Mississippi
‘By any means necessary,’ Mississippi mom determined to adopt 6 siblings
HERNANDO, Miss. (WMC) – A Mississippi mom is expanding her family by taking in six additional children.
A Desoto County home is now full of activity for a Hernando mom who used to be an empty nester three years ago!
“My son was out of the house. My daughter was living on campus at Alcorn State, so it was just me,” said Amanda Perry.
But that all changed after one phone call from CPS.
”They were told that I was of kin to these children and they were about to be placed in state custody,” said Perry.
Not wanting to see the six siblings separated into four different foster homes, in 2020, Perry said she immediately filed for guardianship and opened her heart and home to 12-year-old Travis, 11-year-old Travon, 10-year-old Travell, nine-year-old Tremaine, seven-year-old Terrell, and the only baby girl, four-year-old Tia.
”It makes me tear up… if I have to think about them being separated,” said Perry.
Despite all the love and memories that have already been made, Perry is taking on one more hurdle, the expensive step of finalizing the adoption process.
”The whole total for all of this is going to be about $20,000, but I’m trying to gather all my things that I can do and see what all needs to be done. Like I say, I’m going to try to make it happen by any means necessary,” she said.
Perry said she knows it’s going to take a village raising these six kids.
Luckily, her family and the Hernando community already have her back keeping her stocked with helpful household items.
She said all that’s left is finalizing her forever family, the community calls the “Hernando six-pack!”
To support the new family with legal and adoption fees, donate to their GoFundMe here.
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Mississippi
Storms cause thousands to lose power; flooded roads – Mississippi's Best Community Newspaper
Storms cause thousands to lose power; flooded roads
Published 7:40 am Monday, May 13, 2024
NATCHEZ — Adams County and City of Natchez offices have a delayed opening Monday, May 13, due to overnight storms causing power loss, water and debris in roadways.
Entergy has over 2,200 power outages reported by Adams County customers. Southwest electric has an additional 2,000 outages reported.
In a community announcement Neifa Hardy, Ph.D., Adams County Emergency Management liaison officer said offices would open at 10 a.m.
Parents with school age children should check with their child’s school about any delayed start or closings, she said.
Residents are cautioned to steer clear of roads that have power lines or water across them.
“If you see any bands of water, turn around and don’t drown,” Hardy said.
Mississippi
City and county officials need to get issues resolved quickly – Mississippi's Best Community Newspaper
City and county officials need to get issues resolved quickly
Published 11:57 pm Sunday, May 12, 2024
The leaders of government in the city and the county have a lot of work to do, and constituents are ready for them to get to work and get it done.
Lives hang in the balance.
For many years, Adams County has contracted with the City of Natchez for fire protection services. For several years, the late Dan Dillard, who sat on the city’s board of aldermen until his death in March 2023, advocated for the city to ask for more money for those fire services. Dillard was a numbers guy, and he said the city was subsidizing fire protection for those who live in the county.
Some county supervisors think some fires should be rated differently than others, and the city should not receive as much money for responding to them. For instance, those supervisors say a grass fire or a car fire should not be rated differently in terms of cost to the county than a structure fire.
However, the city is still obligated to respond to and man those fires in the county. And we all know how quickly a car fire and a house fire could turn into something more.
At the same time, the original contract between the city and county called for the city to work side by side with the county’s volunteer firefighters. Fire Chief Robert Arrington said volunteers responding to fires in the county have fallen in number through the years.
Regardless, the voters of Natchez and Adams County have elected our mayor and aldermen and supervisors to do this work, and they need to come together and get a new contract agreed upon post haste.
At the same time, E-911 dispatchers have been stuck in a moldy, damp basement of the Adams County Jail while the county and city have been unable to come to agreement going forward about where dispatchers should be located and how much each should pay toward those services. That battle has been going on for at least two years.
And, that community swimming pool … we need not say more.
Enough!
Fire protection for the county and dispatch services for the city are areas the city and county have cooperated for a number of years and have worked well. It would behoove the county to continue fire service contracting with the city. Same for the city with dispatch. It would cost Adams County much more money annually to build county fire stations, hire full-time firefighters and install water towers and hydrant systems than to simply continue working with the city.
The city would need to purchase duplicate equipment and hire as many as 10 new employees to set up its own dispatch operation. And no doubt that would deteriorate the communication thus cooperation we enjoy right now between the sheriff’s office and the city’s police department.
This kind of prolonged stalemate adds much legitimacy to the call for combined city and county government. County and city leaders should be looking for more ways to work together and save taxpayers money, rather than protecting fiefdoms and costing taxpayers even more for duplicated services.
Perhaps all of the talk about how well the city and county is working together is just that — talk.
City and county officials, sit down at a table soon and get this resolved, please, for the sake of the people you were elected to serve.
Mississippi
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