Mississippi can sometimes be late to the party, even with today’s ability to find anything, anywhere with the internet and social media.

Even Pickleball has been a little slow to catch on in the Magnolia State.

Despite that, there are plenty of places to grab a game in the Jackson metro area, but most are private settings that require membership, such as the Country Club of Jackson, The Club at the Township in Ridgeland and even the Picklejar in Jackson as an indoor venue with two courts.

The one public area with access for Pickleball courts is the Ridgeland Tennis Center, which has dual access for four courts that doubles as a tennis court.

Now, one place in the area is changing that.

The City of Flowood has broken ground on a project on Liberty Road that developers said will be the largest outdoor Pickleball facility in Mississippi.

Daniel Lang, director of economic development at City of Flowood, said Monday the city has broken ground and the Pickleball-only courts could be ready as soon as the first of the year.

The development, along Liberty Road, next door to the YMCA, which is expected to cost $3 million, is set for 18 new lighted pickleball courts, a playground with restrooms and a new parking lot.

“Don’t hold me to it, but we believe this will be the largest outdoor Pickleball facility in the state,” Lang said. “We know it has caught on around the country and there are a lot of people who love it and play it.”

Flowood had already jumped on the Pickleball wagon last year, having converted tennis courts at Winner’s Circle Park into four Pickleball Courts. Those will be turned back into full-time tennis courts when all is said and done for a total of 18 Pickleball courts at Liberty Park and five tennis courts at Winner’s Circle Park.

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Lang said he stops short of saying this will be the largest Pickleball facility in the state as a company called Picklr is taking over part of a former Hobby Lobby for a venue in Biloxi on the Gulf Coast. According to their website, that grand opening is set for October 2024 and may have more than 18 courts.

“We can definitely envision having tournaments and hosting people from all over the state,” Lang said. “Pickleball is an exploding sport, and we feel like we have a great place to put courts and for people to play.”

Flowood Mayor Gary Rhoads said he wants to expand family-friendly activities.

“Pickleball is the fastest growing sport and all ages can play,” Rhoads said. “We want to meet that demand and supply as many courts as possible. We want more people to experience all of the great amenities Flowood has to offer and this new Pickleball complex will be for every member of the family to enjoy.”

Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on Twitter @GreenOkra1.

In Mississippi, where 97% of incarcerated individuals eventually return to society, stable reentry housing plays a critical role in determining success or failure.

Sadly, over 75% of those released from prison find themselves back behind bars within five years. This sobering reality prompted a group of UC Berkeley Law students, including myself, to collaborate with the MacArthur Justice Center during a spring 2024 visit to Mississippi. There were three reasons we wanted to make the long trip from California to Mississippi for an in-depth exploration of reentry housing for those who have paid their “debt to society.”

First, we have a strong working relationship with the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law, and together we identified reentry housing as an area that could use the kind of landscape analysis we were well-situated to tackle.

Second, we wanted to see if Mississippi had any ideas on how to fix housing, because, let’s be honest, California isn’t a shining example of effective housing policy. And third: blues, delicious food and Southern hospitality. We found all three.

Our years-long partnership with the MacArthur Justice Center focuses on discrete projects about criminal justice reform, culminating with a spring break Mississippi trip. This year, we sought to understand Mississippi’s reentry housing issues from the perspectives of the government, private sector, nonprofits, faith communities and incarcerated individuals. We condensed our findings into a report with policy recommendations, which can be found at https://law.olemiss.edu/macarthur-justice-clinic/.

Our stakeholder discussions produced three main policy recommendations: addressing barriers for returning citizens, infrastructure improvements to Mississippi’s reentry ecosystem and reframing the reentry narrative. Each of these contain multiple, actionable suggestions to be considered by policymakers and community leaders throughout the state. I’ve summarized each bucket below, but I encourage you to read our report to learn more about specific recommendations.

The first issue, addressing barriers to reentry, analyzes the experience of incarcerated individuals getting ready to go home. Finding a safe, stable place to live after prison is extremely difficult for most incarcerated people: many come from circumstances where going “home” is not an option but can’t access resources to find somewhere else to live. Fortunately, improving access to information and connection to existing resources will cost the state little or nothing while removing significant hurdles for incarcerated people.

Secondly, improving the infrastructure of Mississippi’s reentry system encompasses a broad spectrum of initiatives, ranging from interagency cooperation to data management regarding homelessness.

While it is impossible to explain all seven sub-sections here, the takeaway is that some policies (or lack thereof) create perverse incentives or undermine agencies’ and organizations’ abilities to achieve their goals. The good news is that there are some creative fixes underway. For example, Mississippi’s pilot work release program is already being implemented and seeing noteworthy improvements in outcomes.

Lastly, reentry needs a reframe from kitchen tables to the Capitol Building. Shifting public perception — from viewing returning citizens as liabilities to recognizing their potential contributions — can foster bipartisan support for rehabilitation efforts, as it has in neighboring states. Emphasizing the value of investing in reentry not only benefits individuals seeking to rebuild their lives but also strengthens communities as a whole.

It is truly a blessing for us Californians to get to learn from the Mississippians working on these issues. In our state, we often throw money at our problems, but not always strategically. What I found in Mississippi is that the lack of government funds necessitates a certain creativity and scrappiness that you won’t find in the Golden State.

I won’t lie and say things are going great in Mississippi — there’s work to be done (as with anywhere). What I will say is that, as I left this state to head back out West, I had an unshakeable feeling that Mississippi’s fledgling work-release program might be the blueprint that could get our country out of this endless cycle of over-incarceration and recidivism, blue and red states alike.

Hopefully our report offers value to the smart and dedicated people working on these issues in Mississippi. We offer it not because we have anything to teach, but instead as a compilation of the many things you taught us. Whether in Berkeley or Brandon, Malibu or McComb, we’re in this together! 

— Niki Kates is a third-year law student at the University of California at Berkeley.  She is from Truckee, California and received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Willamette University. 

SCOTT COUNTY, Miss. (WTOK) – The Mississippi Highway Patrol responded to a fatal wreck Monday morning in Scott County.

MHP said 44-year-old Paul Johnson of Jackson, Miss., died in the crash.

Officials said Johnson’s 2009 Chevrolet Express collided with a Freightliner on Highway 25 about 10 a.m.

The Freightliner, which was driven by William Golden, 53, of Little Rock, Miss., was traveling slowly as a crew collected garbage along the route.

The crash remains under investigation by the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

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