Mississippi
Former Chamber chief volunteers to lead jail exploratory task force – Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper
![Former Chamber chief volunteers to lead jail exploratory task force – Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper Former Chamber chief volunteers to lead jail exploratory task force – Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper](https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2013/08/Crack.jpg)
Former Chamber chief volunteers to lead jail exploratory task force
Published 8:06 pm Sunday, September 10, 2023
- Adams County Jail (File photo | The Natchez Democrat)
NATCHEZ — Debbie Hudson Germany has volunteered to lead an exploratory committee to determine what can be done to solve the crisis that is the Adams County jail.
“We have to do something,” Germany said Friday morning. “You can’t have economic development or anything else until we get this problem under control. Right now, I have time to help with this, so I’m going to.
“We may not be able to build a new jail right now, but we have to get started exploring the subject and determining the possibilities,” she said.
Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten declared the jail unsafe to house prisoners after a security breach by a group of inmates on the weekend of July 30 caused a massive flooding event in the jail.
Adams County and the City of Natchez, which was housing its inmates in the county jail, are now contracting with the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office to house the county’s inmates.
The only inmates being housed in the Adams County Jail now are trusties, those on mental health holds and those waiting to be transferred to Concordia Parish.
Germany spent 24 years as a schoolteacher before going to work for Southwest Mississippi Planning and Economic Development, followed by a stint at the Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Department of Economic Security.
She retired in May 2022 after 15 years as president and chief executive officer of the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce.
Germany went to the meeting of the Adams County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday and told them she was forming this committee and asked they appoint someone to serve on it with her.
She said she plans to ask the same thing of the Natchez Mayor and Board of Aldermen at its next meeting.
“Nobody has done anything about this in 30 years,” Germany said. “We can’t ask the sheriff to do all the work on this. He has other things he needs to do. We can’t ask the supervisors to do this. They don’t have the money and it’s not their job. The city is in the same boat. They need a place to hold people, too.
“I went to the sheriff and asked if I could help, and he said, ‘Yes, please do.’ The sheriff has some really good contacts with people on the federal level who help find funding for jails. That’s what they do. We are going to meet with them next week,” Germany said.
Part of the impetus for Germany’s task force is to find a way to include help for those with mental illness into the equation.
Mississippi is one of the few states, if not the only state, that still houses those in need of mental health services in county jails.
“If I can help facilitate action on this, I want to do that. I am good at putting the right people together,” she said.
“I would like to have the county appoint someone, the city to appoint someone. I would like someone from economic development and someone from the business community. Someone from mental health. I would like for us to meet within the next two weeks, and I told the county supervisors that,” Germany said.
“I am just trying to get the conversation started and see where it leads. If we don’t, we will never have it,” she said.
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Mississippi
Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo ‘disrespected’ by Mississippi State football’s defensive game plan
![Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo ‘disrespected’ by Mississippi State football’s defensive game plan Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo ‘disrespected’ by Mississippi State football’s defensive game plan](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/09/08/PKNS/75130225007-usatsi-24184754.jpg?auto=webp&crop=4080,2296,x0,y294&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Cam Skattebo slammed Mississippi State on the football field on Saturday night and also took another jab afterward in his postgame press conference.
The Arizona State running back, following a 30-23 Sun Devils win at Mountain America Stadium, took exception to MSU only utilizing three defenders on the line of scrimmage. The results were damning.
Arizona State (2-0) rushed for 346 yards. It was the most allowed by Mississippi State (1-1) in a game since Arkansas in 2016. Skattebo’s 262 rushing yards on 33 carries were the second-most in ASU history.
“They couldn’t stop us in that three-down front,” Skattebo said when asked what made ASU’s run game successful. “Honestly, we all felt disrespected with them in a three-down front. You can’t come in here and put five guys in the box and expect to stop six. I don’t know. We took that a little disrespectful, and we rushed for what over 300 yards? Something around there. It is what it is.”
Skattebo, a 5-foot-11, 215-pound junior, also led Arizona State with 35 receiving yards on three catches.
“I knew these dudes were big and heavy,” he said. “We knew going into the game they weren’t as physical as most other teams but they’re heavy. So when they hit you, it hurts, no matter how hard they’re coming — 300 pounds at 10 miles per hour or 16 miles per hour hurts the same. I just kept my feet moving.”
Mississippi State trailed 30-3 in the third quarter but scored 20 unanswered points to cut the score to 30-23 with 5:27 to play. The Bulldogs never touched the ball again, with the Sun Devils running out the clock on 12 plays.
Skattebo had a game-sealing 39-yard rush that allowed ASU to kneel down.
“Until the end, we had our ups and downs there, but that was fun,” he said. “You can ask these guys up front, bullying dudes, grown men that are 300 pounds, that’s fun to us. That’s fun to the front-five, the front-seven and the running back. The quarterback probably hates it. He probably likes watching, but he didn’t complain one time the whole game.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Mississippi
Why Mississippi State football loss to Arizona State revealed a strong Jeff Lebby culture
![Why Mississippi State football loss to Arizona State revealed a strong Jeff Lebby culture Why Mississippi State football loss to Arizona State revealed a strong Jeff Lebby culture](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/09/08/PKNS/75130223007-usatsi-24184733.jpg?auto=webp&crop=3382,1904,x0,y239&format=pjpg&width=1200)
It was 11:10 p.m. Saturday in Starkville when Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt barreled into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.
At that point, it would’ve been fair for Mississippi State football fans to call it a night. The Bulldogs (1-1) trailed 27-3 at ASU in the final minute of the second quarter. They were dominated in just about every statistical category. New coach Jeff Lebby looked like he was headed toward his first loss, and an embarrassing one.
And even if you gave the second half a chance, eyes just a crack open, that wasn’t encouraging either. Arizona State (2-0) took the opening drive of the third quarter for a field goal while eating 8 minutes, 27 seconds of game time. That just about decided the game before Mississippi State touched the ball in the second half.
Wrong.
Instead, MSU scored touchdowns on three of its next four drives and cut the score to 30-23 with 5:27 to play. The defense, which was torched for 346 rushing yards, needed one more stop to let the offense try to tie it. It would’ve been the largest comeback in program history.
Mississippi State’s path to a bowl game seems murkier than it was a week ago. But in the long-term, there’s still encouragement after the 30-23 loss.
“Our guys battled in an incredible way in the second half, and we’re going to hold on to that,” Lebby said in his postgame radio interview. “We’re going to find ways to get back in the building, get back to work and be able to walk into Davis Wade (Stadium) with a ton of confidence and ready to go win a football game.”
The encouragement from Mississippi State’s comeback effort
Lebby said after beating Eastern Kentucky 56-7 in Week 1 that there is an abundance of teachable moments in wins, just like losses.
There is plenty to point to after losing to Arizona State.
Mississippi State came out incredibly flat. The Sun Devils scored on their first five possessions. The MSU offense had one field goal, two punts, a fumble returned for a touchdown and a turnover-on-downs in the first half. MSU had -13 rushing yards in the first half.
There were concerns entering the game about the travel distance, late kickoff and high temperature. But let’s be real, Mississippi State was playing so poorly at the start that it was hard to judge if those were factors.
“I got to do a better job getting these guys ready to go play out of the gate,” Lebby said. “I thought our energy, our effort and our emotion was really good, but then we did not play clean there in the first quarter, so that part was frustrating.”
The Bulldogs outscored the Sun Devils 20-0 in the final quarter and a half. It was a surprise. Arizona State was rolling. Mississippi State was not.
MORE: Introducing Sam Sklar, the Clarion Ledger’s new Mississippi State beat reporter
For Lebby, a first-time head coach at any level, let it be a learning moment for him. It was his first time getting pinned in a corner. The Bulldogs adjusted correctly in the second half like good coaches do.
The rushing offense and defense both need to improve. Badly. Quarterback Blake Shapen has been impressive in his first two Mississippi State games and the wide receiver room is deep and talented as ever, but they can’t be the only answer.
That’s just for this season.
Mississippi State has its first tally in the loss column. But it isn’t a strike against Lebby leading the future of the program.
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Mississippi
Arizona State football turns heads with ‘unreal’ uniforms vs Mississippi State
![Arizona State football turns heads with ‘unreal’ uniforms vs Mississippi State Arizona State football turns heads with ‘unreal’ uniforms vs Mississippi State](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/09/07/PPHX/75127214007-asuuniformms.png?auto=webp&crop=450,254,x0,y9&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Sam Leavitt leads ASU to convincing victory in 1st career start
Leavitt and the Sun Devils cruised past visiting Wyoming 48-7 on Saturday night at Mountain America Stadium.
The Arizona State football team elevated its play on the field in its 48-7 win over Wyoming in Week 1.
It is elevating its uniform game for Week 2 against Mississippi State.
ASU football is wearing a gold alternate jersey against the Bulldogs at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe on Saturday night.
The jersey includes maroon “Arizona State” lettering and maroon numbering, along with a noticeable Big 12 logo.
The Sun Devil football team unveiled the uniform last month, with Athletic Director Graham Rossini posting that “you’ll see this on the field early this season.”
On Thursday, ASU football announced that it would be wearing the uniform against Mississippi State with a video that said “Modern shine, with a classic design.”
On Friday, it posted another look at the uniform.
More: Arizona State vs Mississippi State live score updates, analysis for college football game
ASU vs Mississippi State schedule, TV: How to watch college football game
Promising look: Arizona State football’s 2024 win prediction doubles after Week 1 victory over Wyoming
Social media reacted favorably overall to ASU football’s uniform vs Mississippi State:
Do you like the look for ASU football?
ASU vs. Mississippi State picks: Who wins Week 2 college football game?
Looking promising: Arizona State football makes huge leap in college football ranking, Big 12 power rankings
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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