Mississippi
How Chris Youngblood filled Latrell Wrightsell’s role vs. Mississippi State
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Chris Youngblood was a man possessed in his second start of the season. The fifth-year guard shot the lights out from 3-point range, scoring 23 points and connecting on 7 of 10 shots from beyond the arc in No. 4 Alabama’s 88-84 win over No. 14 Mississippi State on Wednesday. Youngblood’s timely 3s lifted Alabama past a ranked top-15 SEC opponent on the road for the third time this season.
After the game, Youngblood said that “humbly speaking” he was pretty sure he had connected on 70% of his shots from deep before. It’s an understandably confident response from a veteran guard who has been an elite scorer for four seasons and is finding that same level with Alabama.
“You just don’t really think about it, you know,” Youngblood reflected after the game. “You make the goal to go shot for shot, don’t really think about the next shot or the last shot. I missed two free throws in a row. That was crazy, but just keep it going.”
Youngblood’s outstanding evening from 3 was reminiscent of another sharpshooter who was supposed to dominate for the Tide this season. Fellow fifth-year guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. was shooting 42.2% from 3 through Alabama’s first eight games before a ruptured Achilles ended his season.
Wrightsell’s injury was a major blow for the Tide, especially its output from deep. Alabama has had some good shooting games without Wrightsell but entered Wednesday shooting just 32.5% from 3 as a team.
However, Youngblood’s best display in an Alabama uniform had shades of Wrightsell’s shotmaking as he hit timely 3 after timely 3 to bury the Bulldogs. Alabama coach Nate Oats is hoping Youngblood has turned a corner, and he might not have to worry about replacing the shooting output Wrightsell was supposed to provide this season.
“Would’ve been nice to have them together,” Oats said after the game. “We’d be shooting the ball from 3 a lot better as a team if we had them both this year. That was the original plan. Now, Latrell went out and Chris is finally getting back to where he’s feeling comfortable. His ankle’s feeling close to 100%. Yeah, I’d like for him to shoot it — Trelly shot it really well last year and in the games he played this year. Chris is getting more comfortable shooting it well.
“We need guys to kind of complement Mark [Sears]. Mark can make plays, get guys open. We need guys to knock down shots and hopefully, this is Chris’ coming out party here because he looked pretty good on both ends of the floor.”
There’s plenty of evidence Youngblood can be the answer to any of Alabama’s shooting struggles. He shot north of 40% from 3 in each of his last three seasons before arriving at Alabama. Youngblood’s scoring ability was a big factor in him winning Co-American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and why Alabama plucked him from the transfer portal this offseason. His latest performance upped his 3-point percentage to 35.2% this season.
Youngblood wasn’t the only one of Alabama’s guards embraced his inner Wrightsell on Wednesday. As a team, Alabama shot 15 of 31, 48% from deep which is by far its best outing of the season. In addition to Youngblood’s seven makes, Sears and sophomore forward Aden Holloway combined for six 3s.
“We weren’t really trying to do anything special,” Oats said of the Tide’s shooting performance. “They do a good job. They turned us over 14 times. Their defense was good. They kind of forced turnovers. We were trying to get the spacing right we didn’t do that like we needed to all the time. The ball was moving. I thought guys hit shots — you know, Youngblood’s open, he didn’t pass up open looks.”
Alabama’s guards took another huge step in collectively finding their rhythm and hit 3s at the same clip and efficiency that Wrightsell did Alabama in his first eight games this season and throughout last. Oats is continuing to hold the team’s best shooters to a high standard to do so.
“I thought Holloway passed some open ones up,” Oats said. “Him, Sears, Youngblood can never pass up an open shot, ever. Youngblood didn’t. I don’t think Sears did either. He didn’t get very many open ones with the way they were guarding him. But guys being confident, stepping up, making big shots was big for us.”
Alabama will look to replicate its elite shooting against Mississippi State when it returns home to take on Georgia on Saturday. The Tide and Bulldogs will face off at 3 p.m. CT inside Coleman Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on ESPN 2.
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Mississippi
Hurricane Katrina photo exhibit at Two Mississippi Museums tells stories 20 years later
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See this 2019 drone footage from above Windsor Ruins
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has been working to preserve Windsor Ruins and share its history.
- The Two Mississippi Museums will host a photo exhibit titled “Hurricane Katrina: Mississippi Remembers” to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the storm.
- The exhibit, featuring photographs by Melody Golding, will run from March 8 to November 7, 2025.
- Golding, a Vicksburg native, extensively documented Hurricane Katrina’s impact on the Mississippi Coast, and her work is featured in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History Archives Center.
Almost any Mississippian who has lived in the state for at least the past two decades will have stories about Hurricane Katrina.
August this year will mark 20 years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi Gulf Coast and took lives and homes becoming one the five deadliest hurricanes in United States history. Mississippi alone saw 238 deaths.
In recognition of the event’s 20th anniversary, the Two Mississippi Museums will host a months-long photo exhibit title “Hurricane Katrina: Mississippi Remembers,” which will feature photographs by Melody Golding capturing the hurricane’s toll on the state’s coast.
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History curatorial staff developed the exhibit which will open on March 8 and run through Nov. 7.
If you go:
- When: March 8 through Nov. 7
- Where: The Two Mississippi Museums, 222 North St., Jackson
Golding is a Vicksburg native who photographed Hurricane Katrina and its effects on the Mississippi Coast. Her work, including a book title “Katrina: Mississippi Women Remember,” is well-known throughout the South and beyond. The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History Archives Center displays Golding’s documentary exhibit following the events of the hurricane.
Michael Morris, director of the Two Mississippi Museums, said he and his team are very excited for the upcoming exhibit.
“Hurricane Katrina is the most devastating natural disaster in Mississippi’s history,” Morris said. “For me, this exhibit is important because it allows us to explore the immediate and long-term effects of this storm.”
Morris knows first-hand what it’s like to carry memories of the hurricane.
“I was going into my senior year in high school when Hurricane Katrina took place, living right here in Jackson,” Morris said. “I can remember our lights being out for a week and us not having power or running water for a while. It’s something that a lot of Mississippians experienced in different ways. Of course, what was most devastating was what happened on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I think so much has been placed on New Orleans and what they went through, but I think this (exhibit) is an opportunity to kind of shed more light on just how expansive the damage was along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.”
MDAH and the Two Mississippi Museums are also plan to host several events and panel discussions to accompany the exhibit. The exact schedule is still being fleshed out, but Morris said one panel will be a conversation between Golding and Katie Blunt, the MDAH director who was working in archives and history during the hurricane.
Admission tickets for the Two Mississippi Museums includes the Hurricane Katrina exhibit. Tickets are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors 60 years and older or military, $8 for youth aged four to 22 and free for children under 3. The Two Mississippi Museums offers free admission for everyone every Sunday.
Hours for the Two Mississippi Museums are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday and closed on Monday.
Got a news tip? Contact Mary Boyte at mboyte@jackson.gannett.com
Mississippi
Mississippi weather: When will extreme cold warning and cold weather advisory lift?
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How to keep your children safe during extreme cold
Extreme cold combined with snow and ice present new dangers for your children, especially if they walk to school. Here’s how you can help keep them safe.
Parts of Mississippi are still getting the last of a few flurries from a snow storm that’s hit the central U.S. and will continue moving toward the eastern seaboard this week.
The weather system brought an Arctic air blast from the polar vortex that will stay for a few days, and much of Mississippi will be under a cold weather advisory Wednesday and into Thursday. Forecasters at weather.com said more than 100 record lows could be set, including along the Gulf Coast.
National Weather Service data said some snow was still falling around Memphis and Greenwood as the system rolled out of the state Wednesday morning.
Some areas of the Magnolia State will be under extreme cold warnings. Wind chills as low as 10 degrees below zero could affect parts of North Mississippi, East Arkansas and West Tennessee.
Wind chills could drop temps to the teens or single digits in other parts of the state, leading the National Weather Service to issue cold weather advisories.
Here’s what we know so far.
What’s an extreme cold warning?
According the NWS, an extreme cold warning is issued “when dangerously cold air temperatures or wind chill values are expected or occurring.”
If you’re in an area under a warning, they advise you to avoid going outside. Dress in layers and make sure at least one other person knows where you are before you leave for a new location and let them know when you get there.
Will I be under an extreme cold warning?
According to the NWS, the following cold weather advisories are in effect or planned as of 7:30 a.m. Wednesday:
- Oxford: 9 p.m. Wednesday through 10 a.m. Thursday.
- Southaven: 9 p.m. Wednesday through 10 a.m. Thursday.
What’s a cold weather advisory?
The NWS defines a cold weather advisory as notice of when “seasonably cold air temperatures or wind chill values, but not extremely cold values, are expected or occurring.”
When will cold weather advisories lift?
According to the NWS, the following cold weather advisories are in effect or planned as of 7:30 a.m. Wednesday:
- Oxford: now until 10 a.m. Wednesday.
- Southaven: now until 10 a.m. Wednesday.
- Greenwood: 4:21 a.m. Wednesday through noon Thursday.
- Jackson: 6 p.m. Wednesday through noon Thursday.
- Hattiesburg: 6 p.m. Wednesday through noon Thursday.
- Columbus: 6 p.m. Wednesday through noon Thursday.
- Gulfport: 6 p.m. Wednesday through noon Thursday.
What’s the forecast in Mississippi this week?
Southaven
- Wednesday: High 25°F, low 10°F, extreme cold warning overnight.
- Thursday: High 24°F, low 10°F, extreme cold warning until 10 a.m.
- Friday: High 33°F, low 22°F.
- Saturday: High 42°F, low 27°F.
- Sunday: High 52°F, low 37°F.
Oxford
- Wednesday: High 31°F, low 9°F, extreme cold warning overnight.
- Thursday: High 28°F, low 9°F, extreme cold warning until 10 a.m.
- Friday: High 39°F, low 21°F.
- Saturday: High 45°F, low 26°F.
- Sunday: High 54°F, low 34°F.
Jackson
- Wednesday: High 38°F, low 19°F, cold weather advisory overnight.
- Thursday: High 36°F, low 20°F, cold weather advisory until noon.
- Friday: High 45°F, low 28°F.
- Saturday: High 51°F, low 34°F.
- Sunday: High 59°F, low 39°F, slight chance of rain in the morning.
Greenwood
- Wednesday: High 33°F, low 16°F, cold weather advisory in effect all day.
- Thursday: High 30°F, low 17°F, cold weather advisory in effect until noon.
- Friday: High 40°F, low 25°F.
- Saturday: High 46°F, low 30°F.
- Sunday: High 56°F, low 38°F.
Columbus/West Point/Starkville
- Wednesday: High 40°F, low 18°F, cold weather advisory overnight.
- Thursday: High 34°F, low 17°F.
- Friday: High 44°F, low 24°F.
- Saturday: High 51°F, low 28°F.
- Sunday: High 56°F, low 33°F.
Hattiesburg
- Wednesday: High 47°F, low 24°F, cold weather advisory overnight.
- Thursday: High 43°F, low 23°F, cold weather advisory until noon.
- Friday: High 49°F, low 31°F.
- Saturday: High 56°F, low 36°F, slight chance of rain overnight.
- Sunday: High 59°F, low 38°F, slight chance of rain in the morning.
Gulfport
- Wednesday: High 56°F, low 28°F, cold weather advisory overnight.
- Thursday: High 47°F, low 28°F, cold weather advisory until noon.
- Friday: High 51°F, low 38°F.
- Saturday: High 58°F, low 42°F, slight chance of overnight showers.
- Sunday: High 60°F, low 44°F, chance of showers before noon.
See the Mississippi weather radar
Why does it keep getting so cold?
According to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, which manages the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research, polar air comes south sometimes where the polar jet stream wanders.
As they describe it, the polar vortex circles the north pole counterclockwise. the polar jet stream circles at a lower level of the atmosphere, which usually keeps Arctic air corralled in the middle.
When the polar vortex is weak, the jet stream pattern wanders around a bit instead of staying in place “like a toupee that goes askew.”
The scientists that make up UCAR say predicting the pattern is getting harder because the Arctic is warming at a rapid rate.
See photos from the last major snow storm in Mississippi
Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with Gannett/USA Today. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.
Mississippi
Mississippi lawmakers aim to tackle abandoned properties
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by Samuel Hughes with contributions from Miracle Jennings, Rowan Luke, Mallory Strickland, Srividya Karuturi, Gretta Graves, Gerome Webster
GULFPORT — Tall grass creeps up boarded windows. Overgrown lots hold little but broken glass and flat tires. Rotten porches sag under the weight of years of neglect. These sights of urban decay are common in Mississippi – and cleaning them up is not a simple job.
State leaders explain fixing the problem requires more than cutting the grass or tearing down crumbling homes. Many of these properties are caught in legal and financial gridlock, leaving cities without the resources to maintain or clear them for redevelopment.
How properties fall into disrepair
In neighborhoods across Mississippi, abandoned properties aren’t just neglected — they’re stuck in a cycle that keeps them from being restored.
Rev. John Whitfield has seen it firsthand in Gulfport. As pastor of Morning Star Baptist Church, he has watched homes deteriorate as families move away, taxes go unpaid and legal complications pile up.
“A lot of these properties become the way they are because parents will die, the children will not follow through with probating an estate, back taxes become due and they go unpaid,” Whitfield said. “The properties are then purchased at an auction, or they will lapse back to the state, and the state will take them for these back taxes.”
But many of these properties don’t get fixed. Buyers at tax auctions often don’t live in the community — and sometimes, they never intend to fix the property at all. ; others walk away once they realize the cost of repairs exceeds potential returns, leaving properties to sit untouched for years.
“As a consequence, it’s just a matter of neglect. It’s neglect on the part of families; it’s neglect on the part of heirs; it’s neglect on the part of elected officials,” Whitfield said. “It’s neglect on the part of those people who come into possession of these blighted and dilapidated properties; it’s neglect on the part of the State of Mississippi – the Secretary of State’s Office – who may come into possession or ownership of these properties.”
Whitfield believes systemic change is needed — not just in how the state handles abandoned properties, but also in how much financial support is available for communities struggling to clean them up.
The challenge for cities
While abandoned residences and empty lots look similar from the street, the cleanup process is different between properties owned privately and those owned by the state.
Under the current system, when a privately owned property is reported for disrepair, code enforcement officers are sent to do an assessment. If the property meets the legal definition of blight, they can issue warnings or order the property owners to make repairs.
For abandoned private properties, a public hearing is scheduled – typically with a two-week notice – to determine the next steps. However, many of these properties are owned by out-of-state investors or heirs who fail to show up, leaving cities with limited options.
At that point, cities can clean the property and bill the owner, but many local governments lack the revenue to pay for the cost on the front end, especially without a guarantee the owners will pay.
When it comes to properties already under state control, limitations increase. Rep. Shanda Yates, an Independent from Jackson, said part of the problem is the way the rules are set up when it comes to buying property through a tax sale.
“Right now, the way that properties are sold at tax sale is: you have your tax sale, if someone purchases the property or taxes, there’s a two-year redemption period,” Yates said. “During that two-year redemption period, nothing can be done to the property. Nobody can go in and clean it up or maintain it, tear down any dilapidated structure – essentially nothing.”
Yates explained if someone buys delinquent property taxes, the property owner must pay those taxes back at 18% interest to that buyer or lose their property.
“It’s stuck as sort of a holding period waiting to see if the original owner who did not pay the taxes is going to come forward, pay the taxes and reclaim their property,” Yates said.
After the redemption period, Yates explained, the person who bought the taxes can take the deed and own the property – or, more often than not – they refuse the deed and the property ownership goes back to the local governments to be sold again.
“There’s no end to how many times a property can be stuck in that cycle,” Yates said.
Ending the tax cycle
Yates sponsored two bills in the House to prevent properties from falling into the tax-sale cycle for decades and slowly falling into further disrepair.
Under House Bill 1198, after the end of the first cycle, if the purchaser of the delinquent taxes does not accept the deed, the property would go to the state and fall under the management of the Secretary of State’s Office.
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Then, if enacted, House Bill 1199 would allow the Secretary of State’s Office to utilize any proceeds from selling tax-forfeited properties to maintain other state-owned, previously forfeited properties, to lessen the burden of maintenance on cities and counties.
The Mississippi Municipal League is also pushing for a Property Cleanup Revolving Fund. As outlined in House Bill 733 and Senate Bill 2023, the fund would establish a $5 million fund for low-interest loans for larger cities and grant opportunities for smaller ones to clean up blighted properties.
Rep. Randy Rushing, R-Decatur who sponsors House Bill 733, called it a base for building a much-needed support system.
“Having been a mayor of a small town, your funds are limited, and you have to prioritize your funds. So, when it comes down to the pecking order, cleaning up a dilapidated old structure or cleaning up a lot that is an eyesore is way down on the list when it comes time to do your budget every year. In a lot of municipalities and cities, it just doesn’t get done,” Rushing said.
“By creating this fund that strictly can only be used for that particular purpose, it allows a tool for our municipal government officials to reach in and borrow that money, or in your small towns’ case, it would be a grant to clean up a specific problem area,” Rushing continued.
Offsetting the burden with investors
Several lawmakers, including Rep. Jeffrey Hulum, D-Gulfport sponsored bills in the 2025 legislative session aimed at addressing blight and soothing cities’ financial roadblocks. One of the key measures Hulum outlines is $350,000 in state appropriations for West Gulfport.
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For Hulum, it’s an issue of public safety, public health and economic vitality.
“When I drive around my city, when I drive around my district, and I see all the blighted properties, the rundown housing, the overgrown lots; You start to think, ‘As an investor, would you invest in that area?’ And when the answer is no, you say, ‘What can I do to help the people?’ … You’ve got to go above and beyond the municipality to the state level and try to bring monies to the municipalities to improve that area,” Hulum said.
Yates believes, while using state funds for special projects can be effective in clearing blighted areas, providing developers incentives to develop state-owned property offers a long-term solution to improving state-owned blighted property.
Yates said House Bill 1201 could be the solution. The legislation proposes tax credits for developers who purchase state-owned, tax-forfeited property. In her district of Jackson, she’s seen first-hand the cost conundrum investors face.
“We know that there are housing developers that would be interested in coming in and buying chunks of property and building affordable housing,” Yates said. “An average house, from what we’ve been told, would cost about $150,000 to build. Unfortunately, in the current market and in the current areas where the housing is needed, it’s not going to sell for $150,000 – probably closer to $95,000 … So, the tax incentives would allow the developer to remain whole.”
Currently, there are solutions to making the numbers work for developers, according to David Perkes, director at Mississippi State University’s Gulf Coast Community Design Studio. Gulfport, for example, receives U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grants and federal HOME funds that can be used as grants to help cover the cost of construction, to fill the gap in neighborhoods that suffer from low property value.
Perkes said these federal programs, along with other community development efforts, can help to raise property values in communities, enabling property owners the assurance and ability to invest in their property.
“I would love for our elected officials to take serious: renovating, removing, improving blighted properties and dilapidated homes within our communities, to provide grants for those people on fixed incomes to make the improvements necessary for their houses to become not an eyesore, but to become the primary attraction on that block,” Whitfield said.
“If we invested in people through community development corporations, and had the very people who live in those communities to help bring about this change, then you have ownership, where people feel like they have invested something in it — whether sweat equity or money out of their pocket — then they will protect it and they will begin to police themselves.”
Outlook for state-owned lots
Assistant Secretary of State Lands William Cheney believes, regardless of what legislation is passed, any funding to the Secretary of State for maintenance will give cities more options for reimbursement if they look to maintain state-owned lots.
“Before the legislature changed the funding in 2016, we had a couple hundred thousand dollars. It was never a huge amount, but it was enough to help keep the grass cut twice a year,” Cheney said. “But what they’re now talking about is like a couple million. Now, if it is a couple million, that’s cutting grass, that is demolishing some of these homes.”
State-owned properties in Southeast Mississippi
- Forrest: 249
- George: 11
- Greene: 2
- Hancock: 273
- Harrison: 126
- Jackson: 238
- Lamar: 21
- Pearl River: 114
- Perry: 0
- Stone: 2
Following a housing market crash in 2013, the Secretary of State had an inventory of 20,000 properties statewide in 2014. Now, through aggressive efforts to auction these properties, it has an inventory of about 6,800 properties, about 2,000 of which are in Hinds County.
Cheney said in many areas, such as those with poor infrastructure or a lack of civil services, a holistic approach is required to sell state-owned lots back onto the tax roll.
“It’s not just, ‘Oh, give the state some money to cut the grass.’ Well, if it’s got a bad road, you’re still not going to sell it. It doesn’t matter whether that piece of property is in the city limits of Jackson, on the Coast, or anywhere; if you don’t want to live on it, I’m going to have a hard time selling it,” Cheney said.
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