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No, Tate Reeves did not “inspire” Paul Lacoste fitness camps at issue in TANF suit

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1 year ago

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Ninety-five. That’s the number of public Facebook posts by cartoonist and Mississippi Today Editor-at-Large Marshall Ramsey singing the praise of fitness trainer Paul Lacoste.

Ramsey, like many other high profile people, participated in sponsored fitness bootcamps put on by Lacoste, a former Mississippi State and NFL football player. Then-Lt. Governor Tate Reeves was just one of hundreds that cycled through the camps over the years.

Separate from these sponsored bootcamps, Lacoste has become a figure in the state’s TANF welfare scandal, though he denies the claims made against him in a civil suit filed by the state to recoup TANF welfare funds. He’s filed a counterclaim against the state.

To be clear, Marshall Ramsey participating in multiple fitness bootcamps with Paul Lacoste, or gushing effusively over the difference Lacoste made in his life, is not proof that Ramsey was complicit in or condoning of the welfare scandal. Far from it.

But that is precisely the type of guilt by association play Ramsey’s outlet, Mississippi Today, is attempting with Reeves. It clearly wants readers to believe the fact that Reeves participated in some of those same bootcamps is evidence of Reeves’ involvement in the scandal.

The efforts to link Reeves to the TANF welfare scandal through trainer Paul Lacoste are highly speculative at best, and dishonest at their worst.

In their zeal to implicate Reeves, Mississippi Today forgot how words work. Participating in a sponsored fitness bootcamp with a couple of hundred other people does not a “long-time personal trainer” make.

In their zeal to implicate Reeves, the outlet also forgot how time works. The meeting between Reeves and Lacoste that Mississippi Today points to as the “inspiration” for the Lacoste contract at issue in the TANF suit occurred after Lacoste had already contracted with the state to perform the program. Indeed, it occurred after Lacoste had already begun one of the bootcamps under the contract.

Nonetheless, Reeves’ opponent in the race for governor, Democrat Brandon Presley has seized on Mississippi Today’s characterization of the relationship between Reeves and Lacoste to attack the sitting governor in ads. The PAC of the extremist Southern Poverty Law Center has gotten in on the attack action.

What’s more, while there was certainly illegality in the broader welfare scandal–people have pled guilty to crimes–it is not actually clear that Lacoste did anything legally wrong. He’s not been criminally charged and he may yet even be exonerated in Mississippi’s civil suit to recoup funds.

A Long History in Fitness

Paul Lacoste’s business featured two “tracks.” Lacoste conducted classes throughout the year with clients who paid to train with him. Beginning in 2010, he also offered training sessions for state leaders and influencers under “Fit 4 Change” branding.

Over 200 people participated, Republicans and Democrats alike. Lacoste said at the time that he wanted to inspire the state’s leaders to set a positive example for the rest of Mississippi.

House Democrat member John Hines was the biggest loser, with over 70 pounds dropped. His Democrat colleague, Steve Holland would eclipse the mark once the bootcamp finished, shrinking from 359 pounds to 216. Holland, who is known for acerbic wit, quipped at the time “we feel good, I’m even loving Republicans right now.”

The program made national news, with outlets like CNN covering Lacoste’s mission to improve the health of Mississippi.

While these “Capitol” sessions were free to participants, they did not cost taxpayers anything. Third-party sponsors, like the Mississippi Beverage Association and several businesses and associations within the health care industry, paid for the training.

Lacoste would continue the program year-to-year, and expand his offerings to include, among other groups, parents and teens looking to get in shape together, educators, and members of the clergy.

Among the throngs of trainees that participated in the “Fit 4 Change” camps were folks like Ramsey and then-Lt. Governor Tate Reeves.

None of these trainings are tied up in the allegations made against Lacoste in the TANF welfare scandal, but what they do establish is a long track record by Lacoste of supplying fitness trainings that were recognized by lawmakers and Capitol-level influencers as being effective.

Next Level Mississippi

After nearly a decade of providing sponsored fitness bootcamps, Lacoste contends he was approached by state officials about scaling his program outside of the Jackson area to other parts of the state.

In his counterclaim against the state of Mississippi, Lacoste indicates he was contacted on April 8, 2018 to set up a meeting with then-Governor Phil Bryant and former Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) Executive Director John Davis.

Lacoste claims he attended the meeting, that Governor Bryant and Davis were both present, and that representatives of the federal government were also in attendance. Reeves was not present at this meeting.

According to Lacoste, at this meeting he was asked to provide training services to the state as part of an “initiative to reduce obesity and improve wellness of Mississippians.”

Following the meeting, Davis directed Lacoste to Nancy New and the Mississippi Community Education Center (MCEC), commonly known as Families First. In 2018, Lacoste entered into a fixed services contract with MCEC to provide three fitness bootcamps, one in Pascagoula, one in Brookhaven, and one in Greenville. The program would be called “Next Level Mississippi.”

The first bootcamp in Pascagoula started in January of 2019. A WAPT report on January 9, 2019, announced the start of Next Level Mississippi. The report indicated that the program was being funded by both state and federal dollars, that the funds flowed through a grant by MDHS and Families First, and that the program would provide free training to people who might not otherwise be able to afford it.

Lacoste had originally been due to supply the second bootcamp in the summer of 2019 and the third in the fall of 2019. After the Pascagoula bootcamp, he was asked to accelerate the schedule and perform the second and third camps simultaneously during the summer of 2019.

An April 2019 Daily Leader article in the lead up to the Brookhaven bootcamp again mentioned that the Next Level Fitness bootcamp was being funded by MDHS and Families First. It documented the success of Lacoste’s previous bootcamps in helping Mississippians to lose thousands of pounds.

A June news report from Delta News TV showed video footage of the bootcamp in Greenville and featured an interview with Democratic lawmaker John Hines, who helped bring the program to Greenville.

In mid-summer of 2019, Phil Bryant received notice of irregularities at MDHS. He notified Auditor Shad White, who began an investigation. In July of 2019, John Davis resigned his post and MCEC stopped funding Next Level Mississippi. At the time of Davis’s resignation, Lacoste was midway into the Brookhaven and Greenville bootcamps. His lawsuit against the state claims he finished these bootcamps without compensation owed under the contract.

Tate, the Time Traveler

In August of last year, Mississippi Today fired its first shot over Reeves’ bow in the TANF controversy. Anna Wolfe trained her sights on Reeves in an article entitled “Gov. Tate Reeves inspired welfare payment targeted in civil suit, texts show.”

It was a fairly definitive claim built on demonstrably shoddy evidence. Unfortunately, the exact arguments, with the same exact “evidence,” have now been regurgitated multiple times, most recently in an article on Monday.

In an effort to link Reeves and Lacoste, Wolfe referred to Lacoste as Reeves’ “long-time personal trainer and buddy.” While Reeves did participate in some of the fitness bootcamps, along with Ramsey and hundreds of others over the years, no one attempting to dispense truth would translate this participation into Lacoste being Reeves’ “long-time personal trainer.”

Mississippi Today’s evidence for the “buddy” part came from the fact that Lacoste had sent Reeves ten text messages. Reeves did not respond to a single one. Nor did he post 95 times about how swell Lacoste was. “Buddies.”

But the narrative of Reeves and Lacoste being close is important if the goal is to provide motive for “good ol’ boy” corruption, or to imply guilt by association.

Setting aside the stretch on Reeves’ relationship with Lacoste, the “texts” alluded to by Wolfe do not, in fact, show that Reeves “inspired” the contract between MCEC and Lacoste.

The first message relied upon was not actually a text, but an email from Lacoste to Davis. It addressed a scheduled meeting with Reeves in February of 2019. Mississippi Today’s reporting of the email focused on a single line to argue that the then-Lt. Governor wanted to meet alone with Lacoste and Davis: “Tate wants us all to himself!”

But the actual email is benign. It shows two sets of scheduled meetings, neither of which put Reeves in the room alone with Davis and Lacoste on the afternoon of February 20, 2019.

The email lists multiple participants in two separate meetings, including a bipartisan mix of state senators and Mississippi Beverage Association head Ron Aldridge. The email simply does not establish a clandestine “pow wow” where evil things were concocted.

The second message Wolfe points to was an alleged text from Davis to a staff member two days after the February 2019 meetings with Reeves, in which Davis referred to Lacoste’s bootcamps as “the Lt. Gov’s fitness issue.”

Remember, the meeting at which Lacoste was asked to put on bootcamps statewide occurred in April of 2018, the fixed service contract with MCEC occurred in 2018, there were television reports in early January on the program and its funding, and Lacoste had already begun one of the bootcamps by the time Lacoste and Davis met with Reeves and members of the Mississippi Senate in February of 2019.

Claiming that Reeves inspired the contract based on a meeting that occurred after the contract was in place and being performed, on the basis of an ambiguous text, seems not only to defy linear time, but evinces a reckless willingness to accept any morsel that implicates a political foe.

Lacoste, himself, attributes the state’s decision to hire him to the April 2018 meeting with Governor Bryant, Davis, and federal representatives, not Reeves–an inconvenient, glossed over fact in the flimsy narrative against Reeves.

With respect to the text message highlighted by Wolfe, I say “alleged” because unlike the scheduling email, the “Lt. Gov’s fitness issue” text between Davis and his staffer is not public. Wolfe’s reporting on the TANF scandal has been predicated on being in sole possession of a wide body of emails and text messages.

Without access to the same body of emails and text messages–emails and texts which could have only been leaked by an investigator or an attorney in one of the cases–it is impossible to know the context of cherry picked messages. That the flow of information seems to have stopped, such that the same texts and emails are being rehashed over and over again, might suggest that the source is no longer active in the case.

Mississippi Today’s articles on the supposed link between Reeves and Lacoste have featured heavily reporting on Reeves’ decision to dismiss MDHS attorney and Brandon Presley supporter Brad Pigott from the case.

Don’t Rush to Judgment on Lacoste

There is no doubt that laws were broken in the TANF welfare scandal. People like Davis and New have pled guilty to crimes. Others are facing serious charges.

Unlike many of the other defendants in Mississippi’s civil lawsuit, Paul Lacoste has not been charged with a crime. Unlike other defendants in the suit, Lacoste was actually qualified to provide the services in his contract and did, in fact, provided those services. All three bootcamps were completed.

Lost in much of the discussion over this scandal is the possibility that the state will prevail against some defendants and not others. People might not think TANF funds should be spent on fitness bootcamps, or that Lacoste made too much money under his contract with MCEC, but that is a different analysis than whether or not the bootcamps and the contract were permitted under the law.

To understand that question requires understanding a little about the TANF program itself.

In 1996, Congress created the TANF program to replace another program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Unlike AFDC and most welfare programs that supply direct cash assistance, TANF works through a block grant to states.

Since 1996, Congress has committed the same $16.5 billion a year to the program. Because of inflation, the real value of the funds declined by 40 percent between 1997 and 2020. That number is much higher given the inflation experienced in the last few years.

States like Mississippi face a second funding challenge. The original formula for the block grants was based on states matching the federal dollars. Poorer states contributed less in matching. That formula is now locked, meaning that there is considerable disparity in federal funding between wealthy states that put up larger matches initially and poorer states that lacked the ability to do so.

In real terms, what that means is that a state like New York gets $613 per child in federal funds through their TANF block grant, while Mississippi received $125 per child.

Because of the limited impact of direct cash assistance of sums like $125, many states have chosen to focus the block grants on trying to remove systemic hurdles that prevent people becoming self sufficient. In 2020, the portion of TANF block grants used for direct cash assistance was just 22 percent. 15 states, including Mississippi, spent under 10 percent on direct cash assistance.

The TANF regulations for how states spend their block grants allow states this leeway. Programs included in state plans are permissible as long as they aim to satisfy one of four conditions:

  1. Provide assistance to needy families
  2. End dependence on government by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage
  3. Prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock births
  4. Encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families

There are strong, well-documented links between poverty and obesity. There are strong, well-documented links between obesity and overall health. And there are strong, well-documented links between health and ability to work.

Mississippi has the highest obesity rates, the worst health care outcomes, the highest rates of disability, and the worst work force participation rate in the country. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that someone could argue that a program to address obesity would provide assistance to needy families or help end dependence on government by promotion job preparation and work.

Wolfe’s initial reporting on Lacoste argued that Davis had instructed his staff to “covertly transfer money to the project.” But if funding for the program was supposed to be “covert,” no one told Lacoste.

As documented above, numerous media reports on the program occurred before the bootcamps were even held. These reports included not only information about the bootcamps, but explicit reference to the source of funding for the camps.

It’s hard to imagine this “covert” funding would have been so non-covertly advertised if Lacoste thought there was anything amiss with it.

Editors Note: Magnolia Tribune Editor-at-Large Frank Corder, like Ramsey, also participated in classes offered by Lacoste.

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By: Russ Latino
Title: No, Tate Reeves did not “inspire” Paul Lacoste fitness camps at issue in TANF suit
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Published Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2023 13:29:58 +0000

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Staring mortality in the face at Christmas

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11 months ago

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December 16, 2023

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My friend Jarrod is dying after an eight year battle with cancer. He’s lived a life worth celebrating, one that has drawn people to Christ.

I was going about my business this week when I received a text that stopped me in my tracks. A college friend was being moved to hospice care.

Jarrod Egley was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in early 2017. In the fall of 2018, tests revealed the cancer had spread to his lungs and Jarrod’s cancer was classified as Stage IV.

For almost eight years from the date of the original diagnosis, he’s fought. Through surgeries, radiation, endless rounds and cycles of chemotherapy, and experimental immunotherapies, he’s fought.

Last year, I flew out to California and spent some time with Jarrod and his wife, Emily. We sat outside one night. He acknowledged to me that it was not a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’ the cancer would claim his life. I told him I was sorry, because what else is there to say?

We talked about our faith, about the trials of Job, about Jacob wrestling with God, about Paul’s affliction. But mostly we reflected on our time together in school, on the good things, and the mundane things, that happened since.

Jarrod and I met at Tulane University. One Sunday morning in the Spring of my freshman year, I rose from my dorm room bed, dressed, and began walking down Saint Charles Avenue in New Orleans with no particular agenda. I walked until I came across First Baptist Church and the thought flickered in the vacuous recesses of my brain to enter.

Some would say it was a lark. The Calvinist in me says providence. The walk that morning changed the trajectory of my time at Tulane and my life on the whole. Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and the Baptist Collegiate Ministry became central to my life and put me in regular league with Jarrod. I met him first at the BCM and we ultimately ended up attending church together.

Jarrod was a faithful servant on and off campus. He helped organize a group of us that would weekly make our way down to the Esplanade seawall on the backside of the French Quarter to feed the homeless. On Friday nights, he could be found at chapel with a small cadre of students foregoing Bourbon Street for early 2000s worship music.

Jarrod was a loyal friend in those years. Never rude or biting. Not prone to an insult for an easy laugh. Persistently encouraging. An engineering student, his mind worked linearly and was oriented to problem solving. There were never a lot of wasted words — always a lot of deliberative questions when he disagreed or did not understand a point. He exhibited intelligence, empathy, and the kind of moral conviction that sets someone apart.

He also had a wry and dry sense of humor and a penchant for beating people at Madden football. He was fair-to-midland on the ultimate frisbee pitch. Along the way, there were crawfish boils, Mardi Gras outtings, poorly attended Tulane football games, and more than a decent amount of wing eating.

After college, I lost touch with Jarrod. He moved back to his home state of California. He got married to his college sweetheart, who could not have anticipated her husband’s journey, but has been a steady and constant helpmate throughout. Jarrod became a very successful engineer and a bourbon connoisseur. One of his bucket list trips took him to Kentucky, where he got to meet and became friends with bourbon “Hall of Famer” Freddie Johnson of Buffalo Trace acclaim.

Jarrod at Buffalo Trace Distillery (Spring 2022).

Sitting in his backyard nearly 20 years after graduating from Tulane, I saw many of the same qualities I had grown to admire when we were students together. I saw a husband who doted on and supported Emily’s passions. But I also saw someone whose body had been beaten to hell and back, who was tired, and who, like Jacob, had been wrestling with God. We quickly fell back into friendship, which perhaps is the mark of good friendship.

We all have aspirations in our youth — for the kind of spouse or parent we might be, for what we might accomplish, for what we might experience. Along the way, dreams are satisfied, modified, or they die on the vine. The clock inevitably works against all of us. That night in Oceanside, California, Jarrod, a numbers guy, saw that time was not on his side. He believed, as we all would, that he still had more to give, more impact to be made, and more things to see and experience.

After that trip, Jarrod and I stayed in touch, most frequently triggered by news of his cancer. It has been mostly the bad variety in recent months. Now spread throughout his body, down to his bones, he has lived in constant pain for months. Not even a steady diet of morphine and an implanted pain pump solve for it. Jarrod’s been hospitalized twelve times just in 2023.

But his matter of fact sense of humor and way of seeing the world remains in tact. So too does his faith that despite these trials, he has always been safe in the hands of Christ.

There are people in the world who believe that life is random, disordered, and without reason. I am not among them. I think my friend is staring mortality in the face at Christmas for a reason.

For thousands of years before Christ came, there was darkness and despair. Sin and shame gripped the hearts of men. Until one holy night, God, in His infinite love, mercy and wisdom, sent His son to save. Jesus is the light of the world and the hope of man. He has won victory over death and Jarrod’s will not be the exception. Jesus came for Jarrod, and for you.

For thousands of years since Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection, His disciples have been used as divine instruments to point the way to God. Jarrod is among them. If life expectancies were the measure, Jarrod would be at the midway point for most people. He’s made a lifetime of impact for the Kingdom and on other people.

So, to my friend Jarrod, you were placed here with a purpose. You have run your race. You are loved. And when this chapter closes, you will hear “well done, my good and faithful servant.” There is no greater evidence of a life well lived.

While Jarrod and Emily have been fortunate to have health insurance, their portion of the medical bills so far in 2023 have eclipsed $30,000, and Emily is facing additional uncovered expenses during Jarrod’s hospice care, including a night nurse that costs over $400 a night. If you would like to help defray the cost, a contribution can be made at their Go Fund Me page.

The post Staring mortality in the face at Christmas appeared first on Magnolia Tribune.

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By: Russ Latino
Title: Staring mortality in the face at Christmas
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Published Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2023 15:05:22 +0000

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Magnolia Mornings: December 15, 2023

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11 months ago

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December 15, 2023

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Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion to start your day informed.

In Mississippi

1. Laurin St. Pe’ named CEO of Singing River Health System

Laurin St. Pe

The Board of Trustees of Singing River Health System announced the immediate appointment of Laurin St. Pe’ as the Chief Executive Officer on Thursday.

“We are thrilled to announce Laurin St. Pe as the new CEO of Singing River,” said Steve Ates, Board President in a statement. “His wealth of healthcare experience and proven track record make him the ideal leader to steer our health system toward its next phase of growth and success.”

St. Pe’, who has been serving as Interim CEO since July 2023, said he is honored to assume the role of CEO at Singing River. He has worked at Singing River as Administrator of Singing River Health System’s Pascagoula Hospital and Gulfport Hospital, in addition to overseeing program service lines throughout the entire system to his subsequent appointment as Chief Operating Officer of Singing River.

The health system says St. Pe played a crucial role in the financial revitalization of Singing River Health System while steering the organization toward financial stability.

2. Gulfport-Biloxi airport, Stennis evacuated after threats

The Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport was evacuated on Thursday morning “out of an abundance of caution,” airport officials said, after receiving an emailed threat to certain transportation entities across the state.

The airport was thoroughly security swept, cleared and reopened in just over two hours. Gulfport-Biloxi is now operating regularly.

The threat was also sent to Stennis International Airport. Their staff and personnel were also evacuated until the facilities could be swept and cleared.

Any passenger whose travel was affected by the evacuation is encouraged to contact their respective air carrier.

3. Cassidy arrested in Iowa for beheading Satanic Temple statue

Former Mississippi congressional and legislative candidate Michael Cassidy was arrested this week in Iowa for beheading a statue at the state’s Capitol erected by The Satanic Temple.

Cassidy reportedly decapitated the statue and turned himself to police on Thursday. He was charged with fourth degree criminal mischief. He then started an online legal defense fund where he’s raised upwards of $20,000 as of Thursday night, according to his X account.

4. “Serial fraudster” ordered to cease offering investments into companies

According to the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office, on October 26, 2023, Secretary Michael Watson and the Securities Division issued an order against Stephone N. Patton. The SOS says Patton is a serial fraudster with multiple criminal convictions in Mississippi and Florida.

Through business filings with the SEC and Mississippi, Patton has held himself to be the CEO of various companies, including Star Oil and Gas Company, Inc., North Gulf Energy Corporation, Inc., Patton Oilfield Services, Inc., and Patton Farms, LLC.

The SOS says using these business filings and company websites, Patton claimed to have raised hundreds of billions of dollars through investment opportunities. Through investigative efforts and collaboration with the SEC, the SOS discovered none of Patton’s companies are operational, have any assets, or generate any revenues. Account records show Patton spent investors’ funds almost as soon as he received them on personal expenses. The total amount of known investments made to Patton’s fraudulent companies is over $80,000. Further, none of Patton’s investment offerings have been registered or notice filed with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office.

The SOS order requires Patton to cease and desist from offering investments with his companies, requiring Patton to permanently deactivate his companies’ websites to prevent any further dissemination of his false or misleading information. Patton is also ordered to pay an administrative penalty of $25,000 to the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office for these violations, in addition to restitution owed to all his Mississippi investors.

National News & Foreign Policy

1. Congressional retirements mounting as 2024 election cycle nears

Retirement and departure announcements are piling up ahead of the start to the 2024 election cycle. The New York Times has developed a Retirement Tracker that currently shows 22 Democrats and 11 Republicans who are in Congress now will not be seeking re-election next year.

“Dozens of members of Congress have announced plans to leave their seats in the House of Representatives, setting a rapid pace for congressional departures, with more expected as the 2024 election draws closer,” the NY Times reports. “Given Republicans’ razor-thin House majority, the wave of exits has the potential to lead to a significant shake-up next year.”

You can find the tracker here.

2. Texas, Daily Wire, The Federalist sue U.S. State Department over media censorship

The U.S. State Department’s Global Engagement Center has come under fire as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton along with The Daily Wire and The Federalist have filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the department funded technology that could “render disfavored press outlets unprofitable.” They claim that the department has helped social media – Facebook, YouTube and X (formerly Twitter) – to censor free speech while funding technologies used to censor right-leaning news outlets such as theirs.

New Civil Liberties Alliance is representing The Daily Wire and The Federalist. Paxton and the outlets claim the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a British think tank, received a $100,000 grant from the State Department in 2021, and NewsGuard, which rates the “misinformation” levels of news outlets, received $25,000 from the State Department in 2020, according to the lawsuit.

According to the State Department’s website, the Global Engagement Center’s mission is to direct, lead, synchronize, integrate, and coordinate U.S. Federal Government efforts to recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining or influencing the policies, security, or stability of the United States, its allies, and partner nations.

As reported by Reuters, the lawsuit cited a GDI-produced list from December 2022 that ranked The Daily Wire and The Federalist as among the 10 “riskiest sites” for news while the least-risky included The New York Times, Associated Press and NPR. Reuters notes that the lawsuit alleges such “blacklists” are reducing revenues to The Daily Wire and The Federalist along with their visibility on social media and ranking results from browser searches.

Sports & Entertainment

1. SEC releases 2024 schedules

Wednesday evening, the Southeastern Conference released the 2024 football schedules for its member schools, including of interest in the Magnolia State the schedules for Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

It is the first schedule that includes new conference members University of Oklahoma and University of Texas, bringing the conference to 16 schools. Each SEC team will play eight conference football games plus at least one required opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 or major independent, each team will have two open dates.

The 2024 season will be the first year the SEC will play a schedule without divisional competition since 1991. The top two teams in the league standings based on winning percentage will play in the 33rd SEC Football Championship Game in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Saturday, December 7.

2. White, Jesiolowski, Jones honored by MAIS

John White

The Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) in Mississippi, comprised of non-public schools, announced this week that Madison-Ridgeland Academy’s senior quarterback John White was named the 6A Player of the Year while Hartfield’s Reed Jesiolowski and Hartfield Chris Jones were named the MAIS 6A Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively.

All three have committed to play college football at the University of Mississippi.

White is Mississippi’s all-time leader in career passing yards with 15,259 yards, a record he broke during the 2023 season.

MAIS, like the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) for public schools, is broken down into classifications, from 1A to 6A. However, MHSAA added a 7A this season.

Markets & Business

1. Consumer retail sales up as energy, gas prices move down

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this week that the Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% in November after being unchanged in October. Retail sales rose 0.3% in November after rising 0.2% in October, meaning consumers continue to spend at the start of the holiday season.

The CPI or inflation rate is 3.1%, higher than the Federal Reserve target of 2% but below the 9% peak in 2022 which reached a 40-year high.

As for the energy index, BLS reported that it fell 2.3% in November after decreasing 2.5% in October. The gasoline index decreased 6% in November, following a 5% decrease in the previous month.

The index for fuel oil fell in November, decreasing 2.7%. However, the natural gas index rose 2.8% over the month after rising 1.2% the previous month. The index for electricity also rose 1.4% in November, after increasing 0.3% in October.

The energy index fell 5.4% over the past 12 months. The gasoline index decreased 8.9%, the natural gas index declined 10.4%, and the fuel oil index fell 24.8% over this 12-month span.

2. Week’s market rally continues into Friday

At close of trading on Thursday, the U.S. markets continued the week’s rally, pushing the Dow up 158 points to 37,248 while the Nasdaq and S&P also made gains, 27 points and 12 points, respectively, to close at 14,761 and 4,719.

The record high for the Dow on Thursday moved futures up 102 points.

According to CNBC, the major averages are headed for their seventh straight positive week. As of Thursday, the Dow is higher on the week by 2.8%. The S&P 500 is up by 2.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.5% this week.

Stocks rallied after the Federal Reserve left rates unchanged this week while members look towards cuts in the new year and beyond.

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Published Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2023 13:00:00 +0000

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New water rates expected in Jackson come 2024; those who don’t pay face shut off

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11 months ago

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December 15, 2023

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Interim Third-Party Director Ted Henifin said this week that only about 59% of the City of Jackson’s water customers are paying their bills.

JXN Water has announced new rates and fees coming in 2024. Those who are not paying will be at risk of shut offs.

The company, which was established by federal appointed interim Third-Party Director Ted Henifin, has been overseeing the city’s water system for the better part of a year.

Officials estimated that the average cost for water in the city was $76 per month for residents. Henifin clarified that JXN water will not attempt to recoup any charges prior to November 29, 2022, and will work with those who have failed to pay since that time.

He said only about 59 percent of the city’s water customers are paying their bills.

“You can’t forgive bills, so we have to be creative in how we part that,” said Henifin in reference to Mississippi’s laws that prevent giving away water.

According to a release by JXN Water announcing the rate changes, residents in single family households with small meters that use up to 748 gallons daily would see a bill increase of roughly .30 cents per day. Research indicates that the average U.S. family uses 300 gallons per day.

SNAP customers will have a new rate tier that could lower their bill by up to .69 cents per day, on average.

“Those who need to save the most benefit from saving money by drinking tap water. This new rate structure makes water affordability possible for 12,500 JXN Water customers who receive SNAP benefits,” said Henifin in the release.

Read more about the anticipated rate changes here.

New fees will also be implemented, including a new service fee of $50, service deposit of $100, returned check fee of $25, service restoration fee of $100, and meter tampering charge of $500. 

JXN Water has continued to encourage residents to use the water, with Henifin going on the record in a federal status hearing saying that the water “was safe to drink.”

More conversation regarding the billing process is expected to come at next week’s Jackson City Council meeting.

The post New water rates expected in Jackson come 2024; those who don’t pay face shut off appeared first on Magnolia Tribune.

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By: Sarah Ulmer
Title: New water rates expected in Jackson come 2024; those who don’t pay face shut off
Sourced From: magnoliatribune.com/2023/12/15/new-water-rates-expected-in-jackson-come-2024-those-who-dont-pay-face-shut-off/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-water-rates-expected-in-jackson-come-2024-those-who-dont-pay-face-shut-off
Published Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2023 20:00:00 +0000

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