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Don’t look now, but Mississippi private school basketball has drastically improved

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Don’t look now, but Mississippi private school basketball has drastically improved

Some familiar and storied Mississippi athletic bloodlines were on well-played display at sparkling Duease Hall/Gymnasium on the campus of Madison Ridgeland Academy Thursday night.

The MRA girls team defeated Jackson Academy 46-39 and the Jackson returned the favor in the nightcap, dominating the fourth quarter in a 59-45 victory much closer than the final score would indicate.

Rick Cleveland

At one point in the girls game, MRA sophomore point guard Presley Hughes dribbled through the JA defense, drew a double team, and neatly dished a perfect bounce pass to 6-, 5-inch sophomore Alyssa Dampier for an easy layup. Dampier, the long-limbed daughter of 16-year NBA veteran Erick Dampier, didn’t have to reach far to lay it in. Hughes is the daughter of Whit Hughes, Erick Dampier’s teammate and sixth man on the fabulous 1996 Mississippi State SEC Champion and Final Four team.

There’s lots more: In the boys game, Mike and Mason Williams, sons of the great NBA star Mo Williams, combined for 40 points, 25 and seven assists to lead the JA boys to their 28th victory against one defeat this season. Like father, like sons. Mo, now Jackson State’s head coach, averaged 13 points and five assists over a 15-year NBA career. Mike, a junior, scored 29 points, many on assists from Mason, a sophomore, who scored 11. Both are highly skilled, tremendously athletic youngsters who look and play a whole lot like their daddy. That’s a good thing, especially for second-year JA head coach Jesse Taylor.

And that’s not all. The most amazing part of the evening was watching 13-year-old eighth grader Erick Dampier Jr. who scored 18 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots in a losing cause for MRA, where his famous father serves as an assistant coach. Yes, Erick Jr. is 13 years young. Yes, he’s in the eighth grade (straight A student), playing on the varsity team against guys anywhere from three to five years older. Did I mention he is 6 feet, 9 inches tall and growing like a springtime Mississippi weed?

Madison-Ridgeland Academy’s Erick Dampier Jr. grabs a rebound over Jackson Academy’s Mason Williams (15) and Mike Williams (2) during a game held at MRA on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024 in Madison. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi

Says MRA boys coach Richard Duease, the second winningest high school hoops coach in America and namesake of the gymnasium: “Erick was the top-ranked seventh grader in the entire country last year. He’ll be the top-ranked eighth grader this year. You ought to see him when he plays against kids his age. It’s not fair.”

You can look for much more in the coming days and weeks and years on young Dampier, but there was something else on clear display at MRA on the first day of February 2024, and that’s just how much better private school (MAIS) basketball has become in recent years. That’s largely because MAIS basketball has become exceedingly more racially integrated.

Madison-Ridgeland Academy’s Erick Dampier, Jr. (25), an eighth graders, lays in a basketagainst Jackson Academy’s Fisher Waldrop, during a game held at MRA, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024 in Madison. Credit: Vickie D. King/

You can make a good case that two of the best three high school basketball teams in Mississippi are private school teams. JA appears the best. MRA isn’t far behind. , which handed JA its only loss this season, is top-ranked by most polls.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that MAIS basketball is the best it’s ever been,” said Duease, who will enter the Mississippi Hall of Fame this summer. Duease would surely qualify as an expert, his teams won 33 state championships in his 49-year career in the private schools league. “Obviously, JA is really good, and we’re good, but this league is tough everywhere you go. Prep’s good, Hartfield is really good. St. Joe is good. There are good teams outside the metro area, as well. There are no easy outs. The entire landscape of high school basketball in Mississippi has changed.”

No question, in matching public and private schools this season, the latter have won by far more games. That’s new. In the recent Rumble in the South at Mississippi College, Jackson Academy blew out Class 7A public school powerhouse Madison Central 80-48, MRA knocked off perennial Class 4A power Raymond 50-48, and Presbyterian Christian of Hattiesburg defeated Provine 60-55.

It’s not just in boys basketball either. The MRA girls have defeated Gulfport twice, Hattiesburg and Raymond and own three victories over Memphis city schools.

Jackson Academy’s Mike Williams (2), shoots a jumper from the corner over MRA’s Erick Dampier, Jr., during a game held at MRA, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2025 in Madison. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today

In the academy league, nearly everywhere you look, Black players are making a huge difference for winning teams. Back when Whit Hughes starred at Jackson Prep in the 1990s, the only time he played against African Americans was in the summer leagues.

MRA got its first Black player in 1995. Duease received a call from Chareck “CC” Cable, who played at Clinton High School but wasn’t getting the playing time he desired. He told Duease he’d like to transfer to MRA. Duease talked to both Cable and his mother, explaining that he would need to take an entrance exam and what the costs would be should he make the needed score. Cable, who is now the assistant principal at Clinton Junior High, easily passed the exam, entered MRA and became one of the Patriots’ best players.

Nearly three decades later, Cable is back in Clinton as an administrator and remembers that time between his junior and senior years of high school. “I just wanted to play basketball, and if I transferred to another public school I had to sit out a year, which I didn’t have,” he says. “It turned out well for me. I was accepted and treated well.”

Duease remembers Cable’s first game as an MRA Patriot at East Holmes Academy, which had actually threatened a years before to cancel a football game because a rival had welcomed a Black player.

“We were playing at East Holmes and I told our players on our first possession I wanted to set up a for a backside screen for C.C., and I wanted him to tear that rim down,” Duease said, chuckling at the memory. “Well, he darn near did tear it down. Got everybody’s attention. I think he dunked it five times in that one game.”

The integration of athletics in the private schools league, spotty at first, has become exceedingly more common in recent years. The result is a much higher level of play, from mostly below the rim to now often high above it.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi Today

Senate panel weighs how much — or whether — to cut state taxes

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mississippitoday.org – Taylor Vance – 2024-11-04 15:42:00

A group of senators on Monday grappled with how much to slash state taxes or if they should cut them at all, portending a major policy debate at the Capitol for next year’s legislative

The Senate Fiscal Policy Study Group solicited testimony from the state government’s leading experts on budget, economic and tax policies to prepare for an almost certain intense debate in January over how much they should trim state taxes while balancing the need to fund government services. 

Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins, a Republican from Flowood whose committee has jurisdiction over tax policy, told that he wanted senators to have basic facts in front of them before they decide next year if Mississippi should cut taxes.

“We’re getting a tax cut the next two years whether we do anything or not,” Harkins said. “I just want to make sure we have all the facts in front of people to understand we have a clear picture of how much revenue we’re bringing in.”  

Mississippi is already phasing in a major tax cut. After a raucous debate in 2022, lawmakers agreed to phase in an income tax cut. In two years it will leave Mississippi with a flat 4% tax on income over $10,000, one of the lowest rates in the nation.

However, the top two legislative , Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann who oversees the Senate and House Speaker Jason White, have both recently said they want legislators to consider new tax cut policies.  

Hosemann, the Republican leader of the Senate, has publicly said he would like to see the state’s grocery tax, the highest of its kind in the nation, reduced, though he hasn’t specified how much of a reduction or how long it would take for the cut to be implemented. 

White, a Republican from , said last that he would like to see the state’s 4% income tax phased out and have the state’s 7% grocery tax cut in half over time. 

“We are hoping to construct a tax system that, yes, prioritizes certain needs in our state, but it also protects and rewards taxpayers,” White said last week. 

But it’s difficult to collect accurate data on the state’s grocery tax, and state lawmakers must grapple with a laundry list of spending needs and obligations based on testimony from state agency leaders on Monday. 

Mississippi currently has a 7% sales tax, which is applied to groceries. The state collects the tax but remits 18.5% back to cities. For many municipalities, the sales tax is a significant source of revenue. 

If state lawmakers want to reduce the grocery tax without impacting cities, they could pass a new law to change the diversion amounts or appropriate enough money to make the municipalities whole.  

State Revenue Commissioner Chris Graham said the Mississippi Department of Revenue, the agency in charge of collecting state taxes, does not have a mechanism in place for accurately capturing how much money cities collect in grocery taxes. This is because the tax on groceries is the same as non-grocery items. 

However, Graham estimates that the state collects roughly $540 million in taxes from grocery items.

The other problem lawmakers would have in implementing significant tax cuts is a growing list of spending needs in Mississippi, a state with abject poverty, and sewer and other woes and some of the worst health metrics in the nation. 

Representatives from the Legislative Budget Office, the group that advises lawmakers on tax and spending policy, told senators that lawmakers will also be faced with rising costs in the public employee retirement system, the Medicaid budget, public education, state employee health insurance, and state infrastructure projects. 

READ MORE: As lawmakers look to cut taxes, Mississippi mayors and county leaders outline infrastructure needs

State agencies, including the employee retirement system, also requested $751 million more for the coming budget year.

“That’s the dollar question, I guess,” Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson, a Republican from Vicksburg, said. “How we’re able to fund basic government services?” 

Harkins and Hopson said the committee would likely meet again before the Legislature convenes for its 2025 session on January 7.

A House committee on tax cuts has also been holding hearings, and White in September held a summit on tax policy.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Already dire lack of affordable housing for low-income Mississippians on verge of worsening

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mississippitoday.org – Simeon Gates – 2024-11-04 11:00:00

In Mississippi, where there’s already a dearth of 50,000 or more affordable homes for extremely low-income residents, that number could grow in the next five years.

Housing units available under the federal Low Income Tax Credit program could lose their affordability by 2030 –a number estimated nationwide to be 350,000 with 2,917 in Mississippi, alone; 496 in the already have.

The federal program responsible for most of the nation’s affordable housing is expiring.

The Low Income Housing Tax Credit, introduced as part of the Tax Reform Act of 1986,  provides for developers to buy, build and restore low-income housing units. Under the deal, the housing only needs to stay low-rent for 30 years. Construction began in the early 1990s. 

Some LIHTC housing will remain affordable due to other subsidies, nonprofits, state and individual landlords.

“I think the low-income housing tax credit has done everything that it can to address the need for affordable housing around the state,” said Scott Spivey, executive director of the Mississippi Housing Corporation, a state office that administers the program and works with the state and those in the affordable housing industry to create and affordable housing

Spivey supports the proposed Affordable Housing Credit and Improvement Act, a federal bill that would expand upon the low-income housing tax credit in several ways, including giving developers more credit for certain projects for low-income households and changing tenant eligibility rules. 

The bill was introduced in the House and the Senate last , and is co-sponsored by Mississippi Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker and in the House by Reps. Mike Ezell, and Michael Guest. As of this spring, both bills are in committee. 

While housing has become a major issue for Americans, getting legislation passed has been challenging. “Everybody knows that housing is an issue, but it gets caught up with everything else…and it kind of gets lost in the shuffle,” said Spivey.

This issue is especially important in Mississippi, where demand for housing is high across all incomes. 

“All the market studies that we see that with the applications tell us that there’s a huge need for affordable housing across the state at all the income bands” said Spivey.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, almost a third of Mississippi renters are extremely low income; 65% of them are severely cost burdened, meaning they spent more than half their income on rent. The majority of these households are seniors, disabled people, single caregivers of young children, people enrolled in school, or other. 

Director of Housing Law at the Mississippi Center for Justice, Ashley Richardson said housing problems worsened after Mississippi stopped participating in the federal rental assistance program in 2022.

MCJ’s work on housing includes a statewide eviction hotline, investigating instances of housing discrimination, and more. 

Richardson praised the LIHTC program, but echoed Spivey’s concerns. “Even with the affordable housing we do have in Mississippi, we are still at a lack,” she said. 

The National Housing Preservation Database estimates Mississippi is short 52,421 affordable and available rental homes for low-income people. The National Low Income Housing Coalition puts the figure at 49,478.

Richardson wants the state to deal with issues like providing more tenant protections and rental assistance. There’s also a need to improve homes that are or in poor condition, and many housing nonprofits are running out of funding. 

Spivey said people should talk to their property managers and learn about their rights. MHC’s website has resources for homebuyers and renters.

As the housing crisis goes on, there are options for people struggling to find and keep affordable housing and an effort to take action at the federal and state levels.  

Some aspiring low-income homeowners may qualify for Habitat for Humanity, a program that builds homes for families in need. Families who qualify work on the homes alongside volunteers, pay an affordable mortgage and financial literacy education.

New applicants must meet the qualifications, including a good debt-income ratio, 125 hours of sweat equity and taking classes on financial literacy, home repairs, and being a good neighbor.

Merrill McKewen, executive director for Habitat for Humanity Mississippi Capital Area, emphasized the importance of housing to individuals and communities. 

“There are untold studies that have been done that, you’ve gotta have a safe, decent, affordable place to . The children are better , the parents are better employees…it grounds you to a community that you can contribute to and be a part of. It is the American dream, to own a home, which is what we’re all about,” she said. 

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Election 2024: What will be on Tuesday’s ballot?

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mississippitoday.org – Bobby Harrison – 2024-11-04 10:00:00

will go to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5, to elect federal and judicial posts and some local offices, such as for election commissioners and school board members.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday. To find your polling place, use the secretary of state’s locator, or call your local county circuit clerk.

READ MORE: View the Mississippi sample ballot.

The following is a list of the candidates for federal and judicial posts with brief bios:

President

  • Kamala Harris, current vice president and Democratic nominee for president. Her running mate is Tim Walz.
  • Donald Trump, former president and current Republican nominee. His running mate is J.D. Vance.
  • Robert Kennedy Jr. remains on the ballot in Mississippi even though he has endorsed Trump. His running mate is Nicole Shanahan.
  • Jill Stein is the Green Party candidate. Her running mate is Rudolph Ware.
  • Five other candidates will be on the Mississippi ballot for president. For a complete list of presidential candidates, see the sample ballot.

U.S. Senate

  • Ty Pinkins is the Democratic nominee. He is a Rolling Fork native and attorney, representing, among other clients, those alleging unfair working conditions. He served 21 years in the U.S. Army, combat stints, other overseas deployment and posts in the White House,
  • Roger Wicker is the Republican incumbent senator. He resides in and has served in the U.S. Senate since late 2007 after first being appointed to fill a vacancy by then-Gov. Haley Barbour. He was elected to the post in 2008. He previously served in the U.S. House and as a state senator. He is an attorney and served in the United States Force.

House District 1

  • Dianne Black is the Democratic nominee. She is a small business owner in Olive Branch in DeSoto County.
  • Trent is the Republican incumbent. He was elected to the post in a special election in 2015. He previously served as a district attorney and before then as a prosecuting attorney for the city of Tupelo. He is a major general in the Mississippi Army National Guard.

House District 2

  • Bennie Thompson is the Democratic incumbent. He was first elected to the post in 1993. Before then, he served as a Hinds County supervisor and as alderman and then as mayor of Bolton.
  • Ronald Eller is the Republican nominee. He grew up in West Virginia and moved to central Mississippi after retiring from the military. He is a physician assistant and business owner.

House District 3

  • Michael Guest is the Republican incumbent and is unopposed.

House District 4

  • Mike Ezell is the Republican incumbent first being elected in 2022. He previously served as sheriff.
  • Craig Raybon is the Democratic nominee. Raybon is from and began a nonprofit “focused on helping out the community as a whole.”

Central District Supreme Court

  • Jenifer Branning currently serves as a member of the state Senate from Neshoba County.
  • Byron Carter is a Hinds County attorney and previously served as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Armis Hawkins.
  • James Kitchens is the incumbent. He has served on the state’s highest court since 2008.
  • Ceola James previously served on the Court of Appeals.
  • Abby Gale Robinson is a Jackson attorney. She previously was a commercial builder.

Southern District Supreme Court

  • Dawn Beam is the incumbent, having been first appointed in 2016 by then-Gov. Phil Bryant and later winning election to the post. She is a former chancellor for the Hattiesburg area.
  • David Sullivan is an attorney in and has been a municipal judge in D’Iberville since 2019. His father, Michael, previously served on the state Supreme Court.

Northern District Supreme Court seats

  • Robert Chamberlin of DeSoto County is unopposed.
  • James Maxwell of Lafayette County is unopposed.

Court of Appeals 5th District seat

  • Ian Baker is an assistant district attorney in Harrison County.
  • Jennifer Schloegel is a Chancery Court judge for Harrison, Hancock and Stone counties.
  • Amy St. Pe is a Municipal Court judge in Gautier.

Court of Appeals District 2

  • Incumbent Latrice Westbrooks is unopposed.

Court of Appeals District 3

  • Incumbent Jack Wilson is unopposed.                                                      

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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