nationwide, the pandemic brought into focus how essential broadband internet access was as everything, from work to school, shifted online.
“It does a lot for people — access to the digital economy, being able to get goods cheaper through the internet, and being able to work from home,” he said. “We have a lot of single parent families that have a hard time working a job and providing childcare. With being a parent, having the ability to work from home anywhere in the world is helpful.”
Many use high speed internet service to take advantage of online degree programs.
“I talked to a customer the other day who got her bachelor's degree from her house. She wouldn't have been able to do that if she had to go to a physical classroom because she's at a stage in her life where she can't quit work and go back to school,” he said. “My wife got two nursing degrees from home using the internet. It does impact people in ways you don't even think of. It's a very powerful tool.”
Uplink currently serves Coahoma and parts of Bolivar counties in the Mississippi Delta, and is expanding service into Tunica and Quitman counties.
BEAM received over $550 million in applications for the $152 million of funding. According to Doty, a rubric was used to determine which projects would receive the funding.
“A scoring rubric was used that was made available to all applicants prior to opening of the application portal,” Doty said. “Scoring took into consideration the number of locations to be served, matching funds to be provided, cost per passing, and all federal and state requirements.”
Other factors considered in the merit review process included affordability and the ability to complete the project by the end of the year in 2026 — the point when the Treasury Department stipulates that all funds are to be spent.
In the Mississippi Delta, where concerns were raised that BEAM was not doing enough to meet the area's needs, projects are underway.
“There are many providers in the Delta who are actively building out using private funding and also through current grant funding. Delta Electric's broadband subsidiary DE Lightspeed is actively building,” Doty said.
“USDA and the FCC have provided funding to Uplink, Arriva, Tech Info, Belzoni Cable, Franklin Telephone, and other Delta providers. The upcoming BEAD funding will fill in the gaps for coverage in the Delta through grants to many of those same providers,” she said, referring to the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.
Of the most recent grants announced, the Mississippi Delta counties of Coahoma, DeSoto, Sunflower, Quitman and Tunica will be receiving service. In Tunica County, broadband expansion is being used to address health and safety concerns that the BEAM office was made aware of during a community engagement event.
“There had been a recent incident where they could not call for an ambulance when needed,” Doty said. “BEAM left with an understanding of the seriousness of the situation. Within six months we were able to announce reprogramming of some grant funding to reach this area.”
BEAM recently completed projects associated with money received through the CARES Act, and is in the process of accessing $1.2 billion from the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program. Other major funding in recent years includes $32.7 million from the Broadband Infrastructure program and $10.7 million for the state's Digital Skills and Accessibility Program, which will be used to increase digital skills in Mississippi.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1942
JUNE 28, 1942
Dorie Ladner was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She and her sister, Joyce, became involved early with the civil rights movement, working with Medgar Evers, Vernon Dahmer, Clyde Kennard and others.
She and her sister were kicked out of Jackson State University for their support of the Tougaloo Nine, who integrated the all-white library in downtown Jackson. They became even more active at Tougaloo College. They worked with the Freedom Riders, joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and helped with the 1963 March on Washington.
Dorie escorted Fannie Lou Hamer to register to vote. Joyce pursued graduate school, earning a doctorate in sociology, becoming the first female president of Howard University. Dorie continued her civil rights work, participating in every major civil rights march through 1968. In Washington, D.C., she earned her master's in social work, counseling emergency room patients, visiting schools and working with the Rape Crisis Center.
The sisters were honored at the Kennedy Center, and Dorie received the Fannie Lou Hamer National Institute on Citizenship and Democracy Humanitarian Award. A decade before her death in 2024, she received an honorary doctorate from Tougaloo.
A new Freedom Trail marker will be erected today in Hattiesburg to honor the Ladner sisters.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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https://www.biloxinewsevents.com/?p=370858
Mississippi Today
Photo Essay: Myesha Stovall brings hope to Delta Wellness Center
As dawn breaks over the Delta Wellness Center in Leland, Myesha Stovall steps into the room, infusing it with a palpable sense of hope and promise for the day ahead.
With a warm smile, she greets her clients, and her interactions are driven by her unwavering commitment to their holistic well-being.
Among them is Tarkevious Shells of Leland. He navigates the gym with grace despite being blind, and Stovall's steady presence and encouraging words guide him.
The Delta Wellness Center, part of the Leland Medical Clinic, is an initiative supported by the Delta Health Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to improving health and education in the Mississippi Delta. The Leland Medical Clinic, run by Delta Health Alliance since 2013, provides primary and behavioral health care to Bolivar, Sharkey, Sunflower, and Washington Counties.
The clinic offers a sliding scale discount program to make health care affordable based on household income and family size, benefiting uninsured patients and those with limited insurance coverage.
The wellness center offers monthly memberships at $10 for youth and seniors, $15 for adults, $30 for families, and $20 for senior households. The organization tackles health challenges like obesity, chronic conditions and infant mortality by enhancing health care access and promoting healthier lifestyles through education.
Stovall's journey from running her own fitness business to her pivotal role at the center reflects her dedication to making a tangible difference.
“I received my personal training license while also at Mississippi State, and I've been utilizing it ever since,” Stovall said. Her passion for helping others was ignited by her experiences caring for her aging aunt. Stovall stresses the significance of establishing connections on both physical and emotional levels, catering to a diverse clientele that includes seniors, athletes and individuals grappling with chronic illnesses.
Her inclusive approach extends to clients like Shells, who finds solace and progress in Stovall's guidance despite his challenges.
“Myesha's patience and humor have made my workouts enjoyable and effective,” Shells said.
Carolsue Billingsley, also of Leland, has pre-diabetes and is a client of Stovall's and credits her with positively impacting her overall health.
“Myesha is more than a trainer to me; she's a lifeline,” she said.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Tunica school district returns to local control Monday, after nearly a decade
After almost a decade under state conservatorship, Tunica County School District will return to local control on July 1.
The takeover of the schools, which was placed under state control in July 2015, is the longest district takeover in state history.
Margie Pulley has been at the helm throughout the district's transformation. She previously served as superintendent of the Greenwood School Board before acting as conservator for the Oktibbeha County School District which merged with Starkville's school district in 2015. She described the process of turning the Tunica district around as challenging but rewarding.
“We put our emphasis on teaching and learning,” Pulley told Mississippi Today. “That was the focus of the Tunica County School District. We put emphasis on children, and we put academics and teaching first.”
The district was initially placed into a conservatorship after a slew of failures that state officials at the time said jeopardized the safety, security and educational interests of the children enrolled in the district.
In addition to years of D and F ratings and low graduation rates, the school was found to be in violation of six of eight accreditation standards, and in violation of federal laws like the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act.
Today, all schools in the district are C rated or higher, the district's overall rating is a B, and the district's graduation rate has grown from 57.3% in 2015 to 88.8% in 2023.
“Teachers have done an outstanding job, and the students have done an excellent job,” Pulley said. “Students here in Tunica County have proven that they can learn and are good students — we just made sure that they were taught.”
One of the major issues with the district pre-conservatorship was its failures in educating students with disabilities. Pulley pointed to the school's graduation rate for students with disabilities, which was one of the highest in the state last year.
The district's financial situation has also improved, from $5,212,625 cash on hand in 2015 to $23,650,634 in 2023. At the district level, it now has one of the highest per-pupil expenditures rates in the state. In the 2022-23 school year, the district spent $17,737 per student. The state average was $11,738.
Pulley said the money always helps.
“If you want good results, you have to spend the money to get it,” she said. “We've spent money, we think, in the places where there was the greatest need. We've got full-time English Language Arts and math interventionists and that makes a difference in instruction. The students get the intervention they need. So, I feel good about the money we've spent and putting it in the places that it needs to be placed.”
The district has also made a number of capital improvements to school facilities and purchased new school buses for every bus route.
The State Board of Education voted in its June 20 meeting to initiate the return to local control, which it has been preparing the district for since late 2022, when it appointed an advisory board that will serve as voting members of the district's school board beginning on July 1. The new superintendent, selected by what will soon be the school board, will also be announced and sworn in on July 1.
Because school board members are elected officials, they will serve staggered terms with one election in 2025 and every year thereafter until all seats have been voted in.
At nine years, the state takeover of Tunica County schools is the longest since the state began conservatorships in the late 1990's. In 2018, the Legislature made changes to the law concerning state takeovers of local school districts, mandating that schools which undergo conservatorship not be released from state control until the district has achieved a rating of C or higher for five consecutive years.
For districts that cannot make the turnaround from the outset, state takeovers will last longer than they have in the past.
For example — Noxubee County School District was placed under conservatorship prior to the 2018-2019 school year, but was unable to achieve a C rating until the 2022-23 school year. This means the earliest the district can achieve the necessary requirement to be released from conservatorship is at the conclusion of the 2026-2027 school year. By this point, the school will have been under state control for nine years — and that's only if the district is able to maintain a C rating for four more consecutive years.
Holmes County Consolidated School District has been under state control since 2021.
This is Tunica district's second conservatorship since 1996. When asked if she was confident in Tunica County School District's success post-conservatorship Pulley said: “All the protocols are in place for Tunica to be successful. They should continue to be successful,” she said.
The Mississippi Department of Education echoed this sentiment.
“Successful school districts rely on effective leadership from their local school boards, district administrators and school principals,” Jean Gordon Cook, MDE communications chief, said. “Tunica County School District interim superintendent Dr. Margie Pulley has set the district up for success by implementing high-quality instruction, sound financial management and ensuring all accreditation standards are in compliance.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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