Mississippi
AARP Mississippi Now Accepting 2024 Community Challenge Grant Applications
The annual program aims to make communities in Mississippi more livable for people of all ages
JACKSON, Miss., Jan. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — AARP Mississippi invites local eligible non-profit organizations and governments across the country to apply for the 2024 AARP Community Challenge grant program, now through March 6 at 4:00 p.m. Central. AARP Community Challenge grants fund quick-action projects that help communities become more livable by improving public places, transportation, housing, digital connections, and more. Now in its eighth year, the program is part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative, which supports the efforts of cities, towns, neighborhoods and rural areas to become great places to live for all residents, especially those age 50 and older.
“AARP Mississippi is committed to working with local residents, advocates, and policymakers to make our communities better places to live for people of all ages,” said AARP Mississippi State Director Kimberly L. Campbell, Esq. “The Community Challenge has proven that quick-action projects can lead to long-term change, especially for Mississippians 50 and over.”
The AARP Community Challenge accepts applications across three different grant opportunities. All projects must be consistent with AARP’s mission to serve the needs of people 50 and older along with other eligibility criteria.
- Capacity-building microgrants are paired with additional resources, such as one-on-one coaching, webinars, cohort learning opportunities and more for improving walkability, bikeability and implementing safe, accessible home modifications.
- Demonstration grants focus on improving digital connections to prepare and respond to disasters; reconnecting communities divided by infrastructure; and housing choice design competitions.
- Flagship grants support projects that improve public places; transportation; housing; diversity, equity and inclusion; civic engagement; community health and economic empowerment; and new this year, community resilience; and digital connections.
“AARP is committed to meeting the needs of a rapidly aging population in communities across the country,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy & Engagement Officer. “The Community Challenge aims to be a catalyst for action in cities, towns, and rural areas through quick-action community improvements that benefit people of all ages and abilities.”
Since 2017, AARP has invested $16.4 million toward 1,370 projects – including 19 in Mississippi – with nonprofit organizations, and government entities across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands through the Community Challenge. The program provides direct support to all community types, including rural, suburban and urban communities with a special focus on the needs of those 50 and older.
AARP Mississippi works in collaboration with communities across the state, bringing people together, and providing resources and expertise to help make Mississippi’s counties, towns and cities great places to live for people of all ages.
The Community Challenge is open to eligible nonprofit organizations and government entities. Other types of organizations are considered on a case-by-case basis. Grants can range from several hundred dollars for small, short-term activities to tens of thousands for larger projects.
The application deadline is 4:00 p.m. Central, March 6, 2024. All projects must be completed by December 15, 2024. To submit an application and view past grantees, visit www.AARP.org/CommunityChallenge.
About AARP
AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to the more than 100 million Americans 50-plus and their families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation’s largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org/about-aarp/, www.aarp.org/español or follow @AARP, @AARPenEspañol and @AARPadvocates on social media.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ronda Gooden
[email protected]
601-209-1812
SOURCE AARP Mississippi
Mississippi
Why Jeff Lebby turned to Kamario Taylor, benched Blake Shapen for Egg Bowl
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby said he thought hard about the team’s quarterback situation the day after its 49-27 loss to Missouri on Nov. 15.
Then he made the decision that many fans had been wanting. He benched quarterback Blake Shapen for freshman Kamario Taylor.
The Bulldogs kept the decision under wraps until Taylor trotted onto the field as the starter in the 2025 Egg Bowl. It was his first career start as MSU (5-7, 1-7 SEC) lost 38-19 to No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1, 7-1) at Davis Wade Stadium on Nov. 28.
Shapen had been Mississippi State’s quarterback in all of the other games.
“Really, really hard decision for me,” Lebby said. “As we got back from Missouri, thought about it nonstop on Sunday. For me, as hard as it was to make, the results hadn’t been what we needed. For us, I felt like things had not been great for us up front. Who’s the guy that has the ability to make a couple of plays when things aren’t perfect?
“(Taylor) had done some good things, and I felt like it was the right time. For me, it was incredibly hard because of my love for Blake, his toughness and how he has led and continued to be exactly who he’s supposed to be. For me, really hard, but beginning of last week we made that decision.”
Taylor, a former four-star recruit from Noxubee County, led MSU on an opening-drive touchdown, but the offense was inconsistent for the rest of the game until a second touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Taylor completed 15 of 31 pass attempts for 178 yards and one interception that tipped off the hands of two players. Where he was most impactful though was as a runner with 173 yards and two touchdowns.
“I was kind of nervous when he announced it,” Taylor said. “He didn’t announce it to the whole team, but he just told me. He asked me if I was nervous, and I told him nah, I wasn’t. But like, I was nervous.
“I knew that God gave me this ability to go showcase the things he allows me to do. I was pretty confident, but I was nervous, especially playing in a big game like that.”
How Blake Shapen handled getting benched for Kamario Taylor
Shapen not playing in the Egg Bowl meant the graduate senior’s career ended with a benching.
He played four seasons at Baylor before transferring to MSU in 2024. Shapen was the starter last season too, until suffering a season-ending fractured shoulder blade in Week 4.
“I’m sure really hard,” Lebby said. “Incredibly hard. Blake’s poured a lot into this and he’s been an unbelievably consistent person inside our building for two years. And he’s been through a lot.
“For him not to have the ability to go do it today is hard for him. And it’s hard for me because of who he’s been, his toughness and how he has absolutely laid it on the line for me and this university. It’s really hard for him and hate that this was the end for him.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Mississippi
Mississippi Lottery Mississippi Match 5, Cash 3 results for Nov. 27, 2025
Odds of winning the Powerball and Mega Millions are NOT in your favor
Odds of hitting the jackpot in Mega Millions or Powerball are around 1-in-292 million. Here are things that you’re more likely to land than big bucks.
The Mississippi Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Nov. 27, 2025, results for each game:
Winning Mississippi Match 5 numbers from Nov. 27 drawing
04-05-29-30-34
Check Mississippi Match 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 3 numbers from Nov. 27 drawing
Midday: 7-7-0, FB: 2
Evening: 2-9-6, FB: 8
Check Cash 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 4 numbers from Nov. 27 drawing
Midday: 4-1-2-6, FB: 2
Evening: 4-1-1-7, FB: 8
Check Cash 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash Pop numbers from Nov. 27 drawing
Midday: 02
Evening: 11
Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Story continues below gallery.
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
Winnings of $599 or less can be claimed at any authorized Mississippi Lottery retailer.
Prizes between $600 and $99,999, may be claimed at the Mississippi Lottery Headquarters or by mail. Mississippi Lottery Winner Claim form, proper identification (ID) and the original ticket must be provided for all claims of $600 or more. If mailing, send required documentation to:
Mississippi Lottery Corporation
P.O. Box 321462
Flowood, MS
39232
If your prize is $100,000 or more, the claim must be made in person at the Mississippi Lottery headquarters. Please bring identification, such as a government-issued photo ID and a Social Security card to verify your identity. Winners of large prizes may also have the option of setting up electronic funds transfer (EFT) for direct deposits into a bank account.
Mississippi Lottery Headquarters
1080 River Oaks Drive, Bldg. B-100
Flowood, MS
39232
Mississippi Lottery prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing date. For detailed instructions and necessary forms, please visit the Mississippi Lottery claim page.
When are the Mississippi Lottery drawings held?
- Cash 3: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
- Cash 4: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
- Match 5: Daily at 9:30 p.m. CT.
- Cash Pop: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Mississippi editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Mississippi
Mississippi barn where Emmett Till was killed to open as memorial site
Emmett Till’s cousin on Till’s kidnapping
Emmett Till’s cousin, the Rev. Wheeler Parker, was in the family’s home when Till was kidnapped in the wee hours of Sunday morning, Aug. 28, 1955.
Sarah Warnock, Mississippi Clarion Ledger
The Mississippi Delta barn where 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally beaten and killed will be open to the public as a “sacred” memorial site by 2030, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center announced.
The barn, located in a rural area outside the city of Drew, was purchased Nov. 18. The Emmett Till Interpretive Center announced the purchase Sunday, Nov. 23 — the birthday of Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley.
The acquisition was aided by a $1.5 million donation from television producer and writer Shonda Rhimes.
The center will reportedly have the barn under 24-hour surveillance, and the property will be equipped with floodlights and security cameras for precautionary measures.
The center plans to open the barn as a memorial by the 75th anniversary of Till’s lynching.
“(The barn) will be preserved not merely as a structure, but as sacred ground — a place where truth can live without fear of being forgotten,” the center wrote in news release. “We did not save this place to dwell in grief. We saved it so that truth could keep shaping us.”
What happened to Emmett Till
Till was 14 when he traveled from his hometown of Chicago to Mississippi to visit relatives in 1955. Till was accused of flirting or whistling at Carolyn Bryant, a white woman working at a grocery store in rural Mississippi. In the overnight hours of Aug. 28, 1955, Till was taken from his uncle’s home at gunpoint and beaten by two vengeful white men, one of whom was the husband of Bryant.
Three days later, a fisherman on the Tallahatchie River discovered the teenager’s bloated and disfigured corpse. Till’s mother, Mamie, demanded that her son’s mutilated remains be taken back to Chicago for a public, open casket funeral that was attended by tens of thousands of people.
Graphic images taken of Till’s remains, sanctioned by his mother, were published by Jet magazine. Since then, Till’s name has become synonymous with the Civil Rights Movement and how the United States has dealt with race relations.
Till’s mother was a civil rights activist in the aftermath of her son’s death and died in 2003.
“To walk through the barn’s doors, one might think of Emmett’s voice calling for his mother in the dark — and of Mamie, hundreds of miles away in Chicago, transforming that cry into a call the world could hear. Her decision to open her son’s casket was not an act of despair but of fierce faith — faith that seeing would lead to understanding, and understanding to change,” the center said.
“That faith still calls to us. The barn carries her same charge: to help the world see.”
Pam Dankins is the breaking news reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Have a tip? Email her at pdankins@gannett.com.
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