The American Road & Transportation Builders Association released their 2017 Bridge Report which outline the 55,710 bridges in the US classified as "structurally deficient." The bridges are not all considered unsafe, but in need of attention.
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BILOXI, Miss. (AP) — Officials have confirmed at least three fatalities and several injuries after a train collided with a charter bus in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Biloxi city spokesman Vincent Creel says emergency responders were still removing injured people from the bus more than 30 minutes after the crash Tuesday.
Creel says a CSX train headed eastbound hit the bus at a crossing in downtown Biloxi just before 2:15 p.m., pushing the bus about 300 feet down the tracks.
He says a nearby hospital is setting up a triage unit at the site to treat the injured.
ON THE SCENE: Live updates from site of bus, train collision in Biloxi https://t.co/n0EA21vuFlpic.twitter.com/wGhZXBt3ag
— Patrick Magee (@CoastCoverage) March 7, 2017
Creel says as many as 50 people were on the bus. He said there are deaths and injuries, but he could not immediately quantify them.
Charter buses often carry patrons to casinos in Biloxi, but Creel says he doesn't know where this bus was headed.
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NOW WATCH: Here's why the US Men's team sucks at soccer
(Mic) — Being the last remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi, Jackson Women's Health Organization is already in a pretty precarious position. And now, there's a new bully on the block — literally.
According to Pregnancy Help News, an anti-abortion rights outlet, a pregnancy crisis center called "Center for Pregnancy Choices" has opened just 100 yards away from its abortion-providing neighbor.
Apparently, the center's grand opening represents the "intervention piece" of founding board member Barbara Beavers' master plan to help deter women from terminating their pregnancies. Beavers and her team began scouting potential spaces for the new center — one of three in the state — in 2014, settling on the location just spitting distance from Jackson Women's Health Organization. At the time the space was out of their price range, but with a little fundraising and some help from Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson and Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, they were finally able to afford it.
Being the last remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi, Jackson Women's Health Organization is already in a pretty precarious position. And now, there's a new bully on the block — literally.
According to Pregnancy Help News, an anti-abortion rights outlet, a pregnancy crisis center called "Center for Pregnancy Choices" has opened just 100 yards away from its abortion-providing neighbor.
Apparently, the center's grand opening represents the "intervention piece" of founding board member Barbara Beavers' master plan to help deter women from terminating their pregnancies. Beavers and her team began scouting potential spaces for the new center — one of three in the state — in 2014, settling on the location just spitting distance from Jackson Women's Health Organization. At the time the space was out of their price range, but with a little fundraising and some help from Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson and Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, they were finally able to afford it.
SEE ALSO: This Texas abortion doctor suffers daily threats and protests — here's why he says he'll never leave
BROOKHAVEN, Miss. (AP) — Authorities in Mississippi said Sunday that a suspect is in custody after eight people were killed in a shooting, including a sheriff's deputy.
Mississippi Bureau of Investigation spokesman Warren Strain said the shootings occurred at three separate homes Saturday night in rural Lincoln County. Two of the homes are in Brookhaven and one is in Bogue Chitto. The area is about 68 miles (109 kilometers) south of Jackson, the capital.
Strain said investigators were gathering evidence at all three locations.
Strain said charges have not yet been filed against the suspect and that it would be "premature" to discuss a motive.
It was not clear whether the suspect knew his victims before allegedly killing them.
Gov. Phil Bryant issued a statement asking state residents to pray for the victims. He also noted the "sacrifice" made by law enforcement officers to protect and serve their communities.
"Every day, the men and women who wear the badge make some measure of sacrifice to protect and serve their communities. Too often, we lose one of our finest. I thank the law enforcement agencies involved for their hard work," Bryant said in a statement.
BROOKHAVEN, Miss. (AP) — It was after midnight when a gunman burst into the living room of a southern Mississippi home where young people were playing video games.
Caleb Edwards, 15, said the man — whom he knows as Corey Godbolt — demanded to know where his cousin's parents were. Jordan Blackwell, 18, said they were gone to another town.
At that, Godbolt "just started shooting," Caleb said.
As people scrambled to hide inside the Brookhaven home, Blackwell used his own body to shield his cousin Caleb from the gunfire.
With his mother standing by his side Monday, Caleb spoke calmly as he recounted to The Associated Press how he felt the force of the impact as Blackwell was shot Sunday.
"He loved me enough to take some bullets for me," Caleb said.
Caleb's 11-year-old brother, Austin Edwards, was also shot to death in that living room early Sunday. They were among the eight people killed in three houses in a rampage that started late Saturday after law enforcement officers were called about a domestic dispute. A deputy sheriff was among those killed. The other seven were all relatives or acquaintances of the accused shooter.
Investigators said Willie Corey Godbolt, 35, will be charged with one count of capital murder and seven counts of first degree murder. Mississippi Bureau of Investigation spokesman Warren Strain said the charges could change as the investigation continues.
Godbolt was hospitalized for a gunshot wound and was in good condition Monday; it wasn't clear who shot him. He could make an initial court appearance Tuesday.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation identified some of those killed as: Barbara Mitchell, 55; Brenda May, 53; Tocarra May, 35; Ferral Burage, 45; and Shelia Burage, 46; and deputy William Durr, 36. The parents of Austin Edwards and Jordan Blackwell identified their sons as the other victims.
Brookhaven is a south Mississippi city surrounded by pine trees and rolling green pastures. The outbreak of violence has shaken the county of 34,500 residents.
More than a dozen people stood in the driveway of Edwards' and Blackwell's grandparents Monday afternoon and joined hands for prayer.
"We need you, oh God, to be with this family in their grief," said Richard Thomas, pastor of New Home Church of Christ Holiness.
Jordan Blackwell played linebacker for the Brookhaven High football team. As he prepared for his senior year, two universities and a nearby community college had already expressed interest in him, said his mother, Tiffany Blackwell. She and her husband, Shon, described their son as cheerful and unselfish. She said Jordan dreamed of getting a Camaro for high school graduation.
Tears rolled down one cheek Monday as Tiffany Blackwell described coming home and finding her slain son.
"When I walked in the house and saw my child lying there, I just thought he was sleeping," she said. "I told him to wake up. I told him to get up, but he wouldn't move."
Caleb described his younger brother, Austin, as "a happy kid" who liked to play and cook.
Caleb said after his brother was shot, "I thought I was going to die."
Godbolt showed up at Vincent Mitchell's Bogue Chitto home before midnight Saturday to demand that his estranged wife give up their two children. She and the children had been staying with them for about three weeks, Mitchell told AP.
"He'd come to get his kids. The deputy was called," and asked him to leave, and it seemed like Godbolt would comply at first, Mitchell said.
"He acted like, motioned like, he was fixing to go. Then he reached in his back pocket and grabbed a gun," Mitchell said. "He just started shooting everything."
Mitchell said he escaped along with Godbolt's wife, but Mitchell's wife, her sister and one of the wife's daughters were killed. Authorities said Godbolt fled and killed four more people at two other homes.
At least seven hours elapsed between the first shootings and Godbolt's arrest near the final crime scene, in a subdivision of ranch houses.
The deputy, William Durr, had worked in Christian ministry before going into law enforcement, and liked doing puppet shows to deliver uplifting messages to children. Durr was married and had an 11-year-old son. His mother spoke briefly with the AP on Monday, saying that the family is still in distress.
"He was a good Christian man," Debbie Durr said at her rural home near Brookhaven. "He was a youth minister and a pastor before going into law enforcement."
Godbolt told The Clarion-Ledger that he hadn't planned to be captured alive.
"My intentions was to have God kill me. I ran out of bullets," he said. "Suicide by cop was my intention."
___
Associated Press writers Kathleen Foody in Atlanta and Kevin McGill in Brookhaven contributed to this report.
SEE ALSO: Police say 8 people were killed in a Mississippi shooting
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Hurricane Nate came ashore at the mouth of the Mississippi River on Saturday and pelted the central Gulf Coast with wind and rain as the fast-moving storm steamed toward the Mississippi coast, where it was expected to make another landfall and threatened to inundate homes and businesses in vulnerable low-lying areas.
Nate was expected to pass to the east of New Orleans, sparing the city its most ferocious winds and storm surge. And its quick speed decreased the likelihood of prolonged rain that would tax the city's weakened drainage pump system. Still, the city famous for all-night partying was placed under a curfew, effective at 7 p.m., and the streets were not nearly as crowded as they would be on a typical Saturday night.
Cities along the Mississippi coast such as Gulfport and Biloxi were on high alert. Some beachfront hotels and casinos were evacuated. Rain began falling on the region Saturday and forecasters called for 3 to 6 inches (7 to 15 centimeters) with as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) in some isolated places.
Nate weakened slightly and was a Category 1 storm with maximum winds of 85 mph (137 kph) when it made landfall. Forecasters had said it was possible that it could strengthen to a Category 2, but that seemed less likely as the night wore on.
Storm surge threatened low-lying communities in southeast Louisiana, eastward to the Alabama fishing village of Bayou la Batre.
"If it floods again, this will be it. I can't live on promises," said Larry Bertron as said as he and his wife prepared to leave their home in the Braithwaite community of vulnerable Plaquemines Parish. The hurricane veterans lost one home to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and were leaving the home they rebuilt after Hurricane Isaac in 2012.
Governors in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama declared states of emergency. The three states have been mostly spared during this hectic hurricane season.
"This is the worst hurricane that has impacted Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina," Mississippi Emergency Management Director Lee Smithson said Saturday. "Everyone needs to understand that, that this is a significantly dangerous situation."
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards urged residents to make final preparations quickly and stressed that Nate will bring the possibility of storm surge reaching up to 11 feet in some coastal areas.
"It's going to hit and move through our area at a relatively fast rate, limiting the amount of time it's going to drop rain," Edwards said. "But this is a very dangerous storm nonetheless."
Streets in low-lying areas of Louisiana were already flooded. Places outside of levee protections were under mandatory evacuation orders and shelters opened there.
Some people worried about New Orleans' pumping system, which had problems during a heavy thunderstorm on Aug. 5. The deluge exposed system weaknesses - including the failure of some pumps and power-generating turbines - and caused homes and businesses to flood. Repairs have been made but the system remained below maximum pumping capacity.
On Alabama's Dauphin Island, water washed over the road Saturday on the island's low-lying west end, said Mayor Jeff Collier. The storm was projected to bring storm surges from seven to 11 feet near the Alabama-Mississippi state line. Some of the biggest impacts could be at the top of funnel-shaped Mobile Bay.
The window for preparing "is quickly closing," Alabama Emergency Management Agency Director Brian Hastings said.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott warned residents of the Panhandle to prepare for Nate's impact.
"Hurricane Nate is expected to bring life-threatening storm surges, strong winds and tornados that could reach across the Panhandle," Scott said. The evacuations affect roughly 100,000 residents in the western Panhandle.
The Pensacola International Airport announced it will close at 6 p.m. Saturday and remain closed on Sunday. However, the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was open Saturday.
"We are urging customers to check with their specific airlines to see whether their flights have been canceled because there have been some of those," spokeswoman Michelle Wilcut said.
At 8 p.m. EDT Saturday, Nate was about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River. The storm is expected to quickly weaken as it cuts a path through the Southeast on its way to the Northeast, which could see impacts from Nate early next week.
Nate killed at least 21 people after strafing Central America.
Waterside sections of New Orleans, outside the city's levee system, were under an evacuation order. About 2,000 people were affected. But not everyone was complying.
Gabriel Black stayed behind because an 81-year-old neighbor refused to leave.
"I know it sounds insane, but he has bad legs and he doesn't have anybody who can get to him," Black said.
Ahead of Saturday night's curfew, some bars were closed in the French Quarter but music blasted from others.
___
Associated Press writer Kim Chandler in Alabama and Kevin McGill in New Orleans, and AP photographer Gerald Herbert in Plaquemines Parish, contributed to this report.
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NOW WATCH: Most hurricanes that hit the US come from the same exact spot in the world
Hurricane Nate flooded the Gulf Coast as it made landfall in the US over the weekend.
The center of the storm first hit land at the mouth of the Mississippi River, then again near Biloxi, Mississippi.
Before that, the storm killed at least 22 and caused heavy flooding in Central America.
Nate was the ninth hurricane of what has already been an extremely active Atlantic hurricane season. There have been 15 named storms in the Atlantic this season, counting the newly formed storm Ophelia, which is likely to become the tenth hurricane — though that one is no threat to land.
Even though Nate didn't hit with the destructive force of storms like Harvey, Irma, and Maria — all of which made landfall as major hurricanes — it still caused heavy devastation, showing just how destructive the forces of nature can be.
Here are a few images that show Hurricane Nate's impact.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran is continuing to grapple with a urinary tract infection that has delayed a planned return to Washington.
The GOP veteran, 79, has been absent from Washington for a month.
Cochran's chief of staff Brad White came as Republicans controlling the Senate had hoped to pass a budget measure that's a key step toward the party's goal of rewriting the tax code.
It's unclear whether Cochran's absence will delay the budget debate. Republicans control the Senate with a narrow 52-48 margin.
White said Cochran's wife told him late Saturday that the infection had returned. His office had said last week that Cochran would return to work on Monday.
SEE ALSO: 'I'm not hospitalized,' Republican senator tweets after Trump says he's 'in the hospital'
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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — President Donald Trump paid tribute Saturday to the leaders and foot soldiers of the civil rights movement whose sacrifices help make the United States a fairer and more just country, though protests surrounding his visit to Mississippi laid bare the stark divisions among Americans about his commitment to that legacy.
As Trump gazed at an exhibit on Freedom Riders at the new Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, demonstrators near the site held up signs that said "Make America Civil Again" and "Lock Him Up." Some shouted "No Trump, no hate, no KKK in the USA."
Trump spent about 30 minutes at the museums, gave a 10-minute speech to select guests inside and then flew back to his Florida estate, skipping the public schedule of the dedication ceremony held outside on a chilly day. He spent more time getting to Jackson than he did on the ground.
Trump's remarks steered clear of addressing the anger that his participation had sparked leading up to the dedication. In a deliberate voice and rarely diverting from his prepared words, the president sought to honor the famous and the anonymous for their efforts on behalf of freedom for all.
"The civil rights museum records the oppression, cruelty and injustice inflicted on the African-American community, the fight to bring down Jim Crow and end segregation, to gain the right to vote and to achieve the sacred birthright of equality. And it's big stuff. That's big stuff," he said.
"Those are very big phrases, very big words. Here we memorialize the brave men and women who struggled to sacrifice and sacrifice so much so that others might live in freedom," he said.
The national president of the NAACP and the mayor of Mississippi's capital city said they kept their distance from Trump because of his "pompous disregard" for the values embodied by the civil rights movement.
Derrick Johnson, head of the nation's oldest civil rights organization, and Mayor Chokwe Lumumba said at a news conference that they looked forward to a "grander opening" of the museum that they can attend.
Johnson, a Mississippian, charged that Trump opposes labor rights, education, health care and voting rights for all Americans.
"We will never cede the stage to an individual who will fight against us," Johnson said. "We will not allow the history of those who sacrificed to be tarnished for political expediency."
Johnson and Lumumba spoke to about 100 supporters, including some who participated in the civil rights demonstrations of the 1960s, at Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center, which was once the first public school built for African-Americans in Jackson. Now it's a museum to black history and culture.
Lumumba called Trump to task for "his pompous disregard for all of those factors that will not enable us to stand with him today."
The state's attorney general, Jim Hood, criticized Republican Gov. Phil Bryant for inviting Trump. "It threw cold water in the face of people who fought the battles for civil rights," Hood said.
Trump, in his speech, reflected on the past and hoped for a bright future, drawing on the achievements of civil rights veterans:
"Today we strive to be worthy of their sacrifice. We pray for inspiration from their example. We want our country to be a place where every child from every background can grow up free from fear, innocent of hatred and surrounded by love, opportunity and hope. Today we pay solemn tribute to our heroes of the past and dedicate ourselves to building a future of freedom, equality, justice and peace. "
Among the high-profile figures to stay away was US Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a leader of the civil rights movement. Lewis, who was among scores of Democratic lawmakers who skipped Trump's inauguration in January to protest his record on race, said Trump's presence at the museum opening was an insult.
The White House accused Lewis and others of injecting politics into a moment it said could be used to bring people together.
Trump has been accused of harboring racial animosity, and critics cite his blaming of "both sides" for deadly violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the summer. Trump has also relentlessly criticized NFL players for kneeling during the national anthem to protest racism and police brutality largely directed at African-American males.
During the presidential campaign, Trump called for a "complete and total shutdown" of Muslims entering the US
___
Associated Press writers Jeff Amy and Emily Wagster Pettus contributed to this report.
A Mississippi lawmaker is proposing a solution that he hopes will finally bring an end to one of the state's most divisive issues, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Earlier this month, Republican Rep. Greg Snowden filed a bill that would allow two flag designs to officially represent the state. If the measure passes, Mississippi would be the only US state with two flags.
Mississippi's current flag, which features the symbol for the Confederacy, would be left untouched. A proposed second flag would bring back an old design used on the state's official flag from 1861 until the end of the Civil War in 1865.
That design features a magnolia tree in the center of the flag and a white star against a blue background in the top-left corner, replacing the controversial Confederate emblem currently in its place.
"We feel that it is most appropriate to adopt the historical Magnolia Flag as an additional design of the official state flag that may be flown with equal status and dignity to represent our state as we are beginning our third century as a member of the United States," the bill says.
Snowden argued that his solution will appease both sides of the flag debate. While some Mississippians consider the current flag to be a historical tribute to their ancestors who fought and died in the Civil War, others believe it glorifies slavery and the systematic oppression of black people.
The two-flag proposal would allow people to choose which flag they want to represent them. Snowden's bill says that both flags could be flown together or individually.
Snowden also suggested his bill would be more than just "a step toward at least some transition,” The Journal reported. He said the confederate symbol on the current flag makes businesses hesitant to relocate to Mississippi for fear of alienating clients.
More than 150 years since the end of the Civil War, the Confederacy's legacy remains controversial. Last year, President Donald Trump renewed the debate, blaming "both sides" for violence that broke out during white-nationalist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. Confederate statues and monuments were subsequently removed and targeted by protesters across the country.
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Republican Sen. Thad Cochran will resign next month, his office said in a statement on Monday.
Cochran, an 80-year-old from Mississippi, cited health concerns in his resignation that will take effect April 1.
"I regret my health has become an ongoing challenge," Cochran said. "I intend to fulfill my responsibilities and commitments to the people of Mississippi and the Senate through the completion of the 2018 appropriations cycle, after which I will formally retire from the U.S. Senate."
"It has been a great honor to serve the people of Mississippi and our country," he added. "I've done my best to make decisions in the best interests of our nation, and my beloved state. My top concern has always been my constituents in Mississippi."
Cochran's health issues have been prevalent for some time. Last year, there were concerns he would not be present to vote for the Republican tax overhaul in December. Months prior, Cochran told CNN "it's up for the people to decide" if he is mentally and physically capable of carrying out his Senate duties. "I think I am," he added.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell thanked Cochran for his service in a statement on Monday.
"Senator Cochran departs with our congratulations and gratitude for so many years of honorable and distinguished service, from his time as a Navy officer to nearly four decades in the Senate, and our warmest wishes for his retirement," McConnell said.
The vacated seat will create another Mississippi Senate race to follow in 2018, in addition to Roger Wicker, who is attempting to hold on to his office in the wake of a primary challenge from far-right state Sen. Chris McDaniel.
"My hope is by making this announcement now, a smooth transition can be ensured so their voice will continue to be heard in Washington, D.C. My efforts, and those of my staff, to assist them will continue and transfer to my successor," Cochran said in the statement.
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NOW WATCH: North Korean defector: Kim Jong Un 'is a terrorist'
President Donald Trump gave his endorsement in a hotly contested Nevada primary on Friday, marking the third time he has waded into a contentious Republican primary since late last year.
Each time, Trump has voiced support for the establishment incumbent over the challenger running on an outsider, Trumpian platform. It's not typical for a sitting president to endorse candidates in primary contests.
His endorsement had immediate results on Friday. After he tweeted, "It would be great for the Republican Party of Nevada, and it’s unity if good guy Danny Tarkanian would run for Congress and Dean Heller, who is doing a really good job, could run for Senate unopposed!," Tarkanian, who some polls showed was locked in a close race with Heller, dropped out, opting to take Trump's advice and instead seek a House seat.
A Trump endorsement in a Mississippi race late last month was followed with a similar result. After Trump announced his support for Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, his primary challenger, Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel, opted to end his challenge and instead enter the race for the state's other Senate seat, which will be vacated after Republican Sen. Thad Cochran steps down next month.
".@SenatorWicker of Mississippi has been a great supporter and incredible help in getting our massive Tax Cut Bill done and approved,"Trump wrote. "Also big help on cutting regs. I am with him in his re-election all the way!"
Late last year, Trump jumped into the Alabama Senate race to endorse then-GOP Sen. Luther Strange. Republican leadership had urged Trump to get involved to help prop up their guy, who was locked in a tough battle with both Republican Rep. Mo Brooks and former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore.
Trump's endorsement and support for Strange did not help push the candidate over the top, as Moore ended up winning the primary by a significant margin. Following allegations of sexual misconduct with teenagers when he was in his 30s, Moore lost the special election race to Democrat Doug Jones in December.
SEE ALSO: Mueller just subpoenaed the Trump Organization — this is what he's looking at
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NOW WATCH: North Korean defector: Kim Jong Un 'is a terrorist'
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The governor of Mississippi is appointing state Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith to succeed fellow Republican Thad Cochran in the U.S. Senate.
Hyde-Smith will be the first woman to represent Mississippi in Congress once Cochran resigns April 1. She will immediately begin campaigning for a Nov. 6 special election to fill the rest of Cochran’s term, which expires in January 2020.
Republican Gov. Phil Bryant and Hyde-Smith appeared together Wednesday in her hometown of Brookhaven, where he announced her appointment.
The 80-year-old Cochran announced March 5 that he will step down because of health problems. He was elected to the Senate in 1978 after six years in the House.
His decision creates two Senate races in deeply conservative Mississippi as Republicans are trying to maintain their slim Senate majority.
Hyde-Smith won a state Senate seat in 1999 as a Democrat. She switched to the GOP in late 2010 and was elected agriculture commissioner in 2011, holding the job since then. In 2016, she was one of many agriculture advisers to Republican Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
Bryant is a Trump supporter and has said he believes the president will campaign for his Senate appointee in the special election, which could attract several candidates.
Chris McDaniel, a tea party-backed state senator who nearly unseated Cochran in a bruising 2014 Republican primary, said last week that he is running in the special election. Democrat Mike Espy, who was President Bill Clinton's first agriculture secretary, also intends to run. Espy in 1986 became the first African-American in modern times to win a congressional seat in Mississippi, and he has publicly supported both Democrats and Republicans in various races.
Cochran's resignation creates two Senate races this year in Mississippi as Republicans are trying to maintain their slim Senate majority. Although it is a deeply conservative state, Democrats are hoping to capitalize on divisions among Republicans in hopes of winning a Nov. 27 runoff, if there is one.
Hyde-Smith served 12 years as a Democrat in the state Senate from a rural southwest Mississippi district, switching to the Republican Party in late 2010.
In 2011, she won a three-way GOP primary for agriculture commissioner without a runoff. She beat Democratic opponents even more easily in the 2011 and 2015 general elections.
Hyde-Smith is one of only four women ever elected to statewide office in Mississippi. It and Vermont are the only two U.S. states that never have elected a woman to Congress.
Bryant has said he was focused on naming a senator who could serve at least 20 years. Mississippi has a tradition of sending the same people to Washington for decades to build seniority and influence. Cochran is in his second stint as chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee.
SEE ALSO: Another top Republican has announced he will resign from Congress
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NOW WATCH: A diehard Mac user switches to PC
A sign memorializing lynching victim Emmett Till has been shot up, a little more than a month after being replaced for a third time.
The sign, marking the spot where the 14-year-old black child's body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River in 1955, was first put up by the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in 2007. Six months later, that sign was stolen.
The center put a new sign up in 2013, and not long after it was found riddled with more than 40 bullets.
On June 12, the center finally decided to put up a new sign. But just 35 days later the sign was shot up again — sparking the ire of the center, Till's relatives, and civil rights activists.
"The Emmett Till Interpretive Center is committed to seeing the sign replaced," cofounder Patrick Weems told the Clarion-Ledger. "We have already begun plans to replace the sign and have notified local law enforcement about the vandalism."
He added: "Our mission is to continue to tell the truth as it concerns the Emmett Till story. We are saddened by these events but are unwavering in our commitment to truth and racial reconciliation."
Weems told The New York Times that he is already in talks with two companies in New York who agreed to design and create a new sign out of steel, which he said would be stronger than the current sign. Both have agreed that they would supply it free of charge.
Till was 14 years old in the summer of 1955 when his mother sent him to Mississippi to visit family.
On August 24, he visited a grocery store in Money, Mississippi, to buy candy, and the white woman working at he counter, Carolyn Bryant, claimed that Till grabbed her by the waist and uttered obscenities. She later recanted that story in 2008.
The claim infuriated Bryant's husband, who four days later kidnapped Till from his bed in the middle of the night, with the help of his half-brother J.W. Milam.
The two then took Till to a barn where they brutally beat the boy and then shot him to death. They then dumped his body in the river, tying his head to a cotton gin with barbed wire so the body would sink.
Both men stood trial for Till's murder but were acquitted by an all-white jury. They confessed to the killing in a magazine interview a year later but couldn't be retried due to double jeopardy clauses.
Till's mother demanded an open casket funeral, and photos of his mangled body were published in newspapers across the country — stirring up outrage that helped spark the civil rights movement.
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NOW WATCH: I woke up at 4:30 a.m. for a week like a Navy SEAL
A teenage girl in Mississippi wowed crowds on Friday night when she kicked a game-winning field goal for her high school football team after being crowned homecoming queen at halftime.
Kaylee Foster's field goal led her Ocean Springs High School team to clinch a 13-12 victory in overtime.
Earlier in the night, she posed for photos in her homecoming crown, jersey, and football pads as her friends and family looked on from the stands.
Win homecoming queen: 👑
— espnW (@espnW) September 8, 2018
Kick two field goals and the game-winning PAT: ✔
Ocean Springs High School's Kaylee Foster had a night 🙌 pic.twitter.com/IpBwU5QpQr
"I really don't have any words," Foster told Gulf Live after the game. "This has just been so wonderful. I love football and I love Ocean Springs."
Foster has been a kicker for her school's varsity football team for three years.
After a touchdown was scored during overtime, it was Foster who scored the winning field goal.
"I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be homecoming queen, but I was pretty sure I was going to make that kick," she told Gulf Live.
The next morning, she had to take the ACT before the Homecoming dance Saturday night, WLOX reported.
Foster told WLOX that the boys on her football team have always been welcoming and she sees them as her brothers.
Her parents have also been supportive of her football dreams.
"Always told the girls, you know, life's an opportunity. Go see what you can do. And they've both taken the advice on that and both exceeded at everything they've done," her dad, Jerry Foster, told WLOX.
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NOW WATCH: I woke up at 4:30 a.m. for a week like a Navy SEAL
An upcoming basic income pilot will provide 15 single black mothers in Jackson, Mississippi, with a monthly income of $1,000 for a year.
While at least six major basic income initiatives have formed in North America, Europe, and Africa over the past few years, the Magnolia Mother's Trust in Mississippi is the first pilot to focus on low-income black women. In general, universal basic income programs provide people with regular cash payments regardless of income level.
Mississippi is the poorest state in the country, and more than 80% of residents in Jackson are black. Nationwide, black women live in poverty at higher rates than almost any other group of Americans.
Magnolia Mother's Trust, set to launch in December, is supported by Economic Security Project, a philanthropic network co-chaired by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes and Peers.org co-founder Natalie Foster, among others. The pilot is being led by Aisha Nyandoro, the CEO of Springboard To Opportunities, which supports families living in affordable housing.
Nyandoro told Business Insider that while she would have liked to start with more than 15 participants, the need to fundraise before launching the pilot made that more difficult. Magnolia Mother's Trust will contribute to the larger body of research on basic income, Nyandoro said, but she also hopes the pilot will help secure more funding for future projects. She wants to eventually run a three-year program with 100 families.
While the trial in Jackson is underway, Nyandoro said Springboard To Opportunities will examine whether the income makes a difference in participants' lives and whether it leads to greater engagement in the local community.
In addition, the group will provide monthly opportunities for the mothers to connect with each other and receive leadership training. A social worker will be available for one-on-one counseling as well.
"Especially in these low-income communities, we know that there is a lot of instances there have been traumatic events and traumatic episodes that our families have had to deal with, unfortunately," Nyandoro said.
The Jackson pilot will add to a growing number of basic income experiments around the world — some of which have recently been delayed or stopped for a variety of reasons.
Y Combinator, the largest startup accelerator in Silicon Valley, delayed its basic income study after a pilot in Oakland, California, partly because it needed to make sure participants did not lose any state benefits they were already receiving.
Earlier in the summer, the provincial government in Ontario, Canada, decided to end a three-year basic income pilot for 4,000 residents. Residents expressed shock and outrage at the program only lasting one year, and the Toronto Star reported in late August that the basic income will end in March 2019, one year earlier than promised.
Foster, the Economic Security Project co-chair, told Business Insider that it was disappointing to see the Ontario pilot end after a change in government leadership.
"Making sure that we are able to live up to the promises we make to people in the pilot is one of the most important things," Foster said. "Certainly that’s part of any project that Economic Security Project takes on, is making sure we can fulfill what we promise."
Economic Security Project has also pledged $1 million toward another basic income trial, a 100-person, 18-month pilot starting next year in Stockton, California.
Foster said while each of these pilots is set up differently, Springboard To Opportunities is a "perfect place" to run a basic income pilot because the organization has a lot of experience helping low-income people.
According to a 2018 report by the Federal Reserve Board, 40% of Americans are unable to cover an unexpected $400 expense, and a 2017 report by the Roosevelt Institute said a universal basic income would boost the American economy.
As Magnolia Mother's Trust and the other trials produce results, Foster said more cities will likely begin running their own pilots.
"Aisha will show what’s possible in Jackson when single mothers have breathing room to make sure their child can go out for football because finally they can afford the uniforms, or not take the third job and be able to have just a little bit of extra time with their family," Foster said. "I am really looking forward to the stories that will likely come from Jackson."
Nyandoro said she and other basic income advocates are all learning from each other — running a pilot is like building and flying a plane at the same time, she said. The Jackson pilot, she said, will have enough funds raised before it begins, so participants won't need to worry about losing their income early.
SEE ALSO: The first major basic income trial in the US just announced how it plans to give away free money
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On Tuesday, Mississippi voters were in the unique position of electing two US senators in the same year.
This year, Republican Roger Wicker was projected to win the race at the top of the ballot. He ran against Democratic state Rep. David Baria, as well as Libertarian Party candidate Danny Bedwell and Reform Party candidate Shawn O’Hara.
Democrats invested more money than is typical in the state’s Senate race, but Wicker's campaign funding still far outpaced Baria’s. The former raised $6.4 million, while the latter raised just over $780,000.
The second race on Tuesday’s ballot was a special election to elect someone to serve out the remaining two years of incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran's term. That race was projected to go to a runoff after the race was too close to call.
Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith ran against Democrat Mike Espy, the former US agriculture secretary under President Bill Clinton; Republican Chris McDaniel, a hardline tea party conservative; and Democrat Tobey Bernard Bartee, a military veteran who ran for office for the first time this year.
Voters will elect a winner during a runoff that's set to take place on November 27.
According to public filings, Hyde-Smith raised almost $3 million leading up to Tuesday’s race, while Espy trailed her at nearly $2 million. McDaniel raised a little over $583,000 and Bartee raised just over $4,000.
71-year-old Bill Inman, a Mississippi resident, told The Associated Press that he planned to vote for McDaniel in the special election, calling the candidate an "honest man" who is "not the establishment."
Dale Bledsoe, a 61-year-old warehouse district specialist in Picayune, Mississippi, said he voted for Baria and Espy in the race at the top of the ballot and the special election, respectively, because he's also looking for a change.
Bledsoe, who is black, told The Associated Press that he wants his vote to help change Mississippi's "negative history."
He added: "If we want to bring about a change, we have to take a stand. I'm hoping by casting my vote and doing things of this nature I'm teaching my grandchildren and children: If you don't like the way things are, speak up and try to change them."
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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A newly published video shows a white Republican U.S. senator in Mississippi praising someone by saying: "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row."
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who faces a black Democratic challenger in a Nov. 27 runoff, said Sunday that her Nov. 2 remark was "an exaggerated expression of regard" for someone who invited her to speak, and "any attempt to turn this into a negative connotation is ridiculous."
Mississippi has a bitter history of racially motivated lynchings of black people. The NAACP website says that between 1882 and 1968, there were 4,743 lynchings in the United States, and nearly 73 percent of the victims were black. It says Mississippi had 581 during that time, the most of any state.
Hyde-Smith is challenged by former congressman and former U.S. agriculture secretary Mike Espy.
"Cindy Hyde-Smith's comments are reprehensible," Espy campaign spokesman Danny Blanton said in a statement Sunday. "They have no place in our political discourse, in Mississippi, or our country. We need leaders, not dividers, and her words show that she lacks the understanding and judgment to represent the people of our state."
The video was shot in Tupelo, in front of a statue of Elvis Presley, who was born in the city in northeastern Mississippi. It shows a small group of white people clapping politely for Hyde-Smith after a fellow cattle rancher introduced her.
Republican Gov. Phil Bryant appointed Hyde-Smith to temporarily succeed Cochran, who retired amid health concerns in April. She will serve until the special election is resolved.
Hyde-Smith and Espy each received about 41 percent of the vote in a four-person race Tuesday to advance to the runoff. The winner gets the final two years of a term started by longtime Republican Sen. Thad Cochran.
Espy in 1986 became the first African-American since Reconstruction to win a U.S. House seat in Mississippi, and if he defeats Hyde-Smith, he would be the first African-American since Reconstruction to represent the state in the U.S. Senate.
Hyde-Smith, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump, is the first woman to represent Mississippi in either chamber of Congress, and after being appointed is trying to become the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from the state.
Lamar White Jr., publisher of a left-leaning Louisiana news site called The Bayou Brief, posted the video Sunday on social media. White told The Associated Press he received the video late Saturday from "a very reliable, trusted source," but he would not reveal the person's name. He said that source received it from the person who shot the video.
White said he believes he received the video because he has been writing about racism in the South for about a dozen years.
"There's no excuse to say what she said," White said of Hyde-Smith.
The national NAACP president Derrick Johnson, who is from Mississippi, said Hyde-Smith's comment shows a lack of judgment.
"Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith's shameful remarks prove once again how Trump has created a social and political climate that normalizes hateful and racist rhetoric," Johnson said in a statement. "Hyde-Smith's decision to joke about 'hanging,' in a state known for its violent and terroristic history toward African Americans, is sick. To envision this brutal and degenerate type of frame during a time when Black people, Jewish People and immigrants are still being targeted for violence by White nationalists and racists is hateful and hurtful."
A Republican activist who initially supported another candidate in the special U.S. Senate election said he will vote for Hyde-Smith in the runoff, even though he considers her a weak candidate.
"That comment about 'a public hanging' is much ado about nothing," said Scott Brewster of Brandon, who is white. "She's not very smart and made a tone-deaf comment. It doesn't make her a racist."
A Republican state lawmaker in Mississippi, Rep. Karl Oliver, came under sharp criticism in May 2017 after he posted on Facebook that people should be lynched for removing Confederate monuments.
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Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican battling for reelection in Mississippi, is under fire for saying that laws that "make it just a little more difficult" for liberal college students to vote are "a great idea."
The remarks, which Hyde-Smith's campaign later insisted were made in jest, were caught in a video posted to Twitter.
"And then they remind me, that there's a lot of liberal folks in those other schools who that maybe we don't want to vote. Maybe we want to make it just a little more difficult," Hyde-Smith is shown telling a group of supporters outside her campaign bus in a video reportedly taken on Nov. 3.
Hyde-Smith's campaign said the remarks were "obviously" a joke and that the video was edited to misrepresent her comment.
"Obviously Sen. Hyde-Smith was making a joke and clearly the video was selectively edited," Melissa Scallan, spokeswoman for Hyde-Smith's campaign, told the Washington Post.
Scallan claimed that Hyde-Smith's comments were in response to a question about whether she would support opening polling places on college campuses and that she said campus polling places were "a great idea," not voter suppression.
"The senator absolutely is not a racist and does not support voter suppression," she added.
Hyde-Smith, who was appointed to replace retiring Sen. Thad Cochran last April, is facing a black Democrat, Mike Espy, who served as agriculture secretary in the Clinton administration, in a Nov. 27 runoff election after both candidates received about 41 percent of the vote in the Nov. 6 race.
Espy's campaign responded that voting rights "are not a laughing matter."
"Mississippians deserve a senator who represents our best qualities, not a walking stereotype who embarrasses our state," a spokesperson said.
Cindy Hyde-Smith on voter suppression: "And then they remind me, that there's a lot of liberal folks in those other schools who that maybe we don't want to vote. Maybe we want to make it just a little more difficult. And I think that's a great idea." Nov 2nd in Columbus, MS. pic.twitter.com/OxNY77XCft
— Lamar White, Jr. (@LamarWhiteJr) November 15, 2018
Hyde-Smith's comments drew significant criticism from progressives and online commentators, who argued that Mississippi's dark and violent history of disenfranchising black citizens should disqualify any politician from making light of voter suppression.
"It's hilarious to joke about voter suppression in a state with a history of African-Americans who wanted to vote facing terror like being fire bombed out of their homes or being mutilated and killed,"tweeted Elise Jordan, an anti-Trump conservative political commentator.
"A Mississippi senator joking about public hangings on the campaign trail and talking approvingly about targeted voter suppression. Huh, that sounds familiar,"tweeted Kevin Kruse, a professor of history at Princeton University.
This comes just days after Hyde-Smith was widely criticized for joking, in a video that went viral, that if she were invited to a public hanging, she'd "be on the front row." The senator refused to clarify or apologize for the comment.
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Walmart is "requesting a refund" from Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's campaign, following backlash over the Mississippi politician's "public hanging" remark.
In a tweeted response to "Will & Grace" actress Debra Messing, Walmart said, "Sen. Hyde-Smith’s recent comments clearly do not reflect the values of our company and associates. As a result, we are withdrawing our support and requesting a refund of all campaign donations."
Hi Debra. Completely understand your concern. Sen. Hyde-Smith’s recent comments clearly do not reflect the values of our company and associates. As a result, we are withdrawing our support and requesting a refund of all campaign donations.
— Walmart (@Walmart) November 20, 2018
At a campaign stop in Tupelo, Mississippi, Hyde-Smith told a supporter that, "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row." The quote was first reported on November 11 by Lamar White, Jr. of the Bayou Brief, a local nonprofit publication.
"If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row"- Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith says in Tupelo, MS after Colin Hutchinson, cattle rancher, praises her.
— Lamar White, Jr. (@LamarWhiteJr) November 11, 2018
Hyde-Smith is in a runoff on Nov 27th against Mike Espy. pic.twitter.com/0a9jOEjokr
Hyde-Smith's remark has been condemned by Republicans and Democrats alike, given the legacy of racial violence and lynching in Mississippi. Her election opponent former Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy is African-American.
Initially, Hyde-Smith declined to apologize for the remark. "In a comment on November 2, I referred to accepting an invitation to a speaking engagement," her campaign said in a statement. "In referencing the one who invited me, I used an exaggerated expression of regard, and any attempt to turn this into a negative connotation is ridiculous." However, on Tuesday at a debate, Hyde-Smith formally apologized for the comment.
Hyde-Smith was appointed to the US Senate following the resignation of Thad Cochran due to health issues. In a special election held on November 6, neither Hyde-Smith nor Espy reached the requisite percentage of votes. The two are headed for a runoff on November 27.
On November 18, the Walmart PAC for Responsible Government donated $2,000 to Hyde-Smith's campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records. The PAC previously donated $1,000 to the Hyde-Smith campaign, according to Open Secrets.
The progressive newsletter Popular Information first reported about the donation, and Messing tweeted about it drawing a response from Walmart.
Espy's campaign communication director Danny Blanton responded to Walmart's withdrawal of support and request for a refund, saying that Hyde-Smith's "comments have embarrassed Mississippi and shown why she can’t be trusted to work with the businesses Mississippi needs to grow good paying jobs."
"We're confident that voters will follow Walmart's lead and dump Cindy Hyde-Smith before she has the power to do real damage to our economy," he continued, according to NBC News.
This is not the only controversy that has followed the Hyde-Smith campaign. On Tuesday, November 20, Facebook photos from 2014 were reported on by Politico. In one photo, Hyde-Smith puts on a Confederate soldier hat while visiting the Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library, and the caption includes the quote "Mississippi history at its best!"
Davis was the president of the Confederacy, which seceded from the Union and fought in the Civil War over slavery.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump defended Hyde-Smith over her "public hanging" comments.
"She made a statement, which I know she feels badly about it, and it was just sort of said in jest,"Trump told reporters. "She is a tremendous woman and it is a shame that she has to go through this."
INSIDER contacted the Hyde-Smith campaign for comment on Walmart's request for a refund and the Facebook photos and will update as necessary.
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