Mississippi
Mississippi cities under boil-water notice after E. coli found in samples
JACKSON, Miss. — The Mississippi State Department of Health issued a boil-water notice Thursday for the cities of Jackson and Flowood after E. coli bacteria was detected in the water supplies, a result that local officials plan to dispute.
Around 169,000 residents in the capital city of Jackson, Byram, and Flowood are affected by the order. But JXN Water — Jackson’s third-party water manager — believes the state’s notice to be in error and plans to dispute the state’s lab results, according to a news release.
“Officials in the (MSDH Public Health Laboratory) do not believe there was any contamination of the samples while in the lab and the results are not false positives,” the state health agency said in a news release.
Health officials are recommending that all water be “boiled vigorously for 1 minute before it is consumed,” according to the state health agency’s website. It added that the precaution will last for at least two days and water system officials will be notified when the boil-water advisory is lifted.
Thursday’s notice is the latest incident in Jackson’s water troubles. In August 2022, infrastructure breakdowns in the city’s water system left 150,000 residents without safe drinking water for weeks.
The city’s water crisis highlighted years of infrastructure issues, which experts say reflect the disinvestment of communities of color. Jackson residents have long faced water supply issues, including a boil-water notice in late July 2022, lead concerns, and a cold wave that left residents without water.
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Jackson’s interim water manager questions state’s results
During a news conference Thursday, Jackson’s interim water manager Ted Henifin questioned the state’s results. He said the detection of E. coli bacteria in two different water systems was suspicious, adding that the amount of chlorine within the water system would kill the bacteria.
“Having positive results (for E. coli.) from any system…is fairly unusual. Having two positives from two different water systems on the same day, analyzed at the same time seems highly suspect,” Henifin said.
Despite his concerns, Henifin clarified that residents should follow state orders.
“You need to follow what the state is saying, they are the health professionals,” he said. “We’re not asking to lift the boil-water notice even though we’re taking these samples from the taps that failed and we’ll test those to show that we’re pretty confident.”
JXN Water relies on the Mississippi State Department of Health to conduct testing to ensure the water system is compliant. Henifin said he asked the department if they would further validate the sample results before taking any action, but they refused to do so.
“Over the last 12 months since we’ve been doing this, we’ve turned in almost 1,500 samples to the lab and there have been no positives, no false positives, no problems at all,” Henifin said. “It’s something that really caught us off-guard and got our attention quickly.”
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E. coli bacteria in drinking water ‘very unlikely,’ local officials say
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires JXN Water to take monthly water sampling tests at 120 different sites throughout the city and test for bacteria. Henifin said the water system has been in full compliance and has not failed any tests for the past year.
Yvonne Mazza-Lappi, the Drinking Water Compliance Manager for Jacobs Engineering, whom JXN Water contracts to run the city’s water plant, said Thursday that the state’s results could be a false positive. A number of factors could be the cause for this, according to Mazza-Lappi, including cross-contamination in the lab, improper handling of the water samples or human error.
“We knew how much chlorine or disinfection we had in our distribution system, therefore the likelihood of having E. coli in our drinking water would be very unlikely,” Mazza-Lappi said at Thursday’s news conference.
“The fact that you have chlorine present and E. coli? That is really unusual,” Henifin added.
To lift the order, JXN Water must resample all 120 locations around the city and have two consecutive days of no E. coli being found in the system.
“Barring no other analysis failures on the lab’s part, I am confident that we will clear all those samples and be able to lift this,” Henifin said. “We’re moving as fast as we can to get those samples back to the lab and they’ll do the analysis and I am confident we’ll be lifting the order by Monday.”
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said Thursday he would look into this more but that residents should follow state recommendations.
Contributing: Nada Hassanein, USA TODAY
Mississippi
Mississippi lawmakers face pressure to counter looming federal cuts to health care after punting this session
Wicker: Mississippi powered Artemis II
Published 4:00 pm Monday, April 20, 2026
For nine days this month, space travel captivated the world. Families gathered around their screens as four astronauts strapped into the Integrity spacecraft docked at the Kennedy Space Center. As the launch countdown ended, four Mississippi-tested RS-45 engines ignited, and the ground shook. Seven seconds later, the Integrity had liftoff. For six intense minutes, the RS-45 engines rocketed the crew into high Earth orbit, sending them on their historic lunar flyby mission.
Mississippi should take a bow. The four RS-45 engines were tested at our very own Stennis Space Center, where Mississippians have been ensuring the quality of rocket engines since the Apollo program. For eight years, engineers, safety managers, and logistics specialists from the state have tested the engines that powered the Integrity and will power future Artemis launches. Their work paid off, and the launch was a marvel of engineering. NASA leadership made special mention of the rocket engine burn, calling it “flawless.”
One Mississippian in particular helped make the mission a success. Hernando native Matthew Ramsey handled a great deal of responsibility as the mission manager for Artemis II. The Mississippi State University graduate helped set the focus for the mission and equip the astronauts and staff for the job. Matthew also served as the deputy of the Mission Management Team, the group of NASA staff that comes together just days before a launch. The team assumes the risks of the mission ahead, and they make tough calls during flight if challenges arise.
As the Artemis II journey progressed, the world could not stop watching. Our social media feeds were full of photos and videos beamed down from the heavens. They captured humorous situations, such as the astronauts adjusting to life without gravity or testing their plumbing skills.
We also witnessed moments of majesty. On the fifth day, the Integrity began using the Moon’s gravity to slingshot our astronauts back home. That trajectory led the crew around the Moon, farther from Earth than any humans have ever gone. As the explorers looked upon outer space, they captured stunning images. Among the most remarkable is Earthset, in which Commander Reid Wiseman photographed Earth as it appeared to fall below the horizon of the moon.
When their spacecraft returned to Earth’s atmosphere, the crew was traveling nearly 35 times faster than the speed of sound. Ten minutes later, a series of parachutes began opening. Eventually, the spacecraft’s speed fell to 20 miles per hour, and the crew splashed down into the Pacific Ocean.
Mississippi was once again there to assist. The astronauts were greeted by the USS John P. Murtha, a U.S. military vessel built in the Huntington Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula. The ship’s amphibious design was suited to welcome the space travelers home—equipped with a helicopter pad, medical facilities, and the communications system needed to locate and recover the astronauts safely. Crucially, the USS Murtha was built with a well deck, a sea-based garage that stored the Integrity on the journey to shore.
Artemis II was a resounding success, paving the way for planned future flights. When the Artemis program returns humans to the moon, Mississippi will be there every step of the way.
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