Mississippi
Mississippi passes bill supporting hurricane mitigation program
PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) – With insurance rates rising across the nation, people in Mississippi are looking for ways to protect their homes without breaking the bank.
A program by the Mississippi Insurance Department is expected to help folks fortify their homes ahead of natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes.
The Comprehensive Hurricane Damage Mitigation Program was created in 2007, but didn’t receive funding until this year’s legislative session.
Mississippi House Bill 1705 will transfer $5 million from the state’s Surplus Lines Association to pay for the program.
The bill also requires that MID issue a Request for Proposal for administration of the program, or operate the program internally, according to Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney.
Qualified applicants can receive up to $10,000 to help them “mitigate” their homes.
Mitigation includes “higher elevation, adding hurricane shutters, fastening your roof to the walls with hurricane straps and buying flood insurance, among other efforts.”
The program will be limited to the state’s lower six counties, which are Pearl River, Stone, George, Jackson, Harrison and Hancock counties.
Leaders said they’re hoping the program will match the success of similar programs in neighboring states like Alabama.
“Their program has been very successful, and they’ve stabilized their insurance rates and have some lower rates than we do here in Mississippi, especially on the coastal areas,” said MIS Deputy Commissioner David Browning. “So, we’re trying to do what they’re doing.”
Mississippi law requires insurance companies to give discounts for homes mitigated to standards set by the Insurance Institute For Business And Home Safety.
There is no required amount for discounts, but folks usually receive up to 30-percent off.
Browning said the program will take a few months to set up, but a website will eventually be up for folks to apply and learn more about eligibility.
Want more WDAM 7 news in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
Copyright 2024 WDAM. All rights reserved.
Wingate rejects standing challenge in Jackson ARPA lawsuit
Subscribe to the Clarion Ledger
If you are not a subscriber, consider subscribing now. You will also get access to the Clarion Ledger’s E-Edition, the electronic replica of the print publication along with print archives. The E-edition is also available on our app.
USA Today Network
A federal judge said the NAACP and Jackson residents suing Mississippi over withheld American Rescue Plan Act water infrastructure money have cleared the first major hurdle in their lawsuit against the state.
During a hearing Monday, May 18, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate announced he had rejected the state’s argument that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing to bring the case, clearing the way for the lawsuit to continue.
The lawsuit was filed by the Jackson branch of the NAACP along with Jackson residents Doris Glasper and Nsombi Lambright. It alleges Mississippi officials discriminated against Jackson, a majority-Black city, through the way they controlled and distributed federal American Rescue Plan Act water infrastructure funding that plaintiffs argue could have helped prevent or lessen the city’s 2022 water crisis.
The hearing was a continuation of arguments first heard Thursday, May 14, where Mississippi attorneys asked Wingate to dismiss the lawsuit on several grounds, including standing, statute of limitations issues and 11th Amendment immunity claims.
But Monday, Wingate said the plaintiffs had met the legal threshold required to keep the case alive.
“This court is persuaded that this lawsuit shall go forward,” Wingate said from the bench. “This court has determined that these plaintiffs, all of them, have standing.”
Wingate said he is still finalizing a written opinion explaining his reasoning and expects to issue one later this week that will address the remaining dismissal arguments as well.
The state had argued the plaintiffs could not directly connect their alleged harms — including boil water notices, low pressure and prolonged water outages — to Mississippi’s handling of ARPA funds. Instead, state attorneys argued those problems stemmed from Jackson’s longstanding water system failures themselves.
The plaintiffs, meanwhile, argued Mississippi created additional barriers specifically for Jackson after lawmakers approved Senate Bill 2822 in 2022, including requiring Jackson’s award money to flow through a separate state-controlled Capital City Water/Sewer Projects Fund. Jackson was the only municipality to have a separate fund.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs also argued that while Jackson was publicly awarded roughly $35.6 million in ARPA funding, much of the money never actually reached the city.
Monday’s hearing focused narrowly on the legal question of whether the NAACP and the two residents had the right to sue in the first place.
Wingate summarized the plaintiffs’ claims in court, saying they alleged Mississippi’s actions “prevented the disbursement of federal funds that had been directed at and allocated to the City of Jackson” and that those delays prolonged residents’ suffering tied to the city’s water problems.
Wingate also noted the NAACP argued its Jackson membership had dropped from roughly 500 members to around 300 members because of the city’s ongoing water problems, which the organization cited as part of its standing argument.
After announcing his ruling on standing, Wingate immediately moved the hearing into arguments over the state’s statute of limitations defense. The hearing recessed for 20 minutes before attorneys resumed arguments on the remaining motions to dismiss.
The next fight: Did the plaintiffs wait too long to sue?
After ruling the plaintiffs had standing, Wingate moved into another major argument from the state: whether the lawsuit was filed too late.
State attorney Lisa Reppeto argued the clock started in April 2022 when the state’s ARPA laws were passed, meaning the lawsuit filed in August 2025 fell outside the three-year statute of limitations.
The state also argued the lawsuit never identified a specific ARPA funding request that was denied by Mississippi.
But Crystal McElrath, an attorney representing the plaintiffs through the Southern Poverty Law Center, pushed back, arguing the alleged discrimination and harms continued well beyond 2022. They pointed to actions taken by state officials in late 2022 and afterward, along with ongoing water-related problems residents say they continue to experience.
McElrath also argued Mississippi intentionally created a separate and confusing process for Jackson’s ARPA money by requiring the funds to flow through a special state-controlled account.
Both Reppeto and McElrath sparred Monday over the “continuing violation doctrine,” a legal argument centered on whether the alleged discrimination happened only when Mississippi passed the ARPA laws in 2022 or whether the state’s later handling of Jackson’s funding kept the clock running for the lawsuit.
“The system itself, the process created, was intentionally designed to prevent the City of Jackson from being able to access those funds,” McElrath said.
Wingate did not immediately rule Monday on the statute of limitations argument.
Charlie Drape, the Jackson beat reporter, has been covering all of the nuances of the Jackson water crisis since 2024.
We interrupt your downpour of college baseball news for a reminder that some basketball programs are still building out their roster for next season.
Mississippi State landed a commitment from Ashton Magee on Saturday.
Magee becomes the latest piece in what has turned into a near-total roster rebuild for Mississippi State, and his addition fits the broader theme of what the staff has been chasing this spring.
He’s a 6-7 forward coming off his freshman year at Southern University, where he played steady rotation minutes and showed enough long-term upside to draw interest once he hit the portal. He’ll arrive in Starkville with three seasons of eligibility and the option to redshirt if the staff wants to stretch his development.
The Laurel native and South Jones product didn’t put up big numbers in Baton Rouge, but he played in 31 games and logged 350 minutes as a true freshman.
Magee shot 44.4 percent from the field, averaged 3.0 points and 1.7 rebounds, and got a taste of what a full college season feels like. Southern finished 17-17 and 11-7 in SWAC play, and Magee’s role grew as the year went on.
His path to Mississippi State has already taken a few turns. Magee originally committed to Kansas State out of high school before reopening his recruitment and signing with Southern.
Now he’s back in his home state with a chance to carve out a role on a roster that has plenty of room for new contributors.
And that’s the real context here. Mississippi State returns only one full-time starter in rising senior Josh Hubbard, who will carry the scoring load again.
King Grace is back after playing meaningful minutes as a freshman, and redshirts Cameren Paul and Tee Bartlett will finally get their first real look after sitting last season. Everything else is open. Everything else is up for competition.
Mississippi State Basketball Transfer Portal Tracker
Women
Incoming
- Reese Beaty, 5-8, G, Fr. (Iowa State)
- Aryss Macktoon, G, 5-11, So. (La Salle)
- Arianny Francisco De Oliviera, F, 6-4, So. (Gulf Coast State College)
- Macie Phifer, 6-1, G, Fr. (Middle Tennessee)
- Cali Smallwood, 5-9, G, Jr. (UAB)
Outgoing
- Awa Fane, 5-8, G, Jr.
- Nataliyah Gray, 6-3, F, Fr.
- Rocío Jiménez, 6-7, C, R-So.
- Saniyah King, 5-7, G, So.
- Jaylah Lampley, 6-2, Fr.
Men
Incoming
- Thomas Bassong, 6-8, F, Fr. (Florida State)
- RJ Johnson, 6-4, G, Jr. (Kennesaw State)
- Ashton Magee, 6-7, F, Fr. (Southern)
- ND Okafor, 6-7, F, Sr. (Washington State)
- Kendyl Sanders, 6-8, F, Fr. (Utah)
- Tajuan Simpkins, 6-4, G, (Seton Hall)
Outgoing
- Gai Chol, 7-0, C, Jr.
- Jamarion Davis-Fleming, 6-10, F, Fr.
- Dellquan Warren, 6-2, G, So.
- Amier Ali, 6-8, G/F, So.
- Sergej Macura, 6-9, F, So.
- Brandon Walker, 6-8, F, Sr.
Follow
Softball
May 16, 2026
Alyssa Faircloth’s no-hitter is Mississippi State’s first in NCAA softball tournament
May 16, 2026
Alyssa Faircloth threw a no-hitter in Mississippi State’s regional win over Oregon, the Bulldogs’ first in an NCAA tournament game. Watch the extended highlights from the no-hitter here.
-
Mississippi1 minute agoJudge lets NAACP Jackson ARPA water funding lawsuit move forward
-
Missouri7 minutes ago
Missouri election clerks caught in limbo over disputed congressional map
-
Montana13 minutes agoMontana FWP seeks public comment on proposed Sisken Island fishing access site
-
Nebraska19 minutes agoIs Nebraska a lock to host an NCAA baseball regional?
-
Nevada25 minutes agoNevada Governor GOP primary: 6 longshot candidates taking on incumbent Joe Lombardo
-
New Hampshire31 minutes agoMeet Portsmouth’s Beloved Psychic Medium With Decades Of Local Lore
-
New Jersey37 minutes agoFor FIFA World Cup, New Jersey encourages towns to extend alcohol sales at bars, restaurants
-
New Mexico43 minutes ago
New Mexico Supreme Court upholds conviction in 2018 death of 2-year-old girl
