Mississippi
Sausage sold in Mississippi part of recall. Did you buy this meat for your family?

FDA recalls: Raisins, chocolate chip cookies and corn puffs
Check your pantry! The Food and Drug Administration announced the recalls of several snack foods that could be in your home.
Fox – 5 DC
Sausage sold in Mississippi has been recalled because it might contain pen parts. The affected items could be in home and restaurant freezers across the state.
D.J.’s Boudain LLC is recalling 17,720 pounds of boudain (also spelled boudin) because it might be contaminated with foreign materials. According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the fresh and frozen sausage was made on Jan. 23.
The problem was reported after a customer reportedly found part of a pen while eating Original Boudain sausage links. One oral injury has been reported.
This is a Class I recall from the Food Safety and Inspection Service, meaning there’s a “reasonable probability that use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.”
Where was the contaminated sausage sold?
The affected meat products were created in Beautmont, Texas.
They were sent to retail, restaurant and distributor locations in Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana.
How do I know if my food is in the recall?
Sausage in the recall has “EST. 13246” in the USDA mark of inspection.
DJ’s Original Boudain and DJ’s Jalapeno Boudain packaged for retail and in bulk were affected. Expiration dates range from Feb. 8 for fresh products to July 22 for frozen. Get more information on product size or product codes at the USDA site.
What if I got hurt eating it before I knew about the recall?
The USDA said one person reported injuries after eating the boudain.
The FSIS said you should contact a health care provider if you are hurt while eating the product.
What is boudain?
Boudain, also commonly spelled boudin, is a Cajun dish made of pork, rice, onion and spices in a sausage casing. Kind of like dirty rice in a link.
It can be steamed, fried, grilled or microwaved.
What if I have contaminated sausage?
FSIS says don’t eat it or serve it.
Either throw away the product or return it to where you bought it.
What if I have more questions about this recall?
If you have additional questions, contact Jonathan Wallace, vice president of operations at DJ’s Boudain LLC. You can call 409-842-0558 ext. 111 or email jwallace@djsboudain.com.
Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with Gannett/USA Today. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.

Mississippi
Women advocate for paid leave, equal pay – Mississippi Today

Mothers and advocates with the Black Women’s Roundtable gathered at the Capitol Thursday and called on the Legislature to prioritize women and children this year.
Speakers asked lawmakers to act on a range of issues from midwifery care to child care, but all their priorities centered around making women more financially secure in the poorest state with the worst maternal health outcomes.
Advocates brought with them “money bags,” which they said would be placed on the desks of all lawmakers.
“Inside those money bags are coins that represent access to child care, access to health care, higher wages for families and the need to move paid family and medical leave,” said Robin Jackson, director of policy advocacy for the Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable. “We are not asking you anymore – we are telling you ‘Secure the bag for Mississippi families.’”
Shequite Wilson-Johnson, a mother of five and assistant professor at Mississippi Valley State University, spoke about her struggle to birth her children safely and with job security – even when she worked her way up the social ladder.
Wilson-Johnson was a teenager when she had her first baby. By her second child, she was in college, working up until the day she gave birth. With her third, she was married. With her fourth, she had a master’s degree, and with her fifth, a doctoral degree. But she never got paid time off, and she was laid off twice after giving birth – including with her last child.
“Understand this: No matter how hard I worked, no matter how hard I tried, no matter the education I had, no matter the standard of life, I was still told, ‘You don’t matter,’” Wilson-Johnson said.
There are currently two bills moving through the Legislature that would create the state’s first paid parental leave mandate for state employees. The bills wouldn’t help people like Wilson-Johnson, but they would be a start, and might encourage the private sector to follow suit and “do the right thing,” said Rep. Kevin Felsher, R-Biloxi, and author of the House’s bill.
But it isn’t just about the money. Studies show that paid maternity leave drastically benefits the health of mothers and babies – including reducing postpartum depression and infant mortality, and increasing bonding and breastfeeding.
There are a dozen states that mandate paid parental leave across both private and public sectors. But the majority of states offer paid parental leave to state employees.
Sen. Angela Turner-Ford, D-West Point, voiced her support for paid leave during the press conference.
“Our state does lag behind, whether it’s welcoming a newborn, caring for an elderly loved one, or managing a personal health crisis,” Turner-Ford said. “… Come back next year if we have not passed this legislation, hold us responsible, make us do more.”
Wilson-Johnson, of Indianola, also struggled to find adequate and affordable child care for her children, even when she worked at a child care center – a common plight for mothers everywhere.
Two out of five child care workers in America make so little they need public assistance to support their families. In Mississippi, there are so few child care employees willing to work under the industry’s conditions that it’s affecting every other sector of the job market, with moms staying out of work because they can’t find a safe day care in which to place their children. It’s costing Mississippi $8 billion, according to a report from the Mississippi Early Learning Alliance.
Bills aimed at allocating funds from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant, or TANF, to create child care vouchers for needy parents died in committee.
Advocates commended lawmakers for passing 12 months of postpartum Medicaid coverage in 2023, calling it “a win” – but emphasized the need to do more, and quickly. Mississippi, the state with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation, was among the last states to ensure that these mothers could continue their Medicaid coverage for a year after they gave birth – the time during which most maternal deaths occur.
In fact, between 2018 and 2023, the Mississippi Legislature only passed four bills related to maternal health, according to a study by researchers at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann told Mississippi Today he recognizes the need for legislative action supporting women, and that’s why he founded the Women, Children and Families Study Group, a Senate committee tasked with reviewing the needs of women and children in the state, in 2022. He said more maternal health bills were passed in the last two years than ever before.
“This session, I hope to build on that progress by passing bills for paid maternity leave for state employees and enhancing postpartum depression screening to ensure more effective and efficient care,” Hosemann said.
Mississippi
Watch: Residents escape wrath of tornado in Columbia, Mississippi

A tornado in southern Mississippi was captured on video sending debris into the air on Wednesday. (Cody Stevens)
COLUMBIA, Miss. – A late afternoon tornado struck the town of Columbia, Mississippi, on Wednesday, as residents snapped videos of the twister while it quickly moved through the southern portion of the state.
Many of the town’s approximately 5,000 residents had a front row seat to the twister and captured the powerful event on their cell phones.
In the videos, debris can be seen being thrown into the air as the tornado touched down in mixed-use areas of Columbia.
“You’re looking back toward between Broad Street and Church Street around East Avenue,” two-term mayor Justin McKenzie could be heard telling viewers on Facebook and those standing by his side. “Law enforcement now is reporting that there is some kind of debris in the tornado. Boy, that’s not a huge one, but I gather it has dropped down after entering into the town.”
DANGEROUS SEVERE WEATHER SWEEPS ACROSS SOUTH FROM MONSTER WINTER STORM, SPAWNING TORNADOES

At least one tornado was spotted moving through Columbia, Mississippi, where cameras captured the funnel touching the ground.
Cody Stevens was one of the many of the local residents who was out and about on what felt like a warm spring day before the storms moved through.
“Just narrowly avoided a tornado right outside Columbia, MS. I’m going go change my underwear now,” Stevens stated after coming face-to-face with the twister.
According to local officials, several businesses and homes were damaged, but fortunately, no significant injuries were reported in the immediate aftermath after the storm.
The town’s police and emergency management teams conducted a survey of the area, while power crews worked to restore electricity to more than 100 customers in the affected region.
The tornado occurred on what was considered to be an Enhanced Risk day by the Storm Prediction Center across several southern states.
Communities in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were placed under a Tornado Watches through the late evening due to the threat of rotating supercells.

Enhanced Fujita Scale
(FOX Weather)
HOW ARE TORNADOES RATED? THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE EXPLAINED
A particularly dangerous Tornado Warning was issued for communities around Thomasville, Alabama, where radar detected significant debris lofted more than 15,000 feet in the air.
Following the storm, scattered power outages were reported and photos from the Coffeeville area, north of Mobile, showed several trees and power lines down.

Alabama storm damage from Coffeeville. (2/12/2025)
(@mattmatta131/X / FOX Weather)
Authorities will likely need the help of sunlight to continue their assessments to determine the full extent of the damage in Alabama.
Despite the widespread storm threat zone, there were less than a handful of reports of confirmed tornadoes through Wednesday evening, during what has been a down year for tornadic activity across the country as a whole.
Mississippi
What ‘shocked’ Chris Jans of Mississippi State basketball’s second half collapse vs Florida

STARKVILLE — Chris Jans said vibes were strong in Mississippi State basketball’s locker room at halftime.
There was a sense of normalcy by all accounts. If anything, the Bulldogs coach said they were disappointed they didn’t lead No. 3 Florida by more than one point.
Immediately after that was one of the worst stretches MSU has played all season. The Gators scored the first 17 points of the second half and computed a 25-4 run over six minutes, 41 seconds, flipping MSU’s one-point lead into a 20-point deficit. Florida (21-3, 8-3 SEC) won 81-68 on Tuesday night despite one starter not playing and another, Alex Condon, exiting the game with an injury 30 seconds in.
“I just was shocked that that’s how we were playing,” Jans said. “We just didn’t have the type of urgency and fight that we showed the majority in the first half from where I sat.”
It dropped Mississippi State (17-7, 5-6) to 3-6 in the last nine games. The Bulldogs have also trailed by at least 20 points in consecutive games at Humphrey Coliseum.
What went wrong for Mississippi State in the second half
Mississippi State missed its first three shots of the second half, but that wasn’t necessarily the issue. It only attempted three shots in the first five minutes of the half because of turnovers.
The Bulldogs turned the ball over six times during Florida’s 17-0 run. Three of them were credited to forward KeShawn Murphy.
“Basically, they just came out more hungry than we did,” Murphy said, who scored 18 points with 13 rebounds. “We started out flat, got down on ourselves for some reason, and it shows.”
Jans called a timeout with 16:32 remaining and Florida’s run at 9-0. He then had to call another timeout with one minute, 23 seconds later when Florida quickly scored eight more points.
“I just didn’t expect it,” Jans said. “In the first half, we were frustrated with ourselves offensively. I thought we set the tone and had a good defensive first half. We rebounded the ball very well in the first half, and that was a big goal for us.
“And for whatever reason, we were just out of sync in terms of all five guys when we’re going into defense to offense and what we’re trying to run and what we’re trying to do. We just weren’t all where we needed to be every time. It wasn’t one guy. It was just one time it was this guy; one time it was the next guy. It was frustrating for us because we just didn’t feel like we were giving ourselves the best chance to take advantage of what we were trying to do against their defense.”
Mississippi State lost again to a top team
The loss dropped Mississippi State to 0-5 against top 10 teams this season, all of which have come in SEC play.
“I feel like early on in the season, we played our basketball and stuck together,” Murphy said. “Now it’s just like when things get hard, we break into pieces a little bit. We got to stick to what we know and who we’ve been. We got to find our identity and we’re losing that a little bit.”
Mississippi State only has one regular-season game remaining against a top 10 team on Feb. 25 at Alabama. Four of the remaining seven regular-season games are against unranked opponents.
“I’m certainly concerned,” Jans said. “I’m a little shocked because we had a great practice yesterday. We were coming off a very tough, well-earned road victory. The vibe was really, really good. Shootaround was one of the better ones we’ve had. They were excited. Togetherness was showing.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
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