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Online rumors partially to blame for drop in water pressure in Mississippi capital, manager says

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Online rumors partially to blame for drop in water pressure in Mississippi capital, manager says


Law enforcement agencies are investigating whether social media rumors about a potential water outage prompted people to quickly fill bathtubs with tap water in Mississippi’s capital during a cold snap and cause a drop in pressure that temporarily made faucets run dry for thousands of customers on the city’s long-troubled system.

JXN Water, the private corporation that has been under a federal order to run Jackson’s system since late 2022, said in a statement Friday that U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate authorized the release of information about the investigation and advised the corporation on what to communicate to the public.

The organization did not specify which law enforcement agencies are involved or what charges might be brought if people are found to have spread false information on social media.

JXN Water identified one specific social media post, but Palacios said the organization had not traced its origin.

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“Just got word they are about to shut off water in Jackson,” the post said. “If you’re in Jackson, fill up your tubs and jugs! Get prepared for not having water.”

Taps ran dry Wednesday and Thursday for almost a quarter of Jackson’s 52,000 water customers as icy conditions strained local infrastructure. JXN Water officials said a “deliberate misinformation campaign” was partially to blame. People responded to social media posts by filling bathtubs with water in a short period, causing demand to spike beyond what the water system could support, water manager Ted Henifin said.

The water woes began as an arctic blast kept temperatures below freezing in Jackson for nearly three days. The temperature rose on Thursday, but the National Weather Service warned that dangerously cold air would return this weekend.

Jackson residents and officials were already concerned that frigid conditions could disrupt the water system. Cold snaps in 2021 and 2022 caused frozen pipes and drops in water pressure across the city of nearly 150,000 residents. People had been told to prepare for past disasters by keeping jugs or bathtubs full of water.

Maintenance crews had restored water to all but about 1,000 customers Friday.

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Ameerah Palacios, a spokesperson for JXN Water, said the news release about an investigation was partially written by Wingate, who is overseeing a federal intervention to improve the water system.

“Judge Wingate, that’s a man who chooses his words very carefully,” Palacios told The Associated Press in an interview. “The way that he worded it was, all of ‘the appropriate law enforcement agencies,’ so definitely more than one at play.”

A court clerk took a phone message for Wingate on Friday, but the judge did not immediately return a call to the AP.

It was unclear how many Jackson residents saw the social media posts or were influenced by them.

Although JXN Water did not release names of anyone who shared the post it cited, AP identified a Facebook post from Wednesday that had the exact wording. The Facebook account belongs to Bob Hickingbottom of Jackson, who ran unsuccessfully for governor as a Constitution Party candidate in 2019 and tried to run for governor in 2023 before the state Democratic Party removed him from its primary ballot.

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In one phone interview with the AP, Hickingbottom said somebody might have put the post on his page.

“Something like that would be outside the realm of civilized behavior,” Hickingbottom said.

In a second phone call moments later, Hickingbottom said he put the water post on his page and he thought he was sharing information to help people.

“I’m a flamethrower when it comes to politics, but this is not politics,” Hickinbottom said of Jackson’s water system.

The latest disruption in Jackson water service came a week after Mississippi health officials issued and then quickly lifted a health advisory after tests identified E. coli in the water supplies of Jackson and a suburb. Henifin said he believed the tests were false positives caused by lab contamination, but the state health department stood by its tests.

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Wingate appointed Henifin in November 2022 to oversee reforms to Jackson’s water system after infrastructure breakdowns during the late summer of that year caused many city residents to go days without safe running water.



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When will you get your April 2026 SSI check in MS? See payment schedule

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When will you get your April 2026 SSI check in MS? See payment schedule


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People who get Supplemental Security Income checks will get paid on Wednesday, April 1.

The payments sometimes go out early. It happens when the first falls on a weekend or a holiday. Checks get sent on the last weekday before the normal send date.

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Social Security recipients also will get their regular checks as scheduled in April. Benefits are typically disbursed to almost 74 million people on Wednesdays later in the month. Your payment date depends on the day of the month you were born.

Here’s what you should know about the April payment schedule, when the next time SSI checks will go out early and where to find a Social Security Office near you in Mississippi.

March 2026 Social Security payment schedule

The Social Security Administration’s 2026 payment schedules are online to help beneficiaries plan their budgets.

Regular Social Security retirement benefits will be issued according to the SSA’s standard payment schedule in March:

  • March 11: Birthdates between the first and 10th of the month
  • March 18: Birthdates between the 11th and the 20th of the month
  • March 25: Birthdates between the 21st and the 31st of the month

When will SSI checks be sent early in 2026?

The next time checks will be sent early is Friday, July 31. August 1 is a Saturday this year.

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SSI checks also will be sent out early for November because the first is over a weekend.

And the first check of the new year always gets sent on New Year’s Eve because of the holiday conflict.

SSI payment schedule for 2026

Supplemental Security Income checks will be sent out on the following dates in 2026, according to the SSA calendar.

It’s usually sent on the first of the month, but they are disbursed early if the first falls on a weekend or holiday.

  • Wednesday, April 1 (check for April)
  • Friday, May 1 (check for May)
  • Monday, June 1 (check for June)
  • Wednesday, July 1 (check for July)
  • Friday, July 31 (check for August)
  • Tuesday, Sept. 1 (check for September)
  • Thursday, Oct. 1 (check for October)
  • Friday, Oct. 30 (check for November)
  • Tuesday, Dec. 1 (check for December)
  • Thursday, Dec. 31 (check for January 2027)

➤ Most Americans think Social Security won’t be there for them. Are they right?

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Why will some people get paid 3 times in certain months?

People who get both SSI and regular Social Security will be paid three times in October and December.

The regular SSI payment will come on the first. The Social Security check will be paid on its usual date. Then the SSI funds for the following month will be sent near the end of the month because the next SSI disbursement date falls on a weekend or holiday.

See the full 2026 Social Security Payment schedule

Social Security offices in Mississippi

There are almost two dozen Social Security offices in Mississippi. To find the one nearest you, visit ssa.gov/locator.

  • Brookhaven
  • Clarksdale
  • Cleveland
  • Columbus
  • Corinth
  • Forest
  • Greenville
  • Greenwood
  • Grenada
  • Gulfport
  • Hattiesburg
  • Hernando
  • Jackson
  • Kosciusko
  • Laurel
  • McComb
  • Meridian
  • Moss Point
  • Natchez
  • Philadelphia
  • Starkville
  • Tupelo
  • Vicksburg

Contributing: Mike Snider and Laura Daniella Sepulveda

Bonnie Bolden covers money issues that matter to people in Mississippi for USA TODAY Network. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.



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Lawmakers signal K-12 teachers will get $2,000 raise, first pay increase since 2022 – SuperTalk Mississippi

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Lawmakers signal K-12 teachers will get ,000 raise, first pay increase since 2022 – SuperTalk Mississippi


A back-and-forth affair over teacher pay raises inside the Mississippi capitol – a debate that technically died before being revived – is expected to end with K-12 educators statewide receiving a $2,000 bump to their salaries.

The Senate on Sunday unanimously voted to fund the pay increase for teachers in the state’s public school system while conversations in the House affirmed the chamber will follow suit. Special education teachers, assistant teachers, speech therapists, and school psychologists will receive the same pay increase.

Notably, lawmakers are also working to budget for a $5,000 raise for school attendance officers and funding to hire nine more. The plan would ensure one attendance officer for every 4,000 students statewide. Attendance officers are responsible for investigating unexcused absences, making home visits, and coordinating with families and courts to improve dropout rates.

The anticipated investment comes as Mississippi continues to grapple with chronic absenteeism. According to an October report from the Mississippi Department of Education, more than a quarter of public-school students missed over 10% of the 2024-25 school year.

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The raises will be immediate if a conference report approved by both chambers goes into law. It is expected to be passed by both chambers as early as Monday with Republican Speaker Jason White telling the House he expects the session to end “no later than Thursday.”

The deal to give teachers a $2,000 raise follows months of different numbers bouncing around the capitol. The Senate initially proposed a $2,000 immediate raise, while the House pushed for a $5,000 immediate raise. After missing a key deadline earlier this month, both chambers found alternative routes to revive the measures. The House maintained its $5,000 proposal, while the Senate advanced a plan to phase in a $6,000 raise over three years.

Despite recent academic gains that have drawn national praise – including a No. 16 national ranking after decades at the bottom – Mississippi teachers remain among the lowest paid in the country. A 2025 report from the National Education Association found the state’s starting salary of $41,500 ranks near the bottom nationwide, even when accounting for cost of living.

Sunday’s budgeting work is part of a broader education appropriation expected to round out at approximately $3.3 billion. If the numbers stand, it will make way for the first teacher pay raise since 2022.

Sen. Dennis DeBar, a Republican from Leakesville and chair of the Senate Education Committee, said lawmakers settled on the $2,000 figure due to competing budget demands, including Medicaid and the Public Employees’ Retirement System. The state’s total budget for Fiscal Year 2027 is expected to be around $7.4 billion.

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“There’s nothing that says we can’t do a (teacher) pay raise again next year,” DeBar said. “However, we didn’t want to lock ourselves in somewhere we couldn’t pay.”



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How Mississippi State’s Tomas Valincius dominated third straight SEC team vs Ole Miss

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How Mississippi State’s Tomas Valincius dominated third straight SEC team vs Ole Miss


OXFORD — Tomas Valincius struck out top Ole Miss baseball batter Tristan Bissetta looking on his last pitch of the game.

There was no emotion from the Mississippi State starting pitcher as he walked back to the dugout after Bissetta was the fourth straight Ole Miss batter to strike out.

It was another instance of Valincius, the left-handed Virginia transfer, showing a trait that’s made him such a dominant pitcher for the No. 4 Bulldogs. The longer Valincius pitches, the better he gets.

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The sophomore pitched another five shutout innings as MSU (23-4, 5-2 SEC) took down No. 18 Ole Miss, 6-1, at Swayze Field on March 28 to win the series.

“It’s all mental,” Valincius said. “Just going out there and just kind of trusting yourself and all the work you put in throughout the week. And even when you don’t have your stuff, it’s still a war between every battle in every inning. It’s kind of like finding a way to do what you can do with what you got.”

The win clinched the Bulldogs’ ninth series against the Rebels (19-9, 3-5) in the last 10 meetings. Another win March 29 (3 p.m., SEC Network) would make Brian O’Connor the third straight first-year MSU coach to sweep Ole Miss.

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Valincius (6-0) hasn’t allowed an earned run in 19 SEC innings and his season ERA dropped to 0.91.

Against the Rebels, one game after striking out a career-high 14 batters against Vanderbilt, Valincius recorded nine strikeouts with three hits, two walks and one hit by pitch in 90 pitches.

“He buckled down when runners were in scoring position,” O’Connor said. “He’s always best in his middle innings. You see him just rise his game up.”

Why Tomas Valincius could’ve done even better against Ole Miss

While the Ole Miss game was Valincius’ third SEC start without allowing an earned run, it was his shortest outing of the three. The other two against Arkansas and Vanderbilt both lasted seven innings.

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Valincius stranded six Ole Miss batters on base in his five innings.

“Early on, I didn’t really feel like I had anything going,” Valincius said. “I was kind of just finding a way to win. That was kind of my whole approach throughout the whole game. I couldn’t really figure out the slider and fastball command. It wasn’t working a lot. I just found a way to win.”

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.



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