A state-funded project to upgrade an already well-paved north Jackson cul-de-sac that runs by a Mississippi lawmaker’s house will go forward, a group of officials who oversee the project said on Thursday. 

Rebekah Staples, the director of the Capitol Complex Improvement District’s Project Advisory Committee, said at the group’s latest meeting that the project to repave the road near the legislator’s home and four other projects the Legislature allocated money for will proceed “as quickly as possible,” though some of the details are still being worked out. 

“I respect the Legislature and the governor passing the law,” Staples said. “We’re here to follow the law.” 

A Mississippi Today investigation revealed that House Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar, a Republican from Senatobia, helped steer $400,000 in state taxpayer funds to repave Simwood Place in Jackson, where he owns a house.

Simwood Place, located in the affluent LoHo neighborhood of northeast Jackson, is roughly one-tenth of a mile long, with only 14 single-family homes.

State lawmakers and the local Jackson City Council member who represents the area previously told Mississippi Today they did not ask state leaders to allocate money for the Simwood Place project. Lamar has declined to answer specific questions about the Simwood project but said any “innuendo of wrongdoing is baseless.” 

A spending bill passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Tate Reeves routed projects through the CCID committee. The advisory committee is housed in the Department of Finance and Administration.

DFA is the primary agency responsible for state government financial and administrative operations, including employee payroll, employee insurance and maintaining state buildings. However, the Legislature has also tasked the agency with overseeing some operations of the CCID.

Jackson City Councilwoman Virgi Lindsay is a member of the CCID committee and said she wants the five projects earmarked by the Legislature to proceed, but she does not want the committee to neglect the other projects they are currently overseeing.  

The CCID is funded through a 9% sales tax diversion and recommends to DFA and other state leaders which projects to fund. Efforts to expand the CCID and establish a separate court system within it have drawn outcry from several Jackson citizens and officials who view it as a state takeover of the more affluent areas of Jackson and claim the state otherwise gives the city few resources.

READ MORE: ‘Trey Way’: Millions in taxpayer funds flow to powerful lawmaker’s country club and Jackson neighborhoods

Liz Welch, the director of DFA, said at the meeting that the projects the committee has prioritized and the projects the Legislature has appropriated money for will run concurrently with one another. 

“We will not let these projects languish,” Welch said. “That’s not what we do. We’re going to come up with an internal process, and of course, we will discuss it with the advisory committee. But we’re going to do both.” 

It’s unclear exactly when DFA and the CCID committee will solicit bids for the project, but Staples and Welch said they hope to provide a substantive update to the rest of the committee by its next meeting on January 16.

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

Mississippi Today politics editor Geoff Pender and reporter Taylor Vance answered your questions on Reddit about how powerful House Rep. Trey Lamar helped steer millions of taxpayer dollars to improve the private country club neighborhood where he lives and nearby golf course.

Taxpayers are also footing the bill for another state-funded project that will improve a quiet, already well-paved Jackson street where Lamar also owns a house.

Read their answers below and visit the story summary that will direct you to the full investigation.

Some questions have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: What can be done to curb Lamar’s power? Will any of the higher-ups in our state government demand that he step down or be removed from his position?

Q: What was the moment during this investigation that made each of you say, “I cannot believe what I am hearing/reading?”

Q: Have you ever been threatened or intimidated when doing one of these investigations?

Q: What is the wrap up process on an investigation like this like? When you have the final draft, do you all do something to celebrate a job well done?

Q: Has State Auditor Shad White or AG Fitch shown any interest in your investigation?

Q: What other representatives went along with this? He couldn’t have done this without approval of others.

Q: Are you able to confirm if there are more stories of this type coming down the pike?

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

MENDENHALL, Miss. (AP) — Three people were killed and four were seriously injured Wednesday when a bridge in Mississippi that was closed nearly a month ago collapsed while a work crew was prepping it for demolition, authorities said.

The bridge over the Strong River on State Route 149 in Simpson County, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Jackson, had been closed to traffic since Sept. 18 as part of a bridge replacement project, the Mississippi Department of Transportation said in a news release.

Gov. Tate Reeves said in a post on social media late Wednesday that first responders from the county and “other state assets have been on the scene at the tragedy” where they’d confirmed at least three fatalities and multiple injuries.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a social media post late Wednesday that the Federal Highway Administration was “engaging state officials concerning” the “premature collapse during demolition of a bridge on State Route 149 in Mississippi.”

Simpson County Sheriff Paul Mullins told WLBT-TV three people were killed and four critically injured.

Terry Tutor, the Simpson County coroner, told the New York Times that seven men were working on the bridge, using heavy machinery to tear it down, when it gave way and plummeted nearly 40 feet (12 meters). He said three of the men died, and four were injured, the Times reported.

Mullins and Tutor didn’t immediately respond to messages Wednesday night from The Associated Press.

A call to the construction company, T.L. Wallace Construction, was unanswered Wednesday evening, and it was not possible to leave a message.

Department of Transportation spokesperson Anna Ehrgott said the agency “would share more information with the public as it becomes available.”

The department said one of its inspectors was at the work site when the bridge collapsed, and that person was unharmed.

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