Mississippi
Jackson puts Mississippi on notice: Take back Medgar Evers Boulevard
Subscribe to Clarion Ledger: Local journalists covering local stories
Clarion Ledger journalists cover the important moments in Mississippi. Support local journalism by subscribing.
Staff
The Jackson City Council, backed by Mayor John Horhn, is pushing Mississippi to reclaim Medgar Evers Boulevard — a move supporters say is long overdue, and critics say jumps the gun under state law.
The resolution asks the Mississippi Transportation Commission and Mississippi Department of Transportation to resume responsibility for the roadway, describing it as “a major roadway of statewide importance” whose long-term maintenance requires state-level resources.
But council members were split over whether the city should formally ask for the transfer now or wait until the road meets state construction standards, a legal requirement that remains unresolved.
How Medgar Evers Boulevard became a city road
During the meeting, Horhn said the city’s responsibility for Medgar Evers Boulevard dates back to a very different era at City Hall.
In 1986, then-Mayor Dale Danks asked the state to hand over several major highways inside Jackson’s city limits, including Medgar Evers Boulevard, State Street, Woodrow Wilson Avenue, and parts of U.S. Highway 80. At the time, Danks said the city could maintain them better on its own as “the city was flush with cash.”
That calculation didn’t age well. While Jackson may have had plenty of dollars to spend in the 1980s, Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes’ resolution notes the “City of Jackson is currently experiencing financial and operational constraints that limit its ability to adequately maintain major state-designed thoroughfares.”
In 2002, the Legislature changed the rules, passing a law that says if a city wants to give a road back, it has to first bring it up to state construction standards. It was this law, Mississippi Code § 65-3-99, that gave Ward 7 Councilman Kevin Parkinson pause about the resolution.
Medgar Evers Boulevard, Parkinson said, does not yet meet those standards. Parkinson proposed amending the resolution to request the transfer only after the road meets state standards. That amendment failed on a 2-5 vote. Only Parkinson and Ward 4 Councilman and Council President Brian Grizzell voted in favor of the amendment.
“Some would say it makes us look a little foolish to pass a resolution knowing that it can’t be done at this time,” Parkinson said. “I don’t want to vote this down because I really, really, really want to give this to the state. But the reality is, it’s not going to happen now.”
Stokes: waiting misses the point
Stokes, who authored the resolution and represents the area Medgar Evers Boulevard runs through, said he disagreed with waiting.
Stokes said he believes the condition of the road — and the state’s role in maintaining it — can’t be separated from its history and who it was named after.
“Once Medgar Evers’ name became a part of Highway 49, some hateful spirits took place,” Stokes said. “You do not punish a city because you name a street for a Black man.”
Stokes also argued that the city does not have the same financial capacity as the state to maintain a major highway, pointing to the condition of U.S. Highway 49 outside Jackson’s city limits as a comparison.
“If Rankin County’s Highway 49 can look the way it looks, then Jackson’s Highway 49 should look the same way,” Stokes said.
In 2022, MDOT completed a major widening of U.S. Highway 49 in Rankin County, a $253 million project that expanded 7.5 miles of the corridor, according to the Rankin First Economic Development Authority.
Federal money already in play
The council debate comes as major improvements to Medgar Evers Boulevard are already underway.
In 2024, then-U.S. Transportation Secreatry Pete Buttigieg visited Jackson to mark the start of “The Medgar Evers Boulevard Project,” a multimillion-dollar reconstruction project along roughly 1.5 miles of the corridor.
The project is funded through a $20 million federal grant awarded in 2021. The City of Jackson is required to provide a local match of $17 million, according to Horhn. Additional roads, such as Woodrow Wilson Avenue, McDowell Road, McDowell Road Extension, could also benefit from those funds, Horhn said.
Planned improvements include sidewalks and streetlights, road repairs, medians and upgrades to sewer and stormwater infrastructure. Construction of the project is expected to be completed this year.
Horhn: vote sets intention
Horhn referenced that federal investment during the council meeting, saying the project would bring Medgar Evers Boulevard up to state standards — clearing the legal pathway for a transfer.
But he said he did not have an issue with the council going on the record now about wanting the state to take control of the boulevard, as Parkinson argued against.
“This doesn’t make us look foolish,” Horhn said. “It sets an intention in motion.”
Horhn said he has spoken with Central Commissioner Willie Simmons of the Mississippi Transportation Commission, who indicated the state would have no issue resuming control of the road once it meets code.
While the vote does not immediately shift responsibility for Medgar Evers Boulevard, it formally places Jackson on record asking the state to take back one of the city’s most visible — and most contested — roadways.
In the end, the resolution passed in a 4-2-1 vote. Stokes, Ward 5 Councilman Vernon Hartley, Ward 6 Councilwoman Lashia Brown-Thomas and Parkinson, though he voiced opposition at first, voted in favor. Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote and Grizzell voted against. Ward 2 Councilwoman Tina Clay abstained.
The Mississippi Department of Transportation did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
Charlie Drape is the Jackson beat reporter. You can contact him at cdrape@gannett.com.
GEORGE COUNTY, Miss. (WLOX) — A George County High School senior is dead after an SUV hit him while bicycling on Highway 26 Friday night.
Mississippi Highway Patrol (MHP) officials said at 8:15 p.m. the MHP responded to a fatal crash on Highway 26 in George County.
Those officials said a Ford SUV traveling west on Highway 26 collided with 18-year-old Tyree Bradley of McLain, Mississippi, who was bicycling.
Bradley was fatally injured and died at the scene, MHP officials said.
The crash remains under investigation by the MHP.
See a spelling or grammar error in this story? Report it to our team HERE.
Copyright 2026 WLOX. All rights reserved.
Some losses feel like they drag on longer than the box score suggests, and Mississippi State’s 3-1 opener at Texas A&M fits that category.
It wasn’t a blowout. It wasn’t a game where the Bulldogs looked outmatched.
It was just one of those nights where the early mistakes stuck around and the offense never quite found the swing that could shake them loose.
The frustrating part is how quickly the hole formed. Two solo homers and a wild pitch in the first two innings put Mississippi State behind 3-0, and that was basically the ballgame.
Against a top tier SEC team on the road, spotting three runs that early is a tough ask. The Bulldogs didn’t fold, but they also didn’t cash in when the door cracked open.
“I liked our fight. I think we’re really just working through some things offensively, and trying to stay together,” Mississippi State coach Samantha Ricketts said. “This team still believes, and we’re going to battle and fight every chance we get, and I think I saw a lot of that. I’m encouraged for what that means for us moving forward, but, you know, they’re a good hitting team, and we’ve got to be able to shut them down early. I don’t think Peja [Goold] had her best stuff, but she continued to battle out there and find ways to get outs.”
They had chances. Two runners stranded in the fifth. Two more in the sixth. Another in the seventh. Des Rivera finally got the Bulldogs on the board with an RBI single, but the big hit that usually shows up for this lineup never arrived.
It wasn’t a lack of traffic. It was a lack of finish.
If there was a bright spot, it came from the bullpen. Delainey Everett gave Mississippi State exactly what it needed after the rocky start.
“That was just a huge relief appearance by Delaney to keep us in it,” Ricketts said. “It’s really good to have her back and healthy these last few weeks because these are the moments where we really need her and rely on her. We know that she’s going to be a big part of the remainder of the season going forward as well.”
Three hitless innings, one baserunner, and a reminder that she’s quietly putting together a strong stretch.
There were individual positives too. Nadia Barbary keeps climbing the doubles list. Kiarra Sells keeps finding ways on base.
But the bigger picture is simple. Mississippi State is now 6-10 in the SEC, and the margin for error is shrinking. Nights like this one are the difference between climbing back into the race and staying stuck in the middle.
They get another shot this morning with the schedule bumped up for weather. The formula isn’t complicated.
Clean up the early innings, keep getting quality relief, and find one or two timely swings. The Bulldogs didn’t get them Friday. They’ll need them today.
Follow
Mississippi
Mississippi farmers struggle through years without profit as war with Iran deepens crisis
YAZOO COUNTY, Miss. — Mississippi Delta farmers are facing another expensive planting season as fertilizer and fuel costs continue to climb.
Farmers in Yazoo and Sharkey counties, Clay Adcock and Jeffrey Mitchell, said it has been years since their crops turned a real profit.
“I guess it would be since 2022,” Adcock said.
“Last 2.5 to three years since we had a very profitable year,” Mitchell said.
Rising input costs squeeze farmers
Adcock said he was paying $300 per ton of fertilizer before the war with Iran broke out. He is now paying double for the same amount. Mitchell saw similar spikes.
“Fertilizer was up 25% before the Iranian conflict already,” Mitchell said. “Then since that started Diesel fuel is up 40% in the last six months.”
Survey and research from the American Farm Bureau show they are not the only ones feeling the pinch.
“We’ve got trouble with the farming community,” Adcock said. “And you can see that with the bankruptcies that are there and no young farmers that can afford the capital to get started.”
Mitchell said today’s farmers face a shrinking industry of suppliers. 75% of all fertilizer in the U.S. comes from four companies: Yara USA, CF Industries, Nutrien and Koch Industries.
“With the world market on fertilizer, pretty much everyone has the same price,” Mitchell said. “It’s not like you can go to store B, get a better price.”
forces
Oil and natural gas cut off in the Strait of Hormuz forces energy companies worldwide to compete for less supply. The spike in costs passes on to fertilizer producers, who pass higher prices on to distributors, leaving family farms at the end of the line with the most expensive bills.
“They deliver it to us and we’re at their mercy,” Adcock said.
Adcock said he would like to see more regulation to even the playing field among fertilizer companies and prevent potential price gouging.
“There should be guiderails in place to keep fertilizer producers within a range and if they get out of that range it throws up red flags as they do in the SEC with stocks,” Adcock said. “Have some consistency in our business.”
Mitchell said the costs will circle back to consumers at the store. The spike in diesel also increases the cost of transporting finished crops after harvest to stores.
“Everything will be higher once it gets to Kroger or Wal-Mart or wherever,” Mitchell said. “They’ll just pass it onto consumers.”
It is too early to tell what the final prices will look like once harvest season is over. Each farmer said one way consumers can help is to buy as much produce as possible directly from farmers at markets and buy American items.
Want more WLBT news in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please click here to report it and include the headline of the story in your email.
Copyright 2026 WLBT. All rights reserved.
-
Idaho3 minutes ago
Idaho Lottery results: See winning numbers for Powerball, Pick 3 on April 18, 2026
-
Illinois9 minutes ago5 tornadoes confirmed in Illinois from Friday’s storms
-
Indiana15 minutes agoAn Indiana district turned to voters to fund more preschool seats. Here’s what happened next.
-
Iowa21 minutes agoVote: Who Should be Iowa’s High School Athlete of the Week? (4/19/2026)
-
Kansas27 minutes agoKansas Losing Momentum With Key Transfer Target After New Visits
-
Kentucky33 minutes agoKentucky is poised to land either Donnie Freeman or Sebastian Rancik this weekend, per report
-
Louisiana39 minutes ago‘Growth pays for growth’: Entergy’s Fair Share Plus model to save Louisiana customers $2.8 billion
-
Maine45 minutes ago18 jaw-dropping views from Katahdin to help you plan for warmer weather